Happy New Year!

Folks,

Here's wishing you all a Prosperous New Year.

May 2007 help us rebuild peace and stability in the world and our own lives.

May there be less killings.

Give peace and share joy!

Girish

"Stepping into Tom's shoes"

coding..

I just completed a demanding two month long software project and learnt a few things from it. I guess sharing this would make others' lives easier in the future. The important things of a successful project from a core developer's perspective are:

1. Good code - important
2. Code review - very important
3. Letting your manager know on time that the deadline can't be met with the given resources - priceless!

hehehe. Well now that its completed, I can joke around, but the past two months have been close to hell. I was eating, dreaming and sleeping code. My bp rose, got angry for no reason and didn't bother about food. Its insane! But getting everything working with a team and new environment needs time is not all that easy..well..so goes the life of a software dud..

Journey of Life

With much pains I tried to create a rhyming poem. Much of the lines & words had to be painfully contorted to keep the original meaning intact. Whew, poetry is tough!

We are all born blind with open eyes
To the truth at first no one finds
Then there occurs at some point a strike -
A ray of light from the inside
Not any lightning is ever so bright
Than this calming, soothing light
A light so divine that makes you realize
'Tis not in the oceans, hills or skies
But in the depths of our own heart lies
The light of joy that is truthfully right
No more illusions of daily life
Can block your vision to cause you plight
In keeping this light is one's true might
That guides you through to Moksha's heights!

Quote for the day (and life)

Your treasure is deep within you: it holds all you need.
Hui-Hai

Hitlers of India

After a media expose about the beating to death of H.S. Sabharwal, a professor of Madhav College by two ABVP activists, the sole person to testify against the criminals is left in the open threatened that his life will be taken away any moment.

What is startling is that the media has exposed the video of the professor's plight (which yet is not in its full version for reasons still unknown!). It clearly shows there were atleast 50 people witnessing the cruel beating to death of the late professor. Despite all that, the only person to have bravely testified as a witness is Komal Singh Sengar, a peon at the Madhav college in Ujjain. This, despite orders to keep quiet and offers of money and a good life for his children thereafter. But who with a clear conscience can accept anything like that? And it takes extraordinary love and courage for someone like Mr. Komal Singh to shout out against the wrongdoers. Although he fears for his life now, he will surely have a better life eternally. Kudos to the real hero.

Now to the whole political dirt of the matter. The two people who beat the professor to death are ABVP activists. The Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan gave a clean chit to them even before investigation began on the case, clearly exposing the much behind the incident. Sad part is such political gundaism still exists in a nation priding itself on its values.

Full marks to the media for exposing this and atleast providing a chance to hear out the truth from the sole 'human' in the tragedy. Incidentally, the late professor's son has also braved all odds and come out against the murderers in public. Pray that no one else gets hurt in letting out the truth.

How many lives have been taken and how many more will go before India eradicates itself off its Hitlers? Even fatal diseases like malaria can be eradicated by a nation wide vaccination program within a few years. But more murderous diseases such as our politicians..?

Honestly funny, but not in India!

While in the US, one of my favourite T.V shows was America's Funniest Home Videos or AFV. Why was it funny? The audience weren't a sadistic lot to see others plights in vengeful humour. It was funny because it brought to light in a very funny way the nuances of daily life. It created a sense of empathy and we quickly connected with the people in the videos. It made us take a look at our own life and take time to laugh at ourselves. It did wonders to a quarrelling household, for instance :) And hence, it improved a nation's lives.

So why isn't anything like AFV still not popular in India? AFV as such isnt aired here, but great substitutes are available on AXN and other channels. To be fair, there are some goof shows on many local channels. But they are all the same, painfully - they all capture the host(s) putting other people in wierd situations and the camera crew secretively capturing it on tape to play it to the delight of the sarcastic viewers (if any).

Again, why isn't an honest show like AFV not popular in India? In my view its one of the subtle things that can improve an otherwise quarelling and greedy society. I suspect, in our daily lives of dealing with the corruption and pollution (of all sorts), we find it hard to suddenly put ourselves to some honestly good stuff. For we have to be impure to surivive in an impure place. Corruption breeds corruption. Anger breeds anger. Everybody is involuntarily now busy getting suspicious of everybody else and thinking about riches they once will make. But the subtle riches of laughing together is lost in this moment. Thanks to the society.

Honestly, how many of us are loving each day, anywhere in India? The clean air, the green pastures, the friendly neighbours - well, really? Not in India. Maybe in a few corners tucked away, for brief spurts of time.

Wake up India!! This isn't how it is in other places. And we vehemently claim to be a quickly advancing nation, proud of all its values and culture? "I love India" they say - well, I do not; even though deep down I have an attachment to this country due to my roots and childhood experiences. Money or material wealth might have increased here. But that cannot be a substitute for clean crisp air, friendly society or the cheap thrills as clean places to enjoy a hike or bike with friends. Fight for the right to an honest life..however close!

Thank You!

Of late, many of my friends have been saying they like what they see on this blog and have encouraged me to write. Thank you so much for your words and encouragement! Infact, any honest comment would be an equally good morale booster.

My aim is not just to state my feelings for the sake of it but to try and put it to good use too to (hopefully) have a positive impact on the way things are. So thank you so much for visiting and please do feel free to comment on anything you would like to discuss. Thanks again and peace to all :)

Multitasking @ work

Most of the employers nowadays seek employees with the ability of multitasking. Be it in the IT field or elsewhere. However, I have come to realize that nobody can have a customized set of skills as demanded by certain employers with blind expectations.

By observing a variety of people during my two and a half years of work experience, I've realized that those who can mulititask are better at technical concepts but poor at attention to detail, usability and aesthetics. On the other hand, those who have high creativity, sense of perfection and high involvement into their job are generally poor multitaskers. But the blind trend now seen shifts the scale towards recruiting only people with mulititasking ability. They are loosing out on the fine pool of resources who can lay that final touch that altogether elevates the appeal of a finished product making it really appealing to the customer. Be it in a software company or a florist's.

Now from Chennai

The world definitely is a small place. Afterall heaven, hell and earth are just a plane ride away.

On my return trip, I had the wonderful opportunity of flying over the breathtaking snow filled Alaskan mountains and crossing the Bearing Strait. Never did I ever imagine I would get so close to a pole. We infact traced the entire west coast of the US from California, over Seattle and onto Alaska to cross the date line and travel south over Siberia and then land in Seoul, to further take us to Singapore.

Chasing the sun wasn't fun though, with 16 hours of continuous sunshine threatening us to disrupt our biological clocks. I also had the good fortune of getting out at Signapore in transit. We had about 19hours of layover time. We were offered temporary visas to get out and see Singapore for ourselves. A neat bargain for the long layover. But the place was hotter and humid than expected. No doubt, with it being so close to the equator. I found a colleague of mine was in the same trip, so we hopped on to a taxi to get around Singapore City. We visited Little India (which was totally indistinguishable from Chennai!), Esplanade, Suntec city, Orchid garden etc. And my impression of Singapore was just a place full of first class hotels, shopping malls, apartments and pretty much thats it. Natural beauty was quite limited, and so I would rate Dubai higher overall. In my whimsical thoughts, I think one would develop into an incurable shopaholic if he/she is to live in Singapore for long. But the construction and architecture I must say was marvellous.

Well, seeing many places were only the minor takeaways from the entire trip. The spiritual lessons and occasional sparks of enlightenment during this period is what will benefit me in the long run. I learnt that a lifetime's perceptions, beliefs, fears, and notions can be shattered/changed by a single hop to a different place on this very earth. Different places have different problems. The simple gem of a lesson that I got was how to use my heart always, in destroying my ego, being polite and more importantly, being courageous to face life. Bon jour.

To heaven and back, voluntarily!

I've been...

"Afterall, heaven and hell are all an illusion. Reality denies both."

- An agnostic saying from somewhere, but I truly believe in.

Caste still tearing us apart

Thanks to Arjun Singh, we have once agained surfaced the once suppressed behemoth of class and casteism back to India. Although we thought modernisation had educated us, we still seem to be having heated debates over the issue.

Whether Reservation for OBCs is justified or not is not the issue. The fact is its tearing up our society again. Remember the divide and conquer rule? This time, its by ourselves!

Photo Competition

hi5 is conducting a photo competition. Your submissions are free of cost and you can immediately see the easy-to-fill submission form when you log in. $10,000 is at stake!

So all you photographers out there do give it a chance to get lucky.

And pass on the commission.

Some crap scribblings about success from me..

success is illusory as it is temporary, for everybody. Because nobody can be successful all the time. So if nobody is successful all the time, then sucess is achieved by everybody - a possibility. So nobody is a looser or a winner. Or, everybody is only a temporary winner or looser.

Hijacked

Like how Trojans and other viruses affect your Windows computer and use your CPU and bandwidth without your knowledge, is it possible for others - through meditative prowess - to control your brain without you knowing it? We wouldn't be able to realize it cos the very instrument to detect it is being controlled by a third party. The brain waves could be hijacked, just as radio waves can be hijacked.

The Imax experience and a police street chase

Leowes theatre has inexplicable Imax experience. Due to this, I watched two movies on Saturday there. V for Vendetta and Ice Age 2: The Meltdown.

First for Ice Age 2. The story line was pretty drab I thought. Atleast for the 17 and above group, quite unlike its prequel which had all of my friends and me rotfl. The animation, I admit was marvellous. The depth of detail into the scenes were good. You could see each strand of hair on the mammoth's body animated. Now that was amazing computer rendering and would love to know how they did it and whether it was open source technology to the rescue again!

V for Vendetta. On the Imax the action was superb and it actually felt like I was there in each of the locations. The dialogue rendition by V, the hero is superb and all the actors do good acting. Set in the near future and based on the wars raging now, it also mixes some thoughtful 'ideas' from 500 years ago. No spoilers here.

Ah, now to the police street chase. My first full blown police chase on the streets of Sfo. Hence this hubbub about it in this blog. Twas very much like in the movies. Somebody had robbed a bank and sped away in a Cadillac. The sirens through the streets soon echoed the arrival of the high-speed police cars. 2, 5, 10 I counted about 15 of them go past where I stood at a crossing. Perplexed but excited, I kept walking and soon came by another junction where a few police cars had stopped and were questioning a witness. Apparently they had lost track of the theive's car!

The passion and committment of the police to spring into action are praiseworthy. Much unlike the squanderings of a typical Indian Police Dept. But this chase reminded me of my wild school days where we used to play police and robber and the excitement with which we played it, and this tickled a small laugh in my mind seeing. Difficult to judge if it was real or an act, I left the scene.

Random Pics

My favourite so far.

City Scape. All the looks of a great city.

City Scape, another view.

Ah! the calming, magnificient, enigmatic ocean.

Today's Link: Finding the Meaning of Life.

The name game

A little about names...

My co-workers and I, last Friday, thought of lunching out at a buffet place. Over lunch, I guess fueled by the really good taste of the food, our conversation moved over to the interestingly silly but factual stuff about names!

Scandinavian Sons...

In the real past, the Scandinavians had a particular way their sons got their names. They had their first name, given to them by their parents, and their last name was their father's name with a suffix 'son' added to mark the relationship and association. So if Peter had a son whom he named John, John's full name would automatically be 'John Peterson'. Likewise, if John's son was George, he would be George Johnson. And so on the names peacefully hung around until Scandinavia had to go to war.

The military addressed their men with their lastnames. And so if the leader wanted to talk to a particular Anderson, about 20 of them sprung up! They quickly decided to patch up the naming convention. So each person was asked to choose two totally different objects of nature and combine them to form their last name. So they picked mountains and clouds, rivers and flowers and so on, in the local dialect, and the permutations were many. Interestingly, this method stuck on and to this day, thats how the Scandinavians name their sons!

Irishmen...

At this juncture, our Irish coworker pitched in his 2 cents of the name game. But err.. yours truly was so obsessed about getting his second share of food that I carelessly missed the first part of the Irish story. Nevertheless, I did arrive to catch the last fact - that Irishmen did/do name their lastname with respect to their occupation. So you have John Shepherds, Adam Shoemakers, Thomas Cooks, etc...

Well, I knew a little about names too. Names of the type McGraw or MacMillan mean 'son of' Graw of son of Millan. But I don't remember - was this an American or an Australian style? I didn't dare ask, as I might have been offending the two Americans with us :-) Whatever it be, naming has been a subtle yet historically interesting procedure, sans nations, thanks to which we have the many jokes today.

Of reincarnations

Did you know..

To the Hindu, time and space are multidimensional. According to a Hindu classic called the Yoga Vasishtha, your next incarnation, or your last incarnation for that matter, may be happening right now. Your next life may actually occur in the past! This is because your innermost spirit exists outside of time and space, and can travel to wherever and to whenever it wants.

Now whatever that means, it sure is going to change a lot of perceptions for me!!

Pain relief - a distant truth

I have always thought we are scientifically advanced day-by-day and have all the equipments, techniques and concepts to take care of any situation. Like an incurable disease for example. But when it strikes you or someone near you, you realize the primitive jungle of human thought and emotion that can't be cured easily. But wait. Haven't we all heard about the new reality called pain relief techniques? Where is it, and how does a poor guy like me though literate (duh, with all the junk about the 100 years war, Hitler's suicide, Moon's craters) get it when I or my friend needs it the most?

Pain relief is a distant truth that many know exists, but never really get the opportunity to learn it.

'It is all in the mind', they say. But how do we practice it? How can we control pain with our minds, as it is said to be possible? Hello researcher, hello cutting edge scientist, you may have won the Nobel prize, but you have learnt haven't been applied and reached the ordinary people. Neither does an onlooker like me know how to help them. Help me help them. What improves lives? What decreases pain? What changes to the society can benefit us? Go out of your way and put it into practice. Few people will help initially. Gradually, a whole nation will be behind you.

Which society has modestly realized that life truths like these have to be incorporated in their school curriculum? I have a junk of knowledge which I won't use. But everyone needs some amount of knowledge which they will all use. But sadly, most of such 'creme' knowledge are not taught!

A lot of highly valuable information is limited to the conference halls and thesis-presentation halls of the high strata of scientific community for eons before it reaches a dying person, who could have been benefitted from it at its point of discovery. Many researchers spend about half their lifetime preaching and proving their work to the scientific fraternity than really going out with compassion to give it to the sufferers to help them straight away. This is how the scientific community is functions. This sort of system should change.

There are a few exceptions that laymen like me are now learning of. Thankfully. Take for example, Dr. Devi Prakash Shetty, or any doctor at the Cancer Institute of Adyar who provide their valuable knowledge with confidence and compassion to the people who need it. That's what makes them respectable - that they took their knowledge to the people who needed it knowing that wasting time takes lives. Trusting in what they have perfected, they go about their duty. Free of cost to most! This is justice to their knowledge. The real heroes. May more be like them. (Pray I would too.)

Well, yes this post conveys an exaggerated amount angst and ill feeling towards the scientific community. Although they are the path-breakers, they aren't really heroes until they get their knowledge to the people.

For, what good is he who earns the gems of knowledge and do not take pains to get it to the needy, thus completing the circle?

Baker Beach

Away from the city...

Another Saturday;
and another opportunity to explore the place!

I'm posting pics from this latest trip here, some of which are pure scenic, like this one. There are more coming up, while I am deciding which is the best place to put it online. Till now I have been using Yahoo photos, yeah outdated I know. The photos were getting compressed and they lost their quality. So I am contemplating on Flickr. Will soon post the remaining pics there.

Before I begin, here's a tip: San Francisco is a large city. Take a day pass ($11) and you can hop on any Muni, Trolley, or Cable car for the whole day. Its a good way to see the city real quick. The route numbers 29, 28 and 18 are quite scenic, although I didn't try all the routes..I guess there would be better ones too.

I decided to do some trekking this time. Went to Baker beach, on the west coast of SFO. Its one of the beaches that has a long way you can tread all to the Golden Gate bridge. Also a good view of the mystic (also misty) pacific ocean. 'Twas an opportunity to look from near end of the world (virtually) and stare into the vastness and beyond the International Date line, to Asia.

Heard it had interesting terrain, and was right on that. Beautiful hills, though not steep enough, lead directly into the pacific ocean. Scenic winding roads adorn the hills like a necklace basking in the glory of sun gleaming into the waters nearby.

So I did eventually do some trekking, climbing small hills and traversing easy routes. But I loved challenging rock climbs. And I got that just here.
At one point I almost made a mistake. Climbing up was easy. But getting down was real tough, especially with moving sand. I almost got myself killed atop this small climb. One slip and I'd be dead meat.

Somehow, I did manage to climb down. And when I did, the folks at the shore applauded and I flashed my embarrassed-sheepish smile. It was funny. I never knew it was dangerous trekking terrain. I simply fought my way up. And once I got there, I had trembling feet and moving sand beneath. A look down would kill what's left of my consciousness. I did manage to put on a brave face though and also took some snaps from above. God helped me, and I was back safe land. Why on earth did I attempt all this? The challenge was good, the terrain was inviting. The thrill and real scare made it memorable. So no complaints ;-)

Well, that's about the trekking part...Here are some more pics from there..

Beautiful; just beside the shore.

Quite Poetic..Steps..Ocean and beyond. Your first step counts..

Lonely warrior returning from the unknown...

Adios..!

Nobody's world.

Imagine ...

• you have totally failed in your job...,
• that you stand no more scope in your career...
• Your future is bleak -
  
• you're gonna loose almost all your earnings..
• ..and you have nobody close to share your grief with..you are an orphan...

Imagine.

Give it some time - quite some time (maybe hours). Talk to yourself and allow the feeling to sink down.

At first it would be really disheartening and heart breaking. Keep talking to yourself to find an answer.

How do you feel? Its not catharsis. But its nice.
Nice to know that you are a nobody, and that actually everybody is a nobody..and that what you are striving for is foolish, and...

Peace.

Google calculator

Ok, I may be the last person to know this, but the thrill of finding out yourself is something unique. So while that feeling lasts for me, let me jot it down here.

Google can be used as a cool calculator! You can enter any (yes ANY) calculator related stuff on google.com and it will get you the result - be in scientific computation, currency conversion, what not..!

Sample tries:

• sqrt(-4)
• 160 pounds * 4000 feet in Calories
• 1 USD in INR

SFO part 2

Here's another day's out travelogue in SFO, complete with pics for those interested.

This was my second visit to downtown and I could feel the pulse of the city better. Boy, its big! Every spot is so happening. So modern and quite fascinating. Theres a lot of variety in the kind of poeple you'l meet. I remember awe-ing at the big city streets of Dubai in my childhood. But I never thought I'd see a place this huge in every sense. I guess its second only to New York.

O.k, coming to my latest trip..I thought I'd try the world famous San Francisco cable cars all the way downtown to Fisherman's Wharf. It takes you across really steep hills going up and down. Its a nice ride. The crowd today was amazing. There were all kinds of people just out to enjoy the day. The vintage cable cars are quite fast for its age.

The other highlight of the day was a huge bunch of deep baritoned sea lions and seals awaiting my arrival at peir 39, complete with all the sound effects of their welcoming snorting and barking! Well, I didn't know, but they do give off a real barking sound. And today I saw about a hundred off them in the orchestra. Some of the people watching just joined the show....(the sea lions were better)

I had been to Fisherman's Wharf last time. But the place, the views and the crowd made me come back. Its a fabulous place with shops, restaurants, scenic bay views and lot of rides. Lot of street performers (wish I could be one) dancing and making music for money. There were also some who came there just to vent their feelings. Like a man I saw singing ballads, a red-head who just yelled at the top of her voice and using her violin in some frenzied ballet, created some sort of fusion music..all in all it was a place to be. My favourite was this person who played on deep flutes (the ones they use for Sufi music). It was so soulful and I wished I could lay in the grass there all day listening to that music.

Lot of crab eateries all around the place. Lot of shops on souvenirs and just about everything. Lot of rides and for the happy hour folks, a really jiving hard rock cafe! Aquariums, pools, rides, just about everything. People showing public displays of affection(!!), people proposing, and what not. Its fun. You'l find just your kind of place there. Oh and not to mention, lots of Indians too with the elderly gaping at, I guess the culture shock for whom it hadn't mellowed down yet! I just hung around the area a little longer and did some shopping for the folks at home.

And then I made my way back, yup in the cable car again. This time another route. And hey, what did I find!! A..secret, staring at me right in front of me. I did hang around a while though, trying hard not to be noticed and taking a peek inside, except when I was directly in front of the doorway an elderly dame just opened the door and walked out queering at my interesting pose, now frozen, looking inside. I walked the other way.

Well, the place I was then was the Union Square, a good place to hang out with friends. With artists painting potraits, all around the square. I hopped into Macy's, a high end shopping store, looking to buy a belt. The Calvin Kleins and DKNYs with their price tags made it just a frivolous visit with me rushing to the door. Duh!

Now dusk hit me sooner than I expected and it was time to take my train back to Redwood city where I stay. It was dusk. And I had planned to go to a Sushi place near my house for dinner!

Coming to my dinner - Sushi sucks (depending on which you have). Raw fish with some intoxicating sauce almost made me puke. I washed it down with some beverage. I tried oyster for starter and it was good. One thind I really loved was chicken teriyaki a dish similar to our chicken biriyani, with more chicken and more rice. The foods generally have a taste of vinegar and soy sauce, which when taken in excess is just not right for the first time. I tried using chopsticks to blend into the culture, but I found myself ordering a fork after having made enough fool of myself at the table.

So that's it from another round of updates travelling. Not to mention I'm in full awe with the city and striving not to get too attached. Until I get another time to visit the city, thought I'd pen today's experiences, first hand for those who missed...

Take care folks & have a good time. Adios!

As always, more photos here.

Evolutionary Collectivism

Here's something I scribbled as a reaction to, well something! 'Twas in my email drafts for a long time.

My idea of evolutionary collectivism

I see the present world filled with madness. All energies wasted on materialistic
and unyielding activities totally unproductive to the development of freedom and
eternal happiness. Those deeds that are so entwined with self praise, pleasures
and self empathy that feeds itself to glorify its presence as a necessity and a fashion.

While the unattended truth lurches in the dark corners of the background awaiting
the right soul kind enough to lend it a hand and show it some light. People have to
reinvent themselves..there's no other go. They have to seek out the real nature
in them to collectively produce ever-shining light, if we have to have lasting peace
and dignity in the society.

Everybody collectively - the media, the schools, the employers, the government -
should understand the consequences of proceeding like the present and the huge
pit we are digging ourselves beneath us unknowingly. One day its certain the
ground will give way and we will all fall into this pit we created ourselves.
We have to hold back.

Resist the quarrying into human values, search for the holistic pursuits and
feed the pure thoughts to cover up the nation of muck we have dug up.

Guess it was some bad day :)

Maya and reality

I was just curious the other day what google would spurn out for the search on the above topic. The wikipedia article seems to be quite engrossing , and I haven't finished it yet.

I later laid my eyes on the first result of my search - a book 'MAYA - The world as virtual reality'. Thought I would provide the link for those intrigued and the sci-fi fans atleast. This book by the way deals with vitual reality in a computer science perspective, which I think would interest many.

An excerpt:

"In the world of modern science, consciousness is reduced to a fading epiphenomenon, left over after the brain has been physically explained. It seems to arise when matter is suitably organized, but scientists and philosophers have been unable to explain why complex organization should produce anything beyond complex physical behavior. Yet consciousness won't go away."

Well, a goldfish cannot even get close to how much we can explain - it has a memory span of just 3 minutes. We definitely have limitations too regarding the extent of intellect we are built with. We are afterall just another animal in this universe. Ant is an animal too. Do you think it can figure this with the limited brain it has? We too are ants relative to this universe. (Btw, does the ant even care? Hah!) Explaining metaphysical aspects and super-science thus requires another dimension of thinking, which we lack.

So I would term such books bogus if it is just mathematical proofs coming in. Because mathematics cannot define conciousness, not even quantify it. (Unless of-course you are interested in science-'fiction' which to any scientist would be an oxymoron).

A day out in San Francisco

(Warning: most pictures in the post cover my head; sorry the incumbent was travelling alone and had to take his own photos most of the time! You could use the map here for reference.)

I landed in America without knowing the conversion cents to dollars or how many cents made a dime. Well it was on a real short notice that I came here you see. Since my stay here is for just a good month or so, I started backpacking and moving around the city the very first weekend I got. Today was the first day and I decided to visit the places according to my priority list. Right on top was the Golden Gate Bridge.

I started from my hotel in Redwood City at about 9:00 AM to the caltrain station to catch the train to SFO - a 45 minute ride. From there I began my journey to the Golden Gate bridge. (Mind you, I was totally unprepared for this). I walked downtown to catch a glimpse os its unique architecture. The climate was akin to Kodai or Ooty. I found this interesting place closeby. Its by the Zeum art center.

Downtown just got me snapping away for pictures. Adding just one shot here, as its quality is nice. There were skateboarders practicing, both serious and fun-minded joggers, yougsters revving their fast cars, crowded trams (very noisy) running down the street, people just out to enjoy the sunshine, and a lot of people with dogs (Americans love pets).

As I walked on, I reached the Bay Bridge. I thought it was Golden Gate bridge at first and hung around there for a long time until I simply asked the hot-dog person and found out to my horror. The seagulls there are huge and not scared of humans. Caught this inquisitive person staring at me :)

From there on I walked on towards the Golden Gate bridge, and in between went through Fisherman's wharf. There are many sights and sounds to capture out there. All I am posting here is a picture of this awesome musician performing. There are other dancers, musicians and street delights.

Also in the route was Alcatraz in the background. I used the biking/skating path to the bridge. There were folks on Segaways, bikes, roller skates and many jogging on. I just walked on taking in the breathless scenery along the way. The smell of eucalyptus wafted over the air. Its amazing that America has laid so much concern for bikers, setting aside bike trails and other conveniences for them. Nice to see that.


Okay so i got onto my last leg of the trek up towards the bridge and it was a nice climb. The trek reminded me of my Ooty days. Anyways, yours truly did manage to take a shot on his own, standing the camera up on a pier and setting the timer. I am pretty pleased with the result :)


Finally (yay!) I've made it to the bridge!! I start getting pictures in a frenzy. Luckily I carried two memory cards and I filled them both!
Now that was what I was waiting for! A glimpse of the famous landmark. As a bonus, I also got some astounding views of the city. There was a large crowd at the bridge on this saturday evening.

Well, I walked my way back as I couldn't get a single bus!! On the way, I passed through the art palace and the exploratorium. The art work and architecture is extraordinary. It felt like a mythical Greek setting. An English touch to it was a calm lake full of soothing-to-look-at ducks.












Well, that was about it. It was a long day. I took the bos 30 back to the Caltrain station and got back home. And my legs are aching and eyes are closing. So I don't have the capacity to spell check this post (not that I do normally) or check for grammatical errors. I'll do all that later. Till then, ciao.

Note: Entire set of photos here.

TIDBIT: cisco got its name from the abbreviation of San Francisco!

Large company vs. Small company - working for each

Well, I have to say that there is a large amount of difference working for a large company compared to working for a small company. I have essentially spent a year and a half with a large company (25000+ employees) and am currenty visiting and working for a smaller company(30+ employees), as our client.

Well, as a newbee to work, one would think your immediate surroundings and colleagues are all that matter to you. But your colleagues themselves are part of the organisation and they act and react as per the environment too. Ultimately, its a world of a difference.

In a nutshell, its like studying in a small village school run by your own uncles or someone like that [working for a small company] compared to
studying in a prestigiously run convent school with lot of rules [the larger company]. Both schools have principals (and also principles), but the way they hit you are different :)

Processes are well implemented in the larger company and due to that all the paths are firmly laid - you just have to follow the advice of your seniors to know how to advance.
With regard to the smaller company, its a silent tug-of-war that happens due to certain hapless situations too.

Well, this immature rambling here is primeval and I intend to make sense out of it later, but this is nevertheless a good placeholder. Am interested to know what others think about this too.

A sunny lunch

The climate in California is pretty good now compared to the rest of America (atleast its not snowing and chilly)!

This afternoon we had a pretty good lunch outdoors at the Pacific Shores office. Till yesterday evening it was damn cold to go out, but todays lunch made us feel we could sit out all day there enjoying the sun. Its also the time of the year when cherry blossoms bloom in this part of the world (sad I didn't get my camera today, but if I will soon, I'll out those pictures here).

By the way, did I mention my lunch cost $7? It was like this - I entered a self-service area (where almost everything looks relishing) and you pay by the weight of food that you take. I took a little extra and damn, the weight in my stomach reminds me of my today's expense (gulp) :-) This may prompt me to bring my lunch from tomorrow (if I can stand the catching sight of all that good food in the food-court)!

Indian Panorama - feb 7

Just would like to put in a few interesting headlines today:

a. Happy to know that Indian scientists have found answers that eluded Eintein and that Phillipines and India are the biggest spoilers of Coca-Cola's party!

b. In one way good that we're getting better buildings and on the other hand, its a mark of mistrust on our Indian builders! Foreign architects eye India's huge IT projects

c. And hey, is he true when Emraan Hashmi says: 'Women like bad boys'?

Go figure!

Sorry for the really uninteresting scheme of colours of-late, but I will change it when I get time!

Thanks to rediff.com for todays digest!

I am not the pilot, I wanna be the plane!

Ok, I know it sounds a lot cliched, but I'd like to be the planes in this video.
Its exactly like the spirit I have in myself if I am let loose - (like doing some soul-searching).

I share the fascination of flying with many others in this world, but I don't know what or how specifically they feel about it, I very much want to be the plane in this video, rather than the pilot.

Socrates

One is often asked who is their idol. While this keeps changing for me, for long during my childhood it was Swami Vivekananda.

Of late I have been thinking more and as it progresses, I seem to have developed a deep respect for Socrates. Something compels me to answer him as my idol at this point of time. It maybe how he took philosophy to new heights, constantly improving it and making use of his intellect. He strived to conquer ill-thgoughts using his rationale and of-course, the very philosophical manner in which he accepted his death! I dunno, there's a lot of respect I have for that man!

Needless to say, its not a tug-of-war between two great thought leaders who changed the world :-) Its just that certain ideas seem to influence my little mind more that what I have already perceived, this thanks to Socrates.

Maybe I will learn more. Maybe I will one-day be able to assimilate all that I've gathered for the betterment of the people. Maybe. Hope so!

The One Thought (a very personal ramble for myself)

I'm bad. I'm always manipulative. Of situations, of God-given rules.

All, for what? Well the beginning reasons were all for the good - so that I could simulate certain situations to make myself stronger. It was a way of teaching myself and disciplining me as I was almost self-taught on non-academic knowledge and was a loner during childhood.

I would force bad thoughts onto myself and wouldn't accept good things, only to discipline myself. But by then the reasons began to eat into me and it became an addictive habit. Now its really eaten into my life and is destroying it. Its affecting other lives too!

Maybe God would have had a purpose of doing that through me. But now I realise my bad habit and I also realise the power of God which makes everything happen in this world of illusions. So I now know the only truth - God. The only power is God.

He is the only aim worth having, because its He who does everything. So what I should be doing is to think of Him always and sing His praise wherever I go. All other material benefits would come and go - they are illusions of His making after all. In all this, only He is constant throughout time. Sages say our souls are eternal too and is a part of Him.

There's still a lot more to learn and to realise by this little person who is not even a quark in the ocean of His universe. So much to understand that even 100% usage of the human brain can't understand. But we can definitely make ourselves get to the point of transcending to the realm that would make us understand it. And thats only through the meditation of the One Truth.

Some truths uncovered

From my recent experiences so close and touching life, I've experienced some well heard of truths.

* There is an extraordinary amount of energy and capability hidden amongst us. To me this revelation came at a time of need and it surprised me how much different I can be from my lazy, less powerful self that I thought was.

* When in need, God does give power to the one who deplores him for it.

* How much ever circumstances change you, its an illusion; you are the same unchanging soul throughout. Its your body and sensory perceptions that change and hit highs and lows. Realizing this brings considerable amount of confidence even in the most trying situations.

* Angst, pain, happiness and pleasure are all sensory perceptions of this illusory world and is like a bubble waiting to burst. This also suggests that you can use mind control to save yourself from any of these feelings, although its a difficult task.

God Bless, people!
p.s: I know I haven't put the experiences in the right words. Hopefully when I am in the position to realize and to write at the same time, I shall put them better!

Long time I updated my blog. Atleast got this Sorry note posted as my classmate reminded me. Well, all's not well in my home front and my dad's not well. So am devoting my time for him and work.

So here are some quotes that I read of late..it shows the current state of my mind :-)

Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. ~M. Kathleen Casey

If you're going through hell, keep going. ~Winston Churchill

Anytime you suffer a setback or disappointment, put your head down and plow ahead. ~Les Brown

• What I've learnt at this moment of suffering is fear of God.

• What I've experienced from others and now am trying to give back is unconditional human-love.It has to be experienced to know it. I also came to know how many people actually pray for us! My heartfelt thanks to them all.