Could have been much better

Multiple technological inconsistencies in 3 idiots wrt laptop models, airtel usb modem, scooterette models etc. Bane of in-film advertisement - Timing it right. 10 years ago some of these items were not even in existence...let alone in India.

The film failed to live up to my expectations. But Aamir is still my favourite and Madhavan and Sharman rock as well.

Wake up Chetan

'The two states' was a good read. But will someone please tell Chetan Bhagat that, life is not all about him and his experiences. There is more to life than he, his and himself. So wake up and stop being so full of yourself.

Tiger of the Woods..An exaggeration?

Exaggeration sells and the media knows it. So to hell with "Responsible Journalism" or even reporting ethics. Tehelka was "Investigative Journalism" not the Liberhan report expose and subsequent name-calling. The sugarcane price rise somehow seemed a bigger issue to be addressed than a report over thirteen years overdue and in effect nothing more than a piece of paper. The associated costs of that report (over 8 crores of tax payer's money) and its beneficiaries seems a much better topic for discussion. Farewell newspapers and magazines...welcome tabloids.

It is alright to record a live footing of a girl being humiliated and paraded in broad daylight in Patna & doing nothing to rectify it. It is alright for the media to point fingers at the late-comers, namely - The Police. It is alright for the media to air that same video over and over again on mass-media for hours on end. It is alright to bemoan the burning of priceless tapestries when an entire city is under siege. It is alright as long as the collective opinion of a public debate is exactly that of its renowned host. The media is the king. Jai Ho!

With all the tamasha over Tiger Wood's morals or the lack thereof, I kept waiting for at least one article somewhere with a humane approach. From the actual count of Tiger's mistresses, to what Elin could get out of it, to Tiger's continuing relationships, to the loss of his endorsements, to the best divorce lawyers in the country, everything was covered. The only thing left out, was the impact on the Wood's kids. The trauma for a three-year-old and a ten-month-old over losing a parent and the news being splashed all over the place was happily overlooked. It is not tabloid, hence, doesn't sell. No doubt the media will find the best shrinks for these babies when the time is right.

Under what category of 'Maslow's needs' do we classify "Tiger's Itch"? Whether or not he clears the murky waters of multiple relationships, this Tiger certainly seems better suited in the Woods. To Tiger, I have nothing to say. What compels successful men and women at the top of their careers to commit professional suicide, I am yet to find out. But in a recent article of a well known Indian daily, a journalist supposedly asked a serious question. It made even a completely uncaring person like me, fume. The question was, "Do a few transgressions mean that one loves his family any less?". Well DUH!

The question is not about the respective differences of cultures or civilizations. The question is about right or wrong. There are certain generally accepted notions of right values and moral conduct, which hold good irrespective of which part of the globe we live in. I doubt if anyone would have asked this question if Elin had been the one to slip up. So my dear brothers and sisters of the media world, go back to doing what you do best - Exaggerate - and spare us the horror of your questioning the middle-class-morality.

Thank you Sunitha

Straight from the GUT ... ERR

The only guarantee about gut-feeling is - There is no guarantee.

Yours without wax,

My dear India,

I am all for peace but let us not overdo it.

Yours without wax.

On fumes!

The women in my family have always had one complaint - They cannot find anything to complain about the men in the family! - Ours is a woeful story.

My cousin brothers were disgusted when despite their repeated attempts to teach, I could not learn to drive a car. My father was relieved when I learned to change the fuse and watched him tear apart (& repair) my cherished and only, two-wheeler. One day, I had an accident and the shock absorbers of my scooter were twisted such that the front wheel and the handle turned perpendicular to the foot-guard. I drove back home with a nicely bleeding arm & stiff bottom while praying that my bike could be repaired. The scooter was new and I had expected a lot of scolding but eventual pampering. To my surprise all I got was a resounding WOW! Of course dad immediately took me to the hospital for a thorough check and a tetanus shot (Yuck!). Later all the men in the family embraced my tenacity and enterprise and were curious to see what angle I had held the steering handle when the wheel was turned in such a fashion! I only got some 'ohh-ahhing' from the women. Sigh!

I am blessed to have extremely sweet creatures as my friends (many of them boys). When they discovered my pitiful experience at smoking and drinking (which was by choice & not force) they took it upon themselves to prove the worthiness of these activities. They offered me flavoured tobacco ranging from double-apple, to strawberry, to mint and so many more that I cannot in all honesty remember them all. They offered me fruity and veggie concoctions of rotten grape juice (called cocktails and believed to be quiet fashionable). My father and subsequently my uncles and aunts have repeatedly asked me to join them over drinks ever since I was old enough to vote. I still cannot stomach the fumes but have learned to endure the company.

I truly believe that what we consume should always be a matter of personal taste. But fail to understand the psychology of those who willfully consume what has been rotting for ages! I once witnessed a poor girl (scorned by her lover) attempt suicide by consuming phenyle. The doctors fought a tough battle to save her. The family went through hell. In an article somewhere, it said that the basic components of a cigarette are actually used to make phenylalanine.

- Why then do seemingly happy men and women love to indulge in slow-poisoning themselves?
- How can someone consciously want to lose consciousness?
- How do people manage to drink so much that they have to throw up?
- If you can force yourself to drink and die, what stops you from forcing yourself to die of starvation?

These might sound rude and premature to some. Yet, what is the point of making the filthy rich richer while killing ourselves? If all that people spend on liquor and tobacco is donated to charity, the world will be a happier, richer and infinitely healthier place.

Quite recently, an extremely witty relative happened to visit us. On learning of my apathy towards dad's premium scotch, he declared that I was destined to be born again. According to him, when we reach the pearly gates, the greatest book-keepers of the universe, consult their excel sheets and run a checklist of our experiences and achievements. Those (like myself) who are found miserably inexperienced in all that the lord himself created (irrespective of eventual jurisdiction), are sent back for another attempt at redemption. While those experienced in all the seven vices are sent to the reference section of the library in heaven.

I enjoyed the humour and truly wish it true for the sake of all those I love to reach heaven. Maybe someday, we shall share all eternity together. In the meantime, I am content with collecting different types of stirrers and cocktail decorations. Cheers!

Women thought leaders are great...so long as they own the enterprise

I am not a feminist. A feminist perhaps brings to mind a prototypical man-hating-woman. I like men in general, love some in particular and have reservations against a few. My reservations are against personality traits of those individuals & not their gender. It is just unfortunate that they are male.

It may have been a man's world once but not all of them were bad. We are a product of our own actions and not just circumstances. The female homo-sapien is the most biased mother of all female species. Most women the world over, have for ages, cherished and valued their male offsprings more than their female ones. There have always been dedicated male activists and proponents in the fight for women's emancipation & their contributions deserve due credit. We are fortunate to live in a significantly better world today.

Feminism, however, is not an outdated concept. My facebook account message yesterday was, "Women thought leaders are great...so long as they own the company." Every well known woman-thought-leader that comes to mind today, is someone who either owns all or a substantial part of an enterprise. I recieved several messages (both male and female) later in my inbox, disapproving of my aparently feminist comment. I wonder what kept them from making a direct comment and hence, feel less inclined to offer an explanation. But here are a couple of questions -

- How many female - Aristotle, Marx, Socrates, Kautilya or Confucious - can you recall?
- How many independent women leaders made it to the very top without changing companies?

I will be most happy when my 'above mentioned fact' someday (hopefully soon) is honestly tagged as a feminist hogwash. But if you still think of me as a feminist, I really couldn't care less.

Q Time

Question - What can Google search never find for you?
Answer - Your Perfect Man/Woman

Hard Truth

Some people are so intent on embarrassing others that they simply cannot stop ridiculing themselves.

Swords are passe, the bigger your bank balance the mightier your pen.

About me

I can be a 'Specialist' if I like, but I want to be a 'Generalist'.

Management tips continued...

After a short sabbatical, some pearls of wisdom for those in management.

Insecurity and incompetence of a supervisor breeds his/her contempt for his/her subordinates.

At a loss for words

What do you call a 'Male Bitch' or a 'Male Slut'?

Fallacy

If the world is indeed of God's own making, where the bad always win over good, what trust can I invest in his/her judgment on 'judgment day' when everyone irrespectively dies & eternity cannot be quantified?

Warm thoughts

Symbiosis International University, Pune, in collaboration with Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, held their annual event 'Footprints' in Hyderabad on the 4th of November this year. The central theme this year was 'The Green Battle '.

Below are a couple of my contributions to the mobile photography category.




Guess who does the roaring business here!
Location - In front on a hospital as an ambulance carries a patient out to a better facility.






Carbon Credits! Who is counting?

Another keralapals forward

Simply couldn't stop laughing. I am calling it the 'Kadak chai Mallu ishtyle'.

I agree that children do not understand the concept of 'quality time'

What one needs to become a.....

I have always believed in the power of effective communication. Even when bpo jobs seemed demeaning, I held true to that thought. Needless to say, after two years in GE, no one ever got away by belittling a call-centre job, before me. In the past year, the excellent course and faculty from MICA, also helped strengthen my belief.

So what do I mean by effective communication? Well, I have no dictionary definition or flowchart diagrams to show you. All I can say is this – The degree of effectiveness of communication is proportional to the degree of its honesty. Does that perhaps sound a tad mathematical to you? Ah, fiddlesticks!

I had a unique opportunity this summer to visit the ‘Sabarmati Ashram’ in Ahmedabad and photograph some letters. These were letters written to as well as by the Mahatma. Several letters were from other leaders of note. It was merely a curiosity experiment and not due to any personal affiliations. I have read speeches and talks of several other well-known leaders from time to time. My conclusion is this - The truly venerated leaders were not just those who were charismatic, but all who were completely and painfully honest. They seldom coloured the truth. Of course, when you were writing to ‘Hitler’ some degree of sanity was called for, I suppose.

There is also a new form of communication. I call it “The diplomatically honest speech” and happened to learn it the painful way – which is, by doing it. Obviously, because I did it, I now realize its necessity and of course it is sour grapes, but that’s beside the point! Jokes apart, the truth can sometimes harm more than help. The decision to present it is definitely always a judgment call. The degree of honesty in your speech is also dependant on your personal ambitions. Letters to your children are meant to have pearls of wisdom and oodles of truth and honesty. They are easy. Public speeches however, are a different ballgame.

How big a leader you can be, depends entirely on how much you can put everything personal, on the back-burner and focus on everything else that remains. You can be a Vajpayee or an Advani. The choice is entirely yours.

Spicing the variety quotient

In my blog you will find a lot of things. From videos with a message to commercials that I enjoy as well as email stories that touch some chord deep within me (like I was some tightly strung string instrument, which perhaps we all can sometimes identify with).

This blog is not just a collection of my thoughts but of others as well that have a resonance with mine. Sometimes others can express better what we feel and due credit should be given to them as well. I don’t write very often. Preferring instead, to read other’s thoughts. Quite often certain links direct my perceptions to a completely different world of thought. It is quite difficult sometimes to entertain certain notions without personal prejudices colouring them. But I try.

Recently I came across this article about an old lady and her lifetime accomplishments. It was a thoroughly touching one. It is immaterial for me, to have the facts verified. First, because of her recent demise. Second, because the story is about humanity. The holocaust was an extremely painful and macabre act of human viciousness. We do not need to be reminded of it by trying to dig up more skeletons. It shouldn’t have happened period. If the story below does not bring tears to yours eyes, then perhaps you are better equipped to deal with insanity than the rest of us. If it does, then welcome to the club where humanity still exists.

There is no shame in tears. Nor, is there any shame if your goals are delayed by a couple of years. If indeed, the Nobel went to Al Gore (who has many more years to live), instead of this lady then all I have to say is ‘peace to you.’

Irena Sendler

There recently was a death of a 98 year-old lady named Irena. During WWII, Irena, got permission to work in the WarsawGhetto, as a Plumbing/Sewer specialist. She had an 'ulterior motive' ... She KNEW what the Nazi's plans were for the Jews, (being German.) Irena smuggled infants out in the bottom of the tool box she carried and she carried in the back of her truck a burlap sack, (for larger kids....) She also had a dog in the back that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto. The soldiers of course wanted nothing to do with the dog and the barking covered the kids/infants noises.. During her time of doing this, she managed to smuggle out and save 2500 kids/infants. She was caught, and the Nazi's broke both her legs, arms and beat her severely. Irena kept a record of the names of all the kids she smuggled out and kept them in a glass jar, buried under a tree in her back yard. After the war, she tried to locate any parents that may have survived it and reunited the family. Most had been gassed.. Those kids she helped got placed into foster family homes or adopted.

Last year Irena was up for the Nobel Peace Prize ... She was not selected.

Al Gore won, for a slide show on Global Warming.

"Hope there is a library in heaven, life otherwise sounds extremely dull out there! Sleep eat & relax without much else to do. How boring :("

The power of Honesty and Open Communication

The shocking revelation by David letterman about his illicit affairs, on his very own show was more than just good PR. While not a great letterman fan, I do appreciate his communication skills and that slapstick variety of humour. I am impressed by the way in which he completely altered the news from an absolute scandal to a story about personal tragedy. What is impressive is that his rendition of the story in full media killed all the hype about it. David is a celebrity in his own right. The news about his affairs with his co-workers (if released otherwise) would have perhaps shocked a large audience.

While I attribute a great deal of credit to David's communication skills, there is perhaps one other question that needs to be answered. Is the public really coming of age? Have we finally accepted that humans are not infallible and all of our idols are just that, 'human '? Have we finally realized that there is no shame in failure? Several such related questions cross my mind as I am sure it does yours. I am hoping that the answers are an affirmative, for that would mean a more tolerant world. A world with a lot less people making value judgments than before.

Hanging on to that ray of hope.

From my english dictionary

Invincible = Vincible from within

Incapable = Capable from the inside

Insurmountable = _ _ _ _....

The HAM said, "In my next life, I would like to be on top of the ham-burger or be called a ham-in-the-burger."

Purple - my colour of choice

Red is a colour chosen by people who want to draw attention to themselves. In my case though, the background colour of this blog is purely for convenience. Customizing the display ads (even blend template) is such a hassle that turning purple doesn't seem such a good idea...for now.

Copywriting my Coloured Wisecracks, literally!

Some days I can barely string words into coherently thought ideas. Some days they overflow like a toothpaste tube under pressure. I like to delude myself by calling it a writers block. "But you are no writer!", the logical part of my brain tells me. I still go with the self delusion as there is no other explanation.

Some days my dry wit , saucy quips along with my self branded humour, makes even the most pickled veteran exclaim after me, "What a jolly good girl :)." And there are days, when for the life of me, I cannot recognize fun and wit :(. My conscious recognizes both. Such is the complexity of the human mind.

Have been pining away to glory about my loss of sense of humour lately. Citing it the sense-of-humour-ectomy stage. Today however, all of a sudden, my fingers twitched all over the keyboard to make jumbled noises that seemed funny (at least to me). Since my fixation with fb and twitter isn't over yet, I decided to transfer those thoughts here as well.

Oh and btw (by-the-way) if you just notice all the I(s) and me(s) there are above, you'll understand that I am seriously in a very 'I, me, myself', stage right now.

And here are some of those thoughts -

I understand tough English very well but fail to understand the point of it.

In the spirit of "World Peace"! ... and the dove flies away to oblivion

Righteous morality is death of the free spirit and true happiness.

Critics the world over (today), have dark souls - literally. From criminality, bloodshed, tears, poverty to pain, hunger and everything in between, is appreciated. Give them some fun, humour, laughter or light along with some anti-allergic(s) too though.

Being 'Infamous' is infinitely better than being 'Posthumously Famous'

'Creative Inspirations' some times have diabolic timing! If only we could punch it in the face and say, 'SIT'.

I wish to travel around the world and visit every little place there is to see in a lot more than 80 days! Gotta start saving, so no more wasteful shopping! Tough!

I prefer to say 'Tough' more than 'Alas' as it conveys more feeling.

Infamous is glamorous! I however, simply don't fit the bill ...glamorous that is... ;)

A self imposed hiatus

Facebook and twitter have quite literally robbed me of my desire to blog. The compulsion to express an idea in not more than 140 characters in twitter teaches you to think simple and keep it simple too. That however, does not take away the joy of blogging, where the free flow of unlimited thought still beckons a complex mind. I am for the moment a little tied up with personal deadlines and hope to get back soon. Until then, so long.

Jerk Reaction

A don's greeting - Break a leg...or two :P

Hindsight = Depressingly Ineffective Acuity

:P

True Love!!!

One of the most powerful Ads I have seen so far

Management lessons - New edition

Learn to appreciate those who try to show you alternates to reinventing the wheel.

Save yourself time and resource by using what is already available.

Management Tips - News lessons

"IDEAS" cannot be "QUANTIFIED".

Neither can "research time".

Self Preservation Tips - Tip 4

The pen might not always be mightier than the sword. As you end up paying a price anyway, at least try to save and prepare others for the future.

As for yourself , knowing that you are not safe, make sure you are not sorry .... not for very long ... Move on :)

Self Preservation Tips - Tip 3

When your higher up is comfortable lying and scared of numbers that do not support their equation, if your 'conversation or discussion' is cut short when you present a logical 'argument'.... You know your time has come to leave.... :)

Self Preservation Tips - Tip 2

When the boss, shouts out loud confidential information, it means big trouble for you.

Make sure you get away asap than subject yourself to anymore ridicule and let others think that you work 'under' such a .....

Self Preservation tips - Tip 1

If you have a callous loudmouth for a supervisor...pack your bags and prepare to leave asap....you will be better off.

I am still imagining..."A duck in an Eagle School"...Good learning here

http://www.eagleschoolmovie.com/index.html

A nice pitch

http://www.rock-solidmovie.com/index.html

Ok somethings do touch me too...

http://www.tacmovie.com/land.php

Not That I agree with everything...but quite a few are good

http://www.changeisgoodmovie.com/land.php

Watch it!

The only thing I could think of after seeing this was....WOW!

Watch more at http://www.ted.com/

Just for Gags

From a forwarded mail.....Very cute but.....Interesting!


http://info.org.il/irrelevant/may02-smilepop-soapbox4.swf


Now remove the Shock wave flash player application object.
You will see this page

http://info.org.il/irrelevant/


Now translate the page into English and you have this !

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Finfo.org.il%2Firrelevant%2F


Have fun!!!

Haven't been able to sort this through yet...

Aren't we all perpetual victims of our own nature? From genetics to God and everything in between, people find it easier to blame their actions or reactions on something other than their own nature.

For years we have tried to understand human nature and its various intricacies. We barely have some answers. Cures?......Perhaps! But the answers......No, I do not believe we have any.

Yoga, some say, helps change people. It does help control certain natural behaviour. By 'natural' I mean physiological, psychological, biological et all. We can control fear, anxiety, depression so on and so forth....but can we erase it? Really erase it?

Do old habits really 'DIE'?

I once read a story of a saint called 'Vishwamitra'. Of the four castes in the Hindu societal system, Vishwamitra was born into the second highest or the 'Kshatriya' caste. He determined to ascend to the highest caste of the 'Brahmins'. He performed penance in its most severe and austere form. The magnitude of his penance scared the Gods. They sent a celestial concubine 'Menaka' to test his determination. Menaka of course did not have to try very hard to charm 'Vishvamitra' over. But eventually, 'Vishvamitra', realised he had been tricked. He 'divorced' from 'Menaka' & then went on to surpass all of his previous efforts attaining 'brahman'. The Supreme Lord 'Vishnu', was impressed enough to grant him sainthood. However, 'Vishwamitra' never qualified to 'brahman'.

As a kid, I found the decision unfair and unjust. As human, I still do. I would hate to be cheated of my goal when I really work hard for it.

Recently, almost on a whim, I determined to read the Gita. I have explained earlier in some of my previous posts, my (strange to many) affiliation to Krishna. Gita is essentially a collection of his words. The actual meaning of the words were not explained by Krishna. He cited examples, yes. He left it for us to figure out the myriad meanings of his simple statements. One of the most famous and well known of these is - "Let your actions determine the result and not vice-versa."

All of a sudden, I understood why 'Vishwamitra' never qualified to be 'Brahman'. He wanted something and worked hard for it. 'Brahman' is that state of mind which is beyond the scope of materialistic attractions/weaknesses. It has to be in your nature. You do not have to work hard for it. This was the basic point that 'Vishwamitra' had perhaps missed.

Our nature is inherent. We are born with it. It is as tangible and unique at birth as it is, after we grow up. Our nature is as unique as we ourselves , hence, no two people in the world can have the exact same nature.

For example: It takes a lot to anger me and equally long to pacify. That's my nature. My sister heats up real fast (almost functioning on a push-button mechanism ;-)) and forgets all about it within minutes. She is never vindictive & I have to consciously curb my Scorpio nature. We have both had similar premises & faculties in life (minus the differences in age) yet we are dissimilar.
No matter how hard we try, we cannot exchange our natures or them leveled.

I am sure a lot has been missed in this analysis. I am definitely no expert and have no answers whatsoever, to my own questions. Yet, I dare to think.

No *Aman for Aman

*Aman = safety or peace in Hindi

As if the constant pressure of studies & peer pressure were not enough, students (some fledgling like) now have to deal with the ragging menace as well. While browsing through a couple of sites that covered the recent news of the death of Aman (a young medical student) due to ragging, I came across some interesting misconceptions.

The Human rights website claims that "Ragging" is a "Western Concept". I vehemently disagree.

If by Eastern you mean India, then please go back to the epic stories of Ramayan and Mahabharat. Didn't the Kauravs rag the Pandavs? Weren't Luv and Kush ragged in Valmiki's ashram? The Mongols were most definitely never a peace loving race either.

Ragging is an age old concept. It is not a brain child of the west but as old as human nature. I cannot lay blame where it is not due, nor unjustly absolve the guilty. There is no harm in accepting our failures.

As children or even grown-ups don't siblings rag each other? We choose to call it 'leg-pulling'. How altruistic!

So how does one define ragging? If I am a couch potato and some friends force me to go out with them, I call it ragging. If my brother pushes me around to get his work done, I call it ragging. If my seniors in college ask me to address them as 'Sir' or 'Mam', I call it ragging.

"Any activity done by and to an individual per force by others (known or unknown) that lacks their express will or wish is ragging."

There is nothing healthy about it. No ragging activity can ever be called friendly. Any one who does not agree, should be flogged in public. Lets see if they come back and say, 'Thank you FRIEND for flogging me. let's have lunch together tomorrow.'

As a senior, if I want to make friends with my juniors, nothing stops me from holding my hand out and saying a simple, 'Hi, My name is Maitreyee. What's yours?'
If my junior gives a friendly response....I have a new friend...If not...I do not want such a friend! Why can't youngsters understand this simple logic? How can they presume to understand another human being by scaring or bulling them. How can you possibly expect their friendship?

Ragging in under-graduate colleges is not a new concept. What is surprising, is the lack of action around it. The anti-ragging bill has been pending since forever. Why?

I keep close contacts will young students to understand their ideals and motivations. I love their uninterrupted, sometime under-developed but always refreshing take on life.

In the convent I went to, we never encountered ragging. I recall on our first day, some 20 odd seniors got into a class of 120 juniors, closed the doors and went around asking for introductions. It perhaps took them an hour to finish all the introductions. In the end, neither party remembered much yet, we were welcomed into our sorority and that was that.

We were the freshers. The seniors worked hard to arrange our 'Freshers Party'. We were screened, groomed, & assisted to handle the pressure of a 'Miss Fresher' contest. We got sneak previews of the hep dance numbers being performed. We watched out for the exciting theater performances planned by the arts group. We had fun helping them plan our fresher party.

WE NEVER DID NOR WERE EVER ASKED TO SHELL OUT A SINGLE PENNY FOR OUR OWN FRESHER PARTY!

The actual party a month later, was an absolute blast! If you haven't been to a 'Girls Convent' "Freshers Party", you have no idea what you have missed. I never knew girls could scream and whistle so loud. Never thought girl rogues were possible :-P Hell, I never realized, I could scream so loud myself!!! If you thought contest questions on TV are tough, check out the questions we were asked. The food was not 'five star', but who cared. We were figure conscious 18 somethings & dressed in our finery on top of that. Food was most definitely not a priority. Even so, the burgers, cakes, chips and soft drinks, tasted amazing. Its was a different life. I wish I could show kids these days, what they have missed.

We still did not know all the names of our seniors. But one thing we did know, was that we wouldn't hesitate to arrange a grand 'Farewell Party' for them. That was true comradeship...without expectations.

- Today I hear, the juniors are asked to provide seniors mobile recharge coupons.
- They are forced to share lunch.
- They are not allowed to carry mobile phones.
- Even the canteen is deemed out of limits for the juniors!!! So what does a junior do when a senior has finished their lunch?

Are we still dealing with kids here? How can a human being (barely an adult at that), live with such a conscience? And these are called harmless ragging activities.

If all kids go through the same torture in their first years, how does their conscience permit them to inflict the same on their successors? How do they expect to cultivate an individuality when they perpetually follow the crowd?

- What trust can I invest in an 18-19 year old boy, who asks his junior girls, questions like "Which of the guys here would you like to sleep with?", during a Miss Fresher contest?
- What character can I attribute an 18-19 year old girl who asks from a junior boy 'tricks to kiss a girl on the lips on a first date'!

Such immaturity, narrow-mindedness, desperation and frustration is shocking. Can we do something about it? Is there a solution? Do these kids have an answer? The teachers definitely have none.

I did hear some of my contemporaries in engineering colleges suffered such ragging. They have barely any fun recollections of their freshers day. I feel sorry for them.

There are always anti-social elements in colleges. They are however, always the minority. So what is the majority doing? How is it that the youth, that talks of failure of their elders, society, POLITICIANS etc, has not been able to uproot its own demonic tendencies? And they are the future. Are you sure you want to share that future?

Some facts about marriage

The credit goes to my little sister who was browsing through some old photos today. I found one of her simple childlike observations absolutely hilarious & decided to immediately pen it down.

The BEFORE & AFTER of marriage or The Marriage Progression

Marriage Progression for MEN - SOMEBODY to NOBODY
Marriage Progression for WOMEN - NOBODY to SOMEBODY


Have any doubts...check some of your own family photos :-)

My Bravado Signature

An absolute childhood Favourite...continues!!!

Some Facts worth pondering over

Amazing Common Sense

For Guys - looking for an excuse to not get married...ENJOY!

Audacious Sour Grapes

There are some people I know who are brilliant quizzers. They are also the heartthrobs of many. I am a great admirer but have successfully been able to safeguard my heart from the throbbing syndrome. It is a very tough job but consciously undertaken. When I hear others drooling over them, I wish I could be that carefree. I am brave but not a masochist.

After a lot of thought, I realized that certain genetic disorders run in the paternal side of my family and affects the women only.

- The women are as egotistical (if not more) than the men in the family.
- They are as accomplished in their chosen field (if not more) than their counterparts (not necessarily male).
- They are far too practical for their own good.
- They are far less emotional than is normal for any woman to be.

With no sense of pride, I accept inheritance of all the above disorders. I am as scared of giving up my independence as if I were a male. I cannot trust easily and the prospect of sharing my life with someone seems scarier by the day. Hence, despite the fact that the men (I spoke of in the first sentence), come very close to my own definition of the 'perfect man', I cannot drool :( Such is the bane of my life.

Getting back to the topic now. A friend of mine called this weekend and asked me to attend a quiz show, where these prime male specimens would be present. I decided to play sour grapes in front of her than accept the lame truth.

The lame truth was - I had oiled my hair, had no plans of going out and therefore no means either of traveling to the venue which was quite a distance away :-( That's the truth and nothing but the truth and its sheer lameness is evidence.

Now comes the interesting part. I started thinking on my feet to give her some audacious excuse for not wanting to go, yet not accept my serious case of 'sour grapes'. Here is what I came up with.

I asked her, "What's the point of attending? There's nothing much for us to do."

And she said, "Well for starters, xxxxx is going to be there :-)."

I discounted that as a very 'silly girly' observation. So I said to her, "Listen don't waste your time on dreaming. Such people do not bother about our presence or the lack of it. I know your xxxxx is super cool and super nice and super everything....but he will also want someone as superior. However, if you want to go, feel free, but I am not coming to waste my energy."

So she says, "You are so mean. Aren't you my friend? If I do not go that xxxxx will make sure she gets all his attention. As it is I am not that great a quizzer. You know I have a bad memory."

My friend is a really sweet girl and she is crazy about this guy. I wish he would notice, but I know him to be otherwise engaged. I tried telling her that, but she is hopeful and has a lot of excuses for being so. As a friend, I keep my mouth shut but I shall not aid in breaking her heart over someone so clearly different from the likes of us. Of course if fate intervenes, I shall be the happiest for my friend.

So I tried a different line of reasoning, because the normal truth has never worked. Here is what I said, "Listen, don't sell yourself short. Who says you aren't good enough? In fact, you are smarter. These guys might come on TV, have a huge fan following and intelligent and blah blah...but what is the point?"

She says "Huh!? I am confused. What are you saying? Do you know xxxxx and xxxxx are every woman's dream come true?"

Of course I know that! Had I been normal, I might very well be in love with one of them myself, but now was not the time to accept this... especially since I had started on a new line of thought!!!!

So once again in my best imitation of a wise-man voice, I said, "Do you know what is GK? It is just 'Good to Know' knowledge. Basically it is about remembering a lot of history and that is such a waste! Yeah maybe to an extent to have to be aware of things going on around you...but it is all so mundane and boring!!! Now, what is interesting is the future. That is what you and I work for. We are the ones who do interesting stuff. We build futuristic fraud protection infrastructure!!!"

All the while I am thinking to myself, "What crap!" My friend seems lost, and all I get from her is another "Huh!?"

So I try again. I say, "Listen. Imagine you and xxxxx were asked to work on a project. Both of you had your own Google search facility. Now if I asked you both a question, the only difference would be, that xxxxx might answer immediately and it would take you about 15 minutes to find it on Google. 15 minutes! Its no big deal! Why waste valuable time and grey cells over something like that??? Do you see what I mean?"

Somehow, my friend understood all of this audacious crap & liked it too.

"Tell you what," she says, "that is the best reasoning I have heard so far, to not invest time on GK. Its so cool! You are brilliant! Thanks for being my friend. I love you! I am not going either. If he asks me, I shall say what you just said."

I felt euphoric for saving a dear friend some grief. I know xxxxx or xxxxx will never ask any of us why we did not turn up. They couldn't care less. But I still wonder how she understood all that ridiculous nonsense, I came up with. I cannot disown having said all of the above but pray that those men in question never read this... :-(

Talks sans logic

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi died on 30 January 1948. India was independent. Gandhi was Bapu or 'Father of the Nation'.

In his 1940 will he said, “anything which by social convention or in law is considered mine, anything movable or immovable, books, articles etc. I endow to the Navjivan Institution whom I hereby declare as my heirs.”

James Otis - Private US collector

Public statement - "I have other Gandhi belongings. I would like to donate more items to the people of India to raise money for the poor."....Question : Whose poor? America's???

How the heck did Otis get Gandhi's possessions (not all gifts) unless (bloody well) aided by some insider! I leave you to draw your own conclusions, of the profile of someone who could aid the sale of priceless 'National Property'.

Antiquorum Auctioneers - An Auction house in New York

Signed a legal contract with James Otis that prohibited him from an abortive bid to withdraw his collection (of International significance) before the auction!!!

Can you believe this Bullshit!!!


Vijay Mallya - Chairman of the United Breweries Group and Kingfisher Airlines

In 2004, placed the winning bid of £175,000 for 'The sword of Tipu Sultan'in London. Four years later, it still remains in London. Find out why, yourself.

In March 2009, placed the winning bid of US$1.8 million for the Mahatma's belongings.

Good Job! Lets forget your other financial evasions in business for now, shall we?

Though not a Gandhi fan, my anger towards this blatant mockery of India knows no bounds. If all the auction items genuinely belonged to 'bapu', how was 'INDIA' not privy to the fact of their existence?

While I completely trust the 'result' of the Mukherjee Commission (which is 'no result'), I no longer trust any of the crap that was fed us, by some so called statesmen. I have decided not to malign my blog by mentioning names of such tainted individuals or their descendants. Everyone already knows.

For more info, check this - http://www.ivarta.com/columns/OL_060603.htm

The Coke and Blogger controversy

Call it what you want. I say this is one of the most brilliant marketing tactic I have seen in the digital world to date. i9 or no i9...Coke got the mind share it wanted in the first place anyways.

I call this Intelligent advertising. The picture above is not a blaspheme...its COKE

Kudos!!!

Another Head Light :)

Dimaag Ki Batti = Head Light - 2

Dimaag ki batti = Head light :-)

Common craft Videos - Simplification at its creative best

I suggest everyone to go through as many related videos as possible. Some amazing ideas on simplified learning. If you know a child or someone who does not understand technology much, or have doubts yourself, check out these videos.

Following is just a fun video.... enjoy!

IMPROV again - Lovely experiments

Amazing insights on the Human Psyche - IMPROV

Another one!

Hilarious!!! One of my all time favourites :-)

:-)

One of my most Favourite

2 b or not 2 b

:-)

A favourite

Good 1

Womens Liberation...Mens......

What Precision!

Blessing 100^100 and counting....

"Vidya Vinayam Dadati"

An age old Sanskrit verse which simply means "Knowledge invokes humility."

The truly knowledgeable never profess their knowledge. They strive to learn as much possible and have a childlike curiosity about everything despite their expertise. Such people respect not only the equally knowledgeable but also the less enlightened. That is wisdom. Such is the hallmark of wise men.

Knowledge is not a factor of education alone. Education is necessary. It plays an important role but has limitations. True knowledge is a combination of education, curiosity, a zest to learn, real hard work and experience.

Having said that, wisdom is not restricted by age. A combination of all the above factors can sometimes take years and sometimes just a while

Intelligence however, is different. Every living creation on earth is born with intelligence - designed, programmed & conditioned by perhaps some super intelligent system (the magnitude of which is well beyond human comprehension) - to help sustain itself. The degree of intelligence varies depending on basic creature needs. Perhaps better termed as 'Survival Efficiencies' - for the more scientifically inclined. 'Reaction to stimuli' for example, falls in this category.

Intelligence therefore, is not a factor of demographics & is a variable. It is also a relative quantity and need/role based. A homemaker has sufficient intelligence to smoothly run a house. A working woman possesses intelligence of a different kind as she has more complex roles to play. It is unfair to judge who among the two is more intelligent.

Education creates literacy. It exposes us to vast opportunities for learning and growth. It enables easier/faster comprehension processes. But its value ends here. Intelligence and Education come together to create an 'Intellect'.

Intellect is the individual capacity to decipher, assimilate, disintegrate and eventually create something qualitative (at the very least) or quantitative from every learning/observation process. Qualitative process can be as simple as a thought. Quantitative can be an action.
Again we see that Intellect has nothing to do with religion, region, caste, creed, sex or race. While 'formal' education can be limited/controlled by external factors, knowledge and Intellect is one's own.

Education can be had from teachers, parents, nature, schools, colleges and so on. Intellect however, depends on the individual alone. Therefore, if institute 'X' is deemed a premier institute, it does not mean that 'X' can create Intelligence. It does not mean lower intelligence transforms into higher intelligence simply by institutional association/guidance. Premier institutes only choose candidates with higher intelligence and groom them to tackle future challenges better. They only facilitate access to more knowledge & education.

Simply put, this means, Intellect is not a monopoly of a select few. Also, as stated earlier, intellect may develop early or naturally over time. Not even all 'premier' facilities put together, can claim to own every truly intellectual in its entirety.

An institution that equates knowledge or education to monetary equivalent, does not deserve its place in history. Price tagging knowledge is demeaning its entire premise. Google and Wikipedia are perhaps the only institutions till date, that qualify to be deemed an 'Universal University.' They are perhaps the only two modern day inventions that have honored and understood the meaning of true knowledge. They do not attach propriety to knowledge and therefore, are the true disciples of the religion called 'wisdom'.

I am lucky to have associated (from the very onset) with people of extremely high intellect & some really wise as well. Please note, not everyone was termed wise, as I intend to preserve the sanctity of every term I have described above. I assign myself in the category of average-to-moderately-high intelligence with enormous room for development. Therefore, not even all the knowledge I had at my disposal, helped me reach the pinnacle. It perhaps failed to percolate my intellect or more likely, is my personal failure.

During my professional life so far, I have had the opportunity to come in contact with people, whose mental faculties can give a super-computer some serious complex. This is an absolutely honest statement delivered without any sarcasm, humour or attempt at levity. Frankly I cannot thank my lucky stars enough for all of the above. I do however, have reservations against the elves, that foxed me to challenge several thoughts of almost all of these people :(

I wish, all wise and knowledgeable people received a trademark stamp from the heavens above, so people like me had lesser chances of embarrassing ourselves. Again, please note, that the wise will never laugh/ridicule you. You will ridicule yourself on overstepping your mark in front of the wise.

Hopefully I have learnt my lessons. Some of the people I spoke of above, I would love to have as my guide/mentor/teacher....or any role that will help me learn from them. It is perhaps too much to hope for but is a dream nevertheless.

I also know people who need the stamp of a 'premier' institute to prove their intellectual prowess to the world. They live in the shadow of that stamp and are forever relegated to proving their worth to themselves. I pity them and am glad to not suffer such complex. There are definitely some refreshing examples from such institutes who do justice to the word "premier".

To an extent I take pride in the fact that I do not need an institute to prove my worth. I only pray for more opportunities to help better myself.

Something I came up with today

"The Internet has empowered us to choose to make informed mistakes."

***An original. Copyright laws apply !!!

An Observation that made a lot of sense to me

"Some people have so much respect for their superiors they have none left for themselves"


***I do not claim ownership to this but salute the person who gave words to a sentiment I strongly share.

Things that I HATE!!!

Why choose a topic like this? Shall explain that in a different post. For now, I have decided to run an acid test on myself. Can I speak/accept the truth about myself.

I have never claimed to be the best example of the human specimen - female at that. Society (for what it is worth) at large expects of us certain standards by virtue of our role in life - human, male, female, employed, self employed, unemployed, studying....and so on. Over a period of time we get adept at hiding our true self and projecting an image (sometimes vastly different from the truth) that others would like (we presume).

If only all mothers took time to understand the real person behind their child and let them be. Only a child can fearlessly and upfront make a face at anyone on being unjustly punished. Only a child can freely accept their dislike for a bath, baked beans or even a person. I am not asking to let them grow into disrespectful people. But allow children to choose and modify their tastes to suit themselves as well as others.

Instead of controlling their innocence, help channelize their emotions. Instead of an outright rejection of their guilelessness help them mature with love. Help them grow up into mature, sensitive individuals who also feel liberated enough to pull a face at a stupid boss.

Getting back to myself. I am in a very I-ME-MYSELF mood today. So thought why not indulge? And what better place than a blog to do so? I know - sounds pathetic.....but who cares :-)

So.... in no particular order, here are some things I HATE ;-)



Getting up early in the morning
---------------------------------


No normal person should ever be asked to wake up before 8.00am in the morning.... period.
If someone called me earlier than that (especially on a holiday) and asked, "Sorry were you sleeping? Hope I did not disturb you", My first instinct would be to say, "Go ************* " and several such choice adjectives. However, considering the sensitivities of people around me, I
am bound to say, "Yeah...was asleep, but its ok...no problem". No problem!!! My foot.

A sad fact though is that, I have to be in office by 7.00 - 7.15 am. It takes a minimum 30 minutes to reach office. Therefore, I have to wake up by 6.15 - 6.30 am every working day!!! :-(

My father and sister love to wake up early in the morning. They derive some insane & inexplicable (will forever remain unknown to me) pleasure by waking early. More irksome is that, my father - fully aware of my hatred for "an early morning tryst with the world" - loves to ask the same question everyday - again fully aware that I no longer have the option to choose a negative (unless I am virtually dying) :-(

The question is, "Do you plan to go to office?" :X I choose not to respond. I need about 15 minutes to sit up and convince myself that I am indeed awake. Only then can I set foot on the ground. Also, everyone close to me knows, I do not like to say "GOOD MORNING" immediately upon waking . I feel nothing good about it.

The reason my father seldom gets a negative is because I love my job and the sense of independence it brings. So..... I am reduced to perpetually doing what I hate to do, almost everyday. :-(



Following procedures and policies over and over again
---------------------------------------------------------


Everyone gets good at a job when they do it regularly. You develop an instinct over time. However, stupid laws and legal complications, necessitate that you follow all procedures and policies over and over again. What a waste of time and energy.

I fully empathize with "GOOD & HONEST" law enforcement officials. I understand their limitations. At least, my directives are from people who try to abide by the laws and not otherwise.

Here's a really mean thought that just struck me -

Organize an event - Lots of food + wine + free goodies + automated fun and frolic - Invitations restricted to only politicians, lawyers and criminals (of any capacity) from all over the world!!!! When everyone of these entities are in, lock all doors and windows and blow up the place :-D. All other marginally bad people would automatically resolve themselves (as there would no longer be any protection available to them). What a clean, free and pleasant world we could then look forward to. :-p ;-)

Jokes apart, lets get back to me!


I hate to brush and bathe as soon as I wake up on holidays!!!
----------------------------------------------------------------


I have said this before and I reiterate - I do not beleive that something is good purely because the rest of the world says so. It might have its merits and I am not contesting that. However, I like to choose what/when I want to do a particular chore. For starters, I like to first have tea/coffee before brushing my teeth :-) The world will not come to an end if I bathe at 12.00 noon or later instead of by 10.00 am....will it???

I am a decent cook (when in the mood)...however, I am sure, I would hate to do it regularly
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Its not the cooking per se, that I hate. I hate the before and after of it. It takes away the charm when you have to clean, cut, dice, chop, grind all neccessary ingredients first. The actual process of cooking is interesting. But before you are even done relishing the food (you spent so much time making), it is time to clear the table and do the dishes. :-(

I would enjoy cooking and feeding a permanent someone who would help in sharing the before and after processes. :-)


I hate grocery shopping! Especially veggies and meat :-D
------------------------------------------------------------


I do manage to drag myself along for a trip to the supermarket. But I dread and almost abhor having to tread to the 'sabji market' and the meat and fish stalls :-( Unfortunately here in India, I still do not see the value-add of buying frozen perishables at an illogically higher cost when the fresher and cheaper options are available almost down the street. While it seems hypocritical, I attribute it to the fact that I am (and hopefully will always remain) an Indian at
heart. I want all modern facilities but at the barest minimum cost - A socialist come to think of it.... WoW....No wonder Kolkata has been on my mind so much lately. I guess penning this down is helping me discover some hidden traits about myself too.

Trust me when I say, Indians (especially in the socialists states) are the most intelligent and happy people on earth. But I cannot be a true blue socialist either, as the democrat in me screams for freedom of choice.


I hate people who hop into bed wearing outside clothes
-------------------------------------------------------------


To an extent I am particular about general cleanliness. I do not push others for it as long as they do not dirty my space on purpose. But when it comes to the bed, I am a stickler for cleanliness. Don't ask me why. It is just who I am.


I hate dirty washrooms
--------------------------


I remember cleaning my washroom myself ever since I could manage it. I do not let anyone else do it (unless they share the same views on cleanliness as I). I guess it runs in my family and almost all relatives . Hence, is an acquired trait. I do not gel well with people who portray
superficial cleanliness bur maintain unhygienic toilets.



I hate spicy food --- I mean chillies only!
------------------------------------------


My constitution does not support it :-P My tastebuds are super sensitive to chillies. Consuming any thing spicy makes my eyes water and nose run. I feel embarrassed & hence prefer admiring chillies and its other substitutes from a distance. :-)


I hate slim people :-( .... Correction... I admire them....But am jealous :-(
----------------------------------------------------------------------------


I hate snobs.
---------------


I shall not qualify them with further comment.


I hate people who pretend innocence
---------------------------------------


A common occurrence in North-Indian and Bengali women. They can give western women a run for their money when trying to ensnare eligible men. Most are amazingly desperate for marriage by the end of their teens. Attraction towards the opposite sex starts much earlier. Most of their conversation revolves around men. Ask them why you need a three phase electrical connection at home and you will surely get blank looks. But mention even a Mills and Boon let alone Harold Robbins and they will choke as if the Anti-Christ just visited them. Doesn't the concept of procreation never enter their heads when they spend hours discussing men!!!

Be who you are. It is ok to not know. Just because some over powering, loud, macho males ( with egos as big as an elephant and mentality of a rat) have deemed these as bad books for young women to read, does not necessarily mean they are bad. I am not saying these books are good (neither will I join their marketing team). I would just like these women better if they could accept that they are not as innocent as they would like me to believe.



I hate people who say Sidney Sheldon books are bad.
------------------------------------------------------


They are adult books!!! Some say.

At 21, if someone does not consider themselves adult enough, I wonder when they will grow up (if ever). While I just about fall short of calling myself an SS fan, he is most definitely one of my favourites. Some of the most gripping plots I have read were by SS. I love his close to reality and sometimes quite logical approach to fiction writing. If one calls an SS novel 'racy' it means they only looked at the racy tidbits and hence, the remaining plot passed them by. I am sure I read my first SS while still in my teens.

You do not become bad by reading a so called "Adult" book or stimulating content for that matter. Shying to talk of something natural means the problem is within you and your perception. Don't blame a book if you can't control your senses and are unable to differentiate fiction from reality.

The choices you make, make you your own person. It is sometimes extremely tough to choose the right over wrong. As long as you have faith on yourself and your heart is in the right place, you cant go too wrong. Stop blaming books or authors. Delve deep into yourself and weed out the inherent darkness first.



I hate people who do not respect their parents
------------------------------------------------

Disclaimer - The purview of my hatred does not extend to those who unfortunately had sorry examples for parents.

For the rest, who choose to disrespect and ignore those very parents who tried their best to give you as much as they could...."May you live a happy life."

I know parents seem like a burden to many. I wish they could see what their lives would be if their parents had given up on them - while they were still kids - because kids are most definitely a handful.

The number of such retards seem to be on the rise and no matter how much I try to ignore the fact....deep down I feel aggrieved. Educated women (especially in the cities) who bemoan the lack of financial security for being a home-maker do not qualify for my sympathy either. Let me not elaborate anymore or I shall go on forever.



I hate people who act like they know it all when they really don't.
------------------------------------------------------------------


Some choice examples are pass outs of certain institutions who consider intellect as their monopoly. They trip over themselves to prove it to the world and anyone who is willing to listen. More coming up later.........

And then there is another variety. People from institutions with a glorious past. They live in the shadows of the institute and its past glories, while contributing nothing worthwhile themselves. Several specimen from this variety can be found in Bengal. These weeds have for years contributed to the downfall of my hometown and unfortunately will continue to do so. I wish there was a broom that could selectively sweep them out of this world to a different planet
altogether.... :-P


I hate cold and damp weather
------------------------------


Summer is the best season :-D. I have no wish to ever live anywhere that is cold. Thanks but no thanks US, UK & the like.


And lastly the most important of all.....


I hate those without faith. I hate those even more who have the audacity to question my faith
===============================================================


I pride myself for my patience and tolerance (even religious tolerance to an extent). My religion is a factor of birth. Faith and belief however, are my own. I was never forced by anyone to bow my head in prayer. I was free to choose my direction in life as long as it did not lead to choosing a change of religion.

My early visits to the temple (with grandparents) had nothing to do with force. I would just tag along with the usual persistence that children usually have. As well as the fact that, there weren't too many options for daily outing in a tiny district town.

My love for Krishna (Madhav) had nothing to do with the Bhagwad Gita or Mahabharat. The blue, smiling idol was just a cute looking boy who I thought of as a friend. In his house (temple) his father (the priest) always gave me the juiciest mango pieces, amazing bhog prasad and
payasam worth dying for. Gopal's smile never faltered. I felt mean for enjoying such tasty treats at his house everyday but couldn't help tagging along. I would stand in front him. Tell him I was sorry for being so mean. Share with him the details of what I did the whole day. Share my woes (at having to learn to read Bengali), grievances (Dad's postcard said I got the first rank but the bad teacher had given me 95/100 in maths) so on and so forth.

I cannot recollect when that friendship evolved into respect and then faith. I am a fan of Krishna. I do not qualify to be called a devotee yet.

He is a friend, a guide, a helping hand and my safety net when I want one. He is my God and someone who in a human incarnate I can easily fall in love with,

Those who only understand the dictionary definition of God, I have nothing to explain. Those who think they are over and above the scope of God's benevolence, I feel sorry for them. Those who take pride in calling themselves non-believers/atheists or other fancy synonyms, may your
strength never fail you when you need it most. And those who question the rationale of my belief, may Krishna save you.

Not sure if I subscribe to the message in the last line...but...

...I found this an extraordinarily touching, motivating and absorbing read. Hope you like it too.

Sudha Rohini Nilekani Kumari Shibulal

An excellent and Great Love Story of Narayana Murthy (Infosys Founder) and Sudha (From Sudha's Autobiography) - pls dont miss it An Inspiring Love story Love Story of Narayana Murthy (Infosys Founder) and Sudha (From Sudha's Autobiography) It was in Pune that I met Narayan Murty through my friend Prasanna who is now the Wipro chief, who was also training in Telco(TataMotors) . Most of the books that Prasanna lent me had Murty's name on them which meant that I had a preconceived image of the man. Contrary to expectation, Murty was shy,bespectacled and an introvert. When he invited us for dinner. I was a bit taken aback as I thought the young man was making a very fast move. I refused since I was the only girl in the group. But Murty was relentless and we all decided to meet for dinner the next day at 7.30 p.m .. at Green Fields hotel on the Main Road ,Pune. The next day I went there at 7' o ! clock since I had to go to the tailor near the hotel. And what do I see? Mr. Murty waiting in front of the hotel and it was only seven. Till today, Murty maintains that I had mentioned (consciously! ) that I would be going to the tailor at 7 so that I could meet him... And I maintain that I did not say any such thing consciously or unconsciously because I did not think of Murty as anything other than a friend at that stage. We have agreed to disagree on this matter. Soon, we became friends. Our conversations were filled with Murty's experiences abroad and the books that he has read. My friends insisted that Murty as trying to impress me because he was interested in me. I kept denying it till one fine day, after dinner Murty said, I want to tell you something. I knew this as it. It was coming. He said, I am 5'4" tall. I come from a lower middle class family. I can never become rich in my life an! d I can never give you any riches. You are beautiful, bright, and intelligent and you can get anyone you want. But will you marry me? I asked Murty to give me some time for an answer. My father didn't want me to marry a wannabe politician, (a communist at that) who didn't have a steady job and wanted to build an orphanage... When I went to Hubli I told my parents about Murty and his proposal. My mother was positive since Murty was also from Karnataka, seemed intelligent and comes from a good family. But my father asked: What's his job, his salary, his qualifications etc? Murty was working as a research assistant and was earning less than me. He was willing to go dutch with me on our outings. My parents agreed to meet Murty in Pune on a particular day at10 a. m sharp. Murty did not turn up. How can I trust a man to take care of my daughter if he cannot keep an appointment, asked my father. At 12noon Murty turned up in a bright red shirt! He had gone on work to Bombay , was stuck in a traffic jam on the ghats, so he hired a taxi(though it was very expensive for him) to meet his would-be father-in-law. Father was unimpressed. My father asked him what he wanted to become in life. Murty said he wanted to become a politician in the communist party and wanted to open an orphanage. My father gave his verdict. NO. I don't want my daughter to marry somebody who wants to become a communist and then open an orphanage when he himself didn't have money to support his family. Ironically, today, I have opened many orphanages something, which Murty wanted to do 25 years ago. By this time I realized I had developed a liking towards Murty which could only be termed as love. I wanted to marry Murty because he is an honest man. He proposed to me highlighting the negatives in his life. I promised my father that I will not marry Murty without his blessings though at the same time, I cannot marry anybody else. My father said he would agree if Murty promised to take up a steady job. But Murty refused saying he will not do things in life because somebody wanted him to. So, I was caught between the two most important people in my life. The stalemate continued for three years during which our courtship took us to every restaurant and cinema hall in Pune. In those days, Murty was always broke. Moreover, he didn't earn much to manage. Ironically today, he manages Infosys Technologies Ltd., one of the world's most reputed companies. He always owed me money. We used to go for dinner and he would say, I don't have money with me, you pay my share, I will return it to you later. For three years I maintained a book on Murty's debt to me.. No, he never returned the money and I finally tore it up after my wedding. The amount was a little over Rs 4000. During this interim period Murty quit his job as research assistant and started his own software business. Now, I had to pay his salary too! Towards the late 70s computers were entering India in a big way. During the fag end of 1977 Murty decided to take up a job as General Manager at Patni computers in Bombay .. But before he joined the company he wanted to marry me since he was to go on training to the US after joining. My father gave in as he was happy Murty had a decent job, now. WE WERE MARRIED IN MURTY'S HOUSE IN BANGALORE ON FEBRUARY 10, 1978 WITH ONLY OUR TWO FAMILIES PRESENT.I GOT MY FIRST SILK SARI. THE WEDDING EXPENSES CAME TO ONLY RS 800 (US $17) WITH MURTY AND I POOLING IN RS 400 EACH. I went to the US with Murty after marriage. Murty encouraged me to see America on my own because I loved travelling. I toured America for three months on backpack and had interesting experiences which will remain fresh in my mind forever. Like the time when the New York police took me into custody because they thought I was an Italian trafficking drugs in Harlem . Or the time when I spent the night at the bottom of the Grand Canyon with an old couple. Murty panicked because he couldn't get a response from my hotel room even at midnight. He thought I was either killed or kidnapped. IN 1981 MURTY WANTED TO START INFOSYS. HE HAD A VISION AND ZERO CAPITAL...initially I was very apprehensive about Murty getting into business. We did not have any business background ... Moreover we were living a comfortable life in Bombay with a regular pay check and I didn't want to rock the boat. But Murty was passionate about creating good quality software. I decided to support him. Typical of Murty, he just had a dream and no money. So I gave him Rs 10,000 which I had saved for a rainy day, without his knowledge and told him, This is all I have. Take it. I give you three years sabbatical leave. I will take care of the financial needs of our house. You go and chase your dreams without any worry. But you have only three years! Murty and his six colleagues started Infosys in 1981,with enormous interest and hard work. In 1982 I left Telco and moved to Pune with Murty. We bought a small house on loan which also became the Infosys office. I was a clerk-cum-cook- cum-programmer. I also took up a job as Senior Systems Analyst with Walchand group of Industries to support the house. In 1983 Infosys got their first client, MICO, in Bangalore . Murty moved to Bangalore and stayed with his mother while I went to Hubli to deliver my second child, Rohan. Ten days after my son was born, Murty left for the US on project work. I saw him only after a year, as I was unable to join Murty in the US because my son had infantile eczema, an allergy to vaccinations. So for more than a year I did not step outside our home for fear of my son contracting an infection. It was only after Rohan got all his vaccinations that I came to Bangalore where we rented a small house in Jayanagar and rented another house as Infosys headquarters. My father presented Murty a scooter to commute. I once again became a cook, programmer, clerk, secretary, office assistant et al. Nandan Nilekani (MD of Infosys) and his wife Rohini stayed with us. While Rohini babysat my son, I wrote programs for Infosys. There was no car, no phone, and just two kids and a bunch of us working hard, juggling our lives and having fun while Infosys was taking shape. It was not only me but also the wives of other partners too who gave their unstinted support. We all knew that our men were trying to build something good. It was like a big joint family,taking care and looking out for one another. I still remember Sudha Gopalakrishna looking after my daughter Akshata with all care and love while Kumari Shibulal cooked for all of us. Murty made it very clear that it would either be me or him working at Infosys. Never the two of us together... I was involved with Infosys initially. Nandan Nilekani suggested I should be on the Board but Murty said he did not want a husband and wife team at Infosys. I was shocked since I had the relevant experience and technical qualifications. He said, Sudha if you want to work with Infosys, I will withdraw, happily. I was pained to know that I will not be involved in the company my husband was building and that I would have to give up a job that I am qualified to do and love doing. It took me a couple of days to grasp the reason behind Murty's request..I realized that to make Infosys a success one had to give one's 100 percent. One had to be focussed on it alone with no other distractions. If the two of us had to give 100 percent to Infosys then what would happen to our home and our children? One of us had to take care of our home while the other took care of Infosys. I opted to be a homemaker, after all Infosys was Murty's dream. It was a big sacrifice but it was one that had to be made. Even today, Murty says, Sudha, I stepped on your career to make mine. You are responsible for my success. That's the Power of Love. Every man needs a woman to motivate him and to give him a reason to live....