How many times do you come across stuff that you read and go "damn! that is so very very very well written!!". I come across it EVERYDAY! Cause every day I make it a point to read Scott Adam's blog, irrespective of how time pressed I am. Scott Adams, for those who aren't into cartoons, is the creator of 'Dilbert', the worlds most worshipped office satire character ever!
Now why is the blog so brilliant?
1. Cause obviously, its so damn well written every time!
2. Cause the ability of the man to blog about just about any silly damn thing is sheer genius in itself! They are things, as a blogger, you wouldn't have even bothered to think twice about. But only Adams, has this brilliant knack of picking up the most mundane and transforming it into the most interesting blog ever! Read his recent post on Paris Hilton to get a taste of what I mean
3. Cause he manges to dole out a post every single day!
4. Cause in those lighthearted posts, he manages to bring in so much of life and maturity in between lines, it never stops to amaze you every time. The recent post on Champagne moments is a true testimonial to what I am tying to say.
5. Cause he manages to get, on an average some 300 comments on every post that he puts on his blog!
6. Cause some of the ideas that come up in the blog are so bloody brilliant and simple at the same time. Read todays post about Iran and you will know why.
7. Cause he is never afraid to speak his mind out, on any issue, any body or any thing!
I am sure when you go through it, there would be tonnes of more points that you would add to this list yourself! So go ahead and do yourself a favor! Read the Dilbert Blog everyday!
Damn! Some people just have the gift!
Friday, June 29, 2007
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Vortex
“What is that thing in the world, Oh son of Kunti, which is fleeter than the blowing wind?”
“The human mind.”
-Yaksha Prashna, Mahabharata
It is four in the morning. I am not asleep. There are too many things in my head. I have tried to flush them out repeatedly, but to no avail. I don’t like this. I don’t like the idea of not being in control of my thoughts. It’s very unsettling.
There are things that are observed, interpreted by the mind and concluded rationally or otherwise. Sometimes there are things observed, not interpreted at all and still concluded. And there are times when things are not observed, yet they are interpreted and concluded in a jiffy. Also at times, things are observed, but the mind can neither interpret nor conclude. Worse still, is when things are observed and interpreted, but the mind refuses to conclude.
When too many of such conflicts simultaneously exist in your head, vying for equal processing time and energy, it can become quite a mess upstairs. It’s a whirl of logic and nonsense that can take its toll on the little grey cells.
I know this is a very vague post, but what is to be observed, interpreted and concluded is something which I leave to you.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Options, options and more options!
If you look closely at my previous posts, most of them have been posted late in the evening or in the night. Now with that piece of information, the natural question that would pop up is "why is it in the middle of the afternoon this time?". Well, the answer is quite simple actually. I am sitting in class. The lecture is so boring that if the voice was recorded and played back to the prof, he would have bored himself to sleep.
Now, obviously, not listening to the prof and blogging during lectures is a sin at any B school. But , let me try to draw the whole list of things that happens in the class while the tirade is on.
1. Orkut!
With scrap counts running amok like a faulty taxi meter, Orkut is the ultimate get away for every bored mind. It doesnt matter that you are a member in a million communities where the only threads are like "play the or game" or "ppl, plz get more active". It is a solace any day, compared to listening to the endless blabber that is thrust on us.
2. Chat!
Yahoo, Gtalk, skype, MSN and in SP, the local IP messenger! You should see it to believe it, or should I say listen to believe it! At times when the prof goes silent for a second to catch his breath, the din of the fingers going berserk on the keyboards is a true testimonial to the prof's capability or should I say incapability.
3. Games
Now gamers can be classified into several categories.
a. Local gamers: Where 127.0.0.1 rules! Minesweepers, solitaire, hangaroo, scrabble, chess...the list is endless.
b. LAN gamers: Where people dare to setup a LAN and in the class play NFS, Counterstrike and AOE, of course with sound muted.
c. Online Gamers: These are a set of people with short attention spans, who cant listen to the prof for long or even play games for a long time. So they log on to websites dedicated to such frustrated students and play the nonsense "put the paper in the dustbin" kind of games.
4. Books - 'e' or otherwise
God bless the Gutenberg project! With tonnes of e-books available for free downloads, constraint to network bandwidths of course, life can be transformed into magical worlds of Tolkien and Kafka, right there on you seats. And then there are a set of bravehearts who feel that the real essence of reading doesnt come unless you read it from hard paper! So out come the books. sometimes hidden behind the laptops and sometimes out in the open, daring the professor to come and ask. Ofcourse, the profs dont dare cause they dont want to risk their own humiliation!
5. Blog!
Like I am cribbing now!
6. Assignments!
Time in a B school in precious. It is not wasted on frivolous things like doing one's assignments well in advance. Time is well apportioned and utilized during the class hours to complete the set of assignments and group works which have to be submitted in the next class. The advantage of doing it in the nth moment is that all other assignments are already there in the folder for you to refer, copy, modify and impart your own gyan to it!
7. Sleep!
Some people have the knack for it! I just hate them. They manage to sleep anywhere, anytime, in any position, in any class, in the first bench, last bench, behind the laptop, beside the laptop, on the elbows, on the floor, on the chairs, on the desk...everywhere, with eyes open, with eyes closed, face covered, not covered....the list is endless.
8.Observe!
There is no bigger entertainment in the world that looking at people. The simplest and the most effective thing to kill your boredom is observe how the others are trying to kill theirs! It can be damn funny! Some just stare back at the prof, some into their laptops, some keep falling off the chairs, some keep digging what not, some start drawing in their books, neogbours' books, on neighbors as well, some just cant take it anymore and walk out of the class, some laugh at others looking and laughing at someone else! As dear old Holmes said, "People see, I observe!"
Now, dont you geeky guys get disheartened. There are a set of people who DO listen or try to listen to the prof while the classes are going on. But for them and their notes, life would have been harder out here. But hey! what are friends for anyway!
Now, obviously, not listening to the prof and blogging during lectures is a sin at any B school. But , let me try to draw the whole list of things that happens in the class while the tirade is on.
1. Orkut!
With scrap counts running amok like a faulty taxi meter, Orkut is the ultimate get away for every bored mind. It doesnt matter that you are a member in a million communities where the only threads are like "play the or game" or "ppl, plz get more active". It is a solace any day, compared to listening to the endless blabber that is thrust on us.
2. Chat!
Yahoo, Gtalk, skype, MSN and in SP, the local IP messenger! You should see it to believe it, or should I say listen to believe it! At times when the prof goes silent for a second to catch his breath, the din of the fingers going berserk on the keyboards is a true testimonial to the prof's capability or should I say incapability.
3. Games
Now gamers can be classified into several categories.
a. Local gamers: Where 127.0.0.1 rules! Minesweepers, solitaire, hangaroo, scrabble, chess...the list is endless.
b. LAN gamers: Where people dare to setup a LAN and in the class play NFS, Counterstrike and AOE, of course with sound muted.
c. Online Gamers: These are a set of people with short attention spans, who cant listen to the prof for long or even play games for a long time. So they log on to websites dedicated to such frustrated students and play the nonsense "put the paper in the dustbin" kind of games.
4. Books - 'e' or otherwise
God bless the Gutenberg project! With tonnes of e-books available for free downloads, constraint to network bandwidths of course, life can be transformed into magical worlds of Tolkien and Kafka, right there on you seats. And then there are a set of bravehearts who feel that the real essence of reading doesnt come unless you read it from hard paper! So out come the books. sometimes hidden behind the laptops and sometimes out in the open, daring the professor to come and ask. Ofcourse, the profs dont dare cause they dont want to risk their own humiliation!
5. Blog!
Like I am cribbing now!
6. Assignments!
Time in a B school in precious. It is not wasted on frivolous things like doing one's assignments well in advance. Time is well apportioned and utilized during the class hours to complete the set of assignments and group works which have to be submitted in the next class. The advantage of doing it in the nth moment is that all other assignments are already there in the folder for you to refer, copy, modify and impart your own gyan to it!
7. Sleep!
Some people have the knack for it! I just hate them. They manage to sleep anywhere, anytime, in any position, in any class, in the first bench, last bench, behind the laptop, beside the laptop, on the elbows, on the floor, on the chairs, on the desk...everywhere, with eyes open, with eyes closed, face covered, not covered....the list is endless.
8.Observe!
There is no bigger entertainment in the world that looking at people. The simplest and the most effective thing to kill your boredom is observe how the others are trying to kill theirs! It can be damn funny! Some just stare back at the prof, some into their laptops, some keep falling off the chairs, some keep digging what not, some start drawing in their books, neogbours' books, on neighbors as well, some just cant take it anymore and walk out of the class, some laugh at others looking and laughing at someone else! As dear old Holmes said, "People see, I observe!"
Now, dont you geeky guys get disheartened. There are a set of people who DO listen or try to listen to the prof while the classes are going on. But for them and their notes, life would have been harder out here. But hey! what are friends for anyway!
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
The road less travelled...
I sling my bag over my shoulder and put on my headphones. Its time to go back to the hostel. I switch on my Creative and Floyd comes out to soothe my mind. My mind is like a cat on a hot tin roof. It moves around too much, it jumps places, it comes out with some serious shit that time and again takes me by surprise. So, i need Floyd. Music and badminton, I think are the only two things that ease my mind.
I am deviating! My mind, of course, is not what this blog is about. Its about me going back to my hostel. Now the walk from my college to the hostel is about 5 minutes, done at a leisurely pace. It was around 10 in the evening.I started walking alone. Its a simple straight road. Paved for some distance it has a college on one side and a temple on the other. I always make it a point to look at the temple while walking through. Not that I am religious, but its become a part of the walk ,which I have to make twice. Hoping, maybe someday I will find the reason why I keep looking at it. The paved road opens into a mud road lined by a beautiful lake on the right. I have always felt that water, in any form looks more beautiful under the starts. Trees on either side of the road give it a quaint elegance that makes the walk that much more enjoyable. It is the road I take everyday, but never stop to just stand and admire. Isnt so many things in life like that. Things and people that are an integral part of our daily life are taken for granted cause they are always there everyday in the same place. But no! Today I decided to stop and watch from a corner. To just watch time make it way across the lonely stretch of earth. To stop and feel the mundane part of my life, to connect all the thoughts and feelings the road has helped me through. Its not retrospection. Its just connecting with something that is a part of you and acknowledging it. In a years time I will be out of SP and the stretch will no longer be a part of my life. I know it.So I just tried to absorb the feeling, standing in the dark, staring at the water and just letting things be.
The path then leads to an huge open stretch of land. Just at the beginning, is a thatched house with people I have never bothered to see. What I do see every time though, is the pack of dogs that lie on the road. Lazy bastards who think twice to even move when a car comes along honking like there is no tomorrow. They are like the missing pieces that complete the picture. I have always enjoyed walking in this stretch cause it sort of changes the canvas suddenly. There you are walking along a narrow stretch of land bound by trees and barbed wire and suddenly the world opens up into this vast nothing. The wind is more welcoming here and it gives you a pleasant feeling of having reached home.
This might sound like a stupid description of a stupid walk through a stupid road. But to me, it gives joy beyond what a common intellect can fathom. Isn't life but a concoction of such small joys and sorrows that everybody holds close to their hearts?
Floyd has made way for Moby who is singing One of these mornings. I walk up to my room with a smile on my face.
I am deviating! My mind, of course, is not what this blog is about. Its about me going back to my hostel. Now the walk from my college to the hostel is about 5 minutes, done at a leisurely pace. It was around 10 in the evening.I started walking alone. Its a simple straight road. Paved for some distance it has a college on one side and a temple on the other. I always make it a point to look at the temple while walking through. Not that I am religious, but its become a part of the walk ,which I have to make twice. Hoping, maybe someday I will find the reason why I keep looking at it. The paved road opens into a mud road lined by a beautiful lake on the right. I have always felt that water, in any form looks more beautiful under the starts. Trees on either side of the road give it a quaint elegance that makes the walk that much more enjoyable. It is the road I take everyday, but never stop to just stand and admire. Isnt so many things in life like that. Things and people that are an integral part of our daily life are taken for granted cause they are always there everyday in the same place. But no! Today I decided to stop and watch from a corner. To just watch time make it way across the lonely stretch of earth. To stop and feel the mundane part of my life, to connect all the thoughts and feelings the road has helped me through. Its not retrospection. Its just connecting with something that is a part of you and acknowledging it. In a years time I will be out of SP and the stretch will no longer be a part of my life. I know it.So I just tried to absorb the feeling, standing in the dark, staring at the water and just letting things be.
The path then leads to an huge open stretch of land. Just at the beginning, is a thatched house with people I have never bothered to see. What I do see every time though, is the pack of dogs that lie on the road. Lazy bastards who think twice to even move when a car comes along honking like there is no tomorrow. They are like the missing pieces that complete the picture. I have always enjoyed walking in this stretch cause it sort of changes the canvas suddenly. There you are walking along a narrow stretch of land bound by trees and barbed wire and suddenly the world opens up into this vast nothing. The wind is more welcoming here and it gives you a pleasant feeling of having reached home.
This might sound like a stupid description of a stupid walk through a stupid road. But to me, it gives joy beyond what a common intellect can fathom. Isn't life but a concoction of such small joys and sorrows that everybody holds close to their hearts?
Floyd has made way for Moby who is singing One of these mornings. I walk up to my room with a smile on my face.
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Break on through....
Every time I listen to Jim Morrison, I am transported to some other world... and I cant decide which is better, the haunting music or the profound lyrics! Felt i had to just write about it when Winamp honoured me with "Break on through"....
You know the day destroys the night
Night divides the day
Tried to run
Tried to hide
Break on through to the other side
Break on through to the other side
Break on through to the other side, yeah
We chased our pleasures here
Dug our treasures there
But can you still recall
The time we cried
Break on through to the other side
Break on through to the other side
Yeah!
C'mon, yeah
Everybody loves my baby
Everybody loves my baby
She get
She get
She get
She get high
I found an island in your arms
Country in your eyes
Arms that chain us
Eyes that lie
Break on through to the other side
Break on through to the other side
Break on through, oww!
Oh, yeah!
Made the scene
Week to week
Day to day
Hour to hour
The gate is straight
Deep and wide
Break on through to the other side
Break on through to the other side
Break on through
Break on through
Break on through
Break on through
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Isnt life all about breaking on to the other side? Beautiful!
You know the day destroys the night
Night divides the day
Tried to run
Tried to hide
Break on through to the other side
Break on through to the other side
Break on through to the other side, yeah
We chased our pleasures here
Dug our treasures there
But can you still recall
The time we cried
Break on through to the other side
Break on through to the other side
Yeah!
C'mon, yeah
Everybody loves my baby
Everybody loves my baby
She get
She get
She get
She get high
I found an island in your arms
Country in your eyes
Arms that chain us
Eyes that lie
Break on through to the other side
Break on through to the other side
Break on through, oww!
Oh, yeah!
Made the scene
Week to week
Day to day
Hour to hour
The gate is straight
Deep and wide
Break on through to the other side
Break on through to the other side
Break on through
Break on through
Break on through
Break on through
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Isnt life all about breaking on to the other side? Beautiful!
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