16 mile (25.6 km) round trip hike
8800 ft above sealevel
900 ft of almost vertical climb in the end
- 500 ft of knee-jarring foot high steps
- 400 ft of near vertical body haul supported by 2 cables
11 hrs of continuous walking
.
.
.
A breath of fresh air at the top to wipe out the fatigue
A dip in the cold stream to wash off the grime
The smile on my face along with the pain in my legs... PRICELESS!!!
The Trek
Pics from the Yosemite Trip
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Monday, August 06, 2007
Moments on a green field
The simple joys of cricket...
1. A beautiful outswinger - pitched on middle, squaring up the batsman and swinging late to sneak past the outside edge to clip the top of off stump
2. A perfect toe-crusher hitting the base of middle and leg and toppling the hapless batsmen in a futile attempt to dig it out
3. A well-anticipated bouncer hooked perfectly to the fine leg fence
4. A wristy flick to send the ball soaring high over the square leg fence
5. An inside-out six over cover to a leggie
6. A backfoot punch beating the cover fielder in a race to the extra cover boundary
7. A high-backlift straight drive between the bowler and the umpire
8. A searing upper cut over point
9. A cherry plucked out of thin air at gully
10. A left-arm quick jagging one back in to take out the middle stump
11. A prowler at point pouncing on a square cut and breaking the timber at the non-striker's end in one smooth motion
12. A flowing cover-drive from a south-paw
There is skill, talent, instinct, intellect and above all a competitive spirit in every moment of this glorious sport...
1. A beautiful outswinger - pitched on middle, squaring up the batsman and swinging late to sneak past the outside edge to clip the top of off stump
2. A perfect toe-crusher hitting the base of middle and leg and toppling the hapless batsmen in a futile attempt to dig it out
3. A well-anticipated bouncer hooked perfectly to the fine leg fence
4. A wristy flick to send the ball soaring high over the square leg fence
5. An inside-out six over cover to a leggie
6. A backfoot punch beating the cover fielder in a race to the extra cover boundary
7. A high-backlift straight drive between the bowler and the umpire
8. A searing upper cut over point
9. A cherry plucked out of thin air at gully
10. A left-arm quick jagging one back in to take out the middle stump
11. A prowler at point pouncing on a square cut and breaking the timber at the non-striker's end in one smooth motion
12. A flowing cover-drive from a south-paw
There is skill, talent, instinct, intellect and above all a competitive spirit in every moment of this glorious sport...
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
A Period of Consequences?
Global Warming - it's a burning issue right now.
I was watching An Inconvenient Truth. And I turned it off half-way through. It was too intense for me to let it pass by as just another documentary. I will finish the remainder of the movie tomorrow. And I am sure I will buy it so that I can go back to it many many more times in future. Every few minutes, this film throws up a bit of information to rattle you. The CO2 levels and consequently the global temperature going through the roof - and this roof is relative to the last 650,000 years of earth's existence. The polar ice caps are melting. In 50 years, there will be NO ICE at the poles during summer. For me personally the poles of the earth have always conjured up visions of ice as far as the eye can see, explorers on sledges and polar bears. The largest ice shelf on the earth recently broke in half. It just snapped, couldn't take it anymore. In 50 years from now, at currently increasing rates of warming, we cannot imagine what will the earth be like. Will there be any humans left to imagine?
There is increasing chatter about geoengineering as a potential solution for all our environmental problems. There is a lot of political debate going on whether humans should tamper with nature any further in the name of survival? The argument is that we have already tampered with nature by releasing greenhouse gases and CO2 that will stay for throusands of years to come. So why not take it to the next step to prevent some of the repurcussions? And how exactly do we propose to control the damage? Well the ideas range from ridiculous - setting up giant space mirrors to reflect sunlight back, since the ice won't be around to do that - to the horrendous - alteration of rainfall patterns through seeding of clouds or creation of vast artificial water bodies where none exists now. One can only imagine what the scientists will have to say if the rains went out of control or if the artificial water body upset the local ecosystem - they would say "OOPS, my bad! But this was not supposed to happen".
But then, do I have anything more than my cynicism to offer? Unfortunately, the short answer is NO. And the reason is that I don't think it is possible to go back to a non-polluting way of living on a mass scale. Progress as we have defined it over the years can come only at a price. I cannot imagine life without electricity, mass and quick transportation, telecom and global trade. It is possible to achieve this on an individual basis, but not on a global scale. So, I reluctantly agree that geoengineering might be our best bet as of now. Until further research in the name of dilligence throws up something more potent...
Are we staring at a "period of consequences" as Churchill put it so bluntly?
I was watching An Inconvenient Truth. And I turned it off half-way through. It was too intense for me to let it pass by as just another documentary. I will finish the remainder of the movie tomorrow. And I am sure I will buy it so that I can go back to it many many more times in future. Every few minutes, this film throws up a bit of information to rattle you. The CO2 levels and consequently the global temperature going through the roof - and this roof is relative to the last 650,000 years of earth's existence. The polar ice caps are melting. In 50 years, there will be NO ICE at the poles during summer. For me personally the poles of the earth have always conjured up visions of ice as far as the eye can see, explorers on sledges and polar bears. The largest ice shelf on the earth recently broke in half. It just snapped, couldn't take it anymore. In 50 years from now, at currently increasing rates of warming, we cannot imagine what will the earth be like. Will there be any humans left to imagine?
There is increasing chatter about geoengineering as a potential solution for all our environmental problems. There is a lot of political debate going on whether humans should tamper with nature any further in the name of survival? The argument is that we have already tampered with nature by releasing greenhouse gases and CO2 that will stay for throusands of years to come. So why not take it to the next step to prevent some of the repurcussions? And how exactly do we propose to control the damage? Well the ideas range from ridiculous - setting up giant space mirrors to reflect sunlight back, since the ice won't be around to do that - to the horrendous - alteration of rainfall patterns through seeding of clouds or creation of vast artificial water bodies where none exists now. One can only imagine what the scientists will have to say if the rains went out of control or if the artificial water body upset the local ecosystem - they would say "OOPS, my bad! But this was not supposed to happen".
But then, do I have anything more than my cynicism to offer? Unfortunately, the short answer is NO. And the reason is that I don't think it is possible to go back to a non-polluting way of living on a mass scale. Progress as we have defined it over the years can come only at a price. I cannot imagine life without electricity, mass and quick transportation, telecom and global trade. It is possible to achieve this on an individual basis, but not on a global scale. So, I reluctantly agree that geoengineering might be our best bet as of now. Until further research in the name of dilligence throws up something more potent...
Are we staring at a "period of consequences" as Churchill put it so bluntly?
Monday, July 30, 2007
Jo dar gaya.... woh mar gaya!!!
Fear is such a primal emotion that it can bring out the best and the worst in us.
Fear of an enemy - it can force you into resignation even before the start of a fight
Fear of death - it can motivate you to your greatest escape
Fear of stagnation - it can lead you to the most adventurous journeys
Fear of truth - it can force you to create your own universe of lies
Fear of rejection - it can make you a second-hand individual (all you Ayn Rand fanatics will understand this)
Fear of destiny - it can rot your very core and suck all ambition out of you
Fear of loss - it can debase you to crave victory at any cost and by any means. It can bring out the animal in you
Yet, there is such a thin line between fear and belief, between fear and confidence, between fear and courage, between life and death.
Gabbar ne sach kaha tha - Jo dar gaya, woh mar gaya! :)
Fear of an enemy - it can force you into resignation even before the start of a fight
Fear of death - it can motivate you to your greatest escape
Fear of stagnation - it can lead you to the most adventurous journeys
Fear of truth - it can force you to create your own universe of lies
Fear of rejection - it can make you a second-hand individual (all you Ayn Rand fanatics will understand this)
Fear of destiny - it can rot your very core and suck all ambition out of you
Fear of loss - it can debase you to crave victory at any cost and by any means. It can bring out the animal in you
Yet, there is such a thin line between fear and belief, between fear and confidence, between fear and courage, between life and death.
Gabbar ne sach kaha tha - Jo dar gaya, woh mar gaya! :)
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Of 73,44,000 seconds and 6 books
My last post is almost 3 months old as I am typing this out. In the 73,44,000 seconds that have elapsed since then, what have I achieved?
To tell you the truth, there is nothing to write about all those millions of wasted seconds. I warmed my chair at work during weekdays. Went to the gym or played squash during weeknights. Played cricket and watched movies on weekends. No travel, no new activity, no challenges, no break from the routine!
But yes, I did read a few good books during this passage of time. Anderson Cooper fascinated me with his Dispatches from the Edge. Bill Bryson humored me with his adventurous Walk in the Woods. And he is dazzling me with mundane facts in A Short History of Nearly Everything. Chris Anderson's exploration of The Long Tail was captivating to say the least. And Ashok Banker had me craving for more through the Prince of Ayodhya, the first book of his 6-volume Ramayana series. Oh, and Michael Lewis, he of the Liar's Poker fame, also had me eating out of his hands with Next, and collection of groundbreaking stories from the early days of the internet.
So, is that justice to the 3 months of supposedly wasted time? Yeah, I think so! Although I would have been happy to finish at least 2/3 more page-turners. But then page-turners are a hard breed to find.
To tell you the truth, there is nothing to write about all those millions of wasted seconds. I warmed my chair at work during weekdays. Went to the gym or played squash during weeknights. Played cricket and watched movies on weekends. No travel, no new activity, no challenges, no break from the routine!
But yes, I did read a few good books during this passage of time. Anderson Cooper fascinated me with his Dispatches from the Edge. Bill Bryson humored me with his adventurous Walk in the Woods. And he is dazzling me with mundane facts in A Short History of Nearly Everything. Chris Anderson's exploration of The Long Tail was captivating to say the least. And Ashok Banker had me craving for more through the Prince of Ayodhya, the first book of his 6-volume Ramayana series. Oh, and Michael Lewis, he of the Liar's Poker fame, also had me eating out of his hands with Next, and collection of groundbreaking stories from the early days of the internet.
So, is that justice to the 3 months of supposedly wasted time? Yeah, I think so! Although I would have been happy to finish at least 2/3 more page-turners. But then page-turners are a hard breed to find.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Another usless(?) list...
Things that absolutely frustrate me and make me want to rip my hair out…
- not having enough work to occupy the entire day
- moments when I feel incapable of any thought, not because I am exhausted, but because there simply isn’t anything I am thinking about. Absolute BLANK!
- People not taking ownership of their tasks
- Being dependent on others for info and them stalling despite being aware of the discomfort it’s causing me
- Lack of respect for other’s time
- Asking for help without having explored the options thereby undermining one’s own intellect
I have been guilty of some of the above. Other points, I have gathered from others’ behaviour. But does it help to make a list such as the one above? That’s like asking whether contemplation helps. Of course it helps…
At least I know now what bothers me and what factors I should keep in mind when making a decision and even in day-to-day life. Identifying the cause of frustration definitely goes a long way in relieving the anxiety. And it makes me more tolerant towards myself and more importantly towards others…
- not having enough work to occupy the entire day
- moments when I feel incapable of any thought, not because I am exhausted, but because there simply isn’t anything I am thinking about. Absolute BLANK!
- People not taking ownership of their tasks
- Being dependent on others for info and them stalling despite being aware of the discomfort it’s causing me
- Lack of respect for other’s time
- Asking for help without having explored the options thereby undermining one’s own intellect
I have been guilty of some of the above. Other points, I have gathered from others’ behaviour. But does it help to make a list such as the one above? That’s like asking whether contemplation helps. Of course it helps…
At least I know now what bothers me and what factors I should keep in mind when making a decision and even in day-to-day life. Identifying the cause of frustration definitely goes a long way in relieving the anxiety. And it makes me more tolerant towards myself and more importantly towards others…
Peer production and its impact
Flickr acquired by Yahoo for anywhere between 30 to 50 Million dollars
YouTube acquired by Google for 1.5 Billion dollars
Facebook received a Billion dollar bid from Yahoo… and 750 million before that from Viacom. Not bad for a 3-yr old startup. By the way, the 23-yr old CEO and his angel investor think it is worth far more. So they did NOT sell!
You either have to have balls of titanium or you have to be nuts to refuse those offers. He is probably both…
So, what is it about the Web 2.0 companies that is pushing these deals into outer space? Are their so called social networks really worth so much? Let’s think about it…
What value does Facebook bring to the table through its “30 million and counting” members? Or does the fact that is it the sixth largest website on the net make any difference (1% of the entire traffic on the web goes to Facebook)? Maybe the loyalty factor adds some value (almost half the members visit Facebook every single day!). Or consider the fact that it is largest photo site (6 million photographs uploaded everyday), even bigger than dedicated photo-sharing sites like Flickr. So, you got millions of connected users forming millions of virtual communities around common grounds and areas of interest… big friggin deal??? YOU BET!!!
You will get an idea of the potential, if you…
- try to quantify the reach of this massive network
- think about the targeted advertising potential of this site
- visualize the buying potential of this motley group of people
- imagine the media penetration achievable through this audience
- think about the possibilities for social research – latest trends, fashion, opinion
- comprehend the power of this lobby, if it were to come together for a cause
- IMAGINE…
No one ever visualized the power of peer production… it just happened… like all other quantum jumps in human progress. This phenomenon that started with the open source movement is now beginning to challenge the very core of proprietary software and thereby reshaping the assumptions behind the traditional way of doing business and making money.
The bigger question being raised here is – is it necessary to have proprietary products or access to limited information to be able to make money? Is collaborative software and peer production ushering the end of software products as we know them?
YouTube acquired by Google for 1.5 Billion dollars
Facebook received a Billion dollar bid from Yahoo… and 750 million before that from Viacom. Not bad for a 3-yr old startup. By the way, the 23-yr old CEO and his angel investor think it is worth far more. So they did NOT sell!
You either have to have balls of titanium or you have to be nuts to refuse those offers. He is probably both…
So, what is it about the Web 2.0 companies that is pushing these deals into outer space? Are their so called social networks really worth so much? Let’s think about it…
What value does Facebook bring to the table through its “30 million and counting” members? Or does the fact that is it the sixth largest website on the net make any difference (1% of the entire traffic on the web goes to Facebook)? Maybe the loyalty factor adds some value (almost half the members visit Facebook every single day!). Or consider the fact that it is largest photo site (6 million photographs uploaded everyday), even bigger than dedicated photo-sharing sites like Flickr. So, you got millions of connected users forming millions of virtual communities around common grounds and areas of interest… big friggin deal??? YOU BET!!!
You will get an idea of the potential, if you…
- try to quantify the reach of this massive network
- think about the targeted advertising potential of this site
- visualize the buying potential of this motley group of people
- imagine the media penetration achievable through this audience
- think about the possibilities for social research – latest trends, fashion, opinion
- comprehend the power of this lobby, if it were to come together for a cause
- IMAGINE…
No one ever visualized the power of peer production… it just happened… like all other quantum jumps in human progress. This phenomenon that started with the open source movement is now beginning to challenge the very core of proprietary software and thereby reshaping the assumptions behind the traditional way of doing business and making money.
The bigger question being raised here is – is it necessary to have proprietary products or access to limited information to be able to make money? Is collaborative software and peer production ushering the end of software products as we know them?
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Take your pick...
Life's a bitch... or perhaps a beach...
perhaps you want a bit of both!
A high paying cushy job... or the grime and glory of pursuing a dream...
mind you the glory is not guaranteed. But those who start loving the grime don't give a flying f%#$ about the glory.
A wardrobe full of brands for yourself... or spending that fat paycheck for a cause...
yes it's fashionable to do the latter and then go to the club to sip a few bottles of wine over self-gloating narratives. Spend it on the brands, the deprived of the world don't need your charity... they will survive anyway.
Travel for pleasure... or travel home to meet the people who matter...
that's a relatively more acute issue for all you expats. Take that pleasure trip, your folks will still be there when you get back. But if you can, take them along stupid!
A good book on a lazy afternoon... or a smashing workout...
this one isn't necessarily an individual choice. So I am gonna go with that classic answer... IT DEPENDS! :D
Girl next door... or the hot-bod at the gym...
look closer, the one next door may have an equally hot bod ;)
I suppose it's not about choices all the time. It is possible to marry the 2 sides and make it more beneficial for all. That would translate to expanding the pie by bringing the pieces together. And therein lies the skill...
So where's that girl next door??? ;)
Monday, January 29, 2007
The fall...
You put a woman on a pedestal...
And sure enough, she is gonna fall from it someday...
But whose fall is it anyway?
And sure enough, she is gonna fall from it someday...
But whose fall is it anyway?
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Passion never fades away...
I see her standing in the corner of the room, leaning effortlessly against the wall.
The curve of her hips, jutting out tantalizingly – perfect, inviting a soft caress.
The slender neck – almost fragile, and surprisingly sensitive.
My fingers tremble with anticipation as I reach out to her.
Her response – instantaneous.
Her intensity – matching mine. Soft purring for a feather-touch, a loud scream if I force her.
The fit – she almost molds into my arms.
As I begin to explore, I realize
Her purpose – to give me joy, to just obey my commands.
She won’t – do anything on her own.
But she will – make music, if only I can, with her!
I am obviously still in love
.
.
.
With the Guitar!
The curve of her hips, jutting out tantalizingly – perfect, inviting a soft caress.
The slender neck – almost fragile, and surprisingly sensitive.
My fingers tremble with anticipation as I reach out to her.
Her response – instantaneous.
Her intensity – matching mine. Soft purring for a feather-touch, a loud scream if I force her.
The fit – she almost molds into my arms.
As I begin to explore, I realize
Her purpose – to give me joy, to just obey my commands.
She won’t – do anything on her own.
But she will – make music, if only I can, with her!
I am obviously still in love
.
.
.
With the Guitar!
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Find your Everest
What does it take to get to the roof of the world? Before you start counting the money (yes because there are guided tours available for a few thousand dollars) let me tell you that I am not talking about a guided tour.
What does it take to actually climb the mountain, the hard way? More than anything else, I think you have to be insane! Insane about wanting to attempt to breathe at almost the same altitude as a Boeing Jet cruises on cross-continent flights. Insane about backing yourself against the thundering gales and snowstorms that come out of nowhere within a matter of hours! Insane about shivering and sweating at the same time coz the sun won't relent and the temperature won't rise. Insane about trying to force food down your throat when swallowing your own spit takes an effort. Insane about risking life and limb to frostbite, bypothermia, HACE and HAPE. Insane enough to be able to walk by more than a 100 corpses that line the slopes of Sagarmatha! Insane enough for you???
So why have so many people attempted to conquer the peak since it was discovered to be the highest peak of the world? I suppose there are some humans who are always motivated by the seemingly impossible. It lends a prupose to their lives. Some are gifted. Some are just plain hard-asses with their brains jammed halfway up their backsides. No amount of cajoling will turn them away from a waiting grave on the treachorous slopes. But irrespective of which category you belong to you have to be out of your mind to even contemplate it.
The mountain tests you in every possible way before letting you to the top. But one breath of the rarified air on the top can wash away all the fatigue - until your start descending from the top. And therein lies the secret - that getting to the top is only half the battle!
So, find your own Everest and carve a life out of that meaningless existence!
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Mind the gap...
It is vital to mind the gap...
The gap between,
what you thought you would achieve and how you would change the world..
and what you achieved when you took the first backward glance at 30!
The gap between,
what you thought you would achieve and how you would change the world..
and what you achieved when you took the first backward glance at 30!
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Time to move ass again!
What motivates me?
- used to be sports when I was a kid - anything competitive to get the adrenalin going
- then for sometime it was electronics - I mean the challenge of making new circuits, typical jr. college days.. ya know!
- then it was extra-curricular activities - coz that meant expansion of friend circle beyond the college gang and beyond just engineers!
- then came the glory days of coding - yeah, technical challenges were fun... there's something about the joy of having resolved a nagging technical issue. Remember that calculus problem you just cudn't figure out for 2-3 hrs and then the solution flashed upon you like a sun peeping out of the clouds. It's the same feeling... so the coding days are kind of an extension of college days, at least mine were
- however that fascination faded away too. I was more motivated by people issues, rather than tech issues.
- at b-school the whole year was motivated by meeting more fascinating people every new day!
- and now, it's back to the grind. So what now?
- used to be sports when I was a kid - anything competitive to get the adrenalin going
- then for sometime it was electronics - I mean the challenge of making new circuits, typical jr. college days.. ya know!
- then it was extra-curricular activities - coz that meant expansion of friend circle beyond the college gang and beyond just engineers!
- then came the glory days of coding - yeah, technical challenges were fun... there's something about the joy of having resolved a nagging technical issue. Remember that calculus problem you just cudn't figure out for 2-3 hrs and then the solution flashed upon you like a sun peeping out of the clouds. It's the same feeling... so the coding days are kind of an extension of college days, at least mine were
- however that fascination faded away too. I was more motivated by people issues, rather than tech issues.
- at b-school the whole year was motivated by meeting more fascinating people every new day!
- and now, it's back to the grind. So what now?
Off late, thoughts have been drifting towards doing something of my own. Yeah, it's vague right now - no structure whatsoever to any idea, nor is there any semblance of any groundwork. Work's a bit rustic right now - feel jaded even after spending 12 busy hours at office. No challenges at all! It's funny - I find time for more things when there is less free time. The busier I am at work, the more time I spend on reading and thinking about other things too! Having free time makes me lazy - procrastinating has never been difficult for me. But I think I am reaching that stage now where I am gonna wake up on the right side of the bed someday - someday soon!
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
My Boys...
There's a new serial on TBS - it's called My Boys. It's about a girl and her friends - all guys! So it's got the usual load of girl-guy fun, tons of advice on relationships and the usual friendship vs love vs life thing. Yet, it's different. I guess a girl who has always felt comfortable being friends with guys would understand.
But come to think of it, I know a few girls who are more comfortable being friends with guys, than they are with other girls. I have heard this from my ex-girlfriend, my friends and other guys - it's easier to make friends with guys! And when more than 2 guys hang out together, jealousy is not an issue. Jealousy could become an issue - but only at a collective level. One guy in the group getting jealous of someone else coz of some third person getting close to that someone else - nah, that don't happen between guys. I think the primary reason that guys bond better on a collective level is coz of the lack of expectations and feelings. Guys understand that we don't poke into each other's emotions. There are times when you let a guy be by himself, as opposed to hugging him and trying to blackmail his thoughts out of him - while he is squirming around in his seat. You do that - and I bet that's the last you gonna see of him in the group. Every1 in the group has their own space. I think the American concept of personal space holds really well in this theory.
Anyway, if you got a group of buddies like that by your side, even hell can be a lot of fun!
But come to think of it, I know a few girls who are more comfortable being friends with guys, than they are with other girls. I have heard this from my ex-girlfriend, my friends and other guys - it's easier to make friends with guys! And when more than 2 guys hang out together, jealousy is not an issue. Jealousy could become an issue - but only at a collective level. One guy in the group getting jealous of someone else coz of some third person getting close to that someone else - nah, that don't happen between guys. I think the primary reason that guys bond better on a collective level is coz of the lack of expectations and feelings. Guys understand that we don't poke into each other's emotions. There are times when you let a guy be by himself, as opposed to hugging him and trying to blackmail his thoughts out of him - while he is squirming around in his seat. You do that - and I bet that's the last you gonna see of him in the group. Every1 in the group has their own space. I think the American concept of personal space holds really well in this theory.
Anyway, if you got a group of buddies like that by your side, even hell can be a lot of fun!
Monday, December 11, 2006
Aap ki kashish...
Ok... this is not a romantic post... not even a post about a girl!
It just happens to be the song I am tuned in to right now Raaga. Well, why a Himessssssssss song of all the thousand options??? Coz it reminds me of Sarovar. Yeah, it's hard to believe, but sometimes you miss even the crappy things in life... coz the crappy things make others around them more enjoyable! If it weren't for Sarovar, I would have never had so many Maggi and Chai sessions behind I-block with the Haraamkhori Club of I-block SV3!!! Yeah, a hot cup of chai with tons of bakar - that's what I miss most here in the cold room of the Marriott Courtyard in Pittsburgh. Never thot a name could fit a place to such an extent - this place is really The Pitts!
Pradhan - in your honor, I am gonna listen to "Sutta" right now! Unfortunately can't play it on full blast - but what the heck - I am sure you appreciate the feelings!
It just happens to be the song I am tuned in to right now Raaga. Well, why a Himessssssssss song of all the thousand options??? Coz it reminds me of Sarovar. Yeah, it's hard to believe, but sometimes you miss even the crappy things in life... coz the crappy things make others around them more enjoyable! If it weren't for Sarovar, I would have never had so many Maggi and Chai sessions behind I-block with the Haraamkhori Club of I-block SV3!!! Yeah, a hot cup of chai with tons of bakar - that's what I miss most here in the cold room of the Marriott Courtyard in Pittsburgh. Never thot a name could fit a place to such an extent - this place is really The Pitts!
Pradhan - in your honor, I am gonna listen to "Sutta" right now! Unfortunately can't play it on full blast - but what the heck - I am sure you appreciate the feelings!
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Running, fighting, breaking...
Wonder why you get tired at the end of a hard day merely sitting in front of a laptop? Well there are the physiological reasons on one side which explain the obvious. But then who likes obvious answers. Consider what we, the modern-day knowledge workers, do all day in our consulting and revolutionary IT endeavors.
For starters we have to break down barriers or walls to engage fruitfully with our ever-changing clients and colleagues.
Then we are perennially chasing deadlines – one after the other after another.
And when we are not chasing something/someone down, we are probably fire-fighting or nailing down issues.
And of course we are always building consensus around something – more often than not its about the next dinner venue. But we still need to build it, right?
With so much running and fighting and breaking and chasing and building, is it a wonder that we are tired by the end of the day? I must say that English language offers so much room for creativity with words that one can easily concoct an illusion of hyper-activity with mere phrases. So next time someone says they are ready to drop-dead by the end of an avg work-day ask them if they have been actually working or indulging in word-play…
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Blogfest
So Warikoo has been working on this idea of a photography competition, along with a couple of other good fellas from the ISB Alumni body. I think it’s a great initiative from this ever-enterprising, over-enthusiastic, always-ready-to-provide-a-shoulder-to-ladies buddy of mine. And it will give every1 something to look fwd to at Solstice – apart from the booze, of course.
But he is not the theme of the post – sorry Pappu, some other time. I was browsing around as usual and was reading the FastCompany blogs. There’s a Bathroom Blogfest going on there right now. It has a bunch of ladies writing about their experiences, ideas, suggestions and incidents – all dealing with the ladies room! And boy, can that topic spawn creativity!
So, I am thinking – why not have an ISB Blogfest!!! Majority of ISBians write blogs – and the number is only increasing with every batch. Check out the ISBleague if you don’t believe me. So how about that blogfest?
As I Pause here and think about it for 2 mins, a zillion ideas pop right out…
- We could start with “unique things about life@ISB”. Being a different planet that the campus is, this should be an easy one.
- Onto something more interesting – Bathroom habits of my roomie that really piss me off! There’s bound to be some, since there’s 1 bathroom for every pair of roomies.
- One could also create a tongue-in-cheek forum to pass messages to the administration – how to make Shahrukh more accountable? What does Sridevi really do?
- One could always have a jargon fest – but with a twist – include only those incidents where the jargon backfired royally. Or application of abstract mgmt theories to everyday life.
- There could be some productive usage too – takeaways from each term – academic only! Boy, would this be useful for placements or what!
And if it works out well within ISB, who’s to stop you from taking it beyond ISB? Clubs can organize a competition in the form of a blogfest. Announce it, publicize it and release the topic with a 2-hr window to accept entries.
Imagine what a colorful window it will offer to the world about life at ISB…
Sunday, October 29, 2006
The Borsalino test
Humans can't stop doing it to each other. They must validate every relationship they have. Not once, not twice, but over and over again - over the time that a relationship lasts.
The last time you sat with your mates did you notice that one of your pals is slightly off-colour? (s)he is not laughing with the same gusto. You notice it for over an hour and you wanna know why! You ask, but the topic is brushed off. The splinter starts to grow. Am I not good enough for him/her to share the info with me? You need validation. Your pal's problem may not matter after that - it's between you 2 now.
Let's not even go that far. How about a new acquaintance that you meet? You find the person exciting to talk to. You see this person making good conversation with your other frenz. But will (s)he make it to the inner circle? And in comes the test! Its almost involuntary. You observe this person in different settings, with your frenz around, with just you alone, with other people, with strtangers - judging all the time.
In matters of lurv, it's gets even better, or worse if you prefer! You gotta watch every step, every syllable you utter, every excuse you make for not calling through the day(and god help you if you said you were too busy to call), even every call you don't make! There's a question lurking around every corner. And the stupidity of it all is that each one of us wants to pass all the tests. So we strive, we fall in love and we hope to rise. We fall to pitifull depths in an effort to please the other. We lose friends and even family at times. But we console ourselves it is all worth it. Most loves go through this phase. The next time you are going through one, pause and think about it. Passing the test is probably not worth the effort... or even the result - if it can only give you a claustrophobic existence.
However an intelligent conversation that unknowingly becomes a means of validation of another's intelligence and potential can be a positive form of such behaviour.
Yes, we all go through them and all of us subject others to them - all the time! Life is a series of Borsalino tests!
PS: The title was picked up from the novel Shantaram. Read it, if you haven't yet!
Latin anyone???
I have been fascinated by Latin - on and off, as I encounter interesting phrases used in movies, mags, books, etc. Some popular ones are...
Carpe Diem - Seize the day -- Definitely one of my favorites.
Mea Culpa - by my fault
Locus standi - the right to be heard in court
Magan cum laude - with great honour, usually with academic distinction
Quo vadis - where are you going?
Reductio ad absurdum - reduction to the absurd. Used as "proving the truth of a proposition by falsifying all the alternatives".
Veni, vidi, vici - I came, I saw, I conquered!
And then there are some rather interesting ones...
In vino veritas - in wine there is truth
Oh yeah baby, there's no denying that!
Memento mori - remember that you have to die!
Multus amicus, nullus amicus - A friend to all is a friend to none
Ye all who think life's a popularity contest, think again!
So I tried to translate some common phrases to latin, resulting in this...
Know yourself - Teneo vestri
You are not alone - vos es non unus
Life is beautiful - vita est decorus
Live like a king - ago amo a rex rgis
The truth is out there - verum est sicco illic
Made for each other - no pro invicem
Stop wasting your time - subsisto populatio vestri vicis
Get a life - adepto a vita
hello, why are you still reading? :P
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Web 2.0
Internet today, is different from the original Net. I am not even comparing it to ARPAnet, the network of defense systems that spawned the internet. That was merely a network of computers. That’s going a bit too far back. Just compare it to what the internet was a decade ago. The net that we see today, despite still being a network of computers, is much more than just that!
The early net was all about ease of communication. Email was the hottest thing then. Then came the era of double-clicks! Portals spawned everywhere. All they did was assimilate a summary of information on specific topics and provide you with a zillion different links to click your way to death. And by the time you were on your 10th click-through, you lost track of what you were looking for in the first place. You would start looking for information on nuclear disasters and end up on a breast-augmentation website.
And now we have Web 2.0. Yes, in hindsight, the tehnocrati of our wired world have labeled the original net as Web 1.0. Web 2.0 is all about collaborative computing using the web itself as a platform enabling everything else as web services. The shining stars of Web 2.0 are Google, Skype, Wikipedia, del.icio.us, Orkut, Flickr… you get the drift, right?
So what’s different? Well compare the above names to their peers from the bygone era – Google vs Altavista, Skype vs ???, Wikipedia vs Britannica, del.icio.us vs IE Favorites, Orkut vs ???, Flickr vs Ofoto. You see, some of them don’t even have comparables. Google’s adsense has blasted every other search engine out of the solar system. Skype turned the telecom industry on its head. Who goes to Britannica anymore? Where do you look for friends now – on Orkut or on Yahoo People Search? And sharing photographs was never so much fun as it is with Flickr. Every single one of them works on network effects! Their value is in the number of users. And its not surprising that all of them incidentally provide the highest levels of service too. Well, for more and more people to subscribe to a service, it has to be superlative. It has to be good enough to be recommended to friends and family!
Well, makes one wonder, what next??? Google, today, probably has more “relevant” data on you than you know about yourself. We store all our information online. We blog about ourselves and blogroll others. We tag others’ photographs and pages and leave comments everywhere. We have links leading back to us from every page that we visit. And everywhere there is a history about us – I think that’s a serious abuse of the word “history”. With all this info in the public domain, is it surprising that identity thefts are on the rise? Is the day too far when we may have intelligent machines gathering data on individuals and analyzing it in the name of customizing? And let us acknowledge that all of us want the convenience of single sign-on. How convenient would that be, as opposed to memorizing a gazillion user ids and pwds. Well, be glad that you don’t have a single sign-on coz that will put you at maximum risk. One theft of your ID and pwd and your life will not be the same again… just like that!
The early net was all about ease of communication. Email was the hottest thing then. Then came the era of double-clicks! Portals spawned everywhere. All they did was assimilate a summary of information on specific topics and provide you with a zillion different links to click your way to death. And by the time you were on your 10th click-through, you lost track of what you were looking for in the first place. You would start looking for information on nuclear disasters and end up on a breast-augmentation website.
And now we have Web 2.0. Yes, in hindsight, the tehnocrati of our wired world have labeled the original net as Web 1.0. Web 2.0 is all about collaborative computing using the web itself as a platform enabling everything else as web services. The shining stars of Web 2.0 are Google, Skype, Wikipedia, del.icio.us, Orkut, Flickr… you get the drift, right?
So what’s different? Well compare the above names to their peers from the bygone era – Google vs Altavista, Skype vs ???, Wikipedia vs Britannica, del.icio.us vs IE Favorites, Orkut vs ???, Flickr vs Ofoto. You see, some of them don’t even have comparables. Google’s adsense has blasted every other search engine out of the solar system. Skype turned the telecom industry on its head. Who goes to Britannica anymore? Where do you look for friends now – on Orkut or on Yahoo People Search? And sharing photographs was never so much fun as it is with Flickr. Every single one of them works on network effects! Their value is in the number of users. And its not surprising that all of them incidentally provide the highest levels of service too. Well, for more and more people to subscribe to a service, it has to be superlative. It has to be good enough to be recommended to friends and family!
Well, makes one wonder, what next??? Google, today, probably has more “relevant” data on you than you know about yourself. We store all our information online. We blog about ourselves and blogroll others. We tag others’ photographs and pages and leave comments everywhere. We have links leading back to us from every page that we visit. And everywhere there is a history about us – I think that’s a serious abuse of the word “history”. With all this info in the public domain, is it surprising that identity thefts are on the rise? Is the day too far when we may have intelligent machines gathering data on individuals and analyzing it in the name of customizing? And let us acknowledge that all of us want the convenience of single sign-on. How convenient would that be, as opposed to memorizing a gazillion user ids and pwds. Well, be glad that you don’t have a single sign-on coz that will put you at maximum risk. One theft of your ID and pwd and your life will not be the same again… just like that!
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