dreams

2009-12-02T08:12:00.000-08:00

restarting sketching ...
here's what I did y'day

Trip to God’s own country 2

2009-02-04T15:47:00.000-08:00

I am home playing soccer with my niece and nephew.
My nephew is playing soccer and I am playing "how a football feels when it goes flying towards a goal post".
My niece is playing horse riding and I am playing "how a horse's back feels after carrying an hour of riding" . Now I know why a horse stands on four legs and not 2. After an hour of being a horse.. you would too

No wonder my brother looks happy and doesn't have the usual stooping and back pain. For me .. bengay .. moov..

In God's own country, you will feel like your are floating in bed when sleeping.. all thanks to your neighborhood mosquitoes.
The mosquito have all won heavy weight titles, with appetite to match and lifting me all a day's job for them. Still they believe in sharing.. so 100 work together instead of 10.

A visit to god’s own country

2009-01-18T04:01:00.000-08:00

Me on phone: Hi Dad. Its me .. Happy New Year
Dad: New Year was 12 hours ago. Who are you telling me this late..

Me: It's me your son Jeseem, calling from USA. New Year started here only now.
Dad: Jasin .. good that you called.

Me (wondering): its time to go to India for a visit, before dad forgets my name and starts calling me Basin.

So started my trip plan for India after 3 years.
After the usual looking at myriad options to travel through and airlines,
And dreaming of stopovers and breaks in 5 countries for a 2 week visit to India,
I calculated that I will be able to spend at most 2 days in my home.

Me: Dad. Me flying in a week. On way I have a stopover at Amsterdam for 2 days, then spending 2 days in paris..
I will end up having 2 full days in my home. I have to spend around 5 hours at home finishing my office work

Mom ( in background): Why don't we go to USA. That way we can spend 6 months with our boy.

6 months.. with no night outs.. a shudder ran through me and the reaction was instant
Me: Dad, I decided to directly fly to India and will spend a month there. I have already booked tickets, so can't change plan.

No matter how old you grow, your parents always know how to outsmart you. ( 'cause they are growing older )

another office scene.. how projects are executed

2008-07-28T20:40:00.001-07:00

Get Well Soon

2008-07-08T08:57:00.000-07:00

Wishing a quick recovery for a good friend "Hirdu Maharaj".

happy Valentine

2008-02-15T09:12:00.000-08:00

wishing everyone a beautiful valentine with their loved ones :)

the new year of rat

2008-02-07T14:24:00.000-08:00

Wishing you all a happy chinese new year
and here's to welcoming the year of rat

X'mas gift

2007-12-13T19:04:00.001-08:00

One of my managers saw this and came and told me
"I need to buy more winter cloths :) "

IQ check

2007-11-27T16:14:00.000-08:00

Your EQ is 153

50 or less: Thanks for answering honestly. Now get yourself a shrink, quick!
51-70: When it comes to understanding human emotions, you'd have better luck understanding Chinese.
71-90: You've got more emotional intelligence than the average frat boy. Barely.
91-110: You're average. It's easy to predict how you'll react to things. But anyone could have guessed that.
111-130: You usually have it going on emotionally, but roadblocks tend to land you on your butt.
131-150: You are remarkable when it comes to relating with others. Only the biggest losers get under your skin.
150+: Two possibilities - you've either out "Dr. Phil-ed" Dr. Phil... or you're a dirty liar.

W hat's Your EQ (Emotional Intelligence Quotient)?

Well I am not lying for sure. I have been called a very sensitive person repeatedly.
And even said " hey you guess too easily"
Good to see someone agrees.

Happy after so much self-praise. ( I know its bad but a little self indulgance once in a while)

Happy Diwali

2007-11-08T19:55:00.001-08:00

Wishing you all a fire-cracker exploding Diwali.
and Watch your tails ;)

wishing a nice weekend

2007-11-02T16:24:00.000-07:00

Restarting my sketching and blogging after a long long time...
here one wishing you a nice weekend

8 facts about me

2007-07-29T11:37:00.000-07:00

The girl with a big beautiful eyes, tagged me.
I look again, and hey her eye looks big
'cause she is peering at me from a camera lens.

I can imagine what her next request would be.
"Hey can you jump from that high cliff..
I want to take a photo of a guy falling. plzz... :) "

and then a Japanese Beauty tagged me.
She has a great smile, but her pics never show her hands ( holding a baseball bat.. now do the tag or else... )

okie so to the tag
well, everything about me is random, so this one will be easy :)

1. On a moonlit night
friend : hey , the moon is so full and bright. I always feel so strong emotionally on full moon night. Why do all people feel that way.
me: hmm so on a new moon night, you will have no emotions. right ?

yes, I am a master at pulling leg. Though I never do it before married guys and girls.

2. The love affair.
On a moonlit night, I looked at her. She had a shine.
and the words escaped from me , like a silent murmur.
" I Love You"

And then I heard a peel of laughter and someone rolling on the pavement not able to control her laughter. Finally she got up and said : How dare you express your love for your car before me.
Well, dear mustang car of mine, we will always be together.

( as a sidenote, she is getting a new competition soon ;) )

2. Dressing

me ( wearing my new dress): how do I look ?
friend: Like out of stone age
me: hey, in stone age, humans didn't wear cloths.
friend: compared to what you are wearing, they looked better.

Since then I have been doing the rounds of abercrombie and fitch, american eagle, aeropostle ...

3. friends
I like to make good friends.
And for good friends, I am always there to help.
Now if a friend calls me and says, "hey I am stuck 100miles away. Can you come ? "
He/She can be sure I will come there in 2 hrs to pick him up ( driving a rental BMW Z4 or a more pricier car, which ofcourse he will have to pay for)

4. food
friend: how can you always eat out. Don't you get bored
me : how can you always eat @home. Don't you get bored.
friend: home food is so good.
me : yeah it is, but when not you are cooking. Then I prefer restaurant.

I run ....

I like eating out always. Right from my college days. and I love it.
Besides its charity work , helping the poor cooks and waiters make a living.

5. young guy
Couple of female colleagues celebrating the lady finance managers birthday.
I heard a cake being cut and innocently walked in.
so I was given a cake.

me (to the b'day girl) : so how old are you ?
she : you shouldn't ask such a question, you know.
me : you must be 26
she : no I am 31 :-)

I think she turned 35 on that day :-)

A colleague friend of mine and me sitting in coffee breakroom

she : how old are you ?
me : you guess.
she : let me see. 24 ?

I am rolling on the floor laughing. Well she got it way wrong, but usually people get my age wrong by at least 3-4 years.

6. wake-up service
phone rings
my friend picks it up.
friend: hello
me : hi , good morning
friend : but its saturday. why wake me up
me: well I just wanted to trouble you in morning.

Grrr,.... *phone slams down*

I sleep 5-6 hrs a day everyday.
Unfortunately I don't get to see any free night movie screening ( dreams). Some people are so lucky, but not me :(

7.
friend : do you flirt ?
me : no .. no.

will a flirt ever admit that he flirts.
I don't. I just call it passing a few honest compliments :-)
And the best fun is to make someone soar in sky with so many praises and
then bring her crashing down, with a little leg-pulling.
Guaranteed to get you kicked every time :)

8. Mr. Strong
friend : you are so strong
I stand up and suck up all the air trying to show my inflated chest.
friend ( with a smile) : I mean mentally.

I gracefully deflate myself
Well part is true, I do have my low times. Thats about 1 day an year.

sunset

2007-07-21T09:02:00.001-07:00

After a long time, got my internet connection back @home.

a few snaps of sunset from a recent trip to sequoia national park

a taste of married life - child safety

2007-07-02T21:33:00.001-07:00

My sister has recently moved to California and her kids are joining her.

sis: we need some child safety stuff. so do you know how to cover the heater, so your niece doesn't do her search of america, and discover the heating coil..

ohhh ..
:-S

when you need help, you call up the experts.
so I called a friends of mine who has 2 kids.

me: hello, need a help. I need to learn about child protection

friend: child protect.. ohho .. so u don't want a child.

me: hey noo.. we already have a child

friend: what .... hey congrats.. u silent smart guy, when did this happen..

Grrrr.... *cut*

2nd friend

me: hey , do u know about child proofing a room

friend: why ? when did u have one ?

me: no no. not me . my nieces are coming, for their room

friend: figures.. u have a child.. u can't even find a girl, dumb enough to go out with you .. hahaha

me: ok ok .. do u know ?

friend: ofcourse . its simple
take the child away from the room.

Grrrr... *cut*

meeting her

2007-06-18T16:32:00.000-07:00

She had flown long and looked pretty tired.
I met her at the airport.
Ohh she looked so cute.
She coyly looked at me, the shy smile lit her face

and then she came near,
a little hesitant , out came those magic words
mama (uncle)

well my niece did recognize the uncle, who had given her cute puppies, which did woof woof , when you pressed a button.

I pick her up in my arms and she promptly cries .
mummy mummy ...

I am more than happy to hand her over to my sis.

and so ended the short meeting.

well the rest is for another post...

calvin and hobbes

2007-06-05T19:04:00.000-07:00

Another attempt at coloring my cubicle board.
reminds me of one of my old nicknames - hobbes

the story of a girl's bag

2007-05-26T14:35:00.001-07:00

Like a child seeing a rabbit come out of a magician's hat, I have always wondered what will come out next, from a girl's bag next.
Those cute looking bags ...

But don't be deceived by the looks, these bags are stress tested. Have you seen a girl pressing her purse in the midst of an emotional movie scene. Those soft hands can give a 300lb crushing pressure on the poor bag.

So I decided to find more.
now past experience has told me, never to go on a hands-on approach. If you dare touch the bag, the high heals will touch your face.

I started with asking a little help

me (to a married guy): hey can you tell me what all contents you have seen come out of your wife's bag.

married guy: after all these years,
I have seen only contents go into her bag, nothing comes out.
The bag just keeps gobbling and my purse just keeps emptying.

me : can you ask her the contents of her bag
married guy : *shivering* Nooooo!!! .

me : you chicken
married guy : you get married, then you will be (chicken too)

So I decided to investigate myself.

me : hey can you tell me what all, you carry in your bag
she: Nooo !!!
its private

me : hey , you know what guy carries in his purse.
she : yaaa. guys are so unsophisticated.
being a girl is so hard.

me : will you tell me the contents
she : NOO Way

me : Can I peek into you bag and see its contents.
she: if you try, you will get a good swing of the bag on your head.
mind you its heavy and painful

I leave her. her bag looks real big and heavy ( and my head is too soft to handle its blow).

so I decide to ask someone who carries a small bag.

me : hi, can you tell me what all you carry in your bag

she : ohh .. why you want to know.

me : just out of curiosity
she : wells lots of stuff. it depends

me : like what ?
she : lots of stuff

me : like face paper, fragrances
she : gosh you guys are so unsophisticated. we have girly stuffs

me : what are these girly stuffs :D
she : %@!*&(@###$%^@!#~

I am still clueless. But I do know one thing. Girl's bag are heavy and hard and when it hits you, it is painful.

but I did find this.
what is more messy then a guy's room
answer: a girl's bag. thats why she doesn't show it to you.

Dating WII

2007-05-04T22:55:00.000-07:00

I hate this orkut. ( and i hate myspace even more)

recently got a message on it from a friend

mr. smart guy: hey are you still Dating WII.

and then a bunch of mails from everyone. Hey congrats finally you are settled. ( ofcourse all these are married friends, who are jealous of me, being single. Grrr...)

In case your are wondering who is wii,

she looks small,
but she is so interesting
and gets me tired everytime.

She is my Nitendo gaming console WII ( more like xbox and PS3)

with friends like these, who needs enemies...

Hakuna Matata

2007-04-20T20:20:00.000-07:00

just when you have a bad day,
you should shout

"Hakuna Matata"

and then you smile at yourself.

Aladdin

2007-04-07T08:10:00.000-07:00

If only I had a genie too ...
and my first wish to such a genie ,
hey genie, get me 10 more genies

afterall I have so many dreams, that would need atleast 10 genies, working 24 x 7 :-)

jasmine

2007-03-16T19:46:00.001-07:00

jasmine with her playful pet rajah(the tiger)

kim possible

2007-03-08T18:39:00.000-08:00

A happy Women's day wishes to all those of the better gender, who read this .
This day does have special significance for me too

a simple wish

2007-02-17T18:43:00.000-08:00

It was a beautiful day.
The Temple was full of people.
And the Gods were happy

God was smiling at his people, when all of a sudden , he sees a strange figure lurking around
Now God being God can focus and see through, to the hiding person and
Ohhh Nooo...
what is he doing here.

With surprise, anger and rage, he confronts

God : hey jeseem, what happened ? how come you here ?
Did the sun rise from the West ? Wait I didn't order that

me: ( with that innocent smile) Can't I come to see you

God : Now I do miracles, but this is one miracle that even I am surprised with.
As I remember from our last conversation,
I expected/hoped/prayed never to see you for a long time.

me: I came 'cause, some things, I can get only here.

God : At last you have seen the light.
Tell me , ooh unworthy child, what boon do you ask for ?
Do you want a long life?
Do you want peace ?
Do you want to stop getting kicked my the other gender. Wait I wasn't responsible for that , atleast not completely ;-)

me : well, there is a small immediate matter.

me: I have heard that I can get good sweets ( candies) and excellent mouth-watering food.

God: HAHA...
mr. smart guy, I knew you would come here for this.
so the devotees who came before you felt more hungry today ( call it divine intervention ;-) )
and so they finished all the food just before you came.

and so I came back home emptyhanded, from my visit to Livermore temple in California.
Guess its better to hit the neighborhood bakers

beauty and beast (belle)

2007-02-07T15:40:00.000-08:00

more attempts at scratching

the happy belle and the thinking/pondering belle
( of the beauty and the beast)

the little mermaid

2007-02-02T14:05:00.000-08:00

started more scratch board. here's one

tough lessons

2007-01-13T13:07:00.000-08:00

here's an instance of a typical class

I am working on Saturday afternoon in office.
My friend walks in.
She dumps her big sack of stuff, cellphones, car keys etc etc.
Then she walks into my cubicle and says

she: 'hi da'.

me : hi abc

she : when I came in, the security guard was staring at me da. cheapo guy..

she: so how do I look ?

she is wearing a black wraparound. she does a complete turn to show me the dress,
then runs her fingers through her hair. ( she has short, not so thick hair, but doesn't ever let a chance go by to show it off :-) )

I give my characteristic smile, then with a guarded
'it is good'

she walks away to her cubicle without saying much.
I get engrossed in my work.
after sometime my messenger buzzes

she: u cheepoo.. what will happen if you give a good comment.

I quit working and walk to her cubicle.
I say hi .
she sly'le gets up and opens a heavy book.
now that is a new one, I had never seen her studying those big books.
and then

*wham*
the book lands on my head

she: that should teach you to compliment a girl.

me: *ouch*

me :hey I was too mesmerised by your beauty to say anything last time.
you look so stunning da. This dress looks so great on you.
your lucky boyfriend

she is having the satisfied smile of a girl praised

me: only if you didn't have those extra flabs

and then I run ... :-)

Some friends leave there mark on others, she definitely taught me to compliment others,
and to keep a safe distance from heavy books :-)

new year resolutions

2007-01-08T21:58:00.000-08:00

Everyone is into drafting new year resolutions, so I have decided to put together my list.

1. Beat the QA/Product Testing guys just before the release.
It is the only way to get my work out

2. Never look at cute girls if they are driving vans.
If you look at the van closely, you will find her kid sitting in the back seat

3. Learn karate or some other marshal art.
It is the only way to get a little bit of space on club dance floor.

4. Encourage my manager to go skying on the roughest steepest ski range.
If he falls and gets hospitalized, I will have a good one month free

5. Try my hands at cooking. Yes I have found a 'bali ka bakra' (scapegoat/laboratory mouse) for my experiments :)
his motivation for joining the experiment : he wants to reduce his weight :)

6. Meet lots of people and make new friends, both real and virtual/chat friends.
Half my present friends have run away unable to bear me or had to be carried away after a breakdown

7. Learn sketching, painting, dancing(salsa), skiing
hmmm....
if only I can find a teacher with the patience

8. Travel , travel, travel... atleast 3-4 countries this year

I resolve to be happy, to do new things and to meet new people.

celebrating the new year

2007-01-03T02:22:00.000-08:00

how people celebrate the new year

1. a bunch of people, shouting , hooting, merrying away at the music

2. another bunch of people having fun bursting all the new year balloons.

3. one of my friend, at a restaurant on new year nite: hey after 30 the brain starts to degrade. and I will loose all my intelligence.
I doubt if the difference will be noticeable :-)

4. Spending the last month of 2006 making the resolutions and then the whole new year breaking them. Aren't promises made to be broken

Happy new year everyone.
yes yes, it is bit late, but I am still celebrating and I expect my celebrations to last till next year :P

MBA

2006-12-19T19:54:00.000-08:00

I recently got an invitation to attend a seminar for entrance to evening MBA ( read part-time) from a very leading university in California. The audience were given opportunity to ask question to a few current students.

Audience question : Why did you choose to do MBA ?

student1: Well it is a sad story *sob*
my girlfriend left me , so I had to take a major decision on what I should do with my free time
I could go out looking for a new girl
or I could go on long trips
or I could do a part-time MBA.
so I choose the one, that would not leave me bankrupt

student2: I married a girl, who gave me too much attention ( u know like nagging)
so I wanted to stay out of house till late. What better excuse than studies

student3(a mrs) : I love my hubby and trust him completely.
But you know, one should always be doubly-sure.
so when he told me that he was joining MBA classes,
and these classes have so many single girls, I felt the urge to join too, u know so I could look out for him in the classes.
( student2 gave out a *sigh*)

Audience question2: I am trying to be an entrepreneur. So do you think this MBA program is useful for me.

Before anybody could answer, the head of the MBA institute intervened.
Head guy: Can we take this offline. I would like to get your contact info.
( I need to get out of this Crazy useless university. So will you employ me in your new company. Plsss.....)

hillarious standup

2006-12-03T11:20:00.000-08:00

Standup comedy is supposed to be fun,
but most times its just vulgarity used to cover up a bad act and usually its end up being just vulgarity and nothing else.
I miss Indian comedy, honestly the American comedy cannot come anywhere even remotely close to it.
Of course there are few exceptions, like Russel Peters.
Russel's skills are his ability to imitate and his facial expressions are absolute hilarious
He is coming for a show in Bay area, but unfortunately all tickets are sold out :(

Check out some of his show clips

a longer one

any suggestions on other good standup comedians ?

Thanksgiving - my turkey ready for dinner

2006-11-25T00:09:00.000-08:00

Happy holidays to everyone for thanksgiving.
My turkey is definitely ready to eat :-)

Essential trip accessory

2006-11-19T23:36:00.000-08:00

Am on a 9 day road trip and I forgot the most important trip accessory.
When going with two guys on a trip, one should be prepared.
I wasn't and so am sitting wide awake late @night, having to hear 2 blowing horns in the room.

The most important trip accessory is ear plugs.
Or you too would end having to sit awake and hear snores.

I have to say its sometimes interesting, suddenly one whistle blows from one side and a train moving noise comes from the other :-)

you are beautiful

2006-11-16T23:40:00.000-08:00

Hit the James Blunt concert last weekend ( I usually like new age or more heavy metal, but this was a good change).

As we walked in, my 2 friends pointed to a row of 3 vacant seats.
The seats didn't give a good view of stage, so I protested. But ended up being dragged there and made to sit in the middle seat
Soon realised that my friends had got busy with there next-seat neighbours. No wonder they had dragged me there, the extra smart romanians. *Grrr*.
Blunt came in after some time and started belting his numbers.
Soon I ran to the center floor to shout and hoot ( ofcourse alone, my friends had got busy :-) .
Gosh, the floor was so crowded.
I saw this dark colored girl next to me. Said hi and next minute had a vacant space next to me.
Yes, she ran away seeing me :(
I have this rather charimatic effect on girls ..
A few more hies and smiles and I had a comfortable space to move around and shout :-)

Here's a video of a James Blunt soft song

shrek and fioana

2006-11-10T01:07:00.000-08:00

so where is the donkey in the pic. well someone had to draw right

Yaba daba dooo

2006-11-03T16:19:00.000-08:00

I need to get myself a baby dinosaur and
I want to get a big paunch like Fred Flinstone.
but no dinasaur insight and hmm, I lost another pound.

The Wonder Years Tag!

2006-10-30T22:32:00.000-08:00

Tagged by silverline and under threat of her strong-arm tactics

(plzz.. Noooo.. Oowww… that hurt *sob* *sob*),
am penning my childhood memories.

The tag is
1. Write 8-10 things about childhood ( 1-12 years) that you miss.
2. Write 8-10 things that you disliked about childhood.

here goes.

What I miss

1. Going back to Kerala during school vacation, and eating jack fruit, lots of them and then spending next day in restroom :)
And once out, again eating more jackfruit.

2. Drinking lots of Rice soup made from broken, unpolished rice (podiarre kanjee)
and then lying around like an upturned tortoise, unable to move.

3. Cycling in the campus. We were in an airforce campus and had a huge safe camp.
The crowning glory was cycling on the runways.

4. On really rainy days, the area around our classroom would be lightly flooded. So we would make small hole just below the door for the water to seep in. Soon the class would be flooded. We will all say our morning class prayers standing on top of the benches and then happily go home for the day.

5. The Durga pooja (a major festival) and the khechadi (kind of a rice plus cereals mix, made into a thick soup like stuff). It used to be a 3-4 day carnival, complete with dances and food.

6. Going on hunts to find wild sweet potatoes in the campus.
This was like the wildest hunting trip anyone could ever take :)

And what I hated.

1. Having to drink milk. Mummies ( thats how i call my mom, smtimes) would bring me milk and I would say, put some tealeaves in it and give me as tea. Mom would invent new ways of trying to give me milk, like serving it when my favorite TV program was running and I would find new ways of escaping, like throwing the milk in the sink and saying I finished it.

2. When I was very young, I bloodied a fellow's nose. So as a punishment, my teacher made me sit one who whole sem, in the middle of girls.

But I am ready to bloody another guy's nose, if I will get the same punishment again ;-)

3. We moved frequently, like every 3-4 years. so I don't have much of old school buddies.

4. Being different.

5. The long train journeys back to Kerala. It was so tiring and the train would smell bad. The one good thing was I fell for novels - hook, line and sinker. On these journeys, my parents realized how much books can cost, but alas too late :-P

Come to think of it, I really did enjoy my childhood and gave lots of people hard times ( that was the most enjoyable part :-) ).

And now for my favourite part, tagging
So I tag

1. Deepa , the girl who writes love, literally.
2. That crazy lawyer, who is out cooking food and smtimes cooking other lawyers, who oppose her.
3. The japanese girl, with mesmerizing sweet orange hair
4. Hirdu maharaz, all the gays in SFO are mourning his departure ( kidding girls, he is not gay, but then again why take chances ;-) )
5. Bold n Beautiful , who has agreed to give some of her extra flabs to me, for a price. She drives a hard bargain
6. The dentist with canary's voice - ann ( revenge @last for the earlier tagging :=) )

and anyone who reads this mail...

my Office Colleagues

2006-10-26T17:33:00.000-07:00

Traitor

2006-10-24T19:47:00.000-07:00

There was a time , when man could always depend on his best friend.
I mean the canine kind.
But since woman have started giving attention to it, things have changed

Recently a cute girl gave me the look,
so I, like any guy would, walked upto her.

"Grrrr.... Grrrr....."
from who else but her dog

girl: hey sweetie . come here to me
( she was speaking to the dog , not me *sigh*)

dog ( to me) : Grrrr... keep away
me: wooh wooh ssh.... cute dogie.

dog: don't shh shh me . That now works only when it comes from girls

me: why ? u r for ages the guys best friend

dog: that was last decade. now we switched sides

me: ***TRAITOR***
biting the hand that fed you

dog: I had to work for you.
you would shoot some poor animal and I would have to run to pick it up.
And being a lousy shots that you are, most times we had to do the dirty work
and make it look like u killed it.
u hav any idea how hard a wild boar fights.

me: well u got some wild meat to eat.

dog: too hard life. now I get soft nuggets, weekly washes , hugs every 10 minutes and kisses.
life is cool

me: u r taking away the guy's previliges

dog: u guys ruined it by being careless and insensitive.

me: hmm.. I agree. but these are the bad guys. It has made it harder for the good guy (*yours truly*) to meet a girl. The only thing I hear is go away. I don't want to get hurt. Now being a good guy, I go away. If I was a bad guy, I would have stuck around.

dog : too much talk. there is one thing I miss with girls. Eating Bones. The cute girls like to give me snacks and candy bars and not hard bones. So when I see 'bag of bones' like you I get tempted.

I made a hasty exit.

So dear female readers, are pets the solution to loneliness, instead of meeting the good guy.

the bottle

2006-10-21T02:01:00.000-07:00

quote from one of my friends

looking at a bottle

"only two people drink from this bottle"

me and the iron-box

it was a water bottle and he was filling water in his steam iron :)

heathclif n gang

2006-10-17T18:33:00.000-07:00

Ouuch

2006-10-13T13:55:00.000-07:00

Watch before reading smone's personal diary.
poor donald.
well if i were daisy, he would be facing a firing squad :)

Karwa Chauth

2006-10-10T19:32:00.000-07:00

I had dinner at a friend's place. He had recently returned from a long trip.

me: u must hav to do lots of weekend shopping. rt ?

hearing this, his wife came running. now I am puzzled.

guy: no no. no shopping.

So I am more puzzled. After his wife left to another room.

guy: shh. don't talk abt shopping

mrs ( from the other room, to her hubby) : I can hear. u better buy me something. I am taking a karva chauth (fast) for you. i better get something.. ( karva chauth is a fast, wife takes for the long life of her husband)

guy: hey I already gave u a gift

mrs: that is old story. I want gift for tomorrow. U think long life comes cheap.

hmm.. I had till now thought that guys would be delighted at Karva Chauth. After all, how can a guy tell his wife to slim down. A few more karva chauths an year maybe a good idea.
Never thought of the consequences.

experiences in life ( more scratchings)

2006-10-06T19:10:00.000-07:00

Dennis the menace, beaten up by Gina.
poor guys:)

shopping

2006-10-06T01:02:00.000-07:00

2 single guys accidently at the potted immitation flower section of a superstore

guy1: hey I like this flower. How about I buy it

guy2: It is too colorful for ur room. Why not go for smthing matching, like a cactus

guy1 : I had one, when I bought it, it was round and hard like me, now it is like u ( thin and skinny)
I will buy this and put it next to my TV

guy2 : it is not you ( the flowers). It is too bright. ( meaning you are boring and dull :-)
hey u can present the cacti to a girl. tell her i am like this, hard outside, but soft inside.

guy1: she would run it over with a lawn mover.

and so we discussed and discussed about buying the flowers.
and like any set of single guys, finally decided to buy nothing :)

weird thing abt me

2006-10-04T01:34:00.000-07:00

so miss ann-sunshine tagged me abt weird things.
At the deadly threat of not getting any free dinners from her, I finaled decided to put a few truths. what all one has to do for a dinner :-( .

Okie beforehand, all this is not because I am freaky or I have any eternal hatred. Infact u will not find a more simple, levelheaded guy.
It’s just the way I am.

1. I don't like Indian food much, even though I lived almost all my time in India. I guess I am bored and tired of it.

2. I like to eat out instead of home. Infect I dunno how people can eat at home every other day.

3. No Indian movies, not many Indian songs. I like English songs. Heavy metal or techno is good, but no rap. And of course country songs. I used to like ghazals a lot, but rarely hear them now.

4. I actively shed friends. If someone tries to pass his free unnecessary advice to me or if he/she doesn't respond to my mails/messages, I try to close the friendship. Its not because I am angry or anything, its just that people have their own ways of life. Trying to keep such a friendship can only cause friction. And I still had a few great friends, whose good qualities I have tried to absorb.

5. Always have avoided judging people. Experiences form our perspective. But it doesn’t give me a right to judge someone else, cause his experience and views r different. So there is nothing right or wrong. Just different ways.
To try to teach/advice smone is to assume that your way is right. So don't believe in teaching.

Crazy haa...
Okie written too much serious stuff for a day.

advice on getting married

2006-10-03T21:01:00.000-07:00

poor bachelors like me are always trying to find, what getting married means.
so I poped this question, after the usual weekend volleyball match.

me: so guys, how do u find married life, different from single life

...xx...... ( murmurs... )
finally one guy

guy: u know, earlier I used to wash one bag of clothes every fortnight.
Now I have to carry 2 bags every week.

a lot of nods everywhere.

and that my fellow bloggers is the great difference.

kicks left n rite, i finally feel alive

2006-10-02T03:40:00.000-07:00

I had to handle the engineering escalations for my product. This comes ones every 5 months. It is usually a no-event program, with u having to tag a blackberry along all the time. So I asked the seasoned, tanned guys their experience

guy1: I had a great time playing games in blackberry
guy2: Hey it will be good exercise for u.( for ur physique, black berry is like dumbells).

Uneventful, sitting at home ,hmm that would be so boring.
Maybe that will give me time to reflect back and do changes in my life.

and how did it go till now
1. It escaped hitting a cute doggie on road. And barely escaped getting my car banged from behind, to save the doggie ( this monkey may hav been declared a martyr :))

2. Thanks to my lucky hands, I am sitting awake 2 nights, trying to fix issues, when I have no clue of the features/functionality itself.

3. Changing my life. I am just starting and already I feel like it is better to crusify myself.

So life is finally kicking up around me and I feel alive. What is it without a few challenges.
And there are those good friends around. I woke 2 right in the middle of nite and pestered them.
So easy to find a smile, and I am smiling ear to ear.
and laughing :))

phone rings.
support guy: hey we have another customer's box crashing. he wants it up by early morning. can u take a look and fix it.

( I have no clue what the box does even)

me: hehehehe

support guy : what was that. I didn't here u

me: ohh, its just the monkey next door :))

more scratching on board.

2006-09-28T15:14:00.000-07:00

now this remind me of me n my manager
i am going to be fined smday for using so much of the whiteboard markers :-)

the shy tweety came to my cubicle

2006-09-26T14:21:00.000-07:00

fast money

2006-09-20T12:51:00.000-07:00

An interesting mail I received from one of my mail friends

i have an idea how u can make money fast ;-)

go back to india and get marry, 'abc' is going to get marry sometime on Dec and he would gain more than $20,000 from his bride's family. why don't u do the same and split $$ with me for shopping :-)))))))

I dunno whether to laugh or feel depressed.
Ofcourse I explained that it was part of a culture, exercised by some remote canibal tribals in India. and I don't belong to one .
She was dissappointed

Sailor moon

2006-09-08T18:59:00.000-07:00

more scratching on the board.
this one had too many lines and i almost ran out of whiteboard marker.
putting office white boards and markers to good use :)

half dome

2006-09-03T09:41:00.000-07:00

Recently I went on a day-long hike, nearly 9 miles each way.
It ends in a single rock at about 8800 feet.

The trail...

And when I reached the end. There was a huge crowd.

Seems now the hiking trails are more crowded than the shopping malls.
Welcome to the new health conscious generation.

Well the trip also made me realize how unhealthy i am now.

hello kitty

2006-08-31T19:26:00.000-07:00

Raining Tennis Balls

2006-08-29T23:30:00.000-07:00

I have a pavam tennis instructure.
The poor old guy was tearing his hair trying to teach me.

Instructor : You have to just jab the ball. The point is to get the swing and not apply too much force. Okie try now

He throws the ball at me
and
WHAM....

Then ball flies over to the 12 foot fence of the court and goes sailing.
I hear someone falling with a cry in the other court.

My poor coach goes running there.
I stay put. After all I am learning and it is not good to leave court.

The coach come back after some time, somewhat red.
Coach : Alright that is all for today. We will continue some other day.

I haven't see him since. Heard that he has taken a long leave.
..
..
Waiting for him to return. :))

Mr. Pinocchio in my cubicle

2006-08-23T12:50:00.000-07:00

A conversation with God

2006-08-19T15:56:00.000-07:00

I was quite puzzled with few things in my life,
how come I am like this,
I had to find out , so I decided to talk to God about it

Me: hi god, how are you
God : busy boy, u people are keeping me so busy.
and to think I created you just 'cause I felt lonely.
Now I am overworked.
I created a masterpiece, and it is coming back to haunt me.

God: alright what do u want. speak up

Me: I was just wondering. I seem to have similarity with Brad Pit and Tom Cruise in looks.
Also on the brainy side , I must have something close to Stephen Hawking.
Is there something to it.

God: hmm... about looks
well u see, before making a masterpeice, the artist has got to clean up his brushes.
well before making Brad Pit and Tom Cruise, I had to do it.
So now u know, how u were created.

Me : ouchh..

God : well u don't need to be too upset about it. I created Stephen Hawking before you.
Boy he took away a lot of Brain ink. So I had very little left for my other master potraits movie stars. So I decided to clean the bottle on you. It was more like wipping the bottle edges. But well , u know u were luckier than the two who came after you :)

God: so are you leading a worthy life now. You know you have to come back to me after your life.

Me : you know god, I think I was too bored in heaven. It was more like a military regiment with you controlling everything. I take this life as a vacation.
and when vacationing, you never think of your work.

God : Hey u better behave, otherwise I will fate it, that you never find a girl. If you mail one, she will never reply. If you ask her number, well she will give you the number of mental hospital.

Me : well u know, as u said , in these matters, heaven is great. so I guess I can meet girls once I am back in heaven.

God : well who said u are coming back in heaven.

Me : hey for 60 years of vacationing, u can atmost punish me for only 60 years in hell. then u have to let me in.

God : says who

Me : this is absolute cheating. you are breaking the rules of punishment.

God : so now. my rules are comng to haunt me.

Me : as an afterthought, can I stay in this vacationing forever. you know I like it here. maybe some new science that can let me live forever.

God : hold on .. there..
u want to be an immortal human. Well someday science will find the secret. But I will make sure to bring you back , before that. I cannot stand you there for another 30-40 years, leave alone forever. enjoy while you can.

Me : 30 years , well Thanks. I will take it to heart, oops I mean brain. so long . chau.

God : Hey but do remember to thank me from time to time.

Me : Well I will do all my thanking when I come back to you . chau chau.

connection cut.

one-on-one meeting

2006-08-16T22:14:00.000-07:00

A new manager joined our company.
The enthusiastic poor soul, called up a group meeting and declared on the lines and voice of mosses.
I will meet all of you personally and get to know you well.

A man of his words, he send meeting request to meet each person.
and I too got it.
someone wants to meet and hear me. Ohh, this is great. There is someone like that still in the company.

So today was the D-Day. I finished my lunch early and at the appointed time, knocked on his door.
( yes I can go to meetings and at correct time , atleast i have done it once now)

me : hi we had a meeting planned now.
manager : Ohh I didn't cancel it
Grrr someone (or possibly everyone) has told him about me. He has been warned.
But how can I give up so easily.

me: no you didn't. Infact I had to cancel fixing the bug, which is holding up a release for your meeting. now i cannot even work on the bug, since I have given the hardware to someone else.
( ofcourse all lies. i don't intend to work on the bug for the next whole week. but hey look, I am creative)

manager: alright. I guess a short meeting is fine.

I jump inside and take a seat, before he changes his mind.
Then quickly go back and close the door ( shouldn't let him run out in middle of meeting) and place my chair between himself and door.

The manager obviously unaware of all the planning, starts the meeting. Poor soul.

manager: so what do you want to do
me : I want to start my own company. ( hahaha, he never saw this coming).

but he is not really a lame person. so he tries to get around.

manager : lets talk about your professional "technical" interests.
me : well I once wrote a few quality papers.

hahahaha except no one read it
I am thinking of the paper, but i don't remember the name of it. even i read it only once after i wrote it. can't remember the name, so I take the escape exit

me : u can google in net for it

manager : so tell me about your overall work experience.
wow, now i know the guy is real slow.
but well U don't throw away an oppurtunity like that.
well I went on a 10 minute travel down my experience lane, explaining my field.
and like a true indian, I claimed thy neighbours field as thy fields as well.

manager : okie ... alright... what do u think about the company

And so I started again explaining the great potential of company and the people.
hahaha
I joined 3 weeks before him and hardly know even the guy in the next cubicle.
but the manager doesn't know how new I am.

So finally after all my dim mak actions, the manager said goodbye.
I am sure he won't meet me again though.
so waiting for next balli ka bakra

jungle book

2006-08-16T16:01:00.000-07:00

how i wish to be moglee. actually look like one, only I don't get to have all that much fun

well except of baloo , it is my manager who is swinging me.
and believe me, it is not as much fun

back

2006-08-16T11:42:00.000-07:00

Phew, had a long week and weekend in office.
Finally seems to be all behind me. wonder if there is a job with no work and free money.

so back to scratching the board.

simpler lines (pooh bear 2)

2006-08-07T16:23:00.000-07:00

guess who (wennie tiger)

2006-08-06T10:15:00.000-07:00

more drawing lines ( garfield)

2006-07-27T15:30:00.000-07:00

drawing lines ( pooh bear)

2006-07-18T23:23:00.000-07:00

It takes such a long time to build (compile) code that I have found a new thing to do.
my third cartoon on the board ( possibly also my 3 rd drawing in last 15 years).

another goofup

2006-07-16T13:08:00.000-07:00

I was trying to add a longtime friend and her hubby to my chat friend's list.
I seached her name and added her. Only ended up adding someone else with the same name.
Soon I got a acknowledgement allowing the addition.
But it was a nice goofup, she was nice and interesting :-)

Well then I mailed saying I am sorry,
I was looking for another person with the same name, who is a close friend
and immediately got kicked out of her friend's list. Talk abut goofups

work

2006-07-14T09:14:00.000-07:00

I saw my roommate looking at my blog.
so
me : what are you doing lazying around here. don't you have to go to office.

roomie : I am looking at what are you upto.
plus I want to read the comments.
and what are you doing streched up in that rocker chair .

me : I am working from home :-B

Work from home is such a good concept. Lie in you bed or a comfortable chair with laptop in your lap and tea in one hand ( for some its beer) and type away. It is so relaxing. You never feel the pressure. I remember having once done work from home till 6 am and was still fresh enough to go to office.

Ofcourse there are some bad sides to it.
Like when broke the monitor of my old laptop , by sleeping on it ( of course when working from home). U see sometimes my pillow falls away and I need another one. But when you are asleep, you really don't remember to shutdown and close the laptop.

long hair

2006-07-08T16:16:00.000-07:00

I belong to the crazy school of thought, when it comes to looks.

Girls should have very short hair (like what we call crew-cut) and rich dark skin.
like halle berry ..
wow...

Guys should have long hair and clear skin ( well maybe I can be flexible on the clear skin part about guys).
hair like mel gibson.
So I am trying to growing hair.
hmm...
if only I could grow it that long and that nice, instead I look like a chimp with long hair.

So now heres the comments that I usually get

1. my mom( i call her mummies) on my visit to india:
you go to US and grow hair, but you need to keep it short till you are here. We need to go see a girl while you are here.
Thank god I am in free land.

2. from a girl ( one of my best friends) : u look a purky. already u r so skinny. dirty goose , go cut ur hair.

3. from a nearing bald friend : i dunno how u guys can have so much hair. if i could stick some.

4. from friend who ones visited my home: hey ur bathroom has more hair than a girl's

5. another comment from an office colleuge: hey you have great hair and you look good today.
alas , she is a 50+ old lady with thick glasses

6. from a friend who tried to put egg yolk on his near bald head to grow hair:
.....

my day-to-day blunders

2006-07-08T16:07:00.000-07:00

I was sitting online chatting at around 1 am and and had bored all friends by now.
Then I saw a friend "married guy" -- abc, who lives close by, online.

me : hey boss. no sleep
me : ?
me : u need to get a good beating from ur wife
me : :-)

abc : : this is mrs abc not abc

me : ohhh
me : oops

I logged off :-)

Grey hair

2006-07-06T10:08:00.000-07:00

A week back I was peering at the mirror and voila, I saw a gray hair.

At last my long wait is over. I have started seeing a few gray hairs on my head. While most people would run for a scissor to cut away the gray hair, or run for the dye, for me it is a blessing.

So how good is gray hair. I recall on my last trip to India, few months back. Like every Indian returning from US, I also gave the customary visit to dentist. While waiting for an appointment, I tried to pick up conversation with a fellow patient. And he started off with, so what college are you studying in. When you have hit the magic 30, you really don't want to be mistaken for a college kid. A 25-year look would be a complement, but college age doesn't really seem like one.

So that observation started me thinking about the number of times when presenting something in office, I was praised as having a good observation for a 'young person'. Of course the photo of a monkey, which stands out at anyone visiting my cubicle or that deep red t-shirt I so much love to wear, isn't exactly helping me. So I decided it was time for change. Move out t-shirt, in came formal shirt and pants. I wanted to put on even blazers, but with you manager running around in a crumpled pants or Bermudas, you don't really feel like wearing blazers. So now I started looking like a young college kid, who wears formals to try to look important. Ohh that young guy :)

So welcome some gray hair and let me look a bit my age.

crazy ways

2006-06-30T11:48:00.000-07:00

So everyone asks me , when are you getting married.
Well as soon as I can find someone who can tolerate my crazy ways.

so what is crazy about me.
lots.
Don't like to eat home food. I would prefer burger to rice anytime.
The usual comment I get is , hey you are an indian , you have been eating rice for 25 years.
Well, I have been, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.
And now there is the juicy steak :-)

If you enter my house, you would remember the childhood life.
You have to hop around all the stricken clothes and papers.
I get so much junk in mail everyday.
So last week I planned to organize myself and bought a file cabinet and paper shredder.
Well now, you have to jump longer when moving around my place. The new stuff has taken up some more space. The fact is I like the place a bit messed up, not this much. But hey I live in a home not a hospital.

I am a workaholic ( I draw a new cartoon on the board in my cube everyday).
Seriously way too into what I do.

I can't stand the crowded clubs ( anyway I have a wooden leg, when in comes to dancing). I would instead go out on a sweaty hike or a cool drive with blaring music. If only I had a bike. Or maybe a long tiring tennis or volleyball or badminton session.
well I am quite happy being single.

the joys of bachelorhood

2006-06-13T01:43:00.000-07:00

Life is kewl. Life as single.
I meet friends on weekend, poor married guys, always running around, always busy.
And here I am with all the time in the world.
No one to ask anything, no liabilities.

I have time to go play, to eat whenever and whatever I like,
to zoom around in car on weekend,
to keep awake until the middle of the night and roam around.

Life as a single is just way too cool...
and I am the happiest guy

Yaaaahoooooo......

saying goodbye

2006-05-28T14:49:00.000-07:00

Last week I finally said goodbye to my old company. My division grew from 8 to 90, in the 2.5 years that I worked there. I had my good moments there and the at end, a lot of bad ones.
But when I said goodbye, it was like a part of me is lost, forever. So many friends, so many good moments.
Lot of people have told me, never to get too involved with your company, but I cannot agree. It is a place where you spend 8 hrs a day of your life, where u give commitment and which is a part of you. I am happy to have worked there as long as I could.

So I sent a farewell mail to lot of colleugues and got back just 2 replies. It was sad.
So I made a point to always reply to anyone's farewell mail. Always.

Well all done and gone. Now it is to new co. and new challenges.

cool niagara trip

2006-05-24T22:02:00.000-07:00

see the small boat. we travelled in it into the falls

after the boat trip. all smiles :-)

night view with the lights

enjoying vacation

2006-05-15T19:41:00.000-07:00

So I left my job and am enjoying a 2 week vacation. vacation me, a workaholic. 2 years back who would have thought that I would ever be vacationing like this.
When i left my first company after 5.5 years, I had 120 days of accumulated leaves ( leaves beyond that elapsed, since they couldn't be accumulated).
And now ...
But the break is so relaxing.

Am enjoying my life and reading all the novels, one novel a day.
Have completed all works of ken follet and on last book of john grisham.

After tomorrow, it is all trips :)

life is kewl ( if ofcourse you want it to be that way ;-)

answer sheet

2006-05-12T14:17:00.000-07:00

spammed by recruiters

2006-04-29T14:03:00.000-07:00

I am spammed by so many recruiters even an year after I have pulled my resume from all job sites. I replied to many saying I am not looking out for job, but still I get mails from them. So here's a cool way to get back.

Create a cool resume, with ever good technical skill you can think off. Write the name as that of recruiter who is troubling you most. Put his mail id and phone number in resume and post it in job site. Hmm, recruiters calling each each and trying to recruit each other. funny :-)

I do feel that recruiters in India have a tough time, with such a big job boom ( unfortunately not so in US :( , but spamming people with tons of mails is not a solution.
I wonder also why job sites don't allow you to delete login accounts. Its not like you will be looking for job forever.

Reservations

2006-04-28T06:46:00.000-07:00

I think we should have job reservations in all the fields. I completely support the PM and all the politicians for promoting this. Let's start the reservation with our cricket team. We should have 10 percent reservation for muslims. 30 percent for OBC, SC/ST like that. Cricket rules should be modified accordingly. The boundary circle should be reduced for an SC/ST player. The four hit by an OBC player should be considered as a six and a six hit by a OBC player should be counted as 8 runs. An OBC player scoring 60 runs should be declared as a century.

We should influence ICC and make rules so that the pace bowlers like Shoaib Akhtar should not bowl fast balls to our OBC player. Bowlers should bowl maximum speed of 80 kilometer per hour to an OBC player. Any delivery above this speed should be made illegal.

Also we should have reservation in Olympics. In the 100 meters race, an OBC player should be given a gold medal if he runs 80 meters.

There can be reservation in Government jobs also. Let's recruit SC/ST and OBC pilots for aircrafts which are carrying the ministers and Politicians (that can really help the country.. )

Ensure that only SC/ST and OBC doctors do the operations for the ministers and other politicians. (Another way of saving the country..)

Let's be creative and think of ways and means to guide INDIA forward...

Let's show the world that INDIA is a GREAT country. Let's be proud of being an INDIAN..

May the good breed of politicians like ARJUN SINGH long live...

So, what do you think, huh???

another beautiful flower

2006-04-02T14:01:00.000-07:00

out of job

2006-03-26T17:38:00.000-08:00

So my contract period was getting over on monday and the client hadn't renewed it till friday, cause of legal co. rules.
so I did the best thing I could think of
I went to Reno, on a rather bad weather.

Saw a small lake road from highway and took it.
Happily got my car stuck on ice ( ofcourse no chains).

PS: the fat guy with camera is not me

how to propose

2006-03-25T14:55:00.000-08:00

When I saw your name next to mine,

In our wedding card,

I felt blessed.

When I saw you smile,

Seeing me in the traditional bride groom dress,

I felt teased.

When I held your hand,

During the marriage rituals,

I felt responsible.

When you entered my lonely bachelor life,

And changed it into a heavenly abode,

I felt lucky.

When you showed the same love as I did,

Towards my parents,

I felt proud.

When you scolded me,

For neglecting my heath amidst my hectic work,

I felt pampered.

When I saw you scream,

Crying out of labor pains,

I felt helpless.

When I saw tears of happiness in your eyes,

As you looked at our kid,

I felt blessed once again.

All these feeling have bloomed in my heart,

But are yet to blossom in reality.

As these are feelings I long to feel,

For these are still unfelt.
Will you marry me?

Cutting across culture

2006-03-16T07:33:00.000-08:00

Just reading different blogs, I am so surprised by how difficult Indians find to accept different cultures.

I have few friends in US, who inspite of living here for past few years, still retain more indianness than most Indians. The one good thing though is, that they tend to loose a lot of the 'behind the back talk' and the 'I know all and will guide you' attitude. But not fully, as I have found more than once :))

So most keep long cherished dreams of returning to their wonderland India.
I don't mean to give any too pessimistic views, but once you return back to India , with all the wealth,
you still have to bear the people swearing at you, from your manager to the auto driver. From the dusty roads, to the ever meddlesomeness relatives. You have to be always on the lookout of who is waiting to cheat you..

so if you are in US and are escaping all this , what is wrong with accepting a few flaws of US life and having a few friends, who are not Indian and spending some time with people of other culture and accepting their views of life even when they contradict all you have learnt. After what you have learnt was in a single culture environment.

Just be open ...

my mustang

2006-03-12T11:08:00.000-08:00

I never had a thing for cars , till I bought this one. There is something about it , that made me buy it without thinking much. Now I know why people love cars

1st march

2006-03-12T10:43:00.000-08:00

One of my romanian friend told me that 1st march is a day when you send flowers to all girls, friends or otherwise.

so I took this oppurtunity to send this.

And few of the responses that i received where so different.

response 1 ( this i like most)

It's beautiful!! How sweet of you :-)
Did u take this picture?

response 2

In he two list I can not find my name. to whom all is this been sent ?
So no thanks J

response 3

thanks:-)
so sweet ......
sorry couldn't talk to you .......
life's got pretty hectic.........
take care
bye:-)

Everyone is so different and unique in there own way.
Some are open, some guarded and some pessimistic.
Life teaches everyone different lessons

But everyone is beautiful in their own way.

2005-02-27T21:06:00.000-08:00

Open thinking
----------------------
So I have decided to put more thought on blog , instead of personal diary.
here goes.

From the time you are born, to till today, the education process,
tries to imbibe some rules/theories into you. Rules that are the foundation of society.
Rules like what is right , what is wrong. Do right things.
Do good things for other and finally ofcourse there is God.

So what is wrong with imbibing these rules, nothing except , you can't think beyond them, think to the level, where you are ready to question these basic rules. Think with a truly open mind.

Example , can you visualize yourself as "the god". I don't mean this in any bloated sense of egoism, but just to break out of a mold. Just to visualize that you are god.

Or better to visualize something like this. There is no god, never was. Its just a creation of our mind. There is no heaven or hell and one wouldn't be ever punished for any actions.
There is no right and wrong action. The objective is not to question this above, but to see what we would have thought and acted if we had removed the base - no god, no right/wrong, no consequences. Once we have this set, now start looking at all the actions, events , decisions. Again lets take the example of religion.

If there was no god, by that I mean no subconscious being, nothing, if it is all pure imagination, then look at the human history and what religion has done. Look at what the present religious leader is saying. If you were 100% sure that there is no god, how would you analyze his guidance. Would the actions that you take be any different. Would you lead a different life.

Is this all something about disbelieving god. No, its about opening thinking. Thinking without any basic assumption. And the most basic assumption, we have been taught is about god and about right and wrong. If we can break from this assumption and think openly, then we can break any assumption and truly think with an open mind.

So why open thinking. Because as a human being you have a mind, and you have the capacity to think anything you like. So give the freedom to your mind, think anything, then look at the ground reality and present constraints. Can I act like this in the present society, because my independent thought says so. If you have this independent mind, then you are your own leader, your own guide. And you also get the ability to switch yourself off, sit in another person's shoes and think why he took such a decision (in open thinking here, you are taking away the constraint, you are thining about your good, or maybe even his good, just thinking in his shoes). It opens up a whole new world to you , you understand people better. You move out of the worldly game of characterizing people as good or bad.

another example, canibalism , is it right, from what you and i have imbibed, it is wrong, but there have been societies which have thought of them as right. So now if you remove the assumption of whether cannibalism is right or wrong, and you place yourself in the neutral point, ( I don't think cannibalism is right or wrong) , only the present soceity will break up if people in this society started each other.
Society will start accepting some changes, but not all. hundred years back , it didn;t accept gays. It can accept gays now but not cannibals.
So back to open thinking, it empowers you to think at a whole new level, to question everything, to keep the clean field, then make choices, choices that are not based on any assumption, that you have been unconsciously imbibed, but that you consciously take as just an input for you decision, an input , but just that, not something that scues your whole thinking process.
So then why society doesn't want us to do open thinking, well it will break the basis of society if each person started thinking for himself. But why do you think this will happen. 'cause still you are not thinking openly with an open mind. you have been imbibed with a rule that this will happen. so break out of the mould.

2005-02-27T18:16:00.000-08:00

How lonely can a person be.
You stand in a crowd, you are talking , shouting , enjoying , but still you are lonely.

I have my great bunch of friends, who have alway been there , with whom I spend one of my best times. But still.

Somewhere , you feel this is not you are meant to do, the dreams that defined you,
that which drives you. When you find that you are moving away from it, when you find that there are somethings about yourself, that you are not able to express, somewhere you feel that you are lonely.

Is it a good thing, I mean is this loneliness good. There are few pluses. It defines your individuality. Your uniqueness in the whole world. Your thoughts, your dreams, your emotions, somethings about you, that in total differentiate yourself from all the rest of people in the world. And I do have a friends circle, that accepts that. Accepts me for what Iam. A contradiction :)
But then I guess everyone is.

Also I tend to think best, when I am alone.

And in all that loneliness, you sit around for a few minutes or maybe few hours,
but finally you come out of it stronger, happier , more determined, more focussed, more aware of who you are and ever more ready to find your purpose in life.