Just put down Chetan Bhagat's "3 mistakes of my life".I am not going to blog about what the books is all about and how it is coz I know there are already thousands of guys who have beat me on that earlier.
Though I would just say that it is a simple read, and nicely put issues faced by an average Indian youth, revovling around 3 Gujjus and their passions - Business,Cricket and Religion which incidentally are the passions of most Indians. And the power of Orkut!!
A famous quote from Churchill says “All men make mistakes, but only wise men learn from their mistakes.”. One learns from mistake only when one realizes it was a mistake and registers it, so that next time you can go back to the day you made the mistake and know how bad it felt and you can work your way out of it this time.
Well, with me thats the problem. I don't remember most of them, and owing to that I am sure I have couple of (read hundreds of) repeats too!! (Lord when will I learn). My inner voice is already screaming out asking me not get started with the list of my mistakes, well alright I wont. Instead, I jot down the mistakes that I have been regretting lately.
Long long back in time when Bangalore was not yet an IT capital, I used to ride my sister's bike. One supposedly small break from driving led to not touching the bike for years. Now, I am so scared out of my wits to get onto the road with the vehicle that I fear I might never drive a car all my life. My first recent regret - Giving up driving.
Everytime I see the leftover wooden stump of the tree, it pricks and I find myself mumbling "I am so sorry". I was just another coward who could not stand up to fight for the environment when I go around preaching about it. It was a tough for me to face my rude bulldog material typed neighbour who was solely responsible for chopping down the tree just because there were too many fallen leaves to clean( Its spring for God;s sake what do you expect.!!!) Well, my second recent regret - I let the tree down, I am so sorry.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
This Morning WFH..
This morning I woke up with a lousy feeling, don't even know what was wrong today. It was supposed to be a good day, I wasn't even getting up early to take the cab to office(Working From Home), and moreover there is a long weekend coming up and I am traveling to meet up my extended family for 3 days. What better reason to be glad about, but I wasn't glad instead had this uneasiness crept into me and I cant figure out what was bothering me.
Then it struck me, it was my sister. She had come down to stay with us for the week and she was going back to her in-laws today after work and not coming here to us. Its not actually that I get along with her perfectly well, we have our quarrels more than often, in fact that is how we communicate, we scream each other calling names, trying to hurt each others ego. As a matter of fact I had a quick fight with her at 6AM over my repeated snoozing of the alarm. But then, the wounded ego recovers quick enough for us to get back to normal. It was nice to have her home, it did feel like a full house. She is just about 15km from my place, its not like I cant give her a call anytime or meet her up anytime of the week but its just that the house looks a little empty and I am sitting alone here "WFH" and missing her already.
Damn you "Work From Home" option.
Then it struck me, it was my sister. She had come down to stay with us for the week and she was going back to her in-laws today after work and not coming here to us. Its not actually that I get along with her perfectly well, we have our quarrels more than often, in fact that is how we communicate, we scream each other calling names, trying to hurt each others ego. As a matter of fact I had a quick fight with her at 6AM over my repeated snoozing of the alarm. But then, the wounded ego recovers quick enough for us to get back to normal. It was nice to have her home, it did feel like a full house. She is just about 15km from my place, its not like I cant give her a call anytime or meet her up anytime of the week but its just that the house looks a little empty and I am sitting alone here "WFH" and missing her already.
Damn you "Work From Home" option.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Much Ado...
How often have you seen a movie which starts off with the male lead and the female lead not being able to stand each other, squabbling over little things, each making the other's skin crawl, the witty duel of words they have once in a while trying to outdo one another and then it so happens that after you get back from the interval, they seem to be in love. (Way too often I am sure)
This pattern of a romantic comic love story should have seen its birth by some great creative writer, and my guess is William Shakespeare. The other day I was reading Shakespeare's play "Much Ado About Nothing",and I found that Beatrice(Female lead) and Benedick (Male lead) fit in perfectly as desc above, they can't seem to stop themselves from getting onto the other's nerve.
There are a some really funny yet intelligent exchanges and I quote a few:
Benedick : "What, my dear Lady Disdain! Are you yet living?"
Beatrice : "Is it possible Disdain should die while she hath such meet food to feed it as Signor Benedick? Courtesy itself must convert to Disdain if you come in her presence."
This is when Beatrice confesses that she will never marry,
Benedick: "God keep your ladyship still in that mind, so some gentleman or other shall scape a predestinate scratched face."
Beatrice: "Scratching could not make it worse, and 'twere such a face as yours were."
Benedick:"Well, you are a rare parrot-teacher".(monotonous speaker of nonsense)
Beatrice:"A bird of my tongue is better than a beast of yours."
Beatrice replies to Hero when she suggests that Bendick is a better match for Beatrice.
Beatrice : "He that hath a beard is more than a youth and he that hath no beard is less than a man;and he that is more than a youth is not for me; and he that is less than a man I am not for him. Therefore I will even take sixpence in earnest of the bear-ward and lead his apes into hell"
(As a matter of fact, post few sceens(Act 3 Sceen 2 to be exact) Benedick actually gets his beard shaved off to woo his lady love Beatrice!!)
When Beatrice is forced by her uncle to bid Benedick goodnight.
Benedick: "I thank you for the pains."
Beatrice: "I took no more pains for those thanks than you take pains to thank me, If it had been painful, I would not have come."
The comic continues and somewhere in Act 2 the Cupid in guise of their common friends strikes and brings them together. Well, "All is well that ends well"- wasn't this the famous quote from the man himself. But it is the war of words between B and B that one will enjoy through the play.
PS: Yet another rumbling of Beatrice I loved was,when Hero has been proposed, Beatrice burning inside herself charges with the rage against the whole concept of love and marriage.
"wooing, wedding, and repenting, is as a Scotch jig,a measure(discernible time sequence), and a cinque pace(lively dance): the first suit is hot and hasty, like a Scotch jig, and full as fantastical; the wedding, mannerly-modest, as a measure, full of state and ancientry; and then comes repentance and, with his bad legs, falls into the cinque pace faster and faster, till he sink into his grave."So true:))
PPS: Much Ado About Nothing
This pattern of a romantic comic love story should have seen its birth by some great creative writer, and my guess is William Shakespeare. The other day I was reading Shakespeare's play "Much Ado About Nothing",and I found that Beatrice(Female lead) and Benedick (Male lead) fit in perfectly as desc above, they can't seem to stop themselves from getting onto the other's nerve.
There are a some really funny yet intelligent exchanges and I quote a few:
Benedick : "What, my dear Lady Disdain! Are you yet living?"
Beatrice : "Is it possible Disdain should die while she hath such meet food to feed it as Signor Benedick? Courtesy itself must convert to Disdain if you come in her presence."
This is when Beatrice confesses that she will never marry,
Benedick: "God keep your ladyship still in that mind, so some gentleman or other shall scape a predestinate scratched face."
Beatrice: "Scratching could not make it worse, and 'twere such a face as yours were."
Benedick:"Well, you are a rare parrot-teacher".(monotonous speaker of nonsense)
Beatrice:"A bird of my tongue is better than a beast of yours."
Beatrice replies to Hero when she suggests that Bendick is a better match for Beatrice.
Beatrice : "He that hath a beard is more than a youth and he that hath no beard is less than a man;and he that is more than a youth is not for me; and he that is less than a man I am not for him. Therefore I will even take sixpence in earnest of the bear-ward and lead his apes into hell"
(As a matter of fact, post few sceens(Act 3 Sceen 2 to be exact) Benedick actually gets his beard shaved off to woo his lady love Beatrice!!)
When Beatrice is forced by her uncle to bid Benedick goodnight.
Benedick: "I thank you for the pains."
Beatrice: "I took no more pains for those thanks than you take pains to thank me, If it had been painful, I would not have come."
The comic continues and somewhere in Act 2 the Cupid in guise of their common friends strikes and brings them together. Well, "All is well that ends well"- wasn't this the famous quote from the man himself. But it is the war of words between B and B that one will enjoy through the play.
PS: Yet another rumbling of Beatrice I loved was,when Hero has been proposed, Beatrice burning inside herself charges with the rage against the whole concept of love and marriage.
"wooing, wedding, and repenting, is as a Scotch jig,a measure(discernible time sequence), and a cinque pace(lively dance): the first suit is hot and hasty, like a Scotch jig, and full as fantastical; the wedding, mannerly-modest, as a measure, full of state and ancientry; and then comes repentance and, with his bad legs, falls into the cinque pace faster and faster, till he sink into his grave."So true:))
PPS: Much Ado About Nothing
Sunday, August 10, 2008
In Progress
This note has been highly inspired by Unfinished Posts .
Going through Shradz blog I sat down for my "Unfinished List of Business" and I was in for a surprise. A couple of blogs waiting for the final touch so that they can be put up formally where they belong,few miss the premise while few miss the conclusion. A couple of halfbaked ideas jumbled in my mind, wanting to be materialized into something more tangible. A bunch of halfread books - both the tech books and novels. I believe its a pardonable act when you ditch a tech book half way coz it gave you a headache but how can I justify abandoning Jeffery Archers "A Prisoner of Birth" half way.Grr..I have all of them dogeared , well the reason being clear - ran out of bookmarkers!!!.
Come to think of it,one needs keep the spark burning exactly the same way when one starts off with anything that matters. Easier said than done, but I am going to reignite the spark in me and have all these undone done.
Going through Shradz blog I sat down for my "Unfinished List of Business" and I was in for a surprise. A couple of blogs waiting for the final touch so that they can be put up formally where they belong,few miss the premise while few miss the conclusion. A couple of halfbaked ideas jumbled in my mind, wanting to be materialized into something more tangible. A bunch of halfread books - both the tech books and novels. I believe its a pardonable act when you ditch a tech book half way coz it gave you a headache but how can I justify abandoning Jeffery Archers "A Prisoner of Birth" half way.Grr..I have all of them dogeared , well the reason being clear - ran out of bookmarkers!!!.
Come to think of it,one needs keep the spark burning exactly the same way when one starts off with anything that matters. Easier said than done, but I am going to reignite the spark in me and have all these undone done.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Revival of TV
After a long hiatus ( TV Withdrawal ), my TV has been re-incarnated. Was I glad to see my old tv placed in its niche in the living room. The happiness was short lived, until I noticed the remote control was of a different make than the one we used, ours was a trademark device, the battery pack at the back was packaged with few strips of metal to connect the batteries +ves and -ves and few pieces of paper to hold it together, all done by us after we had broken the device over a fight!!
I switched on the TV and already had started to miss my old remote. But this was not the only thing I would miss. Minute by minute I realized the main qualities of my old TV that I would go ga-ga over were all gone in this new one owing to the fact that the IC board was completely damaged and had to be replaced with another and hence most of the functionality was screwed up!!!
First and foremost point to notice was the low "Speed of Channel Flicking", channel flicking requires 2 jobs done in quick succession, one being pressing on the Program+ or Program- on your remote, this ofcourse our thumbs have been trained quite well. And the other being the actual changing of the channel on your TV. With the old but new TV, this was a considerable
let-down,there was a black screen popped up for a microsecond while switching the picture from one channel to another(Yes, this is annoying) and the time taken to browse a given number of channels was longer than earlier, effectively it means lower productivity!!
Next was the "-/--/---" button on the remote, I have always hated this one. These are the ones to set the single digit or double digit or triple digits channel. So, in effect you wanted to switch to channel number 45, you had to press "-/--/---" button twice, "4" and "5". How primitive is this? I hate it. The older one was smarted, you had to just click "4" and "5" in succession on voila!! you had channel 45.
Next was the memory, the "Alt C" button, used to go back to the previously watched channel. The older tv had a smart check in its memory and never stored the current and the previous channel to be the same, the newer one doesnot have this. So, if you make a mistake of choosing the same channel, you will end up with duplicacy of the info, what good is this?
Following up on the previous point -memory, the "Alt c" gets refreshed back to "0" everytime you switch off your TV, so in case of a power down, you would not remember which 2 channels you were juggling with prior to it! In a channel band of 1 to 100+ its gonna be a huge task to find what you were watching earlier!!!! A major let down.
All in all, the experience of watching TV has been drastically pulled down with my old but new TV. Its got the same body, but the soul has been changed. Watching TV is no more fun, high time I need to think about changing the set. Its going to be hard to give up which was once a beauty and a great old friend.
PS: I still am a huge TV junkie. I have managed to sit though whole of Sunday glued to this TV even with all its limitations.
I switched on the TV and already had started to miss my old remote. But this was not the only thing I would miss. Minute by minute I realized the main qualities of my old TV that I would go ga-ga over were all gone in this new one owing to the fact that the IC board was completely damaged and had to be replaced with another and hence most of the functionality was screwed up!!!
First and foremost point to notice was the low "Speed of Channel Flicking", channel flicking requires 2 jobs done in quick succession, one being pressing on the Program+ or Program- on your remote, this ofcourse our thumbs have been trained quite well. And the other being the actual changing of the channel on your TV. With the old but new TV, this was a considerable
let-down,there was a black screen popped up for a microsecond while switching the picture from one channel to another(Yes, this is annoying) and the time taken to browse a given number of channels was longer than earlier, effectively it means lower productivity!!
Next was the "-/--/---" button on the remote, I have always hated this one. These are the ones to set the single digit or double digit or triple digits channel. So, in effect you wanted to switch to channel number 45, you had to press "-/--/---" button twice, "4" and "5". How primitive is this? I hate it. The older one was smarted, you had to just click "4" and "5" in succession on voila!! you had channel 45.
Next was the memory, the "Alt C" button, used to go back to the previously watched channel. The older tv had a smart check in its memory and never stored the current and the previous channel to be the same, the newer one doesnot have this. So, if you make a mistake of choosing the same channel, you will end up with duplicacy of the info, what good is this?
Following up on the previous point -memory, the "Alt c" gets refreshed back to "0" everytime you switch off your TV, so in case of a power down, you would not remember which 2 channels you were juggling with prior to it! In a channel band of 1 to 100+ its gonna be a huge task to find what you were watching earlier!!!! A major let down.
All in all, the experience of watching TV has been drastically pulled down with my old but new TV. Its got the same body, but the soul has been changed. Watching TV is no more fun, high time I need to think about changing the set. Its going to be hard to give up which was once a beauty and a great old friend.
PS: I still am a huge TV junkie. I have managed to sit though whole of Sunday glued to this TV even with all its limitations.
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