A Perfect Day !

Crawford Place, Newbury    27 Feb 2010     8:40 PM     Saturday  

I get up and start my day in the best possible way, speaking to the best possible person, with the best possible wishes,  on the best possible occasion. It's my mum's birthday. Little sister is with her doing the best what she can do to make her feel happy and light-hearted and feels proud in flaunting her own birthday presents that she got a few days back from her beloved brother on her 25th birthday. And the mother is mightily pleased. And delighted. Such a moment is just a sheer bliss ! An ecstasy, which I just can only conceive being here... 

The day progresses and the british weather continues to wobble conforming to its reputation. One moment sunny, the next one rainy and then again sunny. Mr. Nayar and I decide to go down to the kitchen to make some "pakoras" for ourselves and for our dear friends. Shalar and his wife, Swaliha join us in this feast and put up their own contributions. Shitiz, as always only messes around and does nothing ! I go out next door to Mitesh's house to borrow the tea sieve and coriander leaves needed for pakoras to complement the missing delight in our Saturday afternoon's exuberance.

The fun wasn't over. We switched on our television to see "Meet the Parents", a nice comedy flick, which seemed to have entertained Mr. Nayar much more than anyone else. He's no different than Mr. Sidhu who can laugh at virtually anything, and you eventually start laughing not necessarily over the stated joke, but over the boisterous and wild laughter erupting out of their throats... Just kidding! So, the day has been pretty fantastic - nice food, light movie and a great fellowship !

If you ask me the best moment of today, that connects to one of my best mates - Varun. He got officially engaged today, to a very sweet, pretty and lovely girl - Shaveta. I've known him for years now, and can literally read his mind, his thoughts and his emotions. I still remember the day when he first broke this news to me and i was just absolutely thrilled. It's such a great feeling which you struggle to communicate either in words or in expressions, and which you struggle even to contain either in your heart or in your mind. You just love the way it is !

Varun and I have talked about this subject and our aspirations so many times in the past - in school, in college, after college, sometimes online, many a times in person.  We have been in different situations over these past few years and all i can say to him now is - Bro, I am proud of you... and literally dying to meet you ! You've got all my best wishes and love and i really hope you have a great time ahead !

Between, A very Happy Holi to all of you ! Let's see what colors this Holi brings into our lives...

Ta
Gaurav Gupta

I wish i was there...

Crawford Place, Newbury      11 Feb 2010      6:30 PM       Thursday

I sit in my living room, legs sprawled across the center table, Pringles and Pepsi within my arms' reach, Mac on my lap, soothing music touching my ears... having all the time in the world, with no more bumpy hassles, just relishing the joy of this beautiful evening ! Oh boy, I missed this, missed it big time !!!

Last three weeks have been pretty exciting. And exhilarating. 

A lot has happened in between. New home, new life style and a billion new complications... No broadband, no internet, no electronic communication. No furniture, no bed and no sleep ! Service launch at work under massive pressure, iPad introduction by Steve Jobs, endless political controversies in India, cousin's marriage, blah blah blah and Apple MacBook Pro. No, i din't buy one, but eventually i got one ! 

It's a beautiful thin machine which fits perfectly on your lap, doesn't weigh much and its sensational graphical experience just blows you away !!! I've had my luck working on Apple machines in the past as well - way back in 2004, when they used to run on Motorola PowerPC processors, and i still remember they'd always looked stunning, perfectly sparkling with their elegance and style !

Coming back to new home. With new home come new neighbours. And eventually, new rules for new society. But rules were broken and a severe reprimand was received in turn. This is it. This is what i don't like here. You just can't do what you are used to do. What you have been doing all your life. Listening to high music, dancing in home, loud chats and deafening laughter :) ! Ok i agree you've got to avoid that, but can't they just be a bit more tolerant, or they have to admonish their neighbours for the mistakes the very first day and that too in a very impudent way ! 

A lot is going to happen as well in the coming weeks which i shall discuss as and when it comes. February has always been very special and kind to me. It has got quite a lot of my personal attachment. And emotional connection. I reckon it is one of the most beautiful months of the year. Not only because the weather remains fantastic throughout, but also because I get a chance to celebrate lots of anniversaries in my family - marriage, birthdays. 

Every time I think about this month and the corresponding events, I experience a great sense of nostalgia. And deep gratitude for Almighty who has given me such a wonderful family. So lovely parents and an adorable sweet sister. And here I am living alone miles away from them only to realise that there is nothing more worth than being with them in person in these special moments. Your physical presence is just so much required. And desired. You've got to live these moments with them to make them feel even more special. To express your thanks and gratitude for their eternal love which has always been taken for granted. To make them smile. And to see that lovely smile on their faces which will spark an immediate stream of tears in your eyes. And then their eyes. To go near and hug her to say "I love you Mom...". 

Sometimes, I wonder what is more important in life - career or happiness !

Are we living a private life anymore?

Sandown Way, Newbury      Jan 16, 2010       9:36 PM          Saturday


Strange feelings flared up across my mind the moment i wrote "Sandown Way" on this post. Yes, this is probably the last time i'll be posting from this house, which has been my abode from the past 1.5 years. A number of different guys came and went,  some stayed here for a few days, some for a while, and some for ever, in my heart. And how lucky i've been to have those friends in my life !


I am moving to another house near town center with couple of my best mates here. Both are extremely chatty, cool and funny. Perfect companions for me. And so you can see, i am equally delighted. 


As I move ahead of these mixed feelings, my mind still has been muddled up with something else. I read an old article somewhere today which speaks about the changes, or shall i say revolutions, that these social networking websites have brought up in our lives. I said "revolutions" on purpose. We probably might be a little behind the western countries in terms of the impact of these, but we certainly are getting the real heat. 


There were times when we used to publicize our limited moments of life. Once upon a time, we only used to share special things, and that too with special people. Once upon a time, our lives were private by default, which have eventually crawled to Public over the past few years now, thanks to more than 1000% growth of Twitter and 350+ million subscribers for Facebook. That's the combined population of United States of America and United Kingdom by the way!!! Orkut is not far behind either. 


Strangely enough, flowing along the course of this modern trend, we find it hard now to filtrate what NOT to publish. We get confused over the idea of not sharing everything with everyone. Because nothing is personal anymore ! People propose over web these days, they give birth, they die, drink, smoke, love, sing, dance, i mean what is personal then??? It's becoming more and more ' cool ' to live a public life. And boy, don't you believe me? There was a news of a guy posting a video of his wife giving birth to his child. A guy updating his relationship status during his marriage ceremony. At the Altar !!! Many more...





Now, we tweet it for the hundreds of followers, half of whom we haven't even met or known; we broadcast renowned "status update" to apprise people of every single action from last night dreams early next morning to late night party gossips... We all do it.. I do it as well ! I don't know the reason why the others do it; i do it because at times i just don't find anything better ! I am sure others must have got some better rationale than this. I guess anyways it's not everybody's cup of tea, so guys like me shall actually bank on orthodox methods of social interaction such as e-mails, personal chats and once in a while putting up a blog post for the sake of keeping ourselves in sync with this public world :)


With Google swallowing over the internet world in its own belly, you just can't expect the situation to be any better, if not worse. Almost every software professional in the world, if not all, use one or the other Google services today. And Google is smart. They have integrated everything together, and that too very nicely. So, you login to different services using the same credentials, say e-mail address and that's it pretty much. Now, come third party applications developers which make use of this fact and exploit it to the best possible way. You go to any social networking website today, and you very well know how easy is to import your Gmail and other contacts straightaway. No wonder girls have to forge their pictures to avert unknown friend requests, or other crap billions profile visits, or hacks...With even more powerful search engines coming into every corner of all the websites, i wonder how difficult would it be for someone to live a private life in this big public internet world in the near future? 


So, you just can't ignore anyone now a days, can you? The idea of your own small private world looks like a distant dream now. But yes, you do have a choice. Do not join the internet. Or join hands with everyone. Join this vast web of unknown people with a public hug...Guys and Gals, good or bad, I reckon we have almost officially entered into an era of Public visibility !


Ta
Gaurav Gupta

Time to wake up !

Sandown Way, Newbury    Jan 13, 2010    9:30 PM     Wednesday


It's almost a week now since i wrote something... and i realize now how easy is to get entrapped. Entrapped in to this ugly world of sloth, where most of the times we just brush off our allegiances, only to realize sometime later that you are actually far behind than your peers, your friends, the world, and most importantly your dreams !!!


I shall get active now and make best use of the preserved energy to deliver. To my own commitments and to heavily accrued action items. I don't know why this happens so often to me. I get up one fine day and some thing or the other makes me abruptly impatient enough to analyse and then realize "What the hell have i been doing from the past six months? I don't even recall if i have learned even a single new thing". As the process continues, I interrogate myself a bit more. More questions. More answers. In all probability, even multiple answers. A hell lot of justifications and explanations endeavor to drown me into the sea of complacence. And do i swim? Definitely not. I succumb.

 ““Ambition is a poor excuse for not having sense enough to be lazy.””


Anyways, whatever you choose, you swim or drown, time just flies. And it flies even faster when you are having fun. You enjoy every moment of it, but you still can't hold it. 


The week has been busy mostly in preparing a demo for the client. A platform to show off all your hard work. To demonstrate your enthusiasm for your product. To showcase your commitment for your words. Having done all the hard work now, i sit back and listen to my current favorite songs, or shall i say "a song" on youtube. My roommates are absolutely sick of my habit of listening to one song over and over again a zillion times a day. But I enjoy it ! Oh yeah, i seriously enjoy it. Unless the entire song has been embedded in my music loving spirit, which normally take 3-4 days, and 40-50 repeats, i don't quit... but eventually, my roommates DO. Okkay, so which is the current one? it's a nice song "Sureeli Ankhiyoon wale" from Veer :) I reckon Rahat Fatah Ali Khan did a fantastic job ! Your views?


Ta
Gaurav Gupta

I think, think and think...

Sandown Way, Newbury     Jan 07, 2010     9:20 PM     Thursday


Working from home is always a fun and thanks to this severe weather and dense snowfall, which has hit UK in the worst possible way in the past 40 years, the fun doesn't seem to end too soon :)


After all, "How beautiful it is to do nothing, and then to rest afterward.”


Jokes apart, it has been a rather sober day. Or shall i say sober week so far. For some of my friends. And eventually for me. There has been a wave of continuous disappointment and sadness flowing through the icy winds of my surroundings which constructed a cerebral environment and coerced me to ponder. And the moment i start, the moment i am gone. In to an eternal world of thoughts, subjective and objective, good and bad, positive and negative, beautiful and ugly, real and virtual !!!


No wonder i don't have much hairs left on my head.


Yeah, i just constantly think. Think about the situations people are in. Think about the reasons behind. You give your best shot in terms of logic and practicality to them, but then you don't always succeed, do you? I struggle to find out answers to most of the situations they've ever been because every story is a brand new story. A new cause. A new result. But you still advise. You propose some solutions. Spread some rays of hope. Somebody very rightly said "There is always hope" and so shall i believe it and try to put this belief across. Sometimes you win. Most of the times you Fail !!!


I shall not fail to describe that more often than not, we all face these situations. Sometimes, we speak, which we all prefer to. Sometimes, we've got to listen, which we don't desire to. In my case, no surprises, i choose to speak on both the occasions :) Only I can convince myself. So, no one even tries.


The situation i fear the most and even hate to mention is termed as "depression". I loathe this word. Not to even mention its consequences. As they say, "The depressed people don't need a reason to kill themselves, they need a reason not to". I won't even touch that topic any further. It's best to leave it here. Closed. And folded.


Majority of the times, I've seen people crying due to heartaches or job losses. Heartaches due to different reasons. Sometimes, it is HIM, while most of the times it is HER. I know this would stir a heated argument, but with all due respect to girls, this was just an ugly joke. I don't exactly recall where i read this -  " A few heartaches are essential for one's complete evolution" or may be this is a nascent thought which just came out of my mind. I don't completely agree to this. Neither i refute it entirely. You need not allow someone to break your heart to get the desired maturity. But yes, you do need some pain, suffering to become more strong, and more practical. But whatever the situation is, you've got to believe one thing - you can't change it by shedding tears, but you can surely obliterate it by rising gears !!!


"Take pride in your pain; you are stronger than those who have none”

Let's wait for iSlate and Nexus One...

Sandown Way, Newbury       Jan 4, 2010      8:18 PM         Monday

An interesting video down there:



As many of you might be aware that tomorrow Google will be announcing its own branded phone called Nexus One, i wonder what they'll come up with to compete with the best smartphone in the market- iPhone. Nexus One looks beautiful as you might preview it in the image given below:

But the bigger question is - Will it change the mobile world just like iPhone did 3 years back when Steve Jobs reinvented the phone and changed our lives. Will it revolutionize the way we browse internet and watch movies? Will it be the next BIG thing from Google?

Apple, on the other hand is set to launch the much rumored tablet computer "iSlate" sometime this month. I read criticisms and commendations about this new Apple idea, but being an avid admirer of Steve Jobs, i've kept my fingers crossed. Moroever, you don't see the vision of Steve Jobs going haywire too often, do you? Rather since his comeback to Apple in 1997, he hasn't looked back and so hasn't Apple !

If you want to check out "young" Jobs and Gates, check out the following video when Bill Gates used to work with Steve Jobs :)

Stay In...

Sandown Way, Newbury      January 3, 2010          6:30 PM        Sunday


Don't worry about the people in your past. There IS a reason they didn't make it to your future...


I came across this beautiful quote today while browsing through my Google Reader. I have to admit i was moved. And touched. Moved because even it is so simple, it's complex enough for us to acknowledge. Touched because it's highly obvious, yet we battle with past every day, and some of us every moment !!!


I wonder why it's so easy to fall into this situation, why we love to reminisce, especially at this time of the year when you conceive you have the opportunity to change yourself, your environment, and your ecosystem. Even when actually there has never been a different today, yesterday, or for that matter yesteryear. You always have had YOUR time. You always have had Your era. Your luck. What you didn't have at times is You with you. You didn't have faith in yourself. Trust and confidence in yourself. I guess that's why everyone reminisces, and so do I ! Occasionally though :)


I shall not indulge deep in to it and continue to experience and relish the high spirits of this new year. First Sunday starts with beautiful glittering sun and excites us enough to decide our breakfast in a flash. Manish and I go to kitchen immediately and after an hour later we come out with a plate full of pakoras. Varun makes the perfect ginger tea. Rest of the housemates join in and we chat and we eat. Exuberance !!! And Pleasure.


It's the time of the year when the whole web is inundated with distinct ideas and methods to track your goals and your resolutions. If you are really interested, follow the following link:
http://lifehacker.com/5439026/five-best-goal+tracking-tools?skyline=true&s=i


For me, the best way to accomplish your goals/resolutions is a) Make it public and b) Regular assessment


Public failure is the most dreadful situation for anyone to be in, and we shall exploit that fear to drive ourselves. To come out of our comfort zone and to work towards our goal. How many times have we commenced something and just when we needed the final thrust, we quit. Because nobody is watching us. I think everyone has his own forte, but we all human beings share one special ability - we can convince ourselves pretty easily. We can justify almost anything, such as i couldn't study to get into a B school because i never have had time. Others may justify quitting smoking to result into lack of concentration and blah blah... We all do it and we all win, of course paradoxically !!!


Assessment plays its vital part too. More important is When? And then How? Timing of the assessment shall be chosen initially based on complexity of the goal and your comfort level. You don't want to position yourself in a situation where you get demotivated very soon and pretty often. If you trust yourself, you'll get there. May not today. May not tomorrow, but certainly SOME day. We need to find out different ways to escape if not kick out the roadblocks in your journey. We need to persist. Stay in!


I hope the following words will always help me in taking me to my destiny, my fate...


There are so many people out there who'll tell you that you can't. What you've got to do is turn around and say "Watch Me!"