Life and Other KnickKnacks Like That

It has been a long time since I have posted anything on this blog. There have been a lot of things happening in life, probably too many things that this piece of my soul got ignored for a while. It is weird that when pressed upon we tend to give up things which are really close to us, give us real joy. The lord almighty has ensured that some stupidity is hard wired into the human nature, probably for the kick of it.
As will all the other old friends I think the best way to start a conversation is to answer “Wassup?” And this is what has been up right into my posterior. Needless to say I have been super busy; after my long term assignment was closed I am assigned to a new client which is based out of Hyderabad. This involved a month long stay in Hyderabad couple April-May and a forthcoming stay there for next couple of months; but thankfully I have managed to stay back and enjoy Bangalore for some time. Life is tough when you switch from multinational fortune 500 clients to our own desi family owned business clients. You don’t have luxury of relaxed timelines, 5 days work week and proper processes, that is what I am trying to cope with these days.

Apart from work there are lots of things happening on the personal front too. I bought a new car, so this baby is now old and this is currently my new ride and needless to say that I am loving it.

In other news parents finally decided to visit us after a two year long hiatus, as always spending time with them was a lot of fun. Loads of shopping, eating and sweets happened, all this when I was trying to lose some weight which I am sure I would have lost but only in the negative quantities. It was great to eat sweets from my home town Kanpur. I tend to believe when it comes to sweets there are very few places in India which can match up to the quality, taste and variety available in Kanpur. So overall last couple of months have been eventful and fun. The times to come look promising too and now that I am back to blogging will be writing and sharing things more often.
So to end today’s post I leave you with a hilarious joke I heard sometime back, keep laughing enjoy life.
Santa: Mujhse panga mat lena, main Sher Da Puttar hoon (Don’t mess with me, I am son of a lion)
Banta: Yaar ek baat to bata Sher ghar aaya tha ya fir aunty jungle gayi thi. (Buddy, tell me one thing did lion came to your house or your mother went to the jungle)

 

Suicide at High Noon

As last time this too is from a team building comptetion we had at our offsite. The rules of the game were that one had to write a suicide note which should include the following-

• Not more than 80 words
• It should have one Name
• It should have two places
• It should have threee animal (Air, Land and Water)
• It should have four things

So this what I wrote and it was appreciated generally by the audience and also got the prize-

Hi Helena,

When you saw me naked holding our dog by the rear and I said “Oh Fish”, it wasn’t because I was doing the dog, it would be cuckoo. I wasn’t doing our fish either. I was ironing my trunks for my trip to Los Angeles when the dog pulled it down and the iron fell from the board on my “thing” and I ran to fetch some Ice from the kitchen when you saw me.

But that is not the reason why I am commiting sucide; I am treading this path out of embarrasement. During my interview with the firm from Argentina when they asked me for my testimonials; I probably showed them the wrong thing.

Embarrasingly yours,

Spartan

Ps. This post might be greater than 80 words because I am trying to recreate it from memory. During the contest I had great help in editing by a dear collegaue Aishwarya who ensured this was compressed within a limit of 80 words.

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Love, Friends & A Little Chocolate Cake

I think this commercial totally cuts across the human mindset. I could so much relate to the fact that how we can get so involved with our future aspirations that we always forget to indulge and enjoy the present. The fact that aspirations keep on rising and so does our age; sometimes we find that the time has simply passed and we didn’t even had a glimpse of how it.
Recently I celebrated my 30th birthday, which made me realize that it has been a long time since I have been gracing the mother earth with my esteem presence. I feel that I too have been responsible for trying to run the rat race behind the perfect life. It started from the first position in the class to percentages in the board examinations, lead me to fight for an engineering seat and then an MBA degree. When I thought the fight was over it started all over again for the high paying jobs, better designation, buying a car and a house. And after all that it still continues for a better car, second home, exotic vacations, larger pay checks, and still larger egos. I was wondering is it all that my life has been about? Are these the things which define me, me as an individual as a person? Are these the most significant things in my life?
Surprisingly the answer to all the above questions is a big NO, surprisingly these things are which matter the least. If you have made the right choices and been sincere to what you have done in life, sooner or later all these things fall into the place. What make the life different is how you made the people around you feel, and how the people touched you and your life? The fact that you have felt love and friendship in your life; the feeling where you know with or without the “social perks” you would still be loved and cherished for who you are make all the difference in the world.
I can’t help feeling so blessed and lucky to have felt all of the above in these 30 years. On this birthday, Wifee and my friends planned a surprise where they all will come at 12 in the night to wish me. They meticulously planned almost every detail and people re-arranged their schedule to make it at the right time. Now, being one smart a** that I am, I had already got a whiff and was able to predict almost what was being planned by Wifee & the friends. As soon as they all gathered outside the hall, Wifee had left the door unlatched when everybody dashed in startling me while wishing Happy Birthday. It was such an over whelming moment and a very happy one too. Life is not worth without love & friendship surrounding you to make you feel special.
Though I claimed that it was my instincts and eye for detail that I actually was able to guess they were coming. But one thing which I didn’t confess was that more than the instincts and eye for detail it was my longing and faith in them that helped me do it. I was so sure that neither the Wifee nor my friends would let my birthday go by without making me feel special. I guess it was my anticipation of them as a part of my life and my trust in them, which they not only kept but also pushed it higher than I could have thought, that made me sense their plans.
So there was a bash and a lot of fun, and yes I was not surprised as the Wifee and the friends have expected it. But then sometimes not being surprised can be much more rewarding and comforting than anything else in the world. Having a Wife who would love you beyond you can imagine, having friends who can make a dull evening to a bright sunshine. With pleasures like these life is good and then sometimes we add a little extra chocolate cake to it.

 

When the Legends Passed Away

It is strange that how some people can impact your lives, minds and philosophy without even meeting you. It has been a sad month for me, two legends, Jagjit Singh and Steve Jobs, who had a great impact on me during my growing years, passed away this month.

I have always looked up to Steve Jobs for inspiration based on whatever I read about him. To be honest I became a fan of Steve Jobs only after listening reading the transcript of his famous commencement address in Stanford, and who wouldn’t after hearing the awe inspiring stories of connecting the dots and staying hungry and staying foolish. I think I have tweeted this before but if you haven’t heard or read this address you are missing something in life. You can read the address here or watch it here.

Some of my favourtie quotes from Steve Jobs which would I have inspired me time and again –

“Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.”

“Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.”

“You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.” – Inc. Magazine

“Why join the navy if you can be a pirate?”

“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”

“And we’ve all chosen to do this with our lives. So it better be damn good. It better be worth it.”

“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.”

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”

“I’m the only person I know that’s lost a quarter of a billion dollars in one year…. It’s very character-building.”

“Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have. When Apple came up with the Mac, IBM was spending at least 100 times more on R&D. It’s not about money. It’s about the people you have, how you’re led, and how much you get it.” – Fortune, Nov. 9, 1998

“If I were running Apple, I would milk the Macintosh for all it’s worth — and get busy on the next great thing. The PC wars are over. Done. Microsoft won a long time ago.”

The influence of Jagjit Singhji started very early in my life, I guess I was 13 years old. That was the first time I was introduced to the Ghazal Maestro and the music genre called Ghazal. Since that day Ghazals and Jagjit SInghji’s voice owned a part of my soul. A lot of Ghazals sung by him defined my idea of life, love and sacrifices at a very early stage. They also made me experience extreme emotional situations through his ghazals without actually facing them in life. I truly believe that Jagjit Singh and his songs made me a matured and sensible person which I am.

Signing out with lyrics of my favorite Ghazal by Jagjit Singh-

“Baazeecha-ae-atfaal hai duniyaa mere aage, Hota hai shab-e-roz tamaashaa mere aage

Hotaa hai niha gard mein seharaa mere hote, Ghisataa hai jabi Khaak pe dariyaa mere aage

Mat poochh ki kyaa haal hai meraa tere pichhe, Tu dekh ke kyaa rang hai tera mere aage

Imaan mujhe roke hai jo khinche hai mujhe kufr, Kaabaa mere piichhe hai kalisa mere aage

Go haath ko jumbish nahin aankhon mein to dam hai, Rahane do abhi saagar-o-meena mere aage”

RIP Jagjit Singh ji & Steve Jobs, the world will miss both of you legends

 

It's Time To Tab

I have always wondered that how fast the world has changed around us, a few years ago the words and conversations had an entirely different meaning.  The tablets were something we dreaded when the doctors prescribed them, Galaxy was a collection of Stars, Tab was just a key above caps lock on the keyboard, honeycomb always came from the bees and if anyone told you about Samsung, one might have asked ‘Sam Who ?’

Things have changed now tablets are a form of computers, Samsung is one of the most respected and tech savvy corporations in the world, Galaxy is a series of smart devices, honeycomb is a mobile operating systems now made by the geeks instead of the bees, and Tab has an absolutely new definitions which looks like this-

So as you would be aware that the Galaxy Tab 750 India launch happened yesterday and there is a contest going where one gets to be the Samsung Mobiler. So I am supposed to write a blogpost about the feature that excites me the most, and this is what is the most difficult part. The Tab does has a lot of features all well explained on the Samsung Website here (http://www.samsung.com/global/microsite/galaxytab/10.1/feature.html) and to make the matters worse each of them is as exciting as the other. After seeing the launch and viewing the website I was still unable to decide what feature excites me the most. This is when I felt that the feature that excited me about the Tab wasn’t listed anywhere but was in my mind and it was nothing but how well a Tab would seamlessly fit in my normal lifestyle.

I think that is what takes the piece of cake when it comes to Tab, where it effortlessly slips as a part of our lifestyle while adding efficiency and zing to it. So this is how a Galaxy Tab fits in the life of management consultant by the day and a writer by the night.

Day Start-

6:00 AM- Wake up on the Alarm set up in Galaxy Tab, have a look at the time, weather updates right at the home page.
6:30 AM – Mild Cardio with the favorite music playing in the background  on the Galaxy Tab.

7:45 AM- Have breakfast, check the latest news, and updates on twitter, facebook on the Tab. Also keep a track of daily diet and calories taken on the fitness app of Androind on the Galaxy Tab.

8:15 AM- Take the office shuttle/bus while checking emails and reading newspapers on the Galaxy Tab

9:00 AM- Start working while attaching my Galaxy Tab to the keyboard dock.

10:00 AM- Conference call with the client again happening on the Galaxy Tab with the front camera and  a portable high quality 10.1” 149 ppi screen .
 

11:00 AM- Check Emails and update statuses and on various social media platforms on the Galaxy Tab
1:00 PM – Lunch

2:00 PM – Rush for a meeting with the client, carry the final document and presentation in the Tab. Review and give final touches to the presentation using the powerful office features of the Galaxy Tab

5:00 PM- Travel back home, while streaming the highlights of the match or surfing the web on the Galaxy Tab
6:00 PM- Reach home and watch a movie or couple of episodes of FRIENDS on Galaxy Tab in full HD while having a cup of coffee

 

8:00 PM – Dinner

9:00 PM- Retire to bed with your Galaxy Tab with your book in the Readers Hub getting engrossed while you actually turn the pages on the Tab.

10:00 PM- Go to sleep waiting for a brand new day

So for someone like me a gadget like Galaxy Tab fits into my life almost every hour when I am awake and to do that all I need to do is keep this 8.6 mm thick tablet which weighs at 565 grams all the time with me. No wonder for me whatever time of day we talk about “It’ Time To TAB”

All Images Sourced from Samsung Galaxy Tab Website

 

Samsung Galaxy Tab 750 Launch

So the new Samsung Galaxy Tab 750 is getting launched on August 10, and Indiblogger is hosting an awesome contest where they have some awesome give aways and a chance to become Samsung Mobiler which means you get to have a first hand experience of all the new Samsung Mobile products.

Now that the greedy devil and gadget freak I am, and an awesome technology Samsung produces it is pretty obvious that I am entering this contest. So you would get a live view and feed of the Samsung Galaxy Tab launch right here on Ginger & Cardamom. Also there is a post coming on the “Tab” very soon. Till then pray that I get this free Tab 🙂

 

Moving Back to Complete Feed Yay!

As you folks read in the last post, that I decided to move to restricted feed. Firstly, I am reverting back to complete feeds and I am so thankful to all you folks and specially Pratik to help me make that decision. I am very happy about it because as I said I do believe that restricted feeds are an irritant to all the readers.

Firstly thanks a lot for all the support and views in comments and emails. I would like to clarify couple of things. I wouldn’t call what happened as an incidence of Plagiarism, as Pratik was giving a link back to the post and was appropriately mentioned in the shared section of the website which displayed the content he shared on his google reader. That was precisely the reason I think he was not at fault and I never spoke to him about the issue and decided to change the mechanism I publish my feed.

However, I am very grateful to Pratik that he not only removed all the shared posts from his website and also offered to change the mechanism in which the content of the site is delivered so as the completed content is not shared. He has done that in good faith without even me asking for it just to avoid the confusion and to ensure people who read my blog don’t face the irritant.

So I am reverting back to the complete feeds again as asked by many of you. At this point I would specially like to thank one of my readers (lets call him ‘A’ as he has not yet replied to my mail if I can disclose his name) who has come up with a very innovative solution for these kind of problems. What he suggests is to add a Unique footer in every post with due credit to my blog and direct links to my site. So even if in future someone shares my post using reader the ownership part is clarified.

So A I loved the idea, and to say my thanks anytime when you are in Bangalore (or any other city we are in at same time) the coffee and dinner is on me. And I am not sure what to write in this standard footer all the suggestions are welcome.

 

Moving to Restricted Feed

Now this is what I would say is putting foot in mouth, as I have always been a supporter of complete feed. The idea was why force the user to visit your site and specially that a lot of times some or the other sites are blocked in the offices the user should be able to read the post.

Now recently an event which made me thinking if I should reconsider my stand in the wake of latest technology and things which it has enabled. A few days back I got a pingback from the website of Pratik Patel. I went over to his website and I could see some of my posts on his site word by word. I was about to blast him and inform people that my blog was being plagiarized. It was then I noticed that my post was under the shared heading and there was small link saying that this was shared on the Google reader and there was a link to my blog.

So I was assured this was definitely not a case of Plagiarism but still the idea that people were reading my blog on some other site, without my permission and knowledge is a bit disturbing, specially given that people might comment on the site the post was shared and the opinion would never reach my ears. The fact that we share the same first name was not helpful either. Here is a link to one of the posts which was shared  on the site in case you want to see.

So I feel that I should move to restricted feeds like a lot of other bloggers do, this is something which I felt was an irritant but sometimes you got to choose your priority. What do you folks feel about this issue. Though for now I am going with a reduced feed (which is a knee-jerk reaction) but if convinced I am open to revert back to the complete feeds.

So come on people help me out here.

 

10 Day You Challenge- Day 10: 1 Picture

So here I come to an end of the 10 Day you challenge. It was great fun doing this series and here I sign out with this picture of mine 🙂

Prats

I would have loved to put a more recent pic but you know I am still carrying some marriage weight right now (yes the marriage was 1.5 years back) so you have to do with this one only.

 

10 Day You Challenge- Day 6: 5 Foods

I am guilty of being a glutton when it comes to food and I must admit that it is indeed very tough for me to choose five foods out of so many things I actually like. Here are the top 5 foods I like-

1- Coffee– I simply love my cup of coffee, this is something I have proclaimed on this blog time and again. I cannot do without my cuppa coffee so undoubtedly in the food coffee goes in first.

2- Brownies– I love brownies and resisting to the temptations of a well made brownie is very very difficult for me .

3- Stuffed Paranthas– I have grown up on them and nothing fills you better than a steaming hot Aloo Parantha

4- Pasta– This is another dish which tops my list of foods, a pasta makes a perfect dinner.

5- Idly– The humble idly is under estimated by a lot of people but I must say that there is nothing more healthy and satisfying than a hot plate of idly served with chutneys and sambhar.

Image Courtesy: Google Images.