India Trip

Well, where should I start? Reached India by flight, went home by van, took a ride on bike as a third seater and with the current electricity crisis in my home town, I could comfortably say that my trip was nothing short of 'Swades' film. But since EA is much strict than NASA (I guess, I cannot take 2-3mons of holidays) and absence of GF made me realise that 'genrating electricity' project would be a disaster.

Jokes apart, going back to your home after a long span of time is always a fulfilling experience. Its like coming back to your roots. I was lucky enough to meet most of my school friends, BE friends, attend my friends' wedding and get my H1 visa stamped. My religious trip and my novels collection were the other highlights.

Here are some of 'stuck-in-my-mind' observations:

1) First thing that strikes you is 5-hr power cut under the name of 'load shedding'. No comments..except that i avoided wearing any t-shirt at home at any cost, by that, I mean even in the presence of relatives who would come to see US return kid, who is supposed to be looking sophisticated and well-dressed.

2) Most of my friends are planning to move either in Mumbai district or move as far as possible from Mumbai (Pune, Blore etc). One can also sense responsibility on their faces: parents, home, money and ofcourse their life partner.

3) Many of them are fed up with company politics and their workstyle. But changing companies doesn't seem to be the best solution as all companies work in the similar fashion. Key seems to work in a MNC or a US based company.

4) Population seems like a problem which would not be solved during my lifetime. I am happy that people don't kill each other to get a window seat in local trains. Thanks to companies who have started bus services for their employees.

And above all, I feel due to the above-mentioned factors people lack passion. For they have to think about survival,which is a logical approach for any mumbaikar as he has to struggle a lot for basic necessities like electricity, water, home and commute. I am pretty sure very few might be appreciating their lives and happy to be alive. Very few would be dreaming about taking 2-week off and going to Agra for a Taj-Mahal visit. And whom should we blame for that !!!!

I must admit its easy to comment on these factors by sitting in bay area, but one must remember that we are not getting any younger !!!!

Triumph of the Nerds

Its a documentary ran by some TV channel. My manager mentioned it to me and in fact he made a copy for me. Its about how software geeks took over the world and how the whole software industry began accidently in garages where teenager geeks worked hard just to impress their friends. It gave me kind of an insight about how it all began and who all were responsible for it. Most impressive person you would see in the video would be Steve Jobs and impressive innovating company would be XEROX research center in Palo Alto.

Its a very good documentary. Try to get hold of it. I also heard about its sequel which talks about the internet technology and its emergence. Hmm time to find the video now...

Catcher in the rye

Read another book which is also considered as a part of the classic league. The book is very different from all other books that I have read so far. It talks about a guy and his struggle with the world. But here the boy is a pyscho and the story seems like his personal diary. The good part of the book is that it gives an alltogether different outlook towards worldy activities. I cannot say for sure about entertainment value of the book except that its different....if that means anything to you !!!

To Kill a Mocking Bird

There are some books about which one cannot and does not want to write anything else but praise. This book is precisely ons of those. I truly agree with other fellow readers that its a classic. And I strongly recommend everybody to read it atleast once. The book being published in 1950s is a timeless creation and Harper Lee [author] still considers it as just a simple love story.

The book mainly describes about children growing up and their dynamic thought process during those changing times. It describes about a man who stands for his principles. It describes about a village which is good at heart but follow all the old traditional idiosyncrasies. It describes about how everything falls at right places at time passes by. Its simplicity makes the book great. This books proves that simple story narration and innocence can improve the book quality by heaps and bounds. You do not need any complicated stories or situations to make a successfull book but a simple story from the heart. I would prefer it to be read as a part of curriculum for English graduation courework (or it might have already been done).

A guitarist

The bar was crowded, noise and wine flowing all the way
waiters and cleaners at their toes, at work it was just another day
every table one could see and hear, people involved in their own small worlds
mortgage, loan, rent and credit, nothing else was their worth

raising voices, emoting faces, one can sense the tension
rising temperature, gulping glasses, happy were they none
the podium lights up, people pay no heed
a jacket, jeans and cowboy hat arrives, with his guitar and strings

out came a divine music, fingers to guitar as his rest
faces turned at every table, silence was at its very best
played the player face down, he became irresistable
even deaf cleaner could hear him, his music was visible

forgot the worries everybody had, felt like existing in different world
where sun don't have to hide, for moon to rise and shine
Stepped he out after an hour or so, audience did not believe him
bowed he and left in silence, audience could not digest him

audience of that day, came day after day
helpless addicted were they, music which was trip to far far away
realised they after few years, existed never the guitarist
before and after the show, unknown was he to everybody
believed they him a glimpse of divine, earth on stepped he to teach
what is life all about and how to live it!!!

(A poem dedicated to myself on my 25th Bday, yeah !! u r right, I am so full of myself :-) )

My new Nephew

My vahini (Mallika) and cousin (Prasad) had a baby boy last week and here is my bro's interesting letter subjected "New Release":

" Our new product has been launched into this world! It was nine months in the making and was ready one day before the deadline. The CEO and CTO (Mallika and Prasad) are delighted by this cutting edge product. The main features of the product are feeding, sleeping and wetting diapers. However, by far the best feature is the cute smiles :)

You might have guessed the product by now! "Dhruv Deshpande" was born on July 15th at 1.59 pm at Santa Teresa Hospital. He was 6 lbs 10.6 Oz and 21 inches in length at birth. The name "Dhruv" means the North star and stands for someone who is steady and unchanging.

Mom and baby are healthy and recovering. Dad is enjoying playing with him. "

Where is Novelty?

So where do we stand today? One movie releases, along come related console games, cell phone games, music video, remixes, food drinks with movie brand and what not. Everybody wants to monetize on the existing idea prevailing the old profound theory of human mankind : work less, earn more.

And you will sense the height of the above theory when ppl declare that they are cashing on the old popular movies as well. Distinguished directors are planning to remake Don, Sholay. Game Industry is making games based on GodFather, JamesBond etc. Technology thus is used to ensure that an idea doesn't get wasted and everybody makes full use of it.

So the question to ask yourself is: where we stand today?

Piracy !!!

Onsite interview with Electronic Arts (EA)

EA techincal director: So do you have any questions for me?

Me: Yes, Why doesn't EA concentrate on Indian market as well and try to cash it by developing asian games?

EA techincal director (Without a blink, in lightning speed):

Because there are 3 (he said 3, precisely) reasons:

1) Indians have the habit of using pirated copies (out of 10 million copies of FiFa soccer game sold, only 5% were original copies)
2) Indians don't have the money power to play on different consoles like playstation, xbox which are the main sources of revenue as compared to PC games
3) We cannot shift the development to India because they would not be able to understand the american and european games.

I could see the frustation in his eyes. And I think the main reason is the first one: Piracy. Can we stop it for giving a bad name to us?

Comics

I had almost forgot about the comics till I saw the 'Sin City'. Sin City is a sincere attempt of bringing comics to the larger screen without any filmy element. Everybody would be having their own sweet memories reading comics during their childhood. But in this part of the world people never get old. They still are fanatic about the comic strips. I, myself, have started reading the comic strips back again.

My favourite comic is Asterix. The whole idea of Gauls fighting Romans, with due respect to magic potion, instigates my imagination. Almost all characters (especially Obelix) are funny. Their village setup, dressing sense, boar eating culture and other things attracts the reader's attention.

The main advantage of reading comic strips is that it is fun reading and ends in shorter time unlike novel where it has a single idea to present and takes about couple of days to finish. Comic strips are the visual retreat and takes you back to your childhood.

Addicted

Well, I think life was quite simple few years back. Right now I cannot imagine my life without my laptop and cell phone. Does new inventions and science make life simpler or more complicated? Everything is getting complicated under the name of the simplicity. You are made dependent to things that you never cared before. The companies might call it as 'determing the need of the market'. But I would like to call it as creating a new need (market) for the people (business).

In early days, OK wait !!! By early days I mean 4 - 5 years back. Man, generation gap is getting smaller and smaller. So in early days people never cared of maitaining communication with their knowns on day-to-day basis. But with the arrival of the cell phones you even call a person you have met in some hippie party some few yrs back. I know there are more pros than cons to the given situation and I am concentrating only to the cons, but still I feel i (as a human being) am being cheated !!!

Suppose if some family denies to buy a computer and cell phone, it will be looked upon as some naive tribal gang. There will be lot of pressure from the society. I know this all doesn't make true sense but still I want to make sure all type of ppl get along well in this world. Think about it ..

Man - a lazy animal

I heard a pretty interesting theory recently about philosophy i.e. man works very hard because he is very lazy. I know it doesn't make sense at first reading. But let me explain. With majority of the peoply, working hard means earning lots of money. Ppl work hard so that they can make lots of money so that they can retire at early age and chill for the remaining years of their lives. They want to reach that level of complacency asap where they need not care about money any more. And as we all know, except few countries, ppl all around the globe don't preach and don't follow the concept of 'savings'. So work hard to make sure you have enough money for your lifetime and get retired soon.

It is amusing, isn't it. So as lazy animals as we are, lets work hard....

Life in general

I always thought that once I get a job I would have enough time to enjoy. I guess I was wrong. Blogging has become a rare occasion for me. But some new interesting things also got interwingled with job. Eating food in restaurants all the time, getting cafenated, waking up early, sleeping early, staring computer about 16 hrs a day, thinking about the clothes that I shud wear, money management, working under pressure etc etc. Man !!! childhood was so damn cool and easy. Well the positive thing about job is that u have money to enjoy, independence to make decisions and lifestyle that u always craved for. But dreams never end.

I hate to be that 8am to 8pm guy with nothing else to do at home other than sleep. I guess every job-going person should start his day, week, month with a plan. For a change, living without a plan is also a good plan, but, not always !!! I would like to emphasize the idea of job as mentioned in one of the chain emails that I recieved sometime back: "If something bad happens and u happen to die, then who is the biggest loser -u, ur family and friends for not spending quality time with each other. Well, company will find a suitable replacement for u...."

what else do u want - cricket !!!

I have received this in email and could not get the source's information. But its funny especially for indians who love to see the pak lose the current cricket series....

Sehwag ki maa ko bulao,
Sachin ko Pepsi pilao,
Ganguly ko Chawanprash khilao,
Kaif ko Lays khilao,
Dravid ko Castrol pilao

Kaise bhi India ko jitao

Irade hai nek, hosle hai buland
kasam hai hindustan ki
phir wohi jalwa dikhaenge
rawalpindi express ko
local train banayenge

aaj ek ball aur khel lo
aaj ek bat aur pakad lo
aaj ek wicket aur le lo
aaj ek match aur jeet lo...

aaj bas aaj...

kya pata kal Pakistan ho na ho...

BLACK !!!

After reading a lot abt Black, finally got an opportunity to watch the movie. Well, I must say the movie lives upto its much hyped reputation. I am not surprised if AB claims that this is his best movie ever. TO begin with, the movie is different. It talks all about fighting against the odds. It highlights the sacred teacher-pupil relationship. And above all it has female lead as a protagonist. It is easy to show all the above-mentioned fighting spirit etc etc in a movie featuring any damn game, take for e.g., joh jeete...., lagaan. But to feature a dumb,blind girl / female as a lead takes lot of guts from Bhansali. It is clear in everyone's mind by now that this movie was made with OSCAR (lady) in mind, why, here's why: no songs, based on christian family, abt 70% of dialogues in English and many more. Well, we hope this gets a thumps up from OSCARs.

My fav part of film was: rani teaching AB all over again right from the start, thus proving that learning never ends and can be started at any age, and life is all about helping others.

Inscrutable americans !!!

Well, this is my first novel that has an Indian as a protagonist. And to be frank - its a really funny novel. Reading a funny novel is always a different feeling. It describes the life of an indian who comes to US for higher education (yeah right!!!). His innocence, cultural shock and his american friends will make you feel "how lonely u r in foreign land". Overall the book is a 'must-read belonging category' especially for all immigrants who are residing in US.

Sorting Algo

We all listen to music. We categorise them according to the artist / band. We also categorize them according to the language of the lyrics (eng / hindi / etc) .We categorize them according to the era in which they were composed. We also have a 'favourite' folder. But at the end we select some few songs from each category and make and call it as 'my playlist'. So is it efficient, nah !!! I think we can do something else...i.e categorize them according to the mood as each song brings authentication to some particular type of mood. For e.g. we should have song folders like romantic, party, fighting spirit, gazal and many more. So if one wants to listen songs then he can select songs that suits his mood. I understand this sorting might create some new problems, i.e one will have difficult time in knowing whether he has some particular song and also in exchanging songs with friends. For this sorting to be successful, ppl would need to have a training eye which is difficult to achieve. It would be a big change in approach for ppl and ppl hate to change. But this sorting might help some mavericks like me!!!!

An Omen

Atop a high hill, among the canyons
stood he wondering, what a life has it been
the wind with its chill, came his life in a flash
clouds resting at his feet, proved his actions right

with some unknown reason, felt he an everlasting peace
the silence was at its best, made him realise that now it is
head and hands high up in the sky, with closed eyes and an open mind, he spoke
"O God !!! what is life, what are my actions, and did I do alright?

anxiously waited he for an answer, expected not was it though
prayed he for some omens to show, a path, away from his mistakes, to go
sad was he when opened his eyes,but found a flock of birds in the premise
realised he something that never thought before,every bird led the other bird in its row

wrong felt about the path they fly, any can change the route, no late
worry not about the dangers ahead that lie, all follow a new leader they made
satisfied was a smile on his face, answer he got for his mind
flight of birds on a new trend, new leader with a new vision, his life

- VPD

Rules of a game

In this big world to which we belong, there is a different sport played in every corner of it. The rules are different for every sport but the test for a champion remains the same. Every sport needs its winner to be determined, skilled, hard worker and above all be a sportsman i.e. believe that its the just a game and all his day-night efforts were to win just a game and not a war i.e. the current game is important and your previous accomplishments would not help you and i.e. ANYBODY CAN WIN TODAY.....

Every now and then you will see the same pattern in every sport that you follow. There is a championship final game and there are two contestants for it. Yeah, this seems trivial, I know !!!! But one contestant has a record of winning such huge games and other contestant is a zero as far as record goes. The poor team do not have any medals to show and have even lost to the other team few times before. But who knows EVERYTHING MIGHT CHANGE TODAY !!! And this is the way new histories are made.

I feel the main reason for people to follow any sport is the factor of "unexpected things happen in sport". They chose one of the contestants as their favourite and want it to win because they believe that they can predict the future. It is just a different way of gambling. People want to escape from their daily routine where they know what they would be doing for next week weeks and even months. They believe in a hope that some unexpected event would happen that would blow out their minds and would be larger than their expectations. And if you follow any sport religiously you would find that most of the people favour for the weaker team i.e. an underdog.

I guess I made my point clear: Don't miss to watch Super Bowl XXXIX on coming sunday. Its being played between NewEngland Patriots (Defending champions) and Philadelpia Eagles (won last in 1981). And I vote for a new history - Eagles !!!!

The Alchemist

what? = Read this book today
whose? = Paulo Coelho
about? = A fable dealing with philosophy of life and determination to achieve dreams
any good things? = good climax, shorter in size with better content as compared to "5 people.." (read previous blog)
recommended? = yes as it wud take just 3 hrs of your time and wud add a new perspective to your life
ratings? = an international bestseller

5 people ....

Read "5 people you meet in heaven" yesterday. The book being declared as a bestseller, I was curious to get hold of it. But to be frank, the book did not live upto my expectations. I think there was a lot of scope to make the book more interesting. Actually the theme is what made people go and buy it. Everybody is excited to know what heaven looks like. Everynow and then people get philosophical and want to read something that is beyond life and spiritual in nature. Comparatively, the book is smaller in size and cheaper at price.

Having said all the above stuff abt the book, I would still recommend my readers to read the book. Because it would not take more than 3 hrs of your time and would give you a new perspective towards life. The climax is quite good. I guess the key to success for any book is a better biuld-up and a good clean climax exciting the readers' creative minds.

Psilent !!!! (P is silent)

So what the hell do silent letters mean in english literature? I mean I know there would be a better explanatory science behind using these letters but I don't understand why we need them in 21st century. I am pretty sure that abt 90% of the people don't know the use of using silent letters in words. It doesn't matter to much ppl though unless for those ppl like me who live in San Diego. Here most of the words are originated from the spanish (a non-english lang). And I feel that is the reason why english scholars introduced these silents words so that foreign languages can be translated to english: to prove the world that other langs are useless and see how difficult it is to translate and pronounce such words in english.

To end with:
Pronounce "La Jolla". I can bet u r wrong. The exact pronounciation is "La Hoya". 'J' becomes silent and 'LL' becomes 'y'.

Now say whatttt !!!!

Kramer, Sir

As for now, I am busy searching for a full time employment and my pleasure time is watching Seinfeld. I wonder how guys like Kramer live their lives. I know few guys back in India who live their lives in the same fashion. But their count is by fingers. If u have a lot of free time like me then you will surely think of that envious carefree lifestyle. Kramer does whatever he feels like doing at that moment of time. He has no significant past , present and even future. But who the hell needs all those. He comes up with some new ideas and try to cash in for those ideas. I would not go far apart from using the term "new idea".

His small time businesses:
1) helping a company CEO write a autobiagraphy, by selling his events of his own life.
2) pizza business where customers will add their own toppings and bake their own pizzas.
3) selling Bro for men as what is Bra for women.

and the list goes on. But he helps all the needy ppl by any means and that means mostly leads to Seinfeld's help. He also gives a different opinion to each situation which a common working guy would never come up with.

Just think about it....

King, Stephen

I would like to recommend every story-lover about the king's books. He has covered almost all the horror topics one can think of: car driven by a dead person, autopsy of a living person, extraterrestial animal, weird painting, a hotel room and the list goes on. Stephen king is one of the writers who can play with his characters very well.

Many of his novels are being taken to the silver screen as well. Even "The Green Mile", "The Shawshank Redemption" are his contributions to this world. One cannot keep his book down. The magic of suspense is maintained till the last page.

The best thing I like about his work is that he creates a story out of anything and everything. He is "must-read" author.
Just finished his "Everything eventual" and now took up his "From a Buick 8".