Monday, July 31, 2006

....And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more.
People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening,
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dare
Disturb the sound of silence.

From 'The Sound of Silence' by Simon & Garfunkel....

Probably the most powerful language yet...if you can read those unspoken lines, hear those unspoken words, feel those unspoken emotions....then you are truly the friend I seek....

Sunday, July 30, 2006

Thinking Language

Does the language that you think in make a difference in the way you talk/relate to people? You may have grown up thinking in your mother tongue. All your growing years, that is probably the language that you have grown with. That is the language you argued with your friends.

So it is quite possible that when you are emotional about a topic, you might want to shift to the language that you think in if you want to be more effective. Of course, if that language is English or Hindi, you probably can articulate better since the no of ppl around understanding these languages are larger.

As I have been called a misplaced displaced tam more times than I can remember, I have never been natural either in Tamil or Malayalam being a Tam in Kerala. The language I have been most comfortable therefore is English and that has become the language that I think in.

So if I were to argue with someone in anger, I would probably be more effective doing it in English. Lucky me!!

Disclaimer: This is a totally empirical hypothesis backed by no scientific thought what so ever....

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Pondering thoughts...

Like any other engineering B-schooler, I also keep saying that I should have listened more in my OB class. The only thing I remember from my OB class is the Johari Window, a pretty neat framework about understanding yourself and others. Today when my work involves managing people, this is becoming more important. However that is not the point of this post....

Last week, a friend of mine made a perceptive comment on my nature. While I always knew that in my mind,it started me off thinking. I mean, there are these snippets of your own nature that you always know deep in your mind, that could be your greatest fear which you hope people wont find.......you tend to find your own 'protection mechanism' to mask those fears...some stay aloof from people when it surfaces...apparently mine is to just talk a lot without conveying anything....

Therefore bringing me back to the Johari window.....it is apparent that each of us have a blind spot....how big that is is the question...when somebody suddenly sheds light on this area which you have been blind or pretending to be blind to,I guess it does shock you a bit....

Have been thinking about all this for quite a bit now...no answers yet...but I guess if life were that simple, then you would not need to attribute the screw-ups in this world to a much larger power....Maybe I AM becoming old....

Really need to get out of Bangalore......

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

An Appeal to the Cable Operator

Seriously, cant we have a holiday for one news channel a day? Maybe Monday, CNN-IBN, Tuesday:TimesNow, Wednesday: NDTV... you get the drift...its disgusting how unimaginative television has become...

These guys are spoiling the one enjoyable thing of television...channel surfing....I mean, an orgy over a 5-yr old boy falling into a well and now everyone has Mumbai, one year later...

If there is one thing where the cable operator should exercise his right of autocratic customer service,it should be in not screening one news channel a day...

Thank God for Seinfeld...

UPDATE: It gets worse before it gets worse. Today it is the PM's residence and a bunch of rogue kids....

Friday, July 21, 2006

Friends maketh the day

Yesterday was one of those great days when the day was dedicated to friends...from 6 till 11 i was almost just talking to friends on the phone or meeting them up...was a great feeling to think that so many ppl are thinking of you...

The first was an hr long call with a friend in Hyd and we talked about so many things...some personal experiences shared...the next with a batchmate from Chennai who had just come down from the US, more or less cribbed abt work...then met up a group of college friends for dinner with lots of goofy talk...then talked with another good friend from work who has been having a bad time the past few days with some pep talk....

Friends are what makes the world a much better place....Today when we are all working so hard, it is so refreshing to have people to talk to...the only people who do not keep expectations of this is how it should be....the friends that we cherish...may the breed increase....
Amen...

Sunday, July 16, 2006

IBCD?

What will we look like 10 yrs down the line? Will we be even more Americanized than it is already? Is it now more IBCD (Indian-born Confused Desi) rather than ABCD (American Born Confused Desi)

This topic came up with a friend today. This whole thing about 'culture' has become so diluted already. I for one definitely am part of this confused set of young people who are not ready to take the leap to western values but cannot still cling on completely to the cultural values that we were brought up.

If this is the case with people now, what would be the next generation be looking at? Will they have special tuitions for teaching 'mother tongue'? Will people still do the 'pujas'? Will we still fall at the feet of our elders when they bless you?

I think I have talked about this in a previous post. I believe our generation is in a critical period and what the position of India as a country will be in the future (from a cultural richness perspective) depends on the position each of us take wrt a lot of these simple things.

I think we are going to be the 'baby boomers' for the country.....hmm...that's a lot of things to carry on our shoulders...and we dont even realize it...

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Melancholic

"You know, you realize that most of the people that you meet are trying to get somewhere better,you know, they're trying to make a little bit more cash,trying to get a little more respect, have more people admire them, you know,

It's just exhausting!"

from 'Before Sunset', the movie

.........So very true....

A friend used the word Melancholy...and i couldnt get it out of me since then......it's such a beautiful word yet so tragic sounding....
Everytime you tend to think of your problems as the biggest, something comes along and humbles you....the city that has had 3 different bruises in as many weeks...Mumbai in pictures

It is at times such as these that you feel that the world is a far larger place than you can ever imagine and you are probably much better off than many and therefore be thankful for what you have....

Oh...but can anyone unplug those camera crews for a while....