my Alter Ego's unscripted Journey....

Living (re)defined

2011-04-18T08:59:00.000-07:00

"my life is a perpetual question mark--my thirst for books, my observations of people, all tend to satisfy a great, overwhelming desire to know, to understand, to find an answer to a million questions. And gradually the answers are revealed, many things are explained, and above all, many things are given names and described, and my restlessness is subdued. Then I become an exclamatory person, clapping my hands to the immense surprises the world holds for me, and falling from one ecstasy into another. I have the habit of peeping and prying and listening and seeking--passionate curiosity and expectation. But I have also the habit of being surprised, the habit of being filled with wonder and satisfaction each time I stumble on some wondrous thing. The first habit could make me a philosopher or a cynic or perhaps a humorist. But the other habit destroys all the delicate foundations, and I find each day that I am still..."

"You live like this, sheltered, in a delicate world, and you believe you are living. Then you read a book...or you take a trip...and you discover that you are not living, that you are hibernating. The symptoms of hibernating are easily detectable: first, restlessness. The second symptom (when hibernating becomes dangerous and might degenerate into death): absence of pleasure. That is all. It appears like an innocuous illness. Monotony, boredom, death. Millions live like this (or die like this) without knowing it. They work in offices. They drive a car. They picnic with their families. They raise children. And then some shock treatment takes place, a person, a book, a song, and it awakens them and saves them from death. Some never awaken."

~ Anias Nin

I try
not just try to live
but I try to live up
live up to the life..

Paris, je t'aime

2011-03-19T10:09:00.000-07:00

I ❤ visiting Paris. Never worked there and not sure if I would like to that since work life could be difficult. I visited many many times thanks to living/life in luxembourg, paris was just 2hrs train/car ride. its lovely place to visit, so much to do and any number of days are never quite enough.

Bridges lined up with lamps, wicker-chair-lined cafe terraces, tree shaded boulevards, charm the city while the grand public monuments add grandeur to remind you that this is one of the most beautiful cities on earth. Every part of city has story and boutiques, street artists, music are fabulous. specially la Basilique steps are performing stage for very many street musicians and very good way to spend lazy weekend evenings with sunsetting in the background, wonderful diverse globally music, friends by the side.. discovering new meaning for wonderful life..

why suddenly this..! just happen to interactive with someone from paris & spoke to friends in paris triggering my cherishing memories of paris visits.

Out of nowhere...

2011-03-13T07:15:00.000-07:00

one fine day just recently, out of nowhere I got this facebook message from a stranger..

I lived in barcelona once, I love the city. I have a great romance to have such lifestyle to travel around make silly message, videos,..one day.. some day..

Back...Soon

2010-12-27T06:08:00.000-08:00

Got lost in time. with new place, work, new interests/activities, renewed buddies. much happened with much updates to throw. hope to write soon and more regularly.

for now, I still have hands in my pocket

Happy Holidays.. ohho ohhuoo..

today's Crush

2010-09-22T03:19:00.000-07:00

Have you ever catch eyes with someone random and exchanged tiny little tickle smile in the corner of your (big)mouth... and all the background vision, sound vanishes and you just wanted to keep following them instead of wherever you are suppose to go(like work).. have you!? then you know what iam talking about..

the usual daily commute, walk-train- transfer to another train.. from home to work. like it is always. but today-- Iam guessing this someone lives somewhere in my near neighborhood and working somewhere near my work place.. shared the walk to the stations, and train riding.. all the way thru. its not that she was drop dead gorgeous.. she is very simple looking smartly dressed(salwar) indian gal.. may be its the salwar.. If I happen to see her tomorrow should I say hey?.. even with the risk of making myself look like an idiot..!!

and today fb's status: why on earth everyone is walking very slowwww from underground/MRT to work... come on people, MOVE it.. show some energy in the morning..

such is the paradox in life.. all that tiny little excitement overcome by daily rage..

Birthday, Unplugged

2010-09-12T00:37:00.000-07:00

yet another year pass by and yet another birthday with full of surprises...

As I mentioned, I relocated recently so I had not much plans for my Bday. But it was a pleasant surprise how it turned to be. last minute thought to go for a drink with friend from work. called another friend to join. but he had other plans. so I joined him with no idea where and with whom.. couple of hours later, i was sitting among group folks all random strangers surprising me with one small piece of cake cutting at 12am.. that's how day started.. not bad right!) came back house at 3am. phone calls woke me up at 7:30. around 11am friend invited over for home made lunch. she made rasgulla for me.. the yummeee kind. then lazy afternoon after heavy food, we watched HBO movies - nothing in common & city slickers (both I recommend). around 7pm, the only planned activity of the day- standup comedy with few friends. watching Ted Alexandro live, now twice is awesome.

also I happen to know the organize since I was one of the regulars, he surprised with shout-out from the stage for my birthday. I still dont know how he knows. may be one of friend I was with, she must have told him. turns out another audience member was also celebrating her birthday. show was great fun. then we continued the night with crawling thru city's finest.. so that ended my another 24hrs of exciting, surprises..

One small piece of cake with 3candles to blew,
pizza drinks fondue.
as I woke up by morning dew,
phone calls from loved ones in queue.
with all strength that I drew
from the many exciting years that flew,
I realized people how are blessed like me are very few.
As I get ready for another year with dreams to pursue,
cheers to all the old things and new.

Stereotypes..I(dont)fit-in

2010-09-08T22:48:00.001-07:00

I got tagged in facebook for stereotypes which I dont fit-in..

(un)intentionally i try to stay away from stereotypes(fitting-into and also tagging others). Iam typical in that sense- i feel sometime that iam very very different, diverse, yada yada yada.. then i read the poster on my desk "you are unique like everyone else".. anyways- list from top of the mind..:

- I am always so very happy to let the women drive me around for the entire road trip. done that manytimes..

- I have 8pair of shoes.. may be 8 is not too much but that's right some men like shoes too..

- I can walk mindlessly for hours long thru the malls..window shopping(as long as I dont pay)))

- I always wanted to be couple of years older(atleast until now)

- I am not much an intellact or creative then the other guy but I can convince better..

- I always think, there will be a distortion btw what I know, what I will be able to say, and what people will then understand

- when a friend say "life is hard", I always ask "compare to what!" and almost everytime that is not the words they are looking for.

- temptations & emotions will always interfere with our sense of truth, reality & sanity

- almost no stereotypes are broken. we just move from one to another..

Soooo much has happened..

2010-09-06T23:51:00.000-07:00

Yes Iam still alive and so is this blog. so much has happened since I was here last.
In chronologically order..: after my wonderfully georgia trip-
Roamed in Rome.. (title thanks to suggestion from an sweet-soul).., I had spent one summer month in rome, very very hot, half naked rome and too many tourists. but still very nice. I manage to meetup with some wonderful, interesting folks. out n about with my new found buddies, testing all possible italian foods, drinks, talking about all shift under the sun.. and all in the name of "the family"(bank's team)). ya, that has become the stand line.. "all for the family". felt i was part of italian mafia family.. unplanned visit to Vatican, I had audience with pop. while it was nice to say that but it wasn't good facebook status message. I had to clarify that it wasn't very "personal"..;) [/no offense pls..]

faced with yet another relocation in life.. but before, last week in luxembourg, the place has grown on me.. (no i didnt cry))i did felt nostalgic when i was packing my bags. kissing good bye(for now) to friends. for many reason- this past 2yrs has been interesting and luxembourg did played its part...for all the contact & friends i made & for all the new experiences..
took a brief break in london. wow, not many place is so wonderful as london under the sun. I dont know for some reason, London always feel like second home. I was relocating to far east and far away from europe which was my home for past 5yrs.. so it was good bye for now trip to all friends in london.. and to london itself.
couple of weeks break at home.. visited home sweet home..it was very short but memorable for few reasons...
-- wonderful date with two & half women. universe played one wonderful trick to get me in contact with these cheerful souls. I met and continued the conversation as if I knew them for ages.. actually, I do know them for age may be not in conversation way. homemade wine.. my receipe & their hardwork.. yummee.. isn't that lovely gift.

-- then another date with another sweet well-wisher..
-- warming for my investments..
-- adding kgs (like I always do when i go home...;/ and now my BMI moved to overweight category..;(
yada yada yada....

relocation from one tiny country to another.. Landed in Singapore: oh boy.. what a change.. things couldn't be any different... for indians singapore should feel like home but I had culture shock.. took sometime to get used to things here.. finding house: singapore is very organized and easy to get settled but i have to say of all the places I moved to, it was here I find it difficult to fix an apartment. may be Iam biased or may be its still fresh in my memory but It wasn't easy and it isn't cheap. finally, I did manage to find wonderful apartment at river side.
and with some already known names, faces finding my feet in new place was made easier... and one recent weekend- frnd living in melborne transited via singapore..stayed in Marina Sands Bay. wow.. awesome place to stay.. very nice poool.. on 57th floor.. 500$/night is worth it and it was very pleasant to catchup with my mate..

otherwise, manage to hook up with some lovely friends(of friends).. that kept some weekends busy in exploring the places (bars/pubs/clubs/restaurants,/..).. and stumble upon nice hippie crowd(from CSurf) and standup open mike event 1st wed. of every month..by comedy club asia. very nice gig. (if you in singapore, would strongly recommend that). got connected to natural loving walking/hiking group & photowalks group. hope to go whenever timepermits.
and with effect to build healthy lifestyle, embarked on some interesting experiences. cycling my new found love.. singapore has wonderful long bike tracks along the coast. it was very activity to bike for couple of hours.. 25km..hope to do that regularly. dragon boat riding: another new found love. joined a team and practice every weekend..hoping to participant in River Regatta competition in Oct. ya hoping..

past couple of months had been exciting, many first/new things, 'if only' /interesting moments.. (like the past 30yrs..;)

Monkeys + Sharing = Humans

2010-06-08T09:15:00.000-07:00

Superfreakonomics highlights monkey ability with money, markets, prostitutions, etc.. and how their behaviour is very similar to us humans. In some sense, Its depressing to think that all these millions of years of evolution process has changed much in term of appearance but few in terms of behaviour..

But landed on this(below) interesting question on- what unique to humans? which is not common among other primates.!
Its seems...Interactions and motivation to share.

http://bigthink.com/ideas/18616

Yeah one of the things that, the question of what’s uniquely human is actually a big one and you, depending on who you ask you might get really different answers. If I had to put my money on something that was actually uniquely human, it seems in some funny way to be our motivation to actually interact with others, in a funny way. And what I mean by this is that generally if you look at any humans anywhere, if they’re hanging out with other humans they’re often doing something where they’re showing something to another individual. So you see something cool and you say, “Oh hey, look at this cool thing.” And to psychologists this is a process of reference, right, so sharing, referring to information out there in a world and it seems like other primates even though you think this is kind of a simple ability, they seem to lack at least the motivation to do this. This leads to the fact that they don’t have the kind of communication that we have with things like language with nouns that can kind of point to things out there in the world. They also don’t seem to share their own desires and intentions with others, which leads to a lack of kind of cooperation in a lot of domains, so if I had to put my money on what was uniquely human I’d go with the kind of motivation to share information with others.

Bottom-line: you are a monkey if you don't share.. ;)

wondering around - in Georgia

2010-05-31T09:20:00.000-07:00

I had 3weeks of excitement traveling around Georgia. I had no idea & expectation about Tbilisi and its surrounding. All I knew was the recent war between Georgia and Russia. I landed there to find country very similar to India. no traffic rules, pot holes, nice people, religions, great food…my god, food is awesome & cheap (do try Georgian cuisine).

My friend decided to join me for 5day long weekend. Tbilisi is relatively small city so we would walk most to places and taxi was cheap anyways. During week days, dinner was at nice Georgian restaurants recommended by lonely planet. Till Friday evening 9pm we had no fixed plans for the weekend. All came together in last minute. Found one nice english speaking guide to drive us around. We went on roadtrip to the country side of Georgian. Sighnagi beautiful hill-town, Telavi wine region, vardzia caves close to Turkey & Armenia border, Caucasus Mountains valley, which I should say is stunningly beautiful. Georgian wine is nice. Interesting very old churches, cave mountains,… many things to see and do. Unfortunate we couldn’t do adventure sports, since May is still too early we were told. Georgian is orthodox country and one of the first countries to become Christian. ofcourse during USSR days, religion was practiced in secret. Second language is used to be Russian but these day many young people are learning English as second language. I never had any language problem.

Some interesting highlights:
• Indian movies are big in Georgian. Most people mention the (old) hindi movie names and actor/actress names. one TV channel (India Tv)show Indian movies & drama 24x7 with Russian voice over. (and taxi drivers all they want to talk about is how good hindi movies are and how good looking georgian girls are,)
• People are very very friendly, everywhere I go.. in underground train, street corner while walking, etc… some people walk up and ask where I am from, talk about india, movies, etc.. offer to help, offer for drinks,.. not just once but this happened many times during my stay. Meet two guys who offer me to take me around places and took me drinks and meet nice wonderful & her cousins for drinks,.. had fun time with those folks.
• Many Indian students are studying medicine in Tbilisi. I meet one such student, a boy(Mr.D) from my hometown. He is been there for almost 4years and had interesting stories about life in Tbilisi, others students & their background, their hopes & straggles. Hearing those stories only make me to appreciate my life even more. D was explain how he miss home sometime but he doesn’t think he ever go back to india and live there because he is gay (and actually he can’t even live in Georgia forever). He is lovely kind soul, interesting fellow, took me around places and to nice Georgian restaurant will live Georgian music & dance. He was sharing his experience of travelling to Iran and talking about people in Iran so kind and generous. So many offered him place to stay, food… for free. Thanks to couchsurfing.org , which is how he pinged me too.
• Took intercity bus ride to Gori, joseph stalin hometown. Bus ride in itself is an experience. And I noticed Stalin still have some sympathizers. And his old house, his train coach, is part of museum where I could sit in the his chair & his bed… and take picture. Ofcourse it was not allowed but I charmed tour guide lady to take my pictures. she said, since I came all the way from India and she never had Indian tourists there before, She will allow me to take picture sitting in stalin chair..:) I noticed for stalin’s 70th birthday, gift was sent from India. it’s a writing on rice. Its no surprise museum was bad maintained (by Georgian govt.) and you can’t fail to notice many young couples sitting in many corners of the museum complex and on the step of stalin’s old house and making out.
• I hitch-hiked. Yap I did.;D) exciting fun. Should I say anymore..;) I thought only mini-skirts blondes will get rides. But thank god I was wrong. Some kind souls gave me the left. I had no plans or destination; I went in the direction I got ride. And landed in beautiful little historical town Gardabani.

And Unfortunate I would not go to Azerbaijan, Armenia, so near yet so far. If I had to find a word to describe my trip…its Excitement.

wondering around - part 2

2010-05-20T15:36:00.000-07:00

One of the recent sunny weekend day, went out for my usual walk. Two strangers stopped me and said something in French. I replied, I can understand French very well. Man(rather the boy) said ‘we are American student here on exchange program to spread the message of God’. Only then I noticed badge on his shirt “Jesus is our god…”. my initially thought- oh boy, this is not going to end well. Almost immediately, I said sorry boys you are wasting time with me because I am an atheists and he asked –“what’s you are point in life?” my reply- I am going for move-n-pick ice-cream now and that’s my point in life… to have good ice cream. I laughed and moved away before he could reply.

Well, I am not an atheist. I just wanted to run away and don’t want to have comparative analysis on Hinduism & Christian or any religion. Belief is such a personal thing. I believe that it is impossible to know anything about God and its a social invention because the belief that this life is all there is would be psychologically unacceptable or unimaginable. I call myself an agnostic because I do not consider it is ever possible to know the nature of God. If a God exists, which may but can not be proven because by the very nature of what a God is, that being is beyond our ability to comprehend and always will be.

Anyways, I was curious about that loaded question-- what is the point in life? kept wondering.. still wondering..

wondering around - part 1

2010-05-18T12:17:00.000-07:00

As mentioned ( land of music) I did the trip to Austria. Onward Night Train journey introduced me to follow traveler. Yet another random meetup, an interesting travel companion & I decided to explore the place together.

Unplanned day trip to Bratislava, Slovakia. City is pleasant surprise with very interesting sculptures at almost every corner of old town. Walked around on grey day but unfortunately couldn’t catch ferry back to Vienna. while train journey is quicker but i thought ferry ride could have been more interesting.

Vienna – everywhere its all about Mozart. OK I get it Mozart… is important man for western classical music but Vienna is certainly more than Mozart. I was very curious to find about Sigmund Freud and It wasn’t very easy to find any trace. And ofcourse, many locals talked about another popular Austrian-american - Arnold Schwarzenegger. :) And thing which I don’t know before – Graffiti started in vienna. Street art were found in many place and my favorites are at kirchengasse, donaukanal, nashmarkt, burggasse, beritegasse,..

Next stop Salzburg- woke up late, walked up to festung fortress- nice view of the city. Came down, had nice food, relaxing in local café, reading a book. ‘Hello mr’ a voice from behind. Old man asked if am I a tourists!...that was the start of interesting hour long conversation about the city, history, india,.. he offered to play chess on the giant chess board painted onto the ground in old town. I won..oh ya I did.;) afternoon, sound music tour.. that’s a must in Salzburg. Another interesting fact which I didn’t know before- sound of music movie is not popular in Austria.. they have their own (original story) german version of trapp family.
Salzburg Street music

------------

And OK, Yes I am Indian but cricket does not excite me anymore. but I have to say this IPL T20 season somehow got me. I couldn’t help but to watch last two matches played by my hometown team and cheer for their victory in finals.
now, I heard Indian cricket team went out of world champions with very very poor performance. my message to Indian cricket fan: GET OVER IT.

Now (un)defined

2010-04-28T04:24:00.000-07:00

As I look behind, path filled with joy,
with experiences that graduated me to a man from a boy,
with little tragedy or guilt
with some clutter of past doubt.
As I try to look ahead into uncertain empty road
and my sight tries to envisions a future as it unfold
with the hope of strong & truth.
As I take the opportunities, the choices that befalls me
and I try to grab the chances that await me...

But I will plead, NOW
and leave the future to the future..

Let’s start talking

2010-04-10T15:39:00.000-07:00

Growing up I was introvert, shy boy. While I was comfortable starting conversation with some people from common forum (school, university, work place…) but I didn’t feel comfortable among strangers and self-confidence wasn’t my USP. Like most Indians, we don’t always talk to strangers especially to opposite gender. We just look at them from distance and keep wondering should we talk or not.

Somewhere along my journey that got changed slowly. I always had great interest in travelling and I did travel all my life… family summer trip to various parts of India very couple of years from Kashmir to Andaman Islands and I started travelling very early in my career as well but before 6 or 7yrs ago I was relatively new to backpacking experience. I used to share my place-to-visit list, plan trips and would request friends to come along.

Once Me & friend of mine made trip to Romania. This was before Romania was part EU/schengen. He planned the trip and I tagged along. We flew into Bucharest and took train to Brasov. One impressive charming young girl and another gloriously beautiful young girl was sitting opposite to us. And If it’s like in the movies then boy would start talking to the girl and sooner or later song/dance would happen. But we were just two Indian boys still not sure how to start the conversation. 10mins into the journey, the girls started talking to each other in Romanian and we boy was still busy looking at them and imagine song/dance in our heads. 20mins into the journey, one girl saw my friend reading a newspaper. she asked if she would take look. Ofcourse he wasn’t going to deny it. within like 2/3mins later, she returned the paper back. Curious us asked why! and started talking to the gals. Turns out the girls weren’t travelling together. They were strangers to each others. This girl couldn’t even read English well. She asked for the newspaper just to start the conversations with us. so the Charming girl was a teacher(girl sitting left in the photo above) traveling back home and beautiful girl was model(girl sitting right) in Paris. Yes :) 30mins into the conversation, she started showing her portfolio book with all these great photos of her. The girls told us- what to do, where to go, what not to do, etc… by the end of the train ride, we exchanged our contact details. My friend & I kept wondering, admiring how impressive these girls started the conversation with strangers/boys and how we boys suck at it. After wonderful day trip around Brasov, we reached our hostel and noticed we share the hostel room with two young girls from Scotland doing backpacking trip. We are quick earners now we knew how to start a conversations. So started talking- our travel plans, their travel plans, good pubs nearby, etc... And that’s how I started my conversations with strangers.

This experience wasn’t about boys talking to gals. But It was about young Indian boy feeling comfortable with myself to make connects with any strangers regardless of nationality, gender… and making life experience more adventures, interesting & diverse. Since then I was never dependent of any of my friends to travel along because I realized world of full of yet-to-be-friends.

We appreciate our families & buddies for adding colors to our life but we tend to over look those souls who visit us just for brief period- during a trip, in a pub, in hotel/hostels, ticket queues, follow traveler. My life is full of those interesting people, fabulous moments and I am a better person because of them, you, all of you. I will not say thank you since there is no need for thanks & sorry among friends. right!?;)

Land of Music

2010-04-09T07:41:00.000-07:00

As I will sleep in comfortable pullman berth,
night train will bears me to place of worth.
When my eyes open to blissfully sun,
I’ll reach the wondrous land.
No doudt this journey bound to bide content,
as I took heed to make it a wonderful event.

That's My Favourite things too

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple streudels
Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver white winters that melt into springs
These are a few of my favorite things

When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad

I need no more

2010-03-28T09:21:00.000-07:00

No I need no more, not today
it's all here
the clear ovals of a glass of cafe,
a small piece of cake,
a book,
soul pleasing music,
not to mention the odd snarling picture
and the way these different things
each a different height
singing a perfect harmony of day..

yes I need no more, not today
but tomorrow is a different day.

for Lyrics: Click here

Fear Industry

2010-03-26T08:23:00.000-07:00

I picked up this article - Can't afford to ignore the enemy at the gate from J. while this is not new, many people have written about it in great detail and with numbers/stats but still voice of reason is away from public discussion, media house, policy maker/politics.

Power of Nightmares: The Rise of the Politics of Fear", is a brilliantly done documentary explains in great detail about politics of fear.

"The things we fear most may be least likely to occur, which means the time, trauma and treasure we invest in them is a complete waste.

Security itself is an illusion. It is a perception that exists only between our ears. No army, insurance policy, hazmat team, video surveillance or explosive sniffer can protect us from our own immune system, a well-intentioned but clumsy surgeon, failing to look before crossing the street, an asteroid randomly hurtling through space or someone willing to die in order to do others harm.

In this sense, the only things that can truly make us more 'secure' are not things. They are the courage to face whatever comes with dignity and intention, and the strong relationships that assure we will face the future together, and find comfort and meaning in doing so."

Idea or Reality?

2010-03-22T05:20:00.000-07:00

I wonder is it just me or we people fall in love with idea of things rather than reality of things. !?

Music: Chicken soup for the soul

2010-03-19T03:19:00.000-07:00

Recently I wrote about how I don't like habits turning into additions, but their are few exceptions to that rule. Music is one of the them. I don't know how? from when? but its been part of DNA. I always like to expose myself to new genre, musicians, language. Growing up- radio was my main source. Late night FM used to play very nice songs and that's how I got introduced to many artists specially in English. I used to lock myself in the room and record cassettes from FM-radio. I didn't learn hindi at school, I learnt it by watching some very interesting DD serials and music...(big thanks to Gulzar, KishoreKumar, M.Rafi,)

And my hometown is big on Indian classical music. December is music festival season and Its getting bigger & better every year. When I was little- for couple of years may be, my dad used to get seasonal pass for Music Academy concerts. That's when I realized the magic of Live performance. Since then I try not miss any opportunity to watch live performance. Over the years, I watched countless performances live bands/musicians from east, west..classical, opera, jazz, fusion, some great orchestra,.. Watching Live always makes me wonder why am I not blessed with such talent to play musical instrument. And I always wished somehow magically, I woke up one day then I can play guitar(because Iam lazy to learn & practice).

My habit rather addiction for finding new music continued. with few interesting friends we share playlist. that is another source. then came youtube & iTunes.. african, arabic, persian, etc....wonderful music of the world became accessible. and my additions of digg for new music continues... I bookmark some of my finds at youtube playlist

my recent fav: Karsh Kale, Rahul Sharma, Imogen Heap, Anais Mitchell, Faithless, Oceanlab,..

Share your playlist.

Its one of those days

2010-03-14T10:21:00.000-07:00

I got hooked Imogen Heap music. I found out that she is touring europe and visiting Luxembourg just couple of week before. Managed to get tickets & saw her Live. Opening act was by American singer Back Ted N Ted - Ryan. He was good. but when Imogen perform its like watching- birth of music. she is great, making wonderful tunes from anything & everything on the stage.

View all

Get your own

Watch her interview & music

And that's just start of my weekend.. I didn't had any plans for the weekend. After wonderful music night on friday, slept late woke up late on saturday. Cooked myself nice bruch. It was a cloudy day, went for long walk. I got last minute message from a friend that old movies are been played in local theatre and if I would be interested to join her. checked the timing & surprised to find Cinema Paradiso was showing. No brainier. Someone was explaining about this movie but now I can't recollect with whom I had this conventions. anyways, Movie was nice. finished at 10. meet another friend, went to local music bar watched live performance from 2 indie bands from UK- HomeLife and Savoy Grand.

Another wonderful day,weekend..one that I had no plans for. Well, turns out my plan was- to be surprised.

Its one of those days...

Changes

2010-03-09T13:08:00.000-08:00

Last week I was bit down and on Friday I was sick. I woke up on Saturday to notice wonderful sunny day but streets were covered with overnight snow. Took a picture of my backyard and went about doing the usual weekend morning routine(I say morning but its actually around 12.))..making coffee, breakfast, took shower and in about 2hrs, I noticed all the snow gone... What a difference 2hours of sun makes.

Its perfect analogy to Life. is it not? One sick day had cleared my memory for not-so good days in that week and everything started fresh..like that 2hours of sunshine. Fact is life has so many uncontrollable parameter at play. Thinking about those too much will only keep the focus away from other controllable parameters.

Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful it is threatening because it means that things may get worse. To the hopeful it is encouraging because things may get better. To the confident it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things better.

Following bliss

2010-02-27T15:44:00.000-08:00

Sometimes when you are feeling lost with no sense of direction and don't know where you are heading then you should close your eyes and think about moments of joy & happiness, deep happiness. Its called Following your bliss. I am trying...

Vote for Backpacking Ninja

2010-02-11T22:38:00.000-08:00

Travel has been part of my dna. Growing up my dad never missed any opportunity for family holidays to travel all corners of india (and nepal). Every couple of years, we used up his LTC scheme to travel 30/45days summer trip to travel across the country. we started from Kashmir when I was 7/8yr old and his last LTC trip before retirement was to Andaman islands. Traveling was part of my childhood, so it was natural for me to use up all possible to relocate and travel with every possible opportunity i had to explore new places and people. its great liberating experience.

My personality test say i am a explorer type. but frankly for most part i had decent job with possibilities to travel to various countries and I did my pick for 20-30days/year vacation travel. and I even took break from my worklife to explore few corners but minute I got good decent job offer, I came back to comfort-zone.
I always had great admiration for traveler, lonely planet book maker. (Roff's vagabonding was good read and now he is my facebook friend..;))

anyways, point is-I have been stocking Backpacking Ninja aka aparna for sometime now. All I know is- she has passion to explore and courage to let go daily lazy life. That's very admiring skills to have.

Now I hear she is finalist for India Today's search for explorer.

and for me, her story is worth voting for. Ok honestly I am biased even other's stories seems to be cool. but vote for her anyways.;)
vote here @ Titan World

Buzzing

2010-02-11T05:15:00.000-08:00

with Google announcing Buzz, I was wondering- How many online avatar one can manage!? it's all getting overloaded. although i like to the idea of gmail integration but I would much rather prefer if orkut would be integrated instead.

Interesting start

2010-02-03T03:21:00.000-08:00

Year so far: 2010 had interesting start with mixed emotions. Now visiting my beloved city, which I call it second home(London). During past month, big part of my attention was about thinking thru how & where next 11months should be. Hope the months ahead would evolve to shape my thoughts more clearly.

Backlog: I did complete 20books in 2009 but I was so lazy to update book review blog. I should do back dated update…I should. I should.

Addiction: I have some impulsive habits and when I feel its becomes addiction then I test myself to check if I can live without it. I thought I was addicted to TV so when I relocated to new place, I didn’t buy TV. For almost 5+yrs I don’t have TV but I did watch some favorite shows via www. I don’t feel the need for TV. Because of that I could spend more time reading & writing. Fewdays back I thought I am addicted to facebook. so tested myself and again I manage to avoid log-in for week without hurting my brain-cells. Hip hip.. so I can live without facebook(If I have too..))
Now I know, I am addicted to internet.. rest is fine.

And ya, someone had time & interest to publish what I have to say—at webneetech

Me in 2009

2009-12-31T10:53:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Suicide Hotline and Enigmatic Rantings, I landed on
Final week of 2009 @ Sunday Stealing

1. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?
Tattoo

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Not really.

3. How will you be spending New Year's Eve?
with friends.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Yes

5. What countries did you visit?
Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Netherlands, France, Germany, Belgium, UK, Switzerland, India, etc...

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
hmm..Probably relocation.

7. What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
3rd weekend of July..spent lovely weekend in Bangalore with a friend.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
9. What was your biggest failure?
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nothing major.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
my DSLR Camera & Pair of rings for parents on Dad's 60th birthday.

12. Where did most of your money go?
Travel, phonecalls, investments,..

13. What song will always remind you of 2009?
MJ's songs for obvious reasons and for very different personal reasons..
Citizen Cope - Son's Gonna Rise
(Telugu) Anand - Nuvvena
(Hindi) Laaga Chunari Mein Daag

14. What do you wish you'd done more of?
calls

15. What do you wish you'd done less of?
eating

16. What was your favourite TV program?
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

17. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
No.

18. What was the best book you read?
House of Stairs, Life of Pi,

19. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Tracy Chapman, Thirteen Sense, Citizen cope,...and more.

20. What was your favorite film of this year?
District 9, Hangover,..

21. What did you do on your birthday?
home party with friend celebrating me becoming wiser

22. What kept you sane?
Optimism

23. Who did you miss?
will always miss the friend who lost during the year.

24. Who was the best new person you met?
many of them..folks from Alicante needs specially mentioning.

25. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009:
Do as little as possible, and that unwillingly, for it is better to receive a slight reprimand than to perform an arduous task. The corollary to this is that an awful lot of life’s problems solve themselves if you leave them be.;)

May this new year bring many opportunities to your way,
to explore every joy of life &
may your resolutions for the days ahead stay firm,
turning all your dreams into reality
and all your efforts into great achievements.
Happy New Year to you & your loved ones.

Never a year like 2009 (american news summarized)

Adiós 2009, Year that was..

2009-12-30T05:54:00.000-08:00

As I remember, reflect & readthru 2009 from the edge of it-- I see no major health issues, my wealth continues its up trend, job is Ok not great but anyway nothing so worst to complain but this year made its mark with few emotional scars. Even with my optimistic nature, I have to say objectively this year isn't all that I hoped for.

Personally, 2008 is the year with so much news about marriage, new born,.. but largely news of 2009 has been about breakups, divorces, separations, death. But in the Mist of confusions, complications, hardships, sorrows, net weight gain(+3kg.;()..I had made some cherishing memories & experiences which will last forever.

My trend of traveling to few corners of earth and stepping into few uncharted experiences continued in 2009 may be more so then in the past.

when I readthru some of my blogs, even as early in march'2009 I have seen this year to be more confusing.
http://iamyuva.wordpress.com/2009/03/02/thats-what-happened/

Its been the year, of moving from old to new. I mean orkut to facebook..;)
I had a tattoo..;) had to be high point..;)
http://iamyuva.wordpress.com/2009/06/28/tattooed/

my Travel adventure continues-- had to be one of highlight of the year.... south west France road-trip, trip to Nordic countries, etc..
http://iamyuva.wordpress.com/tag/travel/

Luck had its way in linking me up with few interesting people and also broking those links. sometime just breaking the soft-link but sometime even the hard-link(out of touch). Nevertheless, those souls added interesting colour to my life.
Thanks to all those & big sorry to some of those, if my action caused any hurtful feeling. Although I dont regret much of it, my Intention was never to hurt anyone. Its probably the act of destiny (so don't blame me)).
And my lasting tribute to my grandma & lovely friend who passed away this year. My world was made better because of their presence and had many many joyfully moments with them. May your soul rest in peace and I am sure you would be my guard angle.
http://iamyuva.wordpress.com/tag/Journal/

I would like to believe that I have become more wiser. apart from people who I shared my conversations and time with, its also thanks to TEDtalks, speeches, books, documentaries, etc..
http://iamyuva.wordpress.com/tag/defined/

And network of blogger had increased to new heights. I made remote connections to folks across the global and I had opportunities to meet few of them in person. for those who I haven't met yet, I am coming soon..life is long and world is small.
Thanks to you all ladies & gentlemen for being here and for making my world bigger & better.

Wish you all Happy 2010 & beyond.

Song for the mood.

Merry Xmas

2009-12-25T19:35:00.000-08:00

There are 4stages in life.
you believe in santa,
you don't believe in santa,
you are santa
you look like santa.
whichever stage you are in,
Have a peaceful Merry Christmas..

Nostalgic

2009-12-21T11:58:00.000-08:00

Suddenly i get all sentimental
nostalgic in a sense unusual
found myself talking like you're near
you know..someone reminds me of you.
and its I guess in your own plan,
you made sure i'd be reminded of you.
rest in peace my dear friend,.

Happiness (un)Defined

2009-12-15T09:12:00.000-08:00

I so much wish to understand happiness
the risks that come with it
the confused worry it brings
the uncertain fear of its departure
the mess it leaves behind
the temporary nature of it
the joy it creates in abundance
the love it makes me feel for myself

The great source of both the misery and disorders of human life, seems to arise from over-rating the difference between one permanent situation and another. Avarice over-rates the difference between poverty and riches: ambition, that between a private and a public station: vain-glory, that between obscurity and extensive reputation. The person under the influence of any of those extravagant passions, is not only miserable in his actual situation, but is often disposed to disturb the peace of society, in order to arrive at that which he so foolishly admires. The slightest observation, however, might satisfy him, that, in all the ordinary situations of human life, a well-disposed mind may be equally calm, equally cheerful, and equally contented. Some of those situations may, no doubt, deserve to be preferred to others: but none of them can deserve to be pursued with that passionate ardor which drives us to violate the rules either of prudence or of justice; or to corrupt the future tranquility of our minds, either by shame from the remembrance of our own folly, or by remorse from the horror of our own injustice. Wherever prudence does not direct, wherever justice does not permit, the attempt to change our situation, the man who does attempt it, plays at the most unequal of all games of hazard, and stakes every thing against scarce any thing... ~ Adam Smith

Soccer Kid..the smart one

2009-12-09T01:32:00.000-08:00

Thanks to susispice

War on climate

2009-12-05T02:03:00.000-08:00

I posted my 2cents on global warming saving earth(?) and watching AlGore live

I find this interesting TEDtalk from Legendary scientist David Deutsch puts theoretical physics on the back burner to discuss a more urgent matter: the survival of our species. The first step toward solving global warming, he says, is to admit that we have a problem.
Civilizations has gone to dust and sooner or later we could be too. Only logical way for our civilizations to live-on as long as possible is to figure out way & learn to survive better even with changing temperature and ofcourse also reducing(/postponing) temperature changes by altering lifestyle choices. It has to be both not one or the other.

while I was away- part 3

2009-11-27T03:10:00.000-08:00

Weekend before the last, I made trip to Alicante, Spain to catch-up with a friend. I don’t know much about the place. but I thought its good excuse to visit another place in lovely spain. If you don’t know already, I am totally biased towards anything & everything about Spain, my first love.

Alicante,is little coastal town. european commission being the biggest employer, which is were my friend works. I say little but its bigger than luxembourg.;) place to see- castle on top the mountain and nice view on a clear day overlooking the beach one side and city on the other. it was close to 20degrees in mid-november. loved it. Spain like greece typical mediterranean culture, people having dinner at 11pm going out to pubs/bars at 1am..and some bars are opened only at 3:30am. needless to say about crazy night outs. less said the better.;) what's more wonderful..is the interesting people I meet.

friday night..meet Mar, who couldn't speak english..but she kept the conversation with some translation help from my friend. That’s very nice of her. one of many things what I like about Spain & Spanish people...even without the language they always try to be inclusive. their kindness to be immigrates (not just high-skilled but everyone) and their general awareness of the world..very good..

saturday dinner & sunday lunch was at friend's friend place. german guy & france guy was the host us and hooked up with very deserve group..age, nationality, et..food= asian food. they cooked chinese & korean food. host is travelers. they work 6month save money and travel for 9months. asia is their favorite destination..it was nice to take about their travel experience..

I so wish, I could be as content and as free flying bird like them.

while I was away - part 2

2009-11-25T02:48:00.000-08:00

....
wanting to fly with angels wings.
wasn't to be this time, atleast just yet..

while I was away - part 1

2009-11-23T08:13:00.000-08:00

ok..not sure you care about it, but thought I should update the journal.

almost 4weeks back, I went on 9days road trip in south west France with a friend and wanted to write about the experience but it’s so beyond words I kept postponing to post. And I don’t want to write about place to see, things to do since I can’t do better job than folks at lonely plant, tripadvisor, virtualtourists.

Our whole trip was constructed & executed under a week. often the best trips are those which was arranged in last minute. after couple of mail exchanges, me & my friend finalized route map and after couple of hours call time, we finalized hotel bookings. that's it, all done. off we went.

start point- Bordeaux airport, that's were me & my friend met. hired citroen C2, off we go... on the way, we wanted to buy some stuff. we saw carefour and with all the excitement without knowing, we were driving on walking area..;) trip started on perfect note. Our tom-tom(GPRS) name was rooth (its a she..although its driving direction device..;) I am told its because of her voice and so we named our car James(he) just to give her(rooth) some excitement about the trip.

first stop- saint emillion, checked into to big hotel(with not so big rooms..setting the expectation for the whole trip). had nice dinner with local wine.. walking around in moon light was good fun. next day we visited vineyard Chateau La Couspaude run by friend-of-friend's...understanding wine making processes, tasting merlot red,..fabulous and touring underworld chruch.

mr.nice vineyard guy recommended a pitshop at st.Pardon to watch waves from sea thru river famous among local surfers. but we waited for almost an hour but no waves to be seen. we moved out. it seems wave wasn't that big anyways.

next- Cognac,. another tiny town and nice hotel. next day- turned out to be the best experience. via some random friend’s connection, we got royal tour of Hennessey cognac house. Understanding cognac blending process and seeing vintage(1900, 1934, 1800..)ya, 1800 vintage(and best is yet to come.) Met Mr. Maurice Hennessey family member of Richard Hennessey, he explained us history Hennessey ads and talking about Hennessey business during french revolutions & world wars. he took us to Hennessey guest house(/wonderful castle) for very nice lunch and signed off with Fine Cognac bottle/gift bag. off to next destination with evening cafe stop at Brantome.

next stop- Périgueux another tiny town. interesting story here is- McD is banned in the city(which I think is good). and we met another random local friend(of a friend..of a friend). snowing us around and making fun of our sense of architecture (names & brands). Had nice dinner with some strange conversations about capitalism v socialism, life's expectations, how much money required for retirement. needless to say some misunderstanding & assumptions, finally all got clarified.

Next day- based on his recommendation we did pitstops visiting toute la grotte de Lascaux, cave paints of pre-historic men. Well another excitement was- gas was running out. James(our car) had Gas for 80kms, we found one gas stations but I said we can re-fill in next one. And then, heart was beating little/tiny bit faster..wishing & hoping to find gas stations. and we finally did found one after 73km..;)

next day- heading towards Rocamadour. road was blocked due to construction work. But Instead of finding alternate route, I did the brave Indian act, just moved the block sign and drive thru to reach our destinations.;) our stopover was Rocamadour, lovely hilly town.

next was long driving day..visiting Toulouse and reaching Biarritz, another beautiful coastal town. evening we decided to give james(our car)rest. walked sea side. had sangria watching surfers...after nice dinner & drinks. we thought we could walk back to hotel. but ofcourse it had to happen..we got lost..;) called a friend in london to google us the directions..we ended-up in local bar and asked the guy to call taxi for us..;) safely reaching the hotel.

next day..trip to san Sebastian Spanish town of Basque country. most of the day was washed way. so we ended-up having nice Spanish lunch with sangria and ice cream in the rain.
on the way back to biarritz, pit stop at St Jean de Luz bought tasting famous macarons at Maison Adam.

next day- relaxing breakfast at biarittz. pit stop to dune du plya - largest sand dune in Europe. Thankfully no rain so we could have good view from the top and did sand surfing to get down.

reaching our next stop-over at arcachon, another nice coastal retirement town(translation= full of old people). We did long walk in the beach and had nice dinner & wine.
next day..to chateau doisy-daene, a family run classified vineyard(run by friend of..a friend). tasting nice sweet white sauternes..2009 vintage straight from barrel.

Day ended in Bordeaux- it was good bye time to james after 1820km drive. kissed good bye to my friend..

I spent the night walking around Bordeaux city center and took train to Paris next day early morning to met another friend. she recently relocated back to Paris from Luxembourg. so my final day- walking around in streets of Paris. wonderful lunch, watching street artists, evening at Basilique du Sacre Coeur, sitting in steps listening to street musicians who were taking turns to amuse the crowd with lovely guitar music.

Ofcourse I just don't have enough words to explain some of the stranger conversations, episodes, highlights of our trip…like our quest for pharmacy and then finding in very place when we don’t need one, my friend’s addiction to cheese, foie-gras..;), saying “please thanks woof” all the time to every other(mocking english politeness), my music awareness enhanced with introduction of Citizen cope, above & beyond, oceanlab, thirteen Senses, etc...

one of the best travel week of my life came to an end. all good things should end. by product is- exciting memory to cherish.

Explaining the Explanations

2009-11-17T15:51:00.000-08:00

For tens of thousands of years our ancestors understood the world through myths, and the pace of change was glacial. The rise of scientific understanding transformed the world within a few centuries. Why? Physicist David Deutsch proposes a subtle answer at Ted.

I differ in one sense that to make assumptions about our so called pre-historic generation had no good rational explanations about our world may not be very correct. for example- vedas had some explanations more correctly noted distance between earth with moon, explanations for evaporation/rain,et. perfectly calculated architectures/construction from olden times means they knew about it not accidentally. maybe they don't give real reason because they thought it would create controversy or it also may be because we no longer have access to those valid explanations which could have been destroyed with times. or may be earth has been recreated so many time with many climate changes and so there was even more advanced cultivation which was washed away by time.. so while I agree that ancient explanations haven't always been rational but I can't believe they knew little. I think they knew more than what we think they knew. ofcourse, I could be wrong but that's my 2cents.

Change Generation, are we?

2009-10-30T23:53:00.000-07:00

and yes PC is gone(still going) too far. (/if anyone is worried about kids then read Home Game by Michael Lewis/)

"Give Me One Good Reason To Die"

at the millennial rolling-over point
baby boomer one-time-hippies
turned parents across these United States groan,
"when we said
'you can be anything' we meant
'you can be a brain surgeon or
district attorney or
genetic engineer' -- we
didn't mean you should become
a... poet."

But it was Dad who taught me that the call
of my wild heart rings as valid
as any voice of reason

And Mom who showed me that raging terror of where you're headed
is the surest sign you're traveling
in the right direction

This is a generation
beyond definition, unconvinced
the American dream isn't a fiction
of REM sleep; certain
gender matters less than love; determined
the apocalypse won't catch us napping.

Breast-fed on "how many roads must a man walk down,"
we watched our creators sacrifice their sharp edges
to stay within the lines; small wonder we race
to rant about wrongs or
find the edge of the planet
and lean at the lip of the void

We are the change generation,
fitted with the inconsistencies
of a millennium in flux; vagabond lot, we
skitter one city to the next
in seek of a home not in need of so much repair;
see, our inherited tools they fit fit like a Phillips-head
in a slot-top screw; we know that sit-ins
end in tear gas and tanks,
picket lines in promises
and compromises, lobbying
in backrooms and bullshit

I might believe in this Revolution
if one person proved he knew
what he was fighting for
and how

because the KKK still erects a cross in Cincinnati's Fountain Square every Christmas and

teenage girls have to weigh back alleys versus daddy's fists to secure
abortions and

Promise Keepers fill stadiums while poets play coffeehouses and

if I fucked a woman in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia or Utah
I could get anywhere from 30 days to 20 years in jail

I don't own
enough rage for it all -- I am
ninety-five miles per hour on I-81, sprinting
to track the tirade vibrating
on the next stage

is Anybody Listening?

I live
in search of a cause worth dying for

We are a generation of screamers
silenced by the conspiracy of comfort
that cradles us voiceless
in our PC cities, where only the drunk
and the dangerous spill what seethes
in so many

I trade crusades like cards,
flip issues like channels

give me a god
give me a rallying cry
give me one
good reason to die

for your soul..Happy Deepavali

2009-10-15T07:55:00.001-07:00

and rough translations of lyrics...:Early in the morning the thought arose
to go back to Gokul, in the king of Mathura's mind
Oh lord of Mathura why are you going to Gokul
Leaving this beautiful attire oh son of Nanda
Removing the beautiful crown from your head
Giving up ruling this world
Why are you playing the flute again?
Oh lord of Mathura why are you going to Gokul

What unique song did the cuckoo sing
That made you leave the throne like so much dirt
What unique song did the cuckoo sing
That the pangs of separation are stirred anew
The heart is no longer in kingly matters
Oh lord of Mathura why are you going to Gokul
Men and women watched with anxious eyes
The flowers strewn on the bed felt like thorns
Men and women watched with anxious eyes
As Maadhav stayed awake the whole restless night
Why did he call the charioteer in the middle of the night
Mathura nagarpati..
Slowly he reached the shores of the Jamuna
Lonely banks, soft breeze
Slowly he reached the shores of the Jamuna
Madhav felt the bittersweet pangs
Why can?t you forget her
Mathura nagarpati.
Your love is now a complete housewife
Getting new milk and busy the whole day
The tears of separation have long since been wiped away
Then why awaken the pain again
Oh lord of Mathura why are you going to Gokul

my Friend-Facts

2009-09-30T05:10:00.000-07:00

If you believe in old proverb- “Tell me who your friends are, and I will tell you who you are” then I share my friend-facts with you...

Most common zodiac sign: Libra
Geographic distribution: 18 countries, 7 states
Gender breakdown: 47% female / 53% male
Relationship status: 57% single / 43% taken
Political breakdown: 86% democrats / 14% republicans

Hm… Its true after-all it does say something about me. But Iam still not sure what it means to have more Libra friends.! will anyone care to explain!?

Wiser Me..

2009-09-10T11:32:00.000-07:00

Today is my day to shine
yet another year older
Hopefully more wiser
Strange, we grow up trying to make older sooner then we should
But as the years slowly pass on by
we might hope to be younger to do more of what we wish.
Today will be the day
I am a year older
Glad I am, since I enjoy being a man then a boy

Happy Birthday to wonderful me !)

***look back updates***
Lyrics of Barbra Streisand's can you tell the moment?

Pain (un)defined

2009-09-02T07:14:00.000-07:00

my thoughts silently scream for these tears.
my fingertips stuck to the keyboard to browse through our photos...
my eyes uncomfortably sown closed allowing no light..

there was little black spot on my sun past week
as she slits her skin to find freedom

its very devastating, painful, hard to take.
yet Life goes on and it must

Problem in Life..!

2009-08-21T05:20:00.000-07:00

..do as little as possible, and that unwillingly, for it is better to receive a slight reprimand than to perform an arduous task. The corollary to this is that an awful lot of life’s problems solve themselves if you leave them be...

Playing for Change

2009-08-17T14:36:00.000-07:00

Music certainly has power to bring tolerance & peace. Lets hope its just more than a drop in the ocean. I cannot play but I am share & spread. Hope you will do the same.

Jab Bharath..Happy Independence Day

2009-08-15T09:57:00.000-07:00

Happy Independence Day

but I said so...

2009-08-08T13:11:00.000-07:00

gosh.. boyy that's so true...
and gal pls move on..

Google: one man’s Devil another man’s Angle

2009-08-06T05:05:00.000-07:00

No one will ever deny google’s use and it is far better compare to other search engine. But ofcourse often you can find few raising doubts about google intentions and questions their practices. I am google fan and I would like to believe they also mean well but ofcourse they are business so it my responsibility to choose & do proper preference/setting (instead of default settings).

Thanks to Digital Inspiration I found this funny video about ‘living with google’ and you can noticed how one guy is annoyed and one guy is delighted for the action/reason.

Related: Yahoo + Microsoft still not good enough..

Recession 101

2009-07-30T06:53:00.000-07:00

Recession 101 is a light hearted and succinct reminder that the world will get through these troubled times and come out in the end. The anonymous donor intended this campaign to raise people’s spirits and lift them up in the face of serious challenges.

SignSpotting

2009-07-24T03:45:00.000-07:00

walking around on streets of Copenhagen during my vacation last month, I noticed this wonderful collection of funny Signs as part of SignSpotting Exhibitions.

Success (un)defined

2009-07-23T00:38:00.000-07:00

Success is just like being pregnant.
Everybody congratulates you but nobody knows how many times you were fucked.

Tattooed

2009-06-28T16:30:00.000-07:00

I was walking along Stroget copenhagen shopping street. saw a Japenese men doing tattoo designs. He said its will last for 2weeks (not permanent). I picked a design 10mins later, I got a tattoo. as simple as that. not a lot of thinking to do. ofcourse if its permanent it would be very different situation (considering pain as well).

I always defined myself as person with curiosity & self-defined ethics. while I know when & for what I should say no, Iam mostly not shy to try.

Don't know from when & why Tattoo is associated with rebellious or unconventional..!? My grandma has permanent tattoo and in her generation it was common to get tattooed of meaning less design or name. But now, for some reason people do make some impressions about folks who have Tattoos. Good or Bad but some impression is formed for sure. I was no different a week ago and would be no different when it washes away. but anyways don't dare to judge me.;)

Also I must say It does feel "Cool" to have a Tattoo..;) and would recommend (but do think before having a permanent one).

Song for current mood

Michael Moon walking Jackson

2009-06-27T22:39:00.000-07:00

Yes me too was shocked by this news. I was travelling between Copenhagen and Helsinki. I noticed Danish newspaper and Finnish newspaper with full page MJ fans thought yet another controversy. It was ofcourse very surprising and shocking to know he is no more.

Well like million others me too is fan of MJ's music & performances and he was my start to western music. Over the years my music interest has grown length and breadth with difference genre artists before and after his generations but he started it all. Late 80s early 90s he was reason most of us listen to English songs. I never used to buy cassettes, will always record songs. Thriller and Bad are first two English music cassettes I bought. Awesome music and his dance moves. Surely he had his share of controversies and I thought it’s because of his childhood and shared sympathy for him. One of his interview, he said his most autobiographical song is 'Have you seen my childhood'.

Ofcourse most of his music and dance is nothing less than brilliant and while everybody has their famous favorites mine favorite is not so famous

and Girl is Mine

will you be there

Man in the Mirror

Surely end of one of the greatest performer, entertainer.

Happy Birthday Mom

2009-06-23T10:53:00.000-07:00

while she is not sure its today but her passport says its today. some things in life we can never be sure of, yet we would like to believe. So its Today, my lovely mom was blessed to this world.

Happy Birthday Mom.

A mother is a mother still, The holiest thing alive.

London

2009-06-21T10:30:00.000-07:00

was in London and it felt like home--almost. Ever since I relocated out of london, for some reason or other I went back every once a while just to keep in touch with one of my beloved city. I have no great reasons but it does feel like home may be because of friends or food,..=)

I landed at 6pm and by 7pm I ended-up in usual places doing usual things. visit to mahalakshmi temple-just for ladoos.) and saravana bhavan eating dosa. sometime doing silly things feels like heaven, this was one of those things. Its bad that the week I was there tubes were on strike and my friends(local guardians) were out of town. I wasn't booked to stay back for the weekend. thanks to few friends, i stayed at their place. friday night we were in local pub taking marriage..and our usual topic of discussion- getting of rat race and doing something interesting. so this time discussion was about business plans for setting-up bed n breakfast outside barcelona. somehow i have good feeling about this. this could happen someday.

Simple relaxing sunny weekend with football(watching only not playing, since i didnt have proper shoes..)) and australia football(rugby).. lunch at pizza express, siesta. thought cricket to Spainish guy & American lady..=) I did well because they understood and were cheering for India against england next day. And dinner at nice french restaurant. sunday was in marylebone summer fayre and manage to catchup with SN talking about the usuals & watching T20WC and took flight back to current home base.

I couldn't catchup with all my friends but that's good enough reason to make trip again.

Everytime Iam london, i ask myself why did i decided to relocate out of london? while life was kind and had great experience since i moved out, i always wondered what would have happened if I would have stayed back.!? may be i dont like comfortzone and want to test myself among unknown places & people or may be iam just crazy. atleast i dont intend to do that for long and someday i would endup in home or a place close to home or a place which feels like home. until then--- I so wishes to be punkrocker...

Pleasure

2009-06-07T05:51:00.000-07:00

What a weekend it has been. Long walk with my iPod playing Ilayaraja's music during a cloudy day with rain drops kissing me gently. That's pleasure. so was eating ice cream in rain. Strangers walking past saw me with ice cream walking in rain, gave a silent smile. may be they are thinking, Iam silly or crazy but I don't care.

In Life, real milestones are less prepossessing compares to simple daily moments. yes important moments in life are not the advertised ones. They come to the door of memory unannounced, stray dogs that amble in, sniff around a bit and simply never leave. Our lives are measured by these simple moments.

And also yesterday night was in Brazilian tropical night party with loud music and beautiful ladies, that's pleasure too. ;)

HOME: A date with the world

2009-06-05T06:12:00.000-07:00

Spreading the message: for awareness, to behave responsibly and to help protect our HOME.

200 000 years of existence, man has upset the balance is nearly 4 billion years of evolution on Earth. The price to pay is heavy, but it is too late to be pessimistic: there are still only ten years for humanity to reverse the trend, be aware of excessive exploitation of the wealth of the Earth and change its mode of consumption.

More than film, HOME will be a global event for the first time in history, this film released simultaneously in over 50 countries and on all media: film, TV, DVD and Internet. It is the symbolic date of 5 June 2009 was chosen for this international output.

An date with the world on 5 June!

We should be thankful for having a gift of pleasant nature,
It is one’s responsibility to save the beauty of nature,
True living in the heart of nature helps an achiever,
to achieve the long life period of his splendid desire.

wise words

2009-06-02T08:21:00.000-07:00

Thanks to DD

Life is indeed is lot more of fun when you are not responsible for your actions..;)

Messi is the man and FCB Més que un club

2009-05-27T14:45:00.000-07:00

Red Devils took out on Barça that was for first 10mins but soon after 1st goal scored, ManU wasn't play. They were the underdogs and Manchester United was the favorite in the English language media. However, congratulations Barcelona, well deserved. Congratulations Pep Guardiola, you made a wonderful team.

This is one of the best goals you will ever see.

Barça showed a wonderful soccer and the win is well deserved and rewrote the history by becoming three time winners of UEFA Champions League final. Bravo to Barcelona Coach Pep Guardiola. Despite his young age, he did build a powerful soccer club.

Predictably Irrational

2009-05-17T14:20:00.000-07:00

very interesting

Old is New Government of India

2009-05-16T05:08:00.000-07:00

714 million eligible voter and close to 100 million people for the first time and 5500+ politicians from over more than 1000 political parties fight for for 543 parliamentary seats. Election was staggered in five stages and the results announced today.

The national security, economy and local issues had influenced the votes and People have spoken in support of ruling Mr.Singh's government. Its very Impressive victory considering many crisis this governtment has to face.

Congurlations to Mr.Manmohan Singh Government.

more details: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8050612.stm

Ignorance is indeed bliss

2009-05-07T15:34:00.000-07:00

When confusion and complications becomes state of mind (or way of life) then its no wonder to think Ignorance is bliss.
Because it's easier to support something blindly than exploring all the options. It's also easier to act on instinct and learned behaviors rather than to think about what they're saying/doing. but ignorance once lost, its gone can't get it back. what to do? I came to realize that:

You will never do the optimal thing
Nobody is beyond temptation
There will always be a major distortion between what you know, what you will be able to communicate, and what people will then comprehend.
Life does have no intrinsic meaning.
We impact everything, but yet we are often powerless to control. And Much of our life is directed by things preceding us and therefore out of our control.
Your mind will always be polluted by public discourse.
Perspectives and living are ephemeral and temporary.
You will be the vehicle of stupid actions that are equally as inane as the sins of others. Irrationality is common and its human.
Your emotions will always interfere with your sense of truth.
We are ultimately subject to forces beyond us, natural selection, laws of accelerating returns, etc.
What ppl tell you or how others view you will inevitbly affect you.
You will always have bias.
We will always have to act on incomplete knowledge.
You will never be able to do precisely what you want to do
There will always be so much more beyond your awareness.
You can never truly break from the trajectory, maybe nudge it around, but that'll ultimately be part of that trajectory
Your weaknesses will always be betrayed by your actions at some point
You won't be able to win them all. Someone will always hate you no matter what.
Knowing and doing will always be different
You will never rid the world of evil and cruelty
You will always be subject to the needs of your containing vehicles: physical body, relationships, family, house, nation, car, etc..
Because of the nature of time, everything that persists requires maintenence.
There are other lives within you that will carry on their own.

Ignorance is bliss, so is complete knowledge. so I prefer the later.

Vote for Nanny Maa

2009-05-04T02:26:00.000-07:00

Voting is right to express our views and it is very important to do so. Not voting is irresponsible. so Vote for my friend's short story. she has published a story to Indusladies Mother's Day Blog Contest.

you can find her story @ Nanny Maa

Its no surprise, she made it to Top10. PLEASE vote for her story @ http://indusladies.com/partners/poll1.php (for 'Pal of Crocodile Tales') if you like it (or not)).

Keukenhof

2009-05-03T12:09:00.000-07:00

I tried to come up with words to description the beauty & colour at Keukenhof Tulip Garden.
I couldn't, so decided just to share the photos.

Duck Race 2009

2009-05-01T12:17:00.000-07:00

Plastic ducks gathered in Luxembourg City Duck Race, a chairity event is organized. 5€ duck will benefit a charity to support TEO, an association committed to helping children who are suffering from brain tumors or head trauma.

the race was held in the Pétrusse valley,Grund with entertainment, food, drinks all over the place. It was good summer excuse for families to get out of house with kids.

All the ducks were numbered corresponding to a number of the ticket. The first ducks to cross the finish first will receive one of many prizes such as trips, gift certificates, dinners and other attractive prizes offered by sponsors. This year's first prize was a New Twingo car.

for the records- just checked the website for results, I haven't won any prize. anyways it was fun.

Dutch weekend

2009-04-29T02:36:00.000-07:00

For last couple of weeks, Rotterdam is my work basic. I decided to spend weekend to catchup with local friends and turned out to be great weekend.

Visited Kinderdijk windmill complex- It was very impressive specially after knowing the history and science behind it. as many might know nearly half of nederland is reclaimed land which is under sea level and making it more vulnerable to floods. Since periodic flooding become problem, in 13th century canal were built to get the water out and in 14/15th century windmill were built to power(energy) to drain the excess water to reservoir. Only during 19th century these windmills went into retirement due to diesel powered pumping stations. But during WorldWar2, again windmills came back from retirement for short time since diesel became scarce. It is beautiful site especially on sunny day.

Sunday with friends, we drove to his mom’s place at North Country side close to Friesland. 90mins drive from Amsterdam thru 30km Dike separating lake on one-side & sea on the other. It’s wonder. 30km road built to separate lake & sea and connecting two parts of Holland.

Reached his mom’s home, which is a beautiful house with garden in-front & yard connecting with canal/water way behind. Meet his grandma 96yr old women, who knew Einstein from her working-years in Berlin per-world war era. Grandma & mom can speak perfect English.
Had wonderful collection of Holland cheese and packed some selection of sandwiches & cheese went out on boat ride. Yes they had own boat. House on river side with boat, that’s dream land. We took ride thru canals & lake. I was driving the boat. With food & drinks in aboard did some pirate acts..;) It was great.

Athens-Friend-reunion dinner planned at Greek restaurant but ended-up in Italian restaurants.In all it was great weekend and once in life time experience. Thanks to lovely Dutch duo(S & E).

PhotoWalk

2009-04-11T07:41:00.000-07:00

with beautiful spring sun shining- it would criminal to stay indoor. so took my DSLR went on Photowalk.

in Nederlands

2009-04-08T09:46:00.000-07:00

Currently in Nederlands for work reason with very limited(/no) connections. That's my excuses for not being here for a while. but atleast its help me with 20books in 2009 challenge.

Carnaval

2009-03-20T07:33:00.000-07:00

I went to Arlon(Belgium) Carnaval last weekend. It was great to see pretty gals, kids, crazy people all dressed up to express themselves. I was standing next to this cute gal(photo below) she was not bored of shoting spiderman web on me and laughing out loud. as soon as i cleanup she shots again. It was cute for a while then for 2hr. but anyways i dont want to disppoint her.

Its the cavalcade through the streets of the city with groups of 50+countries conducting a mini tour of Europe carnival traditions, with a parade set with great music.

what's in name

2009-03-20T07:25:00.001-07:00

I always thought what's in name but may be I was wrong.

Kick A*s: Jon Stewart vs Jim Cramer

2009-03-13T04:49:00.000-07:00

Jon Stewart vs Jim Cramer: It was fun to watch and it was very honest both side (I think).
Watch full unedited interview (with strong language).

I don’t think there’s any way Stewart is more knowledgeable than Cramer on markets, he’s just in the position of not being caught spouting garbage for the last several years. I like the fact that Jon made it a serious episode of it and hats of to Cramer for comming on and exposing the whole fiancial debacle. There would’nt have been a better way to handle the feud in which jon has repeatedly said that it was about the whole system.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Jim Cramer Interview Outtake Pt. 1

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Jim Cramer

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Jim Cramer Interview Outtake Pt. 2

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Jim Cramer

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Jim Cramer Interview Outtake Pt. 3

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Jim Cramer

and Impact of this-- to early to tell but already some noise about this on CNN

Remember Jon stewart's role in throwing CNN's Crossfire

Book Review: 20books in 2009

2009-03-06T06:21:00.000-08:00

Status update on my 20books in 2009: 3 done 17 to go

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

House of Stairs by William Sleator

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

That's what happened

2009-03-02T06:11:00.000-08:00

2008 has been another memorable year and so far 2009 has be quite and confusing. Since my DNA designed to be opmistic and don't really know how to complaint, looking forward to glorious future and all the horror I escaped in past.

Sometime you have so much to do and you end up doing nothing..! that's me. much happend but I end-up posting nothing and I don't blame my lazyness but my slow internet connection.
anyways-- Chronical of few interesting happenings in 2009...so far:

>>> Horrible Market condition eventually reached me..well almost. some colleagues got fired but not me not yet. but then it's just work, I stopped worrying too much about it. Don't want to worry about things which I can't control or I can't change. If i can then i dont need to worry either.

>>> Luxembourg resident permit process...after 4month of waiting, countless calls,visits to foreign office and going thru emotional trauma since I was told my application & all original documents were lost,.. finally I got my visa renewed, valid 2012. I have no intention to stay here beyond that so I hope I don’t have to go thru this again.

>>> Thanks to local law, got my local driving licence(valid till 2022) by submitting my indian driving licence and without having to take any driving test. So all I need now is some driving lessons..;)

>>> Got hooked to some good music(like Tracy Chapman) which I wasn't exposed to before (thanks to uptowngal's playlist from downunder).
Went to Nitin Sawhney Live Concert...great night with awesome east-meets-west music.

>>> a friend, who I knew for 12+yrs and from whom I haven't heard from many years after his marriage(which is usually for first 3/6month not after)), got in touch after all those years to inform that he is coming to visit me. and he did. Had fun time taking him around to whatever little place-to-see in luxembourg. It was nostlogic weekend taking about all old days, bubbies,.. I have very high regards for him. he was one of those who's not idealogs, with all good intentions, habits & very highly flexible and yet another urban adult with simple hopes & aspirations. which is why i felt tiny earthquake when he told me, he is divorced now. that was a complete shocker. ofcourse he wasn't comfortable talking about it for any length and i guess that's also part of the reason why he was out-of-touch. I don't know how to react or what to talk about that subject. I dont know what happen but that's kinda confirms my fear/belief- marriage is random act of luck. not much a rational process/act can do to make or break it, atleast not always. anyways, everyone cannt be good to all and he is good to me. I will be his friend without any judgements.
when talking to someone else who knew about this, he was trashing ‘her’(mrs…ex) I don’t why we indians designed to think broke marrriage is broken character.!? Cannot two rational good individuals can come together and go part without anyone been cast as ‘bad-person’.!?

>>> all of us will have few things we bought for ourself, which we chearish for years, attach with personal memories and treat those items to be milestone/achievements. for me- it was a Timex watch, which i bought with my career-starter income & Pentax SLR camera from my time in tokyo. Strange as it might sound; I dont think, I felt such high even I bought a house..;) I don't why & cannt explain why those items gave such excitment and why i still save a broken Timex watch and Pentax SLR.! Such excitment came back again. Photography has been my interest for many years. for long I wanted a DSLR and was doing research, research, too much research on what to buy, good deals on price,..etc.. finally wait was over. I treated myself with Canon E450D (thanks to G for being my US proxy).

photo collections @flickrs

>>> Got to be friends with sweet German couple who I meet via random social circle during my early days in luxembourg and recently get invited for all German food & drinks night. Ofcourse food was nice but I must say I was surprised by the variety. Good long night with excellent food & drinks. Thanks to Birgit.

>>> manage to complete 4/20books in 2009, will post book review soon.

>>> song for current mood--
Traveling Thru by Dolly Parton

Connect with our own geniuses

2009-02-13T07:36:00.000-08:00

I always envyed someone with any creative talent be it author or artist. And my belief is part of it is by birth. sure you can improve it but some part of it is given(by God or by DNA design depending on your belief). As a civilian, I often wondered about creating process - brilliant novel, speech, articles or a nice song,lyrics, music... how its made? how it comes to them and not others(or me).

We appreciate their work and elevate them- a mortal begin to this immortal status. To our disppointment they come back with not-so-good follow-up to their earlier work so we throw them to ground to face reality. Iam convinced that this emotional journey of ups(god-like) & downs with few trustworthy allies make the performer/authors into junkies leading to their personal problem, ego wars, realtionship/drugs problem, etc. so I like you & others always assummed creativity comes with its own price.

I watched this recent TEDtalks(which Iam great fan off) from Elizabeth Gilbert, an author who I haven't heard before. She delivered this funny & interesting speech about connecting & managing self-geniuses of creative minds.

Elizabeth Gilbert: A new way to think about creativity

Ok Iam no creative talent but I find this speech very interesting and remains me a line from Bhagavath Geetha-- 'Do your duty without expecting rewards'. But is it possible for a person to delink self from his/her work? and Is it possible for us fans to delink performance & performer?!

Wikiality, reality (un)defined

2009-02-03T02:35:00.001-08:00

I am crazy fan of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert . they are smartest funny man.
Stephen Colbert's 'The Word' highlights many interesting thoughts including Wikiality.

"any user can change any entry, and if enough other users agree with them, it becomes true."

"let's bring democracy to knowledge"

- Stephen Colbert

Isn't Religion is wikiality? enough people believes things to be true without having any credible evidence (for or against).
then why cannot we believe "we have more elephants in africa then anytime in the past" if its makes us happy.!?) what do you think!? let's all agree and make it a reality.

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

The Word - Wikiality

Colbert Report Full Episodes
Paul McCartney Appearance

Funny Political Videos
More Funny Videos

Movie Review: Dasvidaniya

2009-01-06T12:30:00.000-08:00

I got to watch Dasvidaniya(hindi movie) recently. Like most other hindi movie- its not a fresh idea('inspired' by bucket list) without any twisted tale(one screen in particular 'inspired' from love actually). Its a situational bitter-sweet comedy story about a shy,lonely,boring 37yr old bachelor with middle-class existence and without any motivation to change daily life or meaningless lifestyle until the day he finds only 3month of life is left-in him.

Facing prospect of dying without enjoying life, he decides to make list of things-to-do-before-dying. He settles score with boss and embarks on journey to fulfill his bucket list-- foriegn trip, meeting childhood friend, confessing love to first and only crush, guitar, buying a car,..

I would say some of things in list is flimme, meaningless and unrealistic. Script is not perfect but that's beside the point- It’s the treatment, presentations and concept makes it good-to-watch(3/5) movie. Its a emotionally journey which notes difference between surviving vs living.

Cast and Director have done a good job. Its worth watching even thou you might want to fast-forward/skip few scenes.

Ubuntu

2009-01-02T06:19:00.000-08:00

after New Year's Eve fun night, I decided to take a New Year's 1st day at ease reading through some stuff and browse some good videos. so landed on Bill Clinton's speech at 2006 UK Labour Party Conference(below). I thought, I will begin new year blog by the sharing this speech.

Although I am not always aligned with Blair's & Clinton's Policies but I do consider them among few smartest & decent politicians in the world and ofcourse very good speakers. What particularly impressive about this speech is that he was talking about human-geno project's finding which highlights how little different we humans are even with so much diversity in our race, religion,.. yet all(including western society) focus on 0.1% difference and ignoring 99.9% similarities we share.

If we were the most beautiful, the most intelligent, the most wealthy, the most powerful person - and then found all of a sudden that we were alone on the planet, it wouldn't amount to a hill of beans...
..
Ubuntu means I am because you are.

very impressive speech & content.
would strongly recommend especially last 10mins of the speech.

Good-Bye 2008 and Welcome 2009

2008-12-29T03:27:00.000-08:00

Wo..2008 has been eventful year. So much had happened. But Ofcourse, most of all this year will be remembered for credit crisis and market crush. Everyone knew 'What goes up must come down' but most people thought 'its not now'. 2008 has thought us many lessons and made us realize what we already knew: Our way of life will evolve, expand & shrink with things we do and with things around us.

Hope we would make good use of this experience in 2009 and beyond.

Personally, it’s been a good year for me.

2008 started with new a job and yet another relocation,

Travelled few far corners of earth,

Stepped onto few uncharted experience,

My investment risk profile has been very high,

I lost few and I gained more,

Hosting Parents and took them around places in Euro-Zone(highlight of my year),

Crossed 3decade of 'joy-ride'/life with no(almost) regrets,

So I do believe, Iam better-off from the year before.

In 2009 I hope: to be patient, risk control, body(/health) control, newness out of new beginning.

Its time of peaceful prayer,

for love, law, labour, loss & gains.

these are the wishes of the coming reign.

to all those who I pissed off: Iam sorry but I had my reasons.

to all those who pissed me off: you are forgiven, but we won't be friends anymore.

to all those who gave a helping hand: thank you, I owe to pass-it-forward.

to all those disappointments I caused: never meant to hurt.

to all those who disappointed me: thank you for making me re-evaluate my expectations.

to all those who owe me money: now is always a good time to give it back. J

be kind and be fair

be patient and be prepared

be nice and be wise

Why not a Political Startup but how?

2008-12-03T02:56:00.000-08:00

Very interesting post on Venturewood -> Why Not A Political Startup.

My comments:

One more supporting hand for the idea. I was reading somewhere that--its time for silent majority act & react (middle-class and non-farmers,..) but how,why,what,who,where,.. is the question(s)!

Few suggestions/questions/cautions:

Objectives/Goals & strategy:

We need to create detailed case-study/white-paper why & how it works? I think, its too simple to say- politicians are corrupt and given a choice majority of people would elect non-corrupt individual ignoring other facts & reality. If somehow we can create franchises to built and grow informed citizen with a hope that will translate into best judgement then I think, we might be historically wrong in thinking that way.
if motivation is power and/or money then we fall into same old crap(may be in different form). To me, its much better for stupid people with bad ideas to run the country then by smart people with bad ideas.
Organisation has its own culture & objectives and people sign-up to be part of it with their own objectives (and might have different culture believes). how do we reconcile that?
Politics is very wide spectrum and our idea can be killed very soon since historically market space has been smart enough to manage new-comers, monopoly. M&A will soon change objective & implementation strategy but better returns.
We will need Gandhi like many individuals (or Steve jobs like popular figure with to-die fan-base)/market leaders/experts for every single issues (education, poverty, political reforms,…). how to create or attract them? align them to overall objective?

Implementation:

Once basic principals & ideals are defined (with do’s & don’t’s, what/how to support and not to, based on what!,..). then we will need to gather like-minded people(like TED conference) to brainstorm implementation strategy which would very different for each region/communities/demographic.
We will then need to gather support/fan-base(brand loyalty) --(like obama's campaign organization) by creating awareness, media strategy, market campaign, website, mailing list, web2.0 communities..to create fan based and NGOs networks to participant to show the presence over time without losing site of initial objectives/goals and implementation strategy.
Then how do we avoid been (liberal)biased and not to ignore national ground-reality & sentiments? because most people how sign-up would be from similar walk-off life(lack of diversity) thus branding would become problem.

Returns/Business mobel/Funding:

Any such venture needs investment and any investor wants to cash-out sometime. How we do that here?
Bussiness model for ROI and raise captial? via internet among middle-class will be challenging as you can see eCommerce in india has be mostly advertising driven not subscription driven. (so obama like strategy might not work well)
its very easy to keep discussing without much impact in market space (thus cause investors unrest and wanting to cash-out sooner with any other possibilities). how to avoid that? and stay invested.

List will grow without any clear agreeable answers for most of it but certainly its worth discussing with more specific & details.

Mumbai Tragedy on Jon Stewart's DailyShow

2008-12-02T10:48:00.000-08:00

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Mumbai Tragedy

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

Bankrupt Ideology pursuing a Bankrupt strategy..and we sure cannot let these terrorist MoFos control our lives.

Reaction expected, but how to!

2008-12-01T04:40:00.000-08:00

With end of Mumbai terror crisis, now media/people/politicians all are debating about what action should India take? It’s clear the terrorist are Pakistani origin. As I think about it with my little knowledge on foreign policy- India can react:

like USA- the black-and-white view and go to war with Pakistan. Is it a smart move? I don't think so. It’s almost clear & most experts would agree that the Pakistan government has (atleast no longer) no control-over all of its territory and these militant groups. Also history doesn't support Pakistan’s government when they say 'not-us' & 'we-stand-with-you-and-support-you' but I do believe & trust majority of Pakistani people even those who disagree with US's war-on-terror, has favourable opinion for good relationship with India. So I don't believe both in short-term and long-term this(war with Pakistan) would be any good and would solve nothing if not make it even worse. However I understand, this seems to be popular taking-point now.

like Israel- on back of Munich attack Mossad planned & acted out series of target killings of terrorist involved. Its a smart move. should india do something similar? may be (assuming such an act is possible by RAW in short-to-mid-term). But I would be ashamed of such actions from land of Gandhi. Our morals and character are tested not in good time but in bad.

like India, as in the past- Continue to do what we do but only just this time, be more smart and learn from mistakes to handle pre-and-post situations. Work for better relationship with Pakistan with increased economic/trade links, intelligent links, supports them to clean-up their politically/ISI/military structures. This is in best interest of both the countries.

As I mentioned in my previous post, it’s very easy to forget progress made in recent times between India & Pakistan as we live in 24news cycle which doesn't allow us to think.

And as Gandhi said, 'Anger and intolerance are the twin enemies of correct understanding' and 'Anger is the enemy of non-violence and pride is a monster that swallows it up'. I sincerly hope common-sense & cool minds in India government will prevail during these testing times.

And Word to Pakistani’s friends/government/media(if anyone listening)-- It doesn't help when all evidence points attacker are from Pakistan, rejecting it only shows age-old 'not-me' response. Instead work with us and be more critical about your decision making as well & accept your shot comings..Please.

Non-violence is the article of faith, which is the quality of the heart, cannot come by an appeal to the brain. And its not a garment to be put on and off at will. Its seat is in the heart, and it must be an inseparable part of our being. -- Mohandas Gandhi

Day after thought, to defeat terrorism

2008-11-28T01:04:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was sad, angry and wrote down (here), what I thought was happening and didn’t happen.

Today with sense, I am eating my words with honest measured reflections & thoughts. With best intelligence, task-force and even if USA acts responsiblily without ‘what’s-in-it-for-us’ foreign policy, will it defeat terrorism!? At best, it can save few more life, might stop some terrorist acts and might defeat terrorist but it will not cure terrorism.

It was very easy for us(atleast for me) to forget recently events before the attack. We had 65% voter turn-out in J&K elections, Pakistan Govt. acknowledged Kashmir’s Mujahideen as terrorist (which never happened before in our history), Pakistan Govt willing for greater trade links with India. India & Pakistan never had better relationship in the past and growing strength-to-strength by the day. Surely my (Indian) government is doing something correct which I am overlooking and not giving credit for.

In today’s globalized world, either we are victim or observer of such terror attacks. The moment we throw un-measure thousand words in public then we make the mission of the terrorists successful. Since their motivation is to get publicity for good or bad reasons. Media doesn’t help either by providing the kind of horrific visuals.

Although India can proudly claim to be quite inclusive in nature though favouritism has been always an issue, yet these repeated incidents of terror instead of making us immune and indifferent is actually making us apprehensive and panic stricken. So what can be done? Nothing much can be changed if someone is willing to kill him for a cause. Even Moon & Mars cannot be a safe place. Yes Nothing can be done without having a long-term politically solutions, socially policies, roadmap, education, jobs, social justice, tolerance, patients,..which ofcourse isn’t start-end path but a continues effects to make tomorrow better than today.

If each of us continues to do what we are doing without getting greatly influenced by the news and stand with our morals then in long-run terrorism will vanish.
I will try to do my part by not panic and by not posting incomplete blog (which I did yesterday).

PS: very interesting article with good insights @ How to Defeat Terrorism

Yet another attack…and??

2008-11-27T02:13:00.000-08:00

Yet another attack on freedom, It’s nothing new for Mumbai, a city I admire for its courage and resolve. I am sad but more than sad I am angry. I am very angry because, I don’t see or read what my government is doing to stop or atleast control such attacks!

First it was ordinary people, then multiple attacks across cities, and now attack on foreign diplomats and rich side of the city. From Parliament to Judiciary, everything in this nation is targeted.

for F*@k sake, Cannot we improve human intelligence inside the country? Why cannot RAW(India’s CIA) predict such attacks? Why still don’t have anti-terror wing?

Statistically more people in India die from terrorist attack each year (more than Iraq or any other part of the world). Yet we don’t have any clear roadmap and strong law to stop such attacks or action plan to react to such attacks. Few laws which we have are often used for political purposes thus making it ineffective.

India Inc and Indian public had always found way around bad policy, politicians, corruptions, to achieve sizable growth. And I understanding, Fighting with terrorism should not only be the duty of government but only(or always) people cannot do anything without government framework with honest intentions & effort.

The intelligence gathering in India is very bad. We swung into action after strike takes place and then get relax for another to happen. At national level, there is a need of a high-level anti-terrorist squad, which should have its branch in every state. Intelligence system & anti-terror laws of our nation requires complete overhauling & better implementation and should be outside hands of political establishment.

It is also necessary to have a centralised system of information gathering and disbursement. There is a need for one or two toll free phone numbers, which any body can take information from about victims after such strike or in the case of natural calamity. It is far from understanding that why until date government has not thought of such a mechanism for a country like India, which is not only big in geographical term, but has vast population and diversity in the terms of languages as well. It is also necessary that if anybody has any suspicion then he or she can call a toll free number and can share the information with the government. No such method is available. Even if someone finds something suspicious, he chooses to remain quiet, as majority do not want to deal with local ’khaki’ clad. Government must provide an option to those who want to share any information without being harassed. Unfortunately as of now, no such thing exists in our nation.

There is also a need for task-force for handling the situation, which arises after such attacks. It must consist not just security personnel but also doctors, nurses, NGOs. Life can be saved if we have an expert team, rushing at the site to assist the victims & families.

Entire nation is depressed to loss lives but we still put brave face and move ahead. I pray for peace and for the families who lost their loved ones.

Diwali explained..

2008-10-28T11:19:00.000-07:00

Happy Diwali... wish this day brings lights into your life.

another year to come...

2008-09-10T02:42:00.000-07:00

Birthdays comes and goes in every year
but few remains with us as golden memories
Its a special day to celebrate with loved ones
although, the years carry our age away
every aged year brings happiness

C have been blown off to say good bye to old year
and then the cakes is cut to say welcome to new age
The birthday song sung to forget the world
and the birthday wishes keep pouring to live more

Dine and cakes are served unlimited
Music to remember unforgettable day
'Happy Birthday To You' that is last words that we hear
from each and everyone and again the drums are silent
for another year to come.

moments (un)defined...

2008-08-11T11:26:00.001-07:00

I guess I could be really pissed off about what happened to me, but it's hard to stay mad when there's so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once, and it's too much; my heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst... And then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it, and then it flows through me like rain, and I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life...You have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm sure. But don't worry... You will someday.

what Psychology can do for us?

2008-07-22T10:51:00.000-07:00

Martin Seligman talks about psychology -- as a field of study as it moves beyond a focus on disease, what can modern psychology help us to become.! Talking about Happiness = Pleasant Life (positive emotions) + Good Life (work, love, leisure..) + Meaning of Life .

Martin Seligman founded the field of positive psychology and has devoted later part of his career to furthering the study of positive emotion, positive character traits, and positive institutions. It's a fascinating field of study that had few empirical, scientific measures -- traditional clinical psychology focusing more on the repair of unhappy states than the propagation and nurturing of happy ones.

Disappointments (un)Defined

2008-07-21T02:32:00.000-07:00

If we are content then we will not be disappointed,
If we aspire & work to achieve it even then we might not be disappointed,
So only sure way towards disappointments is either;
We are content with something which we don’t like or
Our aspirations/expectations is beyond reality.

Does it make any sense?

Vagabond -- Part2

2008-07-10T06:27:00.000-07:00

After reading Vagabonding by Rolf Potts, made me wonder about life and what I am doing with it.!

Recently I was tracking Matt Harding, 31 yr American who decided to travel around the world. I envy folks like him. Two things that caught my attention, which wanted to share with you today:

Where the Hell is Matt? is 4mins dancing video. and what’s more interesting is- background score incidentally is in Bengali and is an adaptation from the poem “Stream of Life” from Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore and it has been sung by Palbasha Siddiqui, a 17 year old second generation Bengali of Bangladeshi origin from Minneapolis in the US. (More @Palbasha Siddique is up there with Madonna and Mariah). Its awesome don’t miss it.

and if travel is your interest and like me, you always blamed money or time-- Matt's Interview:

links which might interest you:Vagabonding Journey Planner

Multi Cultural weekend

2008-06-26T07:19:00.000-07:00

For some stupid, silly and lazy reason I am not hear often enough. I have no good excuse. anyways..

This past week was long weekend in Luxembourg. I was very tempted to travel the usual backpack got away trips. But a friend suggested that this long weekend is worth staying back. and Indeed it was. It was fab.
Saturday evening with Orchestre Philharmonique de Luxembourg Concert playing movie soundtracks from Bond, IndyJones, Mission Impossible, Lord of the Rings, Pirates of Caribbean,… with crowd cheering for more the show overrun.

Walking away not too far good DJ mix. Opposite to Indian food stall. That’s right. Indian..;) couldn’t believe my eyes. Samosa, Chicken Saag, with good music and ofcourse very good company made the night (and earlier morning)).

Sunday as usual started at afternoon(for me morning) manage to get up and ready for 3pm to watch Capoeira

and Brazilian music & dance. beauty… and made some new contacts which always pressure.

Walk away few meter accidentally landed on African concert

Cheer leader.. cheering nothing—may be to make people eat and drink more.;)

and Central & south American music

and Luxembourgish traditional dance

whole evening of walk around and hoping into multi-cultural concerts.

then watching Grand-Duché de Luxembourg

followed by Parade. Which I thought very funny I cannot understand theme its public service, school, old people organizations,.. may be all Luxembourgish passport holders.!?) [/so very low local population here.. ;)]

ofcourse National Day Fireworks..

and biggest open air party in town with crazy music, crazy crowd..

in the middle that crazy noisy crowd-- someone is getting married and friends throwing bachelor party..

And another weekend night ended in earlier morning…

Morning relatively quite day. Military Parade in afternoon

and also because of busy sleepless weekend.

In short- making random friends, great music, concerts, mulit-cultural events… and all night out open-air noisy parties- Long weekend was awesome.

Look Up, Hannah

2008-05-29T05:32:00.000-07:00

thanks to my little bro boobesh - found a very inspiration speech from a man who most of us abhor may be for very different reason.

Did you know? the two men- Adolf Hitler & Charlie Chaplin were born within four days of each other.

The Great Dictator is movie made by Charlie Chaplin- about Adenoid Hynkel(Chaplin), the power-mad ruler of Tomania, and a humble Jewish barber suffering under the dictator's rule.

Chaplin ends the movie with the barber's speech calling for peace and prophesying a hopeful future for troubled mankind.

The Great Dictator movie by Charlie Chaplin. Film ends with the barber, having been mistaken for the dictator, delivering an address in front of great audience and over the radio to the nation, following the Tomanian take-over of Osterlich (an obvious reference to the German Anschluss of Austria on March 12, 1938). The address is widely interpreted as an out-of-character personal plea from Chaplin. Chaplin's controversial speech, seen as an overtly political speech, may have contributed to the litany of reasons he was ultimately denied reentry in the United States during the McCarthy era.
Transcript @ Speech from Charlie Chaplin

Look up! Look up! The clouds are lifting - the sun is breaking through. We are coming out of the darkness into the light. We are coming into a new world. A kind new world where men will rise above their hate and brutality.
The soul of man has been given wings - and at last he is beginning to fly. He is flying into the rainbow - into the light of hope - into the future, that glorious future that belongs to you, to me and to all of us. Look up. Look up

Timeless speech- almost 70years later we all aspire for the same.

3 Mistakes of my life

2008-05-21T02:38:00.000-07:00

Chetan Bhagat is back with 3Mistakes of my life. I am yet to get hold of this book. Too bad, its not available in Amazon or other online stores. I had requested friends traveling from India to get a couple of me. any lucky person who got initial review?

http://chetanbhagat.com/the_books/t3moml/excerpt.html

Malgudi Days - TV series

2008-05-11T02:28:00.000-07:00

R.K. Narayan's Malgudi Days- is one of my all time favorite story collection. and If its your favorite too.. then you might remember DD(indian national Televesion channel) TV series Malgudi Days. althou I was too young to remember but I manage to saw some in later days. But now thanks to technology I had opportunity to see the whole series(along with some of the other DD classics).

Complete Episode Playlist

Malgudi Days is the classic collection of short stories by R.K.Narayan is set in the small Indian town of Malgudi which is inhabited by timeless characters who could be living anywhere in the world. This TV series contains poignant short stories which also depict interesting anecdotes from the life of those who lives in Malgudi.

Hypocrite

2008-05-06T14:44:00.000-07:00

Talking about Burma's Cyclone- First Ofcourse thoughts goes out for those who are suffering in Myanmar.

and about US reaction:

Hypocrite - Laura Bush & Bush talking about Burma's government and who they haven't warmed people about recently cyclone and wasn't prepared. also . Also saying Burma's Military haven't reacted properly during aftermath(which might be true). But I wonder- what was she or her husband doing when Katerina reached New Orleans. When US government so called super power was incapable of handing pre or post Katerina effects and till date people are still recovering, Mr & Mrs.Bush should feel ashamed and shouldn't talk about Burma's government reaction.

Is it just me being crazy? Why none of major media outlets/reporter asking such questions to them when these kind of press meet happens.!!?

Just incase if I am misinterpreted- I don't regard any Military Government(Myanmar is no expectation) as good alternative to democracy. also I must admit that I am not very help about Indian(my) government's stands on Burma.

Global warming… Saving earth?

2008-04-21T13:07:00.000-07:00

No doubt human has making earth worse by the day but i always wonder about save earth slogan. why earth need saving? sure for my kids and grand kids.! but if it look millions of earth to reach where we are now but surely it will take more than 100yrs to make worse for millions with 9billion(then projected world population)

I find this interesting comment from BBC’s program- Earth: The Power of the Planet

in the long run, earth can cope with anything we can throw at it we could clear all the jungles, but a jungle can regrow over a few thousand years. we could burn all earths’ fossil fuels, flooding the atmosphere with carbon dioxide but even then, it will take the planet only a million years or so for the atmosphere to recover even the animals we are wiping out will eventually be replaced by others equally rich in diversity as a relentless work of evolution continues it’s only a question of time the earth will be just fine.

it’s not to say rapid changes we force on earth don’t matter that is because humans operate on a different time scale we have evolved to life in a world as it is now so in changing this world, we are altering the environment that has allowed the human race to thrive we could be creating conditions that threaten that long term survival of our civilization.

so all this stuff about saving planet earth, well that is not the problem: planet earth doesn’t need saving, earth is a great survivor it’s not the planet we should be worrying about, it’s us.

Ofcourse its no excuse to do our bit to make this world better place but lets have no isolation- its NOT earth we are trying to save but its just yet another selfish human act.

Borrowed Heaven

2008-03-30T03:34:00.000-07:00

All beauty all fade away, borrowed
All moonlight, return today, borrowed
All sunrise all shooting stars, borrowed
All earth bound bare feet in day
you know we're standing on

Borrowed borrowed heaven
Borrowed borrowed heaven

All heartache all rivers cried, borrowed
Don't stay out too late tonight, borrowed
I love you don't wanna die, borrowed
You taste like paradise, I know I'm breathing in

Borrowed borrowed heaven
Borrowed borrowed heaven
Borrowed borrowed heaven
Borrowed borrowed heaven

You gave me life and I will give it back
But before I do, I'm gonna hold it tight
This is my prayer

All body, All skin all bone, borrowed
All silky, all smooth and warm, borrowed
All pleasure, all pain are one, borrowed
Almighty I stand alone
I know I'm living in
Borrowed borrowed heaven

Ooh la la

2008-03-24T08:55:00.000-07:00

Poor old Grandad I laughed at all his words
I thought he was a bitter man
He spoke of women's ways
They'll trap you then they use you before you even know
For love is blind and you're far too kind
Don't ever let it show

I wish that I knew what I know now
When I was younger
I wish that I knew what I know now
When I was stronger

The can-can such a pretty show
Will steal your heart away
But backstage back on earth again
The dressing rooms are grey
They come on strong and it ain't too long
For they make you feel a man
But love is blind and you soon will find
You're just a boy again (joana)

When you want her lips, you get her cheek
Makes you wonder where you are
If you want some more then she's fast asleep
Leaves you twinkling with the stars

Poor young grandson there's nothing I can say
You'll have to learn, just like me
And that's the hardest way, ooh la la

I wish that I knew what I know now
When I was younger
I wish that I knew what I know now
Whan I was stronger

DisOrder Life...

2008-03-23T04:04:00.000-07:00

That's the current mood...
Nothing is according to plan and unable to plan/predict anything. not that it ever was but still this is heights. Moving into new Country is not new but trying to sort out basics is vvveerrrryyyy time consuming and boring. [/another good excuse for not being here for (long)sometime here.]
with NO new book, no internet, no TV,.. not following news atleast not at same frequency like before-- ya, now I can imagine life in stone age.

OK. till next time... show some faith & patients.
till then-- Peace for your soul. I was exposed to this music by the movie Constant Gardener.

Everybody hurts...

2008-03-04T21:04:00.000-08:00

When your day is long
And the night
And the night is yours alone
When you think youve had enough
Of this life
Hang on

Dont let yourself go
cause everybody cries
And everybody hurts
Sometimes

Sometimes everything is wrong
Now its time to sing along
When your day is night hold on
Hold on (hold on)
If you feel like letting go
(hold on)
If youre sure youve had too much
Of this life
Hang on

cause everybody hurts
Sometimes
Take comfort in your friends
And everybody hurts

Dont blow your hand
Oh-oh no
Dont blow your hand
If you feel like youre alone
No, no, no, not alone

If youre on your own
In this life
The days and nights are long
Youre sure youve had too much
Of this life
To hang on

Yeah everybody hurts
Sometimes
Everybody cries
Sometimes
Everybody hurts
Sometimes

Everybody hurts sometimes

So hold on, hold on
Hold on, hold on
Hold on, hold on
Hold on, hold on

To know youre not alone

Book Review -- Updated

2008-02-29T07:47:00.001-08:00

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Yes We Can

2008-02-16T02:23:00.000-08:00

It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.

Yes we can.

It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom.

Yes we can.

It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.

Yes we can.

It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballots; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.

Yes we can to justice and equality.

Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity.

Yes we can heal this nation.

Yes we can repair this world.

Yes we can.

We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.

We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics...they will only grow louder and more dissonant ........... We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.

But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.

Now the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea --

Yes. We. Can.

Return to India..Journey

2008-02-08T04:55:00.000-08:00

Article from/Source: India Knowledge@WhartonIn November, India Knowledge@Wharton published Bangalore-based writer Shoba Narayan's account of her family's decision to return to India after living in the U.S. for 20 years. Since that time, Narayan's essay -- "Return to India: One Family's Journey to America and Back" -- has generated a number of candid comments from our readers on the growing trend of non-resident Indians returning home. In this opinion piece, S. Srinivasan, a writer and executive based in India, offers an analysis of the predicament Narayan describes, attributing it to a "preoccupation with a consumerist style of living." "Without an enduring objective at a higher plane," he argues, "it is not surprising that there is an element of drift and dissatisfaction."

I read "Return to India: One Family's Journey to America and Back" with considerable interest and felt compelled to comment on it.

By far, this is the most exhaustive and well written piece that I have seen on this complex topic. The coverage traces an immigrant's journey from the larva stage until wings sprout at the citizenship stage. Many of the problems are described so vividly that those who have not yet reached this stage can experience a dry run, free of cost. Unless the writer had intensely felt the pain of this conflict, it would not have been possible to bring the issue to life so dramatically. We must credit the writer for unhesitatingly acknowledging the greatness and positive aspects of the U.S. and its society, even while expressing anguish over her inability to choose whether to return to India.

However, what is the bottom line of all this painstaking recollection? Why do individuals in the top IQ quartile who have mastered bio medicine, integrated chips or complex derivatives quake at this cross road, particularly when there is no unknown factor? Indeed, [in Narayan's essay] all the parameters are well enumerated. Comparisons are elaborately drawn and quartered and the equation almost solved except to hit the return key and deliver the verdict. Here it is stuck. Why?

I get the feeling that this massive voluntary disclosure is only an excellent statement of the problem. We need to see the root cause. Here is a case of an eminently successful family, and yet they appear to be in great torment for taking a step of comparable dimension to those that are taken by the ordinary and the under privileged on a fairly regular basis. This quandary compels me to give my two rupees worth of unsolicited view. And while doing so, I would like to make two things clear: First, I am viewing the India and U.S. options neutrally. Second, the writer's account is taken as quintessential thinking of a group of persons in a similar dilemma; while my response is to the group as a whole, understandably, not all of it will apply to everyone.

Why do people come to the U.S. to start with? Surely, not for its culture -- rich, or otherwise. Their objectives are clear: They have visions of swank universities, plum jobs, the green card, 'big moolah," creature comforts, the BMW and annual holidays at exotic locales from Auckland to Alaska. At the same time, without knowing the specific pin pricks, they are quite aware of the possibility of Indian kids running into turbulent weather in their teens and the strong home factor which will wistfully pull them back. These issues, fully visible even at the starting block, probably get brushed aside with the notion that "one will cross that bridge when one comes to it." And the day of reckoning duly arrives when the house is complete with gym and Jacuzzi, the Porsche and the Prius, the HDTV and Blue Ray, and the dog and cat. Here, the charm of material benefits wear off and the higher levels of Maslow's "Hierarchy of Needs" take over. Once the wallet starts bulging and the kids are conversational, panicky parents are seized with the grimmer aspects of this venture.

In "Return to India," the trigger for the writer's reassessment of continuing in the U.S. came from very ordinary events -- like parties, for instance. Therein lies a clue to the real issue. While overtly logical and legitimate factors are listed, discussed and thrashed over, there are other factors at work on a subterranean level. Recount the subtle and not-so-subtle references to the identification and stratification of family status based on the location of homes, the cars driven, the attire worn for parties, the experimentation with wines and attending $1000 dinners. The goal in life appears to be to be able to announce that we have "been there and done that." Buffeted by peer pressure, there is preoccupation with a consumerist style of living -- a state of affairs where the mission in life is continuous evaluation, calculation, positioning and comparison. Even charity seems to be part of this process. Without an enduring objective at a higher plane, it is not surprising that there is an element of drift and dissatisfaction.

Though anyone in a household can influence the decision [to go home], in this case the control appears to belong to the man of the house, with his predicament on the job front. He becomes mentally ready to make a move only when the circumstances are favorable to an astonishingly high degree: A guaranteed job at the other end. A job in the same organization, restricting cultural shocks to the minimum and preserving seniority. Dollar denominated emoluments. Settling down in Bangalore, rated as the best place [to live] in India today. Same home city for both spouses. No apparent complications in the domestic scene, such as in laws and out laws. Extensive overseas travel with opportunities to be back in the U.S. on work. Savings possibly upward of $600,000, a level by Indian standards that is sufficient to sit at home and play golf for the rest of one's life. The reassurance that the children will be back for their higher studies. And the U.S. citizenship status which can facilitate a back track, should the experiment prove to be a failure. The elusive "best of both worlds" does not get any better than this -- and if this is the benchmark for deciding on a shift, there is slim possibility of the majority of this group ever making a move.

People in our society face crucial forks in the road or cataclysmic changes in their lives on a daily basis. The dilemma of families living in the Middle East, for instance -- whether to plod along or to leave. Over there, the lure of petro dollars is evenly pitched against noxious factors, such as life in a Death Valley-like environment, interaction in some countries with arrogant locals not particularly known for courtesy or understanding, job quality that is not exactly stimulating or scintillating, and a non competitive environment for children that tends to soften them. Or, imagine the plight of a retiring general manager of the Indian railways who executes challenging projects for transporting millions. When he or she retires, there is a free fall from a private railway saloon coach and a car with a beacon light into a non-descript, self-driven vehicle. And 200,000 subordinates vanish overnight. People can go through severe mental agony or even fall apart in these and similar situations, but they do cross the Rubicon and stay sane. And there are no parties to discuss these [issues]. No websites or chat rooms to exchange tidbits and terabytes of information. No high profile research or analysis of any kind.

In "Return to India," some of the impressions expressed by the writer appear to border on fuzzy logic and need to be validated, since erroneous impressions are the mother of all misconceptions. Are there not children with exemplary upbringing in the U.S., and conversely wayward specimens in India? Cannot kids be kept on track through values inculcated at home and through the powerful family and filial factor?

Also, while it is true there is less respect for merit or excellence in India, this is largely confined to the political establishment which is somewhat allergic to these concepts. We should zoom into the more relevant zone, the corporate sector. If barons of business ranging from Tata to Mahindra are making waves across the oceans, it is not with a squad of selected sycophants. Today, industry is willing to pay a premium for merit. And this is being met by go-getters who can hold their own against the best in the business internationally. And Indian women in the corporate sector are on the list of the most powerful and influential persons in the world.

Likewise, the writer's reservation about quality medical services is also misplaced. While on average the quality of medical treatment may be abysmal, that again is not our zone of discussion. The hospitals that could be visited by this segment of the population would be of high to very high order where some of the best brains will be behind stethoscopes and scalpels. Indeed, "medical tourism" is a buzzword gaining ground, what with super wealthy sheiks routinely looking at India for treatment, in view of the huge cost differential. As for health care in the U.S., the less said the better. In the bizarre U.S. medical system, traumatized patients are routinely made to wait endlessly while the painful premedical processing goes on. Locating the personal physician and getting him or her into a synchronous mode with the insurance squad and the hospital can take eons while the hapless patient waits in agony. No less than Hillary Clinton seems to have failed to reform the system and has bitten the dust against these entrenched vested interests.

Thus, the primary issue [for families like the writer's] appears to be the lack of a towering objective or goal in their lives to which other parameters can subordinate themselves. There is comfort in being perennially in a state of flux and ruminating rather than in deciding one way or the other through some compromise. Why not look to the Keralites in this regard? This is the group that is omnipresent from Delhi to Dibrugarh and from Dubai to Dallas. Wherever you go, you find them with their tea stalls or tyre shops, or anything else that supports life. On one side, they have God's own country that is closest to Paradise, except for the fact that employment opportunities are lacking. And yet you are unlikely to find them endlessly discussing the merits and demerits of a shift. They tend to blend with the location and put their best foot forward. No wonder they are among the most successful emigrant groups anywhere in the world. Looking at the lack of will power on the part of Indian parents in the U.S., it seems patently unjust that Indian children born in the U.S. should be carrying the cross of "ABCD" [American-Born Confused Desi]. The problem is squarely with the parents, and in fairness, they should be given the appropriate nomenclature. I propose the term "AACI" -- pronounced "Ah-ki" -- to denote those America-Arrived Confused Indians who will only dine and whine.

Leaving aside temporary "techies," there are four types of Indians who land in the U.S. Group one, which comes just for the education and possibly some bare minimum experience and wishes to return to head their awaiting empires. Substantially, children and wards of business magnates and tycoons fall into this category and for this lot, the piece by the writer as well this response are both irrelevant. Then there is the crowd at the other end of the spectrum, whose only objective is to be on U.S. soil and who have no intention of looking back, come hell or high water. We have the Indian version of those who cross the Rio Grande. In their fixation to stay in the country, group two will adopt its own strategies to either integrate or isolate themselves in society, and to them, the cultural issue is only as disconcerting as their daily commuting problems. Indeed, some are strongly convinced of the net positive features prevailing in the U.S., and they will not be able to understand what the fuss is all about. A third group is in for a slightly longer haul, presumably until they make some money or reach some other milestone and intend to positively return. While on and off this group may feel the irritation of cultural imbalance, there is a subconscious resolution that deliverance is around the corner. Finally, we have the fourth group, which wants to stay longer, or even indefinitely, but is unable to make up its mind and the problem is localized here. They appear to be in a quest for the Holy Grail and should consider at the earliest whether they fall into group two or three.

I recollect reading about an incident in the life of Mahatma Gandhi. While practicing as a barrister in the U.K., it occurred to him that he would be able to operate better in London if he took some steps. Accordingly, he enrolled himself in three classes, one each for violin, elocution and dance. He reckoned that mastery over these would help him to merge seamlessly with English society. In his own words, he says that after some time, the bell of alarm rang in his mind over the insanity of his antics. Soon enough, he abandoned the entire exercise as a mental aberration. If he had persisted in these ventures, instead of independence, we may have gotten a mediocre violinist. A visit to his frugal ashram at Wardha will enlighten us on the power of simplicity. For that is where, clad in loin cloth and armed with just ahimsa, he demonstrated that a great objective -- and subordination of everything else to it -- can bring even an empire to heel.

and very interesting read about NRI Dillemma - To return or not!