A Friend

What would a friend mean to you? There are so many definitions of a friend. To define a friend, there can be so many good things to say. For me, someone who remains with you always, one who is approachable at any point of time, who is constantly watching you, is a friend.
To help or not to help, that’s up to the instance of time.
On my journey in India’s fastest train, I have made a friend. This train is moving at a speed more than 150 Kmph, still this friend of mine is with me. He is not sitting next to me, neither is he standing in front of me, nor is he waiting for me outside at the door or in any other cabin. He is right outside my window. And yes, the train is moving and he is still there. A very fast train passed by in the reverse direction, but it didn’t take away my friend. We both can watch each other without any interference.
He is not the pebble on railway track, which has just passed by…at the same speed as my train. He is not the tree, 10 kms away, who will just say a ‘hi’ and move on. Neither he is that cable tower, 20 kms ways, which will try to take a look at me, but will finally leave me alone.
He is Mr. Cloud. He is farthest from me as compared to other companions whom I met, but none those companions stayed back. Mr. Cloud is there and he will be there, always.

Our life is also like this. We meet a lot of people everyday. But they all just pass by. They may say a ‘hi’ to you or ask for your well being, but none will remain there for you.
No matter how far this friend of mine is, I know, whenever I will look at him, he will be already looking at me.
The farther a friend is from you, closer he is.

Cheers :-)

Proud to be born in this Generation?

What was the best thing that happened to our grandparents? I guess, Independence in 1947...
What was the best thing that happened to our Parents? I guess, us... ;)
Though all the generations see a lot of changes, I thought of penning down the developments and changes which we saw in last two and a half decades. Here are they -

1. Computer Generation - Since the birth of human race, there has been various discoveries. Discovery of fire, discovery of wheel, discovery of Atom Bomb, etc etc etc... Last century marked the discovery of Computers. I first saw a computer when I was 10 years old. Since then, every day, I have been learning something new about Computer. Now even a small child knows how to work on computers and they do it very well...

2. Decade-Century-Millennium change - It is the end of 2007 ... You saw it changing from 1990 to 2000 ... 1900 to 2000... even... 1000 to 2000 ... You have witnessed a Decade ... a century ... and a millennium change... Your great grand fathers couldn't even think of year 2000 while living in early years of 1900...

3. Cheaper flights - Though wheel was discovered during early ages, since then, we have been moving on wheels, in the form of unlimited vehicle classes... Airplanes were introduced during the first world war...or may be earlier... Until last decade, it was a matter of luxury flying in airplanes. They are fast, they save time, but... they were expensive... We have seen this cost touching as low as Re 1 (plus taxes). My Mom first travelled in airplane after she got married... Now we see 15 year old children travelling alone in flights... The fare is equivalent to that of trains...


4. Information Technology - Since the introduction of engineering studies in India there has been various specializations like Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering... Our generation has seen a new specialization ... Computer Science Engineering and (or) Information Technology... During the later part of 1990s IT took over all the other specializations... Credit this to IT boom...
I have matured with Infosys... (Foundation for Infosys was laid down in 1981 .... the year we were born - me and Infy). Now not only Infosys but also Wipro/TCS/Cogni/Accenture and many others have changed the face of India... forget the slump..its a boom boom time...

5. Sensex 20,000+ - 1978-79 was declared as base year for BSE. In 1990, BSE Sensex touched 1000 points. From 1992-2000, BSE slowly crawled from 5000-6000 points... Since 2000, despite of huge bear falls, we have managed to cross 20,000 points... Incredible India... India Shining... Lead India... are some of the latest mantras behind this...

6. Brain Drains and recovery out of it - A decade back, we were debating on BRAIN DRAIN... We are no more debating it... where are we now? Its a reverse Brain Drain now... A Techie prefers to pursue his career in India, rather than going abroad to study and doing job. Those who have already left a decade ago, are coming back. As a matter of fact, multinationals are coming into India and are establishing themselves here itself... It started with us, and we will end this completely very soon...

7. Sachin Tendulkar - The Master Blaster... BEST CRICKETER IN THE WORLD ... He has so many records to his name, that this itself is a record!! No one in the history of cricket can match the talent of this player, neither do I see anyone from the present list..who can challenge the little master...

8. Michael Schumacher - Formula 1 was started (as the present form) in 1950. There has been so many championship winners since then. This man, showed the world, that their cannot be a better champ than him. During his career, he was busy resolving the controversies...on and off the track...still he became the only F1 player to have won 7 championships!!

9. Google - I was putting this as Internet rather than Google... Well, you got me... as Xerox is for photostat, Bisleri is for Mineral Water, Colgate is for toothpaste... Google is for Internet... Internet started touching common man from the year 1991. Now you have almost everything on the Internet.. Google is the gate to the world on the other side. Some might not agree me on this (Google is to Internet), but Mr Bill Gates off course isn't reading this :)

10. Cellular phone - I was reading this book from Shashi Tharoor (The Elephant, the Tiger and the Cellular Phone), I came to know an interesting fact. During 1980's, people used to subscribe for wire line phones and there was a waiting period of 8 years...!!! I couldn't believe this. During early part of 1990's, cellular phone came to common man. Thanks to TRAI and Reliance, a Rickshaw puller also has a mobile in today's date. Forget about the top business player whose 90% of work is on mobile phone, we have Paan walas, Mehendi guy, Rickshaw walas..making their bookings on mobile phone. Dhiru Bhai Ambani has made his dream realized to all...

11. APJ Abdul Kalam - I'll take this term as a synonym to Technology in India. He is too old to be in our generation, but what he did ... happened in our generation. He is the missile man of India. The only Muslim President of India, he has done us proud. We are still moving on his vision 2020. We will do it sir... :)

We are happy for all the developments which I discussed above. There is one more term, that slipped into our generation for which we are not so happy.......

......Terrorism......

Our great grand fathers saw World War 1 and World War 2. We are still waiting for the inevitable World War 3, but some pronounce 'World War 3' as 'Terrorism'. We are already into it. 9/11, 12/13, Godhra, Kashmir, Punjab, Bali...the list is unending... We are still hungry to rule another territory. Our land will never be sufficient to us. This is something, for which our generation will never be proud...but we are all together in fighting it. One day, the person, who is blowing himself into pieces to kill others, will also realize that living happy in his home with his family is a better option.

Our parents are also watching this all, but these are few things which will drain down to our children's ears. These are some facts, with which our children will grow. We have to make a positive environment for them to live in. Lets do it. Lets learn from our mistakes, without regretting on them. Let's make this a better place to live.

Bis Spater

P.S. - I know, your mind might be filled with more such developments, which I missed out, please use comments section to key down your thoughts :)

Hari...

He starts his work at 8 in the morning. His list of task for the includes fixing puncture and filling air in tyres. His shop is located inside a gas station. But he does not dresses up the same way as the other employees at gas station. As a matter of fact, his shop bears a different name altogether - Tyre Works Kerala.
He works till 9 in the evening. He charges Re 1 for filling air in a single tyre and charges Rs 20 for fixing one puncture. He works alone at this place and has no other support. He is young, 21 years, and he is determined to work hard. Fixing a puncture might take half an hour but filling air in a tyre takes around 2 minutes. 90% of his customers come for filling air in their vehicles and rest are here for puncture.He do cares for all his customers. If he is fixing a puncture, he will entertain his other customers too. After all, he is here to earn bread and butter and that's no JOKE!!
While Hari was fixing the puncture in my tyre, he served other customers too and by the time I paid for my puncture, he already had earned Rs 25 by filling air in others tyres.
I am really impressed by the dedication of Hari.
Success is definitely gonna be a part of his life.

WIRELASS

Welcome to the world of WIRES!!

Well, you might have started to think, why in this world am I writing something on wires when everything is going wireless!! If you think that you can charge your laptop or desktop 'wireless'... I am not sure you can do it.. may be when you are reading this blog, there might be something out...

I was sitting in my room one day and suddenly I realized that I was stuck in a WIRE-WEB. There were all wires around me... My laptop adapter has two thick chords, I was downloading snaps from my camera through the cord, my mobile phone was getting charged through a thin cord, my guitar kept beside me was equipped with a very thick cord connected to my microcube (amp) and microcube it self had an adapter with a cord, my external hard drive's adapter (offcourse with a cord) was peeping from under the table, my bluetooth headset was getting charged with a corded adapter, table lamp was corded too and so was the pole lamp in my room and these all were connected to a multipoint junction which itself had the 'thickest' cord of all!! Moreover the wireless router itself has a corded adapter to relay internet in my apartment and it was connected to a point in the wall through a very long wire (cable internet). Thankfully I finished vaccuming my room an hour before and I kept the vaccum cleaner inside the store room, else there would have been no space in my room to walk, but only wires, wires and wires!!

whoooooops!!!!


I am not sure if we can have a 'wireless' world. Even to prepare the wireless device, we need wires. Take an example of the laptop (or desktop) on which you are reading this blog. It has numerous wires inside it. And ladies, if you have enough courage to dismantle this electronic devise, you will find some gold/silver wires inside for your ornaments.
Living in between wires is very normal for someone who is in IT. Even in offices, you have wires though they are hidden under your desk. We can still think of a world, where there would be comparitively less wires. CPU and Monitor can be powered through bluetooth devices, even the vaccum cleaner can have a blutooth charging point. Replacing the things with battery might not be the solution, cos then you will be charging your batteries with wires. So you really cannot remove wires from your lives.

Wires wires everywhere...

Friend or Love

You can call me Shaz, that's what my friends would call me and I have no enemies :)
Well, this is my very first blog. I have thought a zillion times to write down something and I even thought of some good topix too.. Finally, I am writing on a topic, which has always been very close to me.
First thing for sure is, I am no philosophical. Neither I am 50 yrs old who has a great experience in life. Till this point in my life I have gained sufficient experience, which can help me write this out... so lets see, how this comes out...

Friend or Love...? Whats the thin line difference in between two? Or are they same? How about a combination of both?
While I ask these questions to myself, there are so many thoughts flowing through my mind. I can answer them all. But let me bring out whats in my mind.
I'll start with Love.. most of the times, it starts with an infatuation. Infatuations usually don't last much longer. Sooner or later, both the parters realize that there is no use stretching the relationship. Wildly it starts, drastically it ends.
Another kind of starting is, forced love... Pair is made up by well wishers. With no other choice rather than to understand the person in front of you, you have to love him/her. You have to realize that this is the only person whom you will be with throughout your life. Why is so? Why can't a person have a choice of his/her own?
Yet another kind is... Love by choice.. This usually happens when we see someone in misery. And wish to help that person come out of misery.
Family love.. These is again a kind of forced love. You have been allocated to a couple since the first second of your birth..your parents. You meet your brothers and sisters whom again you are supposed to like/love. More than love, its responsibility which you have to complete with full dedication.
Might not be last...but to me..this has a special place... Friend and Love...
Here, I'll introduce you to my definition of a friend. Its not different from what world believes.
Someone who is with you always.. be it your happier times or be it your tough time... He/she is your friend. Some people might say that a true friend will be someone who will let his friend explore his own way and let him fight through toughest situation. Well, this is what a person who doesn't know you will do. According to me, a friend is someone who helps you winning the tough times and shares all your happiness. He/she is someone, whom you can believe with full heart. There is nothing wrong in being dependent on your friend and even if that is to be done for the whole life, do it.
Take an example of a dog. It will always be with you no matter how is the situation. It will be happy when you are happy. It will acknowledge this by wagging its tail. If you are into trouble, it will do its best to pull you out. It will not just leave you to handle the situation yourself. Well, that's the best example I can give.

Coming back to where I left 2 paragraphs above.. Friend and Love.. WOW, what a combination it would be. Friend gives you a presence..throughout your life and Love gives you caring, passion, happiness, sadness, possessiveness, respect and altogether a separate place in life.
I can be a friend to a person and if I find out that I have a passion, possessiveness, care and respect for my friend..this is nothing but love.
Why am I stressing so much on possessiveness? Well, I'll say, its a very important part of the relationship. It should be there between two lovers. Possessiveness brings a lot of understanding in between the two.
Friend and love will not only give presence but will also help in coming out of the hardships. He/she will be there forever to share your happiness.
Life will not be easy, unless your love is your best pal. I can make so many friends, but I can give this special place to someone really special in my life. I believe in this special person. I will always do. I can trust him/her blindly, even he/she does a mistake to show me a way to death, I will accept that.
Do I really expect a presence of the best pal in my life? Yes, I do expect.
Do I really need love from this best pal of mine? Yes, I do.
Do I need that special place? Yes, I do.
Do I want to be with this friend and love throughout my life...yes, I do want this.

Did I really became senti while writing this all? Dont know.
As I said, this is just my first blog.. I had all in my mind written here.

While writing I use a lot of '...'... Well, they mean a lot to me. And '...' will always be very special to me.

I am blind...

:-)

Bis Spater