~ My Journey ~~

Swami Dayananda Saraswathi's 80th Bday

2009-10-20T01:27:00.001-07:00

I happened to attend to this function yesterday in Kamarajar arangam. Though I was initially weary, considering the distance and the traffic, I persuaded myself to go.
It was indeed time well spent.
I could hear so many stalwarts like Dr.Padma subramanian, Avvai Natarajan, Venu srinivasan and finally Swamiji himself. Some salient points from guests' addresses :
a) HIndu dharma /sanathana dharma is ageless and doesn't have one text and god, like some other religions. It has numerous texts and sages. And it has never claimed to be the most superior and tried to establish it through force.
b) Swamiji has started a school for Odhuvars, to propogate devaram and thiruvasagam.
c)Swamiji has done yeomen service to spread hindu dharma.
d) Swamiji has guided Latha Rajnikanth in setting up her Ashram School, and has given a lot of ideas to make schools more rooted in our ancient wisdom.

Now some points from Swamiji's speech :
a) Humans attain heights when they are present at the right place at the right time. I happened to be so. One cannot plan to be at the right place and time. There are so many variables and humans can't control that. Due to blessings and grace alone, one can be at right moments.
b)We should protect our dharma not by preching it, but by living it. We have this great duty , more so now as there's a lot of evil forces acting to disrupt our religion.

Another trip to trichy

2009-09-22T22:58:00.000-07:00

I went on yet another trip to temples around trichy between 19/9-21/9, combining with a medical check up.

19/9
We arrived at trichy at 6.30 AM and reached our relative's house at around 7 AM.
It has rained heavily the previous day and the weather was so welcoming.
We quickly got ready for the long day ahead of us, had breakfast and reached Srirangam by around 9.30. On the way, we bought flowers to offer at temples through the day, at a flower bazaar near srirangam temple. Boy, what a variety of flowers at very nominal prices ! In a short while, I resembled Santa , carrying back a huge bag of various flowers like lotus, rose, vrukshi, marikozhundu, thulasi,arali etc.
We entered Srirangam temple at 9.30 and felt blessed to have a darshan on PurattAsi's 1st saturday. Ranganathar was covered with oil-was called thaila kaapu, and hence we could have darshan of his chest and upwards. Post-darshan, we sat in the prakaram and I was singing some songs on the god and my wife did some rAma japam. Interestingly, as soon as she completed her japam, a boy aged 9 ran towards her and offered her some kalkandu !! Well, we both felt so blissful at this event and believed the Ranganathar gave an instant acknowledgement of her japam. We visited other sannidhi's like Ramar(There were 3 ramar sannidhi's in the temple), thaayar, Dhanvantri, ChakrathazhvAr. narasimhar and set out to Thiruvaanaikovil at 11.30Am.

We reached just in time for uchi kAla puja,when the priest dressed up like a woman and offers puja at the Siva shrine, symbolizing the goddess offering puja to the lord. This is a unique feature in this temple.
We bought special tickets and hence could have a very nice darshan of the god and the goddess.
I really loved the exquisite sculpture of this temple and it looked so fresh.
Interestingly, I found a sculpture of women playing violin, just above the god's shrine.
Also, the navagrahas all stand pointing towards Sun , which is special.
I felt like learning more songs to sing on such occasions and I wish it happens soon.
We reached home at 1.30.
We had taken an auto for the whole trip and he charged 250Rs for the whole trip, including the waiting period. But while dropping us, he started to make a fuss about having waited so long etc and started quarelling. Well, after such wonderful darshan's , I didnt want to argue for a mere 30 bucks and hence dispensed it immly.
IN the evening we set out for Uchi pillayar temple.
We again took an auto and reached the temple at 4.30. There was a beatiful kolu waiting for us in the temple. Next, we visited a pallava rock temple on the way to Thayumanavar swami.
Just like the last trip, thaumanavar sannidhi made my mind still and peaceful.
It was quite dark by then and hence we couldn't take many snaps along the way.
We finished uchi pillayar koil, descended by around 7.30 PM, did some shopping and reached home at 9PM. End of a nice day !

20/9
Today we again set out to Ranganathar temple with huge bag of flowers. As my wife gave a handful of Tulasi and flowers to Chakarathazhwar, the priest was happy and gave her a big bunch of neelothphalam flowers asking her to distribute it to others ! Was an interesting moment :).
Today I didn't feel like standing in the Q so I sat in the outer prakaram and was singing . Eventually, my wife too joined me as the crowd was mad ! So we set out to other shrines.
Today there was a sahasranamam archanai going on in the Dhanvantri sannidhi. Our flowers were used instantly, which was satisfying !
After covering all shrines, we bought some prasadam.

We reached Jambukeswaram by 12.15 and today the darshan was wonderful.
After finishing Jambunathar shrine, we bought a 25Rs tkt for the amman shrine and we sat in front of the ambal for a gud 20 mins . Trick is, since we sat, the security cudnt spot us and push us out ! Ofcourse, this was divine will mainly :) . After a satisfying morning session, we reached home by 1.45 PM for lunch.
We set out to Main guard gate for an evening full of shopping . we visited the kolu sale, had jigir thanda in a hotel, got some snaks, clothin etc. I got a metal daaya kattai, which was the purchase of the day ! We reached home by 8.30 after a great day.

21/9
Siruvachur(Missed makalipuram), samayapuram, gunaseelam, vayalur, ayyappan, nachiar, urayur, kallukuzhi, giri exhibition

Pilgrimage around Trichy [15/7/09 - 18/7/09 ]

2009-08-13T04:40:00.000-07:00

More details coming up :
Day 1 :
Ranganathar, Akilandeswari Uchikala puja
Nerur

Day 2 :
Ranganathar, uchi pillayar, nachiar koil, Akilandeswari amman
Day 3 :
Uthamar koil, Narasimhar koil, Thiruvellarai, Samayapuram

KJ Yesudas Concert

2009-08-12T20:21:00.000-07:00

Attended my first KJY concert !!! Huhoo !!
Needless to say, it was superb.
It was on the occasion of the 12th Gollapudi Srinivas award. There were some stars in the hall like PBS , P.Susheela, YG Mahendran fmly , KJ Yesudas' fmly etc, but the real highlight was actress Rekha and the gorgeous Shruthi Hassan's anchoring. It was very nice.
And I felt quite inspired to see Resul pookutty, given that he used to walk 8KM to reach school daily and study under kerosene lamp etc. What hard work and grit , all the way up to Oscars !! Salute !! Iam highly driven by his life !!

But my prime interest in the event was the concert of KJY and here's the list of songs he sang :
1.Vanajaaksha (Varnam)
2.Gajananayutham Ganeshwaram[Dikshitar kriti , chakravaham]
3.Endaro mahanubavulu[Sri Ragam, Thyagarajar ]
4.Pavana guru pavana [ Hamsanandi composition by Purandara dasar]
5.Kannan yen karuppu niram [Malayalam song]
6. Kondalalo nelakonna [Annamayya's song]
7.Hindustani song on lord krishna on same raga as above [not sure of the name ]
8.Ayyappa song on yemani pogaduthuve annamayya song's raga in telegu
9. Krishna nee begane baaro
10.Harivarasam , to end the concert.

Was quite memorable !!

Ignite Chennai

2009-08-10T23:11:00.000-07:00

I happened to attend this community event on 7th Aug in Thoughtworks auditorium.
Got to know about this thru thoughtworkers.com.
I reached the venue by 5.45PM, but the event started about 15 mins late, at 6.15 PM.
In this time interval, I could have networked with some people, but somehow didnt have the mood.
I think the event was well organized.
Its just an oratory event, where each participant can present on any decent topic under the sun, for 5 mins.
There were all sorts of topics ranging from 'how to present', ' marathons', 'go green','j2ee refresher'(!!) etc, but I like the way the topics were sequenced.
The ice breaking opening talk was 'how not to mess up a prezo' and it was quite funny and drew good applause.
We went to a T break at 7.45PM and the talk before the break was ice breakers. As I'd expected, it was a game and not a talk.
The whole crowd had to think of a number from 1-5 and have to do grouping based on the number they thought "without talking" and just handshaking. IT was god fun.
My classmate Siddi talked on "All projects are maintenance projects and quoted a nice book "Software conflicts 2.0".
The last session was about how important were accompanying instrumentals in a song and how we easily overlook them.
Finally all speakers were given an unique momento- A bamboo sapling, as it absorbs a lot of carbon from the atmosphere. And they were distributed by the security guard- Great gesture , this !
Not to forget, the snak in the break was superb. Samosa, cutlet and some chipss !!
Have to attend more of such in future and develop more friends in such communities !

Journey of excellence

2009-06-07T08:54:00.000-07:00

I happened to meet my Prof a couple of weeks back and some of us Alumni had a long chat with him. He caught up with the kind of work we were doing and we had a highly informal chat where he spoke about the way he worked, his hobbies , his childhood etc. That in itself was a great blessing for me, as he's one of the people whom I look upto in life, in addition to Sachin, Vishy and ARR.
So meandering along many topics, he shared something with us, which is worth writing in gold !
He had a meeting with the CEO of SWATCH group, the leading swiss watchmaker and he had asked the CEO about how they are able to be the top in the world and the CEO immediately took him on a ride to Alps. My prof was shown the watch making shops along ALPS and asked him to guess how long would it take to make a watch ?! My Prof posed the same question to us alumni and we shot some figures.
The answer is 3years !
Well, each watch piece is a piece of art for the workers and they get so very involved in it that it gets elevated to an art-piece status !
So the message from my pose was "Try to get deeply involved in whatever you do that it gets elevated to a piece of art" !
I think we know a lot of things and even this funda must be known already . But then some messages get an added import when its delivered by a special person and as they say, "It had arrived".
Let the journey of excellence reign !!
Thathasthu !

My pilgrimage around Kumbakonam

2009-04-13T20:32:00.000-07:00

My first post in the new year ! And happens to be an account of my pilgrimage ! :)

Here goes :

27, March

----------

We reached Chidambaram by 4AM and rested for a while before starting to temples at 8.30 AM. We visited the thillai kali temple first , followed by Nataraja temple.

I wanted to show the ratnasabapathi abhishekam to my wife and hence reached the temple quite early. We stood in front of Natarajar for quite long and luckily there was no impact of the govt take over of the temple on the ease of darshan. We offered rose garland to the god and goddess.

We finished all the sannadhi's and came back near Nataraja's shrine and to my utter joy, the rathnasabapathi was uncased and placed on the peetam for abhishekam at the exact moment of our arrival ! Quite surprising ! And we witnessed a wonderful abhishekam and stood quite close to the abhishekam water canal and hence could collect the theertham at will.

As a climax of this ritual, karpuram is offered to god both at the front and back side . When the karpuram is placed at the backside, the nataraja-made out of rathnam, looks as if the statue was made of fire flame ! And though rathnam is supposed to be a tough crystal, the carving looks so intricate ! Superb stuff !

After this , I was a little sad that I coudldn't show the spatika lingam abhishekam to my wife and we we were about to start, the spatika lingam was uncased and placed outside for abhishekam ! Wow !! It was for the next kaalam puja ! Again we witnessed it from close quarters and got anna prasadam[few morsels of rice] after anna abhishekam.

Wow ! What a deeply satisfying visit !

We started out to Sirkazhi temple at 3.30PM,followed by Vaitheeswaran temple, Senthankudi durgai[near Mayuram] and Vallalar temple[ near Mayuram,famous Medha dhakshinamurthy temple].

We stayed at Mayuram for the night.

28 March

--------

It was an eventful day, we started out with Vaanamutti perumal temple at 7AM, where the statue of god is made of athi maram-type of tree and it was about 14ft tall and very beautiful !! Next came Kathiramangalam{Vanadurgai-very powerful shrine], Kanjanur[Sukran sthalam],Thirumanancheri[Supposed to visit this temple for getting blessed with marriage soon] , Thirumangalakudi[Have to visit this before suryanar temple - Place where all navagrahas god freed of their curse - Place where mangalya dosham is offset], Suryanar temple[Temple for sun god and there's a shrine for all navagrahas seperately], and reached Govindapuram[Jiva samadhi of 59th acharya of Kamakoti peetam. Extremely powerful ,and even now a sincere devotee can hear raama naam chanting emerging from the samadhi, during the nights] by 1.15 PM and broke for lunch.

After lunch in the mutt, we sat beside the adjoining kaveri river and were silently chanting Raama naam.

Started out to Swamimalai at 3.30 and had a fabulous darshan, as we bought special ticket, we sat quite close to the deity and what power !! This was followed by Thiruvalanchuzhi[ powerful ganapathi, made out of sea froth by Indra, white in color and just about 1 1/2ft tall. We touched Thiruvidai marudhur, Thirubhuvanam and Dharasuram[Architectural beauty] but couldn't make it on time shortage, but all of these are a must see !

We reached Thirukarugavur[Garba rakshambika, Mullaivana nathar] at about 5.40 PM and what a powerful temple this is ! I never felt like coming away from this temple ! Such is the sannidhyam !! After this we reached PAttiswaram[Again very powerful Durgai amman, but mainly Shiva temple, and Thirugyana sambandar is supposed to have received a palquin of pearls from god, since he was roaming around temples as a kid, bare footed ! Quite a big temple !

And on strong recommendation from our relatives, I visited ThiruShakthi mutram[About 2 streets away from Pattiswaram temple]. This temple has the goddess hugging the Shiva lingam and hence its believed that couples will stay intimate on visiting this temple. This was a highly memorable day since it was my birthday[star] and goes into history as my best b'day celebration ever. We crashed in beds at 10.30PM.

29 March

--------

Today was marked for a visit to our native place-Thirupandurai,about 1 mile from Nachiar koil.

So we started out with Uppiliappan temple in the morning at 7AM , finished Nachiar koil, and reached our village at about 10 AM. We finished puja at twin pillayar temple , followed by the puja at Mangalambika samedha Pranaveshwarar ! Felt deeply satisfied by visiting these temples, which were frequented by my great ancestors !

We reached Thiruveezhi mazhalai[Near Eravancheri at 11.30 AM] Here too, the god and goddess are in marital pose and Shiva married Kathyayani [Parvati]. This temple also has famous incidents related to Sambandar and appar, as Sambandar used to sing a song daily in front of god and get a gold coin, which he uses to alleviate the drought prevalent that time.

Very big temple, this. This is the place where Vishnu was presented the chakram by Shiva since Vishnu offered his eye at the feet of Shiva.

We broke for lunch in Peralam in our relative's house.

Well, the couple in the house were octogenarians and I swear you wont guess their age until they divulge. The lady is more active than a rabbit and has a phenominal memory power and can quote 50yr old incidents in a jiffy ! I always like to know about lives and times of my ancestors and she more than satisfied this quest of mine.

Post lunch, we set out to Koothanur[Saraswati temple, one of the few in India, very powerful], followed by Thirumeyachur[Lalithambika, supposed to be the birthplace of Lalitha sahasranamam, very beautiful and powerful goddess , thronged by devotees and offered Lalitha sahasranamam parayanam].

This was followed by Thirupambaram[ Rahu kethu parihara kshetram].

Finally we reached pozhakudi, where my wife's granny lives and its a very small village. We spent about 40mins with her and then reached Mayuram at 10.20PM. Was a marathon day !!

30 March

---------

This day was earmarked for places in Nagai dt. We started out with Darshan of Avayambika temple in Mayuram, followed by Thirunallar[Saniswaran temple], followed by Nagore durgah and Nagai Shiva temple[Neelayathakshi ambal samedha Kayarohaneshwarar- This is one of the very few shakthi peetam in the state, powerful and huge temple, has 5 nandhi's has Jiva samadhi of a sidhar within the temple. Deep sannidhyam is prevalant. We started out from nagai at 12.10PM and wanted to cover Sikkal[Singaravelan] temple also , but was quite late since temples usually close by 12PM.But merely by stroke of luck, the driver mentioned that its Krithigai and temple maybe open. So we dashed real quik to find that krithigai abhishekam had just started and the god has been brought down to a big hall for abhishekam. And an amazing abhishekam unfolded in front of us ! Pure grace this was ! We were blessed with Abhisheka thirtham at every stage and this would go down as one of the biggest miracles witnessed by me.

We broke for lunch in the temple and then reached velankanni temple at 2.10 PM. After a satisfying darshan, we reached the great Thiruvarur temple at 4.30PM. This was the birthplace of carnatic music trio and the temple compund is just unending !

We had a great darshan, but couldn't have darshan of THyagaraja swami shrine as it was getting ready for vasanthothsavam ! Again, it was amazing to visit such special temples on my date of birth :)

And a wonderful pilgrimage, which happened purely on account of divine grace[My granny, who's just recovered from the death bed, was able to make it to many of these temples, and is nothing short of a miracle] and definitely not human effort, comes to an end !

But our minds still linger on to the experience though !

Natick outing

2009-01-11T05:26:00.001-08:00

I'd been on an outing to Natick Mall , which is about 20 mins drive from my place. One of my colleagues was kind enof to pick me and 2 0ther of my teammates in the afternoon.

We headed to the foodcourt of the mall first, to catch up with lunch. But looking at the menu, I wasn't very comfortable eating there. And my team mates , after having their lunch, confirmed my gut feel. They were supposed to be having chicken biryani, but they just felt like eating some rice item, nothing more. Its good to erase the item's name from the mind at times, while eating in restaurents ain't it? Open mind always helps. Ordering palak paneer in a south indian restaurent, and getting the usual keerai masiyal, gives the same iritation. But its good to dynamically update one's mind that one is eating keerai masiyal and not palak paneer,and it helps save one's temper and mood during an outing . Life is all about adjustmenst, I heard someone say :)

It wasn't a good start, but what unfolded later gave us some great memories.

We visited Sears, Kohl's, Christmas tree shop, Circuit city with a small break in Burger king. Continued with Walmart, Burlington coat factory and it was already 9 Hrs of outing !!

Though I was tempted to empty my vallet on so many occasions, I resisted the temptation a lot, and came back with some toys,choclate etc. And wat was most tempting was, a gift shop was going out of biz, and the sale was mouth watering. Had I seen this in India, I'd have bought atleast half of the shop.

And it had started snowing.

I think more than the fun we had outside, the fun while driving was greater, what with cracking jokes, discussing so many topics,playing with my friend's kid and listening to music. And that its the 1st such fun outing, was quite memorable, in what was trip boring trip so far.

Huhooo, refreshing day !!!

2008 in Retro

2008-12-31T10:50:00.000-08:00

As I watch the pouring snow from my room window,with a song[Nizanga Nenena ! ] from my most favourite film of the year[Kotha Bangaru Lokam] being the background music, I started to muse about the year about to pass-by in 10Hrs !

I'd start saying that 2008 was the best year in my life short life so far !

Personally and professionally, its been a very enriching year, thanks to the almighty.

But personally, its was nothing short of a roller-coaster ride.

-I went on a pilgrimage to some amazing places near Kumbakonam and rarely had experienced that peace in the past. I spent very memorable time with Shri Krishna Premigal.

-I got through executive MBA of IIMB, but just when I was about to pay the fee, I got engaged. I took no time to brush off MBA aside, as I always believed that stability in personal life is most important for happiness and wanted to dedicate myself completely to laying strong foundation for marital life,rather than being caught between fire and frying pan...But then it was god's will that I lose both. My marriage was called off amidst some very dramatic circumstances and those were the weakest moments in my life...Its was too tough to digest and forget with all the Vedanta I'd read. Bhagavan Ramanar has said that pain can be nullified by asking "Who am i? ". When I tried to, I had a real tough time. I remember the scene in the movie "Kannathil muthamittal" when the girl had just seen a bomb blast very close to her and the memory would just get replayed in mind when she tries to sleep etc. I was more or less in the same state and I couldn't meditate even , as the deeper I go within, the more this thought came out gushing , alloyed with intense anger and vengeance !! But this was the time when my spiritual being became strongest and I had some fascinating dreams of saints guiding me.

And the whole thing happened as a blessing from Tirupati perumal, as he had decided the calling-off for us and re-assured us with shakunams or fortuitous incidents in Tirupati.

-It was then that I realized the true colors of relations and some friends around me. Moral of the story being, I need to SOLELY rely on my inner-strength and god's grace to circumvent tragedies. Nothing else helps much.

-I went on a very uplifting trip to Rameswaram. I used to get goosebumps on the thought that Iam walking on the sand on which Shri Ram had set his foot. Excellent place.

-I went on a wonderful trip to Valparai ,top slip,pollachi and cmbtr. Amazing beauty !

-And then professionally, I leart a lot too .

-Most importantly, I made some very nice friends.

-I learnt quite a bit of investments too[How to play in Casino?]

- I derived great pleasure in Sachin and Vishy Anand's acheivements this year. They are my idols.

I could write pages of the experiences I got in 2008.

Some other time ! But 2008 rocked !!

Thanks you dear god !! Pls send more of it this way !!

In 2009,
May serenity touch you gently
every morning,
May peace be your companion
through each day,
and in every restful hour,
May dreams renew your soul.

Wishing you a year
of health, happiness,
and all good things !!!

I got into Harvard Business School !! Huhoooooooo!!

2008-12-11T19:53:00.000-08:00

I am very excited for the past 2 days !

Its because, I visited Harvard Business School and I sat in a class session !! It was an awesome experience.

Well, its an amazing campus and the class room atmosphere is so really wonderful, esp the diversity. Wow !

I spent sometime going around the various buildings. The Baker library was awesome too. I read some journals published by HBS press. The alumni journal was soo very good. The library seems to have journals from almost every country in the world where the word 'Management' is understood. I also went through IIM-A alumni journal. I liked the format of both Alumni journals and I was thinking about such a journal for my alma mater too.

I had a chat with the students about their admission process etc. Interestingly, they said it was luck factor that brought them to HBS :) Unfortunately the class was not the world-famous case discussion.I'd got an appointment for an earlier class in both HBS and Sloan, which would have had a case session but then I had an unscheduled meeting with our Director on the very same day which prevented myHBS and Sloan visit :( . And my next appointment at HBS was at the fag end of the term and it was a review class of "Leadership and Orgtnl Behvr " class. It would have been wonderful to see the students hashing out perspectives and orchestrated by the prof during case discussion. Maybe next time.

Another interesting point was, I was introduced to the class at the beginning and they had misread my institute's name as IIT, instead of IIIT-B. There was another visitor along with me, who went to IIT and MIT .The moment the class heard 'IIT", they started to cheer as if to some war heroes !! We, the alumni of IIITB, have this responsibility to evoke a similar brand awareness worldwide and augment Prof.Sadagopan's ceaseless effort to this end :) I pray that we achieve it soon.

It was overall a very inspiring experience. Just that I'd missed the Sloan school's appointment and I never got one in this term.

I gave a wild thought to applying but then the thought of the fee gave me a jolt and woke me up :) [ $45000 per annum !! ]

I desired to put up a proper post with pictures et al. But cudnt get time to arrange . But since this was long pending, thought of closing pending stuff, before entering 2009 !

Being as you are

2008-12-07T20:30:00.000-08:00

I've observed in the past that perception of you changes in people's mind from time to time. Its largely like stock market perhaps. Atleast the indian one.Because a lot of times,am puzzled by the behaviour and attitude of people around me, towards me. One full week,they all treat me like am the most intelligent being around. Some other week, its normal. Some other week,they perceive that your a stupid. Is my state of mind different during each of these sample spaces?Not much am sure.Atleast to a large extent.My self-esteem and expressive power largely has remained the same in these times. And yet, perceptions have been different. I haven't factored the body language aspect into this though, since I can't see it myself. Interestingly, there have been times when people come and ask me if Iam sick, and funnily enough, I'd have been at my thinking best at that moment. And vice versa too :)
So you see, people's perceptions are at random. To add another dimension to this observation, I've checked my astro predictions during those times, and I must admit, they have matched at times. When the prediction is that I'll be recognized for well my efforts, its so happened that I've been recognized for more than my due. And vice versa too.
But then the point I want to make here is that, living by other's perceptions on one's self, would be nothing short of trying to be in the brightest spot in disco lighting. It would be a foolish aspiration, since its largely random. What really matters is how I stand in my conscience's lens. Being honest and conscientous helps one to avoid all the 'Identity crisis' traps, which would eventually make one like a monkey dancing to a crowd.
May god give everyone that balanced state of mind !
Amen ! Peace ! Peace !

Black friday (mis)Adventure !

2008-12-01T05:37:00.001-08:00

Coming up ...

In recognition of that lady !

2008-12-01T05:23:00.000-08:00

I'd been to Walmart 2 days back to check out thanksgiving sale and I wasn't disappointed. I got some nice T-Shirts and jeans for under 10$ !! Nice quality. But the theme of this post is the lady in the Walmart billing counter. 10 mins left to close the counter ! I jog with my items to the counter.

Lady : So how're you young man?[Ya she was atleast in her late 40's]

Me : Am gud thankQ. How'r you? Been a long day?

Lady : Ya :) So have you tried our these jeans and t-shirts?I hope you got the right fit.

Me : Well, I didn't have the time to wear them, but then I used my intuition and instinct for measurements and picked them up.

Lady: Oh dear ! U've picked up a flannel shirt,which shrinks later.

[Oh really?I pull out the shirt and recheck if it would fit me, by opening it and keeping it in front of me. And oh boy ! It just manages to fit ! ]

Me : [Sheepish smile ] Oh thanks a lot. Am sure I'd have had to give this to my 14 yr old cousin within a single wash[Oh ya, its amazing how fast the cousins grow these days. God knows how many truck loads of complan they attack ! ]

Thanks a lot for telling me though ! Really appreciate it !

Lady : Ur welcome son :)

Well, it was the first time that a billing counter person had ever helped me this way ! She was all kindness and helpfullness ! Bow to your spirit lady ! Just signalled few prayers upward that you may get a fat christmas time hike :)

Adios !

My hotel room !

2008-11-04T15:49:00.000-08:00

How to be a millionaire? Useful Post

2008-11-03T13:21:00.001-08:00

Let's face it; we all don't make millions of dollars a year, and the odds are that most of us won't receive a large windfall inheritance either. However, that doesn't mean that we can't build sizeable wealth - it'll just take some time. If you're young, time is on your side and retiring a millionaire is achievable.

Read on for some tips on how to increase your savings and work toward this goal....

Stop senseless spending Unfortunately, people have a habit of spending their hard-earned cash on goods and services that they don't need. Even relatively small expenses, such as indulging in a gourmet coffee from a premium coffee shop every morning, can really add up - and decrease the amount of money you can save. Larger expenses on luxury items also prevent many people from putting money into savings each month.
That said, it's important to realize that it's usually not just one item or one habit that must be cut out in order to accumulate sizable wealth (although it may be). Usually, in order to become wealthy one must adopt a disciplined lifestyle and budget. This means that people who are looking to build their nest eggs need to make sacrifices somewhere - this may mean eating out less frequently, using public transportation to get to work and/or cutting back on extra, unnecessary expenses.
This doesn't mean that you shouldn't go out and have fun, but you should try to do things in moderation - and set a budget if you hope to save money. Fortunately, particularly if you start saving young, saving up a sizeable nest egg only requires a few minor (and relatively painless) adjustments to your spending habits.

Fund retirement plans ASAP When individuals earn money, their first responsibility is to pay current expenses such as the rent or mortgage expenses, food and other necessities. Once these expenses have been covered, the next step should be to fund a retirement plan or some other tax-advantaged vehicle.
Unfortunately, retirement planning is an afterthought for many young people. Here's why it shouldn't be: funding a 401(k) and/or a IRA early on in life means you can contribute less money overall and actually end up with significantly more in the end than someone who put in much more money but started later.
How much difference will funding a vehicle such as a Roth IRA early on in life make?
you're 23 years old and deposit $3,000 per year (that's only $250 each month!) in a Roth IRA earning and 8% average annual return, you will have saved $985,749 by the time you are 65 years old due to the power of compounding. If you make a few extra contributions, it's clear that a $1 million goal is well within reach. Also keep in mind that this is mostly interest - your $3,000 contributions only add up to $126,000.
Now, suppose that you wait an additional 10 years to start contributing. You have a better job and you know you've lost some time, so you contribute $5,000 per year. You get the same 8% return and you aim to retire at 65. When you reach age 65, you will have saved $724,753. That's still a sizeable fund, but you had to contribute $160,000 just to get there - and it's no where near the $985,749 you could've had for paying much less.

Improve tax awareness Sometimes, individuals think that doing their own taxes will save them money. In some cases, they might be right. However, in other cases it may actually end up costing them money because they fail to take advantage of the many deductions available to them.
Try to become more educated as far as what types of items are deductible. You should also understand when it makes sense to move away from the standard deduction and start itemizing your return.
However, if you're not willing or able to become very well educated filing your own income tax, it may actually pay to hire some help, particularly if you are self employed, own a business or have other circumstances that complicate your tax return.

Renting versus buying At some point in our lives, many of us rent a home or an apartment because we cannot afford to purchase a home, or because we aren't sure where we want to live for the longer term. And that's fine. However, renting is often not a good long-term investment because buying a home is a good way to build equity.
Unless you intend to move in a short period of time, it generally makes sense to consider putting a down payment on a home. (At least you would likely build up some equity over time and the foundation for a nest egg.)

Buying expensive cars There's nothing wrong with purchasing a luxury vehicle. However, individuals who spend an inordinate amount of their incomes on a vehicle are doing themselves a disservice - especially since this asset depreciates in value so rapidly.
How rapidly does a car depreciate?
Obviously, this depends on the make, model, year and demand for the vehicle, but a general rule is that a new car loses 15-20% of its value per year. So, a two-year old car will be worth 80-85% of its purchase price; a three-year old car will be worth 80-85% of its two-year-old value.
In short, especially when you are young, consider buying something practical and dependable that has low monthly payments - or that you can pay for in cash. In the long run, this will mean you'll have more money to put toward your savings - an asset that will appreciate, rather than depreciate like your car.

Don't sell yourself short Some individuals are extremely loyal to their employers and will stay with them for years without seeing their incomes take a jump. This can be a mistake, as increasing your income is an excellent way to boost your rate of saving.
Always keep your eye out for other opportunities and try not to sell yourself short. Work hard and find an employer who will compensate you for your work ethic, skills and experience.

Bottom line You don't have to win the lottery to see seven figures in your bank account. For most people, the only way to achieve this is to save it. You don't have to live like a pauper to build an adequate nest egg and retire comfortably. If you start early, spend wisely and save diligently, your million-dollar dreams are well within reach.

Startup inspirations from Viswanathan Anand

2008-11-03T13:11:00.000-08:00

What inspirations can startups derive from World chess champ, Viswanathan Anand? Patience? Consistency?
Well, chess is more than a mind game and here are Vishy’s golden tips that can be applied to any startup/business:

Don’t get too absorbed in the game. A lot of chess players get too absorbed in the game, and try to get to the bottom of it. But, that’s essentially a distraction.This may fly in the face of perfectionists — it’s not the perfectionists who get the market share, but those who give the right stuff at the right time.

Tension helps you concentrate and be alert. Feel the pressure, but don’t worry about things you can’t control: Tension helps you concentrate well. Being relaxed may be dangerous.

Know what your goals are: Seeking perfection may be a distraction: In chess, you have to learn what your goal is. Win the game, score points. It is a fascinating game and you can get lost in it. But the goal is not to make the perfect move, not to get into the bottom of a position. It’s simply to trick the opponent to win the game.

Strive for objectivity: You may be optimistic or pessimistic, but be realistic: You must know where you stand. First analyse your position and get an objective feel of it. Objectivity is a face you show to yourself. Be merciless with yourself.

Know your opponent: What is his goal, what are his favourite lines, is he deviating, why? Look beyond the board: Chess is all about applying game theory. You always think in terms of what your opponent will do, how he will respond. Again, in chess, most people specialise in something.

Nobody does everything. Understanding that is important. If your opponent does something out of his normal range, ask why? And the answer could be —he’s now trying to specialise in a new area; he’s trying to expand his game; his favourite line, at the moment, is in trouble and he’s not done repair work or he could be bluffing.

Analysis and sharpen intuition: Intuition is often used as a substitute for calculation. If there is some move that’s winning, and you know it’s winning, that’s not intuition. Intuition is when you make leaps into the dark. But it’s very difficult to draw lines between intuition and strategic thinking. If you calculate a lot, even if you don’t get till the end, your guess is going to be better.

Expand your horizons: We discard the rubbish efficiently. But that rubbish is not all rubbish. There could be a lot of gems in that.

When you lose, move on to the next battle: Handling defeat is usually just impossible. It’s useful to learn to be disciplined and put it out of your head.

Couples?

2008-10-18T20:44:00.000-07:00

I was just introspecting while riding, how many complementing and harmonious couples I've seen in my life.
What was the driver of this introspection?
Well I'd been to my friend's place y'day[a little senior friend, aged 45] to help him get a PC as he wasn't very hardware-literate.
I've met his wife a few times earlier but its only when I visited their home did I understand their relation dynamics.
They had atleast 5 arguments and 3 fights in the 2 hrs I spent with them :).
Worst of all, they wanted my mediation, as I was just a witness to their verbal mechanics with a one-sided curve on my lips !
1) She : I want him to buy a treadmill as he's getting a little too fat. I've been telling him to exercise but he's been lazy. So am forcing him to buy the machine.
I : I think just a lot walking discipline would do ain't it? You could invest this amount in some educational kit for your kid.
She : No No. I've told him umpteen times but he doesn't listen.
He :Huh ! She's started it again.
I : Aunty, why don't you give him one last month to get regular with the walking?
She : No, never ! I've told him enough.
He : Ok ma, I promise I'll be regular now, and am telling in front of Raghav. I'll do it don't worry.
She : No way ! I just want it !
Kid : Let us give him a month mom !
She : Shut up kid. Enough of argument.

I ended up wondering why not give him that one last month. But she was adamant. Now the point is she just did not hear us. She was closed.

2) He : Lets take the car to purchase ma.
She : Oh, I hate travelling in car in T.Ngr . You tend to move like a snail.
He : He's tired ma. Can't travel in bike now. Its ok, lets take car.
She : Raghav, I hate to travel in car now, as my leg starts aching due to repeated pressing of clutch in traffic.
He : Stares at her on why the hell she's taking it this far.

3)We go to a snak shop and buy some stuff.
He : Lets get extra bajji's.
She : No no !! Its get wasted pa.
He : Don't worry ma, we can share it among us
She : No no ! Lets not waste things.
He : It won't get wasted ma. There are people at home as well who will eat.
She : Noo pa !

We come back home . He starts shouting at her " Why do you keep pestering me not to do this/that always ma? I wanted to buy more items but you keep getting under my skin in the shop. She never allows me to think peacefully pa. Always thona thonappu". He looks at me for mediation ! I ignored his look and start playing with the kid. No Mediation Biz !!!
And many more such interactions !
The whole point was, he was having a balanced and harmonious approach to things. She had an emotional, impulsive and restless approach to things.

I just mined within if I've seen a harmonious couple. I think I have seen 4-5 of them who were very intelligent, harmonious with each other in their interactions.
Rest of them were just endlessly differing and debating. Worst thing is , the moment one of their close friends visit them, they look for mediation from them. Probably something like, a kid fought with a neighbour and got injured [Very minor suppose] sees his dad back from ofz, he starts giving an account of the injury and craves for dad's support irrespective of right/wrong .

Well, some of these were well matched horoscopes !
I was very disturbed by seeing septagenarian couples quarelling and debating this way, biting into each other ! How sad I thought and raised this with one of my relatives. He says "Don't bother. Inward, they are v close to each other. Don't try to judge your previous generations. Your definitions of happiness and success may be different".
True !
But there must be some basic rules of relationship,which they are violating.

What r they?

Lonely journey of progress

2008-10-16T19:34:00.001-07:00

Well I was thinking if its a no-no to be perfect !! There must be quite a few on the road to perfection in doingg things and perfection of character,like me. And I know that its lonely at the top as there is very little company. But even the journey to perfection seems to be llonely at time huh?

One tries to be a perfect friend, perfect employee, perfect relation..but people want their kith/kin to have some imperfection, to share their insecurites as well is it? Only if they find you imperfect will they get a gratification that there are others like them and hence their insecurites put to rest?Homogenityis the name of the game. I've seen this trand in college where people hesitate to mix with guyz much more intelligent than them, lest their weaknesses get exposed.

Is it the same case with adults also?

Atleast, I've tried to be a perfect relation/friend to people around me, but at times I feel lonely. People start to put you in different league and think you are not one of them. And this is painful at times. When you expect even a fraction of what you give to them, at least in terms of support, you don't get it because your fraction is a huge chunk for them .

And not many people think that deeply I've seen. For them, friendship/relation means hanging out together,doing things together . Is it because they love being with friends? Largely yes, but few of them want to be in a group lest they are branded as loners by society.

I've seen some of my classmates do this. Even to get an exam hall ticket from admin building, they want company. They just fear loneliness huh? I know some who make calls when they are alone, as they can't bear being alone.

Well well ! That was a little deviation from the original post.

On the road to perfection, you and your intentions tend to be misunderstood as well I guess. It happens with me for sure.

Well, at times I wonder if progress is just a lonely journey !

The Mask

2008-10-16T10:30:00.000-07:00

Life just keeps teaching you things huh?

I was talking to my akka, a v close friend of mine, with whom I philosophize life and its events. We shared many of our observations and compared notes.

I learnt that people change after marriage. Well, on the arrival of a soulmate life definitely changes and so does one's perspective.

I've seen some relatives who become extremely confident after marriage. To the point of being a lil arrogant. They derive great stength from the mere feeling that they are now a reinforced self. Its only natural, I realize.

There are a class of people who relish giving and a class who relish taking, not in a selfish way but predominantly in the same attitude as a child which demands without thinking what its doing. It demands attention and every other action has this primary element as the root.

I realized that people wear masks mostly. They tend to show you wat you want to see , rather than what they are. There's a personality and there's a character.i.e, everyone is 2-dimentional I Guess. Personality mask shows up friendliness,smiles and confidence and the character is a little different.Am not going to judge the correctness of things here. I never will.But am just learning.People are the product of their past circumstances and hence they form certain layers. Nothing wrong about it.But I think its good to introspect once in a while and do self-surgery to remedy impeding and unwanted masks.Its applicable to me as well.
Well, Life just keeps teaching you things huh?

...

2008-09-09T10:33:00.000-07:00

My blog pending list is getting too big now..Its been a spate of travels over the past month. Meeting new people,catching up with alma mater and planning and execution of a great hill station trip, which rejuvenated me completely. Will fill in all those details, but for now, my heart is throbbing...am listening to some songs...when will it be and who will be is the big Q !! For a diehard romatic like me, the wait is weighing down a lil too heavy !! Wat about my dreams,expectations? Watabout the funda of Alchemist? Will it work for me? Well it does work for everyone with a strong will am sure..is my will strong enof? How to strengthen it further to exert the highest possible magnetism? Well, not just the diehard romantic but a diehard sportsmen that Iam at heart, I cant let even a little slide in that spirit, no matter the increasingly dense puffing clouds of doubt ! Its the testing time like these, which summon application of ones knowledge. The great saints have talked about the power of human will, combined with power of prayer. NO doubting that. Where am I lacking is the question in my mind now. Is someone really hearing my thoughts?

Trip to Valparai, Top slip

2008-09-09T10:32:00.003-07:00

Sept 6,7

Trip to Valparai, Top slip

2008-09-09T10:32:00.002-07:00

Sept 6,7

Kanchi Trip and tryst with Ghatiks !

2008-09-09T10:32:00.001-07:00

Aug 29

Refreshing Hyderabad Trip !

2008-09-09T10:31:00.001-07:00

Aug 22-25

In lamhon ke- lyrics with translation

2008-08-04T20:48:00.000-07:00

I think every man having atleast a single romantic bone, should chk this out !!

In lamho ke daaman mein (In the intimacy of these moments)
In lamho ke daaman mein, paakeza se rishtey hain(In the intimacy of these moments, there are some pure relationships)
Koi kalma mohabbat ka, dohratay farishtay hain(The angels are reiterating the spiritual song of love)
Khamosh si hain zameen, hairaan sa falak hain(There is a silence in the land, the sky is amazed)
Ek noor hi noor sa ab aasaman talak hain(There is a radiance right upto the skies)
Nagme hi nagme hain jaagti soti fizaon mein(There is melody in the active and asleep surroundings)Husn hain saari adaaon mein(There is beauty in all your grace)Ishq hain jaisi hawaon mein(There is love in the air)
Kaisa yeh Ishq hain, kaisa yeh khwab hain(What kind of love is this? What kind of dream is this?)
Kaise jazbaat ka umda sailaab hai(What kind of a flood of emotions have gushed in?)
Din badley, raatein badli, baatein badli, jeene ke andaaz hi badle hain(The days have changed, nights have changed, conversations changed, the mode of life has changed)
In lamho ke daman mein, pakeeza se rishtay hain(In the intimacy of these moments, there are some pure relationships)
Koi kalma mohabbat ka, dohratay farishtay hain(The angels are reiterating the spiritual songof love)
Jodhaâ€™s lines:
Hmmm, samay ne yeh kya kiya, hoâ€¦badal di hain kaya(What has time done to us, it has changed my flesh/skin)
Tumhe maine pa liya, mujhe tumne paaya(I have found you, you have found me)
Miley dekho aise hain hum, ke do sur ho jaise madham, koi zyaada na koi kum kisi raag mein(We have met like as if two harmonies meet of a rythmn, neither high nor low)Ke prem aag mein, jalte dono ki hai tan bhi hain man bhi, man bhi hain tan bhi(As if in the flames of passion, both burn our body and soul, soul and body)
Akbarâ€™s lines:Mere khwabon ke is gulistaan mein, tumse hi to bahar chayee hain(In the garden of my dreams/reverie, you have brought the beautiful springtime)
Phoolon mein rang mere they lekin, in mein khushboo tumhi se aayi hain(The flowers have my colours, but the fragrance is from you)
Kyu hain yeh aarzoo, kyu hai yeh justju(Why do these desires exist, why does this search lives on?)
Kyu dil bechain hain, kyu dil betaab hain(Why is the heart so impatient, why is it so impulsive?)
Din badley, raatein badli, baatein badli, jeene ke andaaz hi badle hain((The days have changed, nights have changed, conversations changed, the mode of life has changed)
In lamho ke daaman mein, paakeza se rishtey hain(In the intimacy/companionship of these moments, there are some pure relationships)
Koi kalma mohabbat ka, dohratay farishtay hainâ€¦..(The angels are reiterating the spiritual songof love)
p.s. Kalma means Beginning of a verse in Quran, implying a spiritual/holy song

The blind opened my eye

2008-07-21T21:05:00.001-07:00

Kadalai from Paati [dont conclude from title :) ]

2008-07-21T21:04:00.003-07:00

Strange !

2008-07-21T21:02:00.000-07:00

Over the past 2 weeks,something interesting and strange has been happening. Whenever I look at my watch, its a fancy number. 19:19, 2030, 1414 etc...numerous such events..wonder how ! :)

Sakkarakatti !

2008-07-15T21:10:00.000-07:00

The album is true to its name indeed ! Rocking ! Esp the song Marudaani keeps me sleepless for its musical genius and lyrical sweetness....bow !!!!!
Here's the link =>
http://www.musicindiaonline.com/music/tamil/s/movie_name.9769/

Changing notes concert !!

2008-04-20T20:17:00.000-07:00

My first live concert of ARR..More details to follow

25/2/2008

2008-02-26T20:07:00.001-08:00

Govindapuram, Vathiraja Mutt

24/2/2008

2008-02-26T20:06:00.000-08:00

Govindapuram[Doubts, dhyaanam]

23/2/2008

2008-02-26T20:03:00.000-08:00

Uppiliappan Koil
Thiruveezhimazhalai
Srivanjiyam
Thirukkannapuram
Thirumarugal
Lunch
Velaankanni
Nagapatnam[Neelayathakshi, Kaayarohaneswarar]
Sikkal
Thirukkannangudi
Thirukkollokaadu
Thirumarugal
Thiruvaarur

22/2/2008

2008-02-26T19:57:00.000-08:00

Thiruppurambiyam[Sakshipuriswarar, then vinayagar/pralayahara vinayagar]
Swamimalai
Thiruvaadanur[Aandalanda perumal]
Ennamboor[Ezhutharivitha easwarar]
Thiruvalanchuzhi[Palagani, froth vinayagar]
Thirupullaboodhankudi[valvil ramaswami sayanam]
Gopinadha perumal temple[2 anjaneyas]
Pattiswaram
Nathan koil[naaya porakanum]
Sathguru Swami Mutt, Marudhanallur
Lunch
Srimatam
Thiruvisanallur
Thiruvidaimarudhur
Thirubhuvanam
Govindapuram
Krishna Premi's Arthajamam

21/2/2008

2008-02-26T19:55:00.000-08:00

Chidambaram early morning darshan
Vaitheeswaran koil
Kumbakonam temples on Makam day[Adhikumbeswarar, Makamaham tank, chakrapani, vijayendra mutt, sarangapani,ramaswami]

20/2/2008

2008-02-26T19:52:00.000-08:00

***Aurobindo Ashram- Pondicherry ***
I'd started from Chennai at 6.30 AM and reached Pondicherry at 11AM. I started for ashram instantly and was happy to find the darshan timing extending to 12 Noon. So, I started with Manakkula Vinayagar, Nr the ashram. Luckily it was gold car festival in the temple. I chanted Vinayagar agawal while circum-ambulating around the temple. Even before I end, my mind was hijacked by an angel of peace ! I prayed Vigna Vinayaka that my journey ahead should be smooth, sans any hurdles. In retrospect, I think the wave of peace which swept me at that moment , was an answer to my prayer, as this was substantiated in the next 4 days of my travel. A brief history of the temple follows :

Sri Manakula Vinagar Temple

............................................................................................................................
Sri Manakula Vinayagar Temple was in existence before the French came and settled in Pondicherry i.e. before 1666. In 1668 the French after obtaining permission from the English had constructed a Fort adjacent to Manakula Vinayagar Temple. Sri Manakula Vinayagar Temple was constructed on the banks of a sandy pond and in view of it only it is called as Manakula Vinayagar Temple. The Jesuits and missionaries tried to demolish. Manakula Vinayagar but they could not demolish the temple. During 1700 French prohibited performing poojas and festivals particularly on Fridays in the temple. All the Hindus who were worshipping Lord Vinayaga objected and migrated to Moratandi English Territory. ...................................................................................................
I reached Ashram next, and as always, my mind was swept completely by the silence prevailing there. I meditated in front of samadhi for awhile, and then moved inside to Mother's temple there. Sadly, I couldn't meditate and absorb the peace any longer, as my empty stomach started signalling . Grrrr, being a human !!
I bought 10 copies of one of my favourite books [ Technology of consciousness ] , so I can distribute .

I should say, AAB rocks. We are all great fans of the sweets and savouries there, but their new restaurent initiative was a big hit too ! Great ambiance, great taste, but probably they have taken the Saravana Bhavan's route in pricing. I just get few small cups of variety rice for a mini meal and its 37/- bucks ! Ahh, it was probably like a banana for an elephant's hunger. So ordered for other stuff, each of them was very delicious . Hail AAB !

I left to Chidambaram now, and reached at 2 PM.

****Chidambaram athirudra abhishekam****

Felt great reaching my birth place and I caught up with my neighbours in sometime. It was very wonderful to know that it was the day of Maha-Abhishekam , when the main deity is brought outside the garbha-graham and an abhishekam performed, treating so many devotees. This is done only thrice per year.

So, I reached the temple at 5 PM and athi rudra homam was being performed for some kalasam's, whose water would be used for abhishekam. I came out and re-entered the temple at 7 PM, and caught up with the abhishekam, lasting for about 4 Hrs. Wat a delight ! The temple was full and I was surrounded by so many people that it felt as if I was tied by a rope, and unable to move. I was joined by my friend's parents , and we spent a good 2 hrs there. We moved to Sivakama Sundari Sannidhi and abishekam to srichakra was being performed there.

I left the parents back home and ran back to the temple at 9.10 PM, to catch last glimpses of the abhishekam and it was pushpanjali. Countless baskets of flowers were being offered to god . Watta sight !

****Chidambaram Thillai Kaali****

We went to thillai kali temple later . Its said that Chidambaram visit would not be complete, if not for darshan in this temple.

A wonderful day comes to an end at 10.20 PM

35 in 4

2008-02-26T07:04:00.000-08:00

Thats summing up my travelogue, in the last week. 35 temples in 4 days !
February 2008 has been the most fascinating month ever for me. In the 2nd week , it was Tirupati, 3rd week it was Paranur on an ekadasi day, and last week was an extended tour for 5 days to kumbakonam temples !! Guidance of grace , purely !
A travelogue series ensues !

Last days in Boston !

2007-12-21T12:30:00.000-08:00

The melancholy of seperation or the excitement of getting back home , is yet to touch me .
But, its holiday mood here and I've forgotten my disciplined self now and freaking out !
Watched 2 movies yday [ laage chunari mey daag, and Aata (telegu) ]. Lots of music, lots of playing in the snow[fully aware that even if I fall ill, I'd be home by that time, leading to office bunk ;) ]

Need to do packing, final few things in the checklist..If possible, try out skiing, as it wud be a graet chance to fulfill my childhood dream[since the time i saw Shammi kapoor do "Yaaaaaaahoooooooooooooo "..]

Shud be interesting days ahead. !
Cio soon, India !

Weekend

2007-12-10T09:02:00.000-08:00

On friday, there was a farewell party to one of my teammates and the pizza I had for lunch was amazingly delicious.In the evening, my new friend and spiritual companion Rajesh picked me up from hotel,for a dinner at his place.Very enjoyable moments, those.. We talked a lot about each other's families, backgrounds, spiritual journey so far , world politics etc..He has a little kid aged a year, and incidentally, his name official name is akilesh, which is my name@home...hyper active kid..His official name is Giridhara gopalan, and true to his name, he loves the sound of flute. I whistle, when he gets into an irritable mood, and he starts smiling..only Ramanand sagar's ramayana/mahabharat is played all the time at their house..its the right environment for a kid , i thought ..
Then I had some authentic south indian food after long...dosa...sambar..chutney...wow..oasis after a long desert walk !!We were soo immersed in our discussions that, it was 11.45 PM already ! He dropped me back.
On saturday, it was plain goofing around, watching videos in youtube,listening to music, reading a book on spead reading. I was joined by another friend for a visit to Costco store, which is Saravana stores type in US-wholesale giants.MY friend got a lot of choclates... I got some monster-size apples, and some small gifts..I'd got a reading lens, with LED fitted, but LED wasn't working..Turn around the pack and its "MAde in china" !! No wonder !!
Towards the evening, it was getting boring, and I watched back to back movies-"Vettaydu vilayadu" and " Happy days" again. I can't get enof of this movie..
Got up quite late on sunday, and after normal routines, did long meditation..In the evening, Rajesh called up and had made a program to visit a Hanuman temple..So, started at 5.30 PM, reached his apmt, picked up his family and headed to temple..Well its this jounrney which was most enchanting..We were exchanging stories of saints' lives and miracles by them, back and forth about Shirdi baba, seshadri swamigal, gyaananandar,paramahamsa yogananda, shri ramana..a true satsang in the car...I was imagining the temple to have a typical gopuram etc, the typical temple architecture. But to my surprise, its normal building, which housed a hanuman murthy, surrounded by Shiva, navagraha idols on its side..But what captured me most was the veda adhyayana going on there..My mind almost always enter a peaceful state, once I start hearing vedas..A student was learning the prayoga of navagraha homa mantras, from his guru..My mind was fully absorvbed into the sound vibrations..It was great to see such adhyayana going on in US also..
I went into a speechless meditative state for sometime, and then we started ..Time to shift from yoga to bhoga !
We headed straight to Mysoreveggies, in Lowell..Its very close to the famous swaminarayan temple. But it was too late for us to visit that temple..We chose to order Iyengar thali, and boy, the plate was about 2 ft diameter, and filled with lots and lots of cups with items galore..my ! how am i gonna eat this..I took full 5 mins to get hold of all the items.. rasam, sambar, pickle, avial, paneer mutter, salad, some onion curry, brinjal roast, 2 papads, some sweet pongal, tomato soup, some mor kozhanbu..uff..stoped counting..And it was unlimited thali, with puri/chapathi/dosa along with it...I chose dosa..it was masala dosa..and I don't think I ever tasted this kinda stuff in India before..Awesome !!I got greedy for more dosas, and also added chapati to the order..in the end, my friend ordered mango lassi..and it was cap in the feather..It tasted just like mango milkshake, and it was again the best I've ever heard !! God..am becoming a big-time foodie here..But I left the place wondering , whats the lassi part to this name? There was no taste of curd..
And it was just 13$ . I had a buffet lunch in one of the indian hotels near-by, but its taste would be a few light years away..Folks, if you wanna taste authentic indian food, come to to Mysoreveggies, and your tongue is sure to be treated to an unforgettable experience !Whatta way to end a weekend !

Chinmaya temple

Silver bullet for a happy life ..

2007-12-03T13:57:00.000-08:00

Read this in a time mgmt book today.

Though of sharing :

Studies show that people who are the least vulnerable to stress tend to exhibit the following characteristics:

• They have many friends and acquaintances.
• They eat regular meals.
• They sleep well.
• They drink alcohol sparingly.
• They don’t smoke.
• They exercise regularly.
• They rarely drink coffee.
• They’re affectionate.
• They feel comfortable with the amount of money they
make.
• They’re in good health.
• They gain strength from their spiritual beliefs.
• They’re open about their feelings.
• They belong to at least one club or social group.
• They are neither overweight nor underweight.

Powerful mantra !

2007-12-03T09:18:00.001-08:00

I had an interesting experience yday.
I was supposed to sail to liberty island, to visit statue of liberty, but I was not allowed to enter the ship at all, as I had a small trolly bag. So, I was waiting outside in snow. There's this clinton castle, which is just a circular-walled structure with completely open centre. Just a big atrium, nothing else within the walls. So, I told my friends that I'd wait ther till they come back.

It was heavy snow since morning , and waiting there was getting very tought, inspite of leather jacket, shoes, gloves, monkey cap etc.
I was literally shaking. I was trying to pass time by feeding the sparrows and pigeons with peanut cake. There was a temporary relief, but after the peanut cake got over, it was back to square one.

People had warned me of frost bites etc, and I got a little afraid.
I decided to chant vishnu sahasranamam, and started it.
By the time I finished 1 time, I was feeling less cold and shaking had stopped, but was still cold.
I started another round, and by the time I finished the next round, I forgot all sensation of cold.
My mind was just immersed in the mantra.
Well, Ramana maharishi underwent a cancer tumour removal operation in his shoulder, without any anesthetia and he forgot the body. Thats because his being was entirely absorbed in that sat-chit-anand.
My experience was resembling that, albeit in a very minute way.
The experience underscored that, when the mind's focus is away from body, on a mantra or a thought, body conscious vanishes.

I recounted a similar experience, while I was in 1st yr B.Tech.
I was studying for an important exam the next day, but was shaking with fever.
Tablets were of no avail.
So, I started to chant this mantra, and within an hour, my fever had vanished.
Well, I also learnt about one such experience of Kanchi seer.
He was shaking with temperature one day, and doctors had advised him to abstain from bath.
But instead, he summoned a pandit/discourse specialist named Anantharama Dikshithar and asked him to start Vishnu sahasranama parayanam.
In just about 30 mins, his temperature had vanished in ether, and he came out taking a bath, and headed straight for his puja.

Such is the power of this mantra. !!!
No wonder then, that Shankaracharya , in his "Bhaja Govindam" espouses everyone to chant this daily. He says,
"Geyam geeta, naama sahasram"

Thanks to Bhishma for this mantra. And long live the mantra, and let many more benefit by its chanting !

My first flying experience !!

2007-12-02T21:30:00.000-08:00

Visit to SRF Centre, Boston

2007-11-30T11:10:00.000-08:00

I've been into this YSS way for long, and one of the first things I did after landing in Boston was ,to check if there's an SRF centre in Boston.
Luckily, I found one very close to my hotel.
I've been wanting to visit it sicne 2 months, but something or the other would take me away..Either a tour or weather or sheet inertia.
Last weekend I went to that centre, but it was locked. :(

I was working from home yesterday, and since it was thursday I wanted to get deep into spirituality. And I decided to goto the centre again for long meditation, as it was thursday and there's a long session scheduled.

I reached there well ahead of time, and was waiting in the lobby. Within the first few steps into the centre, I could sense that my mind is slowing down, thoughts are fading and the steady fountain of peace within, started to surface.

Well, over the past 2 months in US, I was able to go only little close to that state of mind , even after an hour of meditation in the room. But look at this ! Mere stepping into a room quitened my mind effortlessly.

Mr. Lahiri welcomed me and we were chatting briefly about our backgrounds and our spiritual way.
The meditation started at 6.30 and it was a session interspersed with bhajans , affirmations, and prayer for oneself and world healing.

The 1st 25 mins or so was good, and I already touched depths of peace, which I used to feel while doing girivalam, or meditate in SRF centres in india or the caves of Arunachala !
But the, my mind started to wander .
I just couldn't do anything. I tried to control is by chanting something, but it wudn't stop.
I stopped controlled the mind, and started to observe it.
And I could realize the upanishadic truth that, "the fastest thing in the world is mind".
THere were dreams, images, thoughts unheard and unseen by me earlier.
I went into a dream state, and I could see my head falling down repetitively, as it happens in college.
And I got so irritated by my misbehaving mind, that I just wanted to get up and leave.
But, then my mind is gonna come with me too. So, thought, let me persist a little more..and tried to continue my meditation...

At the end of 1 hour, I could barely meditate, inspite of breath-control etc.
What a pity. I sed to meditate long, while in India.
Look at my mind, so corrupt due to irregular meditations in US.

'No wonder its said, regular practise is the key !"

Well, after that doomed attempt, I met the centre director, who was from Coimbatore and he introduced me to a lankam tamilian.
Was good to hear some tamil after long.
I found that out of the 20 odd people meditating, only 4 were indians.
So many foreigners had hugged this spiritual path, with both hands.

And then I met a great guy, Rajesh, who was so buoyant and friendly and hospitality-personified . He was so young, but learnt that he was a Phd, has a 1 yr old kid. Well, youthfulness is just a state of mind ain't it !

He offered to take me around for shopping , and guide me on this. He gave some tips , and dropped me at my hotel, at 9 PM.

Well, irrefutably, folks in the spiritual journey are magnanimous and beautiful at heart aint it !

I learnt that Paramahamsa Yogananda has first landed in east coast, and was so captivated at the harmonious locales of Boston, charles river etc, that he immediately wanted to start a centre here.

Was soo happy to meet nice people.
And the peace-o-meter showed the highest reading in 2 months.

Om shanthi shanthi shanthi !!

Shauk hai song, from Guru !

2007-11-18T19:57:00.000-08:00

http://youtube.com/watch?v=k1vAu0c96yY

Raath ka shauk hai
Raath ki saundhi si
Khaamoshi ka shauk hai
shauk hai, shauk hai

Subha ki roshni,
bezubaan subha ki aur gungunaathi,
roshni ka shauk hai
shauk hai, shauk hai

sansani maavlon ka
yen ishk ke,vaavalon ka
sansani... ka
barf sei khelthey
baadalon ka shauk hai.

kaash ye zindagi
khel hi khel mein kho gayi hothi,
raath ka shauk hai
shauk hai,shauk hai

neend ki goliyon ka,
khaab ki loriyon ka,
neend ki goliyaan,
khaab ki loriyaan
bezubaan os ki boliyon ka shauk hai,

kaash ye zindagi ,
bin kahe bin suni so gayi hothi,
subha ki roshni,
bezubaan subha ki aur gungunaathi,
roshni ka shauk hai,
shauk hai, shauk hai

Secret of How to work?

2007-11-18T19:46:00.000-08:00

From "The prophet" - By Khalil gibran
Great wisdom !!

************************************************************************************************

Then a ploughman said, "Speak to us of Work."
And he answered, saying:
You work that you may keep pace with the earth and the soul of the earth.
For to be idle is to become a stranger unto the seasons, and to step out of life's procession, that marches in majesty and proud submission towards the infinite.
When you work you are a flute through whose heart the whispering of the hours turns to music.
Which of you would be a reed, dumb and silent, when all else sings together in unison?
"The Prophet" By Khalil Gibran
10
Always you have been told that work is a curse and labour a misfortune.
But I say to you that when you work you fulfil a part of earth's furthest dream, assigned to you when that dream was born,
And in keeping yourself with labour you are in truth loving life,
And to love life through labour is to be intimate with life's inmost secret.
But if you in your pain call birth an affliction and the support of the flesh a curse written upon your brow, then I answer that nothing but the sweat of your brow shall wash away that which is written.
You have been told also life is darkness, and in your weariness you echo what was said by the weary.
And I say that life is indeed darkness save when there is urge,
And all urge is blind save when there is knowledge,
And all knowledge is vain save when there is work,
And all work is empty save when there is love;
And when you work with love you bind yourself to yourself, and to one another, and to God.
And what is it to work with love?
It is to weave the cloth with threads drawn from your heart, even as if your beloved were to wear that cloth.
It is to build a house with affection, even as if your beloved were to dwell in that house.
It is to sow seeds with tenderness and reap the harvest with joy, even as if your beloved were to eat the fruit.
It is to charge all things you fashion with a breath of your own spirit, And to know that all the blessed dead are standing about you and watching.
Often have I heard you say, as if speaking in sleep, "he who works in marble, and finds the shape of his own soul in the stone, is a nobler than he who ploughs the soil.
And he who seizes the rainbow to lay it on a cloth in the likeness of man, is more than he who makes the sandals for our feet."
But I say, not in sleep but in the over-wakefulness of noontide, that the wind speaks not more sweetly to the giant oaks than to the least of all the blades of grass;
And he alone is great who turns the voice of the wind into a song made sweeter by his own loving.
Work is love made visible.
And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.

************************************************************************************************

Jab we met - the film !

2007-11-15T18:00:00.000-08:00

I watched this yesterday and I should say that, its one of the best decisions in my life.
Right, I plan to watch it another time, and then only blog about it.
But, MUST WATCH for everyone out there !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

♪♪♪♪♪♪ Yeh ishq haaai !! baitey bitaaye !! jannath dikhaaye haa !!! Oh rama !!!!! ♪♪♪♪♪♪

Saawariya - The film

2007-11-15T17:34:00.000-08:00

=Excellent music by Monty sharma ! The songs and the background score is out-of-the-world and classy stuff.
=Stunning cinematography by Ravi.K.Chandran, who weaved a similar magic in "Black" too. Its all blue color this time. He's indeed the address of cinematography in India now.
=Very artistic set
=Very pretty lead pair[killer eye/smile of heroine and charms of the hero]

But ,I felt like I just saw a documentary. Nothing riveting at all in the plot[read void].
The theme of love , is sweet as always, but this film is like asking to drink a gallon of kheer in one gulp. Except Rani Mukherjee's[plays her role to perfection] and hero's, no other character is properly defined[Salman's cameo was pathetic]

Net-net, it could have been a decent musical drama on broadway,provided the duration is shortened to 40 mins or so.

Past-midway, I was left thinking, when is the end.

There's a phrase "Keeral vizhunda plate" in tamil, which indicates the way a gramaphone disk sounds like, when it has any scratches on the tape. You suddenly hear the audio slowing down, and hear buffallo's voice instead, and then voice again, and this pattern alternating ain't it? Nice simili for this movie.

Well, I was hopefull of watching an exciting horse race, but there were just 3 horses, merely jogging at 5 KM/Hr each, and I laboriously wait for it to conclude, hoping for some thrill. But, just when my eyes are slowwwwwwwwwly immersing into a slumber, I hear some trumpets, signalling the end. Uff !!

So, I think that should summarize it all.

Happy days- the movie !

2007-11-13T19:21:00.000-08:00

This telegu movie, has captured my mind like none other.
It captures the college days of a group of engg students.
What can I say !! The music, the screenplay, the chemistry between the protogonist group, heroine tamanna[her natural acting is wowwwwwwwwwww]....the list goes on..
Most importantly, it just hijacked me completely for 3 hrs and gave me a surrogate pleasure of the college fun,conflicts, chakkar with girls, roaming with a friend's circle all the time, which I didnt have much of, during my own college days, as I was completely drowned in my own ambitions and its chase.

Well, retrospection sometimes brings up a lot of unfulfilled desires for everyone ain't it !?

Am sure I'll watch this movie another 2-3 times in theatre, as the camera print was pathetic, to say the least. That ways, I'll live out the missed parts of my college days.
Well, am hearing the songs since yday, non-stop.
Esp "Arerey...Arerey..Manasey..jaarey" and "Oh my friend".
I got a few drops of tears when I saw this song's video. The music and picturization are sooo very out of the world.

Needless to say, this film has become a super-duper hit , as many millions would have been able to connect the movie to the golden time of their lives , and relive it.

Also, I've gotta watch the director's[Sekhar kammula] previous movies.

I sign off, humming a the song " Ohhhhhh.... My friendddddddddd" song for you :)

Adios !

Vel - The movie !

2007-11-13T19:04:00.000-08:00

Huhooo !! Watched Vel now, thanks to tamiltorrents.com.
Well, its a thorough entertainment fair.
Don't feel like to do a proper film review, but just wanted to highlight some stuff.
Nice screenplay by Hari again. He's a masala film guru.

Lot of scope for Surya, as he's got a double to play. Both roles have been done very well.
Vadivel's comedy is as always, very good. But he's getting a little stereo-types offlate, doign the bravado kinda roles and facing the music subsequently.

Asin is as pretty as ever and hers is a cute character. The way Surya and Asin fall in love, is nice.
What really caught me in this is, Asin tells Surya that she wants to marry only after a year, as she has carer ambitions. Surya asks, y not continue her career even after marriage?
And then she comes up with a poignant explanation :

"Once I get married, I want to focus only on my kids and family, and support my husband's career . Thats when I can do full justice to the role of Wife "

Ahh !!! I felt like planting a kiss in her cheek. Whatta sweet thought from a girl, I thought, and sent out a heaty prayer to god, to get me a similar girl, who wilingly comes forward with this idea with a little forethought, rather than being pulled apart by the tensions of family and career simultaneously, and reacting to this scenario.

Well, from my angle, I can't see my soulmate having a strong urge to work , and not being able to do so due to husband's pressure. It won't be right on my part to sacrifice her burning ambitions and dreams.So, voluntering to this idea, would be better for both folks.

Ok, getting back to the topic, a nice entertainment, and its strongly recommended to go into the weekend, starting with this movie. Am downloading "Jab we met" now :)

Demand of times !

2007-11-12T02:15:00.000-08:00

I've been viewing friend's list of some of my friends in orkut, to find some mutual friend now and then. I open certain profiles, and find that they are beautiful and have many fans, ncie testimonials etc..When I open the scrapbook, I find some secrets about themselves revealed to their friends, about their boyfriend etc. I find that some of those orthodox girls, get very easily attracted to dashing, aggressive guyz, who can weave magic with words, but many of them being non-brahmins. Well, the entertainment media has eulogized such a personality and abstracted these characteristics, and reserve it for heroes of films. Girls, the dreamers that they are, cherish a secret desire to marry such a person and when they do meet an entertaining guy, they instantly fall for him, irrespective of his character,family background etc.

Well, its the dance of Kali yuga, that brahmin girls are falling into the charm of non-brahmin guyzz and many of our seers have constantly maintained that, when the brahmin community falls apart, the society goes in tatters. Esp, if the females go astray, it doesn't spell doom, but is doom itself. I've been reading some literature about marriage, according to hindu dharma and child marriage is written all over it. It says that marriage to girls, is like upanayana for boys. They need to treat their husband as their guru, while the husband is a humble devotee of his guru and hence, as an eventuality, the husband's virtue acts like an engine, carrying along the wife also, and the couple move along the path to heaven.

Also, early marriage ensures that the couple are tied together before their respective ego's are kindled, and just like friendships at childhood, this marital relationship flourishes for long.
Its also mentioned that, women remain in control of god agni, for 3 yrs after attaining puberty and its these 3 yrs, that their feeling of sensuality is at the peak, as they undergo all sorts of biological changes.
Its with this in view that, the marriage had to happen before this.

My comments : Well, many of us must have observed that in Sathya sai baba tradition, which is followed by many millions world-over,there's always a seperate Q for males and females and they sit seperately, while doing bhajans as well. It holds good in Shirdi temple too. Why do they do that? They are much revered people in the society, and they've lived lives, completely dedicated to the societal benefit. We've found numerous incidents of saints predicting things coming 50-60 yrs llater, and Shirdi baba talks about previous births of his visitors also. So, when they prescribe something, they obviously mean good to the people in the long run, and short run also. So, prescriptions like the ones mentioned above, would be meant for societal benefit only. Nothing else.
Well, I feel bad about our education system . The education we have now, is completely western, and is a collection of wisdom learnt over the past 400-500 yrs at the max. What happened to the wisdom of the earlier times? Why are we being so short-sighted to follow the teachings of a culture which is so short-lived? Why do we use our limited knowledge and capabilities,to beat the traditions to death, by questioning them vigorously ? Why don't we respect our traditions? I think the answers about our traditional practices would sink in, if we approach with humility and devotion, rather than egoistic and analytical view of things? How can the taste of s sugar candy be explained in words, unless its felt by oneself?
And sadly, all these best practices would again come back to us from the wesern world after about 5-10 centuries and thats when we'd recognize our folly, like how its happening to Yoga/eating habits etc now.

I got all this info, from the discourse of a seer[Kanchi Mahaswami], who's followed by millions all over the world, and who's done great miracles to save devotees. He's looked upon, as a mother by many families. When such a seer says something, it has to be pregnant with virtue, ain't it?
But, we are so much deluged by modern civilization, that all this looks childish to us.
Well, thats a big topic in itself. But, I'd dropped by to share with other brahmin guyz that, to follow dharmic way, there's a new skill demanded from brahmin guyzz these days, and that is , to be fun-loving, charming and entertaining. Thats when the brahmin girls will stay in the community, rather than marrying, vysyas, kshatriyas and even SC/ST folks at times.
Well, charm always helps to connect to people and we have a very succesful role model, Lord Krishna ain't it?

So, all you brahmin guyz !! Its the need of the times, to develop charming personality, over and above the traditions that you follow I guess. Be good in sports, and be fun loving . Thats when good things emerging from you, will be listened to, and thought about.

All you brahmin girls, I don't know how to explain the ills that would plague the society, if you marry outside the community, as I don't have a sociologist/spiritual/clairvoyant view of the world, like this seer and many more, but I can only pray that this doesn't happen.

PS: Am no seer nor social reformer, but my heart still throbs , thinking about the duties of a brahmin towards the society. And I shall remain a researcher in this subject, to give appropriate answers to my kids too.
Also, one of my friends wanted me to highlight that, even a lot brahmin boys are marrying outside the caste. Well, my only reply to that is, I don't think guyzz are as objective as girls in some sense. They have their ego, much more than girls. Girls are failry reasonable and respect their family , parents and their emotions. So, I requested them with the hope that they'll consider this. But a guy's ego may not even accept this idea, as his ego wud rebel this idea. So, am not even making an effort to put forth some ideas for them, with respect to our culture and religion. Only thing is, if they marry outside the caste, they loose right to do final rite to their parents.

People !

2007-10-31T17:00:00.000-07:00

I've always been fascinated by people. Ever since childhood, I was always interested to know different types of people. And around highschool types, I took smal strides into numerology, palmistry and also was interested in mind reading, face reading etc. Not just that, I read some miracles performed by great yogi's , where they recieve thoughts of people in distant lands. And probably that was my first attraction to yogi's and saints. All this because, I was hooked-on to "How do people think and behave the way they do".
Well, given my increasing people-related roles, I really really need to gain expertise on this aspect.

I've been meeting some very different , interesting and difficult people offlate. Arrogant, argumentative, very selfish,cunning and combo of these...Iam able to handle some situations, not getting the rite reaction speed sometimes, and some are above my head. Thanks guys ! You make me think deeply !
:)

All said, and done, I realized that, my own performance would be my most powerful weapon to shut such wagging tounges. As Kalam rightly says, for peace also, you need to fight. So, I always need to get my act right, be very perfect at my job, and keep learning, so that I can keep such people in check.
Sarvagyo Gyaanam uthamam !

My 1st potato curry !

2007-10-30T18:34:00.001-07:00

I'd bought a lot of potatoes 2 weeks back, and I was worried if it'll go waste. So, I made up my mind to cut all of them, freeze a part of it, and make a curry out of the rest.
And so I did ! Potato-tomato Currry !!

I liked the way I cut them, as it came out in a very regular shape.
Now comes the main problem, of other ingredients !! Uff ! I always manage to get the salt-chilly powder combo right, but there's something missing in terms of the smells and taste.
I wanted to improve my performance this time.
So, after adding salt-chilly powder, i opened the draw and shortlisted all the possible items that I Cud add, to get a great taste.
Thsi was the short-list :
- Paneer
-Peper powder
-Soya granules
- Corn powder
- Maggi tomato soup powder
- Mustard, and other dals used for seasoning
- Ohh, nothing else available ! I have a bad inventory :(

So, I decided to add all of them in proportions, and at different points in time, while the cooking is on. I learnt from my cooking experience that, adding components in different stages of the dish, helps in taste :).

So, after 30 mins, there emerged the dish of the year !! Potato-tomato curry.
Postmortem : Only mistake was, I had fried the seasoning items a little more, and it gave a burnt smell. And I could hav added more salt !
Finally, when I ate , I still felt, there's something missing, in the aroma dimension :(
So then, I added paruppu podi[dhal powder] to rice, and added this curry to it.
Wow ! Delicious !! Am improvingv huh !! huhooooooooo !!

My 1st beetroot curry !

2007-10-30T18:30:00.000-07:00

Entering a new phase in Life

2007-10-28T20:17:00.000-07:00

God's grace ! I got promoted to "Technical lead" . Iam quite happy, as it was totally unexpected. Honestly, I have worked hard, but never expected this soo soon.
I did relish this news for a day, but after that, my mind set sail on my gaps and what all I need to learn now, to perform my role effectively . I listed some of them :
- Master design patterns
- Get a strong hold of OOAD
- Finish PMP certification
- Finish a couple of .Net certifications, leading to MCSD.
- Just like a cricket captain should effectively understand his bowling and batting resources, and deploy them effectively, I shuold get a very good hang of the testing aspect of a project, with respect to development of test plans, test bed and relate planning.
-I should learn effective usage of tools like QC, MS Project, and learn abt testing tools(for automation, scripts etc).
- I should read a lot of books from experienced devs, abt methodologies, team dynamics.
- I should meditate a lot more and be a dynamo of energy for the entire team, always bubling with ideas.
- I should work on new ideas for the company and try and bad projects or create synergies in some way, so we get more work
- Net-net, this is like a music composer role[or rather, lil different], where I need to read so many tools and technologies and orchestrate a solution , with these various instruments/tools.
- I need to have an in-depth perspective of al technologies and tools, to make a difference to the project.
- I need to have an in-depth perpective of the performance dimension of applications and tools, and keep working on improving the performance of systems/tools.
- Establish great contact with a wide variety of people, to know about wide variety of technologies, and their respective challenges.

Beyond all these skills, I need to have great drive for excellence,greater commitment to team success,greater ambition, and finally dedicate my best effort to my beloved gurudev !

Harihi !

About venus citizens

2007-10-24T15:09:00.000-07:00

I met a girl about couple of weeks back. She is my colleague and she was visiting my office from a different state in US. We share the same office building in India, and I've seen her few times in our cafeteria. Since she didn't have access card to this new office,I was asked to get her in, which I did.
We sat next to each other in Boston office and she started telling about her. Well, she was cherubic and asked me a lot of info. I patiently provided all info amidst my calls . Well, hospitality is a part of india culture and I think I was courteous enough to help her in possible ways.
Now, end of the day, we came back to room together and I'd told her, we'll share the cab charge. She gave me a stare. Why??
That day, she didnt have other friends here, and I told her I have some movies in my laptop and she could watch. She came down to my room and started asking me about my proj etc and then I told her to watch a particular movie, which she did. Then I'd offered to share the food which I'd prepared and she was good enof to prepare dhal, and also taught me. After dinner, she watched the movie, while I was reading a book.
******End of day-1**********
The next day, her behaviour was strange. Since morning, she started to behave in a bossy fashion. I was immersed in work, and didnt care much for it. During lunch time, I started to eat in my desk, and she said she doesn't want to have heavy lunch.
I offered curd rice , which she accepted. But, after sometime, when she returned me back the box, half of it was left, reason being, pickle was over. How can she waste food so heartlessly?
I told her to throw the leftover and do some cleaning and give me back. She gave a weird stare, as if "why the hell should I?? ". I stared in return and after sometime, she gives me the box with some rice left. What the hell, I thought. She realized that I got angry.

I could deduce so much about her. Our office locales were really beautiful, and she had to have a fotographer take her snaps. So, she reconciled and started to talk friendly again. In the evening, we started early, as if was friday and went out on a fotography spree. It was an awesome environ indeed.
She wanted endless snaps of her in different poses and backgrounds. I got tired. She said, its her Bday . Well, its only courteous to make her atleast little happy on her Bday, so I obliged .

After about an hour, we return back. I offered to give her some sweet on Bday, and I casually asked about treat. No replies.
In my room again, I offered her some snak, and boiled milk . She had some milk and left some in the cup, for me to clean ! This is bullshit, I thought. But its her Bday.

Her friend was supposed to take her to downtown and she was passing sometime in my room.
She goes out with friend and comes back, picks up her laptop fro my room , and vanishes. I told her, "Hav fun, we'll meet in India". And she returns back to her place next morning. But, no Bye/Thanks.
She must not have spent a penny on her food or anything past 2 days, and I helped her so much, but she didn't even thank me for any of that.
Thats the min that anyone wud expect.

Well , this is just one of those shamelessly selfish girls, who tend to USE courteous guyz , and since its just a 2 day trip for her, she didnt even care to thank.
What a bloody character !
Well, it started to burn in me slowly and I coudn't douse it.
Did I come across as a fool, or a flirt trying to impress her or even going to ask for any help from her? Then I write a lesson in my orkut profile and wanted to share this lesson with people, and then only my fire douzed a bit.

Girls ! Are they really so devilish? I've seen worser devils. IF this is on one end, I've also seen many angels too.

This is yet another colleague of mine , and missing her friendship is something I repent so much in life.
She was one of the most beautiful girls in office. She always had a big gang of friends around her , making so much sound . Also, she used to talk really loud. Her body language was really hyperactive, to the point of being v restless.
Well, I've seen such girls, who tend to talk sweet and churn guyz for selfish purposes. So, I kept a safe distance from her.
Infact, as a matter of policy, I maintain some distance from beautiful girls and try to guage them from a distance, before making any friendship. I did the same with this girl as well.. In subsequent months, I gave some music programs in office and after that, this girl tried to attract my attention in numerous ways.
In canteen, she used to walk near my table, talk loud when I go pass, sing a song sometimes etc. But, I kept a safe distance. Once it so happened that, we had to sign some register to collect some coupons and we were at the table at the sametime. She had to sign the register, took the pen, and searched for her name, but suddenly told her friend, that her name is not visible and that she would wait. She put down the pen. I grabbed the pen, signed , collected and started to push off, when I saw that it was her pen, and she started signing. Why did she say that she didn't get her name? Obviously, it was a compromise on her part, to help me. I realized it later.

I spoke to a couple of friends about her and they said, she's a scene party. All the more reason to avoid her I thought.

But, turns out that, its one of the worst judgement I've made in life .
I then came to know that she's sooo friendly, music loving, adorable and simple person. God !! What a blunder I'd made. Looks are soo deceptive, but body language was deceptive as well in this case.
I started to search for her profile in orkut, to find more about her, and my blunder just looked colosal to me, looking at her scrap book and testimonials. Such a wonderful lady ! I got very angry on myself, for having missed such a friend.

Then the next day, when I opened her scrap book I found her friends congratulating her on her engagement !! To cry or to smile?
Well, I took no time to add my wish in her scrapbook, though we were not friends in orkut. I just thought, there's no license needed to wish her good. And I did.

That day, I learnt a profound lesson, "Never be judgemental". I just guage people with my limted experience, and I can be totally wrong.
Well, am happy, I learnt a lesson, but am sad, I missed such a wonderful friend.

Venus citizens, must have inspired the subject of psycology, am sure !

My best lunch so far,

2007-10-23T19:24:00.000-07:00

I'd gone for Whale watch, and post-drive, my friends went to a hotel for lunch. Since I'd brought some lunch, I sat down to eat nearby the acquarium, which was our next destination. I was a little bored to eat alone. Luckily, in the next table, a kid was eating popcorn and he had spilled it over the floot, which some pigeons were eating. My mind switced to that Scene in DDLJ movie, when Amrish Puri feeds the pigeons. Whakaouuuuu !

So, for every 3 pieces of parata that I eat, I threw one piece to the pigeons. Gradually, pigeons multiplied in geometrical proportion. And within 2-3 mins, atleast a dozen sparrows surrounded the table. And they were soo bold that, I threw a piece on the table, very close to me and it still came along and picked it up in a flash. There was a quarrel within pigeons ,and then within sparrows and now it was pigeons Vs Sparrows ! Ya hui na baath ! :) Was reminded of fight scnes in gladiator movie !

But suddenly, there was a new sound emerging. And lo !, it was a sea gull very close to me. So, then I had to be fair enough and gave away some pieces to it as well. And in no time, there were 4 of them.
Finally, it was a kurukshetra itself, with all 3 species fighting for paratha ! Well, who doesn't like parata ain't it?

Now, I had a to play a referee, as some small sparrows gave a look of deprivation at me ! I got touched by their innocent look and wanted to help them. So, I used all tactics to divert the stronger ones to a different place and in between feed these week ones. But, uff, the strong ones eat their piece and in a flash come back to snatch the share of weaker ones as well. U baddies !!
I played a baddy too, with a stick at hand, trying to regulate their lunch.

Well, i tried my best to feed the young and weak ones, but though i throw pieces vvvvvv close to them, some don't spot it at alll, and some aren't fast enough. Couldn't help comparing this scenario with humans. We humans sometimes tend to miss out on providential opportunities knocking at the door ain't it?
At the end of it , I was left with no pieces, and some cute sparrows were looking anxiously at my hand for the next piece. I opened up my lunch box and gathered all small bits of vegetables and parata, that I could muster. Still, wasn't good enof. !
** I think, for the first time in my life, I felt bad about not being able to help. I learnt thru my own experience, what difference, a morcel could do to life. It could be a sparrow's meal for the day ! I vowed to myself, that I'd never ever waste food. And I also decided that this would one of the first lessons I'd teach to my kids, with the same experience.

Finally, a profound truth just got re-inforced on my mind ! "U will NEVER get what u'r not destined for, and will invariably get the destined pieces".

A fun lunch, ends on a pholosophical note.
Was a great experience though :)

Seagulls !

Pigeon fight !

Daring , darling sparrows !!

Life is interesting :)

Kala Jamun

2007-10-23T18:32:00.000-07:00

Today, I tried my hand at preparing a sweet. Basically, about 3 ltrs of milk got broken while boiling and I didnt wanna waste it. Kya karen??????
I instantly got the images of my granny and mom,stirring on and on and on in a kadai, and finally get a lump of white mass, called MILK KHOA ! Common da Raghava, try it.
So, I started stirring it yesterday night, and I started to play A.R.Rahman albums. 1,2,3.....10 albums got finished. I still keep stirring. Eventually, it became an involuntary action of my hand. Remember, in films, hero slaps the comedian 4 times and the latter's head still keeps tilting left and right, perpetually? The same perpetual motion happened to my hand I guess :)
Uff !! Not any more, and I slept for the day. Today evening I came back from office and spotted that kadai again in the stove, and starts again, "operation stir". And atlast, I got a viscous while liquid. What do I do with this?Should I use it as butter , in my curries or sambar? Should I use it in Maggi?[Actually, last week when milk got broken, I used to pour out the liquid from that vessel and immediately add noodles to the vessel and make paneer maggi , if u will ;) ] . KKya karoon?
Eureka !! I'd bought Amul gulab jamoon last week, and hadn't touched it since then. Howabout adding it to this white lump and making a jamoon khoa types?
Well, I instantly tried it out, and outcome was really delicious. Somebody knocked at my door ! Ahh ! Is it the hotel guyz complaining about excessive abuse of gas or something? Oh, it was just my friend and as I told him about my creative initiative, he said, the while lump is called Kalakand.
He tasted it and fida ho gaya ! Wow, experiment success !
KalaJamun was a great success indeed ! Here is the picture for you :)

City view from Charles River, Boston... Wow !

2007-10-02T12:47:00.000-07:00

1st views

2007-10-02T06:22:00.000-07:00

Well, its been quite interesting times so far, the journey and the settling down episodes. Just wanna post some observations ..

About Hotel
-------------
Well the hotel is pretty neat. Its surrounded by thick nature and whats more, we have a hill very close-by where we get the view of Boston city . The hotel is surrounded by cars all around it, oh I learnt about so many brands and their makes during my walks . The admin folks are pretty friendly[someof them pretty and friiendly he he ]. During the first walk, I heard a whirring sound from nearby, like the one we hear during flight take of or like a huge waterfall nearby. I eventually found that, there's a highway nearby and my, whatta roar !! There are much better hotels nearby, esp hotel Westin. I really need to appreciate the gardening around all hotels. Its enriching to see such beauty and diligent gardening. Also, the electric poles all around, are full oak trees, which is aluminium alloy pole in India. There are apple trees all around, but since its private property, we've been asked to watch out ! But a true indian that Iam, will surely flick some during the wee hours of midnight ! Flicked goods are obviously a lot tastier ain't it?
The roads are very well maintained and it looks pretty neat. There are wooden fences on one side of the road, reminding me of the Tomsawyer tales of childhood.

My Hotel Room
----------------
I have a very neat room, with a double bed , a kitchen and an attatched bath. Prelim kitchen utensils are available ,with an over, breat toster and over utensils. Very well furnished, in all.

Food
------

Friends
--------

US Culture, people
--------------------
Climate
---------
Climate is pretty chill. I took my first walk, in about 2 hrs of reaching the hotel, as the climate and environs, was soo inviting. It was pretty chill out there. I felt like the winter of Ooty. The fresh air is soo vitalizing and I'd luv to take long walks, but for the pain in my heel ! God ! be good to me pls !

Entry to US

2007-09-29T15:54:00.000-07:00

Into US atlast ! Was quite glad ! The journey was quite long and ardous. It took 21 Hrs overall. The flight,on the way did some free fall and it was as exciting as a ride on a giant wheel ! Reached Frankfurt in about 8 Hrs and it was 2 hrs transit there. What amazing air hostesses in Lufthansa. Damn pretty ! Cudn't help starting at them blankly. Was even planning to ask water regularly, but restrooms were on heavy demand so dropped the idea , hehe :). The only hitch was the leg space in the flight. The food in flight was just OK. In frankfurt, we roamed around the airport and window shopped a lot. Esp,there was a Jaguar car on display and we rushed to take a snap in various poses- opening it, hinging on it etc..was a lil sheepish but anything for a pose with the dream car of millions. Then boarded the flight again to Boston in about 2 hrs. Oceans 13 movie was played. It was a grt movie ! After about 9 Hrs,Boston shore was visible and was an amazing sight ! After due checking, walked out of the airport. A cabbie instantly popped up and I boarded the car. I narrowly escaped falling into a chasm of sorts ! After getting into the car and when it was nearly moving, I quikly realized tat I'd left my documents inthe trolley itself ! God !! Instantly jumped out of the car to get it back.
Now we start to Waltham. The cabbie was extremely friendly. Inspite my optimism,my mind kept popping qustions if he was genuine and if he would kidnap me,kinda stuff ! weird thoughts ! Boston is a beautuful place ! I was told about the Boston subway project, which has costed 16 Billion $. We passed to Harvard Business school and MIT. Reached the hotel at about 3 PM local time. The receptionist was very friendly . Atlast entered the room and unpacked things and fel flat on the bed. Pretty draining journey ! --- End of part 1---

Chicken Soup

2006-10-13T11:43:00.000-07:00

Well,though I havent really tasted chicken soup, this book 'Chicken Soup for romatic soul' makes a fantastic read. Probably the effect of having chickn soup is to make you warm and comfy,but this book surely does, and sends you in the planet of dreams in a jiffy and to top it all, with your dream soul mate :). Demonstrates the power of human conviction, whose magnetism just pulls YOUR soulmate frm anywhr in the world. Am reminded of a dialogue ffrom the telegu movie 'Murari"-when the hero says 'Manushya sankalpam kanna goppa emi ledhu" which means, there's no power bigger than human conviction and he goes on to survive his death bed[which isnt unusual for the Hero of a film anyway].
Power of human WILL !! Bring her to me THIS MOMENT !! Oops, a grey lizard with one eye falls on me !!
Adios )

2006-01-10T03:22:00.000-08:00

Am not sure where life is heading. Is it the vacillation of the mind? It yearns to do something creative, though IT provides a lot of creative avenue. So, how do i discover mine?
Lots of questions at the moment.

My journey

2006-01-10T03:17:00.000-08:00

My journey
pals, life is really interesting

Welcome

2005-05-03T23:46:00.000-07:00

~~~ My Journey ~~~~

Swami Dayananda Saraswathi's 80th Bday

Another trip to trichy

Pilgrimage around Trichy [15/7/09 - 18/7/09 ]

KJ Yesudas Concert

Ignite Chennai

Journey of excellence

My pilgrimage around Kumbakonam

Natick outing

2008 in Retro

I got into Harvard Business School !! Huhoooooooo!!

Being as you are

Black friday (mis)Adventure !

In recognition of that lady !

My hotel room !

How to be a millionaire? Useful Post

Startup inspirations from Viswanathan Anand

Couples?

Lonely journey of progress

The Mask

...

Trip to Valparai, Top slip

Trip to Valparai, Top slip

Kanchi Trip and tryst with Ghatiks !

Refreshing Hyderabad Trip !

In lamhon ke- lyrics with translation

The blind opened my eye

Kadalai from Paati [dont conclude from title :) ]

Strange !

Sakkarakatti !

Changing notes concert !!

25/2/2008

24/2/2008

23/2/2008

22/2/2008

21/2/2008

20/2/2008

35 in 4

Last days in Boston !

Weekend

Silver bullet for a happy life ..

Powerful mantra !

My first flying experience !!

Visit to SRF Centre, Boston

Shauk hai song, from Guru !

Secret of How to work?

Jab we met - the film !

Saawariya - The film

Happy days- the movie !

Vel - The movie !

Demand of times !

People !

My 1st potato curry !

My 1st beetroot curry !

Entering a new phase in Life

About venus citizens

My best lunch so far,

Kala Jamun

City view from Charles River, Boston... Wow !

1st views

Entry to US

Chicken Soup

My journey

Welcome

~ My Journey ~~