Sorry people.. for this long break !! am back now..
Okay.. Help me choose among these...
a) Unity : The Strings and Indian Ocean concert
b) Standoff : The Parikrama and Moksha Concert
c) The Sting Concert on 4th Feb
:)
I have missed out on Frank Mobus's Jazz concert, A full Jagjit Singh night,the Shakti Fusion concert featuring John MacLaughlin, Shankar Mahadevan and Zakir Husain, and the awesome Naseerudin Shah in his Katha Collage @ since the last week. December - January used to be fun time in Delhi as well..There are festivals, exhibitions, shows, concerts and everything else . I missed the annual free Sukhoi-32 flypast that I used to distinctly see from my terrace @ Delhi on Republic Day.. I have been missing it for 3-4 years now. I have been missing the Great Indian Rock (GIR) Show @ Pragati Maidan grounds (tho I had attended just 2, but had planned for more ) . I have missed the IIT Rendezvous.. and other college fests.. and maybe countless concerts...
So , Its time to make amends... If I cant attend the first two concerts ( a part of IIM Bangalore's Unmaad fest) I would definitely attend the Sting one... What the heck.. I think should have attended the Benny Hinn sound and light show had i got a chance ! that would have been entertainment as well... :)
During this time I have read up one of the best books I have found in my lifetime.. Thomas L. Friedman's "The Lexus and The Olive Tree". Friedman is a two time Pulitzer Award winner and a celebrated New York times columnist.
This book is on what he thinks of globalization, how to understand it, how has it been shaped over the last couple of decades, how does it affect everybody and about how , the richest guy in the most developed country in the world is dependant on equal terms on the peasant earling his daily bread in some remote village of a poor country. Some of the viewpoints show his American spirit, cater to that section of readers, but thats just maybe 5% of the book. The rest is filled with superb anecdotes, first hand transcripts of his interviews with the most powerful (socially, economically and politically) and the street dweller and the middle class on the other hand as well . The best part is how easily he equates the concerns of any company, or association with similar concerns of many nations and presents both scenarios, with their progress, conflicts, victories and defeats on the same platform. The examples and the statistics are mind boggling. A truly great book.
I have bought another one yesterday.. Alan Hollinghurst's "Line of Beauty", the 2004 Booker winner.. the story is sposed to be weird.. and though I cant credit myself with much of a liking for an even moderately cursive fiction.. A Booker prize winner should be a booker prize winner should be a booker prize winner.
Yesterday, our country celebrated 56 years of being a Republic. Its the same feeling, for all these years, Saw the parade on the TV ... saw the T-90 tanks, the Defence shields, the ICBMs, the GS satellites, the new combat aircraft, the oldest cavalry regiment of the world, the smartest battalions marching in salute to the president of the nation.. Enjoyed the various cultural tableaus as well.. and sang the anthem whole heartedly.. Yes.. the GDP and the forex 's booming, inflation's going down, Corporates registering 55% growth in profits each quarter.. We are on a roll. INDIA INC... way to go !!... But isnt it also the same feeling when at each republic day, on your way to the felicitation nights, or to the restaurants for your dinner.. you invariably find the beggar with a child resting on her hip.. and with enough clothes just to cover her dignity, but nevertheless showing you that soon, she would have one more to care for, to fear for... and to fight for.... Where has the republic progressed for them in all these 56 years.. or the 59 years of "Independence" ?
I might agree that 150 years of foreign rule have reduced the mightiest civilization of 4 millenia into almost rubble.. But do I have to really agree that for us as the republic, the unified force, the progeny of the those who once built the glorified India, socially, technolgically and economically, 56 years is still not enough time for us to help the country's millions out of poverty.. of suffering, disease and exploitation.. Anyways, my job is to do my work for my company, reap the benefits, and enjoy a good satisfactory life for me and my family. I pay my taxes, and I toss the occaisional 1 rupee coin to the needy palm.. What else? I am not the politician.. or the billionaire philanthropist.. .. and besides what do i know?
But I think there are people who know.. Suketu Mehta (read Maximum City) , U Minn Professor C.K. Prahalad (The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty through Profits), Our President Dr. APJ Abdul kalam (India 2020: A Vision for the new millenium) , Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen (India: Economic Development and Social Opportunity) and Pulitzer Winner Tom Friedman (The Lexus and the Olive tree) .. have all written extensively about how the poor and the downtrodden can be harnessed and HAVE to be harnessed for the best development in any society in the future, Atleast from whatever i have read about their reviews.. and/or heard from friends.. who have read up these books have to say, these books are what I would really like to read about in the coming months.. And these are all best sellers.. so I have always found them at the Top 10 Non Fiction sections of any book store.. Whats more .. PRanay has half of them :) ..
Meanwhile, my project work beckons.. SO am off to the team meet in some time..
Currently on my earphones :
"I get knocked down, But I get up again..
Youre'never gonna let me down "
(-Chumbawamba's "Tubthumping")
Thursday, January 27, 2005
Thursday, January 13, 2005
Thursday, January 06, 2005
A Late Night Post..
"...
Trust I seek and I find in you, every day for us something new
open mind for a different view,
And Nothing Else Matters
Never cared for what they do, never cared for what they know
But I know ....
So close no matter how far, couldn't be much more from the heart
Forever trusting who we are
and Nothing else matters ..."
"Nothing Else Matters "- "Metallica - The Black Album" 1991
Am hearing Metallica after a long long time ....
Every time I hear this song...so beautifully presented by Hetfield's deep voice.. ... it seems to bare his inner thoughts .. it seems to be telling everyone, whatever you do in life, whatever places you roam, how high heights you ascend to, you as a person are always known through your loved ones... your close ones... its a perfect rendition of being away from the ones you love most.. but still being close to their heart...
I think too, in these 3-4 years.. of being away from my parents.. , loved ones... i have met so many new persons, roamed places, made new friends, had good or bad experiences... but , its them who have always been there for me.. always, stood beside..
you can as well sometimes find yourself talking to them personally in your mind... asking them as if through telepathy.. what to do in this condition, if I did the right thing there, and almost half expect them to respond the same way inside your thoughts as they would do if they were present next to you in person..
So sometimes I feel is it really worth it? to live a life so far away from these very people.. It seems as if the very place from where you started your journey is itself actually the final destination... No matter how many miles you tread.. its as if there is this someone else.. functioning inside of you.. trying to establish an identity, craning your neck, fighting with millions of other similar people for fame, power, wealth and other hundreds of comforts.. when the real solace is actually besides your loved ones, and the place where you actually began your travails from but had left your heart back in the first place... .. No wonder they say James Hetfield penned this song when he was on the road, on the move , away from his roots...
A really beautiful set of lyrics....
One of my team members.. has just left the organisation... January is a critical juncture in the project progress path. .. and I am looking at a loss of around 10-12 man-days.. but I guess we will get over it soon..
The new year night was pretty good.. . enjoyed with my friends, one of them came from outside the city.. ... had good food ... went to the temple.. played tennis and had had a half hour romp at the pool... We were planning to spend the night and the new year day at a resort.. but decided against it at the last moment..
Many of my friends are themselves job hopping nowadays.. and it seems that the IT corporate circles are buzzing with who went where and what was the pay package.. etcetra... I hear how one can join a company .. stay with it for 3 months.. and then just join yet another company.. and double your package in 3 months in the process... Everyone seems to have begun thinking of himself / herself as more a commodity...
Its 9:45 pm here @ my office.. and I am drained of all energy and the will to continue working.. The off white Company T-Shirt I so proudly ironed in the morn.. is showing the wrinkles and stains.. of the day long fight it itself would have endured throughout the day. Will leave for home now..
Just felt like adding something to the blog. havent quite posted for a long time.... Its a costly indulgement at this late hour to begin scribbling when you ought to be home by now.. but its also the time when rather than the ear paining head phones... you can allow the music to blare from the speakers of this thinkpad and flow across all the small and smaller cubicle boundaries.. that flood this office floor.. and this is the only time you can have a private moment in this otherwise cacophonic and noisy setting.. .. and maybe stretch your legs.. have a cup of coffee and relax your tired mind with a loved song... Yeah... Metallica is not so good for tired minds, ... but I am sure... when you begin hearing this song...
Nothing else matters..
Trust I seek and I find in you, every day for us something new
open mind for a different view,
And Nothing Else Matters
Never cared for what they do, never cared for what they know
But I know ....
So close no matter how far, couldn't be much more from the heart
Forever trusting who we are
and Nothing else matters ..."
"Nothing Else Matters "- "Metallica - The Black Album" 1991
Am hearing Metallica after a long long time ....
Every time I hear this song...so beautifully presented by Hetfield's deep voice.. ... it seems to bare his inner thoughts .. it seems to be telling everyone, whatever you do in life, whatever places you roam, how high heights you ascend to, you as a person are always known through your loved ones... your close ones... its a perfect rendition of being away from the ones you love most.. but still being close to their heart...
I think too, in these 3-4 years.. of being away from my parents.. , loved ones... i have met so many new persons, roamed places, made new friends, had good or bad experiences... but , its them who have always been there for me.. always, stood beside..
you can as well sometimes find yourself talking to them personally in your mind... asking them as if through telepathy.. what to do in this condition, if I did the right thing there, and almost half expect them to respond the same way inside your thoughts as they would do if they were present next to you in person..
So sometimes I feel is it really worth it? to live a life so far away from these very people.. It seems as if the very place from where you started your journey is itself actually the final destination... No matter how many miles you tread.. its as if there is this someone else.. functioning inside of you.. trying to establish an identity, craning your neck, fighting with millions of other similar people for fame, power, wealth and other hundreds of comforts.. when the real solace is actually besides your loved ones, and the place where you actually began your travails from but had left your heart back in the first place... .. No wonder they say James Hetfield penned this song when he was on the road, on the move , away from his roots...
A really beautiful set of lyrics....
One of my team members.. has just left the organisation... January is a critical juncture in the project progress path. .. and I am looking at a loss of around 10-12 man-days.. but I guess we will get over it soon..
The new year night was pretty good.. . enjoyed with my friends, one of them came from outside the city.. ... had good food ... went to the temple.. played tennis and had had a half hour romp at the pool... We were planning to spend the night and the new year day at a resort.. but decided against it at the last moment..
Many of my friends are themselves job hopping nowadays.. and it seems that the IT corporate circles are buzzing with who went where and what was the pay package.. etcetra... I hear how one can join a company .. stay with it for 3 months.. and then just join yet another company.. and double your package in 3 months in the process... Everyone seems to have begun thinking of himself / herself as more a commodity...
Its 9:45 pm here @ my office.. and I am drained of all energy and the will to continue working.. The off white Company T-Shirt I so proudly ironed in the morn.. is showing the wrinkles and stains.. of the day long fight it itself would have endured throughout the day. Will leave for home now..
Just felt like adding something to the blog. havent quite posted for a long time.... Its a costly indulgement at this late hour to begin scribbling when you ought to be home by now.. but its also the time when rather than the ear paining head phones... you can allow the music to blare from the speakers of this thinkpad and flow across all the small and smaller cubicle boundaries.. that flood this office floor.. and this is the only time you can have a private moment in this otherwise cacophonic and noisy setting.. .. and maybe stretch your legs.. have a cup of coffee and relax your tired mind with a loved song... Yeah... Metallica is not so good for tired minds, ... but I am sure... when you begin hearing this song...
Nothing else matters..
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
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