err... umm... okay

twit-twit

2009-09-05T11:43:00.002+05:30

Me? Indian

2009-08-25T01:06:00.001+05:30

Indians are unique. Maybe unique is an understatement; maybe we are special.

You see, there are very few others in this world who have such exposure to diverse communities as we do. We, specially as teenagers, get to live in an open community all day and get back to our usually conservative families at night. Some may think that this is beautiful. But diversity can be a dangerous thing.

Diversity is worth the title only when members of each faction proudly live up to what they have been taught to be right. If feeble minds mix it all up, the convoluted mess that is created is just plain disgusting. Originality is lost and without it, diversity is just a sludge.

Each one of us is a product of years of history. There is a lot more that went into making us the way we are than meets the eye. Every tiny incident in India's glorious and at times tainted past resulted in us being who we are today. That I believe is something to be proud of.

I was personally, happy when Madras became Chennai. I like it when some one who talks very good English pronounces words from their language the way they are meant to be. I like it when people are proud to be who they are and do their roots justice.

I think that respect for their own cultures makes people of other nations proud to be them. The way of life that the television dictates to us is the culture and tradition of some other land. We follow it because the ones we see on TV love it. Maybe if we loved being us just as much as they loved being them, they'd decide to be us in a heart beat.

It disgusts me to watch people listen to music and dream of things that they cannot relate to.
It hurts me to think that I cannot converse in any Indian language as well as I can in English. Makes me question who I am. Makes me ask myself if I am a wanna-be.

I want to see the World. I want to be in all the places that I have been shown or have been told about. I want to see all the good things in the world. But, I like to think that when i become old and withered, I'll see my 100% Indian grandfather when I look at myself in the mirror. That who I will die as was decided with my birth. I want my kid to dump me 6 feet under Indian Soil.

I don't want this post to bring out the Indian in you. If 20 or so years of being you couldn't make you appreciate you, a few of my lousy words will not and it will be foolish of me to hope for them to.
However, if you think this could make sense, look around at the mess we have made of ourselves.

Love what you truly believe is good, not what you've been made to think is nice..

as good as new :D

2009-08-13T01:20:00.000+05:30

after spending four years in an evergrowing concrete jungle thats spread over a few acres, you feel like you know the place like the back of your hand. like you've been there and done that. then when someone reveals to you a whole new world of possibilities, you feel so.. small..

that is close to how i feel now.

our perspective of the world is always imperfect. makes me doubt if there is anything such as a perfect perspective.

sometimes, we see the world flying past us in a daze; and at other times, the world is as stagnant as an inanimate round of bullets floating in thin air like in a matrix movie.

in either case, the world seems to revolve around us.

college life is very interesting. it is like winter nights sleep in a cold house located on an hill station under a very thick blanket. you have to curl up and twist around in your struggle to keep yourself warm. when u finally find that warm cozy spot, you stay there.

much later at night, when u toss n turn a bit, you end up in the cold part of the bed and as a result, wake up.

the blanket and warmth is like the time and people you meet in college. you toss and turn until you find that really amazing cozy spot; and if you decide to be adventurous and explore new spots, all the sleep suddenly vanishes and you spend the rest of the night cursing yourself.

later, at mid morning, the bed seems like the best place to be in. warm and comfy.

heh.. 3 years down n techians can still surprise me :D

2009-08-02T00:43:00.001+05:30

The way to love anything is to realize that it might be lost

2009-07-30T21:25:00.001+05:30

John Grogan: A dog has no use for fancy cars, big homes, or designer clothes. A water log stick will do just fine. A dog doesn't care if your rich or poor, clever or dull, smart or dumb. Give him your heart and he'll give you his. How many people can you say that about? How many people can make you feel rare and pure and special? How many people can make you feel extraordinary?

Marley and Me :
u must watch this one

my beautiful mind

2009-07-11T01:52:00.003+05:30

I went over to sharan's place on the internet.

I noticed that there is a post in there from about a week ago that i haven't read. I wondered what had been keeping me from blogs and blog-people for a week. I am known to leave things dangling at times but what have i been doing for the last week that kept me from this place?

Answer is: nothing.

All the other instances of sudden absence that i can remember have been for some reason or the other. This time however, i cannot attribute my abandoning of this blogosphere and the inhabitants of this world and my dear friends among those inhabitants to anything.

And then, to set things into proper chronological perspective, i scrolled down to the little link that says 'err-umm-okay'. The little italicised line under it read '5 weeks ago'.

And then it hit me. It has brushed past me before; but this time, it hit me like it probably never has before ('probably' because even if it hit me hard before, i could've forgotten - my memory is rotten).

I haven' been good.

I have no plans of what i am going to do or when i am going to do what i have to do.

I take the ticking hands of time for granted.

In all these years, I have not learnt (or have probably forgotten) that time flies and you have to hold on to it.

And with time, all those little things and people that you so cherish fly by and never come back again.

What has been happening in the last 5 weeks?

'My Share' was posted when i lived in a room. Now, i live in a closet.

I had fewer things to worry about then; but now, I have a few more to think about and set straight.

The semester that seemed all set to be the worst of the lot temporarily seemed to make sense. And then, now it looks like a mighty drag down to some sewer... (time will fill the ellipses)

I have learnt more about the people I have been studying with for the past few years.

I have more reasons to disdain and to admire the ones around me.

I have taken decisions that probably mean that manhood has crept around the corner and is ready to pounce on me. Not just one - but two.

I have learnt that people die. I have also learnt that the only thing that looks easier to me on foresight is someone's death. When it is upon me, it doesn't seem as simple or common.

I went on a trip and didn't get down to see the destination. We just drove back along the road that got us there.

I met many new people. Made some friends and made some enemies.

I've done all that and more.

So, why did i not blog? Death.

Not being empathetic gives you emotional strength of a strange sort.

It allows you to treat everyone with the same respect (or disrespect). You needn't control your reactions depending on who is on the receiving end. It gives you the freedom to act without much thought. You do what you want to.

But this can also be a bad thing.

It was painful to learn that Clifford Aranha passed away. Was devastating.

Even more devastating when I remember that walk one evening during these vacations when he got out of a cab right in front of me and i walked right behind him for about a minute without calling him from behind. I was probably too lazy to remind him who i was just in case he forgot. I think i told myself "He will be around and so will I.. I'll meet him some other time"

But that was the last time i would get to see him. The last time i would get to see that almost shiny face with a moustache that looked vaguely like one drawn with a pencil. The last time I would get to see the man whose heart had to be electrified back to life and could still stand up straight and imposing like a man.

The last time i would get to see the man who made us feel like men.

There are somethings that no book can teach us. Somethings that only life can teache us. Life teaches us these things through men like Aranha sir.

But he smoked. He drank. And I guess he knew what was coming to him. RIP

I live in a cocoon that is protected from emotions.

I drown myself in apathy like it is a narcotic. But these departed souls purge it out of me and make me want to have spent more time with them.

When they drag you out of that viscous emotionless ocean, and all the emotions in the world hit your heart like darts, you feel like a unclothed creature shivering in freezing cold.

It is not just Aranha. I remember Suja Ali, I remember that kid who got run over, I remember my brother in law, i remember my uncle.

But after all this, another day dawns and like clockwork, the routine takes over and I decide to dive back into the apathy. It keeps you from liking or loving someone but also helps me keep myself from becoming someone i'll later hate.

You are freed (or deprived) of the impetus of doing something for someone just because you like them. Sometimes, every good friend you see reminds you of how not good a friend you have been and that can hurt at times. Sometimes, the crayon and mr.murphy and the bubble bottle yell at me for being an ungreatful moron.

And at othertimes, they comfort me by telling me that there are people who are worth the empathy.

I thank the ones that keep the hope in me alive and i curse the ones that make me wish i had never known them.

Heh.. :) sometimes, i even feel like Scrooge.. N I am my own three ghosts :D

Sanity is a man's best friend.

Some find sanity in god, others find comfort in vices.

I am mentally stronger than most people and i know it. I can bury emotional turmoil and joyous exuberance in an expressionless face.

I label this as sanity though I know many people won't. I am unique i guess.

Even when the glimmer of hope looks like it is about to fade away, sanity stays.

It tells me "even this will pass" (sharan told me nithya)

And with that, it convinces me to stay away from what my good old friends have resorted to.

i feel like i can go on for ages. but i know i cannot and that i have to sleep.

If u are at the crossroads, just tell yourself that destiny awaits everyone and that "even this will pass"

and among others, i thank u (yes u) for making me realise that gifting can be fun.

my share

2009-06-04T09:02:00.005+05:30

this is my share to the sudden surge in the number of blog posts..
*gasping to keep up*
guess the holiday season is maturing and all set to fade away

thank god for times like holidays, vacations, beach parties, child-hood, cartoons, milk teeth, school, bench engravings, colour pencils, ink stains, chalk powder, dusters, paper rockets, school bus rides, playgrounds, memories... all that and more :)
thank bruce for everything.. :-p

the season of sport finals is about to come to an end.. sigh

2009-05-24T00:04:00.001+05:30

You are the coolest blog I've ever read and one of the few that i can relate to.. So.. Hoping that you turn morbid less often:) and continue to explore newer dimensions in the forthcoming year.. Bon Anniversaire! :)

-- anonymous

1 yo

2009-05-23T20:27:00.004+05:30

So when your master Hari asked me to write something for your
birthday, I thought to myself, "Err..Umm..Okay.". And that's how I got
here typing a birthday message to you. Actually, Ryan's typing it for
me. So you're one eh? I've been there done that. I'm almost three now.
You've got a long way to go, that is if Hari lets you live :P.

So yea, nothing more to say.
Except probably, Happy birthday!

Keep 'em coming!

--
Sharanyan

__________________________________________________________________________________

It is amazing how, even after an entire year, we find ourselves where we were a year ago.

We go many miles around the Sun but decide to come right back to the beginning. And then, we go all around again and again...

There is something strange about anniversaries. It reminds us that somethings and some people last forever through these dates. Come to think of it, that is a comforting feeling :) we've all made our mark on the people around us by choosing a day to be born.

I am at home now, and a year ago I was here when this blog was created.

With more or less the same eagerness that I had when making my first post, I choose to call this blog EMO

Happy birthday emo!!!

:) here is the real song :)

(you too can wish emo happy birthday... write to hari939.bdaybash@blogger.com)

2009-05-21T16:21:00.000+05:30

Isn't there somewhere else you'd rather be?

the UNIplex

2009-05-14T13:41:00.018+05:30

tagged by Ryan :

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

* Choose 12 films you'd want to run at famous theatre near where you live.

* Explain why you chose them however you want to.

* Link back to Lazy Eye theatre's post.

* Tag 5 other people (can't do this because just about every other blogger i know has already been tagged :-\ )

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FILM 1
300

I love this movie for the way the slow narration somehow does justice to the action and pace of the battles. Beautifully directed and SPECTACULAR special FX.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FILM 2
Lord of the Rings (The Felowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King)

All the three parts of the LoTR are meant to be seen together.
This is one long 12 hour movie.
Reasons for selecting this are obvious. (because it really IS that good)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FILM 3
Fight Club

Very few people will find Tyler and the narrator as interesting. If you think deeply about it, all that is mentioned in this movie is true. After a dozen punches and knocks, you do realise that you can tolerate the pain.
Also, the attention to detail is absolutely astonishing.
'... we are the all singing all dancing crap of the world...'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FILM 4
The Pursuit of Happyness

There are too many reasons why i like this film.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FILM 5
Shawshank Redemption

Arguably one of the best films ever made.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FILM 6
Forrest Gump

'... life is like a box of chocolates...'
hardly anyone understands a simple person. Sometimes, you should just do what you want to.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FILM 7
Gladiator

Tough choice between this one and Troy.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FILM 8
The Godfather (1, 2, 3)

Its all about the family...
(another long 12 hour movie)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FILM 9
Oceans 11

The really enjoyable movies are the ones that blind your capacity to reason. You must be able to watch what is shown without allowing your mind to sense the ficticious parts of a movie.. Danny Ocean n his crew have done that very well.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FILM 10
Cinderella Man

A great dad, a loving husband and a true man. (he did get the 'turtle')
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FILM 11
Beautiful Mind

Crazy people are sometimes interesting.. painful.. but interesting.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FILM 12
Gone in 60 Seconds

cause i love cars.. :-D

slurp

2009-04-27T01:00:00.002+05:30

:) makes your mouth water just looking at it doesn't it?

world gone bonkers

2009-03-24T19:14:00.002+05:30

decided to casually wiki for more strange deaths..

this para says it all :

There have been a variety of well-documented deaths around the world caused directly by exhaustion from playing games for excessive periods of time. Also, there have been deaths of gamers and/or others directly related to excessive and/or compulsive playing of video games.

China

There were a number of deaths related to exhaustion from playing games for too long without food and rest. In Jinzhou, China, Xu Yan died after playing online games continuously for over 15 days during the Lunar New Year holiday. Also, an unnamed 30 year-old male died in Guangzhou, China after playing continuously for 3 days.

There have also been suicides linked to gaming. For example, "Xiao Yi was thirteen when he threw himself from the top of a twenty-four story tower block in his home town, leaving notes that spoke of his addiction and his hope of being reunited with fellow cyber-players in heaven. The suicide notes were written through the eyes of a gaming character ..."

South Korea

In 2005, Lee Seung Seop (Hangul: 이승섭) visited an Internet cafe in the city of Taegu and played StarCraft almost continuously for fifty hours. He went into cardiac arrest, and died at a local hospital. A friend reported: "...he was a game addict. We all knew about it. He couldn't stop himself." About six weeks before his death, his girlfriend, also an avid gamer, broke up with him, and he had been fired from his job for repeated tardiness.

Vietnam

Police say that Dinh The Dan, a 13 year old boy, "strangled Mai Thi Mau, 81, with a piece of rope and took 100,000 dong ($6.20) from her". Also, he "confessed that he needed money to play online games and decided to kill and rob the woman".

United States

Gregg J. Kleinmark, 24, plead "guilty to two counts of involuntary manslaughter". He "left fraternal twins Drew and Bryn Kleinmark unattended in a bathtub for 30 minutes, in order to go three rooms away and play on his Game Boy Advance console" while "in the mean time, the two ten-months old kids drowned".

Tyrone Spellman, 27, of Philadelphia, was convicted of third-degree murder for killing his 17-month old daughter in a rage over a broken Xbox. He "killed Alayiah Turman with at least five blows to the head" that "cracked the toddler's skull several times".

Ohio teen Daniel Petric shot his parents, killing his mother, after they took away his copy of Halo 3 in October 2007. In a sentencing hearing after the teen was found guilty of aggravated murder, Judge James Burge said "I firmly believe that Daniel Petric had no idea at the time he hatched this plot that if he killed his parents they would be dead forever".

# whoever made that moron a judge :-/

Canada

Brandon Crisp, an Ontario 15-year-old, ran away from home on Thanksgiving Monday in 2008 after his parents took away his Xbox 360 due to falling grades and excessive play of Call of Duty 4. He was last seen alive on a bicycle trail. His body was found weeks later, about 3 miles away, by a party of hunters. An autopsy determined that he died in a fall from a tree.

death probably brings out the worst in us..
god save the world

on a lighter note?

2009-03-24T01:01:00.001+05:30

I'd like to thank my family for loving me and taking care of me. And the rest of the world can kiss my ass.
Executed by injection, Texas.
~~ Johnny Frank Garrett, Sr., d. February 11, 1992

up n down

2009-03-24T00:45:00.004+05:30

I am fine..
I have always been.
Not 'GREAT';
Not 'TERRIBLE'
Just fine.. :)

Not everyone is like me. Most people have their Ups n Downs.
That got me thinking : Since I am always fine, and will probably never experience the wild swings of life, maybe I should try and find out what it feels like.

And this is what I found :

Suicide Notes . . .

And so I leave this world, where the heart must either break or turn to lead.
Suicide note.
~~ Nicolas-Sebastien Chamfort, French writer, d. 1794

Frances and Courtney, I'll be at your altar. Please keep going Courtney, for Frances for her life will be so much happier without me. I LOVE YOU. I LOVE YOU.
Suicide note.
~~ Kurt Cobain, musician, d. April 8, 1994

Goodbye, everybody!
Last words as he jumped off the cruise ship "Orizaba." (His body was never found.)
~~ Hart Crane, poet, d. April 27, 1932

To my friends: My work is done. Why wait?
Suicide note.
~~ George Eastman, inventor, d. March 14, 1932

Goodbye, my friend, goodbye
My love, you are in my heart.
It was preordained we should part
And be reunited by and by.
Goodbye: no handshake to endure.
Let's have no sadness -- furrowed brow.
There's nothing new in dying now
Though living is no newer.
Written in his own blood, and given to a friend the day before he hanged himself.
~~ Sergei Esenin, Russian poet, d. Dec. 28, 1925

When all usefulness is over, when one is assured of an unavoidable and imminent death, it is the simplest of human rights to choose a quick and easy death in place of a slow and horrible one.
Suicide note.
~~ Charlotte Perkins Gilman, writer, d. August 17, 1935
( As an advocate for the right-to-die, Gilman committed suicide on August 17, 1935 by taking an overdose of chloroform. She "chose chloroform over cancer.")

Lets see if this will do it.
Accidental suicide as he shot himself with a blank-loaded pistol on the set of TV spy show "Cover Up." The concussion forced a chunk of his skull into his brain; he died six days later.
~~ Jon Erik Hexum, actor, d. October 18, 1984

All fled--all done, so lift me on the pyre;
The feast is over, and the lamps expire.
Suicide note.
~~ Robert E. Howard, writer, d. June 11, 1936

And now, in keeping with Channel 40's policy of always bringing you the latest in blood and guts, in living color, you're about to see another first - an attempted suicide.
Shot herself during broadcast.
~~ Chris Chubbuck, newscaster, d. July 15, 1974

Don't worry, it's not loaded.
Suicide playing Russian roulette.
~~ Terry Kath, rock musician, d. January 23, 1978

They tried to get me - I got them first!
Suicide by drinking Lysol.
~~ Vachel Lindsay, poet, d. December 4, 1931

I must end it. There's no hope left. I'll be at peace. No one had anything to do with this. My decision totally.
Suicide note.
~~ Freddie Prinze, comedian, d. January 29, 1977

Dear World, I am leaving you because I am bored. I feel I have lived long enough. I am leaving you with your worries in this sweet cesspool - good luck.
Suicide note.
~~ George Sanders, British actor, d. April 25, 1972

When I am dead, and over me bright April
Shakes out her rain drenched hair,
Tho you should lean above me broken hearted,
I shall not care.
For I shall have peace.
As leafey trees are peaceful
When rain bends down the bough.
And I shall be more silent and cold hearted
Than you are now.
Suicide note to her lover who left her.
~~ Sara Teasdale, poet, d. 1933

"Football Season Is Over."
No More Games. No More Bombs. No More Walking. No More Fun. No More Swimming. 67. That is 17 years past 50. 17 more than I needed or wanted. Boring. I am always bitchy. No Fun for anybody. 67. You are getting Greedy. Act your old age. Relax This won't hurt.
Hunter left the note for his wife, Anita. He shot himself four days later at his home in Aspen, Colo., after weeks of pain from a host of physical problems that included a broken leg and a hip replacement.
~~ Hunter S. Thompson, author, d. 20 February, 2005
The writer's ashes were blown into the sky in Woody Creek, Colo., amid fireworks on Aug. 20.

To Harald, may God forgive you and forgive me too but I prefer to take my life away and our baby's before I bring him with shame or killing him, Lupe.
Suicide note.
~~ Lupe Velez, actress, d. December 13, 1944

The future is just old age and illness and pain.... I must have peace and this is the only way.
Suicide note.
~~ James Whale, film director, d. May 29, 1957

I don't believe that people should take their own lives without deep and thoughtful reflection over a considerable period of time.
Suicide note.
~~ Wendy O. Williams, punk rock performer, d. April 6, 1998

I feel certain that I'm going mad again. I feel we can't go thru another of those terrible times. And I shan't recover this time. I begin to hear voices
Suicide note
~~ Virginia Woolf, author, d. March 28, 1941

So many artists!
These are the people who supposedly know to admire and appreciate the things in life that I walk right past.
If that is the way they end theirs, I am glad my life is just fine :)

read this

mock

2009-03-01T14:51:00.003+05:30

what an ass-whopping question paper can do to the smartest of the lot..

2009-02-24T00:48:00.002+05:30

i like to believe that there is some place where what i think is okay is okay to everyone else..
here

why?

2009-02-18T01:02:00.001+05:30

why do i like to sleep listening to some conversation from some sitcom?

why do i get better ideas when i watch these lame sitcoms?

why do i watch em even if i don't understand em or can't relate to em?

why do i like having silly conversations playing in my head?

2009-02-16T12:54:00.001+05:30

Smart eh? :)

2009-02-01T17:11:00.004+05:30

Dancing around a bon fire in a cold night to save the nuts from freezing with a bottle of vodka and a plate of lard..
RUSSIA ROCKS :)

oh so (darn disgusting) beautiful!

2009-01-17T10:48:00.003+05:30

The problem with Intellectual Property is that it makes absolutely no sense to the not so intellectual majority of good ol' momma EARTH.
Not everyone understands the beauty of a well-written poem, or a beautiful song, or a colourful painting or even some nice few lines of code :-\ That is a pity. Absolute collapse your knees drop down and cry pity.
It is so upsetting mainly because if there aren't too many people to enjoy what we make, there is lesser reason for us to make it in the first place. And if there aren't too many people who need what you make, survival becomes difficult.

What made me think of this is the recent problems being faced by Satyam.
The bunch of code crunchers at Satyam had a good name for being pretty darn good at making Software Solutions (programs) for a pretty long time. But they seem to have lost their luster now.
How is that possible?
I know for a fact that you become better at programing as you do more of it.
So, their sudden downfall must be attributed to something else.
Oh yea.. Money.
There is no point making money if you cannot manage it.
Money is strange. Plainly because managing it is more difficult that making it.
If you make a million and spend a million, you aren't a millionaire. It is as simple as that.
That is what went wrong with Satyam. They were very good at what was their profession. But the entire company left the job of managing that money, which was their responsibility, to Raju. And if you didn't know, He messed up..
And a poor track record at managing money reflects poor management of power. And that is evident from what happened with The World Bank.

So, in a nutshell, if you are good at your profession, you need to be good at your responsibility. But if you are not good at your profession, you have no responsibility.
What does this have to do with intellectual property?
This: If Satyam had to be torn apart and fed to the sharks (the banks n stuff), the land, buildings and computers would be like the meat. And the software they have made would be the soul (useless). Giving the software to an angry money lender would be as useless as a surgical knife to a chimp (you know why.. you ought to know why)
That is the bitter truth that awaits my generation of 'Software professionals' i suppose. Maybe we are essentially creating nothing. I'll put it this way.. maybe we are creating nothing that makes any sense to anyone but our own selves.

Maybe that is why we have so many great coders stashed in online communities that call themselves Open Source and free.
They make new kernels, new file systems, amazingly tiny bits of code that can do marvelous stuff, make things like the EXT4 and many more things.
They do their coding and they keep the dangerous element of money away.
But still, half the world has no idea what is going on in these communities and detest the idea of making clickity clakiting noises in a dark room with the only source of light being the Monitor.

I still don't have a clear idea of what may happen. Will the world find more sense in what the programs are worth once they become computer literate?
Or, will money hunt us down like wild barbarians chasing civilised humans who might have stepped into their border and then make us sit in a boiling 'andaa' and do wild jungle dances around us an taunt us?
I'd like to hear what Raju has to say about this.

and oh yea... Kriya and VSM

revelation

2009-01-03T02:30:00.003+05:30

My guess is that a person's house is as good as the person is.
You don't find paupers living in palaces do you?

I spent New Year's Eve and the following day in Ooty with Gilli.
This might be an understatement (if so due to the fact that my vocabulary is not what i would deem praise worthy.. not because the place was not good enough) Ooty is a beautiful place.
That is when it struck me : most of the world we live in is beautiful. This world that 'God' made for us to live in truly is breath taking!
So, he probably meant for us to be worthy of such an abode.

It is when i saw the fairy tale landscape of Ooty that my darker sides that clung on to the rest of me like dirt suddenly ashamed me. I have not been the best of people.
I have been sarcastic, unkind, ungrateful, silly, cruel and inconsiderate.

But i don't want to be any of that any more.

I will probably never understand the depths of the people I previously thought were rubbish. I shouldn't jump into conclusions.
I will probably never wholeheartedly help others the way some people have helped me. I will probably never understand what it feels like to share and enjoy.
I will probably never be the kind of person i want to be.
But there is no harm in trying is there?

The world deserves a better me.. And i'm gonna try and satisfy it.. :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

courtesy : gilli

2008-12-26T01:11:00.002+05:30

What do you do when you have to compete with others in a race that none can win?
Do you roll up your sleeves and get busy?
If you do, is it so that though you may never make it to the finish line, you can take the last breath knowing that it was worth the while?
Or, do you just lie down and go to sleep?

The smartest people i meet don't seem smart enough.

oldschool

2008-12-14T00:42:00.003+05:30

ever thought about why Old-school is always better?

or let us frame it this way : why do we continuously make things worse?

think about it..

mobile phone : the new ones are more difficult to use, clumsy and weak. the old ones were brilliant (literal and otherwise).

cars : new ones aren't even nearly as fun as the old ones. to a family being driven around by an enthusiastic someone in one of the classic cars, the journey is in itself an adventure. in the new ones, everyone snores noisily and they are so quiet that u have no option but to listen to them.

furniture : the classic ones feel like nature spent several years growing over itself to give you nice wood that is then crafted by someone who puts all his energy and passion into it.. they make you feel special.. like you are worth all that trouble.
the new ones feel like someone stole a couple of metal walking sticks from helpless blind people who spent an afternoon sleeping on a park bench that are then crafted by a stingy person whose vision is compromised.

people : the new ones (everyone from the sniggering centers of laziness who surround you where ever you go to the engineers who always seem to make the wrong thing to the guy who spends evenings outside the college handing out leaflets to people who throw them 10 feet away from them instead of he himself throwing them all into the air) are all useless. the old ones have books written on them.. they have cool things named after them.. they made cooler statements too..

movies : i don't have to prove myself on this one do i?

clothes : the best selling clothes of today have ESTD.18xx or 19xx written on it. so, evidently, that was the good ol' days. the clothes most people wear today are torn (by a kid in some industrious little city in india) and faded.

i am not a 60 year old. but i do want to know what it would feel like to live in a world where everyone made sense.
help me out if u can..

o, and if u are the ghost of Darwin, i think we have a new theory to work on.. g3-408.. drop by..

GO SPEED GO!!!

2008-12-06T18:17:00.006+05:30

i love cars!

i have been love with their growling engines, sleek curves, squealing tyres, flashy lights, road hugging grip, ehilarating speed and the noise ever since first grade.
that was when i first saw Batman n robin speed through Gotham city in George Barris' BatMobile. a couple of years later, when i saw speed racer's mach 5, my love became sheer craze.

As years grew by, modern science and stupid adults woke me up from my dream world : i was forced into labelling my childhood dreams as non sense. Speed racer, batman, wacky racers n everybody else seemed fake.

as with everything else, once u wake up to realty, u'll be stunned for a little while. but later, once it sinks into u, u don't remember much about ur dream.
that is what happened with me. i still loved cars, but not the cool cartoons n fantasy stuff.

was i too old for them?
or didn't i want to get fooled again?
i don't know for sure. but i do know that i let those days and memories settle in the dark corners of my mind.

it is partly due to this that i didn't want to see the speed racer movie. but as i gave into seeing a few scenes of the movie, i decided to give the boy racer one more shot... at resurrecting the kid within me.. and man.. am i glad i did :)

Speed racer is a spectacular movie. it is one of those movies that is boldly imaginative.. an attempt at injecting fresh blood into a classic without taking any of the lunacy or passion off.
it is as colourful as an african lady's robes, as hi-tech as a space craft, as passionate as love and as childish as pikachu. it is everything i remember the old speed racer was except that it offers much more of it.

the review gurus of the west might write it off as senseless stuff. But, to the kid within me who has just woken up from a loooong slumber and is looking for bits of paper to scribble pictures of cool cars on while humming noises of what the best car's engine should sound like, the speed racer movie is a classic.

OR, and this is just a speculation, maybe.. it is last evening's 145 (courtesy of Karthik.. and obnoxious IMS noodles and boring classes) that could be still underplaying my thoughts :)
either way, i am a kid again :)

MAN & MACHINE

short

2008-11-18T12:37:00.003+05:30

instead of hearing from me what selling short means, u'd rather read this

now, if u want to know more, read on.

the stock markets are primarily for investors and not for traders.
investors buy based on fundamentals (gut feelings) and hold
traders buy and sell or sell and buy quickly.. for money

traders sell short when the market crashes.

if you still need a better understanding, think of the market as the email system:
transactions made by investors are like the mails that u write to people you know.
transactions by traders are the junk mail, the mails sent to mailing lists, and adverts all put together.
this resemblance is not just in the quality but also in the quantity.
the total value of transactions by traders is beginning to form a large part of the value pie.

observing these patterns in the market is very interesting when you try to interpret the psychology of the "market players".

in the recent past, i have read several postings in websites that advise people to avoid trading and taking fresh positions in the markets. some of these people also ask people to avoid trading, give calls to sell short and ask people to buy based on value.. all at the same time.
these are all people who said "happy trading" before signing their previous posts.

whatever happened to purpose and character.. :-/

the world is a stage

2008-11-08T01:42:00.002+05:30

it is true isn't it?
the entire world is a stage.

no it isnt. and it is a stupid statement. come to think of it, the very idea of setting the stage the way it is, is to make it look like some earthly, unheard of event.

so, the world came first and then the stage did. the stage was an imitation.

however, what the world (other than u and i) have comfortably assumed is that the stage came first and that the world second.
they have absorbed characteristics of characters that they see on stage and then live according to them.

now, the real seriousness of the problem becomes apparent when u realise how stupid some of these characters are designed to be.

For example, the banks have assumed that they are ROBIN HOOD,
the teachers have assumed to be blood thirsty goons,
college students and young adults have assumed the hero's role,
.
.
.
and the list goes on..

if u wanna live a stage show like life, the problem is that there are bound to be villains, tragedies, climaxes and rotton tomatos thrown at u.

banks for example, are not supposed to be robin hoods.
they aren supposed to take from the rich and lend it to the poor.
when the poor end up being unable to pay, we have what is called a credit crisis.

when teachers become blood thirsty, students become vampire slayers.
and many many more add to this clash of titans - leaving u and me to enjoy(woe at) the tomato paste that splashes off their faces.

so, my humble request to u... gather everyone u think is trying to live a filmy life and beat common sense into him...
trust me.. it really will make the world a better place
either that, or join troop and help me become the world's dictator.. (slogans r welcome)
:)

PS: just in case u were wondering, it didn't take me 4 months to figure this out.. i was... hibernating ;-)

Supid, greedy, suicidal world

2008-07-06T00:09:00.003+05:30

Typing this post using a vary poor keyboard (no it doesn't lack any keys... it has been poorly maintained) so,try and live with the poor spellling or just call me up..(9994155692)

Having attended every class of this week, i think it i have the right to complain bout this world.. (een if i didn't thi s is my blog... who s gona stop me??)

Ours is a stupid, lazy, perverted, no good, suicidal, explosive, stinking world (talking bout my fellow earthlings).
Almost everything that upsets me is due to some dope's greed or stupidity... right from the inflation to the dangerously bnoring classrs.. it is all because of the stupid fellow inhabitants that THE ALL MIGHTY has asked me to share the world with. For the benifit of my like minded friends(you and a few others), i am going to share with you the thoughts and ideas that hatched up in my mind during calss (yes sharan... an idle mind)

Ever wondered why teachers bore you to death with the nonsense that they label LECTURES and why they tossed up the idea of attendance?
The motive is simple.. Kill and get killed...
The people who teach us are almost always boring people.and like us, these borng people went throgh college.. you know the way you tease some ppl in class to tears, these teachers of ours were those people in their colleges.. It is human to seek revenge.. and so, out of instinctive desire for revenge, these people join as teachers.. You may not hear it.. but everytime, they say "listen" or they ask a qustion to the last-benchers of calss, they devilishly chuckle to themselves saying "TIME FOR PAYBACK!!"From a third person's point of view, this is a brilliant 'get back'.. but to the nervous last-bench regular who had no option but to sleep with eyes wide open cause his phone has boring games, this is torture..
The second for my upset-ness..Prices.. it is madness.. prices are sky rocketting right through the roof.. and we can't do a thing about it..Let me tell you why the price is rising at such a rate and how bad it really is..a few of you who might have heard about the joyeous bull ride that the global financial markets have eben enjoying for the past several months will know that the amount of money that some people have made is dizzying..The sole reason for such rise in the prices is greed (for further elaboration, meet me sometime). Everyone has wanted to own a few of those hot stocks of the market and ended up paying a little too much for those shares.Now, these bird brained rich guys felt a bit nervous given that the whole world runs on oil and there isn't too much left of it.. they "forsee" a shortage of supply and a failing economy.inorder to profit from their "prophecy", they decide to buy oil.. again, they send the proces skyrocketting... however, they fail to realise the market dynamics of the commoduties market,.. fluctuations in commodity prices can have far reaching percusions.. from the trading floors of the NYMEX to the padel that your right foot feels happy pressing and the right hand feels powerful twisting..These greedy rich guys think that they have made a bag of money and come out of the market hoping to spend the new earned money on something fancy.. it is then that tey realise that the prices are too high for them to afford anything..like i said.. suicidal idiots..
and then there is the issue of child molesters..read this.. i wouldn't need to say much more..
last but not least, those earthlings who lack ambition.. lack guts to talk.. lack the brains to think,, and the courage to be open-minded.. incompetent fools...
go ahead... throw ur comments at me saying that i am not perfect.. no i am not perfect.. i am just right.. it is the balance that matters..

i am bumble-bee

2008-06-04T19:22:00.001+05:30

i am bumble-bee (no u aren't):

i am like bumble-bee, in that we share one shortcoming and that though it was only a temporary vocal short coming of his, it doesn't seem to be of the same sort with me.

(HE can TRANSFORM... and U... well... u can crap with ur mouth)
(oh come on man... first the metaphor and now the simili... people, if that doesn't tell u anything about the kind of idiot this guy is, take another look at what this guy is actually procaliming he is...
dude, Bush and u may both be idiots, but that doesn't u the president of america and that doesn't make him the useless lowlife that u are)

i am not original. one of the facets where this is most obvious is in how poorly i express myself : i can almost never give any original examples, i cannot write stories (here we go again :( ... DEPRESSION ALERT! DEPRESSION ALERT! CONTAGIOUS!!!)

however, (whoa... that was quick... done moaning already??) there is something i am good at (THIS i have got to know) : i can identify things that are bound to go wrong and though i am not even remotely close to being original, i can improvise (hey... not bad... can u look through walls? and stop crashing planes with a single hand too?)

being able to convince one self is very important (every depressed guy's excuse).
noone is perfect (who the heck is he?) and everyone has shortcomings.
You don't need to be original... u just need to know how to make a living with what you have. (non sense)

cheers!! (behold - StUPIDITY is ALIVE!!!)

HEAD ON

2008-05-30T02:36:00.000+05:30

Have you ever wondered why even though the user's catalogue tells not to bang a Television, the easiest way to rectify grainy picture quality is to bang the damn thing?
It doesn't really break anything inside the television (the same way spanking a kid isn;t gonna permanenetly damage his butt). Yet, the guys who make it tell you not to do it.

before you dismiss this as just a minor hippocratic fact/flaw with the world that we live in, look around you; there are many more things wrong with it.

there are two kinds of people: the people who know what to do and tell others ("teachers") and people who are told (directly/indirectly) how to do things and do it.
there is a reason why the people who know things don't do that as much - it isn't sustainable and one day, you will either kill yourself doing it, or you will have nothing to do.

Picture the World as a long road that we are all jogging on. We are all part of a massive marathon.
We carry our bosses on our shoulders for which he'll throw peanuts down at us. The better we run, the closer we get to the primary channel of peanut supply from our bosses (more salary). Different business owners have different groups of people carrying them to the "finish line".
The ones amongst us who are striving for world peace, human equality and things like that are carrying people too- Though in this case, the ratio of the number of people being carried to that carrying is in favour of those being carried.
What none of these people realise is that the world is running to a "finish line" but there isn't gonna be any award ceremony once we get there. We'll just keep running until we fall off the cliff of this flat world (armageddon).

So, the next time someone tells you that people used to believe that the world was flat, all you have to do is smirk, knock them on their head, and tell them that it was only a figurative way of saying that "even this will pass".

Accept it, the world we are made to see is meaningless.

Let me explain with examples:

Every year, Forbes lists the richest people from around the world based on their net worth.
Warren Buffet was last rated as the richest man on Earth. His rating was primarily based on he large number of shares of berkshire hathaway that he owns.
Think about it. Berkshire has such an exorbitant valuation because of the businesses that it owns. Warren Buffet made the company buy these shares because he thought that they were good businesses.
No doubt, the man is an economical genius. So, a major portion of the value of the business can be attributed to that fact that Warren Buffet still works for the company. In other words, the "Warren Buffet" tag adds value to the company. Therefore, Warren Buffet's value is determined by the "Warren Buffet" Tag around Berkshire.
It doesn't make sense actually, does it?

Indians aren't too great either. Do you really think that the Ambani bros are worth the billions that we are told they are?
Consider the scenario:
A is a Bank. A makes good profit and decides to by some land. Once built, A decides to run a routine check on the land and finds that there is plenty of oil under the newly bought land. You may know that if a sandle wood tree happens to grow in your backyard, it belongs to our beloved government.
But, in certain areas, if you strike oil, you can actually drill it out, sell it, and give a little to te government and get away with it.
So, the major owners of A decide to form another company (B).
They spend 100 on making the company. They convince the owners of A that the company B will generate the cash to drill the oil out if they hand over the land to them. In return, they'll get 50% of the shares of the company. Driven by the idea of becoming the Oil Kings of India, these share holders decide to go for it.
The initial capital of B was 100 (money to setup the company and cannot be recovered). But the Oil Field may be worth 1000. So, the company A owns 500 worth of the field and the owners of B (the major holders of A) own 500 worth (an immediate value multiplication of 5 times). Then, the owners of company B decide to sell 25 units of the initial 100 to the public at 250 units (a premium of 225 units). Now, the total value of the company is 1250 (maybe more). so, the initial owners have (50-12.5)% of B. ie. 593 (600 approx). And if you consider the money from the ownership of A, it will be even more.
Thereby, instantly multiplying their value.

How did they get rich? Hmm... interesting.

There are many many more examples. From people buying art to fancy cars; Money is a gimmick.
Though we may choose to ignore the guys at WestCoast Customs "Pimp"ing up rides and Super Powers running tanks and hummers in far away lands, we have to wake up to the fact that it might affect us too.
There might be a Head on collission up ahead.

How do we get around this?
By thinking rationally.
Keep visiting... This blog will be filled with more rationality soon :)

To the logical positivists, the Humanists and curious others

2008-05-23T20:20:00.000+05:30

This blog is my attempt to reach out to people who look at life the way i do. This blog is intended towards those who can appreciate my views and from whom i can learn. I welcome everyone to comment on whatever i write.

"WHY BLOG??" - the obvious question
This is not my diary. These are things that i would have told you if i met you - just a bunch of things that i would tell people.
However, though i may want to say all that i want to, you may not want to listen to it.
Hence, this is the best solution (as of now).