Bits n Bytes

2010-08-16T20:24:00.002+05:30

We build wishes and dreams,just like castles on a ocean shore
With its many rooms and towers, like one's heart with its million hopes
In our haste and pride we forget, its all too close to the waves
And it all comes tumbling down, like the castle in the tide's wake
All we are left with are pieces,like millions of tiny pebbles

How does one go on, how does one still believe
The castle may be gone, but the builder still breathes
And while he was hasty and suffered, his heart truly repents
He rebuilds his castle, and waits and hopes and prays
That someone up there will smile, and his dreams like the castle shall rise again..

2009-02-01T17:22:00.000+05:30

Charlotte Bronte, Parting
There's no use in weeping,
Though we are condemned to part:
There's such a thing as keeping,
A remembrance in one's heart...

2009-02-01T17:08:00.003+05:30

So how do you deal with it,
This pain in your heart,
Its not a physical wound,
But it sure does leave its scar,

Kind of makes you wonder,
Why do we pursue this,
With its complications and Pain,
Is it worth it,

Is it because every one of us is incomplete,
Missing a piece of life,and never knowing what it is,
Until you meet somebody and then you know,

You understand the reasons, and you know why
But it doesn't always fit together,
Lke the pieces of a puzzle might

2008-10-28T20:33:00.005+05:30

It wasn't supposed to feel this way,
The pining of the heart to be gone,
The restlessness meant to go away,
How many masks do I show to the world,
I was not supposed to need them here,
Yet I find it all the same,
One more face added to the collection,
Don't recognize the true one anymore

2008-01-27T17:46:00.006+05:30

Saw a tamil movie today.. Autograph . For the uninitiated , it is extremely rare of me to watch any Indian movie .. that too a tamil one around 4 hours in length.
But it was a brilliant movie , the best I have seen in years . Its about a 30 something guy , who is about to get married . He is travelling to all the places he grew up in , to meet the people there and extend invitations .

It starts off with him visiting his old village , where he attended school . The way his nonstalgia is captured and flashbacks are woven is fantastic . He relieves all of his schooldays , especially his first love . He visits her , now married with 3 kids and living a hand to mouth existence . The emotions both of them go thru when they see each other is simply brilliant . I got goosebumps .. thinking about my schooldays .Bought back all those old memories .... of what could have been .

Next he visits Kerala , where he attended college and met the second love of his life . Again he relives it all , their first kiss , the family opposition.. how she got married off and he became a drunkard.

He visits her too ... she's a widow now . They both cry ... he's angry that she didn't inform him. She tells him he's crying bcos he's feeling sympathetic towards her .. its not love.. reminds him that he had almost forgotten her. .. somethings in life are just meant to be... you accept them and move on ....

Then its back to the city , where his third love is . Shes his best friend .. a completely platonic relationship... but they do love each other . But his is an arranged marriage ... and he hasn't even met the girl once .

Made me think of my past , my 25 odd years .... so much is past .... have a strong urge to revisit it... feel alone but not lonely ... always wanted somebody for me .... in love with me ...but is it really needed...

2007-05-01T20:19:00.006+05:30

Love is but a beautiful thing,
makes everything pretty, everything serene,
it can bring bliss to your life,
make everything proper, everything right,
it will give you a taste of what heaven is like,
Like you are leading someone else's life,

Solitude has great power too,
Get to know yourself, be at peace with you,
But at times you do get the pangs,
Like when you see somebody holding hands,
You cannot help but wonder,what that would be like,
Having someone always by your side,
Someone who loves you, supports you,is there for you,
A warm body besides you, someone to wake up in the morning to,
A face which stays in your mind always, a voice which makes your heart jump,

So you wish, you wish for change,
with a true heart and a yearning soul,
And sometimes magic does happen,wonder of wonders you find someone,
Every new day is an adventure, your earlier life you remember no longer,
It feels as if life is complete,nothing else you could wish for..it seems,
But at times, you will be lonely,
The fear will come back, the pain unholy,
You seek to go back to your earlier strength,
But alas, you possess that no longer,
your life you've handed it to someone else,
your world seems so empty,
everything feel oh so crazy,
But you must hold on to your faith,
Believe in your love, and everything will fall into place.

2007-02-17T12:05:00.001+05:30

The room is dark, the night is cold,
Iam all alone, but sleep refuses to come,
My head hurts,I don't want to think,
But the voices in my head, they refuse to stop,
The clock ticks away, but time stands still,
The sun refuses, to show its face early this day,
Everything is quite, until I hear a sound,
Its the sound of laughter,a woman's voice,
For some insane reason,which I cannot fathom,
It cuts right through my heart,
Am I being foolish , or childish even,
Am i being too demanding or expecting still,
People are different, but isn't love supposed to unite them,
How can we feel so differently then,
This pain is unbearable, is it really worth it,
Wasn't it all much better, with me alone still,
It is with these thoughts, that I lie in bed,
Waiting for morning to come,
I hope it brings peace and solace to me,
I hope I find my answer soon, before I waste away completely.

2007-02-17T11:40:00.001+05:30

He was there by her side, when the sky was dark,
To lend her a shoulder, and to listen to her talk,
To wipe away her tears and try to make her smile,
To take away the pain and ease away the fears,
Along the way, he gave his all to her,
His heart and soul, now belonged to her,

When she left him, he felt he had lost it all,
Did those times matter, or was he foolish to have ever thought so at all,
The pain was too much, was it really worth it,
But he knew that he wouldn't forget it,even if she had,
He would still be here, waiting when she got back,
B'cos what he felt was true, even if she was unsure,
And some time would come, when he wouldn't be there,
Maybe then she would realise, the pain he now felt,

But he did not want her to ever suffer like this,
He would rather bleed, and let her live,
He would take times like these, if it meant that she would smile,
He would be always there, he would always care,
B'cos he really loved her, or did she forget.

2007-02-17T11:23:00.001+05:30

True love, in this world,'tis difficult to find
But being alone, can be harder still,
Having some another, it sure eases the pain,
But is it something everlasting, or fleeting still,

Desperate as we are, do we grasp at strands,
Do we delude ourselves, or settle for less,
How long can one give and give,
How long can one not expect anything in return,

We are all humans still,
All with follies and weaknesses still,
We try to be perfect,we drink the pain,
But is that really true love,

How long can one go on like this,
How long can one wait for reciprocation,
Its not about right or wrong, reasons or time,
Love is not rational,to be solved by logic by us.

2007-01-01T20:20:00.001+05:30

The Gujjus : Part 2-Stinginess.

Continuing with my exploration of the gujju psyche, its time to discuss one of the most important components of the typical gujju makeup... namely their stinginess.It has played a very crucial role in the success enjoyed by the gujju "entrepreneurs".

Its a traditional custom in India that when a child is born, holy words are whispered to him by the family elders.Well this custom holds true for gujjus also except that instead of holy words... the existing interest rate, sensex and the ruppee-dollar exchange rate are whispered to him/her. No wonder when two gujjus meet the most repeated question is: "Sensex kem che?"

Many gujjus do try to overcome this special ability of theirs..alas to no avail.The stinginess gene starts to exert itself during the teen years and by the time adulthood arrives, it has usually established itself firmly.

If you have a gujju friend then the following instances may seem vaguely familiar:

I have a hundred ruppee note only..or better yet I have no money-and the remarkable thing is their wallet will indeed turn out to be empty.

You are hungry and have ordered a king sized meal.Your gujju friend isnt hungry...you offer him/her some out of decency..he/she denies demurely..but by the time the meal is over you realize that you have eaten only two morsels.
Years of gujju wisdom transformed into one simple sentence:" Agar zeher bhi muft main milta hai to chodneka nai...bheja ma thariliyo".The really scary thing is that most of them will turn out to be multimillionaires.

To end this..some more gujju jokes...

Ek bar Ahemdabad mein, ek nai bus service shuru hui. Is bus ka kiraya (fare) Ghante Gar (clock tower) se Mandi tak ek rupaiya tha.Itna saste kiriya hone par bhi, koi bhi is bus ko use nahin karta tha. Mr Mehtaji bhi har roj bus ke route per chal kar apne daftar (office) jathe the. Bus wale tang aa gaye- koi bus use hi nahin karta tha- toh unone kiriya adha, yani ki 50 paise kar diya. Next day Mehtaji gusse mein bus station per ja kar complain karne lage-' mein loot jaun ga , apne kiraya kum kar diya!' Bus wale confuse hogeye- to Mehtajiji bole, ' Mein har roj ane aur jane ke two ruppee save karta tha ab mera ek rupaiya hi save hoga.'

2006-12-22T13:58:00.001+05:30

Us.

You say we are nothing alike,

You say we are opposites,

But it is the reason why we attract,

I would say that's all right.

I like solitude, you like to talk

I like the cold, you need the warmth

When Iam down, you are up

Iam shy, you are the bold one.

But its still all right.

When I want to talk,you want to go

I am rude , you are nice

Iam the darkness, you are the light

Iam the frown, you are the smile.

But its still all right.

When I was down, you were there by my side

You brought the bliss back into my life

I dream of you at night

I think of you all day long

You say we are opposites,

I say that's why we are a perfect match

I know you are afraid, so am I

But its been all right so far

Lets take it one step at a time.

2006-12-14T21:17:00.000+05:30

Journey

It's a long and winding road,
The night is dark and cold,
The wind chills me to the bone,
But I continue, walking alone.

The purpose of this journey, I no longer try to surmise,
The road is long,winding and precise,
The solitude is comforting no more,
But I continue,walking alone.

The mind wonders, the heart hopes,
If the journey can't be made less morose,
If only there were someone to walk along,
To hold,support and caress me,
My soul yearns for one of its own,
But I continue,walking alone.

Do others share a fate, similar to mine,
On the same road,fated or destined,
I hope,I pray,I cry for them,
May they find someone, even if I can't,
Tis' not a journey to be taken alone,
But I continue to walk alone.

2006-11-25T19:21:00.000+05:30

Hurt

Not all injuries are visible,
Not all wounds draw blood,
You don't always fathom ,
The pain you cause someone,
Nor do you understand the hurt,
But if you ask that someone,
They'll gladly accept that eternal hurt,
For one moment of blissful love.

2006-11-21T00:18:00.000+05:30

He was wearing his favourite blue shirt,

he had on his red shoes.

Today was Mother's Day at school,

and he couldn't wait to go.

But his dad tried to tell him,

that he probably should stay home.

Why the other kids might not understand,

if he went to school alone.

But he was not afraid;

he knew just what to say,

What to tell classmates of why his mother wasn't there today,

But still his father worried,

for his son to face this day alone.

And that was why once again,

he tried to keep his son home.

But the little boy went to school

eager to tell them all.

About a mother whom he never sees;

a mother who never calls.

There were mommies along the wall in back, for everyone to meet.

Kids quibbling impatiently,

and squirming in their seats

One by one the teacher called a student from the class.

To introduce their mommy, as the minutes slowly passed.

At last she called his name,

everybody turned to stare.

Each of them was searching,

for a woman who wasn't there.

"Where's his mommy ?"

he heard somebody call out.

"He doesn't have one,"

a little girl dared to shout.

The words did not offend him,

as he smiled at his dad.

And looked at his teacher,

who told him to go on.

Without faltering, he began to speak.

And from his mouth came words,

incredibly wise and unique.

My mom couldn't be here,

because she lives very far away.

And though you cannot meet her,

I wanted you to know.

All about my mommy,

and how much she loves me so.

She loved to tell me stories

she taught me to ride my bike.

she surprised me with pink roses,

and taught me to fly a kite.

We used to share chocolates,

and ice cream in a cone.

And though you cannot see her.

I'm not standing here alone.

"Cause my mommy's always with me,

even though we are apart

I know because she told me,

she'll forever be in my heart"

With that, his little hand reached up,

and lay across his chest.

Feeling his own heartbeat,

beneath his favorite blue shirt.

And from somewhere here in the crowd of moms, his dad stood in tears.

Proudly watching his kid,

who was wise beyond his years.

And when he dropped his hand back down, staring straight into
the crowd.

He finished with a voice so soft,

but its message clear and loud.

"I love my mommy very much,

she's my shining star.

And if she could, she'd be here,

but heaven's just too far

Sometimes when I close my eyes,

it's like she never went away."

And then he closed his eyes,

and he saw her there that day.

And to his dad's amazement,

he witnessed with surprise

A room full of mommies and children,

all starting to close their eyes.

Who knows what they saw before them,

who knows what they felt inside.

Perhaps for merely a second,

they saw her at his side.

"I know you're with me mommy,"

to the silence he called out.

And what happened next made believers,

of those once filled with doubt.

Not one in that room could explain it,

for each of their eyes had been closed.

But they all had felt her presence,

up there near him.

And a child was blessed, if only for a moment,

by the love of his shining star.

And given the gift of believing,

that heaven is never too far.

2006-11-20T00:09:00.000+05:30

LIFE

Why does a man want to live forever,

What fruit to taste, to drink what wine,

The body might be young,

But my soul is tired,

The will to live I possess no longer,

With great sadness, I look back through time ,

To look at the boy I was, in my prime,

He had his desires, ambitions , the joy of life,

None of these, do I any longer possess,

There’s just one thing about which I obsess,

To lie down here and go to sleep,

And wake up after eternity to find you,

Like Dante and his Beatrice.

2006-11-19T23:18:00.000+05:30

Loneliness:

How do you determine the difference between loneliness and solitude. How do you identify the thin line which marks your entry from enjoyable solitude to self imposed loneliness.

Loneliness and sexuality are very closely related. It is in our very genes to fight loneliness.The overpowering need to be with someone (opposite sex or otherwise) ,who grants you unconditional acceptance, inspite of knowing everything about you.

It is as close to the idea of heaven on earth that we are going to get. Everybody needs this,everybody craves somebody....anobody who claims otherwise is a hypocrite.

As a teenager, one craves independence and solitude. One believes oneself to be invincible ,capable of surviving without anybody else. "I don't need you" is a commonly used term.

As one matures, this illusion is shattered. As one matures, this illusion is shattered. You are independent from your parents, you assert yourself and are happy.. for a while.You then start craving for that someone special. Mundane events trigger this need, two strangers holding hands, your friend's girlfriend.

You then embark on this journey, dotted with potholes to find that someone. On the way you stumble,you fall,you gain false hope, you lose it all.All of us meet that special someone who can dispel our loneliness. And we know it when we meet them.
But only a few lucky ones are able to make it work . Rest settle for less.The loneliness lives on. That someone is never forgotten. That person lives on .....either as your email password or your kid's name.

2006-11-17T12:02:00.000+05:30

A system Implementation:

To Tech Support,

Last year I upgraded from Girlfriend 7.0 to Wife 1.0 and noticed that the new program began unexpected child processing that took up a lot of space and valuable resources. No mention of this phenomenon was included in the product brochure.

In addition, Wife 1.0 installs itself into all other programs and launches during system initialization, where it monitors all other system activity. Applications such as Pokernight 10.3, Drunken Boys Night 2.5, and Saturday Football 5.0 no longer run, crashing the system whenever selected. I cannot seem to keep Wife 1.0 in the background while attempting to run some of my other favorite applications.

I am thinking about going back to Girlfriend 7.0, but uninstall does not work on this program. Can you help me, please?

Thanks.

Dear Customer:

This is a very common problem that customers complain about, but it is mostly due to a primary misconception. Many people upgrade from Girlfriend 7.0 to Wife 1.0 with the idea that Wife 1.0 is merely a "UTILITIES & ENTERTAINMENT" program. Wife 1.0 is an OPERATING SYSTEM and designed by its creator to run everything.

It is unlikely you would be able to purge Wife 1.0 and still convert back to Girlfriend 7.0. Hidden operating files within your system would cause Girlfriend 7.0 to emulate Wife 1.0, so nothing is gained.

It is impossible to uninstall, delete, or purge the program files from the system once installed. You can not go back to Girlfriend 7.0, because Wife 1.0 is not designed to do this. Some have tried to install Girlfriend 8.0 or Wife 2.0 but end up with more problems than the original system. Look in your manual under "Warnings-Alimony/Child Support." I recommend you keep Wife 1.0 and just deal with the situation.

Having Wife 1.0 installed myself, I might also suggest you read the entire section regarding General Partnership Faults (GPFs). You must assume all responsibility for faults and problems that might occur, regardless of their cause. The best course of action will be to enter the command C:\APOLOGIZE. In any case avoid excessive use of the "Esc" key, because ultimately you will have to give the APOLOGIZE command before the operating system will return to normal. The system will run smoothly as long as you take the blame for all the GPFs.

Wife 1.0 is a great program, but very high-maintenance. Consider buying additional software to improve the performance of Wife 1.0. I recommend Flowers 2.1 and Chocolates 5.0. Do not, under any circumstances, install Secretary With Short Skirt 3.3.

This is not a supported application for Wife 1.0 and is likely to cause irreversible damage to the operating system.

Best of luck,

Tech Support

2006-11-12T12:28:00.000+05:30

Those strange Gujjus.....

Gujju :
Slang for a person from the state of Gujarat in India. Known to be stingy, but are some of the best businessmen/women, always get the best side of the bargain.

The Simple Gujju test:
Are you guju?

Whoa, you spent only $50 dollars for that authentic Michael Jordan Jersey...damn thats gujju!

Alternative definition:
a miser who will starve to save money

He ate fresh air so he could buy a house

The Gujjus.... ppl belonging to a relatively small Indian state of Gujarat who nevertheless seem to have taken upon their not inconsiderable shoulders the onus of spreading their bloodline everywhere.

Today, Gujjus are found in every nook and corner of this world. I suspect that when Antarctica and the Artic circle do thaw out , we will find the bones of some Gujju entrepreneur who had gone there to sell the locals some Dhoklas and Ghagra -Cholis.

The Gujju lifestyle and behaviour is very akin to that of the African wild bees.. that is occupy and conquer.

Being a mumbaite myself, I can vouch for the fact that Gujjus are the masters of covert non violent guerilla warfare. You so much as turn your head away, the next instant some gujju and his flock would have descended upon the unsuspecting neighbourhood to open a " Patel Kirana shop ".This, of course , is the famed gujju entrepreneurial spirit.

After conquering Dalal street and the Badlands of Borivli, the gujjus now seem to have set their eyes on the heretofore south indian strongland of Matunga.

As I mentioned, gujjus exhibit flocking behaviour very similar to that of bees and also seem to have developed some kind of pheromone system. It is said that a gujju can detect the presence of another gujju from 10 km afar. Many animal species would be jealous of that kind of sophisticated detection system.

Like bees, gujjus also tend to flock together to the virtual exclusivity of any other community. And their loyalty to ther mothertongue is legendry. Evven a 4th or 5th generation russian born Gujju will speak fluent gujurati(though his russian and english may be highly suspect).

If u thought that a south Indian wedding was elaborate and tedious think again.Gujjus again take the cake.Firstly, it is really difficult to figure out who the bride is bcoz every woman in the room is decked in heavy zardozi sarees with matching mehndi and and layers of make-up.
Secondly, all the brides maids have their hair either ironed poker straight or curled and look as if they have stepped right out of Ekta Kapoor's movie set. However the whole affair is hugely entertaining,wat with the garbas and dhoklas.

Dont get me wrong, every community has its idiosyncrasies , its just that my multitudes of gujju friends have enabled me to keenly observe theirs.

So Jai Shri Krishna.. and some more gujju jokes to boot ..hehe...

Another example of gujju ingeniousnes.....

Mr.Mehta's connections...

Mehta was bragging to his boss one day,” You know, I know everyone there is to know. Just name someone, anyone, and I know them.”

“Tired of his boasting, his boss called his bluff, “OK, Mehta how about Tom Cruise?”

“Sure, yes, Tom and I are old friends, and I can prove it.”

So Mehta and his boss fly out to Hollywood and knock on Tom Cruise’s door, and sure enough, Tom Cruise shouts, “Mehta! Great to see you! You and your friend come right in and join me for lunch!”

Although impressed, Mehta’s boss is still sceptical.

After they leave Cruise’s house, he tells Mehta that he thinks Mehta’s knowing Cruise was just lucky. “No, no, just name anyone else,” Mehta says.”President Clinton,” his boss quickly retorts.

“Yes,” Mehta says, “I know him, let’s fly out to Washington.” And off they go. At the White House, Clinton spots Mehta on the White House tour and motions him and his boss over, saying, “Mehta , what a surprise, I was just on my way to a meeting, but you and your friend come on in and let’s have a cup of coffee first and catch up.”

Well, the boss is much shaken by now, but still not totally convinced. After they leave the White House grounds, he expresses his doubts to Mehta who again implores him to name anyone else.

“The Pope,” his boss replies. “Sure!” says Mehta. “My folks are from Poland, and I’ve known the Pope a long time.” So off they fly to Rome. Mehta and his boss are assembled with the masses in Vatican Square when Mehta says,” This will never work. I can’t catch the Pope’s eye among all these people. Tell you what, I know all the guards so let me just go upstairs and I’ll come out on the balcony with the Pope. And he disappears into the crowd headed toward the Vatican.

Sure enough, half an hour later Mehta emerges with the Pope on the balcony.

But by the time Mehta returns, he finds that his boss has had a heart attack and is surrounded by paramedics. Working his way to his boss’ side, Mehta asks him, “what happened?”

His boss looks up and says, “I was doing fine until you and the Pope came out on the balcony and the man next to me said, “Who’s that on the balcony with Mehta?”

Gujju Parent Complaining: Maro dikro States maa gayo...
Interpretation: His Kid failed in Statistics.

Hilarious gujju hiphop:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8299383145536326053&hl=undefined

2006-11-12T12:12:00.000+05:30

Close Encounter of the Mumbai Kind....

4 Mumbaites - a Gujju, a Bhaiyya and a Bihari & Malayali died and were facing Yama. Yama asked them if they wanted some facilities & told Chitragupt to decide on their accommodation.

The Gujju said : “Hey Yambhai, aa marathi loko toh mane shaanti thi jeeva nathi deta. Maari dukaan fodi naakhi. Aa marathi loko ekdum junglee chhe. Mane maari baaju maa marathi maanas nathi joto.”

The UPite said : “Theek kaha gujjubhai ne. Shriman Yam, in marathi logo ne to hamara jeena hi mushkil kar diya hai….eemaan se! Arre, meri dukaan ka board bhi kala kar diya. Kahat rahi ki dukaan ka naam marathi bhasha mein hona chaahiye. Ab ee bhi koi baat hui kya? Mujhe bhi mere baaju mein marathi aadmi nahi chaahiye.”

The Bihari said : “Yeh dono sajjan aadmi theek kahat hain. Arre main thode din pehle railway ki pariksa dene mumbai gaya tha. Raam Lalla ki sougandh, in marathi logun ne humka bahut hi peeta. Hamaar haddi pasli ek kardi. Aisa junglee marathi humka hamaar saath naahi chaahiye.”

The Malayali said “aiiyoo humoko bhi marathi baaju main nahi mangta, bahto pareshaan karta hai yeh log. kuch kaam kerne ko nahi aata phir bhi hosiyari maarke kaheta hai ki tumko hamare mumbai se nikal dega.

Yama turns to Chitragupt : “Aayla Chitrya, ya saglyanchya files majhyakade gheun ye re!!! Baghto ekekala”

2006-11-11T09:52:00.000+05:30

The Portrait of the Mastermind Rational (iNTj)

INTJs are the most self-confident of all personality types, having "self-power" awareness. Found in about 1 percent of the general population, the INTJs live in an introspective reality, focusing on possibilities, using thinking in the form of empirical logic, and preferring that events and people serve some positive use. Decisions come naturally to INTJs' once a decision is made, INTJs are at rest. INTJs look to the future rather than the past, and a word which captures the essence of INTJs is builder-a builder of systems and the applier of theoretical models.

The independent and individualistic INTJ manner appears early in life. As children, INTJs are often inwardly focused on their thoughts of the way the world is or ought to be; they enjoy day dreaming. They can be quite stubborn when information relayed to them by authorities, such as parents and teachers, contradicts what they believe. They are sure of their own belief system. INTJs are compelled to establish their own rules, boundaries, standards, and style.

Often at an early age, INTJs make a commitment to furthering their education. The life of the mind is very important to them. Examples abound of INTJs from economically or intellectually impoverished circumstances setting goals for themselves to continue in education, often earning the highest degree possible.

INTJ teenagers may be seen as serious and reserved young people who are labeled as bookworms by others. They set internal standards of achievement for themselves and often do well academically. Being sociable is a standard that they rarely think is worth their time and energy.

As adults, INTJs are focused on attaining their inner goals and standards. They set a particular course based on their theory of what ought to be. They work extremely diligently to accomplish what they feel is important. They enjoy what they do and see it as a challenge. They are not easily dissuaded and may regard others' needs and wants as an impediment to attaining their objectives.

INTjs behave in a very self-restrained manner with strangers, never showing initiative first and always maintaining a long psychological distance. Their speech is very clear and logical and they always follow a logical progression. They also have a tendency to emphasise key words. When defending their concepts and ideas during a confrontation their logic can become solid and absolute. They cut out all irrelevant details that may cloud the argument.

Although the first impression of INTjs is that they are emotionless, when they become inspired during conversation an emotionality previously unseen begins to emerge. Their eyes start flashing with a fanatic light and their passion increases as the conversation progresses. However, they still try to maintain their self-control. INTjs sustain conversations only if they find them interesting. They prefer to keep silent rather than give an opinion on a subject to which they are indifferent.

INTjs always give others a chance to say what they need to say. They consider that everyone has got talents and they try at least not to interfere. They do not refuse any proposals immediately, preferring to examine them first. INTjs are very reserved and usually do not take the initiative in talking about their interests and private life. This can lead others to think that they have no private life at all.

INTjs have a very characteristic tendency to independence and can only accept a whole freedom. In work matters they combine their need for freedom with a feeling of responsibility. INTjs are not very demanding. They are often indifferent to food and its presentation. It can be simple but must be fresh. When involved in something interesting they can completely forget that they need to eat.

In everyday matters INTjs are modest and are happy to have a minimum degree of comfort. INTjs usually have an interest that stays with them for a long time and are absolutely indifferent to what others say about it. They never endorse their position in life. INTjs live in a world of their own conception. They simply ignore rules, concepts and directives that do not suit them. Most people do not understand INTjs and try to keep away from them.

2006-11-10T19:42:00.000+05:30

Images of Vasai:

The streets which after midnight served as a cricket playground.

The Vasai fort, an old haunt of mine.

Conquered by the Maratha,Chimaji Appa from the Portuguese who built it. (Above) The Portuguese seal.

Tomb of a Portuguese soldier who died in the war.

The Sea.

Spent many late nights and early mornings here.

2006-11-10T19:21:00.000+05:30

Why Windows is King.

Iam sure all of us must have cribbed about our Windows operating system at one point or the point in our life as a computer user. Also our computing experience wouldn’t have been complete without experiencing the ubiquitous Blue screen of death.

At times like these, we all feel like giving up on Windows and turning to Linux or its various distributions. But we never do. Infact for all the hype and hoopla surrounding Linux, the fact is that while as an operating system it beats Windows hands down ( faster, cheaper , more efficient) but as a desktop system it is no match.

Graphical User Interface:

It is a fact that Linux is difficult to master. For a long time Windows user, it can be quite frustrating to figure it all out. Installing Windows from scratch is much easier than installing Linux from scratch. Installing Windows is always the same whereas the different distributions of Linux have their own installation programs.
Installing Linux on a computer without an OS is much easier than installing it on a machine with an existing OS that you want to preserve. Part of the difficulty in installing Linux is terminology and documentation. The install process is designed by Linux people for Linux people. A Windows-only person is likely to encounter terminology and concepts they are unfamiliar with.
Linux typically provides two GUIs, KDE and Gnome. Linux GUI is optional while the Windows GUI is an integral component of the OS. While advanced users can customize things to their liking, it makes things harder on new users for whom every Linux computer they encounter may look and act differently.

Software/hardware Support:

Walk into any computer store and check out how much Linux compatible software you are able to lay your hands on. The answer will be not that much. Of course lots of Linux compatible software is available on the net, for people who know how to find it, but the average desktop user has neither the time nor the inclination for it.

Working with Windows, one has become so used to the plug and play architecture and inbuilt hardware compatibility that it becomes really frustrating when one encounters these hardware problems with Linux. Dealing with hardware incompatibility is without doubt Linux’s Achilles heel.

Gaming:

Pc gaming has come into its own over the past few years and is a really a big deal for me, and one would guess that so would be the case with most desktop users. This is another area where Linux lags far behind Windows. If you are addicted to playing Quake 4 or Doom 3, I don’t see you switching to Linux just yet.

IP Indemnification:

IP indemnification has come up as a major issue over the past few years. Many vendors have been plagued by problems in this regard with debates raging over how customers should be protected.

The recent deal between Novell and Microsoft has further fuelled rumors that Microsoft is preparing to use this weapon in its competition against Linux.

From all this issues one can safely assume that, given all the problems plaguing Windows Vista, it will still sell like hot cakes when it becomes commercially available early next year.

2006-11-10T19:18:00.000+05:30

Cheap Revolution

A cheap revolution is on the horizon in the world of Information Technology, and it promises to radically change the IT business landscape.

The term Cheap Revolution was coined by Rich Karlgaard in Forbes Magazine in 2003. The cheap revolution heralds the era in which the customer will no more depend on the IT giants for his computing needs but will shift to open source software, cheap chips and on demand customized software.

Infact the concept of the cheap revolution is also frequently used to explain the outsourcing business.

When we look at the giants of the IT industry, we find that they are strikingly similar in the business model they follow. Companies like Microsoft, oracle, Cisco, SAP have made their fortunes by selling proprietary hardware/Software /operating systems along with licensing at large margins.

But increasingly they are being challenged by startups offering open source and web based alternatives with on demand customization facilities at a fraction of the cost.

We have examples of operating systems like Ubuntu and OpenBSD, and Salesforce.com whose CRM software is fast catching up with Siebel.

What is even more interesting to note is that these startups are being operated by employees who have worked with these very giants of the IT industry.

Does this spell doom for Microsoft. Maybe.

So how do the IT giants survive this cheap revolution?

1. Improve your product offering faster than anybody else can. This tactic works, generally, only for market leaders with a good brand name, a greased distribution channel and financial might. (Think Intel.) And it works only as long as the market wants the added functionality and is willing to pay for it.

2. Sell fast custom solutions that answer a customer's needs. This is what IBM is doing. IBM has increasingly started tying up with third party providers which give it the flexibility to react quickly to customer demands.

3. Find an unserved market and serve it cheaply.

2006-11-03T13:45:00.000+05:30

India's First Param Vir Chakra :

http://www.rediff.com/news/2006/nov/03spec.htm

2006-10-31T20:06:00.000+05:30

Six Degrees of separation:

It is said that every person on this earth is connected to every other person through a maximum of six others.

It means that your best friend from school( or your school crush) is just six people away from coming back into your life.

All of us have this concept of " Best Time" we had in our lives.

It represents that stage in you life when you were most happy, for most of us it is some stage in our childhood.

It is perfectly normal to be nonstalgic about those times and wish you could go back to those perfect days. As one gets older,the greater this yearning becomes.

We fantasize about going back to those days,to relive those moments again.We wish to change certain things we did back then, which still haunt us,which we believe had the power to alter the very life we are leading today.

Maybe this time you would be able to muster the courage to talk to that girl you always liked..

Maybe this time you would actually help that dumb kid everybody always picked on..

If only...

We strive to replicate those times, our idea of a perfect life for us ,has at its very essence, those days.It is the force that drives us in our everyday lives.

So how about tracking down those six people who hold the key to your school crush?
Or how about if we really could go back to those times?

Would you?

The answer in my case and I suspect in lot others as well will be a no.

Why?Somebody says knowing is better than wondering.I disagree.

People need some fantasy to hold on to.We need to beleive in the possibility of a better life, a perfect life bcos not everyone finds his/her purpose in life.

For the rest of us, it is our fantasies that drive us.

Thats why I wouldn't want to go back in time for that girl I liked to tell me that she doesn't fancy me ...
or tracking her down now to find shes married to a classmate I never liked.. and that she had a crush on me back in school.

Kinda would ruin my fantasy...wouldn't it.

World Politics

2006-10-18T09:59:00.000+05:30

2006-10-13T15:54:00.000+05:30

Google Acquires Youtube :

So Google decided to take the easy way out. Instead of working on Google Videos , they decided to take over the competition.
But many believe that google has made a tactical mistake and Fox/Myspace will make them pay.

You Tube has become a major source of video sharing, often copyrighted. Much of this Content is Fox owned. And it can make Google Pay. Google will have to tighten up its DRM.

Google -- We work to identify and remove any infringing content that may appear on Google Video using the process set forth in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). If we receive a notice or otherwise have reason to believe that content submitted by a particular user infringes another person’s copyright, their account may be terminated.

Youtube --“All of the content on YouTube — including videos, comments, and ratings — is posted at the direction of users. We take copyright issues very seriously. Our terms of use make it clear that users should own or have permission from copyright holders to post any videos. We encourage copyright holders to contact us appropriately if they have any objections about specific postings.”

2006-10-13T15:53:00.000+05:30

REMORSE.

It is but with deep remorse,
That I wonder which is worse,

To see her in his arms or,
To know that I had the chance, to change all this so wrong,

If only all this I had foreseen,
The first time I laid eyes on her face so serene,

I knew then that I had lost,

The man I was then , I no more was,
To be with her , body and soul , all my life ,
Was my dream , my wish supreme,

If only I had told her so,
Maybe things would be different, my remorse not so,

Does she ever think of me,
During those lonely moments or,
When he touches her unseen,

Maybe Iam not the only one,
This remorse might be, after all , a shared one.

2006-10-13T15:52:00.000+05:30

HIM.

He is said to work in a mysterious way,
Tis but another instance, they would say,

I for one cannot understand,
Why He has chosen this deck of hands,

Does He think this to be funny ,
For me its nothing but misery,

Iam but in constant pain,
To think of him holding her again,

Her memories are enough for me
But nobody deserves this destiny,

I just wish that next time around,
She’s with me, and he’s not around.

2006-10-13T15:51:00.000+05:30

LOVE.

How does one know they’re in love?

Is it the fluttering of the heart, the warming of the flesh?

Is it the anticipation of seeing her again that,

Wakes you up and don’t let you sleep again,

How does one know that one’s in Love?

Is it the quickening of the steps when you catch a glimpse of her,

Or the smell of her fragrance the seems to linger forever,

How does one know that one’s in love?

Me thinks it none of these

Its more to do with the way one feels

With her, there’s a whole new you,

As they say, she completes you,

Big or small, great or not, this fate has befallen them all,

But for only a few lucky ones ,does love conquer all.

2006-10-13T15:50:00.000+05:30

DESTINY.

Why does it hurt so bad...

I barely knew her 'tis a fact..

All those memories streaming back...

All bcos of a glimpse few days back...

Wat purpose will all this serve..

For I know in the end i'll lose my nerve..

They say ‘tis better to know then to wonder..

But is really so I truly ponder..

To get hurt is my destiny..

How I know this, is a mystery..

But I can't stop thinking about her..

For she’s my girl, Iam crazy 'bout her.

2006-10-13T15:49:00.000+05:30

Its a Deal !!

Recently read the international bestseller by Herb Cohen on how to negotiate. Its a great book and I would greatly recommend it.
Negotiations play an important role in business and everyday human life in general. Heck we negotiate with ourselves on a daily basis. Our brain negotiates with our heart on whether we should get up an hour earlier, whether one shpuld bunk that economics class later that day, whether one should eat that last piece of cake or even whether one should laze around at home or take the wife out.

Essentially what Herb Cohen says is this:
Any negotiation hinges upon three key variables:

Power, Information and Time: Who has the upper hand in each.. you or the other side.
He goes on to describe two different styles of negotiations:

Soviet style: Named after the strategy followed by the leaders of the erstwhile Soviet Union..it is basically winner takes all. Makes use of extreme starting positions, limited authority and emotional tactics.

Win -win style: Both sides benefit. Kind of follows the " Mi casa es su casa" approach..
For more.. read the book.

2006-10-13T15:48:00.001+05:30

Xerox(PARC) + MAC = WINDOWS.

This is a widely circulated story.. part fact,part fiction all action about how the Windows operating system was developed.
I thought that most people would be knowing about this but was surprised at how few actually did.
But first. Legal Disclaimer: I disavow all responsibilty towards the accuracy of this post.

So here goes...

Xerox had a research centre in Palo Alto where revolutionary new ideas were borne --> menu driven interfaces, the beginnings of the GUI we use today.
Jobs of Apple working along with people from the Xerox(PARC) developed the Mac user interface.
But obviously an interface on its own wasn't of much use.It needed some applications.Jobs had heard of Redmont,Washingtonbased company , Microsoft, which had recently gained prominence through their development of the Disk Operating System.

He hired them to develop applications for the Mac.Microsoft developed the applications but also managed to wrangle licences to certain features of the Mac UI.( Core competency anyone :-) ). Later on they incorporated more and more of the Mac features and voila.. we had WINDOWS.
It is believed that Jobs lost the court case due to those licenses.
Incidentally,Microsoft is also accused of copying DOS...

2006-10-13T15:48:00.000+05:30

Scotty got beamed out....
One of the major headlines this week was the ouster of founderand CEO of Sun Microsystems.., Scott Mc Nealy.There had been rumours to this effect for quite some timenow. Apparently the board and Scott did not see eye to eye any longer.
Sun Microsystems is a big name in the IT world with Java and Solaris platforms. However its revenues have been dipping of late.
The board and Sun's Wall Street backers wanted large scale layoffs to deal with the situation but Scott was opposed to it.
He is also known as a rabid anti Microsoft guy.. led Sun's lawsuit against Billy and his boys..and with rumors of increasing cosiness between the two IT giants.. seems a good time to let old Scotty go.

2006-10-13T15:46:00.000+05:30

Scared n Lovin it..
The other night I watched "The Exorcist 2" and was thoroughly bored by it.
Dunno how but somehow Horror has become equated to lots of gore + gooey blood. While that may induce u to puke ..it sure doesn't scare u.
The one film which really scared the shit out of me was"The Omen". I first saw it wen I was around 10 and could'nt sleep for a coupla days.
Because of the success of this film .. there were a number of sequels.. which were all crap.
This film also popularised the concept of the Devil's No-666.However this is a misconception.
:-) As the story goes..The devil appeared to an ancient prophet in a dream.The prophet was so scared by the experience that he lost his power of speech.
On waking up, he drew a picture of the devil..and put the number 666 on his head. However, while dreaming human beings see numbers inverted... so wat the prophet actually saw was 999.
Probably u knew that... if u r more of a reader...then checkout
Stephen King's " Salem's Lot" or John Saul's "Creature"..
so..."Ave Satani!"

2006-10-13T15:45:00.000+05:30

The Gospel Of Judas
Recently there has been a lot of frenzy generated by an ancient document which has purportedly been written byJudas Iscariot and/or his disciples.
National Geographic showed many specials on it..This is also along the lines of Dan Brown's " Da Vinci Code"..secret hidden for centuries...will shake foundations of the modern Church and the Christian religion and so on.
The document is in pretty bad shape and is currently being restored by experts.Only a part of it has been deciphered and the crux of it is that Judas did not betray Jesus. He was only carrying out Jesus's command, who in order to fulfill his divine destiny had to be crucified.
The document has been widely criticised as a hoax and discreditedby the Church.I would think that the humanisation of Jesus would only helpin making him more popular ...at a time when the younger generation is increasingly turning away from the church.
Perhaps its because it removes Judas as a symbol of evil..many hold him responsible for the spread of anti -semitism in the world.
This document is believed to be the work of the Devil.. :-)If u ask me Lucifer or Astros was a pretty wronged guy himself
but thats another story....

2006-10-13T15:44:00.000+05:30

Crabs , Money and Death..
Doing an MBA naturally makes u curious about other jobs, wat these jobs entitle and how much they pay. After all.. wat we do most of the time is talk about job profiles...career goal paths.. salaries.. increments and blah.. blah ..blah.
So wat wud u say about a job wit the following description:
Around 5- 10 days of work per year.
Stand to make between 25000 - 100000$.
Probability of dying-100%
Probabilty of suffering grievous injury-200%
No sleep... guaranteed emotional trauma.
Iam not making this up.. the job Iam refering to is king and snow crab winter fishing in the Bering Sea.
It is statistically the most dangerous job in the world.Someone almost always dies whenever these guys set out.
Seeing how the job pays.. there is no dearth of takers for the job.
Every winter the race starts.. with a fixed fishing quota for each season.. fishing ships compete with each other to get maximum share.
In such a competitive situation.. sleep is obviously a luxury. Fishermen develop a condition in which their eyes r fixed in the staring position.. they r unable to blink.Another condition is wen ur arms freeze.. and apparently the only way out, in theabsence of any medical help, is to pee on them. :-)
wat the heck.. the money is gud.. any takers??

2006-10-13T15:43:00.000+05:30

LIGER = LION + TIGER

The 10ft Liger who's still growing... He looks like something from a prehistoric age or a fantastic creation from Hollywood. But Hercules is very much living flesh and blood - as he proves every time he opens his gigantic mouth to roar.

Part lion, part tiger, he is not just a big cat but a huge one, standing 10ft tall on his back legs. Called a liger, in reference to his crossbreed parentage, he is the largest of all the cat species. On a typical day he will devour 20lb of meat, usually beef or chicken, and is capable of eating 100lb at a single setting. At just three years old, Hercules already weighs half a ton. He is the accidental result of two enormous big cats living close together at the Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species, in Miami, Florida, and already dwarfs both his parents. "Ligers are not something we planned on having," said institute owner Dr Bhagavan Antle.

"We have lions and tigers living together in large enclosures and at first we had no idea how well one of the lion boys was getting along with a tiger girl, then lo and behold we had a liger." 50mph runner... Not only that, but he likes to swim, a feat unheard

of among water-fearing lions. In the wild it is virtually impossible for lions and tigers to mate. Not only are they enemies likely to kill one another, but most lions are in Africa and most tigers in Asia.

But incredible though he is, Hercules is not unique. Ligers have been bred in captivity, deliberately and accidentally, since shortly before World War II. Today there are believed to be a handful of ligers around the world and a similar number of tigons, the product of a tiger father and lion mother. Tigons are smaller than ligers and take on more physical characteristics of the tiger.Look at the size of the head on this thing.. :o)

2006-10-13T15:42:00.000+05:30

Hypnerotomachia Polyphili.
Wat the hell ... is wat ur thinking I believe.
Hypnerotomachia Polyphili--> Loosely translated , it means
" Polyphilo's quest for love in a dream".
It is a book , written sometime in the fourteenth century, and like all old things its quite valuable. Iam sure u know about the Guttenberg Bible... the first book published Guttenberg... Its the most valuable book in the world.
After that comes the " Hypnerotomachia Polyphili". It supposedly tells the story of a young man named Polyphilo who has a dream in which he searches for his love.. a girl named Polia.
But acadamecians and scholars believe that the book actually contains a great secret ..which many have died trying to figure out but no one has succeeded.
The book's extremely complex and contains passages in Greek, Latin, Hebrew , French andEnglish to name a few.
This book is the subject of the bestselling novel " The Rule Of Four" by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason . For fans of Dan Brown and "The Da Vinci Code" .. this novel is a must read. Enjoy...

2006-10-13T15:39:00.000+05:30

A midsummer day's dream:

Now that I have started my summers, I find that I have loads of time on my hands. Everday I wake up around 4 ( Yeah thats AM , my insomaniac friends :-) ), watch some TV , go for a walk, come back .. , watch some more TV, surf the net and reach my office by 9: 30 .

As soon as I enter, I go and greet my Boss and we engage in our daily morning masochistic conversation.

Boss: " Well Rajesh, hows the project going ?"

Me: " Very well sir, Iam making gud progress"

Boss( with averted eyes): " Gud gud, Its a very important project u know.." poor guy cant lie to my face.

Me: "Yes sir, absolutely. Did u manage to have a luk at the presentation, Sir"

Boss: " No unfortunately, I was too busy.. definately will have a luk today..."

Me: " Yes sir..."

Thus ends the morning ritual.

Then I go and sit in my cubicle. I have exactly eight hours to spend now. One hour --> lunch.

Schedule for the remaining 7 hours:

Per hour:

First 15 minutes: check netmail...followed by yahoo account 1, 2,3... check gmail account and finally indiatimes account.

next half hour: actually do something about the project...

Next 15 minutes: Check netmail...followed by yahoo account 1,2,3.. check gmail account and finally indiatimes account.

Quite a hectic day as u will no doubt agree.....

The Blog's Alive!!!!!