Some in pain but others inJoy

It is been a while that I have actually penned down a full fledged blog entry. Since I am on vacation now, doing nothing my itching hands really want to get some work done. So the hot topic now in India is Nationalism. I was chatting with  a friend from NIT Trichy, he told me that it is good for Chennai and Bangalore because Hyderabad is in turmoil. He implicitly meant Hyderabad's political crisis will bring in more investments to Chennai and Bangalore. He might be right to point that out because FIIs (Foreign Direct Investments) or local investments will come to a region which is politically stable. Hyderabad is in chaos mainly due to the greed and political motivation of a few politicians and businessmen.


I read an article on FT click here, which exposed the corporate interest in not bifurcating Andhra Pradesh. Since, I don't know much about the grievances of Telangana  people, so I don't buy the idea of separation too. But I am certainly against the corporate interest in Hyderabad. Apparently, state is not bifurcated based on inequities in society but based on the inequities in the contracts awarded to a few businessmen. It is very evident, state of Andhra, is moving to puppets of Oligarchs. FT also exposed the rise of Oligarchs in India as whole. Especially, southern states are home to nepotism in the politics and patriarchal business structure.

After reading all these articles, I doubt whether India is a democratic nation. I don't think, we will ever see a politician like Barack Obama or Martin Luther King or Mahatma Gandhi from India. Meritocracy in India is totally eroded and everything is completely controlled by money. I don't know where this power struggle in Andhra will lead to. Colleges and Schools are closed indefinitely in Andhra especially in Telangana region, will undoubtedly have an impact on students' performance. Investors' confidence in Andhra will deplete which will definitely result in moving investments out of Andhra to neighboring states might result. To stop all this chaos, Centre should expedite the process of referendum on Telangana issues and should make a clear decision on it.

A R and his world

This is not my usual blog post but A R Rahman has inspired me to share his interview on my favorite TV channel BBC. Even his newly released tamil song from "Vinnai Thandi Vaaruvaya" was featured. Hats off to A R and his team. I hope the songs in his new tamil movie is good since his previous works in tamil were not up to his usual standards.

the sane word

row:

#something in a matrix.

#what you do when you don't want to sink, or swim, inside the boat. if you do it outside, a mental asylum is recommended.(don't even get me started on those excercise machines, where people sit and row in air)

#what you start with your girl friend when you stare at that other girl's amazing...

value:

#what variables can take.

#what people don't take, but need to.

#how useful some person can be to us.

shot:

# lead balls or balls of any other material that is used for blasting dust off of a surface

#a sound that can make any man's balls jump up.

#a chance that you could be the next man on the moon.

bull:

# almost an animal, but much more valuable than people.

#what you get when you give this to someone.

#what you give when you get this from someone.

son of a:

#born to someone

#born to something

#born to someone and something

spar:

#one dimensional element used to model anything with two degrees of freedom(i hope)

#what you do when some random guy starts hitting on your girl.

#when this gets damaged on an aeroplane, you better start praying.

Of Charm and Likeability

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I first came to know of Susan Boyle (47 yr old British singing sensation) through a news article in CNN. I wondered what drove people in the millions to see this video and wanted to see for myself. With all the cinematic editing and music score, it really was a thrilling video to watch. Not to mention the hopeless recessionary times. Following through, I watched several video clips of Britain's Got Talent on YouTube and sort of got addicted to the show. This post is about one recurring pattern I observed on the show.

Certain participants evoked enormous applause and affection from the audience. Even the ever-so-nasty Simon Cowell couldnt help but heap praise on them. Frankly, I too cheered along (stupid me sitting on my bed watching a 2 yr old video clip) for them and sincerely wished for each one to win or atleast make it big later on. I checked out every finalist of the 2007, 08 and 09 show to see if their lives had improved and mostly it had :)

Coming to the actual point of this post, how do certain people exude natural charm and likeability? It is understandable when you are talking to someone in person or over the phone. They might listen better, show interest, tone, body language, etc. But when it is such a big auditorium and the figure is just barely visible, leave alone facial expression, how are people able to identify with such "good" participants? This extends to other folks on YouTube channels (charlieissocoollike, for eg). I dont know what s about this charlie guy, but I just feel he must be a really nice dude. Given my always-thinking-why mind, I am not able to just let it be and enjoy these things. I need to know how and why :\ Your opinions and comments are most welcome.

Just in case you are interested to know, I really rooted for George Sampson, Andrew Johnston, Strike, eScala, 2Grand, Susan Boyle and some more who dont come to mind right now. In contrast, I wasnt that much into 2008's finalist Suleman (the michael jackson dancer) or Damon Scott (the monkey puppet guy) even. Before I m mistaken, I did not "dislike" them; their acts were really enjoyable. I just didnt root for them as much, thats all.

Why do people procrastinate

Yep, thats something I ve really wanted to know. Why exactly do we put off doing things that we very well know in our rational mind that are important and plain need to be done? I ve wondered about this for quite some time now and researched it extensively on the internet. However, everytime I came across the same drivel - organize your activities, manage your time, prioritize, visualize, blah blah.. After reading such articles, we usually make mental notes to follow and promptly forget it at first opportunity. Put simply, such pointers dont really help folks like me who ve put off things for over quarter of a century*. The problem must lie deeper. You know it does.

Not one to lose hope (and with no lack of time), I ploughed on till I saw light at the end of the tunnel. And I found it :D Days back, I came across an article that probed the real depths of this phenomenon and gave a very satisfactory and complete answer (to me) as to why we procrastinate. Now how can I keep such knowledge within without bursting out; hence this post. Friends, this post is not to ask your opinions/ideas on why we put off doing stuff (I ve read enough drivel on the topic already, thank you); but to actually *let you know* why. Enjoy the article. Bless the author.

www.counseling.caltech.edu/articles/procrastination.html

*Mom, I ll finish the feeding bottle later?
Also note clever use of the term "century" to make you readers visualize a looong period of time. he..he..