Ingredients:
Fresh cleaned and chopped Methi Leaves – Two handfuls
Crushed Methi seeds – 5 /6
Soft, Cubed Paneer – 200 Gms
1 large Onion – Finely Diced
Diced Garlic – 4 cloves
Tomato puree – 2 TbSpoons
Cumin powder – 2 Teaspoons
coriander powder – 1 Teaspoon
Turmeric Powder – 1 Teaspoon
Diced green chilly – 2 Teaspoons
Garam masala – (optional) 1 Teaspoon
Oil – 1 tablespoon
Salt to taste
In a skillet / kadhai, heat one Tb Sp of Oil. Add the chopped methi leaves, on high flame. As the leaves collapse by loosing moisture, keep stirring to avoid burning. When almost all the moisture is gone, sprinkle some salt and cook for a minute more. Scoop the methi off the skillet, draining the oil first. Let it sit for some time.
Let the skillet sit on fire, we have more work for it. Add crushed methi seed powder to the hot oil in the skillet, followed by diced Chilly, Diced Garlic, Diced Onion, in that order.
When the onion starts becoming transparent, add the coriander powder, cumin powder, and turmeric powder. You can add the garam masala (optional) at this stage. Cook for half a minute, and add the tomato puree. Cook for another minute.
Add the cubed paneer pieces and mix gently with the rest of the ingredients. When paneer begins to colour up with the ingredients, add the methi leaves that we kept aside. Add salt to taste, and cook on a low flame and with a closed lid for 5 – 7 minutes.
The Methi flavour goes surprisingly well with the slight tang of the tomato puree, and the green chillies with crushed garlic, accentuate the Methi taste.
The end result should be – semi dry, soft pieces of paneer, well coated with tomato puree, flaunting lovely green bits of methi leaves.
Goes really well with thick rotis.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Methi Paneer Chatakdaar
The other day, we were stuck with just a handful of Methi, hibernating in the fridge, and no other veggies to turn into dinner. There was Paneer, but well... the choice was between - a bunch of Methi, that was sure to see the Garbage bin before sundown the next day, and frozen Paneer, which would keep for another week. The Methi wasn't sufficient to feed three hungry souls. So we came up with this superbrainy idea of combining the two. Didnt sound right to the ears -- Methi Paneer! But then, you have seen Ratatouille the Movie, havent you? Remember, how the little Chef closes his eyes and imagines flavours, that go boom boom spark spark in the head?? I thought on similar lines about the Methi and Paneer combo...:D. The dish turned out quite well and almost close to my expectation. So, may be you can try this out on a lazy Saturday afternoon
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METHI PANEER CHATAKDAAR
Our Kinda Life
Hello Everyone,
Hope you guys missed me around here... But I am back after the unplanned hiatus, and this time, with (yet another) idea...:)
Well, most of my friends are single, twenty-somethings, staying in Metros, away from Mom and Dad. Their work hours are not exactly NineToFive and when they get back to their apartments (mostly shared with one or more roomies), they sometimes miss the "I am Home" feeling... that includes everything - from tidiness of the place to simple, homemade food. It happens to me all the time too...
So here is an effort from my side, to alleviate those "all I have is a place to sleep in" blues. Whenever I try something that makes my shared accomodation here, feel more like home, say nice and quick homely recipes, tips and tricks for a longer lasting neat look for the house or any other ideas related to this topic, I would share all those with you... I think it will be fun to hear from y'all on these as well...
So here we goooo
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Appraising Performance
Its that time of the year again....Are you thinking yet of your appraisal? I bet, you are!
Most of us, belonging to the white collared workforce; are drawn to and intrigued by the process at the same time. They come in all colours and patterns; these appraisals… the MBOs, Rating Scales, 360 degree feedback, Peer to Peer feedback… and all other permutations and combinations of these. They are almost the biggest events of any year in the lives of employees, especially so when the figures on our paychecks are determined by them.
So how many of us have always felt that the process is fair? Has there been any time when you had nothing to complain about it? I have seen approximately half the workforce going about with their sprits flushed down the drain, for days together after the results are declared. Managers are seen giving fuddled, glassy eyed explanations of the ratings to grumbling lots, or there is a complete reluctance to discuss the matter further.
Can one help asking why, after spending a great amount of collective time, energy and money, do appraisals come across as “unfair” to their employees? Why does the process get shrouded in secrecy at some point or another? Why do attrition rates skyrocket after each cycle?
There could be a million explanations, ranging from the simplistic “People have overly high expectations nowadays” to the “it’s a complex process that calls for a deep socio-psychological analyses” sort of answers.
I will not pretend to know the answer to this conundrum… but yes, I would love to share some observations. So first things first… why appraisals?
1. For giving timely feedback on work done, so that people know what they did right from what the did not
2. For rewarding, compensating for the work done, in a proportionate manner.
Please note: there is a school of thought that is completely anti-linking of performance and compensation. I disagree with that view. More on that later…
So, coming back to the point – why the general attitude of wariness towards this seemingly harmless objective?
What kind of employees are we talking about here?
Most of us, however individualistic our nature is, work in teams. The better part of our day is spent in interacting, working and learning with our teams. So, am I correct here in assuming that, the fundamental learning and performing unit of today’s organization is the Team?
In fact, it is quite evident that, a good team in company is quite similar to a good sports team. Different members are good at different things, but each has a definite place in the group. They learn together, push each other to perform and the victory or defeat is for the team. A lone batsman scoring a double century may well mean that he is an excellent batting talent… but if he took all the fifty overs, taking only the easiest shots, the team loses on the whole, because the target was 300! If you had a performance appraisal for this team, how would it be for this particular dude and the rest of the team?
Some would say – he likes to hog the limelight. There were other really good batsmen in the team who never got a chance.
He would say – I was doing my best for the team, I needed to keep standing and not let wickets fall.
Doesn’t something similar happen in a lot of teams in office too? Do you remember any times when you were a part of a vibrant, cohesive team? Where everybody seemed to be magically suited to the role he or she played? Don’t you think, almost everybody over performed in that team? The same people may have moved elsewhere in the hope of continuing the winning streak… but somehow, failed to be as spectacular?
Say, this team was your college soccer team, and after a consistent winning record, it lost one of the hyped matches. The Forward missed an easy goal. What would be the team’s responses to this event be like? I believe, at the least, there wouldn’t be a blame game. Assuming all these guys gel together, there could even be a strong solidarity. If the spirit is right, people would take this in their stride and fix the faults of the last game.
Working with such teams is not only highly enriching but also a strategy for winning.
So here it goes… my hypothesis towards the apparent distrust and circumspection with which our appraisals are treated. It applies to places where teams are the basic unit of performance. It may not be relevant to some professions, where team work is minimal.
First of all ...Acknowledge that, it is the Team that works for you
There may be some high performing individuals in your team. There also would be some average ones. There could be a few mediocre people too.
Assess each individual’s fitment in the group, do they complement each other?
Make sure, each member has a well defined area of work; while, each knows that, completing their individual tasks would not necessarily make the team win. Unless the whole team has a view of the final deliverable, and how their tasks fit in, the sense of “Yes! We did it!” will never form.
Appraise the team… Easier said than done… it may even sound like injustice to the high performers when their team doesn’t perform as well as they do… what does this tell us? If nothing else, special efforts need to be taken for putting together teams, as I said in point 3.
Also, it is important to make everybody realize, that no matter what our personal achievements be, unless the team wins, nobody wins.
I know I know…. There are a lot of wrinkles, grey areas, even utopian ideas here. Even the methodology of conducting team appraisals is not clear. (That could well be the next post in this series from me).
But seriously, isn’t it worth a thought? We might be on to something here… something that might truly bring out the essence of Appraisals and even help people take the whole process positively.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
For the Sake of Our Cities
I am lucky enough to be working in a place, where they believe in creating state of the art campuses. Every day when I step inside the gates, all the hectic running around of the morning gets pushed to the background. Even as I walk down briskly to my building, soft shafts of golden rays glancing off the well manicured lawns, fresh dewy sprays of flowers…they lure and refresh all senses. For the rest of the day, my cubicle is mostly all the scenery I get, but I enjoy the walk back in the evening on the same paths, now admiring the gentle dusk.
Then I am outside on the road, trying to find commutation. If you are the bike, auto, scooter sort, the din, dust and smoke is inescapable. By the time I reach home I am covered with a layer of dust and I suspect I inhale a few grams of it daily too.
Does this end when I am home? I would have loved to say big hearty yes. But Alas!
A big stretch of highway in the front of my apartment has been undergoing a road widening project for about two years now. The roadsides have been dug up and flattened to the level of the main road. Someone somewhere seems to have forgotten that it was a “road” that they were to construct, not a mud track. All the area around the building premises is a patch of mud too.
Vehicles passing by are in the greatest hurry to overtake other vehicles on the road, so mostly you would find quite a company jostling for space on those “widened road sides”. A nice consequence of this, apart from the interminable horn honking is that, we have begun to believe – Thou art dust and thou will be dust!
I see kids playing in the space between two apartment blocks, women taking an idle evening stroll. There are a few shrubs here and there, and most of the bigger trees were uprooted for the road widening.
Isn’t it upsetting? To see five year olds making play on bare cemented ground, breathing in dust and smoke, not knowing about birdsong or butterflies? I almost feel guilty for the pleasant mornings and evenings in my office campus.
It sure upsets me. Many people blame our generation for this reckless onslaught of construction which has been dubbed as infrastructure development. They think, we are responsible for the ever increasing prices of property and the concrete jungles spawning in response to our spending capacities. I don’t fully agree with that view for various reasons. Nevertheless, I feel we are in a better position to alleviate the situation than most.
The cities we inhabit give a lot to us – good jobs, better lifestyle, shopping places, eateries, a cosmopolitan society… How many times do we complain about the state of traffic and the attitude of local populations toward us? Aren’t there a few things we can change for the better?
Take the problem of dust that I mentioned earlier; recently, they published survey results for Hyderbad’s air pollution constituents. The major constituent of air pollutants is Dust – 43%, contrary to the popular belief.
I am planning to put some ideas across to the management of our apartment; things like, paving the area around the building with cement block tiles. I have seen these tiles in some places. They are like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that can lock into each other firmly. No additional construction is required to pave an area with these. I think they can be dismantled too. They would prevent dust being racked up and would stand minor traffic. I also plan for planting flowering plants and patches of lawn in whatever little space is available in the premises.
Do any of you have good ideas that can help our cities? Small steps that could make life even slightly better for the inhabitants?
Then I am outside on the road, trying to find commutation. If you are the bike, auto, scooter sort, the din, dust and smoke is inescapable. By the time I reach home I am covered with a layer of dust and I suspect I inhale a few grams of it daily too.
Does this end when I am home? I would have loved to say big hearty yes. But Alas!
A big stretch of highway in the front of my apartment has been undergoing a road widening project for about two years now. The roadsides have been dug up and flattened to the level of the main road. Someone somewhere seems to have forgotten that it was a “road” that they were to construct, not a mud track. All the area around the building premises is a patch of mud too.
Vehicles passing by are in the greatest hurry to overtake other vehicles on the road, so mostly you would find quite a company jostling for space on those “widened road sides”. A nice consequence of this, apart from the interminable horn honking is that, we have begun to believe – Thou art dust and thou will be dust!
I see kids playing in the space between two apartment blocks, women taking an idle evening stroll. There are a few shrubs here and there, and most of the bigger trees were uprooted for the road widening.
Isn’t it upsetting? To see five year olds making play on bare cemented ground, breathing in dust and smoke, not knowing about birdsong or butterflies? I almost feel guilty for the pleasant mornings and evenings in my office campus.
It sure upsets me. Many people blame our generation for this reckless onslaught of construction which has been dubbed as infrastructure development. They think, we are responsible for the ever increasing prices of property and the concrete jungles spawning in response to our spending capacities. I don’t fully agree with that view for various reasons. Nevertheless, I feel we are in a better position to alleviate the situation than most.
The cities we inhabit give a lot to us – good jobs, better lifestyle, shopping places, eateries, a cosmopolitan society… How many times do we complain about the state of traffic and the attitude of local populations toward us? Aren’t there a few things we can change for the better?
Take the problem of dust that I mentioned earlier; recently, they published survey results for Hyderbad’s air pollution constituents. The major constituent of air pollutants is Dust – 43%, contrary to the popular belief.
I am planning to put some ideas across to the management of our apartment; things like, paving the area around the building with cement block tiles. I have seen these tiles in some places. They are like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that can lock into each other firmly. No additional construction is required to pave an area with these. I think they can be dismantled too. They would prevent dust being racked up and would stand minor traffic. I also plan for planting flowering plants and patches of lawn in whatever little space is available in the premises.
Do any of you have good ideas that can help our cities? Small steps that could make life even slightly better for the inhabitants?
Friday, February 29, 2008
On Hate and Diversity
Have you read a remarkable book called "Baudolino" by Umberto Eco, the famous Italian author? The title is the name of the main character of the book. The story is based in the middle of the siege of Constantinople in the 13th century AD. It’s a remarkable book not only for the well researched erudite representation of History of but also for the clever characterization and superb meshing of fantasy, myth, science, psychology, not to mention cynical sprinkling of humor throughout.
It set me reading a bit about the people, culture and religious beliefs of the time. To our modern sensibilities, many of the actions of famous men and women of the times seem difficult to comprehend. I think there is one common theme running throughout the shaping and reshaping of Europe of those times. The theme is of intolerance and of brutality of punishment. Death by a hundred thousand methods of torture seems to be the favored method of discipline. The most powerful of the kings unabashedly and nonchalantly seem to promote such massacres. Intolerance specifically of religious beliefs was commonplace and wars were waged on the pretext of spreading "one true faith".
I read about another linked story of a Scholar of Mathematics and Philosophy, called "Hypatia". She was a Hellenic, Greek woman, considered in high esteem even by her detractors and was a teacher of Geometry, Algebra and Neoplatonistic philosophy to pupils of all faiths. She was killed in a hapless incident of mob violence, apparently incited out of jealousy of some of the Christian Jury in Alexandria. While this is not very unusual, I am deeply horrified and amazed at the brutality of the killing. According to various accounts of the incident, she was stopped on her way to work, dragged through the streets of Alexandria and stripped. Her flesh was scraped away with sharp tiles, dismembered and her still quivering body was set afire.
Nothing…nothing at all to my mind can explain such hatred for the life of a fellow human being, especially as the women had done nothing except lead a life of a brilliant scholar dedicated study and teaching. According to modern day scholars, her work on Apollonius’s "Conics" and higher order equations to bring about algebraic representation of Sections and Intersections of conics was invaluable. Her commentaries on Mathematics, Astronomy and Philosophy were destroyed by her detractors. The result of this mindless violence was that, 1600 years passed before any advancement could be made on the topics of her research – algebraic representation of conics, their sections and intersections. It set science and mankind behind by several centuries! Acts such as these were what plunged Europe into the “Dark Ages”.
When one researches a little on the most prosperous, the so called Golden Periods of the history of any nation, the opposite theme seems to emerge. The theme is of tolerance and respect. The hatred of women and learned people is conspicuous by absence. The greatest of kings are known for their promotion of religious harmony and treatment of all subjects with utmost respect. Even if there were incidents of the other kind, the perpetrators of these acts have been punished by History, by refusing to note their existence. Tolerance of variety, above everything else was the virtue displayed by the greatest rulers of those times.
It brings to my mind a story concerning the Maratha warrior King Chhatrapati Shivaji, the powerful ruler and founder of the Maratha Empire. This story is part of the folklore that has been sung ever since.
It says, after the siege of Kalyan, the King was offered the extremely beautiful daughter in law of the defeated Subedaar shah, by an uninformed captain. The king dazzled by her beauty addressed her thus "Had my mother been of such unparalleled beauty, I would have been a handsome man too". He sent the women back to her family unmolested and protected. The exact words uttered by the man are arguable, but the fact that the King respected and protected women is beyond doubt. Stories such as this, is what folklore in India is made of.
We may dismiss these tales today as being glorified, utopian or unpractical, but look closely, the age old wisdom and sheer practicality comes shining forth. Talking of Shivaji, one should note that about a third of his army consisted of non Hindus. Also a great many people’s livelihoods would be worsted in the continuous battles raged in the area potentially leading to unrest. His army was a fraction of the size of the powers he fought with. Unadulterated love and respect of all he commanded was crucial to his mission of nation building. Had he shown even slight disrespect to the holy places of other faiths or to any particular section of society, the nascent empire would have been aborted in the womb! No policy could have worked better than that of justice and high moral caliber.
It makes one appreciate how and why great men of the past protected and nourished diversity. But just one look around, and I feel the very fabric of our multicultural society coming apart.
From a people who passionately embraced every fresh thought, ideology, art, language, we are gradually turning into rigid communities; groups that seek to shut themselves in from the “others”. We are trying hard to believe that a monolithic society comprised of people “just like us” is the panacea for all that ails us today. We are at best indifferent to people who not “just like us”. But mostly we are not at our best! So we hate them… and hate them with a frenzy that would put the crusaders of the dark ages to shame. Not all of us take to the streets to kill and incinerate. We nevertheless secretly cheer the perpetrators as long as victims are from the other group. What has happened to us? How did such evil find its way among us? In spite of all our advancements and relative prosperity, have we lost practical wisdom?
We see four year olds rushing to our cars at every traffic signal, filthy and begging. We may throw a penny in their palms but we surely crinkle our noses at their approach as if they stink of poison. We won’t hesitate to slap our maid’s kid for stepping on a wet floor with his dirty feet. We hate the poor for “being there”, constant reminders of the reality that we are running away from.
We form regional groups at workplace, deride the others for their customs and make decisions favoring the ones from our caste, region, and religion. We hate them for being so different.
We biliously smell out nasty gossip about the rich and the famous, and gnaw on it, salivating…never for a minute thinking of the trauma we cause… We hate them for being so rich and famous… for not being just like us!
It scares me imagine how much resentment a billion people are building up in their hearts… each has his own favorite “hate group”. Yes, there is a lot to be unhappy about, lot of frustrations. But is a monolithic society the way out?
It is neither desirable nor possible to chisel out all from the same block. Hoping to achieve such an end can never bring a moment’s peace. Instead, if only we teach our minds to genuinely appreciate that there ARE other points of view, that there is no one “RIGHT” answers in life as there are in school, we would be full of wondrous discoveries every day. It is easy to hate when we don’t “know” those others… when we build walls around us to the high heavens. We need to open the doors and step out; not as wolves in a pack but as individuals. Then we can feel how we are like trees in a wood – all different in their own right, but all a part of the wood. The banyans and creepers are all there; each growing in their capacity, style, place… you can’t set fire to the wood and hope to burn out the creepers only…
We cannot wish those street children away… but it is possible to help them push the street life away. It is stupid to be in a global workplace and wish other cultures away, when there is so much to learn from each other…
It is possible to throw the filth and chaos around us away if we really want to… one act of faith at a time, one moment of consideration at a time, one “NO” to mindless violence at all times….our devices could be different, but the end must be common - dissolving those hate groups from our minds...
It set me reading a bit about the people, culture and religious beliefs of the time. To our modern sensibilities, many of the actions of famous men and women of the times seem difficult to comprehend. I think there is one common theme running throughout the shaping and reshaping of Europe of those times. The theme is of intolerance and of brutality of punishment. Death by a hundred thousand methods of torture seems to be the favored method of discipline. The most powerful of the kings unabashedly and nonchalantly seem to promote such massacres. Intolerance specifically of religious beliefs was commonplace and wars were waged on the pretext of spreading "one true faith".
I read about another linked story of a Scholar of Mathematics and Philosophy, called "Hypatia". She was a Hellenic, Greek woman, considered in high esteem even by her detractors and was a teacher of Geometry, Algebra and Neoplatonistic philosophy to pupils of all faiths. She was killed in a hapless incident of mob violence, apparently incited out of jealousy of some of the Christian Jury in Alexandria. While this is not very unusual, I am deeply horrified and amazed at the brutality of the killing. According to various accounts of the incident, she was stopped on her way to work, dragged through the streets of Alexandria and stripped. Her flesh was scraped away with sharp tiles, dismembered and her still quivering body was set afire.
Nothing…nothing at all to my mind can explain such hatred for the life of a fellow human being, especially as the women had done nothing except lead a life of a brilliant scholar dedicated study and teaching. According to modern day scholars, her work on Apollonius’s "Conics" and higher order equations to bring about algebraic representation of Sections and Intersections of conics was invaluable. Her commentaries on Mathematics, Astronomy and Philosophy were destroyed by her detractors. The result of this mindless violence was that, 1600 years passed before any advancement could be made on the topics of her research – algebraic representation of conics, their sections and intersections. It set science and mankind behind by several centuries! Acts such as these were what plunged Europe into the “Dark Ages”.
When one researches a little on the most prosperous, the so called Golden Periods of the history of any nation, the opposite theme seems to emerge. The theme is of tolerance and respect. The hatred of women and learned people is conspicuous by absence. The greatest of kings are known for their promotion of religious harmony and treatment of all subjects with utmost respect. Even if there were incidents of the other kind, the perpetrators of these acts have been punished by History, by refusing to note their existence. Tolerance of variety, above everything else was the virtue displayed by the greatest rulers of those times.
It brings to my mind a story concerning the Maratha warrior King Chhatrapati Shivaji, the powerful ruler and founder of the Maratha Empire. This story is part of the folklore that has been sung ever since.
It says, after the siege of Kalyan, the King was offered the extremely beautiful daughter in law of the defeated Subedaar shah, by an uninformed captain. The king dazzled by her beauty addressed her thus "Had my mother been of such unparalleled beauty, I would have been a handsome man too". He sent the women back to her family unmolested and protected. The exact words uttered by the man are arguable, but the fact that the King respected and protected women is beyond doubt. Stories such as this, is what folklore in India is made of.
We may dismiss these tales today as being glorified, utopian or unpractical, but look closely, the age old wisdom and sheer practicality comes shining forth. Talking of Shivaji, one should note that about a third of his army consisted of non Hindus. Also a great many people’s livelihoods would be worsted in the continuous battles raged in the area potentially leading to unrest. His army was a fraction of the size of the powers he fought with. Unadulterated love and respect of all he commanded was crucial to his mission of nation building. Had he shown even slight disrespect to the holy places of other faiths or to any particular section of society, the nascent empire would have been aborted in the womb! No policy could have worked better than that of justice and high moral caliber.
It makes one appreciate how and why great men of the past protected and nourished diversity. But just one look around, and I feel the very fabric of our multicultural society coming apart.
From a people who passionately embraced every fresh thought, ideology, art, language, we are gradually turning into rigid communities; groups that seek to shut themselves in from the “others”. We are trying hard to believe that a monolithic society comprised of people “just like us” is the panacea for all that ails us today. We are at best indifferent to people who not “just like us”. But mostly we are not at our best! So we hate them… and hate them with a frenzy that would put the crusaders of the dark ages to shame. Not all of us take to the streets to kill and incinerate. We nevertheless secretly cheer the perpetrators as long as victims are from the other group. What has happened to us? How did such evil find its way among us? In spite of all our advancements and relative prosperity, have we lost practical wisdom?
We see four year olds rushing to our cars at every traffic signal, filthy and begging. We may throw a penny in their palms but we surely crinkle our noses at their approach as if they stink of poison. We won’t hesitate to slap our maid’s kid for stepping on a wet floor with his dirty feet. We hate the poor for “being there”, constant reminders of the reality that we are running away from.
We form regional groups at workplace, deride the others for their customs and make decisions favoring the ones from our caste, region, and religion. We hate them for being so different.
We biliously smell out nasty gossip about the rich and the famous, and gnaw on it, salivating…never for a minute thinking of the trauma we cause… We hate them for being so rich and famous… for not being just like us!
It scares me imagine how much resentment a billion people are building up in their hearts… each has his own favorite “hate group”. Yes, there is a lot to be unhappy about, lot of frustrations. But is a monolithic society the way out?
It is neither desirable nor possible to chisel out all from the same block. Hoping to achieve such an end can never bring a moment’s peace. Instead, if only we teach our minds to genuinely appreciate that there ARE other points of view, that there is no one “RIGHT” answers in life as there are in school, we would be full of wondrous discoveries every day. It is easy to hate when we don’t “know” those others… when we build walls around us to the high heavens. We need to open the doors and step out; not as wolves in a pack but as individuals. Then we can feel how we are like trees in a wood – all different in their own right, but all a part of the wood. The banyans and creepers are all there; each growing in their capacity, style, place… you can’t set fire to the wood and hope to burn out the creepers only…
We cannot wish those street children away… but it is possible to help them push the street life away. It is stupid to be in a global workplace and wish other cultures away, when there is so much to learn from each other…
It is possible to throw the filth and chaos around us away if we really want to… one act of faith at a time, one moment of consideration at a time, one “NO” to mindless violence at all times….our devices could be different, but the end must be common - dissolving those hate groups from our minds...
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Weekend Beckons!
Through with Thursday!!!! Errrr... Ummm... Just about. One day to go and it will be weekend… Yippee!!
Do I hear snickers? The weekend is always round the corner in our industry … is that what you said? Do you know the salary is due this weekend? Ha! Now that’s not always round the corner…Let me give you a sneak peak of my weekend plans!!!
Friday evening, keep up till late night, watch one of the Academy favorites – may be Juno or TWBB…wake up only when sun starts beating down even through the small chinks of bedroom window… Have the laziest and biggest cup of Elaichi flavored tea… eat... eat and eat some more… then go shop… buy new sandals, trousers, may be even change the ancient relic of Nokia 2100 to something more in line with my new, reinvented hi-tech persona (take that seriously). If the distensible bag called stomach lets shove in any more food… Gorge! Gossip… Sleep!!!
Sunday is reserved for the D Victors’ cricket Match. We have to go and WIN the finals!! Wish the D Victors team all the luck!
Ever had a more eventful weekend?
Do I hear snickers? The weekend is always round the corner in our industry … is that what you said? Do you know the salary is due this weekend? Ha! Now that’s not always round the corner…Let me give you a sneak peak of my weekend plans!!!
Friday evening, keep up till late night, watch one of the Academy favorites – may be Juno or TWBB…wake up only when sun starts beating down even through the small chinks of bedroom window… Have the laziest and biggest cup of Elaichi flavored tea… eat... eat and eat some more… then go shop… buy new sandals, trousers, may be even change the ancient relic of Nokia 2100 to something more in line with my new, reinvented hi-tech persona (take that seriously). If the distensible bag called stomach lets shove in any more food… Gorge! Gossip… Sleep!!!
Sunday is reserved for the D Victors’ cricket Match. We have to go and WIN the finals!! Wish the D Victors team all the luck!
Ever had a more eventful weekend?
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
A Debate
I remember the day I first landed in Mumbai. It was during my summer internship. I had never before been to a real metro. On a stuffy Tuesday morning, I stood at the VT and looked around. It was bewilderment at first, curiosity next, but the lingering feeling I was left with was mostly that of being like a grain of sand on the beach.
The whole platform gave an impression of some mammoth sized monolithic machine, with a million big and small parts, each rolling into another...There is no way anything or anybody can simply stand and look... one has to morph into some part of the machine and continue grinding... or be ground!
It is probable that I took a very negative view of the situation. In any case I began abhorring the swarm of humanity and secretly resolved to never make this place my home. A few years later, when I began visiting the city more often, meeting with people and growing up in some sense of the word that I began to think about what had happened back then. Now, I need to ask myself some uncomfortable questions.
What was it about the rushing crowds that made you uneasy? Did you get hurt in any way?
No, it wasn’t that. It was just an overwhelming feeling...all the thousands of men and women, so mingled without trace, each must have a story at least as interesting as mine, but to me, standing over there, it didn’t matter. Each of them just made up the - "crowd". Scary part being, I too made up the "crowd" to each and everyone of them. I could be the Princess of Timbuktu or an empty pushcart standing in a corner, how did it matter?
So, what do you think of Self worth? Does it get affected by factors within or without?
Oh, now you are tricking me into answers. Do you want me to say that, on that day standing at the platform, I began having doubts about my self worth?
Hey, I am the one questioning, so you don’t question back. What got you so defensive about the self worth part?
Come on...let’s come back to the topic. Honestly, I did feel for a moment, the way we feel on starry summer nights. You know, when you just lie down on your back in terrace or a courtyard, and look at the millions and millions of worlds within worlds? That feeling when you try to imagine the whole universe spread out for your eyes, our galaxy's place in the scheme of things the solar system, this blue planet of ours, our continent, country, state, village / city / town, and finally you lying down on your back and looking? I have felt a shiver down my spine on such occasions. But I have felt something else too... the beauty of the whole design, the complete poise and perfection with which every piece of matter or no-matter (whatever they call it) is related to each other. Well I am a believer in Intelligent Design...what I saw on the platform was spine chilling in its own way, but I have failed to see the beauty there in.
This means either of the two things - Either your belief of Intelligent Design is flawed (Humans from big cities don’t fit into it?), or you are still making excuses for an overinflated ego...
Hey, now you are not being very polite are you? What is wrong about wanting to have a distinct identity? Haven’t a lot of great people fought for it? Do you forget Nietzsche - "The Noble Soul has reverence for itself"?
There you are again! Quoting people out of context… The noble soul has reverence for itself, and its greatness doesn’t depend on the masses. Why do you fear that mingling your body with the bodies of rest of humanity makes the greatness of your soul any lesser? Or makes the greatness of any soul (even that of other individuals of the "crowd") any lesser?
Well people, I am exhausted!!! whaddya think...?
The whole platform gave an impression of some mammoth sized monolithic machine, with a million big and small parts, each rolling into another...There is no way anything or anybody can simply stand and look... one has to morph into some part of the machine and continue grinding... or be ground!
It is probable that I took a very negative view of the situation. In any case I began abhorring the swarm of humanity and secretly resolved to never make this place my home. A few years later, when I began visiting the city more often, meeting with people and growing up in some sense of the word that I began to think about what had happened back then. Now, I need to ask myself some uncomfortable questions.
What was it about the rushing crowds that made you uneasy? Did you get hurt in any way?
No, it wasn’t that. It was just an overwhelming feeling...all the thousands of men and women, so mingled without trace, each must have a story at least as interesting as mine, but to me, standing over there, it didn’t matter. Each of them just made up the - "crowd". Scary part being, I too made up the "crowd" to each and everyone of them. I could be the Princess of Timbuktu or an empty pushcart standing in a corner, how did it matter?
So, what do you think of Self worth? Does it get affected by factors within or without?
Oh, now you are tricking me into answers. Do you want me to say that, on that day standing at the platform, I began having doubts about my self worth?
Hey, I am the one questioning, so you don’t question back. What got you so defensive about the self worth part?
Come on...let’s come back to the topic. Honestly, I did feel for a moment, the way we feel on starry summer nights. You know, when you just lie down on your back in terrace or a courtyard, and look at the millions and millions of worlds within worlds? That feeling when you try to imagine the whole universe spread out for your eyes, our galaxy's place in the scheme of things the solar system, this blue planet of ours, our continent, country, state, village / city / town, and finally you lying down on your back and looking? I have felt a shiver down my spine on such occasions. But I have felt something else too... the beauty of the whole design, the complete poise and perfection with which every piece of matter or no-matter (whatever they call it) is related to each other. Well I am a believer in Intelligent Design...what I saw on the platform was spine chilling in its own way, but I have failed to see the beauty there in.
This means either of the two things - Either your belief of Intelligent Design is flawed (Humans from big cities don’t fit into it?), or you are still making excuses for an overinflated ego...
Hey, now you are not being very polite are you? What is wrong about wanting to have a distinct identity? Haven’t a lot of great people fought for it? Do you forget Nietzsche - "The Noble Soul has reverence for itself"?
There you are again! Quoting people out of context… The noble soul has reverence for itself, and its greatness doesn’t depend on the masses. Why do you fear that mingling your body with the bodies of rest of humanity makes the greatness of your soul any lesser? Or makes the greatness of any soul (even that of other individuals of the "crowd") any lesser?
Well people, I am exhausted!!! whaddya think...?
Monday, February 18, 2008
Welcome Y'all
"Yaar... I hate this daily business of pretending to like this work. I am not cut out for this you know! The other day I was checking out orkut and some of my buddies asked me if I was still into madcap business ideas... And I felt soooo damned tied up... One of these days I am gonna start something up... only problem is I dont have the money, an there is one more problem, Neetu wants to settle down or she says she will dump me... And dad isnt any help either... he just pulls the 'haveyouanysenseofresponsibility' face when I try to bring this topic up... I am too goddamn tied up man!"
Gotcha!!
If this sounds familiar, Welcome! This is just the place for you.
If the name of this blog isn't clear enough an indicator, let me warn you. The author is an individual, at least as befuddled as you are... about everything... from her choice of job to the meaning of social responsibility. Nevertheless, She likes to have an opinion on topics ranging from Obama's suitability to 'Why Namita's boyfriend doesnt dump her'.
More often than not, she thinks she is depressed and needs a dose of dark chocolate or cheese (mostly with a fat base of pizza), but thanks to her small town upbringing, she doesnt think she is a part of the crowd. Somehow, she is more comfortable at the front benches rather than the rear ones. So she would like to speak out, converse, crib and more than anything else, listen to you. May be, we can together try and wipe the mist off the windscreen and the scenary could be ever so beautiful.
Gotcha!!
If this sounds familiar, Welcome! This is just the place for you.
If the name of this blog isn't clear enough an indicator, let me warn you. The author is an individual, at least as befuddled as you are... about everything... from her choice of job to the meaning of social responsibility. Nevertheless, She likes to have an opinion on topics ranging from Obama's suitability to 'Why Namita's boyfriend doesnt dump her'.
More often than not, she thinks she is depressed and needs a dose of dark chocolate or cheese (mostly with a fat base of pizza), but thanks to her small town upbringing, she doesnt think she is a part of the crowd. Somehow, she is more comfortable at the front benches rather than the rear ones. So she would like to speak out, converse, crib and more than anything else, listen to you. May be, we can together try and wipe the mist off the windscreen and the scenary could be ever so beautiful.
Welcome reader...
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