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Showing posts from August, 2010

The 5 craziest things that I’ve done!

Starting with, 1> Spending 42 out of 48 hours on the Southern Railways (Bangalore-Mangalore-Goa-Bangalore) to celebrate a friend’s birthday on the train (did I mention 37 hours in a general compartment?). 2> Bungee off a 180 feet crane with no safety measures at the bottom (it seemed funny till I read about a death in the same event a week later). 3> Wrote (and passed) 9 university exams in 8 consecutive days (and 15 in a month). 4> Travel from Noida to New Delhi Railway Station in 15 mins (luckily, I didn’t drive!). 5> Ride 800 kms in 2 days. Bangalore-Wayanad-Bangalore.      I should be able to follow this up with the craziest things that happened to me list. Not today.      “Ambiguity of language is philosophy's main source of problems. That is why it is of the utmost importance to examine attentively the very words we use.”

Time and Tide – Sorry, I’m late

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     “Punctuality is the virtue of the bored.” - Evelyn Waugh.      Someone once remarked that IST was originally an acronym for Indian Stretchable Time. Are we Indians so bad when it comes to respecting (more likely disrespecting) the value of time? Read on to unveil the greatest myth of the new era.      The discovery of time was the biggest mistake. Why do we need a device to measure (and magnify) our slowness? A large sect of today’s population has the notion that if you're there before it's over, you're well on time. And it’s true to a large extent. The reason being that no one important is ever present to appreciate your punctuality. As a kid, my teachers emphasized on the virtues of character, punctuality, discipline and etiquettes. Strangely enough, I’ve reported to half a dozen people in my corporate life. And only one of them stressed on punctuality (do I have to provide an explanation for the rest of them?).      My dad is very strict when it comes to punctual

Ethics Counts

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     "Character does count. For too long we have gotten by in a society that says the only thing right is to get by and the only thing wrong is to get caught. Character is doing what's right when nobody is looking..."      Whenever I touch upon this subject, it is with total contempt. We all make our share of mistakes (didn’t someone mention about erring as human, and forgiving as divine). Totally acceptable. But what if the act is manipulative and intended towards unwarranted gain. Are Ethics important in today’s competitive world where the sole purpose is to win?      My observations of the corporate scene have been highly thought provoking. It wouldn’t be surprising if I get a patent for my thoughts. To start off, let’s go back to the classroom definition of Ethics. Ethics (also known as moral philosophy) is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality — that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, justice, virtue, etc. It’

Defining Reality

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     “See, there were these two guys in a lunatic asylum...and one night, one night they decide they don't like living in an asylum any more. They decide they're going to escape! So, like, they get up onto the roof and there, just across this narrow gap, they see the rooftops of the town, stretching away in the moonlight...stretching away to freedom. Now, the first guy, he jumps right across with no problem. But his friend, his friend daren’t make the leap. Y'see...y'see, he's afraid of falling. So then, the first guy has an idea...He says 'Hey! I have my flashlight with me! I'll shine it across the gap between the buildings. You can walk along the beam and join me!' B-but the second guy just shakes his head. He suh-says... he says 'What do you think I am? Crazy? You'd turn it off when I was half way across!”      Do I watch TV? Well, not much. If I do, it’s either cricket (barring Mandy Bedi’s expert comments) or the weekly roundup of the Engli

Inception, Introspection and Deception

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     " Lo, you see the man is mad; why then have you brought him to me? Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence?" - Achish, King of Gath      I finally got to watch the movie that’s been keeping the audience around the world awake; ironically about dreams. After watching the movie a couple of days back, I actually thought it would make sense to read more about it. Like every other movie by Christopher Nolan, the movie capitulates to a certain magic woven by the script. For someone like me, sleep-deprived nocturnal, dreams are a faraway thing. Forget the inception of dreams, I can’t even dream of dreaming.      It’s a farce that when people can’t figure out a majority of the plot in a movie, they praise the direction, script, background music, Pepsi, popcorn and in some cases the nachos and salsa. I saw people do that with Memento, possibly with “the Butterfly effect” and most certainly with “Inception.” Someone even explained to

Yem Bee Yea

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     When someone asks you the question with a million dollar smile (the “would you fall in love with me” requires a traumatic constipated look) about your educational qualification/background, rest assured. It’s just another new kid on the block, bloating with pride about his acquisition of management practices. Or, as they portray it to the rest of the world.      Once upon a time (not in Mumbaai, of course!) even I wanted do an MBA (contrary to common statements, you can’t be an MBA – it’s only a degree). I was just another engineering student, didn’t see a future in software jobs (because my aggregate was like company appraisals, always below expectations), and most importantly didn’t see anything in life beyond the end of the 8th Semester (other than writing arrears/back papers/supplementary exams). It’s quite a farce that my arrears included the number of exams the University posted for the 4 year tenure. I joined TIME – people consider it to be the lamp, rub it and the genie po

Decade of Change

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     "All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another." ~Anatole France      10 years back. Seems like yesterday. Even more like a couple of hours back. I just returned from watching a movie at a multiplex for Rs. 300. The pepsi and popcorn weren't free, so had to pay for that as well. During the movie, my mind did a quick arithmetic flashback.      D Udaya Kumar was just another 21 year old who had just completed his engineering degree. The world will forever remember him as the individual who designed India's money symbol. But, what else  has changed in the last 10 years?      The beginning of 2000, depicted to be the end of the world and computers (remember Y2K) started off with a lot of expectations. To be a part of a new century, milennium was heralded as something great. It also evoked the dawn of a new era in India. One that echoed with a sol

Fraandship - I

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"Character is so largely affected by associations that we cannot afford to be indifferent as to who and what our friends are. They write their names in our albums, but they do more, they help make us what we are. Be therefore careful in selecting them; and when wisely selected, never sacrifice them."  -  M. Hulburd        Initially there was a friend, just one. As time passed by, more people came by and eventually a larger group of friends. With the advent of social networking sites (Orkut, Facebook, Twitter), we were able to classify our friends to various categories, best friends, bestest friends, good friends, acquaintances, neighbours, blah blah blah... It also gave rise to a new breed of friends, namely fraands. I wanted to separate post into two distinct parts, new friends and old ones. Part-II of this blog is intended for the various types of friendships that we maintain. Part- I previews internet induced friendships  fraandships.      (The following paragraph