chennai deluge

The unprecedented Chennai rains have wreaked havoc on my beloved city. Here, where I am, all the way around the globe I was originally unaware of the kind of intensity of rains that have been lashing down on Chennai city for the past one month. I make usual ritualistic calls to family in Chennai every morning and I realize right now that almost everyday my mother had sounded her frustration about it. " Haiooo Thiruppiyum mazhai" is what she would say. Having lived for 26 years, I know that even small rains can nearly paralyze parts of the city. For many years, slum dwellers have put up with this chronic problem.

 I remember , I used to use the school bus to travel to and fro my T Nagar to KK Nagar  when I was in primary school. I remember being stuck on congested roads for hours together when it rained. My father would drive his scooter through the school bus route looking for us. In 2005, the Adyar and Saidapet river swelled and the catchment lakes opened leading to flooding in KK Nagar area and adjoining places. Thankfully, at that time the damage was less serious. But I remember, a friends house being infested with mice and various rodents when they got back. The rodents never left!

For the first time, the rains that impounded have made a virtual island of all parts of the city. I am seeing visuals of Sinagra chennai mainly on Facebook and am alarmed at the extent of the damage. I cannot help but wonder what went wrong. Here are some of my thoughts.

1. Global warmimg.
 Yes. Global warming is very much a cause for catastrophes like this. I have also read that tropical climates are more prone to reacting to minuscule changes to the planets ecosystem and thermosphere.  Therefore while global warming has certainly become an alarming reality for "us" chennaites who are int he tropical belt, it will soon become an imminent danger for the people outside of it. I argued with myself about how USA is able to predict its microclimate weather with such amazing accuracy, while we are not able to foresee a catastrophic torrential downpour. My elementary research leads to me understand that tropical cyclones such as the one that TN witnessed recently are prone to be unpredictable and current models are limited on accuracy. Global warming adds to this unpredictability, in general.

The solution: Global warming is a problem that transcends boundaries. As a trendsetter, we must ensure we eco-friendly community behavior.  Avoid plastic, segregate trash, recycle and reuse. Chennai being a sunny city for most part the year, we must explore the option of using solar panels and solar energy for buildings. Design buildings that are sunlight efficient and reduce dependence on electric lighting. Considering the large amount of organic waste that is generated, we could try using bio-electricity for certain purposes.


2. Unplanned development
Years of unscrupulous developmental activity have removed native flora, fauna and most importantly diminished water absorbing soil cover. I am also reading reports of  lake dredging and filling in order to make land for construction of buildings. We should put an end to this immediately. This part requires a lot of dedicated involvement by the government.  I have absolutely no faith in the government and I believe that years of mismanagement by govt officers for personal monetary gain have the left the city in the throes of floods. It is solely the responsibility of the government to ensure uniformity of development and accessibility of resources to every part of the state, so that no one area or city is marginalized. This will ensure not only even population distribution, but will also reduce impact on human and material resources when disaster strikes.

The solution: Awareness campaign on Chennai city's natural resources. Open and intensive engagement with the government authorities can only solve the problem.

3. Improper disaster preparedness/response:
One cannot stop natural calamities from occurring altogether nor can me make a zero risk zone of living for us. In the case of Chennai rains, it has taken atleast a couple of days before the Govt realized that what was happening was a large scale disaster. I have no idea what the govt was thinking. I could see very clearly that Govt authorities had taken no lessons from kashmir or Mumbai floods and have been very lethargic and complacent in dealing with this tragedy. I understand that Chennai has never been victim of large scale rains or flooding of this sort, but the situation was well calamitous enough to warrant swift action from the govt.

Many eminent Chennai personalities have shouldered the massive relief and rescue work and have done what the govt ought to have done. With them thousands of young volunteers joined hands to save the city from drowning. This is truly a model example for our wired world. Facebook and twitter were used to send SOS messages and moderate flow of relief and rescue material. The entire operation was transparent. There was very little chance of misuse of relief and rescue material and such instances were reported real-time on Facebook. This kind of community involvement is ideal for providing help to calamity-stricken people. I have only words of praise for my Chennai vasis!

As an addition, every locality should have a well established communication center and also a  food and fodder reserve. This idea is not uncommon at all. Ancient south indian temples used to maintain huge reserves of grain and fodder to help the community during a disaster. Again, in order to do this effectively a highly competent  administrative machinery in required. This to me looks like a distant dream.Chennai's governing authorities have beyond doubt demonstrated their ineptness and callousness in the management of this disaster. Only the rise of a self-governing civic society will save Chennai from throngs of  both gradual degradation and sudden decimation.

Will the fabric of Chennai stay connected and knit the way it was during the floods or will it go back to its original nonchalance?

Top 15 reminders for me!

                

1.  Chocolate works best under any situation.
2. Your culinary skills no longer kill.
3.  Longer your morning showers, better the day.
4.  Allocate shower time to singing, dancing and thinking-things that we hardly find time for during the day.
5.  Monitor your hair for shades of grey. Be happy for wisdom is soon to set in.
6. Its ok to not keep up your gym promises. Make it up by longer walks and enjoy watching the hustle of people’s activity.  So your mind gets its dose of happiness everyday.
7.  “The world isn’t fair”. You know now that this is an irrefutable truth.
8. Many times, plan A doesn’t work… and plan B doesn’t either.
9. Money matters on money matters! Try to save and try and try...
10. Life is like a trade-in deal and there is always a catch in every deal.
11. Its not bad to be left alone. It’s your “WOW” time.
12. Your quarter-life crisis is nearly over. Enjoy the time till your mid-life crisis sets in.
13. Old buddies are not same anymore but so aren't you. So, if you don't hang out with them like you used to its fine. You can be sure, they still remember you.
14. Life is a rat race, very much. Sometimes, you don't have a choice but to deal with rats.
15. It is ok to not have everything early in life. You can keep yourself busy the rest of your life!

Vishwaroopam...

I excitedly watched Vishwaroopam, just a day after it hit the theaters in USA among a packed and equally enthusiastic audience. Of course, initially most of my excitement stemmed from the fact that I was going to watch Kamal in action in a jam-packed theatre. I don't remember that last time I did something like that.  I enjoyed watching, Kamal as a kathak dancer and I am pretty sure no other actor in the history of Indian (or even ) international cinema would have had such versatile talents. I grew up listening to Kamal sing, dance, fight and romance and I have enjoyed and admired his value as an entertainer.

While most actors/entertainers in the film industry have impassionately stuck to making films with recurrent and cliched themes, Kamal's movies have always been a refreshing out-of-box package. Right from his MMKR (which I watched almost every other day during the lonesome days of my graduate study) and his recent classic thriller, Vishwaroopam. As a young person in my early twenties, I have wondered and contemplated the banal aspects of human life, god and religion and I believe a lot of young and old people would. I was surprised to see that Kamal Hassan could blend classic humor and simplicity with profound meditative questions in Anbe Sivam. I may not agree with him on all his philosophical theories, but I appreciate him for being able to portray them in his art with utmost dexterity.

By banning his magnum opus, Vishwaroopam, simply because it has religious connotations our government and our people have not just shown their irreverence to art but have also proved to themselves to be impertinent bigots. The government by allowing such a ban to persist has yielded to imbecile instincts of bigots instead of creating an air of harmony, by reassuring the masses of the friendly nature of the movie. I read this somewhere -
                         You grow up the day you have the first real laugh at yourself--William Ward
And I think it is time, we grew up as a people.

We cannot afford to endanger our art and our free thinking citizens simply because we have been bullied by vacuum headed bigots. It is time we realized that there are other ways to seen, heard, understood and identified by something other than caste or religion. It is time we let our intellects rule.

Kamal Hassan is not the only victim of bigotry and non-chalance. A lot of people from all classes (from peasants to acclaimed stalwarts) have had to face this war and there will be many more, if Kamal dosen't win this one! And yes, I want Kamal to win, one because he is my "favorite actor" but more so because his victory will be a heartening indication of the existence of progressive elements in our bigoted society and

 for that I will watch the movie again... and maybe again!

Blah Blah Blah....

WHILE I WAS AWAY....

Bright red roses bloomed in my little garden,

The lily pond’s song encored.

Misty mornings and peeping rays,

Starry nights and the silvery moon

Came and went by soon

    While I was away….

Crisp autumn shades colored my little garden,

So did the brilliant bed of snow.

The vivid colors of vibrant spring

and the scent of  summer monsoon

Came and went by soon,

While I was away…

Now my eyes are tired and teary,

Jaded by my lackluster abode.

But, blind they were in their youth

And my little garden….

It is the same no more

Because I was away…

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Its time for redemption...from the wretches of the corrupt bureacucracy that has enslaved us. Anna Hazare's has finally stirred an awakening. Suddenly, we see an otherwise non-chalant crowd pooling up against our money/power mongering politicians.
It is now becoming important for us to sustain the movement against corruption with vehemence and grit.

As usual, the Sonia Gandhi's soporific government has woken up a bit too late. In fact, her late,cliched and farce appeals to Anna Hazare, are indicative of the level of non-chalance her govt possess for the common Indian tax payer. Ever since the Congress and its allies took over, there has been a spate of scams that have potentially looted the country's exchequer. It is preposterous for anyone but Kapil sibal to assume that the 2G specturm was not a scam. Obnoxious was the way the Congress and DMK hooked up back again, after the row once the scam and Raja issue came to light.I wonder why it is not obvious to the Prime Minister , Sonia Gandhi and his cabinet of ministers that they are a part of (and actually foster) a corrupt and inefficient bureacracy.. I would be for one extremely ashamed of myself, I were associated with one. In fact, I am at this point, really am not proud but ashamed of my claim to be Indian. Apart from the Cricket WC, my nation has nothing else to call its own..

Rice at Rs1, but spiralling prices of vegetables and pulses?. Free laptops for students belonging to special sects, but are all our kids having even good elementary schools to study in? Free televsion to everyone, but are we even having the luxury of uninterrupted electricity? I am wondering exactly who cooks up all these silly freebies in their election manifesto..and exactly why?? It is somehow impossible for me to believe that certain of set of homo-sapiens( read Indian policticans?) be so devoid of something called conscience and common sense?..huh!

Celebrate India!!

A world cup win is just the thing that can bring this blog out of its long standing hibernation. What was it about Dhoni and his magical six today, that aroused frenzy and celebrations in the streets of India?!!! It was an aweosme feeling,a conquer Indian sporting world can proudly boast of...!! Here, in this dismal university town, I enjoyed Dhoni's team, in the solitary ambience of my lab office..there was no screaming, no yelling, no-one jumping off seats, when the moment of ultimate acclaim arrived..

Real heroes make history, they take triumph with elegance and humility..Thats what Dhoni and Sachin did today. When Dhoni smashed his winning six, there was just conviction in his eyes. The crowd was uproarious, but there stood the hero of his time with nothing but a humbling smile. The smile said it all! What a balance in attitude!!
He knew he had the winning shot in the world cup,he knew (like they usually say), a billion people had pinned their hopes on him,he knew he'd "finished it", yet he didnt throw off his shirt or react crazily or even bend on his knees..Upright,smiling and gentlemanly!! Now thats an attitude!

Sachin, had happy tears..a man whose lifetime of achievements consummated into that single trophy today..A man,who ruled the cricketing world for nearly 2 decades,King or God or whatever people called him, behaved like a humble mortal today. He said he had "happy tears". Great men do cry..! When they do they humble us ..they make us feel ignominious.. and make us realise the sheer insignificance of our existence ..

For once, I will trash my cynicism and skepticism about the unfair adulation cricketers have got, and the extravagant celebrations over the WC win, I stand in salute to the two wonderful sporting greats of our time, from whom (I never managed to learn cricket), but something more than that...courage,passion and humility!

Kudos to Team India...

A new policy??

After I joined my current firm, as a chemical engineer, gender equality became one of my favorite reads. Essentially because, my firm has very few female engineers and I bet the entire world on what an underutilized bunch we are! Our job involves a lot of “co-ordination” and “spending a lot of time in Plants” and everyone knows of the clichéd rationale that “women are not meant for such things”.
Disproving clichés is not my job. As a matter of fact ,I don’t really care for people who can’t think beyond cliches!!I took up the job, because I was tired of reading books about how reactors work and was terrified of having to limit my technical exposure to a 250 hectare engineering institute.
I was in fact ready to spend time in sticky plants, understand the convoluted activity flows and all the associated messy things. However what I was not prepared for was the kind of resistance I received.
I was, honestly put off by the collective disconcertion of other engineers (mostly men) working with me- I was initially asked to leave early by a regular bus service instead of taking the company cab, so that the other men engineers may get their “own space”. I never really got to know some of the most important details of the project because I consciously feel that information was bypassed either because it was thought I could not handle it or because of some kind of a feigned reticent attitude towards women. On the whole, I had to give 200% of physical and mental effort to get and learn what I wanted. In my place, a male engineer with ¾ th competency and enthusiasm would have had to give a maximum of 100% (or may be less than that).
So, with this entire hullabaloo about 33% reservation for women in the Indian Parliament and my companies grandiose plans to improve the gender ratio, I wonder if the grim reality can be changed. I doubt, if our men would be truly welcoming of equally competent women in their workspace and would be ready to offer more than just glib talk about a “Equalism” and “Women-sensitive workspace”. (For eg. Mentorship) . I am given into greater skepticism about our women, who have self-limited their energy and intellect - to live and work in stereotypical worlds. I wonder how much all these policies (my firm’s initiative included) will truly serve their purpose.
I don’t want to be a pessimist; but Change may not be a “definite certainty” as it usually is for most other issues!!Prove me wrong. I shall only be happy!

HOW THINGS DONT WORK!

From my childhood years I’ve spent much of my precious time trying master the innumerous theses on how things work...
If I remember right there about 4 or 5 volumes of the books and me and my friends would spend hours on the marvelous ways by which man and nature got things to work.

It was only when I had grown up sufficiently I realized that if there is one way by which things can work then there are 10^10 by which they can stop working or not work at all. Am not Murphy’s law votary-forever skeptical about things going right! But yes the impalpable laws of the universe have almost beyond doubt proved to me that by the time something(or) someone works right it has already gone wrong 10^10 times!! To take these electronic gadgets for example, we talk of them working alright when all inside parts are in perfect working conditions and in places meant for them....but the ‘What-ifs’ of it are endless..a malfunction in one. Multiple malfunctions, voltage fluctuations, aging wear and tear and yes, an overenthusiastic or an extra belligerent household, the mischiefs of a boisterous kid or a flash of lightning..Well..And I guess a lot more..! And yes...if you invent ways by which you can make systems fail proof then there are quite a good number of ways that the fail proof systems can fail. And so the overall possibility of things not working only increases..!if you cant get me right think of the infinite number of ways that a well grown adult may do(intentionally/unintentionally) to un-work things that are supposed to be 'child-proof’. I am not sure if there is enough scientific evidence, but truly perfect thing that works well all the time is non-existent...!Clocks that slow down, computers that crash, files that go missing, vehicles that have both power steering and power breaks but only on an average only one of them will work...!

Examples are aplenty for things that don’t work or work wrong...right from transport buses that break down amidst chaotic traffic to optimistic rocket launches that end up as ‘disgraceful’ debacles. So if human kind has to tackle these omnipresent problems with things that don’t work,
We need treatises and theses and dissertations on the numerous ways by which things don’t work rather than documents on the how they do. The latter is by and far meant for the utopia of our dreams and illusions and is not suitable for our ever so imperfect world. The task is a mammoth one, but it is a worthwhile exercise that finds ways of reducing imperfections that surround us. So while the we embark on this magnum opus we shall leave the ‘how things work ‘aficionados to their cloud cuckoo land!

A slice of life in IIT (part 2)

Its been quite long since something eventful happened here in IIT,atleast in 'my life at IIT'. Its only been that tedium of assignments and classes and an added de riguer of a 'Research Project'. I have been trying to think of writing about a real life event that could serve as a worthy sequel to my previous endeavour..and it suddenly happened..




Nothing could be more interesting than writing about..'Cleaning my room' ..The motivation for such an unfrequent phenomenon ,being ,a new entrant in my room.!!I had recently purchased a computer with an enviable configuration..i was proud of its funky looking CPU and all of its assembled parts that i had managed to forage from shops in RICHIE street..!I was determined to give it a place of prime importance in my room...


The operation was meticulously charted out so much so that that these occasional inhabitants like lizards and leaf insects would never be able share my space!


As a first step,I pulled down the clothesline that criss-crossed itself at all unexpected corners..( I remember thinking that a spider could take lessons from me on the buliding of such intractable webs). Then, armed with a borrowed broom and brush...i began the 'Operation Clean up'..



Sweeping my room was quite an arduous task and yeah all the bits and pieces of paper and assorted items strewn around was organised and shelved..



At the end of it...quite a good of number of things fitted into the shelf..and then on the rusted steel placed spread a sheet of cloth..and assembled the computer onto it..

The grand finale of operation clean up was an unforgettable pizza and movie night at my room.
Needless to say, the presence of my computer system and the success of entire operation clean up made my room a regular haunt for pizza and movie nites.

A Slice of Life! at IIT part one!(say?)

It was another day in June. Monsoon had set in kerala and neighboring states and the scorching heat of the Chennai summer had mellowed in into some sort of a warm sunshine. I decided for my part that the change in climate was a good augury for me to begin my project work and started to IIT M.

Although I stayed in Chennai and my home was about 45 min drive from IIT, ‘destination IIT’ was still a difficult task. If had to conserve money I had to take a bus that toured the entire city before reaching IIT and if had to cash in ‘precious’ time I had to rely on Chennai’s auto rickshaws who are known to gouge unscrupulously and use really really filthy language. I have been here for some 21 years(Fancy admitting such a thing!!) and I knew the ways of my city. I was a good haggler and I knew tricks, to keep at bay these notorious auto men.

Convinced of my unbeatable ability to haggle, I took an auto –my first challenge and adventure for the day. I reached IIT in an auto the total cost of the rickety ride being Rs70.I had brought to down from Rs 120 to just about 70 (A humongous achievement by all standards)

On having reached the GC* (of course by the insti bus) I headed straight to Tiffanys (IITS famed restaurant) for a cup of coffee,as was my usual routine. I wouldn’t call their coffee especially stimulating to the tongue,but it had ‘Madrs Degree Coffee’ touch to it,and was sold at a cheap rate of Rs 5 per cup, unlike The café coffee day parlor right across that sold some varieties of coffee at extravagant rates. Some would prefer the CCD as it is called for its ‘atmosphere’-cosy chairs and air conditioning and English music! There is isn’t any of these in tifanys but it had ppl who yapped non stop undisturbed by the din of local FM that runs in the back ground and the periodic yelling of the waiters –‘Sir come AND COLLECT 1 POORI AND MASALA DOSA”..

Coffee done I headed to my room no *** in sarayu hostel. I maintained a room in sarayu hostel for reasons of convenience and stayed here occasionally when work was really taxing. I had originally intended to spend the two years of PG in hostel and visit home less often but I had given up on mess food sometime in the middle of my first yr and started visiting home at an avg of thrice a week… ! IT is always a sense of shock that envelops evrytime I see my room. it wasn’t anywhere close to ‘neat and tidy’-unwashed clothes lay in the bucket crying for care and books and pieces of paper lay on the bed mangled between pillows and bedcover! Nevertheless I still loved my room -it was my own space –my own world….

GC*-gajendra circle! the entry point--some sort of entry point to a confusing maze of deparments and hostels and canteens that are set amidst forests..

***-he..he..he..i wont reveal my room no!

The Chicken That Crossed The road!!

Why did the chicken cross the road? No one knows. But it did so, one fine morning, for reasons best known only to the proverbial chicken.

What happened to the chicken after it crossed the road! Believe it or not. He was on the Chinese side of the border!

Our poor little chicken was in no time surrounded by a group of rifle bearing biped viviparous creatures that promptly took him to their custody and informed the external affairs of the Chinese republic about his transgression. The Ministry of China for its part decided to the handle the issue seriously and notified the Indian govt about Chicken who had stealthily invaded into Chinese territory. The Indian foreign affairs with calculated lethargy replied in’ Black and white’ to the Chinese high command that since there was no evidence of the chicken holding an ‘Indian passport’. He definitely could not be Indian. The foreign affairs ministry of India put forth the theory, that such a chicken which crossed the road was truly non-existent and it was a figment of imagination of the Chinese Bureaucrats who wanted to rake up the “ border Issue’ at the drop of a hat!

The diplomatic formalities and the parleys that ensued are not mentioned here (for the author who has no belief in the cosmetic Bureaucratic procedures of both nations has not bothered to document them). A whole month had passed since the chicken actually crossed the road. World over protests were raised by animal lovers Ngo’s so and so..so and so…for the chicken whom they believed was unduly tortured by the two nations ,and that if the nations could find no end to the political rigmarole , it would compound matters and both would have the pay the price for what they called ‘illegitimate retention of an animal outside its natural habitat for monetary or other forms of Gain’.

All the while Indian Govt proclaimed that its Foreign policy was to ‘Wait and watch’,

while the Chinese govt. took special efforts to befriend Pakistan for overt but unsaid reasons.

The Indian intelligence bureau decided finally that the ‘Chicken Issue’ was now undergoing a transmogrification from a ‘usual’ border issue to one of sub continental destabilization. This forced the Govt of India to persuade China into Bilateral Talks on the 13 th of March. China too accepted this invitation in a’ seemingly’ gracious manner!

The stage was set. The forks were in place! The chicken in the middle and all these bipeds around him .The talks started amid International Hype and hyperbole. Our poor chicken who had survived these horrific times of his life in anguish, breathed easy for a while. He really couldn’t make what they were talking about, until of course someone (I think a Indian Interlocutor) mentioned ‘Chicken tikka Masala’. The suggestion was unanimously agreed upon. Even the Chinese delegates thought it was an appetizing idea .

Our little hero took to his heels. And did the most enigmatic thing he’d always done, much to the curiosity of us fellow humans. He crossed the road! And Why?

its not that bad after all!!?

A week after hostel life:

hey..it really is not that bad!! this hostel life!!

i've been here for two days..and i've just started likin it!!

i ve been a 'home grown' -'listen to mommy' kinda kid for the first 21 yrs of my life!i suddenly realise that i cant be the same nemore!
i cant belive i washed my own clothes and neatly folded them into a compact pile to fit the little cupoard in my room..i hated jobs of this sort at home!! and i used to scorn and frown on my dad who insisted that i do these things at home!

After weekend sojourn at home:

hmmm.i've changed my mind! i love home more..Amma has made delicious lunch for me! it suits my stomach unlike the mess food that gives embarassing burps at wrong hours! and Dad was there with his loud ,commanding voice....
all said and done..Home is where my heart is!

killing time~!!

its the eighteenth of aug 2006..and my computer sez the time is 7.22 am ...but its twelve hours since!!

tat gets me..twelve or thirteen hours behind..to where my friends and my sis have recently left..
the united states of america.!

well i don know what 'substance' i can really write now!..coz i sat thru one hour of TA duty with the patience of an angel..and have no idea how to spend the rest of my time..

i read and re-read my blogs(scanty as they are!) as if it were a ritual mantra!.

in this dismal dept computer facility-dept of chemical engineering...amidst some 28- 30 computers and no humans frequenting this place at this time of the hour..gosh..!!
this gets sick!

this place is definitely what i can call totally 'unhappening';

..i'm stuck here in this place for 4 hrs evry week at around this time in the evening..when the rest of India has fun and watches KANK in evening theaters..

makes life more miserable for me!

a computer with internet connexn can be a great resource...plz!

you there .i heard u say..'yes','ofcourse',' definitely' and things of that kind!
gimme a break .i'm now suffering from terminal disillusionment when to comes how much of your time a computer is worth..

WOOW!!

guess wat..its 7.40 am (by my computer standard time!) and the next person on the slot has arrived..all fresh and smiling!

so that means i can go!!!but by this time i now reached a solution to beating the universal phenomenon of boredom..but that will most probably be my next blog!!

ciao!!
bblog...

brand yourself!

dear blog,

my sincere apologies for your zero input condition for the past few months! i've been on vacation for like a reallly looong time... and real good one too!!

evryone here is absolutely delighted that i'm doing my post graduation at iit ! becoz after 2 years i'll have the iit brand!

almost evryone i've met has told me this thing about iit brand or label!! it has just put me off!

i've never really wanted to be a brand of an institute a clan or community or watever...! and i hated to be tagged an iit stereotype!

somewhere in this whole mess of my life ,i still will want to be myself..my own interests,my likes, dislike and weaknessess...Arrrrrrrrrrgh!

when people talk of iit brand ot label,they forget to view a person as a personality as a whole and paint a picture of his personna in connection to what he does or where he is!
there seems to be an ineradicable ,highly myopic view that excellence is associated with 'what' and 'where' rather just 'how wel'l!

excellence has to be viewed wholistically ...and individualistically...not just based on what one has achieved so far.but based on the greater' unrealised potential' and the motivation to exploit this potential..

well after all this..... it would be better for us to stop institutionalising 'brand' and induvidualise the very rare phenomenon of excellence...

its high time we create an individual brand for ourselves and culitvate some uniqueness in thought and character that defines 'you' and not what you do or where you belong

get a trademark for yourself and be your own brand!!!!

'Fish' for thought!?

I always knew India's politicians were mindless...But just how much?!

here goes...!!!!!

http://www.ndtv.com/morenews/showmorestory.asp?category=National
&slug=MP+minister+in+dock+for+'fishy'+remarks&id=88842

Doc. I'm NOt WeLL

A day ago i was suddenly taken unwell.. it all started with a mild neck sprain and irritation over my eyes..the next morning the neck ache intensified to such a degree that i was able to manage only slight robotic movements and the irritation developed into a nightmarish headache..

I spent the whole of that day on bed expecting to be back to normal..i tried frequent hot water showers..crocin tablets and a few antibiotics..and even resorted to chocolote for stimulationg my tired body..

no sucesss...

That night i begged my mom for immediate treatement.she had assumed that i was trying one of old tactics to avoid work..
" nO " I screamed." i just cn't take it any longer".. by this time my headache was giving me scary vertigos and I pleaded her to take me to the doctor..
my mom, on hearing accounts of my illness,drove me to the local doc..

Like in clinics all over the world the first thing a patient does on arrival is to wait..I was no execption..

A few minutes (or was it hours. i have little idea how long i had waited) the young attenderlet us enter the doc's cabin..

the doc looked at me..and SMILED.in my opinion, my current state of health was supposed to evoke the emapthy of rest of beings in the universe!! and the doc's smlie unnerved me..
'DOctor i'm not well...huh..i have a severe neck ache and a devastating head ache..puff...i cant breathe well..''

' i feel dizzy and like i'm loosing balance...'

i would have listed out a few more ailments and perfected my tone of urgency had it not been for the liitle light on his headgear that shone directly over my face...
soon he ws inserting a stainless steel rod into my nostril and pulling it a bit and focussing light on it..i concluded chinese torture could have been better!

he then pressed the bones over my eyes...AAAAH...this was Massage..

i guessed his clinical examination was over when he pulled out his pen and started scribbling something..he resumed the converstion with my mom on his previous workplace ,job politics etc...(they had been collegues earlier)...while i wondered if doctors undertake special training to get their cryptic handwriting...
He had scribbled 'Alergic rhinitis\allergic brochitis\sinusitis' and some medicines underneath this diagnosis..he then turned the paper and wrote in "ALL CAPS' "EXCERCISE EVERY MORNING"
and then said...

'This is the most important medical treatment ..i must give you.'. with a wry smile on his face..

HMPH...' i grunted to myself..

and as i left i heard him say 'dont forget excercise,lady'

my neck ache has subsided and headache is almost gone. and am strictly following his prescription..but 'the most important treatment'..I WILL DO IT TOMMORROW!! hah..

my first blog!

It is only a week since my hols started and am already bored of it... Incesssant tv watching and orkutting have lost their charm already..!!

Yet this was what I had planned to do in the 2 -months of holidays that I have before me.
2 months is a great deal of time! considering the meagre 1.5-2 week 'vacation' that our college ocassionally let us have.. not much of holidaying was actually done in that time..but it was a blissful 'stay away' from the dismal building and tiresome routine..

After this so called 'Vacation' we would return to our colleges on rickety buses,get through the chaotic traffic and jump into our seats with feinged anticipation.

Survival was a key concept in college..it depends on selective listening to some,on finishing the SUDOKU in the morning paper during class, on geting every detail of the teachers face with accuracy on the Notebook...need less to say lecture time did really help us unleash our creative skills..

Then the attendance session..this is only thing that we all look forward to and signifies the sole purpose of existence in college..getting marked present for sitting through soporific lectures and meaningless rantings is no more than a highest reward for our tenacity..

After 4 years, college wasn't absolutely a bore..it was 'nice' and tats about it... ' nice' is one phenomenal adjective that fits in mysteriously everywhere ... and is ,in a way, indicative of the wirter's ambivalence about an isssue !!

Now, done with my final semester examinations reminiscences of that the college life that I have left behind and specualtions of the life ahead continue to haunt me....
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You have just read my first blog..

I am not being modest if call myself a good writer.I am blogger by chance..and am used to dishing out articles at the pace of the provervbial snail..yet. I must mention that I have started to blog to keep my creative afflatus afloat..however, as a blogger ,I hope to develop and retain my commitment to regular blogging..

thanks and regards..