tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55630185167515069062024-03-14T01:15:05.140-07:00Vikram Pyati's ThoughtsJust some ThoughtsVikram Pyatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17652035637623101393noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5563018516751506906.post-8962839950418411692019-03-16T16:30:00.000-07:002019-03-16T16:33:22.356-07:00The Power of Compounding, Bill Gates and Online Courses<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WNnrjfQjzEs/XI2HuztHz6I/AAAAAAAADN8/6pnXO7XYx_MG2bk75ISpUgxzOMkT7SFnQCLcBGAs/s1600/The-power-of-compounding-money-and-everything-else-1080x675.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1080" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WNnrjfQjzEs/XI2HuztHz6I/AAAAAAAADN8/6pnXO7XYx_MG2bk75ISpUgxzOMkT7SFnQCLcBGAs/s320/The-power-of-compounding-money-and-everything-else-1080x675.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
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What is common between the power of compounding, Bill Gates and online courses? Turns out a lot!</div>
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But before I delve further into it, a little background on my trysts with online courses. I discovered MOOC (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massive_open_online_course) around 2012. I started my first course on Coursera the same year. I dutifully completed the first couple of video lectures, but as time passed by, my interest in the course tapered and it soon came to a grinding halt. One of my 2013 resolutions was to start taking more online courses, and like the countless gym resolutions I have taken over the years, this also went nowhere. The pattern continued, more or less the same way, since then. Until last year.</div>
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2018 was the year when I finally turned a new leaf, as far as "completing" online courses were concerned.</div>
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How does this relate to the power of compounding and Bill Gates? I will get to that.</div>
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In February 2018, I read a book about investment - From the Rat Race to Financial Freedom - written by an Indian author Manoj Arora. It is a very good book which describes the basics of investing and the reason why you should start investing early. Particularly, the author stresses on the power of compounding. The following excerpt from the book caught my eye:</div>
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<i>If Christopher Columbus had invested $1 in 1492 at 5% "simple interest", today it would be worth approximately $25 (an increase of 25X). If the interest on the invested $1 had been compounded annually, guess what it would be today? </i></blockquote>
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<i>Well... more than $50 billion!</i></blockquote>
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This is an incredible piece of statistics, and signifies the power of compounding in a way mere words cannot.</div>
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Around the same time I read one of Bill Gates' quotes :</div>
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<i>Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.</i></blockquote>
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Well, for mere mortals like me, the quote can be altered slightly - "Most people overestimate what they can do in 1 month and underestimate what they can do in 1 year."</div>
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It is interesting how the knowledge gained from one field can be seamlessly applied to another field. Something clicked, and I was able to apply the above two pieces of wisdom to solve my problem of online course completion.</div>
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I realized I was overestimating what I could achieve in 2 weeks, as far as the online courses were concerned. I tried to cram the courses as much as I could, spending 3-4 hours a day with the sole intention of completing the course in one or two weeks flat. Obviously, it did not work and wasn't the right strategy. Spending relatively less amount of time, say 30 minutes per day, did not look a good option either, as I felt I was doing things too slowly. As a result, I was lulled into inaction and ended up skipping the courses altogether.</div>
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My breakthrough came when I realized the power of compounding is as effective when applied to knowledge, as it is to wealth! If I just spend 30 minutes a day taking courses online, I may not achieve much in 2 weeks, but I can achieve an incredible amount in 1 year (and exponentially more in 5 years). Since the human brain thinks in a linear way and cannot grasp the power of compounding as easily, I underestimated how much I can achieve in a year by just spending 30 minutes a day.</div>
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Once I understood this basic truth, there was no stopping. I completed as many as 6 online machine learning courses on Coursera last year, spending only around 5-6 hours every week. Of course, this applies to any form of knowledge and not necessarily online courses. I was able to finish a very good (and a hefty) book - Designing Data Intensive Applications - following the same strategy.</div>
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In today's day and age, especially in the field of software engineering, change happens so fast that unless you keep yourself updated with the latest developments, you quickly became irrelevant. The ability to consistently and incrementally add to your knowledge, so that it keeps compounding, will go a long way in ensuring that you are never behind the curve.</div>
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Perhaps this discovery will come across as "common sense" for those already following it, but for me this was a game-changer, and a revelation, and for that, I am thankful to Manoj Arora and Bill Gates.</div>
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Here's to many more years of compounding knowledge!</div>
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Vikram Pyatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17652035637623101393noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5563018516751506906.post-53303409371305538632016-07-30T11:12:00.000-07:002016-07-30T11:12:05.651-07:0042 inch 4K TV and life choices<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Couple of months back one of my colleagues, lets call him Vijay, purchased a 42 inch Ultra HD 4K television set. It cost him around INR 70 k. When I inquired him on the reason for this indulgence, he sported a wide smile and replied, "I want to live life king-size. What is life if you don't enjoy it".<br />
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Vijay is not alone. He is part of a growing section of the society who are unapologetic about their spending patterns. They purchase the latest electronic gadgets, shop every other weekend in branded stores and <i>fly </i>wherever they want. Of course, why shouldn't they? After all its their hard earned money; they have every right to spend it as they seem fit.<br />
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I pressed Vijay further on what programs he intend to watch on his new favorite gadget. His face contorted a bit, clearly annoyed at such an irrelevant question. If there was a machine which could translate facial expressions to words, it would have certainly read out - <i>does it even matter what I watch; everything will look good on this</i>. But he controlled his thoughts, paused to think for a while, and casually uttered, "I guess cricket will look cool on this. I will watch a few IPL games. Also, the <i>animal</i> channels. It would be such a thrill to watch a Leopard chasing a Deer in 4K"<br />
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I ran into Vijay a month later. I asked him how his TV watching experience was coming along. He replied that the TV is great and the images are so clear that he can count wrinkles on an old person's face. In fact, after he bought the TV he recorded a show featuring an old lady and replayed the show regularly to see the old lady's wrinkled face! But off late he wasn't getting any time to watch the TV; office work and other important tasks - like sleeping - occupied most of his time.<br />
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This incident lead me to think - is there a better way to lead life than what Vijay so eloquently put 'king-size' ? Agreed, that watching a lousy program on a 42 inch 4K TV is way better than watching the same program on a 32 inch TV, but why are our choices restricted to just upgrading the TV? If Vijay wanted to enhance his TV watching experience, a more logical choice would have been to watch a better program, isn't it? <br />
Given that he had 70K to spend, could he have bought DVDs of some classic movies or TV shows? Could he have subscribed to some online streaming movie sites? Could he have opted for some paid channel where he could watch the programs he liked? And if he was never the TV-watching type, could he have just spent the 70K on something else; something which would have bought him genuine joy and happiness? Did he even think on these lines?<br />
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I think that is one of our main problems. We only think of upgrading to 42 inch 4k TV, never think about changing the programs we watch. We commute to our mundane jobs on a Maruti Alto and aspire to commute to the same mundane job in a Honda city, but don't think about the option of going to our dream job in a metro. We live in a 2 BHK apartment and aspire to own a two storied independent house, but don't give any thought on <i>how </i>to live in these concrete structures. <br />
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As I walked out of my house with these thoughts in mind, I was startled by the guffawing coming from my neighbor's apartment.From the ajar door I could see that my neighbors - two bachelors in their late 20's - were watching the superhit hindi comedy movie "Hera Pheri". One of them - Narayana - was laughing so heartily that he almost fell off his chair.<br />
They were watching the movie on a <i>15 inch non HD laptop</i>. I wonder if they would have laughed any louder had they watched the movie in a 4K HD TV set !<br />
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Vikram Pyatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17652035637623101393noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5563018516751506906.post-76748947036877552013-01-30T09:13:00.001-08:002013-01-30T09:14:53.926-08:00Success Vs Joy - A Book Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Success – that seductive mistress after whom everyone (well, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">almost</i>
everyone) runs – is a parameter by which society measures the worth of
individuals. Success is thought of as the panacea of all ills afflicting
us. We think success is the missing piece in life’s jigsaw puzzle and
putting this piece in place will reveal a bright and a beautiful image
and we will live happily ever after! Everywhere we go we find people
eulogizing success. There are numerous books written on how to be
successful. Before a kid turns 5 he/she is already going to ‘tuitions’;
there are CAT coaching centers all over India to help aspirants clear
the exam; there are hundreds of cricket academies who promise to churn
out the next ‘Tendulkar’. If society has a god, it has to be success.</div>
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Joy, on the other hand, is an often ignored cousin
of success. You don’t find that many books written on how to experience
joy, how to be happy. You won’t find any cricket academy which teaches
kids just to enjoy playing cricket and in the process score runs. You
won’t find any coaching center which talks about the joy derived while
solving a problem. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Joy is thought of as something which will eventually follow success</b>. Get hold of success and you will find joy.</div>
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Geet Sethi – 7 time world billiards champion – and
Sunil Agarwal try to find the distinction between success and joy in
this remarkably insightful book ‘<i>Success Vs Joy</i>’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
the book, written as a first person account by Sethi, Sethi draws from
his experiences on and off the billiards table to persuasively argue
that it is in the pursuit of joy that one finds the maximum
satisfaction. Success, according to him, is a social concept and its
interpretation is very much dependent on what the society thinks. If you
go after success it will lead you into doing things which the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">society</i> expects from you, not what <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">you</i>
really want. Joy, on the other hand, is internal. Joy is not something
which happens at the end of a process, unlike success. Rather, joy is
the process itself.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The addiction of Joy</b></div>
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Geet Sethi talks about the concept of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sweet spot</i> in ball sports like golf and billiards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
golf when the ball is hit with the club, sometimes it flies a long way
away not with the force applied but with the perfect alignment of the
body, rhythm and timing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Such a
perfect connection of the club with the ball is called the sweet spot.
Most of us who have played cricket can relate to it when on occasions we
might have hit the ball without much force but it still would race away
to the boundary due to the alignment of the body, the weight transfer
and the angle at which the bat meets the ball. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That moment when the ball hits the bat, that sweet spot, is addictive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though
in ball sports the sweet spot is literal, a figurative sweet-spot is
available in all professions. A writer may hit the sweet-spot if he
finds just the right combination of words to express exactly what he has
in mind. A software programmer may hit the sweet spot when he chances
upon a simple, elegant yet an intuitive algorithm to solve a complex
problem. This joy experienced with hitting the sweet spot gives the
maximum amount of satisfaction and is extremely addictive.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The corruption of Joy</b></div>
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So when a person gets so much joy in hitting the
sweet spot why does he shun it? Why doesn’t he go after the sweet spot
again and again to experience the joy? As per Sethi, this is because all
of us fall prey to society’s expectation; all of us run behind money
and fame; all of us try to be <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">successful</b>.
It is in the pursuit of success that we forget about the sweet spot. As
Geet Sethi writes, "I have learned that when I wanted success and was
willing to sacrifice joy for it, I eventually got neither".</div>
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Apart from the pursuit of success there are many
other distractions which prevent a person from experiencing joy. These
include problems with spouse/family members, temptations from
surroundings and playing to the ‘gallery’, among others.</div>
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Further in the book Geet Sethi gives tips on how to
overcome the problems that lead to the corruption of joy. He stresses
on the importance of concentration and single-minded focus on the job at
hand and in the process experience joy.</div>
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The book has a unique format in that it is divided
into 80 chapters with each chapter not more than 2 pages long. I felt
the book was a little disorganized as the ideas presented in the book
sometimes ended abruptly in a chapter and made reappearances a few
chapters later. However, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">my key takeaway from the book is that the meaning of life is in finding our own sweet spot.</b>
The path is not easy as there are numerous distractions which pull our
mind in all directions, but if one has a single minded focus on the job
at hand these distractions will go away and we will succeed in our
objective of experiencing joy.</div>
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Vikram Pyatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17652035637623101393noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5563018516751506906.post-48132613270881684752012-11-09T04:32:00.000-08:002012-11-09T04:35:33.558-08:00Blink - A Book Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Angelos Delivorrias, an art expert,
immediately recognizes a statue as a fake one which otherwise was confirmed as
authentic after a thorough scientific investigation of fourteen months.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">John Gottman, a psychologist,
watches married couples (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">whom he has
never met before</i>) discuss a contentious topic from their marriage for about
15 minutes and predicts with a 90% certainty if the couple will still be
married 15 years later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Nalini Ambady, another psychologist,
goes through a 40 second taped conversion between a surgeon and his patients
and predicts with surprising accuracy if the surgeon will be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sued</i> in future for negligence of duty!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Is there a common link between the
above three narratives? If so, what is it?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Thin-slicing</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, according to Malcom Gladwell (author of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Tipping Point</i>),<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is what allows Angelos Delivorrias, John
Gottman and Nalini Ambady to make accurate snap decisions when even a rational
analysis of the problem using conventional methods doesn’t yield any result.
Thin-slicing is the ability to find patterns based on only “thin slices” or a
very narrow window of time.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">According to Gladwell the
subconscious mind has the unique ability to thin-slice by blocking out
redundant data and extracting just the right amount of information from the
surroundings to make a decision, which is what Angelos did while judging the
fake statue. He was able to look at the statue and immediately feel something
amiss, something not right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He prevailed
where fourteen months of scientific investigation failed.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Interestingly, when Angelos was
asked why he called out the statue as fake he couldn’t give a definite answer.
He said he felt an “intuitive repulsion” after looking at the statue; hardly a
substitute for 14 months of rigorous scientific investigation, yet he was
right. This is another point Gladwell makes in the book. Even though the
subconscious mind thin-slices and provides an answer, we have no idea why.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is very difficult to see what lies beyond
the locked door in our mind where snap decisions are made. We may have a
gut-feeling or an intuition about something, but we cannot pin-point exactly
why we think so. That is probably why the subconscious mind cannot be relied
upon completely to make snap decisions. In fact, there are lots of instances when
our past prejudices affect our ability to thin-slice and lead us astray.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gladwell goes on to give a lot of real life
examples where thin-slicing has proved disastrous, including an instance where
four police officers gunned down an innocent unarmed black man in a
neighborhood notorious for its crime rate.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: center 3.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So
even though thin-slicing is extremely handy when it comes to making snap
decisions, things can go disastrously wrong. It is a double edged sword. How do
we improve our ability to make snap judgments?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>By practice, says Malcolm Gladwell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We can train our subconscious mind to make snap decisions accurately by
being in similar kind of situations and making similar kind of decisions day
after day. We might not know what goes behind the locked door, but with
practice we can make sure what comes out of it. Over the course of his life
Angelos Delivorrias experienced countless ancient sculptures and learned to
interpret his first impressions. John Gottman videotaped thousands of couples
and studied each and every minute detail about their conversations to gain the
ability to thin-slice a conversing couple sitting next to him in a restaurant
and pass judgment about their future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Nalini Ambady studied hundreds of hours of taped conversations between
surgeons and their patients to identify the level of warmth, hostility,
dominance and anxiousness present in their exchanges and determine which
surgeons got sued and which ones didn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: center 3.25in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Blink is a very interesting book which explores
the concept of thin-slicing, its advantages, its pitfalls and the ways to avoid
them. A key takeaway from the book is that we should always be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">conscious</i> of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">subconscious mind</i> at play whenever we make decisions. Once we are
able to train and control the subconscious mind then we can take decisions in
the blink of an eye; quite literally</span></div>
Vikram Pyatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17652035637623101393noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5563018516751506906.post-24118141926491657752012-05-16T21:56:00.000-07:002012-05-19T09:09:05.886-07:00Happiness, US, et al<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iZKG2tnSmIw/T7SDzPQz2aI/AAAAAAAABUo/YenvKX6ttQE/s1600/Happiness.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iZKG2tnSmIw/T7SDzPQz2aI/AAAAAAAABUo/YenvKX6ttQE/s320/Happiness.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JDD_q5yYrh0/T7fFeqdOT_I/AAAAAAAABVQ/XpN2PGlvq-E/s1600/ssp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JDD_q5yYrh0/T7fFeqdOT_I/AAAAAAAABVQ/XpN2PGlvq-E/s1600/ssp.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
When you are living in the US a common topic, especially among the Indian community, is the elusive Green Card!<br />
"Have you applied for the green card"?<br />
"When did you apply ? I just got mine" ( followed by a 100 watt smile )<br />
"You better apply for one as soon as you can. Anyway, even if you get your green card you can still go back to India" ( hahaha ......)<br />
<br />
The other day I read an interesting article about immigrants going back to India , which got me thinking about the reasons why people like to stay back in US. Are there any valid reasons? Does settling in US enable a person to be more <i>happy </i>in the long run, or even in the short run for that matter ? Why do people think that living in US will make them more happy? Is there any truth in that? And, at a broader level, what are the things that <i>really </i>make us happy ? <br />
<br />
Coming to the first question; why does a person want to settle down in US? A major reason is the high standard of living the country offers. You can own a car and a house in no time. The infrastructure is excellent. You can travel 30-40 Km in less than half an hour without any hassle, which may take hours in a city like Bangalore. The luxuries that the country offers is definitely much better than what it is back in India and is a major incentive for people to stay back.<br />
<br />
The second reason is the quality of work and the career opportunities the country provides, at least in the context of the IT industry. You have a lot of opportunities to grow in your career and also choose the fields you would like to pursue. Though some amount of workplace politics is inevitable, meritocracy is still the king. If you are good, nothing can stop you from climbing up the ladder.<br />
<br />
The third reason why people want to settle down in US is somewhat surprising - independence. Independence may mean different things to different people. One of my married friends who came to US about a year back was relieved to be here because in India most of his weekends and free time was spent on attending various functions organized by his relatives! For unmarried guys independence might mean something different.<br />
<br />
There might be many more reasons, but off the top of my head I could think of the above points.<br />
<br />
Now, coming to the second and probably the more important question. Does settling in US enable a person to be more happy in the longer run, or even in short term ? A simple way of answering this question will be to compare if US citizens are happier than others. Though there are no credible instruments to measure happiness index of a country , there have not been any studies/surveys that I am aware of which says that US citizens are happier than others. In fact on the contrary, the Gross National Happiness index says that people in Bhutan are the happiest !<br />
<br />
In my opinion, whether we stay in US, India or Bangladesh, it doesn't matter. The mere act of living in a specific country will not determine whether you are happy or unhappy. Happiness, for me , is determined by dynamic things, and not by static things.<br />
By static I mean things that don't change a lot over the course of time, like a big house, an expensive car or good infrastructure. If you live in a big bungalow you might be happy for the first 10-15 days or so, but once that '<i>honeymoon period</i>' is over your daily happiness is independent of the bungalow. The bungalow has absolutely no role to play in determining if on a given day you are happy or sad. The same applies for a car.<br />
Static elements will give you happiness for a moment or two and then disappear. The happiness derived from them cannot be sustained, they wither away. <br />
<br />
<br />
Dynamic things, on the other hand, are those that are unpredictable. They constantly change and in my opinion happiness can be derived only from them. One example of a dynamic thing is the work we do for a living. If the work is interesting and constantly throws up challenges, then nothing can be a better source of happiness.<br />
Similarly, personal relationships - like the relationship with your spouse, friends, children or parents - are also dynamic and are a great source of happiness.<br />
The dynamic nature of work and relationships allow us to derive happiness from them.Probably that is the reason why we enjoy sports so much, as sports is an unscripted drama and is the epitome of unpredictability. <br />
<br />
Coming back to the reasons why people like to settle down in US, I think most of the reasons are <b>static in nature</b>, be it the standard of living or the feeling of independence. We might feel happy initially, but the happiness is not sustainable and we eventually come back to a steady state.They are like spikes in a graph where the value is momentarily very high and comes back to a normal value the very next instant.<br />
<br />
I am not saying that settling in US is not a good idea or that you are better off staying in India, but just that it <b>ultimately doesn't matter</b> where you live. Whether you are in US or in India, your happiness is determined by the little things you do on a daily basis, how you respond to challenges you face everyday, rather than the Ferrari parked in your garage. A Green card or a US citizenship is not the panacea for all the ills afflicting you. In fact, I would compare getting a Green card with India winning the cricket world cup. You rejoice for a day or two and from the third day normalcy is restored !<br />
<br />
To be really happy we have to go after the dynamic things . Their dynamic nature will ensure that periodically we will experience bouts of unhappiness, sadness and frustration, which is precisely the reason why we experience happiness when things go right.<br />
Unlike the big bungalow, which never shrinks, never expands, keeps staring at you the same way day after day, as if it doesn't even exist.<br />
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<br /></div>Vikram Pyatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17652035637623101393noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5563018516751506906.post-17342705785945777172012-04-06T18:15:00.004-07:002012-04-18T15:16:00.694-07:00April Haiku Heights<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
This post is an entry in <a href="http://haiku-heights.blogspot.in/p/heights-of-haiku-april-2012.html" target="_blank">Haiku Challenge for April 2012</a> at <a href="http://haiku-heights.blogspot.in/" target="_blank" title="haiku heights">Haiku Heights</a>. </div>
<div style="color: #073763; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><u><br /></u></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><u>April 19 Prompt - HoneyBees</u></span></b><br />
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
</h3>
<h3 style="color: black; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><i>It stings,it dies</i><br /><i>Sweet and Selfless<br />Wish I was a Honeybee</i></span></h3>
<div style="color: black; text-align: center;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><i>The above Haiku is based on the fact</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><i>that even though the honeybee knows it will</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">die after it stings, it still stings. </span> </i></span></div>
<h3 style="color: black; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><i> </i></span></h3>
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><u>April 18 Prompt - White</u></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><i>How bland</i><br /><i>If life was pure white<br />Colors add spice</i></span></h3>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><u>April 17 Prompt - Wonder</u></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><i>I sometimes wonder</i><br /><i>How the hell I wonder <br />Isn't that wonderful</i></span></h3>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><u>April 16 Prompt - Being</u></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><i>Its toughest</i><br /><i>To remove the facade<br />Be yourself</i></span></h3>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><u>April 14 Prompt - Aura</u></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><i>Walk in a way</i><br /><i>That the Aura screams<br />Welcome the KING!!!</i></span></h3>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><u>April 13 Prompt - Warmth</u></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><i>In the cold dark nights</i><br /><i>The warmth of your touch<br />Ignites me</i></span></h3>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><u>April 12 Prompt - Coherent</u></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><i>Coherence of lake</i><br /><i>Incoherence of hurricane<br />Stems from water</i></span></h3>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><u>April 11 Prompt - Possible</u></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><i>Is it even possible</i><br /><i>To laugh your heart out<br />Without tears ?</i></span></h3>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><u>April 10 Prompt - Summer</u></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><i>Boon for a few</i><br /><i>Summer is bane for a few<br />Its the place that matters</i></span></h3>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><u>April 9 Prompt - Seashore</u></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><i>Facing scary seas</i><br /><i>Pushing back every single time<br />The shore stands tall</i></span></h3>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><u>April 8 Prompt - Play</u></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><i>As kid I played</i><br /><i>I still play now, but<br />the toys have changed</i></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><i> </i></span></h3>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><u>April 7 Prompt - Forgive</u></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><i>I forgive myself</i><br /><i>For its the only way<br />to breathe again</i></span></h3>
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<br /></div>Vikram Pyatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17652035637623101393noreply@blogger.com44tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5563018516751506906.post-32162229328038564322012-04-01T01:36:00.000-07:002012-04-04T15:25:09.598-07:00That Last Night<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<blockquote>
This post has been published by me as a part of the <b>Blog-a-Ton 26</b>; the 26th Edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following <a href="http://blogaton.in/"><b>Blog-a-Ton</b></a>. The topic for this month is 'That Last Night'.
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The last night was long, very very long.<br />
As the night began, the moonlight guided me, showing the path ahead. But soon the clouds covered the moon and there was complete darkness all around. Not a soul was visible. I was in the middle of the forest, completely lost. Where to go? Which direction ? I was not able to decide. I gave up and sat down.<br />
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Then, I <i>heard</i> something - the sound of the river. I was hearing the sound for the first time. In fact, it was the first time I had ever heard <i>anything</i>. Earlier, I did not need to. During the light of the day my eyes were enough to guide me. But the night made me discover my hearing senses. <br />
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<i>Now, even in the light of the day I hear, I hear the sweet songs of the birds, I hear the flow of water, I hear the wind blow.</i> </div>
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I moved towards the river by following the sound, hoping it will take me out of the forest. But all of a sudden my head banged against a tree and I fell down on the impact. Blood started oozing out of my forehead. But staying down was not an option. I tried to get up and in the process my hands touched the tree, and I, <i>felt</i> the tree. That was the first time I had felt anything, ever. Earlier, I did not need to. During the light of the day my eyes were enough to guide me. But the night made me discover my sensation of touch.<br />
<i style="color: #0b5394;">Now, even in the light of the day I feel, I feel the wet grass, I feel a bunny's soft skin, I feel a stream of water brushing against my hands and trying to escape between the fingers.</i><br />
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I moved towards the river, but this time stretching out my hand and feeling any obstacle to prevent my head banging against it. I could hear the river louder and clearer as I went ahead. But suddenly my legs got stuck. I was unable to move. I had stepped into a morass and I realised, to my horror, that I was sinking. I got hold of the trunk of a nearby tree and tried to move out of the morass. After an epic struggle I finally came out. While I was still catching my breath, I realised something was different. Something which was not present earlier was present now. Yes, it was the pungent <i>smell</i> of the morass. It was the first time I had smelled anything. Earlier, I did not need to.During the light of the day my eyes were enough to guide me. But the night made me discover my sense of smell.<br />
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<i>Now, even in the light of the day I smell, I smell the rose, I smell the soil after the first drops of rain, I smell the morning dew.</i></div>
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I continued moving towards the river; hearing, feeling and smelling along the way to make sure I was on the right path. Right at the stroke of dawn I reached the river. Finally, I had come out of the forest !<br />
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I will always be grateful for the last night, even though it was long. But for the night, I would have never heard the song of a bird, felt the wet grass or smelled a rose.<br />
What a boring life that would have been !<br />
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<blockquote>
The <b>fellow Blog-a-Tonics</b> who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective <b>posts</b> can be checked <a href="http://www.blogaton.in/2012/03/rules-and-reminder-for-blog-ton-26.html"><b>here</b></a>. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following <b><a href="http://blogaton.in/">Blog-a-Ton</a>.</b></blockquote>
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</div>Vikram Pyatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17652035637623101393noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5563018516751506906.post-29461573015123836552012-03-26T18:12:00.000-07:002012-03-26T19:28:43.880-07:00Intezaar<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: large;">तेरा इंतज़ार मुझे आज भी है</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">मगर</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">अब हसरत यही है</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">की किसी मोड़ पर हम जब फिर मिलें </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">तो मैं ऐसे गुजरूँ</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">जैसे ज़माना मेरी मुट्ठी में है</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">हाँ , मुझे अब भी तेरा इंतज़ार है ...... </span></div>Vikram Pyatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17652035637623101393noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5563018516751506906.post-19392163289334722012-03-19T14:34:00.000-07:002012-03-19T17:47:54.993-07:00Tumhari yaad....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TI6n62YVTjU/T2eiwN8MqaI/AAAAAAAABLY/WK2sCUSqGLs/s1600/love_memories_with_you-1280x960.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TI6n62YVTjU/T2eiwN8MqaI/AAAAAAAABLY/WK2sCUSqGLs/s320/love_memories_with_you-1280x960.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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तुम्हारी याद को तो बस एक बहाना चाहिए<br />
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वो याद है तुमको जब coffee शॉप में उस बन्दे को देखा था हमने<br />
तुमने कहा था जाना पहचाना सा है वो, उसे पहले भी कहीं देखा है <br />
अब जब भी उसे देखता हूँ मैं , तो बस तुम याद आती हो......<br />
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वो याद है तुमको जब park में एक छोटा बच्चा खेल रहा था<br />
तुम कैसे खिलखिलाकर हँस रही थी<br />
अब जब भी किसी बच्चे को खेलते देखता हूँ मैं , तो बस तुम याद आती हो.....<br />
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वो याद है तुमको जब चौराहे की बेंच पे बैठे, हमने <i>चुपचाप </i>एक दूसरे से बात की थी<br />
रात की ख़ामोशी बस साँसों की आवाज़ के रहम पर थी <br />
अब जब भी साँस लेता हूँ मैं , तो बस तुम याद आती हो ।<br />
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तुम्हारी याद को तो बस एक बहाना चाहिए .... </div>Vikram Pyatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17652035637623101393noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5563018516751506906.post-79305312600539810592012-03-16T18:45:00.000-07:002013-01-30T09:19:00.304-08:009.10 ki Train...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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मेरे घर के आगे एक ट्रेन का स्टेशन है<br />
मैं हर रोज़ 9.10 की ट्रेन पकड़ता हूँ<br />
आज भी आया स्टेशन में मैं<br />
पर शायद थोडा late हो गया<br />
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स्टेशन में रोज़मर्रा के मुसाफिर मुझे आज नहीं दिखे<br />
शायद छुट्टी पर थे <br />
स्टेशन मास्टर कुछ announcement कर रहा था<br />
पर मेरा ध्यान दूर पटरी पे था<br />
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रोज़ 9.10 के आस पास स्टेशन में एक औरत कचड़ा साफ़ करने आती है<br />
पर आज कूड़ेदान बिलकुल साफ़ था <br />
शायद आज जल्दी आकर चली गयी <br />
स्टेशन मास्टर कुछ announcement कर रहा था<br />
पर मेरा ध्यान दूर पटरी पे था<br />
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दूर से एक horn जैसी आवाज़ सुनायी दी<br />
चलो ट्रेन आ गयी , मैंने सोचा<br />
अगले पांच मिनट में भी जब ट्रेन न आई तो मैंने आवाज़ फिर से सुनी<br />
एक बच्चा रो रहा था<br />
स्टेशन मास्टर कुछ announcement कर रहा था<br />
पर मेरा ध्यान अब भी पटरी पे था <br />
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स्टेशन के यात्री एक एक कर bus stand की ओर जाने लगे <br />
हाँ, रास्ता थोडा उबड़-खाबड़ था, पर उसके पार एक बड़ी bus ख़डी थी<br />
थोड़ी देर में पूरा स्टेशन खली हो गया<br />
स्टेशन मास्टर ने फिर से कुछ announcement किया <br />
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स्टेशन अब पूरा खाली था और speaker की आवाज़ कानो में गूंजने लगी <br />
मैंने कान बंद कर लिए , पर फिर भी, किसी तरह, आवाज़ मेरे कानों के परदे पर जा लगी <br />
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<i>वसंत नगर जाने वाली 9.10 की ट्रेन </i><br />
<i>प्लात्फोर्म नंबर 1 से रवाना हो चुकी है</i><br />
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मैंने कान साफ़ किये - आजकल कभी कभी ठीक से नहीं सुनता,<br />
अजीब सी आवाजें सुनाई देती हैं - <br />
और फिर से पटरी की तरफ देखने लगा<br />
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अब रात हो गयी है, दूर कुछ रोशनी सा नज़र आ रहा है<br />
शायद 9.10 वाली ट्रेन का engine है <br />
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Vikram Pyatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17652035637623101393noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5563018516751506906.post-38012145621909498742012-03-11T23:13:00.000-07:002012-03-19T14:35:18.632-07:00Life = Differentiation of Y ?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Isn't life same as differentiation ? No, not the English 'differentiation', the Maths one; of the type <i><b>dy</b></i>/<i><b>dx</b></i>. <br />
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Whatever parameters you use to evaluate your success in life - money, fame or happiness - if differentiation of these parameters is zero, 'success' is zero as well. That is, if <i><b>dy</b></i> is zero, irrespective of the value of <i><b>y</b></i>, you are not considered successful.<br />
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You might be a millionaire, but if there is no net addition to your worth compared to last year, a lot of people, including you, will consider that as a failure.<br />
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You may have everything in life which makes you happy; a wonderful and a loving partner, beautiful kids, great job, great friends. But if the 'happiness index' doesn't increase, you will still feel something is missing.<br />
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Take the example of Roger Federer. The man has 16 Grand Slam titles, and last year he reached the semi-final of 3 of the 4 Grand Slams, though he was not able to win any of them. Even though reaching the Grand Slam semi-final is a big achievement, Federer still would not have been happy. For him, <i><b>dy</b></i> is a negative value, as last year was the only year since 2002 when he failed to win a grand slam, which makes last year a failure for him. Imagine, reaching the semi-final of 3 of the 4 grand slams and still considered a failure !!!<br />
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So, is the key to success focussing on <i><b>dy</b></i> and <i><b>dx</b></i>, as opposed to only <i><b>y</b></i>, which most of us focus most of the times ?When self-help books and motivation experts ask you to 'live the moment', are they referring to the <i><b>dx</b></i> in the above equation ? As <i><b>dx</b></i> tends to 0...<br />
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However, no one can <i>afford</i> to have a positive value of <i><b>dy</b></i> throughout their lifetime. If that is the case <i><b>y</b></i> will tend to infinity, which is impossible.<br />
<br />
Is that why <b><i>dy</i></b> <i>has</i> to be a negative value sometimes?<br />
<br />
Take the case of Roger Federer again. If Federer wins a Grand Slam next year, lets assume only one, it will still be a special moment for him and he will be more happy than he has been in a long time, even though he has done this (<i> winning at least one Grand Slam a year</i>) 8 times before. The reason for his happiness, or success in this case, is a positive <i><b>dy</b></i>, even though his <i><b>y</b></i> is considerably less than the past values.<br />
<br />
So next time you are going through a negative <i><b>dy</b></i>, don't be disheartened. Even mathematically its a certainty and no one can avoid it. But on the bright side it also means that you will require less effort than past to achieve the same value of <i><b>dy/dx</b></i> :)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>Vikram Pyatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17652035637623101393noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5563018516751506906.post-53649792034541663602012-03-07T21:23:00.000-08:002012-04-04T15:25:09.601-07:00The Trench<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<br />
Her and I - we were walking at the dawn. The sun hadn't come out yet,
the fog covered the air and made it difficult to see the road ahead.
Even otherwise I am not sure I would have seen the road. I was seeing
her. <br />
<br />
Slowly, I held her hand. Before I could interlock my fingers
with hers, I was jolted. A big trench appeared, apparently out of
nowhere, right in front of us. May be the fog blinded me of the trench.
May be not. I lost my balance, my hands came off, I fell deep into the trench. I
tried to climb up. With great difficulty I reached the other side.<br />
<br />
I saw Her, still standing behind the trench.She looked angry. I stretched my hand, asked her to come.<br />
<i>You will not fall</i>, I said, <i>believe me</i>.<br />
She would not budge. <i>Why did you leave my hand? Why did you go alone?</i> She asked.<br />
<i>The fog blinded me, I couldn't see the trench, the shock made me take my hand off. Also, I hadn't interlocked my fingers with you, may be then my hands wouldn't have come off and I would have taken you along into the trench.</i><br />
<br />
<i>No, you ditched me</i>. She walked off with him and they crossed another trench together. No, it was not a trench. It was just a small depression.<br />
<br />
I shouted to her.<br />
<i>But for the fog, I would have seen the trench, I would not have been jolted, my hands wouldn't have come off</i>. <br />
<i>This is the biggest trench as far as I could see, if we cross this, we can cross any other.</i><br />
<i>How do you know he would not be as jolted as me if he encounters a trench as big as I encountered.</i><br />
<br />
She did not turn.<br />
Perhaps the wind carried away my words in the opposite direction. <br />
Perhaps she was relieved I fell in the trench.<br />
Perhaps she had fallen in the trench earlier and the trench scared her.<br />
Perhaps I took a lot of time climbing up the trench.<br />
Perhaps it was always meant to be like this. She was an angel who wanted to alert me of the trenches. Show me the path.<br />
Perhaps she is smiling now, realising her mission is accomplished. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>Vikram Pyatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17652035637623101393noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5563018516751506906.post-31400860852951751102012-02-28T23:15:00.001-08:002012-03-19T14:35:46.932-07:00Moving On<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B0SsQftRTIY/T0xeUqPEsRI/AAAAAAAABJI/oVc9dG304U0/s1600/quotes-about-moving-on-with-life1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B0SsQftRTIY/T0xeUqPEsRI/AAAAAAAABJI/oVc9dG304U0/s1600/quotes-about-moving-on-with-life1.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
"Move on, there is more to life".<br />
<br />
You must have heard this phrase many times before; you might have said it to your friends or your friends might have said it to you. Either way, moving on from a relationship is not the easiest thing to do. Why is moving on in life so difficult ? Even when people know that there is no other option, why do they refuse to accept the reality and cling on to something in the past ?<br />
<br />
One reason why moving on is so difficult is because deep down at some corner of your heart, there is a small voice which keeps uttering the words - "<i>You may still end up together</i>". Though its a very feeble voice, you listen to it, and believe or at least "hope" that you will indeed end up together.Generally "hope" is a good thing. It gives a direction to life and gives us a reason to wake up in the morning. But when you are moving on from a relationship does this very "hope" become your biggest obstacle? Does this "hope" chains you to the past, prevents you from moving forward and cajoles you to wait? And you wait; sometimes even when there is no hope at all.<br />
<br />
Though superficially it may seem that the refusal to accept the reality is due to the strong emotional attachment you may have developed for your loved one, is the real reason your ego ? Do you refuse to accept that a person for whom you care so much just doesn't give a damn about you ? A person who has become such an important part of your life doesn't have a place for you in his/her life ? <br />
<br />
Another reason which makes people dread moving on is the fear that they will never feel the same way with anyone else compared to how they feel now. The comfort level, the connection, the attraction. What they have now is the best that could happen to them and they will never find anything even close to this in the future.This fear in turn wants them to hold on to what they have and "hope" things miraculously work out. <br />
Why does this happen ? Is there an element of truth in it or is it just that a break up, almost always , diminishes your self confidence and makes you believe that the future cannot be brighter ?<br />
<br />
For whatever reason - ego, drop in self confidence or even true love - if an artificial "hope" builds up in you, the best thing is to kill it. Time will eventually do that, but the sooner you realise and kill it yourself, the earlier you will get back on your feet and the more time you will have to enjoy life.<br />
<br />
If at all we want to "hope" for something, let it be that the best is yet to come and that we will find something better. I saw the following Facebook post which succinctly tells the message :<br />
<br />
<i><span class="hasCaption">Someday someone will walk into your life and make you realize why it never worked out with anyone else.</span></i><br />
<br />
In short<b>, Life is short. Move on</b>.</div>Vikram Pyatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17652035637623101393noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5563018516751506906.post-50507915658612426932012-02-16T21:10:00.000-08:002012-02-18T22:34:06.838-08:00The Sapling<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
We sowed a seed, and expected a tree<br />
We manured it, we watered it everyday<br />
We gave it sunlight, we gave it our time<br />
With a smile on our face, we waited.<br />
<br />
The seed grew to a sapling<br />
and our joy knew no bounds<br />
we started dreaming of the tree <br />
we started dreaming of the fruits<br />
<br />
Then came a mighty storm<br />
and ran over our beloved plant<br />
Under the fury of the wind<br />
lay the plant; crushed, senseless, dead.<br />
<br />
With our dreams shattered<br />
we blamed the storm<br />
we blamed the lightening<br />
we blamed the nature<br />
<br />
But whose fault was it really?<br />
Of the storm ? that was just passing by .<br />
Of the lightening ? that was just doing its job.<br />
Of the nature ? which never does anything without a reason<br />
<br />
Or, was it the fault of the <i>time</i> ?<br />
Did the storm arrive a little early ?<br />
Struck the sapling when it was still young,<br />
Cos it knew, it had no chance with the tree.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>Vikram Pyatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17652035637623101393noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5563018516751506906.post-50125805489119996652012-02-10T22:50:00.000-08:002012-03-16T19:10:50.203-07:00BLACK AND WHITE<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<br />
Is Love <i>always</i> Black or White or is Love <i>always</i> grey ? Or is Love <i>sometimes</i> Black or White and <i>sometimes</i> grey ?<br />
<br />
Even if <i>you</i> break someone's heart whom you dearly love, for reasons you have no control over, why do you feel <i>uneasy</i> when the person is happy with someone else ? Does it mean your love was not pure, not white ? It had shades of grey ?<br />
<br />
If <i>someone you love</i> breaks your heart, why does your sadness <i>increases</i> if you see them happy with someone else ? And if they are as sad as you, why does it cheer you up ? Does it mean your love was not pure, not white ? It had shades of grey ?<br />
<br />
Coming back to the question again, does Love <i>have</i> to be White ? If your Love has shades of grey, is it not Love at all ? Is it just an illusion which your ego wants you to believe ? If so, have I never, Loved at all ?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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</div>Vikram Pyatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17652035637623101393noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5563018516751506906.post-17334325639188475192012-01-19T01:22:00.000-08:002012-10-15T23:42:28.986-07:00Phir wahi<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<br />
वही नज़र वही शर्म<br />
वैसा ही था खिलखिलाना<br />
वही चाल वही ठहराव<br />
वैसा ही था आँख चुराना<br />
<br />
वही खुशबु वही आवाज़<br />
उन आँखों में वही दास्ताँ<br />
वही लोग वही एहसास<br />
फिर से वही काला वीरान<br />
<br />
वही हवा वही समां<br />
हाँ सब कुछ वही तो था<br />
वही घुटन वही जलन<br />
हाँ सब कुछ वही तो था <br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Vikram Pyatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17652035637623101393noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5563018516751506906.post-52198602952180983562011-08-17T20:02:00.002-07:002012-03-19T14:36:16.440-07:00Anna Hazare, Corruption and Us<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The other day I was watching a debate on Anna Hazare’s fast on the popular talk show “We The People”. One of the panelist, who called his fast a <i>farce</i>, asked, “How many of you have read the Jan Lokpal bill advocated by Team Anna?” Only a few raised their hand, to which the panelist gave a look which communicated something like, “See, you guys don’t even know what you are supporting”.<br />
<br />
But then, that is not really the right question, is it?. I think more than 90% of people who are supporting Anna don’t completely know what is a Jan Lokpal bill, what is the difference between the government’s draft and Team Anna’s draft, how is Anna’s draft better and so on. All of them ( including me) are supporting Anna Hazare because we are fed up with this government; a government which allowed so many multi-crore scams to happen right under its nose, a government which tries to undertake smear campaign against a gandhian just because he criticizes it, a government which even though has a comfortable majority in the parliament has done nothing of note in last 2 years since it came to power for the second time (the last point was made by Narayana Murthy, one of the most respected thinkers and business leaders of India, in an interview) .<br />
So the question is not really whether Anna’s bill is any better than the government’s. No one cares. Anything is better than this government (or the opposition, for that matter). Supporting Anna is supporting a crusade against corruption, supporting a movement which can be a defining moment in the history of India or as Anna told in his speech – a second freedom struggle. <br />
<br />
People are also criticizing Anna’s methods, saying he is blackmailing the government and that he has no authority, as parliament has the ultimate right to create a bill. This is ridiculous. India has waited patiently for 43 years for the lokpal bill to pass in parliament (it was first introduced in 1968). What do you want? That we wait another 50 years for the bill to pass? If no action is taken now, the government (this one and the one after this) will sleep on it forever. <br />
Let us support Anna in these testing times. It is not a question of Lokpal bill; it is a question of fight against corruption. Anna Hazare is a ray of hope. Let’s not waste this opportunity and do every bit to support him.<br />
<br />
Having said that, even if the bill is passed I doubt anything will change significantly for the common man. The bill passage, whenever it happens, will be great start for sure, but will be just that, a <i>start</i>. That is because we ourselves (including me), the common men, are one the most corrupt species in India. How many of us have <i>not </i>paid a bribe to get the driver’s license? How many of us have <i>not </i>paid a bribe to get the house registration done? While travelling in train when we find our name in the waiting list chart, how many of us have <i>not </i>tried to bribe the TC and get a seat? How many of us have <i>not </i>bribed the police constable who catches us without proper vehicle documents? I am sure most of us have, at least once. (I for one have definitely done that)<br />
Unless and until each one of us decides that we will not bribe anyone to get the work done, that we will not take advantage of the <i>system</i>, Anna Hazare’s campaign will not be a success. If we are supporting him now, let us also make a commitment that we will neither give nor accept bribe. <br />
<br />
Let’s hope that Anna Hazare’s campaign is indeed a second freedom struggle - a freedom from corruption.<br />
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<br /></div>Vikram Pyatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17652035637623101393noreply@blogger.com12San Jose, CA, USA37.3393857 -121.894955537.1373982 -122.21081249999999 37.5413732 -121.5790985tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5563018516751506906.post-88498453246932945592011-08-14T11:30:00.002-07:002012-04-04T15:25:09.605-07:00Free<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
This post is a 55 fiction - <b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/55_Fiction">55 Fiction</a></b> is a form of micro-fiction that refers to the works of fiction limited to a maximum of fifty-five words<br />
<br />
<br />
Amit saw his name in the facebook "friend suggestions"<br />
"Shall I call him?"<br />
"What will he think?"<br />
"Will he even talk to me?"<br />
"Would I look smaller?"<br />
"It wasn't <i>entirely </i>my fault"<br />
<br />
<br />
"What the hell"<br />
<br />
<br />
He picked up the phone and dialled<br />
"Dude, I am sorry!"<br />
<br />
<br />
And just like that, he was free.<br />
<br /></div>
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</div>Vikram Pyatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17652035637623101393noreply@blogger.com31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5563018516751506906.post-11407878231381764762011-07-23T10:13:00.001-07:002012-03-16T19:11:17.596-07:00Revenge<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Balakrishnan, Bala to his colleagues, walked past the crowded corridor on the way to his cubicle. The corridor was jam packed with job aspirants. Crater Inc, the company where Bala was a program manager, was hiring for the position of network assistant and Bala was supposed to interview the candidates.<br />
<br />
"Yes, I have....yes, yes. I will get that. Hopefully I will get this job. This is my last hope", a tall, lanky middle-aged man was talking on his cell phone.<br />
<br />
Bala stopped momentarily. "This voice is familiar", he thought. He turned around and was surprised to find Vicky, his classmate from college. Bala entered the cubicle and threw his bag at the table; a smug smile emerged on his face. "How times has changed", he thought.<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>"Hey Balu, come here", ordered Vicky as he sat with his friends, feet up on the table, in the center of college canteen. Bala did not look up and continued reading his book. His blood was boiling, especially since Simran was also sitting beside Vicky.</i><br />
<i>"Come on man, this is canteen, you should eat some food here, not the pages of your "Network System", shouted Vicky amidst a roar of laughter.</i><br />
<i>"Shut up guys, leave the poor fellow alone", pleaded Simran</i><br />
<i>This was adding insult to injury. Simran calling him a poor fellow? Bala couldn't take it anymore. He picked up his book and quietly left the canteen. As he was walking out he heard another round of laughter.</i><br />
<br />
<br />
Bala was startled by the knock on the door.He felt a stinging pain in his palms; without his knowledge he had clenched his fist so hard that the nails had cast deep marks on his palm.<br />
"Shall I send in the first candidate?", asked Sujata,Bala's secretary, slightly bemused by his abnormal reaction.<br />
"Yes please", replied Bala drinking a glass of water.<br />
<br />
One by one the candidates came and went, but none of them were a perfect fit for the job. If they knew about meshwork port cards, they did not know about multiparous gateways and if they knew how to utilize multiparous gateways they were ignorant of CIFS. And by any chance if they knew all of them, their communication was poor.<br />
<br />
"Have you shortlisted any of them? Only one more candidate is remaining"<br />
"None of them are upto the mark. Send in the last candidate"<br />
<br />
"Hey Balakrishnan, how are you? Remember? I am Vicky. We studied together in college", said Vicky excitedly on seeing Bala<br />
"Oh.. did we? Which department were you in?" Bala replied, almost nonchalantly. <br />
"I was in Computer Networks. You, me , Simran..."<br />
Bala became even more serious on the mention of Simran's name.<br />
"Oh yes, I remember. Long time. Please sit, we will start the interview process"<br />
<br />
"What role are you playing in your current company?"<br />
"Actually... I parted away from my last company about six months ago", replied Vicky, a little embarrassed<br />
"Parted away? Were you <i>fired</i>?", asked Bala, with an unnatural stress on the word <i>fired</i>.<br />
"Yes.... kind of", said Vicky, sheepishly<br />
<br />
Bala was enjoying every bit of this. He remembered all the times when he was humiliated by Vicky and his coterie. He asked extremely difficult questions to Vicky which were completely unrelated to the area of work and made it a point to rub it to him that he was hopeless. Slowly, the expression on Vicky's face changed.It became more and more gloomy. Finally, after about half an hour, Bala put Vicky out of his misery.<br />
<br />
"Listen Vicky. As much as I want to hire you, you know, for old times sake, I cannot, as we have an extremely critical project and any incompetency will create a lot of problems. Why don't you give me a call, say, after 15-20 days? I will see if there are any other openings in less critical projects".<br />
<br />
Vicky was lost in deep thoughts. He did not speak for couple of minutes. Bala did not mind it. In fact, he couldn't believe his luck. After all these years he had got a golden chance to hit back at his tormentor. After a long pause, Vicky responded.<br />
<br />
"Thank you Bala. That won't be necessary". Vicky got up, shook hands and walked out of the room, without any hint of the deep discomfort he was in just a couple of minutes ago. It was as if suddenly he had found a solution to all his problems.<br />
<br />
Bala was happy. He stood near the window sipping his evening tea with a satisfied smile looming large over his face. Just then he saw Vicky crossing the street next to the office compound. Vicky abruptly stopped and turned back to see something, unaware of the fact that a speeding bus was approaching him. Bala's eyes widened with fear as the bus came closer to Vicky and he was still standing on the middle of the road. Finally, the bus driver applied the break; the bus came to a screeching halt, but not before it had knocked off Vicky. To his horror, Bala saw Vicky lying amidst a pool of blood. He immediately called the watchman and asked,<br />
<br />
"Watchman, what happened to the person? Is he alright?"<br />
"No sir, looks like on-the-spot death. I have been telling everybody hundreds of times to be careful here, the sharp turn makes it difficult for the drivers to see the pedestrians, but who listens to me, they say I am old, but one day.......... ", the watchman went on and on, but Bala was not listening. He dropped his phone and thudded on to the chair. After couple of minutes of blackout, he started thinking.<br />
<br />
<i>Did he deliberately stop in the middle of the road? No, it is just a job. No one will commit suicide because of this.... But he was talking over phone that this is his last hope....... People talk like that all the time, they don't mean it literally.... </i><br />
<br />
<i>But did he?</i><br />
<br />
Bala stood motionless for couple of minutes.<br />
<br />
<i>But how is it my fault if he did not get the job? Clearly he was incompetent..... But I never asked him any relevant questions, he might have been a good fit..... No, he was fired from his last job...... There could be many reasons for it, not just incompetence, I never bothered to even ask.....Still, everyday there are thousands of people who don't clear interviews, they don't commit suicide.... I humiliated him over and over again, that might have pushed him over the edge........</i><br />
<br />
<i>Did it?</i><br />
<br />
Bala closed his eyes. He wished all these thoughts would somehow go away. He wished he would fall asleep. He wished Vicky had not come for the interview.....<br />
<br />
Bala did get his revenge, but at what cost? <br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<blockquote>
<br /></blockquote>
</div>
<br /></div>Vikram Pyatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17652035637623101393noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5563018516751506906.post-5616443087159442562011-06-30T16:06:00.000-07:002011-06-30T16:06:19.621-07:00You came.....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aUV2qnOlQEo/Tg0AvMuPmNI/AAAAAAAABC8/l1AHCWRYWcU/s1600/holdhands.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aUV2qnOlQEo/Tg0AvMuPmNI/AAAAAAAABC8/l1AHCWRYWcU/s1600/holdhands.jpg" /></a></div>I was angry<br />
I was sad<br />
I talked without reason<br />
people called me mad<br />
<br />
<br />
I was hopeless<br />
I was depressed<br />
I wandered aimlessly<br />
even I thought I was possessed<br />
<br />
<br />
I was down<br />
I was out<br />
I held my head<br />
was about to shout<br />
<br />
Then you came,<br />
And then you came,<br />
The world as I saw,<br />
was a better place again.</div>Vikram Pyatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17652035637623101393noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5563018516751506906.post-83574743075627140702011-04-02T21:02:00.001-07:002011-04-02T21:02:47.134-07:00The Journey<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>This post has been published by me as a part of the <b>Blog-a-Ton 19</b>; the nineteenth edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following <a href="http://blogaton.in/"><b>Blog-a-Ton</b></a>.</blockquote></div><br />
<br />
I went for a jog in a park nearby<br />
everyone seemed happy and I let out a cry<br />
<br />
I started jogging,looking at things left and right<br />
the set-up was eyecatching, resplendent and bright<br />
<br />
Someone then told me, run as fast as you can<br />
you will win a medal, so strategise and plan<br />
<br />
I started running, putting down my head<br />
knocked down a few on the way,my hands turned red<br />
<br />
Some people wanted to join me, I took them along<br />
but promptly warned them, its a journey very very long<br />
<br />
I got tired, but I wasn't going to stop<br />
there was a medal to win, a clock to watch<br />
<br />
Finally I made it, had the medal in my hand<br />
I looked for someone to hug, but couldn't find a man<br />
<br />
I looked back for my companions, but they were left far behind<br />
They could see me no more, or perhaps they just did not mind<br />
<br />
I sat on the bench, unable to stand anymore<br />
had a relook at the park,boy,did I see something more?<br />
<br />
<i>There was a fountain, with a stream of water so pure </i><br />
<i>I could have taken a bath, enjoying its magnificence</i><br />
<br />
<i>There was a field, full of exotic fruits</i><br />
<i>I could have tasted them all, relishing their sweetness</i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
<i>There were toddlers, playing in mud without care</i><br />
<i>I could have become a kid again, shedding my inhibitions</i><br />
<br />
There were a thousand other things, that I could have done<br />
but I left them all, for the most important one<br />
<br />
Yes, I went for the medal and I successfully collected<br />
looked at it one more time, but the feeling wasn't the one that I expected<br />
<br />
As I walked out of the park, exasperated and drained<br />
I tried to convince myself, the medal is the one that I cared<br />
<br />
But then a thought striked me, it was never meant to be a race<br />
All I wanted was,a pleasurable jog with a smiling face<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>The <b>fellow Blog-a-Tonics</b> who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective <b>posts</b> can be checked <a href="http://blogaton.in/2011/04/rules-and-reminder-for-blog-ton-19.html#comments"><b>here</b></a>. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following <b><a href="http://blogaton.in/">Blog-a-Ton</a></b>.</blockquote></div><br />
<br />
</div>Vikram Pyatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17652035637623101393noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5563018516751506906.post-7039272513552562252010-12-04T10:17:00.011-08:002012-03-16T19:19:25.014-07:00The Mystery<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M_E4TyhVD2c/T2P0oyC4R9I/AAAAAAAABKg/BhYgA5R7CpI/s1600/tomorrow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M_E4TyhVD2c/T2P0oyC4R9I/AAAAAAAABKg/BhYgA5R7CpI/s320/tomorrow.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
“Oh god, its Monday again”, thought Samanth. He reluctantly got off his bed and got ready to go to office – the one place he hated the most. Samanth was a salesman working in a company which sold computers. He was toiling hard for the last 3 years in hope of a promotion to the assistant manager’s position, but to no avail. As he got down the bus and headed to his office, he saw a sign board – Know your future – only 10 rupees. <br />
<br />
Samanth had broken up with his girlfriend, his professional career seemed to have nosedived and he was not getting a job anywhere else. “Let me check out where my future lies”, thought Samanth.<br />
<br />
“Baba, can you please tell me how my future is?”<br />
<br />
The man, whose face radiated a mysterious energy, looked at Samanth and said, “Why do you want to know the future? You anyway cannot change it.”<br />
<br />
“Yes, I cannot change the future. But it will at least save me the misery of thinking about it. And anyway, I will pay your 10 bucks. Isn’t that why you are sitting here in the first place?”<br />
<br />
“Oh, this sign? This was here before I came.”<br />
<br />
Samanth was disappointed. Hearing that the guy was not an astrologer, he started towards his office. The bearded man saw his disappointment and called out.<br />
<br />
“I don’t disappoint anyone who comes my way. You only want to know your future, right? I will tell you what will happen to you today.”<br />
<br />
“Really? Please tell me, baba.<br />
<br />
“You will get a promotion today”, declared the man authoritatively and closed his eyes for meditation.<br />
<br />
Samanth had mixed feelings as he walked towards his office. On one side he was happy that the guy told he will be promoted, but on the other side he chided himself for believing the words of a man who did not even have a proper place to live. He gave another look at the man, let out a sigh filled with self-pity and continued towards the office.<br />
<br />
“Sir, bade sahib wants to see you”, blurted out the peon as soon as Samanth walked in.<br />
<br />
“It must be about my quarterly targets. I was on sick leave for 10 days but still the <i>takalu </i>won’t decrease the targets. God, please save me.”<br />
<br />
“Oh Samanth, come in. I have something important to talk to you” said the boss.<br />
<br />
“The company is very happy with you work and we have decided to promote you to the post of Asst. Manager. You will have two persons reporting to you”<br />
<br />
Samanth couldn’t believe his ears. These were the words he had hoped to hear for the last three years, and now, he was actually hearing them. Samanth thanked his boss and came back to his cubicle. He thought of the old man who made the prediction about the promotion and rushed to the window to see him. The old man was sitting there, still meditating. He quickly went to the old man.<br />
<br />
“Baba, I got promoted. I thought you were a fraud, but you are a genius. Thank you very much”. The baba smilingly approved with a slight nod of his head.<br />
Meanwhile, greed got the better of Samanth. He thought if the baba can predict something like his promotion so accurately, then he can also tell what will happen to him in the next week, next month, next year and next decade.<br />
<br />
“Baba, please tell me my entire future. I want to know everything”, pleaded Samanth.<br />
<br />
The face of baba suddenly became serious. He thought for a while and said, “You would not want to know that. Believe me; you are better off not knowing your future.” Hearing this, Samanth replied nervously, “Why baba, is the future so bad?”<br />
<br />
“No, on the contrary, you have a much better future than an average person. But knowing the future is a dangerous thing. This will only add to your misery.”<br />
<br />
“No baba, I still want to know the future. You told nobody goes disappointed from your footsteps. Please don’t disappoint me.”<br />
<br />
Baba paused, took a deep breath and after a little shake of his head told Samanth “Okay, if you wish so. But remember, you cannot change your future, you can only see it. Whenever you want know about the future, just close your eyes and think about the date, all the events on that particular date will run before your eyes as if they are happening right now.”<br />
<br />
Samanth was confused. He had expected a traditional soothsaying where the person tells what will happen to him, when he will get married, about his career prospect and so on. This was different. He closed his eyes and thought about all dates of the past. To his astonishment he saw his entire life playing out before his eyes once again. He thought about the current date, but saw everything except the old man and the new power.<br />
<br />
“Why am I not able to see you or any of my encounters with you?’ asked Samanth<br />
<br />
“Even I cannot answer all questions. Perhaps, our meeting was never meant to happen.” Baba looked at Samanth, smiled and said, “Even God’s software has bugs!”.<br />
<br />
As Samanth headed home, he was exhausted with the turn of events. But sleep was the last thing on his mind. He quickly thought of all the dates in the next month and found out what will happen to him.<br />
Next day he went to the office and sat in his new cubicle. The receptionist called to inform him that the client has asked him to meet at 2 PM. Samanth smiled as he already knew it; he even knew the outcome of the meeting. The client will give him a big order and his boss will give him an increment.<br />
<br />
This became a daily routine. He knew beforehand what would happen. One day he saw that the client will be very angry with him after a meeting and the order will be cancelled. The night before the meeting he prepared meticulously and paid attention to everything. But the client still found some grave errors and cancelled the order.<br />
<br />
Things were happening exactly as he saw them. He got a new girlfriend, broke up with her, fought with his best friend and lost his IPOD. He slowly realized that he was totally helpless against the turn of events. Though he liked it when good things happened to him, he hated it when he knew that things would go wrong and still could not do anything to stop it. <br />
<br />
He realized that life had become so predictable that nothing got him excited. He did not laugh at his colleague’s jokes as he already knew it, he no longer felt happy on a new business deal or unhappy when the deal could not go through, nobody could give him any surprises anymore. He knew them all. It was like watching the recording of an India-Pakistan cricket match; a match which went down the wire and India won on the last ball. But if you watched the live match, ball by ball, and are forced to watch the recordings as well, the excitement will no longer be there. The gravity of the situation slowly dawned on him. He had become a machine who had to go through the motions. He was totally helpless. Many a times he thought he will not think about the future. But try not thinking about something and that is exactly the thing you think! He tried to look for the baba and ask him take back the power, but the baba was nowhere to be seen.<br />
<br />
One day he thought about a random date and saw a blank. ”Hmm... probably I am dead by then”, thought Samanth. Ironically, this thought actually made him happy, a feeling he had stopped experiencing a long time ago. He traced his “death date” by the trial-and-error method and began the wait of the inevitable event. On the way, he took part in all the ‘mandatory’ events like his marriage, his job-changes, death of the loved ones and many more; having the same experience as watching the recorded India-Pakistan match. Finally, his death-date arrived and he was released from the miserable life he was leading. On his death-bed, he remembered Baba’s words – “Knowing the future is a dangerous thing. This will only add to your misery”. As Baba had told, he did lead a life which, in normal circumstances, would have been much better than that of an average person, but in actuality he was probably the saddest person on earth.<br />
<br />
Baba, who had been watching Samanth's story all along, looked at the unfortunate soul one last time and thought, " The greatest mystery in the world is <i>tomorrow</i>. Nobody knows what will happen in future. Its the hope of a good tomorrow that keeps pushing the men to strive hard. Once the mystery is solved, life is not worth living". Indeed, as Samanth found out.<br />
<br /></div>Vikram Pyatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17652035637623101393noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5563018516751506906.post-43631635712737379002010-12-02T22:54:00.001-08:002011-07-31T09:47:23.741-07:00Sadharan insaan<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
paed, paudhe, mitti, pathar<br />
kya inse alag meri pehchaan<br />
mein to ek sadharan insaan<br />
<br />
kal tha nahi, par aaj sahi,<br />
aaj sahi, kal phir nahi,<br />
kya badalega isse koi parinaam<br />
mein to ek sadharan insaan<br />
<br />
arabon ki manav sena mein,<br />
chala ja raha ek tinke samaan<br />
mein to ek sadharan insaan<br />
<br />
************************************************************************************<br />
<br />
पेड, पौधे, मिटटी, पत्थर<br />
क्या इनसे अलग मेरी पहचान,<br />
मैं तो एक साधारण इंसान<br />
<br />
कल था नहीं, पर आज सही,<br />
आज सही, कल फिर नहीं,<br />
क्या बदलेगा इससे कोई परिणाम<br />
मैं तो एक साधारण इंसान<br />
<br />
अरबों की मानव सेना में,<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
चला जा रहा एक तिनके समान ,</div>
मैं तो एक साधारण इंसान</div>
Vikram Pyatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17652035637623101393noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5563018516751506906.post-84743317103430177802010-11-28T09:59:00.000-08:002012-03-16T19:06:07.448-07:00Simply Fly - A Deccan Odyssey - Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZnbGzXru7Wo/T2PxfKeYgYI/AAAAAAAABKI/KoZ453A0dbM/s1600/2495_Resize_simply-fly.gif.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZnbGzXru7Wo/T2PxfKeYgYI/AAAAAAAABKI/KoZ453A0dbM/s320/2495_Resize_simply-fly.gif.jpg" width="206" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
In the small village of Gorur, located in the interiors of Karnataka, the headmaster asked a bunch of school kids if they were interested to write a competitive administration exam for a novel military training school called Sainik School. An 11 year old boy raised his hand, even though he did not know the real meaning of ‘military’, or had any idea of what he would be doing there. He only had a dream of stepping out to the unknown. It was this adventurous trait of him that would go on to define him in the future. The boy was G.R.Gopinath, the father of low cost airlines in India. <i>Simply Fly</i> is a remarkable story of a village boy’s journey through life, the challenges he faced, the ups and downs he experienced and the unbridled optimism with which he approached every event of his life.<br />
<br />
The early parts of the book talk about his childhood, the time he spent in his native village of Gorur, his move to the Sanik School in Bijapur and finally his experiences in the National Defence Academy (NDA) (some of them are quite humorous!). Further, he describes his stint in the Indian Army, where he fought the Bangladesh liberation war. After the war he was posted to some challenging locations, one among them a picket called 4752, where the maximum summer temperature hovered around minus two degree Celsius!<br />
<br />
Though Army life had been wonderful for him, it was, in his own words, “too regimented and predictable” for his liking. He was not enjoying his stint in the Army and thus one fine day he quit and came back to his village.<br />
<br />
Though he quit the Army, he had no idea what he would do for a living. At the same time the government was building a dam on the Hemavathy river which would submerge Gopinath’s ancestral land. As compensation the government had provided 10 acres of land each to his father and his three brothers. The land was largely barren, with patches of jungle and scrub forest and without any proper access route. That is why when the Captain declared that he would start living there and set up his farm, his father could only utter two words, “<i>Ningenu Huccha?</i>” (Are you mad?) Almost everybody tried to dissuade him from taking to farming, but the Captain was adamant. He had a vision for the farm and he would not stop until he achieved it.<br />
<br />
His struggles to set up the farm are some of the most inspirational parts of the book (along with his setting up of Deccan Aviation). To begin with, he only had Rs 6000 with him and needed capital to set up the farm. But the banks where he went to take the loan were rude, apathetic and indifferent. On top of that he also had to face the hostility of the nearby villagers who were not too happy with his arrival as they were using the land earlier for grazing their cattle, which obviously they could not do any more. There were innumerable other roadblocks like lack of electricity, floods and drought But Captain Gopinath, through sheer grit and determination and single minded focus on the goal, was able to cross each one of these hurdles and went on to set up the farm successfully. He was eventually awarded the Rolex award for Enterprise for employing eco-friendly ways of farming. Along with the farm he also dabbled in other businesses like a motorcycle dealership, opening a hotel business, working as a stock broker and setting up an Agricultural consultancy!<br />
<br />
Soon thereafter, Captain Gopinath took a plunge in politics and stood for the election on the ticket of BJP. His “can-do” spirit is further evident here as he faced a lot of challenges on account of him being a first-timer and also because BJP was pretty much unknown in the state at that time. Particularly interesting is his duel with Deve Gowda, one of the strongest leaders of the state, where Gowda had to eventually retreat! Though he lost the elections, it did not sadden him. As he writes, “Yes, there was disappointment, but there was also a curios sense of exultation. I had discovered a strange power within me”.<br />
<br />
Gopinath soon shifted to Bangalore where he began socializing with his old Army friends. One of them was Captain K.J Samuel. He was a freelance pilot, flying helicopters all over India. One day he suggested to Captain Gopinath, “Why can’t we do something with the helicopters?” The seed of Deccan aviation was planted on this day. Sometime later, with Samuel’s words in his mind and inspired by the newspaper report of a Vietnamese girl who flew investors and aid workers in a helicopter over Vietnam, as the infrastructure in the country was totally devastated due to the war, Gopinath thought, “If helicopters can work in Vietnam, so can they in India, where the infrastructure is as bad!”. He decided that he will start a helicopter company and Deccan Aviation was born.<br />
<br />
As Captain has mentioned in the book, setting up the new venture was similar to setting up his farm; only that this was at a much bigger scale and the challenges much tougher. His ordeals with the bureaucracy and his successful way past the labyrinth makes for a very inspiring read. Like the instance where just to get a NOC from the government for the new company, he had to toil hard for two long years! Gopinath’s experiences convince you that if you have the will, have decided in your heart that no matter what, the goal has to be achieved, then no one can stop you from achieving it. After years of relentless pursuit, hard work and sacrifices the helicopter business was firmly established. It’s a tribute to his vision and courage that starting off with such meager resources, he was able to establish the business in a capital intensive industry like aviation.<br />
<br />
Upon the success of Deccan Aviation, Gopinath decided to enter the airline industry – by starting a low cost airline, Air Deccan. If anything, this was a much bigger risk. For all its challenges, one thing in his favor when he started Deccan Aviation was that there was very little competition, but here there were established players and the sector was notorious for its cut throat competition. There were also suggestions that the low cost model will not work in India. But the Captain had complete conviction in his business model and had a novel dream – <i>to make the common man fly</i>. The airline experienced exponential growth and within a very short time it even overtook the national carrier.<br />
<br />
However, new challenges emerged which throttled the growth of Air Deccan. The challenges, among others, included poaching of its pilots and engineers by the rival airlines and the collapse of its IT system. Gopinath had no choice but to seek external funding, even if it meant ceding control of his say in day-to-day running of the company. Eventually the company had to be merged to Kingfisher airlines. The last chapter talks about his new venture – Deccan360 – which he funded by mortgaging everything he had, his house, his shares and his stocks. He started all over again!<br />
<br />
A couple of the things that stand out from the book are Captain Gopinath’s unflinching optimism and his courage to follow his dreams, even though they may look implausible and impractical at first. Couple of years ago, I read the popular book <i>The Alchemist</i>. If I call <i>Simply Fly</i> the non-fictional counterpart of <i>The Alchemist</i>, it would not be entirely wrong. <br />
<br />
<i>Simply Fly</i> is a must read. It motivates you to flap your wings and take the flight to the unknown island of your dreams.</div>Vikram Pyatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17652035637623101393noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5563018516751506906.post-12223767184623948802010-10-06T23:14:00.000-07:002010-10-06T23:14:03.107-07:00Na jaane aaj.....न जाने आज, दिल बहुत खुश है<br />
कल की चिंता नहीं, कल का गम नहीं,<br />
बस आज की लहरों में बहा जा रहा हूँ मैं<br />
<br />
न जाने आज, हर गीत सुरीला है<br />
गायकी में कशिश है, हर शब्द में एक कहानी <br />
संगीत के सागर में डूबा जा रहा हूँ मैं<br />
<br />
न जाने आज, सब दोस्त अच्छे हैं<br />
किसी में इर्षा नहीं, किसी से इर्षा नहीं<br />
बस सबके गुण गाता चला जा रहा हूँ मैं<br />
<br />
न जाने आज, बहुत अच्छी नींद आयी है<br />
दिल पर बोझ नहीं, किसी की सोच नहीं<br />
इन बादलों में तैरता चला जा रहा हूँ मैं<br />
<br />
कल तो ऐसा न था, कल शायद ऐसा न हो<br />
क्यों न आज जी भर के जी लूं<br />
बरसों से आँखे मूँद जिया जा रहा हूँ मैंVikram Pyatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17652035637623101393noreply@blogger.com0San Jose, CA, USA37.3393857 -121.894955537.0664257 -122.3618745 37.6123457 -121.42803649999999