This week has been awfully great for some reason. I have been happy, like really happy for the most part and for no obvious reason. And this is abnormal, thats what my roomie told me just today: "Its strange to see you so happy". So what does that mean ? Am I generally an unhappy person or is it just that I set high expectations for myself or may be I get easily frustrated with the meaningless arbitrary arguments that every day life demands, especially off me!
The week also flew by much faster:
Monday: Went to see the eye doctor at Sharp Memorial, who tried to rip me off despite having quoted a free consultation when I made the appointment. I argued myself out of his charges but all along I kept thinking how businessy the 45 year old eye doctor was. He sounded more like a cheezy car salesman and less like a respectful M.D. eye surgeon. Worked late at the office on the damn forecast. Learnt about Danny's cool romantic escapades over the weekend. His story is kinda funny like the Ben Stiller-Jennifer Aniston movie "Along Came Polly". Saw "Crossing Jordan" on the TV and fell asleep. Tired, quiet and at peace with myself.
Tuesday: Again worked late at the office, this time I was preparing collages for the Diversity Event to be held this week at the office. Have to find some thing to keep me enthused, don't I? Surprisingly still not frustrated or mad at my job despite coming late from work. Watched the new family style "Amazing Race" on TV. Enjoyable series for yet another year. Saw a new legal show "Close to Home" that touched my heart. The plot rotates around an aggressive and passionate female lawyer who pursues cases that occur close to her home, in her neighborhood. The show last night was about a crazy guy who kept his wife and 2 kids locked in their house for 2 continuous years. The house being located in a nice and posh locality made it all the more difficult for the ADA to make her case against him. The fervor with which I watch these legal shows always maked me wonder whethet I should consider a career in law! Later in the night provided free girl advice to roomie#1. Thereafter, roomie#2 arrived with another problem. Her purse had either been stolen or was lost at some hep bar. We had to go through her motions of procrastination, card and phone cancellations et al; nothing it was any trouble. It just made the night long and tiresome.
Wednesday: Got up late and smoothly jazzed through work. Remarkable story of the day: The boss is throwing a birthday party with his new wife for her 17 year old dog! Doesn't that just crack you up? Ended up working late giving final touches to my great posters/collages on Indian culture and festivals. Dropped roomie#2 at the airport in time (Key Accomplishment!) but got lost on the way back home (Wrong Exit!). Had dinner with roomie#1 over mild banter and some cheezy karoake girlie tunes courtesy him. Watched my favorite TV show Over * There. I realized I like it so much because the plot is realistic which makes the show very credible. Looked aimlessly for jobs while blogging. Still happy and content with life....This is awesome....
Cons of the week so far:
- Carried gym bag for 3 straight days. Workouts: Zero. Jogs: Zero.
- Job Search and Enquiries: Zero
- Misc things to do: Infinite. Accomplished: None
Life is Good. Simple and Subtle. This week has been bright despite all else!
The World is Changing
From fathers feeding crack to their babies to changing social perceptions about successful careers a lot seems to be changing these days....The world is our "karma bhoomi" (meaning battlefield or land of actions in Hindi, the Indian national language) - the one chance to make a difference in peoples' lives by means of our actions.......
While Americans today regard firefighters, doctors, nurses, military and police officers and teachers as successful professionals with prestigious careers much of the world is still worshipping high paying occupations like stock and real estate brokers, lawyers, bankers, executives and journalists. This change of heart in the American economy by far the most consumerist and materialistic is a clear signal that people don’t necessarily equate high incomes with success.
In terms of perceived prestige, important but lower-paying jobs like teachers ($43,000 median salary per year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics) and police officers ($45,000) solidly trumped business executives ($140,000), lawyers ($95,000) and stockbrokers ($69,000) -- jobs typically associated with wealth.
This study is interesting to me because a well educated friend of mine who was also a marine chuckled at my respect for military professionals. According to him, most civilians deem it stupid for an intelligent and smart young graduate to drop successful business career tracks in order to serve one's country. Per me military professionals worldwide should always be praised and applauded for the pain and sacrifices they endure in order to maintain peace and harmony across national boundaries. Working for meager salaries with a contingent clause of losing their lives or limbs at any time during active war fare is definitely not an easy life; not one that should be mocked in any case. Except of course the black sheep who bring disgrace to the armed forces and should be aptly criticized and punished for violating human rights by committing heinous war crimes.
Two excellent eye-opening new shows around the military are on TV this season:
My personal favorite is OVER * THERE which is on FX every Wednesday at 10 pm PST and is a very realistic kind of military drama about the lives of young soldiers stationed in IRAQ. This series is gripping, can be sad and touching at times but definitely brings out in the open various issues that civilians like me hardly take a moment to think about.
Equally powerful but more macho-dramatized and political in nature is the series E-Ring, which is on NBC Wednesday at 9 pm PST. From rescue missions in Afghanistan to spy projects in Algiers the series delves around the information E-Ring involving decision-making politics with the Pentagon, CIA and the Chief of Staff being the key stakeholders.
On a totally different note, Al Qaeda has struck again this time the hit was Bali, Indonesia. Senseless terrorism and the resulting human loss always drives me nuts. Apparently, the 3 simultaneous bombs that went off in busy beach restaurants were suicide bombings that have lent 25 people dead and close to 100 wounded. If only we had a Minority Report kind of situation going on in reality; then we could apprehend the terrorists before they hit and save people from dying!
While modern society is forced to face growing competition, aggressive stress and the pains of global terrorism some sections of the society are easily taking the path of least resistance, an escapist strategy so to speak that is in essence degrading the humane factors of society.....I have 2 examples:
A few months back San Diego news reported a woman who had locked her 7 year old son in the trunk of her car to attend a New Years party with her boyfriend was sentenced to 500 hours of community service, no jail time and no restrictions on her parent rights. This apalled me an extent I can't explain...The judge's remarks were that since the mother was repentant and had admitted that she locked her son only because she could not find a babysitter and really wanted to party on New Years it was in the best interests of the child not to revoke her sole parenting rights. Isn't that amazing ? Most decent people would not even leave any stranger or child locked in a car's trunk for 4 hours leave alone leaving your own kid to die only so you can fulfill your addiction of drinking anf dancing in a party!!!
I just read last night about this even more bizarre incident:
A 13-month-old girl in London swallowed some crack cocaine that her father, a junkie, left lying around. The child was saved from death since the drug was wrapped in clingfilm.
This makes me ponder real hard:
Where is the world heading towards ?
How are social and moral values degrading at the speed of light ?
Whatever happenned to humanity, sympathy and kindness ?
While Americans today regard firefighters, doctors, nurses, military and police officers and teachers as successful professionals with prestigious careers much of the world is still worshipping high paying occupations like stock and real estate brokers, lawyers, bankers, executives and journalists. This change of heart in the American economy by far the most consumerist and materialistic is a clear signal that people don’t necessarily equate high incomes with success.
In terms of perceived prestige, important but lower-paying jobs like teachers ($43,000 median salary per year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics) and police officers ($45,000) solidly trumped business executives ($140,000), lawyers ($95,000) and stockbrokers ($69,000) -- jobs typically associated with wealth.
This study is interesting to me because a well educated friend of mine who was also a marine chuckled at my respect for military professionals. According to him, most civilians deem it stupid for an intelligent and smart young graduate to drop successful business career tracks in order to serve one's country. Per me military professionals worldwide should always be praised and applauded for the pain and sacrifices they endure in order to maintain peace and harmony across national boundaries. Working for meager salaries with a contingent clause of losing their lives or limbs at any time during active war fare is definitely not an easy life; not one that should be mocked in any case. Except of course the black sheep who bring disgrace to the armed forces and should be aptly criticized and punished for violating human rights by committing heinous war crimes.
Two excellent eye-opening new shows around the military are on TV this season:
My personal favorite is OVER * THERE which is on FX every Wednesday at 10 pm PST and is a very realistic kind of military drama about the lives of young soldiers stationed in IRAQ. This series is gripping, can be sad and touching at times but definitely brings out in the open various issues that civilians like me hardly take a moment to think about.
Equally powerful but more macho-dramatized and political in nature is the series E-Ring, which is on NBC Wednesday at 9 pm PST. From rescue missions in Afghanistan to spy projects in Algiers the series delves around the information E-Ring involving decision-making politics with the Pentagon, CIA and the Chief of Staff being the key stakeholders.
On a totally different note, Al Qaeda has struck again this time the hit was Bali, Indonesia. Senseless terrorism and the resulting human loss always drives me nuts. Apparently, the 3 simultaneous bombs that went off in busy beach restaurants were suicide bombings that have lent 25 people dead and close to 100 wounded. If only we had a Minority Report kind of situation going on in reality; then we could apprehend the terrorists before they hit and save people from dying!
While modern society is forced to face growing competition, aggressive stress and the pains of global terrorism some sections of the society are easily taking the path of least resistance, an escapist strategy so to speak that is in essence degrading the humane factors of society.....I have 2 examples:
A few months back San Diego news reported a woman who had locked her 7 year old son in the trunk of her car to attend a New Years party with her boyfriend was sentenced to 500 hours of community service, no jail time and no restrictions on her parent rights. This apalled me an extent I can't explain...The judge's remarks were that since the mother was repentant and had admitted that she locked her son only because she could not find a babysitter and really wanted to party on New Years it was in the best interests of the child not to revoke her sole parenting rights. Isn't that amazing ? Most decent people would not even leave any stranger or child locked in a car's trunk for 4 hours leave alone leaving your own kid to die only so you can fulfill your addiction of drinking anf dancing in a party!!!
I just read last night about this even more bizarre incident:
A 13-month-old girl in London swallowed some crack cocaine that her father, a junkie, left lying around. The child was saved from death since the drug was wrapped in clingfilm.
This makes me ponder real hard:
Where is the world heading towards ?
How are social and moral values degrading at the speed of light ?
Whatever happenned to humanity, sympathy and kindness ?
Society Against Suicide
Something shook me to the deepest core of my blood cells today. It was the tragic news of a loved one passing away in the prime of her life. Later I found out that it was a suicidal death. Nothing had prepared me for this. A beautiful, young and bright student; my brain was going numb pondering as to what might have compelled her to take this drastic step. In hindsight, it doesn't really matter what made her take the final plunge, what matters is that a momentary lapse of self-confidence and a surge of depression has created a collossal loss in the lives of her family members and friends. I have made the decision to devote my time towards the research and prevention of suicide.
Initial Research:
Suicide (from Latin sui caedere, to kill oneself) is the act of willfully ending one's own life; it is sometimes a noun for one who has committed or attempted the act.
Suicide is viewed in varying ways among the cultures, religions, legal and social systems of the world. It is considered a sin or immoral act in many religions, and a crime in some jurisdictions. On the other hand, some cultures have viewed it as an honorable way to exit certain shameful or hopeless situations. Persons attempting or dying by suicide sometimes leave a suicide note.
Many suicidal people attempt suicide which does not end in death, this is called an "Attempted Suicide" or "Parasuicide". Generally, those with a history of such attempts are almost 23 times more likely to eventually end their own lives than those without. Sometimes, a person will make it look like he tried to commit suicide, without actually succeeding (as a cry for help from those he hopes care). This is called a "suicidal gesture". It can be done either by a non-lethal, non-damaging method that still leaves clear signs of the attempt, or by counting on somebody to be back in time to rescue the apparently suicidal person. On the other hand, a person who genuinely wishes to die may fail, due to lack of knowledge about what he is doing, unwillingness to try methods that may end in permanent damage if he fails, or an unexpected rescue, among other reasons. This is called a "suicidal attempt".
Statistics:
Over the last 60 years the suicide rate worldwide has tripled. Suicide is the 2nd largest cause of death among college students and the 3rd largest cause of death between the age of 15 and 24. More persons die by suicide than by homicide. Data from a survey conducted by the American College Health Association revealed that 9.5% of all students surveyed (16,000) had contemplated suicide while 1.5% had actually attempted suicide.
Psychologists have identified the teenage years as one of the most difficult phases of human life. Teenagers must make key decisions about their future, develop their identities, change schools and meet a new sets of friends, find out about their family's past, et cetera. Many young people have difficulty coping with these stresses with the onset of mood altering hormones. Growing competition and peer pressure are only rising by the day. This onslaught in rapidly developing countries is even more severe where personal depression and professional success go hand in hand and are a stark reality for the youth.
For instance, out of every three cases of suicide reported every 15 minutes in India, one is committed by a youth in the age group of 15 to 29. A study conducted by the Vellore-based Christian Medical College on teenagers in the Southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, especially in the Vellore region, found that the average suicide rate for women is as high as 148 per 100,000, and 58 per 100,000 for men. Worldwide, this rate is 14.5 per 100,000. Of the 154,000 total number of suicide cases recorded in the whole of India in 2002 some 50,000 came from the four south Indian states of Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh and the Union Territory of Pondicherry. This statistic is even more alarming than the rising population.
If by chance you are not visiting my website to ponder or think about suicide prevention but are actually thinking about ending your life.........Please Please Please do me a favor and read this first.....It only takes 5 minutes
If you are thinking about suicide......Read this first
My aim in putting all this information together is two fold:
1. To increase awareness:
Each year thousands of people commit suicide, and 70% of those people tell someone or give warning signs before taking their own life. Stop A Suicide, Today!
Knowledge about something gives us the power to fight it. Please read below some articles about how to identify signs of suicidal tendencies. Even if you never feel depressed this information might help you identify the signs of manic depression in someone you love and give you the tools to save them. If you are a student please learn more about the 2nd largest death cause and use the power of knowledge to build awareness and help groups in your school, college, dorm, etc. Please please do not make fun or dishearten someone who is already emotinally pained. Remember that kindness, humility and sympathy are good virtues to possess.
2. To create proactive societies and organizations in all parts of the world for the prevention of suicide
As I suspected my first research efforts have presented minimal resources for suicide prevention and suicide rehabilitation in India and Indian colleges. I hope to garner some interest from fellow Indians to create more awareness and support groups across Indian colleges.
Also on the local front, I would like to volunteer with local bodies in California to use my time and skills for suicide prevention.
It is my belief that society and society alone; consisting of you, me and all global citizens can do something to prevent the rise of this unwieldy death cause that wipes away thousands of young lives each year. Instead of blooming in their prime, a few lovely buds wither away in the wintery night...
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide
http://www.nmha.org/suicide/report.pdf
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/suicide/
http://www.nmha.org/suicide/youngPeople.cfm
http://www.educationupdate.com/archives/2002/july02/htmls/cov_hope.html
http://www.yellowribbon.org/
http://www.rediff.com/news/2004/apr/15spec.htm
http://www.stopasuicide.org/
http://www.spanusa.org/
http://www.preventsuicidenow.com/
http://www.save.org/
http://www.hereforlife.org.au/
http://www.whitewreath.com/
http://www.elca.org/dcs/suicide_prevention.html
Initial Research:
Suicide (from Latin sui caedere, to kill oneself) is the act of willfully ending one's own life; it is sometimes a noun for one who has committed or attempted the act.
Suicide is viewed in varying ways among the cultures, religions, legal and social systems of the world. It is considered a sin or immoral act in many religions, and a crime in some jurisdictions. On the other hand, some cultures have viewed it as an honorable way to exit certain shameful or hopeless situations. Persons attempting or dying by suicide sometimes leave a suicide note.
Many suicidal people attempt suicide which does not end in death, this is called an "Attempted Suicide" or "Parasuicide". Generally, those with a history of such attempts are almost 23 times more likely to eventually end their own lives than those without. Sometimes, a person will make it look like he tried to commit suicide, without actually succeeding (as a cry for help from those he hopes care). This is called a "suicidal gesture". It can be done either by a non-lethal, non-damaging method that still leaves clear signs of the attempt, or by counting on somebody to be back in time to rescue the apparently suicidal person. On the other hand, a person who genuinely wishes to die may fail, due to lack of knowledge about what he is doing, unwillingness to try methods that may end in permanent damage if he fails, or an unexpected rescue, among other reasons. This is called a "suicidal attempt".
Statistics:
Over the last 60 years the suicide rate worldwide has tripled. Suicide is the 2nd largest cause of death among college students and the 3rd largest cause of death between the age of 15 and 24. More persons die by suicide than by homicide. Data from a survey conducted by the American College Health Association revealed that 9.5% of all students surveyed (16,000) had contemplated suicide while 1.5% had actually attempted suicide.
Psychologists have identified the teenage years as one of the most difficult phases of human life. Teenagers must make key decisions about their future, develop their identities, change schools and meet a new sets of friends, find out about their family's past, et cetera. Many young people have difficulty coping with these stresses with the onset of mood altering hormones. Growing competition and peer pressure are only rising by the day. This onslaught in rapidly developing countries is even more severe where personal depression and professional success go hand in hand and are a stark reality for the youth.
For instance, out of every three cases of suicide reported every 15 minutes in India, one is committed by a youth in the age group of 15 to 29. A study conducted by the Vellore-based Christian Medical College on teenagers in the Southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, especially in the Vellore region, found that the average suicide rate for women is as high as 148 per 100,000, and 58 per 100,000 for men. Worldwide, this rate is 14.5 per 100,000. Of the 154,000 total number of suicide cases recorded in the whole of India in 2002 some 50,000 came from the four south Indian states of Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh and the Union Territory of Pondicherry. This statistic is even more alarming than the rising population.
If by chance you are not visiting my website to ponder or think about suicide prevention but are actually thinking about ending your life.........Please Please Please do me a favor and read this first.....It only takes 5 minutes
If you are thinking about suicide......Read this first
My aim in putting all this information together is two fold:
1. To increase awareness:
Each year thousands of people commit suicide, and 70% of those people tell someone or give warning signs before taking their own life. Stop A Suicide, Today!
Knowledge about something gives us the power to fight it. Please read below some articles about how to identify signs of suicidal tendencies. Even if you never feel depressed this information might help you identify the signs of manic depression in someone you love and give you the tools to save them. If you are a student please learn more about the 2nd largest death cause and use the power of knowledge to build awareness and help groups in your school, college, dorm, etc. Please please do not make fun or dishearten someone who is already emotinally pained. Remember that kindness, humility and sympathy are good virtues to possess.
2. To create proactive societies and organizations in all parts of the world for the prevention of suicide
As I suspected my first research efforts have presented minimal resources for suicide prevention and suicide rehabilitation in India and Indian colleges. I hope to garner some interest from fellow Indians to create more awareness and support groups across Indian colleges.
Also on the local front, I would like to volunteer with local bodies in California to use my time and skills for suicide prevention.
It is my belief that society and society alone; consisting of you, me and all global citizens can do something to prevent the rise of this unwieldy death cause that wipes away thousands of young lives each year. Instead of blooming in their prime, a few lovely buds wither away in the wintery night...
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide
http://www.nmha.org/suicide/report.pdf
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/suicide/
http://www.nmha.org/suicide/youngPeople.cfm
http://www.educationupdate.com/archives/2002/july02/htmls/cov_hope.html
http://www.yellowribbon.org/
http://www.rediff.com/news/2004/apr/15spec.htm
http://www.stopasuicide.org/
http://www.spanusa.org/
http://www.preventsuicidenow.com/
http://www.save.org/
http://www.hereforlife.org.au/
http://www.whitewreath.com/
http://www.elca.org/dcs/suicide_prevention.html
Busy Bee
Time is Money; isn't it ?
WOW time just flew by these last few days! And what was I up to:
- Pondering a lot about career choices
Every few years we are faced with critical decisions that can make or break our professional lives. First there is the question of choosing a good High School, then which college to pick, what major and finally what career track. And if you go back for graduate school, there is even more pressure to make all those decisions all over again and this time hopefully bang on the bull's eye. There is some rome for error but not much to recover. Life is not that long :)
- Planning out the Great Alaska Trip
More about that in a few days. I will be posting everyday from Alaska so that I have a record of all the fun memories!
- Doing a whole bunch of crap
Cleaning a single girls apartment was never an easy chore and to make it ready for the parents to drop by; thats as scary as Fear Factor!
- Reading a lot
Online journals about Alaska and high activity in the North American Auto Sales industry has kept me hooked to the computer. By the way anyone planning to buy a car, now is the best time in 2005 to buy one. Employee discounts from the BIG 3 have also forced Toyota, Honda, Nissan and other dealerships to reduce vehicle prices.
And then there is also the fact that I have not been sleeping well. I ordered a ton of great books to read from eBay and Amazon and some of them just came in today so now I have even more distractions to keep me away from blogging.
More later...
WOW time just flew by these last few days! And what was I up to:
- Pondering a lot about career choices
Every few years we are faced with critical decisions that can make or break our professional lives. First there is the question of choosing a good High School, then which college to pick, what major and finally what career track. And if you go back for graduate school, there is even more pressure to make all those decisions all over again and this time hopefully bang on the bull's eye. There is some rome for error but not much to recover. Life is not that long :)
- Planning out the Great Alaska Trip
More about that in a few days. I will be posting everyday from Alaska so that I have a record of all the fun memories!
- Doing a whole bunch of crap
Cleaning a single girls apartment was never an easy chore and to make it ready for the parents to drop by; thats as scary as Fear Factor!
- Reading a lot
Online journals about Alaska and high activity in the North American Auto Sales industry has kept me hooked to the computer. By the way anyone planning to buy a car, now is the best time in 2005 to buy one. Employee discounts from the BIG 3 have also forced Toyota, Honda, Nissan and other dealerships to reduce vehicle prices.
And then there is also the fact that I have not been sleeping well. I ordered a ton of great books to read from eBay and Amazon and some of them just came in today so now I have even more distractions to keep me away from blogging.
More later...
The Business of Networking
The online networking industry is faced with a problem: the emergence of a few standardized leaders in the market. The business is still in its infancy and the landscape is similar to pre-Google days. Sure search capabilities existed begore Google, but we had one too many search engines and none that could really hand consumers the power of the web in a single click. We haven't seen a single example of a networking company proving itself financially profitable as yet.
Majority of the users of social and business networking softwares are clearly disappointed with the disparate and weak solutions available in the market. A plethora of mass networking sites like orkut, friendster, classmates, linkedin, yahoogroups, googlegroups, facebook as well as thousands of smaller regional and niche players are still in the evolutionary phase. So far not a single networking model has been able to capture the constant attention span of the users. The power of the network is both in its reach (various types of services) and in its depth (a critical mass of customers).
Customer satisfaction and business viability are sore issues for now.
Majority of the users of social and business networking softwares are clearly disappointed with the disparate and weak solutions available in the market. A plethora of mass networking sites like orkut, friendster, classmates, linkedin, yahoogroups, googlegroups, facebook as well as thousands of smaller regional and niche players are still in the evolutionary phase. So far not a single networking model has been able to capture the constant attention span of the users. The power of the network is both in its reach (various types of services) and in its depth (a critical mass of customers).
Customer satisfaction and business viability are sore issues for now.
Pensive Moments
Had quite a few pensive moments this past weekend.
Watched an inspiring interview of Bill Clinton and a MSNBC series on leaders and headliners which included the life changing journies of Oprah Winfrey and Hillary Rodham Clinton. I always have and still do admire Bill as a political leader. What beats me is how a sensible and shrude public figure like Bill could take the risk of extra-marital affairs ? Thats the reality of the American Dream; applies to the head of the country as well ! Another great example of the fulfilled dream is seen in the movie American Beauty. Can't help thinking why SEX is such a high priority on an adult American's agenda ? Note to self: Still haven't read Clinton's "My Life".
Coming back on track, Hillary's nomination was under debate on the famous show HardBall. Hillary is supposed to be a very strong contender alongwith Rudy Guliani and John McCain. It would be interesting to see if the most advanced and powerful country in the world will have a woman President or not ?
Meanwhile, a bunch of young kids continued to amaze me this Sunday afternoon as I watched the 78th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee. These 8-13 year olds displayed their expertise at spelling unheard of words from the english dictionary over 19 consecutive rounds. The fact that the winner, Anurag Kashyap, a kid of Indian descent was a smiling hero one minute but just a shy kid the next second was kind of a let down for me. Anurag and his Dad mustered shy "Thanks" to all the press questions. This is strange for me. For a kid who definitely has a vocabulary far better than a average person; 2 lines as a winner's speech is not much to ask.
Not that I have a very different opinion of myself. I could easily identify myself with Jack from "All work and no play makes Jack a dull person". Work has been real busy this week...Its great when a day passes by and you realise you learnt something new from someone today. Now that I think of it, the last 9 months have not been a waste of life. Its been real. Its all been a great learning experience. The work, the new city, the people...
My next post is going to be all about my thoughts on San Diego, the top holiday destination in California.....May be I will also start shaping my thoughts on the future..
Watched an inspiring interview of Bill Clinton and a MSNBC series on leaders and headliners which included the life changing journies of Oprah Winfrey and Hillary Rodham Clinton. I always have and still do admire Bill as a political leader. What beats me is how a sensible and shrude public figure like Bill could take the risk of extra-marital affairs ? Thats the reality of the American Dream; applies to the head of the country as well ! Another great example of the fulfilled dream is seen in the movie American Beauty. Can't help thinking why SEX is such a high priority on an adult American's agenda ? Note to self: Still haven't read Clinton's "My Life".
Coming back on track, Hillary's nomination was under debate on the famous show HardBall. Hillary is supposed to be a very strong contender alongwith Rudy Guliani and John McCain. It would be interesting to see if the most advanced and powerful country in the world will have a woman President or not ?
Meanwhile, a bunch of young kids continued to amaze me this Sunday afternoon as I watched the 78th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee. These 8-13 year olds displayed their expertise at spelling unheard of words from the english dictionary over 19 consecutive rounds. The fact that the winner, Anurag Kashyap, a kid of Indian descent was a smiling hero one minute but just a shy kid the next second was kind of a let down for me. Anurag and his Dad mustered shy "Thanks" to all the press questions. This is strange for me. For a kid who definitely has a vocabulary far better than a average person; 2 lines as a winner's speech is not much to ask.
Not that I have a very different opinion of myself. I could easily identify myself with Jack from "All work and no play makes Jack a dull person". Work has been real busy this week...Its great when a day passes by and you realise you learnt something new from someone today. Now that I think of it, the last 9 months have not been a waste of life. Its been real. Its all been a great learning experience. The work, the new city, the people...
My next post is going to be all about my thoughts on San Diego, the top holiday destination in California.....May be I will also start shaping my thoughts on the future..
The Stanford Stories
This is the most inspiring real life story I have read in a while. I am actually quite ashamed of the fact that in my 2 years at Stanford I never realised the importance and role of the Office of Accessible Education (OAE’s) Student Disability Resource Center. The amount of time, dedication and efforts that the staff at OAE put in to support the disabled students at Stanford is highly commedable. Giving an exam is such a long and complex process for a disabled student; just proves how easy giving an exam is for a student without any disabilities. http://www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/2005/mayjun/features/blind.html
Another Stanford article that caught my eye was about the rejected Business school applicants who had tried to use a public hack method earlier this year to see their application results on the ApplyYourself website. Is this just a stunt for B-schools to maintain some integrity in public image or a shaping experience that will hopefully reduce the number of Enron type fiascos in the future. http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2005/april13/bizkids-041305.html
Another Stanford article that caught my eye was about the rejected Business school applicants who had tried to use a public hack method earlier this year to see their application results on the ApplyYourself website. Is this just a stunt for B-schools to maintain some integrity in public image or a shaping experience that will hopefully reduce the number of Enron type fiascos in the future. http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2005/april13/bizkids-041305.html
Drop it like its hot
While I totally abhor Snoop Dog and his pimp lifestyle, I did wish today that I could drop a hot cup of coffee on some HR person. The US Govt is good at doing that too. The hottest and most controversial stories of the week be it the Koran down the toilet in Cuba or Saddam in underwear, they just deny them categorically. The Govt even makes free news presses to retract stories and apologize only to drop hot matters off the public palatte. By the time truth comes out to corroborate the stories the news is as cold as a turkey and the public attention lost.
Some wise person aptly said this recently, the US is not a country with states and government its actually a corporation where Bush is the CEO and all he is trying to do is maximise profits. International governance is also thought to be a business tr
Some wise person aptly said this recently, the US is not a country with states and government its actually a corporation where Bush is the CEO and all he is trying to do is maximise profits. International governance is also thought to be a business tr
Whats in your heart ?
Understanding others is difficult sometimes but isn't the toughest part not knowing oneself. The quest of the self is the oldest one and more pronounced in certain stages of life than others.
How long does it take one to assimilate diverse feelings and palpitations of the heart in to thoughts synchronized with the head ? I am making no sense at all, am I ?
If the heart is what drives us all then why would there be so many directionless people working hard to make money, buy lavish houses and then feel unhappy at the end of the day ? How does our wallet keep us ticking while its the heart that should really be the chauffeur of the car called Life ?
Herz cheering the spirit of the heart, of pure passion and joy, of the will to follow the heart over the brain, of happinness over luxury, of good over evil....
How long does it take one to assimilate diverse feelings and palpitations of the heart in to thoughts synchronized with the head ? I am making no sense at all, am I ?
If the heart is what drives us all then why would there be so many directionless people working hard to make money, buy lavish houses and then feel unhappy at the end of the day ? How does our wallet keep us ticking while its the heart that should really be the chauffeur of the car called Life ?
Herz cheering the spirit of the heart, of pure passion and joy, of the will to follow the heart over the brain, of happinness over luxury, of good over evil....
Delirium : A Jerry Maguire moment
So whats it all about ?
that's how Jude Law's movie Alfie ends, with that rhetorical question! Isn't that the top question on the top of all our minds at some or many points in our lives ? It should get something like the top all time question (think keyword) award from Google, Yahoo and MSN combined.
The same weird feeling that Tom Cruise had in Jerry Maguire that one night when he just couldn't sleep and ended up battling his delirious mind and conscience by writing a company memo. No I am not trying to write a righteous memo here. But hey how do you battle your own conscience when nothing seems to make sense ?
On a lighter note, good won over evil or at the least over deceit last night when the nice and helping couple Achaean & Joyce Agu won THE AMAZING RACE over Rob & Amber and Ron & Kelly. That made sense, huh ?
What did not make sense over the last few days ?
- 6 people killed in a home in California in a bizarre incident
- A freak plane coming within 3 miles of the White House before getting diverted
- Toyota posted another fruitful quarter of profits while GM and Ford stocks got downgraded to sheer junk
- The never ending Michael Jackson trial. Don't we all know by now : "He's done it all"
- Renee Zellweger getting married in a secret ceremony to the 4 month love of her life Kenny Chesney
- David Letterman continuing to have gallons of paint thrown from the top of the theatre where his show is filmed
- Save the best for the last: "HSBC is in the news for a 4 day bank strike in the UK over paycuts and layoffs"
Alright no this is not a news service blog! But hey betcha you guys did not know that the script of a recently famous Indian comedy movie called "Munnabhai MBBS", which I really liked a lot by the way has been purchased by 20th Century FOX for reproduction in Hollywood. Now that's a first!
Oh something has caught me by surprise! I haven't been blogging at all in the recent past and I still have some visitors on this blog of mine. Why is that ? Ahem not because of my prolific writing of course. Its a few keywords that are bringing people to my blog and they ain't real pretty. The top clinchers are "420 friendly" and these are words in a post on "what is 420 friendly", apparently a very American or Californian phrase that I had no clue about.....
Until next time when I promise myself I will devote more time to revamping this now kinda ageing blog of mine :)
that's how Jude Law's movie Alfie ends, with that rhetorical question! Isn't that the top question on the top of all our minds at some or many points in our lives ? It should get something like the top all time question (think keyword) award from Google, Yahoo and MSN combined.
The same weird feeling that Tom Cruise had in Jerry Maguire that one night when he just couldn't sleep and ended up battling his delirious mind and conscience by writing a company memo. No I am not trying to write a righteous memo here. But hey how do you battle your own conscience when nothing seems to make sense ?
On a lighter note, good won over evil or at the least over deceit last night when the nice and helping couple Achaean & Joyce Agu won THE AMAZING RACE over Rob & Amber and Ron & Kelly. That made sense, huh ?
What did not make sense over the last few days ?
- 6 people killed in a home in California in a bizarre incident
- A freak plane coming within 3 miles of the White House before getting diverted
- Toyota posted another fruitful quarter of profits while GM and Ford stocks got downgraded to sheer junk
- The never ending Michael Jackson trial. Don't we all know by now : "He's done it all"
- Renee Zellweger getting married in a secret ceremony to the 4 month love of her life Kenny Chesney
- David Letterman continuing to have gallons of paint thrown from the top of the theatre where his show is filmed
- Save the best for the last: "HSBC is in the news for a 4 day bank strike in the UK over paycuts and layoffs"
Alright no this is not a news service blog! But hey betcha you guys did not know that the script of a recently famous Indian comedy movie called "Munnabhai MBBS", which I really liked a lot by the way has been purchased by 20th Century FOX for reproduction in Hollywood. Now that's a first!
Oh something has caught me by surprise! I haven't been blogging at all in the recent past and I still have some visitors on this blog of mine. Why is that ? Ahem not because of my prolific writing of course. Its a few keywords that are bringing people to my blog and they ain't real pretty. The top clinchers are "420 friendly" and these are words in a post on "what is 420 friendly", apparently a very American or Californian phrase that I had no clue about.....
Until next time when I promise myself I will devote more time to revamping this now kinda ageing blog of mine :)
The future of Indian Cinema aka BOLLYWOOD
Driving down at 80 mph from LA to San Diego my mind was totally focused on the functioning or rather mal-functioning of the Indian Cinema aka Bollywood, this after watching a couple of the popular Koffee with Karan Johar episodes!
While King Khan SRK, Big B and Hrithik Roshan were all happily chatting about their past and present on the show my thought process was hoping for some visions for the future from the superstars.
What lies ahead ?
Why is it that producers are willing to spend zillions of dollars in shooting on location in UK/US for masala movies but not in INNOVATIVE SCRIPTS...
And then there are others like Aishwarya Rai, Om Puri, Shekhar Kapur who tried dabbling in British and American productions....
WHY ISN'T SOMEONE trying to make quality films in India for viewers worldwide and by that I just don't mean Indians worldwide...
If European movies like Amelie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Asian movies like Stephen Chow's KUNG FU HUSTLE can be distributed and marketed by SONY, Miramax, etc. why can't India produce quality movies for the world population...
India lacks no talent or resources in any field whatsoever..
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050418/ts_afp/afplifestyleusfilmindia_050418174712
With specific context to this article where Mr. Amitabh Bachchan talks about racial stereotyping which is why he claims he never set his eyes on Hollywood, I would like to question him if Hollywood did not welcome him with any offers why didn't he make the typical Hindi movie all with the song-dance sequences but with a strong story line for a global audience...It really pains my heart to see a talented actor like Mr. Bachchan copying AL PACINO from SCARFACE in his vastly successfully AGNIPATH! Why couldn't it be vice versa ? Why don't we make original movies ? Why copy the West ?
While India is finally proving its mettle in the areas of science, technology and business I don't see why Indian authors, actors, directors and producers cannot create a new era of Indian cinema for the world to see and admire.
This should be a challenge that an ambitious star actor and businessman Shahrukh Khan (who apparently does not have an official website :) ) who has it all: the influence, work experience and big bucks; should strive for. There is nothing more left for him to achieve in India than scale new heights of global success, fame and wealth. I don't know how Shahrukh Khan motivates himself to keep doing the samething day in and out without any new challenges in life ? Shouldn't the new generation of BOLLYWOOD try to make a real difference in how the world perceives India today - as a nation of 1 billion smart, beautiful and diverse people not just as a land of snake charmers!
If Sabeer Bhatia could create a new phenomenon called HOTMAIL for the world to use can't we dare have an INDIAN CINEMA for the WORLD AS WELL ?
While King Khan SRK, Big B and Hrithik Roshan were all happily chatting about their past and present on the show my thought process was hoping for some visions for the future from the superstars.
What lies ahead ?
Why is it that producers are willing to spend zillions of dollars in shooting on location in UK/US for masala movies but not in INNOVATIVE SCRIPTS...
And then there are others like Aishwarya Rai, Om Puri, Shekhar Kapur who tried dabbling in British and American productions....
WHY ISN'T SOMEONE trying to make quality films in India for viewers worldwide and by that I just don't mean Indians worldwide...
If European movies like Amelie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Asian movies like Stephen Chow's KUNG FU HUSTLE can be distributed and marketed by SONY, Miramax, etc. why can't India produce quality movies for the world population...
India lacks no talent or resources in any field whatsoever..
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050418/ts_afp/afplifestyleusfilmindia_050418174712
With specific context to this article where Mr. Amitabh Bachchan talks about racial stereotyping which is why he claims he never set his eyes on Hollywood, I would like to question him if Hollywood did not welcome him with any offers why didn't he make the typical Hindi movie all with the song-dance sequences but with a strong story line for a global audience...It really pains my heart to see a talented actor like Mr. Bachchan copying AL PACINO from SCARFACE in his vastly successfully AGNIPATH! Why couldn't it be vice versa ? Why don't we make original movies ? Why copy the West ?
While India is finally proving its mettle in the areas of science, technology and business I don't see why Indian authors, actors, directors and producers cannot create a new era of Indian cinema for the world to see and admire.
This should be a challenge that an ambitious star actor and businessman Shahrukh Khan (who apparently does not have an official website :) ) who has it all: the influence, work experience and big bucks; should strive for. There is nothing more left for him to achieve in India than scale new heights of global success, fame and wealth. I don't know how Shahrukh Khan motivates himself to keep doing the samething day in and out without any new challenges in life ? Shouldn't the new generation of BOLLYWOOD try to make a real difference in how the world perceives India today - as a nation of 1 billion smart, beautiful and diverse people not just as a land of snake charmers!
If Sabeer Bhatia could create a new phenomenon called HOTMAIL for the world to use can't we dare have an INDIAN CINEMA for the WORLD AS WELL ?
Blame India & Stuff
Alright! Came across this Blame India Watch blog and am immediately hooked on it..Must read from now....http://blameindiawatch.blogspot.com/
My blog has pretty much gone to the dogs what with blog frequency and visitor activity down to zilch! Must find more time for blogging! Well with the way life has been going on, kinda boringly phasing away, a whole year may pass before I realize one more year of life is over and done with. It has been kind of a drag the last few months, just work, TV, movies and dinners; none social enriching activities either :) Must take more control of life and find time to exercise, read, write and blog apart from the house maintenance chores and the usual office routine!
Last few days have been unusually very tough on me for no good reason. Unecessary complications made work more exhausting than need be and lead to a bunch of late nights which in effect leads to a sell fulfilling cycle of frustrating events. To further my anxiety, I have been getting injured every single day of this week due to some odd reason. I know have 5 bandaids holding me together :)
Yesterday was the mother of fast paced, and a maddening surreal amount of work filled day. The whole day left me in a foul mood by the time I left work at 10 pm and the only thing that cheered me for a couple of minutes was the comedy of Ray Romano and Ashton Kutcher's candid interview on David Lettermn's Late show.
My blog has pretty much gone to the dogs what with blog frequency and visitor activity down to zilch! Must find more time for blogging! Well with the way life has been going on, kinda boringly phasing away, a whole year may pass before I realize one more year of life is over and done with. It has been kind of a drag the last few months, just work, TV, movies and dinners; none social enriching activities either :) Must take more control of life and find time to exercise, read, write and blog apart from the house maintenance chores and the usual office routine!
Last few days have been unusually very tough on me for no good reason. Unecessary complications made work more exhausting than need be and lead to a bunch of late nights which in effect leads to a sell fulfilling cycle of frustrating events. To further my anxiety, I have been getting injured every single day of this week due to some odd reason. I know have 5 bandaids holding me together :)
Yesterday was the mother of fast paced, and a maddening surreal amount of work filled day. The whole day left me in a foul mood by the time I left work at 10 pm and the only thing that cheered me for a couple of minutes was the comedy of Ray Romano and Ashton Kutcher's candid interview on David Lettermn's Late show.
Tid Bits
A few minutes back on The Tonight Show, Jay Leno made a snide remark about Americans being mad about losing jobs because of companies setting shop in India. I couldn't care less about Jay and his poor jokes on Martha Stewart, George W Bush and of course Michael Jackson but this non objective economic picture painting is reckless on Jay's party. The world is growing in to a global market space and capitalism - the highest valued virtue in the US of A of is showing its true colors to the US economy!
Someone at work was having fun criticizing the British English that Indians speak; which, while understood well but the entire globe may not be the most familiar colloquial use of the English language to common Americans. Poor Americans, they don't have their own language or for that matter food (now u know why most restaurants in the US have internatioanl cuisines) or culture, drive on the wrong side of the road and play a game just within the States and call it footbal while the whole world calls some other game football (think soccer)! A bunch of crazies I would say....
This may seem like a hate post or something..It isn't meant to be ....
Someone at work was having fun criticizing the British English that Indians speak; which, while understood well but the entire globe may not be the most familiar colloquial use of the English language to common Americans. Poor Americans, they don't have their own language or for that matter food (now u know why most restaurants in the US have internatioanl cuisines) or culture, drive on the wrong side of the road and play a game just within the States and call it footbal while the whole world calls some other game football (think soccer)! A bunch of crazies I would say....
This may seem like a hate post or something..It isn't meant to be ....
Stanford Cardinals beat the UCLA Bruins
A source of tremendous joy, excitement and entertainment for me this weekend was the Mens Basketball game at the Maples Pavilion, Stanford. Both Stanford and UCLA teams looked in good shape initially and were giving each other a run for their money to take the 3rd spot in the PAC-10 rankings.
As the game progressed, just like a bottle of good wine, the Cardinals started showing more and more of their class and character and the Bruins could do nothing to undo the sparkling effect of the ever so cute Chris Hernandez. Chris led Stanford to a 78-65 win over UCLA while scoring an all time career high of 37 points. That does not go to say that the team did not put in a solid effort. Scott Allen, sports editor at the Stanford Daily best summed up the team's performance with:
"Stanford seems to have found at least one recipe for surviving the rest of the season without its leading scorer Dan Grunfeld: Seven guys play solid basketball while one plays completely out of his mind."
Matt Haryasz was also a great contributor to the team on Sunday. While the Cardinals ruled, UCLA star player Dijon Thompson struggled against the Stanford defense. Jordan Farmar was the only one who tried to fuel a second half resurgency on the Bruins part but his efforts were undermined by the over performance of Chris Hernandez. Coach Trent Johnson looked more than happy with the Cardinals performance.
With four more games to go, all I've gotta say is "GO STANFORD!"
For more coverage about the game in question:
The Stanford Daily
The Daily Bruin
As the game progressed, just like a bottle of good wine, the Cardinals started showing more and more of their class and character and the Bruins could do nothing to undo the sparkling effect of the ever so cute Chris Hernandez. Chris led Stanford to a 78-65 win over UCLA while scoring an all time career high of 37 points. That does not go to say that the team did not put in a solid effort. Scott Allen, sports editor at the Stanford Daily best summed up the team's performance with:
"Stanford seems to have found at least one recipe for surviving the rest of the season without its leading scorer Dan Grunfeld: Seven guys play solid basketball while one plays completely out of his mind."
Matt Haryasz was also a great contributor to the team on Sunday. While the Cardinals ruled, UCLA star player Dijon Thompson struggled against the Stanford defense. Jordan Farmar was the only one who tried to fuel a second half resurgency on the Bruins part but his efforts were undermined by the over performance of Chris Hernandez. Coach Trent Johnson looked more than happy with the Cardinals performance.
With four more games to go, all I've gotta say is "GO STANFORD!"
For more coverage about the game in question:
The Stanford Daily
The Daily Bruin
Monologues of a dreamy, lazy and last minute traveler
So I am back to writing after a very long time, cursing myself ever so subtly about how I let my laziness overpower my motivations to spend time creatively rather than watching TV. When a friend told me sometime back that when he goes home after work all he wants to do is to lie down on a couch and watch meaningless TV shows, I had totally not believed him. But time tells its own tales and today I feel the same clichéd feeling myself on every single working day.
Getting back to an exciting topic, I recently went to see the newly formed country of Eritrea. This is a small country, an offshoot of Ethiopia that undividedly enjoys the coast of the Red Sea right across from the Saudi nations.
Highlights of my trip that I hope I will never forget:
- Sipping great coffee all over the country. Oh man, that was real coffee! Starbucks is nowhere near their bar on quality.
- Enjoying and at times getting annoyed over the raw and rudimentary level of services available to tourists.
- The ever smiling faces of the poor people of Eritrea hiding their real aspirations in life. Unlike Indians, these people are not at all fatalistic, which is definitely a positive for there are very few paths by which ordinary Eritreans can create easy and happy lives for themselves; given the various anti-developmental policies adopted by the current Eritrean Government.
- The gut-wrenching gun shelling marks that covered all over the walls of homes in parts of Massawwa, the port city.
- The people both to and fro on the airplanes clapping loudly so as to laud the pilot’s efforts in helping us reach our destination safe and sound. This was obviously very amusing to the non-local observers.
- The peculiar nature of the happy-go-lucky population which by no means could afford meals twice a day but somehow could manage to have a coffee or beer at the local café/bar in the evening. During the evenings, it seemed as if nobody was at home, the streets were always so full of people.
- The unique quality of every local presenting him/herself as a very well dressed individual never ceased to lose my attention. I even told my Mom that our maid was better dressed than us.
- The calm and in a way very slow motioned life there. It was more of an irritant to me but I guess in a way its better to lead a slow paced life rather than an ultra-high paced all American lifestyle.
There is more that I want to recollect and capture before I forget all about it…But time is my enemy at the moment….Hopefully, the next few days will allow me more time to scribble!
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