Monday, March 29, 2004

All's well that ends well?

According to an article in ToI, the 'wellness' industry is valued at 1 trillion dollars by the end of this decade.. all i can do is laugh.. to expand on the 'wellness' industry (i am using a lot of stuff verbatim) - herbal tea, personal gurus, yoga ( with personal yogis to show the way, if you are rich enough), scented oil massages , all to give us a sense of well being.. i am not laughing because i see a lot of usually sane guys 'falling' for the stuff (i want to, but i wont), i am laughing at the absurdity of it all.. we create a corporate life, with all its frills and thrills, we create social obligations by doing a whole lot of things, so that we remain part of the 'in' crowd, we build up stress on ourselves generally and then we complete the damn circle by opting for 'wellness' therapy..all i wanna say is that if we tried to stick to normalcy in the first place, would we need to go in search of wellness at all??
now for expanding on an interesting idea that one of my groups gave me - "i woke up on my Kurl On bed with an alarm that buzzed on my Sony-Ericsson handset, got up , brushed my teeth with an Oral-B toothbrush using Colgate gel toothpaste, listened to Radio City a bit, read the Times of India, sipping Tata tea all the while, shaved with Gillette, showered with Aramusk and Head and Shoulders, put on an Arrow shirt and a pair of Indigo Nation trousers, neat Bata shoes (poor man, adjust please), and a cool Parker pen in the pocket - and hey presto, ready to go to work, on my Kinetic Honda .. at office - use a Reliance mobile (officialy, we have got the world in our fist ;-) ), and a Samsung PC, grr, no more talk about work, on the way back home fill Speed petrol from the Club HP outlet, have dinner, maybe a pizza from Pizza hut, watch Star , Sony , AXN, check the time on my Timex watch and decide its time to sleep so that i wake up bright and shining for a Brand new day!!", meanwhile lets move on to
manuscrypts trivia
just a couple of good quotes
"We live in deeds, not years: In thoughts not breaths; In feelings, not in figures on a dial. We should count time by heartthrobs. He most lives who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best." ~ David Bailey
"The good life, as I conceive it, is a happy life. I do not mean that if you are good you will be happy; I mean that if you are happy you will be good." ~ Bertrand Russell

Monday, March 22, 2004

Thats the spirit?

I've to thank my office pc (coming soon : home pc :-) ) for the post, though it wrecked nearly half of my birthday by developing bad sectors.
it made me think of a computer in terms of its existence.... it is made of a whole lot of different parts and it has got its version of intelligence. all the parts have their own wear and tear periods, they also have to be upgraded for them to function smoothly, and inspite of all the upgrades, it will totally shut down one day, and in spite of anything we do, it will not start again.
if i were to draw a parallel with the human body, it also has a version of inteligence and has parts with wear and tear periods and need repairs, and most importantly, will shut down one day, never to wake up again.
now if i told you that my comp has a spirit which exists long after the comp has shut down the final time, you will laugh me off....but if i told you the same about the body, you would be in two minds.
please do not compare hard disk/ processor to the spirit, thats the brain..we can store that, maybe not harness its contents, but....
and therefore is there a spirit, or is it something the maintenance guys made up?? ;-))
will leave you with
manuscrypts trivia
check this link, there was a huge uproar coz an episode of Xena , showed her killing Hanuman!!
and the regular quotes
"To be nobody-but-yourself--in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else--means to fight the hardest battle, which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting." ~ E.E. Cummings
"Do not confuse motion and progress. A rocking horse keeps moving, but does not make any progress." ~ Alfred A. Montapert
"When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everybody will respect you" ~ Lao - Tzu

Monday, March 15, 2004

Life of Mi

apologies to a certain mr.yann martel for the title, (and yeah, i know its not pronounced "p", but i can only be so creative!! :-) ).... this post is because this week happens to have a moment thats chronologically perhaps the most defining moment of my existence. so i am jotting down a few things i have picked up on the way, a few things that have changed my perspectives, a few things they didnt teach me in school or college, but a few things that life has made me learn anyway... (someone has inspired me to write it this way, i would give credit, if only i know who)
i've learnt that i could not have belonged to an earlier generation.
i've learnt that i might want to do a whole lot of things again, and not do some, but i cannot.
i've learnt that we will always be too small to comprehend some things.
i've learnt that sometimes we have to take the time to be happy.
i've learnt that some friends last forever, some fade away.
I've learnt that money is a lousy way of measuring happiness, but it still is THE way.
I've learnt that you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache or joy for life.
I've learnt that good friends are family members that God allows us to choose.
I've learnt that we don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change.
I've learnt that 'customer is king' .................in books.
I've learnt that sometimes, the people you care most about in life are taken from you too soon.
i've learnt that some people are sweet enough to read your entire post, irrespective of font size.
I've learnt that you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.
I've learnt that we cannot change our background and circumstances, but we can change ourselves.
I've learnt that you shouldn't compare yourself to the best others can do, but to the best you can do.
I've learnt that it's not where I am that is important. It's where I am going.
I've learnt that no matter how thin you slice it, there are always two sides.
I've learnt that it takes a long time to become the person I want to be.
I've learnt that its very difficult to imagine youself in someone else's shoes.
I've learnt that sometimes we are helpless, we can only cry.
I've learnt that we cannot change some things, the desire is there, but......
I've learnt that you can keep going long after you think you cannot.
I've learnt that either you control your attitude, or it controls you.
I've learnt that there are people who love you dearly, but just don't know how to show it.
I've learnt that sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.
I've learnt that just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to doesn't mean they don't love you with all they have.
I've learnt that maturity has more to it than how many birthdays you've celebrated.
I've learnt that no matter how bad your heart is broken, the world doesn't stop for your grief.
I've learnt that sometimes you have to put the individual ahead of their actions.
I've learnt that wherever i drive, the worst drivers follow.
I've learnt that some people are fake, but unfortunately, more convincing.
I've learnt that we realise we love our parents only after they are gone.
I've learnt that times change, and so do people, nothing can stay the same, and so, i have still a lot to learn.

Monday, March 08, 2004

Thats what I've been trying to say

but never found the words..so when i got this mail, i had to share it....here it goes
The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less.
We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.
We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom. We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.
We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor.
We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.
We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.
These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships.
These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill.
It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or close the window.
Remember to spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever. Remember to say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.
Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.
Remember, to say, "I love you" to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you. Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.
Give time to love, give time to speak, and give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

now, to more mundane things.....this is shocking to most guys my age, whose imagination was triggered by 'baywatch'. :-)
loved billy crystal in the academy awards...especially this "the last time i compered was 13 years back, and things were so different - bush was president, the economy was down, and we had just finished a war in iraq.."

and yippeeee for schumi, he has started the season with a bang...which leads to
manuscrypts trivia
"All the gold in the world cannot buy a dying man one more breath. So, what does that make today worth?"
~ Og Mandino
"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."
~ Albert Einstein
"i am objective, i object to everything" ~ manu.....(naw!!, he just saw it on a t-shirt) :-)

Monday, March 01, 2004

Moving On

once upon a time there was a town. the geography of it does matter, but we will come to it later. the town had a decent share of manufacturing units, and fairly big ones at that. these units understood their social responsibilities very well. they built their share of the infrastructure - roads, parks, living quarters; and since the aspiration levels of the citizens were at a reasonable level, life seemed to be good all around. people started settling there after their retirement coz of the good infrastructure and excellent climate. you could see happy smiles all around, no traffic snarls, no road rage, slow paperwork instead of frenzied mails, (no blogs too, but thats okay, i doubt whether any of us could do anything worthwhile then ;-)), altogether a leisurely pace of life. pops have enough money, so kids can enjoy at the pubs, which have started to happen. but life is one phenomenon where the laws of inertia does not work.
enter the 90's, entrepreneurism is the happening thing, software companies , (read start ups) appear on the horizon, a new breed of techies are born, they have the money, they have the career path figured out, they wanna spend, baby, and rao obliges, liberalisation is in...infrastructure has not exactly kept up with the pace coz these companies are more into branding than infrastructure, but still not that bad... pubs mushroom, discos are in place, life is a party and the animals are evolving. life is slightly hurried, hey, but what the hell, we are enjoying it!! inertia doesnt work, we have to move on.
the 2000's....the first gen techies are in middle age, but the new gen has almost the same mantras in place. then come the call centres, kids after college (some before college too) have access to quick money, so what if they have to be nocturnal !! kids, no i am not demeaning them in any way, but kids.... kids who have a limited, skewed view of life, kids who have no career path, kids who have no clue, no, have not thought about what life will be 10 years later, kids who will buy fast machines so they look 'cool' in front of their friends, kids who do not realise that their ol' city hasnt got the infrastructure to support their lifestyle(infrastructure?? my a**, we are into cost cutting) , a city that has to adjust to the nocturnal needs of the new breed, but hey wait, there are guys who say it is shining, so it must be.... kids now, kids hoping to be kids forever.....inertia?? uh-huh
2010's.... the call centres that came in zooming are zooming out, the kids are told that their counterparts in a remote part of the world they have only heard about, can do work at a lower cost...so in the larger interests of the organisation the jobs are being sent there....the kids' future just collapsed coz there aint no plan b.
look at the town, no, the city- the plazas, the malls, the complexes are all empty coz the kids now have no money to spend, the new techies are too busy, the old techies have lost the fire...the manufacturing units are closed a long time back coz the kids never wanted to work there. somewhere along the line, it ceased to become a pensioners paradise coz the traffic got too heavy, the atmosphere too polluted, and life too fast. a city dying.....
we can be happy now, coz this is not happening here. but this is my expanded view of what happened here. i am not a pessimist, lennon would hardly call me a dreamer, but realistic?? i think so......
the political system 'there' is much less volatile, what about 'here'? in a society and politic that is already divided and subdivided on regionalism, religionalism, casteism etc, can we afford the volatility when (and if) the jobs (which were an integral part of the shining) left us??
sam pitroda, the man behind the std booths you see all around, says the telecom boom we see are a result of the seeds sown a couple of decades ago.... what are the seeds we have sown for tomorrow??
check this out, not exactly in the realm, but getting there................but hey, maybe "its not for us to question why, its only for us to do and die"
and so in
manuscrypts trivia
this is about us...., this is the link to the 'bad sex' awards, and my usual quotes
"Let us not look back in anger or forward in fear, but around in awareness" ~ James Thurber
"Concern for man and his fate must always form the chief interest of all technical endeavors. Never forget this in the midst of your diagrams and equations." and "Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal."~ Einstein
"why cant male sheep be called heep?" ~ manu (couldnt resist)