Memories

My future is bright
My present is neat
Yet I often travel to the past
Which was both sour and sweet!

Its not that I regret
Its not that I am very sad...
But when I think of yesterday, I wonder
What if a little more wisdom then I had!

When I look behind, I feel
So much I have grown, So much I have learnt...
I also look back and see
Part of me that was lost, that was burnt!

I look at the future
And I can see my life at its best...
And when I turn around, I see
Those wilted flowers which were once put to test!

I am so happy today when
I sit with friends and giggle...
But I also remember the time when
I sat with friends and giggled!

No matter what I do today
My mind travels back to those times of happiness and worries...
No matter how much I try
My past comes back to me in the form of Memories!

The Bridge Across Forever, by Richard Bach

The book is an autobiography of Richard Bach's quest for his perfect soul mate, finding her and growing with her.

The book starts with Richard looking for his perfect soul mate. He meets many women, but finds it difficult to know who can be the woman he is looking for. He meets an actress Leslie Parrish, and gradually grows fond of her company. He realizes pretty late that Leslie is his woman. But he does not believe in marrying her since he feels his freedom may get curbed by marriage. It takes almost 4 years of staying together with her, that he is ready to get married to her!

The book gives an insight to how a human mind functions, gets confused, analyzes and finally reaches a conclusion; a conclusion which may seem obvious, but the the mind must go through these phases to be assured what it wants!

How to identify if one has met the soul mate that he has always longed for? If you ask SRK, he would say, "Dil ki ghanti bhajegi!" :) That will happen in Bollywood. In reality its difficult to know. Richard had almost considered Leslie as his sister, before he realized that he loved her differently! :)

Will your soul mate share all your hobbies, will like what you like, would dislike what you dislike? Well, no. In case of Richard and Leslie they both were different. Leslie loved music and was scared of even sitting in an airplane. And airplanes were Richard's first love! He was a dud when it came to music.

So what is it that really holds two people together in a relationship? It is the growth of the two in a relationship that actually binds the love between the two! While Richard taught Leslie to fly an airplane, Leslie taught Richard to understand and appreciate music. The differences between the two were shared such that both of them grew with each other. Thats what made them happy together.

I liked a number of ideas and thoughts that Richard wrote. The best was the concept of Richard talking to the Richard of the past and of the future! Dont you ever feel like going back in time and correcting some of the decisions of your past? Dont you ever wonder how you would be in future? Richard feels it too. And he puts down this thought so well...
When Richard went to his house with his wife, Leslie, he remembered how, as a child, he stood near the door dreaming about the lady he would love... And he spoke to that Richard! In this context, I loved this line: "I shouted wordlessly to him over 2 decades ago" :)

Dan Brown: Has he lost with The Lost Symbol?

My Answer is "No"!!
The next book will decide if he has run out of ideas or he still has many :)

Having so many best sellers against Dan Brown's name, one tends to read "The Lost Symbol" with huge expectations and a pre-defined perception about what the book may contain. The climax is what most people dislike. But I liked it.

This book is so much different from his other books. The best part of this book is, the way he has highlighted the American History. It is said, America does'nt have a history. And yet he wrote over 700 pages a story about the American history!

The plot is a simple one. Not too many symbols to investigate. So the book lacks the, "Oh I never thought about it" factor. Yes, we have thought about it now, since his last few books have been telling us so much about symbols.

The book contains a lot of interesting information. It talks about Noetic Science, the almost-death experiences, about how different religions are based on common principles and a lot of other information.

Overall, the book is an interesting read.

Five Point Someone

I read this book a month ago. Yes, I know I have been too late to read this book! But the point is, I finally read it. I read it after watching the lovely movie "3 idiots". And the book did not seem so much appealing! That's because, the book has been modified so well into a lovely movie with a lovely plot that the book seemed very dull. Ryan Oberoi's character in the book has been positively transformed into Rancho (Aamir Khan) in 3 idiots. That was the best change in the book. Overall, the movie was a lot better than the book.

I have also read "The 3 mistakes of my life" and "2 states". I liked the former and loved the latter! "The 3 mistakes of my life" is a simple narrative kind of a book. "2 states" is a very cute love story.

I don't plan to read "1 night at the call center" since I have already watched the movie! :)

The box-culture

I liked this thought from Richard Bach's book, "The Bridge Across Forever".

"Here's how the people live here, in big house-shaped boxes to keep off 'rain' and 'snow', holes cut in the sides so they can see out. They move around in smaller boxes, painted different colors, with whleels on the corners. They need this box-culture because each person thinks of herself and himself as locked in a box called 'body', arms and legs, fingers to move pencils and tools, languages because they've forgotten how to communicate, eyes because they've forgotten how to see. Odd little planet..."

Something to ponder, right? :)

Peepli

A review on the movie...

Presenting to you Peepli [Live]

Cast:
Media... Chaotic
Police... Lazy
Politicians... Political
Secretariats... Diplomatic
Farmers... Illiterate
Public... Speculators

Written by:
Destiny

Produced by:
Public

Story in brief:
What is happening in the background is a puppet show. The puppets have no idea what they are doing. The puppet controllers are just playing games. While the puppet show is depicting one story, and we are busy watching the various interpretations of it, the real story lies hidden behind.

Moral:
Jo hota hai, who nahi hota hai. Aur jo nahi hota hai who hota hai. Confused? That’s what our life is all about - confusion. You don’t know what is happening. And if you want to know the real story or if you know the real story, you need lots of guts to fight against the current to get across your point. And if you don’t have those guts, then you too are a part of the movie, you are the Rakesh and Sandeep. The only role missing in the movie is that of the person having enough guts: and we don’t have anyone like that in reality as well.

Want to know where you fit into, in the real story of this crazy world? Watch the movie and you will be able to figure it out. And while the movie touches you and you talk about it with your friends, I am sure you wont stop planning about where you would buy your next house! (Watch the movie to know what I am talking about). Yes you would say, whats in YOU buying a house? Nothing. The movie did not answer those questions. How to make a difference? Its not easy. Then what? Then just shrug it off and move on. Like everyone <else> did in the movie...

From a kid's eye

Some of my friends & me were discussing about "nature". So here is what I wrote on the fly - The nature as I see from my child's eye. A simple poem, but I hope it brings out the point!

A crow. A pigeon. Any bird in the sky.
Curiously observe how they fly.
If you've forgotten how they flap their wings
Just look again from a kid's eye!

A little doggie runs down the lane
He sniffs & he puffs & he runs away.
A barking dog too, can bring much joy
Just look at the nature from a kid's eye!

A little cockroach, a tiny insect
Little ants, red & black.
Just pick up a spider & do not cry!
Look at the worm from a kid's eye!

The wind blows, the leaves hustle.
You tidy your room, but the water glass topples.
Dont clean; on the floor let it lie.
Observe how the water flows, from a kid's eye!

Simple things around, worth marvel & wonder
If you have not noticed for ages together...
Listen to me, give this a try,
Just stop once and look around from a kid's eye!

Congress returning back to power...

Did the Congress return to power in Maharashtra because of its strong track record as an able administrator? Or simply because it is the lesser evil?

No party is doing any great work. It is just the politics that help any party get the votes. BJP-Shiv sena failed in their political approach. Congress has been smart enough to get desired votes. They could "show" that they were making positive growth. So they won.

To be a leader, you must be able to do one of the 3 C's: convince, corrupt or confuse! :)

Doing good work is a matter of perception... Whether Congress really did good work can be judged from either of the 2 facts:
1) 145 seats out of 288 won by Congress: 50% of the people believed in the work done by Congress
2) 143 seats out of 288 not won by Congress: 50% of the people did not believe in their work!

A Big Mail. From Little Israel.

My first experience of traveling abroad. The post was written on 21 June 2005, just one day after I landed in Israel.

I am mailing you from Israel, Haifa. :-)

When I left Pune for Mumbai, on 18th June evening, I felt Pune is going to miss me a lot. Yes, that is because, when I was ready to leave Pune, it started pouring. The entire Pune was crying... I was leaving for Israel, for a short training at the Haifa development center of Amdocs, followed by some assignment at Haifa. There were 8 others on the same flight with me to Tel Aviv, the working capital of Israel. 6 of them were going stay at Tel Aviv, and 3 of us were going to Haifa.

We left Mumbai at 2:40am by the “Royal Jordanian” flight. It was a 5.5 hrs flight to Amman, the capital of Jordan. We arrived Amman at 5.30am (Amman Time) and were taken to a hotel “Alia”. Jordan is an Arabic country. We saw a number of Arabs wearing their traditional dresses. The females were covered from head to toe. Many men too had their heads covered by those typical caps or that scarf tied with a rope-like cloth on their foreheads. In general, all the men were smart. Even the people like the door keepers or the security guys, had a dashing personality. There was something in the way they carried themselves. We felt, it was because of the compulsory military training that all undergo. And the females were fair and good looking too. However, the people were somewhat rude. The place was very conservative.

After a 12-hr halt at Amman we took a 45min flight to Tel Aviv. This flight flew quite low & we could see the land below change from a desert & a less inhabited ground at Jordan to a greener, more developed land, as we reached Israel.

Our first glance of Israel was the top-view, from the aeroplane which flew from the north of Israel towards Tel Aviv. We could see from above that the country was very well developed and it looked like a planned country. And when we reached the Tel Aviv airport, we were amazed at its size, grandeur and the architecture.

We took a cab from Tel Aviv to Haifa. It was for the first time that I saw a Mercedes Benz taxi, sat in one for the first time! The driver drove at a speed of 120km/hr, and we did not feel it. We were looking outside at the lovely buildings, some very well-known & big companies, the lovely roads, and the beautiful scenery around. It was 8pm, and yet there was a lot of natural light outside. I felt myself falling in love with the country! :-)

Haifa is located at the north of Israel, along the coast. It is located along the slopes of Mount Carmel; and on its west is the Mediterranean sea.
Our rooms were booked at one of the best hotels in Israel- Dan Panorama Haifa. It is a 5-star hotel. At the reception, we were given “cards” to our rooms. Yes, the hotel does not have keys. We get something that looks like a credit card. We have to swipe in, to open the room. When I entered the room, and opened the curtains, I was spell bound by what I saw outside. My room overlooked the Haifa city, that was lit with different colors of light, and there outside, I could see the Haifa bay. I saw little boats in the water, they too were lit with lights. I was mesmerized by the beautiful picture that I saw outside!

But as I was exploring the extravagant hotel room, a wave of sadness took over me. I felt lonely for some time. Santosh, Praveen & myself talked for sometime, and we all were feeling this. We felt that everything around was so beautiful, but there was no one close to share it with... I thought, something as simple as a sweet dish can be so beautiful when you have someone to share it with. And something as wonderful as what is happening to me can still be painful!!

Our breakfast at the hotel again, was grand. We took a cab for Amdocs office. It is 20mins drive from our hotel. We noticed that there were only cars on the road. No bikes. And not many people walked.

Amdocs office at Haifa is a small sweet place. Here, you will not see cubicles. You will see little rooms- and inside each, there are 1-3 people, depending upon your seniority. The office is a triangular maze, and there are about 40 such rooms. The people are very friendly. We at once were made so comfortable, that we forgot yesterday’s depression! We also met 3 other Indian guys from DVCI. From tomorrow we would be commuting to office with them in the same cab.

Lunch was good. There was a lot of variety in salads. A lot of variety in meat (which I did not eat). All the non veggies, however complained that the meat was not properly cooked- it tasted raw. There were a number of sweets. Varieties of bread. Soups. And so much to choose from! Our afternoon walk was circling around a mall opposite Amdocs, named “Cosmos”.

Today we have not been given much work. But we can see loads of it coming our way! :-( Overall, Israel is a beautiful, technically very developed & clean country. And the people here are very good & friendly!

Now and Then

When I was a kid, I argued with my parents. I felt that they were always extra careful in some activities, which irritated me. They cared too much for me. Most favorite instruction from them was: "Dont stay out very late, come home before dark..!" They failed to understand that the world was changing. As I grew up, I began to ignore them. If we cannot stay out late after office to catch up with friends, then when can we?! "Dont eat too much outside, its bad for your health.." But isnt it fun? There is such a lot of variety to explore & eat! Life is about having fun, about adventure; and they failed to understand this. I felt they had some very old-fashioned ideas. They kept talking about how the world was during their young times, and how it was changing for the worse. "I have to face this changing world", I thought, "and I cannot live with a set of traditional rules". I never understood why parents made such a fuss about all this. I just kept going with the "current trend". And thought its important to keep pace with the changing times.

Gradually, my role got upgraded to a "mother". Now I have a son and I care too much about him. I feel, this world is changing for the worse! He is barely a year old, and I need to protect him from this new epidemic - swine flu. Its so sad, that the children cannot go out and enjoy their time playing around - this was not the case during our times! I imagine about the future of my son. He will have to go out in this world full of pollution - I can imagine myself instructing him to be careful when he will go out. There is so much competition outside, and his life will be so full of tension! This should not impact his health, so I will to cook good and healthy food for him and make him exercise regularly.
And with all such thoughts in my mind, I wonder if he will listen to me, if he will try to understand my point!!

Ye Re Ye Re Pavasa...

... Rusalas ka?
Majhyashi gatti foo kelis ka?!!

I still wear a sun-coat when I come to office. My rain-coat is lying in the dicky, unused... :(
When will I sit in the office, completely drenched inspite of wearing the raincoat, in the A/C, shivering, and probably, cursing the rain??!!!!

Lehman's crisis: Learning

An interesting article by Yogesh Chhabria.

LATELY, I have been thinking a lot about the Lehman crisis. Spending money that they didn't have and going beyond their means is one of the main reasons for their situation today. In fact that is the cause for the current economic crisis in the US.

When I see all this happening, I can only remember the good old days. Then, karz was bad. People looked down upon those who took loans. Parents would not give their daughter's hand in marriage to a man with loans.

But of course, the times have changed now. Everyone I know has a loan. The buzz word is EMI (equated monthly installment). Today, you can buy everything on EMI - a house, a television, an i-Pod. In fact I know of someone who just bought a fancy BMW 3 series on EMI, instead of buying a cheaper car outright with cash. I mostly prefer to take public transport, but then I am an old man with old thoughts!

Anyway, coming back to what caused the crisis. Imagine having Rs 2 lakh in your bank account, no regular income, yet buying a house worth Rs 65 lakh, in the hope of selling it for a higher price. Even if the price of the house fell by just 5 per cent (that is Rs 3 lakh), you will go bankrupt.

This is what Lehman Brothers did; with around USD 20 billion they went and bought assets worth over USD 600 billion. Isn't it suicidal and simply foolish?

I am sure things would have been different, had I been the head of Lehman brothers. But who wants an old conservative man like me to head a complex financial institution.

But there are a few lessons that we can learn:

1.Live a balanced life and avoid overspending.

2.Don't buy things we don't need.

3.Don't buy Branded good's.

4.Don't buy excess Food, Cloths, Cosmetics, Footwear, electronics and Fashion accuracies........just think before you buy.

Tip: World still has a lot of growth ahead and the future holds immense opportunities for us. Let us make the most of it and save and invest it wisely instead of wasting our precious little on things we don't need.

5.Try to balance life with work (No one is happy to work in their profession).

6. Don't stress out your self, after work try to do some extra activities like swimming, yoga, walking, running where you can divert your mind from stress.

A thumb rule: Health is more important than money.

7.Try to understand each other (Wife and Husband) in financial matter's and help each other.

Tip: As soon as you get your monthly salary, set aside a fixed amount, usually 35 per cent, for insurance, savings and investments. You can then spend the rest.

8. Not all loans are bad. Loans that are 'need based' (home loans, education loans) can always find a place in your finances against those that are largely 'want based' (Credit cards, personal loans, car loans).

9. Borrow only if repayment is financially comfortable.

A thumb rule: Keep EMIs within 35 to 45 per cent of your monthly income

In that respect, there is one American who I really respect - WARREN BUFFET. He has lived in the same ordinary house for over three decades, drives his own medium sized car and leads an extremely regular 'middle class' life. If that's all it takes for the richest person on earth to be happy, why do all of us need to take extra stress just so that we can get things which aren't even essential?

Lost

I feel I have lost my heart...
And yet I can hear it beat loud!
Like the sun which I know is there,
But hidden behind the cloud!

The sun is lost... And so is my heart...
And the weather seems so gay!
The tiny drops fall on the ground,
Washing all sorrows away!

My heart is lost... And so is the sun...
And my life seems so gay!
The cool breeze brushes my cheeks,
Taking my mind, miles away!

But soon the clouds will disappear
And the sun will burn again.
From dreamland to the world of reality
I will have to run again!

Increased respect towards Sir Tendulkar!

In India today, cricket is a very "high valued" sport. I am not a cricket fan solely because I feel cricket is too hyped a sport.
Sachin Tendulkar has been one of the best players of cricket history. Infact, "Sachin" has become a synonym of cricket. And inspite of all this, Sachin's poise and his humility stands out.
Isnt it weird that a simple man like Sachin is the master of such a hyped up sport?! I have always felt it to be an irony that I like Sachin but not cricket!

I wonder why other sports are not given as much encouragement as for cricket? With the cricket juggernaut, all other games are getting sidelined. Some months ago, hockey players had protested about why cricketers were given so much acknowledgement after winning the Twenty20, but the Indian hockey team victory was sidelined?
Today, the Indian hockey team could not qualify for the Beijing Olympics. "Why, what went wrong": is another topic of discussion. But what I want to highlight here is, Sir Tendulkar has come up and is urging people at this time of hockey-crisis to support the hockey players!

Here is what Sachin has told the media:
“Do not run them down. This is the time all Indians must encourage and support the players. Once you fall, it’s important to get up. There will be stumbling blocks in sports. The players will get up and we must give them our helping hand. As a nation we need to be with the players. One must also recognise the fact that the players must be feeling the disappointment much more than anyone else.”

This has increased my respect towards Sir Sachin Tendulkar!

It Doesnt Interest Me

A wonderful poem written by Oriah Mountain Dreamer.

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shrivelled and closed from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it, or fade it, or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own; if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic, remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself. If you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul. If you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty even when it is not pretty every day. And if you can source your own life from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand at the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, 'Yes.'

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the centre of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

The Complan Boy

As a hard-core Shahid fan, I find it amusing to know that he was the same guy whom I had liked when I was a kid! ;)

I thought, Shahid was my Chocolate Hero... Just learnt that is also a Complan Boy! :)

Remember the ad in which a boy holds out a mug of Complan health drink saying, "I'm a Complan boy" and the sister nudges at him and says, "I'm a Complan girl". The boy was Shahid & the girl was Ayesha!

Have a look at the ad once again: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-fysFHfBYM

And look at the pics... I am not sure though... wonder if this is real or some gossip!!

Jab We SMS-ed!

Can you guess what 6 rupees & the story below can do?
Just read on…

1) There was a boy who liked a girl. So he proposed that girl. But the girl said no.

2) So he started making friendship with the girl’s best friend, so that can maro chance on that heroine, and can finally pato-fy her.

3) But then the villain came into picture. The heroine’s brother is an actual “bhai”… so he gets angry & now there is a fight sequence. Mara mari.

4) Then what happens?
a. Then the villain & the heroine’s best friend meet & fall in love.
b. Someone said that just teach that villain some gyan by doing gandhigiri.
c. The hero should win that mara mari, that’s what happens in the movies… right?

5) And then the climax…
The boy suddenly wakes up from his sleep. He realizes that all that had happened was actually a dream!! Then the boy goes & proposes the girl. She says yes. They get married and live happily ever after!!

And then Shrikant announced the climax of the story on Radio Mirchi… And he said, “Atul, woh hero-heroine happily rahe na rahe, main tumko happy banata hoon, aapko ko deta hoon Budhwar Block Buster ke couple movie tickets!!”

Atul & me had reached our home parking by then… And we were like “yeeeeeeee”!!! We had won weekend tickets for the movie “Jab We Met”! We ran upstairs to charge Atul’s mobile, because its battery had died out, just after sending the SMS to Radio Mirchi- We thought we can get a call from RM anytime now!

Yestreday Atul picked me up from office. We were in car listening to RM. Shrikant announced on RM the first 3 lines of the story above. Then he said, send an SMS for “what happens next in the story”. I sent him an sms. My SMS was read out… I sent him 4 (a). But when he announced the ticket-winners, my name was not there. Then he said, now complete the story… send us the climax of the story. I took Atul’s mobile & sent the climax.

And guess what… Today morning me too got a call from RM that even I have won the Block Buster Budhwar ke movie tickets!!!
Yahooo!!

And I am thinking, wow, we are so great!! We earn even when we leave office… Every minute is precious, they say. So while we travel back home in Pune’s atrocious traffic, we utilize the time by earning some fun :))

Atlas Shrugged

I completed reading Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" last week. Her ideas, her philosophy and the characters in the book set my head wondering... Here goes something what I felt about this book...

Overall, Atlas Shrugged is a good read. Unlike other novels, I took a lot of time to read the book. And it was not just because it's a huge book, but because, I felt there is something to think about in every sentence in the book.

In the book, one point that Ayn Rand has tried to convey is that a man's mind is very valuable. Infact the book suggests that if people with a "great mind" go on strike, the whole world collapses!

In the book, there are 2 sections of people: people with great mind (Atlas) and people with no mind and no purpose. The people with no purpose in their life are the cause of evil. But hey, are'nt there people in this world who fall under a third category: people who desire to have a purpose in their life, but who do not possess the great brains that will tell them what their purpose is? Such people want to be good, but cannot think on their own. Such people need guidance in thinking. Such people think what they are told to think!
What happens to such people who later realise that they were under evil influence throughout? This is answered by what happened to Cheryl Taggart, Jim taggart's wife.

Unfortunately, the book doesnt answer how these "normal" people are expected to live. It made me believe that the people who are not clever will always lie at the mercy of their rulers, who can be good or bad. And since the normal people are not clever, they will not be able to choose their leaders rightly.

Another point that Ayn Rand conveyed was John Galt's declaration: "I swear - by my life and my love of it - that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine." It means, you must not sacrifice yourself or your mind for others.

If I have a great mind and I can invent something that can benefit the whole world; The world has bad people, good people and the normal people. But if I feel that the world is currently under the influence of bad people, then what should I do? Since I have the great mind and the brain, I SHOULD be able to fight against the bad people, right? It is like the war between the Gods and the Devils. God has to win. But how? By destroying the whole world (the world which consisted of some poor guys who could not think) and then re-building the world again?

I feel, in such practical cases, the good guy needs to "sacrifice" something in order to gain that eternal happiness. One should not be forced to sacrifice himself - thats murder. But sometimes sacrifice gives immense pleasure. Sometimes it feels good to give away your food to someone else, to see him happy while you starve, doesnt it?

You cannot eliminate emotions from a man. You cannot seperate out reason and emotions. They are inter-linked. In the book, Dagny, Fransisco, Hank and John Galt too were shown to have emotions. Dagny decided to join the strike very late - after she "felt" anger due to what was being done to John. Her decision was coupled with emotions and it was not just reason. The book itself was contradicting it philosophy...

At the end of the book, what I felt was, Wesley Mouch and his lot tried to murder a man's mind. And Johh Galt and others killed the whole world by deciding not to use their minds!

And even after reading the book what I felt was, the book was "good in theory", but practically this is not possible. If one has the great brains, then he should use them and help those who cannot think. And I was talking just like those mentioned as "evils" in the book!! :)

I did not agree with Ayn rand's philosophy in the book. And yet, I liked the book!!

What I took from the book was: A country depends largely on its leaders. And most of the leaders do not have those great minds. But they know politics. They have their selfish ideas, which result into doom. Our country is in such a devastating situation. And we need some good theory and some great minds who can come up & get our country into good hands!

Circle Vs Line

In "Atlas Shrugged", Ayn Rand said, "A man's life should not be a circle. It should be a straight line". And this sentence triggered some thoughts in my mind...

A circle defines a boundary. A straight line represents an arrow, it points to your goal.

Life like a circle means a secure life. You have made both ends meet and now you are living a happy life. No more struggles. Things beyond this circle are not known, and hence not disturbing. Your life is confined to the boundaries of the circle. You keep traveling round and round on the circle. You live a life called as "regular".

Life like a straight line means progression. You are constantly fighting to move ahead. Every new step is an adventure. Life for you is not just about making ends meet. It is much more. You keep setting new targets for yourself and you keep moving along a new path.

Living life in a straight line is like living with the time. You move ahead with time. Things of the past are left behind. Time also always moves ahead in a straight line.

Living life in a circle means living a closed life. Bound with some rules and regulations. People who live life in a circle are more traditional, more conservative.

If you look around, most of the people live life in a circle. It takes a lot of guts to live life in a straight line. And this is a mark of a great man.

A Different Independence Day

15 August 2007. India will celebrate 60 years of independence.

Sometimes I wonder, what does Indian Independence really mean to us today? What do we do on 15th Aug? We might get up late. We will buy small tirangas with those spinning chakras attached to them. And then very efficiently we will tie them to our vehicle. All day patriotic songs will be played on Radio Mirchi. That’s it!

We crib that nothing seems to work in India. We curse our system and say “Nothing is going to happen to this country”. It’s good that we realize that there are a lot of issues with our country. And the all issues are inter-linked, forming a vicious circle. But what are we doing to break this vicious circle?

Our heroes of the past cleaned our home for us. They told us "Kar chalein hum fida jaan aur tan saathiyon, ab tumhare hawalein vatan saathiyon". They have handed us the batons. It’s our duty now to wake up and take firm steps to better our country.

This 15th August, let us all do something, anything simple, that will make this Independence Day different.

You can decide to plant a tree or make your maid servant happy by giving her a holiday too. Or you can think of doing some kind of social service. You can do that little bit to avoid pollution by not taking out your vehicle – you can cycle instead! Small things as such cannot change all our issues at an instant. But at least you can give it a start. “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”.

So on this Independence Day, try to do something that can make a difference. It will. And what more, you can share your experiences / episodes of the day, so as to motivate all those around you!