Independence day again!

Independence day is here, again, as it has been here so many times before. Do we really care for an Independence day? Yes we do. Most of us Indians are eagerly waiting for the I.D. (Independence day) that we get public holiday, so we can take a break and have fun, of course, "Have fun" is half the motto that every man has in our country. So what do we do on this particular day? We celebrate I.D. by watching T.V., by going to restaurants to have sumptuous meals, by going for a picnic or some outing, by sleeping all through the day, by sitting in front of the computer until our eyes grow tired, etc.

But there are people who actually celebrate I.D. around the street corners, in public parks and play grounds, and even at their homes wearing the flag on their shirts and hoisting the flag on the rooftop. But again most of them do it just for fun. Leave the common man, all the politicians and high officials celebrate giving elaborate speeches, wishing all, eventually getting their names in the media headlines.

But there are still some people who 'genuinely' celebrate I.D. with true and heart-felt patriotism. But even these people do they really care about our nation except for the I.D. celebration, maybe or maybe not.

Among all these people we are yet to find the true Indian, who can really care about the nation, who can watch his actions when he steps out on the streets, who can not spit but swallow his saliva, who can pee in a toilet and not in the shady corner, who can walk in the platform and not in the middle of the street, who can drive his real massive, branded car in a highway and not in a narrow street jamming all the traffic, who can hold the fumes from his cigarette as well as his vehicle and not give cancer or asthma to person near him, who can drive using his steering wheel and not his horn, who can obey all the traffic rules and not jump signals, who can say "thanks" or "sorry" and not yell, who can drop a coin or two in the beggar's open palm and not turn to the other side, who can stand in queue and not take shortcuts to the counter, who can stop a minute to answer politely to the door-to-door salesmen and not slam the door shut, who can talk and help every other man and not be oblivious about even the people next door, who can provide something to a poor family and not buy an LED TV replacing his LCD, etc. This list will go on and on, might need pages or even books to complete.

This day, and every day, all of us must think and evaluate this endless list. We must try to become a good citizen and above that a good human. When that happens, all of us can really celebrate and enjoy true "Independence"!

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நித்யானந்தா, ரஞ்சிதா மற்றும் பலர்!

நித்யானந்தா & ரஞ்சிதா மீது விமர்சனக் கணைகளை வீசி வருகிறார்கள் பதிவர்களும், பத்திரிக்கையுலகமும். நாம் மட்டுமே உலக உத்தமர்கள் போல், இவர்கள் மீது தீர்ப்பு வழங்குவதற்கு நமக்கு யார் அதிகாரம் கொடுத்தது?

நானொன்றும் விவிலியத்தைக் கரைத்துக் குடித்த ஆன்மீகவாதி இல்லையெனினும், விபச்சாரம் செய்த குற்றத்திற்காக அழைத்து வரப்பட்ட பெண்ணிற்கு என்ன தண்டனை கொடுப்பது என்று யூதர்கள் அழைத்து வந்த போது, இயேசு கிறிஸ்து கூறிய வசனமொன்று நினைவுக்கு வருகிறது "உங்களில் பாவம் செய்யாதவன் இவள் மேல் கல் எறியட்டும்".

Sting விபச்சாரி ஒருத்தியின் வாழ்க்கையில் ஓரிரவைப் பற்றி எழுதி, பாடிய Tomorrow We'll See என்ற பாடலின் வரிகள் சரியாக பொருந்தி வருகின்றன.

Don't judge me

You could be me in another life

In another set of circumstances

Don't judge me

One more night I'll just have to take my chances

And tomorrow we'll see

The biggest loser competition

Xmas is not too far away and I need to lose 5 kgs within the next 50 days.
I know it's not so easy but I'm going to give it a try.

I was 69 kilos in Feb 2008 and now I weigh 78 kgs in Nov 2009. I mean, for someone who's 5'9" tall, I'm pretty much in the obese category now.

I registered in the office gym a month ago but I wasn't able to work out regularly as the project schedule was hectic.

I started working out again from last Friday and if I sweat it out for an hour each day, I should be able to lose at least 3 kgs.

I need to cut down on the amount of food taken at nights, no more snacks at 7 pm, no more booze parties on Friday nights, no more buffet dinners with friends (well... at least not for the next 50 days! :-D )

My friend & room-mate Suresh and I competing against each other in this weight loss competition. He would follow GM diet, exercise a bit and I would sweat it out in the gym for an hour, jog / walk everyday for an hour. Let's see who loses 5 kgs or more before Xmas.

Wish me luck!

ITIL certified!

Hope all of you had a great weekend.

I was busy studying for ITIL V3 certification.

My friend John & I registered for for ITIL training course in vyomlabs, Pune.

It was held in Quality Inn (OMR), Chennai for two days.
The first day training was pretty vague, most topics seemed relevant for Service Delivery Managers, Account Managers et al. I didn't get 65% marks in the assignments, so I was kinda hopeless that I would pass the certification.

The 2nd day, things were better, the topics were more relevant to what we actually do in a support environment, incident management, problem management, continous service improvement, etc.,

Instead of writing 3 mock exams before the real exam, many candidates opted to go for it at 6 pm, after completing only 1 mock exam. After completing the exam within 35 minutes, I reviewed the answers again for another 20 minutes and when I clicked on submit I got an error and my answers were lost.

I went back this morning and completed the exam within 35 minutes, after clicking submit, the next page showed "You passed the exam, Congratulations!".

I have to look for openings for ITIL certified Analyst / Manager within my organisation or ...
Wish me good luck!

P.S: John passed the exam yesterday, I forgot to mention it.

DISASTER RESPONSE EMERGENCY FUND

There's a line in the song "Hazard" by Richard Marx, which goes like

"Here was I surrounded by a thousand fingers suddenly
Pointed right at me".

That's exactly how I felt for the past few months, watching the news of Srilankan Tamil population being massacred. I was deeply pained and I was terribly ashamed that I had not donated a single penny to help those who were suffering. I felt like those Tamil people suffering in hospitals & refugee camps in Srilanka pointing a finger at me saying "We always thought you were like a brother to us and what have you done to help us?"

We are all talking about it, renowned writers are writing columns in newspapers / magazines, fellow citizens are writing about it in blogs, we say that we are shocked and pained to hear the killings of thousands of people, we weep for those are suffering in the refugee camps. But then most of us, have opted to switch the channel and watch some comedy scenes, share market news, gold prices, job news, etc.,. "It's miserable that those people are suffering but then we can't do much about it, sorry, let's move on with out daily activities" seems to be our attitude.

Why have we become so numb? Is saving all our money more important than being humanitarian? Are we so heartless that we can't donate Rs. 1000 to Red Cross in Srilanka, which may help the Srilankan Tamil people who have lost their limbs, their homes and their properties? It's probably the amount anyone in India, may spend over a weekend. Can't we sacrifice it for a week and donate it to those who really need it?

Let us NOT go into the argument whether LTTE was a terrorist organization or was fighting for the freedom of their own Tamil nation in Srilanka.

What is more important at this hour is to help the men, women and children who have suffered injuries in the war zone. Thousands have lost their homes, make-shift houses have to be built for them, they can't be living in refugee camps forever.

Why are we all turning a blind eye to the misery of our brethren living few hundred miles away?

A fellow Tamil blogger had mentioned that donating money to them, would be like giving them alms. He had mentioned that we must visit refugee camps, we must conduct rallies, we must actively participate in the upliftment of those people, who had lost so much in the bloody battles in the last few months. 

I feel that we must start donating to Red Cross or any other organization, which helps those people. Quite obviously, I would not send my hard earned money to a relief fund collected by any political parties in India. And then we may start working on the steps mentioned in the previous paragraph.

You may send cheques / Demand drafts favouring

Disaster Response Emergency Fund

Sri Lanka Red Cross Society

307 T.B. Jaya Mawatha, Colombo 10

Telephone: 5347000

A/c no. 5783021

Bank of Ceylon - Hyde Park branch

If there are other means by which we can help, please do so and also let me know.

பசுமையான மரங்களும்,சலசலக்கும் நீரோடைகளும், நீண்ட, நெடிய ஆறுகளும் எங்கே?

இந்த தேநீர்க்கடைகழகத்தை எனக்கு மீண்டும் ஞாபகப்படுத்திய அன்பு நண்பர் ஜோவுக்கு முதற்கண் நன்றியை தெரிவித்து கொள்கிறேன்.

நண்பர்களுக்கு ஒரு அவசர செய்தி, ஒரு நிமிடம் அமைதியாக நாம் வசிக்கும் இவ்வுலகத்தை பற்றி சிந்திப்போம். பசுமையான மரங்களும்,சலசலக்கும் நீரோடைகளும், நீண்ட நெடிய ஆறுகளும் எங்கே? மாறி மாறி வீடுகளையும் அடுக்கு மாடி கட்டிடங்களையும் கட்டி இயற்கை சமநிலைக்கு மாறாக கான்க்ரீட் காடுகளை உருவாக்குகிறோம். ஒவ்வொரு கோடையும் அனலின் கொதிப்பு அதிகரித்து கொண்டேபோகிறது. குறைந்தபட்சம் ஒவ்வொரு வீட்டை சுற்றியும் மரமும் செடியும்கொண்ட ஒரு சிறிய தோட்டமாவது நாம் வளர்க்க வேண்டாமா? நான் குடியிருக்கும் வீட்டை சுற்றி, வீட்டின் சொந்தக்காரர் சிமெண்டைப்போட்டு புல்பூண்டு கூட முளைக்க முடியாதபடிக்கு நிரவிவிட்டார். சொந்த வீடு கட்டும் அல்லது வாங்கும் நண்பர்கள் தயவுசெய்து சுற்றிலும் ஒரு தோட்டம் அமைக்க மறவாதீர்கள். இன்று முதல் ஒரு சிறிய தாவரத்திற்கும் தீங்கிளைக்ககூடாது என்று பிரதிக்கினை எடுப்போம்.

Few tips for first-time air travellers

Based on my frequent trips to Japan, I'm putting down some points for fellow travellers from India.

These points may be useful for any first time air traveller too.

After 9/11, immigration & security checks have become stricter, as many may already be aware.

#1. Don't carry the spices like chilly powder in hand baggage. It's ok to keep them in the check-in baggage.

#2 : Some folks may not be able to eat other types of food, so they carry rice, spices, etc., so that they may cook & eat their own food, which may add up to the luggage weight. But try to keep the weight +/- 2 kgs from the weight limit written on the ticket. 7 kgs for hand luggage, not even +1 kg allowed! If you had packed sweater/winter coat in the hand baggage (so that it may be easy to pull them out and wear as soon as you get out of the destination airport) try to wear them or keep them in the trolley, so that it may reduce some weight.

#3: Don't carry parfumes/body sprays/liquid bottles in hand baggage. Even if they are allowed, body sprays / shaving gel cans above 100 ml will be thrown in the dustbin.

#4: Mention your destination clearly when you get the boarding pass at the ticketing counter. This way, you may avoid the trouble of your check-in bags being offloaded in transit airport.

#5: Wear a smile, greet the officer in the immigration desk with a "Hello", "Good Evening", etc., Answer the questions clearly & slowly. Even if the questions are stupid, don't answer arrogantly but try to explain in a simple manner.

#6: Expect a 2nd round of thorough check of your hand baggage & few visa related questions in the transit airport, before boarding the next flight to your destination. Some countries may even ask you to fill in a form again. It's annoying, you may think "I had got this bag checked already and I answered the questions related to my visa before embarking the flight in India" but you don't have any choice, so be patient.

#7: Make sure your bags have got security check stickers after the scanning was done (or seal stamped on the tags)

#8: Make sure your boarding pass have immigration & security check seals stamped, before you reach the respective gate. There had been instances where travellers had missed one of the stamps, probably due to the mistake of the immigration / security folks and then had to run back to get it at the last minute.

#9 Even if you have 5 hours in transit, reach the respective airlines desk immediately after getting out of the plane, get the boarding pass, or get the gate number written clearly if you had already got the boarding pass in the source location. Take a walk towards that gate, confirm that the gate# & flight# match, your next flight is on schedule through the displays on TVs and then proceed with roaming around chocolate shops, browsing the net, sipping coffee, resting in a hotel lounge or whatever you please. Avoid roaming around and rushing at the last 30 minutes to get the boarding pass & search for the gate.

#10 Try to reach the airport 3 hours before the flight's departure time. Most people travel on Friday/ Saturday night, so don't let the traffic jam get you stuck on the way. Talk to neighbors who may have travelled to the airport recently and find out the approximate time taken to reach the airport from your residence.