Sites and Insights

D went to see the Niagara fall last weekend... and it did, several times, she said thats why they call it Niagara Falls. ok, i take responsibilty for that nonsensical humour(?) :

Which made me wonder, there are so many sights around the world that I'll never manage to see? I can choose to see it, but then why would i choose to see it over, lets say, the Stonehenge, or the Great Barrier Reef, or the Sphinx,or the Colosseum, or London Bridge. Even if i had all the money and all the time, could i ever manage to see all the sights that are worth seeing? Can i even imagine the different sights that are spread across the geographical expanse of the planet?

So, do i miss seeing them? Not exactly, because i dont think i will notice the difference between sunsets in Goa and say, the Riviera or the nightview of the Queen's necklace and the Quai des États-Unis. Maybe thats just philosophising or maybe i am in denial.. :)

Or maybe, its just a function of who you're with and what you take out of those sights... Awe, splendour, amazement, bliss, joy...and so on...

And thats why an internet connection is so damn important, coz if you can't do it really, you might as well do it virtually - from panorama to vista and discovery to explorer.. Because the plethora of content does to me exactly what books do to me - gives perspectives.. of people i have never met, and places I have never seen...

until next time, see you on orkut ;)

Pati, Patni aur Woh

Exactly the current president's cup of tea - that what this presidential election has become - rocket science. But unfortunately, that doesnt do him much help, coz he has already backed out. But that's only after doing a rose petal stunt of 'will he, wont he', and then saying he would stand for a second term only if he were assured of a victory. By those standards, i wonder how he was so active sending up rockets, considering that most of them came back faster than they went up. And forget achieving their objective, the only thing they succeeded in doing was to destroy some poor fishes' homes in the arabian sea/ bay of bengal or create a theme park/ picnic spot for the fishes' children. No wonder they always said there was always something fishy in India's space research..sorry, i digress.. All said and done, doesnt look like the man who made the chikunguniya look fashionable, and the one who inspired salmaan for the 'tere naam' look is going to have a second term as Rashtrapati.

Which brings us to the prime contestant - the one who has been accused of shielding a killer, of defaulting onpayments for a factory. I say it is wrong that such a person should contest for the notional post of President, Indian politics has lost a true flag-bearer. She has awesome qualifications to be PM, but the nation is into non-controversial PMs these days, sigh. Chalo, at least this way, we get to see our first Rashtrapatni.

The current VP, was once upon a time, regarded as an almost definite P, but unfortunately for him, all his ex-supporters now only say, oh, woh?

Why am i writing about it? Because it was so damn inconsequential, but true to his name, Dr.Kalam, has converted the entire exrecise into a PJ !!

until next time, shall we tell the president?

Gestation Time

She hated this wait. It had been many months now, and she still had some more to go, before the result showed. She was a bit nervous. It definitely wasn't the first time that she was going through this, but she was still young, and not, lets say, a seasoned player, though how anyone could be a seasoned player inspite of multiple experiences was something beyond her imagination, since every experience in this regard was a unique one, with its own set of ups and downs and idiosyncrasies.

He was not exactly what you could call a big help, though he was definitely much sweeter and understanding than most others of his breed. She had heard enough horror stories to realise and appreciate that, but unfortunately it was more of her cross than his. But wait, it wasn't exactly a cross and besides, in his own right, he would be tense too, but he couldn't or rather wouldn't show it to her. She wasn't sure if it was a 'man' thing- this entire show of bravado, when being tense.

But, to be fair to him, he had been very supportive and understanding when she had mentioned her desire to him. He thought it was pretty natural. In fact he had initiated the process and gone through it without much fuss. In fact, she thought, that was an understatement, because it had been pure pleasure.

But she hated this wait, especially since one couldn't be too sure of everything turning out right, because though both of them had defintely played their parts, the higher powers had a say in it too. But though she hated the wait, she would grin and bear, after who could every say no to appraisals and increments?

until next time, the thought was conceived after reading this :)

Old School

I'm still quite unsure about the name, old n' all, though i have to admit, it does sound a bit 'in'. What am i talking about? It's the new (or at least i discovered it only recently) programming on Zee Cafe. (are you listening guys, thisis kinda endorsement and stuff) Unfortunately, its only about an hour everyday, and the timings aren't exactly what I'd call user friendly. (i thinki blew that endorsement deal)

But what it does give, if you can get around to seeing it, is those old favourites that used to appear on Star Plus (yeah, there was a time when it was sans saans and bahus and ekkta kkapoor stuff). I'm talking about Doogie Howser MD, Ally McBeal, The X Files and my personal favourite - The Wonder Years.

Actually it isn't just about watching old favourite content, its about bringing back those days when i used to watch it every evening. As everyone who reads this blog would know by now, all it takes is a bit of hint for me to go onto nostalgia mode. I guess, thats why they called it 'Old School'.

And as Kevin would say, “I remember a place... a town... a house like a lot of houses... a yard like a lot of other yards... on a street likea lot of other streets. And the thing is, after all these years, I sill look back... with wonder.”

until next time, back to school :)

The right turn

On my way to office, there is a junction, and like many junctions there are rights and lefts varying from 1 degree to 179 degrees, and many times, i end up giving directions thus, "not that right, the other right'...

A few days back, i ended up playing whistle blower on an online plagiarism case.. no second guess required whether it was the right thing to do, but the implications did make me wonder whether i could have maybe not have done it at all.. But i also got a forward around the same time.. it went thus - there are two sets of railway tracks. One used, the other unused.There is a warning board on the used one that warns kids not to play on it. The scenario is that a train is approaching on the used track, there are five kids playing on it. A single kid is playing on the unused track. You are in charge of the tracks. With a single button, you can divert the train onto the unused track,saving five kids and sacrificing one. You obviously can't do the movie hero stunt of running faster than the train and rescuing all kids concerned, and you have only moments to decide. Before you make the decision, remember that the single kid was following instructions and doing the right thing.

There is no 'correct' answer, it is a choice, but it helped me stick to the decision i made. Maybe, it is a step towards a 'no compromise' policy towards doing the right thing... Meanwhile, the turn to my office is the exact right, all of 90 degrees :)

until next time, i write, you read :)

Social Networking

I once had a scrap on Orkut.

I won.

until next time, feeling anti-social.

Read Only Memories

Tagged by Prero

Total number of books owned:*Loading* (while i go check my shelf) 93

Last book(s) I bought:Cryptonomicon (gifted to me), Shalimar the Clown, The Peacock throne

Five books that I have really enjoyed or have influenced me:

Influenced: Tomorrow's God, Fountainhead, The Lost Hero, The Drifters, God's little Soldier (currently reading), a lot of magazines i can't mention ;)

Enjoyed: Ramayana series (ashok Banker), Foundation series, Jeffrey archer (all), Night of the Dark Trees, The Great Indian Novel, and those magazines

Book(s) I'm currently reading:God's Little Solidier

Books I plan to buy next: Strong believer in love at first sight, there's no planning :)

Books that caught my attention but have never read: sigh, a lot of Maxim these days, but seriously, i usually end up buying the books that catch my attention

Books I own but have never got around to reading: Quite some, but here are a few - Lila, Desirable Daughters (that title is very misleading!!hehe), Goa ( i will, one day)...

until next time, pick up the tag, it might make a good read ;)

An eternal twist

Read something that i thought was definitely worth sharing.

If you had to choose between a woman you had met the day before and God, who would you choose? And the weaver said, The woman. Is there any doubt about that?

And the mullah asked him, If you had to choose between a song and God, what would you pick? And the weaver said,The song, of course.

And the priest from the temple asked him, Weaver, if perforce you had to choose one or the other, a beautiful sunset or God, what would your choice be? And he said, Isn't it obvious? The sunset.

And they asked him how he could blaspheme so. And the weaver said, Why sirs, God has eternity on his side, he can always wait. Will the woman, the song or the sunset wait for me?

God's Little Soldier, Kiran Nagarkar

until next time, maybe there is no right answer...