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October 2003
November 2003
December 2003
January 2004
March 2004
April 2004
May 2004
June 2004
July 2004
August 2004
stuff
Hindsight
-Guy Kawasaki
One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown
is the belief that one's work is terribly important.
-Bertrand Russell
Wear sunscreen
-Mary Schmich
Man was given an imagination to compensate for what he isn't;
a sense of humour to console him for what he is.
- Francis Bacon
Leisure
-W.H. Davies
Not all those that wander are lost.
-J.R.R. Tolkein
Life is a tragedy for those who feel,
and a comedy for those who think.
-Jean de La Bruyère
The average person thinks he isn't.
-Father Larry Lorenzoni
Computers are useless.
They can only give you answers.
-Pablo Picasso
Become who you are.
-Nietzshe
Your future depends on many things, but mostly on you.
-Frank Tyger
Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
-Anon
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muse
Curiosity finally prompted me to sign up for a Art of Living course. I'd been amazed when an acquaintance had quit a decent job - with the world's only software company that posts profits in excess of a billion - to go work with the program, fulltime. I was also curious because a friend had described reactions to the breathing exercises that were almost physical.
My first class was yesterday, and I'm going to put in a valiant attempt to stay through the course. Six to nine in the evening, for six days, does mess up what time you have outside of work!
6:35 PM
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
...
 One of my favourite memories from visiting Tanjore as a kid, was spending time at the Sarasvati Mahal Library. Started in the 16th century as the the Maharaja's royal collection, their collection spans incredibly delicate manuscripts on palm-leaves to an eclectic collection of books dating to the first half of the twentieth century. I've spent several weeks browsing their musty shelves, finding gems like Fred Hoyle's Black Cloud that I've never been able to find since! None of this "computerisation" thing then, so you had to be patient and diligent, (and often adventurous given their state :) while you prised books out of shelves that had rarely been used of late.
Last weekend at Bangalore, I ended up spending a wee bit of time at the Select book store where I managed to find some interesting books I've previously read, on editions dating back to well before my parents were born; part of the package was the very rich musty smell, extremely brittle pages, silver fish feeding spots... interesting acquisitions - I wish I had more time there!
Current read : Why we buy - interesting, entertaining and informative tome on shopping behaviour; turns people into an armchair experts on creating shopping experiences overnight :)
10:13 PM
Sunday, June 27, 2004
...
 Spent part of the week cocooned at the Eagleton Golf Resort on the outskirts of Bangalore. The theory was that getting us away from our workplace and locking us into a schedule packed with golf and intense brainstorming sessions would result in a grand master plan for the next fiscal year. Dunno about the grand master plan, but I came back with aching, well stretched arms, the slightly waffling desire to improve my swing, and a spiffy new toy - a Pocket PC/Phone/Camera/Paperweight.
While it's cool, it's also way bulkier than I'd like my phone to be; I'll try to convince myself that the camera, email, and games make it worth the extra effort. Oh, and not to forget the cyborg like bluetooth headset with a blinking light behind my ear :)
7:54 AM
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Three games, with three different people over the last week, and I was considering carving up and repurposing my Scrabble board as an Ouija board instead. A chance game today, with a 200 point lead over the other convinced me to wait a while before I give up on it. Lady luck's been kind for a change :)
12:31 PM
Saturday, June 19, 2004
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Joined a friend and attended the weekly meet of the Young Orators Club. YOC seems to attract an interesting bunch - ranging from enthusiastic college kids to slightly jaded folks who've been around at YOC for the better part of a decade. Don't know if I've acquired enough passion to be regular, but one of the speakers did inspire me to get around to reading my copy of Les Miserables (been languishing on my bookshelf for months). The radiant imagery he conjured up just describing the book makes me suspect I'm missing out big by not reading Victor Hugo.
Weekend's dose of movie's included Hum Tum, Harry Potter (TPOA), Oliver's Story and The Magdalene Sisters. Like is true for the book's, Oliver's Story doesn't hold a candle to Love Story, despite the movie director having gotten creative with the story. Magdalene Sisters joins my list of "movie's with character" - Sleepers, Philiadelphia, Forest Gump, Scent of a Woman, No Man's Land... It's a harrowing account of institutionalised horrors visited on women suspected of immorality - as late as the ninties. Poignant, powerful and disturbing.
Wow! Four movies, two games of scrabble, 20km of cycling, and a meal cooked at home (even if with some help :) - and to think I planned to start this post with how laid back the weekend felt!
8:24 AM
Sunday, June 13, 2004
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Read the Dominique Lapierre/Larry Collins book Is New York Burning? If you've read the Fifth Horseman, this book is a rehash of the nuclear-bomb-hidden-in-New-York-theme set in post-9/11 context - a very disappointing read from two really neat authors. What was interesting though was that I couldn't find this book on Amazon (so I could help slam it with a review)! It seems it had it's world premiere in India - it's here before being released in the US. Me says with good reason, and hopes it isn't released anywhere else!
The Little Prince makes for a far more interesting read - even if you do the typical grown up thing and allow your mind to wander, wondering about the futile aspects of adult existence. A short read, it describes the travails of the Little Prince from planet to planet, each populated by a lone adult, with a whimsical "grown up" trait. It comes well recommended!
8:51 AM
Tuesday, June 08, 2004
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Talking about sticky services - I've run into two incredible deals recently, which I haven't fully adopted because they're also incredibly painful to switch to.
Google's GMail seems like an amazing idea - a gigabyte of storage for your web based email, coupled with an incredibly zippy, lightweight and powerful UI. Unfortunately, I'm too firmly wedded to my Hotmail account to consider switching - because of the effort involved with telling everyone, and also because I'm uncertain of what Google's long term commitment to email is.
I've also subscribed to Reliance's CDMA mobile phone service - incredible value for money when it comes to long distance calling (1 buck a minute to any cellphone in India!) - but I'm still lugging my GSM phone along as my primary phone :( Again - too much effort shifting off, and an icky non-Nokia UI on the LG phone that I'm not sure I'll settle down well with.
If only making these transitions were easier...
8:38 AM
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A quick weekend jaunt to Chennai - bummer having your mom read your blog, when you haven't told her what you've been doing, no? - had me flying Air Deccan - India's own low fare airline. At a shade over 4k for a round trip flight between Hyderabad and Chennai - it's incredible value even if you have to buy your snacks and beverages on board! Apart from the obvious differences (seats aren't preallocated) and that it's a tiny plane, with a slightly bumpier ride - there's little to crib about.
Like a colleague from the UK recently said - for 25 pounds, there's not another airline in the world I'd fly!
8:05 AM
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