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Showing posts from November, 2009

Clearing the clutter in the attic

I agree that the title of this post is the same as this blog space by SG. This post does not have to do anything with the cited blogspace. Today, when we were talking about transferring archived emails from one computer to another, I realized that as much as the best-selling stories,self-improvement books, and motivational talks discuss about living and being in the "Present", the corporate world insists on the "Past". For those who are clueless about software and hardware industry, let me tell you, anything to do with Storage is the word of the day.. Just about anything and everything needs to be stored in the computerized age. This blog post would not show up if it is not stored. Hail Storage!!!. While there could be functional and operational and process-oriented reasons behind the idea of storing all your emails for as long as you work in an organization, often, I must admit that most emails that you read once, do not have to be opened ever again in your life.

Splash on Complexity

- That which you call 'Complex' only seems complicated. - Every complex task eventually gets accomplished. - Yesterday's complexities always seem lighter than those in the present. - Today will clearly be tomorrow's yesterday or simpler still..... Tomorrow, Today will be 'Yesterday' - Often man complicates life, like the previous sentence. - It is good to acknowledge complexities, but never let them stress your mind. - If it does not seem complex, you may not put in your best. - If it is complicated, it is surely an interesting challenge to take up. - What seems complex to you may have been as complex to your neighbour, just that you do not know what really happened. - Mechanical and Construction Engineering drawings seem extremely complex to me.... as complex as my Computer science seems to them. - The word 'Complex' stands meaningless, the minute you begin to understand it. - When you accomplish a complex task, the sense of contentment you feel is imm

WFH - Work From Home

This post has been published on Bangalore Mirror dated 7th December 2009 Working from Home has become very common in corporates these days. Workplaces are looking to reduce cost involved in space and power. More and more offices are making this option available to the employees whose physical presence is not really required to get the work done. These people who permanently work from home are called 'Remote Workers' although I do not like the term much. I often realize that when I work from home ( very rare days) I work much more than I do at office. So, there must be a better term as I don't want anyone to register 'Remote worker' as 'Remotely working..'. I chanced to have a conversation with a colleague who works from her home office. Surely, this sounds better than a remote worker. We were discussing about the idea of working from home in general. Here are what I captured and later realized: When you work from home, work is always at the back of your mind

Paani Puri lessons

This post is not about the Paani Puri recipe. For those who don't know Paani Puri is a North-Indian chat item. Please google for the recipe and if you are in India, hop over to the nearest chat corner and have one plate of Paani Puri.. We were a group of six friends looking for a nice coffee shop after a very interesting afternoon. We saw a Paani Puri vendor on the way and one of us in the group suggested that we all taste this vendor's Paani Puri. I love Paani Puri, but had stopped taking Paani Puris anywhere outside. The scene around the vendor's Bamboo stall interested me. I decided to just take the Paani Puri with the confidence that shone on the vendor's face. He served at least 10 of us in one go.. The speed was unbelievable. Before you knew there was a Panni Puri in your hand... There were some people who wanted some specifics ( spice, sweet, plain etc.,) and the vendor grasped all the specifications and served us exactly the kind of Puris we wanted. There were p

Looking back at Hostel life....

Top reasons why a hostel life experience is very important: To be able to make friends with most people... To be able to say Good Bye to friends... To be able to sleep undisturbed with the lights on, the whole night... To be able to share a bar of a favorite chocolate with five others... To be able to take a quick bath... To be able to make a sandwich for a friend.. To be able to attend to an illness... To be able to break a bad news... To be able to rejoice at a peer success... To be able to appreciate a letter, phone call, or email... To be able to focus amidst heavy music and loud noise... To be able to crib about things and adjust with them, nevertheless... To be able to make someones day with a joke, gift, or an honest compliment... To be able to keep your stance, when you know it works you, no matter what any one says... To be able to know what does not work for you... To be able to love your neighbour despite all imperfections... To be able to understand the other person's p

What all can you save?

I spoke to a friend just now. Here are my thoughts soon after the conversation: We know of a Savings Bank account for money. We know of a Blood Bank that saves blood. We hear about saving interest rates on loans. Credit card banking offers some savings on purchases using specific credit cards. We try to take a definite road to save travel time. We constantly try to think about saving fuel. We hear advertisements stating: Save the Earth, Go Green . We see emails with the signature line: Save paper and environment. Print this only if you must . We think about saving electricity. We talk about rain water harvest which means to save rain water. We want to save our energy and so have a listening ear towards Yoga, Meditation and Health care. Technology has its own contributions for us to save time, effort, and our physical energy : All electronic items, software and automation around speak for this. The best of all and the often forgotten till December of every year is the leave balance acco
Over one crore new mobile connections in October 2009!!!!! That's from a news cast today in one of the papers. On Google search for "Mobile Phone Hazards", all you see is only scary threats listed. While you are wondering what would it be like without having a mobile, ( I still cant understand how I managed without a mobile five years ago!! !), there are more and more new models out in the market and more and more new users are joining the mobile phone user community. Cell phone companies continue to make profit. Same applies to most things.... Computer based jobs are increasingly advocated to cause a lot of health issues and yet there are not many non-computerised jobs in the world. Internet is a boon and also a paranoia kit. Smoking is bad, yet the cigarette company continues to be in business. Drinking is believed to be bad, yet the number of alcohol serving restaurants are increasing every day. Mobile phones are bad for health, they say, yet the number of new connecti

Waiting and watching and longing....

Yesterday evening scene close to my house: It was late evening, the street lights flooded the streets and the place looked painted in yellowish orange. I was enjoying the breeze, the soft drizzle, a melodious note on my ipod, rhyming my steps to the tune and walking my way home. The road had orange flowers all over. With the yellowish orange light on the pale brown pavement, the orange flowers looked perfect modern art to my eyes. I switched off my ipod as I saw two children rushing towards me and then suddenly stopping and then rushing back to their house's gate. An old man said, " This is someone else, your mother will come home in a while, go inside and play, it is already dark. " The children looked very disappointed that it was someone else and not their mother. I felt so sorry to see their disappointment. In Bangalore traffic, God knows where their mother is held up and here I was telling them, " Listen to your grandpa and go in, Your mom is on her way home..

Time and Savings

How many times do we say that we do not have time for prayers, people, phone calls, emails, hobbies, and the list can go on.. Each of us has different reasons to give for not being able to do something and never have one reason why we must consider doing it... I think I have finally stumbled upon that one reason to do all that I would otherwise postpone saying 'No Time'. Last week, I chanced to read some points that gave me a very different picture about Time. We have about 1440 minutes in a day. Math : 24 * 60 = 1440. I wrote it out just in case you are trying to do a mental math on this. It is as clear as the calculation, that we have a whole 1440 minutes to do all that we want to do in a day.. With this thought, can you just spend a minute to check if you can spend five minutes each day in prayer, 20 minute for friends, 10 minutes to respond to missed calls and text messages, and say another fifteen minutes for music or exercise or some hobby? In all your spend time would st

Nature - naturally superior!!!!!!

அழகிய மலைச்சாரல் தூய வெள்ளை அருவி பச்சை பசேலென்ற நெல் வயல் இலவம் பஞ்சு போன்ற மேகம் நீல நிற அடி வானம் மெல்லிய மழை நீர் துளிகள் சில்லென்ற மென் காற்று இவை எல்லாவற்றையும் கண்களாலும் மனதாலும் படம் பிடிக்கின்ற கணங்கள் மிக அருமையான அனுபவம். நேற்று முன்தினம் சுற்றுலா சென்று இருந்தோம். வழியில் கண்ட காட்சிகளை தான் சுருக்கமாக கூற எத்தனித்தேன். சுருங்க சொன்னாலும் நிறைந்த மனதுடன் மீண்டும் என் அலுவலக எழுத்து வேலையை தொடருகிறேன். இயற்க்கை நான் நினைத்ததை விட பெரிய படைப்பு என்றும் மனித படைப்புகள் எல்லாம் சர்வ சாதாரணமானவை என்றும் தோன்றுகிறது, இன்று.

Need for Bangalore Daylight Savings Time??

I had never really gathered a complete picture of the Daylight Savings Time(DST) till I got to read this post by SG at : http://sowmyagopal.blogspot.com/2009/10/around-clock.html Thanks, SG. I had this email that American clock is 13.5 hours behind IST and our official meeting hours with our US counterparts will change accordingly. I did not bother much. Such messages are common twice a year in all IT companies. Day before yesterday, when I stepped out of office, it was a cloudy sky, but never thought that it will be pitch dark at 6:00P.M. I have waited for three days to see if I have to make this patentable proposition of having a DST declared for Bangalore and call it " The Bangalore Daylight Savings Time (BDST)". I don't wake up very early, so I do not know if it dawns early these days, but I must say night sky sets in very early these days - as early as 6:00P.M. Complimenting the dark skies is the heavy November downpour. I don't know what's with rains and tr

You are in the right place!!!!!

This was the opening statement in one of the presentations I happened to attend yesterday. So, what's the big deal about it and why would I even notice it?? Honestly, I was not too well to attend a presentation at that time of the day, but I still decided to be there because I believe that some postponed appointments never happen later.So, with that said, I must say I galloped my way in a city bus amidst all the Bangalore Metro construction work sites and rushed in only to see that I was exactly fifteen minutes early. [ I hate my late entry anywhere - coffee, meeting, wedding, or any appointment for that matter - and so for the first time I smiled. ..] I am in!!! I am in, on time and when I walk in, the first thing I notice is I am in the right place... That's what the slide being projected said. And I took a good notice of the words.. I read it over and over again, to let the message sink in. The feel-good factor in me was soaring up to sky-rocketing heights and I was very gla

You dont have to wait......

until the next accident to repair a collapsed railing.... This is the address of the railing I am talking about: Krishnarajapuram Cable bridge, Near K.R Puram Railway Station, Bangalore. One day, sometime early this year, on my way to office, the usually over-crowded Old Madras Road beat its own records of the highest peak-hour traffic and lowest speed. I called up my manager and informed that I might be indefinitely late for work, due to a reason I have no clue about, and all I knew was that my bus stood still on the Old Madras Road. When the traffic finally started moving at a snail's pace ( of course, we were glad and thankful ) I looked out of the window to see a huge container truck toppled over. Thanks to the crane that moved the toppled truck to one side of the road, so a narrow one-lane passage was clear for the vehicles to inch their way through. From the bus, some eyes were transfixed on an angle just above eye level towards the railing of the cable over-bridge that we we