Out of my mind

A bit abnormal event in Normal

2009-01-11T23:11:00.000-08:00

Wedding in Taco Bell? That too in a city named 'Normal'? Sounded interesting ;-)
---

NORMAL, Ill. – Wedding bells meant Taco Bell for Paul and Caragh Brooks.
Customers inside the fast-food restaurant continued to order tacos and burritos as the couple sat Friday in an orange booth at Taco Bell and exchanged vows.
"It's appropriate," groom Paul Brooks said. "It's an offbeat relationship."
Employees displayed hot sauce packets labeled with the words "Will you marry me?" They decorated the restaurant with streamers and balloons.
The bride wore a $15 hot pink dress and the entire wedding cost about $200. Several dozen guests looked on as the couple's friend, Ryan Green of Normal, administered the vows while wearing a T-shirt. He was ordained online.
"This is the way to go — there's no stress," said the groom's mother, Kathy Brooks.
Caragh Brooks, 21, of Australia, met Paul Brooks, 30, on an Internet dating Web site. They already had the same last name.
The couple wrote back and forth and talked on the phone for nine months before Caragh Brooks moved to the United States.
"We have the same brain, just in two bodies," Paul Brooks said. "We think alike in virtually every manner. We have the same interests, viewpoints."
He proposed on New Year's Eve and, because they like to spend time at the local Taco Bell, they decided to wed there.
"I would never have expected in my life in working here there would be a wedding," restaurant manager Carl Hamlow said.

Funny Poem

2009-01-07T17:30:00.000-08:00

A Poem Many many years ago
when I was twenty three,
I got married to a widow
Who was pretty as could be.

This widow had a grown-up daughter
Who had hair of red.
My father fell in love with her,
And soon the two were wed.

This made my dad my son-in-law
And changed my very life.
My daughter was my mother,
For she was my father's wife.

To complicate the matters worse,
Although it brought me joy,
I soon became the father
Of a bouncing baby boy.

My little baby then became
A brother-in-law to dad.
And so became my uncle,
Though it made me very sad.

For if he was my uncle,
Then that also made him brother
To the widow's grown-up daughter
Who, of course, was my step-mother.

Father's wife then had a son,
Who kept them on the run.
And he became my grandson,
For he was my daughter's son.

My wife is now my mother's mother
And it makes me blue.
Because, although she is my wife,
She's my grandmother too.

If my wife is my grandmother,
Then I am her grandchild.
And every time I think of it,
It simply drives me wild.

For now I have become
The strangest case you ever saw.
As the husband of my grandmother,
I am my own grandpa!

[source unknown]

Ten Things

2009-01-05T11:25:00.000-08:00

I watched Dasvidaniya movie sometime back. It's a nice story about a comman person who keeps procrastinating his life until he learns he learns that he is going to die due to cancer in 3 months. This awakens him and he realizes that he needs to do things he always wanted to do but never did. There is not much melodrama in the film and except for a few scenes that audience is forced to accept, it is a good movie to watch.

If nothing else it makes us think: what are the (top 10) things you want to do before you die?
Do you have your list? Can you start living it?

Trees

2008-12-29T15:52:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite poems...

Trees

I THINK that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

-- Alfred Joyce Kilmer
source: http://www.bartleby.com/104/119.html

For Want of...

2008-12-23T18:00:00.001-08:00

For want of knowledge, wisdom was lost

For want of wisdom, character was lost

For want of character, momentum was was lost

For want of momentum, wealth was lost

For want of wealth, the downtrodden were lost

All for want of knowledge was lost..

[Mahatma Phule's thoughts]

Friends

2008-12-23T17:57:00.000-08:00

Friends - Elizabeth Jennings

"I fear it's very wrong of me
And yet I must admit
When someone offers friendship
I want the whole of it.

I don't want everybody else
To share my friends with me.
At least I want one special one
Who indisputably,
Likes me much more than all the rest
Who's always on my side,
Who never cares what others say
Who lets me come and hide

Within his shadow, in his house -
It doesn't matter where -
Who lets me simply be myself,
Who's always, always, there."

[from personal collection]

The Best Thing to give

2008-12-23T17:56:00.001-08:00

to your enemy ---- forgiveness
to your opponent --- tolerance
to your child --- a good example
to a father --- deference
to a mother --- love
to yourself --- respect
yo your patient --- care that will make him proud of you.

[Read somewhere in a doctor's waiting room]

Attitude

2008-12-19T17:11:00.000-08:00

What lies behind us and what lied before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.
- R W Emerson

On Death

2008-12-19T17:06:00.000-08:00

DEATH, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so:

For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death; nor yet canst thou kill me.

From Rest and Sleep, which but thy picture be,
Much pleasure, then from thee much more must flow;

And soonest our best men with thee do go--
Rest of their bones and souls' delivery!

Thou'rt slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell;

And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke. Why swell'st thou then?

One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And Death shall be no more: Death, thou shalt die!

-- by John Donne

What a wonderful poem!!

Why I love Signing Time?

2008-03-22T00:15:00.000-07:00

Top-ten reasons why I love Signing Time?

Visit Signing Time at: http://www.signingtime.com/

10. Alex and Leah are cute and funny.
9. Rachel & staff is very creative in keeping learning fun.
8. Signing time songs are entertaining and touchy.
7. It keeps my son occupied so that my wife and I can finish our meal :-)
6. It boosts my son's creativity as he develops his own new signs! It helps my grey cells deciphering his new dictionary!
5. Repeating after Rachel helps me understand how to follow a woman's directions and keeps my wife happy!
4. It is a good way to have quality family time together.
3. It is the best way to relax with my son after a tiring day...without moving an inch ;-)
2. When I miss going to the gym, I at least get satisfaction that I exercised my fingers and hands :-)
1. It is the best way to combine learning, creativity and fun for kids.

Perfection

2008-03-14T07:23:00.001-07:00

Life becomes interesting when you expect less than perfection from others, but you strive for perfection.

Think about it!

Deal or No Deal?

2007-04-09T20:41:00.000-07:00

I occasionally watch NBC's programme 'Deal or No Deal'. The show gets interesting sometimes, depending on how risk-averse the player is.
However, certain things amuse me about this show...
Everytime a case is opened, why do some players look away or keep saying 'low please' or 'from the left side' to the model holding the case? The model really has no clue what the bag contains and has no control whatsoever!
Sometimes, players and his/her friends/relatives really bend down in knees with hope that the case will contain low numbers. I have never figured out what is the psychological relationship between bending in knees and possiblility of getting a low number.

Overall, this show shows how some people behave under pressure or become more willing to take risk when their hope suddenly jumps!

Non-violence: another view?

2006-10-09T13:25:00.000-07:00

Are Mahatma Gandhi (and Medha Patkar) violent?

This question may sound preposterous, but according to Osho, Gandhi's non-violence, was in fact, acts of violence. This is what he says:"Gandhi thinks fasting is a kind of right means to a right end. And like his last fast he resorts to fast unto death every now and then. If a threat to kill another person is wrong , how can the threat to kill oneself be right? If it is wrong for me to make you accept what I say by pointing gun at you, how can it be right if I make you accept the same thing by pointing gun at myself? It would be a greater wrong on my part if I ask you to accept my views with the threat if you don't , Iam going to kill myself."If I threaten to kill you, you have an option, a moral opportunity to die and refuse to yield to my pressure. But if i threaten to kill myself , I make you very helpless, because you may not like to take the responsibility of my death on yourself."Gandhi once undertook such a fast unto death to put pressure on Ambedkar. Ambedkar had to finally yield to Gandhi's pressures, but said later Gandhi would be wrong to think he had changed his heart and still believed he was right and Gandhi was wrong, but in order not take the moral repsonsibility of the consquence he had to yield."It makes no difference whether i threaten to kill you or to kill myself to make you accept my view. In either case I am using pressure and violence. In fact, when I threaten to kill you, I give you a choice to die with dignity, to tell me you would rather die than yield to my view which is wrong. But when I threaten you with my own death, then I deprive you of the option to die with dignity. I put you in real dilemma . Either you have to yield and accept you are wrong or you take the responsibility of my death onto you. You are going to suffer guilt in every way and there is no choice.""Violence to an extent is necessary if one has to live. Even which we term as an instrument of non-violence could be violence. If I put a knife on your chest and ask you to obey me, it is violence. And if I sit and starve at your doorstep, threatening to die if you do not do what I say? Is this not violence? The former goes out from me to you, the latter is going towards myself. The latter is self-violence. A forcible pressure, mental cruelty, it is!"

Life is a package deal!

2006-02-02T06:53:00.000-08:00

"It is a package deal" -- someone was explaining to a lady in the supermarket.

"You buy one, you get second free."

That started my thinking. Indeed, life itself is a packaged deal. You do anything and there are consequences of that action that you cannot run away from. You have to face each and everything -- your actions or inactions, your shout or silene -- everything matters!

Isn't it beautiful deal by the creator that you reap as you sow?

What do you think?

Phir Bhi Dil Hain Hindustani

2006-01-26T19:15:00.000-08:00

26th January. Today is India's republic day. Living in the USA for the time being, it is just like any other day. No 'tiranga' flags, except in Indian grocery stores, no march of cadets, no 'jilebi' as it is commonly sold on this day in India and no holiday.
I was driving to work today and there was this song played on local asian radio:
'Mera Joota Hai Japani Yeh Patloon EnglishtaniSar Pe Laal Topi Roosi Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani'

That got me thinking. I was wearing Adidas shoes that were made in Philipines, driving Volkswagen Jetta that was assembled in Mexico with parts from Germany, the shirt I was wearing was made in Indonesia, the watch probably made in China and trouser made in USA.
But when I heard this song, I felt a strange sense of pride and happiness. My favorite 'tiranga' flurred upon my inward eyes and I felt as if I heard India's national anthem 'Jana gana mana'.

At that moment, I felt: 'Yes, yeh dil hai hindusthani' [my heart is Indian].
I realized how much I miss being away from India and wondered why am I still here -- what am I doing and what I really want to do. I hope this sense is inversely proortinal to the number of years you have lived away from India.

Oh.. how much I miss my dear India.

Real swadesis!

2005-08-12T09:55:00.000-07:00

How inspiring!

The real swadesis

The Real Swadesis ARAVINDA & RAVI went back from the US to work in the rural interiors of India, and were the inspiration behind Ashutosh Gowariker’s ‘Swades’. A chat with the tireless twosome- the real Mohan Bhargavs.

(Top left) Aravinda with daughter Khiyali in the sling -- in solidarity with the displaced people of the Narmada valley.(Top right) Ravi explaining errors in government surveys of submergence zone of the Narmada dam.(Middle) Pedal Power Generator: Girls in Timbuktu Collective, Andhra Pradesh dance to the lights of boy pedaling.(Bottom) Small check dam built by people of Bilgaon diverts water to the tank and turbine producing 15 KW of power to light the entire village.
BY VEENA RAOShe was raised in the US. He was a PhD in particle Physics from the University of Maryland. In 1998, the two NRIs quit their lives in the US and moved back to India, to work for the cause of rural development and people’s movement.They have been acknowledged as one of the inspirations behind Ashutosh Gowariker’s “Swades”. Aravinda Pillalamarri and Ravi Kuchimanchi’s journey from the US to the Adivasi heartland of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) has been reflected in the movie, where NASA engineer Mohan Bhargav, played by Shahrukh Khan, goes back to the interiors of rural India, in search of his roots. Gowariker read Rajni Bakshi’s book ‘Bapu Kuti’, through which he got to know about Aravinda and Ravi, and the Bilgaon project. He was interested in meeting the two NRIs and the idea of lighting a village appealed to him. After spending considerable time with Aravinda and Ravi, both dedicated Association for India’s Development (AID) volunteers, Gowarikar visited Bilgaon, an adivasi village in the Narmada valley, which is the back drop of the NBA movement. The people of Bilgaon are credited with doing 2000 person-days of ‘shramdaan’ to make their village energy self-sufficient. The Bilgaon project is recognized as a model for replication by the Government of Maharshtra.“Ashutosh was interested in knowing things like the costs and whether that was something Shah Rukh Khan could withdraw out of the ATM machine, the size and space of something that would be needed to light a village so he could visualize the sets, how fast something like this could be built and also about suggestions for the story and the script that he read out,” says Aravinda. “He took contacts so that he could get the turbine replicated.”But the conflict and with it the people power that comes to ascertain the right to water resource and local decision making is not brought out in the movie though that was discussed as well, say the duo.When Aravinda and Ravi first went to the Narmada valley in 1998, it was totally dark. Then the first lights came through the pedal generator that they helped design whereby lighting up the schools (jeevanshalas) and the Satyagraha center with people taking turns pedaling- one hour of pedaling gave three hours of light to a room. Today, Bilgaon is energy-self sufficient. They hope the day is not far when every house in the Narmada valley has lights. Ravi and Aravinda believe that this can happen soon if the issue is raised, since the Sardar Sarovar Dam is nearby and is reported to be already generating power. “But where is this power going to?” they question.It has been an enlightening journey for Aravinda and Ravi, who decided to plunge headlong into India’s development and people’s issues through AID. Ravi is one of the founding members of AID at College Park, Maryland. He was a PhD student in particle Physics, when he decided in 1998 that he wanted to return to India to work for the cause of the villages. “ It was not an easy decision to quit formal research in Physics which I love. However with scientific papers accessible on the Internet nowadays, I manage to keep up with the developments in the field and even publish something once in a while,” he says. “If you believe life is not compartmentalized, then you don't have to get out of one compartment (Physics) to get into another compartment- grassroots.”For Aravinda, it was the urge to work for the cause of India’s development that led her to set base in India. “I thought when I moved to India that I was getting away from the first world and into the third and fourth worlds,” says the US raised activist. “But living in Bombay, accessing current at the flip of a switch, water on tap, and of course Internet at one's fingertips, the first world was still very much with me. “What I found after spending some time with the indigenous people of the Narmada Valley was that when they would go to meet the district collector it was all foreign - foreign language, foreign concepts. One can be in the same country yet be in a different world. If you read the Supreme Court judgment on the Narmada case you will find some appalling anthropological interpretations of tribal society and people. They actually say things like, we need sturdy people to occupy the border areas, and therefore displacing them from the valley is a matter of national security. And a real classic statement: tribals do not live in community -- their houses are far apart. But if you spend even a few days in a tribal hamlet you will learn that each one of those houses was built with the participation of every family in the village. Yet today those houses are submerged without the consent of any of those villagers, just by decisions made in remote centers of power approved in World Banks and Supreme Courts that don't even speak the same language or live in the same world as those whose fates they seal.”Aravinda and Ravi believe that struggling with the people of the Narmada Valley and many other movements throughout India has given them the opportunity to be part of a great struggle for freedom and democracy. “People of the third and fourth worlds deserve the opportunity to express themselves, to be heard, to develop according to their own aspirations and principles, to access technology and modern amenities on their own terms without being deprived of what is valuable in their own society and culture,” says Aravinda. “Too often, the choice is- if you want clean water, electricity, and higher education, then come and fend for it in the city - risking everything at steep odds.”“Why aren't we finding ways to provide these in the villages so that people actually have a choice where and how to live,” she questions. “If we look at budgets and development plans we find it is highly skewed towards the urban areas and plans for urgently needed local projects like watershed management in the rural areas just don't get a fair share. And the large centralized projects whether for water or electricity tend to provide more to those who already have these, and leave those without in the same boat or even worse off.”The duo first visited the villages affected by the Sardar Sarovar dam in 1998 after reading about the NBA movement, seeing films and meeting Medha Patkar (of NBA) when she visited the US. Since then they have been part of satyagrahas, met with government officials from tehsil to state level and also tried to raise awareness at the Supreme Court and World Bank. “We have also made friends with many young activists of the Narmada movement and we are inspired by their courage and dedication,” says Ravi. “We have great respect for the adivasis of the Narmada valley like Noorji bhai who have taken this non-violent struggle of gandhian proportions from their village to the World Bank in Washington DC, which eventually withdrew from this project after their internal investigation found that the issues the NBA was raising were valid. Through nearly 20 years of struggle many of them have grown old waiting for rehabilitation, and our courts are yet to deliver them justice.”The young activists believe that it is not just alternate energy that is needed, but also alternate purposes and alternate politics. The electric lines from the Sardar Sarovar dam by-pass the adivasi belt of villages of the Narmada valley, which are right next to the dam. These villages have been in darkness despite 55 years of independence. Lower lying adivasi villages have been submerged for the sake of the dam. “So why are the electricity benefits bypassing the remaining adivasi villages and going straight to the cities? The purpose of the dam is not the development of the underprivileged,” they say. “Gujarat's Narmada waters are stored in villages of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra by the sardar Sarovar dam. Alternate designs where Narmada waters are diverted to Gujarat and stored locally require a smaller dam. Currently states, which are bearing the brunt of displacement, do not get many benefits out of the dam and they have no will to rehabilitate people. The state that is getting the maximum benefits is having the least displacement and so is demanding a higher and higher dam. Thus the inter-state politics and alternate design options are connected. An alternate development paradigm has affected people as planners and stake-holders of the development process. Local watershed structures that tap rain water often compete for state funds that are eaten up by larger projects.”Aravinda and Ravi also stress the importance of alternate life-styles where ordinary citizens play a key role. Reducing wasteful consumption of electricity in the peak evening hours in our city homes will imply that more village homes will have lights in the night, especially in a country like India where energy is scarce, they say.What is their day like while touring remote villages? In the plains of Srikakulam district in Andhra Pradesh, they don't have a language gap. But in the adivasi villages of Maharashtra, they depend on having at least one person who can speak both Hindi as well as Pavri / Bhilali, the local languages. “It is a lot of fun and also one feels a burst of energy when one goes to villages,” they gush. “Things would have happened since we last went to the village. There is catching up to do, exchanging notes with the village people... how what we were planning together actually got implemented. What new challenges cropped up. What new ideas do they have since our last visit. It is a process of collaboration with each village and our days are spent going from one village to other once we visit a cluster of villages and spending the maximum time we can with the people and planning and doing things. Sometimes people have been working on a problem for some time and get stuck in trying to get the required information or sanctioning from the government and need to meet the officials. Usually in the tour we stay in a village person's house when night falls. We are pampered as their guests and we eat and sleep in their homes.”Most villages in India are welcoming and it is not hard at all to visit a village, talk to people, make friends instantly and begin a collaboration, they insist. The challenge is in going from this beginning to the most deprived and oppressed people in the villages, because these people are off the radar screen of the village people who have the leisure time to chat with visitors. Working with the oppressed may hinder the interests of some of the better-off people. So one also has to go through a process where village people are sensitized to the poorest people's plights and rights in their own village. There is local knowledge and talent, both in the poor and the better-off in the village and this needs to be understood and tapped. Rapport is built slowly over time, through both ups and downs that one can share and build on, they add.The two NRIs who have dedicated their lives to the cause of India’s rural development have a word of advise for Indians abroad. “Avail of of opportunities to keep in touch with the struggles of the majority,” they say. “To understand the need for an Employment Guarantee Act, for minimum wages, for Right to Information, transparency in public works, one must read beyond what makes it into mainstream media headlines. One must have the patience to go to smaller press publications, some of which are now accessible through Internet and sites like ‘India Together’. One cannot only depend on the Internet and English media - many very important analyses are articulated in the various languages of India. When an urban educated individual, especially an NRI, hears the issues of the common people, then he or she can keep these issues in the public by writing letters to the editor. NRIs have also served the people's causes by writing letters to government officials, who tend to behave differently when they know they are being watched, especially by NRIs. In the countries of their own residence, NRIs have also come together to hold companies such as Dow or Ogden responsible for toxic waste dumping or illegal displacement resulting from their operations in India. People have been able to bring this to the notice of shareholders and put pressure on these companies to change their policies.”It has been an incredible journey of self-discovery and fulfillment for these two NRIs who returned to make a difference. Their vision for India is simple. “It is high time the people in the cities and villages sit together and have a shared vision.” And that encapsulates their awe-inspiring story!
Aravinda and Ravi can be reached at ravi@aidindia.org.

Desire and destiny

2005-07-16T11:27:00.000-07:00

What matters in the end

Will always depend

Not on what you've got

But that you could live without

It's nice to get what you want

But at times it happen not

When you've a moment like this

Think on my points these

Not getting what you want

Sometimes is a stroke of luck

Don't be sorry friend, then

Just pass on the buck

And when you get what you want

Think of the time you didn't

Reflect on your want and need

That's worth your time indeed

Despair not for what you didn't get

May be there's a mark you haven't met

Change your stance and take another chance

Go relax and enjoy: Life is a dance!

You see, you are in destiny's school

Just be calm and keep your cool

Trust your heart and try you should

No matter what, let it be good

Find your calling

2005-07-12T19:27:00.000-07:00

We all seek happiness. It is natural tendency of all human beings. We try to find happiness at many places -- but primarily in things we do. But, what really makes one happy?
I was just thinking about this the other day.
You might say that setting a goal, working towards it and then achieving it makes one happy. True. But have you noticed that somtimes when we work towards a goal, strive for it and then achieve it, there is a sense of emptiness. Then begins another goal searching -- another journey.
Well -- that's how we tend to live life, isn't it?

I have two views on this: One either just go with the flow. I think this was Lao Tze's philosophy too. Just watch and enjoy life. You are not born with any purpose. Just being here is your only duty here.
Second view point, and that I seem to agree more on, is that just find your own calling. If you truly can find the cause that makes you happy and worth-living, just do it. Once you do it, you will no longer be trapped in this 'goal-searching' circle.

Well.. I am still searching for my own calling with hope that I will find it soon. What do you think?

In praise of slowness

2005-07-12T15:16:00.000-07:00

So much to do so little time!

Does this sound familiar?

I recently came across a book called 'In Praise of Slowness'. by Carl Honore. You can read more about it here: http://www.inpraiseofslow.com/

I seem to agree most of his writing. I haven't read the book completely yet, but his ideas are very thought-provoking. If you get a time (pun intended), have a look at his website.

Looking back

2005-06-30T19:08:00.000-07:00

I got my first US visa 6 years back on July 1, 1999. I still remember that day. I went to US consulate with all the papers with my uncle. They didn't have appointment procedure back then. So we went around 7 AM and they started letting people in by 8 AM. I got in by 8:50 or so and after about 3-4 hours I came out with visa granted. The first thing that was on my mind when I got out was hunger! I ate veggi grilled sandwitch at what-I-considered to be high price Rs. 40/-.
(It was pretty big too, as I couldn't finish it then inspite very hungry).

Six years! Wow...time flew just like that..or at least that is what I think. A major part of that time was spent in earning what I thought would make me happy -- was my dream. Yes, I got my Ph.D. I knew all along that Ph.D. doesn't give all answers, but it makes one realize how many questions remain. (sort of open ended problems). I recall talking to my friend Manisha who had started her Ph.D. before me when I said: 'Doing research is like solving a jigsaw puzzle. You are collecting all pieces and then see if they fit together and whether you can see the picture'. Well, it was a simple analogy. I do think that as I stumbled upon different challenges as part of my doctoral work, I was doing the same thing -- rather unknowingly.

Now, I wonder, isn't our life the same? We are trying to unravel one pattern a day at a time. We don't know what lies ahead of us, we at times have regrets about what happened in the past, we are also happy about some memories and we live on. Collecting a pattern at a time. Living the puzzle itself. And one hopes that at the end of this journey one will have a perfect picture.
Hm...sounds very poetic (yeah, theoretical!).

If you truly live each and every moment of life, won't you see the picture is perfect everytime?

Jidda

2005-06-29T19:33:00.000-07:00

Deva

2005-06-28T20:12:00.000-07:00

Meelan

2005-06-28T20:10:00.000-07:00

Viyog

2005-06-28T20:09:00.000-07:00

Tuze ahe tujapashee

2005-06-27T12:41:00.000-07:00

Khant

2005-06-27T12:40:00.000-07:00

Chinta

2005-06-27T12:39:00.000-07:00

Prabhu-kripa

2005-06-27T12:36:00.000-07:00

Manache shlok (message to my mind)

2005-06-27T12:30:00.000-07:00

Living

2005-06-25T11:30:00.000-07:00

We live as if we are never going to die
We die as if we never lived

Just a thought that came to my mind today .... more blogging on this later...

Kashmir

2005-06-24T16:07:00.000-07:00

This poem was the result of my heartfelt feelings when I saw the photograph of a small girl on the front cover of Times of India (June 1998, I think). I wish I could get that photograph to post here...

You are the only solution....

2005-06-24T16:02:00.000-07:00

Good Morning...

2005-06-24T16:00:00.000-07:00

Goodbye, Jack!

2005-06-21T17:06:00.000-07:00

Jack Kilby died yesterday after briefly being ill with cancer. http://www.ti.com/corp/docs/kilbyctr/jackstclair.shtml
He was 81.

Well, as one of the TI's (Texas Instruments) 75th Anniversary posters goes: 'You probably don't know Jack, but you know his work'. He invented Integrated Circuit (IC) or chips. Surely you have seen or known chips or ICs. They are omnipresent -- almost every electronic gadget you come across has at least one of them. The car you drive probably has a dozen of them. The cell phone you use has at least one. Your iPod has it. Your TV has hundreds of them. Your electronic wristwatch depends on it. You use these amazing piece of electronic without even knowing it.
If you are curious what an IC is and how it is constructed, you can read about it here:http://www.appliedmaterials.com/HTMAC/ or http://research.cs.tamu.edu/eda/people/sagar/how-to-make-a-chip.pdf

Jack invented IC when he was a new employee at TI and didn't have enough vacation. He definitely didn't realize the tremendous impact he was going to make in the world. Isn't that true with any great research. Every great thing is started small.

My work is on testing ICs to ensure they work as required when they are put in system. In a sense, if it were not for Jack, I probably wouldn't be doing what I am doing. So, thanks to Jack, we have so many wonderful electronic things to help us, to entertain us, to amuse us.

Goodbye, Jack and thanks for everything. The world owes you a lot for what you have accomplished.

Can you imagine that?

2005-06-21T15:27:00.000-07:00

Natalee Holloway goes on a trip to celebrate her graduation to Aruba and disappears. What a sad story! My heart goes out to the family who is literally living on the edge. I was thinking about this news and realized that it is impossible to imagine what Natalee's mother must be going through. Think of this: your child has disappeard, in a foreign country when all you know is she was just having fun. You don't know the outcome. You hope for the best and prepare for the worst -- but your mind is always swinging. You don't know what to expect. The suspects don't cooperate and you don't know who to trust.

I think this is the worst nightmare a mother can have. When a soldier dies on a battlefield and the news is conveyed to mother, she at least knows the reality. In this case, Natalee's mother (like all others) does not not even know the reality. Living in real life without being able to know the reality -- what can be harder than this?

I just pray that Natalee is found unharmed and her family recovers from the whole trauma.

So what is the etiquette?

2005-06-21T09:48:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I am very confused about etiquette and how one is supposed to respond/react. This happened in restroom today. I was attending Nature's call and next to me was a gentleman doing the same. Before we had finished our task, another gentleman (let's call him Bob) entered the restroom and said 'Hi Bill'. (Apparently, the person standing next to me was Bill.) Now first of all, I don't understand why Bob had to say Hi/Hello while Bill was concentrating on an important task. What was Bill's duty here? Should he turn back to say who is saying 'Hi'? (How embarrassing!). Couldn't Bob wait for a few minutes for Bill to finish? Interestingly, they didn't talk after Bob said 'Hi' and Bill, rather unwillingly, responded back saying 'Hm..'. So this was not a way to initiate dialog.

First of all, I don't think restroom is by any means a place to socialize. If you are seeing someone after a long while, wouldn't it be polite to wait either before or after attending Nature's call and have a small chat outside the restroom? Secondly, I think it is utterly rude to say Hi to someone from the back when you know that that person is not in a position to turn back to maintain eye contact with you.

Is it only me thinking this or there are someone thinking alike? Let me know :)

A Lazy Blogger?

2005-04-22T22:40:00.000-07:00

OK, I admit it, I started this blog, but have not posted anything except my starting message. Well, blogging is like an addiction and I haven't gotten it yet, I suppose.
Admittedly, I am lazy about my blogging. I do ponder over things -- some random thoughts and I think I do need to vent them out, solicit people's reactions and see if there are people who think alike. So I think I should be more active blogger.

If you are visiting my blog, do you have any ideas how I can blog more often and make it more interesting experience? Drop me a line -- sorry, blog a comment :)

JAB?

2004-09-25T13:53:00.000-07:00

Blogging?
So what's this all about? I had heard about bloggers, even read that people take immense pride and pleasure in posting their own views on their own "cyberspace". Recently, a friend of mine invited me to visit his blog, and I thought, well, this seems interesting. At least, I get a chance to share my thoughts with millions others (one hopes!) without even knowing them. That's how I got caught into this.
Is this Just Another Blog (JAB)? (I bet you wondered what JAB stands for when you clicked on this link :)). Well, perhaps yes. But again, perhaps not. As I have not visited many blogs, I don't know if there is any predefined pattern to this, and therefore, my postings would probably be a bit different than what you see elsewhere. But, again, there might be some conformity you will witness, because I am probably just like you -- yet another blogger!
Let's see how things work out...