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Thursday, April 28, 2011

Nobita Zu - In A Caste Cask

Hi Readers,


Nobita Zu was telling me, "And then he asked me, "So Beta, which caste do you belong to, A?, B??, C???", it was so embarrassing that time, awful. I answered that I did not know, and I did not know, really"
I enquired, "Then did you take that house on rent ?".
"Yes, aur nahi to kya (Hindi - What else could I have done?), the house was good and I needed one urgently".
"But I still wonder, what your humble Caste had to do with your living in the house ?"
"In the most positive and healthy thought process, may be he was trying to find any caste relations for a unreasonable bonding to form, a sense of being of the same community".
"I understand there are folks out there, who externally show solidarity to the eradication of the caste as a factor of discrimination but at the same time find caste as a factor to base their judgement on."

Nobita Zu, further narrated his exploits with the caste. "While we were looking out for alliances for my marriage, we came across a plethora of situations where the interested families, first and foremost, took our Caste into consideration before meeting us or even acknowledging other details about me or my family".

He added, "I also know that, in the earlier times, till a few decades ago, Caste was a necessary aspect of a person's life because it positioned him in the society, one was in and also among the other societies which had similar Caste structure. Caste was then an enveloping cocoon of protection against people from other groups of society as it provided a support system, may it be in profession or personal conflicts".
"Caste also dictated, which profession one was going to pursue, thus giving a respite from the confusion created by one's aspirations and ambitions to go where no one had earlier gone. For a parent, this gave the assurance that the offspring will follow their profession and all the professional knowledge base will be transferred with the property associated with it."


Nobita paused for a moment and then reflected, "But, today, I do not understand the importance of the same, in the contexts of its usability. Today, choosing a profession is becoming polarized between, Technical and non-Technical professions, Engineering and Medical stream, Private and Government Jobs and Managerial and Non-managerial occupational roles. What one's parent precisely did becomes obsolete when the offspring gets to adulthood due to rapid modernization."

I opened a coke can and extended it towards Nobita. We did a - Cheers, with our cans making a clanking sound.

"As with context of the protection from the community against the conflicts between the persons belonging to the same community or another, I do not see this resonating with the change in dimensions of the social structure and services it provides to all its cohabitants". "Earlier, your community was the one which stood by you, irrespective of you being the wronged or the wrongdoer. People from different communities have migrated, shattering the boundaries of their villages and towns and formed another community altogether."

I interjected, "Yes Nobita, your reasoning is on the correct lines, but see, human beings are majorly driven by pre-conceived notions and the conventions that are pre-established. I understand that this is natural as we have faith, respect and devotion towards the deeds of our ancestors and the society they belonged to. Also change is good and at the same time hard to follow."

Nobita nodded, "Yes, my friend, yes I know. I hope things change for good since it is high time that it did."  


Friday, April 22, 2011

Biking Log_22_APR_2011

>> Start of log event <<

Hi Fellow Bikers,

Today is Good Friday and this is the day when the 3 day holiday package starts!! Therefore, biking can be enjoyed at any part of the day!! Happy Holidays to you all!!! Enjoy!



Nowadays, in Hyderabad, we are experiencing a light drizzle, every late evening and in the late nights! Due to which the mornings will be cloudy and the temperature will be down a Celsius or two.










I am sharing the log for today's biking session:

Biking Objective: Stamina Training with Speed of Biking in Focus a bit of photography will not harm ;).

Equipment: BSA SLR Photon Ex Single Speed Bicycle, a set of wrist guards, a set of elbow guards, a biking helmet, a pair of biking shoes.
Precondition: Above normal air pressure in the rear tyre air tube.
Time Line: 0830 IST.
Time Elapsed: 40 minutes.

Weather condition:
   Humidity: Normal.
   Wind: East-west breeze.
   Temperature: 26 deg C
Track condition: Wet and covered with leaves and twigs due to yesterday night's drizzle.

Biker's experience:

a. Excess sweat is causing problems as it is flowing down to the eyes and causing irritation due to the salt. Need to device a way to avoid this circumstance.
b. Since today too was an awesome day to start with and there were some new flowering trees blossomed in the track, I took some snaps of them. I am sharing them here.
c. Folks here are still staring at me in amazement due to the gear on me. I suppose it will pass in few more days when they will accept me as their fellow biker :)

>> End of log event <<

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Biking Log_21_APR_2011

>> Start of log event <<

Hi Fellow Bikers,

I am sharing the log for today's biking session:

Biking Objective: Stamina Training with Speed of Biking in Focus.

Equipment: BSA SLR Photon Ex Single Speed Bicycle, a set of wrist guards, a set of elbow guards, a biking helmet, a pair of biking shoes.
Precondition: Above normal air pressure in the rear tyre air tube.
Time Line: 0630 IST.
Time Elapsed: 40 minutes.

Weather condition:
   Humidity: Dry.
   Wind: No wind.
   Temperature: 29 deg C
Track condition: Dry and covered with leaves and twigs.

Biker's experience:

a. When one has above normal air pressure in the rear tyres of the bike then even the small bumps are magnified and smallest pits are bound to give greater shocks to the bike frame and therefore the biker.
b. Consistency is the key, keep on paddling even in the negative slopes. In the long run it will reduce the overall time.
c. When speed and time are the factors, then strategize the paddling energy according to the changing elevation of the track. Increase the speed when negative elevation is encountered.
d. This type of training is best for 1 to 5 mile races, where time is a factor.

>> End of log event <<

Which Jeans Are You Wearing Today?

Hi Readers,

The phenomenon called Jeans hit us, in India, around in the year 1997. I remember, in those days the stitch Denim Jeans was in vogue. In the festive seasons, folks used to buy 2.5 meters of pre-cut Denim cloth and had it stitched by the local Tailor as a Pantaloon or a Shirt for them. Denim was everywhere then, in all the garment shops.

Then the Denims began to fade, not figuratively but in reality. Back in 1998, in India, you had the options of Acid washed and Stone washed Denim Jeans. They looked as if the Pantaloon was donated to the garment shops by the Whitewasher of the shop. They had, those yellowish-white strips in the front thigh and under knee portions.

Denims were then, an undocumented and unchallenged clothing line. I guess since then we started to Bleed Blue and got the undeniable blue colour attached to this country's image. I also had got a pair of Denim Shorts and used to wear them to the play-ground in the evenings.

The reason behind its success was due to pure cotton cloth, high comfort levels, affordable cost and very high durability. Cost and durability are very critical in Indian consumer's mind. Denim was a hit! Also blue colour mostly suits all. Do not forget that history tells us that Blue was considered as the colour only to be worn by The Royals (Royal Blue). The Kings and the Queens only used to fashion themselves in blue. This idea has stuck in the minds of many.

Now moving ahead to the present times, the Simple Denim is no more simple. It has evolved, courtesy, the Fashion industry and a high consumer demand. I am no expert in the Jeans Fashion but I like to poke my legs in them once a while. My visit to a Jeans Garment shop always ends up with confusion and amazement, be it Pepe, a comapany started by Nitin Shah, Arun Shah and Milan Shah, in west London in 1973, or Lee, a company formed in 1889 by Henry David Lee in Kansas, US, or Wrangler, (Both Lee and Wrangler are presently owned by VF Corporation, Pennsylvania, US), or last but not the least Levi Strauss & Co., a company founded in 1853 by Levi Strauss.

There are a lot of variety in the type of stitch, fit and colour. Some of the noteworthy are as below:
Jeans Type
Features
Wider from the knees downward. They are also known as Bell-bottoms, Flare and Loon Pants.
These are made from the durable cotton cloth Corduroy. Thus the short name Cord.
Provides a relaxed fit with a loosely cut leg.
They are of length varying form mid thigh to mid lower leg. Suitable for sport wear.
They have a snug fit through the legs and end in a small leg opening that can be anywhere from 9" to 20" depending on size. Other names for this style include pegs, drainpipes, stovepipes, cigarette pants, pencil pants, skinny pants or skinnies.
They do not taper towards the leg ends and have normally the same circumference from the knees to the hem.
Low-rise jeans, worn by both men and women, are jeans intended to sit low on, or below, the hips. They are also called lowcut jeans, hipsters, hip-huggers and lowriders.

Jeans are there to stay for the coming times. It can also be one of the factors which will help in reducing the generation gap, in clothing at least. As I have observed that Jeans has been accepted by all ages alike.

Sunit.
(I was wearing Jeans at the time of writing this blog :) )

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Biking Log_20_APR_2011

>> Start of log event <<

Hi Fellow Bikers,

I am sharing the log for today's biking session:

Biking Objective: Strength Training.

Equipment: BSA SLR Photon Ex Single Speed Bicycle, a set of wrist guards, a set of elbow guards, a biking helmet, a pair of biking shoes.
Precondition: Below normal air pressure in the rear tyre air tube.
Time Line: 0635 IST.
Time Elapsed: 60 minutes approximately.

Weather condition:
   Humidity: Highly humid due to the previous night drizzle.
   Wind: Mild.
   Temperature: 27 deg C
Road condition: Wet and muddy due to the previous night drizzle.

Biker's experience:
a. Strength training is valuable for hilly region trips and highly elevated roads.
b. Consistency is the key.
c. Constant speed is to be maintained for a worthy training.

>> End of log event <<

Monday, April 18, 2011

The IT Life!

H Readers,

In India, with the beginning of a new Millennium, IT Engineering separated from its Papa, Mr Computer Engineering in the year of 2000, the same year it was recognised as a distinguished branch of Engineering in all Indian Universities. Since then, a decade has passed with so much to be taken notice of and discussed about.

IT Engineering, if discussed from the aspect of its age and maturity, is a sexy and confused teenager, high on hormones. Speaking about an IT Engineer, at present, she/he can only be 32 years old or less (Considering an age of 18-21 in the year 2000).

If we take an example of a different industry, like the corporate liberalised Banking & Finance sector, it is at least a century old, or the corporate construction sector, it is again more or less of the same age. Today, we can speak to a group of now retired personnels from these sectors, asking about their experiences and how was it like, spending the entire working life in these sectors. The same is not applicable to the IT sector. We can find Gurus in these industries who had started as a greenhorn and then have gone ahead to create a path which many are following, achieving great results!

One may ponder, if the maximum age an IT Engineer can attain as of today, is only 32, then the task of finding such a Guru in the industry is impossible. A Guru, who as an IT Engineer, has seen and done it all. A Guru who has faced the cut-throat competition in the last decade and has lived in the times when Engineering and especially the IT Engineering has experienced an exponential rise and a mind boggling boom. A Guru who can guide the IT industries and their workforce, more importantly who can be the Sachin Tendulkar for an individual IT Engineer.

In the absence of a Guru in the IT sector, an individual IT Engineer is running from pillar to post in search of guidance, as in how to proceed in this sector. Of course, she/he is accompanied by a group of educated and experienced folks, but she/he feels that they cannot help, since they are not from the same branch of the tree where they have taken their first flight of life. The nest may be the same, but not the branch! They feel, there is a Generation-Gap of some sorts! The peer folks are too, perplexed by the ever-transforming IT sector. There seems to be an anarchy or a wild fire, spreading in front of their eyes. As a result there are rumours and misinformation spreading about the IT sector on the topics of work culture, work related diseases, pay-packages, work ethics and its cultural impacts.

One may agree that yes, of course, there is a set of rules and guidelines which fit well in each sector, like the ethics, team work, conflict resolution etc., but at the same time there exists a set of specialities for each sector. That is where a Guru, comes into the picture.

Presently, an IT Engineer is hopelessly yearning for such a Guru. A Guru from the future, who would have seen it all, the one who can guide them.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Bleeding Blue Gadgets

Hi Readers,

Everybody is wired nowadays! Not to the brain scan machine, for a sanity check, but to the earphones. My daily commute to the office takes place in one of the Steel wagons running on a set of steel bars. People are sitting on the seats, hanging off the pole, standing and waiting for somebody to leave a seat vacant to be occupied -- they all seem to have come from the M.a.t.r.i.x movie.

A wire is hanging lose, black and sometimes white, from their auricles to a hand held device, or disappearing into the pant pockets. They are travelling in silence, having focussed their eyes at the infinity. They are listening to a radio channel, favourite song play-list, or just anything. I am observing them, too, with a wire hanging lose from my auricles. There is so much music being played in the wagon but there is only a constant clickety-clak of the wagon's steel wheels to be heard. There is a festival, one of a kind, being enjoyed, silently, in various languages, genres, eras, bit-rates and artists.

Then, one day, the devices start to bleed blue. They grow a new set of teeth, blue in colour and with those teeth they cut off the wire, chewing off the outer plastic fibre and twisting the copper inside with great stress, breaking it. They do not stop bleeding blue. They keep on filling the void with the bluish radiations of the spectrum range of 2.4 Ghz. The earphones grow in size and evolve in various sizes and shape. A wonderful transformation had taken place.

The music festival still is in place. Just the devices are now bleeding blue.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Maa Da Laadla Bigad Gaya!!

Hi Readers,

Yes, aakhir, maa da laadla bigad gaya!! How it happened, let me tell you!

At first, I faced utter disbelief and disgust from my friends!!

--- Call connected ---

me: Hello?
friend: Helloo!!
me: Kaisa hai be?
friend: Mast yaar, tu bata?
me: Yaar, maine ek cycle li hai, aaj!!
friend: Abe gadhe, pagal-wagal to nahi ho gaya? Cycle?? abe kya kar raha hai be tu waha Hyderabad me?
me: Abe, aisa kyun bol raha hai, esme kya problem hai?
friend: Chal bhag, pagal hai tu, sahi me yaar!

--- Call disconnected ---


Then I learned the logic of life and its path from my friends!!


--- Discussion @friend's place ---

friend: Aur Bhai bata, kya chal raha hai life me! Bada busy rehta hai aajkal?? Hai?
me: Nahi yaar, bas kuch dino pehle, ek Cycle li hai maine, to subah-shaam chalane jata hun!

friend: Abe Cycle?? Saala, yaha log-baag mast-mast bike le rahen hai, badi-badi gadiya khareed rahen hai, aur tu Cycle? Kya ho gaya, pagal-wagal to nahi to gaya na? Satak gaya hai tu, sahi me!
me: yaar tum log to aaj kal mera dil todne me lage hue ho :(

friend: Abe, Bhai sach bol raha hu yaar. Yaar! Tu bike wike le, aish maar, zindagi ke maje le. Etne paise kama raha hai, uska kya aachaar dalega, bata?
me : Ab, tumhari baat bhi sahi hai ;(

--- End of Discussion ---


After that I had the ultimate showdown with parents!!

--- In the midst of an ordinary daily status call with parents, after office ---

maa : Beta, khana-wana thik thak chal raha hai na?
me: Ha, maa.
maa: Aur dahi-wahi le raha hai na rooj?
me: Ha, maa.
maa: Fruits-shoots?
me: Ha, maa. Maa, maine cycle khareeda hai. Blue col....
maa: kyaaaaaa???????
me: Ha, naa!
maa: Uff kyun beta, kya hua?
me: Nahi aise hi. Bahut man kar raha tha!
maa: Beta tu hyderabad me reh ke badal gaya hai!

--- Topic change :P ---

In the background, a song was playing, "Maa Da Laadla Bigad Gaya"...



Sunday, April 10, 2011

Display Dilemma: LCD vs LED!

Hi Readers,

Early on, in my adolescence, I had the vision of and knew the future of the Display Industry. I do not know how, but I saw it coming. Then it came and it had hit fast and strong!

When I was in the Engineering college (year 2005), we had the black monolith IBM machines in the computer labs. They looked robust and at the same time unfriendly! Then too we used to spend a few hours with them with regularity and dedication as they were the sole windows to the outside world courtesy, the Internet.

One day, I was walking through the corridors of the college, suddenly I said to my friend, walking by my side, that, "Do you see those Black Monitors guzzling big chunks of electricity".  "Yes", said he. I told him back, "I don't". I promised, without any thought or base, that soon we will be looking at the slick LCD monitors kicking these things out. At that time, I did not know that, to my surprise, the next Monday when we entered the computer lab, what I promised that will happen, happened (I thought God was listening to me or what?)! CRTs were replaced with LCDs. Oh my Godddddd!!!!

Till date, I had assured myself that the above incident was just a coincidence! But cannot now!!

TOO BE Continued!!
{UNFINISHED}

Friday, April 8, 2011

Nobita Zu's Marriage!

Hi Readers,

You surely must have been introduced to my good friend, Nobita Zu. He is getting married! But there is something worth noticing in this marriage. The fiancĂ©e of Nobita is the only child of her parents just as Nobita is. It presents a peculiar circumstance for their future due to absence of siblings of the bride and the groom.

Let me describe how. Lets suppose M weds W. Now lets iterate through the relationships developed due to this marriage for M:

W's Mother = Saas
W's Father = Sasur
W's Sister = Saali (not the gaali)
W's Brother = Saala (not the gaali)

Now for W:
M's Mother = Saas
M's Father = Sasur
M's Sister = Nanad
M's Brother = Devar

Now after a few years, C is born. For C:
M/W's Mother = Daadi
M/W's Father = Dada
W's Sister = Masi
W's Sister's Husband = Maosa
W's Brother = Mama
W's Brother's Wife = Mami
W's Brother's children = Mamere Bhai/Bahen
M's Sister = Buaa
M's Sister's Husband = Foofa
M's Sister's children = Foofere Bhai/Bahen
M's younger Brother = Kaka
M's younger Brother's wife = Kaki
M's elder Brother = Chacha
M's elder Brother's wife = Chachi
M's Brother's children = Chachere Bhai/Bahen



Now for Nobita and her wife, the above will not be applicable as they do not have siblings and therefore each will make only 2 new relations out of their wedlock and their child will lose not less than 10 relations.

During summer or winter vacations, C will be finding it hard to believe that he has nowhere to spend his days at. No - "Mama ke ghar ja rahe hai", No - "Chachi ne ghar bulaya hai". Maybe then C will find more time for GOA!!!

Cycle Trip!

Hi Readers,

I have been cycling for a month now! It is fun for sure! Sheer human power driving you, faster, faster and more faster.

When one is on it, exploration of unknown and unvisited streets, lanes and by-lanes seems instinctive and voluntary. During one such voluntary expedition, today, I stumbled upon a awesomely beautiful and a bicyclist's paradise, a dream come true!!

Here are some of the snaps, I took of it! 

 
 This quite and inviting empty tar lane is one of the most soothing place ever visited on bike.

This time of the year, the Spring Season, the Golden Medallion trees or Cassia Leptophylla trees are at their best. I loved it and therefore will go there tomorrow to catch that breathless sight. Just see how the flowers have covered the path ends and coloured it in yellow. When the bike rolls on them, the flowers flutter! Nearby Bougainvillea adds to the beauty. 

Another beautiful sight of the Golden Medallion tree flower covered road.


Golden Medallion trees