The times they are a changing

I am an software engineer ergo I am the quintessential of the modern age. The spectacular quality of software industry is the constant change its undergoing. There are many layers to a software organization, much like an onion, and it is almost as essential. 

Speaking of change, everyone i know has read "who moved my chesse", about embracing change or shunning it. In a social world, embracing change is a good thing, it speaks volumes of your character and your adaptability as an individual. I have myself seen coming into the turbulent under-draft of a change. How we each respond to change decides on how we survive the ruffles. 

Pondering on this a little further I was able to convene my immaculate train of thought. If all we do is respond to change, we will only keep adjusting ourselves never actually getting ahead of the curve. There are many such examples I can quote, a few famous companies like toyota, accenture and apple; definitely not ford, they only respond to change. As we look at the world leaders and the successful elite many only aspire to be, a certain quality unbecoming us is we are attempting to ape. This is probably a quality imbibed into us by the many generations that we have left behind. An ability to engineer a change and foresee the magnificent future that lies ahead would partake analyses and depth only the  profound can envision.

The ever changing world around us will only let us play catch up until we rise above it and start looking at ways of controlling and engineering it. So to all those aspiring gates and jobs, dont try to follow in someones footsteps , dont''satisfy yourself with emrbacing change; take the few difficult steps and envision a future your mum would be proud of.

The Gre English guy syndrome

I think this might be a new term I have coined and someone will eventually conjure up a study on this. This title of the Gre English guy was not actually coined by me although the syndrome part was gracefully added and the recurring social phenomenon identified, probably I am the next Freud in making.

To explain this new "syndrome" I have to delve into a few finer details. I have the tendency to use a simple flow in my language using words as appropriate. Sometimes the usage of my vocabulary borders on the proverbial Cambridge scholar (I think the oxfords are a bunch of goofs). In effect over days of reading garbled nonsense on the internet and the times of India, my vocabulary and my keen sense of judgment has suffered major setbacks. I just might be rebuffed by the oxfords too now.

Coming back to the issue at hand, recently I took up the GRE, a test of your abilities to continue education. Anyone who has written or even remotely heard of the GRE has definitely heard of Barron's. I was set with the arduous task of roting the entire damned list of improbable words which would never be used any learned person in normal daily conversation. The grueling task which I was never able to complete found me a reputation among my friends; I was counted among the so called GRE English guys, although I would prefer to be associated with the English rather than the Americans.

Now anytime I use the remains of the vocabulary I have left, I am taunted with the title "The Gre English guy". The syndrome I have envisioned is when someone actually responds to the taunts with a dull and boring dawdle, trying to suppress the detritus remnants of their vocabulary.  

Year End Musings

The merriness and mirth about a new year is pompous. There are plans made up and torn down the next instant. There are parties to attend and people to wish. Many of whom i haven't talked to in a long time. The new years always a hectic time. There are people going away on vacations and a million things to do.

A new years mean a lot of resolutions and looking back on the year that was. A solemn year for me, a few wise learnings. As I look back on the year passing me by and planning for the wait of another year ahead; I can see a certain momentous charm running through me. A wry smile over the caprices I have not planned, the many journeys I would partake and a million memories I would make. The subtle hints of nostalgia are always under the surface. Another year gone by, another year to come; is the next year going to be at least as sane as this one?

Looking beyond the yonder, this new years though is quite different for me. There are no plans made, until now that it is. I am not wishing anyone I haven't talked to in a long time. I am leaving the manners in the proverbial shit hole, no keeping appearances or making pretenses. I am in for a long haul cozy up new year. A long break is in this year for me and I am looking forward to enjoying every moment of it.

Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying

As I took an day off from work and sat down to ponder upon the workings of my daily life, a strange feeling crept on me. I think it was part my existential angst and part all the tension that has built up following the app process. I felt the need to do something, shout out from the roof tops or take a hike to some mountain. It felt as if the days were moving very slow and somehow I had no clue how I arrived here.

As i reminisced about work i felt a queer sense of joy, the days when i was a ravaged maniac, trying to squeeze out minutes from every possible thing i did. In my current assignment things are smooth, no hectic schedules to keep up with or arguments over the right approach. Don't mistake me for one of those people who work all the time. I enjoy my free time as much if not more than the person next to me but when i am at work i like to work like there is no tomorrow or yesterday. As a matter of fact, when many of my friends who told me the days they lazed out at work, i thought wow that would be entertaining. How wrong was that notion?

Two years have gone by since i started working. Have these two years been great? You bet on it, they have been some of the best times. Still, i have no clue what i would be doing for the next 10 minutes, given the freedom from the society and culture. Probably i might take to travelling or music, but mostly i would be writing all the while. As i sat through and pondered i could only remember those famous words by andy from shawshank - "It comes down to a choice really. Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying"

The maharashtra elections last

This series of election last was abysmal for Indian politics. As I took the a swig at the morning coffee and switched on the news. I saw the blaring results at first. Not to say the least, I was disappointed. yet another loss for BJP. I could not fathom the levels the party had sunk to, from being a united front under vajpayee which ruled the country successfully for 5 years, first apart from the congress to do so.

What ensued after the election results was even more appalling. There was a hue and cry about the politicians buying their time on the telly and promoting themselves through the channels. Amazing to notice, it was the media which brought this to light. Now I may want to argue, this is probably a channel which did not get its fair share of the pie.

Leaving that discussion again for another day. The thing that astonished me the most, or probably what irked me enough to want to either nuke the politicians or vent myself here, is this "None of this, as some editors point out, is new. However, the scale is new and stunning." This from an article in the Hindu. If nothing ever upset me about Indian politics and media, this would.What do yo mean by none of this is new? You knew that politicians were lying and deceiving before and never brought that to light? If it was upto me i would have those editors flogged and fined and flogged again. The politicians, not to spare them any embarrassment, have the editors flog these guys in turn.

Dear god man, if this was my source of information on the politicians, how would i ever trust it and go in to vote. If my image of the indian politics was that of a whore house this event surpassed all imaginations. Integrity seems to be a lost virtue in todays politics.

Rahman at it again

The amazing AR Rahman composed and produced the couples retreat soundtrack

http://www.couplesretreatsoundtrack.com/

The eternal dream

There are some fundamental changes that need to be brought about in matters relating to the state of affairs in the Indian government. Everyone agrees the change is happening but the pace at which it is happening is slow and at times as decrepit as the people who run the government. The fresh blood that is enthused into the system might be able to change a few things, but it is too little. I have heard arguments, "slow and steady wins the race", "this is how India works". The daft pricks don't realize the need of the hour to reach out and take a step to make reforms when they are possible and move towards a better governance and legislature.

The little good that is happening and the projects that are coming up are because there is a stiff opposition and a very healthy competition in the political system. The way things are looking though, that competition might be easily washed away in the turmoil and the aggrandized egos. The opportunity would be lost to make amends to the ailing democracy and bring in a change that would foster a healthy system for the coming years.

The alibi against the democracy

I have been wanting to write on the indian democracy system for a long time now.

For the start, we have an innumerable number of parties. Taking a count, we might account for almost 10% of our population as politicians in some way or the other. Quite fascinating, right. In some thought i have always been fond of taking up politics myself. The myriad number of parties and their promotions, the varieties of causes each one fights for. It is actually amazing they are not trying to take one another out. The civilized underhanded dealings, and the absolute corruption of the system. The indian democratic system is deplorable at its best and a hideous monster at its worst.

Coming to it, ours is supposed to be the worlds biggest democracy (just beacuse China chose communism). As the worlds biggest democracy is it not our chargin to set an example for other countries to follow. There are serious amendments needed in the functioning of the government. We have a very weak foreign policy and even pathetic domestic policy. The healthcare system is non existent. The infrastructure is woeful. The education system is in doldrums. So whats the good part you might ask.

Well much in part thanks to our selfless leaders, the poor never get a chance to become rich. The rich never get a chance to become poor. The middle class stays middle class. The economy is growing for the last decade thanks to the god knows whom. The people of the Republic of India are clueless about the government workings. There are no agitations or strikes for or against a bill. First time i saw a hue and cry was for the reservation bill. Im still wondering how we decided to agitate against the reservation bill. The whole parliment wastes their time in the lok sabha and i still couldnt figure out what the rajya sabha did. Our current president is more interested in flying planes than cleaning up our roads. Our chief ministers are being held ransom by rouge MLAs. So what exactly does work for the indian democracy?

I remember my social sciences teacher announcing proudly in my school, INDIA is the worlds BIGGEST DEMOCRACY, and it made me feel proud. Today, I am not so sure I would share that sentiment.

Tata Motors - going places

Yes, Tata motors, the old indian company has a slew of new offerings up its sleeve.

On the first take of course the much hyped nano makes its debut into the market. Its small is the first thing you notice. It is obviously cheap, runs on petrol. Alas, has only one windscreen wiper. I am truly appaled at that. It might be cost saving, but come on. One more wiper is not asking for too much. All in all kudos to mr Ratan for making the worlds cheapest car. The questions of durability of course arise and all be unvieled in a course of time.

On the other end of the globe, we see the launch of the new jaguar XJ. Killer looks, monster power, and amazing luxury. A package for kings. The best part is, its also available in india. Not the all new XJ, but the XF and the supercharged XFR. The spec sheets would blow your mind on the XFR. The 5 litre V8 to quench any thirst you might have. A tremendous 500 HP to get your roaring like a lion(or more precisely the Jaguar). A violent 625Nm torque, to get the wind in your air. A top speed of 250 kph, 0-60 in 4.7 and 0-100 in 4.9. I am sure you will get noticed wherever you take this prized possesion out. The only problem is the huge downpayment on your loan and insurance.

We still haven't seen the landrover site in an indian version. I cant wait to see these meanies on the road.

Note: All facts and figures quoted from http://www.jaguar.in/default.asp

Top 10 things to do on a weekend

10. Go to office to complete your work

9. Bring home the much needed food.

8. Strum your guitar

7. Try writing your blog (after clearing out the cobwebs)

6. Catch up on some old friends

5. Watch a movie (not alone)

4. Play some cricket

3. Read something

2. Go out for dinner

1. SLEEP

"If you have nothing better to do in life, make a list."

The thing about federer

This wimbeldon was a little less fetching for me with Nadal out of the reckoning to defend his title. I must say Federer was good, so was Roddick and the finals were fantastic. The drop shots from Federer were subtle and the serving from Roddick was en route to making him a champion.

The final game was long enough. going into a five setter and finishing with 30 games in the last set. It was entertaining, the flashes of brilliance from both players some spectacular serving and dicey tie breakers. I much rather prefer the serve and volley game with a lot of rallies, but this was, albeit a total exposition of the modern tennis game.

There were many oooh aaah moments on the court. There were many points where I simply got bored. The endless serving without break points, and the break points not converted. There was a point when i thought, "Oh god! let this end". I am sure i will there will be differing views on this.

The thing about roddick's game, he relies on his serve. He's probably the best serve out there, but come on we all remember philipousis. Having a complete game is essential to be the champ. My heart goes out to Roddick, he gave it his all, his best game probably and still ended up losing the title.

Federer on the other hand is an all round player. His technique is a gift and his strokes are treasures themselves. But still, as I saw Federer moving to victory and collect his trophy, the thing i could think of was "this dude was crying the last time around"(Not that I am holding it against him). It has to be said winning the roland garros this season was quite the shock for him and me. I never expected him to play his way out and win at the start of the tournament. Kudos to him on that and of course on the 15th slam with wimbledon getting him to the history books. If rafa was there things would probably have been different. Definitely looking forward to the US Open now.

The wars we fight

In today’s world people fight with their neighboring countries, their neighboring states and cities. People wage wars on trivial issues like land. If you want to wage a war wage it against drugs, wage it against pollution, wage a war against cancer, and wage a war to stop all meaningless wars.

In my lifetime I have seen the Israel-Palestine war, the India Pakistan war, the iraq war, the lankan conflict, not to forget the afghan war, the gulf war and the nam. Many of these wars are trivial to the point where some stupid trigger happy bloke decided today let me sacrifice a few hundred lives. If only the vanity could be seen by our dear politicians.

There is a sensitive topic of war against terrorism. You have to understand that a war against terrorism will only instigate more wars. The terrorists will be infuriated they will attack someone; we will attack them in retaliation. This will be a nonstop ping pong game until the hand playing it gets tired. As one man aptly put it “An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.”

So should we not fight terrorism? No, we should, we should fight it with humanity, with compassion, with education and awareness. If you actually understand the motives behind these terrorists, most of them feel they are heroes giving lives and taking lives for a cause much greater than themselves.

We need to educate people to what terrorists are, and how they destroy the fabric of the society. They are not heroes but fools. If we can achieve this we would have won the war.Wars like these which test your humanity and patience are always more difficult to fight.

"In Life we can either win or lose, there is no such thing as participation."

Time for a change

What makes the humans different from other species?

I could take a 3 part series, talk about the different species on this earth, move around to possible existence of martians. For the sake of your mental well being i shall spare these for other whole posts.

Getting to the point quickly, I feel the difference is our ability to change and make changes. We have the ability to change the future for ourselves and our future generations. The change I am talking about here is not the run of the mill, fairy tales selling the new novels by the dozen.(read the twilight saga here)

The right people doing the right things will be a major consideration here, especially when it comes to people with power. We cannot change ourselves if we do not see the mistake we made. Turning a blind eye and having confidence is one thing. To have the diffidence and being ignorant will get us nowhere. The whole society is a fabric held together by many threads. Threads of fraternity, religion, neighborhood, money, power, etc. The most important thread of them all is humanity. Without that we would just perish.

When you actually think about it, this is what is missing the most in today’s world. We have schools teaching us to be great politicians, great mathematicians, great economists, great scientists, great doctors but I don’t see a school teaching us to be great human beings.

When the recession hit the US all I thought was "Ok, so now what is going to happen to my job. How can I make progress in such a bad economy?" This might be basic human instinct for survival or maybe my pure selfishness; you can be the judge of that.

I never thought of what is going to happen to the millions of people in US, what will happen to their jobs, their families. How emotionally distraught they would be looking at their economy in turmoil, with an uncertain future. Once this thought sprung to my mind I felt bad, not for the US citizens or myself but for the society.

Are we this helpless as a society that we will not help someone in their time of need? Will we take up any opportunities to seek our progress even at the stake of others misery?

"In a world of angels and demons which one are you."