Planet Earth

The Greenwich Meridian line passes through the place called Greenwich in London, and an observatory has been built around it. This observatory is located atop a small hill in the Greenwich Park. From the top of the hill, the view of the London skyline is just incredible. I suddenly felt as though l heard voices from all over the world.

Religion: God will protect you

Atheists: You have to protect yourself

Professor: Education is the noblest of pursuits

Student: I must find my real passion

Astronomers: The answer lies beyond

A yogi: The answer lies within

Engineer: Everything has a principle

Altruists: There are no principles other than love

A father to his new born baby: I will always be by your side

A son to his dying father: I will not let you go

A new born baby: These giants are staring at me

A dying man: You go live your lives

With a new born baby, a light is born in this earth and it glows till death. Whatever the colour of the light, they all glow through day and night sending out a signal that they are living on this great planet. As holes in the floor of heaven, stars are so beautiful. These lights from Earth are way brighter and way more beautiful that shies those stars away.

Live and Let Live !

Face to Face

The floor suddenly felt too cold on my skin. There was an eerie silence surrounding me. Not able to bear the weirdness any longer, I finally opened my eyes. It was pitch dark all around and the walls bare. That was strange. I got up quick and looked all around me. The floors and the walls were plain.

There was a mirror on the wall directly across to where I was standing. I moved closer so that I can see clearly. There was a faded tube light on top of the mirror. My eyes then moved to the mirror and I was staring at myself. I checked the edges to see if there was a door but suddenly noticed that my mirror image hadn’t moved. I slightly moved away but the image didn’t budge.

I stood staring at myself trying to figure out different theories to explain what was happening. An idea at last ! I pinched myself hard and it pained pretty badly.

“I hope that it wakes you up now at least”

It was the mirror image talking. I moved away and tried to find a way of escape.

“You are stuck with me. You can take my word for it.”

“That will not stop me from trying”

“True. That is your choice. But it is my obligation to give you a heads up.”

After a while of futile search, my gaze came back to myself.

“What shall we call each other. We both cannot be Sam.”

“We both are. But you are right.”

After a bit of thinking, it said “I shall be Adaptive. You be Ruler.”

“I don’t dominate. Ruler doesn’t fit me.”

“What I was suggesting was that you are principled.”

“Whats wrong with following principles.”

“Nothing. Nothing at all. Which is why I gave you that name.”

“Hmm...”

“So what have you decided about HP?”

I was taken aback by surprise.

“How do you know?”

“I am you. Remember. So I will know what you know. My way of thinking will be different from yours. Thats all.”

“Oh. Interesting.”

“So? What decision?”

“Oh. HP? Its not my decision. It is just a guided path to destination.”

“Thats good. It will be a great start for your career.”

“Yeah. But at what cost?”

“Cost?”

“Yeah. At the cost of my morals, my principles and my values.”

“Huh ? What are you talking about?”

“My uncle, a vice president at HP, is pushing my application through. So basically, I am not winning my way through to the job. I am going into a field which has already been cleared for me. No battle, no competition, job being offered on a plate. Not based on my ability, but based on my influence. In short, this job is being given to my uncle and not to me. Not to mention about those many able people, more deserving than me who I would have kicked out just because of my fucking recommendation.”

“But you already tried for jobs on your own. For about 6-7 months right? What happened? Everywhere you went, they thrashed your application because you did not have work experience. Those idiots don’t understand a simple concept that if everyone asks for previous work experience as a prerequisite, where will you get that in the first place? Its not you, you know. Its the world that didn’t want to give you a job based on your ability and skills. This is how the world works today. The faster you accept that, the better it will be for you.”

“Just because the world works that way, that doesn’t mean that it is right, right? If I also behave like an animal what is the point in being labelled the more rational creature?”

“Why do you see as if you are letting go of your principles. Its just this one aspect. You can also see it this way that your uncle is trying to create a chance for an able and talented individual like yourself.”

“Even if I join HP, and my career goes on taking me to different places and different companies. Then one day when I look back on my career, I will find that the foundation stone was laid in a manner not so dignifiable and this will render my entire career worthless.”

“See. He just gives you a start. What you make of that chance is your own ability and your own skill. You are still building your career. You will always be the captain of your ship. Your uncle just provided you with your first boat.”

“HP is a great company and I would love to work for such an incredible company. I just don’t like the way I am entering the company. I will just be preaching about the principles by which one should live his life, but would have failed myself to live by what I say.”

“See, you cannot assign guilt to yourself for something that is beyond your control. That is just unnecessary baggage.”

Then Adaptive took out a coin from his pocket and said

“The way I figure things, we both can argue all we want, but we won’t go anywhere as we both are right. The only morality in this world is chance. Heads you win, tails I win. And then you should come to terms with which ever decision comes about. What say?”

After some thinking and checking whether it was a proper coin, I agreed. He tossed the coin. As the coin flipped above our heads, I did not know what I wanted it to show. The coin thudded to the floor and hid the heads away from our sights.

A loud sound broke through the sound barriers, and the room dissolved. I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling. Looking all around, I found that I was back in my room. At that moment, drenched in sweat, the only thought that was running through my head was “Phew! I am back to reality.”

Ever Changing Menu

“Computer is an intelligent machine”. I smile at these words remembering when I first heard them in a computer class about a decade and a half ago. The smile was because I used such a mobile intelligent machine to write this article you are reading right now.

While the technology revolution is brilliant by itself, growing with such a revolution takes the experience to a whole new level. For example, I created my first email id in the year 2000 and I still remember the day when we first bought our own personal computer, back when I was in 9^th standard. Amidst strict rules of timings on when to use the computer, my brother and I still had a great time playing Dave and my parents through solitaire. Oh, and I almost forgot, there were floppy disks back then (those tiny black square things).

Then came the CD’s and when all the production houses were busy trying to reach homes through movies in 2 and 3 CD packs. I still remember that Hum Aapke Hain Kaun and Jo Jeetha Wohi Sikandhar were among the first movie CDs we bought. Then the inside of the discs turned blue with the DVDs and a DVD seemed to capture one whole movie, which seemed incredible at that time.

In my opinion, the period in college plays the transformational role in a student’s life in increasing awareness about the latest technology trends. Like, I came to know about social networking only when I joined my Engineering College. Gmail and Orkut became part of my everyday checklist, much to my parents’ dismay. But, luckily for them, I was slow to catch on to technology. I didn’t even know what a blog was till about 3 years ago. I was hesitant to open a facebook account till a year ago, and now I have about 400 friends on facebook.

I find this evolution very fascinating. Every time I log onto the internet, since my first time, I feel like I am sitting in a digitally encoded restaurant, like in the movie Matrix, and servers offering me menu cards to choose my meal from. But I am more of a standard menu fellow and take fewer chances with new items on the menu. Ever since gaining access to this wonderful world, my favourites have always been Gmail, Orkut and Facebook, although it has been a while since I tasted Orkut.

Now, being a recent graduate, on a job hunt, I find myself at the crossroads once again. As my friends have become focussed on building their jobs and careers, the number of facebook updates has fallen dramatically and my tongue now finds this meal boring. The obvious question is what I shall do next in this vast paradise called the internet, for I have to do something to keep myself active in this invisible hemisphere. I have no idea, what my new favourite is going to be, but one thing is certain, it certainly isn’t going to be my favourite forever.

Beauty

"The Gods envy us. They envy us because we are mortal, because any moment might be our last. Everything is more beautiful because we are doomed." - From the movie Troy.

What is beauty? Sometimes, the simplest and the most commonly used words become hardest to define. Let’s say, beauty is something mesmerizing that will make your mind go blank, at least for a moment. In that case, the definition of beauty depends on the individual defining it.

What does beauty mean to me? I associate beauty with femininity. After women, innocence and nature take the second and the third spot respectively, in my ranking of beauty.

Life is a journey of transformation from innocence to wisdom. In its essence, innocence evokes simplicity. Innocence, in any form always brings a smile to my face, no matter what mood I am in. I would like to share with you one of my poems I had written a long time ago, one which you can relate to, with respect to our current topic.

Smile of Innocence

Went to office for the day
Was another gruelling day
Boss's pressure and inter-colleague harmony
Blame shifting and ego bias all day

At last, the clock struck seven
Picked up my bag and dashed outside
For a cup of refreshing hot tea
I stopped at the corner store

A cute little baby was crying
Mother was trying to calm him down
I stood in front of him 
and did some funny faces

The baby started smiling again
Oh God ! You made my day !
You showed me that 
Innocence still exists !

Another favourite of mine is Nature. Phew, there are no words to explain her beauty. Nature just makes you kneel before her in awe. The ability to withstand and bear such diversity makes you wonder about the extent of her resilience. In fact, I took up photography as a hobby because of her. I wanted to defeat time and retain images of her beauty forever.

In short, Beauty makes me stop counting the number of moments I survived and makes me count the moments I live.

This post has been written for the Yahoo Dove Real Beauty Contest on Indiblogger. It is a salute to the triumphant spirit of the Indian woman by Dove. To know more about Real Beauty you can visit the wonderful page hosted by Yahoo http://realbeauty.yahoo.com/ . If you like this article, do click on the following link and vote for me http://www.indiblogger.in/indivine_subcat.php?id=72&sort=latest .

What's after cricket ?

It’s the game invented by the British, but which ended up unifying India. There is really nothing to say other than the obvious phrases “Its just an amazing game” and “Cricket is a religion”. This game created legends like Sachin Tendulkar, Don Bradman and Vivian Richards. Indian team first lifted the world cup in 1983, a time when the nation saw the whole match through the All India Radio. With media and technology having leaped so far ahead, India once again won the cricket world cup in 2011 to delight its fans, who in turn took to the streets in celebration.

Over so many years, the number of cricket matches has increased substantially. This is of course a delight to the millions of viewers who follow these matches with great loyalty. Now, with the introduction of new format called the T20 (the game lasts only 20 overs as compared to the traditional formats of 50 over one dayers and test matches) and each match lasting only 4 hours, more number of matches could be arranged. This only delighted the viewers even more.

The hard truth is that it is so easy to sit and watch a match on the TV and incredibly difficult to play and perform on the field. With the number of matches going up by leaps and bounds and the introduction of new tournaments like the IPL and the Champions League, cricket players, especially the Indian cricket players are facing tight and busy schedules.

While the saying “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” is true, “All play and no work will tire Jack out” is also true. Cricket players are humans and mortals get tired. Realizing that they are not able to play full year round, priorities have shifted and now the players are more focussed on earning money for their work than representing their team and nation. And they cannot be blamed at all. If anyone has to be blamed, it is the cricket fan. These cricket fans who love sweets do not realise that they will hate sweets if they eat them every day. And the evidence for this is the falling brand value of IPL.

The realization that cricket is losing its sheen raises a vast array of questions. For one, what is the next sport that will hold the Indian nation after cricket. Another question is whether the people of India will finally start focussing on issues that actually matter, like the progress in the investigation of the 2G scam.

Extreme opinions like “the death of cricket is around the corner” are not only absurd but also impossible. Cricket is an established sport and a religion to some. The point in question is the game’s effectiveness in commanding viewership around the world, competing with football and F1 racing. Nonetheless, the current Indian generation will definitely hold Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni as one of their role models. How the next generation of Indians perceive successors of such legends remains to be seen. 

The Glass Room

Samuel had been bed ridden for the past month. His family was standing around him, struggling to smile with hopelessness in their eyes. Eyelids were pulling shut and Samuel drifted away from consciousness. It was suddenly peaceful, like flowing with a river current. Distant pulses were felt and Samuel heard shouts asking him to wake up. But he liked the river more and kept drifting away. Eventually he hit the shore and found himself in a dark place. It was pitch dark and he could not see anything.

Samuel moved ahead until he hit the wall. Passing his hand over, he found it was like glass. He followed the wall in one direction and kept going on. After a while, feeling dizzy, he sat down on the floor. Removing his shoes and placing them against the wall, he slowly went around the walls once more. Minutes passed before his legs hit the shoes. Now, Samuel was sure he was in a square shaped room with glass walls. He then went on to search the floor and found that it was made of glass too. After hours of futile searching and eventually giving up on means of escape, Samuel sat down and leaned against the wall.

He started recollecting his life on earth. The last year was the most painful. After being diagnosed with liver cancer, the chemotherapy sessions seemed endless and he hated treating hospitals as his home. The last year was very frustrating for two reasons – one being the disease itself and the other being the repercussions of diagnosis. As a positive person, weeks after diagnosis, he figured that he could live longer if he forgot he had a problem in the first place. But his wife, kids and parents went on consoling him with a look of pitiful mercy. As the news spread, more relatives and infinite consoling stretched time by so much that he wanted to die right then.

He liked it in here, this room, dark and silent, felt nice after so many moments of torture. He recalled other such moments, like the numerous fights with his wife when he couldn’t attend his own son’s graduation and his late hours at work. Suddenly he heard a sound and a clank of metal. The silence made the sound echo for a long time. Finally locating the source of sound, he found a plate of fruits. Moving aside the plate, he checked the floor for any trap doors. Finding none, he went on to enjoy his meal. He kept the clean plate near him lest the plate should disappear, he could escape too.

He picked up his thoughts from where he left off and drooled on his misfortunes. After his third meal, with three plates by his side, he remembered the first time he met Elle. He knew that she would be his wife once he laid his eyes on her that very first time. He recalled their wedding in California and their honeymoon in Austria. Then Stefan came along and Samuel still remembered those tiny fingers brushing against his rough palm. Every day that Stefan grew, Samuel grew with him. When Mathew was born five years later, the house was perfect and seemed too good a dream to live in.

Feeling the room less darker, Samuel woke up with a surprise. He told himself that this could be because his eyes have become adjusted to total darkness and then went back to his musings. As years rolled on, he remembered the day when Stefan came home with his job offer and how they all celebrated that night. Few years later, Mathew was awarded a scholarship to pursue his degree at Carnegie Melon University. The house had felt strange without all the noises. Samuel and Elle grew accustomed to the lonely house as time wore on. Then came Stefan’s wedding followed by Mathew’s six years later. A month before he was diagnosed with cancer, he had become a Granddad.

Scanning the room, Samuel was now pretty sure that the room was dimly lit. The glass panes on the floor, walls and the ceiling were radiating light. Now he could see a door in the opposite corner of the room from where he was standing. The door had no knob and the door frame was very thin, which made it impossible for him to detect the door during his initial scanning. Samuel pushed the door and a bright light hit on his face. Hearing a voice nearby, he could make out a figure standing next to him a few feet away. The figure introduced itself as Bob and handed Samuel a cooling glass.

“It will help you adjust to the bright sorroundings.”

“Where am I? And what was that room?”

“You are now in heaven. That room is called the Glass Room. It was installed a few years ago.”

“What for?”

“Mankind has advanced by leaps and bounds through the last century. While technology and everything else made life easier for man, it also reduced the effort required to earn an identity. The availability of ample free time led to increased dissatisfaction and frustration which in turn led people to focus more on their losses and their misfortunes than their gains and on their fortunes.

That room is made of special glass which echoes a soul’s feelings about his experience on earth. Once the soul starts recognising his past fortunes and starts appreciating the fact that he had lived on earth, the room will grow brighter and will reveal the door.”

“I was of the opinion that one’s actions are enough for getting an entrance pass to heaven.”

“They are very important. But tell me how will the heaven be if its full of disgruntled and dissatisfied people who are good at heart. The fuel source for the lights in heaven is the degree of contentment of the residing souls.”

“Interesting”

“Anyways, welcome to heaven and I will now give you a quick tour. After that I will take you to your friends and family.”

Looking all around like a kid in a candy store, Samuel silently followed Bob into the invisible palaces in the clouds. 

Thief in a Suit

“A Government is the most dangerous threat to man’s rights: it holds a legal monopoly on the use of physical force against legally disarmed victims.” – Ayn Rand

Story 1:

Ram is the father of two children and husband of a beautiful wife, Janaki. This family is the perfect example of an ordinary middle class family. Ram works as a Manager in a reputed construction firm while Janaki is a loyal house wife. Working 6 hours a week and 8 hours a day, Ram earns an average of Rs. 25,000 per month and the family stays in a rented flat.

Scenario 1:

One day, a robber visits the house, sees the family asleep, but Ram and Janaki are awake. Seeing the gun pointed at them, they plead to leave the family alone and that they will give whatever he wants. The robber asks Ram to hand in all the cash and the jewellery and put them all in a bag for him. After he got what he wanted, the thief left the house. Ram reports the incident and the description of the robber to the police. Luckily, he had insured the jewellery, but the cash was not.

Answer this question: Who is the bad guy?

Scenario 2:

One day, a man knocks on the door, dressed as a courier guy. Janaki opens the door, and the man enters. Also, 5-6 people who were hiding in the staircase entered while the courier fellow had a knife pointed at Janaki. The children are scared, but obey their father’s order to stay in the room. The courier fellow introduced himself as Mohan and said that he wanted to have a chat with the couple. He reveals that he controls this area, and he takes a share from all the area residents for their own protection. Mohan tells Hari that looking at the house and the family, he assumes that Ram will be earning around 30,000 per month and that 20% (Rs. 7,500) should be given to him, first week of every month. Once Hari handed the money over, Mohan tells him that “If you go to the police, lets just say that we know where your children are studying.” All the men leave the house.

Who is the bad guy?

Scenario 3:

Ram’s salary was reduced by 10%. Though his cost to the company figure remained the same, the amount that eventually reached Ram was reduced by 10%. The company explains that they handle their employees’ income tax, so that the employees need not worry about the income tax individually.

Who is the bad guy?

Income tax is the annual charge levied on an individual’s earned income. Behind any action, there should be a motive, which in turn is powered by an idea. If we simplify the concept of “income tax”, the Government tells Ram that he owes the Government a certain percentage of his income. Just imagine, that you earn 10,000 bucks on your own, for which you sweated so hard. And then someone comes to you and says that you have to give him 10% of your salary. What would your reaction be?

There are different types of taxation and taxation is one of the primary revenue streams for the Government. For example, property tax makes sense because you are using a piece of land on earth and you have to pay for the opportunity that you are depriving the other people of owning that particular piece of land. But, no one has the right / should have the right to your hard earned money. Income tax is synonymous for daylight robbery as it rests on this illogical premise.