Twittering

Finally, I have joined the twitter bandwagon. I am not a person who would be keenly followed by too many people. But I think it helps me to communicate with my friends or else use those posts as a scrap book for ideas for this blog or elsewhere.

Lets see what happens,....

Starting again

I have been writing this blog more than three years now. There have been spurts of blogs balanced with equal times of inactivity. There have been times where I have felt like blogging but have been unable to do so due to many reasons.

I just feel that I should blog whenever I find time, about anything I feel (that's what my blog says anyways) without waiting for getting something to write. If I do not like it, I can always delete it later.

So starting again from now, I am back :) ..

-Vin

Inertia

All of us have studied in school that inertia refers to a continued state of rest or motion unless it is subjected to an external force. I find that sometimes I have a state of inertia. That is though things around me are changing or the situation is changing, I take my time to act on it.
Whenever anything changes, all the people connected with it respond to it (or react to it). Though it is not desirable to react at the drop of a hat, it is equally not good to remain inactive though things are changing around you.
If I feel so, then why do I hesitate to act ? Maybe due to the fact that I am an introvert and do not like to interact with people unnecessarily. Or that I am an optimist who hopes that somehow things straighten themselves. Or is it because I am lazy and do not want to do things? Or I do not like responsibility?
Whatever be the reason, whenever I behave like this, it invariably fills me with remorse and I feel I am not doing justice to myself and those who trust me.
So to change, I need to lower the level of changes that will trigger an action on my part.

-Vinayak

My Zodiac personality

After a long time, I visited the site where I took some tests maybe a couple of years back.

Took a zodiac personality test


Discover your Zodiac Personality @ Quiz Me


-Vinayak

In good company

One of the sites I visit regulary is wikipedia. I am amazed at the information on (almost) every topic present there. There is a column that lists the events, births, anniverseries etc of that day.

Curious to know who was born on the same day as me, I did a check.
These are some of the people whom I share my B'Day with:

1. Helen Keller
2. Tobey Maguire (Spiderman, for those who do not know)
3. Raul (Spanish star footballer)
4. Kevin Pietersen.

Another name that was not present is R.D.Burman
So I am in good company. Gives a nice feeling.


Source: Wikipedia
-Vinayak

Two ends of a stick

Hi,

What I am going to write about here is probably common sense. But I think it is more difficult to accept ground realities than other fantasies. This blog is about actions and consequences.
Steven Covey has mentioned about this in his "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People".

The idea is nothing but the plain truth. Actions and consequences are referred to the two ends of a stick. You cannot pick up only one end of the stick. You have to pick up the stick and so you get both ends of the stick.

So in essence, you cannot just act and hope that you need not face the consequences. All of our acts have a consequence. So we need to face the results of our actions. This is very easily said. No one wants to face the consequences. Many are astonished and some of them quarrel as to why they have to face punishment, though what they have done is wrong. It is this very mentality that is causing poor performance and degradation in all walks of life. Unless we accept our responsibilities and face the results of our actions, we cannot contribute effectively to our work and the society.

Back to square one

I really do not like the above expression. It means that after you have done some work (or substantial work sometimes) you come back where you started. That can be really annoying.

It has happened to me now. I have to do a project in a subject. I am searching for a project from the past month. I am still unable to focus on the project due to one reason or the other. Twice I thought I had almost finalized it only to back off at the last moment. This is really buggig me and I have decided to finalize it by next week.

Disgusting

Hi, this is about my frnd who was dispossessed of his mobile. Well I thought he had forgotton his mobile somewhere (He lost his debit card the same way on an outing with us). But the story was quite different.
He was going on his bike when he avoided another guy (who was on the wrong lane incidentally). As a result he fell from his bike. Now some "samaritans" came to my friend's "help". And some of them thought it fit to repay themselves for their help by doing away with his mobile.
Similarly, another frnd of mine was relieved of his debit card a couple of years ago and was poorer by Rs.12000.
There was a similar case during the tsunami that hit last year.
C'mon guys, robbing a person when he is fully aware is one thing, but making do with someone's goods when he is injured or not in a postion to be careful is really disgusting.

Many a slip between the cup and the lip

Some weeks back, we were happy that our institute had been granted the" deemed university" status by the UGC. We were glad that we would be getting MTech Degree instead of PGDIT and all seemed fine.
Today, the bomb was dropped. The State Govt has declined to give NOC to the proposal to grant our college the "deemed Univ" Status.
So what is going to happen finally?. Do we go "back to square one" and get PGDIT or we will get the "deemed Univ" status.
Only time will tell.

My Zodiac Personality

This says my zodiac personality is Scorpio though I am a Cancerian !!


Discover your Zodiac Personality @ Quiz Me

Escape Velocity

First of all, I thank my friend Harjinder whose words triggered a thought process that has resulted in this post. There is a technical definition of "escape velocity". Hari (as Harjinder is known) talked about it in terms of projects . I generalize it to all things in life.

[Tech] Escape Velocity is the minimum velocity that is required to escape from the gravitational pull of the earth. Once this velocity is reached, any object can keep on going and is not affected by the earth's pull. But until this velocity is reached there is always the chance that it comes under the influence of the pull and falls.

[Project] Hari applies the above concept to project. There are many people in a project each with varied degrees of motivation. It is essential that there is a high level of motivation among all the members for the success of the project. But unless some work is done, there will not be the belief among the team members that the project will succeed. This work is the escape velocity that has to be achieved.

[General] I feel that the above theory applies to our general behaviour with people. Relations are developed slowly. It takes some time for people to treat others as confidantes or friends.
But once this time elapses, relation takes off grandly. Similarly, when a relation deteriorates, it is essential that one person tries to maintain it. Usually people wait for the other person to break the deadlock. This inevitably results in failure.

So this is like a spiral, it can be positive or negative. It depends on how people respond to the situation and act.

I love my country

I had been to my home for a week. There was nothing to do there so I spent my time watching TV. I was watching a popular music show. The contestents were asked the name of the first prime minister of our country. Well, one would think "what a trivial question"!!. Any school going kid can answer this question. But surprise, surprise, the two guys participating (they were in their late 20s) could not answer this!.

Of course, they were reprimanded by the anchors of the show, but I was deeply troubled by what happened. Have we progressed so much that we have forgotten about the great leaders who fought for our independence. It seems we are so enamoured by our current position that we have forgotten about the path that we have come. The luxuries that we now enjoy are due to the initiatives that our leaders took. And forgetting about them is not only an insult to them, but to the entire nation.

I felt ashamed of my fellow countrymen. I only hope that such things will not repeat in the future.

Hit the panic button!

Writing after some time. This time it was the mid term exams that necessiated my (complete) attention towards studies.

After the end of mid terms, it is time to take stock of the situation and look forward. Things are not looking very good right now. Lot of work needs to be done and I have to study many things. My friend says that we need to have working knowledge of many things but pursue only those that we like.

This has left me in a dilemma. Everytime I start to study something, I feel I should be studying something else. This is a clear case of "hitting the panic button". But I feel I should not be doing this. By proper planning and action (this is most important) I can emerge successful. Many people have been in much worse situations and escaped unscathed. I just need to be brave.

BTW I am already feeling better writing this.

Ciao

When I felt like Shammi Kapoor

Okay, first things first. I am not a dancer. I do not dance, and even when I do I am not a great dancer. In fact, I feel I am slightly better than not dancing at all.
So what do I mean I felt like Shammi Kapoor? It means my body was shaking involunatrily, in all ways possible without any control. I also felt myself humming a song of Shammi Kapoor.
Hold on... I was not in any disco ( I have never been to one). Nor I was in any party( No parties from sometime now).
I was infact in a BMTC bus going to my sister's house. The bus was on Bannerghatta road when I felt what I have stated above. The road is so horrible that all the people in the bus were swaying. The condition of the road is the same from some months. It was okay if a small portion was bad, but a strech of about 2 kms is bad. There have been some repair work done, but it is just patch work. They will surely disappear with the first monsoons.
Such is the state of affairs in an important road in the country's silicon capital.

Divine Grace

I believe in God. He exists and is the reason for the existence of this Universe. Many people do not believe in God. The reason they cite is that we have no proof of the existence of God. So how can one say that God exists?

There has been an incident which has reinforced my faith in God. My parents were returning from Tirupathi with others. They came to Hubli by train and were going to our place by tempo.
Due to the mistake of the driver, their vehicle met with an accident in the Western Ghats. Though the vehicle was smashed, no passenger was severly injured. Also the tempo moved across the road and hit a tree. Beyond the tree was the depth of the ghats....

Tell me now, is is not a case of divine blessings that they did not have severe injuries.The locals were also surprised at this. At the same time, they thanked God for His blessings. This incident shook many but also strengthened their faith in God.

Only thing constant......

I am writing this a long time after I had actually thought of writing it. This is due to an injury to my right hand. I have still not recovered from it and I am now thinking of using Homoeopathic medicine for the same.

Well leaving aside that, I wanted to write about the only thing constant in this world and that is change. Yes, everything changes. Relations, nations, perspectives, priorities everything change. And we also have to change if we have to survive in this world.

I am amazed at how much I have changed in a few years that is when I was in school some 9 years ago and now. In school I always took the initiative, confident that I would accomplish any task. Now, I think a lot before comitting anything. In short I am a little short of confidence. Also I have cultivated a new habit of procrastination. So I have changed a bit for the worse.

Okay, the other day I met my cousin at a function. Well, he the reason I am writing this today. He is in High School and meeting him made me recall my days in school. He is a bit like me when I was his age. While talking, I felt that his ideas and priorities were not relevant to me and that it was irritating. Later, when I ruminated on my interaction, I felt that he has the (almost) same approach to life that I had his age. So once someone might have thought me as irritating :-))

So, so what?? So I had a good experience of something I had always heard "The only thing constant in this world is change"

So long for now

Yehi Hai Right Choice Baby

"There is no such thing called choice. It is just an illusion.... You have already made the choice. You only have to understand why you made it in the first place" .

--Told to Neo in "Matrix Reloaded"

I am a confused person from a few days. I have been asked to make a choice. Now this gives me the shivers. For what if the choice I make is not correct??The consequences of a wrong choice can be very bad. So whenever I have to make a choice I take a lot of time, with decisions changing faster than a pendulum. This has been the case with almost all my decisions or rather decisons involving choice (I think almost all do).

The latest case is for choosing electives for my second sem. Well all the electives are equally good, but I have to select only two. What stream do I choose? Do I go into a particular stream or become a "Jack of all trades" ? Do I go for subjects that have research potential or go for ones that are good from job point of view?

Okay finally I decided on five. The concern now is what will happen if I do not get the ones that I wanted. Will the ones I get be good enough .Or will they be "orthogonal" to each other as described one of our TAs. Well only time will tell.

At the time of writing this, I had submitted my choice of electives. Now just wait and watch. Talking about the first line in this post, have I already made my choice? And this wholw process is just an illusion? Are my electives already predestined? I do not know.




PS: By the way, I am already thinking of changing my electives.... :-)

Procrastination and Me

Okay finally I got about to write about this habit of mine. I do not know when I picked up the habit of procrastinating. As far as I can remember, I was always a punctual guy in my childhood. Somehere down the line, this habit has come into my life and has threatened to trouble me no end. I have suffered a lot due to this and also troubled my family members for this.

I still remember the last time I had trouble with this. It was in Feb '04 . But the amazing thing is that someone always helps me out in this regard. Most of the time, it is my family members. Of course I am lucky, but I have a feeling that I am pushing my luck too far.

And the worst part is that I am still not learning from it. This habit which has caused lot of destructions the world over, has afflicted me. Somehow I have to get rid of this. So the first step was to put it somewhere where I can read and never forget it.

But, as usual , I had planned to write this a week ago, I created the blog yesterday and today I am writing it.

But I am not losing hope. Everyday is a great chance to set the record straight.
Bye.

First blog

First blog. Well the second one to be technically correct. Thats because I forgot my password for the first one!!. I do not intend to forget this one ......