Friday, November 30, 2007
Monday, November 26, 2007
Shaken and Stirred
I wake up on time every morning, I seldom oversleep and most often this habit is appreciated (oops...I am at it again and when I was just told that I should be officially given a title for being the bestest narcissist in the world!).
And I still wake up on time, with my alarm, all the time, every time, tired or not, drunk or otherwise, at home or ….
Anyway, today I woke up before my alarm, before it could say Goodmorning, before I could hear that familiar sound. I did wake up earlier than my usual time, before it was the daybreak for me.
I did wake up with a sound, not usual sound though. It was with a roaring sound as if my little world was rocking as if someone is saying ‘rock baby rock’…umm, that’s not a dream. I woke up with a rocking beat this morning as we rocked with an earthquake.
For past few weeks I have been coming face to face with the fragile aspect of life, the non-permanent face of life. And this little shake called earthquake suddenly brings alive the fear of loss. And sitting on my bed, half-awake (don’t you know it was before my alarm was to sing?) I was thinking which ‘one thing’ to grab before dashing off from my apartment. We crave for so much in life and when it is the time to leave do we really get to take along what we accumulate?
And on my way to work I do ask this question to my chauffeur and he said that he would simply get himself out of the building in case earthquake makes his little world crumble. And at work I do ask the same question to my colleagues, and they just talked about saving their own lives and the lives of their near and dear ones.
Well, it’s kind of strange in this materialistic world. And I still don’t know what I will grab if I am stuck in a similar situation again. May be my phone. And my laptop. Ahhh…how can I run them without electricity after batteries run out?
What is more important to you, your life or all the accessories you accumulate to lead life?
I don’t fear losing all my data on my computer (I have lost my laptop before!). I don’t fear losing my little place, which I painstakingly adorned with things I collected from all over, from all the trips I undertake. I am not afraid of losing my life, do I really? I almost died a few years ago!
But I fear most is being cut off from my people. And I fear the most when I am away from them and in no way to communicate to my fabulously mobile set of family, when someone is happily soaking all the Sun in that bond island and when the other set is treating themselves to a royal dose of vacationing and when I almost forget my geographical locations with my ‘today here-tomorrow there’ mode of life.
And suddenly I feel the meaning of ‘shaken and stirred’ without even budging from my position on the bed! Ooops….
And I still wake up on time, with my alarm, all the time, every time, tired or not, drunk or otherwise, at home or ….
Anyway, today I woke up before my alarm, before it could say Goodmorning, before I could hear that familiar sound. I did wake up earlier than my usual time, before it was the daybreak for me.
I did wake up with a sound, not usual sound though. It was with a roaring sound as if my little world was rocking as if someone is saying ‘rock baby rock’…umm, that’s not a dream. I woke up with a rocking beat this morning as we rocked with an earthquake.
For past few weeks I have been coming face to face with the fragile aspect of life, the non-permanent face of life. And this little shake called earthquake suddenly brings alive the fear of loss. And sitting on my bed, half-awake (don’t you know it was before my alarm was to sing?) I was thinking which ‘one thing’ to grab before dashing off from my apartment. We crave for so much in life and when it is the time to leave do we really get to take along what we accumulate?
And on my way to work I do ask this question to my chauffeur and he said that he would simply get himself out of the building in case earthquake makes his little world crumble. And at work I do ask the same question to my colleagues, and they just talked about saving their own lives and the lives of their near and dear ones.
Well, it’s kind of strange in this materialistic world. And I still don’t know what I will grab if I am stuck in a similar situation again. May be my phone. And my laptop. Ahhh…how can I run them without electricity after batteries run out?
What is more important to you, your life or all the accessories you accumulate to lead life?
I don’t fear losing all my data on my computer (I have lost my laptop before!). I don’t fear losing my little place, which I painstakingly adorned with things I collected from all over, from all the trips I undertake. I am not afraid of losing my life, do I really? I almost died a few years ago!
But I fear most is being cut off from my people. And I fear the most when I am away from them and in no way to communicate to my fabulously mobile set of family, when someone is happily soaking all the Sun in that bond island and when the other set is treating themselves to a royal dose of vacationing and when I almost forget my geographical locations with my ‘today here-tomorrow there’ mode of life.
And suddenly I feel the meaning of ‘shaken and stirred’ without even budging from my position on the bed! Ooops….
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Monday, November 19, 2007
Where do I go?
My mornings are not brighter these days...well, literally!
I wake up when its still dark, not night though but thats how wintry mornings are and I yawn sitting on my cosy bed in my dimly lit room, Good morning! Its day already!
Sun is playing hide-n-seek with clouds err fog, err .. smogs! And I wake up when its still dark. Its still not day!
And still I cant start the day...I mean, I dont feel fresh, I dont feel lively, I dont feel energized...oops, as if I am run on sloar batteries!!!
And some smog within my head covers my mind and I am at sea with questions. Questions which are so many. Questions which are multiplying. Questions which are recurring. Questioning mind!
And its like: where do I go?
Have you ever felt when you know you are an adult and there is no one to take decision for you? When you know you have grown up and people expect you to follow your own path? When you know there is no one to share your daily stories, no one to crib with about your colleagues when you reach home? When you know people around expect you to handle things on your own? When people dont show you direction when life suddenly makes you stand at the cross-roads?
Is this part of growing up? Really big? Or that one is lonely and nowhere to go?
I am living with an emotion, an emotion when you lose your parents. Thats what I witnessed THREE times last fortnight. Yes, THREE. And I am touched.
As one of my friend puts it: its inevitable, and its part of life. Yes, its life that teaches us from such examples that nothing remians for long. Nothing. Not you. Not I. Nobody.
And I still ask a question, in mourning: where do I go? I cant see a thing, its so hazy with smog...
I wake up when its still dark, not night though but thats how wintry mornings are and I yawn sitting on my cosy bed in my dimly lit room, Good morning! Its day already!
Sun is playing hide-n-seek with clouds err fog, err .. smogs! And I wake up when its still dark. Its still not day!
And still I cant start the day...I mean, I dont feel fresh, I dont feel lively, I dont feel energized...oops, as if I am run on sloar batteries!!!
And some smog within my head covers my mind and I am at sea with questions. Questions which are so many. Questions which are multiplying. Questions which are recurring. Questioning mind!
And its like: where do I go?
Have you ever felt when you know you are an adult and there is no one to take decision for you? When you know you have grown up and people expect you to follow your own path? When you know there is no one to share your daily stories, no one to crib with about your colleagues when you reach home? When you know people around expect you to handle things on your own? When people dont show you direction when life suddenly makes you stand at the cross-roads?
Is this part of growing up? Really big? Or that one is lonely and nowhere to go?
I am living with an emotion, an emotion when you lose your parents. Thats what I witnessed THREE times last fortnight. Yes, THREE. And I am touched.
As one of my friend puts it: its inevitable, and its part of life. Yes, its life that teaches us from such examples that nothing remians for long. Nothing. Not you. Not I. Nobody.
And I still ask a question, in mourning: where do I go? I cant see a thing, its so hazy with smog...
Friday, November 16, 2007
Double meaning?
In this time of ours acronyms are very popular and we use them whenever we get a chance. Its in vogue, its fashionable and its popular and everyone is doing it! But think of times when same acronyms could stand for two completely different set of terms with opposite meanings!
I just came across one such this morning and that reminded me of another from past. Sample them:
CSW: From my area of work its always been expanded to "Commercial Sex Worker" until I got an entirely different term when this conference reminder landed at my desk. It could also be expanded to " Commission for Status of Women". Huh?
ISP: Its mostly "Internet Service Provider" in this tech-savvy, net-savvy generation of ours. But it also stands for "Informal Service Provider" when one tries to adhere to jargons used in development sector especially The World Bank's health systems reform sector.
And you wonder what internet provider has to do with those 'witch-doctors' from those tribal villages? Yeah...
There are many such..but this is enough a 'dose' to satiate my addiction with this blogspot.
Wow, talking about addiction brought forward another interesting acronym which often gets wrongly 'inserted' with this 'injecting' types.
IDU: its "Injecting Drug User" and then there is IUD: which is "Intra Uterine Device"! Hmmm...
I will come back with more on this series but later on....
I just came across one such this morning and that reminded me of another from past. Sample them:
CSW: From my area of work its always been expanded to "Commercial Sex Worker" until I got an entirely different term when this conference reminder landed at my desk. It could also be expanded to " Commission for Status of Women". Huh?
ISP: Its mostly "Internet Service Provider" in this tech-savvy, net-savvy generation of ours. But it also stands for "Informal Service Provider" when one tries to adhere to jargons used in development sector especially The World Bank's health systems reform sector.
And you wonder what internet provider has to do with those 'witch-doctors' from those tribal villages? Yeah...
There are many such..but this is enough a 'dose' to satiate my addiction with this blogspot.
Wow, talking about addiction brought forward another interesting acronym which often gets wrongly 'inserted' with this 'injecting' types.
IDU: its "Injecting Drug User" and then there is IUD: which is "Intra Uterine Device"! Hmmm...
I will come back with more on this series but later on....
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Googl(e)Y!
Got a bouncer..err want to get the meaning of something you just heard, or read or came across? Need to research on something? Search?
Well…the common practice is to look for a search engine…no real engine there, though! For the initiated its our regular lingo and a regular habit and we often don’t even say ‘serach engine’ and straight get into ‘google-ing’.
Today’s story is about our man Friday ‘Google’ who had rescued many of us at the 11th hour to get what we just needed and saved our days and made us hear all those praises and see all those rainbows…(oops…why always I talk about Sun, rain and rainbows..may be I just need to know..err ‘google it’) for all the hard work or ‘herd’ work of the google team.
Google was co-founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin while they were students at Stanford University and the company was first incorporated as a private enterprise on September 7, 1998 (wow, September again..and have you noticed the date?).
The name "Google" originated from a misspelling of "googol", which refers to 10100 (the number represented by a 1 followed by one-hundred zeros). Credit for naming this huge enterprise should go to their first client who, according to ‘my very reliable source of information’, spelt it that way on the cheque for their very first payment. And just to avoid all the hassles of getting back to their client and get it corrected they opened an account going with the mis-spelt version and Googol became Google!
And it remained so. So what, if it did not mean anything?
They say things change: and now google itself is a word and finds its place in diactionaries (Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary and the Oxford English Dictionary) in 2006. And it has been increasingly into everyday language, the verb "google", was added to the meaning "to use the Google search engine to obtain information on the Internet."
And we say, lets Google!
Google was co-founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin while they were students at Stanford University and the company was first incorporated as a private enterprise on September 7, 1998 (wow, September again..and have you noticed the date?).
The name "Google" originated from a misspelling of "googol", which refers to 10100 (the number represented by a 1 followed by one-hundred zeros). Credit for naming this huge enterprise should go to their first client who, according to ‘my very reliable source of information’, spelt it that way on the cheque for their very first payment. And just to avoid all the hassles of getting back to their client and get it corrected they opened an account going with the mis-spelt version and Googol became Google!
And it remained so. So what, if it did not mean anything?
They say things change: and now google itself is a word and finds its place in diactionaries (Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary and the Oxford English Dictionary) in 2006. And it has been increasingly into everyday language, the verb "google", was added to the meaning "to use the Google search engine to obtain information on the Internet."
And we say, lets Google!
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Sands and Moods: T(w)oo different!
P.S: These are some of the pictures I have recently seen and I felt how sand from the desert and that by the shore exude different moods. None of these are taken by me nor my camera was used. These are from two different sources ..err friends from two different locations from their two different travelogues.
Hey you two, I acknowledged your work, so dont take me to the courts (in two different locations...ha ha ha...ahha...I would get to see two different places that way!) .
Monday, November 12, 2007
Quote- Unquote
"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt."- Abraham Lincoln.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Past Perfect!
I meet people all the time and I have been meeting people all the time, its sort of normal for someone who is always on the move. So, what’s so unusual this time around?
Well, I am back in town after meeting people whom I had known in the past, from long time who were lost when not keeping in touch was next to impossible!
The other day when I was visiting this city to attend a conference I called on a number. I called on this number to see whether this classmate of mine is still having the same number or is still living in the same city. I wanted to see some other faces as I was getting bored looking at the same faces all through the day, day after day. And I wanted to have a weekend away from that swanky hotel and see the cityscape. And my call was answered by the same voice I had expected to hear. We recognized each other and we met. It was more than when a friend meets friend.
It was a meeting-galore!
I met the whole family. His family with new additions since we last met. And as if that was not enough there was a surprise in store as I had to ‘meet’ another classmate and her family who has recently moved to this city. And it was a mini-reunion at mid-night in the middle of all those emotions and nostalgia. And I was pleased. I was happy as I could go back to a time which was so beautiful, so simple and oh-so nice! And we looked great on our customary reunion photos for our school web-album. Have a look.
And something said, past perfect!
Well, I am back in town after meeting people whom I had known in the past, from long time who were lost when not keeping in touch was next to impossible!
The other day when I was visiting this city to attend a conference I called on a number. I called on this number to see whether this classmate of mine is still having the same number or is still living in the same city. I wanted to see some other faces as I was getting bored looking at the same faces all through the day, day after day. And I wanted to have a weekend away from that swanky hotel and see the cityscape. And my call was answered by the same voice I had expected to hear. We recognized each other and we met. It was more than when a friend meets friend.
It was a meeting-galore!
I met the whole family. His family with new additions since we last met. And as if that was not enough there was a surprise in store as I had to ‘meet’ another classmate and her family who has recently moved to this city. And it was a mini-reunion at mid-night in the middle of all those emotions and nostalgia. And I was pleased. I was happy as I could go back to a time which was so beautiful, so simple and oh-so nice! And we looked great on our customary reunion photos for our school web-album. Have a look.
And something said, past perfect!
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Coming a Full Circle
Its amazing to see how life lobs at you situations, experiences with such amazing patterns. I always am surprised to find similarities in those patterns and these give me a feeling of ‘coming a full circle’! I wonder whether its me who finds these similarities or they just happen or I call for these or they just simply take place to remind me of things from past, make me ‘land’ up where I once was.
But at the end of the day its simply an amazing phenomenon to recount, to realize, to feel, to experience and to know how its when life ‘come a full circle’.
I sometimes get an eerie feeling within me as I almost feel I knew how the ‘story’ would unfold. And standing there under that over bridge at that unearthly hour I pinch myself hard to know I was awake and to believe what I was seeing which was uncannily similar a scene to what I had once recounted. I get such flashes sometime when I am deeply in my sleep and then I remember them when I see them happening exactly in similar fashion in front of my wide and beautiful eyes.
Well, before you start thinking about something meta-physical or I becoming one of those modern-day witches, I must tell you sometimes life does make you ‘feel’ what is coming a full circle and how it is to undergo when its repeatedly repeated for you to remember the phrase.
And I am amazed and I am shocked and I am a little bothered and I wish it hadn’t happened the way it circled the Sun…err my life!
But at the end of the day its simply an amazing phenomenon to recount, to realize, to feel, to experience and to know how its when life ‘come a full circle’.
I sometimes get an eerie feeling within me as I almost feel I knew how the ‘story’ would unfold. And standing there under that over bridge at that unearthly hour I pinch myself hard to know I was awake and to believe what I was seeing which was uncannily similar a scene to what I had once recounted. I get such flashes sometime when I am deeply in my sleep and then I remember them when I see them happening exactly in similar fashion in front of my wide and beautiful eyes.
Well, before you start thinking about something meta-physical or I becoming one of those modern-day witches, I must tell you sometimes life does make you ‘feel’ what is coming a full circle and how it is to undergo when its repeatedly repeated for you to remember the phrase.
And I am amazed and I am shocked and I am a little bothered and I wish it hadn’t happened the way it circled the Sun…err my life!
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Why I Write What I Write
I am back after a rather interesting trip and I am back with my blog. I am back because I am addicted to my blogspot. I am back because I am addicted to the response I have been getting: direct or indirect and I love that!
Someone just teased me the other day with a his regular nasty comment which truly reflects me and my sense of being: there is no place for 'you' its all so full of 'I'! Yes, I love myself, dont you know that?! And I am because I exist. And I exist because I want to. And I want to be like this only.
But, honestly I am overwhelmed at the response and the number of hits this blogspot has faced in such a short period of time. And this interest often makes me write more and remain in a 'regular relationship' even with my nomadic life.
This is thanks to all those people: people who read this and send comments; people who would read and discuss face to face; people who would write a blog in response to what thay had read here and then there are a number of those who are reading but I dont get to read their minds!
Anyway, at the end of the day: I...err my blog gets attention! Hmmm...attention seeking at its peak!? You gotta learn it from me....
So, you know why I write what I write and its all from my head and has no connection whatsoever even if you stop me in the middle of that huge bite I take on wrap-o-roll to ask whether I thought about you while describing a certain background. Well, life is so exciting, so full of experiences and then its so dynamic that I am seriously spoilt for choices as I find inspirations are everywhere. And I dont need preparation, its all extempore and spontaneous. So, you know why I write what I write and I exist as I exist.
As you rightly said you dont get to read what I intend to and that surely pats my back as I know I am succeeding in weaving my thoughts, pouring out my views the way I want 'it' to flow and make people read and enjoy...if not understand....
As its all about pouring out my thoughts the way my mind plays with them, uncensored.
Someone just teased me the other day with a his regular nasty comment which truly reflects me and my sense of being: there is no place for 'you' its all so full of 'I'! Yes, I love myself, dont you know that?! And I am because I exist. And I exist because I want to. And I want to be like this only.
But, honestly I am overwhelmed at the response and the number of hits this blogspot has faced in such a short period of time. And this interest often makes me write more and remain in a 'regular relationship' even with my nomadic life.
This is thanks to all those people: people who read this and send comments; people who would read and discuss face to face; people who would write a blog in response to what thay had read here and then there are a number of those who are reading but I dont get to read their minds!
Anyway, at the end of the day: I...err my blog gets attention! Hmmm...attention seeking at its peak!? You gotta learn it from me....
So, you know why I write what I write and its all from my head and has no connection whatsoever even if you stop me in the middle of that huge bite I take on wrap-o-roll to ask whether I thought about you while describing a certain background. Well, life is so exciting, so full of experiences and then its so dynamic that I am seriously spoilt for choices as I find inspirations are everywhere. And I dont need preparation, its all extempore and spontaneous. So, you know why I write what I write and I exist as I exist.
As you rightly said you dont get to read what I intend to and that surely pats my back as I know I am succeeding in weaving my thoughts, pouring out my views the way I want 'it' to flow and make people read and enjoy...if not understand....
As its all about pouring out my thoughts the way my mind plays with them, uncensored.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Paradox of Choices
The other day I was busy teasing my brain over a book with a friend from UCSF which was a round-up of what she had just discussed with her friends from Malayasia under the bright Sun on the sanddunes of Jaisalmer during a camel safari. And I was happily soaking all the arguments knowing how it is to decide when we have many choices. Truly, as Barry Schwartz said, sometimes more could be so less! I know exactly how indecisive one gets however sure one is about what to chose with more options on the plate..err in life!
I am at its peak, well, if I can call it a syndrome- I have it-a paradox of choices.
I did not know it would happen to me; I had no idea I had to face it. And while I am at it I know it’s rather difficult a job than any fun. I am done with the concept of more the merrier, its so redundant. Its more is less and I am asking for MORE..gimme more!
Well, I am on the prowl and I am doing pretty well and so far I have balanced off many records (off the records, just for you!). And I find myself lip-sync-ing with Geri Halliwell as she croons, "It's rainin men - Every specimen Tall blonde, dark and mean Rough and tough and strong and lean..."
And I am spoilt for choices. And here I am with more options raining on me…Wish I could find a role model in draupadi, what do you say? That’s not a bad idea either!
Well, so is the paradox of choices. Ooops, what did you decide?
I am at its peak, well, if I can call it a syndrome- I have it-a paradox of choices.
I did not know it would happen to me; I had no idea I had to face it. And while I am at it I know it’s rather difficult a job than any fun. I am done with the concept of more the merrier, its so redundant. Its more is less and I am asking for MORE..gimme more!
Well, I am on the prowl and I am doing pretty well and so far I have balanced off many records (off the records, just for you!). And I find myself lip-sync-ing with Geri Halliwell as she croons, "It's rainin men - Every specimen Tall blonde, dark and mean Rough and tough and strong and lean..."
And I am spoilt for choices. And here I am with more options raining on me…Wish I could find a role model in draupadi, what do you say? That’s not a bad idea either!
Well, so is the paradox of choices. Ooops, what did you decide?
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