Which one

There is this rather sad realization, that has dawned upon me of late - a nagging sense of under-achievement, that seems to be getting more and more pronounced these days.

Either, I am (ignorantly) expecting myself to do too much in the first place, or, am just not fufilling the cogent expectations that I have of myself (Due to reasons, I know not either).

Am not sure, which one.

Things to learn...

...from a highly energetic, extremely naughty, and a precocious two year old -

- Try to sleep as less as possible.After all, there are so many things to do, and so little time.
(If a two year old staying at home all day, can find so many innovative ways to pass time, am sure you can do much better. Or, maybe no.)

- Live in the present (Right, this a cliche (Right this a cliche (Right this a cliche.. (Ok, this is an infinite loop))))
(For him, 'present' has a granularity of exactly one second and not more)

- If you are curious about how things work at the elementary level, break them down to pieces.

(Doesn't matter if they cost a few hundred/thousand rupees.What matters is what you learn)

- Never ever, share your 'five-star' with anyone.(Yes, I mean anyone)

- Its good to cry once in a while.
(Especially, if you want your parents to agree with your point of view)

- Treat everyone the same
(He recently adressed a dishelved, dressed-in-rags tramp in a temple, as 'uncle'.The same way, he would address a six-digit salary-earning person).

- If you want something, want it so badly, that you will ultimately get it, by hook or crook.

- And most important of all, keep smiling/laughing. It really makes you look cute.

So, the next time you complicate things for yourself/get bogged down by dogmas, you know what to do - Go, play with a two year old !!!

ps: An added incentive of doing so - it provides the much needed content for a post - for a dry,sullen blog like this, that's swathed in eternal torpor.

Renewed

Its been three months now since the last update.Was totally blank on thoughts.Felt like writing something, many a times,but had absolutely nothing to.Not that I have much now.The last three months have been pretty much the usual stuff.The routine cycle of work->home->work.But yes,managed to read a couple of good books (I know its late, but thanks Srk for the wonderful book).Also, have started using the treadmill at the office gym.Lets see how far I go with this one.

Next week, one more among my friends is tying the knot (Ah, I ended up talking about marriage again.But given the fact that the previous post on marriage received the maximum number of unique comments, no wonder then, its a hot topic among readers !!!).Talking to her the other day, she remarked how fast, times have changed.And, how the earlier times, somehow always seem to be better than the present.True.Mid School's a lot better than high school.High school, than college.And how college is heaven compared to the hectic work life. Going up this chain then, are we always heading towards the worse ? Scary thought.

Eagerly waiting to see my two year old nephew, next month.The fact that, K also is coming home for his vacations is good news.December,sure sounds exciting.

Mind

Chanced upon this poem, written some three years ago.Have never actually ventured into poetry after this !!
Now I can't stop laughing, reading at this kiddish piece. But I still like it, as its one of the only two poems I've managed to write in my entire life (I lost the other one, titled 'Life', and in my opinion, that was a much better one).
So, go on and have some fun reading it.

" I discovered a maze christened ‘The Mind’
Any endeavor to conquer it would leave you in a grind.
Abstruse, are the ways of this being-obdurate,
With complex thought processes that intimidate.

Akin to an unfaithful lover,
It can desert you in the lurch forever.
It takes more than just nerves of steel,
To stop it, from galloping on its heel.

The nuances in its functionality are terrific,
But the intricacies of which are esoteric.
Thoughts race through at the speed of light,
Some wrong, some right.

Embedded within, is the power of nuke,
Triumph or failure is never a fluke.
Shun the darkness and stop mimicking the blind,
For, victory and defeat, it’s all in the mind !!! "

Free Will - Really ?

Have been reading "The Fountainhead" for quite sometime now.The book has some profound thoughts scattered all along.Came across one such piece today.A character in the story,one who's scaled great heights in his profession, talks about free will.
This is what he has to say -
"It's true that there's no such thing as free will.We can't help what we are or what we do.It's not our fault.Nobody's to blame for anything.It's all in your background and...and your glands.If you're good, that's no achievement of yours--you were lucky in your glands.If you're rotten,nobody should punish you--you were unlucky, that's all."

Now, I am not delving into, either justifying the above idea or refuting it. But still, all ye enlightened souls out there, what do you think ?

By the way, found the idea expressed here very very similar to my own take on free will.

Happy Birthday

Tomorrow, I complete one year of blogging. When I started off, didn't think I would last this long (Not that I have been very active in posting, with about 20 posts in a year - that makes it less than 2 a month).Nevertheless, the fact that I am still posting after an year, is enough to make me glad.
As with experiences in life, you like a few of them and despise the others.On the same lines, I have liked a few of my posts, and, am not very proud of the rest. But overall, it has been a nice experience maintaining a blog.Hopefully, can do more justice to it over the next year.
So, here is wishing, that I atleast improve upon the frequency of posting, if not anything else !!

So, what languages do you know ?

La lingua è vitale per il processo di pensiero.

Doesn't make sense, does it ? Unless of course, you are from Italy, or you have mastered a course in Italian. Thats because, the above sentence is in Italian.No, I have not taken a fancy to learn the language.I got it translated through google.What it stands for - well,lets come to it a little later.Anyways, you must have got an idea as to what this write-up is about.Right,its about the influence of languages. Their influence, but not as in, them being a communication tool.It is a plain fact that languages are the foundations upon which effective communication is built, and there isn't much here,to ponder upon.

This is about the influence of languages on the very thought process of the human mind. I had this idea quite a few time back, and even had a discussion with a friend (Josh, if you remember). It is quite exhilarating to gauge the power of languages, on your thoughts. To get a feel of this, do this simple exercise now. Try to 'think' of anything you want to.But, on one condition.You must think of something,and that, must not be in any language.Don't bind your thoughts to a language.Try to be independent of it.
Could you ?

Well, atleast for me,I could manage only one thought.That being,"I am not getting any thoughts".Which infact, was again in a particular language. Truly amazing, don't you feel ?
We are so conditioned to 'think' in some language, and, if you are not allowed that luxury, your very thought process undergoes a mutation and you feel stifled. Really, tell me how else would your thoughts manifest correctly, but for the language (The only other thing that comes to my mind is, thinking in terms of pictures).
Now that languages are apparently known to have such a strong impact on your thoughts, is it then possible, that if you 'think' in one language, instead of the other, you will have 'better' thoughts ? That, you could do more, if you chose to think in one particular language ? I know, I know, that sounds a bit far-fetched, but then again, I couldn't help this thought (Which came to me in English !!!).

Regarding the Italian sentence at the beginning, a good guess by now would tell you what it means - "Language is vital for the thought process".

835 Days and 2 Hours Remaining

That, was the time estimated by XP, to copy around 600 MB of data,when I was writing a CD.Thought it was worth sharing this once-in-a-while marvel, and so here it is (Please click on the image to see the details clearly).

Its another thing,that it was completed in under ten minutes.

Matrimonial tidbits

Last week, Shekhar,a very good friend of mine got married.His marriage also doubled up as a sort of reunion of my high school friends.Was meeting most of them after a long hiatus, of almost eight years.It was quite a nostalgic experience.We even went down to the details of discussing whom we sat next to,in each of the three years !!! Must say,really felt good to meet old pals after such a long gap.But only wished, a few more had turned up.

He is the third guy in my circle of friends, who have, or either are very close to taking the plunge.Now,I agree there is no peer pressure here.But still, as a passing thought,was just contemplating how close I was,to making the 'dive' myself.Its pathetic.I found out,I am light years away from it.I just don't see it happening in the near future.And, 'near' can have different connotations depending on how long I want it to be.
I mean,lets accept it.I am still a mama's boy and have absolutely no qualms about it.Till now,I have never, ever, felt that 'need' for a companion.There is no void in those terms, that yearns to be filled with companionship.Then,there are no signs of it either.Yes,I have had my share of "crushes", since school through college.But,all those have just been a part of the motley emotions, associated with any growing teenager.Nothing more,nothing less.

And frankly,I am scared like hell when it comes to making such a commitment.Scared,not for my cause,but the other party involved.As far as I know myself, I am a very complex character to get along with,and not all that pliable.So its unfair,to expect someone totally alien to me,to adapt to my capricious ways of life.Agreed,that I also will make certain changes to my behaviour,but as someone said,"Old(Bad) habits die hard".I really pity that soul,who decides to spend the better half of her life (actually more,but its ok considering the literary context of the sentence) with a not-so-better-half like me.So,I have decided to put forth a statutory warning to her before she makes her decision.And no,it won't be as inconspicuous as those, on cigarette packs.But if she still finds me as addictive,that is not my problem.

Come to think of it now,this was not just a passing thought.In reality,it was a 'planted' thought.For quite sometime now,I have a lot of relatives,asking me or my parents,"So,when is it happening ?".On one occasion ,someone even came upto my mom in a function, and this is what ensued.

She: I have a cousin Y,who is eligible.So,I was just wondering if your son.....

Mom: No,actually he is not thinking about it for the next 2-3 years.

Me: 2-3?? Please tell her, not till eternity.

She: Oh,ok ok.But please do tell me when he makes up his mind.

Mom: Yeah, sure.

Me: Yeah, sure.

(Now hoping, Y will never read this).

Okay,I think this thing is getting too egotistical and boring.Will stop it now...

Patriotism ?

X is a very patriotic person with lot of respect and admiration for his country.He nurtures ambitions of seeing it as one of the top nations in the world, in all respects.The following is an excerpt from the fictious diary of one such person.All though the diary is fictious,the contents draw inspiration from real life.And yes,X could be anyone.Me.You.All of us.

"I saw Rang De Basanti today.Films with patriotic fervour as their main theme have always struck an emotional chord with me.Irrespective of the quality of their presentation,the very idea appeals to me a lot.RDB was no different.It presents the metamorphosis of four protaganists, from being a bunch of nonchalant & frivolous nomads to patriotic zealots, who don't flinch, in doing anything for their country.To the extent, that they sacrifice their very lives in trying to send a message to their compatriots and thus awaken them from their deep slumber.Ofcourse,the methodology and their approach to doing it is questionable.Considering,that they resort to acts of killing the venal politicians and bureaucrats, in their endeavour to set the 'system' right.But,on a personal level,I am not all that averse to their line of thought.Here,I am not advocating violence as the ultimate panacea to all maladies.But only trying to suggest,that I did not find their approach too inappropriate in the current context.

All this jingoism that I seem to be delineating now,is not the aftermath of watching a movie.Only that I am using this as a launchpad to put forth my thoughts on the issue.One may ask,now that I am potraying myself as this staunch idealist,what have 'I', actually done to improve conditions around myself.Though not significantly palpable in the macroscopic scheme of things,these are very small things that have given me satisfaction at a personal level.

• Have always tried not to litter the roads/streets with choclate/gum covers.Either have put in the roadside bins or have carried it in pocket and dumped it at home.

• Have tried to follow traffic rules scrupulously,even if its as 'trivial' as not crossing the dividing yellow line, or not overshooting the zebra crossing.Have strictly followed one-ways,be it at one in the night or at five in the morning.

At the same time,must admit though,that I have been coerced to do certain things,things which I decry.I also understand that,the above acts are not even close enough to solving the actual problems that we have on hand today.But,they are small steps alright.In the right direction.As they say,'A journey of a thousand steps begins with one step'.I am not aiming for utopia here,but expecting people to do minimalistic things for the betterment of their own country is not unfair,right? Or, is it?

God,let some sense prevail.

On a totally unconnected note,yesterday was one of the momentous days of my life.I got an admit for my Masters, from one of the top schools in the SU.I am flying off from India next month, to complete my higher education,in what will be a potentially rewarding investment for my career ahead.Feeling really elated about it."

Treat

"A" is leaving to Canada in two weeks, for six months, on an onsite project.So we decided to have the customary treat yesterday.After much speculation about the POA, "Ab" suggested we could go 'go-karting', followed by a dinner. The idea sounded good to the rest and so we(A,Ab,N and me) set out at around 7.00 in the evening.The go-karting was supposed to be near the palace grounds.But after reaching there,we found out that it had been closed for good, a long time back.After "A" had done with cursing "Ab" , we decided to go bowling, as that was the only other choice at Starcity.

Now,I haven't gone bowling in over an year now.I don't even remember the last occassion exactly.So was just little sceptical about my 'form'.But what happened when I took my first attempt, left me more dumbfounded than the others.I got a full STRIKE. Just could not believe that all the pins were down and out !!! And as I tried to trace back my actions during the 'roll' (as to how I could score a strike),it seemed like it was erased from memory.I could only remember getting the ball and going near the line to roll it over.After that, the point in time where I released the ball seemed to have been wiped out from my memory.Felt like I was not entirely there.If this wasn't queer enough,what I experienced in the last attempt was even more "out of the normal".As I gathered the ball for my last 'roll', I could 'see' that I would score a strike this time too.Somehow,it looked very obvious. Then, as I rolled it over the alley,in total arrogance,the ball went in a straight line and knocked over all the pins.
All this might be sounding a little over-the-board, considering it was only a game of bowling.But, for me,the experience was surely a novel one and that kept me thinking for the rest of the time.
Anyways,I could only manage a score of 101,as I became lackadaisical in the later attempts,after scoring an improbable strike in the first roll.Still, came second,next to Ab at 120.

Bowling done,it was time for dinner.Again,Ab was the one who suggested the place.We drove over to Cunningham road, to a place called "Aura" (After the bowling experience,the name suggested something more than just a place) . As we entered the Airconditioned restaurant,I could see the place shrouded in smoke.Initially,we thought it was of the cooking that was happening around there.But we realised,it was actually the smoke from the cigarettes that almost everyone there was smoking.
Then I had this nice little conversation with one of the their waiters.

Me : We would prefer a non-smoking area.

Him(mostly nodding his head) : Yes,this is smoking zone.

Me : No no,we would like a NON-smoking zone.

Him(again, nodding his head) : Yes,you can smoke.

Now,I got a bit annoyed and told the others, in kannada,that we could not possibly have our food amidst this suffocating smoke.Poor guy,he then seemed to have understood our predicament and directed us to an open-air part of the restaurant.Was much better here.All the tables here had candle lights and I assumed,they were mostly for couples.Oh yes,there were mostly couples in this section (Except for one family,which I guess,also could not tolerate the smoke inside).
"A" rued, "I never thought I would have my first candle-light dinner with 3 guys for a company" . The rest of us could only manage a faint chuckle. In the age of " Brokeback Mountain ",I don't think people found it odd enough, for four guys to go on a candle-light dinner. The food was really good though.Had a filling dinner,and on the way back home,Ab and N had some really good ice cream at "Richie Rich".

Two things stood out in this outing.The "experiences" while bowling and the candle-light dinner.
"A",thanks for the treat and wish you a nice time.

LISP in multimedia ?

With Srk raving about LISP at the slightest opportunity,I was wondering whats so special about it.So decided to have a look at it.Have been going through it, since yesterday.Even downloaded a decent LISP development tool and started off through some online documents and tutorials.Having been used to "imperative programming" for almost 5 years now (since college),found LISP's "functional programming" paradigm totally new.Though I could manage to write very small fragments of code,must admit,still haven't got the hang of it.For instance,things like,how much similar data and procedure are.More about that here.

As a passing thought, was just wondering if LISP could find any application in the multimedia domain (Here,I am mainly referring to applications involving audio and video).Especially, considering that I saw comments about how inefficient LISP is.And how,most multimedia applications require real-time performance. In these scenarios, "abstraction" is the last thing you want,and that, primarily being LISP's USP.So, may be this question itself is a wrong one to ask and totally out of context.
But still,is there something that multimedia can achieve through LISP, that it currently is not able to,being limited by its choice of language.I really don't know.Maybe,only time will tell.

Picasa

Since I was having a holiday today, spent most of the time surfing the net.In the course of doing so,stumbled upon picasa,and since had nothing else to do,thought of installing it and doing some photo editing for fun. I haven't used any other photo editing software before this,but was truly amazed at what this does.Maybe others are equally good too,but since I was seeing it for the first time,the effects simply surprised me.The above collage is one of those, created using Picasa.You can do a lot better stuff with pictures and are limited only by your creativity and imagination.You can find it here 

Basic Instinct

I haven't seen this 90's erotic Sharon Stone movie.I think it also has a sequel coming up.Well, this post is actually about animal instinct and has got nothing to do with that Sharon stone flick.Far from it.The title is a misnomer and was brilliantly conceived by the author just to create some initial curiousity among the (sparse and infrequent) readers of this blog.

I was watching Discovery channel the other day.I think the programme was "Wild Discovery" and they were showing a cheetah trying to catch a deer.I find it quite thrilling to see this encounter between the predators and their poor victims.Of how the unsuspecting prey is pounced upon by a hungry and sinister beast.And in turn,how it tries to evade getting devoured and runs for its life.
As I was watching such an encounter,a thought struck me.How do animals in general, differentiate or recognise the different species ? I mean, how does a cheetah know that it should kill a deer if its hungry,at the same time not seeing a leopard as a souce of food.

If we look at our mechanism of separating species,it is primarily through visual perception.When we see a dog, we know it is something that doesn't "appear" like us in its physical form and hence we infer that it belongs to a different species.An important prerequisite to arrive at this kind of an inference is,we should be aware of our physical apperance in the first place.Only then,can our mind compare the image of the dog and image of the human form, before concluding that, right,the dog is indeed different from us.
Now,I have a doubt when it comes to animals.I am not sure if they know, how they look like.Yes,they might have seen themselves in the reflection in the water bodies.But it is quite probable that they are not intelligent enough (i guess, most of them) to 'process', 'store' that image in their memory and map it to themselves.So, when you have absolutely no idea of how you look like,and when some other creature comes and stands in front of you,how can you for sure decide, on whether that creature is of your kind or not ? But animals are doing this with amazing precision.So,I assume they are relying on something more, than just visual perception to identify their friends and enemies.Any theories as to what it could be ? Some food for thought...

PS: Since I was not sure of the name of the movie (for the post's title),did some googling.I ended up seeing some of the posters from the movie and yes,they do look quite "tempting".Maybe I will watch the sequel first.

Southern Spice-Part TWO

Continuing with the trip..

DAY 2

We had planned for Rameshwaram on the second day.Since we had to come back to Madurai the same day after visiting Rameshwaram,we left quite early at about 6.00 in the morning. The weather was extremely good with the overcast conditions providing just the right temperature.
The journey was a pleasant one with the road also being extremely good.Surprisingly,the traffic also was extremely thin.On the way,you get to see a lot of windmills on either side of the road.Strange,considering its not all that windy in this part.After about 3 hours of drive,we reached Rameshwaram.To enter Rameshwaram,you have to cross a bridge thats built on the sea.So,as you travel,you can see the sea on both the sides.

Tradition has it that once you come to Rameshwaram,you must have bath in the holy waters from the 21 wells that one finds here.We kept up with the tradition,and had a bath.(There are people here who pour water drawn from the well on you, at one rupee per well, per person).We paid obeisance to the lord and while returning back saw a couple of places of historic significance.

-The place from where Hanuman is said to have taken a leap to Srilanka.

-Near The bridge which Ram built in order to cross over to Lanka (called "Dhanush Kodi")

-House of Dr A.P.J Abdul Kalam (Yes,this will eventually become a place of historic significance)

After another drive of 3 odd hours,reached back Madurai in the evening.My uncle wanted to buy some sarees for my aunt from Madurai and so a few people from the group went shopping.The rest stayed back in the lodge.Surprisingly he didn't find any suitable one and they came back empty handed.

DAY 3

This was the penultimate day of our trip.Woke up pretty early as we had to catch a 6.30 train to Nagercoil.As we reached the station,our baggage had to pass through an X-Ray machine and we also had to undergo security check,just like in airports.We later realised that this precautionary measure was in view of the Babri Masjid demolition anniversary that falls on December 6.Owing to this fact,the train also was entirely empty.Had a good sleep in the train as Nagercoil was a good 5 hour journey.Reached there at around 12.00 in the afternoon.And yes,it was really humid.What a contrast when compared to the December weather at Bangalore.

Sadly,the temple here was closed for the "session"(can't help the use of the word session.Been watching too much of test cricket these days).It would open only in the evening and since we had other plans,we had to satisfy ourselves only seeing the closed doors.

From Nagercoil,we left for Kanyakumari.Its only about half an hours journey and we then checked into a lodge there.It had a view of the sea and could see the rock from here.After a refreshment,we left for Vivekananda rock in the ferry.Again,as it was December 6th,the crowd was extremely sparse barring for a couple of foreigners.The last time I was here in 2001 with my sister when she had come from US.This visit rekindled fond memories of that trip.Got a bit nostalgic and really missed her.After a brief stay at the rock (I simply love the wind that blows over this place),we returned back to the shore.

By this time,my toe had started hurting badly.I started limping but ignored it, as nothing visible was wrong with it.After some petty shopping by the ladies,we retired to the comfort of our lodge.Though I tried hard to sleep,the pain in the toe reached unbearable proportions.Had a look at it,only to see it swollen badly.Seemed like I had hurt it unknowingly.Then took a painkiller and put my head to rest.

DAY 4

The last day of our trip.Our train to Bangalore was scheduled at 10.30.Since we still had not visited the temple we made a rush to it.The idol of the goddess here is one of the most beautiful idols.She has an innocent face and you will just fall in love with it.Added to it,her sparkling nose-ring simply enchants you.

The rest of the day was spent entirely in the train.It was very hot thoroughout the journey.Not because of the presence of some "goddess" in the compartment (I have always been unlucky on this account),but because of the sweltering heat in Kerala,and this was the route that the train took.

After about 20 hours of train journey,we reached Bangalore the next morning at around 8.00.All in all,a wonderful trip that would remain in my memory for quite some time....

Southern Spice - Part ONE

My uncle(dad's younger bro) had come from the US a couple of weeks back to attend one of his conferences here.He got me a Canon Powershot A520, 4.0 MP digital camera.Its really a beauty with so many features.I still haven't even gone through all of them.
He was then free the whole of last week and dad planned for a south india tour.And so, I took the whole week off from work.
Armed with the Powershot,the eight of us left for Trichy the previous saturday by Tanjavur express.It was quite some time now that I had travelled in a train, and was pretty happy about it.For me,train is the best mode of transport, as I find bus travel too boring and the pressure variations in the aircraft a pain in the ears.

DAY-1
We reached Trichy early morning the next day at around 4.30.A scorpio (arranged from here itself) was waiting in the station that took us to our lodge.A pretty decent one.Thanks to "Baaz", there was a faint drizzle and we were quite scared, if the rain would ruin our grand plans.
After refreshing and a moderate breakfast ,we left for Srirangam in a qualis that we managed to book in Trichy.On the way,we also visited a ganesha temple by name "Uchhi-pilliar".Pilliar in tamil refers to lord ganesha.The temple was at an elevation and one could see the whole of Trichy town from there.A worthwhile scene.
I had been to Srirangam around 10 years back and had vague memories about it.After worshipping to a dozen deities there,we left Srirangam at around 1.00 in the afternoon.It was already lunch time and so we finished our lunch there itself.The best part about Tamil Nadu, apart from the grandiose temples, is the amazing food that you get there.And if you are hungry on top of that, its pure bliss.

Our next stop was Madurai.It seemed like our prayers must have pleased the gods,for Baaz spared us of its fury and took its course towards nothern Tamil Nadu and AP.We had a smooth ride throughout the 3 hour journey except that when we had almost reached madurai,one of the tyres got punctured.The fact that it happened right in front of a puncture repairing shop suggested more than just a coincidence.We had tea at a roadside shop as the driver got the tyre repaired.Resuming our journey, we reached Madurai at around 5.30 in the evening.

The Meenakshi temple there is simply outstanding in terms of its gopurams.No temple,I have ever seen, has such magnificient gopurams.I was amazed the last time I saw them and that continued even this time around.
It,being a sunday there was a quite a crowd and we had to wait almost an hour before we could have our darshan.While in the queue,my uncle asked me an interesting question which my cousin had asked him.

Does Hinduism support evolution (as proposed by Darwin) ?
That basically translated, as to what was Hinduism's idea of creation of the universe.Though he seemed to suggest that it did,I have my own doubts regarding that.

After some photo sessions at the temple we retired to our lodge after another lipsmacking round of dinner.That was pretty much about how DAY-1 was spent.
Rest of the trip in a subsequent post.

Me,a Chameleon ?

This is my aura...
Crystals have clear auras and are known as the "aura chameleons." Like chameleons, their auras will change colors to match those of the people they are connecting with at the time. They then take on the characteristics, behavior patterns, emotions and thoughts of that color.

What Is Your True Aura Colour?

String Theory

Its been quite some time now,since I last blogged.Thanks to the hectic schedule at work and also for the fact, that nothing interesting happened after the rest room mania.Well,I have something to write now.

I really wish I could write something about the actual string theory.But,I am not qualified enough to talk about that.The strings I am referring to are those of a GUItar.If you are wondering why I have written guitar in that particular fashion,its on the lines of a tool in linux.That is also called guitar, meaning, its a GUI for the "tar" command.An intelligent way of naming software.And,I am not far behind either when it comes to naming them,as 022 affirms.

Life was getting too monotonous and I thought something must be done about it.After contemplating on the different avenues that I had (actually,I could think of none), I zeroed in on,what else, but music.I decided that I must learn some instrument.Given my singing prowess, I would have a started a new genre of music had I opted for vocal.But then,whats the point if the audience is not erudite enough to understand what I am singing.So, decided against it.

Then came the question of selecting an instrument.Actually,I was not particular about anything.In fact,I have liked all the instruments that I have heard till date.But yes,I did have some special inclination towards violin and other stringed instruments in general(Veena,Mandolin and Sarod being the other favourites).I have never been a follower of english music, which is where the guitar is used heavily and so never gave any importance to actually hearing it.Although, our Indian movies also have adopted it in a big way in recent times.

When I went with josh to the guitar class where he was getting himself admitted,I heard for the first time,the instrument being played there,live.The tutor was playing a hindi song and I was bowled over.Guitar,then became my obvious choice and I joined classes last week.As of now,I am just playing the open strings and already, it feels good.Can't wait for the day when I can play all those hindi songs that I have just been humming all these years.Till then,I shall keep strumming.

Rest room mania

The place where I am working right now has a stunning building.Extremely aesthetic and "happening".I like everything about that place,but for one thing.I feel it has one major flaw in its design. On every floor, the women's rest room is right next to the door that leads to the stairs.Ever since I observed this, I had been wondering,what if some male inadvertently opens the wrong door !!! I used to amuse myself imagining the situation and the plight of that poor guy.

Slightly digressing from the topic, any guesses why "Rest room" is termed so ? If I were asked, it should aptly be christened as "Relieving room".

Coming back,my imagination actually,well, almost turned into a reality a couple of days back. And as luck would have it,the poor guy turned out to be your's truly.Yes, it happened to me (Maybe I can send this to Tinkle to publish it in their "It happened to me" section). After lunch,I was getting back to my cube. I was in the ground floor and since my cube is only in the second floor,I thought of using the stairs to get there.

As I was about to open the door which I thought was, to get to the stairs,a woman was coming from the other side of it. For reasons that I could not fathom(at that time),she was staring at me as she passed by.Then it was sheer providence, that just before I pushed the door open,I callously raised my head,and to my horror found "WOMEN" written on it in bold red. Lost in some thoughts, I had moved past the door that led to the steps. My immediate reaction was, "Oh-my-god,is somebody watching me ?".I was too scared even to look around.I almost ran towards the stairs and would still like to believe that nobody was present there.

As for the woman who was staring at me,I don't remember her face.I wish I did.Atleast,then I could evade her because I am sure she will exactly remember my face,and that too with the resolution of a picture taken from a 5M pixel digital camera.Or, I will know when a woman again stares at me.But,I must be careful from now on..

So far,so good

Pehla Nasha,Pehla Khumar... No,no, I have not fallen in love (I am generally scared of falling and the same holds even in case of 'falling in love').That was the alarm tone on my mobile that went off at 5.45 early(very very early for me)today morning.After much trepidation & self-cursing, managed to pull myself out of the bed.The reason why I was behaving like a masochist was because of an impulsive decision that I took yesterday.This decision was, courtesy my increasing waistline.You can compare its growth with the rate at which petrol prices are going up in Bangalore.And that is quite high for comfort(Literally in this case,as I found out my pants were getting tighter around my waist).So,I finally decided to do something about it.

The best and the cost-effective way,I thought,to acheive this would be - jogging.
I called up one of my friends in the night yesterday and told him about my decision.He seemed quite inspired and promised that he too would join me today.I found out,he was not all that inspired, for he did not turn up today morning.But not to be deterred by this,I upheld my decision and started out alone.Being the first day,I thought a brisk walk would be advisable rather starting jogging right away.At that, I clocked a good speed too.Then I made a mistake of over-estimating myself.Thought why not jog from day one - after all,that was my decision in the first place.
Its about time to sleep now and I am having quite a pain in my legs and knees.
But I am not going to give up so easily.In Swami Vivekananda's words, "Arise,awake and stop not till the goal is reached".So,I will arise and awake very very early(you know what time) every morning and jog till my goal is reached.

Its been "So far,so good".Only that "So far" here refers to only one day.But I really plan to go far tomorrow morning.The alarm is again set at 5.45 and the clock is ticking.Pehla Nasha,Pehla Khumar...