Nirvana(int Geometry, Char Calvin_Hobbes)

I embarked on a long journey today.I could not see my goal; for i guess it was this inability to see/obeserve my destination that led me to believe that i had ventured into a long journey (strange emotions!).I have always dreamt about the other side of this life - not the philosophy of it but rather what it really means to an otherwise lone being like me who has been thrushed into to experience the harsh realities of life.

I believe there are only 2 things on this Planet Earth that can lead me to attain the unattainable Nirvana...those are :
(1) Geometry and
(2) Calvin & Hobbes

I know that these parameters of me attaining Nirvana are in no way related , but I have a strong inclination towards em and a have an unassialable belief in these being my by my side till my last moment.

I always used to love Geometry and Inorganic Chemistry right from my school days. Mathematics was a subject that i have always been comfortable with. It was the tormentuous moment during my 2nd standard (when i got 2/50 in mathematics) that led me understand the funda behind this phenomennon(called Maths).And after that it has been a cruise.The mysetry behind complex shapes and figurine(!!!) configurations fascinated me.

Calvin has been a phenomennon that was introduced into my life during my first year in college. I was introduced to this character by our National Newspaper - The Hindu..

CAT05 - it came and went ; but I survived (Veni-Vidi-Vici)

Its been almost a week since the phenomenon called CAT occurred. A lot was hyped and fancied w.r.t this examination, which had a notorious history of posing tonnes of mystical surprises and flabbergasting the fellow student. I was one of those "fellows" who took the examination.Though almost all of the coaching instis in their post-CAT analysis claimed CAT-05 to be exceptionally tough and almost unsolvable for an otherwise mediocre canditate, a careful analysis of the paper will "claim" that this paper was indeed solvable and a poised caditate will easily score 12+ in each of the sections.What mattered was the composure/temperamant that the canditate carries before & during the examination.

I entered the examinatio hall after having around 1.5 sticks of 5-Star choc --i beleived it to be my 'amrit' and had a strong inclination that it was the lone eatable on this planet earth that could stimulate my grey cells and help the adrenaline gush thru my body.

I did get a bit nervous during the initial 2-3 mins(i dunno y!!), but later vanished(jaise aaya tha...vaise hi gaya).I went on...cracking all the probs that came in my way...but ensuring the accuracy.

came back home ...ate..slept...TV...saw the preliminary analysis of the Paper in TIME's website...knew that my performance in QA and DI was good and above average, btu VA was troubling me. watever..my final scores look as follows:
QA =14.33 , DI =16, VA =16-18 ; Total=46-48

Hope things go on fine.4 weeks more for the IIMs to announce the %les and give the calls.

CAT-2005

the clock ticks...so what ? that is its birth right to tick.Well..the Magical Date of Nov-20,2005 is fast approaching...only 5 days more. things have been quite ok with me. Though i could get a 90+%le in just 2 of the TIME mocks ,out of the 10 that I had taken...still i am confident.I know my weaknesses and my strengths..lets c what happens on teh D-Day....

My VA/RC skills used to be really GOD-level during the initial days of prep..but offlate the accuracy in VA has dropped like the BSE Sensex..am managing to keep a satisfactory accuracy level in RC. Geometry as always is rocking...thats the only area where i can achieve Nirvana..the last 2-3 mocks have seen a see-saw ride between QA and DI...

hope everything turns out fine...i know that the magic mantra is --''Keep your Cool -- just go and Rock" -- afterall CAT is not the end-of-the-world..its rather the WORLD!! ;-)

Ek Bunglaw bane naara!!!

Ek Bunglaw bane naara!!!

Greenery all around, with a streamling just next ...adjacent to my cottage...trinkling down the pebbles scattered around ..the water lillies and the lotuses floating on the small pond (not artificial..but pristine creation by Mother Nature)..occassional sights of a kingfisher lurking on one of the tree-brnches, ready to prey on the beautiful fishes in 'my' pond...a classic wind-mill in my farm...etcetra...etcetra; wish all this was real !!!

I have always marvelled creations-- whethere these were man-made or natural.Designs have always fascinated me; designing buildings/structures and interior decoration always has a charm.

All these hidden feelings sprouted in the Go-Plus program that was conducted by my Oraganization a couple of months back.. (Go-Plus is like an induction program where newbies in Oracle are taught the 10 Oracle Values..nwayz shall expatiate more on this in teh succeeding blogs).....well we were given a single piece of flimsy paper and were asked to construct a structure-- a typical "home"...my architectural genes were active enough and i did manage to build a small structure...the structured was awesome...and i was awarded the Mr.Architect title for my 'creation'... [ award = cadbury's Perk ...sob ..sob ] B-)

And this was the group structure that were asked to raise.On this occassion, we were given a couple of accessories like toothpicks (no glue/ tapes) and were asked to do the same--thats raise a structure.I aksed my team members to go and collect twigs so that we could 'attach' the individual structures.[ Other teams managed to get the glue and the tapes from the Hotel reception)...nwayz the structure looked like a ____ ...better u can name it for urselves...hehehhe

Oracle

Save this in a .kml file and open it in Google earth :

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<kml xmlns="http://earth.google.com/kml/2.0">;
<Placemark>
<name>Oracle (Lexington Towers)</name>
<LookAt>
<longitude>77.610075</longitude>
<latitude>12.930425</latitude>
<range>280.3258099488204</range>
<tilt>-5.328676764692523e-011</tilt>
<heading>1.104777437597953</heading>
</LookAt> <styleUrl>root://styleMaps#default+nicon=0x307+hicon=0x317</styleUrl> <Point> <coordinates>77.610075,12.930425,0</coordinates>
</Point>
</Placemark>
</kml>

Thread from my College Yahoo group

a few excerpts from a thread in my college group:

Forward From: Aarthi Jerome
President's Office, The President of India

DR. A. P. J. ABDUL KALAM's Speech in Hyderabad

"I HAVE THREE VISIONS FOR INDIA"

the rest of the body in this mail is the same sterotypical mail which every Indian would have got...hence i am not pasting the same.


Shravan Writes...
Sometimes I dont really understand the big deal..

First of all, whats with the message "APJ Abdul Kalam's Indians"? Im an Indian. Just an Indian!

Second, why does this man keep giving the same speech in every forum that he is invited to! This text is directly lifted from one of his books, I dont remember which one, but I have heard of him delivering this exact same speech in so many places! His "First bliss, second bliss" stories are quite repeated.

Is this man really a patriot? I dont really know. Yes, he worked for the country as a scientist, but what has he done being president for so many years! Contrary to beliefs, the president of India does really have a few powers, I dont understand why he or anyone else wont exercise them. The president is a rubber stamp because he wants to be a rubber stamp. The last five months of his rule in Bihar have been worse than Laloo raj. The number of kidnappings has gone up from 900 odd to 1000 odd. Why wont he do anything? Cant he start a social service movement/political party and make a real difference instead of giving the same speeches everywhere! I mean, the president of India has got to do more than just give speeches! On one hand, we see young 20 year old men going into politics to make a difference. Btw, the students of IIT Kanpur have started a movement called the Bharat Uday Mission ( http://www.bharatudaymission.cjb.net/ ) where they plan to start a political party after they finish their education. Thats vision for you! Thats patriotism. The country wont change with speeches. I have received this mail from about 4 groups and 3-4 other individual people, and I cant see anything implementable in it. Does he have a real vision? Does he have a real roadmap for India's future? Of course, I dont really consider freedom and development as an imlpementable vision unless he can tell us how he plans to achieve it.

Am sorry to all the Abdul Kalam fans in the audience, but think about it. So many of us have left the country to make money, some might come back, have families and kids and dogs and an independent house in Besant Nagar. Why do we wait for some great person to come and give us speeches, instead of staying back and making a difference. Or even coming back, chucking everything, and getting into politics. You can make a difference. In my opinion, this man has been showing us dreams all along, and he will continue to do that. A person like Manmohan Singh is better than our APJ. Atleast he talks in terms of 1 year or 2 year roadmaps.

Any thoughts?

Shravan

Madhusudan Wites :
sometimes it is impossible to acheive certain things or expect so many things in a highly populated country like india. dont always look at countries much more developed than india--there are many more countries worse than india by all means(power,economy, poverty etc)(be proud) eg pakistan . india would have developed better if had used its wealth on developnment rather than fighing with pakistan .

and abt abdul kalam---i dont have much knowledge abt civics n politics --but i dont think a president has much rights(power) when a prime minister is working properly(or when there is no problem in the government.a president 70 years old n going to retire in 3 more yrs n maybe live for the next ten yrs cannot do much more than this---motivate us. our constitution is different(prime minister has more powers)---u shd have blamed the prime minister.what more can he do when he is like a rubber stamp.

some of his lines are not good enough---but some lines makes sense --like

"Do you have 10 minutes? Allow me to come back with a
vengeance. Got 10 minutes for your country? If yes,
then read; otherwise, choice is yours. You say that
our government inefficient. You say that our laws are
too old. You say that the municipality does not pick
up the garbage. You say that the phones don't work,
the railways are a joke, The airlines is the worst in
the world, mails never reach their destination. You
say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is
in absolute pits. You say, say and say. What do You do
about it? Take a person on his way to Singapore. Give
him a name - YOURS. Give him a face - YOURS. You walk
out of the airport and you are at your International
best. In Singapore you don't throw cigarette butts on
the roads or eat in the stores. You are as proud of
their Underground links as they are. You pay $5
(approx. Rs. 60) to drive through Orchard Road
(equivalent of Mahim Causeway or Redder Road) between
5 PM and 8 PM. You come back to the parking lot to
punch your parking ticket if you have over stayed in a
restaurant or a shopping mall irrespective of your
status identity. In Singapore you don't say anything,
DO YOU? You wouldn't dare to eat in public during
Ramadan, in Dubai. You would not dare to go out
without your head covered in Jeddah. You would not
dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchange in
London at 10 pounds (Rs. 650) a month to, "see to it
that my STD and ISD calls are billed to someone else".
You would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph (88 km/h) in
Washington and then tell the traffic cop, "Jaanta hai
main kaun hoon (Do you know who I am?). I am so and
so's son. Take your two bucks and get lost".You
wouldn't chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other
than the garbage pail on the beaches in Australia and
New Zealand. Why dont' You spit Pan on the streets of
Tokyo? Why don't You use examination jockeys or but
fake certificates in Boston??? We are still talking of
the same You.

You who can respect and conform to a foreign system in
other countries but cannot in your own. You who will
throw papers and cigarettes on the road the moment you
touch Indian ground. If you can be an involved and
appreciative citizen in an alien country, why cannot
you be the same here in India?"

india has got much more respect in foreign land---atleast among some people---some people respect the indian culture, love the indian food, keep telling sachin n harbhajan r legends n stuff

u know what india is going to develop automatically if u n me r going to do our work properly like the rest of the indians and when we forget about the patriotism we need some motivation like this.

i am not a apj fan or something -- i am not going to swear that i am going to make a difference to india or something--i will do what i can when i feel i can. i can atleast try to teach some person some lesson who is less patriotic to the country than me or keep country clean by keeping myself clean n not littering .when i came to india this july i had the freedom to drive my car faster than ever bfore--play loud music--which i couldnt do in australia for a while. india is total freedom.

if 1 lakh people had read this message of abdul kalam n 1000 people had thought they could make a difference---best of luck ---why discourage them by sending such a mail shravan

so thats abt it
my sembreak has started so totally jobless for the whole of next week


AND FINALLY I WRITE :

interesting thought provocing thread...

answers to some of the Qs raised by fella Shravan:
(1) First of all, whats with the message "APJ Abdul Kalam's Indians"? Im an Indian. Just an Indian!
-->>must be a typo dude...

(2) why does this man keep giving the same speech in every forum that he is invited to! ...., .......
--> this speech has been in the cyber space for a quite a long time ....due credits to the 'great forwarders' who have kept the spirits truly alive by sending the message again and again.

(3) Is this man really a patriot? I dont really know.....blah...blah..
-->what kinda Q is this dude....nwayz i will try to answer it..read on

lemme not bore you with the mundane thoughts in this thread, rather lemme bore you with my perceptions of
it ;)

On sep 5th , i saw the address to Nation by Mr.Kalam...saw the great man citing examples from the Einstein-moluchowski equation for molecular diffractions/diffusion..etc etc...it was an awsum speech which i presume every student must 'observe'.....we need people like Mr.Kalam...the problem is that we need to rationalize the people who work-on-par with Kalam.I was greatly impressed by his address.However, I do accept that the present constitution demands that our Prez be mere rubber-stamp.

No argument is complete without a refernce to our Neighbour China....whenever i cite examples from China , it doesnt mean that i am a supporter of the Red Nation...i am rather a supporter of radical philosophy. There was this show " the Big Fight" last week in NDTV in which Mr.ChoRamasamy and a couple of other buerocrats were arguing about the failure of Democracy in India--it was awsum..Its not that the we have lost faith in democracy....in fact we have lost faith in the Politicians who happen to 'represent' us.What india needs is not an emergency or a dictator. India needs a 'Social Revolution' which can upturn the future of this mighty nation.China was a Communist nation ,with the nation going berserk....the Social revolution brought it back on track.....things changed and are continuing to change ...now China is one of the strongest economies....so are many of the South-Eastern Countries...

Indians want and cherish Mediocrity...in fact we are so passionate being mediocre that we dont want anything else....we dont think 'out of the box'-- this is an issue raised by many outsourcing companies, since we dont try to think outside of what has been assigned to us.Lemme make a clarification here -- i am in no way referring to the Mgmt Consultants or research fraternity in India -- as I strongly feel that we are much better than the rest of the world in terms of 'fundamentals'.

what we indians lack is Discipline...we along feel that <<"when i came to india this july i had the freedom to drive my car faster than ever bfore--play loud music--which i couldnt do in australia for a while. india is total freedom.">>> is freedom. It is this conception,rather 'misconception', of the term that has led us to raise ballyhoos whenever we are
denied the permission to do something. We start shouting that "India is a free nation and we are free to do anything that we feel like". Following the ethics , i have to site an example from China -- as most of you might be knowing that china has a compulsory Military training for all its Citizens...children have to attend it before they graduate from schools. There was this beautiful program in Discovery a few years back showing the kind of rigorous exercises that kids had to undergo. Some of them even fainted. But this does not dither the Govts' policies. I strongly support this kind of a regimen.

last but not the least...we need to cherish our CULTURE...i know many of you might be raising your eyebrows now....I am greatly offended by the columns in some papers like Deccan Chronicle etc...which dedicate a full page for pics from Bars/pubs.I dont think this is absolutely necessary.Further worse ...Blore Times is nothing more than mere soft-porn.I am sure many of you will be differing with my idealogy, but nwayz ...By culture i dont mean that you deny your right to booze etc etc...Simply i mean --"Think Global , Act Local".

am sure this particular thread can go on indefinitely and i presume i have made an honest attempt to convey some of the thoughts which i strongly believe in and and hope many of you would also concur with it.....am terminating my post abruptly out here for ur grey cells to ponder...

--vEnkAt

again Googling...

I found this awsum site that talks a lot about snippets/facts that people would not be aware abt GOOGLE....check this out :
http://men.style.com/gq/features/full?id=content_422

A World without Google !!!

Google has almost become synonymous to the cry 'F1'(FYI : Save me!!). watever v dont know v end up searching on the net...the lingo being used is -"just google" -- u will end up finding almost all kinds of stuff from Grandma's favourite cookery recipe to NASA's Opportunity and Spirit and also about Britney spear's child ;-)

I just cannot imagine a world without Google.....so i dont think i can write much on the "would be world - without Google". But my extra-sensory perceptions do say that a World without Google will be no world at all ;-)

The Isolated Frog Syndrome

The Isolated Frog Syndrome
----------------------------------

Before you start reading this text, let me make a disclaimer : I am not sure if the the term 'The Isolated Frog Syndrome' already exists in the English Vocabulary. If it exists then my most humble apologies to the author for inventing this 'beautiful' phrase - there was no intent of plagiarization over here...and I respect the IPRs of the author; However If the phrase does not already exist, then I do have the copyright(or left) of the usage of the word. However, for the sake of the general audience I have 'opened' the copyright so that you can use them in your day-2-day vocabs; But do give the credits to me for coining this rather 'funtastic' phrase which you will find tempting to use in various connotations.

Now coming to the actual phrase and wat it exactly means ...etc ..etc.........

My initial professional career in the IT Industry saw many ppl. I had the opportunity to work with the top brass.I learnt a lot of ppl management and 'handling' skills.It was during my stay here that I made an interesting observation. Let me share my revelations with you (am I sounding like the 'AGENT'...nway...) :

I found that the managers are essentially are of 2 kinds :

one who have the 'real' xperience - this they would have gained by working in various indutries and with a variegated working environment. They know the intricacies of the term 'management' and set a precedent by their style of functioning and working. They are leaders and managers in the true sense of the word.

The other class of 'managers' sprout from the relatively 'uncharted' waters of the industry...that is these are the managers that are homebred or homegrown. They would have become managers by due to the sheer 'lack' of compeitition in the firm, for which they have been serving since time-immemoorial.They have high visibility in the organization and can control(or rather 'handle') the resources with relative ease - due to their POWER.


The term 'The Isolated Frog Syndrome' denotes the second class of managers.The problem with this class of managers is that since they lack the vision of the outside world , they tend to feel and start practicing the traditions of the company; the irony here is that , it is in fact these ppl who set the traditions of the company. The result of this trend setting is that, if a fresher joins in this 'well'(the firm), then the 'frog'(who is our manager) directs him that the outside world is not what he thinks; in fact our frog doesnt even know wat is happening in the 'real' world. Due to this, if our buddy 'guest'(fresher) happens to question some of the rather idiosyncratic actions / behaviours of the frog, he is reprimanded and is reminded by the frog that he better confim to the culture of the firm(the well) and take the pride in being a part of this phenomenon.

But time has its own due course. One day our buddy(fresher), decides that he is going to have a taste of the outside world and going to seek 'nirvana' from the WELL.The WELL remains a mute spectator.

Hi....

Its been real long since I have blogged...almost 3-4 weeks..was busy with some stuff and cudnt activate my grey cells to perform some stupendous verbal jugglery

nway...life is simply bindas....and I am living every moment of it...

Ponderings (Part - 1)...

This is my second blog in a day...goes to show the height of joblessness...or should I say the "intellectual prowess" that is going to sprout in another intriguing piece of freely flowing text.....whetever the reader is the winner, as he is going to understand and decipher the complex processes that do exist in this world( I dont blieve in self appraisals !!!).

Trying to comprehend the most unfathomable processes has been one of man's desires; with his curiosity, often resulting in an invention or discovery that again results in another round of arguments / proofs / corollaries etc.....the viscious circle continues, with one invention trying to outsmart another. Right from the early days of the stone age to the modern IT age (or the information/knowledge age as it known), the quest for knowledge and more knowledge continues. With this hunger has come the desire to vanquish all the obstacles that has come in his way, without worrying about the possible cons that might have a deleterious affect one day.

I have often tried to excogotate on some of the phenomenons that have caused a turn around in the course that the modern man taken.

In the forthcomings blogs I will try to understand these complex thought processes; the way these sprout, nourish, develop, affect others, and finally fade into this colossal universe along with other processes.

PS : i luv the term - "THOUGHT PROCESS" - probably this is going to be the name of the firm that i am going to start..Thought Process Inc......hehehe!!!

Abject Surrender to Defeat...

I presume my first blog was a bit too heavy; I had no intentions of making it sound complicated or incomprehensible, it is just that the blog got complicated(an involuntary action)...probably I will try to be much more terrestrial in my forthcoming blogs(ponderings in fact)...

As I sat down today in front of the 'famous' Idiot Box and was surfing the channels, I was surprised to see that almost all the News channels had the India's Defeat at the hands of Pakistan in the 3rd Test Match as the headline ; the scrolling bars at the bottom of all the TV channels were establishing this fact in their own ways.....repeating the tormenting headline again and again.

I was also a spectator...a mute spectator...along with another probably a million ppl around the world, seeing the Indian team 'snatching' defeat from the otherwise 'young' Pak Team.I was completely shattered seeing the dismal performance of the Indian Team.I had been to my frndz place for Lunch at around 12:30 pm..I had left from his place arnd 13:00hrs by the time I reached office(tat is in another 15mins) , India had already lost 2 wkts. I knew that a defeat was inevitable. India had already lost its 4 'star' batsmen - Sehwag, Sachin, Rahul, Laxman. I lost the sympathy that I had towards the Indian team -- this was a totally irresponsible performance.

I reached home in the eve, and my Dad informed me of the already known result.I saw one of the spectators carrying the poster of Ganguly's achievement - " GANGULY - YOU HAVE DOUBLED YOUR SCORE- GUD LUCK"...yeah, Ganguly had doubled his score....from 1 in the prev Innings to 2 in the present one.I had nothing to comment.The channels were reprimanding Gagnguly in their own soft words - questioning his ability to lead a team and also to perform.His ability to perform in Test matches was already a cause of concern.

Under these circumstances, the 'star' batsmen are also to be blamed for such a pathetic performance.The team was unable to perform for a complete day on a pitch that was otherwise dead , except for a few cracks; with Arhsad/Kaneria/ Afridi taking full advantage of the ultra-defensive attitude of the Indian Players.

Indians lost the match when they had decided of taking the match to a draw by adhering to an ultra-defensive attitude. Inzi took advantage of this mindset and placed 7 players around the batsman and increased the pressure. Indians are to be blamed for increasing the pressure on themselves.Kumble's innings was commendable as he was free with his shots and was also having an open mind.

I can crap more on this topic....but dont think this deserves much attention. ;-)

My First Blog

Assuming that the assupmtions are truly unassuming and are characterized by an inherent inclination to the totally unscrupulous and belligerent meaning associated with this universe,my grey cells suddenly dwelve into the fanatsies of the mind. The thought-processes and the associated side effects are truly worth mentioning as my neurotic cells try to churn up the dormant intellectual ideas and try to bring the torpid Shakespere out. This biological unrest is not the result of a catclysmic event, but is simply due to the mental gymnastics and gyrations that have been sleeping for the past 22 years, triggered by a sudden whistle heard somewhere in the cerebral quarters.

If you have become tired of reading all the sesquipedalian words and the relatively pychic timbre, you dont have to worry about the author (his mental state particularly), as HE(which is obviously me!!!!) is simply trying to be impressive and is trying to cast his first impressions on the relatively bovine readers and is trying to cast a spell on them.

As I try to concieve of a topic to pen down my feelings at this very moment, my noetic tissues are faced with the complex laws of Quantum Bogodynamics , with the bogons trying to show off their inertia on my reader's intellectual capital(the same old bovine reader!!!).

Now the bogons have started affecting me....i am signing off......plan to continue tomorrow.... ciao


PS : Finally i have accomplished wat i wanted to do for a long time....my truly first blog...