Genesis of Thoughts

Tiruvasagam Oratorio

2005-07-11T14:36:00.000+05:30

Much awaited Tiruvasagam Oratorio has arrived. It's worth waiting for this grand work.

So far I've been blessed to pay only floral tribute. Maestro Ilayaraaja is blessed to give a very grand...really very grand musical tribute to Lord Shiva (with the help of Tiruvasagam). I really envy you, Maestro.

For a review, please visit:

http://cerebralshangrila.blogspot.com/2005/07/thiruvachagam-oratorio-review_05.html

Music or Mind?

2005-05-04T19:31:00.000+05:30

Someone has said this: "Life without music is like a journey in a desert". How true it's. Listening to one song revokes memories of time spent in a new land/country. Another song fetches memories of leaving home to a far place for work. Another song fetches memories of struggling period. According to "I'm OK, you're OK" author, mind is a magnetic tape. It records events when it's experienced and retrieves when it's needed. Nuance of what.? Mind or Music or Life?

Mind-reading machine

2005-04-28T18:35:00.000+05:30

"It is possible to read someone’s mind by remotely measuring their brain activity, researchers have shown". In fact, that's from newscientist.com. I'm not sure how far this will be helpful for somebody else, but, definitely for people like me, it will be helpful, may be with some added features. Whenever there's an urge to blog and a system is not accessible to blog, it can read the mind and blog. Isn't it too much? ;-). Well, thoughts pour in when there's no system. System is right in front but thoughts fail to pour in. Made my point? ;-)

Pros & Cons

2004-09-22T19:06:00.000+05:30

Most of us support "Privatisation" because of the poor service from public sector. Leave alone poor service. Its public servants' carelessness that most of us don't like. "Privatisation" has its own pros & cons like everything in the universe has.

I've been using set of corporate Credit Cards from a well known Credit Card company. All these credit card companies are, now-a-days, very aggressive in selling their EMI conversion product. Customers can pay back their outstanding in installments instead of the traditional one time or revolving methods. I've been using these cards for almost a year. So far, I've never had any complaint against them. Last time I used one of the cards for fabrics purchase that too just for 1000 bucks. When I received my statement for the month, I was really puzzled to see that my last transaction amount was converted to three EMIs'. I rang up their 24-hr call center to discuss about this ridiculous thing. I was really shocked when their representative said "Contact the merchant. It was the merchant who's converted this transaction to EMIs". Merchant? Who the heck he's to give such instruction? Finally, after I sang a "lullaby", he'd agreed to reverse it. How do I take it.? It's just a mistake of someone? Or it's their trick? Whatever be the case, I'm not going to leave them. Though it's a mistake from their side, one thing that most of us like to go for privatisation is, you have someone who's responsible.

Let me see whether they're really responsible.

Move....

2004-09-21T16:10:00.000+05:30

Our new facility in Cyber city is ready. We are in the process of occupying it in phases. I happened to visit it today. It really looks amazing with fabulous interiors & exteriors. I'm sure this is going to be the best facility among all our facilities in India. It's really huge, be it food court, reception, gymnasium or corridor. One can really get an idea as to what the growth is going to be in the years to come.

Not only our company has a fabulous facility in this rocky area. Few other companies too have excellent facilities. But, all of them are private firms. This really made me ponder. Had it been a Government undertaking/Organization, what would have happened? This kind of planning would be there? The area which is under construction would be this much clean? How it would look like after some time? It's a question of vision & professionalism.

Do we compare a lot now-a-days.? I don't think so. It's not comparison. It's their "yearning" to have this "good thing" in everything especially in Government Organizations.

After a long gap...

2004-09-15T16:34:00.000+05:30

I got transferred from one branch to another. It was the last day. I was early to office and on-line on an Instant Messenger. All of a sudden, IM window pops up with a message: "Care for a chat.?" from a girl. Mind had a scrolling electronic board on its back with questions like "packed everything? taken flight tickets? Handed over all documents?" since that evening I had to catch my flight to the other city. Ok, let me switch off this board for some time and try to know what this girl had to say, as it happens now-a-days, whenever I read their blogs/articles, "let me try to know what these girls say/know and do". After all initial and typical questions & answers, It was "Do you blog.?". "Blog, what is that?". Not an expected reply from a girl, who does her masters in the so-called silicon valley of India. "This is what it is..refer my blog.." Pat came the reply "It's fine. Tell me Why do you blog..." That's a difficult question. Though I told her (rather trying to convince her), it's a passion, good media for networking etc., the thing which left me pondering for some time was her "kid" like mind, want to know things, want to question and not easily convinced. Though still I say the same reasons for blogging, I'm not sure whether it was a co-incidence that I could not blog after that day.

As Robert Kiyosaki said, life really pushes us around. Last 8 months have been, as I was telling one my friends, like doing river rafting (after my two trips to white water rafting in The Ganges ;-) ), from losing a loved one to getting my loved one married after lot of struggle. But, when I look back now, it has been great, on a testing platform so far.

The area where my office is located, is surrounded by rocks. When I look outside from my window at office, there is always a question in my mind. What life tells me.? "You really rock" or "It's going to be rocky again".

Love Icon..!!!

2004-06-10T20:37:00.000+05:30

Finally, I could visit the place which I wanted to visit first after relocating to Delhi; it is the marvelous Taj Mahal. Worst part is I visited this place before relocating from Delhi. Yes, I would be off from Delhi in a weeks’ time. I’m moving back to Hyderabad where I had lived for nearly 2 years before coming to Delhi. With this trip, my aim to visit most of the places in North India has come to an end, may be, temporarily.

It was a good drive from Delhi to Agra, a good highway with uninterrupted mobile connectivity. Agra is a normal Indian city; one cannot expect it to be very attractive. Except Taj Mahal nothing here is attractive. Though there are some other places to visit, like Agra fort et al., we visited only The Taj Mahal. After set of security checks, the marvelous Taj Mahal is in front of your eyes. I’m sure one will start pondering after seeing Taj Mahal. This really shows how much Shajahan, one of the then princesses of India, loved his wife, Mumtaz. It is said that he started constructing Taj Mahal as a tribute to his wife after she died. It is believed that his empire was mourning for 2 years after she died. No wonder his love was a wonder (Still a wonder for many of us). That is the reason Taj Mahal is still ‘Wonder’ful. Not only Taj Mahal is losing its beauty, the adjacently flowing river yamuna is also losing its beauty. Before visiting Taj Mahal, my mind had a picture of all white Taj Mahal with impressive river Yamuna flowing adjacently. But, after this visit, my mind has lost that picture. I shouldn’t have visited?

Dreams really come true..!!!

2004-06-03T21:44:00.000+05:30

You dream something. You forget it as day’s progress. All of a sudden, your dream comes true making you to realize that you’ve dreamt of this some time ago. Happened in your life too?

It happened to me last weekend when we went to Gangotri (Meaning the Ganges, a sacred river in India, descends). Two months back, when I was enjoying river rafting in the Ganges, there was a thought in my mind. Where does this gigantic Ganges originate from? Can someone really venture to see? In fact, I wanted to see the place where the Ganges originates from. I was fortunate enough to endeavor to see that place myself.

It was a hectic trip, covering 1000+ kilometers (two ways) by road and 38kms (two ways) by trekking all in 3 days time. The drive on the mountains from Rishikesh to Gangotri is absolutely enjoyable. You will definitely appreciate Border Roads Organization of India for having laid a perfect highway. You will not fail to exclaim when you see a steel bridge laid on two big rocks at each end. Also, The Ganges never goes away from your view. Like a guide, she also travels with you. Even she lets out her feelings as she travels. Some times, she is ferocious. Some times, she is very calm. Some times, like a pretty woman, she moves vividly.

After covering a distance of 230+kms from Rishikesh, you will reach Gangotri where you will find a temple for The Ganges, a temple amidst huge mountains. When we went to this temple, it was pooja time. All devotees were shouting “Ganga ma ki jai”. In my opinion, worshipping is not what Mother Ganga wants. All she says to us is “Don’t pollute me”. How many of these people who worship The Ganges hard have remained cautious when it comes to NOT polluting? Only very few people are so. Apart from giving you this so called “Water” resource to people, now, she has the responsibility of making people aware of this pollution. Let us not make her teach us a very hard lesson.

From Gangotri, you can trek to see Gaumukh (means “Cow’s mouth”) from where one of the sources of The Ganges, The Bhagirathi, originates. Gaumukh is 19kms from Gangotri. You need to trek to reach Gaumukh. Even though this 19kms trekking is hard, you will never fail to relish glaciers on both the sides of your path, valley and the dynamic Ganges. Himalayas is at its best throughout this route. It’s very difficult to cover up and down distance in one day. Though we had covered in one day, it was a painful trekking. On your way, at some places, the path is very narrow. The Ganges is just a slip away down 3600 meters. Though the trekking was painful & tedious, we never failed to enjoy Himalaya’s hospitality. Whenever we felt hot, there was chillness in the air. Whenever we felt cold, there was hotness in the air. Please visit: http://www.primeindia.com/manav/tour5.html to know more about Gangotri to Gaumukh trekking.

On our way back in the night, I could enjoy ‘all glittering’ Ganges in Haridwar. In my opinion, water is the most precious & beautiful resource earth can ever have.

Only people can teach lessons..!!!

2004-05-14T00:33:00.000+05:30

India Election 2004 hurly-burly is finally over. People have again proved that if they wish, they can bring in a change. Apart from a failure to the then ruling NDA government, to me, it seems it was a big defeat to three people. One, the then poster boy of Andhra Pradesh (One of the Indian southern states) Mr. Chandrababu Naidu, two, Mr. Naidu’s counterpart from Bangalore(India’s Silicon Valley), Mr. S. M. Krishna and three, Mr. Rajnikanth, a movie star.

In fact, reason for Mr. Krishna’s & Mr. Naidu’s defeat is same (Mr. Krishna’s position in assembly is still not known when I write this). Both of them were too focused on only one sector, i.e. Information Technology. Absolutely there is no doubt that it’s because of their focusedness, India is seen in the Global IT map. But, the entire country or entire state, for that matter, does not rely on IT. Especially these two southern states of India heavily rely on agriculture. One has to accept the fact that these two gentlemen had failed to see their states “shining” in agriculture. Not only agriculture. Except IT, they failed to make their states progress in almost all other sectors. If people had really taken this into consideration before choosing their leaders, man, people are the CEOs’, not these leaders. Because, a country must not be dependent on only one sector as this would bring in economic instability anytime. As a matter of fact, in this sector, country is very much dependent on particular countries. And you never know when they are going to close their shops and go. In my opinion, these leaders failed to understand that people who are involved in this sector form 25-40% of the states’ population. Out of this 25-40% people, hardly 10-15% would have cast their votes. Rest of the people had written the story the way they wanted. Anyway, both of these gentlemen, I’m sure, would have realized by this time that even defeat is a teacher and an experience too. It is time for them for introspection and prognosis. Better luck next time, gentlemen!!

You might ask me why Mr. Rajnikant.? When did he contest? Where did he contest from? No, this movie star has never contested from anywhere. But, he is a perfect magician. He always says he will never enter politics. But, never failed to “voice” when elections are round the corner. Whether people hear his “voice” or not, that’s a different story. In fact, for chicken-hearted people like him, politics should not be their cup of tea. There is no doubt, he is spiritual and more than that he is good at heart. But, to be in public life, especially in politics, you need much more capabilities (But, definitely not like our wide spread politicians now). Recently, I’d heard his “voice” in an interview. His “voice” was against particular political party. But, it seems now, people were not ready to listen to him. His intention was good. He wanted to raise voice against the people who had manhandled his fans/supporters. This is his plus, getting up to condemn someone who’d troubled his fans. But, he didn’t stop where he was supposed to stop. Unnecessary talks, he was just beating around the bush. It seems to me he tries to make hay while the sun shines (There was a stall after release of his much hyped movie “Baba” to sell clothes and accessories with Baba logo & slogan that were used while shooting for the film. If you say, this is because his fans were/are crazy about possessing these things, why he had not given them these things as gifts, which was very much affordable to him?). He knows very well that his supporters want him to enter politics. But, he knows he cannot be a politician because to be a politician you need to sacrifice a lot of things in your life, especially peace of mind. At the same time, he does not want to give an impression to his supporters that he is not at all interested in politics as he might lose all of them. At the same time, he also knows that people are very badly in need of a good politician. It’s this double mindedness makes his “voice” not heard by people.

Burnt mid night oil…!

2004-05-12T22:56:00.000+05:30

Some times in life certain things, about which you have been thinking for quite some time, happen surprisingly one day. Surely, you wonder, how come this life know that I have been incubating my thoughts on this and presents me this situation.

It was when I just entered XII standard. My aunt bought me bunch of books for IIT-JEE (entrance examination for Indian Institute of Technology, India’s premier technology institute. India’s pride world’s envy. ) preparation. For me, everything looked Latin & Greek because all those books were in English, whereas I had been in non-English medium till XI and in XII standard too. Ultimately, I could not take the exam. Even if I had taken the exam, I would not have cracked it. Because, people normally start preparing for this exam while they are in VIII standard. That is, close to 5 years of preparation. Even if I had started preparation while at XII, I would not have cracked the exam. Moreover, she had bought me just the books, never fed me the thought of getting into IIT. Nevertheless, I must thank her for she was the one, in fact, the only one, who wanted me to try & get into IIT. Though, I do not regret for not getting into IIT, I must admit that I feel I had missed an opportunity.

Recently, I happened to read a book “The IITians” by Mr. Sandipan Deb. For a review, please visit: http://www.penguinbooksindia.com/Books/aspBookDetail.asp?ID=5457
I had been burning mid night oil for the past two weeks. I had never stayed till mid night even for critical exams in my life.

IIT alumnus head many of the biggest and most admired professionally managed companies. Abroad, they lead giant corporations and their feats figure in the folklore of Silicon Valley. It’s really exhilarating to read about their self-belief, guts & passion. In my opinion, it’s their passion that induces them to explore and the experience/knowledge they get out of exploration makes them self-believers.

Why Blog..?

2004-05-11T20:59:00.000+05:30

Like a snail moves out its head from the hard shell, I venture out here to get a feel of blogging. I’ve been thinking about blogging for quite some time. Thanks to some blogs/bloggers that I visit/read frequently. I had never thought of starting a blog myself when I first read a blog six months back.

Apart from giving a treat to your “ego”, (who will listen to you when you say “My favorite music is so & so and My favorite food is so & so” apart from your friends, whether your friends listen to it or not, that’s a different story), I see some benefits out of blogging. First & foremost thing is: the kind of networking you get. Secondly, you can definitely improve upon your writing skills (least to say).

Apart from putting forth my views on different things that I see, listen & read, in this blog, I have decided to present some technical stuff in layman’s language.

Finally!!!

2004-05-11T08:48:00.000+05:30

Here I go...After lot of thinking, I am also taking the plunge.