Evolution of a Blogger

It takes millions of years of evolution to end up being a blogger. Be proud !

About Me

I was tagged with these questions. So here I go...

1. Yourself:
Simple,Cancerian, Male
2. Your girl/boy friend/spouse:
No girl friend /Spouse yes
3. Your hair:
Graying…balding
4. Your mother:
Caring
5. Your father:
no comments
6. Your favorite item:
My books
7. Your dream last night:
Can't remember
8. Your favorite drink:
Tea
9. Your dream car:
Honda Civic (in India)
10. The room you are in:
My home office
11. Your ex:
yes
12. Your fear:
living alone in the US. It’s a lonely country
13. Where do you want to be in 10 years?
stay fit and healthy, the rest will take care of itself
14. Who you hung out with last night (Friday)?
with myself watching India lose to Sri Lanka in W’cup 2007 !
15. What you’re not?
Hypocrite
16. Muffins:
Bran, Raisin and Almond and Walnut topped muffins
17. One of your wish list items:
to make chappati's, fulkas and parathas
18. Time:
and tide wait for none
19. The last thing you did:
ran 6kms in 35 minutes
20. What are you wearing?
Veshti (dhoti) & t-shirt
21. Your favorite weather:
Spring
22. Your favorite books:
The Four Agreements, The Alchemist, Siddharta
23. The last thing you ate:
rusk and biscuits with tea
24. Your life:
is like a roller coaster
25. Your mood:
Serene
26. Your best friend:
many
27. What are you thinking about right now?
How to quit my present job
28. Your car:
Don’t have a car
29. What are you doing at the moment?
Doing this tag
30. Your summer:
Hot & Humid
31. Your relationship status:
Married
32. What is on your TV?
Don’t know. TV not on after India lost y’day!
33. What is the weather like?
Hot - 81 F / 27 C at 8:30am
34. When is the last time you laughed?
Yesterday
35. When is the last time you shouted at somebody?
Yesterday

I will tag atleast 5 more people and see how they respond to these questions !
What are your responses ?

Peeing in Public

Though I notice it several times a day, today was different. I went jogging at the Marina today and noticed a young guy in a nice t-shirt, shorts & sneakers peeing at the wall nearer to Anna Square. Hardly 10-15 feet to his right was the public toilet. He probably did not want to pay a rupee or did it out of habit. He seemed educated, well-to-do and fit and healthy. Why did he do it ?

I was in Thailand recently and never noticed anyone peeing in the streets at Bangkok. I hardly noticed any beggars either. How did that country manage to clean up its image whilst we Indians still maintain our nauseating behaviour ? Women too do it in India, though they are more discreet and some sense of modesty prevents them from aping the men ! I feel, unless we have stricter laws to maintain public cleanliness, Indians will continue this behaviour. There are free public toilets, shopping centres and other such places where you can easily find a toilet. I have always managed to find one. So why is it that people pee in public and even in such places as subway's where its closed and the stink makes it unbearable for people using it to cross the road ? I have no answers.

Most of our schools lack proper toilets and hence children are taught to use compound walls and open areas as toilets. I know since I studied in 12 different schools and most of them lacked a proper toilet. Parents too teach their children to relieve themselves in public. We are a nation with the most unhygienic habits.

I really admire Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak of Sulabh who started building public toilets across India. Most of them are clean and well maintained. However, many people ignore them as you need to pay Rs. 5 or less (which is less than 12 US Cents) to use it. Using their urinal is however free. Unless a major revolution in change of behaviour comes about, we will continue portraying an image of backwardness and filth, no matter how swanky our cars and IT buildings appear. We immediately need stricter laws to upkeep public cleanliness.

What are your thoughts ?

Water - Oscar nominated movie

Saw this movie today. The story is set in 1938 Benares (Varanasi). It is about how Hindus treat their widows. It begins with young 8 year old Chuhiya (Sarala from Sri Lanka did this role) losing her husband. Chuhiya does not even understand marriage, leave alone her husband's death. Her father then leaves her in the widow's ashram in Benares. The story then revolves around the women there. Seema Biswas as Shakuntala has done a subdued but brilliant role. Lisa Ray as Kalyani looks beautiful but can't act. She is an unlettered girl with whom John Abraham who is a law graduate falls in love. Lisa looks unconvincing in her role. But this is not to deter the excellent movie. Sarala has acted very well. Mahatma Gandhi is a theme running throughout the movie. He is even shown giving a brief speech at the Benares railway station when he is on his way to Allahabad after being released from jail by the British. I think Deepa Mehta the director wanted to convey the message that Gandhi was ushering in a social revolution by asking people to shun untouchability and encouraging widow remarriage. Raja Ram Mohan Roy who promoted this concept is mentioned. Waheeda Rehman is John Abraham's mother. Though her role is brief, she is my favourite actress and I will always like her. She is worth watching.

Sarala as chuhiya

The movie begins by quoting this Manu Smriti -

The widow should be long suffering until death, self-restrained and chaste. A virtuous wife who remains chaste when her husband has died goes to heaven. A woman who is unfaithful to her husband is reborn in the womb of a jackal.

The Laws of Manu, Chapter 5 verse 156 – 161 Dharmashastras।

In Hindu mythology, Manu is a title accorded to the progenitor of humankind, first king to rule this earth, who saves mankind from the universal flood (Noah ?). However, he never promoted child marriage and to expect a child widow who probably has not yet attained puberty, to follow that law is extreme cruelty. Which is what this movie tries to convey. In any case, isolating an adult widow is cruel and inhuman enough.

This movie is definitely watchable. There is grief, but in the end there is optimism and hope. Songs are nice. Get the DVD for your collection definitely.

हिंदी पोस्ट - You can now post your blog in Hindi

Blogger now allows you to post in Hindi.

अब आप हिंदी में भी पोस्ट कर सकते हैं !!

To use Transliteration feature, go to your blogger Settings Basics page and select "Yes" for the transliteration option. Now open the Blogger Editor, switch to the compose tab and click the "Write Hindi" button which will be on top of your blog editor.

Enjoy Blogging in Hindi !! Here is the blogger Hindi- English Mapping Chart.

Thanks to Amit Agrawal for bringing this to notice.

Chennai Central - Prepaid Auto Facility

The long awaited pre-paid auto system is now functional at Chennai Central Railway Station. So for all readers coming into Chennai via train, make sure you don't get conned by auto drivers attaching themselves to you stronger than a leech. Go to the pre-paid stand and pay the fare and stand in queue and get your auto. Tipping is optional and depends of whether the driver is nice to you.

Karthik Subramanian of The Hindu, whom I know, has written this news in today's Front Page of the paper. The fare is Rs. 21 for the first 2 Kms and Rs. 9 for each additional Km. There are no other extra charges and 160 destinations in Chennai are covered by the system. I stay near Taj Coromandel in Nungambakkam which is about 6.5 Kms from the station. So the fare would be Rs. 60-65. This system will be a welcome relief to train passengers arriving in Central. I always felt Chennai station was the most unwelcome destination that I ever set foot on. Hopefully, this should make things easier.

Elsewhere in the city, don't expect travel by auto to be any easier. Auto drivers are yet to use the new fare chart and calibrate their meters. However, share autos, buses, and suburban trains are plenty and if you ask you can find the means to travel affordable.

Currency Conversion

Travellers from outside India please use this conversion table to get an idea of the Indian Rupee. Conversion rates vary on a day to day basis, but this gives you an idea of today's rate.

Amount:
From:	Select a currency Australian Dollar (AUD) Canadian Dollar (CAD) Chinese Yuan (CNY) Euro (EUR) Pound Sterling (GBP) <Indian Rupee (INR) Sri Lankan Rupee (LKR) New Zealand Dollar (NZD) United States Dollar (USD)
To:	Indian Rupee (INR)

Courtesy: coinmill.com

My Favourite Book...

The Four Agreements

This book will always remain my best book. Its simple, short but very useful. The book has been in the New York Times bestseller list for five years. I am not plugging for the book and am not giving an Amazon link here. If interested you can buy or borrow it from anywhere.

The four agreements that Don Miguel talks about are

1. Be Impeccable With Your Word

Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

2. Don't Take Anything Personally (my fav.)

Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.

3. Don't Make Assumptions

I like to say "assumption is the mother of all troubles" . Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

Pic of Don Miguel Ruiz

4. Always Do Your Best

Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.

How this book changed my life

• I read this book in 2001 and since then it has helped me. I no longer imagine that people are being sarcastic or criticising behind my back. Even if they do, I don't take it personally. Its insecurity within us that makes us put down other people. If we are comfortable with ourselves, we will not deride others. Show me a human who has not made a mistake, and I will wake you from your dream.
• I no longer make assumptions. For e.g. don't assume you can't lose weight. The fun is in trying to lose weight - not after you lost it. If you assume you will fail, then you stop enjoying your existence.
• If you feel like abusing someone, then hold your tongue. Use inside voices, but don't say anything that you may regret later. The Disney movie Bambi is my all time favourite for in it is the dialogue where Bambi's mother tells him "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." Eleventh commandment, I say.

I very strongly recommend this book and The Alchemist as part of your collection.

Depression high in IT professionals: survey

Today's Chennai edition of The Hindu has this article on page 3 by R. Sujatha. I know her and she makes the best Ennai Kathrikai (stuffed brinjal/eggplant dish) ahhh...

Anyway, I digress. As per her article, symptoms of depression are higher amongst System Administrators than any other job category in the industry. I wonder if Unix admins are more depressed than Windows administrators ? Hmmmm food for thought...

I reproduce below from the article -

"The signs of depression are many: sadness, pessimism/discouragement, sense of failure, dissatisfaction, guilt, expectation of punishment, self-dislike, self-accusation, suicidal ideation, crying, irritability, social withdrawal, indecisiveness, body-image distortion, work retardation, insomnia, fatigue, anorexia, weight loss, somatic preoccupation and loss of libido. "

"When a middle class girl from a small college gets a job in an IT company because she is proficient in English, and begins earning three times more than her father, even the mother begins to give her importance. The girl becomes assertive. There is only a thin line between assertiveness and aggressiveness."

My take ? Well.. one needs to have interests in life and world other than just be focused on work. If your only friends are from work or other IT folks, then beware... you are heading for trouble. When not at work, get away from IT (pun intended) ! Cultivate a hobby, go around instead of 'trying' to sleep in all your free time. If no idea comes up, go and sit at the beach and watch the waves.

When the dot com bubble burst in the US, many people who put in 16-18 hours of work per day and had no other life, did not know what to do. Many left California (a reverse gold rush so to say) and found work in less stressful and at times non-IT environment. Health Care industry is booming everywhere in the world and both male and female nursing attendants , lab technicians, care providers are in great demand.

The next fatal system error may not be at the server, but could be from within you ! So wake up and smell the roses...

Acknowledgement: Thanks to R Sujatha for her series of such articles on IT industry