As the year draws to a close

It's been a while since my last blog post.. but I have been a tad bit busy with exams and projects.

But on Christmas day in a foreign country, I feel that I should take a moment and say thanks to all the blessings that I have. In this constantly changing dynamic we call life, we are rushed, often pushed into doing things, things we may or may not want. We crave for those that we can't possess, we wish for those that we had and lost, we pray for something different. These will happen, when it is meant to and when it is the right time.

Understand that there are those across this vast and glorious earth that live to find the next morsel of food. There are those who live in poverty and a desperation that encapsulates and engulfs their entire existence. There are those who live without hope.

But we are the blessed lot. We have family who care for us. Friends who wish us well and whom we can share and enjoy. We also have that someone special, who thinks of you and no one else.

So on this Christmas day, I am thankful that I have a roof over my head, an education that enlightened my mind, family that will always stand by me and friends I can count on.

A Storm is Coming

A crystal blue

Sullied by a darkened hue

Impending storm

It’s nature’s norm

Precipitates fear

And unknown despair

Protection mechanisms of yore

Informs to secure, find shelter and store

Then a rumble, a tumble

A horrendous grumble

Flash of light

Quick and glaringly bright

Afraid and fearful

Shelter we seek

Scramble, scour for shelter; almost hopeful

Humbled by thee, understand we humans are meek.

What do I believe in?

The importance of one's beliefs is not apparent when  one is a young boy. During childhood, we are in a search for the beliefs that we know inherently represent us. It is quite beautiful the process by which we arrive at the conclusions of our existence. I am particularly intrigued by the time when one would make that choice, the choice to be a particular sort of person. It is almost like an anti climax, the beginning of the end.

My quests  of inner self discovery have always been a sort of understanding to find out if I am an atheist or theist. It is quite difficult let me tell you. There is a plethora of data supporting each. To assume one stance is to put yourself at a risk of antagonizing  the other.

But then you do need to sort it out. It gives you a sense of relief at the end. Deep down you always knew the answer. That is the realization at the end of this exercise of introspection. So if you were like me a believer in the one true god, you would be surprised at why did you ever doubt His existence in the first place. The evidence is all around us, but why this doubt. Does it mean that we were meant to doubt ? Maybe finding the answer through the haze of doubt helps it make it a little clearer.

Richard Dawkins, the famous scientist and self proclaimed atheist talks about how his beliefs firmly founded on Darwin's famous theory, makes it almost impossible to assume that there is a god. He outlines his believes quite succinctly. He also takes a playful jab at the creator stating that he would ask god why he took such pains to hide himself. Quirky and funny. But interesting though. Very. If He does exist, then why all this secrecy? Again I am thrown into a the dark hole of confusion.

Why be stuck

It's like my life is jammed on the pause button and you have thrown away the remote. Where is it? But deep inside, I know the answer. Why is it that we get stuck in this quandary?  This ungodly depressing mess of past memories. Memories that are like wisps of smoke, very clear but difficult to touch. You can fathom the shape, even sometimes smell it, yet to experience you need to float away to the past. A place long ago, but etched deep within your consciousness. It is a place which looks mesmerizing now, but at that time was it so? The present would one day be the past of tomorrow. So do we remove the unpleasantness , the tensions, the despair of the past and transport them to the present. Is it a defense mechanism to escape from the realities of the present? To prevent from being hurt? to be untouched? 

Escapism, how did I master you. Unknowingly, wantonly became an expert at it. How to escape from escapism. This is the beginning of a neuro psychotic bullshit, yes. It is.

When I see you, I see my future

When I see you, I forget the past

When I see you, I see my present

"The problem with the world is that intelligent people are full of doubts and the stupid ones are full of confidence." - Charles Bukowski

An Overdose of Promotions

There is a shop in Bahrain which has had the 'Flat 50% Sale' signboard for well over 2 years. After I returned to Bahrain after a period of 2 years, I was surprised to see the same signboard. I noticed it but my folks said that this sign board has been there for the past 2 years.

In fact, there are many such shops.

1. The whole reason for promotions is to create a  spark, make the cutomer notice, entice him and initiate the sales.

2, Hopefully, after his awareness, he makes that most difficult step and enters your shop.

3. Once he is in, well it's up to you to seal the deal.

But if your shop has a sale sign for two years, no one will ever enter. why?

1. They stop noticing the sale sign. It has become a part of the infrastructure.

2. Customer doesn't believe you and starts to distrust you. He also, more dangerously starts to think you have just marked up the prices and then given a sale which is a 'make the customer a fool' ploy.

Once he starts seeing it as a ploy, it is next to impossible to get him to even enter the shop even if you are giving freebies.

There was a time when everyone eagerly awaited the sale season but now with this over dose of promotions, it has become passe. A customer rearely if ever is enticed into a purchase because of promotion. Now it is either convenience, or low price which factors in a purchase.When you have used a tool to frequently, it does become blunt.

Another irritating thing one notices as a marketer is the 'Upto 50%' deal.

Now the 'Upto 50%' deal is pretty useful bait. Very useful until it pisses off the customer, when he finds out, the discount is only for a very select few materials that cannot be sold to a sensible customer.He will accept it for sometime, until he brands you the shop that never gives discount on the items he wants to purchase.

I understand marketing is a very difficult task, but when you actually drive away the customer, it is just nonsense marketing.


Will post some solutions soon. It's easy to be back seat critic.

Is this the way?

I let you go,

Let you fly,

Even though I know

I should have tried

Seemed the right thing

Didn’t know it will bring

So much of hurt , so much of pain

Can’t get you out of my brain

Seeing you disappear, going far away,

What am I to do, what am I to say.

Wish I could, you know I would,

But life before me, has to clear

I have to be free, have a career.

Does that sound insane? 

Is it my bane?

What a way, what a life,

Every time I hear you, it causes strife.

It hurts now, but the pain will recede,

The pain of the future, I have to erase

Forgive me, I hope you will

Can I forgive myself, that won’t fit the bill.

What does it matter, in the end

Cause I have a cause and I won’t bend

You fought for me , I pushed you away,

Now in the end, I don't even know what to say

I made my bed, now I must lie in it too

Problem is no one can replace you.

The Drop

He had the look.

Eyes glinted a mad belief. He walked with a sole determination. The wind bayed and the trees swayed. The incline was getting steeper. As he walked briskly, he realized he wasn't panting. No more gasping for breath. As if the lungs knew. Little by little the flora and fauna receded.


It was dusk and the sun cast a gloomy outlook on the hill. Shadows formed as if welcoming him into the unknown. He couldn't help get the feeling that they were almost embracing him. The shadows they knew. Little by little, as he trudged up the rocky path, life forms decreased.


In maniacal rush to the top, he tried his best to block all the images. But it was futile. He kept replaying the scene over and over in his head. Like a broken tape recorder that played the same few lines, he kept repeating the scene. It was so vivid, he was still sweating. How could he have made this mistake. In one single step he had destroyed his career. He had done the operation innumerable number of times, yet never faltered. In medical school, he was as cool as ice, when it came to surgery. Yet here he was, a doctor in shame. A single mistake that defines you. He knew he could fight the battle in court and save his career. But the boy was dead, which meant he had lost the battle with himself.


He gritted his teeth and increased his speed. He remembered how the head nurse warned him that cutting the A line would send the boy into shock. The ego never listens does it. He was the doctor and there was no questioning him. In a million attempts he wouldn't have cut the A line as it stops the blood flowing to the brain. But it was as if fate was forcing his hand. Cognizant of the mistake he was about to make, yet it was as if he was stuck in his own body. He kept screaming , frustrated at such a simple error in judgement. He willed it, pushed it , forced it yet his hand went forward. Cutting across his degree, his career and his mental balance, he cut the A line. The patient immediately went into shock. In minutes, before the machine could tell him, he knew. They all did.


In the court case of life, he had lost. He didn't want to be forgiven. He could never forgive himself. There was no going back. Death was the final and ultimate truth. There is no bending it. No deceiving it , no dodging it. No undoing and no exit strategy. He reached the top of the hill.


His one mistake had changed the course of so many lives. The mother, father and siblings of the patient. His family, his children. Everyone's life was connected to that one moment of insanity. It was almost as if he cut off the light to so many lives with that one incision of his surgical knife.

The wind was strong and every molecule in his body shouted against it. He closed his eyes and tried to recollect all that he was leaving behind. He had hurt everyone , there was no forgiveness. No redemption , just cold, hard death.

In that realization, he let go. Of life, of happiness, hope, salvation , suffering, agony, tensions, sickness, health, despair, hope, greed, modesty, wealth , poverty. Everything there was and everything there wasn't.

He let go of it all and dropped into the truth.

Equation out of balance

Being a nerdy geeky  guy,  I tend to analyse most things.


Our life is or life in general is one big equation like say life L,
                              L= A+B+C


If any of the factors A, B or C changes, life L changes  big time. At every stage of life , I try to anlayse what has changed. The changes can be minute like getting drenched in rain or significant like losing ones' job.


But one can console oneself by believing that L is constant. If A decreases then B has to increase.
My L remains a constant no matter what. So I have been assigned an L, that's all I will get. No more no less. If one were to live life with this philosophy, one would be very happy.


But like me if you believe that one's L is just not good enough, we try our best to increase the A, then the B and its never ending. Being content with the L that one is given can be described as a characteristic. Something if you think about it, a useful trait to have. I see some of my friends possess this trait and they are genuinely happy with L and the L given.


Others like me are in constant search, a never ending one of finding the right variables to reach the 'L' I aspire, dream and one day hope to possess.

Running with a Redbull

The other day, I had an exhaustive day at work. All I wanted to do after getting home was to crash. I was so tired. I really had no intention of going for my usual jog in the evening.  It is at this time, I remembered that I had a can of redbull in the refrigerator

As I sipped on it, I couldn’t help but wonder how this awful medicine like drink had become so popular with the masses. It has this sweet, sour mix that is reminiscent of the cough syrups I used to have while growing up. But I had one. At first it seemed like any other drink, it quenched my thirst. Everything remained the same. There was no change of any kind.

I walked to the park where I normally do my evening jogawalk as I like to call it. It is a combination of jogging and walking. Normally, it takes me 5 rounds of the oval shaped park to start gasping.  But today, even after my usual 3 rounds of warming up, I didn’t feel tired. Not in the least bit. It’s not just tiredness. I was not even out of breath. I felt that I could do 10 rounds of the park in one go. Calmness descended upon me. Calmness compounded with a steady and powerful infusion of limitless energy. I felt I could go on forever. I felt detached. An out of world experience. I could feel the pain increasing but at the same time, energy flowing in. relentless, never ending. I felt sorry for the people not on this fantastic drink. Almost invincible. 

 But after 10 rounds of the park, I could feel a tinge of pain shoot up through my legs. I willfully stopped myself. I had to, my body was in pain yet I could still feel the energy. Yes it was beautiful, but inside I knew it was scary.Like a supernova explosion.

After returning I did some research on whether it was harmful to my body to have a red bull before working out. As with most products, there were reports both in favour and against it. But any product that artificially enhances you is bad for your body. It is what I believe. Although, I felt like god, it is a bad idea to drink a red bull before a work out.

There are some things money can buy, for everything else there's a prayer

Just Saying

You may find it funny, I don't

It is quite evident that no two human beings are identical. By identical I mean in terms of personality traits. They can never be, no matter how alike their lives and circumstances are. For that matter even twins, identical twins brought up exactly alike will still share different experiences. That is the beauty of life, in its bizarre, yet interesting randomness.

For the same reason, humor is not universal. While some type of humor may appeal to a large portion of the masses, there will still be a certain percentage that didn’t find it funny. It may be bizarre to you and me but that’s just the way the ball rolls.

When I started to watch this show called Arrested Development, I was laughing my pants off.  It was a very good show (according to me). I searched for it online and understood that the show has had only 3 seasons (for reasons I don’t know why).  

Maybe for the same reason most of today’s shows like Big Bang Theory, How I met your mother etc just aren’t funny for me. I enjoy watching them no doubts, but do I laugh my pants off. No. It’s just interesting to watch. I watch it mainly to see if Ted finally reveals the f$#$#in mother or whether Leonard will land a girl like Penny. 

There is one show which I do laugh my pants off and that is Modern Family. Extremely funny without surprisingly being offensive (yes you South park/family Guy et al). Jesse Ferfuson and Eric Stonestreet rock as the gay couple who adopted an asian baby.

That is when I came to the realization that what I may think is humorous; many people may think it boring. It is an interesting revelation and one for introspection.

Maybe the jokes I dish out aren’t all that funny. Maybe they shouldn’t be called jokes. Maybe they are just plain boring. But my friends laugh at it with me or at me. Who knows?

Maybe the closest to what can be called as universally appealing humor on the telly was the great show called Mr. Bean. Until, now I haven’t met a single person, who has watched the show and not laughed (thought I was going to say laugh my pants off didn’t you! Ha!.. wait ..damn). It’s a show that has a bare minimum of spoken words relying mainly on gestures and slapstick. The only show that has come the closest, to achieving the title of being the Universally Humorous Champion of the World.

Mr. Rowan Atkinson take a bow.

Make Kony Famous.

Kony 2012

The Importance of Being a Redneck

If you say that someone is a redneck, you immediately think he is a gun toting, drunken, xenophobic nationalist with old world ideas and who hates everyone not from his neighborhood. I have to say you are right. 


To be precise (nowadays you have to be, you know like Wikipedia), I researched the term on Dictionary.com.
It is defined as follows:






red·neck   [red-nek]  Show IPA Informal: Often Disparaging .
noun
1.
an uneducated white farm laborer, especially from the South.
2.
a bigot or reactionary, especially from the rural working class.


As a 'redneck' you are only concerned with your life! Period! Nobody else's. I know most of these personality traits are not to be condoned. But there is one thing I admire in the rednecks of america (other countries too) and some of these characteristics are shared by a vast majority of the American public too - that is they don't give a damn about the rest of the world. Leave aside the world, they don't care about anyone outside their state and some not even outside their county or district. This is a characteristic that I admire.


In India, I know that we have been taught to have a global view. Most Indians know the heads of all the major countries. They know the parties , they know their political inclinations and they have the mental aptitude to make even political analysis of world evens. They can even come to conclusions and make inferences if needed.


But let me ask you how much of this is useful. What good does it do for you that you know who is running for the Republican party seat in US or why Greece is in debt and or the political and economic implications of a war in the Middle East. 


Does it affect you in any way? That is the question that needs to be asked and if the answer is yes, only then is that relevant information. 


If you ask most Indians who the local Municipal chairman is or who the Panchayat president is, most likely he doesn't know. I am not saying I am any different from the rest. I too don't know. I too live in the global scene. I don't know who is responsible for the shoddy roads, the open man holes. I don't know and really wouldn't care if a bridge construction has been ongoing for the past decade. I really don't care. I am more interested in whether the IMF is reducing the interest rates or who is going to be the next UN Secretary general. I am the global citizen. Not some petty individual who only thinks about his surrounding.


This is the difference between a redneck and people like us. While they maybe xenophobes and don't understand the cultural and socio-economic importance of immigrants. They are very concerned about their district and their town. They are interested that their neighborhoods are safe and they have the necessary infrastructure facilities for a good, comfortable life.

Waste at Vilapilasalla, Kerala

An incident occurred in Kerala in the Trivandrum district in a place called Vilapillshala. This was the location of the dumping ground for the waste generated in the state. What normally happens in these waste disposal sites, is waste disposal. But in Vilapillashala for years, waste was just being dumped. Heap upon heap of garbage just lying around. Politicians and the great leaders made promises every year and none were kept. 


Finally, the residents got so fed up they collectively agitated. Irrespective of political, religious affiliations, the entire populace came out in support for removal of the waste which had made the place inhuman to live.They didn't heed to any political party nor were they discouraged or disheartened in their fight for basic human rights. So no one could fool them and prolong the issue. It was beautiful. Inspired by the events at Villapilasala, a similar kind of protest has started in a place called Laloor in Thrissur district Kerala. Read


It is time that we realize that unless we resolutely and actively take interest in our surroundings and neighborhoods, we are going to be dealing with the same problems for generations. Just imagine if each and everyone in the country takes such measures and become actively involved in their society, their neigbourhoods, their towns and districts, India is definitely going to improve. Also, the people in power have no choice but to be accountable. The whole country will improve. 


So go ahead be a redneck for your own well being. Otherwise waste is going to be dumped on you forever.

Before you put pen to paper, the possibilities are limitless

Just Saying! 

We evaluate everything by comparing. If we achieve perfection, how do we reconize it? #lifesmysteries

“One Caste, One Religion, One God for Mankind”

I have always been fascinated by this saying and many people have quoted it. But the man who has coined it deserves respect. In this case more than respect because he is none other than the great guru Sree Narayana Guru.

A brief background on this quote:

Early in 1921 an All Kerala Fraternity Conference was held at Alwaye, and in this conference was delivered his eternal message “One Caste, One Religion, One God for Mankind”

'Done is better than perfect'

Like his contemporary Google, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg gave a letter to potential stockholders before his IPO filing. In it he laid out his holier than though mantra about how his company is not out to make money (yeah right!) . He said  " goal is to make it easier for people to exchange opinions and ideas, which will ultimately improve products, businesses and the economy."   Well we all believe you Mr.Z. But one can't blame him, afterall Google gave the 'Don't be evil' motto during their pre-IPO letter.


What caught my attention was the mantra that he advocates and apparently is put up in offices all around the world. Apparently, Facebook believes that 'Done is better than perfect' where you can come with wild wacky ideas that don't necessarily have to be practical at the moment. It can later be improved upon. They regularly hold 'hackathons' for this purpose. I don't have a background in hacking, but it goes something like this. 

The Facebook Way  

Hacking is an inherently hands-on and active discipline, Zuckerberg said. Instead of debating for days whether a new idea is possible or what the best way to build something is, hackers would rather just prototype something and see what works.

“There’s a hacker mantra that you’ll hear a lot around Facebook offices: ‘Code wins arguments,’” he wrote.

Moving fast enables us to build more things and learn faster,” Zuckerberg said. “However, as most companies grow, they slow down too much because they’re more afraid of making mistakes than they are of losing opportunities by moving too slowly. We have a saying: ‘Move fast and break things.’ The idea is that if you never break anything, you’re probably not moving fast enough.”

This is one of the reasons probably for the continuing success of Facebook where the average age of employees remains 26. This young crowd is bound to come up with some ideas and Zuckerberg believes in harnessing this pool of talent to the maximum. It is an important philosophy which most companies should advocate. Many of the old establishments believe in the rigid philosophy ' It worked for us and it will continue to work' . When faced with competition from outside that constantly tries to innovate, these companies will be found wanting. It happened to Kodak and now it seems to be catching up with Nokia in the mobile phone segment (via: Apple and Samsung).

Many companies influenced by the net and marketing gurus say that they advocate innovation and tries to foster it. But in the end spend thousands of dollars for consultants to solve problems which could have been easily resolved internally at a fraction of the cost.

How many companies have an open door policy or a framework for ideas to be implemented. Most companies hold sessions for idea generation where the top bosses pitch an idea and the followers just nod their head in agreement. There is very little argument because it is seen to be disrespectful to do so. Also, the boss is always right. Without a junction you will always be travelling on the same straight road. So unless arguments and differing view points arise, your policies and ideologies will continue to go along the same road you continue to travel. At the same time there will be competitors who have created that junction and taken a different route. You believe you will reach your goal first but only to be disappointed that by taking a different route, competitor is already reached the goal.


But in the end it is the company that suffers, because unless you innovate and adapt to changing market variables, you remain a constant, stuck at the same place believing in the old glory days of yore. 

Remembering the glory days is important but unless you look ahead, you will not know where you are going. That is something to keep in mind.Call it whatever you want but new ideas have to keep churning out if you want to be successful.

"MBA is a passport to get this interview with you"

During an interview, an interviewer asked a friend of mine a very pertinent question."Why (on earth) did you do an MBA after graduation? 


To which she replied quite fantastically, "An MBA is a passport to get this interview with you". A brilliant answer that hushed up all unnecessary follow up questions. More importantly, she was offered the job. 


Smart answers to tough questions, always a winner.


P.S - If the friend wishes to be named in the blog, I will do so.

"I wanted to escape my past and I ended up just forgetting it"

(courtesy: glossylifestyle@wordpress.com )

Just Saying

Well 'Just Saying' is a tag under which I am listing out all my favorite lines quoted by famous people or ordinary people who just happen to say something incredibly witty, profound or happens to catch my fancy.

New year, new beginnings,new possibilities

Well the new year is upon us. 2012 fated to be the end of the world, or so say the doomsayers. There are so many changes that are happening the world over. The world really doesn't have time for these doomsday predictions.


One of the important changes that I noticed was that I was spending a lot less time on social networking sites. It's true. Gone are the days when I would spend hours browsing profiles,postings, commenting on posts  or finding something useful to share. These days I log in, see if there are any notifications, direct messages that require my immediate attention and then just leave the page open without ever peering into it. This seems to be happening a lot with people. People log into their social networking sites and they don't actually spend time there. Even though they don't disconnect, they are not actually viewing/doing anything on the site. If they aren't spending time on the site , that means many of the companies are spending a lot of advertising money for ads which no one is noticing. This was one of the reasons why many analysts believe that the valuation of Facebook for its IPO is over the hill. When it launches and it is going to , it is predicted to be the biggest IPOs in known history. But how long will they be able to sustain the zing and rosy outlook. Who knows?


Read this article on Business Today. It had some interesting facts.


"The survey found that more than half the youngsters - about 55 per cent - have either reduced the time they spend on their favourite social networking sites or have deleted their accounts/profiles altogether. " Check it out



Another interesting development is the increasingly high focus on green technology and industries. I am sure that it's going to boom even more in 2012. 
On a similiar note an interesting app that I found while browsing tech crunch.  called InBloom — a Yelp-style application that offers up sustainable businesses and eco-friendly/dietary food retailers based on location. 


But these kind of apps are more useful in the west, where there is a lot of interest in green initatives. But this is the kind of out of the box thinking that's going to change the way we live in a few years time. That is of course if the world doesn't end. Lol.