confessions of a dangerous mind

Corruption and Anna Hazare Phenomenon

2011-04-08T09:02:00.000-07:00

Two of Aamir Khan's biggest movies are Rang de Basanti and Ghajini. In one movie, DJ has epiphany, shoots the defence minister and stirs the country. In the other movie, he has a short term memory loss every 15 minutes or so, and after that he has to start all over again. Imagine what would happen if a movie was made that was the almagamation of both these movies. Such a movie would have Aamir having epithany due to a crisis, the epiphany will last 15 minutes, and then he will have amnesia and he will have to start the process all over again. Sounds funny? Well, thats what the Indian society of 21st century is.

What I am referring to is the latest issue of Ana Hazare undergoing a fast unto death over the issue of Lokpal bill. While I have no doubt whatsoever over his credibility, and while I can understand his anguish over the blight of corruption thats making headlines, to the growing coterie around him, I would say "Whoa! Hold on, dudes and dudettes!! All the status messages you post on facebook regarding being with Hazare, all the pics you post on fb showing you holding candles, look great..but tell me honestly, what do u precisely hope to achieve by burning precious petrochemical candles and polluting the atmosphere? Do you really know what you are doing? Or are you doing this coz its cool to do so, coz u get cool catchy lines to put on facebook, cool pics to share and cool groups to join?

Am I ranting? Have gone mad, you might think. Then answer a few questions. What is the history of the Lokpal bill? How many clauses are there in the lokpal bill?What are the contentious clauses of the Lokpal bill and why is Anna Hazare fighting? Have you heard the Nira Radia tapes?If no, then why are you fighting a battle that you dont have even done any homework on? I would say you are like the girl on Roadies who wanted to join NASA but didnt even know the full form of NASA!(P.S. I dont know properly all these either, but since I am not holding candles I guess I can safely ask the candle holders :P)

You are fighting for corruption, you would say. U are showing your anger at the 2G scam, the CWG scam, the nira radia scam, and what not. But tell me friends, who elected the government? Who voted the current government to power? All these leaders-Sharad Pawar, A raja, Suresh Kalmadi-they are not first time MPs. They are sitting MPs-who have been reelected again and again. Karunanidhi has been CM for so many times. In 1996, there were a string of scandals. Hawala scam, Urea scam, Jayalalitha colour Tv scam and what not. Yet how many people have been punished? We still reelect Jayalalitha and will probably make her CM this time again,people still root for the free colour TVs, sarees and free rice that DMK and AIADMK are doling out. In 2008, Kasab and co attacked India. It jolted the public morale. Candles were lit, people agitated. Vilasrao Deshmukh was removed from power. The govt was castigated for the poor national security. Yet what happened in 2009? We elected the same Congress govt at the centre, the same congress govt at Maharashtra and we have all but forgotten about the Kasab tragedy. Pakistani terrorists still roam scot free, we invite pakistan for peace talks during the world cup and establish a new series of bonhomie, Kasab is still alive, we still havent got David coleman Headley and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus of Mumbai( or for that matter any important building of India) is still under threat. Our lives are as insecure as it was 3 years ago. Did your candles then have any effect? If not, why are you lighting candles now? One of the fundamental rules of MBA is that the company is accountable to the stakeholders. 2G scam has come and gone, Nira Radia tapes have surfaced, yet how much have the stock prices of ADAG group or Tata fallen? If our own shareholders dont want to hold the business leaders accountable, then why are we engaging in the sham of lighting candles?

Who is to blame for all these? Nobody in fact;its our attitude, our lack of identity, purpose and our lack of vision that is to blame.If India is under such a condition it is because you are myopic. What is India's identity? And by identity I dont mean cultural identity. I mean professtional identity. British are stoic. Americans are hardworking and innovative, yet individualistic and greedy. Italians are passionate and creative. What are we? In fact we cant find an epithet that describes us other than we are a nation of english speaking multicultural people. Thats not an epithet. We dont have an epithet because we never had time to have one. Remember one thing: The catharsis of a society is a slow process that takes its own sweet time, and it is absolutely imperative that we try to give it that sweet time that it demands. You damage the society if you try to slow it; or worse still, when you try to speed it up. Thats why the great revolutions of the past failed-whether it be french revolution or the Russian revolution, because they tried to bring too much change in too little time, leaving the people disoriented, confused, without any guidance, without any direction where to go, and most importantly, without an identity. That chaos became the breeding ground for corrupt, despotic rulers who decayed the society further. On the other hand, if countries like England and USA survived this chaos and have stable society and stable identity today that is because they took their own sweet time to come of age; they had to struggle, suffer from civil wars and all that moulded the society further. I am giving this example because we in India are slowly falling into the same trap of revolution; we are being consumed by out impatience instead of bringing the required catharsis. We arent giving ourselves time to think about who we are, what we want, what is our identity and most importantly how confused we are. We want to be prosperous like americans or Japanese; yet americans and Japanese are loyal to their jobs,want to earn their own money, frown upon freebies and behave as responsible shareholders. Thats in tune with their identity that has got ingrained in their DNA, an identity that gradually set in, and they try to behave according to their identity.They have a purpose that conforms their identity.We on the other hand, switch jobs every year or two, gladly accept freebies when DMK or AIADMK dole them out, are only interested in the dividends that companies dole out rather than asking our business leaders blunt questions about the 2G scam, and when it pinches us when these scams occur, we come out holding candles, yet forgetting everything 2 months later, going back to earning our money mindlessly, without caring about this country's future or the political system,only busy with trying to be like America or japan as soon as possible by hook or by crook. Face it; we are a nation of selfish individuals, only interested in our own self gratification, with no sense of responsibility for our society. In other words-"the chalta hai attitude".

Is this bad? After all we have always been poor;whats wrong if we try to be prosperous as fast as possible? No issue at all; but remember the dialogue of Rang De Basanti" ye neta log maa k pet se corruption seekh k nahi aaye hain. Hum hi ne inhe chuna hai. Agar badalna hai khud ko badalna hoga". We have to remember that having our own national identity and all round development, both of our own personality and our society, is as important as our endeavours to grow rich. If you want to root out the problems that the country is facing today-be it corruption or terrorism, you will embark on the first very important step of catharsis if you as yourself"what is your role in this?" and try to weed it out. Remember, charity begins at home. And secondly, evolution takes time, dont try to speed it up by embarking on revolutions. At least learn from history's mistakes regarding revolutions. More than money, identity, vision and purpose are important; its high time we spared the atmosphere of candlesmoke and gave some thought on how to build them.

The Bucket List

2011-02-22T11:52:00.000-08:00

May 2009. The month my CAT journey came to an end. With all the elation, the exhilharation and the feeling of being over the moon, came the trepidation too: will I get a finance job?Will I get an I-bank job? So out of anxiety I shot off a scrap to a schoolday friend of mine. He was working at ATKearney after passing out of IIM Calcutta; Needless to say, he is one of the most brilliant people I have ever seen. I asked him if I would be able to get a finance job of my liking. He asked me a very simple question: Is finance what I really want to do?

Today, after three terms @ IIM, I realise the importance of his words: Is this what I really want to do? Forget marketing, finance, strategy, operations, what exactly do I want to achieve? Or for that matter, what exactly does anyone want to achieve?I will get a good job. Then what? I will rise in the ranks. Then what? I will become a CEO or open my own firm and have my own merc, condo in Dubai and farmhouse at Lonavala. But then what? Is this really an end? Is this what will give worth to life? To have millions in my bank account yet have a life full of tension and stress, to have a condo but away from the love of my wife and children, to have a indoor heated swimming pool yet not able to swim in it as your life has been ravaged by hypertension?

Trust me, I am not saying that being a manager is not worth it.A manager, an entrepreneur has got a very important role to play in the society. But how many graduates from B-school actually follow their heart? How many MBA graduates(including IIM graduates) actually know what they want to do in life? Ask them and you would see that 90% of them want to join I-bank, diligently give CFA yet enrol for Marketing research workshops all the same. People here run after brands, after packages, after gilded names like investment banker or consultant, but for the same people I would ask one question: Would they have joined airtel in 2000? Or Reliance in the 70s? Today these are big names, but no one would have thought of joining them when they were not so big, when they were struggling. So the truth is, we run after names. We cant see beyond the gilded names because we are too busy fulfilling someone else's dream. Not ours.Ask any guy what field he is interested in and he will reply-lets see. Lets see at the age of 28??I mean, at what age then will your goals should become clear? When you have crossed 35 and look back with regret at the opportunities that you have missed?

Well, I am not saying that people are to blame. After all, they were stuck in jobs that they hated, they wanted to break the glass ceiling, they wanted to add extra dimension to their careers, they wanted higher money, more power-the reasons for doing MBA are endless. But to achieve these aims they compromise with so many things that they forget that what they are compromising are the very things that hold the key to their goals.They compromise with their freedom, with their free thinking, and they compromise to such an extent that they forget that they are mature adults who had been working as senior engineers, scientists and project managers even before they came here. They not only leave their identity behind but also forget that they ever had an identity. Amidst all this confusion they become scared, insecure about their future, start to behave as puppets of the system and they forget that more than the MBA system its their past, its what they are, its their abilities, their potential, their interests, hopes, aspirations, dreams, ideals, principles, their independence that determines their future.

We all have role models.We idolise Bill gates, Steve Jobs, Dhirubhai Ambani and the like. They had many great qualities: they were visionaries, immensely talented, but more than that they were free, independent minds: No system shackled them, they knew what they wanted from life, and they were never afraid to go for what they wanted in life. When we were kids we all had wishes.Some dreamy, some highly kiddish. I call that wish list " the bucket list". As we grew up we started modifying our wish lists for various reasons, appending them, deleting them, but how many of the wishes have we actually fulfilled in our lives?How many of such wishes do we ever hope to fulfill in our life? Should we go on editing the list as we go on compromising that we forget that list if the true mirror of what we actually are, what we can, and should be and try to live a life of mediocrity? And we call a life where we cannot fulfill the wishes dear to our heart, that we so badly wanted to do, a happy life?

Compromising ensures mediocrity:in the least case it makes you realise u r not what you are. Steve jobs once said: At the end of the day, when I look in the mirror i reflect on my day:Was it spent the way I wanted it to be? If the answer is no, then I realise that something must be done to change it. We need to see ourselves in such mirror also; coz all this forgetting and compromising is going to lead us to such a stage in our life where we look back and realise that we have not even been able to achieve what we wanted to do, what our passions were, our true interests were: The regret that accompanies it, trust me, is unbearable.Being yourself, following your dreams is the surefire way to success. Working to fulfil someone else's dream whether in an I-bank or Mckinsey isnt success; coz its not your dream.

So its high time we retrieved our bucket list and went through it; coz it will awaken our true self, and give us our self belief back.More importantly, the bucket list will help us live the life we always wanted to have, and do the things that we really want to do. Thats the main course of life; MBA, degrees, jobs, mercedes, condos are mere salad dressings.

2006-07-30T08:38:00.000-07:00

I was living in bliss
Sans any care;
Enjoying my time in peace
Being unaware
That a different stage,a different act
Was I being cast;
A stage that brimmed,in fact
with ironical contrast.
For as I passed by 'the forbidden zone'
I let out a startled gasp;
And stood there,frozen to stone
At the sight of an asp.
Sleek and black with a malicious glint
He looked at me with a deadly stare;
With eyes that shone like flint
Ready,at a strike,to spit fire.
"Son of Adam"said the snake
Pointing with his head at the golden apple
"Why dont you heed me,and partake
This fat,ripe,juicy apple?"
I followed his stare and looked at the fruit
Radiant and golden in the morning sun;
Little aware that this was to be the root
Of all my troubles in the long run.
I told the asp"Sir,I am sorry
But God has warned me not to do so,
I cannot invite a life of suffering and misery
By partaking the fruit,and breaking God's law"
"Oh son"said the asp"Looking at thee
My heart gets filled with shame
For,like a fool,you are spurning the key
To the hall of power and fame.
This will transfer you to a new paradise
Where your path will be paved with gold.
So fear not,and take my advice
And your freedom will increase manifold.
God's advice is like useless sermon
Easy to hear,but hard to bear
The wise know this,so they worship mammon*
Grabbing every opportunity as it comes near.
This apple will show you a vision-
Show your goal,show your essence
Instill in your soul the light of reason
And give your life a newfound credence."
Moved by the force of snake's logic
Under the influence of his spell
I ate the fruit;the effect was tragic
For I found myself writhing in hell.
There are no castles of gold,no rivers of wine
No fame or power or freedom in sight
Now I am in chains,only free to whine
and suffer in this long dark night.
I committed the sin of Adam,
Sold my soul consumed by greed,
Thrust my life into suffering and bedlam
With no hope visible in my hour of need.

*Mammon-God of money in European mythology

RANG DE BASANTI

2006-02-08T08:37:00.000-08:00

I saw Rang De Basanti for the third time today.Words fail me to describe this movie.For the first time in so many years I saw such a sensible,soul-stirring Bollywood film.I am not here to give a review of the movie:the magic can only be experienced if seen by yourself.Rather,I would like to describe a particular scene:

At a scene where everybody is blaming India's ills one of the actors(who plays an air force pilot)gives a statement:If you are so fed-up with the ills that India is facing why not take steps yourself for change?"Ghar ki safai mein haath gande kaun kare?"which means"who wants to dirty his hand cleaning his own home?"The actor exhorts to clanse the maledictions by taking that extra step forward.He asks us to join politics,police and civil services instead of giving commentary standing at a distance.

Here I would like to raise a few questions:

1.How many people in India know about its own glorious history?How many people(before seeing Rang-De-Basanti and Bhagat Singh)actually knew about Kakori conspiracy?How many people know the details of the Indian national movement?

2.A few days back,a friend of mine asked me who my role model was.I said Mahatma Gandhi.He asked me why?I said he was the first person who actually mobilised the 30 crore population of India to fight against the British rule.Then he started critisizing Gandhi.He said-Gandhi was a man whom power had corrupted at the end.He was the one who created the partition,because he didnt want Jinnah ruling over India.
I didnt argue with him,for I knew he wouldnt understand.how was I to make him understand that he was the only man who opposed the partition of India tooth and nail?How was I to make them understand that he actually wanted Jinnah to rule over India as a Solomonic judgement.But it is the irony of the youth.We would rather believe the bigoted views from somebody else than take the pain of verifying.We would rather remember what Harry Potter did than the very simple ideologies of those freedom fighters so that we could see this free India.In 2002 Outlook did a survey across Indian colleges.The results were shocking.There are people studying in colleges who dont know who Mahatma Gandhi is!!!

3.A few years back a teacher of mine was telling us how western culture has infiltrated our culture and what we should do to prevent it.At that point I asked him-Indian culture has always been one of unity in diversity.It has always imbibed ideologies from cultures all over the world over centuries.So if India is embracing and imbibing western culture now what is the harm?
He gave a wonderful answer.He said-yes,you are right that India should imbibe western culture.But that doesnt mean that we should forget our own culture,the very foundation stoneson which our lives are built!But sadly thats what is happening in India.patriotism is dying because it is being considered uncool.We think twice before standing up to attention when national anthem is being played.We dont forget to wish our friends on valentine's day,but we definitely think twice before wishing our friends happy independence day.While we are having discussions with our friends,if the discussion tends to the problems facing our country,people roll their eyes and either ask us to shut up directly or politely say "can we discuss something else?"But when it comes to discuss love or marriage,people are more than happy to discuss this issue as long as they can.NATIONALISM HAS BECOME BORING-and we actually fear it coz we value our self respect so much that we fear it getting eroded by worrying about the problems of India.

"I have always believed that there are two types of people in this world-
Men who go to their deaths screaming
Men who go to their deaths in silence

And then I met a third kind."

This opening dialogue of Rang-de-basanti explains the types of life we lead in this world:

The first kind are those who are a bane to the society-a scourge-representative of satan.their end is also terrible and they go to their deaths screaming.

The second kind are the common people-who just live their lives like every other day.They like lamenting about country and humanity's ills rather than taking steps to eradicate them.They worry abt the other aspects of life-they worry abt love,they worry abt who they are in love with they worry about marriage,they worry about earning a living rather than the facts that there is more to the essence of life than love or romance or career itself.

The third kind is the one who really are concerned about the humanity and are always striving to make the world a better place.They dont believe in rhetoric.They dont believe in lamenting:they rise to the occasion;they fight;they realise that they are meant for the other finer aspects of life;and they dis fighting,with their heads held high.

How long are we going to remain in the secondary category?
How long are we going to lead a life where at the end we realise that we have been nothing more than an animal??

"Ab bhi jiska khoon na khala khoon nahi vo paani hai
Jo desh ke kaam ne aaye vo bekar jawani hai"

So before lecturing on the fact the we should start cleansing our homes first,shouldnt we make it a point to cleanse ourselves first?We can never contribute to purging the evils facing our society and country unless we understand the very foundations that support the indian way of life.Therefore,before contemplating picking up arms and rushing off to kill the nearest minister available,start understanding the soul of India.

The lost key

2006-01-09T12:09:00.000-08:00

My friend Pankaj and me were returning from class in the morning.I had borrowed a bicycle from my neighbour and he didnt have his,so naturally we were walking(the road towards our hostel is uphill and I dont have the strength to carry 2 persons on a bicycle-moreover I hate the exercise when a better option is available).I asked him why he didnt bring his bicycle.He replied that he had no idea where his bicycle was and worse,he had no idea who he had given the bicycle key to.When he reached the stand his frustration doubled;for though his bicycle was right in front of his eyes,he couldnt remember who he had given his keys to!!!

I felt sorry for him.I have known him for 3 years.He has come across to me as a very good and sweet guy.But he was in trouble many a times because of things like these.My develish mind told me that it was a perfect time to pull off a gag upon him.I told him that day that he ought to be more organised.I told him that it was ridiculous on his part to be sooo careless to even forget whom he gave his bicycle to.I told him,in no uncertain terms,that he had everything perfect,if he could be more careful and not so careless,then he will do excellent.In other words,I admonished him gently,while trying to be a goody-goody father figure.Who cares?

Guess where the keys were????

In my own trousers' pockets!!!

That day I learnt a vital lesson:Never ever try to gauge even the slightest weakness of a person,because you dont have the slightest idea how imperfect you are!!

2005-11-13T08:17:00.000-08:00

Suppose you were a rat given the kamikaze task of belling a cat.How would you feel?I feel the same way coz I have got to bell a CAT too.No not a cat but CAT-common admission test for MBA programme-supposedly the toughest entrance test in the world.200,000 students give this test every year out of which only 1500 are selected-so it can be imagined how arduous a task is before me.So it will be quite some time before I resume blogging again.I will miss all of you here and hope you dont forget me either:D

Now before I log out,lemme give you something to think.Ever imagined a child of only 3 years running marathon?Well here he is,Buddhia-touted as the youngest marathon runner of India.Newspapers of my state are running front cover pictures of this child wonder.CHILD WONDER?Or blatant torture?What does this child know about marathon,or running?Is he really a child prodigy,or an innocent child being sent to his death?Can a child survive being made to run 60 kms continuously?What wud you write for him?Accolades at being a child prodigy,or epitaph of innocence?

I feel sorry for you,Budhia.:((

Evil Character

2005-10-31T18:32:00.000-08:00

Lst night while surfing through the internet I came to a forum.There there was a question posted-name the most evil character of mahabharat.I was stumped.Evil character?Mahabharat is a long saga of valour,sacrifice,political games,strategies,but what I have liked the most about mahabharat is that the good and bad sides of every character there is shown.Even Krishna,the incarnation of God,loses his cool at one time and tries to break his oath.I have known its story since childhood,and never ever for a moment came to my mind that any character can be branded as good or evil.For me,all were mere pawns in the great political game where the primary goal of both the 'good' and 'bad' sides was to regain the kingdom.
But good or evil?

How do we define something as good or evil?How do we say that this particular action will give u salvation or send you to hell?Look at all the fictious evil characters like Darth Vader,Lord voldemort or Agent smith and True evil characters like Adolf Hitler.Look at this from their point of view.Darth Vader was only trying to crush rebels and maintain an empire.Agent smith was merely trying to save the matrix and do the job.And the matrix was the result of a power struggle between humans and machines.We can say that the matrix eas evil because it made humans slaves and threatened their survival.But suppose u were a machine.You wud say that matrix was good and Neo was evil because he was trying to destroy the matrix which was essential for machines' survival.Even if we take the case of Lord Voldemort or Adolf Hitler.They are accused of genocide.But what abt Harry Truman who ordered dropping 2 atom bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki and killed millions of civilians?What about George Bush who is waging a war over Iraq over some fictious weapons of mass destruction?Hitler and Saddam Hussein were merely trying to be in power politics as were Truman and Bush,the only difference is that they were branded evil by their respective victors and we have blindly accepted that.To the victor goes the spoils.

Good or evil is a relative term.What is good to me may not be good to you;same goes for evil.In India drinking wine and eatine beef for followers of Hinduism are considered sinful;but tell this to someone in europe and he will be surprised.Even the sinful task of killikg is not considered sinful in the remote,headhunting tribes of Africa.In India as in other countries,sex is taboo.But the fact is that sex is connected to genesis,which is the hallmark of God makes it divine.Everything we do is only a task;there is nothing good or evil attached to it.It is our perception,our blind acceptance of beliefs thrust upon us by the people in power or by the elders that make us think in terms of good and evil.Remember,evil cannot be there unless there is good,and evil and good are the two sides of life that make life so diverse,so colourful and so enigmatic.I personally believe that branding something only exposes as hypocrisy,and sadly,we humans have become super-hypocrites.We like to lecture others on how the model code of conduct should be,but how many of us follow them to the hilt?When we see somebody doing something we dont like,we brand him as bad;but if in life a situation comes when we have to do it ourselves,do we have compunction?Yes,thats it;we brand something as evil only because we dont like it;not because God told us.The thin line differentiating good and evil is only dependent on our likes and dislikes-the likes and dislikes of 'imperfect' human beings!

"There is nothing good,nothing evil;there is only power!"-JK Rowling

How true,how very true!

2005-10-23T06:49:00.000-07:00

2005-10-23T02:05:00.000-07:00

You came as an angel,and filled me with wonder
When you gave me newfound hope
By showing me an utopian world lying yonder-
A world of unlimited scope.

But now you have turned so faithless
Putting the blame squarely on me
Branding me as utter hopeless
And not worthy of friendship of thee.

With a rude jolt you have me woken
Up from the blissful reverie
Hoping that my heart will be broken
And my life thrust into a menagerie.

But here I am,still standing tall,
Like a phoenix fighting against the tide,
Because I know my faith will recall
Mother fortune back to my side.

And thus we part,making thee aware
That your words are nothing but sham,
You can go to hell for all I care
Because honestly,I dont give a damn!

Supreme court at the crossroads

2005-10-17T11:17:00.000-07:00

Circa 1954.The year of the famous Brown vs. Board of Education case.The US supreme court giving the landmark verdict that"In the field of education separate but equal facilities have no relevance.Separate education facilities are inherently unequal".A verdict that lais the cornerstone for the civil rights movement.

Circa 2005.Country:India.Here there is a need for initiation of another such civil rights movement.Because the society is in danger of Balkanization.The politicians,for their own interests,on pretext of"social equality"are trying to create "separate but equal" facilities not only in the field of education but also in the field of employment,in every walk of life.Yet when the supreme court tries to create equality by promoting reason,it creates such a hullabaloo that is touted as a clash between executive and judiciary.Plans are made to curtail the freedom of the supreme court by reminding it of the "invisible line",and making laws and amendments in the constitution that will further curtail its freedom.

Why was the supreme court established?The supreme court was established because the founding fathers wanted some institution that would protect the constitution,be the epitome of justice and uphold all those values for which they laid their lives down for.But what exactly is the constitution?A book of rules?Or a way of life meant to make us better human beings and the country a better place?What is more important-the spirit of the constituion or the form?What exactly is the rule of the supreme court?To abide by the laws and thus by the physical form,or to uphold the spirit and everything that our human life is based on-equality,justice,democracy and secularism-even if it means transgressing the law?Laws are made by humans only;and to err is human;But when the ruling body of a country tries to use these very laws and the loopholes for their selfish ends and try to throttle the only few guardians of honesty and justice,then the outcome is never going to be happy.God save India.

I killed Gandhi!

2005-10-03T12:34:00.000-07:00

VIEW:

I am a gennext Indian,living in the era of liberalization,the era of Rock n Roll,in an era where the predominant concept is "I me myself".What is Gandhi to me?A half-naked fakir?Or a mahatma(great soul)?Damnit,why should I care?I know his birthday passed 2 days back,but what does it matter to me?The only ppl concerned are the politicians,who show up to give long speeches regarding what a great man he was and what he had done for the freedon of this country.But for us?A survey in "India Today"magazine 2 yrs back showed that there are many colleges in India where 50% students dont know who he is.Thats what we are-thats what this generation is.A generation where the role models are Harry Potter and Britney Spears.A generation where everybody wants to be rich-by hook or by crook.A generation where we cant trust our own family,leave alone friends.A generation where internet,computers,technology,sex and porn rule.A generation which has seen more Hindu-Muslim riots than ever before.A generation where we can spend 200 bucks for a spiderman movie,but wudnt spend 2 bucks for a book on Gandhi.A generation that knows more states of USA than places of India.

Now am I saying is what we are doing wrong?Certainly not.Gandhi was not just a man;He was a phenomenon.A concept.A fairy tale.The concept of fighting violence through non violence.The concept of showing your enemy the other cheek.The concept of shunning and spurning science saying it as trite.The concept of shunning all material needs and subsisting on bare minimum.The concept of sexual abstinence. But concepts are not rigid;they change with the passage of time with the advent of new knowledge.No way can we follow Gandhi's concepts in today's world.And I am sure Gandhi wouldnt have followed his concepts in today's world either.
Gandhi was what he was because India needed a person like him-spiritual,enigmatic-a person who could give confidence to the Indians at that time.But Gandhi wud have changed himself had he been born in today's world;maybe he wud have become a rock star;maybe the ultimate metrosexual man.

But whatever our views are,we know we can identify Gandhi only by the ideals he stood by.

Those ideals that are long dead.

We killed those ideals.

We killed Gandhi.

'You've got to find what you love,' Jobs says

2005-09-23T12:57:00.000-07:00

This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal.

Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.
I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?
It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.
And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:
Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.
I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.
I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.
I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I retuned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death.
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much.

2005-09-23T10:14:00.000-07:00

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Red Earth,Blue Skies,Falling Rain,White Lies

2005-08-24T11:49:00.000-07:00

Red earth,blue skies,falling rain,white lies-
How can I tell you how much my heart cries
At this realisation of absolute betrayal
When I realise that your heart is so bestial,
When I realise that you are not an angel,
My life has turned into an absolute hell
Where I have to drink these pangs of pain
Of a heart so ruthlessly slain.
How could you be so untrue?
Why have you drained my life of its hue
That I can no longer identify
myself to this mystic beauty,as I so used to?
This red earth,the blue skies
Which caused me a thousand sighs
Have lost their purport,their relevance
Leaving me alone in a trance-
Alone in a world where my fancies and my dreams
Have been drowned in a deluge of screams
Of a heart so impaled and broken
Leaving me these memories as a token-
Memories of the red earth,of the blue skies,
Memories impaled by white lies.
These vast skies,so bright and blue
Spoke of your eyes,full of love so true.
This fresh earth,so soft and red,
Spoke of my love,so seeming yet unsaid.
Oh,those were the days in seventh heaven
When my life and my soul were driven
By the love so fresh and pure
But your love was nothing but a lure
To entice me into your overtures?
What do you know how I felt when my wish
Of spending our lives forever in this eternal bliss
Was shattered in that dark stormy night
When you saw me soaked in the rain
And my dissuations went in vain
When you let out your lecherous intentions in the open
Now I stand on the crossroads,battered
With my heart absolutely shattered
Over the fact that for you nothing else mattered
But my body and my virginity
That you tore away my dignity?
Ah,you are just like the other guys
Who entice girls with rigmarole of lies
Now my heart stands dead,it has turned stone
And your lies chill me to the very bone.
But,no matter how much I try in vain
To forget that love,shattered my the falling rain,
I cannot do,for my love is true
And come what may,I cannot stop loving you.
I just hope that one day you may realise
How much I love you
And give my love its proper due....

2005-08-22T11:41:00.000-07:00

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Mr.Smith goes to washington??What movie on earth is that??Never heard of this classic!

THE RAVEN

2005-08-17T13:26:00.000-07:00

I was pacing by the seashore,
Blissfully oblivious to the roar
Of waves and of the wind
Because the things foremost in my mind
Was the urge to take a mode
Of transport to my humble abode.
While I was engrossed in my muses,
I was startled by a 'caw!'
Woken up,I looked behind and saw-
A raven,slender and tall,
Was sitting on the edge of a wall,
All the time looking furtively here and there,
Ready,if provoked,to fly away somewhere.
Sleek and black,she was a symbol of grace,
And looked as if escaped from divine embrace,
For though black,she was a true beauty,
And her simple ways simply enchanted me.
Her bubbly play helped me forget my sorrow,
And forget the trials and travails of the morrow.
Suddenly,as if by instinct,she flew away
And then,I realised to my dismay,
That it was almost an eternity
Since I enjoyed a bird's beauty
Or appreciated nature's magnanimity.
Only then was I aware of the waves roaring,
Of the breeze gushing and the birds soaring.
Ironically,instead of starting to wonder
At this sight,my heart began to ponder
"The waves are no longer a mascot of nature divine
Whose magnificience has withstood the test of time,
They are,instead for me,only an equation of strength,
Consisting of frequency,waveheight and wavelength.
These beaches,for you maybe,are a gem of nature,
For me,these are only a geological feature.
These sands,for you,depict nature's divine state,
For me ,these are only flecks of silicate.
The grace of those birds flying yonder
No longer fills me with childlike wonder
Because for me they are only equations
Of aerodynamics and aerofoil motions.
This blue sky,touching at the horizon,
Radiant and golden by the setting sun,
Remind me of the purehearted kid I was once,
And mock at the ruthless adult I have become since.
Who am I?What is happening to me?
Why was I destined to end where I never wanted to be?
What is it in me that's amiss
That I cannot drown myself in this bliss?
I have become a machine-
A mean-minded,hard-hearted machine-
Sans any emotion,sans any passion,
Sans any joys,sorrows or compassion.
I have got sucked into this world of materialism
Where money,success,knowledge and power
Rule under the garb of professionalism
Hand in glove with ruthless capitalism-
A world where,to win,you have to fight,
A world where you have lost the right
To love or be loved,to laugh or to cry,
Where you are denied the unbridled bounds of joy-
Joy at the simple sweet things of life,
Wonder at the ethereal greatness of the nature,
But crushed under the burden of internal strife,
And the responsibilities,from which you cannot hide,
You are forced not to break your stride,
Till,exhausted,you collapse by the wayside.
How I wish I were in a trance,
Surrounded by the whorls of mystic exuberance,
The waves of the beauty of the nature,
Will once again waft by and enrapture,
My heart,and rereveal the stature
Of my Father,cleansing my soul
And reminding me as a whole
Of those days of childlike innocence.

How I wish I were a child again!"

2005-08-14T11:04:00.000-07:00

INDEPENDENCE

Now we r on the eve of our 58th independence day.Again comes that time of the year when we have nostalgia abt our past,about how great our country is,and how proud we feel to be its sons.Again that time comes when we feel lucky that we are independent and have freedom.But at such a juncture a question pops up:what does independence mean?And whatdoes freedom mean?

Oxford advanced learner's dictionary definition of independence and freedom is interesting.According to it,independence means not being dependent on;not being controlled.Freedom is defined as not being a slave;able to move wherever you want.If we inspect the dictionary definitons we will realise that neither we are independent nor we are free.For since birth we r dependent on one person or another;on our parents,on our loved ones and on our society because man,by nature is a social animal.So knowingly or unknowingly we are controlled;by the invisible strands of love friendship and even by the knowledge that we can never take care of ourselves alone.as for freedom,we know we r slave to some thing or the other.We may be slave to some addiction;we r slave to comfort;we may be slave to our dreams,our ideals;we may be slave to our emotions.But the underlying fact remains that we r slaves n we cant escape from that.The definition that freedom means moving from one place to another doesnt help either.For we know as child we had to go to school;as adults we have to go to work.We cannot escape from that even if we want to.So while we are gloating that we are independent we are not really So.while it may be said that we r independent because we are a democracy and have the right to elect members to the parliament what difference does it make?For we still pay taxes,we still are ruled by an ignorant bunch of duffers,we still have to follow the government rules of how to cross the roads et al,the government still has got a power to curtail our freedom citing security.We are not free from foreign rule either.for in today's world of internet it is impossible that you can be independent of foreign influence.You are slave to designer labels to books of JK rowling to Toyota cars and all that.So what makes us say that we are independent?

Is there something that really makes a difference to our lives post-british that denotes we are independent?In other words under the constraints of subtle dependence what makes us say that we are independent?The difference is "choice".Jk Rowling says in Harry Potter-'it is not our ability that determines what we are,it is our choices'.In the matrix trilogy also it has been shown what a profound effect choice can make.So the ability to make a choice is the most subtle yet most profound of all human characteristics and thats what makes us the supreme being.So true freedom lies in the freedom to make a choice-or not make a choice if u want.you may be given a constrained list of choice which u cannot avoid,but if within it u have the freedom to choose from u can call urself independent.And so as we celebrate our independence day we can truly call independent because we have that right to make a choice.So lets savour our freedom and rejoice our independence!

personality and tests

2005-08-13T10:44:00.000-07:00

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Today i gave 2 tests:one test was to decide what sort of harry potter personality was i,the second test was to determine what world famous personality did i resemble.the result of both the tests were beyond the expectations:in the first test i expected that my personality to be similar to Albus Dumbledore,whereas the result came as that i resembled hermione granger.I guess the test put me in Granger's category due to my academic achievements in school and my love for rules.though the result was not bad,still then i was disappointed as i always thought that i wud make a good Dumbledore.But it was the second test that really stumped me.Regarding the world personality that i resembled,it showed that i resembled no other than-believe it or not-Bill Clinton!Now this is too far.For clinton n me are poles apart-he is dashing,extrovert n charming leader,whereas i m shy,introvert nor do i have the sort of charm that he had.moreover,i can never have the guts n gumption nor can i even think of having the sort of lecherous escapades that he used to indulge in-yes the second test was hogwash.so it brings the age old question to the fore:how reliable are the tests?can himan intelligence,human emotions or human personality be really measured on a numerical barometer?human psyche is a very complex and multilayered;to measure it using a few questions is impossible>it is a sheer waste of time n energy trying to find out whom u resemble;why dont u remain happy with what u are n what u have?why dont u create ur own legacy instead of trying to compare with someone else's legacy?

Dumbledore's death

2005-07-21T05:15:00.000-07:00

DUMBLEDORE'S DEATH

Dumbledore's death in the halfblood prince is the most tragic twist that JK Rowling has effected in Harry potter series and I am sure it must have brought much grief to HP fans.Indeed,we will never hear those words of wisdom which have made into the annals of literary history as some of the finest quotes ever conceived-which were forever a symbol of hope for all.The grief is further multiplied by the fact that dumbledore was killed by snape-the very person whom he trusted implicitly-making snape a brutus of the wizarding world.Dumbledore was the greatest wizard of the world-rivalling voldemort.He was harry's greatest protector and with Dumbledore dead,who will protect him?But Dumbledore's death has opened up a Pandora's box of questions in my mind-and i cant understand what all happened at all because of these:
1)It is true that Dumbledore saw the best in people and trusted them,but can dumbledore be so naive that he overruled his closest colleagues and friends to trust snape like a maniac,even more than his life,oblivious to all reservations?Dumbledore is the most brilliant character created in Harry potter.he knows things even before they happened;he knew about draco malfoy's efforts.He never trusted Tom Riddle even though he was the poster boy of all other teachers-he knew more about voldemort than voldemort thought he knew. so it is possible that Dumbledore trusted snape just because he appeared geniunely repentant?Even if we assume that he got carried away,why did he make him a teacher,even a head of the house?Did Dumbledore have no other reason of trusting Snape?
2)Dumbledore was grieviously injured while destroying the horcrux(that ring)why did snape save him?after all,voldemort's purpose was to kill dumbledore so his job wud have become easier if dumbledore died himself
3)why did Dumbledore plead when snape was going to kill him?Is a person as noble as Dumbledore expected to beg for his life?
4)why did snape tell belliatrix lestrange that dumbledore got injured while duelling with voldemort? surely he wud have known that dumbledore got injured much later?

Here is my viewpoint:It is probable that I might be wrong,even more than probable,but nevertheless these are my viewpoint.I believe Snape was faithful to Dumbledore,not voldemort.I know it is preposterous,as snape had murdered him,but i believe that Dumbledore wanted snape to kill him.He wanted to die.thats why he pleaded with snape,to make him murder him,because he knew snape will otherwise hesitate.As snape was loyal to Dumbledore he told a lie to belliatrix as to the reason of Dumbledore's injury;it shows he was in reality.dumbledore's agent.

Dumbledore knew from snape that voldemort was plotting to kill him.he knew that ingenious that he is,he was nevertheless growing old and it may not be possible for him to save harry all the time.Thats why he had horace slughorn brought as a teacher so that he could pass on the secret to vanquish voldemort before he died.he knew he was dying;thats why he didnt care for his health or life in the 6th book.but he tried to use that to his advantage.thats why he had harry immobilised when he knew that both of them(harry under the invisibility cloak)could have defeated the death eaters-after all harry had dont that in the ministry last year.but why did he have harry immobilised and get himself killed?so that he died trying to protect harry.he was trying to create an equivalent situation similar to the situation when Harry's mother died trying to protect harry.by dying ,dumbledore made sure that his love for harry gave Harry a powerful protection-a new protection to compensate for voldemort breaching Lily's protection 2 years ago.By telling Harry all that he knew,he made sure that harry carried on the mission-fully protected and more powerful than before.And i believe that he had snape into his confidence and snape knew of all this;and I am sure that in the last book Snape is going to play a very crucial role in helping Harry,because he was Dumbledore's man through and through.

Of course these are my views and I may be mistaken so plz excuse me if you find these viewpoints offensive or controversial-after all all these is speculation

the guru in harry potter

2005-07-20T23:54:00.000-07:00

As Potter mania grips the world again with the release of the Halfblood Prince,and as young and old all alike immerse themselves in the fabled world of wizardry,scepticism has raised its head again,with the pope himself denouncing the books as creating a wrong impression on children.After all,critics ask,what is so special about potter that he is being given cult status,eclipsing other child characters say,Tom sawyer?The pope says Potter is giving a wrong notion of good and evil by referring to pagan symbolism.some others say Potter is just being overhyped.
But is Potter really not that great as it seems he is?Is potter really giving a wrong notion of good and evil?Before delving into the topic,we have to first realise that what Potter represents has to be seen in context of today's world.
In today's world the fine difference between good and evil has become redundant.while others rant about the pagan symbolism as a threat,they seem to forget that evil has undergone mutation.Terrorism,racism,murder,though prime evils,are not the only evils.evil ideals have so blended with our lives that it is within our soul;we today do not know whether our best friend is our best pal or worst enemy-just as in the reign of lord voldemort,where it was difficult to know between a true death eater and one working under imperius curse.remember,all the racist rantings of voldemort as to purebloods are hogwash.the underlying emotions behind all these evils is greed;the greed to get more and more power,the greed to be great.voldemort doesnt care for the ideology which he perpetrates to achieve his ends;it is the end itself that is supremely important for him and he is ready to go to any level to get it.Dont we see examples of all these in our real world?all these extremism,apartheid,subjugation,betrayal,terrorism have the same underlying principle;the greed to be powerful,the greed to be successful.it is that greed that dictates the foreign policy of US or Al-Qaida;or of ur next door neighbour plotting ur downfall.
What is special about Harry Potter?the cleverly scripted zig-saw of a storyline,or the goodness that he represents,or that he is the'chosen one?'It is a mixture of all these,but in my opinion why harry is a superstar is ,ironically because he is not a superstar!for harry is neither brilliant like hermione,nor is he good-looking;nor is he powerful like voldemort.then how come he escaped voldemort so many times,and thwarted his plans?how come hermione herself admits that harry is a far better wizard,when in academics harry is only a pale shadow of her?JK rowling shows in the caharacter of harry and his friends and enemies that you dont have to be exceptionally knowledgable or brilliant or talented to be special;harry is special because everybody on this planet is born special,with a purpose in his/her life.JKR shows that other things matter too-courage,ur resourcefulness,wisdom,and ,as dumbledore told harry,ur ability to love.thats why harry is even greater than hermione,or even voldemort,for not only he can love,but he can sacrifice his love for the greater good.Harry shows that these subtle things of life matter more than all the knowledge,all the technology and all the power of the world.
Harry-Hermione comparision is analogous to Dumbledore-Voldemort comparision.dumbledore and voldemort are equally talented-equallly powerful.but still dumbledore is greater because he has wisdom,voldemort has not.voldemort-dumbledore tussle shows that what determines ur greatness and success is not ur reaction at situations where u know ,but ur reaction to situations where u do now know.For millions of kids all over the world burdened by expectations-expectation to play like Federer,look like Tom cruise\Aishwariya Rai and think like Einstein,Harry comes as a beacon of hope-symbolising that speciality lies in ur heart-but ur mind;that you are a wonderful creation in this beautiful world,and that you will achieve greatness only by showing love,compassion and understanding the fine distinction between good and evil,not by emulating someone.harry shows us that if we understand our limitations but realise our strengths,we can scale even the loftiest mountains.so harry potter is not just a superstar;he is a symbol of hope for this world;he is a new age guru-showing us light in the darkness of evil that so engulfs the world today.

2004-11-22T03:55:00.000-08:00

who am i?what is my aim
what have i got in me that i can claim
as mine,that'll give me power 2 tame
all adversaries in life's big game??

sorry,i have got nothing
i have lost everything that made life worth living
all hope all motivation all goal
that raised my spirits,salvaged my soul.

today i hav admitted defeat
no longer can i do things that made people repeat
that i was great, i was like gold
now all i get from people are stares so cold.

my heart has died,it has turned stone
my failures chill me 2 the very bone
i ahve lost all love,all ambition,all crave
now all i can do is wait for my grave.

should i give up?should i cry
over my failures?no never,i shud again try
coz life is all about win and loss
but one whu wins over loss,is always the boss.

sometimes u win,sometimes u fail
but when i fail,i should not wail
that i have lost,i shud not admit defeat
or give up,then i will be the one hard 2 beat.

life is a war,goal is a battle
when u lose a goal,u shud not rattle
instead strive and fight,coz in future not far
u will ultimately win the war.

2004-11-22T03:46:00.000-08:00

Happy diwali,the fest of light
let it burn ur life bright
just as u bring in light
with ur chirpy bubbly insight.

what is diwali in front of u
whu has always brought in new
light in the lives of those few
whu r lucky 2 have a friend like u!!!

no matter where u are
know tht i m here 2 care
pray we never have a rift
coz ur frndship is my greatest gift!!!!

HAPPY DIWALI!!!!!!

intro

2004-11-20T23:27:00.000-08:00

hi all!!!