Thursday, December 18, 2008

Something i had posted long back in another blog of mine. I'm quite proud of this writing and call it my 2nd work of art! :)
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The strong cold current of air feels so nice as it hits my face and body. The tail of my shirt flapping and moving as the strong currents of air bully it around. i close my eyes, spread my arms wide and tilt my head up as i feel the wind hit my body. I dont mind the coldness as i'm accustomed to cold, with eveything in my life being so cold that ice would feel like fire in comparison. I open my eyes and stare at the sky:

Is there someone looking after us?
Is there a god up there who decides how our life would fare and what our destiny would be?

Is this my destiny? to stand up here at the edge of the terrace and wonder about my wintery life. I feel like screaming out: "Have you not tired as yet? Have I not entertained thee enough in 22 yrs or Is there anything more in store for me?"

I look down.

Its a 5 storey drop to the ground. I wonder what it would feel like to have the wind whistling in my ears. What it would feel like to be oblivious to existence and creation? Would it be nice not to have any regrets or disappointments?

I wud be at peace. I wud be alone.

But that wudn't be much of a difference from now. I'm alone even now when i'm alive, when i live amongst a nonsensical, whimsical and hypocritical race called Humans. Yes, i'm alone now. However much i try to make a difference. However much i try to be good and touch the heart of others and make true friends, somewhere along the line, even the closest of friends break my trust and belief and leave me alone. They make me realise that companionship, belief, trust, loyalty etc.. are just things belonging to fiction and movies. They don't really exist in the world. A world in which there are so many people that it wud be extremely difficult to actually exist alone, and yet here i am, my lonesome self, with not a soul who would turn and notice my absence.

I guess there has to be someone like me, so that god could compare and tell other people "be thankful, ur life isn't as bad as his".

--> SJ

Thank You..

I was surprised to open up Kartz blog and see that i had received the "Arte-y-Pico" award! I never thought that i would receive such an awards or any award for that matter. My blogs have been very irregular for a few months. Partly due to laziness and partly due to the various things going on in life! Though i have been given an award i do know i have a long way to go and lots of avenues of writings to explore yet!

If you don't mind i'm pasting the link to the post where u do the honours here.

Thank You Kartz for the honour and for thinking that my writings are good enough to receive an award! I'm touched that someone who is so creative and so much better at writing than me thinks so highly of me! :)

Thanx!

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Such a Waste!

The biggest disease that this planet suffers from is religion. Soft!.. I’m not saying that everyone should become atheists.. please worship in the way you see fit.. what I am saying is that everyone should realise that religion does not exist. What exists is one God, and religion is nothing but the different ways in which humans express their sense of faith, belief and perception of the higher power. They assume that God will look kindly upon them if they worship in a certain way. What they do not realise is that God, when he/she made this universe established one very simple rule in nature, one which even he/she cannot break and that is balance. Nature consists only of balance; for every bad there good, for every action there is a reaction and for every deed the doer is either rewarded or punished in a way no one can foretell. So even if you do use the various religions to show your devotion to God, he does not look kindly upon you as he cannot do anything to release you from what you are to reap because of your actions. The worst part of this is that Humans know and realise that there is one God but they still keep on squabbling in the name of religion. What happened to the Christians in India is deplorable, Hindu terrorism is stupidity by some fanatical leaders who can’t see beyond their nose and Jihad carried out by Islamic terrorists is nothing but madness. This kind of incessant squabbling does nothing but prove how stupid humans are and prove that our mental capacities can go beyond madness into a realm not discovered yet.

Terrorism is nothing but a mutated strain of the religion virus where the diseased have been afflicted by a madness unheard of as yet. A madness which brainwashes them into believing that there is only one way of life in this multi-faceted universe. Will they just stop at humans and go beyond into terrorising animals too? Who knows if this madness will end.

Such terrorism initially begins with religion when a person becomes so blind that he cannot see that other people are worshipping the same God he does but in a form which is different than his. He thinks that any person who doesn’t think in the way he does should be eliminated. The terrorists think that that inflicting fear will get them somewhere; on the contrary it will only strengthen people’s resolve into fighting till they die. Unfortunately these terrorists can see even less than the aforementioned leaders of Hindu terrorism which is in its early stages of this disease.

A common bully is usually a coward who thinks he can fear people into respecting him but shies away when he sees resistance. Terrorists are such bullies except they don’t fear resistance. They only have one answer to every problem: Violence and killings. They have become so blind and so diseased that they see violence as the only way and have reached a stage where it is incurable.

You are going to say that now these terrorism attacks are beyond religion. Yes now it has reached a stage which goes beyond religion. It now concerns objectives which include revenge (1 cause is: the tragedy which occurred during the partition of India), getting their way where all else fails (ISI’s thinking of getting Kashmir), disagreements on moot points (disagreement with U.S. foreign policy favouring Israel – 9/11 attacks [see WIKI 9/11]) et al. So you can see that terrorists are beyond madness. They do not even see their religion as it should be seen. You still don’t believe me?

Bin Laden’s "Letter to America", October 2002: "you are the worst civilization witnessed by the history of mankind: You are the nation who, rather than ruling by the Shariah of Allah in its Constitution and Laws, choose to invent your own laws as you will and desire. You separate religion from your policies, contradicting the pure nature which affirms Absolute Authority to the Lord and your Creator."

If this doesn’t convince you then nothing will.

Like any other bully the main aim of terrorists is to strike fear and grief into the hearts of people. As we have seen from the Mumbai events, they succeeded in doing this. People lost whole families in the event and many loved ones. While it has been tragic, heartbreaking and so sad that no words can describe it, we should realise that we are in fact helping the terrorists reach their aim. If we grieve their deaths we are fulfilling the terrorist’s aims. Yes, we are filled with unimaginable grief that we will not see our loved ones again, but we should now resolve not to grieve for the people who have died and will die in terrorist attacks. We should celebrate their deaths that they have become Shahid and Martyrs in the war against terrorism. We call the commandos and the policemen who fought terrorists Martyrs; I call every one of the 160 odd people who died a martyr. They died in a noble cause. They died fighting terrorism even though they did not put up a resistance. They were prisoners of war and are war heroes.

>>I salute everyone who has died in terrorist attacks and everyone who has fought to save the people caught in such acts of senseless human waste and violence.

>>Terrorists I call on you to take a moment to look at the destruction you have caused and realise the utter waste you have caused when your planning capabilities could have been used in other ways to make humans more humane.

"Violence begets violence and hurts the soul of the victimizer as well as the victim."

--> SJ

Saturday, October 11, 2008

And we thought the skies were empty !!


Air Traffic Worldwide 24HR from kouko a on Vimeo.


What you see above is a video made by the Zurich University of Applied Sciences showing worldwide commercial flights over a 24-hour period. Watch as flights start in the morning in the western hemisphere, and as the sun starts to come up in the east, more flights begin in the east.

--> SJ

Friday, September 19, 2008

Financial Times... Un-Financial Times..

What happens in a recession? What happens in a depression? How does an economy lose its top-most position and become just another country following the leader? All these questions will get answered in the coming 2-5 years time. An experience and an occurrence which happens once in a lifetime.

As most people would know, or would have found out by now, the bubble called United States of America, the dreamland, the benchmark for all countries to achieve, is on the verge of bursting. Just like other bubbles, for e.g. the dot-com bubble, this will be a very big reality check for the world. It will be a check for people to understand and realize the value of money. USA and all its luxuries and spending habits eroded the value of money. People all across the world have been for many years adopting all the habits (i must admit that some good but mostly bad ones) of the Americans and Americanizing themselves forgetting their own cultures and heritage. As a result, everywhere people have forgotten the value of money. They don't realize that earning money is hard enough but making it grow and multiply is harder still. Once they start earning they seem to think that can afford anything and take loans and start living on credit. WAKE UP everyone! See what that has done to Uncle Sam and will ultimately do to us.

Lehman Brothers, AIG, Bear Stearns, Morgan Stanley.... how many more great names will be added to this list? how many countries will come in this list? USA? Japan? India?..

Centrals Banks trying to increase global liquidity and stabilizing the US Dollar shows that some people have realized the threat. But what they have done is just extended the time needed for the collapse of the US Dollar. The average person who reads the newspapers will not realize the extent to which this can and will effect us and most of the countries round the world. USD is the only international currency in today's world. When it collapses what will the world use to trade with each other? Will they still value everything in the USD? or will we have to alternate to the Barter System?

This current international monetary system was established in 1945 with the Bretton Woods Conference. Valuing everything to the Dollar was decided, it probably, was the intelligent thought of the day then! But for more than 60 years this system has not been changed, has not been adjusted, has not been modified for the current scenario and trends. This system is obviously unsuitable for today's level of cross-border transactions and transfer of money. How valuing currencies of so many countries to one currency could stand the test of 60 years is something i will never understand! You are valuing something with reference to something whose intrinsic value itself keeps on changing and shifting with time. This is probably the most foolish thing to do. The value of a standard against which other things are valued should be stable and its worth should not change in the short-term.

We should never have stopped valuing our currencies against Gold. It was the currency in ancient times and should be the value of our currencies now. The Economists of the world have studied in detail and understood the repurcussions of the previous gold-standard, they can help us devise a new standard based on gold such that those repurcusssions do not occur again. A standard which will be flexible and adopt itself as society changes itself over time.

Ultimately we should look at Free Trade Areas with a more open mind. With the working of the EU we now know that however difficult, FTAs do work. Our ultimate aim and goal should be to make the whole world an FTA such that we have one currency. Its then and only then that there will come about a betterment in other areas of life and human aspects.

The collapse of the US into a catastrophic recession is not far, it has been inevitable for the past 4 years and is not far away. Look ahead for hard times to come, especially for countries like China, India, Japan, Britain. Its going to get tough soon. 1929 will soon seem like a walk in the park. Whether the Tough will get going is yet to be seen.

But it is a big chance for India, we should pull up our pants and get ready to provide leadership to the world. This chance will not come again for a long long time. Will we be ready then (i mean the next time this chance comes around)? we can't say, but for now we should open the door when opportunity knocks and here she is standing outside the door waiting for the correct time to knock.


--> SJ

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Quote Blast

"The identity of the official whose alleged responsibility for this hypothetical oversight has been the subject of recent discussion is not shrouded in quite such impenetrable obscurity as certain previous disclosures may have led you to assume, but, not to put too fine a point on it, the individual in question is, it may surprise you to learn, one whom your present interlocutor is in the habit of defining by means of the perpendicular pronoun."
-Sir Humphrey Appleby, Yes Minister (1980)


Confessing to his boss that he was responsible in causing a loss of 40m Pounds to the Government of The United Kingdom.
:D
Talk about talking through your hat.. lol

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Quote Blast

We live in accordance with our deep, driving desire.
It is this desire at the time of death
that determines what our next life is to be.
We will come back to earth to work
out the satisfaction of that desire.

-The Upanishads




Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Chromiated!

And Google does it again!!

Its not surprising that once again Google has come out with an exquisite product. All of google's products launched till date have been a wonder of simplicity and ingenuity. Elegance, and simplicity seems to be the main idea behind all their designs. Take a look at Gmail, Gtalk, Google Earth etc.. This company has the perfect mix of elegance, simplicity, user-friendliness, and common sense in its products. This is what makes its products a hit. One can say its the opposite of Microsoft. Microsoft is like the prodigal guy - a show-off, a wannabe, an empty vessel which makes a lot of noise. Microsoft makes  a lot of promises but does not deliver, Google on the other hand does not make any promises but keeps on delivering with surprising alacrity.

Like all its other products, Google has made its new browser Google Chrome a pinnacle of aesthetic simplicity, design perfection and user friendliness. A look through Google's intoductory page |Link| on Google Chrome will give you the whole idea behind this revolutionary browser. In the comic book introduction Google talks about the ideas behind Chrome and the conecpts they have used in building the browser.

It has taken Mozilla Firefox's concept of Tabbed Browsing and finally taken it to a new level.  Firefox was the first browser to start this revolution, which was adopted by other popular browsers like opera, Netscape, Apple's Safari etc... and also now by Google Chrome. 

Much of the browser has been based on the Firefox. Google has been extremely supportive of Mozilla over the years and recently extended their revenue contract to 2011. In a way you can say and/or infer that while Mozilla did all the hard and dirty work of R&D and taking all the risk of venturing into untried waters (which, nonetheless, turned out to be successful), the main benefits will now be enjoyed by Google who has incorporated a lot of Mozilla's features into Chrome.

Features of Chrome:
- Tabbed Browsing.
  Like all present day browsers, Chrome supports tabbed browsing. This means u have multiple browser inside one big window. Saves up all the clutter in the taskbar and makes work neat and organized. They have incorporated the feature of dragging the tabs from one position to another (like in all other tabbed browsers). And have added the feature of creating a new window with any tab by simply dragging that tab out of the row of tabs and voila that page will be in a new window (As shown in the 2 images below).

                                    

In the same way you can put the new window back into the old or shuffle tabs among multiple windows. Another change with the tabs has been to change the look of the UI. Other browsers keep the address bar in the same position and the tabs under that indicating one browser with multiple browser windows. Chrome on the other hand has multiple tabs with each tab having its own address bar and navigation buttons. This is is mostly a cosmetic change, but this small change signifies a bigger change in the operation of the browser.

- Multi Threading (This is the most significant change they have made in the world of web-browsers)
  All other browsers are one browser with different windows to view web pages. To explain in more simpler terms: All other browsers with multiple tabs use the same engine to access the web. This means that the browser has one brain which it uses to process the data from the user and/or the webpages. If there is a JavaScript (or other kinds of scripts) in a webpage, it means that the browser will pass control to the script and wait till that script finishes execution and pass control back to the browser. So if there is a script running in one Tab and it hangs then the browser will not be able to display anything in any other tab also as the script is still in command of the browser and has hung. So this haults all your work.

To prevent this from happening, Google has made Chrome to be a multi-threaded browser. Each tab is a browser of its own and has individual processes. This means that everytime you open a new tab a new browser (and not just a new window) is opened. If you ever take a look at your OS' task manager (ctrl+alt+del) you'll find that there are as many chrome.exe applications running as as many tabs u have opened.

This makes Chrome into a memory gobbling browser. Since i downloaded Chrome my RAM usage has increased by atleast 8%. I have a 2GB RAM and pre-chrome my usage used to hover around 48% with Firefox hogging up atleast 110MB of my RAM. Post-Chrome release my RAM Usage shows 56% and multiple Chrome applications eating up my RAM from a range of 51MB to 2MB. At one look it seems that Chrome uses up less RAM as it all shows amounts much lower than Firefox. But a deeper analysis will show that Chrome is actually using a lot more memory than Firefox. |Link to ScreenShot|

But this also means that at the cost of RAM usage you get a browser which is actually lightning fast. Be it Internet Explorer, Opera, or Safari - Chrome beats everyone of them hands down. Apple claims Safari to be the "the fastest, easiest-to-use web browser", and it was faster than IE or Opera, but now Chrome leaves Safari (and all other browsers) coughing in the dust.

- New UI
  I have already spoken about a part of the UI earlier, so now comes the rest. The UI is light on the eyes and a pleasure to look at. It is the most un-clutteres space i've seen. Every other browser has so many buttons and options and menus but Chrome has the least amount of space for buttons and the most for viewing the page. 

The traditional windows menus File, Edit, View, History etc.. have disappeared and in place we have 2 buttons- one with the icon of the page and the other with the icon of a spanner, in the same row as the address bar and nav buttons. These 2 buttons contain all the necessary options.

When you point at a link the URL throws up at the bottom of the screen. They have removed the old status bar but have redesigned it to throw up whenever required. When downloading a file a download bar appears at the bottom of the tab in which ur downloading. It shows the completion rates and a small menu from which u can choose to open in containing folder or u want to open the file downloaded. They have done away with the option of open or save as that Firfox and IE give. |ScreenShot 1, 2, 3|

Adding Bookmarks always used to be an option by either right clicking on the page you want to bookmark or by click on the bookmark or favourites (incase of IE) and choosing the "Add..." option. Firefox 3 introduced an option of adding a bookmark by clicking on a star shown at the end of the address in the address bar. Chrome has incorporated this but has put the star at the beginning of the address bar. |ScreenShot|

Another change they have incorporated is in the homepage. Normally people used to either set a website or a blank page as their homepage. But, in Chrome they show the most visited sites and recent bookmarks as well the search engines used on the homepage. Making the homepage into a very efficient tool which loads instantly coz its stored on the harddisk of the computer. |ScreenShot|

- Incognito
  A new concept that Chrome introduces is of surfing the world Incognito. This means you can go to any site you want and no one (in ur personal circle) would be the wiser. This session is a read-only session and doesn't store any permanent history, cache or cookies on the hardisk. As soon as the incognito window is closed the history and other temporary data gets wiped out. Google has not missed out on humour in this browser. When you open an Incognito session you see warnings/disclaimers on the homepage. And reading the last warning is really a laugh :D


Chrome wants to be positive and promote it as an option that provides additional security when you want to do sensitive transactions over the web. I'm sure they haven't missed out the obvious but just refuse to talk about it. An incognito session is a dream session for hackers or for children who want to be naughty.

- Application Shortcuts
  This option allows you to position a webpage as an icon on your desktop and/or Start Menu and/or Quick Launch (for Windows). Your actually creating a shortcut that when run opens up that page in a new window. So now you will not have to open Chrome and then navigate from the homepage to that certain page which you use very often. Just use this feature and voila all u need to do is use this shortcut to goto to that page or web application which you use often. Makes life much simpler doesn't it? :) love this feature!

Chrome's new popup blocker is a brilliant innovation. Pop-ups are restricted to small minimized windows at the bottom of the tab which opens them. To open it all u have to do is drag it out of the window and the pop-up will be designated to their own window. |ScreenShot|

Another good thing about Google Chrome is that when you first install this browser you do not need to configure the whole browser to ur liking and you dont have to fret about losing all your bookmarks and browsing history. Chrome has the option of importing the set of Bookmarks, browsing history, saved passwords etc from Firfox or IE straight into Chrome. So in about 2 seconds your browser is all ready to run with all your personal settings incorporated in the new browser at the click of a few bottons! Now thats what you call common sense!

With all the good things Google has done with its browser its still not 100% bug free. The 1st 2 sites that i tried to open would refuse to open untill i refreshed the browser some 5-6 times. And in approx 18 hours of using Chrome i've come across this instance for a total of 5 times. But this small problem still does not outweigh the excellenc of this browser. It will take sometime for people to change from IE or Opera to Chrome as they get used to the idea of having a better option. But for Chrome to overtake Firefox would take even longer as Firefox has a range of plugins to attract people.

Congratulations Google on gifting the world a software of this quality and stability. The future of browsers is indeed here.

Now everything rests on how well Google markets its browser and ofcourse how far innovation goes.

-->SJ

Monday, September 1, 2008

Experience!

99.999% of the human population think that life is all about money. Money, Money and more Money is their mantra. What they don't realise is that life is actually about experience. Its about experiencing things and feelings. You should do everything and go everywhere, this way u can experience the maximum things possible. and Experience is the only thing that the brain remembers for all time. Its leaves a foot print imprinted in you for ever.

Experience is what matters. Experience is what we live for. Go out and experience life not money.


Experience Is The Product
View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own.

Prisoner of Life!

Life is a Prison and I am the prisoner.

Everything has become very suffocating. The spontaneity in life and the freedom to do what you feel like just does not exist. I live not according to my standards, but i live according to standards other people set for me. I do what other people will like me to do. I expect from life what other people want in me.

All around me i see people having fun. All around me i see people who do what THEY want. They are the ones who ARE LIVING life, not I. I am here just to fulfill the responsibilities. I feel as if i HAVE to live life without a choice, when i should be feeling that I WANT to live life. I dont know why but i'm feeling claustrophobic, and the walls are now rushing in from all 4 sides!

Nobody else has any expectations other than their own to live upto. Here I have the whole world that is looking at me; microscopically analysing and judging, me and what i do. Its getting really difficult to take this any longer. I think one day i'll just explode into oblivion.

Sigh!! Peacefull Oblivion, where art thou!? 'Tis a long time since you have been due!

-->SJ

Will i ever?

Will i ever bell the cat?
Will i ever walk the earth round?
Will i ever fly free in the sky?
Will i ever grow into a larger being?
Will i ever find my dreams coming true?

->SJ

Sunday, August 17, 2008

CAT's Discriminatory Tactics !!

Why is the CAT tailored for engineering students? This question has plagued my mind ever since i heard about the exam and found out the statics regarding the students who get into the IIMs. If you don't believe me then maybe you should attend a few of the classes held by institutions like T.I.M.E., IMS, Career Launcher etc. Or you can even speak to the teachers over there who will tell you for a fact that more engineering students crack the CAT then students from a non-engineering background.

The fact still remains that if your an engineering student with excellent English skills there is no way you will not crack the CAT. Surprised? well don't be. Being an engineering student automatically guarantees that you have very good math skills this combined with excellent English skills and common sense will ensure that you crack the CAT. 70% of the paper is Math which includes DI and Quant. 25% is English and the remaining 5% is Logical Reasoning. The math is more of pure math with topics like Logs, Trigonometry, Permutations + Combinations, Indices + Surds et al comprising of the "syllabus". Math is a subject used in such intensities predominantly by the engineering students rather than students from arts background, who do not study math when in college. Therefore, how do you expect people who have lost touch with maths to suddenly rise up to the challenge and excel in this exam?

For a person who does not use math (except the common operations like +, -, div, x ) in daily life, it is impossible to recognise the twists built into the questions and figure out a way to solve them in 60-90 secs. And with the amount to cover, understand and learn, remembering everythin is a herculian task which very few people (from non-engineering background) can do.

Next your going to ask: but there are so many engineering students who also do not get into the IIMs. I repeat we're talking about cracking the exam which most of the engineering students do. Even if they don't top they do score well atleast better than most of the arts students. I suggest you go through the statics and figure out that most of the engineering students get very good marks in Math and DI. If they do not score well then you'll see that they lose out in Logical Reasoning and/or English.

CAT markets itself as an aptitude test and boasts that it tests the analytical skills of a person. I don't think anyone has ever critically examined the CAT paper. Either that or Indians have a very skewed sense of what an aptitude test is. The GMAT or the GRE exams are much more analytical and aptitude test like than the CAT. To judge a person's aptitude you need to judge his understanding and way of thinking and not how much he knows or does not know. The later forms a test of knowledge, an aptitude test is NOT a test of knowledge. I presume Indians mostly do not understand the difference else there would have been atleast one voice against the CAT exam. Its difficult to understand how finding out the number of powers in a number formed by 1004 x 1005 x 1006 .... x 2009 indicates how analytical my mind is. The math section atleast is nothing but utter nonsense with tonnes of irrelevant questions being asked. Twisting the logic of a question is absolutely fine, but the CAT architects do not know where to draw the line. They have become obssessed with twists and insist on putting so many twists in the question that it stretches into the 5th dimension. I think their moto is:

"When you can catch your nose from around the back of your head, why catch it from the front"

I have always believed that everyone should be given a fair chance at every opportunity, but i think the people who grant the PG Diploma and MBA degrees want to discriminate against the non-engineering students. India has always been a country where engineering and science is given greater importance but such open discrimination is atrocious, and that to from people who should know the meaning of spoiling a young person's career at the beginning of his/her life.

--> SJ

Friday, August 15, 2008

Independance Day!

On any day of the year if you walk down the streets of any Indian city you will see people rushing about their businesses, kids running around enjoying their carelessness so on and so forth. There would be the sounds of men shouting on the street, cars honking, sounds of machines running etc. But what you would never hear on a day like that is music, specially patriotic music or the national anthem, being played loudly in the open for all to hear and the Tricolour being brandished from every possible nook and corner of the city around you.

Its quite surprising how Indians wake up to celebrate their Independance Day and showing off their patriotic fervour only on 15th August. Every home, car and person would be brandishing the Tricolour on this day. You'll see kids running around waving the flag high and people paying a lot of respect to the flag and even saluting the flag like military cadets. You will notice a very strong love shown by the Indians towards the national flag, but the very next day if you go out for a walk you will notice people rushing about their businesses walking on and stamping on top of the flag devoid of all love and patriotic feeling.

On a normal day if you abuse the country in front of any Indian nothing wud happen, most probably he would agree with you and abuse the country rite back. But dont think of doing this on 15th of August. You'd certainly get hammered by a 100 or so people around you. The patriotic zeal of an Indian is a very strong emotion. But surprisingly it emotes only on one day of the year.

To the Indians, show off is everything. Its the clever people who show the rite kind of feelings at the rite time and manipulate dump citizens who do not understand enough to look into the depth of the situation. For e.g. a criminal who wants to go into politics would show the rite patriotic zeal on 15th August and with a few cleverly drafted words would convince the people that he is a true patriot and should be allowed to rule the country. The Indians like always, will be dumb, they will ignore all the newspaper articles and accusations against the clever criminal and vote for him and thus he becomes a part of the government and works for his selfish gains rather than the citizens. And thus we solve the question of how criminals get into politics.

Hail India! Hail the Indians! Happy Independance Day!

Satyameva Jayate

-->SJ

p.s. Lets just hope that Indians wake up to realise their hypocrisy and come to realise that its the individual citizen's credulity and integrity is what matters and makes a nation prosper and respected.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Quote Blast

The depths of your heart are obvious to all those who care about you. But when was the last time you showed yourself unconditional love? Before we can find true romance with others we must learn to cut ourselves some slack and be cool with who we are.
- Unknown
To add on to my previous post.. i really dont think i'll ever understand how to be friends or keep friendships, coz its always me who ends needing and interacting with people not them who'd want to speak to me.

Its always me who has a dearth of people around me, everyone else seems to have too many people around them to notice or remember me.

-->SJ

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Its quite surprising how a dearth of ppl around you can effect your mind. While at Shaw i always had people to talk to and spend time with. I was never short of friends. whenever i needed to talk, someone or the other was there and all i had to do was go upto them and start speaking and my need of human interaction wud get fulfilled. But now that i'm back in Bangalore its quite surprising how after a time of being alone the need to speak to people comes up pretty strongly. I have some good friends from college in this city or rather i shud make it had coz one year of being busy and not being able to keep in touch has probably made them think "What an arogant ass this guy is"

I really don't blame them and i really don't blame myself also :). Its just coz of being so far away and being so busy that i wasn't able to stay in touch and its not like i'm the only one completely at fault, so its a situation where noone can do anything. We can just forget it and move on. I can, i just hope my other friends can too.

--> SJ

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

The Corrs

Three amazingly HOT sisters and one brother. This band is one of the most talented musicians on the planet. Although, The Corrs were never extremely popular their music is one of the best i've heard till now. Below are 2 videos of one of their songs. The tune is simply mind boggling and extremely catchy. Check out Caroline Corr's solo with the percussion instrument (sorry i dont know the name of the instrument) and then on the drums in the 2nd video.

Awesome! simply Awesome!

What i wouldn't give to have dinner with these guys and hear them play live, up close and personal!

-->SJ





Monday, August 4, 2008

After a long long time i was going through my profile on a popular networking site. As i was looking through, updating and editing stuff, I happened to stumble onto the set of testimonials i've received from my friends. All of them talk about how nice a guy i have and how much potential i have. Someone even went as far as to say that i was a thinker and a potential manager. I don't mean to brag but what people see me as seems to be so exaggerated than what i see myself as. i mean when i was reading all those testimonials i couldn't help thinking that these people thought so highly of me: how in god's name will i ever live upto so many expectations.

I know my limitations and really dont see myself doing as well as these people say i will do. Even though i want to be the best of the best i know that however hard i try i will never be the best of the best. Your probably thinking that this guy is impossible and wrong in thinking like that. But this is something i can not explain. Its like one of those unexplainable happenings in nature which can not be explained. It just something which happens and you can trust it to happen whatever you do to try to overcome it. My 23 years of life have proven this without doubt, over and over again.

For example i'm studying for MBA entrances rite now and i know that however hard i study or try to top the exam i can not. Like Randy Pausch said that karma takes care of a part of life. Its like that, my karma will just not allow me to top however hard i try. Even if i dream to get into one of the IIMs i know i can not and will have to settle for one of the colleges i wud not even dream of stepping into.

Sometimes i even wonder why i ever dream at all. Its not like it will ever get fullfilled. And even if it partly does get fullfilled i still have to settle for something i wud prefer not to in the beginning. I guess its difficult for people to understand that my life, unlike others is just full of disappointments and unfullfilled dreams.

--> SJ

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Dumb Indians?

"The fundamental issue that India has and not easily solvable is average IQ being low. India's average IQ is 81, while that of most progressed countries is above 97. China surprisingly has an average IQ of 100. India being a truely democratic country, the government is represented by majority, and majority has an IQ below 70 (IQ distribution is vast in India). Hence you get a government elected by morons, representing morons, and full of morons. And since these morons govern justice system, education system, healthcare, you name it, a person with an enginerring degree, or a doctor, or a lawyer from India on average has an IQ of 81 as well. While the requirements of becoming a doctor, engineer, lawyer, are way high in most developed countries. Hence, although the economy is flourighing, I have serious doubt if it will sustain. I have concluded that no matter who I deal with in India, i am dealing with an idiot. There are exceptions, and those are the ones who are raising average IQ to 81, otherwise India is no different than Ethiopia. I wonder how long these exceptions can put up with the rest and not give up like I did."

This was commented on an article in The Economist. A truer statement u will not find. The only problem with this is that this statement generalizes. We need to remember that an individual is intelligent but a mob/crowd is dumb. Yes its true, that the Indian crowd is dumber than the crowds present in China (read the reports following the recent earthquake |Link| the victims were helped with surprising speed and efficiancy, I bow down to the rescuers) or elsewhere for that matter. But what everybody in India, including the policymakers as well as its citizens fail to realise is that the fundamental problem of this country is only one and not many. This problem is the lack of EDUCATION.

Yes, education will in itself take care of all other problems like poverty, health, AIDS etc.
It is the onset of knowledge which actually changes the mindset and creates something/someone better as various avenues open up to people and they see the light at the end of the tunnel. As the human mind broadens and increases its scope, people turn to better avenues and learn to better their lives. Thus, the solution to all our problems is simple and is within us: "Spreading knowledge and Education". The government obviously hasn't been and isn't doing enough to eradicate illiteracy (and it doesn't look like it will). It is now left to the citizens and the existing schools to do something about it.

It is only with education that the overall views (including the IQ) of Indians will change and we will have younger politicians who will actually give a damn about the country rather than some old geezers and criminals who just care about gossip, drama in the Parliament and making money rather than the good of the country.


Another great shift that will take place as a result of the spread of education is the imprtance of the individual.
The greatness of the western nations is in their libertarian outlook. They trust the individual virtue over the collective virtue of the state. Gandhi understood this when he said: "I look upon an increase of the power of the State with the greatest fear, because although while apparently doing good by minimizing exploitation, it does the greatest harm to mankind by destroying individuality, which lies at the root of all progress. We know of so many cases where men have adopted trusteeship, but none where the State has really lived for the poor. "

Learning to trust the need and virtue of the individuals will be the next revolution for Indians as humans. We need to realise that Humans are a species which thrives more on individuals rather the collective. We may give the most important to "family" and "society" but we need to learn to draw the line where we start differentiating with the "self" and the "individual". Once this happens, Indians will get the space they need to grow. They will have the power to Dream. Dream of entering fields right now forbidden to them. Indians will come out into the world as the leaders of the world. With renowned individuals in every field and every profession, ranging from artists to techies to farmers to inventors. The talent of the Indian is vaste and unlimited, India just needs realise that this exists and to learn how to tap this talent.

Spread knowledge, Help one and all.

--> SJ

Quote Blast

The true greatness of the west is the west's libertarian outlook which trusts individual virtue over the collective virtue of the state. Gandhi understood this when he said: "I look upon an increase of the power of the State with the greatest fear, because although while apparently doing good by minimizing exploitation, it does the greatest harm to mankind by destroying individuality, which lies at the root of all progress. We know of so many cases where men have adopted trusteeship, but none where the State has really lived for the poor."

Think about it.!

-->SJ

Friday, August 1, 2008

CAT CAT and more CAT :(

Its been a long time since i actually wrote something. I've thot of a lot of topics like the action packed scene in the Indian Parliament and another on CAT and its syllabus and how its useless like the rest of the syllabuses in India. I've had the topics in mind but have not been able to write anything yet. Sometime in the future, I hope to write at length on these topics.

As of right now i'm still getting into the flow of studying for the CAT and GMAT. It all seemed terribly easy to me but its only now that i realize that though easy its the time and speed combined with accuracy that matters more. Even if i know how to solve all the questions it is the speed which makes the difference. If i'm not able to finish the paper i will not score marks and thus fail yet again.

CAT verbal is easy and simple and has a very low level of english. Verbal has never been the strong point in CAT exams. The english section has always been very easy. DI is also manageable and not that difficult. What worries me more than than anything is the Quant or math section. This has been specially designed for engineers and people from the technical field as it is they who use Math more comprehensively and more often than us "lowly" commerce pass outs. Thus giving them an enormous advantage. Advantage or no advantage, learning concepts and formulae for topics which we know we'll never use after and MBA is most definitely the biggest waste of time, but then there is nothin that can be done about this as Indians are dumbos who will never understand that One man/woman does not need to and can not learn all the knowledge in world.

CAT tests have this horrible habit of testing all that is taught over a period of 21 years and the test conductors expect us to learn all that in 6 months! Seems to be a ridiculous demand. One that approximately 2.5 Lakh Indians comply with every year (including me) and have never raised a voice to question the authenticity of these demands.

Well anyways... there is nothing that can be done right now. We can not declare a war on a system which we believe in. To change the system you have to be a part of the system. I hope to replace all those stupid and brain dead policy makers sitting in the IIM and make this exam into more of an aptitude test (which it is supposed to be) rather than a test of all cumulative 21 years of study.

--> SJ

Monday, July 28, 2008

Award winning Indian ad.

This award winning ad has inspired many Indians to donate so that the un-priviliged children can view the world as we do. So that they can experience life the way they should and see the beauty which exists in the world.

Click Here!



--> SJ

Friday, July 25, 2008

Navras - Om Asatoma

Original:

असतो मा सद्गमय
तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय
मृत्योर् मा अमृतं गमय
ॐ शांति शांति शांति
- बृहदारण्यक उपनिषद् 1.3.28.

Transliteration:

Asato Ma Sat Gamaya
Tamaso Ma Jyotir Gamaya
Mrityor Ma Amritam Gamaya
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti.

Translation:

Lead Us From the Unreal To Real,
Lead Us From Darkness To Light,
Lead Us From Death To Immortality,
Aum (the universal sound of God)
Let There Be Peace Peace Peace.

- Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.3.28.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Sunil Mittal on Entrepreneurship

From a bicycle part manufacturer in Ludhiana, Punjab to India's largest mobile service provider. Listen to what Sunil Mittal has to say on entrepreneurship.

"
Entrepreneurship: Sunil Bharti Mittal Comments"

--> SJ

Saturday, July 12, 2008

FareWell !!

So now its the close of another chapter in my life. I've now spent one year and one week of my life living in Hyderabad and working for D. E. Shaw & Co. It all started more than a year ago when my friend, who got through the oncampus recruitment drive held by the company, spoke to me about referring me to the company. My interviews were held on June 15th about 10 days after University exams got over. It was held at Le Meridian and i got an offer from the company. 2 weeks later i found myself on a plane with Saxena and Nishanth flying to Hyderabad. i still remember how it felt landing at NTR Airport in Hyderabad and finding my way to the guest house and then meeting all those new people at the guest house (some of the friends i made there have been the closest i have made at Hyderabad/Shaw).

Joining RD was another experience altogether. Shaw boasts about having an informal atmosphere and a very friendly culture, with informal hours and great intra as well as inter team dynamics. After spending one year in RD at Shaw and after enuff exposure with other teams and people i think i can safely say that no other team keeps up with this. We perfectly reflect exactly what Shaw boasts the most about. Like i wrote in my goodbye mail:

"I'm going to cherish the memories i have till the end, and will always remember my 1st job: a job where even my seniors were more like friends, a job which mixed professionalism with fun and friendship into a perfect mixture. RD is a team where the people are more like friends and it this friendship, trust and respect that makes this team function in its very best capacities."

Training sessions in the beginning of my tenure @ Shaw were one of the grearest times i've spent in Hyd. Raking our brains to figure out the answers to questions or for making up reasons to avoid work! The old GPR office was a great place to work and it was quite sad, moving to the new office in Banjara Hills, which is more like a factory compared to GPR building. After spending 10 months, we were still settling down (as a company) in the new office.

I made some really good friends at Shaw, people i'll keep in touch with, people i look up to and wud prefer working with again. Some i came to know very well while others i could get to konw better. The good thing about RD is that we all hang out with eachother and become fast friends. Our weekly, poker games, or meeting up someone's place and chilling! Reddy dont u even think of saying i never came along. I did whenever i could, dude i'm just not that out-going a person! anyways, it was fun all of us hanging out together and spending time. Also, parties at Ramu's place. Our fresher's party opened the floodgates and then lots of parties took place there till his neighbours started complaining!

"Aaaah the Trip" Rushikonda was one of the best times of my life! getting closer to people and going on that trip was great fun. I finally connected with many people there and made even more friends. But that trip i will never forget, coz the sceneries were out of the world, people were friendly and the beach was great fun! Climbing onto the rocky out crops and taking pictures! it was a brilliant trip through which i made a lot of friends. :)

From training to SLF and then Replies to Automation. I'll never forget the work done @ Shaw and people there. Bandy's questions about positions, to advice, help, pointers and scoldings ;) given by Lamy, to tantrums from venugopp, and also tantrums thrown by scripts (which went on till my last day). I'll miss all of this. Our Automation meetings (or rather joking sessions) were always looked forwarded to, where we took critical decisions about the work and all the time we spent with Ellie when she was in town! :(

Tech Training sessions with Yonass (a flower for you Joe), the look on bhabhiji's face after the sessions ;), priceless!! Yes, this is the relationship with the right amount of love, hate, compromise and ego in it. The perfect equation. Yet bhabhiji is afraid for sum reason, that there are too many guys and not gals following Joe nowdays! (Watch out Reddy she'll kill you one day) Joey wats goin on dude!? :P

Well the fun grounds of RD have now been left behind with me returning to Bangalore to follow the dream of doing an MBA. A page turned or a chapter completed is not a page forgotten or a chapter never looked back at. I shall keep rembering and looking back to search for people i recognise so that we can meet up and relive the fun times. We'll look back in nostalgia and remember the days spent together at Shaw.

People of RD, i wish you ALL THE BEST!! in your endeavours and bid you adieu. A crossroad has come and i have to take a different turn. I've had a memorable and wonderful journey with you and let us pray and hope that our paths cross again.

Thank You all for everything you've done, and for everything you've taught me! :) Thanks for bearing up with me.

Take care and stay in touch.

-->SJ