You are What YOU Think!

Who am I?   I am not my Clothes But what’s clothed under, is a part of me I am not my Bag or my Shoes But what carries it, is a part of me I am not my Car But what drives it, is a part of me I am not my Salary But who earns it, is a part of me I am not my colour But how I look, is a part of me I am not my emotions But how I feel, is a part of me I am neither this nor am I that Then why do you judge me by any of these? Am I my skills or my qualifications? If I was that, then I should not have existed when I was a child Before I learnt any skills or went to school If I was that, then I should cease to exist if I lose my skill or fail an exam Then why do you call me a Labourer? I am neither my skills nor my qualifications, do you understand? Am I my Economic status? If I was that, then I should not have existed before I became rich If I was that, then I should cease to exist when I become poor Then why do you call me a Beggar? I am not my Economic status, do you und...

Its been about 9 months since i joined my second job / second profile. It appears strange enough that i haven't typed any blog after wards?! After i have taken up a job in writing has my writer's muscle sprained? Well...let's put some lubrication and bring more action into that muscles... oh, and i quit my second job too!

I want to live in an India where a 17-year old girl of a remote village from Kerala could travel to the Valleys of J&K to see her first snow fall and come back home with only good memories of her trip and the snow and nothing else ! In the sense She should be self- sufficient She should be educated She could feel the security of travelling in her own country She could sleep in a bus-stand at night without fearing rape She could approach the natives for help In the sense She should not be harrassed She shouldn't have to think more than twice before seeking help She should not be denied entry in any public place at any of the states Then i will truly mean it when i say i am a "proud" Indian!

It took me five years to gather the courage and grab the right opportunity to put a resignation or rather make others understand my need to resign. Today is my first day at my second job. Entirely different it is, here at my new work place. The kind of infrastructure you have in IT, you can't expect it at an IT magazine :-) A small company it is, compared to its peers, let's see the kind of opportunity and learning i get here. Or if i could make any difference! All the best to me!

Sometimes i wonder what i did the whole day and why i spend the day like that? I could draw some pattern. Apparently the environment seems to influence the pattern at large. While working as a software engineer for the same company at 3 different places, i observed that i followed different routines , living an altogether different life. A Week-day in Kerala: It’s Good Morning at 7 am. You enjoy your morning tea with the day’s news paper. Slowly you get your self ready for your work. You find your break fast ready at the dining table- one of the many advantages of living with your mother. Wait for your mother to get ready after her house-hold chores. It’s almost 10 am. Both of you are in a hurry. Mother has to reach office at 10 am. Your office time, though flexible, starts at 9.15 am. You start the car in a hurry. The 10 o’clock news is on in the radio.. As any other day when you are late, you find a bit of traffic. You drive as fast and smart as you could. You drop your mother at a q...

One fine afternoon as I was switching between my work and the latest news on TOI window, I “saw” a pop- up informing I’ve got a new mail. The mail from SunTec Community Involvement Club informed that the first 15 respondents get to be the volunteers at IISE(International Institute for Social Entrepreneurs) on Oct – 15th– The White Cane Day. My second nature, I googled for more details on IISE and White Cane and results on its uses by blind people popped up. Once my curiosity subsided, I resumed my work thinking about the white cane once in a while The day approached.The mail from the organizers said we are supposed to keep some of the kids engaged and also distribute some pamphlets. Get the kids engaged? Oh sure we can do that. Well…let’s see. We were welcomed by a beautiful young lady Nora (yes... it is truly international) who briefed us about the program. We were originally there to volunteer, but since we were late and didn’t have much time, we could not be part of the volunteerin...

Autumn does seem to be the time to get out of hibernation . For all those who love rain and the grey sky and the falling leaves , this is the time to take a walk... A walk back to the life? That's yet to be decided! Destiny is unknown. As they say you should know where to go before you start. But you have to start somewhere to reach somewhere...or rather anywhere...so instead of staying stuck at this point for long i'm gonna take a walk...a long walk!

In Jammu , when the government decided to withdraw the land given for Amarnath temple lot of riots and public attention followed.Not to mention the hartals...that too across the country! In Orissa when a young adivasi woman was stripped in public,what did follow? Except for a few women activists arguing for “women's rights " and a 36- hour general strike called by the All Adivasi Students' Association of Assam, has anybody seen any common man involving in such fights for justice? Any hartals? The state government generously declared a compensation -“The Adivasi woman who was stripped will be given Rs 1 lakh as compensation and a job in the government.” Ok. Now what will follow? What would be the attitude of the colleagues if she joins the so-called job offered in the government. Will she get the respect due for her? Who'd marry her? What about the condemned looks she'd have to bear for the rest of her life? Would it be same if instead of the adivasi woman, it was t...

Marriage – one of the biggest things in your life! You are supposed to perform this ritual religiously – a tradition exampled by your ancestors, a ritual that is more or less regional, whether you want it or not. Regionalism contributes to the discipline of marriage in facets such as grooming a person for the ritual to the actual matchmaking process. Kerala known for its affinity to religion and tradition gives marriage second most priority the first being social status. Well yes, one need to act within the boundaries of the society to some extent , especially in a place where people are more interested about the happenings at their acquaintances' places as much as theirs. But shouldn't we be a bit liberal if somebody wants to widen the borders? “I'd rather marry my daughter to a lesser educated guy from our religion than a more qualified guy from other religion”, comments a middle class working woman from an educated background. This clearly gives us insights about the pri...

Up and back! Hmm...10 months...sounds like a big gap. Well then thinking about the changes hibernation has brought about in the thought process, let's assume all is for good! And I wish MYSELF a happy blogging :-)

When a beautiful young lady who is remotely acquainted to you, the acquaintance might be brought about by the death report in news papers, how would you react? On your free-time you might speculate on the possibilities of her death. After a while you may dwell this subject into your sub-conscious mind. Later when you meet some one even remotely related to her, and if the curiosity still persists, you’ll try to get more details about her. You and I know that no two people’s perspective is same. As you move around asking her acquaintances about her, you’ll get a varied but some what high level description of her character and her life. This is beautifully portrayed in Paulo Coelho's "The Witch of Portobello.” I am not sure yet as to which attribute pulled me towards the book -Identification the with character or the way the story was moulded. Well I was in for a surprise when I reached the final pages. I couldn’t put the book down without going through the beginning again. An en...

Switch on CNN .Everyday they acquaint us with the miseries and wretchedness and poverty of many less privileged people around the world. Strangely the ratio of interest in those news increases with respect to the factors as country, religion, occupation, etc. If there is a sense of equality among the people everywhere and people stop offending or defending in the name of patriotism, the news would have moved the heart of most of the normal people. Lots of people strive for food in Africa, plane crashed and people died in Brazil, soldiers and innocent civilians die every day in the Middle East, deluge deprives many of their homes in India and the miseries continue to elate. Most of it catch our attention when it poses some threat to us in one way or the other -if the misery involve someone from one’s country, caste, religion, working class ,etc… thus goes the prioritizing factor. X: 30 people are feared dead in last week’s bomb-blast Y: That’s terrible. Were there any Hindus in it? How ...

During my childhood days, when going abroad was the privilege of the riches, some of us, the so called middle class people, treasured a secret dream - fly out of India... The society where I grew, if you are a girl , the purpose of your birth would be to get married and make children and take good care of the family. So the only other way the girls could perceive their dream was to marry some one living abroad...completing the so called duties of the society and secretly fulfilling their desire to go abroad... When it had an addendum of ‘status-symbol’, the parents of the marriageable (or even younger) girls started an early groom –hunt which inculcated the illusion among those prospective grooms that they are worth some value. Things started getting worse when the only thing of demand was the locale of the groom’s work…with an exception that the value on the countries changes with time….from Persia to Gulf Countries to London to USA… If I had not been outside India, I may also have th...

In a couple of weeks, I will be packing my bags and leaving Germany forever. I have almost reached the end of my Europe expedition... I have learned a lot during my last 8 months stay here, thanks to the loneliness, without which I wouldn’t have went out and explored a life outside us! Well it turned out that the more places you go, the more people you meet, the more humble you become...once you realize all the variety of stuff that exist you'll realize your worth ...that you are just a small human being in this whole pool of energy and life. And at some stage you stop taking things, which you are used to, for granted. I never realized the worth of India until I came abroad. I started exploring more about the places in India and its culture after coming over to Europe. I love Germany and I love India ...both in its own ways.... Many people find me stupid when I turned down my offer for extended stay in Europe. Well i don’t know if its the familiarity or concept of home-country that...

In one of the trips organized by Indians here, I was sitting with some of the kids/teens and we were playing puzzles. Then one gentleman, somewhere in his 50s, sitting near by, invoked a conversation. For our convenience we'll name him as X. X: So do you study here? Me: No, i work here, for an IT company. What about you? X: I work at the Consulate. Me: Oh that’s great; I was telling these kids about the coat of arms (in our case Emblem) and its origin. Do you know the significance of those 4 animals girding the abacus? X: Yeah, its not animals. Those are 4 lions. Me: Well I was talking about the animals beneath that... in the abacus. In fact I noticed it recently while I was going through my passport. X: Oh, is it? Me: Yeah. There are 4 animals guarding 4 zones - the Lion in the north, the Elephant in the east, the Horse in the south and Bull in the west. But i assumed you'd know it. X: Well come on. ..We were given training on this when we joined .But that’s long time back. Wh...

*PM - Project Manager **TM-Team Member ***ZCOM - The Company they both are working for. A telephone conversation between a PM and TM who are in two different continents in this "Flat" world. PM: So tomorrow on you should be physically present at office from 9 am to 5pm! TM: But i don’t see the point why i should come to "this room" and work as long as the work is done. PM: I need you to be present at office from 9 am to 5pm! TM: But isn’t it a bit awkward when the so called Office is a single room with 3 computers and 3 telephone lines? The only difference between office and apartment being the key numbers –you have to use another key to open your office room! PM: I can’t take it anymore. I got complaints from lots of people. Because of your working style, the work and efficiency of lots of employees of ZCOM are affected. TM :( Soliloquy) What the ****!!! What has it got to do with the people who are physically present in an entirely different country in another con...

Frankfurt…the enchanting business city...that adorns one of the most developed countries of the world...A nation whose economy and culture and technology amazes many intellectuals including the anti-Nazis... Often during your voyage to explore the hearts of the city, amongst the professional call- girls and vivid food courts, you pause a while and wonder if you have crossed the city limits...a bit scared you re-check what you have seen just a second before...the promising youth…the so called next generation -men and women - lying on the streets - injecting these drugs into all possible orifices of their body...natives pass-by them everyday and take them for granted rendering them more convenience…and foreigners like us pause and gaze for a while wondering if this is another tourist attraction! One of my acquaintances told me that, a couple of weeks ago in one of the city streets; he witnessed a pet being doped by his master?!! I have heard that no man is perfect. And a country constitu...

Stranger: So…You’re new in this place? Victim: Yea Stranger: Here with your family? Victim: No…I work here Stranger: Staying alone? Victim: No…with my colleagues Stranger: All girls? Victim: No…it’s a company guesthouse. Stranger: All bachelors? Victim: Yea Stranger: Is it an Indian Company? Victim: Yea Stranger: [After a pause] that’s new to me – Indian company providing mixed accommodation. Victim: [soliloquy] “Tell me something which I don’t know”. Stranger: How do you find it if you are living like that for a long period? Victim: Experiences vary with people. It’s good as long as you keep the bad things to yourself. That’s my halt. Bye...Nice meeting you. Stranger: I hope you enjoy your stay here! I have heard that there are people who enjoy at the expense of other people’s ego. Well, beware of such strangers because they will prey on you under such inescapable circumstances as lifts, trains, etc where you are forced to wait so that you can at least run away. And sardonically, such...

Girl: I am planning to get married Listener: Wow Great. Tell me more Girl: It’s a pre-arranged wedding .I don’t know him pretty well. Situation 1: Listener1: Wow, you are a gem. Even though you are educated, you still respect and obey your elders and their decisions. You will definitely have a wonderful married life. My blessings! Situation 2: Listener2: What? Are you crazy? Or are you desperate? How can you marry someone whom you don’t know? You don’t even know if you are even compatible…Come-on...Think twice before doing anything stupid. And don’t marry because every other is doing so. Why is it that the same thing is interpreted differently in different situations? Or is it the Perspective that plays the major role. People have moved ahead in almost all possible walks of life. But still, when it comes to certain traditions, some people find it comfortable to hold on to certain perspectives, which may appear stupid in this time of life. Well then again what is stupid is also relativ...

Came across a nice show in CNN-Comedy Central! Today it aired the "looking forward to” cliché’ used by George Bush and explanations on how “not looking forward” he actually is! Check it out some time :-) http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/the_daily_show/index.jhtml Well since the election time is approaching…what would be the intention of such a video other than a good laugh to the non-voters?