IF...

Ohh My GOD...!

I remember reading this poem a loong loong time ago... around the time i discovered 'The Jungle Book' and its creator Rudyard Kilping... I remeber being wowed by it...

I stumbled uopn this poem years later... and now... I am absolutely floored by it... I even gor a video naration of the poem (Only wish he had done the ending a little differnet though)

The poem then...

IF

By Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

The Video Here

Mumbai... The place to be...!

Technorati Tags: Mumbai,city,bangalore,hyderabad,life,living

An old line from a Javed Jaffery song... Mum-bhai!

Mumbai has long since been the city of dreams in India... a city that has been the epicenter of all 'happening'... A city which has been described with such passion that few other cities have managed to gather... a city - where the denizens are passionate in their cry of 'Amchi Mumbai'...

Friends from Mumbai are passionate about their city... this seems to be a common thread amongst all of them... I always wondered what it was that the city had that set it off from other cities... what was the sprit of Mumbai...?

I have lived in Hyderabad and Bangalore and consider myself to be part Bangalorean and part Hyderabadi... these cities are close to my heart... but a few days ago - when I set foot in Mumbai, I think I realized what it was that made Mumbai...

Mumbai is organic... it is a mixture of extremes... everything in Mumbai is '0' or '1'... there is no in-between... it is the mixture of these 0s and 1s that gives the illusion of flavors...

Let me explain...

The extremes... people are caring... people don't give a Damn... There is a slum right next to a set of 5 star hotels... people in Audis try to squeeze past the auto rickshaws... regardless of your CTC - the trains are a good way to travel... It is Hot... it is Cold... It is crowded... it has open spaces... It is cunning... it is innocent... It is gross... it is beautiful... it is busy... it is relaxed... it has finance... it has dreams...

In Mumbai you have to micro-belong... you HAVE to have an affiliation... you have to belong either to the audi club or the rickshaw club.. you have to belong to the vada-pau club or the Hyaat club... but you have to belong to these clubs... it is the permutations and combinations that provides the flavor...

It is these permutations and combinations that makes each Mumbai-ite unique yet similar in spirit to each other... each of them is a different set of characteristics... but because of the complexities.. they are bound together in the complexities... Bound together by the sprit of being Mumbai-ites...

Life is living in Mumbai...

Mumbai is organic... You cannot afford to ignore Mumbai while in Mumbai... You are 'wakif' with the city as long as you are there... It demands that of you...

In Bangalore... you can live in Jayanagar and work at ITPL travel 30-40 Kms on a daily basis and never be affected by what happens in... say, R.T Nagar... Hell you might never even know where the hell R.T Nagar is...!

In Hyderabad... well it is a little more complex there... you are familiar with areas there... the area where you grew up... the area where you went to college... the area where you haunt the food joints... you know the pulse of these areas... the rest of it disappears off the map... they don't much exist for you... and sometimes when you visit a new area - it is a very foreign experience.

Mumbai I felt the urge to belong... and yet to stand aloof...

Baz Luhrmann in his 'Sunscreen' urges "... Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft..."

Mumbai is both... live in Mumbai... but keep a watch out for your soul... if it flies free in the diversity of its experiences... stay... else you will never leave...

Love

-A

The Sound of Thunder

I travel a long distance to work... I am thinking a LOT of random thoughts on the way... 

Scene... Bangalore in the morning... riding my gorgeous bike to work... traffic lights... Bangalore has a pretty long wait time at some signals... 2-3 minutes... and since there is pretty much nothing to do at that time... the devil comes out to play...

I ride a 500cc Enfield Machismo to work.. and though this machine is muted compared to other (earlier) bikes from the same stable... it is pretty loud compared to a lot of the plastic stuff out there... Advantage One...

Standing in a traffic light... eveyone has their vehicles on idiling... and are driving/riding to work almost on auto-pilot... I doscovered one thing... the collective energy levels of the crowd at the signal is a function of the noise levels... the more the noise... the more the activity (energy)..

so... I tried a small activity... everyone is on Idle... and suddenly... out of nowhere... I raise my machine and let her roar a litte... almost immediately... bikes and cars rush into action... bikes budge forward to fill up spaces... cars inch ahead trying to get ahead... I just stand there watching... then they realise it was a false alarm and get back to they sedentary poses.... 

I tried this at various junctions and at all times of the day/night... it works EVERYTIME... Without fail...

What could this mean? why this collective behaviour? Why does this happen?

I have a few thoughts...

One... people dont really want to drive (or drive in bangalore) and are looking to disengage at every chance they can get... traffic signals create that oppurtunity... what does this mean? people are not alert at signals... and immeditely when they start off from signals... they are liable to not be completly aware...

Two... as a UX (User Experience)... traffic signals are tedious... they dont meet unsaid needs of the users... they are bad design... Traffic Signals were originally meant to be short stop solutions to clearing traffic... they were never intended to be an experince like this... We should look at redesigning the traffic signal experience... and immediately...

Three...vehicles were initially designed to move... they were designed to be be means of transport... they were designed to be in motion... then somewhere down the line.. they were also designed to look good standing...  but look at it this way... who designed them to be at traffic lights? NO ONE!... they are just NOT designed to be running (engine) and standing at a signal with riders/drivers on/in them...! I think automotive designers need to rethink this as a paradim in automotive design... any takers?

Lastly... entertainment systems need to be deigned to fill this gap... I think design has become feature oriented and not purpose oriented... rethink this peoples!!! design should ALWAYS be purpose oriented...

Cheers!!!

-A

WE ARE FRIENDS... WITHOUT FACES

I received this as a forward from a  (without face) friend and thought it was so true..

So to all ye reading my blog... this one is for you.

 
We sit and we type, and we stare at our screens,
We all have to wonder, what this possibly means.
 
With our mouse we roam, through the rooms in a maze,
Looking for something or someone, as we sit in a daze.
 
We chat with each other, we type all our woes,
Small groups we do form, and gang up on our foes.
 
We wait for somebody, to type out our name,
We want recognition, but it is always the same.
 
We give kisses and hugs, and sometimes flirt,
In IMs we chat deeply, and reveal why we hurt.
 
We do form friendships - but - why we don't know,
But some of these friendships, will flourish and grow.
 
Why is it on screen, we can be so bold,
Telling our secrets, that have never been told.
 
Why is it we share, the thoughts in our mind,
With those we can't see, as though we were blind.
 
The answer is simple, it is as clear as a bell.
We all have our problems, and need someone to tell.
 
We can't tell "real" people, but tell someone we must,
So we turn to the 'puter, and to those we can trust.
 
Even though it is crazy, the truth still remains,
They are Friends Without Faces, and odd little names

Update - Apparently this is a poem by Thomas Teague -thanks @punkpolkadots

Happy New Year...!!!

And so... we have begun a new year... wow... another one!? really!? :O

2008 was a weird year to say the least... one of the most 'happening' years so to speak... in retrospect of course...

While it was still on... it seemed to be particularly boring... but somehow... somewhere things were continiously happening... and in hindsight... I seem to have had a pretty interesting year...

Do you feel that too?

What does this tell us? many things... but one thing that screems itself loud and clear is to never underestimate Gaea... she has something or the other up hew sleev... and without your expecting... without your knowing... Boom! it is already done... :)

So... 2009... here you are you beautiful babe... come with me dhalin... we have loads to do...!!!

Happy new year folks... keep well... GodSpeed :)