Merry Christmas

From the TOI :

"Today is Christmas. the day christ was born to save the world. It's a day of remembrance and celebration of the great Saviour."

More than just words

I am just about realising it now.

Reading between the lines is not that difficult an art, but I think it's been long forgotten. Next time someone says something, or writes somethings, or even sends an SMS to you, rather than paying attention to the messge as a whole, pay attention to the words used, the sentences formed. The structure of the message sometimes tells an entirely different story from the message itself.

Many times, you'll sense emotions in words. I don't mean emotions that the person on the other side wished to convey. When you know someone for some time, you know the words (s)he generally makes use of. Deviations from those, average lengths of sentences, the adjectives, adverbs, nouns ... all go a long way in telling you what was the state of the person while writing the message.

Or maybe I am just too sceptical to trust anyone.

A different kind of 'code'

I am not someone who reads a lot of novels, in fact, I wonder if I have even ever read one. But these vacations have given me a lot of free time, and some friends of mine told me what a good read 'The Da Vinci Code' was. I decided to give it a try.

I started reading, and I must admit, I kept the book down (rather, closed 'xpdf') only after I finished it. Took a good eight hours or so. The book had enough to keep me hooked to it all through the night.

But frankly, I was a bit disappointed. The book, or rather the plot, promises that there are certain hidden secrets, and brings us tantalizingly close to them. But the end was a dud. The author never reveals the secret. Come on yaar, I know the book is fiction (at least most of it), give me at least one more piece of fiction that I could believe was a secret worth keeping for millennia! If there was a secret plot for the reader to uncover, I am sorry, I missed it. There was a feeling that I had been taken for a ride. A ride that lasted a good eight hours.

In the middle though, I had taken a break, and searched Google for more information about the book. I reached the author's official web-site, and in one of the FAQs, the author said the story would be continued in the next book. Maybe that is the reason behind the secrets not being revealed, the author wants to guarantee that his next book will sell at least as much as this one. And this one sold quite a lot, I hear.

Frankly, I like Tanenbaum better. At least, he doesn't keep his secrets for long ;)

Swades - We, the people

Went to watch a movie today after a long time. Granted, the theatre wasn't the best (a lousy K.T. Vision somewhere in Vasai), but the movie just about made up for it.

I am not an NRI, nor do I have any NRI friends. So I don't really know how NRIs feel about India. But still, the movie did a pretty good job about portraying the mindset of an NRI. (For the record, I do know some Indians who ready to leave India at the drop of a hat).

I won't let out the story here. But I will tell you one thing - don't expect to watch the movie and come out a proud Indian, this movie is not patriotic at all. The director has been very true to the script. It is all about the emotional turmoil the NRI faces when he has to decide between staying abroad and returning to India. In fact, the NRI admits that India is not the best country to live in, but he is willing to make a difference.

The rural shots in the movie to a large extent portray my native place (Varanasi, or Benares), so I did get pretty nostalgic a few times. It's been five years since I last went there, God knows when will I go there next. In a way, I am a non resident Benarsi.

Let's play together

Most animals do it well. Ants do it the best perhaps. In fact, even robots are being taught to do it now. But strangely, sometimes humans fail miserably when trying to do the same thing.

Working in a group. No, I am not talking about managing a group, or it's workflow, I am talking of the people within. Many times people just don't seem to get along very well. I have seen a group that wasn't ready to work with another because they had problems with one of it's members. Many times, there are leadership issues. Too many people trying to control the same thing, and none willing to give up. When they do give up, they leave the group itself. Somehow, if three or more people get together to do something, politics almost always creeps in. Quotas, chamchas, money ... All wreck havoc with the working of a group.

There have been so many instances where sports teams have revolted against their captains. The no-confidence motion in the parliament is another example. Heck, even I have been told by some of my teachers that I can't work efficiently in a group, though none gave me any specifics.

The sooner we learn to leave our egos and differences behind, the better. We need to see the larger picture or the bigger good. Learning to work in a group is important.

Tap - a - tap

After banging my CPU for hours, here I am, on my friends laptop. Hail Sidd, for letting me use it.

Actually, my CPU fan is spoilt, and it somehow worked when I tapped my PC at a rate of no less than one tap per two seconds. Understandably, I got tired after a few hours and have decided to get the fan replaced.

Also, I'll get my photographs from Goa scanned in a few days. Don't worry, they are all the kind you could watch in front of your parents!

Holidaying in Goa

Well, I am leaving tomorrow to spend some time in Goa. I still can't believe it, the whole thing was planned out in less than three days! I know Goa may not be as glamorous as some of the places my friends are going to, but still, this is the FIRST time I am going out for a vacation of any sort. What's more, it's the first time I am traveling without my family ... you can imagine the thrill.

For those of you who want to know more about Goa, here are a few links :

Goa tourism official website

Lonely planet on Goa

Some naughty humour ...

Does anyone out there like naughty, raunchy humour? Then there's this great show on Star World, "Coupling". It seems it was running for quite some time, but my exams prevented me from finding that out.

The humour is pretty ok, and doesn't leave much to the imagination (pun intended). Great for dimwits who don't like to work hard to crack their jokes.

Expectations, means, and variances ...

Exams are finally over. And so is the silence of this blog.

I have had these conversations with people, where they tell me that we should not expect a lot from others, cause it doesn't do any good to us. It puts pressure on the person being 'expected from', and we risk getting hurt in case our expectations aren't met. Keep things easy, and life will roll on smoothly. Ignorance is bliss.

[south indian accent] What rubbish I say! Expectations are a part and parcel of life. We invariably come to expect so many things from so many people around us. We expect the milkman to come on time, we expect the cobbler to not make a mess of our shoes, we expect the vegetable vendor to show us exactly where the fresh vegetables are kept when we ask him ... Is it then so wrong to expect a little more from our friends?

Maybe people look at it in a wrong way. The word 'expectation' itself is a bit negative, let me suggest a better word for it. How about, say, 'trust'? The more you trust someone, the more you come to expect from the person. It's natural, it's reflexive. I believe if we find ourselves expecting a lot from someone, it's probably because we trust that person. And the more we like the person. more trust naturally goes into the relationship, leading to more expectations. There's no escaping this simple fact.

What does this mean to the person who is being trusted? It is only justified that we look into the other side as well. I say, enjoy it! So many people long for someone to trust them. Remember, if you find someone who expects a lot from you, it's probably the trust showing. Congratulations, you may have just found a good friend. Or a stalker. Whatever. Anyway, sometimes, we know we can't live up to the expectations of others. But most of those times, it's not the 'living-up-to' that matters, it's the 'trying' that matters. And if the other person is really a good friend, you will be understood.

I know some people probably won't agree with me. That's all right though, I don't mind. I don't 'expect' everyone to.

I am thinking quite a lot about this, more stuff will probably show up in the future.

How deep does this hole go?

Just when you thought the hole couldn't go any deeper ... it turns into a bottomless pit, leaving you helpless as you fall into nothingness.