Missing 'Someone'

Of late, I have started feeling as if I'm missing 'someone'. I'm not home sick but I speak with my mom and dad almost everyday. So I don't certainly miss them. Though missing someone is supposed to be a painful sensation, I feel a pang of ecstasy whenever I get this thought. I'm certainly not a romantic type and to be true, I've had no serious affairs till date. One was close to what could be called as 'serious' but then we broke up for some reasons (I'm glad, we did so!). I'm just guessing that this 'someone' could be my Ms. Right waiting for me in some far corner of this world. Oops, when I read the above lines, I feel as if I've copied them from Kajol's diary in DDLJ :)

Angel Tree

I don't know if this custom exists in India. We do give a lot of presents for the poor and the needy during christmas on behalf of our church but I haven't come across the "Angel Tree". It is nothing more than an ordinary christmas tree in which a number of tags are hung up. These tags contain the names of the needy children and the items they need. All we have to do is to pick up a tag(s) from the tree and buy the items listed in the tag(s) and leave it near the christmas tree. These gifts would be handed over to the children listed on the tags. The Salvation Army of Utah is doing this in my office. It is a very simple gesture of charity. Don't you think so?

Its Monday after a long Holiday!

Every day seems to elucidate this adage to me, "Time and Tide wait for no man". Well, I wouldn't bother too much, if the day was a working day. But if it were a holiday, I cannot explain how depressed I feel. I left home from work last Wednesday with a hearty feeling that I had 4 days of holidays. Now, I'm back to work and still trying to figure out how the 4 days flew by. I dont have any repercussions with the way I spent my holidays. They were fun. But, then the moment I feel that time is fast elapsing, I can feel butterflies fluttering inside my tummy! I feel like someone is trying to point out to me that I'm still not the same 22 year old immature kid who was straight out of college and was negotiating life as it came. My head spins, when I see that past is fading away from my memory and future is fast approaching and demanding some of my time to be pondered upon. After a moment of silence, I understand that it is hightime to plan for my future. Higher studies, marriage and blah, blah. I love to lead a carefree life and these kind of thoughts keep coming every now and then and dampens my spirit.

I'm ---

Your Blogging Type is Artistic and Passionate

You see your blog as the ultimate personal expression - and work hard to make it great. One moment you may be working on a new dramatic design for your blog... And the next, you're passionately writing about your pet causes. Your blog is very important - and you're careful about who you share it with.

What's Your Blogging Personality?

Chillin' Out!

The winter here is getting harsher day by day. Weather forecast predicts snowfall from the next week. Though I'm elated to see the first snow, I should admit that it would be a nightmare walking to the office daily in snow. My lips are getting dried and I have to carry a chap stick always with me, as women carry lip sticks, to keep my lips moist! Its dreadful to go outside without wearing a jacket.

The holidays have begun and none of our plans have materialized yet. Still haven't cancelled the car that I had booked for the weekend. I'm still hoping to beat the roads in the snow blizzard! Well, I'll keep you posted on my weekend activities, just peep in here once in a while to check for updates!

Defying Gravity

Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love.
~ Albert Einstein

The Supreme Irony

After I read this article that had something to do with outsourcing in the US, I felt satirical. My mind went blank for a second not knowing how to react. I wouldn't have bothered if such a bill was drafted by an American (I mean by birth). But the fact that it has been filed by an NRI whose parents would have obviously entered the US by such Visas infuriates me. I understand that the subject here is no more an Indian but an American but wouldn't such an act send wrong signals to the American public? I can empathize her feelings because she is now a American who was an Indian, who now has to survive in the US. But at large, I feel that Indians are debased by Indians themselves!

A Cinderella Story

My friend had picked up this DVD last week. This movie was an underdog in my list of titles that I had as options to watch on sunday evening. I generally dont like to watch immature romance on movies. But, I just wanted to give it a try because the heroine (Hillary Duff) looked gorgeous on the DVD label. Well, I know, it is not always a very good idea to watch a movie just for the cast sake!

To my surprise, from the first scene, the movie was very interesting and hilarious. Oh! man, I can't just stop mentioning about Sam Montgomery (Hillary). She was damn gorgeous and sexy. And ofcourse, Austin Ames (Chad Micheal Murray), the hero was smart and captivating. The plot was good but predictable. But what made the movie interesting was the youthful exuberance of the characters.

I wouldnt mind watching this flick one more time. If you hadnt already watched this one, I would recommend you to see it once!

Absolutely Topicless

Munching a green apple, I'm writing this post. I hate to boot up my laptop on a weekend. Gosh! there is no other go today. Was watching the re-telecast of the second ODI between India and SA till now, my eyes are aching and are pleading for some rest! One of my favourites, Westlife's 'Uptown Girl' is playing in the background. Music rejuvenates a bored-up soul..Isn't it? I feel a lot better now and planning to configure my new router. It has been pending for more than a week and my internet is going slow day by day, like my brain! Needs a boost up to 6MBPS! God willing, tomorrow I would be away from my comp :)

Where to go?!!

I'm going bonkers the moment I think about the Thanks giving weekend. I have 4 days to kill! I can't imagine myself sitting idly inside my apartment. Being a travel freak, I want to make use of the holidays to the fullest extent. But, my wallet and the weather are curbing my options! It has started snowing in the east and in the north. I can't imagine myself shivering in the snow. There are only two possible travel plans, one is to fly east to Florida and enjoy the tropical weather in Miami and the other is to drive west to Los Angeles and San Diego and enjoy the beaches there. Option #1 is too expensive (a flight ticket is close to $900..!!) and option # 2 needs to be marketed to my friends, as most of us have already been to LA! But, the drive would be fun if we decide on option #2. I'm thinking of all ways on how to sell the idea of driving to my friends. I hope, I can get their buy-ins. If not, God, what am I going to do? Oops..dreadful!

Why women think 'Men are from Mars' ?

I know I'm going to stir the Hornet's Nest with this post. But, I have no other choice other than doing so. Off late, I have been reading a lot of posts that portray men as dictators with no soul. Well, I might not be able to paint the whole picture of this issue but I can always write what I personally feel.

I've read about various instances where women are not given their proper rights and are treated as inferior by the men folk. These are omnipresent, i.e they happen in rural and urban areas, in educated and uneducated families and in rich and poor societies. So, if we can find out the number of men involved in such heinous acts, we can prove that a majority of men are not from Mars but are from Venus itself. With this assumption, I'm proceeding forward and to any of you, who do not agree with me on this theory, everything below is going to be Greek and Latin!

I dont want to be beating around the bush for long. The first and foremost thing to be done is to list down the various problems that women folk face due to men,

1. Physical - Be it beaten up, sexually harassed, made to do hard labor etc.
2. Mental - Curtailing their freedom, forcing something against their free will, curbing their rights to decision making etc.

Now, its time to figure out what kind of men are involved in such atrocities,

1. Uneducated men who have been brought up in a conservative environment and are in desolute conditions are forced to vent out their anger on their spouses. The main reason for such behaviour is the fact that they are so much downtrodden in the society, that they are left with no other choice but their sheepish counterparts to vent their emotions. The spouses in these cases are generally uneducated, jobless and are dependant on their husbands. This gives the man an edge to think that his woman is inferior to him and cannot live alone without his help. Considering the fact that India is a developing nation and more than half of its population are in the rural areas, we can assume that close to 7 % of the male population fall in to this category.
2. Immoral men who cannot afford a living by moral ways force women who are dependant on them or are helpless in to prostitution and other kind of flesh trades. Based on the fact that flesh trade is not so predominant in India as it does in other east Asian countries, we can assume that only 1 - 2 % of the male population in India fall in to this bucket.
3. Men who feel inferior to their spouse because of their spouses' education or by their social statuses. Since this is based on a character of a person, it is hard to come up with an accurate count of men falling in to this. But assuming 2 - 3 % in this category would be close to reality, I guess.

Apart from these all other reasons would be very infinitesimal and can be ignored.

Now coming to the fun part of the game, Lets sum up the percentages of the different categories of men who illtreat women, we get a value close to 10 %. Now it means that out of every 10 men a woman meets, 1 is going to be a moron. This number might be alarming. You might be forced to think that out of the 10 male collegues whom you might work with, one is going to be of this kind!

Now wait, dont jump in to conclusions. This 10% might not be geographically distributed evenly. Out of this 10%, 7 % might be in rural areas and 3 % might be in urban areas. Assuming that most of us work in posh urban areas, you will find only 3 of this kind among the 100 men you meet. And more over there could be overlap between these three categories. So the final percentage is going to be lesser than 3% in urban areas. Thats not bad..is it?

So, instead of blatantly blaming men in general to be abusing women, lets restrain ourselves and be warm with the other 97 men. After all, woman was created from the body of man and a man who is harming a woman without knowing this is ignorant. Lets work towards shooing the darkness from such people's heart by educating and explaining them the basics of human civilization!

Ohh..Ye Poor Tax Payers!

I read a report from the Planning Commission a couple of days ago. I went berserk, the moment I did that. It was kind of a project financial analysis report. I was appalled to see that most of the government projects were delayed in periods ranging from 1 week to 24 years. The report also outlined that the government spends 46% more on these projects. In a nut shell, the government squanders the tax payers' money because of poor execution of such projects! I would attribute bribery, lethargic public servants, embezzlement of the politicians, unstable government and the public's lack of faith on the government machinery as the reasons for this execrable situation.

What are we, as tax payers going to do about this?

PS: India lost the first ODI agianst South Africa, reason being the poor batting display of the top order Indian batsmen!

Cricket Rocks!

I'm looking forward to see if the Indian winning juggernaut would crush the formidable proteas. What makes me sad is the fact that I would not be able to witness the match from the stands. Had I been in Chennai, I would have made a sincere effort to watch the Chennai match 'live'. Huh! no point in cribbing now ! eh?

Money Vs Kisses

One person working in another town, wrote a letter to his wife:

Dear Sweet Heart, I can't send my salary this month, so I am sending 100 kisses.

Yours

Vicky

His wife replied back after some days to her husband:

Dearest Hubby,

Thanks for your 100 kisses, I am sending the expenses details.

1. Milk man was agreed on 2 kisses

2. Teacher agreed on 7 kisses

3. Our house owner is coming every day and taking two or three kisses of mine.

4. Vegetable and food shop keeper was not agreeing with kisses only, so I have given some other items to him...........

5. Others 40 kisses

Please don't worry for me, I have balance 35 kisses and I hope I can complete this month. Shall I plan same way for next month? Please advise?????????

Your Sweet Heart.

You know what to do with your salary. right?

PS: There is another serious post below..Do read it !

The Tinsel Controversy!

I know people generally take sides in case there is some kind of a controversy. But, I want to take a neutral standpoint in this issue. Perhaps, because I dont have the exact details about this one to take a side.

The controversy was ignited when the tamil actress Kushboo made a comment, a month back. All, I could gather from the media was this. She had said that not all men can expect virgins to be their wives (tamil women). The women's wing of the PMK party had made a huge hungama out of this. There were state wide protests and more than 25 cases were filed against the actress all over the state. Remember, these were the same people who built a temple for the actress a decade ago:). A couple of days back, one of the courts have issued an arrest warrant against her, for not appearing in court.

While all these dramas were going on, another actress Suhasini added fuel to this fire. She had supported Kushboo and had made some blatant comments about the PMK leaders. The PMK, a caste party is one of the few parties in the south that thrives on controversial publicities. So they are not the ones to go away with this without doing anything. They burned Suhasini's effigy all over the state and demanded her to ask for amnesty in public.

The film industry has also supported the PMK party and has reprimanded the actresses. The actresses are expected to ask for public pardon to escape the wrath of these politcal forces!

I'm not sure, who is right and who is wrong! Perhaps, you could throw some light :)

Romantic Nostalgia!

Yesterday, while I was having my dinner, I happened to watch a song from the tamil movie, "Jeans". Aishwarya Rai was dancing eloquently before the Taj Mahal.

Suddenly, I got this weird thought. How would it feel like sitting alone before the Taj Mahal and recollecting all the faces of my childhood and college day crushes ? Would it hurt me ? Or would I feel romantically nostalgic?

I have made a resolution to do this one day, preferably before getting married..:)

Does it work?

Whenever I get to speak informally with an American, the first question he/she asks me is about marriages in India. "Hey Naveen, I've heard that ya guys in India marry a girl/boy whom your parents decide. How does it work? Here even the marriages that happen after careful choosing of our partners are in jeopardy after a copla years! Whats the secret of your sustaining the marriage life for 30 - 40 years? "

I simply tell them, "We believe that it would work and the belief really makes it work" !

Are there any specific things that make our arranged marriages work? Any thoughts?

My Diary

24 Years have passed in my life and I think this is a right time to do an introspection of my past. My dad's job involved a lot of transfers and that meant a lot, I was not able to continue my schooling at one place. I studied in 7 different schools in 7 different places. Well, that sounds real exciting, right? huh! It is..but the problem was before I was getting accustomed to a place, we were required to shift again. This was very stressful because I couldnt make friends in a place, which I feel was a great set back for me. But then, being a travel freak, I enjoyed this hip-hopping so much. I was a "Dennis - the menace" kinda kid at school. There was not a single day in school when I was not chided by the teachers. Today, when I recollect some of those incidents, I feel ashamed of myself. I doubt, whether it was the same "me" who did all that. But then, when I meet my parents or teachers today, they seem to adore me so much that it seems they have forgotten (forgiven!) whatever stupidities I've done!
But apart from these, I was very studious, so I assume that my studies should have eclipsed all my mischieves. I scored 90 % in my matric examination and got admitted in a very good school for my 11th standard. It was then, I started to lose interest in my studies, I wouldn't say that blatantly but in a way,I was losing my concentration. But I managed to top the school in my 11th grade. It was my 12th grade that made me tired. I loved to do a lot of extra curricular activities but my mom was very much worried about my future. So there were a lot of misunderstandings with my mom during that period. But when the TNPCEE results were announced, I was able to feel the void and disappointment that I had created in my mom's heart.
My mom wanted to see me as a doctor and at that time, I was unclear about my career. So, I set "becoming a doctor" as my dream and was working towards that. On seeing the results, I was aghast to know that I had lost my chances by a megre 0.49 marks..Damn! It was so shocking and appalling, that I could not digest it for weeks. I broke my mom's heart. But then, since I had a good score in maths, I got an engineering seat in Anna university, which was not a very bad choice.
I enjoyed all the four years of my college days. I excelled in my studies, sports and other personal skills. I could feel myself maturing day by day. Those evergreen college days taught me and moulded me to adapt to the uncertainities of life!
It was my college staff's, friends' and enemies' (!) influences that have made what I'm today. A complete man :), atleast I think so!

My Sevens!

I've already posted a blog on "Things I wish to do in Life" . But since, Rita had tagged me in her page, I'm composing my 7's again. Here we go -

Seven things that I plan to do

1. Fly a supersonic fighter jet at Mach 3 or higher.
2. Drive a Ford GT at 200 MPH at the AutoBahn, Germany. (Without the fear of getting a ticket:))
3. Marry a pretty smart girl and enjoy life with her!
4. Climb the career ladder faster than anybody would have dreamt of!
5. Own a Porsche Cayanne 4 x 4.
6. Tour the entire continents of Europe and Australia (N America is pretty much done :))
7. Complete my post graduation in business management from IIM-A

Seven things that I can do

1. Drive, Drive and Drive longer
2. Talk endlessly on World Wars.
3. Eat anything and everything that has chicken!
4. Speak at the rate of 350 words/min (need good ears to converse with me :))
5. Read all Jeffrey Archer's 'n' times.
6. Remember all junk things about the girls I meet, like the number of dresses they have, their hobbies, favourites etc etc..(For some reason, i forget even the names of guys pretty soooon :(..)
7. Play tennis all time, be it hot or cold weather.

Seven things I Can't

1. Put on weight :)
2. Go to a movie alone
3. Be idle without doing anything, be it good or bad :)
4. Go on water rides, 'cos I can't swim :)
5. Return missed calls immediately, too lazy to do this !
6. Sit in an exam hall for the entire 3 hours, I get bored after the first hour :), I dont remember an exam which took me the entire alloted time to complete!
7. Keep mum without passing comments while watching a movie !

Seven things I say often

1. Its okay
2. Bull S***
3. Oh my Gosh
4. Damn it
5. C'mon man
6. Peragu (means "whats next?" in Tamil, my friend used to make fun of me whenever i say this :))
7. F***

Miles to go before I sleep



Yea, true, I have miles and miles to go - loads and loads to achieve in life! God, sustain my insatiable urge to achieve!

Work Ethics!

I see a vast difference in the work ethics between the Indians and the Americans. I know, I cannot generalize this statement. But most of you would have come across this kind of situations. The Indian traders dont seem to be interested in developing a long-term relationship with the customer whereas the American businessmen are more than happy to establish a long-term business with a customer.

I can provide you with an example to corroborate this point. I was using an Airtel mobile for more than 2 years when I was working in Chennai. But on a short notice, I had to come to the US on business. I had paid an advance of Rs. 2000 /- at the beginning when I got my connection, under the agreement that, it would be refunded to me on the event of my disconnecting the service. Since, I had a very short time to plan my travel, I was not able to visit the Airtel office to get my refund. I thought, I could take care of that after coming to the US.

But it has been close to 7 months now and I would have sent them more than 20 emails and would have called them atleast 3 times. But I dont think they have the faintest of ideas to refund my money back. I was hoping to get an Airtel connection again, when I return back to Chennai. But after this, I can never stand that though anymore. How can I?

I have a Cingular mobile here in the US and it would be unjust if I say that I have no problems with them. But the point is, whenever I call their customer care for any such issues, I can feel the warmth and politeness in their voices that appeases my anger at the very moment. By the time I hang up the call, I feel more than satisfied because my issues would have been taken care off right away and I dont ever feel like changing my service provider.

This is just one of the cases, I can list 'n' number of examples to prove this. Huh, I dont see a reason why Indian businesses don't provide customer satisfaction as expected. Any body has any clue?

Stealth Technology

"Stealth Aircrafts" have always been a thing of excitement to me. Just imagine how it would be to pilot a bomber in to an enemy territory and do a "carpet bombing" without actually being noticed! Exactly this is what happened during "Operation Desert Storm", the '91 gulf war and "Operation Enduring Freedom", the US war against terrorism in Afghanistan.

The US Airforce sent dozens of "B - 2 Spirit" stealth bombers invisible to the Taliban radar and bombed the entire "Tora Bora" region, in which a number of high level Taliban officials were supposed to be killed.

The secrets of avoiding detection

1. Body shape of the aircraft is designed in such a way that the radar is reflected perpendicular to the origin of the radar source, thus preventing it being reflected to the source.

2. The body is also made by radar absorbing materials.

3. Infrared signature of the stealth aircraft is minimised by cooling the hot exhaust by ambient air.

4. The body is painted black to affect visual detection.

5. The stealth aircrafts are not supersonic and are tuned to low noise levels and so detecting their sound waves are not possible.

Supersonic Stealth - F-22 Raptor

Lockheed and Martin has developed a supersonic stealth fighter aircraft for the US airforce. It is called the F 22 Raptor. It was tested over the skies of Utah last month and have been officially deployed in the airforce.

So the disadvantage of not being able to fly a stealth fighter over the speed of sound has been overcome with the introduction of F - 22.

Hey, you better watch out, someone might be flying over your roof unnoticed :)

PoNNiyin SeLvaN - Review

I felt bad for not watching this movie for so long after I saw it last night. Hats-Off to the director for giving such a splendid creation for us to cherish. Radha Mohan is the director. I havent seen any of his movies so far and so I assume him to be a fairly new director. But the film never lets you feel that way. The story is all about a guy who has a gore face for which he is being disliked by people. He has developed an inferiority complex and the whole story revolves around that. How he wants to get rid of that, what effects does this have on his family and friends and stuff like that.

The BGM scored by Vidyasagar is fantastic. It feels as if the scenes come to life by his excellent compositions. But the songs are not all that good, apart from one song, others are mediocre.

There are a few great performances by Gopika, Revathy and Prakash Raj. The slapstick comedy is very natural and makes the audience laugh heartily. In all, this is an excellent movie and a must to see for all those who yearn for good stories and performances!

Women Vs Men

Women
A wife was not at home for a whole night. So, the very next morning, she tells her husband that she stayed at her girlfriend's apartment over night. The husband calls 10 of her best girlfriends and none of them confirms that.
Men
A husband was not at home for a whole night. So he tells his wife the very next morning, that he stayed at his friend's apartment over night. So the wife calls 10 of his best friends : 5 of them confirm that he stayed at their apartments that night, and the other 5 are claiming that he still is there with them!

Gals, is this agreeable for you ? :)

A Nice Forward

It had been some time since Jack had seen the old man. College, girls, career, and life itself got in the way. In fact, Jack moved clear across the country in pursuit of his dreams. There, in the rush of his busy life, Jack had little time to think about the past and often no time to spend with his wife and son. He was working on his future, and nothing could stop him. Over the phone, his mother told him, "Mr.. Belser died last night. The funeral is Wednesday." Memories flashed through his mind like an old newsreel as he satquietly remembering his childhood days. "Jack, did you hear me?" "Oh sorry, Mom. Yes, I heard you. It's been so long since I thought of him. I'm sorry, but I honestly thought he died years ago," Jack said. "Well, he didn't forget you. Every time I saw him he'd ask how youwere doing. He'd reminisce about the many days you spent over 'his side of the fence' as he put it," Mom told him. "I loved that old house he lived in," Jack said. "You know, Jack, after your father died, Mr. Belser stepped in to make sure you had a man's influence in your life," she said. "He's the one who taught me carpentry," he said. "I wouldn't be inthis business if it weren't for him. He spent a lot of time teaching me things he thought were important...Mom, I'll be there for thefuneral," Jack said. As busy as he was, he kept his word. Jack caught the next flight tohis hometown. Mr. Belser's funeral was small and uneventful. He had no children of his own, and most of his relatives had passed away. The night before he had to return home, Jack and his Mom stopped by to see the old house next door one more time. Standing in the doorway, Jack paused for a moment. It was likecrossing over into another dimension, a leap through space and time. The house was exactly as he remembered. Every step held memories.Every picture, every piece of furniture....Jack stopped suddenly. "What's wrong, Jack?" his Mom asked. "The box is gone," he said. "What box?" Mom asked. "There was a small gold box that he kept locked on top of his desk. I must have asked him a thousand times what was inside. All he'd evertell me was 'the thing I value most, '" Jack said. It was gone. Everything about the house was exactly how Jackremembered it, except for the box. He figured someone from the Belser family had taken it. "Now I'll never know what was so valuable to him," Jack said. "Ibetter get some sleep. I have an early flight home, Mom." It had been about two weeks since Mr. Belser died. Returning home from work one day Jack discovered a note in his mailbox. "Signaturerequired on a package. No one at home. Please stop by the main post officewithin the next three days," the note read. Early the next day Jack retrieved the package. The small box was oldand looked like it had been mailed a hundred years ago. The handwritingwas difficult to read, but the return address caught his attention. "Mr. Harold Belser" it read. Jack took the box out to his car and ripped open the package. There inside was the gold box and an envelope. Jack's hands shook as he read the note inside. "Upon my death, please forward this box and its contents to Jack Bennett. It's the thing I valued most in my life." A small key was taped to the letter. His heart racing, as tears filling his eyes, Jack carefully unlocked the box. There inside he found a beautiful gold pocket watch. Running his fingers slowly over the finely etched casing, he unlatched the cover. Inside he found these words engraved: "Jack, Thanks for your time! -Harold Belser." "The thing he valued most...was...my time." Jack held the watch for a few minutes, then called his office and cleared his appointments for the next two days. "Why?" Janet, his assistant asked. "I need some time to spend with my son," he said. "Oh, by the way, Janet...thanks for your time!" "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away," Think about this.

You may not realize it, but it's 100% true.

1. At least 2 people in this world love you so much they would die for you.

2. At least 15 people in this world love you in some way.

3. A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone, even if they don't like you.

4. Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you before they go to sleep.

5. You mean the world to someone.

6. If not for you, someone may not be living.

7. You are special and unique.

8. When you think you have no chance of getting what you want, you probably won't get it, but if you trust God to do what's best, andwait on His time, sooner or later, you will get it or something better.

9. When you make the biggest mistake ever, something good can stillcome from it.

10. When you think the world has turned its back on you, take a look: you most likely turned your back on the world.

11. Someone that you don't even know exists, loves you.

12. Always remember the compliments you received. Forget about therude remarks.

13. Always tell someone how you feel about them; you will feel much better when they know and you'll both be happy.

14. If you have a great friend, take the time to let them know that they are great.