Random Rants/Adventures in Life

I have always wondered why it easy to get people to commit to a hike (and actually show up) when at the end of the hike is a waterfall or any water-body!! I found the true explanation (and a quote and image on top of that!!) in the Shenandoah Overlook magazine. " When the strongest force of water we experience in our daily lives is from the shower head or garden hose, the power of unrestrained, wild water is thrilling. Millions of gallons of water coursing over a rocky edge, tumbling down, crashing into rocks and pools with bouncing sprays delight our senses. The power and grace of unfettered nature can be awe-inspiring. At the base of any waterfall, you can find people simply gazing, lost in contemplation. Some find the waterfall a symbol of self renewal. Some are soothed by the rushing sounds of water against rock. " Never shall I forget these glad cascade songs, the low booming, the roaring, the ken silvery clashing of the cool water rushing exulting from form t...

The journey home Is never too long Your heart arrives before the train The journey home Is never too long Some yesterdays always remain I'm going back to where my heart was light When my pillow was a ship I sailed through the night The journey home Is never too long When open arms are waiting there The journey home Is never too long There's room to love and room to spare I want to feel the way that I did then I'll think my wishes through before I wish again Not every road you come across Is one you have to take No, sometimes standing still can beThe best move you ever make The journey home Is never too long One helps to heal the deepest pain The journey home Is never too long Your heart arrives before the train. ( Song from ‘Bombay Dreams’ ) It has been four long, sometimes frustrating, sometimes unbelieving, every day a new journey, but I am finally heading home. Not home, where I live, but home where the heart is . Since January 2002, I have spent many days on end staring...

Dilbert and his co-workers get some end of the year "advice" from pointy-head :) Cartoon Courtesy : Dilbert.com - Daily Dose of Humor

"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use." -- Galileo Galilei The problem of belief lies in the need for the human being to be sure. He thinks that his belief is sure when he ignores all other voices - within himself and within humanity - and gives himself up to his "beliefs." - Unknown It has often amazed me that how as a species continue to lay importance to such trivial matters like religion. Religion, according to me is something private, something sacrosanct. I am not a firm believer in religion, neither am I an atheist. I prefer my own way, I make not so frequent trips to the temple, there could be times where I would go “religiously” and at the same time, there could be months before I step into a temple. It is interesting to see that the word “religiously” also creeps in our dialogue. By definition, it is meant to signify any activity which we do regularly, wit...

Sometimes you come across Dilbert strips which blow you away, posting a strip which many of us can relate to @ work, enzoiiii Comic Strip Courtesy : Dilbert

One o f tho se Hokie matches where you just wishhhhhhhhhh you wer e there, well, not in body, b ut in mind, the D-Hokie was with the 66000 Hokie faithful who rocked Lane and made sure B C got their rear ends kicked.. Some images, match review is at ESPN . Image Courtesy: ESPN

Pictures don't lie and stats reveal more than they should !! Sorry Terp Fans, but after all the yelling and cussing, all you get is one helluva butt kicking !! Hokies 28 Terps 09 Hokies Total Yards 497 (211 passing, 286 rushing) Terps Total Yards 254 (158 passing, 96 rushing) Stick to playing Division II teams, that is where ya all belong !! The Turtle has been grounded !!

Only brave warriors fall from their horses in battle, How can kneeling cowards know what a fall is? This quote sums up our foreign policy to a "T". Stumbling and bumbling along from one disaster to another, India has never put a coherent strategy. Due to the inability of our foreign office mandarins (no doubt, all products of that “esteemed” bed of commie thoughts – JNU), we have always shielded from taking any proactive steps on anything. This total lack of sense and gummed up thinking is strikingly clear in our dealings with China. After getting humiliated in 1962, we still have not realized that it is not Pakistan that is our enemy but CHINA . Pakistan has played the game of “The dog benefits when two men fight” and consistently whined and groveled its way to foreign aid. It is our inability to connect the dots together that will doom us. My enemy’s friend is my friend – Old Saying My frustration at our inept handling and outburst happened on reading Nitin Pai ’s excellent...

Blog Title Inspiration - Rediff India Review Standard Disclaimers - All the content of this post is not owned by the author of the post, it was written by his Alter Ego. Please read the external links at your own risk, Author or his alter ego not responsible for any mental trauma associated with reading too much about the Great Prof Better late than never I have been a silent spectator to the entire IIPM issue and the virtual war it has unleashed. There is no defense of IIPM and its high handed techniques. To summarize Patrix (of DesiPundit fame), the core issue here is FREEDOM. In this age where we increasingly take this simple word for granted, what IIPM is doing and has been trying to do is to take away one thing we have which is truly ours and that is FREEDOM, particularly freedom of expression , freedom of choice, the ability and the opportunity to point out flaws in an argument without losing sense of rationality. Victor Frankl once pointed out; everything can be taken fr...

Where have I gone ?

One of the advantages of living near Washington DC is the proximity of the Shenandoah National Park and a host of other national and state parks. Shenandoah, as other National Parks in United States is maintained by the National Park Service. It is a very serene place with plenty of stuff to do. I have gone there repeatedly in all seasons and have always been amazed at the breadth of activities and the changes which natu re throws back at me. It is truly amazing to have such an oasis so close to the nation's capital and yet find it so beautifully maintained. I have had the fortune of going to equally beautiful national parks like the Sequoia National Park in California and the Cape Hatteras National Seashore in North Carolina.While ruminating about the effectiveness of National Parks in providing a way to recharge your batteries, I was thinking about a trip I took to the Gir National Forest in India, the last abode of the Asiatic lion. Gir is one of the "better" maint...

Sounds familiar ??? Roomie 1. Arrgh, nothing to do on a Sunday afternoon Roomie 2. Let us head to the Neighborhood Store (NB) to see if they have something new Roomie 1. Naah, he has nothing new to offer....... In an age where everything is delivered direct to doorsteps,it is not surprising that a subscription service for Media would follow. Traditional video rental (both in India and United States), involves stores, manned by store employees and carry a certain number of titles. You pick up the an available title from a selection, pay the price and return it in the allocated time, else you are subjected to late return fine. A proof of identity is usually required, either through a Credit Card (CC) orHome Address (HA). Brief Description of how Netflix works In the case of Netflix, for $19.95 per month, a member can get up to three titles at a time sent to his house through first class postal service, up to eight for a higher subscription rate. There are no late fees and no due date...

The media manipulation with respect to movie reviews has already been well chronicled. It is a very well known fact that journalists covering movies are either in pro-director or anti-director groups. Consequently, you have well known reviewers like Roger Ebert giving thumbs up to movies which would not be worth even a first glance. These movies then go on to do a reasonable amount of business because people would think, "If Roger has endorsed it, we should go and check it out". This trend is all the more amplified in Bollywood. "Journalists" like Taran Adarsh of IndiaFM fame routinely pan work other than that by either the Chopras or Karan Johar. Of course, any movie starring SRK gets the most favorable rating. While I doubt the real impact of his rating scale (after all, SRK has his die-hard fans, review or no review), it is his "negative shade" about other movies that makes people think and then Not see the movie. A case in point is the movie "Seha...

An interesting speech by the outgoing US Ambassador to India. "WHAT INDIA MEANS TO ME" Ambassador Robert D. Blackwill A Luncheon Speech Sponsored By The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) on July 29, 2003 in New Delhi, India. " Throughout my two years in New Delhi, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) have been vital to the promotion of US-India relations. I especially salute FICCI's support in the establishment of the Indo-US Parliamentary Forum. This important body allows lawmakers from the world's two largest democracies to exchange views on a wide range of issues facing our countries. I would like to thank all of you from FICCI for your extraordinary efforts and for inviting me here today. Ten days ago, I gave my final policy speech as US Ambassador to India. Today, I shall share with you personal thoughts about how this country has shaped me during these past two years. Unlike Siddhartha, my med...

Frequently, most of us want to wind out either in-between a long day or at the end of a long day. I don't like to store my mp3 files and many people I know can't download anything on their office machines. How to listen to some randomly selected Indian music? The choice is to face some annoying pop ups from Raaga or Smash Hits or........... Check out Desi Radio . My initial reaction is of guarded surprise, the collection is eclectic, there are no nasty advertising pop-ups and the collection seems to be pretty varied. Desi Radio recommendation via Confusion Personified , a "blog" maintained by Aditya Parikh

Really funny and interesting email forward from Alok Mehta http://live.indiatimes.com/ppt/270904A/index.html

I had to run some errands at the Mall and decided (in vain, I would add) that Sunday morning seems a good enough time. Popped in a couple of new CDs' and zipped out of my parking lot. Very soon, I was taking the ramp towards the interstate and lo and behold, what I would see is a parking lot in front of me. Yuckkkkkkks, the entire interstate on my side was turned in a three lane parking lot with cars at a virtual standstill. I felt like the boat trapped in a storm and having nowhereto run !! Finally, I managed to navigate slowly to mall (a distance of 8 miles consuming an hour). While coming back (thankfully, it was not bad, I recall Sharath's excellent blog piece on Urban sprawl and my subsequent discussions with him about the traffic congestion and what it means in the long run. Sometimes, I wonder if traffic congestion is the price we pay since we want to live in economically developed areas, closeto work and close to shopping centers. The basic problem of our society is n...

I was "trawling" through the blog world and came across an excellent article by Bjorn Lomborg , a Swedish environmentalist who uses statistics to "dispel" several myths about the environment. While I personally do not agree with several of his view points, he does make a very interesting case in the article, " The truth about the Environment ". He also has a very famous book, " The Skeptical Environmentalist " in which he has outlined a lot more than the core article. There is an equally well written piece on TAI which tries to bring the "truth" about the "Truth about the environment" HERE . Pretty rivetting stuff. Opinions, thoughts, anyone?