The Alchemist

The art of Alchemy is ancient. Simply defined, it’s the process of turning lead in Gold. There is a solution/stone that when touched with, the thing turns in gold. Pioneering the same is a person called as an Alchemist.
Though Coelho’s book teaches us the moral of following our dreams, there is something else that we should understand from it. Reading between the lines, we observe that every human being in his/her life meets an Alchemist- A person who turns that lead of a person, into gold. But that comes after his destiny as a “lead” is fulfilled. Everyone/Everything has to fulfill his destiny. Before that, no matter what you do, you will not be able to transform yourself.
But the law of nature is very rewarding. It lets you meet your alchemist at that very time when your destiny as lead has been fulfilled. Then he comes, with a philosopher’s stone and touches you. The transformation is not easy. Shedding old characteristics and donning new one, is not a cakewalk. It takes tremendous persistence, patience and belief in the alchemist to help you transform into gold.
Every one has that luxury, but not the wisdom.
It takes an open mind to know who your alchemist is. It teaches your one lesson: never underestimate anyone. Who knows, he might be your “Alchemist.”

Lingo!

1. Shakespear once said " What's in the name?"
I repeat" Whats in the name, as long as i get your number right."

2. Never say the phrase, " Its a different ball-game" when you are with a woman.

3. If we most of the time we are finding solutions to organize things, why is a company called an "Organization" ?

4. Why is it called a "Beauty Parlor", when most of the people going over there are not beautiful?

Do you have anything to add?

Ram

There is short track from film "Swades" that I just love.

"Ram hi toh karuna mein hai, shaanti mein raam hai
Ram hi hai ekta mein, pragati mein raam hai
Ram bas bhakton nahin shatru ke beech chintan hai
Dekh taj ke paap raavan, ram tere mann mein hai
Ram tere mann mein hai, ram mere mann mein hai
Ram toh ghar ghar mein har, ram har aangan mein hai
Mannse raavan jo nikaale, ram uske mann mein hai."

It means
" Ram (lord), is in compassion and silence.
Ram is also in unity and progress.
He is not only in his disciples, but also in his enemy's penance.
Oh, Raavan, introspect and you will find Ram is in your mind.
He is in your soul, He is my soul, He is every house, every yard.
He is in the soul of those who kill ravaan from their mind."

Purify thyself!

Phone calls

" Ignoring phone calls is a gambit reserved for dolts and egomaniacs. "

- Paul Hawkinson , Publisher, Fordyce Letter- in an article on ERE.

Which one are you?

Aerobics

Aerobics. I didnt know squat about it before I joined it. Morning batch 7:15 to 8:15. Sole guy. What would you do?
First day, I couldnt understand what was going on. They were jumping from one side to one side on what I can call as a high-beat music. But as they say "In rome, do as the romans do." I followed the lead. But the rhythm was too hard to get. And I wasnt even aware of the terminology!
Then there was solace with the mat's. Oh! Wait a minute, it was hard too! With 30 crunches ,at the end you wont feel your muscles. I felt like "mere pet pe kisne laat maari hai." But all said and done, when I walked out after a cool-down "Shavasan", I never felt so fresh and energetic.
Aerobics is all about toning your body bringing flexibilty in and increasing your stamina. If you got to do it, do it right.
Its very important that you concentrate on what your instructor is telling and not on the cute girl besides you. :-)
Come on guys, get on the tracks and move "side-to-side right."

The Departed

I am phonetic for english movies. And especially action movies with a plot. If you love this, then " The Departed " is your heaven. Not only the film has Martin Scoresce as the director, but a punching starcast with Jack Nicholson (Costello), Leornado Di Caprio (Billy), Matt Damon (Colin), Mark Whalberg (Dignam) and Martin Sheen (Queenan)
The broad plot, is that Costello is a mafiosi, in downtown Boston. He adopts Colin, trains him as a policeman, and helps him get in the Detecive unit of state police. So Colin is the rat. Wait thats not it.
Billy, who backround is criminal, is also aspiring to be a detective. But as test, he sent undercover as rat in Costello's unit. As the plots unfolds, there are other shocks that come through.
Through foul language,and awesome screenplay, Scorese justifies the film to the fullest. Dont forget to watch till the end. Its one "fucking" movie!
And also, analyze this " Cops or Criminals. When you are facing a loaded gun, what's the difference."

Quote-Unquote

" It doesnt matter who does it for the first time. What matters is who does it right."
-Steve Ballmer (CEO, Microsoft),
Answered, when asked why Microsoft is the one to follow the footsteps of competitors.

Blue Brain

There is a area in your brain (not mine!), that is called as a neocortex. This region helps to adapt yourself so effectively to the changing world. In this area, you will find a structure called as a Neocortical Column. It marks the quantum leap from reptiles to mammals and therefore constitutes the birth of mammalian intelligence and the emergence of human cognitive capabilities. The NCC seems to have been such a highly successful microcircuit design, that it was repeatedly copied to become almost 80% of the human brain (millions of columns were added).
Wonder why I am writin all this? Well there is a project which is bein carried out by IBM and Ecole Polytechnique Federal de Laussane (EPFL) which is called the "Blue Brain"
The project aims at building a human brain replica. But the next 2-3 years is devoted only to build replica of the NCC mentioned above.
Read here about it and wonder!

Happy Employees

" It is believed that happy employees are productive employees. Research shows that productive employees are happy employees."

- Dr. Debashish Chatterji (Prof: IIM Lucknow)

Konkan Photo-Log

Here in graphic detail, I explain how our konkan trip was.

1)6:30 AM: We started through chandani chowk to head for Paud. Its a hamlet about 20 kms from pune. The sun is just about to rise......

2) 7:30 AM: As you move ahead of Paud, there is a place called Tamahni. About 40 kms ahead of Paud, the much awaited Tamahani ghat starts......

3) 8: 30 AM: Through twists and turns and hopless roads we reach a scenic place. Relization dawns tha we are nothing in front of mother nature.......

4) 9:30 AM: Its breakfast time. We stop at a place called Surabhi about 84 kms from Pune. The Mumbai district border begins....

5) 10:30 AM: We reach the cross road which marks the start of the Konkan's archtypal "red sand." Srivardhan is just 75 kms now....

6) 11:30 AM: Connecting from Mandgaon, we miss the Lonere turn towards Srivardhan. 20 kms up, we realize we need to trak backwards and turn left for Srivardhan. Srivardhan still is 50 kms....

7) 12:30 P:M: Taking right from a village called Mhalsa, we finally reach Diweagar. The road was better, but the sun was not. After visiting the "Golden Ganapati" temple, we head off to the beach....

8) 1:30 PM: We have heartful lunch and start for Srivardhan which is about 17 kms from Diweagar. We encounter another beach mid-way....

9) 2:30 PM: We hit Srivardhan and go directly to the beach. The water @ knee-deep was very cool......

10) 3:30 PM: We moved out of Srivardhan around 3:00 PM. The aim was to reach Mandgaon before 4:30. Admist, my bike encountered a fuel supply problem.....

11) 4:30 PM: Reached Mandgaon. At a local service station, the guy said that fuel-supply pipe was clogged due to dust/carbon particles. My bike couldnt idle, so we decided to go idle for a while...

12) 5:30 PM: The problem is not that grave. With a little skill we could manage to drive safely. Pune is still 100 kms. We pray and kickstart....

13) 6:30 PM: We reach the cross road which connects us to tamhini. The roads are worst and driving is a pain. The sun starts to set.....

14) 7:30 PM: The tamhini ghat is crossed half-way through.Kudos to my bike for bearing the kind of roads we just traveled. Pune stands about 50 kms still.....

15) 8:30 PM: A stop over at mulshi. Little relief from the pain as it was moving up to the neck. A call home to tell we are reaching in 45 minutes....

16) 9:30 PM: After dropping Umesh at his home, I finally reach my alma mater. The water is boiling hot. I am off for a soothing bath..

nah... No pictures there :-)

So this is how the day ended. You can find the statistics in the post before this.

Konkan Road-Way Statistics

Here's what I did on Saturday.

• Objective--> Travel to Konkan on my bike.
• Riders--> Moi and Umesh
• Vehicle--> Bajaj Pulsar DTSI 150 CC (Definately Male!)
• Proposed Distance--> 320 Kms
• Travelled Distance--> 416 Kms
• Take 0ff--> 6:00 AM
• Touch Down--> 9:30 PM
• Places Visted:- Diweagar, Srivardhan.
• Travel Route:- Pune--> Paud--> Tamhini--> Mandgaon--> Lonere Phata--> Mhalsa--> Diweagar--> Srivardhan--> Mhalsa-->Mandgaon--> Tamhini--> Paud--> Pune.
• Petrol Required--> About 8 liters.
• Biking Hours--> 13
• Comment--> A ride of a life, experience of a lifetime.

Want to see more about the story of grit and determination? Stay tuned....

Phoolon ke rang se.......

Phoolon Ke Rang Se Dil Ki Kalam Se Tujhko Likhi Roz Paati
Kaise Bataaoon Kis Kis Tarah Se Pal Pal Mujhe Tu Sataati
Tere Hi Sapne Lekar Ke Soya Teri Hi Yaadon Mein Jaaga
Tere Khayaalon Mein Uljha Raha Yoon Jaise Ki Maala Mein Dhaaga

Haan Badal Bijli Chandan Pani Jaisa Apna Pyar
Lena Hoga Janam Humein Kayi Kayi Baar
Haan Itna Madir Itna Madhur Tera Mera Pyar
Lena Hoga Janam Hameh Kayi Kayi Baar

Sanson Ki Sargam Dhadkan Ki Beena Sapnon Ki Geetanjali Tu
Man Ki Gali Mein Mehke Jo Hardum Aisi Juhi Ki Kali Tu
Chhota Safar Ho Lamba Safar Ho Sooni Dagar Ho Ya Mela
Yaad Tu Aaye Man Ho Jaaye Bheed Ke Beech Akela

Haan Badal Bijli Chandan Pani Jaisa Apna Pyar
Lena Hoga Janam Humein Kayi Kayi Baar
Haan Itna Madir Itna Madhur Tera Mera Pyar
Lena Hoga Janam Hameh Kayi Kayi Baar

Purab Ho Paschim Uttar Ho Dakshin Tu Har Jagah Muskuraye
Jitna Hi Jaoon Main Door Tujhse Utni Hi Tu Paas Aaye
Aandhi Ne Roka Pani Ne Toka Duniya Ne Hanskar Pukara
Tasveer Teri Lekin Liye Main Kar Aaya Sab Se Kinara

Haan Badal Bijli Chandan Pani Jaisa Apna Pyar
Lena Hoga Janam Hume Kayi Kayi Baar
Haan Itna Madir Itna Madhur Tera Mera Pyar
Lena Hoga Janam Hameh Kayi Kayi Baar
Kayi Kayi Baar
Kayi Kayi Baar

Wonder when I will get to sing this song......

Very Happy Diwali

To My.....
Readers, Fellow bloggers, Critics and Community Friends:
"Let there be more light
and prosperity this year.
Let there be more sweets
and hugs that endear.
Let this Diwali, in its wake,
Bring you moments, surreal."

Hitch

Want to impress you loved one? Want to make your crush take a notice of you? Want to understand how women think? Grab a DVD of " Hitch".
Its tagged as a romantic comdey, starring Will Smith, Eva Mendes (Oomph!), Kevin James et the party! The central theme is a take-off from a "date doctor" or a "romance consultant" concept played by Will Smith. Eva plays a coumn gossipist for a mid-day daily , while Kevin James (King of Queens fame) plays one of his client.
See the movie, because there is nothing I can tell that will do justice to the same. I loved one of the lines and I have to mention it here;
Eva- " So,what do we toast for."
Will- " Ok, Lets see. Dont ever Lie, Steal, Cheat or Drink. If you must lie, lie in the arms of the one you love. If you must steal, steal away from bad company. If you must cheat, cheat death. And if you must drink, drink to the moments that take your breath away."
Let me know how you find it....

Unreasonable

I have heard this term umpteen number of times. Unreasonable.Dont be unreasonable. Dont demand unreasonably. That's an unreasonable deal. Blah, Blah, Blah.....
What exactly is being unreasonable? Let's try and find out. Shall we?
G.B Shaw says that ""The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." Thats Shaw. Its true, that if we behave in a reasonable manner we accept things as they are and loose the power to change them. But I wish to touch the aspect of relationships over here.
Unreasonablity is always there a pure love relationship. This is because Love itself is unreasonbale. But that on the positive side is enjoyed by everybody. If a husband buys astronomically expensive gift for his wife, he is being unreasonble. But the wife sure enjoys that.
But when that unreasonablity strikes on the negative side, its not acceptable. What is wrong if the same husband behaves in a manner that is not logically acceptable?
It exists in each and every relationship. If people learn to accept, there will be no divorces and fights over petty issues. As they say, you tend to hate them the most whom you have loved most in the first place.
Try being unreasonable and accept the unreasonablity too....

Traffic Jam-2

After my first post on Traffic Jam, here is an addition to the philosophy:

	Traffic	Life
Baggage	Ever seen a vehicle with truckload of baggage moving fast on the road? No. The more the load, the less the efficiency, more the fuel consumption. Then they are stereotyped as the “heavy vehicles.” Plus, more toll on the highways :-)	Ever seen a successful human being bogged down by past-tense or surroundings? No. The more you dwell in your past failures (read as baggage), less the concentration, more unproductive work. Then they are stereotyped as the “lay man.” Plus, more toll on the mind due to excessive baggage.

The language of Love

How many languages have you mastered? English, Hindi, German or perhaps French. You know there are two more languages that don’t have an official course. Body Language and Love Language.
Lets talk about the sweetest language, the Language of Love. I am not talking about the endearing talk between newly married couples. Incidentally the language manifests where all the other languages fail to convey something. This is the language helps us to understand the, subconsciously, what are loved ones are trying to convey.
Did you hear that? Someone is thinking about you right now. Someone is praying for you. It’s the language in which a new born baby talks to his mother. It’s the language in which a paraplegic husband talks to his wife. It’s the language in which two people in love miles apart talk.
No messenger. No broadband. No email. Simple wireless connectivity. Go ahead, connect!

Optimism

What do you think is the height of optimism? I will tell you what it is for me....

1. I believe that this is not my last visit on earth.
2. I believe that I will meet all my loved ones once again even after I die.
3. I believe that I will talk to my near and dear one's even after they die.
4. I believe that life is not a one-stop phenomenon. We will keep meeting in different forms in different era's.
5. I believe that if I medidate with utter purity, I will talk to god himself.

Please god, render me pure. So that there will be no fear, no doubt, no disbelief.....

F.R.I.E.N.D.S

The last episodes of F.R.I.E.N.D.S were aired in the recent past on TV. 10 years. The cast and crew have been entertaining us for 10 years. No matter how many times I watch it, its always seems fresh. Why does it make us laugh the way it does?
I think because it weeds out the perfection aspect . Show blatantly, how everyone is a looser in their own aspect and create subtle comedy out of it. We for all our lives, tried to make it perfect, but lost ourselves in the same. The serial touches that aspect. The love between them still resides even after facing their whims and fancies. I vividly remember the "sterotyped" punch lines of every character:
1) Monica--> I Know!
2) Rachel--> Oh! I am gonna cry.
3) Phoebe--> Smelly Cat, Smelly Cat, What are they feeding you?
4) Chandler--> Could I be more sorry?
5) Joey--> How u doin?
6) Ross--> We were on a break!
Eyes moisten when you see the last eposide. But why? Its not the last eposide. F.R.I.E.N.D.S will always last. In the hearts of the people who have laughed admist their sorrows at the demeanor
of 6 different people.
Probably they can also form a verb out of it. I "friendsed" you i.e. I made you laugh.

Traffic Jam

I live in a city called Pune (Maharashatra, India). The city roads (a.k.a potholes) are crude and traffic is huge. The result: a traffic jam almost at every crossroad or signal.
Yesterday, victimized by this, i put my thinking cap on. An interesting analogy started evolving by what I am or probably everyone is going through; in traffic and in life.

	Traffic	Life
Type	Vehicles forming a bottleneck at a crossroad or signal blocking smooth commuting of the vehicles.	Thoughts forming a bottleneck at a decisions point blocking smooth functioning of the task.
Vehicle	Maximum idle time which draws more fuel and cuts overall efficiency.	Maximum non-productive thoughts draw more stress and cut the overall thinking power of the brain.
Rush	Everyone trying to get a slice of the road and move forward. The result again result in a mini-traffic jam which further delay.	Everybody�s ambitious and wants to move ahead without knowing where they are standing. The result is fierce competition everywhere.
Rat-Race	As and when the traffic opens, look how the vehicles will try to overtake each other. Honking horns and polluted surroundings.	The jealousy creeps in and we size each other on the possessions we have. Stressed hearts and polluted minds.
Multi-Lane	Every size and type of the vehicle has a lane. The big task is to stick to the same regardless of who is driving besides you.	God has made everyone unique. The big task is to identify what you are made of and remain loyal to it without trying to change yourself. Stick to your lane!

P.S - This is the intial draft. It will be refined in due course of time as and when I hit the nail. Do leave your comments or suggessions behind. It will help better me.

Love

I always wondered why people add the word "True" when they speak of Love. Its a little confusing to think that an emotion/verb like Love can hve multiple forms. Something that is "True", is something that is "Not False." So if there is "Not False" Love, there has to be a "False Love."
Now my question here is: Can Love ever be false? If yes, then why is it called Love? If No, then it's implicitly True. Why overhead it with that word.
So probably, we are misinterpreting the concept of Love? Is it an emotion? Then can you describe what causes that emotion or what is the reaction? I can tell when I feel angered or when I am down. But I cant tell when I am in Love. Most of the people cant, believe me. Otherwise there wouldnt be a word called "infatuation" or "attraction."
So then what differentiates love from other emotions? Its the fact that its not an emotion. Stephen Covey in his ground-breaking book "7 Habits of highly effective people", tells us that love infact is not an emotion but an action.
So did you do anything against your wishes for someone? Then my friend, you love that person. How much you do, will quantify how much you love him/her. Its perfectly alright to love someone more than someone.
But remember, love is always true. If it's not, its not Love.

French Kiss

Dont worry, I am not going go into the details. But, there is twist here. The English think that this type of kissing ( is there any other type?) was invented by the French. But though the french came up with it, they call it the Engish Kiss.
So both here are kissing and telling!

Sher-O-Shayari

"Piya ki judai mein,
Pyaar ka gubbara hai.
Raat ko chadhya tha,
din mein utara hai."

Now I,frankly, dont know what these lines mean. But I liked them a lot. I do know why I liked them. Just check the analogy between "Chaand" (Moon) and "Gubbara" (balloon). How it is linked to the "Pyaar" (love).

I too came up with my "toothi poothi shaayari" in my online diary.....
"Teri aankhon mein doob jaane ko jee karta hai.
Par kya karun utne size ka SCUBA nahi milta hai."
You certainly dont want to know what this means...

Oh! by the way, the line above the above lines are from the film "Jaan-E-Mann." They manifest as lyrics of a song called " Jaane ke Jaane na."

O My Blog!

I missed writing you,
O My Blog!
As the thoughts inside
had began to clog.

I dreamt of them,
the archive posts
and how to the words
my language courts

To tell you dear,
I was little busy
sorting out things
rendered clumsy.

Now I am back,
O My Blog!
to restart my,
Thought Log.

Stay Tuned!

One Night @ a Call Centre

This is the second book written by Chetan Baghat (read IIT--> IIM (A). It starts with a train journey from Kanpur to Delhi. Here he meets a pretty lady. She agrees to tell him a story about 6 call center agents. Her only condition is that Chetan should convert that in his second book. With reluctance he says yes.
The story, told in first person through the character of Shyam lists the happenings of that eventful night. With others, Priyanka, Esha, Radhika, Vroom and Military Uncle, Shyam faces enlightment in that night. Apart from dealing with commonplace problems like Break-Up's, Extra Marital affairs, Casting Couch and Employee lay-offs, the story deftly touches the borderlines of issues related with Outsourcing, Indian Youth and Globalization. Though the key of the book remains their "conversation with god." The ending is also very good.
I dont know whether to call this book as Spiritual, Real or Unusal.The books leaves you with a question mark:What is the book about? Is it about the agents or Indian youth all together?Is it about god or the lady in the train? As good as the book is, I still feel that Chetan has not aptly conveyed the it's mission apart from the promise to write one.
And yes, I finished it in one day(paradoxically!)

The Turkish Red Carpet

The Instanbul park was mesmerized. Not only because Phillppe Massa registered his first ever Grand Prix victory, but for the sheer tussle between Fernando Alonso and Micheal Shumacher. It was Massa's Ferrari on the front grid with Alonso's Renault 3rd after Schumi.
The race started with a bang, as Fischichella and Raikkonnen got banged in the side by couple of cars. The safety car was in in the 4th lap as Luitzi struck the car at the side of the road blocking the passage.
The teams took a pit-stop. But it was strategy that failed Micheal to put before Alonso as after the first pit-stop Alonso took the lead and extended it till the second pit-stop. After the second pit-stop, Schumi was on Alonso's tail. The battle went for the last 15 laps. In the end, Alonso won with 2nd podium finish and Micheal coming 3rd.
It was a very emotional moment for Massa. Not Alonso extends his leads to 108 points over Micheal's 96. The Italian GP is going to decide whether Shcumi is still in contention for driver's championship or has lost it to Alonso.
Best Of Luck Schumi!

Sequoia Consulting

19th August 2006. The day when my tryst with Sequoia Consulting ended. Well, for now at least. I remember the day I joined Sequoia about a year ago. The year has been tumultous. I have gained a lot and learnt a lot. By far, this was the best company that I worked for. I would always wish to replicate that culture wherever I go to work.
Many people are still wondering as to why did I quit. I always believe that every company has its "personality." There are some base-level values that are carried within. They run through the hierarchies and processes. For an individual to be successful in that organization, he needs to adapt to that personality. He needs to put his thinking pattern a little aside unless he gets a foothold. In a nutshell, he needs to be agile.
May be I am at this moment not ready to work for Sequoia. I am still a little rigid on my thoughts. The agility, being there, is a little less. But I know that I will gain that in due course of time. For career hunters, I would say that Sequoia is the firm you want to work for.
For me now the thought rests. I would always remember what Sequoia has given me. And as I am a little weak to make a promise, I would say, I believe that I will be back to work with them. At a different position, in a different geography, with a different attitude.

Street-Dog-Play

The Ganapati's are arriving. Precisely on the 26th August. A week before the same, the street- plays start taking prevalence on the streets of Pune. These are basically ideological realities that are potrayed in coherence to our day-to-day life.
Recently a street dog, strayed in our lane. He actually was limped when someone fed him. Thenceforth, he has made our lane as his alma-mater and us as his folks. Folks with whom he can bark his way through. Observers say that he only barks and doesnt pounce or bite. The truth is, no one has been with him that long to ascertain that.
Now you might be wondering what is the connection, right? Day before yesterday, a street play happened in our lane. And it was quite musical because the song was on the tunes of the bark that came from our august guest. The play was about individuals making misuse of their advanced degrees and how we should find confidenece in all that. Or the least that, I think was the theme. Half of the play was defeaned in the sweet barks and growls.
So what do we learn? Either have a street-play or a street-dog in your street. Never both of them.

Did you get "Lost"?

Lost. A primitime television series, whose 2nd season is recently being aired in India. I cant believe I intially missed half of the 1st season. But Star World was generous to air the redux on Sunday nights.
There are some things about the series that leaves me spellbound everytime I watch it. First are the characters. Right from Dr.Jack Sheperd to Sayid to John Locke the artists deliver a powerpacked performance.
Second is the storyline. 44 survivors of the crashed flight Oceanic 815 have all got a history. All of them stranded on an island which is not normal. And how the story unfolds as they all start to habituate themselves to each other's whims and fancies.
Third is the screenplay. Apart from being screened in the exotic Hawaiian island Oahu, it deftly reveals the history of characters in a manner that connects well to the running storyline. It also irks curiosity and keeps you pinned to your recliner.
Lastly, it is the spirituality and its tussle with the reality. How faith or John Locke and the science of Jack fight with each other. I like the dialogues also. One of my favorites is "The best way to find what is lost is to stop looking for it."
Did you hear that god?

Rang De Basanti

" दुनिया मे जीने के दो हि तरिके होते है. ऎक जो होरा है उसे होने दो, बर्दाश्त कर्ते जाओ और दुस्रा उसे खुद बदल्ने कि जिममेदारी लो."
The are translated as " There are only two ways of living life in this world. One, just watch and bear whatever is happening around you. The second, is to decide to do something about it."

These are the lines with which the film "Rang De Basanti" marked the beginning of an end of the epic saga that it potrayed for over 2.5 hours. I watched it over and over again. And every time I do it gives me a new message.
It tells me that a revolution should always begin silently. It should catch the audience by surprise. More often that not a revolt is brought by the young blood. The film teaches you never to overlook anybody you think is screwed. You never know, they might end up waking your conscience.
It tells you that when you listen to your heart, you become fearless. That is the power of faith. Kudos to the team and the actors who spawned such a memorable experience.
I hope you have watched it. If you havent, do it now. You are loosing on something.

Passion and Professionalism-II

Here we continue our discussion. Ironically, it comes on the same day when I complete exact one year in my current organization.16th August. I remember, being punctual on the first day. I guess a little over punctual. The excitement was tremendous. My first job as a Manager. From that day I have not lost my professionalism. But sure my passion has a taken a downslide. Reasons are immaterial, but when it happens, it doesnt seem the right place for you to continue.
I passionately work in this organization. It's problems were my problems. I carried them home with me and thought about it all the time. But recently they have not cropped up. They have left me and so have the challenges. The work seems monotonous because somewhere I am not able to identify myself with the work that I am doing. In a nutshell, I am just doing my job.
But then it stagnates growth as it makes life devoid of challenges, hurdles. The very thing that tests you. It might seem like a rut at first, but believe me, its the fuel that burns the fire of ambition.
I hopeyou got my point. My suggestion will always be to work with passion, profesionalism will automatically follow.

Passion and Professionalism-I

I was once asked in an interview, what is the difference between a job and career? I replied, that what you want do passionately, becomes your career and that what you do professionally becomes your job. A job happens only in the office, while work happens anywhere. But there is thin line between working passionately and professionally.
Most of the managers/leaders will exploit you by mixing and matching either one of them. Its not necssary to have passion in the work you do. But its effective. Then the time line starts to recede and there is no difference between your work-place, your work-station and your home. These people more often are termed as workaholics. Money can be one factor, but more often than not, its not the catalyst for a person to incite that passion. Everyone has his/her own reasons, some might be emotionally connected, some might like the kind of work, some are built that way. There are multiple reasons for a person to be a workaholic. I once asked a friend, who is a passionate worker, why doesnt he lets his hair down? Probably frequent a pub or something. He answered; "I dont need a pub for kicks. I get it in my office. My office his my pub. My cubicle my dance floor. My workstation my music. My work my date." I didnt know what to say. Its his perspective.
But what happens when you loose passion admist the work that you are doing? Now the reasons for the same are also difference why that would happen. But are they justifiable? How can you be passionate of something that ran in you sweat and blood, and at times in your soul, and then one fine day loose interest? But it happens.
I always say truth is more stranger than fiction. Lets continue this further for tomorrow.

The Triple Convergence

No No, this is not something I have come up with. This is Chapter 3 from "The World is Flat" that I am currently reading. After discussing the 10 flatteners of the world, Tom describes in this chapter how they converged and helped levelling the playing field. He calls it the " Triple Convergence" , we will see how the same works:
1) Convergence 1--> It takes in to stride the fall of berlin wall along with Netsacape browsers, Work flow softwares, Out sourcing, Offshoring, Supplychaining, Insourcing, Informing and Steroids that converged by the fall of year 2000. This convergence in turn led to a global playing field for nultiple forms of collaboration.
2) Convergence 2--> This takes in to consideration and 1st convergence and how it was utilised for enhancing productivity by a new cadre of managers, innovators, business consultants, business schools, CEO's, IT Specialists. How they got comfortable with and developed sorts of horizontal collaboration and value-creation processes and habits.
3) Convergence 3--> And this came into picture, it opened a chain of opportunities for peopleto come out in th open field and compete. This actually gave boost to cross border people from India, China and Russia to connect and show their capabilities.
There is lot more to come, and its going to be joy ride, Stay tuned!

The World aint flat yet

Irony has got a a definitive way of popping at the least-expected mode. The World is not yet flat. Well, these are no my views. Apparently Pankaj Ghemawat, a professor of Harvard Business School expresses the same in his article "Global Strategy: What's Different". He spurns of the idea of a flat world and dimishing borders as "apocalyptic" and justifies it.
He gives us two contradicting examples. One is that of a Wal-Mart and its cross-border expansion problems and other is that of Yum! Brands with its high-intensity proliferation in the Chinese markets.
I am not sure what is the point he want's to stress on. The article goes on to stress that Wal-mart didnt match the pace of revnue growth because it couldn match the cultures of the retail giant with the same on the local market in a Non-US lke territories. The reason did sufice them to exit from Germany and a stunted growth in the other areas. Then he talks about Yum! Brands (Parents of Pizza Hut & KFC) and how as it matched the culture in China grew with about 1800 units in 2005.
I agree with his point FDI flows are accounting to 10% of the capital formation. But there are many forms of indirect investements which are adding to the company revnues. Moreover, Tom doesnt say in "The World is Flat" that the flattening has been completed. It is happening, but at a pace that is going to astonish everybody. The flat world encircles the mere fact that how the world is becoming a single market. How easy it is to cross-port data and convert the same in to information. Its not abou borderless world, but wireless world.
As far as the article goes, I disagree with the same. It's implicit that if there is a cultural disparity, your organisation will cease to exist on the market. But that entails the fact that companies do come up with innovative strategies to match the same.
Ironically, Tom emphasises on the Wal-Mart's global supply chain as one factor contributing to the flattening world.

The Supply Chain

"Supply Chain"-My favorite word. Love this word for its different meanings associated with different things/people at different times. Let me just take you on a ride of this magnificent word and its implications
Supply Chain in its original form involves a coordinated system of organizations, people, activities, information and resources involved in moving a product or service in physical or virtual manner from supplier to the customer.
Supply Chain for a Manufacturer would include things like Raw Materials-->Inventory Stocking--> Production Line--> Packaging--> Shipping --> Customer Delivery --> Post Sale Maintenance. This will be associated with data coming from the Sales, Finance,Inventory, Design. A well defined synergy amongst these factors will help an on-time delivery at the customers end to create value.
Supply Chain for an IT Services povider will probaby include Functional Analysis--> Technical Analyis--> Design--> Development--> Testing--> Maintenance. The activities involved are virtual as there is no tangible product conceived. Moreover the supply is service-oriented as its on-demand.
Supply Chain for a Human Resource Department would include--> Analysis of the Requirements-->Resource Planning and Strategy--> Pooling--> Selection--> Training and Development--> Appraisals. With a slight modification this aligns with the strategy of the organisation you are working for.
In this manner, everything is "supply chained" in this world. Look closely, aren't we a part of a massive supply chain? The one that goes on eternally and includes such factors as:
Birth--> Childhood--> Teenage-->Work Years--> Retirement--> Old Age--> Death.
Now you must be wondering who is the supplier and who is t customer? Given the fact that both of them are an integral part of the chain. But isnt the answer that what we are searching for time immemorial? Who is our supplier i.e where do we come from and who is our customer i.e where do we go when we are finished. Do we create the value or solve the purpose for what we were concieved in the first place?
Better think on the same.

The Final Three Flatteners

Dude! Finally finished the chapter. As much as I am mesmerized by the content, I still feel that Tom has gone a little overboard giving credit to certain American companies for flatteneing the world. Anyway's the gist of the matter is that World has flattened and the last 3 factors also contribute to the same:
8) In-Sourcing:- No. Its not anti-outsourcing. In-Sourcing typically refers to a process og the vendor going down deep into the client's infrastructure and streamlining the process to create horizontal value. The depth of the realtions cant be quantamized, but it comes to a point where you cant make out who's working for whom. Here we take example o UPS. Well, to tell you, I love UPS's tag-line - "Your commerce, Synchronized." Tom says, they have been living up to it. Not only are the synchronizing the globa supply chains round the word, they have embedded themselves in client's internal structure also. Then it gives them a chance run the buisness as their own. They are responsible for cutting delivery time, repair downtime and saving millions with in inventories by synchronised shipping. What a world we are living in!
9) In-Forming: - Our world, Googled! The main theme of this flattner circles round the process of availibilty of information at the fingertips of anyone, anywhere in this world. Type three ingredients in Google, and they will give you a recipe of it. And this has given a new boom to the aspect called reality. Tom says, in a flat world no one can hide, even if they can run. He quotes Mark Twain; "Always tell the truth, so you dont have to remember what you have told." May be by now, we should get a lesson that World has shriked, and so has information availibilty time.
10) Steroids: - It all ends with the kind of technologioes that make this flattening all the more efficient. He talks about the ipods and the ipaq's and mobiles acting as credit cards. How much our world has shrinked and accerelated by these "Steroids". Its just amazing to have life-like video conferences and save millions of dollars in travelling. He ends the chapter with an example of Rolls Royce engines fitted in Boeing. They are built with an automatic tracking chips which talk to a mainframe computer at Rolls Royce. That way they can tap real time data and help the planes to efficiently manage the engines in cases of problems like a lightining strike.
It's a must-read book, I feel so.
And I would specially like to mention four lines that accurately silhouette the globalization era:
" In the midlands of Africa lives a Gazelle and a Lion
The Gazelle wakes of every morning and knows that he must run to save his life otherwise he will be eaten by a lion.
The Lion wakes up every morning and knows that he must run to catch the Gazelle otherwisehe will starve today.
It doesnt matter whether you are a Lion or a Gazelle, the thing you should remember is always to keep running."

The next Three Flatteners

After the first four flattener's here comes next three in line.
5) OutSourcing :- As the dot com bubble went bust, many fibre-optic companies when into bankruptcy. Investors and Venture capitalists who had invested in these companies started to put their thinking caps on. And then they met with a second-buyer of those huge data pipelines-India. As India started venturing into the communications protocol, a new trend started to emerge in US. As the economy had tanked and costs had to be cut, the companies started asking " Hey who are those guys that will get this work done at a cheaper rate?" And thus started Outsourcing. It helped flatten the world in a profuse sense as it cut down costs and helped achieve greater efficiency of work by integrating a cross-spectrum of individuals.
6) Offshoring:- Now the basic difference between OutSourcing and Offshoring is that the former is involved in moving only the backroom work while the later is involved in moving all the operations. Now here we take China in perspective. Due to cheap labor and subdued manufacturing costs, China has always attracted companies on a value-proposition. The Chinese when opened the gates, the people in US thought it has an interesting venture because they finally foundt the place where they could move their whole operations and get the most out of it at a very very low cost. This is one world flattener that doesnt cease to amaze me because, its not only Manufacturing but the Chinese have started grappling the other sectors also.
7) Supply-Chainining:- This actually terms with seamlessely integrating the process to deliver the products at the customer doorsteps to create value. Thomas gives us the example of Wal-mart and how it has clipped costs by sourcing goods from the manufacturers directly.How it has efficiently planned the sourcing chain and practised the just-in-time delivery to cut down inventory costs. It doesnt matter in which part of the world the product is manufactured, in the supply chain its the data that flows through is consolidated at one end and converted in information. Analysis of the customer buying patterns is done and likewise product is shipped with a reduced delivery time. Amazing! Though I feel Tom has gone a little Pro-Walmart, but still it really epitomises the flattening of the world.
Stay tuned, U will be back right after a short break. :-)

मराथि ब्लोग

नमस्कर मनदलि;
अयुशात पहिल्यन्दा चुका न करता मराथि लिहिन्यचया हा अनुभव अविस्मार्निये आहे. त्तुम्चि ऒश ( अर्थतात--> Operating System) सपोर्त करएल कि नहि ते मला महित नहि. पअन माझ अत विचर मझे मरथि सुध्रारन्याचा आहे.
मला थोदिशि मदद करा. मि अप्ला रुनि राहिन.

ध्यन्यवाद.

आप्ला विन्म्र
अद्वैत जोशि

Beggars are the Choosers!

A recent survey of the Maharshtra State goverment reveals that Begging has manifested in an Industry. In Mubai it self there are about 50,000 beggars accounting to a revnenue of 180 crore. Rates are fixed for where one wants to beg and a fixed percentage is set for authorities so that everyone can get a share of the beggars loot.
The Bombay Beggary Prevention Act (read para-5) terms begging as illegal. But the handicapped beggars are left untouched by the anti-begging squad.Clearly, handicapped beggars are better earners as they command more sympathy. Now this actually has given a twist to the industry. A foray of mafia gangs have stepped in paying for the amputation of bosy parts of the street-side beggars.
A recent inquiry in beggar amputations has revealed some shocking realties. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has launched a probe for doctors willing to ampute beggar's body parts for $200 (10,000 INR)

Vikrant and the Offshoring

The 18 year old Vikrant Khanvilkar , the youngest of the 7/11 mishap died succumbed to death today. He had suffered head injuries. Now the death toll has risen to 201. 201 innocent people lost their lives because some of the follies made by our freedom fighters 58 years ago and some which are still continuing in the face of Ayodhya and Gujrat.
Meanwhile we are at the economy spot, there is a new boost to the health care industry in India. With the rising healthcare costs in the US a growing number is US employers are sending their ailing employees offshore for healthcare treatment. This actually is cutting down costs on the same. Way to go for the hospital-ity industry. :-)
Guys! I have been searching for film " Omkara" 's lyrics all ovre the place. May be my serach-criteria's are not right. :(. Just help me out of you, I really need those lyrics.

Let go for once, Please!

Emotions play a vital role in anybody's life. Every minute we are experiencing a turmoil of emotions which churn us in. They say to find the ultimate truth, we should get rid of these emotions. But is it possible. I mean, yes it is possible, but is it do-able.
Get rid of love, get rid of desire, get rid of ambition. Yes you have to get rid of certain emotions like hatred, jealousy, lust because what they create is only negative energy around you. But you know what, a hundred times more a crime has been committed in name of love than in the name of hate. There is a thin line between love and hate. And believe me you, its like walking a razor's edge. Introspect and you will get the answer. We tend to hate them the most whom we love the most. Why such things happen?
How can one suddenly stop loving someone? Its just a pure emotion that just cant be vandalised. The biggest weakness of an human being is letting go. But what we tend to forget is that we all have to let go one day. Of this world, of your loved ones, of your levi's, of your car, of your swatch. Then what is the point is gaining all this. Beacuse the vedas say, that your soul is what you are. It is the not that thing that comes along with you after you die, it is you. In the niceities of the world, we forget where we have come from. But if you have come down, living life is a challenge. To every problem there is simple soultion, but more often than not its not easy.Hence we tend to live in that rut all the time.
You want to leave you job, right? You are not able to work and the environment is suffocating, right? Then why dont you just leave it? Is it right to stay in a place where people dont believe you are capable of doing something? Is it right to stay in the place where people forget what you have done over a period of time and then in-turn ask what is your value-addition to the organisation.? Is it right to be emotionally attached to some one who in turns defies your logical thinking process and then slef becomes detached?
I feel like shouting on top of the board, for god's sake, let go for once. Please!

The First Four World Flattener's

I did mention in one of my last posts that I am currently reading Thomas Friedman's " The World is Flat." Well, today lets take a bird-eye's view on the first forces that have helped flatenning the world. Shall we ?
1) When the Berlin Wall went down and the Windows, up: - The Berlin wall went down in 1989 and than started a chain of events. The utter act of defiance from the people of Germany was not that of impulse. Freedom was what they wanted. But not only from the chains of discrimination, but of thought also. The downfall fall of Berlin wall took down the iron curtain with it. This opened the people's mind to imagine that a world in itself can become a single market place. Free trade started setting in. In admisdt of this, precisely a week later after wall's event, Microsoft shipped it's first operating system:Windows 3.0. This helped any tom-dick-harry harness the power of computers and gradually helped penetration of the computers in household's. People started realising the power of computing and the tasks that it made easier. They were on a run and they were loving it!
2) When Netscape came up with the first browser: - As thew power of computing became publicised, there was still a discrepancy. Those people complained that they cant share the resources on anyone else'e computer. What was needed was a common framework to help everyone acesss the a pool of resources. The when the internet came in to picture, there was no surefire way to access that data. A start-up company in silicon valley came up with the solution. Netscape. They built the first browser which again helped people access data and information thorugh the websites at the click of the button. Tim Berner-Lee , the father of World Wide Web, then brought another revolution that overnight shrinked the world.
3) When Workflow software started talking to each other:- After the internet boom, what was needed was the applications that can seamlessly integrate the business process. So that the Manufacturing, Finance, Sales and Inventory departements would be connected as they should be. This in turn give rise to data pipelines which helped transfer crucial data over long distances. I am not talking about cities but about countries. As the application began to come closer, connected by the web of pipelines, it didnt matter whether you were sitting in Boston or Bangalore. The work was done at the blink of an eye.
4) When Apache created the first open-source software: - Apache was the first open-source software that was created by a group of programmers. Open-Sourcing bought a new wave of revolution with itself. Here was bunch of geeks sitting, geographically diverese seeding the code to develop the software which can be freely downloaded and used. This actually was the people who had been shrking the world this time. The same is the case with LInux. The onlibe communities and blogs whic act as whistleblowers have transformed this daily people in the citizen-journalists. This in turn has given a new dimenesion to information mining.
We have more to come, so do visit back!

Life in a nutshell.

Every writer at some time ceases to write. Not because he is at loss of thoughts, but he is at loss of words. Every emotion can't be scripted. Though the Vedas have tried a lot to script some out-of-the=body experiences, it requires a great deal of spirituality. That day I was reading Upanishads (concise version), and I was "literally" at loss of words. The way the ancient hrushis have enumerated the very sense of life is just amazing.
Soham-Asmi; I am that fire, I am that soul. They tell you that the soul is eternal while the body is temporal. Moksh is achieved when we learn what we have come to learn on this earth. It just warms your heart.
I remember reading Brian Weiss's " Many Lives. Many Masters." His book revovles around his psychiatric patient. He cubs here fear by regression therapy, where-in she recalls her past lives. The book tells us about 7 masters who possess the knowledge of the ultimate truth. The patient (sorry I dont remeber her name) actually speaks to them, or rather they speak to her while she goes in to the trance. The very realities and absurdities of life are beautifully unfolded in that book. It takes you to a thought level that you are eternal. No matter what grab you wear, you always have the strength to know what you were in your past life. You also know the purpose of your life in this birth.
I guess I know what I am doing over here. I have had that luxury. But do you know what you are doing here? Why of all you were born with that special trait, in that body, with that face?
Its time you started finding the answers.

Recruitment

Lets write today of something I am professionally involved in. Recruitment. I love this field. Though this isnt orginally that I started my career with, but its seamlessly connected with Sales & Marketing ( Prima Facie of my career). Recruitment industry in India is on a boom. You people must have heard of the term " Demand-Supply gap" of talent pool in India. Lets discuss this for a while. Shall we?
There is a law of economics that coins the demand-supply aspect as follows, " When the demand equals the supply its commodity, when the demand surpasses the supply its speciality and when the demand is less than the supply, its liablity."
Our recruitment scene follows this law, but there is a slight modification over here. In India, talen is realtivelygreat. Giving the statistics, Indian universities are expected to produce 400,000 engineers, about 100,000 managers and about 2.5 million graduates. Wow! And given the current scene, just 4 sectors-IT/ITES, Telecom, Retail and Financial Services are expected to add about 500,000 jobs this fiscal year.
Then why-o-why are the companies still facing a dearth of talent? If we zero-in on the aspect of quality, some fault rests on the education system. Then the IT boom is stripping talen of other sectors as the MNC's go on to increase the breadth of their operations. To give a rough idea: Infosys selects about 3-4 people fo the 700 intervieews. A conversion rate of less than 2.2 %.
Now the question rests, is the demand really more than the supply? In numbersm yes. But in quality, no. Then what can be done for these people to bring them upto the level so that they can be converted from liablity into specialty?
I will think about the same and write......

Prince-ly India

Media sometimes hypes things up unnecessarily.
In the city of Kurukshetra (Haryana, India), a 5 year old kid called Prince turned 6 in a trench 60-feet deep. Am I kidding? Well apparently not. This Prince wandered of somewhere from his house and fell in the nearby dug well of 60 feet depth with the breadth of only 16 Inch. Futile measures were being carried out to release him. In the end the army was called. They planted another trench 10 feet apart, dug through it and released him. Kudos to the army and the kid who survived the fight for his life for about 50 hours. But now the media has created a super-hero out of him. They say they are going to sponsor his whole education. And believe it or not this news was running as " breaking-news" non-stop on 3 premier media channels of the country.
Agreed, the attention was needed. But I think there was no need to cover it continously and keep other news on a back-burner. Whatever prayers you want to say, say it in your heart with purity. Why you need to harp about it and create a display of emotions which will invariably, sell? I simply dont understand. Was the fate of a 12 year old Tsunami survivor changed? Our war-heros didnt get this kind of media-pubilicity. Who are those families who were killed in the Mumbai blasts? Who were the heroes of the day who made it possible for Mumbai to return back to normal?
The media will probably not answer these questions because no-one likes to know the reality. They just want to percieve what it might be ,and then speculate about it. In that way journalism is alive, so are the news. News that wont matter in the first place.

Its Only Words

Words are a trap. I seriously beleive in this. How many times you have experienced a diffuclty in expressing yourself to help someone understand what you are feeling? Most of the times , right? Yesterday, I was referring to two types of anythings in this world-Functional & Technical. Technical aspect of anything is realtively easy to understand. Just cross-reference anything that is accepted as a standard in that particular situation. Functional thing is relative. Everyone understands the same in their own context and then deems it right. More often than not, quality is often refferd to understanding exactly what the other person needs and doing it likewise. Some have this as an inherent gift, some dont. Hence some people are liked most and some are not. But how many peolple know the hidden aspect of it?
In his sequel to "Kane and Abel", " The Prodigal Daughter", Jeffery Archer gives a classic example of this. Apparently it's discovered in the end that Florentyna's (Abel's daughter) doppelganger, an anynomous backer to their crumbling bank was William Kane-her father's arch rival. Now who would remember him and appreciate him? Probably Abel will be able to. :-)
The point here is everyone is an unsung hero in somebody else's lufe. May be n his/her father's, mother's, brother's, sister's, dughter's, son's,friend's,bank cashier's, maid's;virtually anyone's. We touch lives of them whoose exsistence we are not even aware of.
In this scene, no words are requried. A different level of connection is established. A functional connection where no technicalities are involved. Everywhere there is love, even in hate. Paradoxical it is, but we tend to hate people we love the most. So lets promise ourselves that I will go beyond the words sometimes and do things in a shadow that will affect someone in a good manner.
And at the end of the day ask ourselves: Whose life did I touch today?

Two Types

Yesterday I heard a heart -warming news. A friend of my brother's lost her elder brother in a heart attack. He was barely 32 years old! Life sometimes compels us to sit back and analyse what is death. What is death?Do you know it? Well form me death is just the absence of real-life and not end of it. Time and time again we have been able to contact those para-natrual beings who have left the womb of earth long-ago-physically. Some people say they talk to souls. Possible, given the scenario that telepathy exists between persons with deep mental connection. Yesterday I saw in the program" Mano ya na Mano" the concept of Automatic Writing. They say that the writer in the state of trance writes what what the soul around him/her tells. This actually helps in solving some grave problems faced by the human beings. If you want to know more visit--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_writing.
Speaking about the same, death has become a way to live in Lebanon. With the Israelies captivating their hamas ministers and bombing the cities have already triggeres a chain of disrest in India. Indian doesnt want to tweak ties with Israel, but also due to pressures of the Left parties, it has to take a strong ground stance on the thier acts of bombings and kidnaps. About 100 Indians have said to be rescued with the joint operations of the Navy forces. The INS Shivaji will be docking in the Larnaca port in Cyprus, from where these people will be flown back to India. So it still persists in India that the left is always right.
There are two types of errors in this world. One is Functional and the other is Technical. More often that not, the functional error is very hard to catch because that reflects the quality of the human thinking. Technical error more or less means a non-compliance to the pre-defined set of procedures or rules. We will tocuh the same in details afterwards, but life let me tell you is always in shades of gray. There is no definitive black and white. So the errors also are a combination of functional and technical aspects. The gravity depends on the percentage dispersion. Invariably, technical errors are easier to rectify than functional errors.

Flat World and the Tax-net

Currently I am reading "The World is flat" by Thomas Friedman. I actually happened to see the documentary on the same on the discovery channel way before the book was published last year. He typically touches the aspect of the free market and how the technology has sort of " levelled the playground." He gives an analogy of how Columbus moved to west to find India and inadvertently landed discovering America. He then came to a conclusion that the world, really is round. Thomas says he moved east, to India, China, Japan et al and has come to a conclusion that World, invariably is flat. The idea was jump-sparked when he was having a discussion with Nandan Nilekani, the CEO of Infosys.
I am through the first chapter where he says that the changes tooke place while "he was sleeping." Apparently we all were, until the book was published. In the 2nd chapter he enlists 10 forces that have helped flattening the world. Its going to be an interesting journey.
The Tax-net is closing in. If you are a credit card holder, with annual expenses accounting to more than 2 Lacs, and you have not submitted your PAN (Permanent Account Number), you are in for a surprise. The IRD is going to scrutinize all those applicants and take an action against them. Be sure to pay your taxes, especially those in the bracket of 8 Lacs-10 Lacs. Wow!.Sure big money involved here. But let me remind you, dont expect this to reflect on the country's infrasrtucture immediately.
Oh! By the way, we are on and running again as the Blogspot as a whole domain is not going to be blocked by the ISP. It is that blogs which contain objectional anti-national content that will face the music.

The Conversation

Today I decicided to supersede all my e-mail signatures with the line "Life's simple, not easy." All the trials and tribulations we face in life have got one simple soultion, but more often than not, its not easy.
Like today I heard a conversation between two people:

1st Person: "Hey, wake up, look at the sun outside, its looking brighter than ever before."
2nd Person: "Really? Let me just take a look." When he goes out and has a look.
2nd Person: "Yes, but why it is looking so beautiful today? I have seen it many times before. "
1st Person: "Is that so? Then if the sun has not changed, what has?"
2nd Person: "May be the way I am looking at is changed."
1st Person: "Exactly!. All we need to do is master the art of looking at things in a different manner."
2nd Person: "Its easier said than done, dude. When we are haggled by the mundane things, we are bound to think negatively. Things always dont work the way we want to."
1st Person: " You are right, but every situation or a problem teaches you a new lesson. A lesson you should never forget."
2nd Person: "But are we competent enough to learn from the same? I mean, the thinking process stops when we are low on spirits. It just feels like either yelling aloud or to cry silently."
1st Person: "This situation comes in everyone's life, but great people are often separated from good people by this tendency only."
2nd Person: "But its so easy to say this when you have no thinking to do. Every burden is shouldered by me."
1st Person: "Who say's I have nothing to do? Did you ever come across a situaton when you do something against your wishes just for someone you love?
2nd Person: "Yes sure I have, everyone does."
1st Person: "Then inevitably you have in all totatlity surrenderd to me. I am the one that shows light and differentiates the right from the correct"
2nd Person: "But with your principles, the world doesnt run."
1st Person: "I know dear, but I just make the world a better place to live. If I was not there, how would you know what love is? What it feels to thrive for someone. Achieve what you dreamt of just because you didnt think it was pragmmatic in the first place."
2nd Person: "So are you saying that I have no importance whatsoever."
1st Person: " No, you have it in your own territory. Look buddy, the difference between you and me is the one between efficency and effectiveness, between Management and Leadership, lets just say you are the Manager and I am the Leader."
2nd Person: "But then who is superior?"
1st Person: " No one, it's the situation that demands performance from both of us. Sometimes you have to analytical, calculating, other times you have to be soulful, emotional."
2nd Person: " You have all the answers dude."
1st Person: "And you have all the questions."
2nd Person: "But what's the use if the answers are not there."
1st Person: " But unless questioned, the answers dont come, thats why you are responsible for all the advancement in the world."
2nd Person: "And you are responsible for letting us know who we are. Thanks!"
1st Person: "Thanks to you too!"

You might be wondering who are these people. One is the Heart and other is the Brain. Could you make out who is which one?

Magny-Cours

Actually I forgot to give a review of the Weekend GP. Here it goes:
The Venue- Magny Cours, France (About 160 Miles from Paris)
Laps:- 70 Laps.
Positions: 1) Micheal Shcumacher
2) Fernando Alonso
3) Phillpe Massa
Review: It was an astounding speed surgence that helped Ferrari and Micheal to extend the lead over Fernando over the first few laps of the race. Though the strategy of Massa holding back Alonso on the intial laps also helped. It was potentially a 3 pit-stop for Michael. But the Renault changed its strategy from 3 pit-stop to 2 with Alonso's second pitstop counting 11.7 seconds. Though this didnt rule in the favor of Renault, it gave Michael that advantage that was needed. But still Michael needs to close 17 championship points before he catches Alonso as a potential world-champion. I reckon (like Steve Slater :-), the Ferrari should take a concerted effort to push back Alonso. The reason is even if Michael wins all the upcoming 7 races and Alonso gets 2nd in all, he will still be ahead of Michael in the championship run. Thence forth it is the team effort that is going to matter now.
They are saying that they are going to block Blogspot along with 17 other websites for carrying anti-national content in the kitty. Please forgive if I am not able to post for few more days, its not my fault.