Looks like its holidays all over again :D

It is hardly been a week since my classes started for the new semester and I was almost in the verge to make a post on what all stuffs I had been upto during my vacation .. Before even things could settle in , it looks like the college in Tamil Nadu , India will be closed indefinetly due to the war in Sri Lanka ...

This ives me mixed feeling of both happiness and also makes me a little sad. But still I'm more happy than I'm sad :)

Happy Republic day

Monday Morning Inspiration # 59

A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the kitchen, with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time.

Let me tell you about it. I turned the volume up on my radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning talk show. I heard an older sounding chap with a golden voice. You know the kind, he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business himself.

He was talking about "a thousand marbles" to someone named "Tom". I was intrigued and sat down to listen to what he had to say.

"Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. Too bad you missed your daughter's dance recital. " He continued, "Let me tell you something Tom, something that has helped me keep a good perspective on my own priorities." And that's when he began to explain his theory of a "thousand marbles."


"You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years." "Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900 which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime.

"Now stick with me Tom, I'm getting to the important part. "It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail", he went on, "and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. "I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. "So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round-up 1000 marbles. "I took them home and put them inside of a large, clear plastic container right here in my workshop next to the radio. Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away.

"I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life. There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight. "Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure if I make it until next Saturday then God has blessed me with a little extra time to be with my loved ones...... "It was nice to talk to you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your loved ones, and I hope to meet you again someday. Have a good morning!"

You could have heard a pin drop when he finished. Even the show's moderator didn't have anything to say for a few moments. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to do some work that morning, then go to the
gym. Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. "C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast." "What brought this on?" she asked with a smile. "Oh, nothing special," I said. " It has just been a
long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. Hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles."

To read other Monday Morning Inspiration click here.

I drove I drove ...

Before I forget , I drove my car to satyam cinemas from my home and back to watch Slumdog millionaire with my parents... I DROVE finally and im really happy that I drove well too :)

Belated happy girl child day to all the cute lil girls, babes and all the wonderful women out there . I'm proud to be one myself :)

Today's fortune: Deal with the faults of others as gently as with your own.

This was my fortune in Orkut for the day. Many at times orkut keeps me thinking if at all there is some spying happening on my day to day deeds or my life. Strange but true..

Slum dog Millionaire review

**spoiler alert**

I happened to catch up with this Oscar nominated movie, Slum dog Millionaire this morning. Hard reality portrayed in a very beautiful way with a concise story line. Despite being really positive and optimistic about life one does have to realise the harsh facts of reality.

Is this movie about portraying the harsh realities in India ? Or the own that shows one with persevearance can win against all odds? Well, all that the director Danny Boyle wanted to say was this movie is an answer to the West's question of what makes India tick?

The story line is neat and simple where Jamal a boy from the Darvi slums of Mumbai becomes a millionaire by playing the game of "Who wants to become a millionaire?" similar to that of crorepati . The story revolves around the way he answers the question in the game , through his life s experiences which he explains when he is being doubted for cheating in the game (thinking possible how could a slumdog get all the answers rite ) .

Hats off to the Slumdog Millionaire team and many congrats to them for their 10 Oscar nominations and special congrats to our very own AR (Golden)Rahman on winning the Golden Globe award and for his 3 Oscar nominations :)

A must watch movie indeed! Have a great weekend :)

Back to square 1

Meeting old school buddies, outing with friends, loads of movies, lazy afternoon enjoying your favourite book, driving around the city (yup, Im finally learnt to drive the car and I drive it all by myself) , Long chats , new year celebrations, jaipur trip and much much more.. It time for all these fun to end and get a little serious with life and studies...

Today was my first day in college for the next new semester , thou' I had been to college to attend the two exams last week that had been postponed due to the heavy showers which happened on Dec 08. But, still I would like to think today was the day my classes officially started... I'm already starting to like this semester , all is well that goes well ;)

Dreams from the Lincon memorial to the walls of the White House - Barack Hussein Obama

The President elect Barack Hussein Obama has been sweared in as the 44th President of United States of America. Dreams from the Lincon Memorial that has finally reached the walls of the White House.. A truly historic moment :)

Monday morning inspiration # 58

Years ago, a farmer owned land along the Atlantic seacoast. He constantly advertised for hired hands. Most people were reluctant. They dreaded the awful storms that raged across the Atlantic, wreaking havoc on the buildings and crops. As the farmer interviewed applicants for the job, he received A steady stream of refusals.

Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, approached the farmer. "Are you a good farm hand?" the farmer asked him.
"Well, I can sleep when the wind blows," answered the little man.

Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, Hired him. The little man worked well around the farm and the farmer felt satisfied with the man's work. Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore. Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand's sleeping quarters. He shook the little man and yelled, "Get up! A storm is coming! Tie things down before they blow away!"

The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, "No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows."

Enraged by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot. Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm.
To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins. The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops, and the doors were barred. The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down.

Nothing could blow away. The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant, so he returned to his bed to also sleep while the wind blew.

Moral of this Story

When you're prepared, spiritually, mentally, and physically, you have nothing to fear. Can you sleep when the wind blows through your life?

To read other Monday Morning Inspirations click here.

Past perfect = present continuous

Looks like the past plays a considerable amount in the future too. It was as a shock to me while I was reading Economic Times a couple of days back. The secondary and higher secondary marks play a considerable role in gaining admission into the top IIMs.

Even for students who had a score 99.46 percentile didn't get a call from the top IIMs whereas one who had obtained 99.28 managed to get a call from all top IIMs including IIM A coz the laters secondary and higher secondary marks were better than the previous persons..

If the past isn't perfect does it really have to affect the present continuous?

Many Happy returns..

May this season of harvest bring in a lot of prosperity and goodness into all our lives :)

Yen Inniya pongal Nalvazthukal and Happy Shankranthi :)

Saarang is back and bigger...

It is that time of the year when all that you hear from the college going crowd of South India(majorly) and the other parts of India as well is band practices, dance practice, competitions, particpation ... Yup, its the galla time of Saarang, the yearly cutlural fest. of IIT, Madras.

From the time it has been called Mardi gras Saarang has carved a niche for itself and it has only gotten better from there on and this time being its 50th year, what more could you ask for.

They have listed out a whole range of competitions in their site, there is something for everyone and I'm already planning to take part in a handful of competitions this time over. Before I forget to mention Saarang nights have always drawn huge crowds, I believe its gonna be the same way this time too with Opeth playing on 25th Jan (The first time ever in India @ IIT, Madras) and the other might events include the sonu Nigam night on23rd Jan , Classical night on he 21st and ofcourse the ever popular Choreo night.

What are you planning to do at Saarang this time?

Monday morning Inspiration # 57

Feels good to be back to the blogging spirit after a week long of cold and cough. Thank you all for your concern. I'm doing great right now. I'm sorry for the delay of my MMI post , jus' thought it is better to be late than never.

Here it goes...
One windy spring day, I observed young people having fun using the wind to fly their kites. Multicolored creations of varying shapes and sizes filled the skies like beautiful birds darting and dancing in the heady atmosphere above the earth. As the strong winds gusted against the kites, a string kept them in check.

Instead of blowing away with the wind, they arose against it to achieve great heights. They shook and pulled, but the restraining string and the cumbersome tail kept them in tow, facing upward and against the wind. As the kites struggled and trembled against the string, they seemed to say, "Let me go! Let me go! I want to be free!" They soared beautifully even as they fought the imposed restriction of the string. Finally, one of the kites succeeded in breaking loose. "Free at last" it seemed to say. "Free to fly with the wind."

Yet freedom from restraint simply put it at the mercy of an unsympathetic breeze. It fluttered ungracefully to the ground and landed in a tangled mass of weeds and string against a dead bush. "Free at last" free to lie powerless in the dirt, to be blown helplessly along the ground, and to lodge lifeless against the first obstruction.

How much like kites we sometimes are. We face adversity and restrictions, rules to follow from which we can grow and gain strength. Restraint is a necessary counterpart to the winds of opposition. Some of us tug at the rules so hard that we never soar to reach the heights we might have obtained. We keep part of the commandment and never rise high enough to get our tails off the ground.

Let us each rise to the great heights, recognizing that some of the restraints that we may chafe under are actually the steadying force that helps us ascend and achieve.

To read other Monday Morning Inspiration click here.

I'm back home

Hey all , I'm finally back home after my Jaipur trip. We had some wonderful family time together about which I will shortly post in my travelogue. We were very skeptical if we should take this trip or not as we had started planning for this one even before the Mumbai terror attacks which was later on followed by the tension in the Indo-pak border.. Finally we made it, neverthless it was so much fun :) . Except that the weather was too too cold and it kinda got into me and now I'm down with some serious cold. I should be doin' fine in a couple of days. Will catch up with my blogging spree from Monday.. Have a great weekend, will drop by your blogs soon :)

I'm off to Jaipur...

Hey folks I will be leaving to Jaipur for about 5 days to visit the land of the royal Maharajas , splurge in luxury and enjoy their deleicious cuisine and ofcourse visit forts and palaces... I will also be visiting Ranthambore national park near Jaipur.

If you think there are any must visit places and must do things that I should not miss out on, I would be glad to experience it. Please drop by a comment .

I might not be around to drop by your blogs until then, might probably visit to check for the places to see from fellow blog friends. Until then, you take care.. Enjoy the first weekend of 2009 and a lovely week ahead . See ya all :)

Funny Friday # 3

A college student writes to his parents...'Dear Mom and Dad,'I feel miserable because I have to keep writing for money. I feel ashamed and unhappy. I have to ask for another hundred, but every cell in my body rebels. I beg on bended knee that you forgive me.'Your son,Marvin.'P.S. I felt so terrible, I ran after the mailman who picked this up in the box at the corner. I wanted to take this letter and burn it. I prayed that I could get it back. But it was too late.

'A few days later he received a letter from his father. It said,'Your prayers were answered. Your letter never arrived!'

My random places to see before I die

Wonder why i've been doing a lot of thinking about travel and new destinations , may be it's the hangover after reading a lot of travelogues and watching travel channel for hours together or may be jus' due to the excitement of my upcoming Jaipur trip :)

At Random Thoughts I've planned to come up with my random lists for various things - 2009 special ;)

First here is my list of random places too see

Jamshedpur
California
Los Angeles
Las Vegas
New York City
(The whole of USA)
Mumbai
Goa
Coorg
Jaipur ( will soon be striked off the list)
Chandigarh
Rio de Janerio
Spain
Singapore
Thailand
UK
Salzburg
Swizz
Canada
Maldives
Ibiza
Gran Canaria
Dubai
Coorg
Kumarakom
Munnar
Turkey
Disney Land
Delhi
Taj Mahal
Paris
Egypt
Venice
Shimla

I'm sure there will be a lot more places that will add to the list in coming times :). The striked ones are those that I've already been to.
What is your list of must visit places??