Best break-up line

George Costanza's (In Seinfeld) girlfriend is fed up with him and try to breakup with him.

GF: Seriously, george, its not u, its me.

George: you are giving me "its not u, its me" routine.
I invented "its not u, its me" routine.
Nobody gives me "its not u, its me" routine.
If there is somebody its not them, its me.

GF: OK george, its you.

George: You are damn right, its me.....

Tsunami !!!

I guess this is how worse things can get when two natural elements (earth and water) declare war against mankind. Especially when it is unexpected. Now the question arises what action should be taken to minimize the effect of such calamities in the future. There are many active online discussions and it seems so that concerned countries hesitate to join 'tsunami club' (name changed for my convenience) because its a costly affair. They say they can afford such calamity once in 40-50 yrs rather than joining the club.

Its easy to scrap the idea but i feel its a very sensitive issue. Keeping mind over matter: what if this tsunami never strikes india again for near 300 yrs.I guess govt might be knowing abt this in detail. It all depends on the cost involved in loss and the cost to rebuild the destroyed world. And don't forget the personal loss involved.

But one thing is for sure: ppl will avoid going to coastal areas, for recreation, for a long time now...

Been there, Done that

Masters in computer science, well, I could now officially say: been there and done that. Well I must admit MS changed me in lot of ways. I would recommend all the ppl to go for post graduation if time,money and family permits.

Experience of a foreign land is a big plus for international students. Cooking, laundry, cleaning the apt and of course course work makes the person instant mature. And when this process goes for two years, u realise u have come a long way and all was worth it.

Graduation commencement was held on 18th dec in my university USU. Will post the photos on my website at the earliest. Follow the link (link) mentioned below. Graduate walk was a grt feeling especially when this feeling was not provided by our dear mumbai university. 10 secs of fame is worthy...

Some things that I learnt in MS:

1) Education is fun
2) World is much bigger than our busy Mumbai
3) Leaving alone away from the family and friends makes u stronger to face the world
4) Planning in life helps

yahooooo!!!!

Well there are some things which you think will never happen to you. One such thing is your email password being hacked. It happened to me about a month ago. I am not sure whether a culprit is known or a unknown person. But that stupid guy changed my password as well. So I could not access my account right till now. I wrote some 10 emails to yahoo security grp to finally get my password reset.

Well I would not blame yahoo for that. Yahoo being the provider of one of the largest free services might find it difficult to attend the numerous complaints they might be receiving from all over the world. But I would defintely like to suggest yahoo guys to come up with some technique which might help a user in detecting that something might be going wrong. For e.g. if there is drastic change in location of two consecutive access to the same email id then a warning email should be sent to the alternate email id provided.I guess there might be more solutions to the problem.

I guess I can be a better example for ppl to learn from: make your password a tricky one, never disclose it to anybody and never use the same password at many places.

Namesake !!!

Well, all NRIs would agree that foreigners find it difficult to say our indian names. My name is usually called as vykas. Nowadays I have stopped to correct them. Because I think 'What the hell, as long as i know they are referring me'. And it makes them happy as well as they don't have to think much about how to spell my name.

I personally feel we should follow china's steps in this case. Their names are so awful that they have an equivalent american names for the 'other-than-china' countries. I would like to have a new name, I mean who wouldn't !!! So my american name would be 'Victor'. I like thatttt !!! So currently I am looking for new americans to make friends with so that I can introduce myself as Victor.

And now about indians. You would hardly see friends calling each other by their first names. Each guy would be associated with a nickname. Sometimes even surname would do but never by first name. It is kinda insult to the friend. I have some nicknames too: vpd (my initials), stud, vykas and currenly new coined name (of MBMBBS fame) 'mamu'.

So the rule is to introduce yourself with your first name. Then it is upto the listener what he plans to call you. IF he is foreigner he will call u by american name and your natives would not miss to coin a funny nickname for you. I guess thats how world works !!! Everbody wants to run from their first names and knowingly- unknowingly ( I invented this word) they love their other coined names. Its a well accepted fact and nobody can deny it. Everybody wants to escape from the routine. Think abt it !!!

Shwaas

Finally got the opportunity to watch shwaas. The film, in literal sense, touches hearts of the audience. The most striking feature of the film is that it proves the good old truth of films : film should have a message and a film should be simple.

One do not need many characters or songs or any fiction plot to prove a thing. Shwaas followers would agree that a film is much more bigger than costume, characters, film sets and ofcourse the current trend of 'sex'. The climax of the film is very touching and simply beautiful.

Hope it gets entry into oscar final set of nominations.

My bit of Philosophy towards life

I am a human being. And I tend to believe it is the most advanced species. I have a single life and I tend to make the most out of it.

The question one must ask is how to make the best of one's life? What is that one must achieve and what is that one must call the cup of life? I think about it a lot and I guess there is no definite answer. Lets say the ans differs from person to person. The least one can do is keep learning, who knows one fine day one might find something "worth living for".

So next question that arises is what to learn? I guess one must have an open mind that can learn whatever it feels interesting. For e.g. reading a poem, writing one, playing a musical instrument, sports, drawing something etc. Each day should take you nearer to the perfection stage. Each day should be better that the last day. One must always find ways to improve oneself. Learning a new thing a day will leave you with 365 new tricks at the end of the year. Mind you it is not easy. There might be some events in life which can take back to you where you have started. So application of learnt lessons in real life is equally important.

Wait what if I don't find anything that is "worth living for" till the end.But didn't you spend your whole life without it and that too with a strong learning curve. I guess this is what we call GOD or HOPE. We never give up our God (Hope).And that makes all the difference.

As L.Richards truly says: "In the end the pesimist may be right, but the optimist will have enjoyed the journey more."

Veer - Zaara

THe most anticipated film of this year has finally been released. And how is it ? Well lets say it is not one of the best creations from chopra productions. Main idea of the film of creating an another timeless classic lovestory weaved into india-pak arch rivalry seems to be genuine. But script once again follows the famous "DDLJ" tradition : protagonsits meeting by a chance, hero following heroine to her home and creating havoc, songs on fields etc.

In fact King Khan is a big flop in first half. You can literally point that this is the same stuff he is been repeating from Deewana. And that sucks big time. However his expressions in court scenes in second half is a novelty for his fans. Preity is there just for songs. I personaly feel about 75% of her screen presence is during song sequences. And one might guess why rani cries like she will never stop.

The good part of the film is the fresh tunes of Late Madan Mohan, ofcourse Lata and variety of male voices. Climax would make you feel the sacrifice made by khan as a total waste. Amitabh looks effective after much of his flop films. The best part for me was the last poem that khan recites in last court scene. It is kinda summary of what yash chopra wanted to say through his whole film but was kinda unsuccessful.

Phheeewwwww Finallyyyyyyy !!!!

I successfully defended my Master's Report (kindof thesis) on 15th Nov and was passed with no corrections in my report. For all those who don't know, defense is kind of seminar where you would be presenting your work to committe and students. They might ask questions and you would be defending your work. It marks the completion of my Master's education with some paperwork to be finished. Man, its a grt experience for I am a masters graduate now and I would be walking in dec graduate commencement.

One of committee members (professors) made a memorable stmt at the end of my defense while passing me off. He said "IN last one min you just raised your salary by millions of dollars". He meant being a masters graduate now, I can demand a higher salary and better std of living.

One thing that struck me was that this might be an end to my education life. Well I don't want to think abt that as I might start with some new degree in the future. Who KNows !!!

I would be keeping my report online on my website within few days.

Sports and Statistics

Lets start with the beginning. Why sports are played? Reasons : sportmanship, competetion, strength, show of skillset and above all to have fun. Then to make the sports more interesting and a profitable business tournaments were arranged where people liked watching two countries fight for excellence. But insatiable media did not stop here. They gave rise to statistics.

Let me give an example, fiction though. Suppose sehwag hits a century in, say, wankede stadium against south africa. They (One who shall not be mentioned by name) would say its his career 10th test century. Then they would say its his 3rd test century against south africa. Then they would say its his 2nd test century in wankede. Then they would say its his first in wankede against south africa. Then they would end the article stating that sehwag is a first indian (or any cricket for the purpose) to score a test century against south africa in wankede in first innings in after-tea session under 200 balls finishing a century with a six and completing 50th run by a four.

Thus, every century made by every crickter will go down in the history with some unique set of statistics. I know few people who don't play cricket at all but know the statistics made by every cricketer in every era. So to make it short, sport is reduced to mere material mean game where all that matters is statistics.....

The Apprentice

The current new season of Apprentice has been a big showdown as compared to its previous season (thats what I have heard). I guess I know one of the reasons. If you follow the episodes seriously you will observe that Donald Trump mostly fires the project manager(PM) of the losing team.

We all know PM is a vital candidate of any team. But it doesn't mean he/she should take the responsibility of anything and everything. I totally understand that in corporate world PM would be accountable for all the happenings. But at the same time he may not be the weakest person of a team.

I don't think I am a right guy to argue with Business mogul Donald Trump on this issue. However it seems insane to fire a PM when he is of the same calibre as everybody else unlike in real world where PM is much more really experienced than his team members.

Here is a list of what I think abt PM.
Must-have qualities for a Project Manager (My list):

1) Maturity (he should not take any in-promt decision)
2) Experienced (its better if he knows the things waiting ahead)
3) Vision (how to make a current proj better than the last one)
4) Respect (good relationships with colleagues)
5) Competent (hard working, good skillset etc)

funnyyyyy stufffffffffff

One of the things that separates US from India is the element of comedy. US People hate to be in distress. Once people return home from work they find the sitcoms (situation comedy) all over the television. Standup comedians are the real celebreties in this part of the world. And Indians find desparate fighting housewives waiting for them on the television!!!

Let me give you a simple example. When asked about why did she marry xyz guy then about 50-60% of the US girls would reply: "because he is funny" and not "because he is from good family and somewhat good-natured". Typical Indian reply to that comment would be "if he is funny then laugh, don't marrrrryyyyy himmmmm". I don't want to cross any line over here but would like to stress the importance of 'being funny' in the lives of americans.

'Enjoy', 'chill', 'peace' are some of the words amrus use frequently in their conversations. It indicates their approach towards life. They never land in any uncomfortable situation i.e. they never sacrifice anything in their lives. They never save money. LIfe is a big party for people over here. Individual happiness is the foremost thing and I wonder is this the ultimate truth?

Third attempt of sketch from my side !!!  

GUTS

My good friend (also my old rommie) got a job in Microsoft. He was called for onsite (Redmond, WA)interview two weeks back. But this is not the interesting part. Interesting part is that he wore a t-shirt saying "My stars say...I would be next Bill Gates" for all the 6 interviews held onsite. I could not help laughing. Now I know whom to refer when somebody asks me for the definition of GUTS. I would have bought a new formal shirt and pant for the interview and I guess this is a normal mentality.

The event changed my overall view for the whole formal thing. Its all in our minds. We tend to behave as formal as possible for such events in our lives. Why ? because its a right thing to do, thats why. We should question such assumptions and try to break the custom: just for fun. I am planning to do the same in near future like for defense of my Master's Report. Hope I would stick to my word, but the whole thing scares the hell out of me.....(hehe !!!)

Border - Gavaskar Trophy

Well, Ind-Aus test series finally begins. However it has lost some lustre due to the absence of stalwarts like "apna" sachya and Ricky Ponting. But the series is still imp because the cricketing world believes that this time Aus will have trophy back.

Going by the current Indian and Austrialian teams' form it might look correct. But Indian tradition to surprise the world with fairytale endings still reigns. Looking back to the Indian team that won over Aus in last test series, our current team is definetly more strong and more confident.

My bet is that India will win the series 2-1. There is no scientific reasoning for it except that it is my gut feeling....

Second Masterpiece from this artist (That's me !!!) 

Profession

There are very few options left for a Masters student to escape from 8-5 job routine:

1) Either do Phd and become a prof
2) Or do MBA and enter into management.

I never had aptitude for the first option. Second option is kinda interesting. Management is something which always fascinated me. A management guy has some level of freedom and authority which a developer/programmer will never enjoy. He can change things around him and make a difference. He can experiment with some ideas instead of blindly following some set of specifications (programmer's job) given by some client. If he is really competetive then he can take the company to a very new level.

I guess every one of us wants such virtues in his profession.

See what unemployment can do to u !!!! 

Ganesh Utsav

We celebrated Ganesh Utsav for 1.5 days here in Logan, Utah. It was special this year for we "mumbai" group were the organizers. Being senior students in USU, we took the responsibility of Utsav and it was great fun.

The noticeable part is that Indians living outide India follow the Indian culture with great passion. The proverbial stmt of "One knows the importance of a thing after it is lost" stand true in this case. We have "Dasera" and "Diwali" coming in next month.
It is a truly said fact that Indians create a "Mini-India" wherever they go.

One guy wore a T-shirt in Ganesh Utsav with this tag line:

"Come to India......... One billion people can't be wrong"

The Wall

For every organization (for e.g. a company, cricket team, school etc) to be successful there are 3 essential elements required:

1) A strong technical guy who gives instant results
2) A mangement guy who manages the whole team
3) And a guy who bridges the above mentioned categories and makes many sacrifices without complaining

Lets talk something about the third guy and his qualities :
Yeah, first thing that comes to ones mind is he is dependable. If something goes wrong in the organization then he is the most sought after. If somebody has some problems then he comes to the help. He takes reponsibility for both success and failure with grace. And yes, his work ethics are very strong. These qualities makes him respectable in the whole group.

These guys don't work for promotions or any raise. But they make sure that grp is always in good position.

Are we still talking about just any other ordinary person. Nope, we just finished describing the WALL. He was declared the "Best Player of the Year" and "Best Test Player of the Year" by ICC.

Mr.Rahul Dravid deserves it all....

Time

Kramer: "Hey Jerry!! Would you watch my car for 2 mins ?"
Jerry declines the request and then says to George:
Jerry:"According to the time frame Kramer follows, a man should live for 2000 years."

So how many of us have experienced this. Somebody asks you to wait for 10 mins and then comes back after half an hour. Somebody, till today, use the phrase "back in 2 secs". 2 secs....

I have a good friend who would call the whole group at some place at some time and would himself appear atleast half an hour late.

On poking, he would reply: We are Indians.
I guess he was right. Partly because I didn't have a good reply to that statement except some trivial comments like we are the future of India blah blah.

I saw the same pattern among the Indian students here in US. Every ISA (Indian Student's Association) function starts atleast half an hour late. And back comes the reply from Mr.President :
'We are following the Indian Standard Time" and the public goes ha ha ha !!!

But the same ISA would hoist the flag on 15th August at the exact pre-decided time. According to the organization, hoisting flag late is an insult to the country.

hmmm !! yeah, that makes some sense.

Some of my weird thoughts

As one grows up with age, he observes the world around him and makes his own conclusions. I have my own such conclusions. There is a possibility that this might be present in a book of philosophy or in pschology:

There are two paths to success. One path is a result of engineering(E)other of science(S).

1) The former believes in hard work, dedication, devotion and thinks that it is a 'easy' path to success. These guys are basically restless and work day and night to reach their goal.
2)The latter one comes up with altogether a new techinque for the same goal and believes in spiritual success. These guys want to set their own path of perfection and excellence.

These both paths lead to the same goal.
Now let me give some real-world examples to prove this theory.

1) Sharukh(E) and Aamir(S) (In Indian Film Industry)
2) Agassi (E) and Sampras (S)
3) Mcenroe(E) and Bjorn Borg(S)
4) Roddick(E) and Federer(S)

and above all
5) Windows (E) and Linux (S)

Hope this all stuff made some sense to all u guys.....

A good quote

I got it from some other blog site while browsing (kinda liked it)

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

-- Robert Heinlein

Seinfeld's scripts

For all Seinfeld's fans .......

http://www.seinology.com/scripts-english.shtml

A good lesson of Business

Laloo Prasad Yadav talks to his son :
>>Laloo : Hai Betta......I want you to marry a girl of my choice

>>Son : Oh.... Dad......I want to choose my own bride.

>>Laloo : "But the girl is Ambani's daughter.........yar.."

>>Son : "Well, in that case..."

>>Next day Laloo approaches Mukesh Ambani.........

>>Laloo : "I have a husband for your daughter."

>>Ambani : "But my daughter is too young to marry."

>>Laloo : "But this young man is a vice-president of the World Bank."

>>Ambani : "Ah, in that case..."

>>Finally Laloo goes to see the President of the World Bank.

>>Laloo : "I have a young man to be recommended as a vice-president."

>>President : "But I already have more vice-presidents than I need."

>>Laloo : "But this young man is Ambani's son-in-law."

>>President : "Ah, in that case....."

>>This is how business is done!!

It teaches a simple thing:

Business is not all about one's personal interests. It is about knowing what others are interested in. And we all know Laloo is the master of this game !!!!!

Perfectionist

Rare are such men
whose beliefs are very strong
never they give up the hope
always sing a happy song

following their wild hearts
they don't mind the daily chores
loss and gain doesn't mean much to them
like a perfectionist, far far away from the shores

answer they have for everything
problem is itself a solution at ease
made not for materials of life
a saint is a hero for these

dreams they have very high
but like to live a simple life
wonders the common on every night
what they eat, what they are like !!

work they do lead to peace
path they choose lead to freedom
rules they define step to success
thoughts they give lead to religion

rare are such men
who live with great passion
great lives, one should learn more
to be a perfectionist, far far away from the shores....

Art of telling a story

During a Charlie Rose interview, Quentin Tarantino talked about screenwriting (It is one of the purest forms of telling a story):

"I start two characters walking down the street. And the characters take on a mind of their own. If I want the characters to go into the bar, they might say to each other -- Don’t mind Quentin, he doesn’t know what he’s doing. Instead, let’s go into this hotel. I say okay and follow them into the hotel."

The Village

This movie by N.Shyamalan should be considered as a case study for films-related courses. He has built a beautiful love story woven into a thriller. Its similar to "Titanic" where love story is woven into a tragic accident.

The simplicity of the film is outstanding. The village set, children, elderly people, their understanding of outside world et al. Manoj proves that the only thing required for making a film is 'a good concept'. Rest (starcast, big expensive locations) all is just to make a film look good.

Highlights of the film are obviously the twist in the film and its ending. Many trade analysts have rated this film as not a good film. I guess filmgoers (especially US ppl) are used to watching extra-terrestial animals and were expecting the same in this film. But this is a reality film. If one forgets his history of making movies with a twist then this would be one of his best.

But he needs to stop this film culture (with twist) as in the future people will never stick to his storyline as they will always know that there is going to be a TWIST....

India as seen by NRIs

What exactly is India for NRIs? They learn about India from newspapers which are available online and what do they find?

More than 50% of the articles are about "Bollywood" and "Cricket". I guess all media guys have made a rule: "No newspaper is complete without an article on Amitabh (AB), Ash or Sachin (tendulkar)." So what image should one have about India !!

Yeah ! they are having the exact same one: India is an underdeveloped country where only news worthy events occur in filmland and sports (that too only in cricket).

This is what I call as "Luck"

It was viva season of 6th sem. Me and some other dombivilians boarded a heavy crowded bus to college for viva of microprocessor. As some of u might know viva is something mumbai students (especially boys) think as "revenge time" for profs where they can selectively screw-up any guy. Anyways, we got into heavy disussion about some concepts in MP and ended up with some unanswered questions.

After an hour or so, my time came to go in torture chamber and face the profs for viva. After entering the room external prof gave me a mischievious smile. A cold chill passed thru my spine. I convinced myself that i am stucked in this room for atleast an hour as my previous classmates.

External guy requested my (internal) prof to permit him to ask me questions. "Go Ahead" my prof told him. This is the time when every guys asks himself the same question "Is engineering necessary for succesful life? Can I just ...."

He started asking me questions and i kept murmuring something. Wait !!! these are the same questions i was discussing with my friends. He introduced himself as a passenger of the same bus. He confessed for listening to our whole conversation and ended up answering all my doubts.

He praised all dombivilians for thinking (in the right direction) and questioning every small doubt. I was out of that room within 10 mins breaking the stunning news to my fellow anxious dombivlians.
I got a good score for this viva and it will always remain my most pleasant exam....

The Da Vinci Code

This novel by Dan Brown will explain clearly the secret to success for the fiction stories :"make readers believe that everything is real".

Fiction is a medium where you can present your fantasies in a realistic manner. And the key to it is play around with some unsolved mysteries and build up your own script. And to make it a bestseller make sure you show the protoganists on a run where "thrill is waiting for them at every corner and 'someone' is always watching them".

By now you guys might have concluded that I am insane to comment about one of the bestsellers (of all time) in such plain english. Its nothing like that. Just that being a regular reader of fiction novels I was able to guess the characters of "The Teacher" and "Sophie".

I liked a lot of things about the novel. Especially the way Dan Brown has mixed his concepts with the truth - the way he has dragged big personalities (Da Vinci, Isaac Newton, Pope) in his fiction. The story is very convincing especially the secret codes hidden in some famous paintings. I guess it requires a lot of hard work and heart for such a brilliant creation. The best part I liked was the plan 'grandpere' devised along with his family to hide the secret.

Hats off to Dan Brown !!!

"The Best"

What is "the Best" ? X is the best in ABC and Y in PQR. And on what basis is this rating given?

I am the person who believes that there is nothing called "the best" in this world. The world is no more "a black n white" place. There exists no guy who is out n out "a bad guy (villian)" or "a good guy (hero)". World (of Kalyug) is painted in grey.

If you believe in mythology then probably u might believe in gods (white) and demons (black).

Yeah!! it is equally true that some are damn good in some stuff. For e.g. Sachin in cricket, Schumi in F1. But "the best" seals the future with no hope for possiblity of better person existing in future.

The reason for my "uncomfortability" with this term is that it just halts the definition of perfection i.e. there is nothing beyond this best. And I believe that nobody is perfect and learning curve never stops. In that way it keeps the thrill in life going. So whenever somebody say: "Man !! that guy is the best", then u shud repy: " Nah !! somebody might be better than him".

fundas of fun !!!

Each individual has his own idea of happiness. Some ideas are weird, in the sense, it is fun only when it is done in a particular way in the presence of particular ppl on a particular day.

I have experienced such types of weird fun:

1) Playing football(soccer) with my friends on a rainy day on my favourite ground (gaudevi grnd).
2) Watching soccer leagues on television with my friends at my friend's (Akshay) place.Of course it includes snacks.
3) Hitting 2 consecutive sixes (or 3 in an over) to abhi(jit), straight over his head, once again on my favourite gaudevi ground.
4) Pulling some impossible cricket matches by hitting some good run in last ball of a last over.
5) Ahh ! here it comes, eating mom-made sabudana kichdi by laying down on sofa during live cricket one-day international on TV. (make it a day-night match)

And the list goes on...

Characters

World is full of characters and by that I don't mean any offense to anybody. It's just that their interests amuses me. For e.g. I have few friends who know "which batsman scored how many runs in which match" in cricket world. But when it comes to actual play they back off. Some know abt every geographical place in the world but when it comes to driving: NO please!!!

Some guys spend their whole free time in finding cheaper deals on the internet while some others in chatting....
Such guys don't "waste / use" their energy in physical activities.

I guess these guys are the product of today's electronic world which has been 'so far' successful in minimizing the human intervention in each of the daily activities.

I bet u have some of these characters as friends !!!!

Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permament !!!

Dare to be different !!! Take the path less travelled !!! Take more pain than others!!! Only then you will be "Special" and "Rare".....

the grass is greener on the other side but at the same time it is difficult to cut...

When your day is going good, make it great!!!

- Brian Lara

(In Hindi..) Woh wada kar gayi pachve din milne ka.....lekin koi kambakth kah gaya hai ki zindagi char din ki........
(In English..) She promised to meet me on the fifth day ..... but someone has told that life is worth four days........

Nothing is as fun as returning to home....