Confused Soul

I read following lines some where from Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena and liked them a lot. I found a trueness in the words of the poet and feel a new strength with in me repeating these lines again and again. I thought of sharing it with you guys and hope the readers will also find it good.

शक्ति अगर सीमित है
तो हर चीज अशक्त भी है,
भुजाएं अगर छोटी है
तो सागर भी सिमटा हुआ है,
सामर्थ्य केवल इच्छा का दूसरा नाम है,
जीवन और म्रत्यु के बीच जो भूमि है,
वो नियति की नही, मेरी है

Don't want to write much...

Just want to show you the collage, my friends presented at my last day @Adobe...


I felt so touched, it was awesome... Sharing office space with you guys made workplace a lot happier :-)

Thanks U guys, will miss U :-)

Because of space crunch, two of my friends share a cubicle in office . They developed a very good understanding sitting in the same cubicle and evolved a new concept of CUBE-CHARA (derived from bhai-chara)... Here are some definitions, 3 of us evolved...

Cube-Chara: Two buffaloes in same cubicle and happily share their food (chara) ...

Derived words:

• Cu(Kyu)-Bechara: (why 2 buffalos are living on the diet of only one)
• Cabin-chara: Ca-bin-chara: ke-bin-chara: BAKRI(hidden)-ke-bin-chara

1. Two buffaloes share cube but not share chara
2. Two buffaloes in different cubes sahre their chara

Currently, what I can see @ orkut is "The guy who reads your fortune lost his psychic powers (and his job). We hope you are feeling lucky."...

How do I suppose to react???

I have seen this strange loo sign at Pizza Hut, sec-18, Noida.


Other than this, I also found the below pic from some pool owners to protect their pools from people who love to pee in the pool...

Why do you hope anything from someone?

Why someone, whom you trust most and to whom you look for support, never lies true to your expectations?

Why someone, whom you can never see upset, is always busy when you need him/her the most?

There are a hundred people lined up on the steps of a stadium, each on a different step, all looking down toward the field so that they can see everyone in front of them, but can't see anyone behind them. Each person will be given either a red or black hat. We know nothing about the total number of red or black hats. Each person will not be able to see the color of his own hat (or the ones behind him), but will be able to see the colors of all the hats in front of him. Starting in the back, the last person will be asked what color hat he is wearing. If he guesses correctly, he will live; if he guesses incorrectly, he will be shot immediately. We will then proceed to the person second from the back, and so on, until we have reached the person on the bottom step. Each person will be able to hear what all the people behind him say, and will also be able to hear which people behind him were shot.

Before we begin this process, the 100 people may meet to discuss a strategy. They can plan whatever they want, but once the line-up begins, they may no longer confer. At each person's turn, he may only say "black" or "red," and no other words -- if he says anything else, all 100 people will be executed. He may also not use tone of voice, volume, etc., to convey any meaning -- this will be detected and they will all be shot.

What strategy will guarantee saving the maximum number of people? What is this number?

PS: I have an answer, using which we can save 99 people with 100% assurance and 1 person with 50% assurance. Let's see how many people you can save.

Prasoon Joshi's poem that he wrote after the Mumbai terror attacks:

Is baar jab woh choti si bachchi mere paas apni kharonch le kar aayegi
Main usey phoo phoo kar nahin behlaoonga
Panapney doonga uski tees ko
Is baar nahin

Is baar jab main chehron par dard likha dekhoonga
Nahin gaoonga geet peeda bhula dene wale
Dard ko risney doonga,utarney doonga andar gehrey
Is baar nahin

Is baar main na marham lagaoonga
Na hi uthaoonga rui ke phahey
Aur na hi kahoonga ki tum aankein band karlo,gardan udhar kar lo main dawa lagata hoon
Dekhney doonga sabko hum sabko khuley nangey ghaav
Is baar nahin

Is baar jab uljhaney dekhoonga,chatpatahat dekhoonga
Nahin daudoonga uljhee door lapetney
Uljhaney doonga jab tak ulajh sake
Is baar nahin

Is baar karm ka hawala de kar nahin uthaoonga auzaar
Nahin karoonga phir se ek nayee shuruaat
Nahin banoonga misaal ek karmyogi ki
Nahin aaney doonga zindagi ko aasani se patri par
Utarney doonga usey keechad main,tedhey medhey raston pe
Nahin sookhney doonga deewaron par laga khoon
Halka nahin padney doonga uska rang
Is baar nahin banney doonga usey itna laachaar
Ki paan ki peek aur khoon ka fark hi khatm ho jaye
Is baar nahin

Is baar ghawon ko dekhna hai
Gaur se
Thoda lambe wakt tak
Kuch faisley
Aur uskey baad hausley
Kahin toh shuruat karni hi hogi
Is baar yahi tay kiya hai

... Prasoon Joshi

Have you ever seen a doctor stitching someone's wound?

When he stitches, he may seem the cruelest person on this earth and the needle seems no less than a sword. But whatever happens that time happens for your well-being. Your parted skin might be cursing the needle at that time but the needle, thread and expert hands know what they are doing. They don't care about your tears and pain but do their work with good intent. It does not bother them whether you are cursing them or praising them but they always shower their blessings on you.

So it is very much okay until you are doing something good on the cost of presenting yourself as the cruelest person on this earth. What matters is the intent not the doings. If your doings contain good intent, sooner or later those will be appreciated. But if you are faking good with wrong intent then sorry buddy, God can't save you.

Another noticeable thing is that the good work is being done by soul-less needle and thread. So whatever size, designation, fame, name you have doesn't matter what only matters is INTENT.

The exuberance of childhood can never be repeated. But those moments can be captured in beautiful portraits. I can remember some incidents of our (I and my siblings) inquisitive childhood exuberance:

Though I don't remember, I am repeatedly told that when I was a kid, I was very amazed with the electric switchboards. Once some guests visited our place and my Mom was busy attending them. Somewhere I got a metal wire and an idea came in my mind. I was ready to experiment with this metal piece and the switchboard. Since the switchboard was too high for me, I arranged a table and put a stool over it in order to reach it. Then I climbed upon the stool with the metal strip in my hand and switch on all the switches on the board. I inserted both the tips of the metal wire/strip in socket's live and neutral holes. No prize for guessing what happened next. I was thrown away with a shock and our house dipped in darkness.

Another one was when I was too small to sit properly. I was sleeping peacefully (Since I was a good child I always slept peacefully: P). Since Mom is a big tea addict, she made herself a cup of tea and sat beside me. Suddenly doorbell rang and she left to see who was at the door. Meanwhile I moved my hand in the sleep and since the cup was not very far from me, I spill a cup full of tea over me. Not long back, I had all those burn mark on my body.

This one is not with me but with my brother. It was winters and he was having a full sleeves pullover. Sometime in the evening, he complained about pain in his right hand. Mom thought that he might hit himself while playing so she put some ointment. But the situation got worse when he continuously kept complaining about his hand and started crying. As the time passed, his hand started getting pale. Till then dad had arrived and they rushed to doctor. Mr. Doctor did all the possible inspection but was clueless what had happened and why the hand was getting pale. Though he was sure that blood was not reaching in his hand but was clueless about the reason. There was nothing in the hands of poor Mom & Dad that time and they returned home. By that time it was too late and mom undid his pullover so that he can sleep. As soon as she undid his pullover, they (she and dad) were surprised to see a rubber band (used to pack sweet boxes) around his wrist which was the culprit and was preventing blood circulation.

Another one related to my other brother. When he was a kid, we were playing a game of HIDE & SEEK. In order to hide himself, he locked himself in the kitchen. Now he did this very easily but when it was the turn to come out after the game he forgot how he locked the door. After repeated instruction he was unable to unlock the door. And finally Dad had to break the door or the lock (I don’t remember what was exactly done).

There are many other incidents which can be put here. but I think that these are enough for now.

Ceding space to someone else is never easy and it becomes more difficult when you are at a commanding position. In the course of clinching Border-Gavaskar trophy 2008, MSD taught an unforgettable lesson to world Cricket. Before stepping in the shoes of Indian Cricket captain, he assured to show gratitude to someone who set the foundation to make things easy for him. Today when the ninth Australian wicket had fallen and the formality remained after a dramatic post-lunch Austrilia's collapse, MSD showed a remarkable gesture and ask Dada to captain Indian side in his last test innings. The joy, pride and enthusiasm on Ganguly's face were telling everyone what MSD has done. The step MSD took showed the world that if you want to rise you need to show gratitude towards your seniors. He reminded us that a branch laden with most number of flowers leans most.

Everyone is talking about India's victory in this series, retirement of Jumbo, clangers of Punter, 40th century of master blaster and tactful captaincy of Dhoni. But it must also be remembered for the remarkable gesture from Dhoni and it will work as an example in world cricket for eons to come.

"Let's advance the advanced mathematics class."

Do you feel an awkward construction in it? If yes then a better South Asian version available for you:

"Let's PREPONE the advanced mathematics class."

Those who find the later is a better sentence might be surprised to know that PREPONE is not a valid English word but a clever invention by Indian English speakers. It is used so commonly in Indian English that it comes so natural to our tongues that we can never imagine that we are using a non-English word so frequently.

Thanks to Reader's Digest, Nov 2004 issue (which I found at my home, don't know from where), that taught me so commonly used HINGLISH words.

According to Washington State University site, following definition is present for 'prepone':


Other commonly used HINGLISH words (I learned in that article), which don't have a place in English are:

Dias: Actual word is DAIS (day-iss), I don't think any Indian presenter uses right word, even IIM-director uses Dias.

Advance: Generally people say 'Advance Course...' but actually it is 'Advanced course...' (I'm glad that I knew it :-))

Memento: Derived form Memory. Everybody pronounces it as MOMENTO and so spells it like MOMENTO (Thanks to Bhatti, who told this to me earlier)

Insaan ki khwahish ki koi imtihaan nahi
Do gaz zameen chahiye do gaz kafan ke baad
Khatam nahi hota khwahishon ka silsila do gaz zameen ke neeche
Rooh tadapti hai jannat ko maut ke baad

Courtesy:
First 2 lines: Fanaah (the movie)
Last 2 lines: Bharti

Just ten minutes earlier, India has restricted Australia to 268 in 2nd test match at Mohali and they have a chance to call Australia to bat again. I am writing this post to appreciate the man who led India's perfect bowling attack. This man wasn't an experienced bowler or someone else but a debutant: AMIT MISHRA...

He became the sixth Indian bowler to take five wicket on debut. Other five are M Nisar, VV Kumar, S Abid Ali, DR Doshi and ND Hirwani.

Well done Mishra and congrats a lot. I hope that this not only a one match fluke but he will also continue delivering wonderful performances in future.

PS: Ohh, India didn't give follow-on but started batting again :(

Bhavya daily sends a good morning mail to all of her friends. Below is from her good morning mail on last Friday and I really found it worth sharing it with everybody.

Something interesting I heard on the radio this morning:

Female RJ: A woman’s weight varies with her relationship status. At the beginning of a relationship, it reduces. When the relationship becomes a little stable, it increases. When her wedding approaches, it starts to reduce again. Once the wedding is over, it increases again. When she is expecting, it increases. Once she has her baby, it reduces.

Male RJ: So a woman’s weight is just like the woman – confused!!!

Disclaimer: This post is about the world record set by 18 JIGSAW ENTHUSIASTS at Adobe India. This is going to be a very long post so please make sure that you have a enough time to read it. I want to pay special thanks to SAI as most of the below write-up is a part of the write-up, SAI has written for Adobe India intranet top story.

18 ENGINEERS, 24000 PIECES AND 108 HOURS, this is all needed to set a world record. Oops, not just one world record but 3 records actually: (i) First in India to solve world’s largest Jigsaw Puzzle (ii) First in world to do it non-stop (iii) First in world to solve all 1k, 2k, 3k, 4k, 24k pieces puzzle by Royce McClure.

As indicated by my earlier post on this topic, most of the regular readers must be well aware of the fact that a team from Adobe India is going to attempt world’s largest puzzle-LIFE first time in India. The puzzle was a monster by all standards – it had 24,000 pieces and was therefore the official Guinness World Record holder for the largest jigsaw puzzle title, weighed 12 kg and measured 14’x5’ when done. Worldwide only about 30 successful attempts had been made on it before ours.

Since we had a holiday on 2nd October and 4-5 being a weekend, we decided to take personal-time-off from office on 3rd and had an extended weekend of 4 days (2-3-4-5) to solve the puzzle. Actually the intention was if we fail, we would utilize the next long weekend (9-10-11-12 Oct) to finish that. Finally the D-day came and 18 jigsaw enthusiasts were all set to add a feather in their caps.

October 1st, 2008, 7:00PM. The team assembled in Amazon (Adobe conference room), which was reserved for the puzzle. Anxiety, enthusiasm, passion, determination and a positive vibe started to fill the room. It was a divine feeling to be present in that room. It was an indication of something big coming up. Everyone’s heart was beating faster than normal. Silence mixed with motivation prevailed among the people in the team. Soon, a lot of people from all over Adobe came over to wish us the best. Now, the team was loaded with a lot of expectations from their friends and colleagues. It was no more a play or a fun-event. Now, this was serious. The team knew what was in store, and also did not know what was in store. A huge uncertainty beckoned the team. As per the Limca-Book’s guidelines, two witnesses came to ensure that the pieces were packed as purchased and no marking of any sort is present. Our witnesses were a retd Colonel and President of Rotary Club, Noida. That set the ball rolling. The first set of pieces was let loose from its packet, and it filled a set of three tables. We were overwhelmed with the number of pieces. But thanks to 2 months of hard work and practice on different size of puzzles, this was something that we expected. Immediately, we knew what we needed to do.

Pieces for the following prominent objects were identified and bucketized – Balloons, Animals, Sea Water, Underwater, Clownfish & Coral Reef. Gradually folks started moving over to other tables, in pairs or solo, and started working on these objects or assembling the edges. The weight of expectation was easily forgotten among the wisecracks and quips coming from all members of the team. People played various genres of music, the variety being so vast that sometimes the changeover was actually amusing. Quickly, many balloons and animals started taking shape, the most prominent being Zebra, Giraffe and Elephant. Within few hours progress was visible. The previous day being a working day, the fatigue now started setting in. Some of us left to catch a short nap and to come back with rejuvenation.


The people who went to sleep could not sleep properly and were awaken by their passion for the puzzle. In around four hours, they were back to the room and joined the rest of the team, while a few more went for sleep. This shift-based rest continued all through the four days, with around 15 people in the day and 8-9 people during the nights. The passion for the puzzle killed many people’s sleep, and people simply wanted to give their best to “Life”. End of day one started seeing the first section close to completion, and required only a few hands. Most of the people moved over to the next section. Two sections started building up in parallel and by the morning of 3rd October, the first section was complete. It was a time to rejoice. We were a happy lot and congratulated each other, still being cautious about the task in hand. The playlists changed on the music system. It was more inspiring to see the first section complete and ready. The team realized that the second section was a replica of the first in terms of the shapes. Soon, we started overlaying the second section over the first one, and started working on that. This was very helpful and by the next evening, the third packet was opened up for sorting. The second puzzle was done in lesser time, but still it was Saturday morning.

By now, fatigue was setting in, and only passion kept a lot of people awake. The third section was a lot tougher than the first two. It was increasingly difficult to work on the pieces. This was the first time; it ever occurred that we might move into Monday, during work hours. Fatigue also caused the strength to decrease. But, the determination and passion brought everyone back, once the third section was complete. In our research about the puzzle, people who have solved the puzzle earlier had quoted the fourth section to be the toughest. And so it was. But, by now, the team had become a set of experts. The willingness increased, and the flow of emotions started. We knew that we were very close to hitting the home run and that gave us the required boost. Lo and behold, the fourth section started appearing much simpler. We knew that we had overpowered the puzzle. Suddenly, everyone was wide awake. No one wanted to leave the puzzle to go for a nap. It was an experience to live and not for literary description. The big moment was not far off. It was Sunday night and we suddenly realized that we were in top gear, and anytime around 10 or 11 in the morning we should be celebrating. We had pulled in the estimate, as opposed to the stage where we thought it might go anywhere towards Monday evening.


This was enough for the team to slog it out. An aroma of happiness filled the room. Now the team was together for four long days and nights, and a strong emotional bond was forming. The team comprised of people right out of college and those who had been in the industry for around ten years. There were both men and women. We had Devs, QEs and Managers in the team. But, inside the room, it was a single family. “Life” was the bond that we shared. Everyone was looking at the same direction. Everyone had the same goal. We were all one. Everyone knew that he/she wanted to be a part of it, till the last piece was placed, and kept working towards that. Everyone also knew that his/her presence was required to take it to the destination. Just around 7 AM on Monday morning, we knew that it was about to come. Ecstasy prevailed. We were close to the end. It was a matter of time before the last piece was placed. At Quarter to Eight, the final piece was placed. A sense of accomplishment and success that had never been, was to be seen there. Our colleagues started pouring in. Congratulations from them were well-received. But, it was a sense of joy that the team had and celebrated for close to two hours sitting inside the room, staring at the puzzle. It was an unseen experience. It was befitting our efforts over the 108 hours. It was indeed divine. People in team forgot to call their loved ones to inform them about this achievement, as they were emotionally attached to the achievement. It was disbelief and a feeling that none of the dictionaries support.

During the period of these four days, 18 people had just one aim, they forgot the world outside Jigsaw, most of them didn't see daylight during these 4 days, they cracked jokes on each other, they made new friends, they showed their dedication, their energy and their commitment. Some of them were not well since last few days, some of them were in the recovery from elongated illness, sometimes AC was not working, sometimes water was not available, all were tired a lot, everybody had sleepy eyes but these hurdles didn't have an effect on their common goal. When we started, we never thought the upcoming strategies which we discovered during the event. For example, for the hardest section of the puzzle (4th section), we categorized the pieces on under water city in 46 categories and all those categories were based in the shape of pieces. Truly speaking, this technique helped us to finish the hardest section in minimum time. We discovered some new names like "CHOCHILAY", some new scales for measuring 37 and 27 pieces and many other things. At the start, we didn't expect so much media attention but to our surprise a lot of media came in to cover the event. At one end, they were wasting our time but on another end they provided us enthusiasm and motivation to reach the goal. We were overwhelmed when a news channel covered us live for one hour. These things surely ate a lot of time but at the same time they added up in motivation. Here much more can be written about practice puzzles, our dry run over previous weekend, me having high fever after dry run and much more. But keeping the length of the post in mind, I'm skipping all that.
Congratulations and record achievements followed. Limca Book of Records, which is the most reputed Record Book in India, will now feature this feat. Now, we are on the Hall of Fame at www.worldslargestpuzzle.com. We are the first group to complete this puzzle in India. We are the first group to attempt this puzzle, non-stop, all over the world. We are the first group to solve 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000 and 24,000 pieces of Life puzzle.

The light that entered through the window was now bright and shining. “Life was created.” We have lived “Life” and enjoyed every moment of it. It was an unparalleled experience and these words here cannot do justice.

The picture was shown at the recent "Apple Notebook" event at Apple HQ. They claimed that everybody here in this classroom is using a Mac but didn't mention the name of university. For live coverage having time-stamp please click here.

I found a very interesting online flash game and really loved it. I'm embedding it here and expect every visitor to give it a try. The goal is to click the tiles until no open end is left.

Instructions: Click to start. When left clicking a tile it will rotate 90 degree. With the left and right cursor keys you can navigate between already solved levels.



If you like it, you can also download this game from here.

When it comes down to the wire, there are frayed nerves, trembling hands and palpitating hearts. One who is able to conquer and rise above these emotions walks away with his head held high, experiencing an adrenaline surge which will be remembered by that individual for a long time to come, if not for ever. For 11 gentlemen on the field, the last ball of the final match between India and Pakistan in T-20 world cup 2k7 will be narrated over and over again for eons to come. And for Misbah-Ul-Haq, the scar will probably never heal.

Last year on this day, India won first ever T-20 world cup and created history. This match was special not only because of its heart throbbing climax but also for other reasons:

• It was a match between two arch-rival India and Pakistan. Every match between these two teams is special but this was extra special being the final of first ever T-20 world cup.
• The last match between these two teams (league match in same tournament) ended in the most exciting manner in T-20 history.
• These were the 2 teams, which were out in the first round in ICC ODI world cup earlier in the same year.

Last Monday, Adobe Toastmasters Club held its Annual Humorous Speech Contest. There were 6 speeches and all the 6 contestants tickled the funny bones of the audience which gave them tremendous response. I'm embedding the video of the winning speech of that contest. Since the camera angles are not at its best, please concentrate on actual content (i.e. speech) and enjoy the humor :-).

This is a very short post just to show you an example that how a simple 3 word sentence can turn into a complete paragraph. Look at this example and see how a paragraph develops from a simple sentence.













Certainly, its creation did require imagination. The thing is, whether you’re writing a diary, a blog or a column for a magazine, writing remains a creative process.

It has been not more than 2 months when Google introduced its own Wikipedia like product KNOL. But it seems that Google itself forgot about its own child, I've never heard anyone talking about KNOL, in fact all the focus is on Chrome(which itself isn't a great product till now). The best part is that when you search for "what is knol" in google, you’ll be surprised to see a suggestion like "Did you mean: what is knoll." That is really funny and a perfect example of how one can forgot one's own child.

This post is in continuation with my last post on jigsaw puzzle. Currently we are trying our hands on some practice puzzles and we finished a 6000 pieces puzzle on this weekend. This is a great achievement as this puzzle was harder than the actual target 24000 pieces puzzle, LIFE. There is a lot of learning which we have learnt while solving this practice puzzle. I am putting some of our learning here and those who are interested can get benefit from that.

• Solve Puzzle on a table; solving it on floor may need you to see a doctor for your back...
• Make sure the light in the room is vertically top of the puzzle; reflections with tube light from an angle sometimes make you color blind.
• Counting helps, for example for a 600 piece puzzle 20*30 can assure you that many pieces in a particular row/column.
• Borders as usual are very easy and should be taken up first.
• When stuck on a pattern, leave it and try another (that will also reduce no of pieces spread around so less options to choose from)
• Don't forcefully try to fit in pieces. If it’s in the flow, the piece will fit in very easily; else it’s like CAUGHT- IN-THE-WRONG-JOB.
• When tired of searching for pieces in a particular section, switch the views/sections. This will be quite refreshing.
• Learn to sort & operate by shape, in our case we have changed our strategy many times and continuously switched fitting the pieces based on shape/color/design.
• We learnt that prior experience or level of expertise doesn’t matter, whereas it is the observation power that is more important than anything else.
• Sorting is the most important activity of this exercise and that too not only in the starting. Sorting is needed on every stage. The mantra is THE MORE SORTING THE EASIER. We sorted pieces on every stage of the puzzle. Also we have sorted them by every possible shape and color: FLAT HOLE, FLAT BULB, FAT PIECE, TILTED HOLE/BULB etc etc...
• If you are working in a group, keep the atmosphere humorous and motivating. This is an absolute must.
• Last but not the least, we used to play music throughout our exercise; else we might die in monotony?

I found an amazing presentation on current Indian scenario explained by the use of cartoons. I am sharing it with you guys, please have a look at it and don't miss any slide. You will find every single slide very true to current Indian scene.

वक्रतुंड महाकाय कोटिसूर्यसमप्रभ .निर्विघ्नं कुरु मे देव सर्वकार्येषु सर्वदा...

This is my 100th post and what else can be a better topic for this post. Yesterday was Ganesh Visarjan and the crowd was in full josh in Maharashtra. In Delhi, Serial blasts, high security and overcast weather with rains failed to deter the devotees as they went in large groups to immerse idols of different colors and various sizes.

You must be knowing that Ganesha is always worshiped first in Hindu Pantheon for any purpose. He is the lord of wisdom and intellect so lets pray him to give us wisdom and pray. Ganesha's unique elephant head makes him easy to distinguish and everything associated with him symbolizes something. Let's look at a picture, which shows significance of his unique appearance.

This is the song, which I am promoting these days... Actually when I saw the movie, I couldn't stop myself from laughing on the lyrics of this song. And the scene which this song is featured makes the thing more funny... Look at the lyrics of this song and you will see that why all this is true. The music and lyrics of this song make a perfect combination for this song to be called the most stupid song of recent past. Again many of you won't believe that lyricist of this song is Javed Akhtar. Have a look at the lyrics below, followed by the sound track embedded from youtube and decide yourself...

Aakhein band karke jo chehra saamne aata hai
Us chehre par mar jaane ko dil karta hai
Par, phir is dil se aawaaz aati hai
Ki vo chehra to kisi aur pe marta hai

-Akash

So finally the wait is over and the results of Slideshare World's Best Presentation Contest are out. Here are the winner entries. Have a look at these entries and you will find that these are not only awesome in design and content but also giving a message to community. I am embedding the slide shows which grabbed 1st, 2nd and 3rd position, for complete list of results please visit here.

First Prize:.

Here is what I used to do when I was a kid:

1. When I was a kid, I thought that walking at wrong side of road is easier as you can see everything coming towards you...
2. When I was a kid, I wished to have specs...
3. When I was a kid, I always wanted to be a pilot... (I still want to be)
4. When I was a kid, I was more daring then I am today. I could easily walk on a 1 feet wide and 20 feet high wall without any support...I could pass between the compartments of a running train...I could do that Gulaam like stunt... I could climb at the top of the tallest tree in garden...
5. When I was a kid, I used to collect everything from different types of stones to some newspaper cuttings...
   
6. When I was a kid, I didn't allow others to interfere what I was doing, I hated the concept of teamwork... ( now, I love this concept...)
7. When I was a kid, I was more afraid of God then I am today...
8. When I was a kid, once I tried to shave myself with papa's razor in order to get a mustache... (When I was 6-7 years old)
9. When I was a kid, I believe that riding a bicycle by sitting on it's backseat is easier then riding it by sitting on its front seat...
10. When I was a kid, once I skipped tuitions for watching 'The sword of Tipu Sultan'...

This is the first post of this month and is dedicated to my friends in office, with whom I spend the most of my time. We have lunch together, have after-lunch-walk together and we go to each others cubicles if we want to spend some free time. We hang out together for shopping, for movies, lunch/dinner, having momos, having Pizzas etc etc... If someone of us feels low, his/hers first choice for immediate concern is the cubicle of one of below mentioned persons. You can say that there is an unspoken bonding that develops with time. For example, there is a uncommitted commitment between Bhavya and me to put comments on other's blog. I used to put regular comments not only on Bhavya's blog but also on Chaya's, Bhatti's and Abhinav's.

Here I'm presenting the most frequent and favourite dialogues of the group members:

Akash:
Hopefully, you will find my dialogues in comments...

Chaya:
Disgusting...
shut up...
Mujhe pata hai, mujhe pata hai... (with her hand raised in the air and jumping simultaneously)
Bas, ab yeh ghar jaayege... (whenever someone just touches her collection of soft toys)

Bhavya:
Akaaaaash... (with a feeling of helplessness)
You are disgusting... (mainly to Abhinav and me)
I'm not talking to you... (again to Abhinav and me)

Sandy:
Harkatein mat karo... (whenever someone disturbs him)
Yaar, mujhe jabardasti pila di... (:P)

Namrata:
... (read silence)
LOGIC (Oh my God, this girl is always ready with her logic)

Bhatti:
Grrrr... (Whenever someone irritates him)
Aaj Harbhajan (or any other tailender) century maarega... (whenever India showcases its worst batting performances)

Sumit:
Abe use disturb mat karo... (whenever someone talks to Sandy on lunch table)

Abhinav:
Aisi baatein Majak me bhi nahi kehte hai... (:P)

Bhavna:
pata nahi yaar... (most of her sentences starts with this line)
Aaaaaaaahhhhhh... (I bet she can scream louder than anyone else :D)

When I wrote my post about 'Kung Fu Panda', one of my friends suggested me to watch WALL-E as it was the best rated animation flick. I watched WALL-E very next day but waited to write this post till the release of WALL-E in India. Since WALL-E has been released in India last Friday, it's the perfect time for a post over it. This post may turn out as a comparison of WALL-E with Kung-Fu-Panda at times, so please bear with me.

Plot: Wall-E (short for Waste Allocation Lift Loader. Earth class) is the only one of his kind of robot left on earth after a botched attempt at trying to clean the earth that has been overrun with garbage. He developed a personality over 700 years, after humanity had deserted the planet for a "five-year" cruise in which they expected the multitude of Wall-E to clean and restore the planet to habitable conditions. One day, Eve(short for Extra-terrestrial Vegetation Evaluator), a sleek (and dangerous) reconnaissance robot, is sent to earth to find proof that life is once again sustainable. WALL-E falls in love with Eve. WALL-E rescues Eve from a dust storm and shows her a living plant he found amongst the rubble. Consistent with her "directive" Eve takes the plant and automatically enters a deactivated state except for a blinking green beacon. WALL-E, doesn't understand what has happened to his new friend, but true to his love, he protects her from wind, rain, and lightening, even as she is unresponsive. One day a massive ship comes to reclaim Eve, but WALL-E, out of love or loneliness hitches a ride on the outside of the ship to rescue Eve. The ship arrives back at a large space cruise ship, which is carrying all of the humans who evacuated earth 700 years earlier. The people of earth ride around this space resort on hovering chairs which give them a constant feed of TV and video chatting. They drink all of their meals through a straw out of laziness and/or bone loss, and are all so fat that they can barely move. When the auto-pilot computer, acting on hastily given instructions sent many centuries before, tries to prevent the people of earth from returning, by stealing the plant, WALL-E, Eve, the portly captain, and a band of broken robots stage a mutiny.

As far as the plot of movie(WALL.E) is concerned, it's amazing and may turn out to be true in late future. The direction and emotion emitted by the robots are just awesome. It's a perfect example of how action speaks louder than words. The protagonists of the movie are robots but the way they show their feeling to each other is just awesome, especially the love expressed by WALL-E to Eve, when he offers his beloved possessions to her. The way he protects Eve brings a smile on audience's face. Also the self repairing by WALL-E is great to see. It is easier for an human actor to show feelings but one should go only to Pixar to know how machines can express feelings. First half of movie is speechless except some mechanical sound by WALL.E and Eve but it is so well framed that audience are bound to watch every second of it. The movie is not only an animation but also it provides a message to save earth. I have never seen any animation flick with a message but this movie is a great work of animation with a message to mankind.

Look at this high quality trailer of WALL-E to get an idea about the movie and see a glimpse of a great animation work:


When I tried to compare WALL-E with Kung Fu Panda, I was just clueless. Both of these movies are a piece of excellence in itself. If there are hardly any word in WALL-E, a lot of chatting is a part of Panda. Kung-Fu-Panda is based on a Chinese story based of Kung-Fu while WALL-E is a nicely woven plat taking robots as protagonist. Both are awesome and must watch movies for animation lovers. I hope that such great work of animation will continue in future.

PS: I watched Kung-Fu-Panda again yesterday on my 32-inch LCD screen and loved it even more :)

Prologue: This is another copy-paste post from an email forward. I have got this mail a long-time back and found it a good read. It's not that I am agree to every word here but this was something which lighten my mood and I hope that you also agree to me. It may seem a piece of crap to you guys but at the same time it may also appear as a fact to some other people...

We want to find a reason for everything, a purpose for everything. We want to analyze and understand everything. People even try to understand their dreams. What is the use? Whatever dream you have had, so what? Whether you are sitting on horseback or on top of a train in your dream; whether you see a crow or a duck or a pigeon or swan or a mouse or a cat in your dream, what does it matter? Why do you waste so much time interpreting dreams, trying to know something about dreams? We call ourselves wise because we want to understand. We want to do something only if we get something out of it.

A fool is somebody who does something and doesn’t get anything out of it. Their foolish acts, even those you can interpret into meaning and purpose, you see they do them without any purpose, without any meaning.

Since childhood we have been told, “Don’t be a fool.” What is wrong with being a fool? What is wrong with standing alone, apart from the crowd? Let the crowd act however it wants. I stand apart from that. I act my way!

A fool is somebody who does something very unique, which is not accepted by others. All entertainment, including games, are foolish acts. Just think of a person from another planet, maybe Mars, comes here and sees a huge crowd watching a team of boys on this side and another team on that side, trying to fight for a ball and put it into a basket. It would appear absolutely funny! One ball in the middle, a team of boys here, trying to push it there, trying to push it that way. Why all this trouble? Why don’t they just take the ball and put it in the basket? What difference does it make whether they put it in this basket or that basket? It is so foolish, playing soccer, playing basketball. For hours together other people sit there, howling and yelling and clapping.

George Bernard Shaw said somewhere, “Cricket is a game where eleven fools play and eleven thousand watch.” It is true . All games are foolish acts. A game is a game because it is foolish. If you find meaning, purpose, aim and competition, you destroy the whole game.

If you are not foolish in your life for some time if possible all the time, if not possible, at least some time-you miss your life. You miss the joy in life. If somebody calls you a fool, how do you act? Your eyes become red. You start grinding your teeth! However, it is a great compliment. You should wait for such a compliment because this is very difficult to get. People may feel that you are a fool and they often don’t say it to you. If some people, with great courage, come and tell you that you are a fool, you should feel happy. The greatest problem for us is being a fool. We try not to be fool.

All our life we resist and fear arises in us. A fool is one who acts with freedom, who has all freedom, isn’t it? That is how he could be a fool. If somebody has not experienced freedom, he cannot be a fool. Freedom is behind every fool. God loves you being a fool. He doesn’t love wise men so much. He is bored of their philosophies. He is terribly bored by all the books written about Him.

Make the whole life a game. A game means there is no purpose, there is nothing. Just take it lightly, easily. Play the game. That is worship that is celebration. There is nothing that you do that will please God. There is nothing that you will do that will displease God. He is not waiting there with a staff, just waiting for you to do a mistake so He can punish you. Don?t have such cruel picture of God as someone who is judging, who is going to punish you if you do this or that. If He doesn’t want you to do something, you can never do it. It is impossible. The very fact that He has allowed you so much freedom to do anything you like, means He says, Don’t take anything seriously, it is all a game. It’s all like a dream!

Epilogue: I strongly disagree the last bold line. Instead, I firmly believe in the following quote by Eleanor Roosevelt:

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

In this age of computers, how software is controlling the life of humans. Now a days, people rely on computer/softwares more than their own brain and while doing this they forget that a bug in the software can do a harm for lifetime. Unfortunately not only it can mess-up things but also it can't take a corrective actions. On the contrary, human brain can handle such situation very comfortably. Having softwares is good and eased one's life but can end up to a big disaster also.

Below is a presentation, which explains how software bugs can turn into disaster. It gives a visually appealing account of how software bugs have been the root cause behind many of the technology/scientific disasters (the context is US space exploration & other telecom /nuclear related mishaps).

These days, I'm facing a very high degree momo fever. let me tell those who are getting MOMO something else that momos are nothing but Nepalese/Tibetan dumplings. There was a time when I can't even look at someone eating momos and used to think that how can a half baked (read boiled/steamed) peace of floor with some stuffing pass one's throat. But once I started liking it, it becomes the most irresistible edible for me. Veg momos are just great and when the chatni with lots of chillies makes it awesome. In my opinion it's the chatni which makes it more tasty.

While writing this I am visualizing the plate full of momos and wishing that if law of attraction works. I hate those people who promise for momos to someone and then forget(This is intended) but loved the way when they come up with uncommitted momos. I wish that this momo fever never come down...

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray's deadline to shopkeepers in Mumbai to change signboards to Marathi ends on Thursday. This diktat changed the look of Mumbai completely. Several shops in Mumbai have changed their signboards after Raj Thackeray's notice. Thackeray had warned shop owners that if they do not comply with the diktat of putting up Marathi boards by Thursday, they must get ready to face the wrath of his men.

Have a look at the below pictures and get a feel that how the new MAHARASHTRIAN MUMBAI looks like:


Courtesy: IBN Live

Yesterday, I got a mail from one of my friends about new fraud strategy at Shamshabad airport, Hyderabad. I am putting it here to bring in your kind notice and also to save you from such cheaters.

About 4-5 days back, my friend went to the Shamshabad airport to pick up his dad. As usual the drive in the morning was pleasing and the approach to the airport fascinating. But to his utter surprise as soon as he was about to take his car in the arrivals section, he was stopped by the security guard who was posted at a blockage barricade just before the fork between the roads leading to the arrivals and the departure alleys of the airport. To his surprise he was instructed to turn right and go via a rounding road along the parking lot. Unsuspecting, and believing that this was probably just a diversion for some maintenance work, he complied, just to reach his second surprise.

As he made the right and moved forward he was greeted by the parking ticket machine. Now slightly confused (and in a hurry to pick up his father) he took the ticket and entered the rounding road leading to the arrivals bay. Just as he was about to leave the parking lot, he was stopped at the parking payment plaza and asked for 30/-. That is the time things became clear to him of how he was being duped. On arguing with the booth person over how he was instructed by the guard to take the diversion and now he was being forced to pay for the parking which he never used, a simple explanation given to him was that it is not in their hands as a ticket has been issued and the price for it is 30/-. Things got really bad and he was really infuriated. After much hustle and after standing there for about 15 min. and arguing, he blew them off, paid the money and went straight to the airport authority (GMR) counter.

Now is when the interesting thing happened. he was told by the concerned people that there is not supposed to be any such barricade, and everybody is free to bring their cars in the arrival bays, without any diversions. That is when he totally lost it, he really shouted at the people, filed a complaint and even threatened them of filing an RTI case against them. That is when they apologized and assured him that action would be taken.

So he would like to request everybody who is visiting to the airport to be very careful and not be cheated by the damn security guards or the parking people. They DO NOT have any authority to stop you from entering the arrivals bay. Make sure you pass this information to anybody you know who might be visiting the airport and who might be currently being cheated out of their money.

I hope we are able to bring the culprits to justice.

PS: Thanks Salil, Manish to share it.

Yesterday, Abhinav and I were in office restroom and no one else was there. There are 7-8 urinals in our office restroom and we occupied urinals at a gap of around 4 urinals between us. Suddenly inquisitive Abhinav started a conversation about restroom etiquettes. We both were discussing that no two persons should occupy adjacent urinals in restroom and to our surprise just then one person came and took the exact middle urinal between us. So this theory was being strengthened but just after that Neeraj and Mr.X stepped in, took adjacent urinals and started talking so loud... now what else to say...

After then I researched and found some informative/funny videos for that... The first one is particularly for taking adjacent urinals and the other one is for complete male restroom etiquettes. If you go to youtube and read comments below second video clip, it would be fun. Please read comments specially those from ladies, I'm copying some comments from below the video, have fun reading those ?



Complete Male Restroom Etiquettes:


Some Comments:

• wow being a girl, this is definitely not the same with us. lol we talk and talk and this is definitely not going to end the world.
• LMFAO!! This is soooo freaking funny!!!!! Wow... girls openly talk when in the washroom... we'll even ask them to pass some toilet paper if we're out...
• they should have a book on this people should abide by these rules im talking to u! people who stare when standing next to me!!!
• When only one urinal is available, I usually stand back and arc into the urinal from about six feet back. This provides the necessary symmetry. When all are unoccupied, I stand in the same place, but spray evenly back and forth. When there is a line, it is acceptable to use ONE of the sinks as a urinal.
• ok you know how you NEED to stare straight forward the whole time? we'll I was in a bathroom that had polished metal tiles by the urinals the were like mirrors.we need a rule book for the construction of restroom.

Some days back, I was traveling with Delhi Metro from 'Vishwa Vidyalaya' to 'Indraprastha'. In my way near Indraprastha metro station, there came WHO building and I was surprised to see that behind this building there is one of the largest slum of NCR. Attach is a screen shot taken from Wikimapia.
I was shocked that an organization, which is supposed to be the biggest caretaker of people's health, is carrying a big slum with it. An agency, whose objective is the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health, is not able to see the developing insalubrious condition of all age groups. If this agency can't take care of its own surroundings, how can it make people believe on it?

Let's hope that WHO will do something for the health of people in this slum and not only in this slum but also in other slums all over the world.

I was driving to Ghaziabad station to receive my parents today morning. As everyone knows that today is India's Independence day and you can listen to the Jana Gana Mana every where on TV and Radio, specially after the flag hoisting ceremony.

For those who don't know, 'Jana Gana Mana' is India's national anthem and we Indians always stand up when it is played anywhere in order to show respect to our Country. Unfortunately, when I was driving to the station, it was the time of the flag hoisting ceremony and I was listening to the speech of our hon'ble prime Minister. Just as the speech lasted, Jana Gana Mana was played. Since I was on NH-24 in full speed, I couldn't stand up at that time. This didn't make any effect on anyone under the sun but I felt guilty by heart and I am writing this post only to confess.

Please forgive me Mother India...

Today is India's 61st Independence day and every true Indian is happy and celebrating it with his heart. But here are some questions which came into my mind and forced me to think a little inside...

Yesterday night, I set my status message on Gtalk as "Happy B'day India, celebrating 61 years of independence...". One of my friends from Peru pinged me and congratulated me on India's 61st independence day. Alone with this, she asked that how I am/We are celebrating this and this put me in deep thinking. Is hoisting flag at your office/home enough to celebrate this occasion? Or having a competition to wear traditional Indian wear in office for a day is enough? Or changing your status message/display name for one day is enough? No it's not, at least in my opinion. If you are true to your country's independence then every breathing moment in open air of your country should be a celebration of independence for you. Some may argue that celebrating this occasion with above methods gives you at least some sense of the specialty of the moment but doing only this is not enough. Celebration should mean to spread happiness in your surroundings and independence means equality to everyone. I am not against celebration in any manner but why not extend these celebrations through the year and sense the independence of you and your country in every living moment.

When Federer lost Wimbledon title to Nadal some time back, one of my colleagues set a status message on his G-talk as "FED is EX". That time I thought that Nadal is a very good player and Federer lost this match after 65 consecutive victories on grass court. I thought of writing a blog post after ongoing Olympics in which I was sure that Federer would turn out as a winner. But since then he is not playing well and his loss to US no. 1, James Blake, seals this.

After loosing Wimbledon, Federere retained his No. 1 ranking. But he lost the No. 1 ranking on August 18th after early exits in his next two tournaments. At the 'Rogers Cup' in Toronto, Canada, Federer received a first round bye and then lost in the second round. He also lost to Ivo Karlovic at the 'Cincinnati Masters', ending his hope to defend his title.

Now you guys decide: is this great player come to an end? Is Federer era ending? Is Nadal all set to replace Federer and writing history? Whatever the future is, one thing to say that Federer is an all time great player and he has raised the standard to be world no. 1 and mor importantly retaining that position.