Rants, Raves and Ramblings of a Doer

Recession's Repercussions

Thursday, December 17, 2009 Posted by Vishnu 4 comments
Years from now, one evening  on a weekday,  a child would return from school, throws his bag away on the sofa, and gets ready to join his friends in a game of cricket. His mother, who just sees all his  moves, warns her laadla: "Padle beta nahin tho Recession ka shikhaar ban jaaayega". Her caveat would not have been baseless, she would have been a victim herself to the 'Recession 09'.

Not being an absolute believer of the Media, I was not very concerned when I read the news: It's Official: U.S in a Recession. I considered the genuineness of the news to be 30% and apportioned 70% to the media hype. Whenever I read the news saying: XYZ company about to costs by terminating jobs of 500, 1000, 2000 employees, I always wondered, how come I don't come across a single person who has lost his job recently. That gave me another reason to criticize Media, which I bet most of the people would do.
                                                                                                                                              
Days passed by as more unemployement hit the news. Every day I read the news, atleats one major company used to creep up the headlines. All throughout this phase I never encountered anyone who lost their job. One fine day, in July I believe, when the Networking giant Sprint / Nextel laid thousands of employees and that is when I encountered people hit by recession. There were recent graduates, experienced professionals, international immigrants with families .. everyone. They had to try umpteen ways to surf through the recession wave.

While some had to lose their jobs, several had to wait and are still waiting to find one. I know people who have graduated in May 2008 and are still on the hunt. One of my friend had to go back to India as she was finding it tough to handle herself without a job here. She was a Graduate from Clemson and believe me she is so good at coding but she never found one that could suit her profile. A very close friend of mine was laid off even after his H-1 was sponsored and approved by his employer. And the one that awed me the most was, one of my friends was supposed to get wedded this November and the marriage was stalled because the groom had lost his job in the U.S and he could not travel to India because of Immigration problems.

I know there would have been many others who are experiencing the heat, as a matter of fact, I am myself  one of them. My dad always keeps asking me: "Hows the situation there? Has it been any better?" and I believe most of you would have been facing the same question from your dear ones. Do not lose hope brothers, the monster does not beam over us for too long and hope everyone would fall out of the wrath very soon.

The Inglorious Countrymen

Tuesday, December 08, 2009 Posted by Vishnu , , 10 comments
A furore over a deep rooted issue; ringing back to 1946, when the Nizams rule was just fading. The last Nizam ruler never wanted Hyderabad to be merged into Indian Union as he wanted the princely state of Hyderabad to be governed by the Nizams. Pressurizing the annexation of the Hyderabad state into Indian territory, the Indian Central government sent an army to finish this task and finally on 17 September 1948, the state was declared as integral territory of the Indian Union. The basic motto behind this instigation is SELFISHNESS of the Nizam ruler. After the 1st elections in 1952, Burgula Ramakrishna Rao was elected as the Chief Minister of the Hyderabad State. Being aware that he was not to lead the new State, he exhibited great foresight, spirit of sacrifice and statesmanship in agreeing to merge Telangana with Andhra State to give birth to Andhra Pradesh.

The disputes over this region were never buried and they were stirred once in a decade by some or the other SELFISH politicians. Remember this, no one else raised this issue other than the leaders in the opposition party.  Once they are into the ruling side, they forget all the promises and priorities on their agenda. The Seperate Telangana  State Movement in 1969 was reasonable as there was agitation behind the movement that the people of Telangana were deprived of their rights and that they were exploited of their resources. Despite electoral successes, some of the new party leaders who then supported the Separate state for Telangana, gave up their agitation in September 1971 and, much to the disgust of many separatists, rejoined the safer political haven of the Congress ranks. You can find the SELFISHNESS of the politicians here again.

After 1969, the movement was again provoked by BJP and they could not keep up their pre-election promises, again due to SELFISHNESS. Start of the 21st century saw a new start to this movement with the establishment of a new party called TRS with the single point agenda of creating a separate Telangana state, with Hyderabad as its capital lead by Kalvakuntla Chandrasekhar Rao popularly known as KCR. Since last week, the tension has mounted in the city of Hyderabad with the ruthless acts of Mr. KCR. It was a good decision that he went on a hunger strike and decided to take the Gandhian way. Inspite of breaking his fast, unnoticed, he still claims to be on hunger strike and disguises the role of an able leader, which he is not.

The student bodies at Osmania University, Hyderabad went on a strike and called for a bandh which I bet , would have been causing immense trouble for all the employees, students, tourists and many others including the 'Telanganites'. It is a well known fact that the strike and bandh were stirred by the political bodies, the student leaders are well gripped by these youth associations who would have been promised a party ticket and a MLA seat post their electoral win. Now, it is these SELFISH student leaders and youth associations which are benefited from all these riots and processions. I wonder how people get engrossed in all these stuff which hinder the economical, industrial and financial progress and stumble the state of balance in a state.

You might want to quiz yourself with the following questions if you  feel that there is a need for a separate state for Telangana:
  • Were you ever deprived of quality education because of migrants from other parts of the state?
  • Have you ever been a victim of racism shown by other people?
  • Did you ever lose a job because another person from a different region was preferred on regional basis?
  • Who cultivates the cereals and pulses that you eat daily?
  • Where does all the steel come from?
  • If there is justice in your demand for a separate Telangana, then there is justice in Kashmir being claimed by Pakistani's as well. Do you welcome this?
  • Do you have able leaders who can govern the state without SELFISHNESS?
You are living in a modern world where mutual co-existence is critical and a nation can flourish only when there is unity among its subjects.  I was born in Eluru but right from the 2nd month I was brought up in Hyderabad, I have lived in Rezimental Bazaar in Sceunderabad which is a 'Basti' where 'Bonalu' cleberations are usually at their best  and also in 'Malkajgiri' which is no less a core-Telangana region. I was never deprived of any rights as an individual. I believe that it all depends on the social awareness and your maturity levels.

I was surprised to see that there was a procession here in the US as well, in support to the 'Jai Telangana' movement . You feel that there is a need for a separate Telangana state, good! And I believe the basic reason you want that is because you feel that 'Telanganites' are treated as under-privileged and their resources are being exploited, Right!? Remember that you are an Indian Immigrant in US and how do you feel if they do not provide the opportunities that you are enjoying currently?

Finally, for all the hardcore fans and supporters of Mr. KCR, here is a small snippet.

While widening my view over this issue, I found a few links which  I thought, you'd be interested in looking at:
  1. http://beacononline.wordpress.com/2008/07/03/big-fight-for-small-states/
  2. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Will-Chandrasekhara-Rao-become-another-Raju-guide/articleshow/5305368.cms
  3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkS0fg7LDEc
I do not intend to hurt anyone's feelings. I just spoke my heart out. Its not that I'm against the separation of Telangana. I just wanted to make an effort to make people realize that there are many cons associated with it. I just don't want people from other states or countries to 'laugh' at us. 


JAI HIND.

Soccerholics then .... Titans now

Wednesday, November 25, 2009 Posted by Vishnu , , 7 comments
I have just returned to my desk after a Pre-Thanksgiving lunch in the conference room. Nancy , who is a proud mother of Daniel who plays for the Lawrence Free State Soccer team (Fire birds), arranged the snack for all of us. She played the soccer video cd which was given to each of the students who was graduating from the high school. She does this kind of stuff everytime, she keeps updating the staff members about the game fixtures / results, she shares the photos in which Daniel is captured playing. By the time I finished watching the entire video, it left me with nostalgia and I pondered over a few thoughts.
My parents never really thought about watching me playing soccer. They really don't know what sort of a player I am. They never let me down when I wanted anything, their answer was always a Yes, either it is summer coaching cap in Class 5,6,7 or participation in tournaments at Bits Pilani (for 2 consecutive yrs) or Football Selections in Anantapur. But I always wished they watch me playing. It was not only with my parents, many of the parents (in India) do not choose to be present at a camp or a match when their childre show their talent. Probably, this might be one of the factors because of which most of the athletic talent gets burried before it raises to a good level. I never had any of the girls watch it either. I had so many friends among girls in engineering, they all knew that I loved playing football and I'm good at it, but never did any of them intended to come and watch us play. The only people who showed up to the field were juniors and my friends. (They were plenty of support to us). We used to drive to different places to support other teams (cricket, basketball, volleyball) and they used to cheer us when we used to play tournaments.

The video also stirred up Nostalgia in me, I got back to all those moments when we used to celebrate / grieve upon victories and defeats. I used to bunk the last two clases eveyday not to miss out any chance of playing a game. Not just me, but I used to provoke a couple of others to join me. We used to play inside the classroom during lunch breaks, sometimes the ball used to go out of bounds and it scared the girls a couple of times ;). I cried non-stop for 30 mins when we lost the final match against ECE during my 1st yr. I used to save all my money that I earned to buy a good pair of studs. We collected donations to buy the balls as the P.E.T (Pithapuram) was a big headache in providing the eqipment for us.

We named ourselves "Soccerholics" after we gained some self-confidence that we could make a good team. As a team, we never had any significant victory outside our college but the passion for Football never really died. Everyone was as enthusiastic as I am which gave me the extra inch to do all this. The team name was eventually changed to Titans and I read that they had a few victories under their belts and I was glad to hear that. I felt very good everytime I see a new person joining us on the ground. Just that it gives me more and more satisfaction to meet people who have similar interests just as I do.

Ever since I bid farewell to BVRIT, I thought I'd never get a chance to play soccer again. But friends keep me alive by showing me alternatives. I very well remember my last days in VA when we played soccer with 10 people in each team, I never thought I could see myself getting such a wonderful farewell. If it was Keral, Sai and Polu in ODU, it is these Jayhawks here in KS.  Cheers!

Being late than ever but still ON TIME!

Thursday, November 19, 2009 Posted by Vishnu , No comments
I know its not just me. I know that none of you are always punctual, okay atleast half of you guys; okay lets make a deal, most of you try to be punctual but you get late at times. I'm a guy who idolizes people who are punctual, I also try to be punctual but I end up failing all the times. I won't say that I'd be the last one to be present at a meeting or last one to come to the office but I'm almost always late for most of the schedules (be it office or meeting friends or a movie ).

The last weekend, I overslept until 10.00 and 11.00 AM, taking full advantage of the weekends. Sunday night's sleep bossed over me, by not allowing me to see the clock until 8.45 AM. I heard the alarm, I muted its voice considering it to be my arch rival since ages and i thought all this was in my dream. At 8.45 AM I smell something is not right and I wake up to see if the earth has stopped rotating (Its always easy to blame others ;)) . The next thing I remember is waking up Madhuri and giving her the breaking news that we are going to be late to our respective offices. Surprisingly, her brian worked faster than mine (:p) and asked me to call my boss and intimate him that I'd be late to work and so did she.

Having decided to report to work at 9.00, I thought I had ample time to get ready but somehow by the time I reached my office, I didn't have a second to spare. I was there in the office exactly at 9.00. I was so happy that I was on time to office after so many days but then realized the fact that I was actually an hour late.

No matter how early I wake up, I end up reaching late to work. Sometimes it is the traffic but most of the times its just me! At 7.00, I push away all the snoozes and try to barge into the real world from my dreamy senses. At 7.15, I merrily brush my teeth and chalk out the plan for the rest of the day while in shower, which will keep me occupied until 7.40. That is when I realize that I still need time for sipping my coffee and gulping my breakfast, if any! Finally, I curse myself for starting off at 7.55 and ending up at my desk at 8.05 or 8.10.

The whole concept of running behind time dates back to school and engineering days . I know how I used to pedal my bicycle so fast that I would not be marked late for the first period in school.  Even after I grew up, I had to walk at least a mile to catch the bus to college and I used to run all the way to the bus stop in 3 minutes. Sometimes, when things get much worse, I used to ask my dad to give me a ride to the bus stop and as expected my dad used to scold me all through the way until I board the bus. Sometimes I used to take the riding seat, so that my dad doesn't get enough time to scold me (I drive pretty fast, so half the time my dad used to hang onto the pillion tightly ;))

But I am still proud of myself for managing so many things while I drive. Wearing my socks and shoes, looping my belt, talking to parents / friends back home ..... and I'm still surviving because of the fact that:

The new guy @ Work

Tuesday, November 03, 2009 Posted by Vishnu , 2 comments
Just as I do every evening, I went to work at I.P and I see this new face, glancing everyone and everything with a bland expression. When I refer bland, I intend to say zero / nil / null. A few minutes later, I overheard the conversation between Raja and Madhuri, he asked her to train this new guy on board. We were asked to teach him everything right from serving to cleaning the tables. 

Initially, that guy looked very perplexed. I can understand how one feels on his 1st day at a new workplace, so all of us tried to bring him into the comfort zone. After a couple of days he was doing okay and that is when I could see the real picture. This guy is basically a Gujju and has the typical accent (the  ---- ne ---- suffix). As in, "aap ne kaha na" is pronounced as "aap ne kaha neeee(nay)" and he mixes that with English. Just after interacting for a couple of hours, Madhuri asked him if he knew how to speak English :D


Everyone gave him their share of tips and advices and then there was a day off for me while Madhuri had to work that day. That day she comes and explains this scene: " I was giving him the dishes to be served at the table and the next order was Chicken Tandoori (usually it is served on a hot plate, so it has to be handled carefully). Accidentally, he burnt his finger and just as any Indian does, he put that finger in his mouth! The next minute a couple of customers entered the restaurant and he ended up showing them where to sit. Can you guess how he directed them to the table????    


 
The next day, after I came in to the restaurant, I taught him how to accompany customers to the table with a smile on their face and how to greet them. He started to receive them at the door the very next moment with a broad smile which never ends until they get seated (Just like the Happy Dent White ad). He was standing there next to the table just like the traffic signal. I am sure the customers might have had a hard time with this guy around. 

Added to all this, he walks as if he was former Mr. India with heights of attitude and does not want to follow anyone's order. He does not care to turn back and see if everything is fine at the table once the food is served. He needs his assistant (ME) to go and see if everything was okay. With zero body hygiene , he feels like he is the celebrity there at I.P. 


These days, I made another striking observation. Whenever someone walks into the restaurant, he ogles at them until they get seated and order something to eat. Non-desis would definitely get offended with this behaviour someday and I'm sure he's gonna get it really bad. I pity Boss's condition, the numerous ways he has been trying to lose his business. Someday it would go to the docks and the start of that is right there merrying around in the restaurant.

 

Yes! I'm a Family Man!

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 Posted by Vishnu , 3 comments
This post would be apt for anyone who would like to criticize their friends after he/she entered a relationship and started neglecting you, no matter how dear you are.

If you think that I'm not sparing time towards you as I did before just because another person has entered my life, then you can surely call me a Family Man! I'll feel honored.  If I had the same intentions to avoid/neglect you I'd have done it the very next day I entered into relationship with her. For that matter, I'd have done that even during the 4 years of engineering life when so much of stuff was going on. Remember! I never stopped talking to any of my friends or visiting them.

Had I been a Family Man, I'd have stopped talking to everyone including Sai, Keral, Venu and everyone else. I'd rather lead a secluded life with my girl friend instead of planning trips with all you guys. Yes, I had cut down the time drastically that I used to spend on phone calls but is it being a Family Man, the only reason for that? Don't you think your actions were a major reason for that? So what do you expect from me? Keep pampering you for all the shit that you have been doing for the past couple of years even after the numerous suggestions that I gave you.  I believe, no one would have given you so many suggestions as I did, I can bet on that, neither Manoj, Prathima, Ajay nor Madhuri. You lost the right to scorn me of my behavior towards you.

I have to keep pleading you to come over to Kansas to stay with me and you chose to stay in Houston, fine! You go to Atlanta not once but twice, fine! Its your choice. You get ready to spend money for the wedding gift for Deepthi, fine! And you don't have money when I ask you if you can join me in Virginia! That was the day I stopped adoring you. Don't link all this to the India trip, I already warned you not to have so many expectations from that trip as it was the 1st time that I was seeing her in person after we got committed to each other and I had to spend time with my parents as well.

Dude, even now I am ble to squeeze in time for everything, including phone calls but the only thing is I need some personal space too. All I wanted from you was to support me by understanding my concerns and it always ended up the other way round, me supporting you.

Had you ever tried, handling so many responsibilities at a single time? Did you ever have any kind of problems in your family while you were here in U.S? Did you clear off your loans, first of all do you have any? Did you ever spend time towards games /sports?

If you answered 'Yes' to all of them and still you are able to manage time as I'm doing, then I'm definitely the 'Jhoru-ka-Ghulam' as many say. But I can proudly say that she does not allow me to be one nor do I choose to be.  Grow up! Start accepting few things. Did I ever behave with Venu like this, but we both have a healthy friendship going on. Stop cribbing about things like a typical girly GIRL!

Somethings will never change

Thursday, September 24, 2009 Posted by Vishnu , 1 comment
It has been more than a forty years and some people never changed.

The whole background story is written here for a better understanding of the post.

In short: 
Long ago,  a few years after Indian Independence, the hottest discussion on board was the issue of National Language for the newly formed Hidustan / India. A few politicians had taken a different guard when there was a debate on emulating Hindustani (Hindi) as the National Language of India.Of them, one of the key personalities was Mr. M. Karunanidhi.

Politicians then, had foreseen that there might be danger posed to Dravidian languages esp. Tamil if Hindi was imposed as a first langauge on the South Indians. They immediately protested on Hindi being declared as a mandatory medium to conduct business. They were afraid that Tamil and Tamilians would have no individual future if Hindi was imposed as a first language on them, which actually makes sense to me. Had been Hindi was followed, ignoring their respective regional languages, India would have lost so many dialects with time.

The struggle went on for over a decade and finally it was declared that Hindi would be the National Language and has to be instructed in schools and other educational institutions at some level. However, having considered all the dispraties associated with having one common platform for communcation among the diverse Indian population, the Government of India declared that business and other meetings can be proceeded in English or any regional language for that matter. Having said that, they  wanted every Indian to be well-literarate in the National Language as well. So they made Hindi to be a mandatory subject during the secondary education level.

However, Tamilians did not like this idea and they boycotted Hindi as a medium of instruction. I have heard people saying that they were subjected to injustice which I completely disagree.

Its not just you who were asked to practice Hindi. Every state under the Republic of India were asked to do so. I agree that it is by the strong dedication of Mr. Rajagopalachari and others that we secured the right to continue using our  respective Regional Languages for communication and we are all grateful to them for that. But that does not mean that you insult your national language by boycotting it.

Years after everything is so modernized and everyone is busy in their fast-moving world, this renowned politician digs out baseless issues and stirs the media on the same. Read this. The matter does not end there. Youngsters who don't even know what the situation was, decades before, think that they were cheated without even knowing the ace of base. They feel insulted and that is the reason they qoute when someone asks the, "Why is that you don't know Hindi" or "How come you don't follow Hindi" which sounds purely absurd to me.

It is nothing that I have something against them but think outside the box!! And my sincere plea to the leaders would be to STOP POLITICIZING THIS ISSUE FURTHER!!

Heights of 'News'lessness

Wednesday, September 02, 2009 Posted by Vishnu , 1 comment

Without having much choice on what kind of news I want to read / see, I started following the CNN IBN Live website for the National and International news of late. Initially, I was pretty much impressed with the quality of the news that they were providing. With the recent popularity that it has gained through the Live TV on the internet, I could see the gradual commercialization of the website. 

They do not allow me to read the news anymore, its like visiting their website for advertisements, not for the NEWS.

The advertisements creep on to the news sections, you have to close them individually to view the headlines. Okay now, I am patient enough to close all the ads and see the headlines and there it is, in headlines "Obama can cook Dal  and admires Cricket". Oh Sorry! Forgive me for closing all the pop-ups for this sick headline news. The advertisements make more sense than this kind of news. I could not resist myself from going into detail, as I wanted to see the vital content behind this headline which fueled it up to the front page (My bad!). 

I agree Mr. Shahrukh Khan is well known celebrity and a high profile Indian citizen. But, is he more admirable or than Rev. Dr. Kalam? You have no issues on frisking respected Dr. Kalam while boarding the flight but it is a sensational news for the media to cash if Mr. Khan is stopped on a foreign soil on security grounds. This time, I counted the number of days it was on the website before the issue went completely unseen. Trust me, it was on the web site for 7 full days. This time I did not make the mistake of dwelving into the main content. I hated it!

I've stopped visiting the CNN IBN website (not completely though - I vist that on weekends). I'm follwoing Google News and am happy about that.

This happens only in America

Thursday, August 27, 2009 Posted by Vishnu , 1 comment
Did anyone wonder, there are certain weird / absurd / interesting (whatever you call it) in America which no one can atleast think of.


  
  1. Only in America......can a pizza get to your house faster than an ambulance. 
  2. Only in America......are there handicap parking places in front of a skating rink. 
  3. Only in America......do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front. 
  4. Only in America......do people order double cheese burgers, large fries, and a diet coke. (Funniest of all :D)
  5.  Only in America......do banks leave both doors open and then chain the pens to the counters. 
  6. Only in America......do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our useless junk in the garage. 
  7. Only in America......do they use answering machines to screen calls and then have call waiting so that they won't miss a call from someone they didn't want to talk to in the first place. 
  8. Only in America......do they buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight.
  9. Only in America......do they have drive-up ATM machines with Braille lettering.
  10. Only in America......do they play the whole game using hands and call it Football.


The Hyderabad

Tuesday, August 18, 2009 Posted by Vishnu , No comments

Woh radhey shyaam ki pani puri, woh chit chat ki chaat,
Woh Softy ki ice cream, Wah usme thi kuch baat.

Woh pulla reddy ki mithai, woh kamat ka dosa,
Woh Gokul ki pav bhaji aur Ramser ka samosa.

Woh local bus ka 'suffer', woh tank bund ki hawa,
Woh dutch roses ke kante aur lumbini park ka sama.

Woh december ki zara si sardi, woh baarishon ke mahiney,
Woh garmi ki chuttiyan, jab chute te they paseeney.

Woh holi ki masti, woh navratri ka garba,
Woh divali ke patakhe aur ganpati ka shor o sharaba.

Woh necklace road ka mohol, woh Gandipet ki leheren,
Woh doobte suraj ka nazara, Wah uske kya kehene.

Woh Best Bakers ke curry puff, woh blue sea ka chai,
Woh Garden(restaurant) ke lukmi biscuit, woh galliyon ka "rabdi
malai".

Woh bachpan key yaaden, woh PT kaa khel,
Woh Indira park ke jhaadiyan, jahaa hothey they mel.

Woh Minerva ka hot coffee cup aur Shopers shop mein shopping,
Woh James Street ka nazara aur Ameerpet ki building.

Woh Sangeet cinema ke queue, woh black ki pink ticket,
Woh Parade ka maidan, jahan bachche practice karte hain cricket.

Itni cheezen kehene ke baad, aur kitni karoon mein abaad,
Yeh shehar hain mera apna, jiska naam hai H Y D E R A B A D!!!

Ise chodke kahaan jaye, ise chodke kya hum paaye..
bache rahe hai char din, manzile nayi.. bichde raahe......

Moments of my LIFE

Wednesday, May 27, 2009 Posted by Vishnu , 10 comments
Running towards 25, I was thinking I spent one whole quarter of my life unnoticed. I have struggled for a few years and had fun during the rest of my lifetime and was trying to jot down all the memorable phases that I have been through and here are a few:

1. Final Match between CSE and CSIT: 20th January 2006.

The 1st biggest moment that I remember and I cherish forever is the Final Football match between CSE and CSIT when I was in doing my Under graduation. Man, what an awesome feeling it was!


Any Man's Finest Hour is That moment, When he had worked His heart out in a Good Cause and lies Exhausted in The field of Battle;Victorious!



I still remember the day when CSE lost to ECE in the final match when I was in the 1st year of my college and I promised my seniors that I would bring back the pride to the department someday.

Things changed every year and I never got a chance to fulfill my dream. But when I was made the captain of my team, I believed that if not this time, then NEVER and that is what pumped up the adrenaline in my team. I had faith in my boys and they vested their belief in me and the penalties decided it all. I was in shock after we won. That is one moment that I would never forget all throughout my life.

2. Love of my LIFE: 18th September 2007

After a few major setbacks, I never ever wanted to enter into a relationship. I happened to meet this girl in my college (Man, that is why I love BVRIT ... my whole life revolves around it), I never used to leave a chance to tease her. I never thought or atleast had a trace that I would fall in love ( or become a friend for that matter) with the person whom I never liked once.




And thanks to ODU too for this, for it could not have happened if I have not been involved in the activities so much that I stopped talking to her and realize about it later when my fingers almost burnt :P

Now I feel that I am complete with her. I still can remember that day when I took 4 hours to just tell her that I have feelings for her! It took 2 full months for me to realize that the person whom I used to talk to for the past 5 years was something much bigger than mere friendship, thats a different story altogether :D.



3. Journeys in 2L: September 2002 - May 2006

Every day right from the start date of my college till it ended, was a different day. If not in the college, in the bus. I have never seen a jubilant set than these guys. A perfect mix of masti and maturity. Expelling a lecturer out of a college is not an easy task and we did kicked that BATMAN out of the college which was a message sent accross that ... Do not mess with 2Lians...

Not a single day did I sleep in the bus nor never let anyone else sleep peacefully :P. From Movies to politics, WWE to daily serials.. everything under the sky was discussed or rather debated. Ragging, Teasing, Celebrations were very much prevalent everyday. The fact was accepted by our juniors too.




And I love my college the most for the fact that It has blessed me with the best of friends and the love of my life.

4. Norfolk Times: August 2006 - July 2008

I was always under the impression that I would miss the 2Lians very badly but the Monarchs never let me down when it comes to living my life. If ever in my life, I get a chance to study again, it would be people like you whom I'd chose. You guys rock!

Out of Virginia, now I'm nowhere amidst people who don't know the essence of living life. I definitely miss all you guys. You made my life even more colorful.

Concluding this post does not mean that I have no other special moments; these are some of the moments which I would never forget. I am still happy and fun-loving.

Amma ... I'm sorry

Friday, February 27, 2009 Posted by Vishnu , 9 comments



Ever since I was born, you never let me feel low, you always tried to see me happy, you did your best to help me achieve all my dreams, you have guided me through the right path by making me abide by the righteous values that you always taught me. You are awesome mom!!




Now, I wonder, how could you manage waking up earlier than us, make food for all of us, work for extra hours and sleep only after we all went to bed. And, never did you forget to give us all the care that we needed, despite of the tiring days. I wish I could be of some help to you when you really needed me.


Here are the days, the testing times, that anyone would never like to go through. And there I am, far across the seas, in a place where all I can do is just call you up and ask if everything was alright. Even if something unusual happened there is nothing I could do except for a few soothing words. I feel sorry for myself that I am not there by your side to take care of you at this point of time. I am eagerly waiting to return home and take all the burdens and tensions off your shoulders. Just give me some time to plan something so that there would be no jinx in the future.


For the Desis out here, my suggestion to you is to get back to your family as early as possible. There's money everywhere but friends and family are NOT.

Think about it

Thursday, February 12, 2009 Posted by Vishnu No comments
Watch the video and if you need the lyrics ... It has been attached below. I found it online and felt very refreshing after I finished reading through the whole thing.




If I could offer you only one tip for the future, "sunscreen" would be it.

The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists,
whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience.
I will dispense this advice NOW!
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth.

Oh, never mind.

You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded.

But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked.
You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future. 
Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum.

The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind,
The kind that blindside you at 4 pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts.
Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss

Don't waste your time on jealousy. 


Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind.
The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive.

Forget the insults.

If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters.
Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life.
The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives.
Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees.
You'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't.
Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't.
Maybe you'll divorce at 40.

Maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary.

Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much,
or berate yourself either.

Your choices are half chance.
So are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body. 


Use it every way you can.
Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it.
It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance
Even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines.
They will only make you feel ugly.


"Brother and sister together we'll make it through,

Someday a spirit will take you and guide you there

I know that you're hurting but I've been waiting there for you

and I'll be there just helping you out

whenever I can..."


Get to know your parents.
You never know when they'll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings.
They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go,
but with a precious few you should hold on.

Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get,
the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Live in "New York City" once, but leave before it makes you hard.
Live in "Northern California" once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel

Accept certain inalienable truths:
Prices will rise.
Politicians will philander.
You, too, will get old.

And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young,
prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you.
Maybe you have a trust fund.
Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse.
But you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy,
but be patient with those who supply it.

Advice is a form of nostalgia.

Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal,
wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.


"Brother and sister together we'll make it through,
Someday a spirit will take you and guide you there
I know that you're hurting but I've been waiting there for you
and I'll be there just helping you out
whenever I can..."


Everybody's Free, Everybody's Free

To Feel Good!