Hundred

What is it about the number hundred that makes it so unique..
I would like
-> to get 100 in any course...even 99 doesnot suffice.
-> be in top 100 wealthy women of Forbes Mag.
-> be in top 100 most beautiful women.
-> be in top 100 entrepreneurs.

Most of the guys dream of hitting a century....etc etc..

I suppose you guys would have caught the drift by now...

Yes !! This is our hundredth blog !! A century !! Hooray!!

Theory of Advice

It was my perception that advices are a complete load of crap. I always felt that it was very easy to give advice because it costs nothing to you and you are not the one to follow it. I beleive that, most people cannot completely replace themselves in others' shoes to come up with an advice that would reflect the same thought process that someone is going through. Truth be told, I myself give a lot of advices though the internal contradiction always haunted my mind when I gave one. I listened to a talk today which gave an interesting perspective about advices and it changed my perception of things.

In a nutshell, an advice is considered only as effective as your detachment of personal and emotional feelings on the matter under discussion. I thought about it. It makes perfect sense. Whenever personal and emotional feelings get on the way, rational decisions are seldom made. Typically, when we need advices, we need a rational eye which is void of all the emotional involvement that we encounter. And thats what we get from our friends and families. There is no point complaining about why they didnt feel the same way as we did. Because, they never will and they never should. As I analysed it more, I figured that it is probably a right thing to do to ask or give advices to others. Another way to think about it is that, if you find yourself in an emotionally intense situation, it might help if we can visualise ourselves as part of a movie or a friend who is going through similar situation and find a solution to the problem at hand. The visualisation will do the trick of detachment for you. Getting advices when you really dont need them is a completely different story...Thinking about it, is this entire blog an uncalled for advice?...:)

Passage of Time...

As I watched the empty road on a Sunday morning, it seemed as if the entire place was void of any signs of humans. It took couple of hours for folks to pass a couple of miles just a couple of days ago. As I passed through clear roads, I could imagine how it was once filled up with snow and how people could barely drive. As I gazed at the big mountains, which apparently looks peaceful and serene, I could imagine the once molten lava and the flurry of activities that went along with it in its own creation.

As I look into someone's resting mind, I still see the magnitude of the thought processes that it has endured. Reflecting back on my own thought process in the context of my own mind tells me how time's passage has took me through the various possibilities that I alone got to experience. Time, though it seemingly fades the reality of a context, but yet, carries the impression with it. Time, in the seemingly quiet parts of the world, has seen the greatest activities passing through it. The wars, the people, the storms, the earthquakes and all of it.

We are just glitches when compared to the magnitude of what time has endured. And yet, our mind is limited by the time that we have got to endure. In a way, time is bounded in the context of our own mind. We are what we have experienced. We are what we have struggled for. We are what we cried for. We are what we overcame. As time passes us by, we, ourselves become products of time, just carrying the impressions and the outcomes than reflecting the facts themselves.

Language - Alphabet neutrality

When I think about the English language, I feel the inventors were partial to some alphabets as opposed to others. I think of words starting from the letter 'E' and the words that pour into my mind include, euphoric, ecstasy, elation, exaltation, exhilaration, exultation, extraordinary, exuberant, exemplary, elegant, eloquent and so on. I think of the letter 'D' and many negative words come to mind - depression, despair, disgrace, disappointment, dysphoria, dejection, desolation, desperation, despondency, disconsolation, discouragement, dispiritedness, distress, dolefulness, dullness, declivity, decrease, descent, dip, downslide, downswing, downtrend, downturn, and many more. I think of 'C', and the words that come to my mind include Creativity, compassion, courage, compelling, commitment, confidence, charisma, clever, competitive - all have a positive connotation. Think about 'N' - nuisance, nonsense, negative, nasty, nazi.

I wonder whether the creators really intended for this bias to the different letters positive and negative or is it a coincidence? Or better still, it is it the case of "The eye sees what the mind wants it to see"? I would favor the last reason.

The Road not taken

The day was Wednesday. Undoubtedly the most productive day of the week. It was 750 AM when I left the house. I was a full 20 minutes late leaving the house. I am quite obsessed about being at work by 8:15 at the latest. I drove in a frenzy, fleetingly remembering Mindframe's blog about speeding. I was almost at the exit from the freeway and I saw that it was clogged with traffic -bumper to bumper. I stayed course unwaveringly hoping that things will clear out. A whole 5 minutes later, nobody had moved. I decided to turn around to take the interstate in the slightly longer route. I slipped out of the long line and went up to the nearest u-turn and retraced the path to get to the interstate. As I passed the exit, I craned my neck to see if the traffic had passed up. The cars were still standing and that gave me an inner glow that I had made the right choice by getting out. As I drove to office, the new route I was taking suddenly felt terribly long. My mind kept questioning the wisdon in the decision and I longe to know what happened in my original route and whether it had cleared up since I left.

I finally reached my office that morning at 8:30 am. The world wasn't much affected because I was 15 minutes late to work! But all the thinking reminded me of the poem by Robert Frost called, The Road not taken, that we studied in school. Its a lovely poem and strickes a chord with me because I don't let the past slip away from me very easily. I think a lot about it. It is never easy for me to let go. I searched for the poem online so I could read it again... like I have done many times before and made a mental note to share it with my fellow bloggers.

The Road not taken - Robert Frost
TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth; 5

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same, 10

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back. 15

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. 20

How much do you weigh?

It always bugs me in one way or another when someone comments on others about their overweight or lack thereof. For some reason, it is a norm in India to comment on a person's weight. It is the first question that people start with when they meet you. Though it sounds like a concern, it also sounds like a mild sarcasm. While the western world is so paranoid about having a lot of obese people, the same is somehow termed as a symbol of prosperity in India. Why is this discrepancy? A friend of mine and I had a chat and he said some things that were quite interesting.

If you notice, you will notice that the poorer people in richer country and richer people in poorer country are overweight and vice versa for the healthy/normal weight. What does this mean? If you look back at history, you will find that, food has always been a scarce resource. So, people wanted to make the most of it when they had access to it. Especially, fatty food is good because it can keep you from not getting starved, for relatively large periods of time. The most affluent people could have access to more of the fatty food. So, as a result of it, being fatty was probably a sign of prosperity...In a poorer country, food is still a scarce resource. So, it is probably the reason why we still see the remnants of those arcane ideals. In the western world, especially here in US, food is not a scarce entity. Especially, fatty food is very cheap even to the poorest people. I read in an article that "A regular serving of McDonald's French fries contained 200 calories in 1960; now it has 610". The price hasnt changed much from then... On the other hand, non-fatty food is expensive... So, that probably explains why poorer people are fatty in richer countries.. Here in US, things are just the opposite...

Everything said and done, the above paragraph is not trying to make a generalisation about why people are overweight or underweight. It just states the historic background behind the phenomenon. Personally, I think, it is a decision that people have to make for themselves. We all are aware of the advantages and disadvantages of both the extremes. We all make conscious decisions to stay the way we choose to. So, being judgemental about others, not just in this context, but in any context will only provoke unpleasantness.

When it pours in Madras

I was in India last December (2005) when Chennai was receiving its share of unusually heavy rainfall. The week I landed the sky was dark grey all day long. The Adayar river (I don’t like using the word cooum) was flowing to its brim and overflowing into the open grounds along side. It would start pouring before you could finish crying out "its raining". I am a rain lover and just get excited and start jumping around when it rains. My mom and I would run outside the house to grab the clothes drying out in the open. Once the rain stopped we would go out and hang the clothes again until the next time it poured. I would be the first to jump out of my chair and run out in the rain to remove the "clips" and get the clothes from the "kodi". It reminded me of my childhood in trichy and made me feel like a kid again. Well, I always feel like a kid when I visit my parents. As my parents say, I will always be their kid. Back in trichy I remember my grandmother tying a clothesline inside the house and hanging all the clothes(when it rained). When I got back from school I would be bathed In the smell of wet clothes.

Back to madras, December 2005 for a bumpy ride. The rains made the side streets and even the main "tar" roads worse. Some sections of the road were eroded by the rain water making the road look like a birds eye view of mountains and valleys. Hey look at it this way, we don’t need to go up the mountains to do mountain biking its right at our door steps. Every time my dads car went over a bump, the bump would hit on the base of the car. So we would elevate ourselves a few inches from the seat when we knew we were going over a bump. Surprisingly, couple of days after the rains stopped we had the municipality folks come down to lay down a new road!!

Every time it started raining I would run out to smell the "Mann Vasanai". I just love the smell that arises from the soil when the first few drops of rain fall on it. Its called "Mann Vasana" literally translated to "Smell of Soil". I wish I could capture it in a bottle and take it with me every where I go. I think it is special to the soil in India. The few rare occasions it rains in Southern california I run out to see if I can smell the "Mann Vasanai" only to come back disappointed.

The rains left the city looking clean with all the smog settled down, Created a lot of small pools for the kids to play in, made the hot afternoon tiffen of frothy filter coffee & dry bakoda with crisp onion and curry leaves very inviting, washed away the rice flour patterns(kolam) in the doorways and made be yearn to come back to madras. I hope I would, someday..

Tamil lyrics review - Movie Ghajini

As an avid Tamil songs listener, I am always intrigued by good (or bad) lyrics in Tamil songs. Recently I heard the songs from the movie Ghajini and loved 3 songs in them. I was pleasantly surprised when I realized that they are written in pure (but simple) Tamizh instead of Tanglish. So, thought of bringing it to light for others to enjoy too.

Oru Malai: Lyricist: Thamarai

This song is written as hero explains how he met his lover and how he fell in love. It is very simple and yet poetical. It does not have too much of metaphor but simple narration. In that sense it is similar to pop songs.

Oru Maalai illa veyil neram, Azhagana illai uthir kalaam

- One fine Autumn around the mild sun shining dusk time,

Sattru tholai-vile aval mugam parthen – Ange thollai-thavan aanen

- I saw her face in distance and just lost me in her

Parthu pazhakiya naanku thenakalil nadai udai bhavanai matri vidal

Sutrum Vizhi Sudare – Na.Muthukumar

The song is awesome mix of classical tune and right choice of words. Actually, the metaphors are one of the best I heard in recent times. For people who heard Vairumuthu’s songs for a while, this will be a welcome difference.

Here is one example:

Karuppu vellai pookal unda? – Un kannil naan kanden

- I was wondering whether there is black & white flower and your eyes answered that question

Un Kangal vandai unnum pookal enben

- Your eyes are the first flowers which I saw eating the bee

Rangola: Kabilan

This is peppy latino tune with catchy, light and playful lyrics to go along with. The beauty comes in yethugai and moonai. Well, don’t look for underlying meaning or something. Sometime it is not about meaning – Sometime?

Komala valli valli – Kangalal kolum ville

Thirmbi naan nika solli – vachi vitavaa malli

P.S: Don’t let my simple translation discourage you from listening to these songs :)

Checkin/Checkout

We landed in Alaska on July 3rd at 7:00PM. Alaska, being the land of midnight sun was as bright as day at that hour. As we all know, check in time is usually around 3:00PM for most of the suites.I was happy 'coz we had booked a suite with full kitchen which translates to Sambar Rice even in Alaska.
They gave us our room keys , which was just a card to swipe. I started swiping my card...nope..didn't work...something was wrong there..after a few swipes, got it going. I dont know how they make these cards, but they always have to be swiped in an angle to open the door.
After our grand entry into the suite, I wanted to light it up to find out what was in store for us. Searched for the switch right next to the door..nope...not there..Suresh, the ever resourceful man in my life, found a switch near the kitchen. Hooray !! The switch in the kitchen switches on the light in the corridor. Now, one thing sorted out. I dont know how they come up with the layout for the rooms. Finding a light switch translates to a hide and seek game. I can understand that the hotel staff are eager to entertain us and come up with these wild schemes of hiding the switches or knobs. There was an amazing chandlier , whose switch was right under the dining table. Ofcourse, where else can it be?After finishing our game of hide and seek, I decided to freshen up.
Entered the restroom with my vanity bag and ofcourse, had forgtten my soap. No worries,I hope to find a decent soap there. Isn't it wonderful how the soap, body lotion, shampoo are all neatly laid out next to each other near the sink , though they are made for lilliputs in a country full of Gullivers. Have you ever wondered why those soaps never foam . The lotions usually kind of stink. I just dont understand how we never see these soaps and shampoos anywhere else other than hotels and airplanes. They are good for Keerthana's "Choppu Jaman" play though.
Decided to take a shower instead and now, thats a totally different game. You would have to find the correct position for getting the hot water. The "C" or "H" on the knob doesnot matter . They are there just to show that you can get both cold and hot water if you try hard enough.Finally, found that at an angle of 30deg, the shower can sputter warm water. And ofcourse, the angle at which it sprays water can almost never be changed. You have to be flexible enough, irrespective of your height and width, to bend in ridiculous angles to make sure that you are graced with water( like the spraying of rose water in weddings).
One good thing I like about hotels is the abundance of towels. Score one! You get all kinds , atleast two of each. I use them liberally and they do replace it everyday. It feels good when you can dirty the entire restroom and someone cleans it for you. On to the hair dryer !! Have you ever wondered why the dryers there are always noisier with lesser performance . I feel nostalgic when I listen to the racket ..We used to have a BPL vaccum cleaner back home , which was a very handy and cute one. It had a mode where it would blow air instead of suction. I, being the multi tasking queen ,was using it as my hair dryer.
Finally, I tried getting into bed for a good night's sleep. Yes..I mean what I say..I really tried getting into bed. Ofcourse, I am happy that someone else is doing the sheets and they are all set for you to just jump in. But, again, nothing can be easy..can it. Why do they tuck the blankets so tight that you feel like an egyptian mummy when you try to get into them. You have to tug and pull at the sides to get some breathing space , though the tugging does remind me of home where I have a tug-of-war with Suresh everyday to get hold of my share of the blanket.
Afterall, their motto is " We make you feel at home !!" SIGH !!

The magic of 30

30 is indeed a special age. To me it’s the age where one sheds all their fantasies and faces reality. When you are in your late 20s you are still trying to fit in with the early/mid 20s "youth" crowd. When you hit 30 you are grown up. You are "Over the hill" as some like to say. But its not as bad as it sounds. I feel 30 brings a log of freedom and maturity that one must realize and enjoy.

For a while I was resisting being 30. When I was 29 and someone asked my age, I would say I am in my late 20s. I was allowed to say this even when I was 29.9. But when you are 30.0 its not allowed. Even though it is a day apart, you are now in your early thirties. But 1 year past that landmark (there you go I said it, I am more than 30 now) I am able to look back and see how much I seem to have matured. I think my mental maturity was budding from 28/29 and blossomed in 30. Here are few things that I learnt since I hit 30.

1) Others will believe in you only if you strongly believe in yourself.
2) Do only one thing at a time.
3) Be bold and don’t hesitate to call others fault.
4) Pursue what interests you even if its not the most happening thing. Before you do anything, think if you really want to do it or
you are doing it because others think it is cool.
5) Don’t hesitate to tell others how you feel about any situation. Being truthful can win you more friends than trying to be nice.
6) When you meet someone new don’t try to say smart things to impress them. Just say what makes sense.
7) Its ok to be player. You do not have to win always.
8) When someone asks you to something, don’t do it blindly without checking if it makes sense.
…and so many more.

This revelation is exciting and now I am looking forward to the rest of my grown up life where I will learn more about myself. Everyone around us talks like 30 is old age. Something that’s not cool. But I think its great to be 30 or >30 and hope all of you would go through a similar positive experience. And then when you hit 50 its a different story. We will worry about it when we get there.

Stage Speech

I think I really suck at giving a speech. I think I talk fairly well in a smaller group of friends or even a bunch of unknown people. But, getting to the podium and giving a speech is a whole different beast to me. I really admire those who give eloquent speeches for hours and hours. May be I am missing some fundamental tricks that needs to applied. However, if I rewind time, I see myself giving speeches and participating in all sorts of recitation and debate competitions. What happened to me? It cant be the marriage...:)..We will find out when we get back after a quick break...

Suvaiya Manama Samachi vachha rasichu sappidanum..um.. Aahaa Oho Besh Balenu Ellarum Parattanum..um...Adhukku venum Sakthi Masala...Venum Venum Sakthi Masala...Sakthi Ma.sa.la.ah.ah.ah...

Oh well... The more I think about it, when I was young, I think I wasnt very conscious about what others thought of me. I was very confident that I was giving the best speech. To top that, the speeches mostly had stuff that someone else drafted. All I had to do was, memorize it and convey it out. Now, it is a totally different story. First of all, I dont usually get to spend a lot of time to prepare for a formal speech (not that I get called to give any public speeches..mostly official stuff..). And when I do prepare slides for a speech, I think too much about the content. I usually assume that all my audiences are very clever and can think through stuff in the 3-5 seconds window that I spend on a slide. I also spend a lot of time to fabricate a lot of interesting stuff that can be inserted at different places along the presentation. After doing all this, when I get on the stage, I draw a blank...Here comes the rescue. On behalf of all of you, I take this oppurtunity to devote all my dedication and gratitude to MS-Powerpoint. It really is a life-saver. One can just flip through the slides and talk about whatever that is mentioned and get through the presentation. Once the presentation is done, I just brood about all the nicer things that I could've done. To add to my embarassment, murphy's law kicks in...some people always manage to ask questions that I didnt think through... We will find out how I retaliated after a quick break...

Sadha Karkal Nagaigal Vaangida Lalitha Varungal..Seikooli illai...Sedharam illai..Karkalukku Vilayum illai... Lalitha Jewellery, T.Nagar, Panagal Park...

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. To balance my act of stupidity and embarassment, I try to do my best when I am on the other side of the seat. When I attend a seminar or lecture or a speech of any kind, I bombard the speaker with the maximum questions that I can come up with. Sometimes, I even take considerable pain to go through the speaker material to come up with creative questions. And when they droop, I give my victorius vengeful smile...;).. Seriously, I am just amazed at how some people can deliver absolutely great speeches. President Clinton is one of my favorite speaker. It would be great if you can share on the experiences that you've had....

Hangover of a Good Movie

Has anyone had a hangover of a good movie? Sometimes when I watch a good movie where the direction is good and actors do a great job, I have the hangover of the movie for awhile after I watch the move. This "awhile" could be few hrs to few days. The characters in the movie come alive and I feel that they exists or rather I exist in the realm of the movie. If it turns out to be movie based on a real story that makes it worse. The very next hour I am out searching for real life pics of the characters and searching for articles about them. Adding a line "This movie is based on a real story" brings a lot of credibility to the movie and you really want to know more about the characters.

For example, I read and watched "Into thin air" by john Krakauer. This is an adventures and moving book based on a real life episode of Australian mountaineer, Rob Hall and his team some of whose lives were taken by a fierce storm while climbing Mount Everest. I followed this movie with another movie called "The Everest" shot by an IMAX team that climbed mt Everest lead by American, Ed Viesturs. The IMAX team was on the Everest around the same time and have been mentioned by John K in his book. John K was one of the lucky climbers in Rob Hall's team of 8 to survive. This tale of adventure and disaster was so compelling that I was out on the web searching for more stories about them. I read everyone's bio on Rob Hall's & Ed Viesturs's team. I went to Rob Hall's company website "Adventure Consulting" and researched on how much they charge for Everest trip. I was fascinated by Araceli segarra a Spanish climber only 26 and also a model. A very strong woman. For a while I felt like a mountain climber myself. The impression faded away after few days of watching the movie.

Yesterday, I watched Beautiful Mind based on a biography of Nobel prize winning mathematician John Nash. Another gripping and well directed movie with moving performance by Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connley (She won the Oscar for best supporting actress for this. Russell did not. He had won the best actor award for gladiator the previous year and it was the same time he got bad press over issues with a reporter in his new York hotel). But what captivated me the most was the intelligence of John Nash and how he faced schizophrenia. His wife Alicia Larde who is from El Salvador was supposed to be a ambitions, intelligent and attractive lady . Based on the movie I thought she stood by him all through but found out after a web search that they were divorced and separated for 30 years and married again later. I searched on pics of John & Alicia in their young age and found more info about them. Now the effect is slowly wearing away.

I think every one wants to be someone adventures, intelligent. When we come across personalities like this we are drawn to them since they reflect what we want to be. It does not matter if the person is a mountain climber or mathematician or business tycoon. All that matters is they have a trait that sets them apart from the rest. Everyone looks up to them and admires them. Books are written about them and movies are made on their lives. But I noticed that people who excel in a field or often not well rounded and normal. Then are extremely focused towards their goal and don't care for trivialities along the way. They miss out on the simple fun of normal life. As for me, I think I will be content admiring them and aspiring to be like them for a few hrs or days.

Sensible Speeding...

I might sound like a grumpy old guy on this one. But, I couldnt help but notice this obvious fact that we all violate at some point of time or the other. So, my conscience wanted me to bring this topic up to the podium. It is about driving. I always thought that, passing all the cars in a road would mean that I am going to reach the destination much faster than others. But, when I did some simple math, it was obvious that I was wrong, especially comparing the risk to benefit trade off.

My reasoning stems from a basic comparison between driving at 75mph on a 65mph highway. Let us say we have to travel 25 miles, it would take 20 minutes if we drive at 75mph and 23 minutes if we drive at 65 mph. This is assuming the fact that there is no one slowing down the freeway, which is almost always the case. You can make the calculation for other numbers and surprise yourself..:)... If you travel a very long distance, the minutes difference could be sizeable. Still, remember that speed is always limited by the slowest vehicle on the road. If everyone is doing a higher speed, thats a different story. If you do a simple risk to trade-off analysis, it doesnt make much sense to drive fast when you are travelling to a nearby destination. You are not saving any time. If you drive fast just for the heck of it, to keep your adrenaline pumping, thats a different story as well.

It is also a universal fact that higher RPMs translate to higher energy consumption. So, if you are pressing hard on the accelerator when the light turns green, you are not necessarily translating all that power generated to useful purpose. Higher RPMs are bad for the engine and tires (if you produce one of those smoking effect). I dont hate speeding. I just think we should do some sensible speeding. That way, we are not putting our lives or others at risk.