Am i an Idiot ?!!

I Do It in my Own Terms – So i am an IDIOT !!

I recently watched the first Hindi Movie that ever made sense to most of the viewers – and it did so well because of the fact that it was talking about the most common issue we face today, especially the youngsters in India – who are simply not following their passion but instead succumb to the pressures of joining the rat race earlier. This movie named itself as 3 Idiots, but was the most intelligently crafted Hindi Movie in the past decade.

For those who were too busy not to watch the movie or those who do not understand Hindi cinema – the meaning of the word Idiot is described in the first sentence of this blog. The movie was well crafted because it not only conveyed a great meaning, but also followed the general rule of Hindi movie making of following the main story through the eyes of someone from the main story, with a flashback, some nice songs and a Hero who has a Heroine and some great friends. But the difference was the meaning it conveyed and how it connected with the burning issue that i mentioned in the first paragraph of how many youngsters today do not live up to their passion and succumb to the pressures of the rat race quite early on.

The main lead of the movie is a character who is shortly called “Rancho” and who is the most passionate of Engineering and follows his heart to learn Engineering from one of the greatest universities in India – not to merely score well or pass out with great colorful scores which he eventually does too but to learn Engineering more from the best place. He follows his passion so deeply that he even gives away his own identity for the sake of someone who is merely interested in the Degree Certificate than even attempting to go to the University. And he ends up becoming a big scientist himself who has lived up his passion of learning Engineering and also lights up a few lives in the process including a good two room mates one of who happen to join the college by force but his true passion lies in Wildlife photography and the other who ends up in the college because he wants to end up looking for a great paying job only and not the study in itself, because he badly needs to support his needy family. These are the most common problem that Youngsters in India are faced with – 1) They are forced to choose Science or Medicine because their Parents or Siblings or Relatives influenced them strongly to take it and they do not have any interest in either Science or Medicine. 2) They have been told over and over the years that either Engineering or Medicine could only lead them to a career that will begin with a great paying job and so to address their commitment of supporting their responsibilities they are scared to venture into any other areas.

When i watched this movie for the 1st time, i smiled and smiled away as i knew that in my entire life, i was always influenced to be someone else but being an adamant child and a very rebellious one too, i have always proved that my conviction of what i want to do in my life, is probably the best above all such influences or advices. I would never forget the day i choose a career which was not so popular when my choice was made, and neither was it against my passion. I loved computers and just loved everything around it – even today i love the feeling of it so much that i enjoy and relish every part of the technology, so much so that i get up in the wee hours of early morning to write these thoughts into a story that will soon go up on my blog site. I am loving the Dell D420 that i use here to type these words, i love the fact that i am writing it without disturbing my beloved wife or my lil girl both of who are fast asleep, by using a USB connected light that is pointed straight to my keyboard – probably something that may not be healthy to do daily but i simply love these technologies for the fact that they are designed so well – the Dell D420, the USB light and even the beautiful daughter who is probably the best technology ever created by a Super Engineer – the nature.

Coming back – the movie also made me smile because the choice that i made 13 years back where i risked not to join what my close relatives wanted me to become (a Chartered Accountant – a so much successful career stream and a natural choice for me as they called it, because of the fact that i did a Commerce Graduation – and my dad was a banker), which was probably the high paying career too, but it was not my passion. I smiled also for the fact that my friend who was one of the viewers of the movie the same day kept on commenting on me as the Character “Ramalingam – or Silencer” from the movie, but had himself chosen to do an MBA without a passion for the Management course, but for higher success in his Career that will ensure he gets more pay. I did not blame him nor do blame him now, because he is still unsure of small things like why he wants to buy a car – for its utility or because he wants to show everyone that he has one. I also realised that he had mistaken that Photography was my only Passion – a passion that i am loving and living it up without affecting the thirst for my 1st passion – technology.

But it is not just my friend today who does not lack passion but many of our friends too – lack sensitiveness and passion – both of which are very very important in life and in career too. You have to be sensitive towards life and career that will enable you to choose the right career but also be highly passionate about it as only the non stop passion in you will lead you through thick of times to a successful career which would be meaningful too. We all must love what we do the best and that must be our job too. And if that happens, all of us will be geniuses in our own way. We all would become the Ranchos of the story that we write through our life and not end up becoming someone who simply want to run ahead in the rat race. Let us work on our strong points and trust our strengths alone – like i do always – never run the spellchecker while i write or finish writing such blogs – because it kills the essence of what flows through from my mind and because i am better than any spell checking tool any day.

Passion is truly the motivation and the only tool that will show us apart from others and not make us stupid but maybe IDIOTs. Let us draw some inspirations from such good stories, movies or incidences and try to relight some meaning and dignity to our lives. Let us live and lead life in our own terms – and touch the lives of those around us positively.

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Will Valmiki sue James Cameron ?

I am trying to guess why Sage Valmiki did not leave behind his ancestral race with a Patent on the blue color of his Hero or the “V” mark on the forehead for he would have left behind someone to sue James Cameron and his 5 year old efforts on Avatar.

First of all, the word “Avatar” comes from the Sanskrit word of the same name which means “Reincarnation” and so was Lord Rama the Avatar of Vishnu who is the God of Protection as per Indian Mythology. I felt i was dreaming when i watched the Cameron movie for the 1st time in a theatre that was filled with people full of expectations. Yes, the movie is well made and is definitely a good benchmark for future movie makers in both Hollywood and elsewhere.

I am not even trying to criticize the efforts that went behind the best movie of 2009, but trying to analyze from where Mr. Cameron got these motivation. To be clear on what i mean, let me show some pictures here to make sure it is well understood.

Lord Rama was the 7th Avatar of Lord Vishnu whose Avatars in their order of apperance on earth depicts the evolution of living beings on earth starting from a water based Fish to a turtle that lives in both water and land and a boar that lives in marshy lands, to a half man-half lion in Narasimha, followed by the dwarf in Vaamana and the Sage Parasurama being the one before Prince Rama. He was born in the Sun-descendant (surya parampara) family, was depicted to be in the color blue of the rain clouded sky (greyish blue)  and was wearing the Vaishnavite symbol of “V” Nama on his forehead with a white line in the center. The battle against evil king Ravana was fought with the heroics of Vanaraas (Monkey Warriors) and won with Lord Rama winning against King Ravana who had all powerful vehicle that could fly and be controlled by him and had ten heads.

 

The Hero of the movie Avatar is a physically challenged marine officer who is transformed into the body of the Avatar, a native of the moon called “Pandora”  who call themselves “Na’avi”. The Naavi tribe has the color blue and the Hero is seen with this “V” on his forehead when he is completely qualified to be one among the tribe. Incidentally they fight their own war but have tails like monkeys, whereas the tail was used for the vanara warriors as per Valmiki. The villian of the movie is a captain who leads the operation against the Naavi tribes and uses a big flying vehicle to destroy their base just like Ravana did in the 1st battle with Lord Rama’s warriors.

Now i am wondering that either James cameron is extremely blessed by the almighty that he depicted this story with so many common elements with the great Hindu Epic, or has badly been narrated the story by someone who did not read the Ramayana completely or did not want to give away the complete story to him.

Whatever it is … it was an enjoyable moment to watch the characters come alive… and if someone can rightly picturise the great epic Ramayana in movies – it can only be James Cameron who might have been sued by Sage Valmiki’s descendents for Avatar.

To anyone who needs scientific proof of existence of Lord Rama, either go check the google earth images for “Rama Sethu” or “Adams Bridge” between Indian Subcontinent and Srilanka or simply read this http://bit.ly/4tTcP1 

Some coincidences really make you wonder and wish !!

Have a Happy New Year 2010.

Technorati Tags: Avatar,Ramayana,James Cameron,Sage Valmiki,Coincidences,Lord Rama

Another Struggle for Indian Independence ?!!

Has anyone outside India just realized that India is not anymore a place with snake charmers, elephants, the Taj Mahal and beautiful women ?? Have they realized that the might of India is now taking shape in architecting the future of the World ? Is it emerging as a largest Democratic economy ? Well, these may be proud facts suitable to speak about in a inter country cultural or political congregations, but there are hard facts that are still to be seen as internal improvements in India. And one of the most important and the most needed at the moment is sadly the same thing which probably existed way back before Indian Independence some 60-70 years ago. The whole nation stood by its leaders – displaying solidarity and Unity – the Power of Togetherness created an Independent Nation for the 1st time in 200 years from the East India company and British Rule or perhaps even the 1st time in 450 years of Colonial rule.

To give the facts right,  especially for the Gen X who have sadly mourned for the demise of Michael Jackson or proudly follow Manchester United Football games or even have the latest gadgets updated in their collection, these are the years of facts about India:

1. As Portuguese Colony(fully or partially)   – 1510 –1691
2. As Dutch Colony(fully or partially)           – 1605 –1825
3. As Danish Colony(fully or partially)          – 1696-1869
4. As French Colony (fully or partially)        – 1759-1954
5. With East India Company (partially)         – 1612-1757
6. Under East India Company(nearing full)   – 1757-1857
7. British Occupation (Officially full)          – 1858-1947  

But these did not end our struggle from 1947 onwards as it continued in this pattern :

1. Independent India Partition into 2 parts (with Pakistan & East Pakistan/ Bangladesh that attained freedom in 1971 from Pakistan) – 1947
2. States Reorganisation Act released – 1956 with the following major states and Union Territories :
   • Andhra Pradesh – Formed by adding Andhra and Telangana of Hyderabad State.
   • Assam
   • Bihar – Currently the Jharkhand and Bihar
   • Bombay State – Currently the Maharashtra – Enlarged by adding Saurashtra and Kutch, Nagpur division  Marathwada regions of formed Hyderabad.
   • Jammu and Kashmir – Currently the POK, COK, LOC, and Indian parts of Jammu and Kashmir.
   • Kerala State – Formed by merging the Malabar side of Madras State with Cochin and Travancore. Palakad given to Kerala and Kanyakumari given to Madras State (now Tamilnadu)
   • Mysore State – Current Karnataka – Was merged with kannada speaking parts of southern Maharashtra and western Andhra.
   • Orissa
   • Punjab – Current Punjab and Haryana – Enlarged by merging Patiala and East Punjab States Union.
   • Rajasthan – Enlarged by adding Ajmer and Merwara regions and was renamed Rajasthan from the name Rajputana.
   • Uttar pradesh – Current Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh
   • West Bengal
   • And the Union Territories were :
   • Andaman & Nicobar Islands
   • Lakshwadeep Islands
   • Delhi – Now a State
   • Himachal Pradesh – Now a state
   • Pondicherry – Now a State
   • Tripura – Now a state
   • Manipur – Now a state
3. Dadra, Nagar Haveli, Goa, Daman and Diu were added to Union Territories by 1962.
4. Madhya Pradesh divided into 2 – Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh in 1st Nov, 2000.
5. Uttar Pradesh divided into 2 – Uttar Pradesh and the himalayan range of Uttarakhand on 9th Nov 2000.
6. Bihar divided into 2 – Bihar and Jharkhand in 15th Nov, 2000.
7. Now in 2009 after so many divisions Andhra Pradesh has demanded for a separation of Telangana State. Home Minister P.Chidambaram has accepted the division but the Govt seems to be backing off. But if this division is given, Maharashtra will see a demand for a Vidharbha, and more such issues will crop up.

After all such divisions, do we still need more and do we still fail to understand the same power and beauty of togetherness that we displayed 6o years ago ? Do we blame the leadership or do we display the solidarity amongst citizens of India ? How many such divisions can we take in future ? Do we let our great nation with such valuable history be ruined by petty politicians and separatists who are just a few among us ? Why can we not change this trend ? Let us stand united in 2010 and make our New year and new decade truly a year of India – as our great leader like APJ dreamt. Let us make their dreams come true.

STAND UNITED FOR A UNITED INDIA !!!

 

JAI HIND !!

Surf Regularly… “Wave” is here !!

 

I started as one of the oldest users of Hotmail when it was first launched as the world’s first free web based email service (the name itself derived from the HTML technology that was used first to ) and continued till now when it runs on Ajax Technology.

I used to have a Yahoo ID too as an alternative for chatting with my friends (somehow i liked the Yahoo Chat Interface) and for personal use alone.

But beyond all these i have used the Netscape Mail as the client for emailing. Although i am not trying to state that i am as old as Ray Tomlinson, but i am sure that he would have been as surprised as me when i saw the interface of Gmail (For Google Mail) in the developer’s invite only preview edition first in April 2004. It was a paradigm shift to traditional emailing with amazing usage of JavaScript technology. It was the 1st time ever when emails and their replies were threaded like conversation using the subject of the mail. Before i could realize the whole potential, almost all my friends and colleagues had a GMAIL address of their own. With that kind of effectiveness and support from the Google apps, the expectations from Google Wave is bound to be higher and more. But did Google really meet such expectations with wave is a question that one cannot answer until it goes completely public after their Beta version.

This is not an official review of Google Wave but a user opinion only. I have like many others expected a lot more to come from Google Wave but sadly have not seen so much yet. To begin with a few goodies to discuss:

• It is a great re-invention of email into a conversational tool. Probably this is what Google means when they call it a collaboration tool. It allows the users to reply to the mail as a conversation just like in Gmail, but also lets them add few more users to the conversation which could be replayed from the initiation for the new users to understand the source.

• There is a straight forward way to see what the other user is typing while we are online too and part of that conversation. Google has promised to bring an option to quickly turn such feature OFF because of privacy issues.

• Any element (picture, Video) of the conversations (Google calls it a WAVE), can be broken into a new Wave (Conversation) with entirely different people in the wave and making it look like a new Mail(Wave).

• Anything written in a Wave with pictures or video can be converted into a blog with Google’s Blogger as a user added and all the comments made in the blog becomes part of the conversation. I have not seen this functionality at work yet, and am going to try this soon.

• Instead of giving only limited Invite Only edition, Google has gone forward a bit more with 25 invitations per invitee to bring all their friends and colleagues to Google Wave. I see that the primary reason for this is to allow them to enjoy the rich web 2.0 feature of Google Wave which is the basic essence of differentiating Wave from Gmail. So it is not free stuff given without a purpose.

Now since i have discussed a few goodies, lets move to the not so good parts:

• Although any number of users can be added to a Wave, it is NOT POSSIBLE to remove a user from the Wave. If you happen to discuss about your boss in a conversational wave and one of you accidentally add the same boss into the Wave, it is time for all of you to search a new job. 
• Though Google has promised for the feature to TURN OFF what the others see while you type, it is still not available in the developers preview.
• The option of inserting a blog into a conversation is not supported (for now) for Word press or other Blog sites and only for Google’s own Blogger. Now that is not a open source according to me.
• The new additions to the Wave conversation appears to be in Green, but when too many people do too many discussions, it is very difficult or near impossible to realize which are the newer additions after my last visit to that Wave. I am hoping Google will improve this.

Overall, Google Wave is here to stay for those youngsters who want to discuss their holidays with photos and videos or those who want to be connected with a lot of friends in one window. Otherwise, there is not anything called a Groundbreaking yet to be seen in the Wave.