Welcoming a new day

All mornings are like a painting,
you need a little inspiration to get you going,
a little smile to brighten it and
a message from someone who cares to color your day.

Today I got up pretty early in the morning and got a chance to see the sun rising... There is no better way to start the day than listening to the chirping sounds, breathing the cool air and watching the colors around us change..

This is the first pic... Day is about to break... Sun is trying to sneak from the mountains ;)

The blues give away to the golden glaze as sun comes out blazing..

Night has ended for another day,

morning has come in a special way.

May you smile like the sunny rays

and leaves your worries at the blue blue bay.

If ... Roger Federer & Rafal Nadal Come together

'If' by Rudyard Kipling is one poem which never fails to stir me and motivate me. You might have read the poem many times . Here is a new take on it as read by the tennis legends Roger Federer and Rafal nadal.

Here is the poem

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

Shared from IndiaUncut

Have you 'Bing'ed?

Microsoft has been trying from a lot of time to beat Google in the search game. Its latest attempt Bing has bridged the gap between google mostly. The results are as good as google. But is it is sufficient for me to switch from google to bing?

For normal web search I still prefer google search. But I found one thing for which I will use Bing instead of google. It is image search. It is not that it is spectacurly developed compared to google, but the presentation is very very useful. In google you have to click next after each page but in Bing it has infinte scroll down from which we can see useful images without having to click next. I like this feature so much that I have started making image searches mostly only Bing only. Will be happy if google can replicate this.

#Th!nkTweet - 140 bytes of wisdom in 140 characters - A Review

After reading the book 'Life Beyond Code' written by Rajesh Shetty, I was excited to review his latest book ThinkTweet, which contains 140 tweets on various topics..

I love Rajesh's take on networks, relationships, time and teamwork. I initially thought of selecting the best tweets and writing about them. But I was pleasantly surprised to see that each tweet made me pause, think and have an aha moment.

I just noted down a few tweets which hit me hard.. read them and you can understand the intelligent, witful but insightful message of the author.

One on relationships:

When it comes to
relationships, you hit a home run
when you stop keeping score.

This one makes you think on the direction of your life:

What will be
the title of a book
written about you?
What will be
its subtitle?
Why should
someone read it?

On the importance of journey:

If you are “faking it” so that
one day you can make it, you
are missing the point. It’s the
journey that counts.

Pick up this book for 140 such aha moments... which will leave you lot wiser than before you picked the book.

Its a small book with 140 such tweets on improving your business, relationships, networks, career, teamwork and life and will make for an easy read. Its an ideal gift for your friends. Anyway you will just be marvelled on reading the book. Thanks to @UpbeatNow for giving me an opportunity to read and spread this wisdom.

You can buy the book from here or here @ amazon

Changing inner self Vs changing the outer world.

Image by jmtimages via Flickr

As you can see from the posts I have been writing lately,

I have been mostly in a contemplative mood. This is next in that series

When something you want to do is not being done in the way you want, there are two options infront of you.

1. Fight and change it to be done in the way you want.

2. Adjust yourself to like the way it is done.

So which is the better way?

Generally if doing either ways doesnt effect you much you might prefer going in the second way... But what if you the cost of adjustment is too much?

I have a more adapting mentality but I am realizing more and more daily that we shouldnt adjust more than required and its better to fight and fail than accepting the outcome.

My friend Ketan, wrote a comment to my previous posts sometime back about the serenity prayer

God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
the courage to change the things I can;
and the wisdom to know the difference.

Looks easy but very difficult to implement. Dave Pollard, an Idealist has written the following lines here,

I've been talking a lot about my three latest self-improvement projects: To connect better with my own (largely suppressed) emotions, to become more empathetic, and to learn to live in Now Time instead of Anxious Time. I certainly believe that practice and exercise have value, but I'm increasingly convinced that any changes they provoke are likely to be modest, and perpetually difficult to sustain.

It seems there is a healthy level till which we can accomodate change but after that we should fight for bringing about the change we believe in.

Mera Jeevan Kora Kagaz - lyrics - Kishore Kumar

Listened to a haunting song from some movie, sung by Kishore Kumar..

These are the lyrics.

Mera Jeevan kora kagaz kora hi rah gaya..

Mera Jeevan kora kagaz kora hi rah gaya..

Jo likhata aasuvo ke sang beh gaya.. :(

Mera Jeevan.... ....

Ek hava ka jhoka aaya,

Ek hava ka jhoka aaya, toota dali se phool,

Toota dali se phoool...

Na pavan ki naa chaman ki.. kisi ki hai ye bhool.

kisiii ki hai yee bhoool...

Khoy gayiiiiiiiiiiiiii kho gayi khusbhu hava me kuch na rah gayaaaaaaaa.............

Mera Jeevan..

Udte panchi kha tikhana, Udte panchi ka tikhana..

Mera naa koi jahaa.. Mera naa koi jahaa..

Naa dagar hai..naa khabar hai.. janaa hai mujh ko kahaa...

Jaana hai mujh ko kahaaa..

Ban ke sapnaaaaaaaaa , ban ke sapna.. humsafar ka saath rah gayaa...

Mera jeevan kora kagaz, kora hi rah gaya....

The Invitation - A Poem

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon...
I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”

It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments.

- Oriah

The lines that have particularly touched me are -

I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.

People can you do this?

Seheri - Lyrics - Oy movie with English lyrics

There is a very good song in Oy movie sung by Toshi and priya which talks about contradicting points of doing what we like i.e living spontaneously vs thinking a doing... I think there is a conflict about that in the movie..

The lyrics are awesome..

appudeppudo jaragina kadalo ippudepude jaragani kalalo

eppudaina e panileni aalochana dandage kada

unnadokkate nadichesamayam daanitone nuv chesey payanam marunimusham ledantu life gadipey merupula..

gala gala pareti nadi ekkadaina aagena adi..manasuku kattu odukani ani..una haddulanni daatukelte pandage mari..


seheri e..e..e seheri e..e..e..e seheri...e..e..e..e..arey chinnadi jindagi
seheri e..e..e seheri e..e..e..e seheri...e..e..e..e..arey chinnadi jindagi

-----//One of our reader has contributed the english lyrics.. Please let me know if there any corrections//------

Fast English lyrics are:
I am switching lanes, understanding that love's a pain
you cant went to top then we pop, champagne
she's sent to probe this hold that click or roll that click
but don't be sick with a frozen grips, stand by that to hold my hand

With drums:
frozen by the city light, happy to give the pain for up
marriage is the wrestle game nobody could break this up
i wanna go relax in a saggy hut, feels like little more in a relaxing spot
but thinking stop thinking, till i get my mind of the damn hood

enno malupulu kalisina jeevithame..chinukayyi veligipovalante telusukode

veyse pratiadugu padani aalochanatho gamyamedo telisi saagipove

repatikai kalaukantu kalalanni nijam chestu

aase ne swwasa ayite raate maaripoga...aaaaa


love u love u love u love u love u love u love u love u
love u love u love u love u love u love u love u love u

seheri e..e..e seheri e..e..e..e seheri...e..e..e..e..arey chinnadi jindagi
seheri e..e..e seheri e..e..e..e seheri...e..e..e..e..arey chinnadi jindagi

antuleni o andam undi andukomane lokam andi andukosame cheptunna raaji padatam maanuko..

kanulaku nachindi chusey manasuku tochindi chesey adigite e maata cheppey


navvutundagaane paikipote svargam e ani

seheri e..e..e seheri e..e..e..e seheri...e..e..e..e.e.arey chinnadi jindagi
seheri e..e..e seheri e..e..e..e seheri...e..e..e..e..e arey chinnadi jindagi

Thanks to Sunny5u for the lyrics.

Mobile Phone Theft - Modus Operandi && Indian Police Stations

It all started with forgetting my earphones in my room. My brother dropped me at the bus stop to go to the office. Its my habit to put on my head set as soon as I get into the bus and filter the noise outside. That day when my brother left me at the Chandana Brothers stop, I remarked that I forgot to bring my ear phones. He asked if we need to go back and bring it. I said it is fine and that I was already late to office and hence I will go to the office.

I was standing in the bus stand waiting for my bus 216 to come, watching my newly redressed phone - I changed the battery and the panel of the phone.. It sparkled like a new one.

Getting onto the bus and to get a seat in our bus is a mini war. We have to see the bus coming before it comes to the stop, hop in to a running bus competing with all the fellow travellers also are waiting like the sprinters waiting for the whistle in olympics, and then rush to get a seat. As I was performing this ritual on a fast approaching 216, I forgot to observe that someone might have been attracted by my new look mobile phone. So i just couldnt believe myself when after some time i tried to find my phone in all my pockets and bags. After searching for sometime, I confirmed that i lost it and wondered at the modus operandi. When people are trying their best to win the war of getting a seat in the bus, there are busy people with other agendas also....So, my failure to bring headset one day cost my mobile. It would have alerted me if I suddenly the songs stopped playing. So after I bought a new mobile I always make sure my songs are on, so that I wont lose my mobile again ;)

The Modus - operandi: First, there will be a group of people. While you are busy getting in to the bus they grab your phone. While one person will be blocking your way the other person wil try to leave the place and escape. So be very careful. Have the phone with you and have an eye on your phone always.

You might have seen in the newspapers that mobile phones were used in the blasts and being a law abiding citizen, I thought of filing a complaint about the loss of my mobile phone in the nearest police station. So, I went to the nearest police station and told them my story. They were helpful in that they listened to what I had to say. They asked a few questions about where I lost my phone and after I patiently answered all their questions, they said that I had to complain in a different police station. I was perplexed as to why I had to go to a different station which was very far away when I was already in a police station which was nearby to me.

After some days, I went to the said police station. It was a big one with separate rooms for different types of crimes, criminal , civil etc. One constable on hearing my story redirected me to the criminal cases room. The SI was not yet present and I made small talk with the peon there. I told him the story of how I lost my mobile and how my friends also lost their mobile in the same way. He asked about when I lost the mobile. As I waited till saturday to go the station when I lost the mobile on tuesday, he asked me number of questions to ascertain that I was telling the truth. He said that he had to ask all these questions as I waited for five days to complain. I told him, I didnt expect to get back the mobile but I came to complain as I wanted to highlight the plight of people and how commonplace the thefts have become and to request the police to take steps to stop it. I think he took it. I asked him what are the proofs I had to submit. He pointed me to a chart on the door specifying the required documents for filing a lost mobile phone complaint. It included the original bill, the IMEI number of the mobile and a 100rs challan in E-Seva. Seeing that i was discouraged to complain, thinking anyways I have lost a mobile and having no expectation of getting it back, what advantage I had of paying that challan. I asked if there is a way I could make a complaint online and why I had to come till this station - He answered if they allowed complaints on phone and net, they would have to work 24 hours to determine which were genuine complaints and which were fake. I told him that atleast we could submit some of our personally identifiable information like PAN or any other number and would like to submit the complaint online. I told it was just a matter of time before the complaints would be taken online. If they allowed that i would have complained on Tuesday at my convenience rather than waiting for saturday to complain.

Proofs required to file a complaint now:

1. Your original bill

2. The IMEI number of the phone (desirable)

3. 100 Rs challan from eSeva.

The police department has to look forward to use technology to their advantage and ease the work of the citizens. Hope to take notice.!!!

New version of IPhone affordable

When iphone was first released, I was awed by it and immediately wanted one. But it was one whole year before it came to India and even when it came to India it costed a whopping 32,000 rs. When we weigh it with the positives and negatives, it felt as if it would be waste investment. But with the newly released iphone 3G s,  it looks the price will come into affordable regions in India. 

If the report in Tech2 is true, then I will surely considering getting one. The iPhone is a game-changer in the mobile phone market, considering that 1 billion apps are downloaded from the app-store.  

Hold on to your hats ladies and gentlemen, you’re not going to believe this, the new iPhone 3G S is due to be out on June 19th of 2009 and here are the prices –

The 16GB version is going to be priced at Rs. 9,452 ($199) and Rs. 14, 202 ($299) for 32GB. It gets better; Apple also announced that they planned on keeping an 8GB version priced at Rs. 4,702 ($99) for a while on the markets. Of course all the above mentioned prices are seem so low because they are on contract with their respective service providers. You can expect the phone to be sold at its full price once it lands on Indian shores, since our service providers just don't love us as much! 

What are your thoughts on it? 

Of Life and Newton's Laws

I have seen the real life example of Newton's law and the inability of people to change. 

Newton's first law states  - A body at rest stays at rest, and a body in motion stays in motion, unless it is acted on by an external force.

This also proves that people are reluctant to change. Even when they know whatever they have to do, whatever is right is before them, even if it stares in their face they dont want to change due to percieved problems or sometimes just because of laziness.  

Now what is the role of the person who  tries to bring about the change or has lot of stake in the change? 

He should observe the reason for which the people are not willing to change - 

Is it because of laziness?

If that is the reason then the change maker has to take the first step even without the consent of all the people who he is trying to change and people will follow suit. Again according the Newton's first law, people will continue to be in the state of rest or motion  unless they are acted upon by an external force. So as the changemakers force will be acting on him and he will be able to see the good results and as the people are just unwilling to change because of laziness but because of no other reason, no body will get emotionally hurt and the change can be achieved. 

Is it because of percieved problems that they might face? 

The change maker should try to explain and negate the issues or percieved problems they might raise. There are two types of problems that might arise. First, they may talk about real problems that might arise due to the change which they can see with their experience which the change maker is unable to see. Then the change maker can try to explain how those problems are immaterial in the current context or how they can be overcome in some way. Or he can explain that even though these problems might be encountered, the advantages hugely outweigh the small problems they might face, people might get convinced. Nextly there might be problem of value conflict, i.e people might value something different from the change maker, then it requires a paradigm shift from the part of the people who want to change. 

How to bring about such paradigm shifts? 

They best way such paradigm shifts can be created is by showing examples of people who have taken the changed path and show them that most of their percieved problems were not real but just that percieved... 

Sometimes such examples might not be readily available and they might still poke holes in the models that we try to show. Here is where it gets difficult... If the change maker is convinced that THE CHANGE IS THE ONLY WAY that the objective is achieved, then even if no body else comes with them, they should be able to proceed with their change. This involves some amount of emotional hurt to the changemaker as well as the people who are not ready to change, but as time progresses, the people will try to see that most of their percieved problems were not real and that whatever problems they might face can just be easily overcome. Then they start to change and everyone will change. But here a question comes to the change maker - 

1. Is that the only way to achieve the objective? 

2. Does realizing the objective warrant the hurt it gives to the people involved?

If the change maker is absolutely convinced about the affirmative answer for both the questions, he can proceed without the support of anyone to achieve their objective. 

If the change maker approaches the people to change without knowing the answers to these questions, then he might realize that he is getting the answers for any of these questions as 'NO', then he might be tempted to leave what he has started in the middle which will cause unnecessary emotional hurt to the people who were with the change maker supporting his change. Ofcourse, the change maker might not know the answers to both the questions before hand and he might realize them in the process of change. Then he should explain the position clearly to those who support him and ask the same questions to them and if they still get the affirmative answer then only proceed further or stop the change they are planning to bring. 

This underscores the need to think through before taking any decision and being convinced that THE THING  has to be done to get the required outcome, then only taking the plunge. When the change maker is convinced that it is the only solution and it warrants the emotional hurt it might give to all the people involved then it is easy to for him to navigate through it. 

This means that our energy shold be spent in things which you are thoroughly convinced that the change they envisaged is very good and it is the only way and there is no dropping in between. All the best..

Hope you could take something out of this charged rant..!!! 

What is love

hi Readers,

I want to know your opinion on what love means to you?

I want to clarify my objective. I want the answer to question regarding the love between a man and a woman... When they say they are in love what does it mean exactly?

Update: One of the readers, Gaargi commented below the following on love

Love is the word used to label the sexual excitement of the young, the habituation of the middle-aged, and the mutual dependence of the old.
~John Ciardi

Most men and women, given suitable conditions, will feel passionate love at some period of their lives. For the inexperienced, however, it is very difficult to distinguish passionate love from mere sex hunger; especially is this the case with well-brought-up girls, who have been taught that they could not possibly like to kiss a man unless they loved him. If a girl is expected to be a virgin when she marries, it will very often happen that she is trapped by a transient and trivial sex attraction, which a woman with sexual experience could easily distinguish from love. This has undoubtedly been a frequent cause of unhappy marriages. ~Bertrand Russel in Marriage and Morals

Though I feel they are really right, it doesnt decrease the importance of love even a little bit...

If we really think about it, life is meaningless, yes we are born, somehow we produce some offspring and then we leave it. This is life in a nutshell. How bad it looks..? So it all boils down to the point of where anyone finds meaning in? Some people may find it in their work, only to realize that it was not worth it after some time, some people in keeping their parents happy until they realize that it doesnt automatically guarantee you happiness...

But I think if two people are in love, then it gives them a lot of meaning which can be rightly characterized as

Love is the word used to label the sexual excitement of the young, the habituation of the middle-aged, and the mutual dependence of the old. as said by John Ciardi.. So that is love - It is something in which you find a meaning to your life, when everything else seems nothing, when suddenly life seems to seem so worthy...

Update 2: We love just because we love, nothing else... not because their tastes are matching with ours, not because she/he is beautiful or not because of any particular reason.. you love because you love..