Bordering on insanity and loving it

How does it feel ....

2009-04-02T09:02:00.000-07:00

This friend of mine asked me, How it feels to be engaged? Couldn't find an answer then. I think I can attempt one now.

Everything feels the same, but time doesn't seem to move quite as fast as it used to. Feels like time has slowed only to allow me to enjoy this period of my life. Can't complain really. I like how I feel right now.

Things that used to annoy me still annoy me. Things that used to make me happy still make me happy. Just that the intensity which used to be there is not there anymore. It's been replaced by this, for lack of a better word, "thing".

Everything else seems to matter a little less. There is only one dominant thought on my mind. I can't seem to get it out of my head. I don't want to get it out of my head.

I like the fact that I am now looking forward to something more than just the weekend. A smile find its way on to my face with relative ease.

Feels comfortable. Feels nice. And most importantly, feels right.

Love at First Sight

2009-02-24T08:01:00.000-08:00

I didn't watch Saawariya. I did watch Dilli 6.

Sonam Kapoor is nothing short of drop dead gorgeous.

Why people will ever look at Deepika Padukone, I'll never understand.

I'm in love with Sonam Kapoor.

Suffering from serious case of Time Sickness

2009-02-08T04:04:00.000-08:00

Thats just my way of saying I'm drowning in nostalgia.

One wonders why people have always been fascinated with the concept of time travel. I think it has something to do with the human obsession of wanting something that can never be had.

It's one thing to grow old and its totally another to grow old gracefully. I really don't buy this you can stay young at heart crap. A 20 year old behaving like a 20 yaer old is normal. A 60 year old thinking and acting like a 20 year old is just plain creepy.

It's not about the age really, it's about what comes with that age.

Me, six years ago, is nothing like me now. That doesn't scare me. I liked who I was then. I like who I am now. Sometimes, every now and then, the grass appears greener on the other side.

There's this odd feeling that I'm not doing everything I should be doing. I'm holding back. I don't know on what or why. But I just know I am. Six years back I didn't have this feeling.

Does age increase your expectations so you feel you are not doing enough ?? Or does age just make you senile and rob you of the courage to do outrageous things in life ??

Natural progression would indicate that age implies experience which in turn provides the impetus for rational behaviour.

Problem is, rational behaviour does nothing for personal satisfaction.

Damn it, I think this has a lot to do with the music I've been listening to. Been listening to this song called Venice Dawn. Check it out. Perhaps this song will get a better reaction out of you.

Life is going in circles

2009-02-06T05:56:00.000-08:00

I remember reading somewhere - History doesn't repeat itself, historians repeat themselves.

I kinda don't agree with that.

I know I've felt the way I do right now sometime before right now. Something about my life obviously brings about the same reaction in me - each time, every time.

I'm not going to try to figure this out. I don't think I really care anymore. Not that it matters.

This is how I feel right now

2009-01-02T07:07:00.000-08:00

If there was ever a song that could capture my mood right this instant, this is it.

This is "A Punchup at A Wedding" by RadioHead.

=============================================
i don’t know why you bother
nothing's ever good enough for you.
i was there and it wasn't like that.
you’ve come here just to start a fight
you had to piss on our parade
you had to shred our big day
you had to ruin it for all concerned
in a drunken punch-up at a wedding
yeah
hypocrite opportunist
don't infect me with your poison
a bully in a china shop
when i turn ‘round you stay frozen to the spot
your pointless snide remarks
of hammerheaded sharks
the pot will call the kettle black
it’s a drunken punch-up at a wedding yeah
oh no no

My latest realisation

2008-12-22T07:21:00.000-08:00

There is a time and a place for everything.

I won't care to elaborate. The rest is private.

What the hell is smart casuals ??

2008-12-05T18:40:00.000-08:00

My company's dress code allows for smart casuals on Fridays.

T shirts allowed but round necks are not.
Casual footwear allowed but sandals and slippers are not.

I'm guessing formal wear with the shirt not tucked in will satisfy all the requirements of smart casuals.

The idea is for people to dress down on Fridays and act more relaxed. Not like your work gets any different 'cos you are wearing jeans.

There are two women in my company who seem to have kinda redefined how this is perceived. Last Friday, they wore sarees. As in, not the casual whatever. The kind of sarees which are bought with specific occasions in mind and worn only when women are assured of the presence of other women. Well, you know how women like to show off what they've bought.

They pretty much got the smart bit correctly and I'm guessing their definition of casual is a little skewed.

They probably had their reasons but I can only write about what I see.

Barra Barra by Rashid Taha

2008-12-05T18:21:00.000-08:00

This song featured in the movie Black Hawk Down. I loved the movie and I love this song.

I don't know the language. I don't know the lyrics and I don't freakin care.

Star Shpongled Banner by Shpongle

2008-12-05T10:06:00.000-08:00

Forget the video. Just listen.

This song allows me to take a step back and enjoy the chaos that I have come to call as my life.

Are you an idiot ??

2008-12-04T05:03:00.000-08:00

How would you react if someone asked you that question ?

I'm double damned sure the answer is never a yes or a no. Normally, people assume that when other people ask this question to them, they are trying to make a point and the question is purely rhetorical. Most of the time other people are trying to make a point. How about the times other than most of the time.

It only seems rhetorical because people assume that other people will have the courtesy not to say such things to your face. It gives gossiping a bad name and we all know that is not good for anyone.

There are times when you know that question is purely rhetorical. Like for example if someone were to ask you, "Are you an idiot ? What the fuck do you think you are doing?". Here it's obvious.

Just imagine if you actually answer the question when it is intended to be a rhetorical. What will happen ?

Someone comes up to you and says, "Are you an idiot?". You, without any trace of hesitance or doubt, reply "Yes. It takes one to know one" and you walk off. What kind of reaction can you expect ?

I don't know and I'm very curious to find out.

Henceforth, I shall answer all rhetorical questions. Even if the question obviously does not warrant an answer, I will ensure it is answered.

If someone were to ask me, "who do you think you are?" the following could be my potential answer.

"I am human. I am male. I am my father's son. I am old enough to know this question does not deserve an answer. I am old enough to also know why I am answering this question. These are things I know and hence they are not what I think and thus they do not answer your question. The real answer to your question is, I think I am not an idiot which implies that I am nothing like you. I think I am more than even I can begin to imagine. I think I am more than anything you can fathom. I know I am a nice guy and I think I am right. I think that I can think, which clearly sets us apart. I think what I think I am has no relevance to you or what you think I am, ultimately rendering this question completely irrelevant. I know why I bothered to answer your question. Do you know why you really asked me that question?"

I am not saying this will be my answer. I am saying it could be. This should be an interesting experiment.

Damn, I have too much time on my hands. Need a hobby or something.

When the day fades and the night beckons ....

2008-11-21T07:58:00.000-08:00

He felt restless. He knew it was going to be a long day. He was really not looking forward to that day. He wanted the day to gradually fade into oblivion. He did what he had to do albeit with an unmistakable tinge of reluctance. His movements were laboured. Every move, every step, every thought was the result of phenomenal will power.

He only wanted to close his eyes, lie down, listen to his favourite music and let all the random thoughts in his mind run wild.

In his state of apparent delusion, he watched as the day crept past him. He was desperate to free himself from the mind numbing social niceties. Unfortunately, the irrational craving for the overrated idea of social acceptance super ceded all of his primal instincts and he felt himself drowning in the sea of his own gloomy silence.

The end came.
The sun went down.
The music came on.
The day that would inevitably fade into obscurity ceased to exist.
The night was born.

He was no longer restless. He was free.

He felt alive.

It's the cool thing to do

2008-11-12T07:57:00.000-08:00

If you are boy friend and girl friend and if you are walking on the road, then the boy's arm has to be around the girl. Doesnt matter where, hips, shoulders or wherever, just as long as there is visible physical contact.

Why ?? 'Cos it's the cool thing to do. Everybody is doing it. Hollywood and Bollywood is filled with this kind of body language.

Mind you, I'm not saying it's wrong.

What I'm really trying to say is, a boy should put his arm around a girl if he wants to and if the girl doesnt mind or if the girl also wants him to. Not because of, for lack of a better word, peer pressure.

Recently I saw something which triggered this post. I generally hit the beach in the mornings and on my way back home I saw this guy and girl. The guy had his arm around the girls shoulder. But, what I didn't really understand was the Great Wall of sunshine between the two of them. There was no genuine intimacy. Why bother with the arm bit ?? Obviously one or both of them weren't comfortable with what they were doing. But still, there they were.

It's not cool if you are doing something you don't like to do just 'cos someone else thinks it's cool. It's not sophisticated if all that you are doing is imitating someone else.

Sophistication is not in the way you dress or speak or even act. Its in the way you think. You can copy anyone by mostly just watching them, but you can never really carry it off like the person you are copying.

There is nothing cool about trying to be cool. It's just cool if you never do something you don't want to do. It's way too cool if you do something you dont want to do for the right reasons.

What happens when you have a fat behind ??

2008-10-17T09:05:00.000-07:00

I'll tell you what happens. Don't for one second be tempted to think this is a rhetorical question.

If your office is on the 9th floor and you need to go way way way down to the 8th floor, you wait for the god damn lift.

I've seen this so many times, it really starts to annoy me. I know you don't pay for the lift in office. I know u don't even have to select the floors, after all you have the operator to do it for you. I know it's absolutely free, in every sense of the word. But still, climbing "down" one flight of stairs won't kill you, you know.

The other day, I was in the lift along with one very business unit head and two senior managers from my office. This bunch of kids, five girls, come along with us. All of us were on the 9th floor. Myself and the senior managers were going to the ground floor. The kids were the last to get in - nothing wrong with that. They were loud - nothing really wrong with that too. They selected 8th floor - technically nothing wrong with that too.

The business head saw them press 8 and he didn't say anything. That's because his face said it all. It's the kind of look that makes you want to peel the skin off of your body. For lack of a better word, it was ugly.

It's not only the employees. The problem is with everyone in the building. From the house keeping staff to the caterers, everyone uses the lift for literally everything.

God damn it, use your legs. It won't kill you if your legs get to feel the weight of your body every once in a while. If not anything else, it'll tell you how fat your behinds gotten.

My latest favourite song

2008-10-17T08:52:00.000-07:00

Satellite by BT. Without a shadow of doubt, one of BT's better songs.

=============================================

We'd like you to leave immediately.

(next subject...)

We can see the satellite at uh, a distance of about uh, I guess over 15 miles here.

It looked like a star as you looked up.

See here, we have a beautiful view of the earth down below as the satellite departs.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She smells of the sun
And shes constantly saying
Thats its all right,
Because lies sound so nice.
And like soil to seed goes
To casting my fears aside...

She says, the satellite is coming.
I pray, the wrecking ball is waining
She says, the satellite is coming.
Its come to take us home.

Satellite...

Still smells of the sun
And the light that brings healing
Is burning my eyes
And the dark seems so nice
And Im choking on blessings that I can receive
I hide.

She says, the satellite is coming.
I pray, wrecking ball is waining.
She says, the satellite is coming.
Its come to take us home.
(repeat out)

Power of Boredom

2008-10-15T04:57:00.000-07:00

After a nearly two year hiatus, I'm back on Orkut. I had previously deleted my profile and cleared out and now I'm back. I had my reasons for quitting then. At that time, it seemed like a valid reason. Actually, it still does sound very valid. But something more powerful has overcome the validity of my reasoning and now I'm back on Orkut. Ready to be everyone's best friend.

What can I say, never underestimate the power of boredom.

Fear and Greed

2008-10-13T22:06:00.000-07:00

What do you think really drives financial markets ?? Man's most primal instincts - Fear and Greed.

I was watching TV the other day and this analyst came up with a very witty explanation for the current financial crisis. It was something like this:

The reason we are in this position now is because of too much greed and too less fear. The reason we are not able to get out of this situation is because of too much of fear and too less of greed.

I think that's very nicely put. There are quite a few who have tried to explore and understand the qualitative aspect of the functioning of financial markets. The social influence that is inevitably brought on my the involvement of humans is undeniable. Try reading "Theory of Reflexivity" by George Soros. The man is a genius, in every sense of the word.

There is a point where rationality is thrown out the window and "sentiments" rule the game. It's not who you are, it's what people think you are. That doesn't stop with people, it true for anything and everything.

Doesn't matter what you think, if Warren Buffet says something markets will plunge or rise. The Finance Minister or the Prime Minister come out with a statement and immediately the market recovers. So what, the fundamentals have all of a sudden changed because some politician has something to say.

How can the Finance Minister say that "investor confidence" has returned ??

How the fuck would he know ??

He hasn't slogged all year long, saved by cutting corners, invested the savings in the stock market and lived to see his life savings be flushed down the god damn toilet.

He has every right to try and convince the world that India is still a hot investment destination. He has every right to say that Indian banks are not in any trouble. He has every right to claim that the Indian economy is insulated from the global recession. Do you see the irony here ?? It's a GLOBAL RECESSION but India is insulated.

He can say whatever he wants about the economy but he has no right to comment on investor confidence.

I can see that I have successfully deviated from where I started. I shall not burden you with my rants any more.

Rest easy.

My sincere advise

2008-10-07T22:16:00.000-07:00

In case you are not married, marry someone you already know. From the look of things, I'm sure the entire process is bound to get very ugly.

If you find someone on your own, there are so many advantages. For starters, you wont have prospective matchmakers asking your parents, "Can I have a recent photo of your son?". And obviously, you wont have people commenting on how photogenic your face is or how you appear to be shorter in the photo than you really are.

No pre-marriage pains in this case. There is no avoiding the marriage blues or the post-marriage trauma.

But then, something is better than nothing, right ??

I'm back

2008-10-04T08:36:00.000-07:00

It's been a month since I posted last. Funny, it doesn't really feel like a month. There were days when I got bored but in retrospect it does feel like time kinda flew by. How is that ?

Certain events have the capacity to transcend space time continuity. No matter when these events occur, it always feels fresh in the mind. Coming to think it, there were quite a few events that occured over the past month. Lets see now.

=> Financial markets are all screwed
=> Acquaintances renewed
=> Farewells and goodbyes
=> Congratulations and sweets
=> Doubts and uncertainty
=> Productive discussions
=> Meaningless arguments
=> Loads of frustration
=> Ideas galore
=> Nearly a million topics for my blog but no posts
.
.
.
.

That's just a very high level summary of what I have been looking at over the past month or so. I haven't really been working but my mind has always been occupied. In what has otherwise been a rather busy month, I can categorically state that I have been up to nearly nothing productive.

How can I call this anything other than 'NORMAL' ??

Chill to the music

2008-09-04T13:15:00.000-07:00

I have Pagan Dream Machine by Entheogenic, Nuria Lita by Kafez and few Buddha Bar tracks on loop. Pretty much the whole day today, I've been listening to these same songs over and over again. Even when the music is switched off, it's only these songs which are playing in my head. Not like this is having an adverse effect on me, just that it's doing the opposite.

For some time now, I have been listening only to film music - Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. I've missed all the other stuff. It all came flooding back, well today. Chill out music. Lounge music. It does have a different effect, I tell you. Actually it has just one effect, at least on me. It completely drives out the single most dominant thought in your head and frees up space for all the other stuff to come in and take over. That's a good thing, at least for me, definitely right now. I have just one thing on my mind. And this music has helped me to not think about it and actually enjoy the music.

Over the past few weeks there have been so many incidents which would have otherwise found their way to my blog. But, as you can see, this is my first post in almost three weeks. Wow.

Well, there is a reason why this thought has been on my mind for so long. It's fairly important. And what I do now will have long lasting effects. If I get it wrong, it is not the end of the world but it would mean I have to put in a lot of effort in fixing things. I'm seriously looking forward to not putting myself in that situation.

Doesn't matter. I now have one of my favourite Buddha Bar tracks playing. I'm done with this post. I've got more important things to listen to.

Death of a symbol

2008-08-15T21:25:00.000-07:00

Symbols are meant to represent something: something special. Over the past few weeks I have witnessed two of the most famous symbols in the world being abused like it's nobodies business. My heart bleeds I tell you.

The Prancing Horse. Anyone who owns a car will know what this stands for. Actually anyone who knows anything about cars will know what this stands for. What the hell, ask anyone and they will tell you what this stands for.

You think prancing horse, you invariably think Ferrari, you think Modenna, you think Micheal Schumacher - all legendary names. The recall associated with the prancing horse cannot be mistaken for anything else, not by any stretch of imagination.

The first one is a Ferrari 360 Modena - after a brief slump, it was the Modena that really put Ferrari back on the map. This is most driveable Ferrari of all times and the dream car of every Ferrari fan: arguably Ferrari's best ever: perfection personified.

The second one is a Ferrari Enzo - the fastest production car that Ferrari has ever made. Its in the same class as the Mclaren Mercedes SLR and the Porsche Carrera GT.

Just look at them. Such distinction.

Yet, I have seen this symbol in the most inappropriate places one can think of. I will not attempt to list all of them, but one of them was the worst. The other day I was at the petrol station with a friend, waiting in line for our turn. A Maruti 800 pulled up right next to us. The ass who was driving that piece of shit car had a cheap sticker of the prancing horse stuck on the lid of the petrol tank on his car.

After a really long time, I was so tempted to kill another human being. I feel like beating up people all the time, but I seldom feel like killing someone. Some people have the innate capacity to bring out the worst in me.

Prancing horse sticker on a Maruti 800. That too on the lid of the petrol tank. I am so glad Enzo Ferrari didn't live long enough to see this. Just when I thought this is about as bad as it can get, I was proven wrong - convincingly, might I add.

There may be a few people who might not know what the prancing horse is, but there possibly cannot be anyone who doesn't know what the tri-star stands for. One of the most recognisable names in automobile history, Mercedes Benz, has an image that sets it apart in a league of its own. There is a certain character, a certain legacy, an air of class that the name brings with it. You think Mecedes Benz and immediately you think S class, you think Mclaren Mercedes SLR, you think AMG, you think the Black series, you think Brabus S biturdo roadster.

I was actually thinking of putting in the picture of a Brabus S biturbo here, but then I found this.

If you are a petrol head, trust me, this is worth your time. Take 10 mins and watch the video. I swear you will not be disappointed.

But, when you put that tri-star on the bonnet of an Ambassador it kinda feels a little out of place. I saw this and I was at a complete loss for words. Its been three days now and I am still unable to articulate my feelings in a coherent manner. All attempts seem to end in a barrage of abuse aimed at the Ambassador driver's mother.

I am so sad. I am so angry. Since any and all actions I have in mind are illegal, please can somebody do something about this.

August 8th, 2008

2008-08-08T02:09:00.000-07:00

That's today's date. To my knowledge, nothing really special about today, except when you try putting the date on paper, it'll look like this:

08-08-08

I'm sure there must be a whole bunch of astrologers, marathadi josiyar makkal who think today is special for some weird inexplicable reason. I have no idea and I don't really care.

Have a nice day.

I wish I were a clairvoyant

2008-08-07T05:11:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wanted that ? Just imagine, it would be so damn cool.

To be able to see things beyond what any of your senses can feel or even imagine. To know the answers for questions that will never be asked. To be called a psychic by the decent people and a freak by the not so decent people.

That sounds a bit too fantastic, even by my standards. So, lets tone it down a touch. Imagine if you had the power to read people's minds. Check this out. You just look at a person and you can instantly hear what that person is thinking. Lets forget about the invasion of privacy and all that stuff. On the face of it, how cool is it ?

I'll tell you why I, suddenly, wish this was possible. I take the local train to office. Or I take the bus, depending on my mood. I travel alone and unlike the thousands of people who travel with me I don't listen to FM radio on my mobile while I am travelling. I just sit there and watch people.

I don't judge people. I mean that. Who am I to pass judgement on somebody else's actions. I watch and I speculate on what they are thinking.

This one day I took the bus. I was on bus route number M49 and was sitting right behind the driver. The driver was in a foul mood that day. No idea which side of who's bed he got out of, but he was pissed.

I'll tell you why I think he was pissed. He was cursing at a traffic signal because it just wouldn't change from red to green when he told it to. Finally he got his way and we moved ahead. Just then, there was some guy trying to get on the bus when it was on the move. The doors are generally on the left side of the bus right. The driver saw the guy trying to get in and without a second thought he swerved to the right. With a guy trying to get on the bus on the left side, you can imagine what a right turn would do. The driver didn't bother to look at his rear side view mirror. He didn't signal. He just turned. Now, this was in the morning on one of the busiest roads in Chennai. For some reason, the driver didn't want that guy to get on the bus when it was on the move. Luckily for the guy, he was very agile and quick enough to adjust to the right turn and he got on the bus. This obviously enraged the driver even more. He stopped the bus, right in the middle of the road, turned around and told the guy to get off. I am being very nice here. But the whole thing was very unceremoniously done. He refused to move the bus if that guy didn't get off. That guy did get off, muttering to himself. Then we were on our way like nothing had happened.

Boarding a moving bus is not new in Chennai. Thousands of people do it all the time. Hell, I have done it god knows how many times. Drivers and conductors are used to it. Seldom does it result in an incident like this.

That's when I really wished I knew what the driver was thinking. Why was he so pissed ? He was so mad, it was affecting his ability to drive. He was rash and could have easily ended up hurting someone, not only the guy trying to board the bus but also some innocent motorist who made the mistake of being anywhere close to that bus. There must have been a reason. Obviously not the best day of his life. He was probably running late on that trip. Maybe he had some personal problem.

I was also wondering what that guy must have been thinking when the driver stopped the bus in the middle of the road and told him to get out. The guy was probably late for office. It was a really hot day: hot, sweaty, humid day and the pollution on the main road makes it all the more unbearable. He probably didn't want to walk half a kilometre to the bus stand.

I am sure both of them had their reasons for doing what they did. There are so many people in this world. There are so many things happening. Things that we know. Things that we don't know. Things that we may understand. Things that we don't understand.

Made me feel almost insignificant.

Can you imagine ...

2008-08-06T10:36:00.000-07:00

Can you imagine what it would be like if the defining moment in your life is all about the worst thing you have ever done ??

Can you imagine living your life knowing fully well that, no matter what you do, nothing will ever change ??

Can you imagine falling asleep everyday thinking how close you were but never quite there ??

Can you imagine living your life in denial ??

Can you imagine waking every morning knowing that you are living your life in denial but you are too scared to do anything about it ??

If you don't have to imagine, damn that would really suck.

What do you think about you ?

2008-08-04T09:14:00.000-07:00

If you were asked to describe yourself using one word, which one would you choose? That's not a fair question to ask. So, lets make it more reasonable. Lets say, you can choose multiple single words to describe yourself.

To give you a better idea, if someone were to ask me this question, I would probably come up with the following, this is spontaneous okay - didn't really think about this.

Confident
Sensitive
Sarcastic
Relaxed
Strong
Arrogant
Suave
#$#%@% (just so we're clear, that's the censored part - there are people in this world who don't love me as much as I do)
..... and so on and so forth

You get the picture, right.

I just picked up the phone, called this friend of mine and asked her the same question and this is what she came up with:

Young
Energetic
Vibrant
Versatile
Dynamic
Frank
Independent (this one's actually inferred but I'll allow it)

Interestingly, as you can see, there is nothing common between the two of us. That's because her sense of self is a lot different from my sense of me, which makes sense.

What I actually find interesting is, almost all the words I chose were character traits. Almost all the words she chose were well, I don't what they were but they were certainly not character traits.

You are probably wondering, "where is he going with this?" That's an excellent question and if you were standing in front of my face asking me that question, then you would be greeted with a goofy smile on my face followed by a helpless shrug from my shoulders.

You are also probably wondering exactly why is this guy doing this. Well, to be absolutely truthful, I had twenty minutes before I had to leave to watch a movie. Now, the twenty minutes is up.

Tata. See you. Byeeeee (Supposed to sound like Janakaraj in Baasha)

What a load of crap

2008-08-04T01:06:00.000-07:00

The first Sunday of every august is Friendship day. Can anyone tell me why ? Is it because the concept of friendship was discovered on the first Sunday of some august ?

Why is it different from birthday or wedding day or death day ? Why does it not have a date ? First Sunday of every august is Friendship day. What a load of crap.

My real question is, do you need a reason, like friendship day, to celebrate a friendship ? For the same reason, why do we have mothers day and fathers day ? If you really mean it, then everyday is the same among friends.

If you think friendship day is special, then it means that you are being a hypocrite on the first Sunday of every august or every day other than that particular Sunday. Your friends don't mean the same to you on days other than friendship day ?

Valentines day is different. A guy does need a reason to buy a gift for his girl. Due to my lack of experience in this matter, I am not willing to comment on what the girls take is likely to be on this.

Let me ask you this - How many of you can look at the phone book in your mobile and categorically state that you want all the numbers in it ? Please note, I use the word "want" and not "need". Yes, there is a difference. I "want" a pizza. I "need" food. You get the difference. How many of you have some long lost contacts number in your phone book ? Some one time friend whom you were close to in your previous life and you are no longer sure if that person is living or dead ? Have you thought about how many numbers you can delete from your phone book without bringing on absolutely any change whatsoever to your current lifestyle ?

Don't give me this crap that you will keep in touch with all those people if only you had the time. If you really wanted to keep in touch, you would have made the time. The fact that you can do without them basically means that you are no longer friends. You are merely acquainted.

It's not anyones fault. Just that sometimes things work out that way. Priorities change. Needs and wants change. Shit happens.

What I actually want to say is, if you really want to get in touch with someone and say hi, just go right ahead and do it. Sending a long and winding text message just because its friendship day completely undermines the relationship you share with that person. It's hypocritical at best.

Please don't do it. At the risk of sounding rude, it makes you look cheap.

There's something about Enigma

2008-07-28T21:03:00.000-07:00

I knew what I wanted to write about. I switched on my comp and logged in. I was listening to Morphing thru time by Enigma and all of a sudden, I couldn't remember what I wanted to write about. This song completely distracted me. Not the first time this has happened, I must say. Enigma never fails to get me.

============================================
Lyrics

Earth. a biosphere.
A complex,
Subtly balanced life support system.
Et turtur nidum,
Ubi reponat pullos suos
Altaria tua domine virtutum,
Rex meus, et deus meus
(translation:
And the turtledove a nest
Where it might place its young
Your altar of strengths, lord,
My king and my god, )

We are floating over the line
Let us follow our mind
All of our life well wait for the answer
And the question is why
.
If were following our mind
We can glide into light
No one knows if therell be an answer
While were morphing thru time
.
We are floating over the line
Let us follow our mind
All of our life well wait for the answer
And the question is why
.
Were just travellers
In endless space
If were following our mind
We can glide into light
.
No one knows if therell be an answer
While were morphing thru time

What women want ??

2008-07-26T02:10:00.000-07:00

How the hell should I know? I'm not Mel Gibson and this is not a movie. But you could try this song though.

===============================
Glory Box by Portishead

I'm so tired, of playing
Playing with this bow and arrow
Gonna give my heart away
Leave it to the other girls to play
For I've been a temptress too long

Just. .

Give me a reason to love you
Give me a reason to be ee, a woman
I just so wanna be a woman

From this time, unchained
We're all looking at a different picture
Thru this new frame of mind
A thousand flowers could bloom
Move over, and give us some room yeah

Give me a reason to love you
Give me a reason to be ee, a woman
I just so wanna be a woman

[INSTRUMENTAL]

So don't you stop, being a man
Just take a little look from our side when you can
Sow a little tenderness
No matter if you cry

Give me a reason to love you
Give me a reason to be ee, a woman
Its all I wanna be is all woman

For this is the beginning of forever and ever

Its time to move over...

Women and food

2008-07-25T06:42:00.000-07:00

What is the connection I ask ?

Everybody knows the connection between men and food. Men, generally, love to eat. Can we safely assume, that women like to feed ? After all, as the saying goes, "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach."

If you think that is right, then you will be wrong.

Based on one of my recent experiences, I think women are fairly, if not overly, conscious of what they eat and how much they eat. Not to mention where they eat and with whom they eat.

Since men are thought of as gluttons, there is an inevitable comparison between men and women. Men are always telling women how little they eat and making fun of them. Obviously when the time does come when men don't eat as much as they normally do and women eat as much as they always do, we reach the equilibrium point.

Given that this is such a rare sight, women are quick to pounce on it, shout it out loud and rub the men's face in it.

The particularly nice women are the one's who are actually curious to know why the men didn't eat as much as they normally do. Nice one's like this very new friend of mine.

This friend took a few of us guys out for dinner. For some reason, we guys and she ate the same amount of food. And she was curious to know why. We did reassure her that nothing was wrong. But the bottom line is, she pointed out that we ate the same amount of food.

In conclusion, I don't know the connection between women and food. But we have established that the nice women are concerned about how much the men eat.

Next week, I am taking her and few other friends out. My social experiment continues. If I come up with something interesting, expect to see me back here gloating about it, all the way to glory and back.

If you know the answer, please call in ......

2008-07-24T21:45:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of things that can make me smile. More than events, it's people who make me smile even more. Some because of their innate stupidity and some because the situation they are in is genuinely funny.

I am starting to become a really big fan of FM radio. They play the latest music, some of the RJ's are quite witty and funny and some of the topics, these RJ's talk about, are outrageously ridiculous.

One of the topics merits special mention. Y'day, I was driving to office. I was listening to 94.3 FM. This RJ called Suchi was on and the topic being discussed was "Which side dish tastes the best at TasMark?". For all you people who don't know, wine shops in Chennai are called TasMark.

It's about 9:30 in the morning. I am trying to understand what kind of reaction the radio station was hoping to get from people who were listening. Who listens to FM radio at 9:30 in the morning? Obviously people like me, who are stuck on the road. Housewives, preparing lunch for their kids and family. Roadside tea kadai, obviously and etc etc etc.

I thought it was insane. What I found even more interesting was, listeners were expected to call in with what they thought was the best side dish at TasMark and there were so many people calling. I really don't think getting people to think about alcohol as early as 9:30 in the morning on a working day can possibly lead to anything productive.

It gets better.

There I am, wondering what the producer of the show was thinking when he came up with the topic for the show. Just then, this listener calls in with his opinion. His response, translated to English, was something like this:

"The best side dish is pickle. If you look at movies, most of the heroes and comedians like Vivek are always drinking with pickle."

Once I stopped laughing my guts out, it hit me. The producer of the show is one smart guy. He's put his faith on the one constant that has faithfully accompanied human evolution - stupidity.

We, as a race, are good at doing stupid things. Any and all addicts, adrenalin junkies, petrol heads, politicians .... the list goes on - the world is filled with stupid people. Of course there are exceptions but the problem is, everyone thinks they are part of the exception.

The producer of the show is stupid because he successfully managed to distract a whole bunch of people early in the morning. The caller is stupid because he actually fell for that crap and called in. I am stupid because I just wasted 20 mins of my time writing this crap.

So, all in all, the point I'm trying to make is - My faith in the human race has been reinforced, at least for the time being.

Why man Why ??

2008-07-21T09:55:00.000-07:00

There are many things in this world I don't understand. Attempting to find an explanation would probably the rational thing to do, but somehow I can't bring myself to do that. I'm too busy laughing my ass off.

This one actually came to me while reading V.I.D's blog. I found one of her posts very inspiring.

I and my friends go out for dinner to this really nice chettinad restaurant called Anjappar. There we are, ordering our Ceylon parota's, kothu parota's, chettinad chicken masala and our vanjaram fry's. This couple come and sit in the table right across ours. We pay no more attention than a passing glance. About fifteens later, our food arrives. We are busy digging in, gluttons that we are. All of a sudden, something stopped us from chewing on our food. We lifted up our heads in complete awe. The waiter is carrying tandoori naan and, from where we were sitting, something that resembled black dal.

We look at what we were eating. We look at the food on the table next to ours. Once we were sure that we were indeed in a chettinad restaurant, we couldn't stop laughing.

Exactly why would someone walk into a restaurant which says CHETTINAD CUISINE and order naan with dal ?? I fail to understand this completely.

You don't order tandoori food in Anjappar just because it's on the menu. That is like someone buying a hardcore porn movie because the movie has a nice plot. Good god man. Stop embarrassing yourself.

You know what else I dont understand, why people come to the beach ?

I stay really close to the beach - elliots beach. I love it. I will swear by it. If I spend any more time at the beach, I'll end up naming every grain of sand out there. Obviously, I spend a lot of time there and invariably so do a lot of other people. I don't want to talk about all the other people who come out there - just a select few "couples".

I am at the beach with few friends of mine. It's a nice windy evening, about 6 on the clock. We park our car, get out and enjoy the breeze. As usual, we are chatting about everything under the sun. Thats when we see it. This black maruti swift pulls up in the service lane. We are standing beside our car, which is also parked in the service lane. This car parks right next to ours - nothing strange about that. Closer look into the car, we notice a guy behind the wheel and a girl in the front passenger seat. They are just talking. About 5 mins later, we realise that the swift's engine is still running and the windows are not rolled down, obviously the a/c was still on, they are still talking.

Now you must remember that the weather was really pleasasnt that evening. Weather like that in Chennai is probably signs of the coming of the apocalypse.

5 mins later the car leaves. My friends and I are left wondering as to why those two came to the beach. Obviously, to sit in their car with the a/c on. But then, why drive all the way to the beach to do that. Am I being too dense or is there something seriously wrong with these people ?

I'm trying to come up with a witty analogy here, but cant seem to do better than the porn movie one I typed earlier. You get the picture, right.

Hey hey, I got another one. Yeah, I'm on a roll tonight. Check this out.

My friend and I are driving around one day and we see this girl on a bike right in front of us. Fairly good looking girl, I must say. She was wearing a tank/tube top, I can never tell the difference, they all look the same to me, and low rider jeans. Now, this girl was pretty tall. Okay, I am guessing you people know where I am going with this.

Sitting on the bike, somehow, prompted her top to migrate due north and her pants to migrate due south. She probably, literally, felt the chill on her spine and at the next traffic signal, she's desperately trying to defy the laws of physics.

Unfortunately she was going the same way we were and we had to stop right behind her. We can see her glancing at her rear view mirror while trying to get her clothing to stick to her will. All of a sudden, my side view mirrors are all wrong and I cant stop fiddling with the power windows. My friend also suddenly realises that his mobile phone needs his immediate undiverted attention.

Poor thing. Must've been the most humiliating sixty seconds of her life. What was she thinking ? Did she not know she was going to use a bike ? Did she not know what was going to happen ?

I guess she couldn't resist it when she saw herself in the mirror in the tight fitting clothes. Good when you are standing upright, bad for any other stance.

I don't always understand why people do the things they do. But sometimes it's just hilarious.

Farewell

2008-06-05T11:10:00.000-07:00

Said my final goodbye today. Couldn't bring myself to turn around for a last look. Forced myself to walk away.

Hurts.

This one's got nice lyrics

2008-05-22T06:43:00.000-07:00

Set The Fire to The Third Bar by Snow Patrol

====================================================================================
Lyrics:

I find the map and draw a straight line
Over rivers, farms, and state lines
The distance from 'A' to where you'd be
It's only finger-lengths that I see
I touch the place where I'd find your face
My finger in creases of distant dark places

I hang my coat up in the first bar
There is no peace that I've found so far
The laughter penetrates my silence
As drunken men find flaws in science

Their words mostly noises
Ghosts with just voices
Your words in my memory
Are like music to me

I'm miles from where you are,
I lay down on the cold ground
I, I pray that something picks me up
And sets me down in your warm arms

After I have travelled so far
We'd set the fire to the third bar
We'd share each other like an island
Until exhausted, close our eyelids
And dreaming, pick up from
The last place we left off
Your soft skin is weeping
A joy you can't keep in

I'm miles from where you are,
I lay down on the cold ground
And I, I pray that something picks me up
and sets me down in your warm arms

I'm miles from where you are,
I lay down on the cold ground
and I, I pray that something picks me up
and sets me down in your warm arms

What's a grand worth ?

2008-05-16T12:05:00.000-07:00

One thousand Rupees.

I can remember a time when that much money would make me feel richer than Bill Gates. Fast forward to today and it makes me feel like I am not as rich as I used to be a month ago.

One thousand bucks has really started to lose it's significance. Hurting, I tell you. I'll tell you why this has, all of a sudden, gained relevance.

I drive this nice car. It's a car which is constantly underestimated by a lot of people. It's deceptively fast. It's in fact so fast that it took a You Tube video for me to realise how fast I can actually go in my car. Now, coming to the most important and relevant part, my car runs on petrol. And in keeping with my unnecessarily flamboyant lifestyle, it runs much much much better on Xtra Premium Petrol (with Friction Busters) as opposed to the normal Petrol. Of course, I have regularly started using Xtra Premium Petrol. This shit, of course, costs more.

Today, I topped my car off at the petrol station. I blew off Rs.2,500/- and gained 47.35 litres of Xtra Premium Petrol @ Rs.52.81 per litre. That works out to a shade under 19 litres of Xtra Premium Petrol for Rs.1,000/-

1,000/- bucks used to mean, I was good for an entire month. It used to mean 20 movies. It used to mean a b'day treat for 15 people. It used to mean I was the lender and not the borrower. It used to mean, I was drowning in surplus.

Today, 1,000/- bucks means, my car will run for a week. Perhaps, a day or two more than a week, depending on traffic conditions, availability of alternate means of transport and my constantly changing moods.

1,000/- bucks makes me feel like I need a lot more 1,000's to last the month. It makes me feel normal. It makes me feel, well nothing extraordinary.

Realising the Time Value of Money has just one effect - Pain.

Let me say this, Ignorance is truly bliss.

Questions

2008-05-14T11:45:00.000-07:00

What is it about asking questions which are never meant to be answered ?

One would tend to assume that they serve no real purpose, but if that was the case, then one would be completely wrong. I can't quite put my finger on the beauty of these questions. Lets check this one out.

"Which is worse, shopping for women or shopping with women?"

I guess shopping for women with women would particularly suck but I also guess one can make a case for either of the two options.

As I like to say, the answer is only important when asked the right question. When silence is the answer, you know you have hit on one hell of a good question.

So, keep coming up with questions. Questions are the sign of progressive thinking. Bad questions just mean that the direction of your progression is a little off, but not meaningless.

For all those readers who feel like this post is a complete load of crap, I only have the say that the feeling is mutual.

Cheerio.

About me

2008-04-26T20:54:00.000-07:00

I really don't know why people keep this section on blogs. My faith in the human race does not lead me to believe a word of what I see in this section, unless it is something so blatantly boring that it has to be the truth. Something like this.

"My name is XYZ. I am 5 feet and 10 inches tall with brown eyes and a great patch of hair. I studied in Guduvanchery Engg College, I.T dept and currently working for Mannar and Company. I have been to the United States of America three times in the past five years for onsite project. I like it there. It is nice. My hobbies are listening to music, watching movies, playing cricket and making jokes about Silambarasan and his excuse for a father. I am looking for a nice girl to marry. She should be tall, fair, beautiful, not so smart, but working and making lots of money, but not more than me. If anybody knows girl like this or any girl interested, I can be reached at loose_paiyan@kirukku.com or you can reach me on orkut by searching for loose paiyan. I checked, there is only one profile with that name - Ha Ha Ha."

I mean seriously, come on. The more sympathetic characters would term that as innocence and probably be impressed by it, but any way I cut it, I cant seem to call it anything other than stupidity.

The other way you go about this is by being the witty smart ass. Now, this is a problem too you know. Everybody thinks they are witty and smart. Lets say, something like this.

"That is for me to know and for you to find out."

All I have to say to that is, Fuck You.

Me, of course I have this section filled in too on this blog. Currently it reads, "If you think love is the work of God then genius is the work of the Devil"

If you realise, that says a lot about me without actually saying anything at all.

I am going to change it now. So, check out the new "About me". The point is not what I put in there, but what you make of it.

What do you make of it ?

Yes Teacher

2008-04-25T10:24:00.000-07:00

That's how I used to answer my attendance when I was in school. During the course of my schooling it did vary between Yes Ma'am and Yes Sir, depending on the particular teacher. It would be weird if I called everybody Sir or Ma'am. The bottom line is, that's how I used to answer my roll call.

I realise it's been a while since I posted anything up here. I have had the time. Lots of it actually. I even vaguely remember a few topics I wanted to post about. Can't seem to recall exactly what they were right now. But somehow, it never happened.

Anyway, I am here now. Not to post anything, just to mark my attendance.

I'm not dead ... yet.

So much to do ...

2008-04-05T23:15:00.000-07:00

Over the past week or ten days, I've been watching a whole lot of movies. Don't exactly know why but just felt like watching movies.

Apocalypse Now
Twelve Monkeys
Blade Runner
Snatch
Lock Stock and two Smoking Barrels
Seven Samurai
Kill Bill 1
Kill Bill 2
Bank Job
Pulp Fiction
Sin City
X-Men 3
Dog Day Afternoon
Lethal Weapon 1

I didn't watch it in that specific order and I know I'm forgetting something, but what the hell. Of course, I have seen most of the movies in that list at least more than once, but like I said - what the hell.

Planning to watch more today. I was thinking of Anjaathey for today and maybe Scar Face or I think I'll go for the Godfather marathon.

So many movies, so little time.

WwwooooWWW

2008-03-28T22:35:00.000-07:00

What do you get if you put Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall and Laurence Fishburne all in one movie at the same time ?

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola and released in 1979, I personally think this movie kicks ass everything else save for Godfather Part One.

Watched this movie the first time about twelve years back. Obviously I was too young to fully appreciate it.

Watched it for the second time today.

Wow, indeed.

Read BETWEEN the lines

2008-03-27T07:01:00.000-07:00

It's different

2008-03-26T10:51:00.000-07:00

I'm not talking about that ad where Javed Jaffrey tries his hand at humour and ends up making a mockery of Tomato Ketchup. Actually I only want to single out the mockery part and put it into perspective.

One of the things I have become good at is watching bad movies. You see, watching good movies is easy. It's almost natural. But watching bad one's is an art. One that needs to be mastered and can only be achieved through vigorous practise and phenomenal mental conditioning.

For those of you who don't know, I can speak Telugu with reasonable level of fluency. I also speak Tamil, given that I have spent the best part of my life in Singara Chennai. Due to some arbit rule devised by some old men at Central Board for Secondary Education, I can also speak Hindi. It's very utilitarian, but I can get by.

The fact that I can speak these three languages basically implies that I am capable of watching movies in these three languages. And in the true spirit of every jobless soul out there, I do watch movies in these three languages.

Between these three languages, I can confidently state that I have a six sigma coverage of all the bad movies that are ever released. And I use six sigma in the statistical sense. For those of you who are more informed, in the normal distribution curve, three deviations on either side of the median covers approximately 99% of the area under the curve. For those of you who mistakenly think I am a nerd, all I am saying is - I watch a lot of really shitty movies.

Given that I watch this outrageous number of sad movies, it is only natural that my mind has been preconditioned and can handle pretty much anything that celluloid can throw it's way. Over the years movies have gotten worse, there are now more number of heroes and heroines who are intrinsically capable of delivering bad movies. Practise only helps them graduate from bad to worse - Try watching Kaalai by Silambarasan. Not to mention the whole bunch of actors who are, for some inexplicable reason, led to believe that they make good directors.

In spite of all this, I can put with the bad movies, I can put up with the whole new generation of bad actors, I can put with everything except for one thing.

"It's different"

The one constant selection of words that I hear from pretty much any actor before the release of every movie.

"This is not the usual romance or action movie. It has a bit of everything. There is comedy, there are some good action sequences, there is some romance, of course with sentiments and the songs are a super hit"

"It's different"

I have such a gut wrenching feeling right now, if I start puking now I don't think I can get myself to stop. If anyone associated with the film industry uses these words to describe anything made on film, they should be beaten up, broken down and burnt alive.

It's like "different" is a new age euphemism for "sucks". I vote for "different" to be officially declared as a new genre of movies.

Nowadays I find it easier to sit in a theatre with the preconception that a movie will suck and be surprised as opposed to expecting to see a decent movie and be disappointed. This way, I can prove that you live longer because you face fewer disappointments in life and you have reason to believe that your line of thought is correct.

I am no movie critic. I am no professional. But, what I am is a movie goer. And if I think a movie sucks and so do my fellow movie goers then it doesn't really matter what the critics and the professionals think now does it ?

Having said all that. I still watch movies that are "different". When the occasional movie that is NOT "different" does come along, it makes the experience all the more pleasurable.

Now, who's with me ???

What's up with one sided conversation ?

2008-03-22T19:43:00.000-07:00

You ever find yourself being asked a question by someone and find the question to be answered by the same someone.

I have. Exactly what is anybody supposed to do in that case ? I don't know what to do, so I manage a goofy smile and try not to feel like I'm completely invisible. Trouble is, once you are used to this sort of thing, you are never sure if the answer to a question is expected to come from you or if the question is purely rhetorical in nature.

Let me explain. I used to work in Hyderabad and subsequently shifted back to Chennai. The first few days I was back in Chennai, we had relatives visiting. I open the door for them and they say, "You are in Chennai?".

As tempted as I was to say, "No. The midday sun has got you hallucinating", I didn't. I only managed that goofy smile I mentioned earlier. That's not the end of it. While I was still contemplating what I was supposed to tell them, they tell me this, "Your mom told us you had come back. Good that you are back".

That's when I realised there was no need to say anything. All I had to do was pretend like I gave a damn and people are happy. This is an empirically proven fact, might I add.

Sometimes one sided conversations are fun. It's like white noise. It's very peaceful. When you know that your involvement in a conversation is purely academic, gives you the time and the opportunity to just watch other people make a fool out of themselves.

It's like watching a movie. If only I had an extra large popcorn in hand.

Does history repeat itself ?

2008-03-19T04:02:00.000-07:00

There is this quote by some guy who's name I can't recall just now.

"History does not repeat itself. The historians repeat one another."

Just realised the truth in that statement. I find myself in a situation I have been in before. One would tend to think, given my past experience, I will be able to handle the situation better than the first time. Which is true. But that's not the point. The point is, I let myself be put in the situation again.

Worst part is, I saw it coming. Unfortunately I was not willing to let go. Most unfortunate. Too little too late. It has cost me time. It is going to take more than just time to correct this. I'm going to have to change few other things as well. No easy task. Should be interesting to see how things turn out.

Lessons are always there to be learnt. Question is, am I willing to learn ?

Feels good to ...

2008-03-16T05:09:00.000-07:00

Wake thinking it's a Thursday and go to office only to realise it's Friday.

Think of someone to be younger than you only to figure out later they are not.

Know for a fact your car is much faster than it appears and be content in that knowledge.

Find that extra 100 bucks in your purse when you thought it's empty.

Get a refill of your favourite milk shake just when you thought, "Damn it's over".

Get more than what you think you deserve because others believe you deserve more.

Eat the right amount of food that tastes really good.

Wake early on a weekend knowing you don't have to go to office.

Feel good about yourself.

Hey listen, I have news

2008-03-15T20:40:00.000-07:00

In what has otherwise been a rather slow week, punctuated by elongated moments of phenomenal boredom, I have come to realise a pattern that is slowly, and frighteningly, emerging.

Been trying to keep track of who's been calling me and for what reason.

I have discounted my friends in town who call to share their boredom and in the process not feel bored. I have also discounted my friends from out of town who call, only to make sure that I am as miserable as them.

The only calls I have been keeping track of are from people whom I least expected to call. Now, there have been a few such incidents in the past few days. This pattern hit me when I was still recovering from the shock of receiving calls from such people.

The pattern is quite interesting and like I said earlier, quite frightening.

The first fifteen seconds of the call is dedicated to exchanging completely redundant and useless pleasantries. Once the formality is out of the way, the real reason behind the call starts to surface.

It pretty much always starts with, "Hey listen, I have news." My conversations so far have ended with "November 24th", "June 6th", "By the end of this year", "April 30th", "At the latest by September" and "May 24th" while being punctuated with "Oh my god", "Thats unbelievable", "Congratulations", "I didn't know people are that dumb" and so on and so forth.

Before I type anything more, I need a couple of minutes to get my head straight.

I didn't take notice of my play list that's been playing since I started typing this post. The following is the list of songs I have been listening to:

1. Unarugil Varugayil - Kalloori
2. Un Siripinil - Pachai Kili Muthu Charam
3. Para Para Pattaampoochi - Tamizh M.A
4. Sun is shining - Bob Marley

When I hit Track 4, I had to stop and let that song pass. There is no recovering from the Marley effect. Which reminds me. Watched this movie called 10,000 B.C with couple of friends of mine. Ten minutes into the movie and this friend of mine is like, "Enna da edhu, ellarum Bob Marley machan mathere erukkaanga". No direct relevance here, but just came into my head.

Luckily the fifth song in my play list is Anomaly by BT. The Marley effect has passed.

From the manner in which the sub-conversation started and the manner in which it ended I am sure I don't need to really spell out what happened in between.

The news, I can handle. It's the number that has me a little off guard.

Enna kodumai Saravana edhu.

I'm annoyed

2008-03-10T08:18:00.000-07:00

I know the problem. I know the solution. I just can't seem to implement it. That is seriously pissing me off.

In the absence of implementation the problem keeps recurring which leads to more frustration.

This is something I need to very urgently remedy.

Between then and now

2008-03-09T21:51:00.000-07:00

I ask myself what happened. The optimist in me says Life and the pessimist says Old Age, relatively speaking of course.

For some reason I was checking my mail box to see how many mails I have in it. The earliest mail I have is dated late 2004. I start reading select few mails and work my way backwards. I can't believe I used to be in touch with so many people for so many reasons with such varying levels of comfort.

Some of them, I'm still in touch. Some, more often than then. Some of them, I'm no longer in touch.

Reading some of the stuff I typed back then makes me smile. Hitting on girls, complete strangers, some girl I met one time in some gathering. I came across two such mails where they chose fit to reply. I cant recall what I was thinking when I did that. I cant remember how many such attempts have not managed to get a reply. I remember their faces, names are in the mail so no mystery there. I am shaking my head in disbelief as I type this.

Will I do it now ? The answer is an emphatic no.

I wouldn't mail, I'd get her number and call. What was I thinking ? Why did I waste my time mailing ? Or maybe I'd shrug it off. Probably the latter is more likely than the former, unless of course the girl is irresistible.

Anyway, my choice of words now will be drastically different from what I would have chosen then.

I can see a sea of change in the content and in the presentation.

Content has changed probably because between then and now, I have evolved from student to professional, from financial dependence to independence, from optimist to practical, from dream to life.

Presentation has changed probably because now I understand the difference between content and presentation and my reading habits have changed over time.

At a personal level, I know things are not the same. I'm not the guy I used to be in 2005 or earlier. At the outset, change may not be obvious. But I know, I'm not the same.

My perspectives have changed. My ideas have changed. My opinions have changed. My priorities have changed. My needs have changed.

I like what I used to be then. I like what I am now. The older me would have been alarmed at this change. The new me is more curious to know what the next two years will bring.

What will I type after two years when I read this post ?

I am not sure if change is painful, it sure is inevitable.

It only seems befitting that I listen to this song called "Make this go on forever" while I type this post.

Now, This is a real Feel Good Song

2008-03-09T00:41:00.000-08:00

Heard this song for the first time about a month back on this channel called Voyager on WorldSpace Satellite Radio. My only regret, I didn't know about this song earlier.

The music and the lyrics are so in sync, if they were people they would be wearing each others underwear.

Artist: Snow Patrol
Track: Shut Your Eyes
Album: Eyes Open
Year: 2006

Notice the irony in the name of the track and the album. No wonder this is the best song in the album. Why do I feel like I've known these guys for a long time ?

Lyrics:

========================

Shut your eyes and think of somewhere
Somewhere cold and caked in snow
By the fire we break the quiet
Learn to wear each other well

And when the worrying starts to hurt
And the world feels like bricks of dirt
Just close your eyes until
You can imagine this place
Yeah, our secret space at will

Shut your eyes, I spin the big chair
And you'll feel dizzy, light and free
And falling gently on the cushion
You can come and sing to me

And when the worrying starts to hurt
And the world feels like bricks of dirt
Just close your eyes until
You can imagine this place
Yeah, our secret space at will

(Shut your eyes)
[x4]

Shut your eyes and sing to me
(Shut your eyes and sing to me)
[x4]

Credit crunch, Liquidity crisis and Economic recession

2008-03-07T20:24:00.000-08:00

Anyone following international economics will know what I'm talking about. For those who are happy reading only the headlines and not the content, you must know about the subprime crisis and fears of economics recession in the global markets. For those who are not bothered with international news, you must know the SENSEX, as recently as yesterday, closed below 16,000.

If you think these events are not connected, you are an IDIOT. A pristine one at that.

If you think the problem is only with global economies, why do you think ICICI took a $263 million mark to market loss ?

Oh thats easy to explain, ICICI has foreign subsidiaries and the MTM loss is a result of their lending activities.

Oh yeah, so who owns these subsidiaries huh ? These are fully owned subsidiaries of ICICI bank. You think this MTM loss will only reflect on the price of ICICI ADR's listed on NYSE. Of course not, it will eventually reflect on ICICI's consolidated earnings and ultimately flow through to the price of ICICI stock listed on the BSE SENSEX and NIFTY.

If you think that is not possible, I'm going to say this one more time. You are an IDIOT.

Of course ICICI management claims this is only a mark to market loss, which means its only notional at this point and not yet realised. The assets will rebound and these losses will be recovered.

But somehow, i'm so not sure that will happen.

At some point I will try and put in my understanding of the subprime crisis and assoiated problems. It will take time to type that post. Actually, I have the time, just don't have the patience. Maybe sometime over the next week or maybe even tomorrow.

Meanwhile, at a very holistic and abstract level, the following comment sums up the problems faced by the international financial markets.

"It's interesting that the industry has invented new ways to lose money, when the old ways seemed to work just fine."

As said by Mike Smith, ANZ's Chief Executive quoting Wells Fargo Chief Executive John Stumpf, while addressing the Australian British Chamber of Commerce.

Spare the rod, Spoil the child - Part One

2008-03-02T21:38:00.000-08:00

I know what I want to type, but I am just too damn lazy right now.

Feel free to speculate amongst yourselves. I'll probably add a Part Two to this if I have the patience.

Emotional Leverage

2008-02-26T10:06:00.000-08:00

If you are good with word associations, you need not read further. You will obviously have a fair idea as to what to expect.

If you are not good with word associations and you are bored with a butt load of time to kill, even then you shouldn't bother to read further. I'm sure you can think of something better to do than read my rants.

On the odd chance that some of you people are still reading, well what can I say. Best of luck.

It is important to explore one's abilities.
It is important to realise one's limitations.
It is important to manage one's expectations.
It is important to handle one's disappointments.

If anyone knows how to do that, please do tell me.

I used to think, "no expectations, no disappointments".

Now, I know it is not possible to have no expectations. Thus leading to the conclusion, it is not possible to have no disappointments.

The more we explore our own abilities, we start to build our expectations. Failure to recognise our own limitations invaribaly leads to disappointments.

Only thing not factored into this theory is "emotional leverage".

The extent to which we explore our abilities does not commensurate the increase in our expectations. If we discover that we are capable of doing "x" number of things, our expectations increase by a factor of "x".

Similarly, the extent by which we fail to recognise our limitations does not commensurate the disappointment it causes.

This introduces what I like to call as "social risk". Our expectations are a function of more than just our abilities. We expect things not only from ourselves, but from others around us. Odds are those expectations will not be met.

Applying emotional leverage here, we can see that, more the number of people we interact with, higher are the expectations from them. And if you are a hopeless optimist, then you will never realise the limitations in anyone and you will get hurt. Badly at that.

My workaround for this - It's simple.

Try and limit your expectations to yourself.

That way you will only have yourself to blame. That also means you will run out of excuses when something goes wrong, but it also cuts a lot of crap out of your life.

On the up-side, when something goes right, you will be smiling both on the outside and the inside.

Once Upon the Sea of Blissful Awareness

2008-02-20T21:53:00.000-08:00

Presenting Shpongle.

This song will make you willingly and blissfully unaware of everything around you. Just don't listen to this when you are high - on anything.

Lyrics:

===========================

'Waves of the soft spring wind
Love's flood tide is rising full
The moon of love is rising full
Sea of beauty.
The moon of love is rising full
Love's flood tide.
Some laugh, some weep, some dance for joy.

My mind craves nectar day and night.
Like a blue lotus floating on the sea of love.
Lingering in ashantically
Lingering in the akashic realms
Lingering in the realms.
Blue lotus floats, floating, floating..
Some laugh, some weep, some dance for joy.
My mind craves nectar day and night.'

Who knows me better ?

2008-02-07T08:47:00.000-08:00

The debate is between me and them. And by them I mean everyone else other than me.

At various points in time, people have come up to me and tried to convince me of what is best for me. If not convince, atleast they have no inhibitions in voicing their opinions. From school, through college, both under graduate and post graduate, till until recently like a few hours ago.

They are just overwhelmingly convinced of what they have to say. Seriously makes me wonder. How can I be so bad at knowing what I want ? Let me illustrate with an example. Following is a reproduction of a conversation I had with a she-friend of mine about 3 hours ago.

she: Elektra (obviously thats not her name, but I like the sound of that name), my other former roomie is coming to stay with me. She's here with me till the weekend.
me: super. enjoy.
she: yeah
me: is she single ?
me: how does she look ?
she: she's not your type.

You see what I'm driving at. You will understand better when I tell you that even I don't know what my type means.

It's like the entire world is suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder. People are just obsessed with psycho analysing everyone else.

It's either that or I'm being paranoid.

Like Omar Epps says in one of the episodes in House M.D, "It's not paranoia if someone is out to get you".

It probably is paranoia if you think everyone is out to get you.

Wait, I'm confused. Somebody help me.

Sunset, Beach, Sundal and the rest

2008-02-02T01:14:00.001-08:00

Scene Sindhamani, henceforth referred to as SS, and Rouse Rangamani, henceforth referred to as RR, are friends.

Just as any other weekday, they are jobless and decide to meet up to rant about their joblessness to each other. They decide to meet at elliots beach. They get themselves a packet of sundal each, the universal sign of vettiness.

The following is the complete conversation that occured between them:

SS: Do you know what we should do ?
RR: No. What ?
SS: If I knew I wouldn't have asked now, would I ?
RR: Hmm. If I knew I would have told you now, wouldn't I ?
SS: Hmm. Good point.

They decide to go in for their second packet of sundal and watch the sunset.

Everybody needs a reason to crib

2008-02-01T23:55:00.000-08:00

If I start and keep doing ONLY the things I love to do, then I would have nothing to look forward to. Every moment would be the same as every other moment.

As pessimistic and as negative as that may sound, if you just keep quiet for a while and listen to yourself, you will know that is the truth.

Everybody needs a reason to crib.

If all the people were content and happy with the way things are we will all begin to rot in our own filth.

But hey, atleast we'll be happy, right ??

Dark Heart Dawning

2008-01-29T21:54:00.000-08:00

I really love this song. The video is not exactly what I had in mind for this song, but unfortunately couldn't find anything better. Let the song play, close your eyes and listen.

Lyrics are as follows:

=======================
It's all good...

Clever clap of lightning
Flash before the sound
The dark heart is dawning
There's no one else around

Violate me like an animal
Like you always do
While the dark heart is dawning
And the sky is as black as you

I came up in it
I crash down in it
It's all good
I feel complete in it
I black out in it
It's all good
[x2]

Burning branches of synaptic fire
Surf the serotonin swells
While the dark heart is dawning
And cuts the wound that nothing quells
Impotent in your hatred
I've been cut but never bled
Though your dark heart is dawning
This child can see a light ahead

Though I came up in it
I'm not defined by it
It's all good
I felt complete in it
now cuttin free of it
It's all good

And in the age of love, you came and split my heart
And in the rage of love, you taught the joy in pain
And in the age of love, I found my sacred place
Where I can hide
from the dark heart that's dawning
like now...

from the dark heart that's dawning

And in the age of love, you came and split my heart
And in the rage of love, you taught the joy in pain
And in the age of love, I found my sacred place
Where I can hide
from the dark heart that's dawning
like now...

Dark Heart Dawning
Calm's still coming
Waves keep rising
Time keeps takin her time
[x2]

My top 5 at this point in time

2008-01-29T21:36:00.000-08:00

1. "Orestes" by A Perfect Circle
2. "Spiral" by Godsmack
3. "I'm no Angel" by Dido
4. "As sure as the sun" by Black Rebel Motorcyle Club
5. "Dark Heart Dawning" by BT

This subject to change without prior notice.

Don't think I can keep this up much longer

2008-01-27T03:51:00.001-08:00

I'm starting to tire - of everything.

This is one of the best songs ever

2008-01-25T21:16:00.000-08:00

Lyrics are as follows:

Metaphor for a missing moment
Pull me in to your perfect circle

One womb
One shame
One resolve

Liberate this will
To release us all

Gotta cut away, clear away
Snip away and sever this
Umbilical residue,
Keeping me from killing you

And from pulling you down with me here,
I can almost hear you scream

Give me one more medicated peaceful moment
Give me one more medicated peaceful moment

And I don't wanna feel this
Overwhelming hostility
I don't wanna feel this
Overwhelming hostility

Gotta cut away, clear away
Snip away and sever this
Umbilical residue

Gotta cut away, clear away
Snip away and sever this
Umbilical residue,
Keeping me from killing you

Snip away and sever this

Keeping me from killing you

=============================

Orestes was the son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestre (sorry about the names, not sure about them since i'm no greek). Clytemnestre along with her lover Aeghistus murdered Agamemnon at his return from Troy, and attempted to kill her own son. His sister Elektra managed to have Orestes escape to Mount Parnassus. Eight years later, he was ordered by the Oracle of Delphi to return to Athens and slay his mother and her lover, which he eventually did with the help of his sister. The Gods, upset about that maricide, sent the Erynies to torture him. He eventually got forgiven his murder during a trial Athena organised, and went on to become king of Mycenae, Argos and Laconia, before dying of a snake bite in Arcadia.

What is a "bad feeling" ?

2008-01-19T18:11:00.000-08:00

I am driving a 1.9 litre, 90 bhp, 4 cylinder inline, turbocharged diesel at approximately 180 kmph @ 4000 rpm and suddenly a slow moving bus pulls onto the road in front of me.

I am pissed because I like to drive and drive fast. Now I have to slow down. Bad feeling. It gets better. Wait for it.

This car weighs about 1.3 tonnes. 1.3 tonnes when barrelling down the road at 180 kmph has a shit load of momentum going for it. I need a fair bit of stopping power to slow down let alone stop. This car doesn't have Anti Lock Braking. Neither does it have Electronic Brake Distribution. Nor does it have Air Bags. It has seat belts, but being the stud that I am, I am not wearing them.

Given this bit of information, I put my foot on the brake pedal and push down hard. It feels like I stepped on a banana peel. I can feel the disc brakes on the front wheels trying to stop the wheels from spinning, the operative word there being - "trying". I can feel the drum brakes on the rear wheels literally sliding off the wheels, fighting to create some sort of friction.

This is not my imagination. I felt the brake pedal pulse beneath my feet and there are only a limited number of known causes which will have that effect.

I know I am getting close to the bus, but I don't seem to be going any slower.

Since I am here recounting my experience it is obvious that I managed to make it out of that situation alive. You know how people say, when faced with near death situations, your life flashes before your eyes in slow motion.

Trust me, at 180 kmph nothing happens in slow motion. There's no time for slow motion.

Now, that is pretty much as bad as a feeling can possibly get.

Art of Multitasking

2008-01-17T22:12:00.000-08:00

People always say Time Management is the key. And the key to Time Management is Multitasking.

I have a problem. I have to manage my time at home.

Between fairly important activities like consuming food for my survival, extremely important activity of watching House M.D and this very annoying activity of avoiding conversations with my mom.

Before you jump to conclusions and decide that I'm an insensitive jerk, you must know that I am just about 25 years and 6 months old and all conversations with mommy invariably lead to when I am willing to get hitched and end with me raising my voice and me serving myself cold dinner.

So, I figured I need to do something about this.

What do I do ?

Simple, combine the above mentioned activities to occur simultaneously. I started having dinner while watching House M.D hoping that the sight of me in front of my comp will discourage my mommy from indulging in any sort of conversation. Then she made me realise that I'm not the only one capable of raising voices.

First instinct would be shout back at her and prolong the torture. But I didn't. This is where my genius brain kicks in.

I don't raise MY voice. I just increase the volume on my comp. Clever huh. It's one thing for my mom to compete with me on who has the louder voice, but with 2.1 creative speakers doing the work for me - she's toast.

If you think Love is the work of god, Genius is the work of the devil.

Wow - I actually kinda like the sound of that.

My day @ work

2008-01-16T06:40:00.000-08:00

I am bored.
I want to sleep.
Huh !!!
What day is today ?
Which movie is releasing this Friday ?
What time should I have coffee ?
What kind of coffee should I have ?
How many times have I checked my mail today ?
Yaaawwwnnn .....
I need a new mobile.
I have to change my car.
What the hell am I doing here ?

If I am thinking any one of the above mentioned thoughts, it can mean only one thing.

I am in office.

Do not make the mistake of assuming that my presence in office means I am working. Oh no. One of the advantages of working for a credit desk when international credit markets are on the floor is, I get paid for free.

It's like space time continuity ceases to exist when I am in office. Every day is like a deja vu of the previous day in office.

Which leads me to question, what the hell am I doing here ?

Moral #$^%&

2008-01-10T10:35:00.000-08:00

The word which I'm cleverly trying to censor is Police.

"Moral Police" - I've been hearing a fair bit about this nowadays. Didn't really bother about it until it found it's way to Singara Chennai - specifically Marina Beach.

Apparently families, and by that I mean dad with mom and kid, who come to Marina beach for recreation are increasingly encountering heterosexual couples who also visit Marina beach for recreation but of an adult nature. Apparently, a guy and a girl holding hands in public is not allowed. So, obviously, any other part of their anatomy coming into physical contact is also not allowed.

The dad's and the mom's are apparently worried that the sight of a guy and a girl holding hands might have a detrimental effect on the development of their kid. Which makes me wonder, how did the dad and the mom manage to make a kid without going through that exercise ?

Actually, I have a better question.

Which is more likely to happen -

1. a kid watching a guy and a girl kissing on Marina beach, which is open air and rather spread out for one kid to exhaustively cover

or

2. the same kid being taken to watch Ajith's latest flick, Billa, where Nayanthara walks around in a two piece bikini and Namitha clearly has no inhibitions shaking different parts of her anatomy on a 70 mm screen.

I'm sorry but I fail to understand this.

The parents are apparently opposed to PDA. Don't worry - For all you people who are not tech savvy, like me, PDA stands for Public Display of Affection.

First time I heard that acronym, I thought it was some cool hand held device which had some new feature(s) which I couldn't even pronounce let alone understand.

Anyway, parents are obviously comfortable when their kids are exposed to soft porn on a 70 mm screen but they would absolutely not allow their kids to see a guy and a girl sit on the beach holding hands.

The Police has now joined in on this gang bang and are actually warning couples in Marine beach to mind their space and actions.

What next I wonder.

All this bullshit is hypocritical at best and cheap at worst.

Ignorance is bliss

2008-01-10T01:49:00.000-08:00

That is so true, but also far fetched from reality and more importantly, incomplete.

If I was ignorant to the fact that there are jobs out there which will better suit my requirement as compared to my current job, I would be in a state of bliss.

If I was ignorant of the existence of the world around me, I would be in a state of bliss.

There is always an "I" and an "IF" in the statements I have made here and the one's I thought of but didn't type in here.

Tells me two things - Bliss is conditional and very subjective.

If I live in a world where I am the world, then bliss would be unconditional and universally applicable.

Since I dont ......

2007 gone on 2008

2008-01-07T19:30:00.000-08:00

Just another calendar year. I receive this with distant enthusiasm and a distinct lack of optimism.

Purpose of blog

2007-12-30T05:44:00.000-08:00

I've seen this as part of the user profile on a few blogs. The best comment I've come across till now is - Huh !!!

Less is truly more in this case.

Anyway, I think I have come up with a whole new use for my blog. I'm going to use my blog to measure something intangible.

Vetti, in tamil, is jobless. I call the act of being vetti as vettiness. My measure to quantify the extent of vettiness is called vettiness quotient.

How does this vettiness quotient work ? The relationship I have devised is - Vettiness quotient is directly proportional to the number of posts in a month. Since I am fixing my sampling period to a month's time, this measure will vary month on month. Every month there will be a vettiness quotient value which will be comparable over time.

If I remember right, December 2007 has the most number of posts by me. Thus proving that my vettiness quotient is at an all time high right now.

Damn, today is 30th dec. I still have a day to go. Maybe tomorrow I'll post something and beat my own record.

That will be fun. A record that lasted one day. That should be a record by itself. I'm getting rather good at this.

No guts, No glory

2007-12-27T19:42:00.000-08:00

She knew they were out to get her. This is what she had to say.

"I did not come this far in life to be intimidated by suicide bombers"

Read the full article here

Interesting, how courage can be so easily interpreted as stupidity.

Food habits

2007-12-26T19:20:00.000-08:00

I have heard that fear will make you do stupid things. Stupidity will obviously make you do stupid things. Guilt will also make you do things. Things I find amusing.

I heard this from so many of my friends. I thought it was hilarious then. One day, I saw it with my own eyes.

My friend and I go to this eat out. We order our food. I get myself a stroganoff and my friend opts for pasta. We sit there, waiting for our food, discussing world views, in vain of course. Words seldom translate to action. I have no qualms in admitting that I'm a lazy bum.

This couple come sit at the table next to ours. The guy was actually a rather large man. What I meant was, he was fat. But that would be politically incorrect. So, the guy was a rather large man. His companion was a not-so-large girl.

Our tables were close enough for us to hear what they were ordering. The girl went first. She asks for Caeser salad and mixed fruit juice. The guy orders meat lasagna and a large order of fries. The waiter leaves and then the fun begins.

We can hear the girl hissing at the guy. She's like, "What the hell was that ?". The guy knows he's in deep shit. Just doesn't know why. He's got this puzzled look on his face. She says, "I thought we were on a diet". Realisation dawns. My friend and I can now read the guy's mind. He's thinking, "Damn it. What was I thinking ? I'm not out with the guys". He doesn't say anything. Immediately calls for the waiter and says this.

"I'll have a diet coke to go with that please."

So, its official now.

If you can get a girl to admit that she's on a diet, it really means she's on a diet. If a guy says he's on a diet, it means he'll settle for a diet coke.

** This post is dedicated to a good friend of mine. If she hadn't asked, I probably wouldn't have written this.

Whats wrong with people's sentiment ?

2007-12-25T02:07:00.000-08:00

Today is Christmas. I'm actually pretty good at stating the obvious. So, I'll say it again. Today is Christmas. I can do it again, but then I would be repeating myself.

So what do I do ? Nothing special. Watch American Gangsters. Listen to some Arabic lounge/chill-out music. Drop into office for a couple of hours. Make a mental note to get some roasted turkey in the evening. Of course, I wish all my Christian friends.

I am sure that there are secular people out there like most of our national political parties, committees backed by various religions which would be pissed off at me for making that statement.

You are wondering what statement. "I wish all my Christian friends" - that statement. Let me take a wild guess at what they are likely to say.

"Sowji has hurt the sentiments of all the non-Christians in this great country of ours by not wishing them for Christmas. He should be stripped, beaten up and his soul condemned to the deepest bowels of hell. If he renders a public apology, then all is forgiven, his place in heaven is restored and all is forgotten in less than a day as nobody really cares about what he said."

I'm trying to understand this new trend in making public objections. The only constants are, firstly, somehow the sentiments of a lot of people are hurt. Secondly, all this fuss seldom lasts more than a day. Lastly, nothing ever comes off it.

Lets see now. On mothers day I only wish my mom and not my dad. Is someone going to accuse me of gender bias now ? Or maybe its daddy bias ?

If I'm not mistaken, there is something called Aids day, right. Why don't we hear anyone screaming that the "sentiments" of all the people without aids has been hurt ?

If anyone is planning to use the words "hurt", "people" and "sentiment" in the same breath or in the same sentence, I have something to tell you. I'm going to type it in caps so you dimwits will know that I'm yelling.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP"

Sandhaikku poogadheydee ....

2007-12-23T19:24:00.000-08:00

Scene Sindhamani and Rouse Rangamani are priends. They decide to go shopping.

Scene Sindhamani wants to get herself a towser. She's looking at the latest that Versace has to offer. Rouse Rangamani is looking for colour glass. She's thinking, "I feel like Oakley today".

Off they go.

Aaru mani neratherku peragu .....

Scene Sindhamani is seen going home with oru kilo maidha maavu and rendu packet instant kaapi.

Rouse Rangamani is spotted entering her house with oru litre nallennai, oru kaali plastic cover and a paper cap.

Ooru makkal are bewildered. They are still trying to understand how Scene Sindhamani's and Rouse Rangamani's attempt at shopping can end in such fashion.

If you choose to extrapolate this incident to apply for all women, I am not going to stop you.

Namakku Puriyala.

I'm starting to like this guy

2007-12-23T05:05:00.000-08:00

December 27th 2007, Narendra Modi will be sworn in as the Cheif minister of Gujarat for the third consecutive time. The prominent BJP party member single handedly crushed the Congress and the rebels to propel his party to a convincing win, silencing his critics both inside his party and outside. BJP won 117 out of the 182 seats with the Congress and it's allies only managing a paltry 62 seats. BJP finishing only 10 seats less than in 2002 when they won 127 seats. Clearly, Moditva announcing it's arrival loud and clear for everybody to hear.

The "Merchant of Death" per Sonia Gandhi is truly the undisputed "King of Gujarat".

Actually I don't know Modi well enough to start liking him. He's a close second though.

I was talking about Hugh Laurie.

Watched him the first time as Dr. Gregory House in the American television drama - House. Clearly this guy's brand of humour is sarcasm. House is a beautifully written character, full of witty one liners and a unique take on life - everybody lies.

If you are not obsessed with boring sob stories, which have more of background music than actual dialogue per episode, that pass off as television drama on Sun TV, I'd recommend that you watch House.

Be warned, if you don't understand sarcasm you will miss the true essence of the entertainment.

Happy Housing !!!

Bad combination

2007-12-21T20:59:00.000-08:00

Have you ever tried listening to psychedelic music when you have a really bad sinus headache ?

I have. It's so weird. So much so that I'm typing this at the exact same moment.

Right this very moment I have a bad sinus headache and I'm listening to this really trippy song called "Star Shpongled Banner".

The only lyrics in the song are:

I am a secret magician
The sun is purple
3D dimensions
I am for mental expansions

I don't have the faintest clue as to what that is supposed to mean. But the song is kinda cool.

I think I'm high. 500 mg of antibiotics, two times a day.

Wow, I can see the music.

I think I'll lie down for awhile.

Mazhai, Kodai and Romantic peelings

2007-12-20T19:17:00.000-08:00

What do these three things have in common ?

Time of occurrence.

No pun intended here okay. No gilma ideas pliss.

Chennai vaasi's will agree with me when I say that the weather has been pleasant for the past week or so. Temperature in mid 20's. Humidity somewhere around 70% accompanied with rains or heavy cloud cover. That is Chennai makkal's idea of heaven.

Sadly I couldn't enjoy to the fullest as I was down with a terrible cold. It's an awkward kind of illness, the common cold. My head felt like it was filled with molten lead. The otherwise subconscious act of walking became a conscious act of balancing. My eyelids were like power lifters, trying to keep my eyes open. You are not bed ridden, as in you can move around the house. You are not fit enough to be your normal self. Pretty much caught in no man's land. So two days I spent getting very familiar with the insides of all the walls in my house. Another day and I would have named them and started ranking them amongst my friends list.

Luckily, before I became like Tom Hanks in Castaway, the medicine I was taking started to show some result. Once I had the use of my upper airways, that is my nose, and didn't have to use my mouth to breathe, I just absolutely had to venture out.

So I took my car out, thinking I'll drive past the beach. Just as soon as I start out, the rain starts pouring down. Doesn't bother me as I am dry and snug inside my car and I like to drive in the rain. I've got Buddha Bar on my stereo, seat pushed right back, cruising to the beach.

Those of you familiar with Chennai and particularly Elliots beach will know there is a Spencer's store close to the beach. I'm bang opposite the store, about to turn on the street leading to the beach and that is when I see it.

This couple in the rain. The guys got his left hand over the girl's shoulder and he's holding an umbrella in his right hand. The girl is very comfortable leaning into him and they are smiling about something. Nice, almost cute even.

The girl is probably happy because the guy is acting like he's all sensitive and caring. The guy is probably happy because he gets to satisfy his male ego as the security provider or whatever. Or, the umbrella was meant for one and squeezing underneath that kutti kodai gave them the illusion of sharing. But hey, that's just me. It could've been anything. Feel free to fill in the blanks with any psycho babble that best suits your imagination.

There it is - Mazhai, Kodai and Romantic peelings.

I know you people have a mental image in your head right now. Zoom out on the image and know what you will see - Cupid's darlings are walking right smack in the middle of the road.

There are a lot of places for love struck couples to get comfortable. I'm sure, middle of the road, on a rainy day, in a city like chennai ranks pretty low on that list.

Purinjikoongappa. Thollai Thaangamudiyala.

Is INDIA really SHINING ?

2007-12-20T00:52:00.000-08:00

Recently, BJP's L.K.Advani, in his speech at Shimla, Haryana stated that the campaign slogan used by his party in the previous election, namely "INDIA SHINING", was a mistake. He said it should have been "INDIA RISING".

I agree with him, but only partially. I think "INDIA SHINING" falls miserably short of the truth. India is not yet rising. It is still trying.

What exactly do we mean by India's growth story ? What does 8%-9% growth actually mean ? The PM, Manmohan Singh, says over the next five years India can achieve 10% growth. 10% of what ? GDP obviously.

Gross Domestic Product - defined as the market value of all final goods and services produced within a region in a given period of time.

Is GDP the most accurate measure for quantifying an economy's performance ? I'm not sure if the answer to this question is a yes. How can I possibly be convinced that GDP growth of 10% or whatever is a measure of India growing ?

The way I see it, growth should happen in more than just one sphere. At least two, namely economic and social. Of course there may be more, but these two I think are a must.

GDP increase shows economic growth. What do we use to measure social growth ? Actually I don't think it's social growth, it should be social development.

Lets take a simple example. The Sensex is an indicator of India's growth story. How many people actually know what sensex stands for ? If I were to say, sensex stands for sensitivity index, how many people would be surprised ? I'd say a lot. It's easy to get carried away by the hysteria and get brain washed into believing that all of us are in the middle of enormous growth opportunity.

The Sensex is based on 30 companies. It represents 13 sectors and the sum of free market capitalization of these 30 companies adds up to approximately 50% of total market capitalization. The Nifty is based on 50 companies. It represents 24 sectors and the sum of free market capitalization of these 50 companies adds up to approximately 60% of total market capitalization.

Both these indices are built on the fairly simple concept of sampling. We draw on a sample from a population and hope that the population is best represented by the sample. Anyone who has any exposure to basic statistics will tell you, that sampling techniques, however advanced they may be, are always accompanied with what we call "sampling error".

What is this error ? No matter how carefully we choose a sample, it never completely represents the population in it's entirety. There is always a chance that the indicators are wrong.

By using the sensex as an indicator, we are looking at only 50% of total market cap. The other 50% is neglected, on the assumption that this 50% will follow the movement of the other 50% which is being tracked.

When the sensex goes up, what does that mean ? It only means that the market cap of the companies in the list of 30 has increased or the market cap of some of the companies has increased to an extent that is more than the fall in market cap of the remaining, which has a net effect of increased market cap on the index.

So, the price of a few equity shares goes up and suddenly India is growing ?

Mukesh Ambani recently bought a plane for close to 350 million dollars. How many people do you think have bought anything for 350 rupees let alone millions or dollars ?

As an internationally accepted benchmark index, the Sensex is useful. It is an indicator of possible trends in the financial markets. Thats all it is. Nothing less and most definitely nothing more.

A 1000 point gain on the sensex over 4-5 trading sessions does not mean that in those 4-5 days India has suddenly become a better place to live in.

How has day to day life for the common man changed between the time the sensex was at 19,000 and the time it crossed 20,000 ? This has only affected those few smart people who put their money in the right place at the right time, those gutless people who just followed the crowd and got lucky and those really dumb fools who didn't follow the crowd but still got lucky.

You know why there has been no change in day to day life ? Because there have only been indications of economic growth and no signs of social development.

You can ask me what does social development mean ? How do we measure this development ?

With my limited knowledge on the subject, I will attempt an answer.

When a majority of people can write their own names I consider it as social development. When a majority of people have a job or are employed in some capacity I consider that as social development. When a majority of people can sustain their own livelihood I consider that as social development.

In other words, the measures are:

=> Literacy level
=> Employment level
=> Per capita income level

When was the last time you heard our Finance minister, P.Chidambaram, speak of anything that is not connected to the stock market ?

There are enough people to worry about the stock market. There are enough "analysts" to monitor, advise and comment on the equity markets.

Exactly who is going to worry about social development ?

If anyone can answer this question, I'll accept Advani's statement.

A Frenchman talking about love - fascinating or plain scary

2007-12-12T21:04:00.000-08:00

Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile featuring Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot.

Just watched this movie. The best line of dialogue being the last line.

"The great ambition of women is to inspire love".

The original quote is by Moliere, a French playwright and actor from mid 1600's. Interestingly, the character Hercule Poirot, though he is from Brussels, Belgium, speaks good French.

It is precisely such thoughts, which on closer scrutiny turn out to be rather shallow, that fuel the already misled Casanova's of our times.

Would I be wrong in saying that the French are genetically flawed ?

The $ problem

2007-12-12T08:28:00.000-08:00

This is not one of my pointless rants. This is where I show people that my interest in Economics and Finance is well founded.

Everybody who knows how to read will probably know about the US dollar depreciating. But I'm guessing that all you people would have had a very one dimensional view of the situation. You know, like how you have been working onsite with some I.T company and suddenly all the dollars you managed to save over the years are not worth that much rupees. Like how your bonus or salary revisions are suddenly going down hill.

I dont blame you people if thats all you have read or thought about. It's your money. You've worked for it. If it's being flushed down the toilet, hell yes you ought to be concerned. Please note, I use the word "concerned" and NOT "worried".

Thats exactly what I dont want to talk about.

Think beyond the amount that hits your salaried account every month.

Think Big.

Think international.

Think GLOBAL.

If you have any interest in international macro economics, read here. If you are genuinely interested in global economics, trust me this read will not disappoint you.

Opulent charm of fully blossomed purple

2007-12-09T20:27:00.000-08:00

I have this weakness for purple. I mean the colour. During the course of this post you will understand why I disclosed that.

There I was driving down Nungambakam main road. Pleasant evening, about 8 on the clock, not too hot, not too humid, relaxed lazy weekend. I have a red at the traffic signal, you know the one just before Landmark. I pull up. I am listening to azhagiya tamizh magan songs. I increase the volume.

Right next to that signal there is this restaurant called Bella Cio (I think thats how its spelt). A red Maruti Swift pulls up. Out steps this girl.

I am going to pause for effect.

--Pause

--Pause some more

--Just a little longer now

She was, for lack of a better word, absolutely gorgeous.

Beautifully fitted deep blue low rider jeans. White tank top, just the right size. Light purple scarf, just hugging her neck. Perfect shade of glossy purple on her lips, as only liquid lipstick can deliver. Yeah, I know about liquid lipstick. I have friends who are very vocal about their choice in cosmetics.

I just sit there looking at her. Suddenly, I hear my steroe scream, "Saturday night, partyku pogalam variya".

I know it's a coincidence. But there I am sitting and hoping as hell, it's providence.

For those of you who didn't understand the metaphor, fully blossomed purple = purple rose.
For those of you who still don't understand, purple rose = enchanted, love at first sight.

25 years and filter coffee

2007-12-08T19:46:00.000-08:00

The second an individual goes past this milestone, they are special. Between the time an individual crosses over from 24 years & 364 days of age to 25 years of age, somehow they magically become eligible for marraige. Overnight people become mature enough to handle a relationship and family, who until very recently are apparently not capable of taking care of themselves.

Enna nakkala !!!!!

Everyone from mom to dad, pakkathathu mama to therumunai mami, from edhirvettu uncle to pakkathu theru aunty, from paalkaare to veetu velaikaare, from every relative who's name you know to those whose names you don't know are asking you the same annoying question. Eppo ponnu paaka aarambikkalam ?? What kind of a girl do you want ? What is this ? They talk like girls eligible for marraige are picked off a shelf and delivered on demand. Reality is quite the opposite.

It's a herculean effort not to start reeling off this barrage of abuse and say, "poi coffee kudinga, aareda podhu."

Someone asks me this question once, thats fine. I very politely tell them that work is just settling down, maybe in a years time I am willing to reconsider my position. Problem starts when the same people come back and ask me the same annoying question in less than a years time - much much much less than a year, like a week or two days. Not just twice or thrice, but again and again and again and again and freakin again. Please note, I say people and NOT person.

Can someone please tell me why I shouldn't be pissed off ?

1 year = 12 months = 52 weeks = 365 days. Does that equation change for someone who's turned 25 years old ? Time suddenly flies by a lot faster, is it ? A year apparenly shrinks to less than 7 days.

All of a sudden, people are suffering from selective hearing. A "no" to marraige is just not audible. Neither is "paakalam" nor "eppo vendam" or anything to that effect.

Marraiges are made in heaven. What a load of crap.

Marraiges are made when a bunch of bored aunties are having filter coffee on an idle Tuesday afternoon. Let me attempt an explanation.

Vanaja* aunty says, "Yeindee amma, endha vishayam theriyuma unakku. Last week ennoda womans club secretary oda peranukku kalyanam aachi. Anga namma X avaloda paiyan Y oda vanderundha. Y nalla valandhutaan theriyuma. M.S mudichittu, eppo XX company la work panraanam. Adutha maasam green card apply panna pooraanam. Smart boy."

Suddenly, the home made sugar free mysore paaku and oil starved murukku are no longer the centre of attention. Girija* aunty next to her is quick to react, pounce on the opportunity.

"Appadiya mami, neythu dhaan madya kailas kovilukku namma A vanderundha. Kooda avaloda ponnu B vanderundha. Avalum M.S mudichittu eppo YY company la work panra. Periya manushi aaita theriyuma. Beautiful girl."

Hmm. There is this deathly silence for about 10 seconds as everyone tries to work out the politics between themselves, X and A. After another 10 seconds of second guessing and self doubt, consensus is reached - the group approves of X and A as in-laws.

"Appo Y ku namma B ya paaka sollalaamey." A month later, Y and B are engaged. Six months later, Y and B become Mr & Mrs Y.

Stop being naive. This is reality. If you don't believe it, you need to wake up and smell the filter coffee.

* All names used in the above narration are fictional and bear no intentional resemblance to any person living or dead.

Testosterone vs. Estrogen

2007-11-29T06:03:00.000-08:00

Long flowing hair. Well shaped body. Tight fitting clothes. Carefully trimmed eyebrows. Facials. A conscious effort to pick the right clothes - the fit, the colour and most important of all, check for conformity. No one wants to buy outdated fashion.

Is that a good looking city girl or a metrosexual guy ?? I cant tell anymore. Uugghh.

I dont know which is more scary - guys actually indulging in this kind of stuff or there are so many guys who do this, there is actually a term for it.

Where have I been all this while ? What exactly happened ?

One day I get out wearing this faded shirt, old pair of jeans, a week old beard, devil may care attitude and I notice guys looking at me sideways. I pause to take a closer look at where I am. I always thought this is how guys are supposed to look like - rugged, like they have just been through hell and raring to go through it all over again, without as much as a second thought. Make no mistake, I still think that.

Did I skip a generation or something ? Did I have a star trek moment and find myself teleported to another dimension ?

I'm 25 years of age and I feel I am so much older. I cant recognise the kids who are entering adulthood. You know that age when you are still considering exactly what 19 - 20 years old means. When did generation gap shrink to a mere 5-6 years ?

Well, you let these kids open their mouth and you are happy to realise they still think their age. They certainly dont seem to dress their age.

Why is this happening all of a sudden ? Maybe its been slow and I was too distracted to notice it. Or I noticed it sometime back but was just too damn lazy to post it in here.

Is it the presence of certain men in mass media - models, actors, athletes ? I dont see this happening as much down south as up north. Hrithik Roshan in Dhoom, Shah Rukh Khan in Om Shanthi Om, Shekar Suman on TV saying he's working hard to have a 6 pack like the 6 pack Khan. Typing that was so difficult, jeezzz. I dont understand this, really.

What is different in say, Abishek Bachan or Amitabh Bachan or Sanjay Dutt ? When was the last time any of these guys were clean shaven or tried flaunting their bodies ?

They are still popular right. How many people think these guys are handsome ? Exactly what is their sex appeal ? I'm guessing you know the answer. That is how guys are supposed to look.

I think every guy who tries to look otherwise needs medical attention. They are suffering from harmonal imbalance.

Too much Estrogen.

Velinaatu experience

2007-11-26T07:16:00.000-08:00

Edward I LongShanks. Something he said comes to mind.

"The problem with Scotland is, its full of scots"

For those who don't know this guy, see here and here. What, still don't know who this guy is ? Go watch Mel Gibson's Braveheart. Again. Only this time, watch the movie and not only Mel Gibson. If you haven't watched it once before, you are even more hopeless than I thought.

Well, I have something to say myself.

"The problem with Britain today is, it's missing the Brits"

It took me less than 2 days of walking around the streets of London to figure that out. Trust me, you can't walk for more than five minutes on the road without seeing at least 5-10 people who are not Brits. They may be from anywhere - India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Finland or any of the Muslim nations. There are so many immigrants. Sure looks like they are stuck with memories of the colonies forever - a constant reminder of what they once were. Now they can stand aside and watch the world roll right pass them. I saw a mosque and a Hindu temple but never a church. So much for a country which once played protagonist to the Holy Crusades.

It caught me a little off guard. Not once did I feel like I was in a truly foreign country. Rice and dal, roti and chicken tikka are never far away. Neither is unlimited chettinad meals, or nethali fry, vanjaram fry, squid masala. If you look hard enough you will probably find an odd sign which says "fish n chips" or "steak house". Don't get me wrong, now, I don't mind a steak house, especially if its well done and marinated in some fine red wine.

Maybe my observations are slightly skewed because my eyes were looking for familiar signs and remembered the ones I liked. But I can state with certainty there is an undeniable element of truth in what I just said. I'm not going to dwell into the reasons, economic and political, behind this phenomenon because I don't really care.

I like London city.

I was lucky to be received by pleasant weather and sunlight which was just enough to light the horizon. Enough to take photographs out in the open without a flash. The chill breeze late in the evening, the crisp air in your lungs when you take a deep breath, makes you want to walk - Along the Thames, around Hyde park, through Covent market, all around Oxford street and Piccadilly circus, all the way from Tower Bridge to Buckingham Palace, past westminister abbey and victoria station.

And walk I did. Not because I had to, not because there was no other way to get to where I was going. But because, that is how I think you should see London.

On foot, with just enough clothing so you can feel the cold and not be all warm and cosy. Without an umbrella in hand and the sight of impending rain every step of the way.

It was a good experience. It would have been even more fun had I worn the right pair of shoes which didn't kill my feet after the first thirty minutes. Nevertheless, it was worth the pain.

After a productive three weeks, professionally speaking, I am on my way back to Singara Chennai. I realise I am on my way home. Feeling glad about it. Couldn't wait to end my journey and get home. But it never really truly hit me until I got to Frankfurt airport.

Ten minutes to boarding time, I'm sitting in the lounge reading Financial Times, weekend edition - there is an interesting article about how Iceland, all of a sudden, has become the centre of attention in the financial world. Out of the blue, there is this mylapore mama's voice. Before I lift my head up to see who it is, I have this mental image of how the mama will look.

I look up and see my imagination in true colour - mama in his immaculately pressed Louie Phillipe Khaki trousers, Sparkling white Reebok sneakers, white and gray striped park avenue sweater and his new stylishly designed spectacles, gleaming in the single ray of sunshine that managed to make its way right on to the tip of the frame. Mama is of course talking to mami and by talking I mean having an animated conversation about how his grandson just cant keep his hands off his bristling white moustache, the life in his voice and the gleam in his eyes, so refreshingly genuine. Another mambalam mami joins the gang, and mama, ever so smoothly, offers his seat to the lady. Who said chivalry is dead. That moment Sean Connery would have been at a loss for charm.

I smile to myself, get back to reading Financial Times. I find out Iceland is interesting because it has one of the highest per capita incomes in Eurpoe and how the banking industry there has done a tremendous job in supporting the economy.

My eyes continue to read. My mind continues to assimilate the information. I feel this warmth spreading through me.

I am going home.

A man after my own heart

2007-10-18T10:40:00.000-07:00

I dare do all that may become a man;
Who dares do more is none

--Macbeth, William Shakespeare

In defiance of economics

2007-10-18T09:31:00.000-07:00

Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility.

Its a law of economics which attempts to explain the utility derived from consuming a product. This law states that for every additional unit of product consumed, the utility derived from the act of consuming it keeps reducing. Ultimately, if the consumption continues, it will lead to negative utility i.e. dis-utility.

Simple example, a person is dying of thirst. The first glass of water that he drinks will provide him with the highest amount of satisfaction or utility. The second glass, while still important, will be of lesser signifance as compared to the first and will bring him lesser satisfaction. If he continues to keep drinking water, ultimately he will puke which is what I meant by dis-utility.

This is what everybody knows, reads and has been propogated as conventional wisdom. This is how it looks from outside in.

Now, lets look at this from inside out.

An inherent assumption in this law is, there is always some satisfaction to be derived from performing an act and this satisfaction reduces with every additional performance. If an act does not provide any satisfaction, why would someone perform that act.

Except, a person has multiple needs which needs to be satisfied. What if performing an act satisfies one need but blatantly ignores another need ?? For example, a man wants to work in order to make money and he wants to enjoy his work. He finds two jobs, one which pays extremely well but the work absolutely sucks and the other which pays peanuts but the work is absolutely amazing.

What happens now ?? People, depending on individual preference, will take up one of the two jobs. This is not the best of examples for the discussion at hand, but still I'll try and explain as best as I can. The problem with this example is, the guy who picks the job which pays better is serving a recurring need. The need for money is completely and absolutely inelastic. No matter what else changes, there will always be a need for money which will absolutely need to be satisfied.

So he hates his job, but does it anyway because he needs the money. Doing something inspite of not liking it is not a great feeling. The dissatisfaction from this compulsion keeps mounting with every passing day and ultimately one fine day it will surpass the satisfaction that is derived from the money he is making. There is some truth in the "Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility". After all, it is empirically proven.

When that day comes, what do you think will happen ? One of three things, I say. One, he quits and moves to another job which he likes better but pays a lot lower. Two, he puts up with the frustration, takes is out on his family & friends and continues with the job. Three, he finds another job which he doesnt hate as much, but at the same time doesnt pay that much lower. One of his needs is either ignored or both his needs are compromised.

This is a simple example with just two needs. Extrapolate to a real life situation which has a zillion needs cropping up from every nook and corner. How can anyone possibly handle this situation ? There will always be some amount of dissatisfaction. There will always be some amount of depression. There will always be some amount of hate.

Pareto's law applies. 80% of happiness comes from 20% of activities.

Of course, every rule has exceptions. There will be people who only do what they love and with no compromise.

We all live in the hope of becoming part of that exception.

An exception where 100% of satisfaction comes from 100% of activities.

Speech written for V by Wachowski Brothers

2007-10-15T09:53:00.000-07:00

"This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is it vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished, as the once vital voice of the verisimilitude now venerates what they once vilified. However, this valorous visitation of a by-gone vexation, stands vivified, and has vowed to vangquish these venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition.

The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose vis-a-vis an introduction, and so it is my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V."

Some of my favourites, not in any order of preference

2007-10-13T10:55:00.000-07:00

"Veni, Vidi, Vici" - Julius Ceasar. More popularly known as "I came, I saw, I conquered"

"It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are fool than to open it and remove all doubt" - Mark Twain

"Always forgive your enemies, nothing annoys them as much" - Oscar Wilde

"Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative" - Oscar Wilde

"I am not young enough to know everything" - Oscar Wilde

"Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious" - Oscar Wilde

"Only the shallow know themselves" - Oscar Wilde. Got a soft corner for this one.

"The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it" - Oscar Wilde

"Illusion is the first of all pleasures" - Oscar Wilde

"Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake" - Napolean Bonaparte

"There is only step from the sublime to the ridiculous" - Napolean Bonaparte

"The price of greatness is responsibility" - Sir Winston Churchill

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it" - Aristotle. Also this one.

"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted" - Albert Einstein

"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one" - Albert Einstein

Wonder what he really meant

2007-10-13T10:30:00.000-07:00

"Only the dead have seen the end of war" - Plato

Not many would be really familiar with this quote, including me. Not until the release of Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down in 2001. Interestingly there is no documented proof that this quote appears in any one of Plato's dialogues. Anyway, I'm not interested in verifying the authenticity of this attribution.

Irrespective of who might have originally come up with this quote, it is most certainly an interesting one.

There is always something to fight about. There is always a conflict of interest.

After all, "The purpose of all war is peace" - St. Augustine. Cant help but accept the innate truth in that quote.

I found the connection

2007-10-05T11:20:00.001-07:00

Ockham's Razor

The most cited version of the Razor as found in Ockham's work is Plurality ought never be posed without necessity.

This is a principle attributed to the 14th century English logician and Franciscan friar, William of Ockham.

Paraphrasing, the razor sounds something like, "All things being equal, the simplest solution tends to be the right one". To be a little more practical, when there are multiple theories competing to explain a phenomenon the theory which contains the least number of assumptions should be chosen.

As I have mentioned in one of my previous posts (Yes or No, Right or Wrong), This is the Simplicity of True Genius at work. I didn't know what it was called then. I do now.

Try this if you want to know more.

God is who I think he is

2007-10-02T01:27:00.000-07:00

Before you read on, none of the below mentioned is an effect of me reading or watching "The DaVinci Code". I dont want Dan Brown to get ahead of himself. I personally feel that book is one of the most over rated pieces of fiction ever written.

The 14th century church divides sin into two types:

Venial - forgiven through the sacrament of Confession.
Capital - meriting damnation.

In the later part of the 6th-century A.D., St. Gregory the Great (d. 604) in his work Moralia in Job, introduced the seven deadly sins.

Seven deadly sins. To make it sound more melodramatic, Capital Vices or Cardinal Sins.

Lust (Latin, luxiria) - Depraved thought, unwholesome morality, desire for excitement, or need to be accepted or recognized by others
Gluttony (Latin, gula) - Thoughtless waste of everything, overindulgence, misplaced sensuality, uncleanliness, and maliciously depriving others. Marked by refusal to share and unreasonable consumption of more than is necessary, especially in the case of food or water
Greed (Latin, avaritia) - A strong desire to gain, especially in money or power. Disloyalty, deliberate betrayal, or treason, especially for personal gain or when compensated. Scavenging and hoarding of materials or objects.
Sloth (Latin, acedia) - Apathy, idleness, and wastefulness of time. Laziness is particularly condemned because others must work harder to make up for it. Cowardice or irresponsibility. Abandomment.
Wrath (Latin, ira) - Inappropriate [unrighteous] feelings of hatred and anger. Denial of the truth to others or self. Impatience with the law, or seeking revenge outside of justice. Unnecessary vigilanteism.
Envy (Latin, invidia) - Grieving spite and resentment of material objects, accomplishments, or character traits of others, or wishing others to fail or come to harm.
Pride (Latin, superbia) - Pride is known as the father of all sins. Pride is a desire to be more important or attractive to others, failing to give credit due to others, or excessive love of self.

Since i took the trouble of digging up the seven sins, i thought i might as well go the distance and dig up the seven virtues as well.

The Seven Virtues were derived from the Psychomachia ('Contest of the Soul'), an epic poem written by Aurelius Clemens Prudentius (c. 410) entailing the battle of good virtues and evil vices. The intense popularity of this work in the Middle Ages helped to spread the concept of Holy Virtue throughout Europe. Practicing these virtues is alleged to protect one against temptation from the Seven Deadly Sins, with each one having its counterpart.

The virtues ranked in ascending order of sanctity:

Chastity (Latin, virtus) - opposes lust. Courage and boldness. Embracing of moral wholesomeness and achieving purity of thought through education and betterment.
Abstinence (Latin, frenum) - opposes gluttony. Constant mindfulness of others and one's surroundings; practicing self-control, abstention, and moderation.
Diligence (Latin, industria) - opposes sloth. A zealous and careful nature in one's actions and work. Decisive work ethic.
Liberalty (Latin, liberalitas) - opposes greed. Generosity. Willingness to give. A nobility of thought or actions.
Patience (Latin, patientia) - opposes wrath. Forebearance and endurance through moderation. Resolving conflicts peacefully, as opposed to resorting to violence.
Kindness (Latin, humanitas) - opposes envy. Charity, compassion, friendship, and sympathy without prejudice.
Humility (Latin, humilitas) - opposes pride. Modest behavior, selflessness, and the giving of respect.

Restraint is the keystone of the seven holy virtues. The other holy virtues are created through selfless pursuits:

Valour — Pursuit of Courage and Knowledge

Generosity — Pursuit of Will

Diligence — Pursuit of Ethics

Patience — Pursuit of Peace

Kindness — Pursuit of Charity

Humility — Pursuit of Modesty

Several of these virtues interlink, and various attempts at causal hierarchy have been made. For example, restraint is implied in patience, as well as humility and most of the others. Each sin is a particular way of applying heroic attributes.

Prudentius probably wrote about seven virtues only because St. Gregory came up with the seven sins. This is very much in keeping with the concept of duality.

Its amazing. The complex nature of the schema that was developed in cross referencing each of these attributes.

Why did i type all that ?? 'Cos i got curious. Where does the concept of God fit into any of the above mentioned ??

I believe God is a notion. God is the quintessential human being that our forefathers made out to be. God is an icon that we should aspire to be. Faith is a social norm. The constant propagation of faith has made it conventional wisdom. With time, the true purpose of its creation has been forgotten and has been replaced with malicious undertones.

One should not blindly have faith. One should understand and then believe.

I've decided .....

2007-10-02T01:15:00.000-07:00

You try to keep in touch with friends. You mail every once in a while. You call once in a while. You message once in a while and what not. The friend replies every once in a while, but only replies. Meaning your friend always only reacts.

It can mean one of two things. One, you are an idiot wasting your precious time on people who dont deserve it. Two, your friend thinks he/she is morally superior and is immune from the responsibility that goes into maintaining a friendship. Quite possibly even both of these things.

Of course, everyone has priorities. In an environment which has more than one participant, like a friendship, it is important that the priorities of the parties involved be reasonably similar. A time lag is perfectly understandable. A lack of initiative is inexcusable.

You have to decide for yourself how to handle this. I have decided.

Manufactured Reality

2007-09-28T20:15:00.000-07:00

A model is a set of rules that defines the relationship between two or more states of existence. In the most common and simplest of cases, there is quite often a causal relationship between these states. There is always a cause and there is always an effect. There is always a stimulus and there is always a response. To be a little more accurate, the simplest case would be when there is only one cause which can lead to only one effect. The model gets a little complicated when we have more than one cause which can have an impact on the one effect.

But we are never content knowing that there is an impact. There is almost a pathological need to dissect the model and try to understand the nature of impact that each cause has on the effect. It is in the nature of man to question everything. Of course there will be exceptions to this rule. There will be people who are content not knowing things. I'm generalising, where will we be without generalisations. I'll get back to the topic before I diverge any further.

When we have multiple causes which can impact the effect, how do we study the impact of each individual cause on the effect ? Simple, we make assumptions. Lets say we have two causes which form the input factors to the model and the model outputs only one effect. The effect is a function of the two causes. In order to understand the impact that each cause has on the effect, we make an assumption that one of the causes remains fixed and the other is changing. The value of one of the inputs, to the model, is fixed and the other is varied to see how the effect, or output of the model, reacts to the change.

Once a relationship has been established between this varying input and the output, the same process is carried out with the second input keeping the first one constant. Ceteris Paribus, as the guys who invented the Latin language called it.

Please note, I'm using the word "input" and "cause" interchangeably just as I'm using "output" and "effect" interchangeably.

People mostly only remember the relationship that has been established between the input and the output and there is probably a brief mention of the assumptions made while arriving at the relationship. Of course, most of them are carried away by the newly found and pay less attention to the newly flawed.

Enough has been said about the inputs, the outputs and the models. Lets talk about the not-so-commonly-talked-about assumptions.

One fundamental fact which most researchers tend to ignore is, the relationship(s) derived are only as good as the model and the model is only as good as the assumptions on which it is built. If the assumptions are completely baseless and unrealistic, there is a good chance that the assumptions will never hold good and can never be practically achieved. Which means the test environment which is a fundamental requirement for establishing the relationship can never be created. Although the world seems perfect and everything falls into place on paper, when it comes to practice, its a whole new ball game.

Economics, simply called the Study of Human Behaviour, is the biggest contribution that has resulted from the evolution of social sciences. The economy or the people are affected by multiple factors at any point in time. The learned people before my time have managed to study the various factors and their effect on economy or people. All such studies are done using the same scientific approach outlined earlier in the post. Only problem being, the assumptions are all faulty. Pretty much every basic theory in economics which is currently being preached religiously by the academic fraternity is fundamentally flawed. The flaw being, the assumptions on which these theories have been devised are never practically achievable.

Law of Demand and Supply is a perfect example. Law of demand states if the price of a product is high, there will be lower demand, ceteris paribus. Law of supple states if the price of a product is high, there will be high supply as more suppliers would like to take advantage of the high price, ceteris paribus. One law is the inverse of the other. It's the law of supply and demand together that determines the equilibrium state where quantity produced, price demanded and consumer requirement tend to complement each other.

Ceteris Paribus is used in the above mentioned laws in order to isolate the price effect on the quantity produced. Other factors which can affect quantity such as consumer preference for the product and the availability of substitute products etc have been comfortably assumed as non existent or more realistically have been assumed as being constant.

That is never the case in reality. Consumer preference changes all the time. There are new products being introduced in the market all the time. The assumptions never hold and hence the laws are never completely fool proof. I can confidently extrapolate this to most of the theories that have been derived over the years.

In the famous words of Albert Einstein, "Reality is an illusion, albeit a very persistent one".

Reality does not exist. We only live in our perception of reality.

We live in Manufactured Reality.

Truth will set you free

2007-09-24T20:15:00.000-07:00

Having said that, how many of us are truly free ? If it was that easy, how come we see so many people not telling the truth. I'm guessing there is more to it. What qualifies as a lie here ? Telling the truth but not the whole truth or not telling anything at all or a blatant plain vanilla lie ? Is a white lie better than a not-so-white lie ?

Obviously there is some kind of benefit that is derived from lying. A lie protects something or someone. People lie probably because in one or more ways it acts in their best interest. I strongly believe that all individuals are intrinsically capable of acting in their best interest. Hence leading to the conclusion, everyone has the potential to lie.

Sure, telling the truth makes you guilt free but at what cost. The truth will probably help you sleep better at night but only because you have spoilt someone elses.

For as long as one can live with the dead weight of not telling the truth, I suppose one can allow for benefits from lying to further one's self interest. But one thing is for sure, you can never tell the truth without hurting the one's you love.

What a rush !!!!!!

2007-09-23T23:33:00.000-07:00

Pulse starts racing as the pace quickens. The curves are beautiful. I can feel the tightness all around me. There is a single minded purpose that is driving all my motor functions. There is a sense of excitment, thrill, and exhilerating pleasure. I can feel it peaking.

5 seconds ...
10 seconds ...
15 seconds ...
....... Here is comes, 150 kmph.

The mind tells me to back off but the heart wants to keep going. I force myself to pull back. Enjoying the moment, soaking in sublime bliss.

What a rush !!!!

Time is the healer, or is it really ??

2007-09-20T07:12:00.000-07:00

Murphy's law states, "Left to themselves, things will go from bad to worse" or something close to that. Isn't this a nice little contradiction.

The human body is very resilient and the human mind is very smart. Both of which can come back from almost anything. But the mind controls the body and hence the mind is what matters. You control the mind, odds are you will have control over your body.

Lets say, you break a leg one day and the next day you crack your skull. On the second day, which of the two are you more likely to feel ? I say you will feel your head hurting a lot more than your leg. It is not that your leg is better and the pain has reduced. The brain registers pain in the same order of it's occurrence. This is the case not only with physical injuries, but also emotional. The major difference being, physical injuries heal completely with no lasting effects.

The mind is possessed by acts in chronological order. Given enough time and given the nature of man, there will be multiple occasions which lead to emotional pain. Something bad happens ten years ago and something bad happens today, which of the two is more likely to affect you today ?

You break up with your love partner for whatever reason. You have a fight one fine day, you part ways, don't speak with each other for over a year. Another fine day, you run into each other at a party hosted by a common friend. Does the passage of a year make things better ? Do you not feel the pain ? Do you feel any less stupid or guilty, as the case may be ? Lets say no. If the two of you had met inadvertently after two years, will it make a difference ? Three years ? .... Ten years ?

Time only masks the pain. Time only helps you temporarily forget the pain. Time does nothing to heal the hurt. Time only gives you the illusion of normalcy.

Doing things changes things. Not doing things leaves things exactly as they were.

Motives, Actions and Judgment

2007-09-20T06:43:00.000-07:00

Some guy killed another guy because he looked at him sideways.
Some guy killed another guy because he looked at the idol of his god sideways.

What do you think society will call the guy who killed the other guy ?

The first guy will probably be called a psychopath and the second guy will probably be called a religious fanatic. Of course if you are a filthy rich psychopath, you could spend time in a Class A jail with all modern day luxuries, attend court once a month and let you hair turn gray in peace. Do I need to say anything at all for the other guy ? He'll probably make bail, compete in the next election and become a member of parliament. Anyway, that's not what I want to rant about. That's for another time.

The act is common but the perspectives are so different. A murder is a murder, no matter how people tend to brand it. What is different is the motive behind the act of murder. For the guy who committed the murder, his motives had everything to do with his actions. For the people on the outside, the motives had everything to do with their judgement.

It's almost never what you are, it's pretty much always what people think you are.

You kill one, you are a murderer. You kill a million, you are a conqueror. Go figure.

Yes or No, Right or Wrong ......

2007-09-18T08:30:00.000-07:00

Imagine what would happen if every crimal trial could end in only one of two ways ? Every judgement would be so simple. Be warned, just because a judgement is simple it does not mean it is any less difficult.

Life without the gray areas. You break the law, you die. No mercy, no quarter, only death. Simplicity of true genius, I say.

I'm picking on the criminal justice system only because it's a convenient analogy. I do have a few lawyer friends, but this has nothing to do with them.

Shit hits the fan when we introduce varying degrees of right and wrong. In other words, we begin to compromise.

Is robbing a house less wrong than raping a girl which is less wrong than committing a murder ? One gets a few months in prison with a fine, the other probably a few years in prison and the last one probably more than just a few years in prison, say life imprisonment.

Let me make this a little simpler. Lets work on the assumption that the criminals are caught, properly prosecuted and sentenced. I'm removing the probability of capture from the equation. Any unwarranted assumption is bad science, but since this is a blog i'm not being as stringent.

I'm not sure what people can infer from this, but I see economics. Rather simple micro economics actually. If the benefits from committing the crime outweigh the risk in committing the crime, that crime will continually be committed. The equation tilts overwhelmingly in favour of committing crimes especially if I remove the assumption that all criminals are caught etc etc. This is a lot closer to reality.

I distinctly remember this from my college days, NOTHING IS EVER FREE. If you don't pay, then somebody else does. How is that being fair ?

What if we always pay the ultimate price? Nothing comes cheap, no compromise. You break the law, you die. I'm not talking about a neat execution where the criminals are granted a last wish, a last meal and then hung by the neck until death. I'm talking a gory death. I'm talking cutting the head off and returning only the headless corpse to the families. Sounds barbaric doesn't it ?

Do you think anything less dramatic is capable of coercing change ? Change has to happen not only at an individual level, it should also happen at the mass level. A person is smart, but people are generally stupid. To convince the people, you need something equally compelling. One high profile case with this law in effect is all it would take. With the current technology, high definition satellite transmission, people would be able to practically taste the brain matter.

It is very tempting to underestimate the power of stupidity and the power of fear. Fear will overcome stupidity any day, hands down. An attack on the most primal of man's instincts, survival, is bound to get a lot of attention.

I hate repeating myself but i'll make an exception here, Simplicity of true genius.

There will always be an argument that fear is not a permanent solution, it'll never bring a sense of peace. But it will bring order and considering the current state of affairs it will more than suffice.

Imagine all the accused in the mumbai hit and run cases are sentenced to death. How many people will still have the guts to drink and drive on the streets ?

I can already hear the human activists screaming their guts out. I only say, save it for those who are wrong fully punished. None of the others deserve a break.

This one is for myself

2007-09-17T21:21:00.000-07:00

"I'm no Angel" by Dido

If you gave me just a coin for every time we say goodbye
Well I'd be rich beyond my dreams, I'm sorry for my weary life
I know I'm not perfect but I can smile
And I hope that you see this heart behind my tired eyes
If you tell me that I can't, I will, I will, I'll try all night
And If I say I'm coming home, I'll probably be out all night
I know I can be afraid but I'm alive
And I hope that you trust this heart behind my tired eyes
I'm no angel, but please don't think that I won't try and try
I'm no angel, but does that mean that I can't live my life
I'm no angel, but please don't think that I can't cry
I'm no angel, but does that mean that I won't fly
I know I'm not around each night
And I know I always think I'm right
I can believe that you might look around
I'm no angel, but please don't think that I won't try and try
I'm no angel, but does that mean that I can't live my life
I'm no angel, but please don't think that I can't cry
I'm no angel, but does that mean that I won't fly.

What if ......

2007-09-16T13:33:00.000-07:00

your alter ego is of the opposite sex ? Does that person become your soul mate ? Me being a he, my alter ego will henceforth be referred to as she.

She should complete me. Isn't that what conventional wisdom is all about - the completely overrated concept of equillibrium ? If she is everything I am not, the two of us would be made for each other. What is she ? The absence of every trait that makes me, me ?

Lets see now, we'll never like the same things. We'll never agree on anything. All life would be a compromise. This is like Game theory. One person's loss becomes another person's gain. A perfect zero sum game. My misery becomes her happiness and vice versa.

Do opposites really attract ?

Beneath the glossy veneer of this irrationally romantic illusion lies the harsh reality that most people tend to comfortably ignore.

She wont complete me. She will end up pissing me off and i'll end up returning the favour. Not neccessarily in that order.

If she is perfect, just to reinforce my initial assumption - she is my alter ego and not a person, (it's really easy for people to get carried away with this line, so i'm being just a little cautious) as in she is everything I am not - I can never love her, but given the right circumstance(s) I can come to hate her.

Life with her will always be like Game theory, but it should never be a perfect zero sum game. All her misery should not become my happiness or vice versa.

If a little of her misery becomes a lot of my happiness AND a little of my misery becomes a lot of her happiness, now that is a she, I will definitely be interested in. For this to happen, she should never be perfect.

She should never be everything I am.
She should never be everything I am not.
She should always be something I am and something I am not.

Who is she ??

If I ever write a book ......

2007-09-14T03:50:00.000-07:00

Not a bad idea. My one chance to make an impression on this pathetic, miserably misled world. Me likey. I decide to take it further.

What will be the name of my book ? I wouldn't like to make it sound very profound. It might scare people away from reading it. Atleast the title needs to be appealing. I cant think of a name.Ahaa. Something clicks in my head. I think, what if I dont name my book ? The title of my book would be - Untitled. Excellent. I like it.

What should I write about ? I consider the broad genre of topcis. Fiction - no. Religion - no. Philosophy - no. Biography - no. Autobiography - Hmm (I think) ... no. I cant think of an appropriate topic. Thats when I decide to create my own topic. Something peculiar, which a majority of whom we call rational people would find irrational. Thats where i decide to leverage my ability to write ad hoc statements. I have the audacity to think i can get away with it.

The next phase. I need to add form, structure and substance. I have no idea what that means. Typed it 'cos it sounds cool. Another thought springs in my head. I think, what if I dont write anything in my book ? I try to imagine.

I put myself in the place of a reader entering a book store looking for the latest publication. The reader sees a book named - Untitled. The reader is curious. The reader picks up the book and opens it to see what the book is about. The first page is blank. The reader doesnt think too much of it as most books have a blank first page. The reader flips to the second page. Finds that also to be a blank page. The reader turns to the third, fourth, fifth page - all blank. The reader quickly brushes through the entire book. Finds the entire book to be blank. The reader stops to think. Maybe its a printing error and that copy was placed on the stands by mistake. Puts that copy aside and picks up the next copy. The reader, after the first experience, is quick to realise that even the second copy is all blank. Thats the point where the reader thinks - its a prank. The reader puts the book down, calls the writer (ironically), namely me, an insane little #$%^@# and leaves.

I come back to reality.

I realise thats exactly what i'm looking for. A book which most rational people would think is irrational.

Ahaa, I'm a genius.

The poet in me ... or so I like to think

2007-09-14T03:47:00.000-07:00

the subtle submergence of silken veneer brings forth the facade, a visage that deceives ...
a venial offense forgiven by the sacrament of confession ...
the cardinal vice that can veer a man's sights ...
the opulent charm of fully blossomed purple ...
i offer my enamored self to your comely virtue ...

wrote that for a friend of mine ... not sure if i used the right words or even if the metaphors mean what i intended them to ... kinda liked it ... putting it here.

Why don't we write letters anymore ?

2007-09-12T06:00:00.000-07:00

Let me guess - Email is way too cool. Mobile phones are cheap. Lets all embrace technology and allow ourselves to be consumed by it.

Sure. I've heard the talk about how technology has brought the world closer. Who would have thought of outsourcing if not for technology and not to mention generations being brought into this world not knowing what they have missed. India vs. Pakistan playing not in a cricket match, not a hockey match, not on any open air field, but in a virtual world of 3d games.

What happened to the good old blood, sweat and guts theme ? What happened to the personal touch ?

It is in the nature of man to seek out the path that yields the maximum return with least possible effort. Simple cost benefit ratio. Lets see now. Writing a letter vs. sending an email. Cost benefit reveals the following:

Cost(s) associated with Writing a letter:

=> You need paper. Jeez, who uses those things anymore.

=> You need a pen. The 16 year old's of right now don't know what that is, something to do with exams being conducted on a computer. The concept evades me.

=> Once the above mentioned items are in possession, there is of course the archaic, time consuming, physical act of writing.

=> You do need some semblance of grammer when you write to make sense, which means more of an effort in performing the physical act which is labour intensive as is.

=> Of course you need the envelope, the stamp and the complete postal address. Yes, "postal address" exists. Address does not always mean, who@idontcare.whatever. (this thing actually hyperlinks automatically, you see what i'm talking about)

=> To top it all of, the act of walking, jogging, running, riding or driving to a post box and posting the letter.

Benefit(s) associated with Writing a letter:

=> The person reading the letter gets to see your handwriting. Considering that the physical act of writing has not been performed in a long time, it is bound to be horrendous. Why do I feel this should also go in the cost section. In the interest of fairness, i'll leave it here. Handwriting, as sad as it may be, is a little more personal than electronic characters on a screen.

Now, lets try the same thing with email.

Cost(s) associated with Typing an Email:

=> You need a computer, laptop, or whatever cool gadget that allows you to send an email. (Possible arguement: C'mon who doesn't have one of these things at home, work, in the mobile.)

=> You need an internet connection or whatever cool technology that has replaced it. (Possible argument: Oh please, who has a computer or whatever without one of these things to go with it.)

Really cant think of anything else to put in here. But trust me, the benefits thingi is going to be a lot better.

Benefits(s) associated with Typing an Email:

=> It's probably easier to own a computer now than to set up a mailbox outside your home.

=> You dont have to be educated to type an email. Nobody uses the English language to type an email. Some sort of pseudo written english thing has taken over. Really not sure what this lingo is called even. (u get dis!!!)

=> You can send the same email to more than one person at the same time. Cool huh.

=> You can set rules, put your email in different places, chooe to ignore some. All automatically. Sounds like a secratary's job back in the 60's.

=> No more envelopes, stamp, postal address, nor the act of finding a post box. The "SEND" button conquers all. (It actually only takes care of the post box part but you get my drift right ??)

I could go on, but then i'd be stating the obvious.

So, do I still write letters ? The answer is no. Why ?? Not because of the cost benefit stuff I typed out just now. My equations are different.

Benefit:
I get to communicate with people. There are few amongst people, at large, whom I dont communicate with, but then i'm not typing this post for them. So, I couldnt care less.

Cost:
What cost ?? Approx Rs. 1/- per MB of data transfer is cheap.

I get to overcome my guilt for not having time to keep in touch with people I like using the sheer economic gains that can only be attained with the use of technology.

Thats why I dont write letters anymore.

Sciences and Man

2007-08-07T20:30:00.000-07:00

“The only way to overcome temptation is to give in to it” – Oscar Wilde, Picture of Dorian Gray

At the onset it would seem like an irrelevant statement to the topic at hand. On the contrary, it has everything to do with the topic being discussed here. To dwell into the psychological realm of human kind clearly falls outside the purview of this post, but to try and understand the circumstances that determined the course of human development is the ultimate purpose of this post.

At a holistic level, I will attempt to articulate the connection between natural sciences and social sciences. George Soros in his Theory of Reflexivity talks about the same undeniable connection between the two, which he also successfully tested with the stock market as the test arena and the various participants as the subjects.

Man is driven by needs and wants. There is a fundamental difference between need and want. A need is something which is essential for man’s survival. A want is more of a luxury, something that manifests itself when the primary urge for the need has been completely satisfied.
For example: A man “needs” food for survival. A man “wants” pizza for a meal. I think the example is self explanatory.

Man has various different requirements at different points in time. But there is always a reasonably defined path that is followed when the change starts to occur. Darwin, in his theory of evolution, talks about survival of the fittest. That is man’s first and foremost, primary need. Survival, security, sustainability and eventually growth are probably the driving needs for all of man’s actions. These are social needs which attempt to rationalize man’s actions. In this case, man’s actions being the development of natural sciences or, in common parlance, technology.

The growth of technology is driven by man’s obsession to consolidate the satisfaction derived from one level in the hierarchy of needs and eventually to move on to the next. Right from the time when man learnt to make fire down to the latest development in the various area’s of science, the motive has been to consolidate and grow.

When one need has been satisfied, man moves on the next level of need. What we now know as industrialized nations, what we now call as commerce, and what we now see as economy is a result of the development in man’s social needs.

It is man’s social requirement which drives man’s creativity. It is creativity which leads to man’s insuppressible urge for curiosity. Both of which combined have now led us to this point in time where the creativity and the curiosity have overcome their dependence on man’s social needs and have come to exist as a self sustaining force.

It is my opinion that it is the psychological needs of man which has led to the growth of technology. It is also my opinion that mankind is at a stage where the rate at which technology is growing does not commensurate the rate at which man’s social needs are evolving. The ultimate need for man is a feeling of accomplishment, a feeling of satisfaction. That is a void, attempting to fill that void is the reason why we are still left innovating.

Economics in real life

2007-05-17T06:57:00.000-07:00

Business ... Finance ... Politics ... the underlying economics is undeniable. This is pretty cool stuff.