Onam 2012

Keralam - A small strip of land which was taken from the sea. Ruled upon by a king so virtuous and benevolent that even the heavens grew jealous. The land, at the time was known for having people who had their hearts in the right place and NOT for being 100% literate. It was green in every sense and not just what the eyes could capture. Those who hadn't been there believed it to be a land of myth. A kingdom where logic and sensibility was driven by love and compassion for fellow beings and not brains which only saw the self. It's a shame that only the title stands today - God's own country. Time for some introspection? Happy Onam people. :)

The Privilege...

"Its just a cricket match"...no way...itz not "a" cricket match...itz "THE" cricket match till date...The hearts of every single Indian/Pakistani cricket fan will pound extra fast today...probably disturbing and raising concerns at the heavens above...nd God might even go - "Should I just tell them whose gonna win or somebody might die of a heart attack...". Cricket fans today will stay glued to their seats ignoring all pins and needles...and lunch...and tea...and dinner...Hopefully all of them have had a heavy breakfast atleast...

Today is 30 March 2011...In a city called Mohali, India, as the match referee snaps his thumb and sets the coin to flight...1.2 billion hearts on the planet will skip a beat...Come on Mohaliiii...we all have our eyes on you...

Deep and blue...

I was sinking. My hands were tied. I tried to break the shackles apart with all the strength I had.I wriggled with every muscle of my body. My calf muscle twitched and the pain seemed to reverberate in my brain. I could feel the nerve on the left side of my forehead tightening. I squealed in pain. just wanted to get out. A helpless gasp followed. But the harder I tried the more I sank. I tried to scream my lungs out for help. But all that came out was a helpless moan. My throat was dry and I tasted blood's tangy flavour. Mind is the weirdest thing in the universe. Learn to tame it and you can do anything. Let it loose and it will drag you through even the worst memory of your's. An avalanche of thoughts came pouring down on me. The good,the bad and the ugly. But I didn't care anymore. All the good I had done, all the bad I had done; nothing mattered anymore. I just wanted to get out. Ignoring the pain I tried over and over again. Soon my muscles went numb. It didn't hurt anymore. I don't really know if I felt good or bad about it but definitely got my focus back on track. This time I tilted myself and wriggled towards the sides. I was shifting slowly. I don't really know where this sudden gush of power and determination came from, but it seemed to help. My conscious was back. I don't exactly remember for how long I kept on wrestling with water. My mind and body had already been stretched to their limits and more. I couldn't feel my body anymore. I was struggling to keep my head out of water. I realized it was just a matter of time now. My eyes rolled upwards and my eyelids shut slowly. It was my mind that went down first and soon my body followed. I moved no more.

Thud!!!and my head banged on the wall as I rolled over. I jumped out of bed. Shit!!!that was one of the worst dreams I ever had. I shut my eyes tight and held my clasped hands tight against my forehead and prayed for a minute. I turned on the lights. I was still breathing heavily. I rubbed my palm against my chest and forehead. I was covered in sweat. I could feel sweat pouring down my back. I walked in to the wash room and splashed some water on my face and looked in the mirror. Damnn... my forehead was swollen and my face had gone red.

The light in the ktichen was still on. I grabbed a bottle of evian from the refrigerator and finished it off in one go. My breathing eventually slowed down. I sat down on my bed trying hard to relax. I turned off the light and and pulled the duvet over. I was not sure if I had actually got over the shock. As I closed my eyes hoping for a better night the dark shades of deep waters appeared before me...

Mars on Google Earth

Hi...Google Earth for Mars has been around for a while now...just added it coz i found it very interesting...it does n't require additional download or anything...all you need to do is change the mode on Google earth...do check the video out...cheers...

(for those who see this on facebook, click on "view original post" below)

The monsoons

If you ask me what the best thing about my place is, I would say it is the monsoons. Starts in June usually. But it has been wavering forwards and backwards over the past few years . First rain is always very special. The skies rumble as if its calling out and telling everybody that the wait is over. The clear skies would soon be covered with grey clouds. I like walking up and down my courtyard when it is about to rain. As the first few drops kiss the earth, the odour of the earth will be drawn to your soul. No wonder this place is called "God's own country". The drizzle would soon promote itself to heavy showers. The fade of the trees and plants will be gone in mere minutes. Roses always have an extra scent in them when it rains. Droplets of water will slide along the surfaces of leaves, dancing over its way to earth. They patter on roof tops as if trying to wake the house up after the long summer. As far as I'm concerned, the best thing that can accompany a heavy rain would be a cup of coffee.

Back during school days it was not a new thing to forget to load your bag with an umbrella. And most often, the walk back home, would be in the rain. Used to love the walk. The feel of rain drops dripping over your face is something anybody would fall in love with. My shirt would soon be soaking wet and hugging onto my body. There are loads of memories associated with rain. There used to be a friend of mine (not to mention the name or I would be dead meat soon) who had a crush on his neighbour and they used to travel in the same private van to school. The downpour was pretty heavy that day. This guy acted as if he forgot to take his umbrella so that he could share the umbrella with the gal. Luckily for him the plan worked and our circle of friends soon received a phone call later that day with a boringly elaborate description of a 10 minute walk.

Football in the rain is another unforgettable experience. Football has never been my cup of tea, but the muddy ground can always be used to your advantage if you 've the ball. But always had to watch out for ruthless players who would come flying into you from nowhere taking you with their trajectory. Nobody was ever bothered about getting hurt. Goals used to be followed by screaming out allowed and throwing oneself in the mud. It was last year while I was returning from the uni I believe that it started raining heavily all of a sudden. Climate in the UK is unpredictable. I pulled my hood over to cover my head. But that didn't prevent the heavy rains from keeping my head dry. The twenty minute walk flashed glimpses of the life I lived back home and during college days. It is often good to turn around and rejoice and above all be thankful about the life one has been given.

I won't say those days are gone yet. Life still has loads of surprises in store. Memories made in the rain always get reloaded when the monsoon returns. The brain "googles" them out automatically. People change but rains don't. They return every year to see how things have changed. To see how you have grown. To listen to what you got to say. And in the end to tell you that life is an occasion to love, share and celebrate.

Over a cup of coffee...

Beep...beep...beep...the microwave called for attention. Milk had started oozing out of the Stone-Henge imprinted coffee mug. Had got this coffee mug around an year ago during the Stone henge visit with Juanjo, Vanessa and Fahad. More than the thrill of seeing the famous Windows XP wallpaper in real, it was the opportunity to take photographs that inspired me. After coming from a country which can boast of unbelievably complex architectural marvels, the Stone Henge was not good enough to make a big impressive impact. Anyhow historians do say that mystery still sleeps peacefully amongst those tall stone structures waiting to be revealed. Juanjo, who I had gone there with was one of the first few people I made friends with after coming to the UK. He, like almost every other Spanish I've met so far was a very jovial and sensible person. While me and Fahad were always on the look out for chances to tease each other, Juanjo used to take sides in a very much diplomatic fashion. ;). Its very strange how even a humble coffee mug can stir up memories and pull out files out of nowhere.

I started this habit of drinking coffee during my dissertation. Used to help me postpone my breakfast, lunch and dinner. ;). At times the number of times the mug got refilled even touched 7-9 times a day. I've cut down on that now. After long heavy day's work, coffee used to help me calm down. Atleast that used to be the time when I would just shut up and relax. But a hot cup of coffee can help you forget everything and just enjoy the warmth of the bean juice running down your throat.

As I sat my desk and turned on my Thinkpad, thoughts wandered back to how things were one and a half years ago. I did mention in one of my previous articles that it is my convocation on July 4th. Networked Centred Computing had taken most of my time...sorry...all of my time during the past one and a quarter years. Anyhow making new friends and experiencing new culture was obviously there in the package. The pics that were taken during the course often help to review the transition. Just like a photographer uses D.O.F. to stress on the subject in focus and blur the background out, the pics simply blur the present for a very brief span of time. It is complete fun to go through the pics but the bad times left blemishes around. But evidently, instead of using the scales to ponder over what you lost or gained, it is better to look at where you stand today and take steps accordingly for a better future.

As I finished my last sip of coffee, I clicked on the sign out button of my gmail account. I closed the browser and double clicked on the application I was after. Microsoft Robotics Studio. Sleep will have to wait. Back to business.

Google shows its magic again with google waves...

Google recently did a demo of what can be called as the next generation e-mail called google waves...not only does it present a very much enhanced collaborative environment but it being open source also let developers add their own extensions and contribute extensively to the project...but there is much more in it than what I just mentioned...I've added the 1 hour 20 min video below...Make sure u don't miss out on a single minute of the video but at the same time just to mention the bits I liked the best are the spell checker(44:00), the collaborative editing tool (35:30) and the search facility (41:40) ...do check it out...