NYC first brush. few shots.

so this is christmas..



n what have u done (huh!)



another yr over :)



a new one just begun..

.

And to you sir.

the 81st one. Merry Christmas..

Say a little prayer...

...Adieu puja yet again. till next year.

On a day like today..

You never really wanna sun go down...


but it does all the same.

From the bottom of pyramid to the land of bottoms up !

..eight days into the USofA. first visit. first impression. a country tht keepz pampering u for going bottomz up till that last dreg.

few sequencez:

-a specific bank offerz ipod nano if u walk in n oblige them by opening an account with them n accept a credit card they r so desperate to spare..ahem.

-a tire shop actually askz u to relax on that italian sofa over there with a tv, a coffee machine (..no hot water bath tx), loadza magazinez, n yes pastel colorz n drawing bookz for kidz, by the couch while they r changing ur tire. *hypnotised*

-the coffee shop pesterz u for having the free cookies they r going to launch next summer..thnk god hvnt found ne to be dyspeptic till date.

hmm..so thtz all abt it. lemme turn my gaze to the life as a student here then.


...while in india i was switching gears n setting n resetting the decision evry other day .. 'to come or not to come tht was the question' ...when a sagacious frnd of mine stepped in at the right moment n told me 'dude u gotta cm n c how these ppl pamper u out at these schoolz'

...right he was. we were given tall talkz for a hillarious one n a half hrz for a job tht tkz ...err...around 7 minutez flat to be completed ?!

been more than a week...all i hv done till date is visiting starbuckz religiously twice a day .. hv baptised myself into wearing three quarterz :-s n of course hv kept myself from yawning every other second through monotonous orientation sessions where people actually look up big fat files to crack that same old joke yr after yr.


..hv met quite a few interesting characters but. good that is. n hv the assurance that lifez gonna be challenging next week on...whn the bell ringz at bell hall n classes begin in full swing. :-)

till then, do take care.

adios.

...

And as I watch the drops of rain
Weave their weary paths and die
I know that I am like the rain
There but for the grace of you go I. : )

A Hazy Canvas ...

Did I mention the spectacular view balcony at office offers ? The view of vast expanses of marshlands on the eastern fringe of calcutta..with coconut trees gently swaying their heads near the horizon as if daring you to reach for them.

It used to be my favorite haven for last six months or so (...ofcourse I used to spend some time on my desk..evryone deserves moments respite :) .. each day the balcony offered a new look...i saw the waterbody still as a mirror...i saw fiery storm raise its head from the back of that tall building at distance and weave their own alpana on water...i saw the restlessness on the surface as the tropical rain came down pitter-patter...slowlyy and playfully...i saw powerful lightning lashing the horizon...and of course I saw nothing at all when heavy downpour blurred all that was there to view and painted the entire canvas in a dull monochrome.

Just as I was leaving this balcony forever today, I watched this bird ...the tiny one... as she kept fluttering her wings in desperation against the strong wind. She was making frantic attempts to tide past the obstacles...quite a strong one for her at that...what impressed me was she never flew with the wind which would have been so easier an option but kept fighting against the odds.

She sure knew her direction home...

On reservation...

There has been much hullabaloo around of late on this issue. And thought I will add to this

confusion, without adding much to it :). Had a nice conversation with a colleague of mine

today and a few points came out quite nice and clear.

Let's not focus on the caste based politics at this point. Rather let's focus on a few points with examples that this reservation can or cannot do for our country.

My personal view is reservation is going to be beneficial for a larger mass of India in the longer run. A natural question that would appear in the minds of one reading this passage is how. The merit we are talking about dear friend, believe me does not arise out of nowhere. Mostly we see people excelling in fields where their ancestors have shown excellence, be it academia or business. The fact that Brahminical class, however minuscule they might be when it comes to headcount, is ruling the roost everywhere does not necessarily point to the fact that they are the most 'meritorious' lot. Let their sons plough the field and the excellence will show. Knowledge and therefore 'knowledge based merit' is an accrual process that gradually increases with time, over era...down the generations. Had it not been for our knowledge in English language for past two or three generations, we would not have been in a position to outperform China today in the services outsourcing business. The people we are talking about has been deprived of this 'knowledge' for a period well enough to justify any effort on our part to uplift their status.

The next question that's being talked about often is why not get to the root of the problem and reform primary education. *grin* Face it, we know that we won't bring in more competitors to ourselves by restricting it to the 'reform in primary education'. When a child at the age of 12 comes back from the firecracker making factory and knows that he is the only one who can fend for the entire family, look after his ailing mother and rear up his siblings, seldom does he think of flipping through the pages of that book, that the government run free school has provided him with. Look from their point of view and face it that all we are trying to do is keep the seats implicitly reserved to ourselves, who by natural choice, by thousand years of bureaucracy have kept the merit to themselves.


I personally happen to be a 'so-called' software engineer who sees himself and people around doing nothing the lesser privileged citizens would not have been able to perform with some additional grooming. End of the day money speaks and money is all that secures the well being of the future generation. Let all share the pie for there to be fair distribution.

The only important point that came up was the criticality of medical faculty and how would that degrade should we think about reservation. A few points to that

1) Accepted that the students toil harder and harder to get through the medical entrance examination. No disrespect intended. But, at the doorstep of that medical school these young eager minds are just at the beginning of the process of being shaped into a promising doctor of tomorrow. If the medical schools cannot shape them up, what use is five years of rigorous education. Why not get the medical practitioner's stamp right after the entrance examination itself ?! Time the schools lived upto their expectation and not just wait for creme-de-la-creme to be waiting at the gate.

2) Most of the medical students passing out of the schools, start private practice or go abroad, and quite justifiedly so. If we open the door to the elite schools to entire india, who knows, we might just be having more people going back to their native place, where people die of a minor influenza ? Point is we will just be having more people having the required knowledge to serve people.

All said and done, this will remain a silent personal viewpoint. If it made you think even for once, is all I was looking for.

Signing off...