5 Things About Life

1. It is never fair. Never ever. Well, may be at times when it is unfair to your enemies, or people you hate so much that you wish them death.

2. You always need help. Wherever you go, and whatever you do, no matter how intelligent or rich you are, you always need someone's help.

3. There's never enough time. You might be the kind of person who loves to sleep, or like me, who hates sleeping. Either way, you never get enough time.

4. You will not be understood at times. It was the same even with Einstein. An Einstein could only understand Einstein. And since most people are no where near like you, be ready to have heated arguments at least 5 times a week. At times you would be crazy, just like Einstein, and you wouldn't find an Einstein who would listen and understand you.

5. Don't believe in destiny. Believe me. Hahaha.. OK don't believe me. It's just a concept. It just doesn't work in real life. I wasn't destined to write this post. I wasn't sleepy, and was thinking about life.

Things I hate about gyming

Waking up early everyday!!!

- Waking up early each and every day, while the wife's alarm clock still has an hour to ring.

- Putting on and off my shoes and socks. That's like 10 precious minutes of my morning.

- Reaching the gym. Each second before I enter the door, I think of skipping it that day.

- Even after I reach the gym so early, there are already so many people lined up near the treadmills.

- Right after I enter the gym, all the pretty girls are about to finish their workout.

- There's always a queue in front of the water cooler, especially when I am out of breath, and my throat has gone completely dry.

- I follow all the rules of the gym, while the more muscular guys do whatever they want.

- My determination for the day just drops off after the first 20 minutes of working out.

- When I am ready to leave, more pretty girls start pouring in through the doors.

- Just when my determination bounces back, my muscles give up.

Every day is a new day. I have been a bit irregular at the gym for the last few days. And I am planning to get back to my usual routine from tomorrow. That's going to be hard though after so many days of abstinence. So, need to sleep early, and set the alarm back at 5:00 AM. Good night.

Posted via Blogaway

30,000 kms of riding. What next!!!

Riding away

Its been close to 4 years that I got this machine. And 30k kilometres doesn't sound that big. The longest distance that we covered in a day was about 370 kms in a day. And the other day, on my way back home. So, the longest trip was about 750 kms in 2 days, although we had a 3 day break in between. The plains, hills, the sun and the rains, made that ride, one to remember forever. I keep planning my next long trip all the time, but something or the other always comes up. Monsoon is here, and I really like riding in the rains. I have started liking the splashes of drain water from other vehicles somehow. I don't actually love them, but I don't care about them these days. Perhaps, they are a part of the package.

I am 31 and I am married. So are the friends. Everyone is busy. The bachelors of my batch have become extinct. Some of them still jump at the idea of going on a bike trip in the rainy seasons. But schedules keep clashing. And some of them have upgraded to 4 wheels. I still haven't yet. And they grin at the idea of a bike trip. For one reason, they wouldn't want to get wet or get sweat. The other understandable reason; they spent loads to be behind the wheel. Some of them wouldn't even mind sleeping in the car. A ride on 4 wheels is also equally enjoyable, its just that I am still young for that kind of comfort. To remind once again, I am 31 now.

On my 31st birthday, I wanted to buy myself a bicycle. Well, go on, laugh away on me. But I was serious. And still pondering on the idea. The only thing I am worried about is the crazy drivers of the city roads. But other than that, I think I should just go and buy one right now. Why am I not doing it then? Frankly, I have my doubts. To remind you again, I am 31, but I still feel young like a 25. OK, that was really funny. Go on, have a LOL moment. But I have a few examples to refer to. There were at least 2 of my friends who had bought bicycles in their early twenties. They were serious for about a month, but they gave up soon enough. So I am not sure if I would be using that motor less vehicle for long. But, nevertheless, I think I will take the risk. A part of the package again?

And now that I have blogged about this, Google will show me ads about buying a new bicycle and also buyers for my old bike. Are there any bicycles with odometers? I would really want to know how many kilometers I do in the first month. A speedometer is an added bonus. A phone charger looks like an indispensable add-on. And the most important of all, a good and secured locking system. At some point of time in the near future, if I still find myself into this bicycling stuff, I might be interested in buying a Go Pro for my trips, and a few safety gears for those rough terrain tracks. Looks like I need to do some research on all this.

Posted via Blogaway

I want peace

I want peace. I want inner peace. Complete silence. I shouldn't be able to hear even a pin drop. I want my ears go temporarily deaf.

I want some silence. No sounds at all. For a few minutes at least!!!

When I concentrate hard enough on something, even a mosquito flying by my ears irritate me. And that's exactly the time when someone is at the door hitting the bell frantically. And everybody else in the house is busy. And then the phone starts yelling.

This is a conspiracy. And it happens all the tune with me. Grrrrr...

Silence. I need absolute silence. Not even the sound of my own breathing, for a few hours at-least....

Posted via Blogaway

Errrr.... I am lagging behind

I was supposed to write every week. I think I have missed one post. Or may be two. At times when time itself is so precious, we shouldn't ponder over past things. I am not going back and checking how many actually I have missed. But not anymore :) until I take a break again.

The first rains of the year, was quite a drizzle. I cannot express how much I love the rains. And the first rains are always special. And I make sure to get drenched at the first chance I have, and I did that today too. Well, not a deliberate attempt to get wet, but it was enough to set my mood for the weekend.

The week has gone by, and there's been so much noise on the television channels, Facebook, Twitter, and the likes. Politics is in the air. This time around, it's going t be really interesting. Cricket, pre-Sachin Retirement, was the first craze of  us Indians, and now, the game of Politics has been getting the highest TRPs all across the country. The only difference is, Cricket was famous for Sachin Tendulkar for his brilliance, while Politics is, at-least for some, is famous for Rahul Gandhi, again, for his, unmatched presence of mind, public speaking and of-course his thesis on Rocket Science.

So, I had been trying all these days to clock 30 minutes for a 5 km walk + run. Took me close to an year to get here. Last week, I achieved this little feat, declared this on Facebook. Not much likes, or comments, or bravos, and I wasn't expecting any. But, one comment stood out among all of them.

He goes: "Dude, which bike!!!"

I definitely, hadn't expected this.

Go March Go. Go away, Let the new financial year begin, let the elections establish the new government, and let the story continue. Next, my target is running 6 kms within 30 minutes. Obviously, it's not rocket science. RUN BEANIE RUN...

Changing the world..

Changing the world.

Its already been a week since I last wrote the "blog-a-week" post. Sometimes I wonder if the speed of time is faster than the speed of light...

There was once a guy who wanted to change the world. Change the world for good. Change everything which was bad, and make the whole wide world a much much happier planet.

He was really serious about it. He thought he was clever than all the other people, and only he can do this impossible and god-like task. He was full of hope and was determined. Nothing could make him lose hope in what he believed. Not even numerous failures. He would try and try again. Most of the times, he would fail, and be a little sad about it. Others would try to persuade him to give up what he was doing. They would try to reason with him and say "You alone can't change everything. God hasn't been able to fix this world, how can a human do it!!!".

And one day, he realized it. It just occurred to him out of nowhere. He realized, although his intentions were right, he had to do things differently.

People say, with age, comes wisdom. The myth about the wisdom tooth, is, a myth of course. And finally he had found his wisdom at the age of 30.

"Changing the whole world is no single man's task. Even God cannot do it even if he wanted to. He is wiser now. He is changing himself now."

He was no better than everyone else.
In a world where everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself, how could he have succeeded.

Its a weird world these days:

People are taking their comedians seriously and the politicians as a joke.  - Will Rogers

More people follow Kapil Sharma than any of our politicians. In the times of Facebook and Twitter, memes and viral videos have become the quintessence of entertainment. That includes me as well. I enjoy them, laugh out loud(LOL) I still litter the roads, and at the same time complain about the garbage. There was a guy yesterday who threw a bunch of banana peels from inside his car which landed on a pedestrians face. When I tried to peep into the car, I realized they were kids, 10 year olds I think.

I wish I had become wiser at 10.

Posted via Blogaway Pro

A blog-a-week

A phone shot

Shame on me. I have been ignoring this place for a long time. After 15 or 50 years, if I look at my blog, I would conclude that not much happened in 2014, because, my memory would be dwindling by that time.

And I would probably remember 2014 as a not-so-happening year. Which is not good.

So, to motivate myself, I will force myself to write at least a piece every week. I might just try to bore my readers(if there are any) a little more by penning(this word shouldn't be used anymore for computer typing) down more than once in a week.

So, let's start.

Ummm... I have already started... Can't you see!!! This is the first one, and I am done for the week. Have lots of pending things to finish off before the summers.

The thing is, i hate summers, I hate sweat and I hate working during these times. Summers, for me, mean a lot of sleep. So, before the summer comes, I want to get ready with everything that's cold. Think: a cooler, ice, cool drinks, beer, ice-cream etc.

I dont know exactly why I hate them, still trying to figure it out. I am a very logical person. If there wasn't a reason, I would have loved it as I love the winters. Just a matter a time before I figure it out.

OK. See ya next week. Bbye.. Have a very short friday, and a seemingly never ending week ahead.

Posted via Blogaway

That was a long gap

The kids dad is real genius

I never thought that I would need a wall clock. But the wife said she needed it. We were getting late to office almost every alternate day. She said, that's because she had to always carry her mobile while doing the household chores in the mornings.

So I got one, not a very exquisite one. The old Ajanta branded watches. But even after that, I used to just be able to manage to catch the bus. So, one day, when she wasn't looking, I advanced the clock by 5 minutes. And from then onwards, she thinks that she has gotten better in time management. Pssssst....

Posted via Blogaway Pro

The third world...

The battleship

Posted via Blogaway

The story unfolds

The Destroyer

That's going to destroy the plane. Should do something about it. But, dont know what. May be draw a paper superman? Got to learn that first.

Posted via Blogaway

Ready for Launch

3...2...1... And launch

Whenever I get a piece of square or rectangular sized paper, my brain is hard-wired to make a paper plane out of it. I must have made at-least some thousands of them.

And after they are made, I make it a point it test it well. And confirm whether it passes the flight tests.

Anyone else still plays with paper planes? Oh and by the way, when I was a child, I always dreamt of being a fighter pilot. But my ambitions crash landed when the optician told me that I have to wear glasses now. That very day, I cursed myself of not listening to Mom and not eating enough green vegetables.

Posted via Blogaway

7th year and still going strong

Its been over 7 years that I had first stared blogging. I clearly remember my first post here. It went..

Blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog,

Although I have now deleted that post, that memory still is with me. When I started off, I never thought I would be able to continue for 7 years. Not only that, I managed to maintain 3 other active blogs of mine, although the post counts there are quite low. That would make me a "blogaholic"?

Anyway, its been fun, and has helped me in quite a number of ways that I never thought. Be it knowing more fellow bloggers, making new acquaitances or for passing my time when I had nothing else to do.

A few quick facts about this blog:

1. Started on 5th July 2007
2. Lifetime visits: 58,688
3. Posts counter : 161
4. 53 followers

This is the most read post of my blog.

 The New Year Post 

Hope, some day soon, I would complete 10 years of blogging. Well, you know, that's only possible after 3 more years.

And perhaps I should be concentrating on increasing my batting average.

Posted via Blogaway

When is the right time?

How to know when is the right time to do something? The obvious answer, you would never know. Why then, some people are more successful than others? That's a good question, but doesn't have a straight-forward answer.

There are the philosophical ones, and then there's the randomness theory. People who believe in the philosophy of being rewarded for their hard work, can't be wrong. Because there are no facts to prove or disprove this theory. And probably there would never be a proof.

But the ones like me, who believe in the randomness, are actually a lazy lot. Not all, at-least me. There are obviously people who think events in their life are random; still they are very hardworking.

I have my troughs and crests though. I wouldn't consider myself very hardworking, but when I do work hard, after an hour or so, I feel tired. There's so much going around which distracts me. The dogs are barking, the phones are beeping and the sleep fairy keeps knocking.

Sleepy now. Need to wake up early tomorrow. Its going to be one busy day.

Posted via Blogaway

Random something

What is a "Problem"? Who has defined what should a "Problem" look like, sound like or feel like. Why  do people run away from a "Problem"?

Whats the definition of a problem? How are we supposed to react and handle the situation. Is there a universal solution to a specific problem? Or, there is an array of solutions? If yes, and if you know it already, how does one decide which is the best solution among so many?

When people find themselves in a problem, they would seek advice, ponder over it, think about it again and again, and finally try to address it. And everyone of us do it all the time. And still, some solutions that we arrive at, don't seem to be a perfect solution, and thus our mind becomes restless. Restless to the extent that we don't seem to get away from the already lost opportunity. Well, of course we missed a chance, which might or might not affect soon. But then, didn't we do our best?

A second lives only for a second. I wonder why they named it as "second"!!! Why not "first" or "third"? Perhaps, because it just sounds right. Wonder how milli-first or micro-firsts would have sounded.

The problem of the "Problem" is the word itself, according to me. It's like a ghost. The ghost is fictional, almost everywhere in the world. But, still, people freak out at the mere mention of that word. Taking a more real world example, it's like "a scorpion or a big spider on your chair". It's the name and the image of the objects that scare us.

Think of a situation where a person encounters a King Cobra. Both, actually are facing the problem in their face. Both of them want to save their lives. Both of them think that it's a life and death situation. Well, 50% of the times, it might just turn out to be a fatal duel, where one survives depending on his, as well as his opponents thoughts and actions. But, for the other 50% of the time, there is a possibility of both handling the situation a little differently. And in the end, saving each others' and their own lives.

I often think that whatever we do, in the spur of the moment or even after contemplating our probable actions, we could never have done better. That was the best we did and we should forget about it even if it didn't turn out in our favour. Forget the previous problem and face the next one. Don't waste those seconds and minutes for the ticks that are already gone silent. There will be countless more ticks for you, and hope that those are more musical than the bygones.

Happy New Year to everyone :)

Let's start with a blast.... And make this year the best, better than the previous years. For the next, let's plan after a year. :)

A small story might go well with this:

"One fine day, a bus driver went to the bus garage, started his bus, and drove off along the route. No problems for the first few stops - a few people got on, a few got off, and things went generally well.

At the next stop, however, a big hulk of a Pathan got on. Six feet four, built like a wrestler, arms hanging down to the ground. He glared at the conductor and said, "Pathan doesn't pay!" and sat down at the back.

Conductor didn't argue with Pathan, but he wasn't happy about it. The next day the same thing happened. Pathan got on again, made a show of refusing to pay, and sat down. And the next day, and the next.

This grated on the bus driver, who started losing sleep over the way Pathan was taking advantage of poor conductor. Finally he could stand it no longer. He signed up for body building courses, karate, judo, and all that good stuff.

By the end of the summer, he had become quite strong; what's more, he felt really good about himself. So, on the next Monday, when Pathan once again got on the bus and said, "Pathan doesn't pay!", the driver stood up, glared back at Pathan, and screamed, "And why not?"

With a surprised look on his face, Pathan replied, "Pathan has a bus pass."

Management Lesson: Be sure there is a problem in the first place before working hard to solve one."

Long time... Nothing really has changed...

I almost forgot about this place. Not anymore. I will make new posts surface like scams of politicians. I guess, I went into the MMS mode for a few days. But, unlike MMS, I can't really control my lips. I need to speak, and speak out loud, whatever it might be.

Today, I started to study for an exam. The fun thing is, I have to study 4 thick and big books, and appear for 4 exams this Saturday and Sunday. I was under the impression that, the "Engineering Instinct" within me was still intact. The truth is: "It's all gone". And now, I am nowhere, clueless about how I will pass the exams. Anyway, that's boring, isn't it?

The interesting thing? Ummm.. Well, nothing new as such. But, new things would pour in soon, as I rise and shine again after the exams. All this exams affair, are here to stay for some time. So, every few months, I need to study a little bit, and somehow jump over to the next semester. And if I am good at clearing those mighty walls, I could call myself an MS in Software Systems in roughly 2 years from now.

For now, back to studies. I will be coming back soon. :)

Tejas won't be ready before 2015

For those, who are not aware, Tejas, is a lightweight, multi-role fighter being developed by HAL, India. It is a tailless, compound delta-wing design powered by a single engine. It came from the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) program, which began in 1980s to replace India's aging MIG-21 fighters.

It integrates technologies such as relaxed static stability, fly-by-wire flight control system, advanced digital cockpit, multi-mode radar, integrated digital avionics system, advanced composite material structures and a flat rated engine.

I sometimes wonder, how a few adjectives make a really great impact. I mean, I don't really understand what exactly does the "integrated digital avionics system" mean. What the hell it is integrated with, and do we still have to call a computer "non-digital" in today's world?

"Advanced Composite material", it doesn't exactly say what it does. Seems that, it uses some material, some sort of wood perhaps, mixed with soil, and the mixture is what they refer to the "Advanced Composite Material".

It was supposed to reach final operational clearance in 2013, and now it seems that it won't be ready before 2015.

Well, you know, where I stay in Bangalore, my place is a few footsteps away from HAL campus. And, randomly, and very frequently, you could hear a deafening sound all around my place. For the first few days, I thought that sound could be coming from some construction work nearby. But, soon enough, I figured that the sound's origin was probably from the HAL campus. Well, I don't really know, because, NAL (National Aerospcae Laboratories) is also nearby. But, I think HAL guys have started testing the Tejas so-called "flat-rated" engine, since, 2015 is not very very far.

Oh, and by the way, there's yet another organization in close vicinity to the HAL and the NAL campus. It's called the ADA ( Aeronautical Development Agency). And there's yet another one, called the ADE (Aeronautical Development Establishment).

A small story regarding the engine: Initially the engine was planned to be developed indigenously, and a factory was also set up for the same. However, after a few years, the scientists realized that they just couldn't do it. So, they procured it from GE. Those factories are still working on something though, perhaps, trying to copy brand new engines to make the indigenous ones.

Why the hell am I writing about this? 30 years is a long long time. And Tejas, on the face of it, doesn't seem to be completed in the near future. I guess, they will end up buying some sub-standard outdated fighters from someone. And all the money spent in it's research and development would go down the drains.

As if the ever rising corruption wasn't enough, on the other hand,  the government machinery doesn't even think before wasting it's citizens' hard-earned money. I do agree, that there has been a lot of in the field of space and satellite research, but it's still negligible to the amount of money being spent. We can do better than this for sure. But until we realize or accept that we need to improve, the change is a far away, farther than I can imagine.

Let bygones be bygones

I stay in Bangalore, a thousand miles away from my home, where I spent my childhood. When my mind is blank, and I am not thinking about work or anything else, I ponder over the past. I know those days will never come back, but to even re-live those moments with memories is truly nostalgic.

Recently, there have been a series of power failures in my area. "Damn it!!! @$#%3 @##@$ @#@$". No other thoughts come to my mind when the lights go off. When it starts raining, I curse the rain gods for the untimely downpours. Everything seems to have changed now.

We used to wait for the power cuts everyday when I was a child. Just before the scheduled power cuts, everyone could be seen getting ready with their snacks, water-bottles and other paraphernalia and walk up to the terrace. Those were the days when I learnt and actually saw the Pole star, the other constellations that we read in our Geography books. We talked about a lot of other things. About animals, birds, the moon and the sky. We talked about school. I miss those conversations. And I am sure that my parents miss that too.

When I was a child, I used to love the rains. I loved getting wet. Everytime it started raining, I made it a point that I had a good excuse before walking upto my Mom, for not using my raincoat. I enjoyed those summer days when it was a routine exercise for everyone to get rid of the mosquitoes every evening by burning mosquito repellants.

We also used to go for a walk after dinner, or played badminton right after our dinner during the winters. The Saturdays and the Sundays had a host of TV programs lined up for us, and everyone had a reserved place for him/her and nobody was late. We had only 1 television set and only 1 channel.

Sundays were really fun, when each vehicle in the house, including my bicycle had their weekly bath.

And now, I let my bike collect all the dust and mud until I give it away for servicing. I curse the mud and the overflowing drains when it rains. I use All-Out/Good Night to drive away those irritating mosquitoes. Even if it's not raining, I put on my jacket, just in case. I don't even remember when was the last time I looked up into the sky. I don't play badminton anymore. I keep on switching from channel to channel and end up watching nothing at all.

Sometimes, I feel sad about all these changes. But, you know what? There's an saying for everything.

"Let bygones be bygones"

Ooops!!! Sorry...

People lose their cool all the time. So do I. I am generally believed to be a powerhouse of patience. People believe that I have loads of it. But the fact is, I don't have that much. :(

Well, yes, I do have a considerable amount it, but at some point I, too, run out of patience. I am only a human. And I am not perfect.

Anyway, Today, I want to say sorry to everyone at whom I was mad in the past. There are quite a handful of people. Friends, at home and at office. I honestly do feel that I should have exercised more caution then, and perhaps I could have handled those situations differently. At-least, I shouldn't have really shouted at them.

It's a little difficult, however, to keep your cool when people all around you behave crazy. When someone is pestering you, it really takes a lot of patience not to turn around and gag them or shout at them. Most of the time I am cautious. But at times, it gets out of control and hell breaks loose on them. Although I am not violent at all, but people seem to get scared or may be very very angry at me when I shout. It's probably because they don't expect me to retaliate ever. They probably feel like I am not the same person they knew, when I am mad at them.

There have been some instances in the past when I was mad and didn't react at all. Well, most of the times I am like that. Nobody wants to be angry. But sometimes, you have to react, voluntarily or in the spur of the moment. I do, however, at times, regret for my inaction when I should have just blasted off the other person, may be even killed them once and for all.

It isn't a big deal, though, if you can easily shrug off that feeling, and get back into a peaceful state of mind soon, when you could go over it again and decide for yourself if it was right on your part to behave the way you just did. It's perfectly normal to get mad at someone as long as you can ponder over it again and if required apologize for your behavior if you think you were wrong.

Well, I guess, this is not new. Everyone knows what anger can do to a relationship. Everyone also knows that ego is not really a good thing to have. That doesn't help in keeping your relationships if you have a short-temper. We tend to get angry on people frequently who are close to us. It doesn't really matter if you shout or not at a stranger or a person who you don't consider to be close to you. They are not an important part of your life. You are probably never going to meet that stranger again or won't have a life-time relationship with that acquaintance. But that doesn't mean that you could go on swearing and shouting at people on the roads. Your conscience will get to you for that sometime for sure.

Ah!!! I am just talking gibberish. Let's come straight to the point. People, again, I apologize to all of you on being rude or for getting mad at you. To make all those people feel a little better,

"I shout at those people who I consider close to me, hoping that they would understand why I did that"

By the way, Friendship day is round the corner. Those of you who are willing to revive the jagged threads of our friendsip, get ready. :) Happy Friendship Day in advance.

To the Airport again

These days, the number of trips to the Airport has sky-rocketed, thanks to vacations and office work. Although I don't hate flying, reaching the airport is quite a long journey. It takes almost the same time traveling to or back from the airport as compared with the air-travel itself. I could well coin a new term "sit-travel" for this journey to and from the airport. Right now, well, I am sitting and typing this out, on my way to the airport, on a bus.

In a few days, I will be visiting the airport again. That will be an official trip to Kolkata. But the BIA buses are great. They don't tire you, and protects you from the sun, heat and the rain. Yeah, the other buses expose you to all the elements of nature. You would be better off standing under a tree instead.

I am not going anywhere though. I will be back online in a few hours. So, who's coming? Naah!!! Nobody, I busted wanted a long ride and a Subway meal. That's it. :D