Cynical Thinker

Blog URL changed!

2009-09-06T12:25:00.001+05:30

CynicalThinker has now moved to UpasanaTaku :)

A new dawn

2009-08-03T05:51:00.000+05:30

Rough draft of a poem after ages:a hot and high delhi nightone dreams dark are made offollow it must a new dawn...a mild wisp not a breezethats sways dry tree leavesa sky blue of fake cloudsa shimmering hue orangesquehopes of a mild sun streakthe dogs are restlessthe crows are harping (or whatever crows do)the dog feeder a simple manthe tea stall owner a poor manthe paper is hauledthe pots are

Musings on the Indian retail user experience

2009-04-08T00:24:00.000+05:30

Note: This was not my first time at this or any supermarket in Delhi; I have been around!Around 8 pm tonight I realized we had run out of a bunch of basic grocery items. So I head down to the nearest supermarket/grocery store called More to buy stuff - you know milk, fruit, etc. With great disdain I pick a basket to carry the 6-7 items in my hands. Disdain, why one may ask? Well the sporty orange

grandma's words

2009-04-07T00:14:00.000+05:30

the world is yours till such time as u r energetic and high...when u r down and low u r on ur own!

7 DAY SALE @ HOT 2000 TOYOTA CAMRY SOLARA SE RED 86K 2D AT FWD COUPE LEATHER WARRANTY EXCELLENT $6750

2009-02-19T07:48:00.000+05:30

Now selling the most good looking, super clean and amazingly well maintained car in the Bayarea: My Sporty Red Toyota Solara 2000 coupe! This is a Nice Red Sporty Solara!! Low mileage 86000 for its age, clean CARFAX report, extra extra clean for a 8 year old car and CLEAN TITLE! Also features the Camry v4

Ridiculous statements on the frontpage of Times of India

2009-01-23T16:56:00.001+05:30

Was skimming through headlines and frontpage of TOI when I read this irresponsible quote that shows the brain and independence of a woman celebrity in modern India. Its still wandering somewhere in the back of my mind and driving me crazy!"Asked whether she would contest the elections if Sanjay Dutt (a star actor) were not able to do so, Manyata (his wife) said, "He has to take the decision. I

new adjectives to consider when defining myself

2009-01-13T07:51:00.000+05:30

self-centered One entry found. Main Entry:self–cen·tered Pronunciation: \-ˈsen-tərd\ Function:adjective Date:circa 1764 1 : independent of outside force or influence : self-sufficient 2 : concerned solely with one's own desires, needs, or interests — self–cen·tered·ly adverb — self–cen·

Ode to Mater

2008-12-15T12:26:00.000+05:30

A picture of poignant beautya woman of stolid strength;music her forte is,art her choice of words.A shy Rapunzela haven that once was;suave her subtle wayscharm her weapon in guise.A deep sensibilitya seldom cracking smile;amidst dark days of lifeeffervescent her warm light.A cosy nest of liliesa love and life in bloom;curious minds she pottedto set their wings loose.An unwritten heroa strength

Travel Days 7 & 8 - What have I been up to in Rio de Jainero?

2008-10-04T06:48:00.000+05:30

Day 7 - Landed @ 11 am. Thanfully used ankle twist (during last 3 miles out of Grand Canyon) to get a wheel chair and breeze out of the airport...Took 1.5 hours to get to Ipanema beach and Mango Tree hotel...traffic is miserable in Rio! After getting settled and showered, went for a leisure stroll down Ipanema beach and took millions of scenic sunset pics :)Day 8 - *Left hostel early at 9 to get

Travel Day 6 - Worst day of the trip so far!

2008-10-04T05:45:00.000+05:30

getting out of phoenix airport was a nightmare...details to come

Travel Days 3, 4, 5 - In & Out of the Grand Canyons

2008-10-04T05:34:00.000+05:30

Day 2 Sep 28: Met the team at 6:45 am @ GCFI, started hiking the South Kaibab trail at 7:30 am, reached Bright Angel campground at 2:30 pm. Some rest, a cool lemonade, a ranger talk on California condors and some chilling in the Bright Angel creek water (right next to the campground) followed....Miles hiked 7, elevation start?, dropped 5000 ft?Day 3 Sep 29: Did the North Kaibab trail few miles

Travel Day 1 and 2 - Getting to the Grand Canyon National Park

2008-09-28T09:20:00.001+05:30

Day 0 (Sep 26, 2008) was massively chaotic just-in-time processing; the important thing is everything got done!My flight from San Jose, CA to Phoenix, AZ was on Sep 26th at 1 in the afternoon. Before I could board the flight a million last minute things had to be done. One such stressful thing to do was shipping my stuff from US to India. I had arranged for the shippers to do a pickup from my

Uhhhhhhhhhhh controlling people!!!!!!!

2008-09-26T09:04:00.000+05:30

My sister has the most annoying way of being helpful....Just when she knows I am busy with a million things to finish under a deadline she wants to have a philosophical discussion on just about anything.....Tonight it was about being connected while traveling, especially since I was traveling alone :( :( Excuse me I didnt know I needed permission from someone to travel alone :-)Yes some people

Opasna's report on The Triathlon at Pacific Grove, 14 Sep, 2008!

2008-09-21T00:07:00.001+05:30

Hello All!Firstly many thanks to all the people contributed to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society on my request in 2007 and 2008. All the money you contributed is officially in the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's bank to be used for cutting edge research and patient support. Fill up your company's gift match form if you haven't already!My Story.....The cancellation of the Treasure Island triathlon in

My travel map

2008-08-31T10:24:00.001+05:30

Denali National Park and Preserve, AK, USAOahu, HI, USAYosemite National Park, CA, USAAlexandria, VA, USARome, ItalyMumbai (Bombay), IndiaView my profileCreate your own travel map or travel blogTravel Info at TripAdvisor

Something is wrong with me!

2008-08-26T07:12:00.000+05:30

Its 6:42 pm here in California, all 4 of the aisles inhabited by my teammates are now empty. Courtesy skype chats, I know some of my developer friends are still coding along on the other side of the building.Its been a long day - started with a meeting at 8 am. And followed a waterfall of successive meetings and escalations and emails and running around. Since I am recovering from a flu last few

Its time to change again!

2008-07-27T05:55:00.000+05:30

It took some cyclical iterations of denial leading to a random lapse of health for me to finally realize that stress was catching on to me. Added to the physical exhaustion aspect was the preceding emotional meltdown - a directly correlated event where all my pent up frustrations and anger erupted like a volcano. Holding on to things is not a trait of mine, or is it? When it comes to daily life

Who knew Southwest's Spirit magazine had a spirit!

2008-06-21T21:14:00.000+05:30

I love Southwest, whenever I can I fly SWA be it work or personal domestic travel; even if the ticket price is comparable to United or American. Reason being - simply faster in/out flights, lowest gate-gate time, most friendly service and yes pretty comfy seats even though the only thing they serve you is peanuts and drinks :)I must have flown at the minimum 15 flights on Southwest and I never

Upasana vs Vipassana

2008-05-12T06:44:00.000+05:30

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upasanahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vipasana

On surviving life

2008-01-22T06:31:00.000+05:30

Ages...Definitely ages since I wrote down anything meaningful, that's discounting the writing I do at my day job!Life (2007-present) has been what can I say life - a roller coaster ride involving varying use of my brain's power, heart's strength and guts. The one to blame is obviously me! Who in their right mind would constantly keep taking on - new work challenges, new side projects, new

Useful lessons from Meg Whitman's talk

2007-10-05T03:12:00.000+05:30

Enable, don't direct (simply put don't micromanage)Make size an advantage (its always easier to change direction in a startup)Disruptive ideasPrice of inaction is far greater than the cost of a mistakePick out companies where u r passionate about the productTake responsibility for your own career developmentTake risky choices where u don't know anything and can learnRealize u cannot be a perfect

Long time no see, changes, Jawed Karim

2007-09-13T13:51:00.000+05:30

I have NOT blogged since ages and find myself talking to my blog "long time no see my friend".... I was tempted couple of times in the last few weeks but sometimes sleep, at other times the sheer lack of finger energy have succeeded in keeping me from writing...This is bad since my goal of writing a book by 2008 now seems in grave danger....Either I need a sabbatical which is unlikely or I need

Movies, trilogies, etc.

2007-08-05T14:55:00.000+05:30

I am a big Matt Damon fan, from Goodwill Hunting to Talented Mr. Ripley all the way to The Departed...I love his movies, acting and style; he is easily on the top of my list...As his new movie "Bourne Ultimatum" hit screens this Friday, I wondered whether I should watch the third movie in the Bourne trilogy - Bourne Identity, Bourne Supremacy and Bourne Ultimatum.This evening I did a quick Yahoo

Tough Life means Happy Times!

2007-08-02T09:51:00.000+05:30

Okay! I'll admit it - I am sweating it! When a friend warned me that this triathlon business is a lifestyle change I didn't really pay too much attention. I have been a bad athlete life long; 2 years ago I decided I was going to overcome my body's deficiencies and not let it dissuade me from doing sporty stuff going forward. A few days ago I thought - so it will get tough for a few days, I can

Another cool job

2007-07-31T13:08:00.000+05:30

This caught my eye while surfing linkedin.com :http://www.yelp.com/jobs#cmBABWouldn't this be a cool local TJ (travel journalist) kinda job? Okay which one of my friends are applying?!

Toastmaster's Club Speech 5: Questioning Life

2007-07-29T16:13:00.001+05:30

“Mom, why does the moon change everyday?” “Come here. Our earth, this earth that we live on - goes round and round; the moon also moves in a circle around the earth. So we see a different moon everyday depending on where the moon is relative to our earth.” “Uhm, okay” Each of us has been that child and some of us have been that mother. When was the last time you questioned something crucial

Fiction Writing Assignment 4: Dialogues in a short story

2007-07-27T11:37:00.000+05:30

Teachers without Borders 4 Tim felt weary with pain in his chest as he got out of bed. He took the liberty of a long shower to release his blues. I have one last chance to tell her, Tim thought as he felt the hot water bring his body to life. After ages, he took the time to get dressed yet ended up arriving early at Sheena’s doorstep. “Aloha!” Tim watched Sheena with awe as she opened the door

Life is good

2007-07-21T12:58:00.000+05:30

Life has this ethereal quality - it bounces back!Where is this coming from? I had a weird day with an amazing number of things eventually going my way, which obviously has reinforced the idea of life's goodness in me.I started the day late (my usual) at 10:30 am, was on my way to the city (as we like to call San Francisco) still in my 3 year old Toyota. When will I start riding my Kawasaki Ninja

Fiction Writing Assignment 3: Conflicts in a short story

2007-07-20T11:30:00.000+05:30

Teachers without Borders 3 Tonight it was Sheena’s turn to pick a restaurant for Foodie Fridays; Tim and Sister Rosa had assigned a code name to their weekly dinner together. Food was important to both of them. Most Fridays, they went to one their favorite Asian restaurants and enjoyed food over school politics. Sheena wanted things to be different today; she planned to seek advice on her

Fiction Writing Assignment 2: Characters in a short story

2007-07-13T11:36:00.000+05:30

Teachers without Borders 2{For background read part 1 under Beginnings}Sheena stared at the big old clock on the grey side-wall of the room; it was about 10:05 am, still no sign of Tim. Right then, Tim walked in to the meeting room with a bowl of cheerios in one hand and his worn-out journal in the other. He had his cozy smile, ragged blue jeans and a starched white shirt on. To Sheena, it

Lessons of Life

2007-07-12T11:47:00.000+05:30

Lesson 1 - Be Do Want instead of Want Do BeA few weeks ago a friend of mine came to see. She was all excited to share her new found learnings from a life education class she had attended. I did not mock her, I listened to her attentively even asked questions. Somethings made senses, others seemed age old known tricks of the mind. She sensed my skepticism and exclaimed she had felt the same way

Fiction Writing Assignment 1: Beginnings in a short story

2007-07-05T11:58:00.000+05:30

Teachers without Borders 1 Speeding away in a Ford F-150 pickup truck Sheena reflected on her mellow life; suddenly she felt a poke in her stomach and sat up upright. Her jute handbag lay on the passenger seat filled with heavily scribbled sheets of paper – biology tests, a new schedule, memos from Principal Rosa and a letter from Emma, her favorite student who graduated last summer.

I believe I can fly!

2007-06-26T15:25:00.000+05:30

The winds were blowing west and shrillwith trees humming a calm beatThe trail went winding all the wayand a cool blue reservoir made my day!Just walking down the Crystal Springs/Skyline trail last night was an amazing experience; the climate was simply put outrageous - high speed winds, serene noises all thanks to the waves and trees and a relatively small army of hikers on the trail. Although, I

productivity and 4Ps spoof

2007-06-26T12:46:00.001+05:30

http://www.productivity501.com/interview-best-post/263/found this amazing link somehow, somwhere on the web....checked out 3 to 4 links and they were all so useful...note to self: be more productive, patient, proactive and passionate! these r my 4 Ps :)the spoof 4 Ps are so much more coooler than the consulting/marketing 4 Ps: product, price, place and promotion

Manic energy, sleepless nights and more..

2007-06-22T14:51:00.000+05:30

Yesterday was a very strange day...In one single albeit elongated day, I was able to:- priortize projects at work so I knew what to focus on when this week- put my foot completely down and make a case for why I thought we shouldnt do project X- bid on eBay for the object of my affection Kawasaki Ninja 250 cc motorcycle- spend 3 freaking hours at the hospital getting some basic tests done (what is

When the going gets tough, the tough get going?

2007-06-21T08:44:00.000+05:30

Character is something you build through-out life and strength is something you acquire from within while building character. This realization has become more and more relevant and obvious to me in the last few months. Its the tough decisions one needs to make in life that take a lot of personal strength and conviction. A situation would not be tough if it did not demand an extraordinary amount

Marathon Musings

2007-06-17T13:34:00.000+05:30

I spent first few weeks this year planning my marathon spree but the inaction since then has been killing me. The plan was to build stamina for a marthon and not throw it all away like 2006. For 2007, I had planned a 6 month series full of a 5k, 10k, half marathon and then marathon. Once I got to the full marathon, I would get to blow some steam and then start the same cycle again. In this way I

Inspirational Research on Desi Entrepreneurs and Moviemakers

2007-03-10T13:10:00.000+05:30

So this topic is really funny, exciting and inspirational all at once for me. It started with me reading the news on a personalized google homepage which receives news feeds from 20 different news and business magazines I like. Often I am unable to read all the news that pours on my page, so it was sheer luck that something on fortune.com caught my eye. It was an article on Matchmaking

Great Expectations

2007-03-01T09:20:00.000+05:30

I like the challenge of surprising people who underestimate me. Nothing gives me more pleasure than meeting and exceeding expectations of people especially those who have no faith in my potential to deliver.My theory has not worked out very well for me in everyday life. Since I would like people to give me a chance I try to give others a fair chance. The other day I went for a haircut and when it

And the World Tour has begun!

2007-02-05T16:32:00.000+05:30

I have found adventure in flying, in world travel, in business, and even close at hand... Adventure is a state of mind - and spirit.Jacqueline Cochran US aviator (1910 - 1980) My World Tour is a famous joke on me (which I don't mind) that comes up ever so often in conversations with my friends and family. The root cause: for the longest period of time I kept citing my serious passion/ambition

My Countries Visited Map

2007-01-27T14:47:00.000+05:30

create your own visited country map

A new spring every week!

2007-01-25T11:45:00.000+05:30

To be amused by what you read--that is the great spring of happy quotations.I am a great fan of quotes, in fact I read at least 5 new quotes every day. Here are some that reflect my mood today:[Spring is] when life's alive in everything. Christina Rossetti (1830 - 1894)An optimist is the human personification of spring.Susan J. BissonetteInside myself is a place where I live all alone and that's

Feminism brings benefits to all -- men included

2007-01-24T03:16:00.000+05:30

What can I say, I agree completely!Published By Neil Chethik at http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/16517033.htmOn Tuesday, for the first time in American history, a woman will take a seat behind the president of the United States as he delivers his State of the Union address. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who will be elbow-to-elbow with Vice President Cheney during the speech, described her

Inspiring Cancer Story on Dr Phil

2007-01-17T12:08:00.000+05:30

This woman's story is absolutely heartwarming.http://www.drphil.com/slideshows/slideshow/3465/?id=3465&null=null

Oh My God....Bollywood Maniacs Bury Me :)

2007-01-17T04:21:00.000+05:30

I don't know whether I should be happy about this or sad or just outright mad!I have this quaint silly blog that I write for fun..Its a funky old blog that no one reads! And I like it that way :) http://cynicalthinker.blogspot.com/Well I just had 600 visitors because some idiot or a computerized crawler posted my silliest and most random rantings on a popular Hindi music site!http://

No Bollywod for 2007

2006-12-29T14:23:00.001+05:30

Just made a New Year resolution....I will not watch any run-of-the-mill Desi aka Hindi aka Bollywood movie till June 2007 at the least! Half a year is a good aim given the number of Indian friends I have, one of whom will surely keep trying to break my resolution.Why?- 90% of the new Hindi movies that hit the not-so-cool Naz8 theater in Fremont, CA every Friday night are outright (story/script)

Food for thought or Thought for food?

2006-12-29T00:35:00.000+05:30

Last night I spent hours reading my blog (for the lack of maintaining a personal journal) right from the beginning. It felt nice, berry nice (in the words of Borat) to read and remember all that I have been through in the last few years. Some posts were just plain boring, some were inspiring and yet the most fun ones were those that were personal memoirs and reminded me of how I had grown from a

Why do women wear bras?

2006-12-26T12:07:00.000+05:30

DO I need to say anything else?? My eyes have opened to some eye-popping news:http://www.007b.com/why_wear_bras.php

'I Hope You Dance... '

2006-12-26T10:55:00.000+05:30

This was written by an 83-year-old woman to her friend. The last line says it all.Dear Bertha,I'm reading more and dusting less. I'm sitting in the yard and admiring the view without fussing about the weeds in the garden. I'm spending more time with my family and friends and less time working.Whenever possible, life should be a pattern of experiences to savor, not to endure. I'm trying to

In a Mirza Ghalib moment all of a sudden

2006-11-04T13:31:00.000+05:30

hazaaroN KHwahishaiN 'eisee ke har KHwahish pe dam nikle bohot nikle mere armaaN lekin fir bhee kam nikle

Some interesting articles on IBNLIVE

2006-04-19T16:51:00.000+05:30

Homemakers make a B-line at IIM-BYou go ladies! Its never too late to learn and get going on fulfilling your dreams :)Rang de BizarreI think I agree with Sagarika Ghose! When will we stop over-dramatizing and glorifying life in Indian movies? Let me leave u with her closing lines:"Rang De Basanti does a terrible disservice to the nationalism of India's young people. It wilfully paints modern day

Indian Ocean: The Band with a Big Bang

2006-04-19T12:45:00.000+05:30

Sunday night I went to see an Indian band called the "Indian Ocean" perform. This was a bit funny since I tend to go see bands that I like and this one I had never heard of. But a lot of my friends had good things to say about them so I just went. And man was it a good decision or what! A couple of my friends who chickened out did certainly regret doing so once I called each of them to give them

Random research on "Cynicism"

2006-04-19T03:16:00.000+05:30

I was all of sudden curious to know the roots of the word "Cynic" and this is what Google search has to offer:Definitions of cynical on the Web:believing the worst of human nature and motives; having a sneering disbelief in e.g. selflessness of otherswordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn Cynicism was originally the philosophy of a group of ancient Greeks called the Cynics (main article), founded by

Reading the News Paper: An old habit comes back to life!

2006-04-18T12:55:00.000+05:30

As I kid, reading the newspaper was an activity that I thoroughly enjoyed every Sunday afternoon. During the weekdays, I had school but some how I would manage to skim through the paper in the evening. Just reading the headlines, cartoons, a little bit of jumble and crossword, some sports and the horoscope meant I had done my reading for the day. Sunday afternoon was albeit a whole another

Information Overload: I need a Google NextGen

2006-04-17T14:00:00.000+05:30

Have you ever felt that you have too much information floating in your head that you need to somehow store before you lose it all....I have had that sinking feeling one too many times in the last few years...Books and television give us ample amount of time to view and digest information. Its not the same with the web though. Google news, other news sites, emails, forwards, blogs, feeds, text

Fear Factor

2006-04-16T11:50:00.000+05:30

Fear Factor is a tremendously famour show on NBC where teams compete to win a large sum of money. The competitive task can be just about anthing from running up a hill to eating the guts or shit of an animal. Thats just disgusting. Yeah it is! Recently, I saw Fear Factor host and standup comedian Joe Rogan perform at the San Jose Improv in downtown San Jose. Boy was he good or what! His first

The World is Flat

2006-04-14T11:54:00.000+05:30

The World is Flat - my belief that the world is flat is growing by the day. An exicting array of events have lead me to this understanding.For the longest period of time, I had no idea why public service broadcast TV or radio existed. Recently, while surfing my TV, I found interesting programs on KQED a public funded TV channel for the Bay Area. The most remarkable shows that I enjoy are:Charlie

Business news

2006-04-06T14:19:00.001+05:30

Its such a pain to keep up on current affairs these days - be it politics or business or any topic. There is just so much happenning each day, that by the time you play catch up on all those news articles you had flagged for reading, its already stale news, new developments have already changed everyting that existed before. But in keeping with old and new employer loyalty I did follow these news

Writer's block!

2006-04-06T14:04:00.000+05:30

Its been a while since I wrote anything...even 2 lines of prose were difficult to pen down. And here I am, finally breaking this overwhelming writer's block with a big sigh of relief! Why has it been so impossible to write? It couldn't have just been the time (or no time) factor....Possibly, a lot of what we do is a reflection of our state of mind and body. Lets just say several issues were/are

The Young Executive Age

2006-01-21T16:15:00.000+05:30

Ever since I became part of a young, vibrant Silicon Valley company I can't help but notice the average age of an executive....In most cases, its between 32 and 37....Wow thats young!Going the traditional route in a bank, consumer products company or a Dell/Microsoft of the world you would be lucky if you have paid your dues by your lates 20s and by 30 you are a manager of some sort. By 40 you

The Joys of the Simple Life

2005-10-06T14:28:00.000+05:30

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

The World is Changing

2005-10-02T12:08:00.000+05:30

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,

Society Against Suicide

2005-09-07T13:26:00.000+05:30

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

Busy Bee

2005-07-26T12:15:00.000+05:30

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 choicesEvery 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,

The Business of Networking

2005-06-26T08:49:00.000+05:30

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

Young Indians inventing

2005-06-09T14:52:00.000+05:30

Thinking out of the box is hobby for them:A great article about four teenagers who represented India at the International Exhibition for Young Inventors held in Malaysia last week, where youngsters from 37 other countries had participated.Courtesy: CNet

Pensive Moments

2005-06-08T12:03:00.000+05:30

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

The Stanford Stories

2005-05-27T12:50:00.000+05:30

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.

Drop it like its hot

2005-05-26T13:01:00.000+05:30

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

Whats in your heart ?

2005-05-25T13:23:00.000+05:30

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

Delirium : A Jerry Maguire moment

2005-05-12T11:51:00.000+05:30

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

The future of Indian Cinema aka BOLLYWOOD

2005-04-25T13:37:00.000+05:30

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

Blame India & Stuff

2005-03-16T15:17:00.000+05:30

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

Tid Bits

2005-03-10T14:08:00.000+05:30

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

Stanford Cardinals beat the UCLA Bruins

2005-02-23T09:24:00.000+05:30

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

Monologues of a dreamy, lazy and last minute traveler

2005-02-23T09:11:00.000+05:30

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

Who says its a Merry Christmas ?

2004-12-27T15:16:00.000+05:30

All of a sudden my heart choked and I felt a lump of guilt and gloom in my throat....Here I was celebrating Christmas in my own small way, having a nice meal, relaxing and watching movies, shopping at bargain prices and then complaining to God about some ridiculous thing.... We all kind of live in our own small bubbles aware of the happennings around us yet aloof to an infinite level....For me

Dignity of work!

2004-12-13T15:06:00.000+05:30

Learning a lot of lessons or shall I say one too many pearls of wisdom at work these days! I guess the honeymoon is over. Now its just plain normal work life.....The other day somebody said I don't do that shit work I have a *** degree...Hullo ! Thats so arrogant, brutish and indecent...I don't know how and why as people get more educated they forget the basic lessons of life...Didn't we learn

The Ideal Day! Was it really?

2004-12-09T02:14:00.000+05:30

In some ways today was an ideal day. Well not at first, not really. I got up late as usual and rushed away to work. Work was okay: relaxed as well as fast paced as it should be. Learnt some lessons in life via deliberations and interactions with people. Thereafter, for once I left work early and hurray I went to the gym. This was a long awaited beginning of sorts. I knew I needed to exercise once

The Ambani Wars :: Reality TV :: Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki !!

2004-12-06T03:54:00.000+05:30

One fine day when one of the Indian cable channels ZEE TV presented a comedy soap called HUM PAANCH who knew that history was being created. Promoted by the then 19 year old Ekta Kapoor, daughter of the renowned Jeetandra, a moviestar, the soap hit all time records for TRP ratings and ran on for 5 straight years..This was a loud but enjoyable comedy show about a couple raising 4 young and

Sleep Deprivation Triggers 'Hunger Hormones'

2004-12-06T03:47:00.000+05:30

Sleep Deprivation Triggers 'Hunger Hormones' Oh my God! This completely caught me off guard....Dear God reading this article has made me realise how true it is...When I sleep less I do get more hungry ! I should now follow a strict sleep pattern..No more sleeping after 1 am and getting up at 7 am....I have to sleep well..At least a 8 hour sleep daily will have to be the order of the day....No

Be Proud to be an Indian :: JAI HIND!

2004-12-06T03:41:00.000+05:30

Here is a superb presentation on India, its culture heritage, history and contribution to the world. It makes you feel nice and proud to be born as an Indian! Not that I wasn't a proud Indian before seeing this..But this is just great! Check this out folks.. http://www.geocities.com/upasu/India.pps

‘Bhajji ka har bhajan dhyan se suno!’

2004-12-05T12:25:00.000+05:30

indian satire: discard dead weights For your regular but hilarious cricket update be sure to check this one out!

Special trains to promote condoms, fight AIDS

2004-12-05T12:07:00.000+05:30

Special trains to promote condoms, fight AIDS What an innovative idea? How well it will work I don't know but hey its an idea...It will do something! Better than doing nothing about this tremendous looming disaster waiting to happen...India, China and Thailand are leading the race for maximum AIDS victims..With 1 billion people its no surprise that India is headed to win this race..But this is

Child is the father of man!

2004-12-05T11:52:00.000+05:30

Okay a friend passed this along...Its funny hence I am posting it. Babies can really surprise you with their wit! A first grade teacher collected well known proverbs. She had twenty-five students in her class and she presented each child in class the first half of a proverb and asked them to come up with the remainder of the proverb. It's hard to believe these were actually done by first graders

Thanksgiving Sale Update

2004-12-05T10:52:00.000+05:30

Hello People, Longtime no hear! Yup thats me, never expect regularity from me. Anyways, so last Thursday was Thanksgiving in the US and on Friday was the Day After Thanksgiving door buster sale....And in fine American fashion yours truly decided to make the best out of it...What did I do ? Till about 2 in the night on Thursday I was busy with God only knows what ? Was I reading a book , or

Get A Life III :: What Life ?

2004-12-02T12:41:00.000+05:30

Life has been lost for the past few days in the mundane activities at work.....There has been no time to do nothing not even to sleep well for me to even venture into blogging....Few quickies though: Thanksgiving shopping was eventful and I bought a bunch of things! Visited Catalina Island on Saturday, beautiful and not touristy! Mon-Wednesday has been 12 hour work days and a numb brain and body

Get a Life II

2004-11-26T07:17:00.000+05:30

Alrighty, I haven't written anything since Sunday..Why is that ? Um I was super busy on Monday at work..Damn, half the office is on leave for the holidays...Tuesday I came in on time and was super anxious to relax and watch some TV and have a proper dinner...Okay Wednesday was a real easy day by means of work...Half the office had left early anywhere between 11 to 1 in the afternoon trying to get

On Bride & Prejudice & Gurinder Chadha

2004-11-22T04:14:00.000+05:30

Disclaimer: This is more of an elongated comment to a post Balle Balle, Amritsar to LA (Bride and Prejudice) on Deepak's blog than an original post. For background, please read his post first ! While I have serious misgivings about Chadha's potrayal of modern India and Indian families in both her films - Bend it like Beckham & Bride & Prejudice, I think the new movie "Bride & Prejudice" does

Get A Life - I

2004-11-21T14:42:00.000+05:30

Well whats been happenning with me ? Nothing much! Its not very difficult to fall into the monotonous rhythm of home-office-home day in and out, is it ? Its been just 2 months since I started working and I am already on the verge of being called a workaholic. I have been at work on several occasions past 8 pm and once I even had the absolutely hilarious fortune of getting locked in the office at

Okay Kanpur guys under heat again ?!

2004-11-02T14:49:00.000+05:30

Ok now what is with these Kanpur guys...Grow up u guys..when will u leave ur petty narrow minded style of functioning.....Eve Teasing is legally a part of sexual harrasment and you can be sued for it... Find below a link to a real life incident that took place recently at IIT Kanpur and the resulting aftermath... The interesting aspect is that after atypical political fumblings, student

What is wrong with Kanpuriyas?

2004-11-02T10:29:00.000+05:30

While the world is full of larger problems and important issues like the US elections, bomb blasts in Tel Aviv, Larry Ellison marching ahead with Oracle's hostile bid for Peoplesoft, ethnic riots in China, Vijay Singh breaking records on the PGA tour, India trying to save face in the last Cricket Test match against Australia on home ground....... ....the people of Kanpur apparently have nothing

On a cold rainy evening!

2004-10-28T09:28:00.000+05:30

Sunny and warm like a rainbow My heart danced around with a plethora of emotions There was a reason for everything- To shed a tear, to laugh out in pure joy or to just be.. Hammering down came sheets of black water In the darkness of the night my spirit sank thousands of feet Come dawn the rain gods had no respite The gloomy disease spread like a fire Every hour in the day sent me a notch below

Status Quo

2004-10-15T13:38:00.000+05:30

Its been a while..Its really been a while since I devoted any time to my poor dear old blog or read up some of the blogs I liked to read... Anyways, moving has kept me busy I guess....Isn't it a pain to move ? All the hassles: the house, the car, the roommate, the furniture, the utilities, the bank, what not ? And to fathom that someone would actually move 4 times in a year willfully is xtremely

Yahoo!!!!!!!!!!!

2004-10-02T09:48:00.000+05:30

Nope, I'm not trying to publicize the giant internet company Yahoo.....That's just how I am feeling..Very different and unique feeling....A new kind of step ahead in life with knots in the stomach but no nervousness in the heart, more like a roller coaster.... The event: First personal home Setting up everything right from scratch seem exciting and yes tiring....Right from the lamp to the bed..

Summer of '04 :: To new beginnings

2004-09-21T18:06:00.000+05:30

Disclaimer: Very long and uncut version. Read at your own risk :D Relocating is always painful....Everytime I go to a new place I hate it in the beginning and then I fall so much in love with it that its hard to let go.... Maybe thats why I dont sleep at all or negligible if any, whenever I am about to move...It was the summer of 2001 when this first happenned...I had to leave the GH (Girls

Whats in a name?

2004-09-18T11:35:00.000+05:30

Note: All names mentioned are Indian names. Their meaning is given in brackets. Well me thinks, name does matter. It somehow defines you and your persona. Okay not in many cases. For instance, a guy named Sushil (well-behaved) might not really be so. But its my illogical belief that your names does contribute towards your personality and it definitely impacts how the world sees you. Don't

Mission Impossible Accomplished

2004-09-14T14:04:00.000+05:30

Occasion: Me visiting the US Immigration Services to enquire about missing Employment Authorization documents. Mission: Get relevant case status information with hope to receive interim employment authorization at the end of 90 day wait period. The D day is next week! What really happenned?? I was ontime @ 1:45 dot (ya that was a surprise even to me!). Very rough and tough security check, they

Cooking for Engineers!!

2004-09-13T04:57:00.000+05:30

Cooking for Engineers - This website should be a source of inspiration to many of my male and female engineer friends who find cooking very difficult, which I believe is far from the truth. Cooking is easy and like any other activity or sport you have to put in some initial effort until you get the hang of it. Once that happens cooking good food becomes a fun and exciting opportunity that you

Joey

2004-09-10T13:57:00.000+05:30

Bummer! I missed the first episode of Joey something I had been really looking forward to since the last few weeks. The entire evening I was so engrossed with reading this funny novel - A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth that I failed to realize when the clock struck 8. When I finally did give up my laziness to check the NBC schedule online, it was too late. I rapidly switched on my half a century old