The Pause and the chill

I have not been able to update my blog recently and I think, I won't be able to in the next months or so. Sorry for such an irregularity! I think its time for a "pause". Here's, however, a bone chilling fact of all time relating to our stock market. Hope this suffices till I come back.. Here it goes...

It was autumn, and the Red Indians asked their New Chief if the winter was going to be cold or mild. Since he was a Red Indian chief in a modern society, he couldn't tell what the weather was going to be.

Nevertheless, to be on the safe side, he replied to his Tribe that the winter was indeed going to be cold and that the members of the village should collect wood to be prepared.

But also being a practical leader, after several days he got an idea. He went to the phone booth, called the National Weather Service and asked 'Is the coming winter going to be cold?' 'It looks like this winter is Going to be quite cold indeed,' the weather man Responded.

So the Chief went back to his people and told them to collect even more Wood. A week later, he called the National Weather Service again. 'Is it going to be a very cold winter?' 'Yes,' the man at National Weather Service again replied, 'It's definitely going to be a very cold winter.'

The Chief again went back to his people and ordered them to collect every scrap of wood they could find. Two weeks later, he called the National Weather Service again. 'Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very cold?' 'Absolutely, ' The Man replied. 'It's going to be one of the coldest winters ever.'

'How can you be so sure?' the Chief asked. The weatherman replied, 'Our reports indicate that the Red Indians are collecting wood like Crazy.'

This is how stock markets work!!!

Balls of.... "Naphthalene"?

Someone said "Weekend's don't count unless you spent it doing something completely pointless". Here it was, again, smiling at us as usual, starting with a lazy morning, "The Saturday". I had no pointless stuff to do, seriously, I didn't, and the idea of a movie was not bad either *unless you have rich friends to take you to parties at five star hotels*. Movie selection was a big , real big question, but it was definitely not going to be "Kambakht Ishq". It has been over a year or so that I have not watched a hindi movie in a theatre. Well, the plausible reasons for the same can be explained in another post, for now lets say that "I wanted to watch a movie at Inox" because I am lazy, and Inox is the nearest theatre, & "Its definitely not a hindi movie" which sums up the conclusion that the movie must be of some other "alien" ethnicity or language. The junta opted for English without much of further discussion, and we really didn't have much options.

On the list were two movies, English of course. One, the legendary "Terminator" sequel "Terminator-Salvation" and the other was "The Hangover". We had bad jolts the other night watching "Crank 2 High Voltage" and was in no mood of watching Iron robos fighting poor little human beings here on earth,..."Oh God! save us from those stupid tin cans, if it ever happens, for no man has balls or bearings of steel"!!. So the search narrowed down to the final result "The Hangover".

Just as we were placed at our respective seats, two ladies slipped in the two seats besides me. As soon as they took their places, there started the live commentary of all the movies they have watched in their life time. Not just that, even there were loud and clear questions of why do they show warnings to retain the ticket stub? and what's the necessity of showing a theatre map just before the movie? and adding to it was the smell. The smell rang a bell, but I couldn't recall, of what? I was trying hard to concentrate on the movie, but it distracted me everytime, irritating, giving out nauseous vibes, and suddenly my friend blurted "Naphthalene!!". Good god, it was naphthalene, that smell was of Naphthalene's (well Naphthalene 80% and 20% some other weird aroma). My friend claimed that he recognised that soon enough, but couldn't resisted blurting, the Naphtha vibe had accumulated too much inside him and mine too!!

Soon it was apparent that our neighbors wore clean starched dresses which they might have dug out this morning, from the depths of their closets long after centuries, preserved with the mighty BALLS OF NAPHTHALENE.... At once it seemed that those womanly attires, of them, were long worshiped for this day of eternity the "Nauseous weekend".... I had to imagine coffee beans the whole time till the movie ended, it helped me, somewhat, to overcome the 'Naphtha Effect'.

Note:
1. The movie "The Hangover" is a must watch, one movie worth spending time for. "Crank-2" and "Terminator Salvation" is watchable in case one wants some extra blows of action in life, not definitely for the weak hearted. :)
2. The figure above is the chemical representation of Naphtha, in Organic chemistry terms.

Ducks Quack, Eagles Fly

Just as I was sitting back on my seat at office, dozing off with an impeccably boring analysis, a piece of my day-to-day job, my screen flashed "1 new mail". Inadvertently, the mail was from my manager, but this time it was unusual, different. It was nothing like a team meeting, or a conference call for status updates. Surprisingly, the subject line read "Ducks Quack, Eagles Fly". Suddenly, there was a terrible storm of thoughts crossing my mind regarding the content of the mail. Here's the excerpt from what it said...

No one can make you achieve what you want. That's because being succesfull is a choice.

Harvey Mackay, tells a wonderful story about a cab driver that proved this point.

He was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing Harvey noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for Harvey .

He handed my friend a laminated card and said: 'I'm Wally, your driver. While I'm loading your bags in the trunk I'd like you to read my mission statement.' Taken aback, Harvey read the card. It said:

Wally's Mission Statement:
"To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment. "

This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean! As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, 'Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.'

My friend said jokingly, 'No, I'd prefer a soft drink.' Wally smiled and said, 'No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice.' Almost stuttering, Harvey said, 'I'll take a Diet Coke!!.' Handing him his drink, Wally said, 'If you'd like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustrated and USA Today.'

As they were pulling away, Wally handed my friend another laminated card. 'These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you'd like to listen to the radio.'

And as if that weren't enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him. Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of day. He also let him know that he'd be happy to chat and tell him about some of the sights or, if Harvey preferred, to leave him with his own thoughts.
'Tell me, Wally,' my amazed friend asked the driver, 'have you always served customers like this?'

Wally smiled into the rear view mirror. 'No, not always. In fact, it's only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day. He had just written a book called 'You'll See It When You Believe It'.Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you'll rarely disappoint yourself. He said, 'Stop complaining! Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don't be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.''

'That hit me right between the eyes,' said Wally. 'Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.'

'I take it that has paid off for you,' Harvey said. 'It sure has,' Wally replied. '! My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I'll probably quadruple it. You were lucky to get me today. I don't sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can't pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action.'

Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab. I've probably told that story to more than fifty cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever I go to their cities, I give them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all the reasons they couldn't do any of what I was suggesting.

Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles.

How about us???

Leading the Change of Life & Many More........

I didn't know how to react to the content of the e-mail. Was that another managerial strategy to make us understand "Not to expect much, or not to crib about what conditions you work here"? or just another quote-unquote reminder that "You need to be at par with client satisfaction with your deliverables, of course not expecting much of recognition from the latter". I was in a dilemma, "How do I digest it?"... It sure did hit hard between the eyes, & somehow it made a perfect sense, not just in an official way or careeristic viewpoint, but in every other step or decision we take and the understanding and views we make, in life.

Do we really have more than we deserve and still complain, personally or professionally? or Do we just react to the hideous situations that happen everytime all around us?

Are we actually the quacking duck, afraid of heights, afraid of being the Eagle and fly high?

Save the day

The sound were deafening..real deafening! The stage all set, the crowd all gathered, the flags all stood up, he was shouting his heart out. The shout included what he would have done to improve water supply in the area, good roads, a healthy infrastructure so on and so forth, and what his counterpart couldn't do while he was in charge or in power.

Not that I intended to listen all of his grins, his complaints, the hardships the people are going through but some how I had to, or may be I should just say that the sound reached my ears. I was flying down the road on my 150 cc and had already faced a road block, as a result of which I had to take a diversion that connected to the other end of the blockade to the main road. To illustrate, the road block was due to the public meeting held by the opposition party. I was approaching another road block, was far from it, flying down the road on my 150 cc as usual, I had a view of it, and i felt all the blood rush to my head, the reason for which was that.. I had to take another diversion yet again, to be on track, on time to my destination. This time the road block was big with people sitting on chairs all around the stage and some standing, listening to their mighty leader dissipating the facts as if all are unaware of them. Just as I was about to take the diversion, with the stage strategically set just besides it, I was distracted by a rickshaw. I watched my 150 cc approaching the viewers who stood and sat in front of the stage IN A DISTURBING AND FRIGHTENING manner, as I lay on the ground. Instant thoughts curled up my mind, thoughts of an imperative public beating or may be an insult. The bike came to a halt as people standing, managed to make some effortless move, on time, obviously, people ran instantly towards me and the show was already distracted. For one moment I felt like I was the leader giving them the knowledge speech as they saw me in amusement. Fearing, the show might go out of his hands, the leader instantly marked his move, snapped the microphone and here I became a topic of discussion. He went on and on and on, on how bad the road conditions were, and how such unfortunate instances can be avoided. I was no more the center of attraction, I was happy. With no major injuries, I picked up my 150 cc and continued my journey.

"But Why?" Why such shrewd arrangements, why not a park, an indoor stadium, a community hall?? Why the main road has to be he victim of public addressing programs. May be the fault was mine, may be I rode faster than what I was supposed to. But it would not have happened if it were any other day, with no public meetings, and no hassles on that road. I am thankful that the shouting leader distracted the people, snatching away their center of attraction..but I still have a feeling that these arrangements can better done somewhere else than a main road!! You are here to serve the people in a much better way, why not give a good start. I thought of commenting on it in a much political manner, but that would just waste some of my precious time, and energy.

I bid Good-Bye, and a stand up Salute!!

Picture courtesy: Classic Rock stars encyclopedia.Clicked by myself

From "Billie Jean" to "Dangerous" he rocked the world and many other parts of it

The day started late for me, and it definitely started "Bad". Bad, with the news of the "KING OF POP", and mother Music's dearest son's sudden demise. The huge vinyl record with "Jackson 5" photo on it is still afresh in my mind, that was the only western record I loved to hear when I was a child. Starting his career as a child star with his four brothers and himself being a lead singer for Jackson 5, MJ as a solo star sure did make places in many people's hearts with his music. A master in an amazing and difficult piece of dancing art, the moon-walking. I somehow feel bad again and again when I see one of my pal's status message today in Facebook, it read

and the moonwalk can't be done on earth anymore

I am sure, it can't..... and am sure that nobody can take that place with those tight military jacket, tapered jeans, and black shades. As for the scandals, that's what sets the stars apart from us mortals. He will be missed and remembered by millions, for years to come, not as a controversial pedophile but as a musical and dancing genius, an idol... When a star dies it leaves a supernova brilliant, bright and enormous and that is what has happened...

MJ ruled the pop-world, and the hearts of many, and I am sure he will... forever!!

Picture courtesy: Classic Rock stars encyclopedia.Clicked by myself

May your soul Rest in Peace!!

New body, Old parts

As many of you might already know about Microsoft's recently launched new search engine, or analyzer, or travel planner or whatever they want to call it, yes I am talking about "Bing". There's a lot in the air about Bing with stories on Popular News websites tech tab to fellow bloggers blogging about it. So I am here to make justice to my Blog and give it the piece of fair share. Why the hell should it be deprived from the happiness of spreading sheer criticism?

Bing, well..ok..."weird name!" first of all. The search engine claims to be not only a search engine, but your travel planner, a decision engine etc (read more). According to Microsoft, Bing will be able to: make a purchase decision, planning a trip, research a health condition, and finding a local business. To be honest, I do not see any new or "Whoa!!"-factor in all the four verticals. I somehow find "Bing", a concoction of all the little good things that pre-existed over the internet. Bing gives you a good background image every time you open a page, or a new theme. Quite sometimes back I was doing a comparative study (not that "Thesis" kind, just a small research) on search engines, and found little sweet search engine known as Ask.com. I am not sure as of how many people know about it, but it has that wonderful theme and background thingie that "Bing" flamboyantly shows-off , and thats not all, once you have an account of yours with Ask.com, you'll be able to set your own backgrounds for the page too!! You can then set your own close-up, smiling face snap of yours taken at the Goa trip or at the amusement park, so that you get to see your own (or your loved one's smiling face every-time you search stuffs (legal or illegal) over the internet. Surprisingly, Bing's look and feel are a lot more similar to Ask than to Google or any other search site.

Bing also says that "I'll plan your travel" or "I will help you plan your travel" and so does Kayak.com . For people unaware of Kayak.com : It is a travel search engine website based out of United States, and un-surprisingly the similarity between Bings travel plan page & Kayaks travel search page is so striking that it is now confusing Kayak users. Kayak's interface is in-line with Cleartrip's interface for domestic users, an ideal Web2.0 example. This act of Microsoft made Kayak send them a legal letter.... "Cut it off!!"..."Leave us alone!!"..."Stop cloning us!!" must've been Kayaks words. I wonder why MS did not include the Mathematical "analyzer thing in Bing" (that rhymes, and it sounds odd!) just like Wolframalpha. But wait!! who would like to experiment with an approach thats in experiment mode itself, "Let them launch the Beta, we'll pull it on then!! eh eh!!"...

Note: The images above a free images available over Google.

Whats the story? Morning glory!

"Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and Wise"

Yesterday I forced my room mate to create a Facebook account , "wake up! get connected" I said, not that I really wanted him to be connected in some sense. I was rather out of track for some moments and wanted something to revive upon in the hot, humid and lousy summer evening, and what else could have been refreshing than to jump up and explain the glories of status messaging.

I was feeling dry and bored with a lot of things happening around. The massive documentation* is still taking a toll on me. I just can't beat the impact of it. (*The documents were meant for the mighty Consulate). I mean, why the hell do they need so much of proof reading?, is still far from my understanding.

I had a feeling somewhere down that I should better take a nap, and I was into action the next moment. I woke up to a sudden breeze of heat across my face and I realized that it was 5a.m. in the morning already. The lights were still turned on, my Laptop still running, songs still being played on the shuffle mode with minmum volume. It felt like some precious moments of my virtual world were lost. Nevertheless, I should be happy, atleast thats what the European research says, as "19th June 2009" is supposed to be the happiest day in earth according to some blissful formula. Not just that, there are a couple of more reasons to bring that feel good factor which included India Inc. having acquired more than 140 American companies in the past 2 years saving American jobs, the new Palm Pre being much cheaper and better than iPhone 3G or Nokia's Express Music, or Shiney ahuja being held up in the 'anda chamber' (oval cell) along with Abu Salem! But the feel good factor got constantly shattered as the consulate trivia continued and I steered back and forth between the formalities and stupid policies.

I tried to convince myself , making myself understand.."its normal, everythings cool", but somehow the "5 a.m." moments flashed across my mind everytime making me blame it for all the miseries.

I hate waking up at early mornings...God! please don't make me do that again!

P.S: Whats the story morning glory! is the second album by Oasis, and every one should get hold of it.