September 30, 2009

Desire

Desires, I have read in many spiritual books, are to be restrained to grow spiritually and reach closer to God. The other day, I read this question in a newspaper and quite liked it for its intrinsic simplicity: Isn't a desire of not having desires a desire too?

I will leave it to you to instrospect on this.

September 28, 2009

Vijayadashami

Known to be the festival to celebrate the victory of good over evil, Dussehra is an extremely important festival in India. As much as we must celebrate this day, I see this as a day to introspect and cleanse ourselves as a person. As we keep celebrating this day year after year, we must attempt to grow as a person and purify our thoughts, deeds and indeed life overall. If we feel we are growing in 'real' sense as a person, we will be truly appreciating the spirit of Dussehra. Ram defeated Ravana on this day, as legends go. Ram is a metaphor for the good, and Ravana for evil. Applied to us, we must first strive to get closer to the good before we could wipe-off the evil around us. Let's start by cleansing our inner selves.

When I think of Dussehra, I remember a beautiful line in a song from the movie Swades

Mann se Ravana jo nikale, Ram uske mann mein hain...

Beautiful line. Very inspiring.

September 25, 2009

Sham

It is the season of sham these days. A sham they conduct and call Dandiya-Raas. I see lot of pandals around that 'enables' people to 'perfom' the traditional dance form called Garba and celebrate Navratri. Don't get me wrong as yet. I am totally for Navratri and Dandiya-Raas, but not for what many do citing this occasion. Typical bollywood tunes/songs are what they play for this magnificent dance form! Stupid songs, stupid people who dance as if they are in a discotheque. Highest form of non-sense is what I see on 'news channels'. I have no problem with what they do, but then my issue is that they call it Dandiya-Raas when it is not! This is a seasonal, open-air pub where people want to go and let their hair loose. Simple. But then admit it that way.

We have seen it all by now. Commercialization of arts, music, sports, sex, religion. All these are completely fine if people engaged in them are candid about their intentions and not create a farce and put up a sham to cover the underlying intention, that of making money. Making money, I believe, is a good thing. Only, do it the right way.

September 24, 2009

Ponder over this

It is amazing how we manage to miss the relevant points in life on so many occasions. Two small stories to drive the point home:

1. A couple went with their three children to the beach one day. The children were making castles and enjoying themselves. They saw an old lady in rags coming slowly towards them. She was bending down and picking up some things and putting them into her bag. As she came near the children, the parents shouted out to the kids to stay away from her.

The old lady smiled at them but they did not smile back.

A few days later they learnt that the old lady made it her life to pick up small pieces of glass from the beach sand so that children would not cut their feet.

2. One day a duck hunter went to the market to buy a bird retriever dog. To his amazement he found a dog that could walk on water! He immediately took it home.

He invited one of his friends to hunt the next day and took the dog along. When a flock of ducks came near, he took aim, fired and silently watched. The dog walked on water and retrieved the bird. He looked at his friend for a reaction but the friend remained silent.

He asked him, "Do you see anything unusual about my dog?". The friend replied. "Yes, your dog is unable to swim."

The stories have been extracted from the book "Living Enlightenment"

Me and the press!

Statutory Warning: This post has a lot of 'ME' written over it. I have given the 'rule of modesty' an exception in here! So, beware :)

As a part of my professional life, I have got opportunities of being quoted in the press, mostly financial media. Dealing with the press has always been tricky and exciting. Tricky, because a lot of times I said one thing and what was typed was technically same yet different in gist. Exciting, because I am being read by a lot and my name's on the news page! So here's a collation of some of my brushings with the press over the past:

As a part of my life with ING
My only interview - was with FE! The print edition had my photograph with the article. Cannot find it on the online version though.

Some of my views/quotes: Reuters, Yahoo Finance, Hindustan Times

As a part of my current professional start-up
FE 1, FE 2, Yahoo Finance 1, Yahoo Finance 2

I decided to put these things up on my blog for three reasons:

1. I wanted an 'artificial' feel-good.

2. I wanted to put these links up in my records and have it till they are available on the net.

3. It is a part of a 'deal' with someone.

P.S.: I know it is 'cheap' to put up these things up on a post! :) But then, I am human too :)) Happy reading

September 19, 2009

Next is what?

When we play video games, there are times we get stuck at one level without knowing how to go to the next level. That's always fun, the pursuit of the door to the next level. However, things get boring when you are not sure what the next level is, forget about how to reach there.

I am stuck in this phase in a game we call life. I have crossed many levels and it has been an exciting game. But now, I feel stuck. I cannot see the next level and hence obviously the way to get there. Sure, there has to be some next level in this game. Till I see it, I roam around at this level. And since I know this level quite well now, it is a boring stagnant phase.

Conventional wisdom would suggest that I get married and that is the next logical level in this game. Well, if I were conventional I would not have been here at the first place. So, that is surely not the level I want to jump to. There has to be something else.

Next is what, I wonder!

September 18, 2009

Hyderabad and it's cuisines

I was in Hyderabad for the last 2 days. While there, I was recommended to try out their Ramadan special cuisines. As in my nature I gave it a shot. What I ordered for dinner (and I was told it would be full enough for me) was Hyderabadi Haleem and Kubani ka meetha. Haleem is a special thingie made out of mutton meat and it takes about 10 hours to make the best Haleem. During Ramadan, muslims break their fast be eating the high-calorie Haleem. There are quite a lot of stalls selling Haleem in Hyderabad during Ramadan days as I could see. I guess it would be available in other parts of the country too. It is more like a paste of micro-grinded meat. Kubani ka meetha is a sweet-dish made primarily with apricots/dates. I did not like either of it. The tastes were very distinct from what my taste buds generally experience and like. I had to order something less exotic (butter naan and chicken kadai) to satiate my hunger eventually.

I'm back home to more familiar idli sambar!

September 15, 2009

Brilliant!



Thought provoking indeed!

September 13, 2009

Flash of violence

I cannot stand violence. Not that I do anything to stop it when I see one. What I mean is I become extremely uncomfortbale to see someone being beaten up on streets or a physical fight. It is as if I am involved in it. It's actually quite eery the way I get affected by the entire incident. It stays on my mind for a while with a bad after-taste. Always been so, though logically I should remain unaffected. I saw a guy being beaten up by a group of four on the streets the other day. It was pretty bad. As in such cases, nobody had any real clue of what had transpired leading up to the fight. Four on one is outright imbalance. Irrespective of what the victim had done, violence should not be resorted to. Somehow the thought does not go into my system easily.

Personally, I have almost never been involved in a physical fight. I have had fights with cousins as a kid but never after I have 'matured'. Sure, I am not a 6'3" giant who can get on top of any body. So one clear reason why I would not believe it is smart to try and 'beat around'. Would my take on violence be different if I was indeed a macho stud? Not sure. Don't think so actually. About being macho, never understood the hype about looking a stud and having a great physique over which girls would drool. Again, may be because I don't match this description. But that's hardly true. One could try and work towards 'style' I guess. I have never tried. never would.

I have always carried the image of a softie-softie guy. Right from my school days. The emotional metro-sexual guy if it sounds savvy :) In fact, a friend's testimonial in my Orkut profile has this mention about me being called a 'baby' by a girl in college. Not in the romantic sense of that term but more like a 'cho-chweet-you-are'! And when a girl says that to you, she won't touch you with a barge pole! During those days, I used to dress pathetically and carry myself oddly. Actually, I'm still the same to a large extent, isn't it? So, those days, for a girl to choose me to 'date' (whatever that term actually means - never understood it) would have been improbable.

I remember an interesting incident from my college days that I must share here. I was in First Year B'com back then. On one of those stupid sham-days of college life called 'Friendship Day', a girl wanted to befriend me. Tying a band/writing her name on my palm was how friendships worked! I was one of the few students who had cleared CA Entrance exams in my college, so that explains why someone would venture doing something like what she did. 'Perceived' intelligence has always been an ever-green quality, right? Any way, so after the 'Day' you tend to talk and interact with your 'new friends' and so was the case between me and her. I had no clue what we were talking for. It seemed too forced. So after a couple of days, as we are talking (rather trying to talk something that made sense), a stud walks up to me. Checks me out. Gives a wry smile. Asks the girl to leave. Looks at me. No, actually stares. Keeps staring. Throws off attitude. Puts a hand on my shoulder and blurts something out, something that went like this: 'Dude, you are a kiddo. Be like one. The girl you are talking to is my chaavi (a dirty-sounding word that vaguely means girlfriend). I don't like her talking to you. What are you doing with her? Do not try to play smart and hook her up. It won't be good for you. You won't even know how and where you get beaten up. It would be better if you stay away from her and leave her for me.'

I guess he expected me to go macho and threaten to beat him up and some mumbo-jumbo like that. Where as, I am like why is he saying all this to me! So I reply, almost smiling, 'Well sure Sire.. all yours!' His expression in return reflected he missed a chance to start-off a brawl.

A similar scene in a bollywood movie would have had the hero in my place reply - 'Dude, I never wanted to hook her. Now since you are asking me not to, I will. I want to see what you do.' :)) My interactions with the girl continued till the 'Friendship Day' thingie fizzed out. I hope he eventually got to marry her :D

P.S. 1: Did you notice that one of the purposes of posting this piece is to tell the world that I have testimonials in Orkut? :P :))

P.S. 2: One of my friends from the fairer sex tells me that girls drool over softie guys these days. Wow, am so happy :))))

P.S. 3: Informed readers who knows me reasonably well must know which parts of this post to be taken seriously!

September 8, 2009

The poll's closed

I have closed the poll. The final set of results looked like this:
Yes and I am your student: 5 (7%)
No and I am your student: 54 (76%)
Yes and I am NOT your student: 1 (1%)
No and I am NOT your student: 11 (15%)

Thanks to every one who took the time and effort to opine with a vote and their comment. I am glad that the majority is okay with my posts. Of course, I do consider that the minority's views are important too. I can only say that I don't think of posting 'objectionable' stuff for the heck of it. I do it if i strongly feel it must be shared for a larger good and purpose. Most of my posts are in any case random musings with nothing core in it :-)

As a side thought, I'm particularly surprised that about 60 of my students track my blog actively. I did not think the number would be this high. No, nothing about it. Just an observation.
Thanks again for the feedbacks. More importantly, for reading and visiting this page.

Keep smiling :)