Music Site from Music Genome Project

http://www.pandora.com/ is a nice site. It allows you to search for an artist or track title and creates a channel with similar music. More features on site.

Where is the 'I'?

Our physical structure is hereditary. Yeah, true. What about our mental stuff? Our mind? The way the neurons connect between our brain cells to create thought?? That's hereditary too, isn't it?

To us, our deepest conscious self is our mind and our thoughts.

If this is not the real us, then what is the eternal 'soul' that we are, that has no birth or death?

How do we perceive our undying soul? Perhaps, is this 'spirit' referring to the life force? The force that keeps us breathing and our heart beating?

Which Micro$oft Vista to Buy?

Confused choosing between

• Windows Vista Starter,
• Windows Vista Home Basic,
• Windows Vista Home Premium,
• Windows Vista Business,
• Windows Vista Enterprise, and
• Windows Vista Ultimate?

Consider the following links to help you choose:

http://www.helpwithwindows.com/WindowsVista/vista-which-version.html

http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/winvista_02.asp

http://www.microsoft-watch.com/content/operating_systems/microsoft_plans_six_core_windows_vista_versions.html

One can Never Ever be an honest man in India

--For reasons known.

Racism above Casteism & Untouchability?

There's no other country like India in the world, to have so many castes, sub-castes and sects. Our famed culture also had untouchables class. The top class treated the lowest like animals. Inter-caste married couples were burnt! Mingling with people of lower castes were shunned.

Even today, we divide the country through the reservation raj and the quotas.

Yet we made such a row over actress Shilpa Shetty being racially abused?!

Yet we watch CNN IBN, NDTV,TIMESNOW etc., . What a shame!

Note: This is an email received from a friend, Ashish today. Although the specifics are important, to me it highlights the media going down in a biased, meaningless path., rather than give equal priority to all truths.

By the time you read this news, the body of Major Manish Pitambare, who was shot dead at Anantnag, would have been cremated with full military honors.

On Tuesday, this news swept across all the news channels ‘Sanjay Dutt relieved by court’. ‘Sirf Munna not a bhai’ ‘13 saal ka vanvaas khatam’ ’although found guilty for possession of armory, Sanjay can breath sigh of relief as all the TADA charges against him are withdrawn’ Then many personalities like Salman Khan said ‘He is a good person. We knew he will come out clean’. Mr Big B said “Dutt’s family and our family have relations for years he’s a good kid. He is like elder brother to Abhishek”. His sister Priya Dutt said “we can sleep well tonight. It ’s a great relief”

In other news, Parliament was mad at Indian team for performing bad; Greg Chappell said something; Shah Rukh Khan replaces Amitabh in KBC and other such stuff. But most of the emphasis was given on Sanjay Dutt’s ”phoenix like” comeback from the ashes of terrorist charges. Surfing through the channels, one news on BBC startled me. It read “Hisbul Mujahidin’s most wanted terrorist ‘Sohel Faisal’ killed in Anantnag , India . Indian Major leading the operation lost his life in the process. Four others are injured.

It was past midnight, I started visiting the stupid Indian channels, but Sanjay Dutt was still ruling. They were telling how Sanjay pleaded to the court saying ‘I’m the sole bread earner for my family’, ‘I have a daughter who is studying in US’ and so on. Then they showed how Sanjay was not wearing his lucky blue shirt while he was hearing the verdict and also how he went to every temple and prayed for the last few months. A suspect in Mumbai bomb blasts, convicted under armory act…was being transformed into a hero.

Sure Sanjay Dutt has a daughter; Sure he did not do any terrorist activity. Possessing an AK47 is considered too elementary in terrorist community and also one who possesses an AK47 has a right to possess a pistol so that again is not such a big crime; Sure Sanjay Dutt went to all the temples; Sure he did a lot of Gandhigiri but then………..


Major Manish H Pitambare got the information from his sources about the terrorists’ whereabouts. Wasting no time he attacked the camp, killed Hisbul Mujahidin’s supremo and in the process lost his life to the bullets fired from an AK47. He is survived by a wife and daughter (just like Sanjay Dutt) who’s only 18 months old.


Major Manish never said ‘I have a daughter’ before he took the decision to attack the terrorists in the darkest of nights. He never thought about having a family and he being the bread earner. No news channel covered this since they were too busy hyping a former drug addict, a suspect who’s linked to bomb blasts which killed hundreds. Their aim was to show how he defied the TADA charges and they were so successful that his conviction in possession of armory had no meaning. They also concluded that his parents in heaven must be happy and proud of him.


Parents of Major Manish are still living and they have to live rest of their lives without their beloved son. His daughter won’t ever see her daddy again. Finally Major Manish, to my generation is a greater hero, someone who laid his life in the name of this great nation.

So guys, please forward this message around so that the media knows which news to give importance, as it is a shame for us since this Army Major’s death news was given by a foreign TV channel!!!

1 in 8 blokes would swap their lady for a "must-have" gadget?

http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/16/1-in-8-blokes-would-swap-their-lady-for-a-must-have-gadget/

The Passion of Natakairali

Last weekend, I had the honor of attending a Butoh and Koodiyattom performance at Natanakairali in the peaceful locales of Irinjalakuda in Kerala.

One of the first friends I knew in my life, Kapila and her parents have dedicated their lives in promoting the traditional dance forms of Kerala. This passion was so strong and very evident in their professional setup. They have disagreed to pursue the glamorous roles of movies to keep the art form pure and give it due respect. This level of sincerity was so hard to ignore and this prompted me to write this post. It is indeed a marvelous thing to be true to your passion and live for it!

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.