So_that_they_stay_alive_1

Material culled from my mails to various people…so that these words stay alive.

01/05/2005 6:48 PM : Reacting on the relief-work after the tsunami at Nagapattinam

...I heard...that the people there, most of whom were living a dignified life until now, are denied the same by the self-proclaimed saviours, who will henceforth hold all responsibility for their futures... (not even the calamity had done so much injustice to them...) True to human nature, trying to subjugate fellow mortals in whatever venture he embarks upon. Why can't we all win together? Is it always necessary for somebody to fail, if one has to win?

11/25/2004 06:56 PM: New ways of doing business

I'm back after the superlative knowledge enhancement I had as one of the 1200 delegates at the SAP TechEd Conference that concluded yesterday. The head-honchos of SAP AG (Peter Zencke, Jim Hagermann Snabe and numerous others) spoke about their new Enterprise Service Architecture that's gonna change the way we do business....from the era of Information Technology to that of Business Innovation Technology, where the software allows for differentiation and innovation...Saturated me with all the 'gyaan' in just 3 days...

10/16/2004 02:36 PM: A day of parting

Yesterday was a day of parting. Two senior (means around 30) people whom I had been friendly with went away on the same day, coz they were leaving the company for different reasons. It wasn't a sad moment at all, but one of promise.The first one was a fellow programmer, who sat next to my desk, and was helping me with the code for the past one week. It was a sudden bond, which will continue from a distance. Another was a very skilled Keralite, who became really friendly with me & my room-mates (a Mallu-Tamil mix), and whom we would really miss, because he became an inevitable part of our lives within the few months he was with us.

01/03/2005 17:13 Bear the Brunt

PV wrote: It's been heard that one bear escaped into Bangalore from Chennai city. The bear was seen roaming about in Bangalore's bars and pubs for the past two or three days. Grapevine goes that this is a rather sacred bear who is supposed to be one among those descendents of the famous Greek God ZeuS!! And since this bear was trained too much to ride bicycles in his previous occupation his four- wheeler driving skills are rather pathetic :) And all young children..., BEWARE!! This bear is renowned for his interests in kids!

HAPPY NEW YEAR ZOOS FAQ's...
: What does the bear read for 2005? : zoos
: Why does the bear lack confidence while Go-Karting? : He knows only cycling in the circus ring.
: Why does the bear's cart go round and round? : He did the same thing in the circus.
: Why was the bear given a "domestic" treatment? : "Wild" animals are dangerous if not domesticated.
: What is the bear’s favorite food? : honey!
: Why does the bear forget to remove people in the cc list when he replies with personal content? : Because it is dark in the jungle!

10/09/2004 05:29 PM: A Wonderful Website for Poetry: The Wondering Minstrels

I chanced upon this site, the details of which are given below, during my random net-visits in search of inspiring poetry. The endearing aspect about the site is that along with each poem, we get a commentary on it, putting roots to our own ideas, which in the end, allows a greater appreciation of the poem.

The Wondering Minstrels is basically a poetry-by-email service run by Abraham Thomas and Martin DeMello, with an accompanying archive website (of which I'm talking about) created and maintained by Sitaram Iyer. Martin and Thomas send a poem a day, (almost) every day, to everyone on the Minstrels mailing list. Along with the poems are sent personal commentaries, critical analyses, poet biographies, historical asides, trivia, links and basically, anything that catches their fancy.

What they state as their mission-statement is partly as follows - "We've long felt that the average person didn't read (or re-read, for that matter) nearly enough poetry. ‘Minstrels’ is just our way of trying to rectify the situation. Our goal is simple: if we can brighten up people's days, make them think a little, make them feel a little, perhaps encourage them to buy a book of poetry... well, if we can accomplish any of these things, we'd be more than satisfied." True, as a little help to allow me appreciate what I felt was beautiful verse, was what I had always craved for.

Sitaram archives these poems on the Minstrels website, which also offers options for reader comments and feedback, user-defined poem 'collections', links to random poems, and various clever sort and search options. You can visit the archive at http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/ . To subscribe to the minstrels mailing list, just send a blank mail to minstrels- subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

05/03/2005 01:49 PM: Randomain

>> Isn't it childishness to hold a memory attached to a place? If that city is ripped apart, all its edifices burnt, does it taint your memory? But, this naivety should still be there, shouldn't it, just to make a difference?

>> Everybody wants a listener. Even a poet who claims that he writes for himself pines for somebody to understand and appreciate whatever he has written. Still, he has to smile to offer to all those people who just read thro' and say it's nice. If nobody listens to you, then you have to talk what they'll listen. And, then you have to speak to yourself about whatever they don't.

>> Change is permanent. But, you can feel that change only if you come outside it. Change, but know that you change. You know you're changing only if your core is unchanged. Something similar to going to the outer space, to realize that the earth is rotating. Otherwise, you change with the world, and there is no change management, and you can never comeback, or learn what change caused what.

Like one guy in our home was asked by a team-mate: "So, these are the last days together in your house...now that you'll split to different places...". Well, he replied that "Since there's nothing permanent except change, he doesn't keep sentiments. He didn’t feel anything when he left college, and he's sure that he won't feel anything even now." Well, we don't quite accept that idea. Then why in the world wasn't he born a machine??

05/12/2005 05:30 PM: Racy Thoughts

>> Today, when I set out from my house, late as usual, but consciously avoiding all the rushing, running and panting, there was a huge traffic-jam going-on around Wind Tunnel, and then suddenly somebody addressed me aloud as "Shoonya". It was PV, more affectionately Machoonan. He had parked his Yamaha on the pavement, and was observing the traffic, keen to find a gap so that he could take the U-turn. And, without delay, I joined him on the pillion, and then it was a dash to office, reminiscent of the motor races seen on television. The speedo was damaged, and fortunately didn't show the speed, or else it might have thrown my heart out. He took just about 15 minutes to reach Abhilash from Murugesh Palaya, and that's 17 odd kilometers! It was interesting to watch him efficiently wade through the traffic, reaching the frontline at every junction, just as the signal turns green, while I took care of his mobile, and his towel which played the role of a dust-mask. My eyes had to endure all the dust, and by the time I reached there, had started complaining. Well that was a lot of descriptive stupidity to write about, wasn't it! But, nothing is everything, in all the varied senses that this phrase has!

>> I've started reading a Malayalam novel after a long hiatus. It's named "Alanjavar Anweshichavar" (Wanderers - Searchers) and is a one of the few novels by Narendra Prasad, the well known drama and film artiste, who was more appreciated in the literary circles as a Dramatist and a Critic. He used to portray villains with such finesse and panache that he was even considered a detestable character by his audiences, me inclusive, until his recent death. He is incidentally a friend's close relative, and it might've been the undeniable family-ties that motivated my friend to purchase quite a few of his books recently.