Wish i was a kid again…..

Oh I wish I could be a kid again….

a teenager….a toddler…..anything would do….all I want to be is a kid again

a kid with no worries on my mind….

to whom everyone around would be nice and kind….

a kid wondering why the roosters flock their wings and crow everyday

one who just wanted everything he could lay his hands on no matter who was to pay…

A kid who was never clean and hated the color green….

all the bad guys I knew were either the villains on the screen or people who were mean….

a kid who you could win over with a cone of butterscotch ice cream

who at the mere sight of a cockroach would just scream ( i do that even today though!!!)

A kid who would wrap a towel and proclaim he was a king

or one who would just shout thinking he could sing

A kid who thought adults are robots made of nuts bolts and wire

one who had fun playing with sharp knives, blade and fire

A kid who did not care about anything and just put on an old torn shirt

have people surround him and pamper whenever he got hurt

how fun and easy life was back then …

makes me want to go to that time back when….

i was a kid…

Oh how I wish I could be a kid again…..

just to have all the fun….all over again….

O' Sweet Rain...

I was standing outside, in my shed ,
When a tiny little droplet, fell on my head
I look up above,towards the sky,
An all i see, i am no longer dry
For falling from the sky, was the first winter rain,
Bringing plenty of joy, an wiping people’s pain
It fell on my head an flowed into my brain,
It fell on my hand an flowed into my vein.

Then at a distance, echoes a sound,
Oh! a bolt of lightning just hit the ground
It wasn’t that far, may be a mile ,
The candy bar sky lights up for a while
Thunder and lightning bring some light,
Making the night shine nice and bright.

My mind just races,
My heard just pounds
Do i drive,
To the beach nearby or,
Take to the sky
And just fly!!

And just when it all seemed good,
And just when mind was getting a mood
As sudden as it came the rain just stopped,
an all my bubbles they just popped.

Cost of Airline Tickets ???

While on my flight (which by the way was a 11th hour booking) one thing irked me...why is that when u book a flight early you get a better deal(often rock bottom prices) whereas a last minute flight is costly (nearly Double, like the one i have shelled out now)....Shouldn't all the seats cost the same irrespective of when they are booked?? Quite not able to come up with plausible explanation for this....The search is on...

Ah....the Void....

We seem to have everything and yet there always seems to be something out there that the heart desires....

Is there ever a state of true contentedness??? Will one ever say...yes i have everything in life and i actually do not need anything else now.....

I have been fortunate to have the best the world has to offer....a good education...a loving family...friends who simply would do anything for me....a rewarding job where there is great deal of respect too...a great car...i can cook without killing people....had my share of travel....seen the world...but yet deep down there is a void....and there is something out there that would fill this void...what is it...how would i get it...why is that only that would fill the void....that i do not know

We all need lotta things in life....but one thing is for sure....if you really need something....and you know you want that something ....and strive to get it...then one day it would be yours...and then....

well and then you can move on for the next one....as for me...am already trying to fill my current void...yeaaa...i do know what it is and i do know how to fill it....this is something i have been after for a lil over 5 months now...so just wanting all the prolonged dedicated followups and call backs to work out....lets see...have my fingers crossed...all 16 of em....

who knows what lies ahead....a neverending hairpin bend...or a smiling friend...life is all that simple....just take it as it is and be humble...cause there is just this one life to live....why ask always when there is so much to give....

remember every journey, however long or short....always starts with a single step....

how long is 2 years....

Two years doesn't seem a long time...but things are quite not the same what they were two years ago...traffic on the streets of chennai have doubled may be tripled...many people who i knew and went around with are long gone from here....some others are pretty busy with their new family (the occasion that i so dearly missed, sure they missed me too )...people seem older...ofcourse the landscape has changed quite a lot too...

The thing that hit me first was the fact that i just seemed to have lost track of how "costly" everything had become (staring at me in Eastman color in the form of the note in my wallet)....but the worst (an probably something that i expected) was yet to come.....

succumbing to the urge of the tasty sambar smell from saravana bhavan (keeping with tradition to eat there when i come from US...haha u do need reasons machi) i went to munch down my favorites with a buddy of mine...we sat at the table catchin up on some moments in history as we chomped on some kara dosai (this just is out of this world...try it if u ever get a chance to step into saravana bhavan) an vegetable paratha (aka chilly paratha)....i realized as i sate there that day....some people don seem to be the same....don seem to look the same...heck don even think the way they used to earlier....things have certainly changed...the way i look at things has changed....the way i don expect anything now has changed (yeah earlier i used to but now i don't....expectation is the cause of all misery if u ask me!!!)..... it was then that i said to myself "2 years is indeed a long time"...

one silver lining though is that people who i call friends who are close to me are still the same....nothing has changed between us.... infact we have actually grown closer....they say distance is always the yardstick to test any relationship dare i say distance is something physical that can always come between people but there is no great distance that can ever come between hearts......now that is real power....

Reading whats at "the end "

It is something which we all have....something that is there on every check...every letter every mail and virtually anything that we write...It is the tiny little thing right at the very bottom called "Signature".

It is fascinating, conveys unseen thoughts and emotions and reveals your persona like you are an open book. If there is a toss up between "Signature" and "Handwriting" as to which reveals a persons behavior better, signatures would win hands down....reason....writing is influenced by the several thoughts that run wild in the human mind which often tend to cause variations while Signature, is free from such frequent variations hence it's more reliable.

Reading signature is not an art but an occult science. While some signatures are very beautiful and linear there are some which are irregular and shabby...the point!!! it is not necessary that the personality matches your signature...a person with a beautiful signature is said to be cruel and dangerous and a person having an irregular signature is said to be very courageous and kind.

That being said....analyzing the letters alone does not provide basis to judge the personality traits completely.

Personality is not "created" through Signatures, it is "exuded" through the signatures. It is possible to change one’s personality by espousing virtuous attitude towards life and self-refinement.

Is the grass is always greener on the other side....

One often comes across....

The more happier neighbor....

the more successful senior....

The more popular lawyer...

the techy computer engineer...

The richer ... more Popular...

the gold card member....

the frequent flier...

makes us wonder....

is the grass on the other side greener???



and then we take the boat to the other side....

the more greener side...

and what is that we find with our eyes opened wide....

alas!!!

the other side ....

the side that looked a lot less greener

looks more greener....

Where's God...

A young man, stuck in no mans land desperate to return to his hometown on time for his marriage only to be helped by complete strangers suddenly comes across something that really amazes him...one of the so called stranger looks at the young man weeping and visibly shaken after being witness to a tragedy...the young man distraught and clearly overcome with emotions questions "Is there a god???" the stranger just looks at him and with smile replies....yes....he is right here....and points to the young man himself...and explains...when your heart feels for someone whom you don't even know....that is the place where god resides....

Now that might sound as though it is lifted from a movie (when infact it is...for those of you who did not realize...the movie Anbe Sivam...the Young Man Madhavan...the stranger Kamal hasan)...

This has had a lot of impact in my life and the way i see everything and everyone... We spend a lot of time doing stuff that gives us pleasure....hell we even do things which is a complete waste of time n resource....why not sit and think "have i touched someone's life that it has changed forever ???, Have i made a difference to someone's life??? Will someone look at me and go...."the heart that's inside of you is where god lives???"

I dunno about others...but I have been fortunate that i have had people in my life looking at whom today i can say..."your heart is where god is...." these guys have helped in many ways to overcome things from a simple confusion to riding the tough times when i was in a place full of strangers...from facing an interview...preparing for the final...job search...to even issues with people around me....if not for them life sure would have been difficult....am not gonna say thank you....no...no...that would just be too easy....i am just gonna ensure that i am there for them when they need me....just like how they have been there for me...

I can see god in you....what can i do my friend...
I bow to you with respect...what else can i do my friend....

The Moment is here.....A.R.Rahman take a bow...

Our very own A.R.Rahman created history today with 2 oscars on the same night....one for the best Original Score and another one for Best Song ( Jai Ho )

A big salute to him....he has done us all proud....

Life..It's all about how see it...

Some recent events have reminded me...

"Getting something that you want makes you happy...."
"The more important something is to you,the more you tend to just hold on to it and not let go...."
"When something is not changed,it just ceases to exist...."
"You can be afraid of anything,but, never be afraid to stop being afraid!! Will you ever achieve anything if your afraid???...."
"It does not matter which direction you are going as long as you know where you wanna go cuz then whichever direction you take wouldn't matter,you will get there mebbe late but you will get there...."
"Imagining that you reached where you wanted to reach will lead you down the path to salvation..."
"The reason why past is called history is cuz half of us don't care, an the rest of us don't remember..."
"Don't slide down on the snake that is your past,it's a ladder, use it an climb, success is just a roll away...."
"The only person stopping you is you..."

Crawl when you wanna Standstill...Walk when you wanna Crawl...Run When you wanna Walk...drive when you wanna run...

Its not "IT Reveloution"....but "IT Revelation"....

It's really inspiring how Indian Software firms always seem to bag all the international projects...well of course its cuz of all the knowledge, skill and talent that we have...No one can compete with US....everywhere around the world when there is a need for any software to be developed or worked on its our guys....

I was wondering if it is really this or could there be something behind the scene which is literally putting the projects in our pockets...

after six hours of mindless googling...cracking with numbers for another hour...I came up with a interesting business model,which could be the plain reality which is so apparent it makes me wonder are we really that ignorant... It’s kinda simple really...

Your "average joe",a software engineer with 5 years of experience at abracadabra.com specializing in "pinto beans" and "servelets" would be paid around $40/hr (again average...cuz its average joe...your above average joe could be getting more)or about $320 in an 8 hour day, and $7040 for the month, and $84480 for the year.

Now, our hero "super santanam" from Insatcro,the 5th largest IT firm from India, is sent on project to US...he is over the moon and is so proud that he is coming to the US to work....wohoo...big treat for friends at TAJ...an gets on Kuwait Airlines to the US...(an exciting route....Chennai....Mumbai....Kuwait...Qatar...Timbuktu...California...New York ofcourse the ticket sponsored by the company....so a free tour of the world on his way to US).

He lands and is pretty excited the first two days...his Picasa is flooded with new photos taken right next to Lady Liberty....n every single building u can find in Big apple...

finally its time to get to work at "Clients Place"...now our super santanam works in place of Average Joe....gives him a run for his money an completes about double the work in half the time....

a month into the project....Super santy (yea Santanam is now Santy baby!!!!) gets his first American Pay check... A charge about $20.00 an hour, thats 160 for a day (he works for 16 Hours ....8 hours for US 8 hours for co-ordinating with team back at Insatcro...but ofcourse gets paid only for 8hours man come on what more did u expect)...so if my math is right....our santy gets $3520 for the month or $42240 for the year...ofcourse he spends for his apartment....food....travel...cell phone...Long distance calling card...an everything.....ends up with how much..well lets not get there....don't wanna spoil the fun now....

So with Super Santy abracadabra has saved approximately 42,000 a year....but ofcourse santy would feel homesick so give him company....insatcro sends 9 of his friends to "face" similar "exciting" and "rewarding" client experience...

so net result....thats about $420,000 for abracadabra....and their work is done....and they have people feeling really proud of their US Experience..

It is But Obvious....Uncle Sam is not the only place where this would apply....In Europe, the "average jack" is paid more than Average joe, owing to a costlier lifestyle... So, the our "super santy" bags the European projects as well!....

Now this is just my idea.....could it be this is what is the real thing??? Are our people being Used....If so...why are we putting up with this....knowing fully well that we are being exploited why do our tech guys take to such things like fish to water....the "Sweatshops" only come to mind....the situation is pretty similar..low pay...hard(I din't wanna use Inhuman even though that's what i should have used) working conditions...no real development...no real change in work pattern...monotonous work....Boyyyy....we run one super techy highly motivated Sweatshop don't we.....

We have conquered Land of the Braves...now off to save the Falling Bridge... my fair lady (get it remember London Bridge is Falling down.....)

What When Who Why????

Think:

Who would you rather be??
Someone who is Technically Sound but Lacks Applicability or Someone who is Street Smart but not technically sound!

What would you rather do??
Put all your money in a Bank or Invest it in the stock market

Why would you do something??
'Cuz you wanna do it or everyone expects you to do it

When would you feel good??
Do something for someone even before they ask or you are called when someone needs something

Who do you want by your side?
Someone who is selfish or someone who is untrustworthy

What would you rather have??
90 Dollars today or 100 dollars in one year's time!

Why do you want to Smile??
It's natural or Just to make someone else smile

When do you feel bad??
When you fail or when you give up...

Is India really Poor.....

India for long has been considered as a developing economy....As of 2007, the total outstanding loan on the Indian government was worth 41.57 billion US dollars, among which some portions belonged to global financial organizations and some were meant for bilateral financial assistance. The actual breakdown of the outstanding loan
->World Bank will receive 25.49 billion dollars
->14.05 billion dollars will go to the bilateral assistance

In an nutshell, the external debt condition in India declined from March 2006 to March 2007 when the debt stock increased from US$126.5 billions (2006) to US$ 155.0 billions (2007). In 2007, the accumulation of debt worth US$ 28.2 billions represented an escalation of 22.6%.

I googled to find what's our debt today....According to the financial ministry,India's external debt stood at $222.61 billion up to the end of September '08, down $2.1 billion from the end of the last fiscal year in March. According to a financial ministry report, Long-term debt was at $172.5 billion, while short-term debt stood at $50.1 billion. Private debt accounted for $166 billion (74.6 percent) and government debt amounted to $56.6 billion (25.4 percent) of the total external debt as of end September 2008.

Why does our debt position never becomes favorable...despite the booming economy the debt is on the rise...Why do we borrow???? duh we don't have money that's why we borrow...well think again....

Recently,During the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors' Summit (VGGIS) 2009, Investors from various parts of the country have pledged several billions of investment across different industrial sectors in Gujarat....How much are we talking about...get ready.... a grand total of $570 Billion....an that too Just for one State!!!!


Larsen & Toubro has pledged Rs 250 billion, The State Bank of India Rs 300 billion, ONGC Rs 300 Billion, Suzlon energy Rs 90 Billion, Bharat Forge Rs 70 billion, Sterling Biotech Ltd Rs 210 billion, Wellspun Group Rs 45 billion, Air Deccan Rs 30 billion, Tata Rs 210 billion, Essar Rs 240 billion, Aditya Birla Group Rs 200 billion, Videocon Rs 120 billion, Adani Group Rs 270 Billion, SRF Group Rs 30 billion, Cellular Operators Association Rs 200 billion

Now if just a handful of Investors have so much money....Is it even remotely possible for our country to repay our debts....