Yes, sometimes you should stand up and shout to the world, “Yes, I am alive.”

Sometimes you should  open your eyes to look at the world and say, “Yes, I am alive.”

Sometimes you should clear your ear and listen to the world, “Yes, you are alive too.”

Yeah, I know. Pretty lame for a philosophical touch, eh? Never mind.    I just wanted to say, “Yes, I am alive”. Some people know it by heart and some know it by gtalk. And some just guess it because they know I am smart enough to be alive so far.

So thanks for waking me up Reema. Looks like Sakhi has given up trying to make me write something . And hey, still “I am alive” does not guarantee of any future posts or blogging or anything ok?     

Just pinging… ping ping…. Fruity, Nita, Xylene, Priyank, Yawwwnnnn ohh its 2.30 AM

From many days I had been telling myself, “Write next post with your new laptop dude, what is the hurry?”
The arrival of laptop got very much delayed and I ended up torn between my resolutions and urge to write something somewhere. But somehow I kept my promise to myself. I waited patiently for this dude lappy to come. And here he is, finally, HP dv4 1414tx something. Paying a major part of my savings for this dude was no easy decision for me. But now having him in my hands sitting in my lap, I feel it’s worth the money.

All these days I was planning for a new laptop, my roomies tried very hard to change my mind about it. In their opinion, I should have opted for a bike instead. That was a good option but it more cons than pros. For example, my GF has moved to Mumbai with her family so main purpose of bike fails here . Also my hometown is too far to go on bike every other weekend (around 210Km). My office is just 1Km from my room which I walk to everyday. So a bike would have been a waste of money on me these days. So bike got postponed to next year and lappy came in.
Here are few things on my agenda for use of new laptop:
1. Frequent blogging
2. Study

3. Web/Graphic Design (Most probably web)
4. More blogging and writing
Why study? A thorough analysis of job market (aka jobs for me) told me that just practical experience does not take you up the career ladder, you need few addons. Addons like certifications in the technology you are working in, some domain knowledge around the technical work you do and openness towards new technologies. Some relevant additional knowledge would not hurt either. If an interviewer asks you, “Do you know what is new in the recently launched Dot Net 4.0?” you better not reply, “Ohh, there is a 4.0 too?”
Now, most of above things can be done without any expensive computer but what if I felt tired of study and wanted to play a game or two? So I specially got with nVIDIA GeForce Graphics card too.
Anyway, now I have got this dude up and running, I should probably start with the study……

Every company has a performance appraisal system in place to measure the effectiveness of its employees.
Employees are normally rated in most of the companies in the above categories. Apart from the above non performance category is also there, which is not depicted here ) . Needless to say everyone wants to be rated Outstanding.
What is the yard stick and how do you measure these aspects?

• Employee “A” in a company walked up to his manager and asked what my job is for the day?
• The manager took “A” to the bank of a river and asked him to cross the river and reach the other side of the bank.
• “A” completed this task successfully and reported back to the manager about the completion of the task assigned. The manager smiled and said “GOOD JOB”

Next day Employee “B” reported to the same manager and asked him the job for the day. The manager assigned the same task as above to this person also.

• The Employee “B’ before starting the task saw Employee “C” struggling in the river to reach the other side of the bank. He realized “C” has the same task.
• Now “B” not only crossed the river but also helped “C” to cross the river.
• “B” reported back to the manager and the manager smiled and said “VERY GOOD JOB“

The following day Employee “Q” reported to the same manager and asked him the job for the day. The manager assigned the same task again.

• Employee “Q” before starting the work did some home work and realized “A”, “B” & “C” all has done this task before. He met them and understood how they performed.
• He realized that there is a need for a guide and training for doing this task.
• He sat first and wrote down the procedure for crossing the river, he documented the common mistakes people made, and tricks to do the task efficiently and effortlessly.
• Using the methodology he had written down he crossed the river and reported back to the manager along with documented procedure and training material.
• The manger said “Q” you have done an “EXCELLENT JOB”.

The following day Employee “O’ reported to the manager and asked him the job for the day. The manager assigned the same task again.

“O” studied the procedure written down by “Q” and sat and thought about the whole task.
He realized company is spending lot of money in getting this task completed. He decided not to cross the river, but sat and designed and implemented a bridge across the river and went back to his manager and said, “You no longer need to assign this task to any one”.
The manager smiled and said “Outstanding job ‘O’. I am very proud of you.”

What is the difference between A, B, Q & O????????
Many a times in life we get tasks to be done at home, at office, at play….,
Most of us end up doing what is expected out of us. Do we feel happy? Most probably yes. We would be often disappointed when the recognition is not meeting our expectation.

Let us compare ourselves with “B”. Helping some one else the problem often improves our own skills. There is an old proverb (I do not know the author) “learn to teach and teach to learn”. From a company point of view “B” has demonstrated much better skills than “A” since one more task for the company is completed.

“Q” created knowledge base for the team. More often than not, we do the task assigned to us without checking history. Learning from other’s mistake is the best way to improve efficiency. This knowledge creation for the team is of immense help. Re-usability reduces cost there by increases productivity of the team. “Q” demonstrated good “team-player” skills,

Now to the outstanding person, “O” made the task irrelevant; he created a Permanent Asset to the team.
If you notice B, Q and O all have demonstrated “team performance” over an above individual performance; also they have demonstrated a very invaluable characteristic known as “INITIATIVE”.

Initiative pays of every where whether at work or at personal life. If you put initiative you will succeed. Initiative is a continual process and it never ends. This is because this year’s achievement is next year’s task. You cannot use the same success story every year.
The story provides an instance of performance, where as measurement needs to be spread across at least 6-12 months. Consequently performance should be consistent and evenly spread.
Out-of-Box thinkers are always premium and that is what every one constantly looks out for. Initiative, Out-of-Box thinking and commitment are the stepping stone to success.
Initiative should be life long. Think of out of the box.

I saw Harry Potter and Half Blood Prince yesterday.

I was never so disappointed by a movie before. My roomie who have not read the HP books liked the movie a bit, he says its not that bad as he did not know the actual story in the book. He was okay with most of things but in after coming out of theater he was little confused. When I asked he said, “I don’t understand WTH the movie was called Half Blood Prince??”

David Yates Fail!!!

The important things in book were

1. Harry-Dumbledore relationship

2. Harry-Snape hatred

3. Harry-Draco enmity

4. Harry is Quidditch captain (David Yates has forgotten that Harry  can ride a broom too)

5. Ron-Hermione relationship ( In this movie Hermione behaves like she is ready to for Ron to jump on her and start…. WTF)

6. Harry-Ginny relationship (which should have come very late in the story)

7. Importance of Horcruxes. My friend didn’t even notice that Horcrux was anything important. He thought it is just another thing he missed because of not reading the books.

8. The bloody half blood prince. Harry gets kind of possessed by the book (or say highly addicted). He gets himself in lot of trouble by using the book.

9. J K Rowling has portrayed Harry’s development from a teenager to mature person very nicely. The director though getting a beard and having a girlfriend makes him mature.

10. Climax!!! Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Luna, Neville, Lupin, Bill, Tonks and others fight death eaters in the school.

In the movie, there is no climax, no Hagrid has two lines at max. Snape has been ignored completely. You can count the number of times magic was done on your fingers. There so less magic in the movie. Story is ripped and patched again and what not.

Finally I sincerely doubt that the director has even read the book HBP himself. Worst “movie based on a book” I have seen ever. No stars, no ratings, only BOOOOOO to David Yates.

P.S. The opening scene was spectacular. And I missed Voldemort!! 

Do you believe in God? I got the following conversation in a forward email and I thought it worth posting here. I would like to hear what people have to say about believing in the God.

A Professor of Philosophy speaks to his Class on the Problem Science has with GOD, the ALMIGHTY.
He asks one of his new students to stand and . . .

Professor : So you Believe in GOD ?
Student : Absolutely, sir.
Professor : Is GOD Good ?
Student : Sure.
Professor : Is GOD ALL – POWERFUL ?
Student : Yes.
Professor : My Brother died of Cancer even though he Prayed to GOD to Heal him.
Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill.
But GOD didn’t.
How is this GOD good then? Hmm?

( Student is silent )

Professor : You can’t answer, can you ?
Let’s start again, Young Fella.
Is GOD Good?
Student : Yes.
Professor : Is Satan good ?
Student : No.
Professor : Where does Satan come from ?
Student : From . . . GOD . . .
Professor : That’s right.
Tell me son, is there evil in this World?
Student : Yes.
Professor : Evil is everywhere, isn’t it ?
And GOD did make everything. Correct?
Student : Yes.
Professor : So who created evil ?

(Student does not answer)

Professor : Is there Sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness?
All these terrible things exist in the World, don’t they?
Student : Yes, sir..
Professor : So, who Created them ?

( Student has no answer )

Professor : Science says you have 5 Senses you use to Identify and Observe the World around you.
Tell me, son . . . Have you ever Seen GOD?
Student : No, sir.
Professor : Tell us if you have ever Heard your GOD?
Student : No , sir.
Professor : Have you ever Felt your GOD, Tasted your GOD, Smelt your GOD?
Have you ever had any Sensory Perception of GOD for that matter?
Student : No, sir. I’m afraid I haven’t.
Professor : Yet you still Believe in HIM?
Student : Yes.
Professor : According to Empirical, Testable, Demonstrable Protocol, Science says your GOD doesn’t exist.
What do you say to that, son?
Student : Nothing. I only have my Faith.
Professor : Yes, Faith. And that is the Problem Science has.
Student : Professor, is there such a thing as Heat?
Professor : Yes.
Student : And is there such a thing as Cold?
Professor : Yes.
Student : No sir. There isn’t.

( The Lecture Theatre becomes very quiet with this turn of events )

Student : Sir, you can have Lots of Heat, even More Heat, Superheat, Mega Heat, White Heat,
a Little Heat or No Heat.
But we don’t have anything called Cold.
We can hit 458 Degrees below Zero which is No Heat, but we can’t go any further after that.
There is no such thing as Cold.
Cold is only a Word we use to describe the Absence of Heat.
We cannot Measure Cold.
Heat is Energy.
Cold is Not the Opposite of Heat, sir, just the Absence of it.

( There is Pin – Drop Silence in the Lecture Theatre )

Student : What about Darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as Darkness?
Professor : Yes. What is Night if there isn’t Darkness?
Student : You’re wrong again, sir.
Darkness is the Absence of Something¡­
You can have Low Light, Normal Light, Bright Light, Flashing Light . . .
But if you have No Light constantly, you have nothing and its called Darkness, isn’t it?
In reality, Darkness isn’t.
If it is, were you would be able to make Darkness Darker, wouldn’t you?
Professor: So what is the point you are making, Young Man ?
Student : Sir, my point is your Philosophical Premise is flawed.
Professor: Flawed ? Can you explain how?
Student : Sir, you are working on the Premise of Duality.
You argue there is Life and then there is Death, a Good GOD and a Bad GOD.
You are viewing the Concept of GOD as something finite, something we can measure.
Sir, Science can’t even explain a Thought.
It uses Electricity and Magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one.
To view Death as the Opposite of Life is to be ignorant of the fact that Death cannot exist as a Substantive Thing.
Death is Not the Opposite of Life: just the Absence of it.
Now tell me, Professor, do y! ou teach your Students that they evolved from a Monkey?
Professor : If you are referring to the Natural Evolutionary Process, yes, of course, I do.
Student : Have you ever observed Evolution with your own eyes, sir?

( The Professor shakes his head with a Smile, beginning to realize where the Argument is going )

Student : Since no one has ever observed the Process of Evolution at work and
Cannot even prove that this Process is an On – Going Endeavor,
Are you not teaching your Opinion, sir?
Are you not a Scientist but a Preacher?

( The Class is in Uproar )

Student : Is there anyone in the Class who has ever seen the Professor’s Brain?

( The Class breaks out into Laughter )

Student : Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor’s Brain, Felt it, touched or Smelt it? . . .
No one appears to have done so.
So, according to the Established Rules of Empirical, Stable, Demonstrable Protocol, Science says that
You have No Brain, sir.
With all due respect, sir, how do we then Trust your Lectures, sir?

(The Room is Silent. The Professor stares at the Student, his face unfathomable)

Professor : I guess you’ll have to take them on Faith, son.
Student : That is it sir . . .
The Link between Man & GOD is FAITH.
That is all that Keeps Things Moving & Alive.

Its my birthday today!!!

23 years ago, it was raining cats and dogs (and even elephants ) and my dad was standing with his friends at a small hospital in a small village, drinking tea and discussing Raj Kapoor and his movies. His face was bright with a great smile. A few moments later, a women, a nurse probably, came out of the operation room and informed him of my birth. Birth of a great personality, a boy who will do something that will make him proud. Someday. I was crying and crying and everyone was rejoicing out there. Poor me, had I known everybody was going to rush IN to *see* me, I would have stopped crying instantly.

Few years later, when I was old enough to kick my elder brother down from the bed (he was 2.5yrs old then), my first birthday was celebrated. And you can see that how troubled I was because of people trying to kiss me, pull my cheeks, trying to make me laugh, trying to lift me or simply trying to shake my tiny hand!!

Last year, I wrote this post on my birthday.

(Just a nice forward email.... credits to whoever created this)

There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away. The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in summer, and the youngest son in the fall. When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen.

The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted.

The second son said no it was covered with green buds and full of promise.

The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen.

The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment.

The man then explained to his sons that they all were right, because they had each seen but only one season in the tree’s life. He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season, and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that life can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up.

If you give up when it’s winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer, fulfillment of your fall.

Moral:

Don’t let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest.

Don’t judge life by one difficult season.

Persevere through the difficult patches and better times are sure to come some time or later…….

I can’t sleep. I just can’t breathe
When your shadow is all over me, baby
Don’t wanna be a fool in your eyes
Cause what we had was built on lies
And when our love seems to fade away
Listen to me hear what I say……

I don’t wanna feel
The way that I do
I just wanna be
Right here with you
I don’t wanna see
See us apart
I just wanna say it straight from my heart
I miss you

What would it take for you to see
To make you understand that I’ll
Always believe
You and I, can make it through
And I still know I can’t get over you
Cause when our love seems to fade away
Listen to me hear what I say

I don’t wanna feel
The way that I do
I just wanna be
Right here with you
I don’t wanna see
See us apart
I just wanna say it straight from my heart
Oh baby, I miss you, I do

Cause when our love always fades away
Listen to me hear what I say
I don’t wanna feel
The way that I do
I just wanna be
Right here with you
I don’t wanna see
See us apart
I just wanna say it straight from my heart
I miss you, I miss you, I do…….

A song from Westlife

Aaj ki taaza khabar. Suda is doing a tag!!!
Yes, stop slapping yourself, this is not a dream!!! I am really doing a tag (actually stealing it from Reema)
The tag requires me to write 5 things for which I love myself
So here we go:

1. Helping Others: I have habit of helping (or at least trying to help) everyone (read: anyone) no matter who he/she is. Even a stranger can not discourage me.
I know this is a common habit (at least in India, I don’t know about others) but I love myself for it because many other people love me for same reason. I help many people without realizing how much I am doing for them. And I guess that is what makes me special. Whenever someone asks me, “Why are you doing this much for me?” I get surprised. I have heard same question hundred times before but still it surprises me. Friend or not friend, a person who needs help should get it without hesitation.

Help Everyone Everywhere in Everything!!!

Now, I don’t claim to be some great personality or something like that. I help others when I can, when it is possible for me and (recently, only) when it does not create trouble for me.

2. Forgiveness: I don’t believe in holding grudge. I hate some people but that does not make me to hold any grudge for them. The moment my anger melts, I forgive every offender in my mind and let the person know what I feel if possible. I do not expect everyone to be saint. It’s a choice a person has to make for him/herself.
Believe me; I really do not have any enemies. Or may be I should say that I do not consider anyone enemy. I may be distant and rude and dry towards some people but I really don’t see any reason to call them enemies. The guy whom I called “my best friend ever” actually plotted behind me and got the girl I loved when we were in college. You would think I must be looking for a chance to get back to him. But I am not!!! I was stupid back then, because I just liked that girl but never tried to tell her. And I was stupid enough to tell everything I felt to my best friend. May be I was not stupid in telling him. May be they fell in love with each other and the girl (she used to love me, her roommates still claim this even after so many years) thought him better choice. Now, I have no contact with him or her. My friends consider us enemies or something more. But I don’t!!! I just don’t want them back in my life and I am not sure I can bear them together. I am better off without them. And anyway I have found someone *who truly loves me* beyond my imagination. ☺ ☺ So, I have forgiven both of my friends for everything. But still he should better take care of remaining out of my sight!!!!

Forgiveness is Divine Quality

So, I love myself for this forgiveness saintly quality. Now I forgive myself for bringing up stupid hurting memories for very stupid reason of praising myself in a stupid self praising tag post.

3. Flexibility: Now here is something I share with Reema. Put me anywhere, I will match myself to the context!!! (or match the context to me ). I can live in some extreme rural area with no connection with modern world and will not complain at all. I am living in a Metro city Pune (where I don’t like many modern things) and have adjusted myself to match Punekars. I can live with very less water and I am adjusting with my current roommates (that is a miracle in itself). In technical field, I have no objections in working across different technologies and different people.
Again, same as Reema, I show nakhras only when I have choices

4. Fakology/Creativity/Making things up/Playing with words: Sometimes, you need to change a few details and twist some tales to tweak the situation for your good or for greater good of the universe……this is the field where I have attained a fair level of expertise. I usually manage to slip through tight situations by using my word-games and a little presence if mind.

Presense of Mind

I will share a secret which is formula I use in most of the critical situations. That secret is *simple logic*. Not just commonsense, but the right application of commonsense. I will explain with simple example (keeping non technical people in mind):

For my project, I was supposed to make a document about a banking product NRI accounts using information provided by my onsite colleague. I was supposed to write “pain areas and problems” in one section. But my onsite friend did not get much information for that particular section properly and the banker he interviewed gave very vague answers. All he got out of the banker was there are no specific pain areas and he does not bother to explain why. So it was my responsibility to convince my Project Manager that there is really no need for that section in document. Here is what I told him:
“Sir, Mr Onsite-Colleague interviewed Mr ******* for this product. As we know the NRI account product is uses Foreign Exchange (FOREX) Dept for currency exchange rates, blah-blah system for customer records and Miss. Blah-Blah is head of the FOREX dept. As the concerned product uses multiple systems and people for small-small activities, it hardly creates any problems for Bankers. So I doubt that any banker can actually tell us specific pain areas for this product, they will just tell problems of bigger products they handle.”

My PM thought over this explanation for a moment and decided not to chase me out of his cabin for such a small issue which was not my creation in first place. So he decided it was wise of me to keep that section blank and my onsite colleague owes has done nothing wrong. The fact is I was not lying. Whatever I told was supposedly expected from the client banker. So I may have missed real thing but I did not create any problems for client as well as my employer.

Now look at the underlined things in my answer. They are my guesses or deductions from a line my onsite friend told me plus some general knowledge. I managed to keep anything from being too specific. Do you see what I mean? No??? Well, I will come up with more examples later. Just keep in mind that whenever you need to slip through tight holes, make sure you are very logical about things you say or make up and also make sure you have left enough loopholes to bypass someone trying to catch you. I call it Fakology and I intend to write a guide for it, seriously. I love myself for this ability (and many of my superiors and friends hate me for it)

5. Basic Instinct: Now, this is a thing I guess I share with thousands of people around the world. I believe that every person has a power or ability sometimes called Sixth-sense. It is not just your logic or brain power. It is some instinct that flashes up some feeling in your head for a moment when you are about to make a decision. Mostly the feeling slips away before you catch it and understand it. But whenever you manage to get a hold on it, it surely affects your decisions.

The Sixth Sense

I believe my intuition is very strong. I have saved myself from many blunders and stupid mistakes by following my instinct. Sometimes I think my quick reflex to something like ducking an unseen stone is more than just good eyes and ears. Many times I think I heard someone coming before anybody else but it is mostly the feeling and not the sharp ears.

I have a strange example here: In my college days, some friends decided to hide programs in computers in college lab and use them for practical exam next day. I had no need for cheating but I decided to give them company just for thrill of doing something against the rules. That evening, the lab assistant was promised a drink and then he locked us in lab with and promised half an hour for the dirty work. I did not take part in copying but sat browsing the net. After few minutes, I felt an urge to go out of that locked room. Nothing was wrong but something strongly urged me to get out and I started feeling very uneasy when I tried to force away the urge. So I went to locked door and asked the assistant to take me out. He knew me very well. He snapped at me that why I went in at first place if I did not need to cheat? But he let me out and I ran away. I was feeling suffocated in the building. I ran to bike stand away from the building. Hardly 5 minutes had passed when all (cheater) boys joined me at bike stand. A teacher of my dept had caught them red-handed!!!! The teacher failed them in practical exam as punishment instead of making a big issue for that serious crime.

I was simply lucky to get out in time. I was about to get punished for being at wrong place at wrong time in wrong company, I must have missed her by a minute or less. I still don’t believe that it was just a co-incidence. Unknown, unexplained urge to get out of that lab just few seconds before the teacher decided to check the lab……… to much for just a co-incidence!!!
There is other side to these so called instinct decisions. Sometimes, it does not feel right for the situation. It may be turn out to be right in long run but at the particular moment, I can’t afford to follow it. Also many times I simply ignore it because of some stupid attraction or something like that overcomes it. And I regret it many times. How many times I say, “Damn, I should have done it that way. I should have listened!!” I think I should write about instincts in detail in a separate post later.

Well, that’s all for now. I can write a book about myself and best things about me, but I doubt anyone will ever read it
And this is the longest post I have ever written. I hope some people have really reached this line honestly
If you answer this question then I will know that you have read all points above. If you can’t then its okay, I will assume that you have read between the lines
Que. I mentioned that I want to write a guide for something. What is it?
Answer the question in comments. This question is optional , you can choose not to answer it. 

Do you guys need any disclaimer??? I hope not

Shameless self advertisement: See my photography here.  Lately, I am advertising my photoblog too much

गर्जती तोफांचे चौघडे………

मराठी पाऊल पडते पुढे………

Congratulations to Krushnaa Patil, a 19-year-old girl from Pune (this is what nearly all newspapers and channels call her),  for *conquering* Mount Everest.

On Thursday morning, Krushnaa was on top of the world, literally, becoming only the second person from Maharashtra to scale Everest and also the first woman from the state to do so. She was the second youngest Indian woman to reach the peak. Surendra Chavan of Pune was the first person from the state to conquer Everest in 1998.

source: TOI

    I am proud of you, Krushnaa.  Kudos!!   

A friend of Krushnaa has written about her at DNA News.

She has been blogging about her journey at her blog The Burning Face. (I am not sure why she chose this name for her blog )

Times of India also reported that “Krushnaa’s tall feat has come at a cost”. Her parents took a loan of 30 laks to send her for this expedition!!! Government should do something for this type of initiatives.   

Here are some pictures from her blog:

Krushnaa Patil - Mount Everest

Krushnaa Patil - Mount Everest

Congratulations Krushnaa!! and Best luck for future!!