New Year without Commitments

       First when I joined college, July 2007, I didn't know much about what was happening around. Come Jan 1, 2008 and I confidently made my unending list of commitments for the year.. :P I'll do this, that, and what not... except studies, everything else featured there - play games, go swimming, do workouts, lose weight and so on... The first few days went fine, but later came my usual self. Procrastination and lousiness took the lead and was back to my original form. 2009, 2010, every year came and went by, but the list still remains the same. Every new year was just another reason to get reinvigorated and remind myself of the so-called commitments. This was simply not working!

        And so, this year's gotta be different. Bugged up of these unfulfilled promises, I've decided to try something new this time. I set out to look for a motto to make a satisfied living and finally zeroed in on two statements.

"Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish!" - Steve Jobs, CEO, Apple Inc.

"Yesterday is a history, Tomorrow  is a mystery, but Today is a GIFT, that's why it is called the PRESENT!" - Master Oogway to Po, Kung Fu Panda.

        So, decided to make the best possible of every single day. And learn as much as possible.. Hope this works out!! Wishing myself and every one a very Happy new year 2011, Sign off.

What do we make of CWG 2010?

           With the count down towards the D-day of the XIX Commonwealth games 2010 rapidly decreasing, there has been a great amount of hype and violent rhetoric of blame-game going on in the media and thousands of Indian minds without sparing millions of anticipating fans world wide. Leave aside the world beyond the Indian barriers, but thousands of Indians themselves have begun relentlessly finding faults with the Organizing Committee. There might be fraud, or corruption in the massive investment towards the establishment of infrastructure for the games. But, there is a more subtler point to note before openly showcasing one's anger. Where are we going with this? Who is at fault and who is to suffer? Money spent is already spent and cannot be retrieved by unnecessary arguing.

            It is highly important that we show the world what India is. The Commonwealth Games or any event of its ilk is not just an event about athletes and participants. There is a greater audience that will escalate the levels of grandeur and success. This is a great opportunity to showcase to the world, the great culture and heritage of India, the levels of development and talent inherent in the Indian community and above all, the strong ability of India to host such magnificent events. This should not be a time when we start blaming our officials and the Organizing Committee for their mishaps and mistakes. Rather, every responsible Indian rise to the cause of promoting Indian culture, cuisine, custom, technology, tradition and heritage. Instead of bursting one's anger on the status quo of the CWG, let us join hands and loud voices to call out to the world to come and taste the saga of our INCREDIBLE INDIA!. Let us get together to make a loud and clear call from a 1.2 billion Indians to the greater world that Come-What-May, we are there for them and that they would have a successful, secure, safe and comfortable trip to India, that no terrorist or radical fanatic could disrupt the proceedings of the event.

             The success of the Games will come to the whole of India at large rather than Mr. Kalmadi or Mrs. Sheila Dixit and failure at a much greater cost that holds India's reputation as a country at stake. And hence, what I can say is that if you cannot popularize and campaign our grand history, please do not work to defame our country. Let us begin to spread this message of support to the organizing committee and make the XIX Commonwealth Games as Indian CWG as the best among those till date.

Not just living, But death too!

              Of late, the ghost of price rise has been haunting the common Indian and playing it's devilish pranks. From the Recession of 2008, saving rates have receded and investment rates soared higher. Returns on investments have come down drastically, but the cost of investments has been shooting up. We have lot been discussing about the rapid increase in the cost of living. If living has become expensive, how about resorting to death? But, not just living, even death has become costly now. The after-life story has also been haunted with price rise. 

                     I recently happened to be at a funeral when I realized this bitter, yet strange truth. The cost of all the rituals to be done after the death of a person was estimated at a damning 20,000 INR. And Pity me! It could come no less than 18,000 after bargain. :( Where are we going with this? Are we to live or to die? If living has become costly, death has become costlier. And do our elected representatives realize what situations they have led this country into? In spite of their 300% pay hike, our selfish politicians at the helm are not yet contented. They want more, and this more has no end to itself. At least now, they have got to realize the situation and spend time and their intellectual capital to check the situation and help the cattle class - not just to lead a standard life, but also within their budget. I do not know the significance of the bull at the sensex, but the common man has not been able to make this giant leap in spending as the barrier of daily needs is rising beyond his reach.

Déjà Vu!

           Early this morning, I had one of the weirdest dreams of all times. I had a chat with my prof via gtalk. WOW! At first, I saw a strange name on my friend list. Wondering who it was, I pinged him with a very informal chat. As it progressed and the topic of my project came up, I even mocked at my professor for having made us work all these days, made confessions of bluffing him each time having done nothing, his general attire, physique and what not! It was not until he revealed his identity and I was confused! Oh my shit! How the hell did I land on his list and he on mine? and I said.. "Good Evening Sir!" :P. Damn this digital age when you can destroy a person by concealing your identity with dirty pranks. Of late, there have been many times when my professor and mentor, Prof. PJ Narayanan mailed us (me and my partner :) ) to work harder and increase the frequency of meeting him. In fact, he also suggested that we begin using gtalk and skype to intensify our discussions. In his words "Research is a 24x7 occupation." Probably, he should get happier, I even dream of research. At first, we wondered how informal we could get with him and what id he could probably have with wild guesses. But, after today's dream and the meeting that followed, I realize that nothing is impossible. 

             Just as if my dream come true, my meeting with him today was very informal. As usual, my results were far from satisfactory and he made strange and funny comments on them. I managed to crack jokes at that.. and he also laughed at me.. (Not just me, but my results too! :P). Only God damn knows when they are in a good mood and when not! I just hope this rapport continues for yet another year so that  I could get positive grades on my sheet.(greedy of course! :P) Today, it was like Deja Vu! Except for the difference of gtalk and in person, (dream and reality) the situation and interaction were of the same genre. Unlike my regular meetings, where I am reluctant to meet him, I truly enjoyed it today.. Indeed he is a great professor! :P