Daffodils

I WANDER'D lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees, 5
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretch'd in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay: 10
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay, 15
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood, 20
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

Well, I am sure this one has a special place in many hearts!

A fictional story

Sumi trashed the half used coke tins, and cleared the mess on her desk, pressed ctrl+alt+del, pushed the chair inside the desk and walked past her half-empty-team into the ladies room, checked herself on the mirror to make sure that her face did not reflect the time of the day, smiled at her well kept form and shape and hurried to join Shreyars near the lift. Shreyars hid his excitement, though only he knew how he had been waiting for the evening all day long. Just as they joined, the lift arrived crowded and they entered after exchanging glances that conveyed that they would meet 20 floors below when the lift exited for the lobby. She could feel her pulse beating hard and fast. She being a very practical person and workaholic, she had not let this numbing thrill disturb her work day. Now her anticipation was rising. He rested his head on the back of the elevator and let his mind rewind by six months.

He looked as she entered unhurried yet well paced, cautious yet confident, nervously looking forward to the first day of her work-life. Shortly, she joined him and the rest of such people, exchanged greetings, customary hellos and confident smiles. She was polite and poised, yet socializing did not come naturally to her, he observed. Soon they were taken around campus, shown the various facilities and were audience to corporate life introductory lecture. He was seated right beside her and the hiiis, hellos and silence did not comfort him. He naturally invited more dialogue and before long they were good friends. They found apartments close to each other, commuted together, waited for each other, and met over coffee breaks and lunch. They were plain getting along well.

Shreyars’ wit and smartness helped the shy Sumi to hold conversations. Sumi liked to disagree, argue and discuss sensibly and Shreyars’ intelligence helped. Sumi was way too clever and knowledgeable to lose any kind of debate. Shreyars’ felt losing to Sumi more of an honor than shame. They shared mutual respect, interests and quality time.

Their conversations were around how to combat terrorism?, is US right?, why not give Al-Qaeda what he wants?, ethical cloning, what is morality?, rising prices of gas, the to-be-Intel fab in Madras, the automobile industry boom and the like. They never thought about who paid the bill (no, Shreyars did not insist paying), who opened the door, or who carried the shopping bags. They did not buy gifts for each other, no birthday presents, no friendship day wishes, and not even Valentines’ day mention. They were like the strawberries and cream – simply great together with no strings attached.


Today evening was indeed special and an important day for Sumi. And Shreyars felt elated and important to be a part of it. A week ago, Sumi had said that she was to meet a probable-to-be-hubby and invited Shreyars to join. Shreyars concealed his shock well – well enough. He had loved her, he realized. He had prepared himself in the week for this important day. He repeatedly told himself, how true and naïve Sumi was. He truly liked her and that was all the more reason why he masked his feelings for her. He was taken aback at the confidence and respect she had for him that she was taking him to the all important day.
They stepped off the elevator. They were supposed to meet at Barrista, a few miles from their office. They drove in silence – Sumi was tensed and Shreyars sensed it. Shreyars did not want to uncover his mask by talking. Though he made attempts to break the stillness of the car, he was in vain. Sumi changed CDs, appeared to remain normal, but far from it. Shreyars thought, after all Sumi was going to meet this guy for the first time. The journey seemed to long forever. Finally, the sedan slowed down and came to a complete halt two minutes from the coffee shop.

Sumi opened the vanity, checked herself again and smiled self-consciously at Shreyars and their eyes met. For once he missed a heart beat and failed in making eye contact. As if this was the last time they were going to be together, he wished her all the best and stepped off on the other side.

As they entered Barrista, Sumi ordered two cappuccinos. Shreyars thought probably they were well ahead of time. He wanted to be excited for her; he clinched his cuff, twisted his collar, run his fingers through his hair, pressed his hand kerchief on his forehead and he was aware that he was more tensed that Sumi herself. He breathed two long breaths and he hoped his restlessness did not reach the discerning eyes of Sumi. Each passing minute freaked him. He was frantically trying to remain unruffled ;-) She counted the number of times he looked at his watch – It was 16 in the last 5 minutes.

Cappuccino arrived, Sumi had a sip. Shreyars stared at his steaming cup.

He was about to ask when his probable-hubby-to-be would arrive, when she pulled out a mirror and this time turned it across to Shreyars as if asking him to check how groomed he was. Instead she declared “Do you approve him to be my hubby?”. For a moment Shreyars did not understand anything. She was proposing. He had been stupid, but she was not, not to understand what they were going through. They were overjoyed, tears swelled in their eyes, for the first time in six months, they were talking romance!

Just another thing - I am glad I lost!

3 When I was growing up, it was not unusual
7 My grandpa had it up all day
10 With my sister and cousins, it was almost an everyday event
11 I could never be the performer
12 I was not even a good listener
13 I remember how I used to shut my ears (yes literally)
14 Then, I was definitely stupid
15 When I was learning, I thought it was fashionable to say ‘No’
16 After a lot of persistence, finally people gave up on me
17 When I actually liked, I was too embarrassed to admit
18 Slowly, I acknowledged to myself how soothing it was
19 Soon, I declared I loved it
22 Then I repented why I was so foolish all along
25 Now, no remorse, but truly, deeply, madly love it
25 It is the magic of music
25 Yesterday, after a long long time, I listened to a couple of home-sung songs.
100 Carnatic music is bliss

Just about this time, two years ago, I landed at the Covington airport, Kentucky.
Since then, everyday has been an experience – of glee or glum, however definitely interesting!

Oh time,
Unfailing again!
As is the spring,
That follows the winter

People of different colors -
Some happy and spread glee,
Some morose and swell gloom
All in the basic ingredients

People from diverse background -
Roots from livelihood to family
Life that is made of
Find fault and praise part

Men of honor and men of merit
Sublime in thoughts and actions
There is one other who exist
The ones who live on credit?

Oh time….
You wait for none
And so do I wait on you?
To sing the happy tune

For the mind so light
Psyche full of delight
For the skin so soft
And spanking sight

Life is all between higs and lows
People come and people go
Many turn dear and a few turn foe
Yet you remain bearing witness….

Hold me as I climb
To the summit like a gold mine
Let me linger not long
For there is life beyond

Our hero breathes and exists on this earth only because he does not have a choice. He is a man who endures his life waiting for his eternal call. As he waits in the queue, he loses all wishes, desires and needs. ……
……
This bare basic pristine man decides to indulge just a little bit, because he has anyway got his life.

What do you say of a sadhu who renounces everything in life except women, whiskey and wealth?

P.s. I am not a proponent of any renunciation. No false claims please!


"If you were supposed to understand it, we wouldn't call it code."
-- from a Federal Express promotion, reported by IS Survivalist Matthew Persico

Venkat Shyamsundar

Venkat is a budding young singer from Madras. He has performed for many music shows including Saptha Swarangal, Ragamaalika and Rajageetham. Here are two songs composed by a a group of music enthusiasts from Infosys. Listen to Venkat's voice....

Click below for 'Enthan Aaruyir Thozha...."

Enthan_Aaruyir.wma

Hosted by eSnips

And click below for "Nilavai Kandaale...."

Nilavai_Kandaale.w...

Hosted by eSnips

Listen to these now and encourage the young artistes. Someday when it is meant to be, these songs will raise huge charity!!

Sands of time!

Saturday saw us at Sandy Hook – one of the beaches on the coast of New Jersey. This one was very different from all the beaches I have visited in the US – Manzanita and Cannon of Oregon, La Jolla at San Diego and Wildwoods near Cape May Point. This one was closer to home, very much like my own Marina beach - the sands and shells; the grime and gravel – daily evenings from my childhood was coming back at Sandy Hook. Of course I missed the molaga bajji, the TV tower, the clock tower, the light house and the deep dug sandy caves. However the coarse sand, the expanse of the beach, the waves that dashed against and the warm water transported me to the warmth of my own Triplicane beaches.
Definitely one of my better weekends and I did total justice by getting damp and dirty!

As usual a late read!

Well, if you have not read Da Vinci Code and you plan to read it, don’t scroll any further!

It was a book of incredible controversies woven into a gripping story. The idea of unearthing startling facts via an absorbing story is definitely appreciated. Whether you believe or not, is really out of the question, yet the narration riddled with codes, and conundrums really kept me tied to the book. I am not a voracious reader and I can’t read anything unless it keeps me rapt and this one definitely did. The unexpected twists and turns towards the end – the unbecoming of the Knight, the unpretentious talk of Fache with Sofia (in London) which was totally misconstrued, the depiction of Teacher-Remy relationship – each of these tightened the rivet the book had on the reader.

Robert Langdon the obvious hero did not impress me – Fache did especially because of the twists that later unraveled and revealed him. For such a nice storytelling, I really wished there was a more concrete finish. However the fact that it was left to your imagination, I think made the story linger longer and trouble you longer. It just won’t go away.

Angels & Demons – the first of the to-be-trilogy is on my table, however my friends suggested that reading them back-to-back is not a good idea, because they are so similar ones. Let me see!

There has been a lot of research in the measurement of intelligence amongst people of different races and backgrounds. As with any global research, we have conflicting reports, but there is something that everyone agrees on. The two big influences of a child’s success in later life are: biological parents’ intelligence and upbringing factors. First of all, what is intelligence? It could be the IQ score as measured by the famous 77 year old IQ test; it could be the academic grades; it could be mean income when you are 30; it is some combination of these. Many independent researches conclude that a minimum of 40% influence is attributed to intelligence in the heredity. The maximum genetic influence is 80%. Especially the language controls, reading ability and verbal power moves through generations. That is why; siblings reared apart though may have significant difference in success / general IQ always correlate well with each other in their language prowess. In general it is known, that Jews as a race score atleast 12-15 points more than the Asians who score atleast 5 points more than Whites who score atleast 10 more than the Africans. But the reason for these differences though genetic for most part and social and economic in part actually is exhibited differently across groups. i.e., the reason for higher performance of Jews over Asians is not the same as the reason for higher performance of Asians over Whites. Also child-rearing has a big influence on its success when it grows up. The biggest part of this influence is during the developmental years and hence the saying “Woman is behind a man’s success” necessarily refers to the mother rather than the wife :). It is the parents’ attitude towards the child’s performance that shapes the child’s future. When parents set high bars, children typically attain it than when they set low bars. Indians typically set higher standards for achievement (of course there are exceptions) than Americans and that is partly the reason for Indians’ better performance. Hence, a White child when raised in an Indian home that sets high standards for the child will outperform his white peers:). When parents set softer limits and encourage laziness in children (especially true with rich European families) the children perform worse as adults. Lack of breast-fed milk and premature delivery are also reasons that negatively impact performance. Undernourishment and being a witness to negative actions like riots, shooting, and parents’ fighting (including adopted parents) between the ages of 5 and 14 are big factors for low self-confidence and self-assurance as adults. Occupational success of parents, the feel-good factor that they emanate and the socio-economic status of a growing child play a key role. Inferiority complex developed as a child does not go away until he is able to prove to the world that he is also capable. They grow up to either being spend-thrifts in general or spend-thrifts in friends’ presence. The constant worry about what others might think gives them in to peer-pressure and negatively impacts performance.

Moral of the story: You thought I was going to say – blame your parents!
Nope!
If you think the upcoming generation will definitely marry a person of lower IQ caste, you are encouraged to adopt such children and benefit them so that as a race, they get better :)
p.s. If I sound like a racial person, I am not one!

We have always thought of US as a cold country.
Of course it is.. Now is this news?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5214370.stm
Sounds like our own .. India? ;-)

I have heard of donations of whole blood, plasma, Aphaeresis etc. I have not heard of donating the umbilical cord blood of a new born baby! Although once considered medical waste and thrown away, scientists now know that cord blood is rich in stem cells. Stem cells are very important because they make many different types of cells in the body including blood cells that carry oxygen, fight disease and help stop bleeding. The collection takes place after the baby is born and hence there is no change in the delivery procedure whatsoever. The storage period of whole blood is roughly 50 days I guess before which it must be used on a patient, but the umbilical cord blood is frozen and good for 10 years. Though the need for this kind of blood is not much today, it is especially used in research that will shape the tomorrow. Isn’t this just amazing!?

Decide before you are 34 weeks pregnant if you want to start your baby’s life with a punya karma :-)

Quote Costanza

"The worst thing about life is the way it ends. I mean, life is tough. It takes a lot of your time and what do you get at the end? DEATH? whats that, a bonus?. I think the life cycle is all backwards. First we should die and get it out of the way. Then we should go to a old age home, get kicked out cause we are too young and healthy. Then we should collect our pension and on the first day of work get a gold watch. Then work for 40 years until we are young enough to enjoy our retirement, go to college, party all night, then go to high school, then to primary school, play around all the time with no responsibilities. Then we should spend the last months of our lives floating around in luxuries like central heating, spa, room service on a tap and finish off as an orgasm. Amen" -- George Costanza

Irony?

AWESOME
AWFUL

You would rather be awesome than awful?

Isn't an irony that (aw)‘some’ is great but (aw)‘ful’ is bad
Funny language ;-)

Jobs Speech

This is a Graduation Ceremony speech from Steve Jobs.
Don't miss it.

Instance 1:
Where: X standard class room - History class in session
When: Sep 1995
Scene: The topic of discussion is reservation policy. The teacher is lecturing about why and how reservation policy was started in India. He is talking about why it is still in existence today – about the game of politics around it, about the reality of how well the policy is used or abused.
Now:
She can not seem to agree on how only a certain section of people could get critical benefits just by virtue of being born in a particular community. She does not find any reasoning pertinent to the present situation. She is not bothered about how it was ‘useful’ 50 years earlier when it was put in place, but certainly she feels it was a joke that had no benevolent relevance today. She feels cheated. At 14, in her animosity towards the Government, towards the people that make rules she hurls away her spite in words. She feels so powerless just to be taking on her teacher. After the class, she realizes her actions were futile and that her behavior was at best childish. At the end of the class, her teachers talk to her about her thought process, the truth in her reasoning, and the wasted energy in class. She is ashamed for her actions but she is convinced her logic and rationale was right. She certainly feels let down – a let down of an entire community.


Instance 2:
Where: Railway ticket counter, Mambalam, Madras
When: 1998 February
Scene:
She is standing in a queue that’s at least 10 people long before her and at least a 10 more behind her. There are almost 10 such lines. She has some work outside of that railway station. All of them are definitely busy or at least none of them are particularly enjoy the sweltering heat and the long lines.
Now:
Our hero, a well dressed 20-something man tries to push through the queue, get ahead of others in the line to get tickets. She gets extremely furious. Agreed, that he is not doing a heinous crime, but she feels cheated. A very daily misdemeanor that someone does everyday. But that’s no explanation. She cannot take it. She gets violent with words at him. At first, she says – “Hello Sir, It’s a queue. Please enter the line (showing the end)”. It does not seem like he is paying any attention. With a louder voice she repeats – “Hello Sir, Can you hear me? I said we are not fools here waiting in the line. Show some manners.” He turns around, makes some eye contact and proceeds with pushing the people again. She cannot take it any longer. She pats him on the back – grabs his attention and says – “Now will you please get away from here or shall I call the Superintendent of the station?” Now he is almost mocking at her. There are people buzzing in a hushed tone, some talking about her audacity and some trying to appease her and some trying to get him away. She reiterates “Move away, I am not going to let you get away with this”. Now there are more people talking. More and more physically making sure he is moved away from the line; many speaking ill of the man and many more trying to pacify the girl. Though he was gone, she feels unsure and jittery of herself. She could feel her blood boil, her tension mounting and suddenly she feels very conscious of herself. She talks no more until she cycles back home and recounts the episode. Everyone at home reprimands her; no one really approves her behavior. They teach her to be patient, to behave like a ‘girl’. She is just not convinced. She was sure that she would have felt worse had she let him cheat on her.

That is the real ‘She’, today her outward reaction may be different because of the certain cultural/civility influences, but inside she is still the same person. Patience has muted her, time has mellowed her; powerless sometimes, weak and incapable, she cannot take cheating in her stride. She believes, cheaters showcase scant respect for the cheated. There are people who cheat at all levels – right from the grassroots like the ones trying to jump the queue to the ones like self-proclaimed avatars that take an entire generation for a ride. It’s hard to witness the ones getting cheated, harder to get cheated and worst staying voiceless in times of such controversy. Conmen exist only as long as people are weak and fragile. Please wake up, recognize the cheaters and whip your share.

Does this happen to you?

Sometimes.. you acknowledge.. and surrender..

What you are doing is not what you want to do
And what you want to do should not be done
What should be done is what you are doing
Hoping what you are not doing will get done….

'Bombay' remains

Blood flows in a stream
From a body split in spleen
Until rain washes it away
Piles of flesh left to decay
Little children cry and wail
No one come to their avail
Wife loses her husband
Children miss their parents
Families go distraught …..
Morning rises in gloom
Smell of gunpowder
Sound of bombshell
Silence of weak groan
Clothing in tatters
Shelter doesn’t matter
Streets deserted
Houses ransacked
Dawn seems distant
Someone is pleased and content
Big money changes hands

Am meek and mute
And it continues….

I am almost sure that you ‘Googled’, for something in the last 24 hours. Man! Time to teach your kid ‘searched’ is the synonym to ‘googled’! Amazed how certain words make their way into our vocabularies. Wonder if Larry Page and Sergey Brin, then knew that they were instituting a new word in to the dictionary.

Used to have this term – ‘Infra-dig’ on the top of my vocab stack sometime in my early teens. I don’t know how it got in, but it was the in-thing (?) then.

Most of the people (if any) reading this blog will know curry, bungalow and veranda are words got transported into Cambridge from India. Did you know ‘Shampoo’ is one of them too? It is startling how only certain words cross civilizations make its way through pirated ships or royalty means into another one. ‘Shampoo’ comes from a Hindi word ‘campo’ meaning ‘to press’ and was originally used to refer a full-body massage, hair inclusive. It was a verb. As civilization grew and spread, ‘shampoo’ came to be referred to hair wash as both noun and verb.

I came across this term - Pious Fraud. I wonder how relevant it has become today. There are numerous men and women out there proclaiming to have mystical powers that have descended on this earth as a savior.
Hey holy men! Long live you, as long as weak minded escapists walk this earth.
Conmen will exist as long as people let themselves to be conned.

Last but not least, blog, its still not entered the MSWord Thesaurus. Coming from web log, weblog, and becoming blog! And then.. blogging .. then blogger.. now there is blogworthy, and then there is blogworthindex !!!!!

It’s only when a language is adaptive and lets itself to be abused, does it grow!
No, you got to maintain your language in its pristine state!

I give up!

Words of Lord Krishna

paritranaya sadhunam |
vinasaya ca duskrtam ||
dharma-samsthapanarthaya |
sambhavami yuge yuge ||

Meanings

paritranaya--for the deliverance;
sadhunam--of the devotees;
vinasaya--for the annihilation;
ca--also;
duskrtam--of the miscreants;
samsthapana-arthaya--to reestablish;
sambhavami--I do appear;
yuge--millennium


TRANSLATION
For the relief of (My) devotees,
To annihilate the vice (and wicked),
To reinstate Dharma
Shall I appear, every Yuga.


Meanings Courtesy: Bhagavad Gita, As it is.
The Sanskrit Sloka Courtesy: http://www.gitasupersite.iitk.ac.in/

Irony

Life is funny,
but you cant always smile at it