Questions, questions and more questions !!!! Why??

“How old are you? What do you do? How is your school?” etc etc. Just some of the questions everybody asks everybody.

Last week there was at dinner, an old friend just mentioned that her younger son hates it when people (or should I say relatives especially) ask him how’s school? What's your percentage this year? One day he just reacted saying “all these uncles and aunties ask me the same questions again and again. Do I ever ask them how’s their office? How much are they earning in a year? “

This got me thinking that as far as I can remember, I have heard more questions than speaking in a normal conversation. Growing up, I have been surrounded by questions. (I am sure there are others out there who feel the same).

Tell me, have you gone through these?

•During school: - “Which class are you in now? What’s your percentage this year?” etc

•College: - “Which college did take admission? Which course? Why? What’s your percentage”? etc

•Work:- “Which company? Location? Package? etc

•And when these questions end, they start on with your personal life. (you know what I mean)


We are not saying dont ask questions. Just ask questions that are appropriate. Don’t use them as a conversation starter; you will only get a mono-syllable as answers.

Can a visit to a Mall be so terrible?

Have you ever been to a mall where not only where you disappointed with the mall but also with the people who work there? Has that experience left a bitter taste in your mouth and you promise your self that you will never ever go back to that mall again?

You Must be wondering why I am asking these questions right? Well, that’s because I have been through such an experience. I shall tell you what happened.

3^rd April 2010, I and my family decided to go to the Total Mall on the Old Airport Road. Agreed it was our mistake to go on a Saturday. We had to face the usual Saturday crowd.

We entered the mall, after looking at the ground floor stores, we wanted to the first floor. This is where our bad experience starts. We saw some escalators that go to the floors above. Now my sister has a fear of these escalators. You must be wondering why she is scared of some mere escalators. Well to answer those questions, I’m sure all of us have some or the other fears, like for example, heights, lifts/ elevators, etc.

Anyway coming back to the point, luckily one of the two escalators was switched of to be used as a staircase, now I have a question why do they need to switch of the operation to make the escalator as a staircase, when generally malls have separate staircases for those customers who want to go on the staircase. I have the answer to this question. The mall DID NOT have any Staircase for customers to go. Now you must be wondering how do I know, because we had asked one of the mall employees about the staircase. His answer to us was and I Quote, “We only have the escalators” with a big fake smile.

Since one of the escalators was made into a “staircase” my sister climb up to the first floor.

We had to the second floor. After reaching the second floor, we see that the entrance to that floor was blocked and there was no way we could go there. So we had to go the third floor, since that was the ONLY WAY to reach the second floor. We had to go through the entire third floor in search of the exit door of that floor to reach the second floor. The floor is so big, add the crowd to it, it took us almost 15 min to find the exit door.

When we finally reached the exit, and behold what do we see..? Another escalator, only this time it’s a flat one, where there are no steps, so that the trolleys can be taken smoothly. They looked liked those convener belts in the airports. ( I gave this description, so that you could understand what I am trying to say.)

Like it was going to be of any help to my sister, she started to panic. Before it could get worse, dad said that he is taking her away from here and try to find an alternative way. Me and mom went on that escalator. In less than, I think 10 minutes I get a call from dad, saying that we meet them at the exit of the mall.

After we came out and met them, dad said that he tried to find an alternative way to get to the second floor, but when he asked another employee there about it, he just said, cant you see that escalator is the only way. and turned his face and started walking the other way. That was it. That was the last thing to get on my dad’s nerve.

Dad caught hold of him, and shouted at him in Kannada. Since dad is fluent in Kannada, he gave the employee such a shouting, that he probably never heard in his life.

Some of you out there might differ to what I am saying. But let me tell you, this is our personal experience that we had in that particular mall. I have seen my sister getting panic attacks at just the mere sight of the escalators.

On a personal front, I for one will not want to go back in that mall. But if there are people out there who like that mall and want to go back there, well, like I always say

“To Each his Own.”

The Mayonnaise Jar and 2 Cups of Coffee

When things in your lives seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They all agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open area between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. the students responded with a unanimous "yes".

The professor then brought out two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, filling up the empty between the sand. The students laughed.

"Now", said the professor as the laughter subsided, " I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.

The golf balls are the important things--your family, your children, your health, friends and your favorite passions--and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter, like your job, your house and your car.

The sand is everything else--the small stuff.If you put the sand into jar first, there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things important to you.

"Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children, take time to get medical checkups, take your spouse out to dinner, play another round of golf. There will always be time to clean the house and fix up things. Take care of the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. 'I'm glad you asked.

It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.'

A few Phobias....

Here is a list of few Phobias...Some of them are well know and some of us are suffering from some of these

Fear of wind- Ancraophobia
Fear of darkness.- Achluophobia
Fear of noise- Acousticophobia
Fear of heights - Acrophobia
Fear of chickens- Alektorophobia
Fear of open spaces or of being in crowded places- Agoraphobia
Fear of being touched- Aphenphosmphobia
Fear of spiders- Arachnephobia
Fear of stars/space- Astrophobia
Fear of ventriloquist's dummies, animatronic creatures, wax statues- Automatonophobia
Fear of stairs- Bathmophobia
Fear of books- Bibliophobia
Fear of ugliness- Cacophobia
Fear of mirrors- Catoptrophobia
Fear of hair- Chaetophobia
Fear of dancing- Chorophobia
Fear of money- Chrometophobia
Fear of going to bed- Clinophobia
Fear of dogs- Cynophobia
Fear of going to school- Didaskaleinophobia
Fear of teenagers- Ephebiphobia
Fear of work- Ergophobia
Fear of laughter- Geliophobia
Fear of blood- Hemophobia
Fear of priests or sacred things- Hierophobia
Fear of words- Logophobia
Fear of cooking- Mageirocophobia
Fear of solitude or being alone- Monophobia
Fear of children- Pedophobia
Fear of wealth- Plutophobia
Fear of being tickled by feathers- Pteronophobia
Fear of getting wrinkles- Rhytiphobia
Fear of long words- Sesquipedalophobia
Fear of telephones- Telephonophobia
Fear of animals- Zoophobia

Some thoughts to ponder about....

Save the whales. Collect the whole set

A day without sunshine is like, night.

On the other hand, you have different fingers.

I just got lost in thought. It was unfamiliar territory.

42.7 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot.

99 percent of lawyers give the rest a bad name.

I feel like I'm diagonally parked in a parallel universe.

You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say will be misquoted, then used against you.

I wonder how much deeper the ocean would be without sponges

Honk if you love peace and quiet.

Remember half the people you know are below average.

Despite the cost of living, have you noticed how popular it remains?

Nothing is fool-proof to a talented fool.

Atheism is a non-prophet organization.

He who laughs last thinks slowest.

Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.

Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

I drive way too fast to worry about cholesterol.

I intend to live forever - so far so good.

Borrow money from a pessimist - they don't expect it back.

If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?

My mind is like a steel trap - rusty and illegal in 37 states.

Quantum mechanics: The dreams stuff is made of.

The only substitute for good manners is fast reflexes.

Support bacteria - they're the only culture some people have.

When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane and going the wrong way.

If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.

A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking.

Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.

For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism.

Bills travel through the mail at twice the speed of checks

Never do card tricks for the group you play poker with.

No one is listening until you make a mistake.

Success always occurs in private and failure in full view.

The colder the x-ray table the more of your body is required on it.

To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research.

To succeed in politics, it is often necessary to rise above your principles.

Monday is an awful way to spend 1/7th of your life.

You never really learn to swear until you learn to drive.

Two wrongs are only the beginning.

The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard.

The sooner you fall behind the more time you'll have to catch up.

A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.

Change is inevitable except from vending machines.

Get a new car for your spouse - it'll be a great trade!

Plan to be spontaneous - tomorrow.

Always try to be modest and be proud of it!

If you think nobody cares, try missing a couple of payments.

How many of you believe in telekinesis? Raise my hand...

Love may be blind but marriage is a real eye-opener.

If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving isn't for you.

"You've got to find what you love,'' Jobs says

This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005.



I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much.

Oxymorons

An oxymoron is usually defined as a phrase in which two words of contradictory meaning are brought together

1) Clearly misunderstood

2) Exact Estimate

3) Small Crowd

4) Act Naturally

5) Found Missing

6) Fully Empty

7) Pretty ugly

8) Seriously funny

9) Only choice

10) Original copies

Friends, Bikes , Open Road and Memories……..

On a pleasant Sunday morning, me and my friends decided to go on a road trip. This trip was planned just 2 days in advance. It was decided to go on bikes as the distance was not very far, and since it would be a Sunday, the roads would be clear of traffic. Since we had planned to leave at the crack of dawn to reach the place early, I decided to stay the night over at my friend’s place. It was very difficult to get up at the crack of dawn (believe me not just for me but also for my other friends..)

Close to 9 am the guys came with their respective bikes, so by the time we could leave the house it was past 9 am. There were eight of us on four bikes. ( out of which we were three girls ) . While crossing the city limits to reach the highway we did come across some traffic, but it was not like we could not cross it. Finally, we left behind the traffic, and got on to the highway. The drive on the highway was really nice. While we were on the bikes, we came across such eye soothing sights, like a lake, farms, and tiny villages. We decided to stop at small eatery for breakfast. We had excellent mouth watering breakfast of Idily, vada and shambhar, and a hot cup of filter served in those small glasses. Since two of my friends had cameras in their mobile phones, we couldn’t resist clicking a few photos. ;)

We started again on the highway, with all of trying to race each other. We stopped again at CCD (Café Coffee Day), since we had to stop, for a..ahem….nature’s call. There one my friend ordered for just one slice of the yummy, mouth watering CCD famous chocolate fantasy cake topped with hot chocolate sauce. Yummy, This one piece was shared amongst the eight of us. The café was set up in a scenic view with rocks behind the café. Again we couldn’t resist clicking a few more photos. :p

We started the drive back on the highway and this time we finally our destination “ANTARAGANGA”. It was another adventure form here. After parking the bikes, we began to climb the steps that led to a temple at the end, though we didn’t go inside the temple. We asked around what else is there to see, when we were told that if we continue the climb on the rocks, we would get to see a view.

Thus we began another climb on the rocky path that led to the top. There was no proper steps, since it was all rocks, and they was no proper path. It was a Herculean climb for those who are not used to trekking and hiking, including myself. While climbing, again we were clicking photos like crazy. J Each and every one giving a pose. We reached halfway on the hill, where we were just sitting for some time. We just sat down, and there was a cool pleasant breeze. We continued with the climb, but by the time we reached with less than a few more meters, I couldn’t continue. Along with me another friend of mine also couldn’t go. The three of us stayed back.

We started are decent from the hill, and boy coming down was more scary than climbing. While climbing up, my heart was beating really fast, but it was beating much faster while coming down. It was not just the scary rocky steps; it was also the view at the bottom that scared me. I even almost slipped halfway coming down. But I took my own time and came down slowly, with my legs wobbling. By the time I finished the decent I was out of breath…whew… but this was just one hurdle that we finished. We still had to climb the very same steps that led us to the rocky hill. While coming down the stairs, I felt that I was going to collapse any moment. We finally managed to reach the parking area. It was already noon and were tired and famished. We started out for the highway in search for a good place to eat. We had our lunch and were on our way back to the city. When we finally reached home, we all wanted to collapse on the sofa.

But the best part of the trip was that we were on bikes. It was a great, when we felt the wind, and also racing with each other. Of course we also got sun tanned, but we don’t mind it. Very rarely do we have such trips with close friends.

This trip is one of those memories that I will always remember for life. I am fortunate to have friends, who have been by my side, in good times as well as not so good times. Thanks to them, whenever I will look back at these memories, I will always have a smile on my face….

End of another year

The sunset of 31st Dec 2009, marked the end of a decade. The sunrise of 1st Jan 2010, ushered in a new beginning, not just for me, but also for my family and friends.

The Year 2008 ended at at a sad note for me as I had lost a loved one in the month of December, and unfortunately I could not join my friends as they celebrated the new year's.

The year 2009 has been quite eventful for me. I saw a lot of ups and downs in this eventful year. This was the year which i remember, where we were struggling and getting tensed about getting a job, as we had officially become graduates. There was a lot of traveling that happened this, some adventurous, some planned and some...well..made at the spur of the moment.... :P. Thanks to these travels I got to see new places, meet new people and of course got to spend some quality bonding time with my co- travelers.

This was a year of weddings too, which i got to attend. It was nice to see different rituals and different customs in different weddings.

At the end of the year i am thankful for a lot of thing. I am thankful for my family and their support that they have always given me...No questions asked..

I am also thankful to have the good fortune of having great friends for not only tolerating me but also for being a support for me in times of need. I guess this proves the saying "A friend in need is a friend indeed. "

Thank you for the wonderful journey I call "2009"

A toast to a new journey for "2010"