Been a month since I blogged. So here's what has been happening lately.

• Became close friends with an Ethiopian (Abd) - to be honest, my first impression was that Abd was a "Wise Man"
  
• Thanks to Abd, got to party in a place he called "Sector-13" of Chandigarh
  
• Been working/partying, working/partying, working/partying
• G and I are totally out of touch (the distance factor coming into play, yet again
  
• Nishant was back in City Beautiful
  
• Gave shelter for three days to some "Homeless" friends ('twas the landlady, not their fault they say :D
  
• Conceded that "I have a habit that I'm not really proud of..."
  

Coincidence, fate or destiny?

I had never planned to come here (in city beautiful:) nor had I planned to go to Poona. More than coincidences I have always been a believer of fate or something of what you call destiny. In college, Sam used to tell me this thing - "You are the maker of your own destiny". I could never convince Sam that destiny is what drives me and has/will take me to places where I never thought I would be.

So here I am Sam, with a story. Trying to convince you once again, as to why I believe in destiny :)

One night the film-maker Rui Guerra, was talking with his friends in a house in the interior of Mozambique. The country was at war, and so everything - from petrol to electric light - was In short supply.

To pass the time they started talking about what they would like to eat. Each of them described his or her favorite food; and when it came to Rui's turn, he said: 'I'd like to eat an apple', knowing that, because of rationing, it was impossible to find any fruit at all.

At that precise moment, they heard a noise, and a beautiful, shiny apple rolled into the room and stopped in front of him!

Later, Rui discovered that one of the girls who live there had gone out to buy some fruit in the black market. As she came up the stairs, she tripped and fell, the bag of apples she had bought split open, and one of the apple had rolled into the room.

Sam, if you say that's mere coincidence, that would be a very poor word to explain this story.

A few more hrs and this week will be "officially" over! Phew, the weekend is finally here.

Quotes of the week:-

• "Bad news guys! I've left the keys of the gate in Captain's car and the landlady has locked it!"
• "Sorry Jimmy, I thought it was my phone. Will come and give it as soon as i'm back in Chandigarh" (not S's fault actually, we both use an 1100)
• "Jimmy-a chu i ngaihawm dawn hle mai", said Fela, the night before he left for Delhi. Jimmy,
• you'll be really missed!
• "Why are you leaving this place?"
• "Uncle ka mood kharab hoga, varna aunty to aapko apne beta jaisa dekhti hain!" said my maid. Uncle (landlord) must be in a bad mood, that's why - Aunty sees you as her own son - (Don't kid me lady!)

List of things to do this weekend:-

1. Get a hair cut (first priority)
2. Go with Captain to the construction site where he's getting some work done
3. Ask landlady if Uncle Really wants me to leave
4. If landlady (Aunty) says Uncle really meant it, then "Things to do" No. 2 is scrapped!

Been limping the whole week 'cause of a minor fracture. My feet have been hurting like hell. I'm going to drink the pain away with Cap'n and R at Aerizzona.

The Last Ride Together

Cap'n asked me to search for this poem last Weekend. Well, we read it aloud (with some guests around :P )

Cap'n told me that it was written by some *Robert*
Robert Browning - (1812–1889), it turned out to be!

Yep! 'twas written a long time ago!

I finally concluded with Cap'n that we aren't good in *PURE* English!

BTW, this poem talks about the "last ride" that the poet wishes to have (with his Woman) before it's "time to go" for him (Cap'n told me that the poet is dying!)
-----------------------------------

*COPIED AND "shamelessly" PASTED*

-----------------------------------

I SAID—Then, dearest, since ’tis so,
Since now at length my fate I know,
Since nothing all my love avails,
Since all, my life seem’d meant for, fails,

Since this was written and needs must be— 5
My whole heart rises up to bless
Your name in pride and thankfulness!
Take back the hope you gave,—I claim
Only a memory of the same,
—And this beside, if you will not blame; 10
Your leave for one more last ride with me.

My mistress bent that brow of hers,
Those deep dark eyes where pride demurs
When pity would be softening through,
Fix’d me a breathing-while or two 15
With life or death in the balance: right!
The blood replenish’d me again;
My last thought was at least not vain:
I and my mistress, side by side
Shall be together, breathe and ride, 20
So, one day more am I deified.
Who knows but the world may end to-night?

Hush! if you saw some western cloud
All billowy-bosom’d, over-bow’d
By many benedictions—sun’s 25
And moon’s and evening-star’s at once—
And so, you, looking and loving best,
Conscious grew, your passion drew
Cloud, sunset, moonrise, star-shine too,
Down on you, near and yet more near, 30
Till flesh must fade for heaven was here!—
Thus learnt she and linger’d—joy and fear!
Thus lay she a moment on my breast.

Then we began to ride. My soul
Smooth’d itself out, a long-cramp’d scroll 35
Freshening and fluttering in the wind.
Past hopes already lay behind.
What need to strive with a life awry?
Had I said that, had I done this,
So might I gain, so might I miss. 40
Might she have loved me? just as well
She might have hated, who can tell!
Where had I been now if the worst befell?
And here we are riding, she and I.

Fail I alone, in words and deeds? 45
Why, all men strive and who succeeds?
We rode; it seem’d my spirit flew,
Saw other regions, cities new,
As the world rush’d by on either side.
I thought,—All labour, yet no less 50
Bear up beneath their unsuccess.
Look at the end of work, contrast
The petty done, the undone vast,
This present of theirs with the hopeful past!
I hoped she would love me; here we ride. 55

What hand and brain went ever pair’d?
What heart alike conceived and dared?
What act proved all its thought had been?
What will but felt the fleshly screen?
We ride and I see her bosom heave. 60
There’s many a crown for who can reach.
Ten lines, a statesman’s life in each!
The flag stuck on a heap of bones,
A soldier’s doing! what atones?
They scratch his name on the Abbey-stones. 65
My riding is better, by their leave.

What does it all mean, poet? Well,
Your brains beat into rhythm, you tell
What we felt only; you express’d
You hold things beautiful the best, 70
And pace them in rhyme so, side by side.
’Tis something, nay ’tis much: but then,
Have you yourself what’s best for men?
Are you—poor, sick, old ere your time—
Nearer one whit your own sublime 75
Than we who never have turn’d a rhyme?
Sing, riding’s a joy! For me, I ride.

And you, great sculptor—so, you gave
A score of years to Art, her slave,
And that’s your Venus, whence we turn 80
To yonder girl that fords the burn!
You acquiesce, and shall I repine?
What, man of music, you grown gray
With notes and nothing else to say,
Is this your sole praise from a friend, 85
‘Greatly his opera’s strains intend,
Put in music we know how fashions end!’
I gave my youth: but we ride, in fine.

Who knows what’s fit for us? Had fate
Proposed bliss here should sublimate 90
My being—had I sign’d the bond—
Still one must lead some life beyond,
Have a bliss to die with, dim-descried.
This foot once planted on the goal,
This glory-garland round my soul, 95
Could I descry such? Try and test!
I sink back shuddering from the quest
Earth being so good, would heaven seem best?
Now, heaven and she are beyond this ride.

And yet—she has not spoke so long! 100
What if heaven be that, fair and strong
At life’s best, with our eyes upturn’d
Whither life’s flower is first discern’d,
We, fix’d so, ever should so abide?
What if we still ride on, we two 105
With life for ever old yet new,
Changed not in kind but in degree,
The instant made eternity,—
And heaven just prove that I and she
Ride, ride together, for ever ride?

Will Power

Happened to read this today. Hilarious!

It's good to have a weak will power, it keeps the hope alive...

Life never stops

However philosophical you may get, but (and oh! what a bit but) always take chances while you can and always should.

Mirror, Mirror on the wall

"Ok! can you look at yourself in the mirror and say that you don't LIE and that you don't PRETEND?"

Copied this quote from Rupen actually! Thanks Rupen :o)

Katie "Holmes"

We met in a restaurant around dinner time. 'twas the place and time when/where you had those "Poona University" students stop by to grab their "non-homemade" dinner. As usual, I ended up placing an order for "Pomfret Fish".

As I savoured the fish and rice, SHE gave a hungry and helpless obligatory "meow".

That was Katie. A tiny, skinny, and orphan kitten. I looked at her, and gave that "oh! so cute!" smile. Finally, I smeared some pieces of the fish with my fingers and dropped them on the floor. As with all cats, she gave those casual meows as she ate, probably appreciating my gesture, and savouring the food. She was trying her best to chew the fish and I knew that she didn't have any teeth, but I guess the hunger took over. As I finished my dinner, I saw her sitting by my chair and my benevolence and instinct took over. Yes, I took her home with me.

Here's Katie playing with a "brown-colored" grasshopper :o)

She was with me for about 4 months-till the day I left Poona.

I'm not in Poona anymore, but I've been told that she still gives that shrill :meow: :meow: whenever she hears the sound of my room's door opening. :o(
I never thought that i'd love or for that matter, "like" a cat!

Hope she's doing well.

But a question still lingers, "Why was I scared to take her with me when I left Poona?"

Miss you Katie! :o)

My first MTV video

Out of a sudden desire, decided to watch the Don't Cry music video that I had purchased some three/four years back when I was in Mizoram. It was nostalgia at its best, as Don't Cry was the first music video that I got to watch on MTV and I can vouch for the fact that Guns n Roses were a band that made many of my (non-North Eastern) friends love rock n roll or for that matter, Heavy Metal.

Before MTV, I know most of my "non-North Eastern" friends, here in Delhi knew three bands (Umm, let's say artists).

1. Madonna
2. Michael Jackson
3. Wham!

Speaking of nostalgia,

1. What song/video makes you nostalgic?
2. What was the first video that you saw on MTV?

Political lessons

Our politician is nearing his retirement age and proudly feels that he has told his dear son the tricks of the trade. But then there still is this final lesson his son must learn.

So our politician asks his son to climb to the terrace. Son reaches the terrace, looks down at his father with a curious look.

"Now what?" he thinks

To the son's surprise, Father asks him to jump from the terrace.

"Bapu! are you crazy?"
"Just jump! don't you trust your own father? Don't you know what I'm doing?"
"Bapu! I'm not going to do this. This is too much!"
"If you don't jump, the ticket for that constituency isn't yours. PERIOD! And do you think that I won't help if anything happens to you?"

Son thinks, lifts himself and takes the plunge.
Politician father moves away, lets his son fall on the hard ground.

"Bapu! why did you do that? I trusted you?" son asks

"And you trusted a politician?"

My Blog...

... is screwed up!
Just like my life!

Is that what you wanted to say?

Big Company, an office that looks like a 5-Star hotel, and Coffee similar to the one you get in that so-called "Coffee Day" or "Barrista" joints. I love that Coffee house in Kamla nagar though (Delhi University).

Fresher joins this Big Company. A week passes, a month, and then a quarter. Fresher is "Khool", is intelligent, Boss calls him, "He can really do things and I love the way he charges up people around him". But-and oh! what a big but, he's "stupid" (I still think he was immature...), wears that Hare Rama, Hare Krishna T-shirt, sports a hair longer than Nuno Bettencourt, and oh, he sometimes looked like a BackPacker.

One day, Fresher reaches office, opens the door of his glass house office, presses the button of that elevator, waits, enters the elevator with a serious, executive-looking fellow. Executive-looking fellow presses the button of the elevator, the "Automatic" door of the elevator closes. First Floor, Second Floor, about to reach Third Floor...

Executive-looking fellow looks at our Fresher, his hairdo and finally speaks out.

"Do you work for Me?"

Kasol, Manikaran and villages like Kalga...

Oh well, this happened some 2 weeks back.
"So are we going?", I sms Gaurav at 2 AM
"Yes we are" he replied.
Our plan was to leave at 4 in the morning, so we could pick up Samar on the way, who would be waiting for us in Jalandhar.

I've always liked trips that have an uncertainty surrounding them. So Gaurav gets up at 7 in the morning and calls up.
"Yes, Jimmy have you guys got up?"
"What time is it?"
"Brother! its 7 now, I'm reaching there in another 10 minutes. You guys get ready. Ok?"

Nothing is really far in Chandigarh and well, Gaurav did reach my place within 10 mins.
Nishant and I do our packing (well, kind of :P)

It was a 10 hr drive to Kasol about which I won't talk at length.

Kasol was our first stop-A 10 hour drive from this place. A typical north-indian hill station-hills, rivers, pahadi folks, some fancy hotels promising you an experience of a home away from home. Hey I thought came here to get away?

What struck me most about Kasol was the presense of Israeli hotels and restaurants. Israeli breakfast, Israeli dinner, hotels name Israeli Hotel, and restaurants named Rasta Restarant. Another surprising thing was that most of the billboards were also written in Hebrew.

So we booked a hotel-Deep Forest was the name, cleaned up ourselves (kind of :P) and sat for dinner and drinks on the hotel lounge. I faintly remember that there was this World Cup match being played on the big screen (Tunisia was playing some team :P) and a song called G**nd Mara de was playing on the background-it was in the tune of a Bhajan song.

I surveyed the area and ended up sitting with an Israeli couple who asked me where I came from.
"Mizoram yada yada..."
"Oh Mizoram, isn't that the place where there was this talk about the Manashe tribe?"
"Oh well, that's speculation, not every Mizo believes it though"
"Its funny, you know. We come here to get away from the violence of our country and there are guys in your tribe who wanna go there?"

Next stop- Manikaran and Kalga... :o)

The man who fell asleep

So here's the URL:-

http://www.themanwhofellasleep.com/invisibilia.html

If you're into art, illustration, and photography, do visit this site. What this fellow does is replace people in real-life photographs with illustrations. It may seem like a simple idea, but yes, the results are cool.

Hello, strangers of the internet. This page is a gallery of pictures. The pictures are simple enough: the people in the photos have been digitally removed and replaced with drawings. Yeah, I know: anyone can trace a drawing. But so what? I am doing it, and you're not. You're sitting at home doing nothing. Or maybe you're surfing the web at work. I don't know. I'm not psychic.

Maybe the pictures illustrate the idea that we all want to remove ourselves from life, and replace ourselves with fictional, self-created versions of ourself. We want to fictionalise our own existence, and impose order and narrative where there is none.

:o)

Quentin Tarantino and other geniuses

Watched Kill Bill II for the umpteenth time last night and I wondered why Qeuntin Tarantino has never won an Oscar? I guess he always has had the wrong luck of making films at the same year when sell-able and blockbuster movies are released. Take for example the year when Pulp Fiction was pitted against Forrest Gump? Now that's unlucky.

I guess he will just go down in History as another great director who never won an Oscar. Another genius is Oliver Stone and his trippy movies. His Natural Born Killers is still my all time favorite and Oh! the soundtrack of the movie rocked! The album was produced by none other than another genius-Trent Reznor -the one man band called Nine Inch Nails and a person with whom I proudly share my birthday-17 May.

Here's my favorite part of Kill Bill Vol 2, where Bill shoots the Bride using a dart filled with what he called, the "Infallible Truth Serum".

Bill: As you know......l'm quite keen on comic books. Especially the ones about superheroes. I find the whole mythology surrounding superheroes fascinating.

Take my favorite superhero, Superman.

Not a great comic book. Not particularly well-drawn.
Mmm.
But the mythology...
The mythology is not only great, it is unique.

The Bride: How long does this shit take to go into effect?

Bill: About two minutes. Just long enough for me to finish my point. Now, a staple of the superhero mythology is, there's the superhero and there's the alter ego.
Batman is actually Bruce Wayne, Spider-Man is actually Peter Parker. When that character wakes up in the morning, he's Peter Parker. He has to put on a costume to become Spider-Man. And it is in that characteristic Superman stands alone.

Superman didn't become Superman. Superman was born Superman. When Superman wakes up in the morning, he's Superman. His alter ego is Clark Kent. His outfit with the big red "S" - that's the blanket he was wrapped in as a baby when the Kents found him. Those are his clothes. What Kent wears - the glasses, the business suit - that's the costume. That's the costume Superman wears to blend in with us. Clark Kent is how Superman views us.

And what are the characteristics of Clark Kent? He's weak......he's unsure of himself...he's a coward. Clark Kent is Superman's critique on the whole human race.
Sorta like Beatrix Kiddo and Mrs. Tommy Plimpton.

You would've worn the costume of Arlene Plimpton. But you were born Beatrix Kiddo. And every morning when you woke up, you'd still be Beatrix Kiddo. Oh, you can... take the needle out.

The Bride: Are you calling me a superhero?

Bill: I'm calling you a killer, A natural born killer.

Now, can anyone better such a thoughtful and intelligent script?

Dreamt of a strange thing last night

Man! I had one of the weirdest dreams last night. Can't recollect much of it, but here are some of the most interesting or memorable part/s
The situation: I was getting married.
No, not to one woman but to three women. And it had to be finished within a day. :p
As I was through with the ceremonies of the first wedding, which happened on the third floor of our house in Rohini, I descended the flight of steps and notice that there was a Bar cum Restaurant on the ground floor. It was quite similar to Rodeo's and I take her to the restarant and the feasts begin.
Oh! she looked beautiful. God only knows why she was wearing a bright red saree when the wedding ceremonies were conducted in christian fashion.
Can't remember much of what happened after that.
Suddenly, the dream transported me to another place. A place as surreal as Dali's paintings. Here I have my second wedding. Can't recollect the face of that woman, but I do remember her bright skin and big blue eyes. Oh, i forgot, she was wearing a burqa and she was very similar to that lady in Lucky Ali's video-can't recollect the song as of now.
As I try to lift her burqa and caress her hair, I have an itch in my neck and "Whoa! wake up Jimmy, you were dreaming." I wake up slowly, and wearily reach for my mobile and notice that it's only three in the morning.
"Some dream that was...", I thought with a smile.
I thought of firing up a cigarette and recollect the wonderful and surreal dream. But then, reality reminded me something.
"There's a client call tomorrow. Try to get some more sleep, you have to reach the office at eight."

Loneliness

Loneliness: a disposition toward being alone. One of the main reasons I left Poona was because the city was killing me. Everyday, I would come back from office, and then a question would hit my head-what next? Wash my clothes? nope, i had a dhobi at hand. Cook? No, I didn't have a kitchen. So what was the easiest way to kill time? "Booze Jimmy, go get a booze" I could hear the little devil on my left shoulder tell me that.

It was so easy to just go out to a cheap pub, pick up a drink and get sloshed out. Or at times, pick up alcohol and when the sense of loneliness hit me, I would end up calling up friends at home, or brothers, and at times calling up my online friends who hardly even knew me. What would I talk about? nothing important, just nonsensical blabber.

Now that I'm in Chandigarh, Delhi is just a 5-hour drive away and with a senior from college being a localite here, it has never been better. A few days back, Cecci was giong back to the US and we had a small discussion on loneliness and how it had it all of us. Cecci started the talk with his 2-year experience in Cyprus. He would talk about how his drinking habit almost killed him and about the time-pass escorts from Morocco and Lebanon. Captain talked about his 1 year stint in Paris where everyone would talk in French and how his french colleagues would suddenly change their posture when he joined them for a cup of coffee.

Could be continued... :D

The Govt. Contract

A, B, and C finally get a break. After building contacts and through the influence of some people, they are awarded a govt contract.
But there's a catch.
ABC's firm-let us now call them govt contractors-will finish the work in 6 months and will give 1/6th of the "govt-sanctioned" money to X, a govt officer, who will then award the contract to A, B, and C's firm.
Work starts and 6 months later, some progress is made.
So, ABC request the govt that a part of the payment be released as some progress has been made and there are salaries and bills to pay.
After a number of visits to X's office and some chit chats over a cup of "Sarkari office" tea, X-the govt officer- finally agrees to release 2/6th of the payment.
One year into the project, ABC's firm is still not paid any extra penny. The firm isn't going anywhere and 'A' decides to pick up a 9 to 5 job, leaves the firm, and tells B and C that he can't go on.
Some 8 months later, A and B meet each other at a friend's wedding.
To his surprise, B tells A that there were no other payments made.
"A, you don't know the number of visits C and I made to X's office. All I can tell you is that X and his secretary took the rest of the unbilled amount, theives!"
Because A and his friends were part of a corrupt deal, they knew they couldn't do anything about it.
So here are some questions:

• Should A, B, and C have agreed to do the project at all?
• Was B right in calling the officer a theif?

Sitting in my cubicle...

Sitting in my cubicle
I realize I have an entry to make
I try to find an inspiration
Or come up with an idea

I know not of what to think
Then it dawned on me
How hard it is
To find ideas for a blog
When you are sitting in the office


That has got to be one of the silliest poems.
Have a wonderful weekend!

Johari Window

Well, this is one tool that Jimmy has never come across. Tool? ok, call it a method if you will. Jimmy is told that it/this is named after its inventors-Joe and Harry. Simple eh?
Turns out that this thing/method/tool is used as a tool to help people or a team-as they say in Jimmy's corporate world-understand each other better.
If you're interested and want to know more, Click here.
So Boss informs the team that he would be explaining this thing/tool/concept in the next Knowledge Sharing session. And so it happened.
Boss comfortably leans back in his chair and proudly opens up the powerpoint presentation on Johari Window. After a lonnnnggg presentation, Boss asks each person attending the session to jot down some questions and write down their answers. Of course, it had to be secret.
So here are the questions:

1. What is your favorite color?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What makes you angry?
4. What makes you sad?
5. What makes you happy?

Each person in the session is asked to guess what the other person might have written. The purpose of the exercise was to make out,"Do you really know the person you're working with?". Jimmy was lucky as usual. He is asked to guess his Boss' answers and well, he gets it all wrong. :(

1. Boss' favorite color? Green and NOT Blue. Jimmy had guessed blue because Boss was wearing a Navy blue shirt that day.
2. Boss' favorite food? Dal Makhani NOT Chicken Manchurian
3. What makes Boss happy? Watching children play and NOT a project delivered on time. "Hmmm, he does have a heart!", Jimmy thinks.
4. What makes Boss sad? Seeing beggars on the road and not Poverty. Jimmy was close.
5. What makes you angry? Inefficienct people and NOT someone unpunctual

After the session, Jimmy thinks if he can get it all correct for, say his girlfriend? all he can do is guess, guess, and make more guesses.

What about you?

Some mails really make or break your day!

My writing/authoring debut happened about three and half years back and this is one incident that happened when one of the books that I had authored was supposed to be shipped to the client.
Believe me, if its a delivery date, Goof-ups are bound to happen!
So here's a portion of the mail I received around four in the afternoon. A mail that really made me wish I wasn't in office!

Jimmy,

You have shown carelessness and immense irresponsibilily in going through the comments and fixes that I have suggested. You have left about 10 comments unfixed. What do you want me to do with these? We have already had two rounds of reviews and this is how you plan to ship the document? I refuse to go through this document.

Regards,
ABC

Of course, this lady had CC'd this mail to my Boss. It still beats me as to why she added "regards".
Before I could explain my reason for not fixing the comments, Boss had already shot a mail!

Guys,

What is happening? We cannot afford such mistakes at this stage. You are all aware that we have to ship the documents today. Please take ownership of your individual documents/books-they have to be ZERO-DEFECT and in PERFECT condition. Jimmy, get in touch with ABC and fix/clarify the comments at the earliest. No one is going home till your documents are ready.

Regards,
Boss

So I go over to ABC's workstation and tell her my reason for not fixing the comments. My explanation? what she had suggested was technically incorrect!
It's a different thing that Boss and me were in the office till One in the Morning!!

I guess I have made some progress over the years and three years and some months later, this is a mail I get from a our client in the US - a lady who has been very supportive.
These are the kind of mails that really make your day!!

Please! I'm not showing off!

Hi Jimmy,

...Are you interested in Editor work? My plan is to have support people for each role. Since you learned the styles so quickly and are such an excellent Writer, I think making you an Assistant Editor makes sense. (I hope the “assistant” does not insult you.).
As a .Net Writer, do you find the Java 4.8 training useful? Is it starting to make sense? I know the whole team appreciates your good work, and no one more than me.

Regards...


If you are in an industry where the activity of conveying information is through mails, mails, and more mails, I guess you'll understand what I mean.

My Childhood friends

My childhood friends. It's almost 11 years since I left that neighborhood and I don't think I'll ever meet them again.
These are names with which their parents/relative lovingly called them. :o)

1. Sonoo: A Xavier-ian, fat kid, and the bully of the neighbourhood. Sometimes it was his gang asking us to leave the badminton court, so they can play or sitting in the corner of the court and deliberately irritating us by making fun of our game or at times refusing to give back our Cricket ball if it fell into his garden. Its a different thing that by 10th grade we were good friends. We once had some of his dad's Scotch during our 10th grade board exams. That was my first taste of alcohol actually.
2. Teetoo: A Xavier-ian, quite dark, and later moved on to IIT-D. The most intelligent amongst us. "The lights of your room were switched ON till 2 AM, what were you studying?"-See what I mean?
3. Kannoo: Another Xavier-ian, skinny kid and not very bright. I remember opening a comics and novel rental store in our garage during our summer holidays. :o)
4. Tikkoo: DIP'site (DPS). Intelligent and a great athlete. I still recall the days when we would run off to Chhatrasal stadium for our tennis games. God! I was obsessed with this game.
5. Tilloo: A Bihari and a Modern'ite (Modern School). On Sundays he would be shouting at the top of his voice with Tikkoo, "Jimmy!! come fast and don't forget to bring the bat and wickets along!!"
6. Cheekoo: Tilloo's younger brother. He was five years younger than all of us. It still puts a smile in my face when I think of him trying to imitate Azhar or say Merv Hughes.
7. Ranju: My schoolmate and my idol at school. I think he was 4 yrs my senior and was the captain of our football team. My only source of Archies and DC comics.
8. Vaibhav: St Columbus kid who helped me out during a science project. I think we called it "Plant water detector".
   
9. Sonoo: The only daughter of a Punjabi family, and 2 years our senior. “Bee-ji says I can’t come out and play. I have to behave and act like a grown up” :o)
10. Binu: The only person I'm in touch with. A friend from school and though he didn't live in our neighborhood, but he'd always come over during weekends for a game of football or say, cricket. Can't believe that we were friends from 3rd grade all the way to 12th.

This *Hna Nghet* Syndrome

It was a nice evening at the local Redi market and I was at a local dhaba ordering my daily dose of mutton chow. As I listened to the clatter of the cook, I noticed two Mizo students approaching the dhaba. As they sat and gave their orders, I realized that I had been introduced to these students before and exchanged the usual pleasantries with them. These boys knew that I am working and out of curiosity, one of the boys asked me where my office was and what the nature of my job is. I usually avoid talking shop outside the office, but since I was asked and as they seemed to be genuinely interested, I talked about my job, the profile and where I worked. From my part I tried to make the conversation as interesting as possible. "Maybe they are really interested", I thought.

And then it hit me like a needle in the head when one of them asked, "Hna nghet ami?", as in "Is it a permanent job?". I felt like asking the young man what he meant by a permanent job. It's a different matter that I didn't.

I knew what he meant. The question took me back to the 80's when we were encouraged to seek a permanent job. Their explanation of a permanent job? Well, it was government officer's job, a 9 to 5 one. Which from what I remember involved going to office, coming back, pick up the tabs at the end of the month and watch life as it passes by. The permanent job syndrome, as I call it, sounded so pleasant and was so much ingrained in my head that it even stopped me from taking many risks in life. Of course, it's a different story now.

It's almost 16 years after India opened its markets to the world-what amazed me was the fact that our young man was not aware of the changes taking place around the world that he lives-no discourtesy meant to anyone here. What also surprised me was the fact that, in today's globalized world, he was looking for a permanent job. Consider googling "Permanent Job". As of yesterday, the first link of the search result was this headline from the Washington Post- "Permanent Job Proves An Elusive Dream". The question that came to my mind was whether parents/relatives/teachers back home, as in Mizoram, are still encouraging our kids, and each other to look for a permanent job?

It's a whole different world from what we had in the 1980's and it's saddening that kids/students, like the one I just met, are being told, if not taught, to get that "permanent job". These days its all about being competitive and delivering something for what you are paid.

I'll sum up my thoughts by quoting two people I really admire.
Thomas Friedman, author of the best seller-The Worlds is Flat, wrote it this way:
"Girls, when I was growing up, my parents used to say to me, 'Tom, finish your dinner—people in China and India are starving.' My advice to you is: Girls, finish your homework—people in China and India are starving for your jobs."

"... we took/have taken away jobs from them (Americans/Europeans) and if your skills aren't up to the market or if you fail to upgrade your skills on a recurring basis, it's going to the Chinese. You think you have the English advantage? think again, English is a compulsory subject in China now! And believe me they will catch up with India in another seven years, if not earlier. If you are not prepared, you jobs are going there..."

You don't get ahead by standing still.

I love...

I love food,
I love going to the hills,
I love watching people in love,
I love my work.. to an extent actually!
I love being able to go home during the weekends,
I love her!

Adding a Flickr! slideshow to your blog

Found out a great way to add a Flickr slideshow to your blog. Sharing a few of my Flickr favorites.
Cool! isn't it?
Disclaimer: These are not my own pictures.
Pssst: to view the other pictures in the slideshow, move your mouse over the frame :o)

Know your Impact on Others

Yesterday was a better day at work. Today was quite different. 'twas one of those "Did Nothing" days. I feel guilty and at times, restless when I'm not productive or say not doing any work when I'm in the office. So you can say that I can sometimes get away with this:

To put it straight, I really didn't feel very good about it. I've been hired and am being paid to work. But to do away with my guilt, I guess I have a good explanation.

I wanted some topics to be removed from the user manual and had sent a mail to our client if she approves of it. Sadly, there was no reply from her end and my guess was that it was partly because she has been too busy.

My deadline is this Friday and whether I like it or not, I will have to complete it :o(

Sometimes people just don't think, or realise their impact on others.

Sunday Morning

Sunday, 8:30 AM, and my Nokia goes *BEEP* *BEEP*...*BEEP* *BEEP*.
A small vibration, and Voila! a new message!

"hi jimmy how r

thngs? got your num

from your bro wen

i ws in del. M

in Dubai dese days,

really miss u and

our Wonder Years

:) - Love Binu"

'twas a message and a contact from Binu after a gap of 7 years. Won't talk about who or what Binu is but he was there throughout my "Wonder Years". My first crush at school - Nija *sigh*, those fights with our seniors for snatching our TT table during lunch, or those silly jokes, like "Monal Salhotra".
I replied to his message with a smile and with a feeling of being someone special. :)
A few 10 minutes later, Shuksi calls up!! I knew it was Saturday night in his part of the world and well, 3AM. :D
Here's what the highligh of our talk was-"Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem". Its basically about a theorem demonstrated by the Czech-born mathematician Kurt Gödel in 1931.

Shamelessly pasting some of the contents from that website:-

..Kurt Gödel demonstrated that within any given branch of mathematics, there would always be some propositions that couldn't be proven either true or false using the rules and axioms ... of that mathematical branch itself.

Gödel's Theorem has been used to argue that a computer can never be as smart as a human being because the extent of its knowledge is limited by a fixed set of axioms, whereas people can discover unexpected truths ... It plays a part in modern linguistic theories, which emphasize the power of language to come up with new ways to express ideas. And it has been taken to imply that you'll never entirely understand yourself, since your mind, like any other closed system, can only be sure of what it knows about itself by relying on what it knows about itself.

What this says is that, in mathematics, there's always a true and a false. But beyond that there is this thing called incompleteness, which in a layman's term says that there are things that go beyond the usual "true or false".. and that there's are things that are neither true or false!
Go there, its a nice read and even if you're not a mathematician, you'd still find it interesting..."http://www.miskatonic.org/godel.html"

Thanks for calling Shux!
Love ya and come back soon. Captain Saab and me eagerly await your return. ;o) hope you had a Gute Nacht!
Some Sunday Morning it was! :o)

A relatively temporary state of feeling

I was out for a ciggy break and well, I could feel that gentle wind hit my face and small droplets of rain. Its been drizzling since yesterday and the weather is what I must say-Perfect. Not for some folks here in the office though, what with some Holi celebrations having been planned in the office premises and I guess there won't be much celebrations today. Maybe indoors but not outdoors, that's for sure!
Anyways, I more then welcomed the weather and would love to go to Delhi tomorrow. But then Sukhna Lake it will be! A friend has promised to get me some Bhang and just chill out at Sukhna lake. I'll be taking this derivative of cannabis, I don't know, maybe after 4 years.
Just read this line about Bhang:
"It is inevitable that temperaments should be found to whom the quickening spirit of Bhang is the spirit of freedom and knowledge"

BTW, Tomorrow's some holiday for a festival and I hated being at work today!

Chandigarh: The experience so far!

Just completed a month here in Chandigarh and the experience has been quite mixed. Finding a good room wasn't tough but the conditions laid out by most house owners were hard to comply with. No smoking, no drinking, no girls, and some conditions like, no entering the house after a certain time. Coming from Mizoram and having Asian looks, I was at times mistaken for a 'Nepali' and well, Sikhs don't have a very high opinion for "Nepalese" people.
Finally managed to find a good house but then as luck had it, the landlady saw me smoking in the balcony. And to add to that, we had a beer party at my new place with my friends here.
So, there was this nice talk that the landlady had with me the following day.
"Beta, you can always go to the park and smoke. And we don't have any problems with you partying with your friends here, just that, don't have drinks in the house, there are so many pubs and bars in Chandigarh!" Sweet lady she is.
Anyways, I'll be moving out from this place on the 15th of this month. My colleague is leaving his place and I'll be taking over the house from him by end-of-day, tomorrow. Its in sector 16 and is quite decent.
"You'll have your own entrance and the landlord doesn't bother you much. But don't tell them that you smoke. Mind you, no Sikh family will give their house for rent if you tell them that!" was the warning from my friend.
He added, "For that, there's sector-15".
Well, sector-15 is where most of the students studying in Punjab University live. I wanted to take a flat here, what with most of my fellow Mizos putting up in that area.
Captain Saab - a localite and a senior in college - has already expressed his desire to share a flat with me. I guess I won't be putting up in sector-16 for long. Let's see how things work out.

Groveling and being an Indian

Finally, the interviewer asks, "So would like to work with us?"
Candidate: Yes sir!
Interviewer: We don't use Sir and Madam here. We just call each other by their first names.
Candidate: Fine.
Candidate joins the company, months pass and the VP calls for a meeting and takes a seat. One couldn't help but notice his coughing.
Same interviewer: Sir! would you like to have some water?

If there were an Olympics on groveling, Indians would surely take the top slot. It just comes naturally to most Indians. My guess is that this probably has to do with the influence of British education.
So yesterday I happened to watch this archived interview of Sonia Gandhi with Barkha Dutt on Star News. As the interview proceeded, Barkha's body language clearly showed that Sonia Gandhi had awed her. One could notice "Ma'm" almost come out of her mouth. I bet she did utter the words backstage :p. Ok Ok! I really respect Barkha Dutt as a journalist but falling flat like that was something that was hard to digest.
When it comes to Vision 2010 (whatever that means!), groveling is something we Indians could do away with.

Good to know tip...

Received this today. Can't verify the authenticity, if you can do post your comments on this one.
PS: Applies only in India... ;o)

I was talking with a lawyer friend of mine. We were discussing the law and women’s rights. She told me about this incident in Pune - a young girl was raped by a man posing as a plain clothes officer; he asked her to come to the police station when she and her male friend didn't have a driver’s license to show. He sent the boy off to get his license and asked the girl to accompany him to the police station. Took her instead to an isolated area where the horrendous crime was committed.
In fact, the law clearly states that between 6 pm and 6am, a woman has the right to REFUSE to go to the Police Station, even if an arrest warrant has been issued against her. It is a procedural issue that a woman can be arrested between 6pm and 6 am, ONLY if she is arrested by a woman officer and taken to an ALL WOMEN police station. And if she is arrested by a male officer, it has to be proven that a woman officer was on duty at the time of arrest.
It is good for us to know our rights. To what extent it comes of use remains to be seen in any situation. But as they say, knowledge is power. Just thought I’d share this with you. I did not know this and I’m sure a lot of us don’t? Please be informed.
And guys please forward it to your girlfriends.

Bach Gaye!!

Jan 02: Reached today morning at 5am and was back to the usual grind. Was in office by 10:30 am and guess what? 87 unread mails!! It takes me about an hour to skim through the mails. I easily marked the irrelevant ones-some from the sysads ppl, some announcements from the HR dept-as Mark As Read without even looking at them. And then I read a mail from Boss that just makes my day!!

Hi Jimmy,
Going by the issues you have covered, I think, you have done a very good job.....
ABCD: Please understand from Jimmy the second part of the feedback. You may be able to enhance your writing style.

Well, that was a review I had done before I left for my christmas hols. This review was at the back of my mind even when I was in Delhi and I was awaiting the feedback..
Phew!! my first day of office in the new year and no goof-ups...Bach Gaye!!