Book Review: No Higher Honor by Condoleezza Rice

When I read about the launch of this book, it piqued my interest a bit. I'm not much of a biography or a memoir fan, but Condoleezza Rice's tenure as the American NSA and Secretary of State were one of the most tumultuous of my times. The Indo Pak Karil war, 9/11 , Israel Palestine War, Israel Syria war, Iraq war, Afghanistan war and 26/11 attacks,North Korean Nuclear tests, the worst recession ever and George.W.Bush!!!!!

The book reads like a compilation of world happenings in the first decade of 2000. You get some insight into the way American dealt with many issues that happened and how the discussions to resolve many a dispute played out.

It was an interesting book to read. However, it could have been a lot better if it had not been stuck in a loop about Israel and Iraq. 

These two entities make repeated appearances throughout the book that you almost start to believe that Condoleezza Rice did nothing else. This is partly due to the fact that she goes to great lengths to describe the logistics of each Israel - Palestine talks happen or her trips to Iraq. But when it comes to the incidents in the rest of the world, she rushes through the portions as though they were gossip news. I say this purely from observing how much space she devotes to the major incidents in the S.Asian region. Namely, the Lal Mosque siege in Pakistan, 26/11 and the Nuclear deal. These incidents were major ones and played out big time our news. Make no mistake, she has devoted chapters to two of the three items i have quoted here. But they are not described in the level of detail she describes for instance, her dinner with the Saudi King and her meeting with the Matriarch of the Royal family!

Despite all of this, this book is an interesting read in understanding how crucial the role of Secretary of State is. 

Book Review : Steve Job, A Biography by Walter Isaacson

Enough Has been written about Steve jobs and the biography. I'm going to just keep this short and brief.
The book is an awesome read for someone in the IT industry and especially if you are following the gadget world.
The book provides an insight into the working of the Jobsian mind.  What one discovers in the course of reading the book is that Steve Jobs, the man was a man obsessed with details even if its about something no one will notice. Here is a sample, how would you react if your CEO spends hours debating and deciding on the exact shade of gray, yes the shade of gray and not which color, to use on , hold your breath, the toilet sign in an Apple store. Yep, that was Steve Jobs and you won't be at fault to think that he was crazy, because he was!
His craziness is what made him obsessive and that obsession is what made him driven, his drive is what made him realize his obsessions and that's has made Apple what it is today.
He took on an approach where every product that had an Apple logo on his guard was his child. He had a say in the outcome of every piece of screw and glue that went into Apple products. He did not do so just to micro manage, he did so out of real passion in his beliefs that a true standard of a product is not just in how it is built on the outside, but on this inside as well.
As a human being, he probably will get ranked 0.5 on the scale of 10 with 10 being the best human being ever. He was a jerk and a good one at that. He made lives of his co-workers miserable, trash talked their work, claimed their ideas to be his, did board room wars(though I would not count this in the reasons) and drove people insane with his methods. The few who realized the positive of staying with him, survived the Jobsian ways and made their careers. The rest just left.
The mix of the  Jobs persona just tells you the don'ts of a human life and his obsession to delivering a quality products teaches the reader how driven one must be, if one must make a mark in the world.
The awesome mix of jobsian persona and his chequered career is finally what makes the book tick. This will definitely be one of the top ten of my fav books.
Addendum: My wife (a non techie) tried to read this and lost interest 10% into the book. She could not understand whats the big deal about Apple1 and LISA and yadda yadda. Thats a confirmation that this book is only for  gadget fans or for management students 

Book Review:The Millenium Trilogy- Stieg Larsson

The Millenium Trilogy has become a cult classic of sorts hitting best seller lists all over and winning critical acclaim worldwide. So, when I picked up the first book in the trilogy, expectations were, naturally sky high.
Did the book measure up to the hype? Does it belong right there with the greatest of the great books? Is it one of the books that makes you want to read it over and over, again and again?
To begin with, i must find a nice log of wood, just squat and a feet long, to clobber the idiot who named the books. The names are so cliched that they might as well belong in a 80s chinese movie. That apart, they dont give a clue as to their place in the sequel. I ended up reading part 3 first.. . *gasp*.. I told ya. The worst is yet to come. I realized that only after I finished reading it. *gasp*.. i told ya already.. if that makes me an airhead, so be it. But I will stick to my complaint.. silly names for the book. They might have as well been named Millenium Trilogy -1,2 and 3. I hear that their swedish books have appropriate names.. Anyway.. lets move past names.
Stieg Larsson is a master writer and there is no doubt about it. To write a book that spans a 1000 pages over three volumes and write it in such detail that it might as well be used as a script in a movie and keep the reader glued to the three books and that too in a genre that is not Fantasy or War or High voltage spy games is a stupendous feat. Stieg Larsson has weaved a plot that must involve about hundred characters (i have not kept count) and all around just two central figures, Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander.  While all the three books involve the two central characters, they are episodic in nature. The first book has two stories. One about the missing prodigal daughter of the Vanger family. She's been missing for 40 years and Blomkvist is called upon to dig up the reasons behind her disappearence/murder. The second one is about a financial powerhouse run by Wennerstorm and how Blomkvist must attempt a second time to uncover the dirty scoundrels behind the empire.
The second and the third books (no, i wont name them.. you go figure that out yourself) are two parts of the same story. The history and future of Lisbeth Salander.
While the one line synopsis may not sound much to go on, Stieg Larsson builds the plot with a touch of a veteran writer (this was his debut and his only series before he died tragically). He weaves the characters in books to almost a life like form. Their raw nature keeps you intrigued till the very end. He does justice by keeping their characters true to their original form till the very end. In other words, a socially introverted and a untrusting woman as Salander is, suddenly does not become emotional or soft as the series closes.
So how does the books work? Part one is pure adventure and its easy to see how that works. The second and third part seem to work so well due to sheer realism. The opinion of realism is obviously subjective and is based one what one believes could happen and that one finds it too much to happen in reality. The plot is such that it could happen if one is willing to overlook a few fundamental flaws.
I cannot review this book without referring to its weakness, casual sex. The books are peppered with it. Nothing detailed or shedonesque. But just that Blomkvist takes women to bed more than he takes them out for coffee and they all seem to be ready to jump into his bed. Someone wrote that these books have drubbed an already drubbed Swedish society. I can see why. While I have no idea if Swedish culture is such, i can understand why it can be exasperating if its way out of line.
I'm not going to get into the plot summaries and reviews of prose on a translated book. I will just sum this up as a book everyone must read. This is like watching a good suspense thriller like.. say Se7en. If i open a genre in my collection for simple crime thrillers, these books go right at the top. These books will definitely figure in my top 10 recommendations for a young reader for they have message too, delivered in a dark package.
Please do give it a read. Remember, this a dark crime thriller.

Book Review: Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

When I saw Shantaram on the bookshelves of a leisure store a few years back when it was launched, I did pickup the book and read the synopsis. It said.. "The story of a fugitive from Australia who sneaks into Mumbai and ends up in the slum and joins the mafia and goes on to fight with the Mujahideen in Afghanistan  against the Russians. "
I dismissed it as a yet another attempt to write a cliched book on India and its miseries. I never thought about the book again though the unusual name for the 900 + pages tome stuck in my mind. Fast forward 2011. When I chanced upon the book again. This time I did not read the synopsis. I already knew it. How strange! I opened and read the first page.
"It took me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about love and fate and the choices we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant, while I was chained to a wall and being tortured. I realized, somehow, through the screaming in my mind, that even in that shackled, bloody helplessness, I was still free: free to hate the men who were torturing me, or to forgive them. It doesn't sound like much, I know. But in the flinch and bite of the chain, when it's all you've got, that freedom is a universe of possibility. And the choice you make, between hating and forgiving, can become the story of your life.

In my case, it's a long story, and a crowded one. I was a revolutionary who lost his ideals in heroin, a philosopher who lost his integrity in crime, and a poet who lost his soul in a maximum-security prison. "

What a start! I was intrigued and I picked up the book. It took me a well interrupted 3 weeks to finish it and am not proud of it. But I must say this. The three weeks were perhaps one of the best three weeks of reading in my entire reading life. This book will go right up there as one of my top 10 favourites.

So what makes the book click? To start with there is the simple and yet astoundingly lovely prose. Personally I for one never give much thought to prose in books as long as they read nice. This book simply floored me with the simplicity of the lovely prose.

Then there are metaphors. We can perhaps compile a book of metaphors from Shantaram. That is the strength and the weakness of the book. GDR uses the to a great effect. 

"Kavita hugged me. It was the hug of a woman who trusts you completely. The hug of a woman who knows your heart belongs to another woman". 

The way GDR describes every aspect of every scene to its minute details in his powerful and simple prose literally transports the reader to the middle of the scene and inside the body of Linbaba a.k.a Lindsay a.k.a Shantaram a.k.a anonymous. The lead characters original name is never revealed through the book. Since the book has been written from a first hand perspective, one is led to believe that this is an autobiography of the author, which he claims it is not and has however said that it uses many incidents from his life.

So, what is the story? the all important plot that is the lifeline of any work of fiction. I must say that there isn't one. Before you jump out of your seat. Let me add, that there isn't one story. There are many. The book begins with the arrival of Lindsay who is later rechristened as Linbaba by Prabhakar. Lin is intrigued at first by the happiness he sees in the many shanties in Mumbai. He begins touring Mumbai with the help of Prabhakar and is slowly swept into the cosmopolitan circle of Leopolds where he meets many expats who have settled down in Mumbai. Each one has a story of their own that they do not wish to share. Lin understands. Losing his money and other possessions in a theft, Lin is left with no choice but to shift to the slum Zhopadpatti. He is soon enamoured by the camaraderie and kinship of the entire society which leads a poor but principled life. Living peacefully in the slums, Lin soon meets with Kadher Khan, the good bad guy of Mumbai! and so the story goes, money, mafia wars, crime syndicates inter-vine with the personal ups and downs of lin . 

By now, the reader has barely touched 300 pages. The story is more of what Lin sees , does and experiences in his life in the sprawling city of Mumbai, his life as a criminal, his life as a Mujahideen, his life as a fugitive. 

The book is full of several interesting takes on religion, science, war and crime. Finally what makes this book an epic is its positive outlook on even the corrupt and negative aspects of Indian culture. I can go on and on, but its a book that must not be read. It must be experienced. If you have not read it, do yourself a favor pick it up and you'll definitely find some good in it.

Book Review: The secret of Nagas

I finally wrapped up Shantaram on Friday and finished the Secret of Nagas over the weekend. The book had better plot and is immensely readable. Amish has taken forward the debate on the concept of what is evil and how does one define it. The whole premise of the book is that 'Evil is in the eye of the beholder' and Amish has woven the whole plot around this basic concept and how Shiva, the man, literally crowned the Neelkanth for no reason other than his blue throat and given a status of a super hero, tries to help the kingdom Meluha, in its quest to vanquish its evil enemies. 

This quest carries him to the breadth of India and then on its length. Each battle is an eye opener and Shiva continues to discover the definition of evil is quite different from what one perceives. In this quest, he is assisted by a plethora of Kings, princes, princesses and others. The man, Shiva, who refuses to acknowledge his superhero status, wins people over by his deeds and deliverance of what he truly believes to be the contextual justice. Yet, at every step, he is surprised by the turn of events and the many faces of evil he discovers. Vasudevs, the clan of priests who advise him on his quest, direct him to seek the greatest of all evils and vanquish it, just like his predecessor, the great Rudra did. 

Strangely this what would be an epic journey throws his personal life and family in the direct line of fire and his constant struggle to make amends for his own failures and the pressure to keep his promises make up the drama portions of the story. 

The reader would find it interesting as a story given the spin that has been given to the traditional Hindu characters of Shiva, Sati, Daksha, Nandi, Veerabhadra and the rest. Readesr who are not familiar with Hindu mythology must be forewarned that the plot and the characters are just namesakes and have nothing to do with the actual Hindu mythology.

The two books , Immortals of Meluha and The Secret of Nagas are good books that are worthy reads given their fantasy genre and a healthy mix of masala. The points i have made about the earlier book holds good for this too. The prose is very average and the fantasy world has not been given too much focus like a Hogwarts or the Middle earth. Nevertheless, its a worthy read and more importantly will most likely make you want to read the third in the trilogy 'The oath of Vayuputras'.

Book Review: Immortals of Meluha by Amish

What if Shiva was a man as human as anyone can be thrust with an enormous burden of responsibility to fight for good and vanquish evil, thrust with a stature of god for reasons he cannot come to terms with, and not a worker of miracles like the lore says?
What a brilliant premise for a work of fiction? Amish does not disappoint. He has woven a fine work of classic Indian masala with a stage of all too familiar mythological names with a good dose of magic, bravery, brotherhood, romance and social issues into a story that often teeters to the grade of a B grade flick. But it is gripping nevertheless.
A self doubting , grounded and flawed man that Shiva is , instantly wins the reader's affection as a good hearted leader of a neighborhood youth brigade. Amish portrays Shiva as a people's leader who detests being bestowed any titular position and constantly reminds others that he is their friend and not a Lord as they often call him.
He has been lured out of his homeland at the base of the great Himalayas into the all too ideal land of  Meluha that is the land of Suryavanshis, the descendants of Lord Ram! He has been sought out and crowned as Neelkanth who is prophesied to be the saviour of all that stands for good. Like any grounded man, Shiva is at first baffled at this coronation. Soon and very soon, he finds himself in the midst of terrorist attacks and finds himself successfully defending the soon to be his sweet heart Sati from the hands of a powerful Naga (evil deformed monsters) who are after Sati, thereby further influencing the Meluhan's conviction that he is the Mahadev.
Soon, Shiva finds himself leading a battle against the Chandravanshis who are blamed for the repeated terrorist attacks on the Suryavanshi villages. The book weaves the plot leading up to the grand battle scene that stirs the reader's imaginations with its detailed formations and fights.
Amish does a fine job developing the characters in the book. Many of them are stellar personalities worth admiring. Parvateshwar the general is a worthy mention for his stern and yet fair demeanour towards Shiva. Needless to say, Shiva himself admires Parvateshwar for his righteousness.
Sati is another fine character Amish weaves into the book. The sparring between Shiva and Sati during the initial stages of the book is endearing for its brilliant dichotomy in the behavior of the two characters. Shiva his unabashedly brazen advances to be close with Sati while Sati herself a dignity personified flame that refuses to be disturbed by the winds that Shiva is, trying to swirl around and win her heart.
Where Amish Falters, is in his imagination and creativity. His imagination of Meluha is all to familiar modern day City but placed in the BC 1900s. It does not interest a reader that a 1900BC city actually has water taps or under ground drains. What has been squandered away is an opportunity to do a J.K.Rowling on this mythical and yet ideal city of Meluha.  Likewise the concept of Ayodhya being an uncouth society full of citizens every ready to indulge their desires of flesh is all too unimaginative and belongs in a B-Grade Hollywood flick some Chennai Based former Tennis aces would have produced out of Hollywood.
It has been said before and I repeat it, the conversations and phrases used are sometimes too American and seems tailored to the American audience than to the originality of character. "Is that the best line you can come up with " , "Is she spoken for".. are modern day usages that seem rather out of place in a book that is placed so far before Christ. Thankfully we don't have any characters using 'Holy Christ'.
Having pointed out the flaws, they can be forgiven for the sake of the overall story which is gripping and engaging to the last line. Hopefully Amish has saved enough delicacies to last two more books of the trilogy. The second part, the Secret of Nagas due in a month hopefully would be as interesting if not better than the first one.
Go for it, you may find yourself sneering in the beginning, but its a good book towards the end. The characters have been introduced, traps laid, let the story unfold Amish.
One more thing. While the characters are all too familiar mythological Hindu gods and their aides, the story itself has little to do with their mythology. Its important that young readers do not confuse the story to be the real story of Shiva. It is not.

Gandhi was bisexual?

Controversial book on Gandhi banned. Apparently a new book says that Gandhi was bisexual and so India has banned the book and sic is even contemplating a blasphemy law appropos Gandhi. Does not make sense to me. If this is all that is 'controversial' in the book. I say 'controversial' because .. i do not understand what is controversial about someone being bisexual. For heavens sake. half of the world's saints were thugs, womanizers before they became saints or were anointed one.

If all of Gandhi's sins were being bisexual or drinking or eating meat before he changed himself to  become a Mahatma, i say fine! He was all of that and none of it matters to an Indian than what he achieved for India. 

For example, Churchill was a complete bigot and yet he is regarded as one of the greatest leaders of the empire for his leadership during world war 2. Everyone accepts Churchill's duality of character.

Does the book say that he did nothing for Indian independence, ban it. But not for this. Get over it India. so what if our great Mahatma was bisexual or drank wine or was an avid racist in his earlier life?   Remember? he was not born a Mahatma. So we have to make allowances for the  'coming of age' period of his life. It was what he did in his later life is what made him a Mahatma and that is what we must be proud of. All of this even without a shred of proof of whether he was one or was not one. I just do not care.

I say sue the author for libel if we are so sure. Even then I do not know how calling one a bisexual becomes libel. If not, lets not give it more publicity than it would merit otherwise. Lets just get back to cricket.

My Sins against the Gender stereotypes:Tag

Cee Kay tagged me!

This is an interesting tag - originated at IndianHomeMaker's. Following are the rules:

Please list at least ten things you have ever wanted or done which your gender is not supposed to.

The tag is called ‘My Sins against Gender-Stereotypes’. And you must tag twelve blogging friends or else you will be cursed to wear blue clothes pants if you are a woman and pink shirts if you are a man – for next twelve years.

Boy! How do I manage to always land in such trouble? Doesn't matter, it delights me to think that I have an opportunity to take down 12 more with me .. laugh now at my expense friends laugh .... but I'll get my share eventually.. har har har..


But the stereotypes thing is posing a problem!! lets see how this goes
1. I never had girl/lady friends till I got married! My wife refused /refuses to believe me. "Not even a Crush?" she asked ... the answer is same.. 'Nope'. Of course the rider is that if you don't count gaping at all girls as Crush :)
2. If you didn't see this one coming in the earlier sentence here it is.. I have quite a few lady friends now that am married. I say so, coz for some reason, I believe ladies seem to find it safer to talk to me after they gain the "KNOWLEDGE" that am married and have kids :) I asked myself why it is so.. the best answer I came up with is the same as what Chandler Bing got from his gang of F.R.I.E.N.D.S, I perhaps have a 'quality' that makes me look threatening to women! Of course that is until they realize that I'm settled in life. Don't ask me to berate this any further.
3. I don't consume Alcohol . Nuff said
4. I don't smoke. Don't know if this is a stereotype though. Not every guy smokes
5. I like to cook! and I like to experiment a little too! My best ever concoction is Ginger Rasam.. made it up myself. Don't know if one exists 'officially'.
6. I prefer living in India (chennai to be precise.. ) to living in US and came back for the same reason
7. I'm scared of lizards!
8. I cried after watching TZP.I remember pulling over the car near Mylapore on the way back from Satyam Cinemas , crying my heart out and then resuming home.. There it is i've said it
9. According to my wife we get into fights often. In our world fights are when she shouts and I listen apologetically.
10.I thought Pratibha Patil was a hot young lady until she took oath. (no thats not true, I made that one up to make it ten.. What? this is disqualified? alright, bring out the firing squad.. )
11. Ok ok.. here is a lame one.. i hate shopping for clothes. Even if its for me..
12. I don't like to comb/style my hair.I wear it really short.... why? Its hair.. !!! didn't you read that.


Here is the best part!! tagging others... rubbing my hands in glee.. alright who goes first? its the missus..
1. Caramelhill
2. Lavanya
3. Aparna
4. Vidya
5. Hema

Alright I don't have 7 more friends to tag okay. Fine go ahead and decide that am a loser.. don't care.. guess what you can't tag me back and tag the ones i've tagged.. so all the best ha ha ha ha ha hah a ha ha ha.. .ha ha ha h a fading into silence....

Its about my Sibling citizens : Srilankans

Long long ago in our neighboring country was founded an organization that like many of its times vowed to fight for the cause of Tamils to rise and question the atrocities committed by a government on its own people. People who ran hither tither turned around and united under these movements to fight back. As time passed, one movement that called itself the tiger of all movements killed its own brethren and became the king of the hill.
As years turned decades, governments changed and the world changed. The world lines relatively blurred and economies merged and the world unified more than ever before. On the sidelines, terrorism became a common menace. Soon there were different flavours, jihadists, talibans, maoists and many others, all of them said they fought for the cause of their people.
Battles became wars and rivers turned red and cities became ruins and people became just living creatures. More blood was shed than the cause that started the whole war and more was lost than achieved in the process. The very people whose cause was being fought by these organizations started running away from them. Maimed, deprived of living, education, hygiene, they wanted no part in the war, they just wanted to be left alone, their newer generations did not even understand why they were living in constant fear.They were not alone, having tried its best to draw a truce, the world grew tired of it as well.
Finally, it had to end one way or the other and it did. Now , the world is all eyes on the government to see how it rehabilitates its citizens and gives them the much needed support. How will this happen, I wonder. The answer lies in the world history, we often underestimate the resilience and capability of human beings. A brief look at our own history tells us that there were millions and millions of people that were killed, maimed, raped and kidnapped in a war that we called partition. Many lost their families and wealth and were reduced to paupers in a stroke that rooted them out of their homes and transplanted them to the streets of cold Delhi, Punjab and West Bengal. Millions of them were farmers and knew nothing else. Deprived off their land, they couldn't farm! The government tried its best to give them land to farm and houses to live. It was far from adequate. People were given meager allotments. This is history, today, one hears that these very people are one of the most patriotic, successful, daring and prosperous people of this country. How did they achieve it? Pure hard work and perseverance. They tilled the soil whether it was cultivable or not and they went about in a bull headed manner and just achieved it despite years of droughts that followed Independence. Thankfully the British did not scream at Nehru saying he was not doing enough. They just did not care if the country went to the dogs.
It shows us that there is nothing time cannot heal and there is nothing that can stop a man from succeeding when it comes to survival , however bleak the situation might seem.

What I wish for the people of my community in my neighbouring country is the same, let there be peace, let the wounds heal, let there be quiet, let them have a new beginning that has been denied to them for so long by the war. Let the lines of division blur, let them live together as one nation, let them give another shot at building trust among their own people, let them rebuild their homes, let them get a chance to educate their children, let them produce a thousand Muthaiah Muralitharans, let them have a chance to prosper and enjoy life the way it should be, let them spend quiet evenings with their grand children, let there be happiness in the air that has been bereft of even a child's smile for decades.
As a brother nation, let us support the cause of unification, let us not be the cause for wounds to remain unhealed, Let us stop drawing afresh the lines of division, let us try and erase them,let us help them rebuild the nation Let us stop spreading the poison of vengeance, let us spread love and not hatred. I love my country and I'm proud that am an Indian and a Tamil. Let us also give them a chance to redeem their pride as a Srilankan and a Tamil too

According to me this blogathon should have been preponed.

Sue has started a red marker blogathon that goes like this. Follow the chain.
In short this is about common mistakes in spoken/written language that irks you. Well, to begin with, I myself make so many of them and am not even a light year close to perfect. Did I mention that am not a saint either? I do notice and pinpoint mistakes in language when others make them.
Phew, I got it off my chest! Now, let me get to the rant.
Prepone
About ten years or so back and until recently, I used to be really annoyed with the Indian antonym of the English word 'Postpone'. We Indians  used the word 'Prepone' to indicate an advancement of an event to an earlier schedule than initially announced.
The function has been preponed.
I used to gleefully correct people that there exists no such word 'Prepone'. Alas, my pleasure was short lived. One fine morning, I was reading the newspapers that carried a column on newly added words to the English language dictionary. To my utter dismay and horror, the Englishmen had given in and legitimized the word 'prepone' giving it legitimacy and place in the dictionary. I was so angry that day. How dare someone deprieve me off my right to ridicule? :). I would have been one of the few miffed folks in the world to read this news.
I still cannot bring myself around to use that horrible sounding word. Talk about prejudice :)

According to me
The other one is a recent usage amongst even educated folks. 'According to me' is the usage. A friend was giving her opinion on the pricing of a piece of real estate and she went.. 'According to me , this is is overpriced'. For a second, I was left thinking that she was referring to a Chinese friend named 'Mei'. I realized then that she was referring to herself. I then told her to just simply put it as 'The is overpriced is my (humble) opinion' or even simpler. "I think this is overpriced." How difficult is that?

Smileys
Here is another thing I wish to legitimize in English. Smileys! :) :D >:-0 without these smileys. The other day I wrote to a client a reminder to send me a document that he owed me.
The exact words I wrote was 'Hi X, This is a follow up to my earlier email on the subject. I'm writing to just remind you that I need this document by ... date. Could you please ensure that I have it before the said date to help me continue my work'.
I thought this was polite enough for a reminder.However it was not meant to be. The client had complained to my VP that I was being rude. This was a client I have known for more than a few years! I was quite taken aback. After reading my note to the gentleman a dozen times, I concluded that my tonality has been misinterpreted by the client(he was probably having a bad day!) and it had nothing to do with what I had written. So I made a small correction to my email to present here
'Hi X, This is a follow up to my earlier email on the subject. I'm writing to just remind you that I need this document by ... date. Could you please ensure that I have it before the said date to help me continue my work :)'

That would have helped my client a lot in realizing that I was not being rude/stern with him and I was just doing business as usual. One can argue that my mail should have been sprinkled with how are yous and take cares to make it look nice. One can also argue that my client has a problem. There would be no end to this.
The sticking point would still be that such things are bound to happen. I realized that I preferred using smileys in place of unnecessary 'how are yous and hope you are doing alrights.' in a business note. I however realize that smileys may not entirely professional either and hence this rant.

Green Revolution in Indian IT Industry needs pragmatic solutions

We have been long receiving email after email in espousing the virtues of going green and reducing carbon emissions. The email spoke about how travel is the prime contributor for carbon emissions. The email advises us to
i. Carpool - Imagine all the money one can save on petrol
ii. Cycle to work Apparently its good for your heart!
iii. Walk down. Smell the roses on the way!

Setting aside my reaction to this email and coming to the response, I believe that the email cannot be far from what is practical in an Indian IT context. The list above suits an European or an American office better.
Let me list down the obvious to state why the above list will not work in most Indian IT organizations
Car pooling
Yes, with the ever rising car population in India, this seems like a logical step. However the only fly in the ointment is that no Indian IT house works by the clock. This is not by choice, this is more by necessity.Each team works on different clocks and each individual's work hours are driven by the vagaries of their own work load, pull of the duties at home and what not. Given the state of affairs and without getting to the worn out 'Get your work life balance in order moron routine', we can safely state that the probability is very low that two or more workers who live in the same route would be able to synchronize the time they leave for home from work.
Its almost always a problem with returning home than arriving at work. I will go out on a limb and state that its almost feasible to expect pooling to work and next to impossible to pool on the way back for the above reason.
Given this fact, how does one expect to return home when the owner of the car is long gone. Its unfair for the entire pool to expect to stay back when one guy is held up. Doing so only works against the  cause of pooling. The next time around you will promptly see people dropping off the pool. "Oh, never mind, I will use my car to work today' and before you know it, the pool is no longer one! I say this from experience.

Instead, if the corporate or the government introduce an efficient mass transport system that services key areas of the city and its suburbs or even the nearest railway station, it would be immensely feasible for the entire workforce to use the facility to hop to work and back! Located at MRC nagar, i would be immensely happy if my office operates a bus service that picks up and drops people from the nearest MRTS station and Mandaveli! I would just catch the next available train to Tiruvanmiyur and then a share auto home for less than twenty  rupees per day which works out to be good value and not to mention savings.

Cycling to work and walking to work: I only have this to say. Have you tried this in Chennai and to work? I had a colleague almost 10 years back who used to cycle to work out of necessity and not choice. Problem? He stank of sweat all day. Majority of Indian IT houses that operate in the city do not have bath facilities in their buildings even if one wishes to cycle to work and wash up before starting. Given the hot Chennai weather, this is not going to work either.
I do not wish to be a naysayer for Green initiatives, my annoyance here is to do with the feasibility of the initiatives.

Hey Ram-

Its a movie review that I log ten years after the movie was released. It was year 2000 when this movie was released and I was then living in the US. I remember being all excited about the much hyped up movie. The glitzy star cast was making it even more juicy.
We made reservations and undertook a 160 mile journey to New Jersey from Connecticut just to watch the movie. When the credits rolled at the end of the movie, I was left with a sense of emptiness. I had no reactions to the movie. I realized that I did not entirely grasp the inner workings of Saket Ram, the protagonist.
I told myself, "Ha it is your problem, you cannot understand Hindi well and the movie used many languages as well scenes seamlessly jumping from Hindi to english to tamil, Bengali and Marathi at times"
I ended up watching the film twice more, once in tamil and again in VHS with sub titles. Well, i was astounded and shocked that I still could not grasp it. Upon checking with some good friends, I realized I wasn't the only one.. Phew! I was almost convinced that I had lost a bit of my neural cabbage that sits between my ears.
Fast forward Ten years. Year 2010. By now I have read India after Gandhi, by Ramachandra Guha and am half way into 'A Bend in the Ganges. a novel by Manohar Malgaonkar' and many other art films and serious films later, I believed that I should try watching this movie again and I did thanks to a friend who lent me his video.
Boy, I loved the film now. I would perhaps rate this second only to Anbe Sivam which ranks as the best ever Indian film I've watched.
I will not bother giving the complete story here, but rather would like to appreciate the many aspects of the film. Kamalahassan has a death grip on the screenplay. Frame after frame, characters come to life and their many layered nature comes to the fore.
Like all Kamal's films, this one also has Kamal all the way. He performs and performs like a veteran. From the ever vacillating Saket Ram, the average joe who wants to break away from the traditional Tam Brahm life to the raging lunatic who wants to do anything to avenge his Aparna to the mature husband who embraces the young and timid Mythili. Kamal is completely in his element through and through. It is gut wrenching watching him walk senselessly through the rooms of his Calcutta residence trying to come to grips with reality of Aparna's murder. Limping and walking aimlessly room after room while Thiru's awesome camera perched outside the balcony helps the viewer watch him go from room after room, limping with a hurt leg.
The eye for detail is astounding through the movie. For instance, in a scene where Kamal is driving through Calcutta as he returns home to Aparna, he is surrounded by mobs who throw tomatoes at his car and he manages to drive through. Later in a different scene, when the car drives up the porch of his home, one can see dried tomato stains on the window glass. Its a small thing, but it shows that the unit cared for this detail.
Another instance where Kamal is led through a hospital by a doctor who shows the damage the violence has caused to the society, Kamal sees a small girl with her feet amputated. She cries and she cries 'Ammii.. Ammii.. ' you almost feel the pain and she cries like a child who has cried long and hard and cannot stop herself. This, again is a small detail, but it is astounding that Kamal thought it fit to give attention to the way the child cried. Amazing! 
Again, the star studded cast provide a terrific punch to all the supporting cast through the movie. With the exception of the legendary Hema Malini (who for a dancer still cannot emote!), the entire cast of Saket Ram's tam brahm household pack a punch and is utterly realistic in the language, behaviour and extremely witty in a way only a Tam Brahm household can be.  This family single handedly provide a comic relief to what otherwise would have been an extremely serious movie. Kamal and his casting director needs a standing ovation just for this.
Kamal's prowess in weaving his characters also need a standing ovation. If Aparna was a temperamental, sensual, fiercely independent within the house and yet afraid of the society, Mythili is a study in contrast. The well read, strong minded and yet an obedient girl who will not dare counter her elder's words. Vasundhra shines thanks to the weighty script and dialouges seamlessly jumping between the many shades of Mythili. One moment a timid wife, the next, a strong and opinionated Gandhian who will not be coerced into accepting what her husband believes to be the bane of the country and the next, a young adolescent. who asks her husband of sometime, "Can I hug you?". You also feel sorry for her innocence in waiting to be accepted by Ram as his wife even after they are married.
Atul Kulkarni's, Abhyankar is a strong willed and hard minded Hindutva who will not hesitate to cleanse the nation of its muslim stains as he puts it. At the same time, Shah Rukh's excellent Ahmad Khan espouses Gandhian ideology like a level headed Muslim. In the midst of stereotype Muslim terrorists, Ahmad Khan's mussalman is a kind who often do not get enough screen space in Indian cinema. . Kudos to Kamal for doing something different. However, Shah Rukh Khan's acting ten years back was nothing to write home about. He has scaled many heights since then in the last decade, but somehow his Ahmad Khan does not strike a chord with me. Ahmad Khan's Nafisa from Ambur, however leaves a punch even if she got only 2 minutes of dialogues in the entire film. During the final stages of the film, Ahmad Khan is injured and police take him away in a stretcher to a hospital. A worried Nafisa comes out asking Ram "where is Ahmad." . Kamal is distraught with all the violence that he had unintentionally initiated and is unable to speak coherently and he simply points in the direction of the stretcher. She then proceeds to ask him to tell her that Ahmad is fine and Kamal mumbles something. Nafisa, as each millisecond passes, expecting a 'yes, he is alright' from Ram,  is terrified and confused by his strange reaction and is getting worked up and tries to elicit a proper response from him and implores him to talk louder.. "Aanh?".... "Aanh?" she goes rising in pitch and fear. This scene happens perhaps for five seconds in the film. Yet, it stands out for its natural portrayal of characters of the terrified wife and a distraught Ram who is sick of the violence.
There are even many moments in the film when much is said without dialogues. When Ram meets Lalvani on a roadside after the riots and when he has joined the Hindutva brigade, they embrace each other crying when they find out that both have lost their entire family in the riots, the Maharaja and Abhyankar seated in the car watching them exchange glances that spark fury as though to say.. "Look what this Mahatma has given the commom man of this country. He has given only misery and poverty. This is why we must finish him off".  Again, this shows how much the film was ahead of its times in a filmdom known for its punch dialogues and elaborate explanations for even the inane of intentions.
If there is something Kamal needs to work on, it is with moderating the protagonist's sexual appetite in his movies. Almost all of Kamal's protagonists feature a stereotype of insatiable hunger for sex. Well, even if Kamal claims otherwise, his frames speak out aloud.
Illayaraja's score is power packed and Kamal did the right thing in roping in the veteran replacing
 L.Subramaniam though for different reasons. The background music adds flavour to the movie without makings its presence felt aloud.  The piano intro of 'Nee Partha' by Asha Bhonsle would forever be etched in everyone's memories for its strong and yet simple notes. The point when the Violins and the base guitar join the piano tunes, one is transfixed in the heavenly sound the three instruments produce. This tune will join the ranks of Nayagan's Thenpaandi cheemayilae intro as one of his best ever.
The crisp editing of Renu Saluja keeps the overly long movie (3 hours and 20 minutes) tight and gives shape to the director's Hey Ram!
I can go on and on.But it would only be just to say that this film was way ahead of its times and assumed an intelligent audience to get into the inner workings of Saket Ram and that proved to be a tough nut for many audience like me. But, boy, am glad I watched it again and this will join my list of best films i've ever watched.

Where to buy Camera Accessories and Equipment in Chennai

When I wanted to buy camera accessories such as tripods, flashes, strobes, off camera flashes, hot shoe adapter, cold shoe adapter, super clamp, umbrella, diffusers and all such hobbyist or professional studio equipment, I called all high profile camera stores and could not find any of them even stocking decent camera equipment for hobbyist. All they had were P&S and DSLRs, Memory cards, cases etc.,
I tried Camera Citi, Shetala and all such high profile stores. Finally through a gentleman in Flickr, I found out that there exists an area in Chennai that is the Ritchie street for Cameras.
There is a whole plaza full of them at
 Fazl Complex 
Wallajah Road.
 Chennai
 
I was referred to INDIA PHOTO HOUSE in this complex.

How to get there
From Beach Road (Marina)
From Chepauk Stadium proceed straight towards Mount road
 This complex opposite to the new TN Assembly  building on Wallajah Road Itself (DONT GO TO MOUNT ROAD)
This complex is a couple of stores next to Radio warehouse.


From Mount Road.
Take the right next to Shanti Theater / VGP before the secretariat to enter Wallajah Road
Proceed down Wallajah Road to take the first available U-Turn.
Proceed back towards Mount Road find out Radiowarehouse. This building is a couple of stores next to Radio warehouse and opposite to the new TN Assembly complex. Remember this is on Wallajah Road NOT MOUNT ROAD.

I'm writing this hoping that search engines would catch this and some hapless person searching like me would come across this.

Finally, a note of thanks to Mr.Pradeep whose lead made me check this place out.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/epradeep/

Why does it still rain in India?

Alright, this is nothing about rain.
The last few weeks I've been scouting Adyar area shops for a set of Sanyo Eneloop batteries. These are the best alternative to Alkaline Duracells in the rechargeable world. Unfortunately, I could not find any.
So, I tried to give ebay.in a shot and to my surprise I found a few sellers selling those. However, I needed four batteries to power my strobe /Flash unit and so I ordered a charger and a set of four batteries from an online vendor.
The vendor had listed the charger to ship free and a fifty rupee charge for shipping the battery. Fair enough I thought and coughed up the money.
The seller was prompt and shipped it out within two hours of my ordering it and I received it the third day! I received a tiny surprise when I opened the shipment!
Tucked deep inside and wrapped in a sheet of paper was fifty rupees! The seller had bundled the charger and the batteries together and had refunded my fifty rupees shipping charge!
Well, as logical as it may sound, I was quite taken aback at the honesty of this vendor! The honesty of this vendor came as quite a shock and surprise having gotten used to all vendors always asking more for their wares! Here is a vendor who is honest to his profession!
May he prosper! His name is basco4u and he sells in ebay!

Does this answer the question?

India after Gandhi : Ramachandra Guha

This book is a must read for anyone interested in India's progress since its freedom. As the author points out, Indian educational system and a vast majority of historians have dedicated an enormous quantum of effort in documenting the centuries that run up to the 15th of August 1947.
After this, India attained its freedom and then time stood still! literally! if one were to go by historians!
Fortunately, the ilk of Ramachandra Guha have taken it upon themselves to remedy the situation and boy they do a fantastic job.

The book begins with a India attaining its Independence and Nehru's famous "Tryst with destiny" and covers every decade until the late 2000s. The book itself has been narrated in a wavy manner where the reader is constantly transported through the several years of a decade as the author picks a topic, say the Naga struggle and narrates the turn of events that happened over the years since its beginning and final culmination of the struggle.
The book is full of names, anecdotes and quotes from various authors with genuine references that we can re-read this book several times over and still feel charmed about the country that we call India!

The generation of youngsters today remember stalwarts like Jawaharlal Nehru only for his philandering ways and blame him for the mistakes he made. This book enlightens us of all the good he did along with his faults. It makes one appreciate the man that was Nehru better. This is just one example, the book covers many such great men and women who paved way for what India is today.
The book covers the formative years of the Constitution and how it was hotly debated and how Dr.B.R.Ambedkar who was an employee with the  British government went on to became a mass leader that became the face of the lower caste of this country.
The book talks about all the British officials who stood by India through one crisis after the other that dogged India through the century! The book talks about all the naysayers who wrote thesis after thesis writing off the very concept of India pooh pooing the will of the masses as being too immature to hold such a vast country together.
We see through the author's eyes, India's integrity being tested in each decade by different forces within and without and how India has stood testament to the word 'Democracy'.
We see how our great leaders achieved great things and made even greater mistakes such as Rajiv Gandhi in his capitulation of the Shah Banno case or forcing the reopening of Babri Masjid for Hindu prayers.
We see Nehru, refusing to believe that his country was under fire, like Nero and his daughter on the other hand forced the war on East Pakistan to end the menace on the eastern front.
Overall, the reader becomes prouder for what this country stands for and realizes what pains our forefathers have gone through to give us the life we live today.
I will recommend this book to every Indian. As with any history book, there will be another author who would contest some of this book's writings, as Mr. Guha would agree, if this book brings out more such historians, then this Author's mission is deemed complete

Rediscovering yourself

What happened to all those hobbies that used to keep you charged all the time? Where have they gone?
My hobbies have always been seasonal. Not in the traditional sense of weather based hobby, but rather each of my hobbies would have its seasons.
There would be some months, I would be glued to one book after the other.
There would be some weeks I would spend watching movies back to back with no let up
There would be some fortnights when I would pick up my camera and go for a stroll in the beach looking for shots.
or
There would be simply years when I would just keep racing Need for speed on the comp!
I miss them now, for I don't any of these nowadays. So much so that I've come to believe that am not the same person I was since I don't do any of the stuff I loved.
It is not that I chose not to do things, there simply lacked time for me to give them due seasons of their own.
So, what has changed then? I've been married and had kids over the last ten years. Thats what happened.

Its not a bad thing by itself. I'm having a wonderful time with my wife and children. But, my hobbies have suffered and I yearn for them nowadays. Which is a good thing if you consider that I still do yearn for them and I have not become one grumpy old man! at least not yet in my opinion! :)
So, slowly, step by step, am trying to allocate incremental amount of time to my hobbies. Finding spaces where I could get to read a book over a month what I would have otherwise finished in a span of days.
Pickup my camera and shoot around the house and the sky!
Waiting for an appropriate window to get myself a PS3 to frag away to glory!

Viva life!

My Name is Khan and am not a terrorist.

I must say that My Name is Khan is perhaps one of the best films I have learned from till date. I make this vague statement because the movie lends itself very much to Bollywoodish and specifically Karan Johar's soap and shampoo treatment very much. But, underneath the soapy texture lies a very beautiful story that has been woven with such dexterity that am inclined to give a standing ovation to the story writer Shibani Bathija. 
First look at the message
Most international terrorists today maybe muslims. But all muslims are not terrorists. Its a message that MUST go out to the world today. A world that has been spooked into jumping out its own body at the mere sight of a stereotype Mussalman. The story has a very very simple message. The protagonist wants to tell the U.S. president that his name is khan and he is not a terrorist.
Why the U.S. President?
The leading lady undergoning personal trauma just for bearing the surname khan beseeches the protagonist as to how they expect to live a life that makes them sinners and terrorists just for carrying that surname. He tries to tell her that he will tell anyone that he is not a terrorist. She challenges him as to how many will he go and explain this. Will he tell the president and thereby to the whole country? she cries out trying to drive into him the futility of the exercise and that it is doomed from the start.

The second portion of the message is that relegion is just a by stander in the whole thing. Relegion is not tainting people. It is the other way around. This message is conveyed so beautifully in a non-cliched manner by the protagonists mother when the protagonist himself is too young to understand the incidents happening around him. The message she conveys, there are only two types of people in the world. Good and Bad and relegion does not make them so. How true.  Later in the movie, this is proven by a whole bunch of people who almost get brainwashed into jihad by a radical is swung back into their senses by the protagonist.

The most important message that this movie spreads is that 'Love begets love'. Throughout the movie, the protagonist due to his nature, goes about spreading innocent love wherever he treads. People cannot help but reciprocate his love. This am not talking about emotional ladies. Even customs officials and random police officers and normally people of brawn mellow down and give him a pat on the back and almost seem to redeem him of the social stigma attached to him name! and yet he wants the same from no less than the president of america. Boy does he get it?

Shibani again aces the whole plot by making the protagonist an 100% innocent, childlike, lovable and poker faced protagonist who occasionally guffaws like a 4 year old and makes the whole audience laugh with him. All of the above messages coming from anyone one else would have been so so so so cliched and would not have made the audience amenable to the message as Rizvan Khan does.


The movie (though not pioneering) also has set made minnows of major bollywood plots such as inter religion  love, divorce and other such things that otherwise would  have hijacked a whole bollywood plot! Perhaps several decades of films have revolved purely around the topics of love and inter religion marriage. Thankfully Karan and Shibani have deftly delegated this to the sidelines as though to convey a message that such topics are not going to get full movie length slots any longer.

Finally, songs have been used lightly in stark contrast with traditional Karan Johar films where music does the heavy lifting and is intense part of the back ground score. My ears still ring from Lataji's "Kabhie Kushie.. Kabhi..ghaammmmmmmm" every five minutes in the K3G backgorund score.

Coming back to My Name is Khan, This one picture has so eloquently conveyed several lovely messages of love, tolerance and good will like no other Indian movie till date has. This would not have been possible but for a brilliant execution by the team comprising of Karan Johar, Ravi.K.Chandran, Kajol and Shah Rukh.
The two lead characters pretty much carry the weight of the complete film on their shoulders with Kajol getting lesser screen time albeit. She does an amazing job nevertheless. Its difficult to not fall in love with her Mandira and not to cry with the mother in Mandira. This actress has an amazing range of emotions and she challenges Shah Rukh to raise the bar in acting! Pity that we do not get to see much of this actress on screen these days.
Ravi.K.Chandran is the man who has wielded the lens and he makes his presence felt at several places and yet he quietly slips to the background when he should not be around and yet for the discerning viewer we can feel that he has been there. Scenes involving Kajol at her emotional best uses excellent use of closeups, not too tight and yet sufficient allowing her emotions to fill the frame and reach the audience and soak them in. His shots have a very nice range and this film has allowed him to exploit his strengths very well!
Music, by Shankar Ehsaan and loy is I must say salt of this movie. It adds taste to the film though by itself is nothing to write home about.
Overall, this movie, though served in a traditional bollywood style is packs a powerful punch and is perhaps one of the best written and executed. I will even go so far as to say that I will perhaps nominate this for Indian entry to Oscars unless something else comes along.

Fuel for thought

For quite sometime we have been seeing advertisements that say that 'In another 40 years, there would be no fuel left"
I would be 75 by then! Hopefully??? alive????? to witness the last drop of today's life line drying up?????? (Why would you even  want to be around when this happens?)
The effects of the drying up resources would be foreboding its arrival much before the actual 40 years elapse. The prices of fossil fuels would likely to have reached such insane levels that they are probably not even available through common outlets! Hopefully by then the world would have shifted to alternative sources of energy.
By energy I don't just mean transportation, I mean pretty much everything that we use from electricity  to cooking gas. Going by present day technologies, nuclear and solar energies are perhaps the only ones that have promise. If there is a some remarkable invention that promises to harness more solar energy than the ones available today and if this technology is mass produced we will see a sea of revolution in our power reliance. We will hopefully see solar panels on all rooftops be it at homes or vehicles or even a phone booth!
Nuclear reactors would have advanced to such an extent that robots are used extensively where humans tread today facing the risk of irradiating themselves. The reactors themselves would have advanced to such an extent that we use fusion reactors instead of the fission ones today, thereby multiplying several times the energy harnessed.
The discovery of higgs boson would somehow have helped scientists understand black holes better and perhaps (this is looking remote) have embarked on a road to simulate blackholes in controlled environments without allowing it to get out of control much like simulating tornadoes in a lab today! The new millenium will look towards this promising source of energy much like we look upon nuclear energy today!
Energy efficiencies would have also improved greatly by the next twenty years. All countries would have ensured that light sources are reduced to solitary units with piped light supplies to all rooms much like centralised airconditioning works today! This would greatly reduce the greenhouse gas emissions improving efficiencies!
Cooking is an area that will continue to rely on electricity and heat based stoves. Even if alternative forms such as microwaves are invented, cooking methods evolved over thousands of years based on heat generating stoves cannot adapt that fast and will continue to primarily rely on classic stoves with perhaps inventive heat generation techniques!
What will happen to vehicular transport? At the pace we are evolving only battery driven vehicles are going to rule the roads in another twenty years! I cannot imagine where all the electricity for charging the vehicles is going to come from? Pace of nuclear technology evolution is not keeping pace with the potential demand of electricity in another twenty or so years.
hmm.. will this happen or not? Lets see in another twenty years. Hopefully blogger is around for me to check what the heck was I thinking twenty years prior (that is this date)

Hypocrisy to the core.

Is it even possible for someone to be never a hypocrite? At all, not once in their adult life? I'd like to be and I find many a times when my conscience strong arms my own arm and untwirls my clenched fists to point at myself and tell me that
'You are a bloody hypocrite'.

Take for instance, road rage. I have been driving for about twenty years now and I thought I had matured as a driver and learned to take with equanimity situations where I would otherwise feel terribly wronged by the other driver.
Normally, I find myself even telling my dad to calm down when he would set out with his "rascal" from the safety of the largely soundproof airconditioned car! I would beseech him with a 'Whats the use?" he is not going to change because you yelled at him. Let it be."
Today, much to my shame, I found another driver pointing his finger at me and cursing me for what I strongly believe was his mistake (he tried to pass me on the left and got caught in a tight situation when I had to swerve left to give way to an oncoming vehicle). My valve blew and I was seeing red .
I immediately tried to give him a chase to yell at him and did not get to move more than 100 yards before the traffic stopped me. Suddenly I was enveloped by a whole bunch of people who started screaming at me for driving like a lunatic :( and my mood swung 360 degrees from anger to shame! I apologized instantly and they moved off cursing me :(
I'm still feeling ashamed at my own behavior! Why did I behave the way I did? My reaction was not even commiserate with the incident of the biker yelling at me! At the end only I was left with a bruised pride, broken principle, depression.
I realized that the crowd was just in shouting me down for rash driving. I would have yelled at myself and cursed myself worser had I been in the crowd watching myself drive down the way I did.
Though I never even got to shift beyond the first gear! I merely accelerated loudly to 20kph! venting my flash of anger on the accelerator pedal, its still an act that reeks of hypocrisy!
In a flash, I was brought down to earth and I felt ashamed at myself. I lost a bit of my own self respect.
I realize with humility, I have not still conquered the road rage and I still have some way to go. I accept this judgment and will work on it.

Part 2- Instant Karma!
Hot on the heels of what happened this morning, I proceeded to work with shame and depression attacking me from all sides. As we were trawling in the traffic, I heard a loud bump and realized that someone had rammed into me from behind.
I got off the vehicle and saw that a Santro had bumped into my back. I looked at the driver of the car who was inside and was wearing a bemused look on his face. He opened his vehicle and asked me
"what?"
"You ran into my car"
"Did you reverse?" he asked me
".....what?"

"you would have reversed thats why you bumped into me"
am too stunned to even react! I start laughing

".. how will i reverse when the traffic is moving forward?
" move move.. take your vehicle. you'd have reversed thats why you rammed into me"

"Sir, the least you can do is admit that you ran into me by mistake and say a sorry, instead you are making such wild goose accusations and trying to wiggle out of the situation. Is it fair?"

"....... Ok, sorry,.... "
" thanks.. " and we move on.
He waves sorry again as he passes me now. I'm sure he would have regretted his behaviour and said sorry.
Now that coming from me hot on the heels of lunacy just twenty minutes earlier, surprised me.
Well, I got rammed into the back as sort of instant punishment for my stupidity earlier in the day. That's what I'd say instant karma, delivered!

Action Item: work on the anger further!

Someone Tagged me!

Lavanya, one tough job you gave me. Phew... here goes

ah.. one more thing. I did not play by the rules . I changed/added questions more than the rules permitted :)

1. What is your current obsession?
Gadgets, Photograhy, reading, music,gaming the degree of obsession keeps changing by the season.

2. What are you wearing today?
As though men have a thousand choices to wear to work - Shirt,Tie,Trousers,Shoes. and everything else under it :P

3. You are on your deathbed and you want to judge your life. How would you.
Have you been a good son, a good husband, a good father, good brother, and an honest human being.

4. What’s the last thing you bought?
ahem.. got excited by a 325 bucks car vacuum cleaner in IndiaVarta.com and brought it. Worked thrice and died. Serves me right!

5. What are you listening to right now?
Dekha ek khwab maine silsile hue - Silsila (in my car right now)

6. What do you think about the person who tagged you?
Tough question. How will I do justice to this question? Lavanya is a very kind person for having tagged my blog. I will need to know her better to be fair to answer this.

7. If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you like it to be?
India, Kodaikanal

8. What are your must-have pieces for summer?
If this is about dress, then its always Veshti!

9. If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
Any river bank where the water is softly gurgling down cobblestones, with me sitting on a big rock with my feet in water with tiny fish nibbling my toes!
Nothing but the sound of gurgling water enveloping you except for the rare sound of a bird calling out its partner surrounded by tall trees with bright sunlight poring through gaps in the ferns making the water sparkle in places, doing nothing but just revelling in the marvellous nature and losing myself!

10. Which language do you want to learn?
Hindi! :( I studied it and yet do not know it much to my shame. a few significant relatives of mine are Maharashtrians and Punjabis (What a desi family eh?)
It would make me get to know them better :)

11. What’s your favourite quote?
Courage in your mind, prayer on your lips, horizon in sight, march ahead, success is yours!

12. Who do you want to meet right now?
I'd like to meet my wife and talk to her! Its been 4 good years since we spent quality time talking (nothing happened, just that we had children since then)

13. What is your favourite colour?
Sky Blue. Always

14. Give us 3 styling tips that work for you.
Style? well, almost mottai thalai summer crop. A kurta pyjama/Sherwani or Formals with Tie!

15. What is your dream job?
A job where I have manager who is also my guru, a team that I can keep happy, look back each year and tell myself that I have accomplished something this year.
I'm in one right now (pst...am a frog in a well)

16. What’s your favorite magazine?
Autocar, Engadget.com, autoblog.net cannot live without these

17. If you had $100 now, what would you spend it on?
A valentine gift for my dear wife.

18. What do you consider a fashion faux pas?
Men wearing bermudas, sitting cross legged.

19. Is exercise a part of your daily routine? If so, what kind of exercise is it?
Jog 2 kms daily

20. What kind of haircut do you prefer?
Summer crop (always)

21. What are you going to do after this?
Go home to my wife and kids!

22. What are your favourite movies?
God father 1,2 LoTr-1,2,3, Green Mile

23. What inspires you?
A good photograph, stirring music, a good story (I guess art inspires me)

24. What do your friends call you most commonly?
cv

25. Would you prefer coffee or tea?
Depends on the time of the day. First thing in the morning its always Coffee! After that only tea!

26. What do you do when you are feeling low or terribly depressed?
Stay quiet.. and either kick my own butt out of it or some one always picks me up :) am lucky ain't i?

27. What makes you go wild?
When someone automatically makes you accountable for the task that you once helped them with! You hate to help again and you hate yourself for thinking like that.


28. Which other blogs do you love visiting?
There is a whole bunch. Check my profile.

29. Favorite Dessert/Sweet?
Ice cream . Period,

30. How many tabs are turned on in ur browser right now?
15 :)

31. Favorite Season?
Dec-Feb in Chennai

32. If I come to your house now, what would u cook for me?
If my dear wife would let me, then I'd cook mm.... some spicy ginger rasam and beans! Sorry Lavanya, I cannot throw up something fancy myself!

33. What is the right way to avoid people who purposefully hurt you?
Ignore them!

34. What are you afraid of the most?
losing my credibility! I like to be fair 100% but am afraid I wont be!

35. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought?
when will I ever lose that flab?

36. What brings a smile on your face instantly??
My son's toothless grin! My daughter's innocent face when she is asleep (oh she is a terror when she is awake.)


38. What would you do if you were made PM of India for one day?
Introduce eligibility criteria to be a minister. Make sure all ministerial nominations are approved by a panel of the respective Industry's top bureaucrats and experts!
Make it a criminal offence to make statements such as Maharashtra is only for Marathis or Tamil Nadu is only for tamils. Don't even think prez has these powers

39. What is that one thing that keeps you going.
Truthfulness and fear of losing trust placed in me!

40. Whats one thing that you used to love that you left
Hanging out with friends. I got married !

41. What would be your reaction, if you come to know that today is the last day of your life
Panic and fear for my Children's future! A fervent prayer to god to take care of them and give them good education and courage to face life!

42. What are your hobbies?
Photography, cars, gadgets, Reading, music, blogging


43. What do you hate about yourself?
I try to be politically correct most of the times. Wish I could go bindaas, speaking my mind with a care a damn attitude.
Rules for those who are tagged:

Respond and rework – answer these questions on your blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your own, and add one more question to the list. Then tag others :)

I tag
http://advaithandyukta.blogspot.com/
http://caramelhill.blogspot.com/
http://www.blogger.com/home
http://my2centstoo.blogspot.com/
http://petalsfromtheheart.blogspot.com/