It has been quite a busy month. So busy that I hardly realized it. I had just enough time to put a blog entry at the beginning of this month. So, here I am again to salvage my record.
So, what kept me busy? Work, to be frank. There was enough of it that I used to lose my sleep over it. What I mean is with the work timings, I used to go to sleep late and also had to get up early. 6 AM in the morning would just be normal for many people, but that time is way too early. In fact, when I was on my way to work one of these days, I saw a big orange ball of fire in the sky looking directly at me. Thats when I realized that it had been quite some time since I had seen the sun rise, or quite simply - sunrise. The only time I saw sunrise in the last few years had been when I would burn all of the midnight oil and leave the workplace at dawn. I know that my parents still wake up very early, even during their retired life, seemingly trying to outpace the sun and as if to say "Lets see who gets up first". Its just a matter of habit for them. But for me, the few extra minutes (which sometimes turns into a few extra hours) of sleep in the early morning is just golden, too costly to sell or settle for anything else. But for some vague reason, I kept getting up sluggishly every morning this month and went to work.
Its not as if the work was that interesting. It was just a matter of untangling the knots. And since last week has seen many of the knots being untangled, I am relatively relieved. Or should I say, was? Because this weekend saw a few more events that got me a bit worried again. Well, stuff happens. And thats what keeps the ball rolling. Many a times I wonder why I dont work on the important things that I have in mind. Perhaps I just try to finish off all the mundane tasks so that I can focus on the important ones. In the last few days, I told myself to take care of the important tasks first. The rest of the small stuff were then easier to brush off in the remaining time.
Another fact that I realized over these days was that I had just stopped doing anything just because in recent months I wasnt getting rewarded for working hard. But as some great mind has said, the harder I try, the luckier I get. So, let me just keep working hard and not worry about the result. But in doing so, one has to take a step backward once in a while and ask whether what I am doing is right. Is there a better way to do this? Or should I do something else instead? Well, that is what I have been doing this past weekend. And although I got more than my share of failures during these days, I also got quite a few tasks done, which have been pending for quite some months.
I know I have been holding my cards too close for you (the reader) to get anything substantial out of all this, but bear with me for now. More about it as I come to know the results.
Ok, time for me to put some more tangible points on this post now.
But, before that an ice-breaker. Warning - original joke ahead. If I have to give a gift, I would give a felt tipped pen. Why? Because its said that you need to make your presents (presence) felt.
We are so much obsessed with round figures. Do you really think about 32 as a benchmark number? Well, usually no, unless you are counting your teeth. But then, 32 fahrenheit is zero celsius. And, thats the benchmark figure here in Minneapolis when we want to find out if the weather is warm enough. Its officially spring here, but its still snowing all around. I guess I would like to look ahead to summer then.
Oh, one of the things I got working this weekend was getting my new digicam. It a Sony again. The last one had some irrepairable damage done to it in the torrential rains of Kerala. And the estimated repair costs exceeded the price of this new one. So, understandably, I got the new one. Couple of events coming up within a week where I can use this beauty. Looking forward to it.
Thats it for now. Will come back soon with more thoughts. My, the word count here exceeds my expectations! Let me pat my back. Ow, its that much more difficult after a workout.
Later.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Monday, March 3, 2008
The march is on!
Its March! And it was a good way to start this month. First of all, the month started with a weekend, and we have enough days in this month to get 5 weekends. Wow! So, what special has happened this weekend? Well, to begin with, I watched India win the first cricket finals against Australia in Sydney and I watched it till the end, although it was 5.30 AM then. The icing on the cake was that Sachin scored a century, was man of the match, and also stayed at the crease till the end. Wonder when I will be able to see that happen again!
Strangely, I prefer to watch cricket matches alone, instead of with friends. Sometimes, I like to do that with movies as well. I wouldnt call myself a loner, but I wonder why I feel that way sometimes. And its not a behavior I have developed recently. Maybe I just like to give more attention to get a better percentage of entertainment.
I just watched a couple of movies today - Se7en (which I categorize as psycho) for the first time, and Anand (which I categorize as great) for the umpteenth time. I hadnt planned to watch the latter completely today. I just started it when I got down to lunch. But, as with most great movies, I just dont know when to hit the stop button. This also happened to me when I watched Forrest Gump for the first time. My mom had called me for lunch and I just stood there watching the complete movie, thinking after every few minutes that I will just watch it for just a few more minutes, until I realized they were showing the credits. I didnt even get time to sit down. But yes, I did watch that alone as well.
But, If I am watching something that I have watched earlier, this behavior changes. I realize I spend more time looking at my family/friends enjoy the show rather than being focussed on the screen. Well, I do have a few good friends.
Next up on my task list for the weekend, I decided to call a few of my friends during the weekend. I made 4 calls to India, where most of my best friends still live. I had a nice time talking to them. Then, I turned to talk to my relatively new found friends, who are in the US. There, I distinctly found the difference. I hung up after 5 calls, since 4 of them said they were too busy with what they were doing right then and would call me back later. Only one of them actually did. So, that set me thinking. The obvious part was that the ones whom I consider to be my best friends had enough time for me. One of them said she had enough mouth to talk although she was having lunch right then. The other part that I thought of was why is it that most people in general had become quite busy? Perhaps being married takes away a lot of your time away from friends.
A few days ago, some topic brought my client manager to express his desire to visit India and to know about the marriage system in the country. My Infy manager mentioned that its true that arranged marriages are still very common in India, but more number of people are finding their soul mates by themselves. Its a trend you can see very easily in urban India, where the youth has become more courageous and decisive. To put in my 2 cents, I told them a couple of points. One, that in India, only the adventurous still get into the love marriage, since essentially they have to play hide and seek to stay away from their parents, the so called well-wishers and the society at large. Its still not considered to be something ethical to do in my country, although the perception changes when the divine blessing of marriage is bestowed on such a couple. My second point was in favor of the social structure in India - where we have this catch all scenario for people who are not able to find a good soul mate on their own. For such people, the arranged marriage system is a very good option to find their better half. In the US, on the contraray, you are on your own and your folks would at best just term you a loser if you cant find someone. So, we now know what is the best (or what I consider them to be the best) of both worlds. Perhaps if we can accomodate the good points from both the countries, we would have a better world.
Instead of making the world a better place to live (which I consider is what engineers are most good at), the last important point on my weekend to-do list was to catch up on enough sleep. The overnight cricket match didnt really allow me to do that and since Monday morning is just six hours away, I guess I better hit the sack now. The sack! Let me hold on that point for now. I will revisit that in a few months. Thats is for now. Adios amigos!
Note: I hope you like the way how my different thoughts here have a good flow in this article, rather than being random.
Strangely, I prefer to watch cricket matches alone, instead of with friends. Sometimes, I like to do that with movies as well. I wouldnt call myself a loner, but I wonder why I feel that way sometimes. And its not a behavior I have developed recently. Maybe I just like to give more attention to get a better percentage of entertainment.
I just watched a couple of movies today - Se7en (which I categorize as psycho) for the first time, and Anand (which I categorize as great) for the umpteenth time. I hadnt planned to watch the latter completely today. I just started it when I got down to lunch. But, as with most great movies, I just dont know when to hit the stop button. This also happened to me when I watched Forrest Gump for the first time. My mom had called me for lunch and I just stood there watching the complete movie, thinking after every few minutes that I will just watch it for just a few more minutes, until I realized they were showing the credits. I didnt even get time to sit down. But yes, I did watch that alone as well.
But, If I am watching something that I have watched earlier, this behavior changes. I realize I spend more time looking at my family/friends enjoy the show rather than being focussed on the screen. Well, I do have a few good friends.
Next up on my task list for the weekend, I decided to call a few of my friends during the weekend. I made 4 calls to India, where most of my best friends still live. I had a nice time talking to them. Then, I turned to talk to my relatively new found friends, who are in the US. There, I distinctly found the difference. I hung up after 5 calls, since 4 of them said they were too busy with what they were doing right then and would call me back later. Only one of them actually did. So, that set me thinking. The obvious part was that the ones whom I consider to be my best friends had enough time for me. One of them said she had enough mouth to talk although she was having lunch right then. The other part that I thought of was why is it that most people in general had become quite busy? Perhaps being married takes away a lot of your time away from friends.
A few days ago, some topic brought my client manager to express his desire to visit India and to know about the marriage system in the country. My Infy manager mentioned that its true that arranged marriages are still very common in India, but more number of people are finding their soul mates by themselves. Its a trend you can see very easily in urban India, where the youth has become more courageous and decisive. To put in my 2 cents, I told them a couple of points. One, that in India, only the adventurous still get into the love marriage, since essentially they have to play hide and seek to stay away from their parents, the so called well-wishers and the society at large. Its still not considered to be something ethical to do in my country, although the perception changes when the divine blessing of marriage is bestowed on such a couple. My second point was in favor of the social structure in India - where we have this catch all scenario for people who are not able to find a good soul mate on their own. For such people, the arranged marriage system is a very good option to find their better half. In the US, on the contraray, you are on your own and your folks would at best just term you a loser if you cant find someone. So, we now know what is the best (or what I consider them to be the best) of both worlds. Perhaps if we can accomodate the good points from both the countries, we would have a better world.
Instead of making the world a better place to live (which I consider is what engineers are most good at), the last important point on my weekend to-do list was to catch up on enough sleep. The overnight cricket match didnt really allow me to do that and since Monday morning is just six hours away, I guess I better hit the sack now. The sack! Let me hold on that point for now. I will revisit that in a few months. Thats is for now. Adios amigos!
Note: I hope you like the way how my different thoughts here have a good flow in this article, rather than being random.
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