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 :)

WooHoo!! Here is the new-look ME!!

Well Junta... here it is... the new look me...!

Well atleast with a new - shorter hair cut :)

Why I did it...? I have no answer... I just got up one fine morning and said... what the hell! lets get it cut...

The entire thing took less than 15 minutes...

Seven years of long hair... and 15 minutes was all it took to become but just memories...

But... Am Happy... :)

Love

-Abhi

The deed is done!

I did it... finally!

Sometime late 2001 I started experimenting with my hair styles... and end
2002 decided to grow it long...

While in engineering I was always - The big fat guy with the long hair, who
rides a Yezdi...

The Yezdi is lying in my garage, unused... I am still big/fat and had long
hair...

Yeap... you got it right... HAD! :)

It is all gone!... all of it... back to a short hair cut now....

The moment of truth... (yea... I really had shoulder length hair)

Stay tuned for the updated pictures...!!

26 and Life is A-changing

I turned 26 recently... I am officially on the longer side of the 20s and for the first time in my career... I am not the kid in the team... :)
Yaaayy!!

But is there any difference? I am not too sure...

But life is going to change for sure... I have recently bought a new place that I am very exited about moving into... it is a decent sized 2BHK in Padbhanabhanagar, Bangalore.

Presently with the woodwork and the painting in progress - Hopefully I should be in the new place..

Her name is VYNA (why-na) and it is a Kannada/Marathi root word which means 'mesmerizing', 'beautiful' or just 'nice' (depending on usage)...

I am spooked about this place... I mean I need to choose colors and all... and that is definitely not my forte...
What I see in my imagination somehow never translates into real life colors... but what the hell... I am going to go ahead and live the vida-loca... :)

More ahead... await the finished pics :)

Making a difference

Mumbai... 3 days of utter chaos and confusion - 3 days of making Indians all over sit up; shocked, frustrated and perhaps fuming a little. In the days that followed; people suddenly woke up and wanted to know what happened? How can something like this happen!? How did the government let something like this happen!? we really cant trust the government! let us do SOMETHING and make a difference.
Suggestions on what needs to be done have been floating around since... make Mumbai (and other cities) state-cities, increase spending on internal defense, buy more posh weapons... what not...!!!
The problem with all these approaches is that it does not solve any problem... you are only looking at different ways to fight... but not solve... the problem does not go away or anything.
People also have this sudden desire to 'do something' 'make a difference' 'create a tidal wave of change' and whatnot!?! but because everyone wants to something drastic (which we cannot do) we eventually go back to our grumbling selves complainig about the 'pathetic state of affairs' and 'the horrible government procedures'...
True... each time disaster strikes it brings with it a batch of converts who are actually doing stuff; but to a large majority of us - it makes us little more than arm chair activists.

So... the question now is... what will make a difference? How do we actually create a change?

One thing that crossed my mind when all this was happening was - the nature of coverage. That same weekend, a former prime minster died, a cyclone wrecked havoc on Chennai and parts of South India; but somehow escaped the gaze of national media? why? what made this event so 'special' (need a better word here) that all other news was JUST NOT covered?

Bombs went off in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmadabad and where not... sure they were all covered... but never to this degree... people were taken hostage earlier but that too did not bring in the same interest in coverage... What changed this time?

I believe that there were a couple of factors here... firstly (and most importantly) Mumbai is the information/news capital of India... forget anything else... this is Mumbai's single most important product.
When terror struck; it was automatically put into limelight and brought before the world... news channels managed to stay on topic for 60 hours straight... a record in these days... nothing else seemed to matter...except that mumbai was under attack... Frankly... more than the terrorists themselves... i think the media succeeded in spreading terror... when a terror attack happens - the act perse is often not half as horrible as its ability to linger and play on the minds of people who did not experience it...

This is what the media has done... spread it... and along with 'reporting' they also managed to shout and screem at the cameras and spread emotions, fan it worldwide...

What happened in Mumbai was a heinous act by a bunch of crazed psyched guys... and should never have happened... I do not for a moment say otherwise... but there is a difference between reporting and fanatic sensationalizing an event... a news channel has to stick to reporting else they are liable to create more damage than the terrorists themselves....

I believe in the strength of the free estate... freedom of the presses... we need to know what is happening around the world... news and views and everything... but there is a thin line between 'reporting and fanatic sensationalizing'... and I think what creates a crossover is.... MONEY

People made money from this terror... like it or not... and this money was made by the 'good' guys... The baddies were in it for ideologies and a false sense of righteousness or whatever... the good guys made the money... the innocents were victims... as always...

Now... this kind of gives me an idea what if we remove the excessive cash flow from these media channels? keep the revenue from advertising and stuff... but remove the fatty revenue... Stop the revenue from SMSes...

SMSes.. I believe has provided the system with more money than it knows how to handle - 3-6Rs from each and every person who has an opinion and a mobile... a country of over a billion and the revenues from the bottom of the pyramid are HUGE... TV shows (reality shows)... News channels... Radios and more are able to make revenues that makes the quality of the programming almost redundant... all these media seem to be gravitating towards making more money... not better programming... When Money speaks it has the loudest voice... and it seems to be making mincemeat of every other value system there is...

What I would suggest is... If a media wants my opinion.. I should not have to pay for it... Ideally the 'asker' should be paying for it... or at the very least... It should be free... What organistion will pay the client to take its opinion... esp when the organization has nothing to gain from it?

Think about it... With the flush money gone... news channels will have to go back to making sound programming to sustain itself... true... some might resort to more sensationalism initially... but it will not sustain... never had... never will... SOme major players might close down... but the ones that sustain will not ever be a carrier of distrust... the equations will have to change...

Ever notice... whenever we speak of the negatives of an Indian evert (or even its positives) we seem to use the same cliched phrases? we are getting this from the media...

PLease people... let us not be lead blindly by them... think for yourself... ask questions around... learn to make your own opinions...

ALL Pakistanis are NOT bad... even if the terrorists were indeed pakis (which no1 has proof for) then they were 10 pakistanis... not a nation of pakistan... we cannot choose to hate an entire nation (or religion) based on 10 representatives...  I am sure we will find the same proportion of fundamentalists amoungst ourselves also... Be not a pawn but be the path... be yourself... and be aware...

What can I do about the SMS Idea..? at the end of the day... perhaps nothing... but I WILL NOT hate... I will not carry with me the negative emotions... I will choose to be happy... I will choose to spread the happy energy :)

keep well mates... Life is good... Gaea is there :)

love
Abhi

What Now Brown Cow?

Hey blog...
I have been busy...
busy thinking... pretending to think...
busy working... pretending to work...
busy living... pretending to live...
Been busy... pretending to be busy...

Actually I have been thinking...about a lot of things...
About the kind of image I portray to the world around me... about the kind of person I come across to all those non-existent people who are figments of my imagination... (Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams)...
I have been thinking about communication... and effective communication...
I have been thinking about Relationships... and Stereotypes in relationships...
I have been thinking about Mumbai... and the cycle of Karma...
I have been thinking about finding the question to 'life, the universe and everything' (the answer should be 42 remember?).. and thus ending existence as we know it...
I have even been thinking about thinking itself... and how it often limits us in our actions...

I have been thinking... I need some new energy... Maybe I ought to write.... write a book perhaps... not with the intent to publish... but with the intent to get some clarity in thought...

I am trying out the new scribefire extension to firefox... bloggin from within the browser...
What now... brown cow..?