The pursuit of happiness continues…

“I was in the clouds when I saw this movie, the pursuit of happyness. And I must say it was a precious time I spent in the plane from Newark to San Jose. Full marks to Continental Airlines! It was a masterpiece of sheer determination, passion, and challenges. Big words!! Right? In the movie, I really enjoyed the conversations between father and son. Parag’s words – “you will definitely like this movie” were absolutely correct :-) When I landed to the ground of reality, those big words sound even bigger.” Well, an incomplete story so as my incomplete post! I wrote this way back. But, to complete this post, time never smiled upon me till now.

Happiness? Everyone has one’s own meaning to this word. Playing day and night with baseball, rehearsing and practicing the different scenes in a movie, singing at least thousand songs, drawing hundreds of pictures and portraits, writing phenomenal novels every year, learning new languages and cultures, inventing great miracles of science!!! The list continues.. There is something that makes everyone happy and satisfied. But I believe, one must know exactly what that ultimate thing is! Hardly 5% people in this world realise it. Once we make it, these big words will help us creating a beautiful journey of life! A journey that I want to live without caring for results. And they say that it’s the journey that matters, not the destination :-)

In the movie, one must see last 5 minutes. Its victory, jubilation filled with emotions and wonderfully acted by Will Smith, walking and crying on the crowded streets of San Francisco. The same is the case in real life.. Happiness is ephemeral but that transient time makes all the difference. That little and ultimate part of life is called happiness :-)

One fine day before 7 years

Just read one of my letters. It goes like this..

"On one fine day, there risen a storm from the roots of desert. Has a strong desire and dream of kissing the sky. He found a companion in the sand and a friend as warmth. His struggle became the strength & skin got hardened. Realizing what he has become, he smiled back. Attaining the culmination, flabbergasting the world he made him the proudest of all"

And like Carpenters song... I want yesterday once more :)
Thanks giving is coming my friend ;-)

.. and here is the mystery of time!

Well, that’s the mystery of time and I am sorry for my blog..
Many things to write.. From memorable empire state city to the stunning beauty under the great falls, The pursuit of happiness, Driving at 80 miles/h :-), Santa Clara-Sunnyvale Temple, Pleasure of Pleasanton, IO .. the moon and what not!!!Yup many things to write ... presumably ...

And that's gratification!

What is the probability of drawing a red and a white ball from a cart of 3 red, 1 white and 4 blue balls? What are the aftereffects of First World War? What is the figure of speech in “Life is beautiful”? What is volume of a cone, cut at 2 cm from the apex? What is the wavelength of green light? Four years back, I used to deal with these types of questions. And more importantly I used to enjoy them a lot :) Today, definitely missing these questions along with their joy.
One of my students once gave me a card on Teachers day. Today, I don’t know the card’s existence but surely I can call up the first page of that card. It had an image of globe with ruler and pencil. A traditional teachers day message was present on the inner pages. Though I taught for less time, it was a feeling of immense satisfaction.
Today, in TIME I was reading an article about a fantastic teacher, Warren Buffett. Till that moment, I didn’t know about the teaching skills of this man. Once used to be terrified of public appearances this wonderful learner is now a famous natural public speaker. Good teachers are always good learners. These teachers fascinate me a lot. Truely, a world of great interest - skills of understanding, articulation and relationship.
The best teacher I know is a mother. Like life, teaching is also an art. She better knows it. Basically, it’s the root of all professions. Once a wise man said that you catch a fish and feed a person his dinner. But, if you teach the person how to catch a fish, you feed him for lifetime.
Really well said..

Does God Love you?

Last week, it was a bit hectic. Almost every day I traveled through light rail from Montague to San Jose downtown. It was one of the best experiences that have helped me to understand the lifestyle of a common man in Silicon Valley.

One day, when I was traveling, I saw a folded paper on the vacant seat opposite to me. The seat was set apart for disabled people. With my tiny eyes, I could see the title and it was “DOES GOD LOVE YOU?”. I couldn’t resist myself to go to that seat and read the article. It was a small guide of some Christian radio ministry. There were a number of questions and answers in the article related to God, his love, Heaven, Hell, Jesus Christ, Bible, etc. While reading this, it reminded me the slogan, "In GOD We Trust" and I just smiled.

Well, over the years I learned that God is present. But, he is not present in the skies. He is among us and always meets us in some or other forms. He is for good, for the betterment of all lives. Take it as a temple, a church or a mosque, these places help people to calm down and think for the best. The holy books and stories teach us about living. Ultimately worshiping God means being pure and honest, being good to the people around you, being good to the society. The God and his feeling is the greatest thing in this universe and surely one of the major things that bind us.

And about the question, "Does GOD love me?".. Yes, he does :-)

The magical kingdom of Disneyland :)

विचार करत करत मन वेड्या पाखरासारखे उडत शाळेतल्या दिवसात गेले.. शाळेतील सकाळी ७:२० ची प्रार्थना आठवली.. ७:३० ला पहिला वर्ग असायचा..आठवण :) वपुर्ज़ामधे व.पु. म्हणतात की आठवणी ह्या मुंग्यांच्या वारुळाप्रमाणे असतात. बाहेरुन पाहिल्यास त्यात किती मुंग्या आहेत ह्याचा अंदाज़ येत नाही पण एक मुंगी जरी बाहेर पडली तर तीच्या मागोमाग असंख्य मुंग्या बाहेर येतात. तर शाळा.. घर शाळेपासुन almost १.५ miles अंतरावर होते. त्यामुळे पायी चालत जाणे म्हणजे at least ३० minutes लागायचे. तेवढ्या भल्या पहाटे आईने बनवलेला डब्बा.. त्याची चव कधीच कोणत्या जेवनाला येणार नाही.
शाळेला जाताना चिंचेच्या झाडाचा चिगोर खायचो. शाळेत खेळाच्या तासात निलगिरीच्या टोप्या वेचलेल्या आठवतत. भिंगरीच्या झाडावरील भिंगर्या तोडायच्या आणि मित्रांसोबत त्यावर पैज लावायची. विटीदांडु, लपंडाव, पावसाळ्यात गोगलगायी पाहण्याची स्पर्धा आणि मैदानावर असणार्या झर्यात शंख-शिंपले शोधण्याची घाई.. चित्रकलेच्या तासात चित्र काढायचे.. चित्र राजवाड्याचे, डोंगराचे, नदीचे, cartoons चे, प्राण्यांचे.. वेगवेगळ्या fantasies चे. अशेच fantasy world ४ महिन्यापुर्वी पाहिले .. The Happiest homecoming on Earth .. Disneyland :-)
Walt Disney ने त्याच्या imagination, creativity आणि स्वप्नांच्या जोरावर हे Magical Kingdom तयार केले. त्या काळातील (in १९५३) हि कल्पना भन्नाट आणि त्याचे भन्नाट विश्वही निर्माण झाले. Walt Disney चे एक वाक्य आहे - " Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world.." Yes, its all about imagination.. आम्ही तीघे सकाळी ८ वाजता Disneyland ला पोचलो. आमच्या tour guide चिनी ताई आम्हाला guide करीत होत्या. The day started with bang.. Adventureland. त्यात Indiana Jones, पाण्यातील Winnie the Pooh ची राईड - Wonderful experience - राईड जबरदस्त होती. नंतर आम्ही आफ़्रिकेच्या जंगल्स मधुन गेलो.. Jungle Cruise. Haunted Mansion बाहेरुन तर बरच भयानक वाटत होतं पण मधे गेल्यावर आमचा पोपट नक्कीच झाला ;) पुढिल विश्व दाखवणारे Tomorrowland - त्या मधील Space shuttles आणि Star wars च्या राईड्स ह्या आधुनिक जगाच्या नक्कीच छाप पाडणार्या होत्या. जेवनानंतर म्हणजे burger खाल्ल्यानंतर ;) आम्ही वळालो Fantasyland आणि Mickey Toontown कडे. कल्पनाशक्ती असावी तर अशी! मिकीच्या घराच्या hall पासुन kitchen पर्यंत सगळं खर-खुरं वाटत होतं. Tea Party, Mountain rides, Pirates of Caribbean.. सगळं काही छान होतं .. अमेरीकन लोकांच्या ऊत्सहाला नक्कीच मानायला पाहिजे... But, the best was yet to come!!
Unforgettable Famous Parade of Disneyland :) The most attractive.. तो अनुभव इतका अभुतपुर्व आणि सुंदर होता की त्याच्यासाठी शब्दच नाहीयेत. आतिशय मग्न होऊन, स्वत:चे भान विसरुन आम्ही त्याचा आनंद घेतला. Parade हि main gate पासुन Sleeping Beauty Castle पर्यंत चालली. Santa त्याच्या सगळ्या साथीदारांसोबत parade मधे होता. It was unbelievable.. all cartoon characters, music, dance, enthusiasm, environment .. it was amazzing .. Parade नंतर Celebrations time.. Beauty Castle वर fireworks झाली आणि लगेचच artificial snow.. It was jubilation of great creativity and imagination!! The great fantasy world - Disneyland :)

Life in Silicon Valley

"If we hadn't put a man on the moon, there wouldn't be a Silicon Valley today.”

- John Sculley

Its one more quiet but stunningly beautiful Sunday in "High-Tech Heaven". In my fanatic engineering days, I always used to think about this place called Silicon Valley. The land of technologists and venture capitalists, situated in about a 30-mile radius around San Jose in California. Blessed with wonderful weather, the "Valley" is nestled between Diablo And Santa Cruz Mountain ranges. Pacific ocean also adorns the beauty of the valley. There are excellent places nearby like San Francisco, Napa Valley, Santa Cruz beach, Yosemite National Park, Lake Tahoe, Reno and many more.
It is first home for most of the big names in engineering and IT like Apple, IBM, Google, Yahoo, Intel, Oracle, Cisco and lot more. Their concentration and sheer size create melting pot of opportunities in this area. There are more jobs than workers in the valley. Consequently, resulted in insane cost of living with apartment owners increasing their goody bags. To be very frank, here you have to pay for your breathing as well. The houses are relatively packed but a lot of ostentatious showing of wealth. Most houses don't have basements and there's no such thing as an all-brick home, both because of the threat of earthquakes. Unfortunately, a black spot on the glowing beauty.
Commuting is relatively good with local trains and buses but its better to have car to save the time. I found good air but you better watch out for water. San Jose is titled as the safest big city in US for the past several years. But, its always safe when you are safe. ;) I saw a small India resides in the valley with 20-25% of Indian population. There are many DESI turned American families in this area. Some of them are maintaining the culture and ethnicity. DESI restaurants and grocery shops are booming with most of the south Indians and gujjus making their business. Importantly, you can find any Indian grocery item whatever you want from Parle-G to Chavanprash.
This is about living in High-Tech heaven. :)

Great Indian Agriculture Story!

Well yet another time, read an article on "Framer's Suicide" in India especially in Maharashta. Itz a real shame for a country where IT is going from 0 to Ferrari. It’s a grim statistic that says that one suicide in every eight hours. Alas, more than 2000 farmers committed suicide from January 2001. Intensity has increased to 300 from the last 6 weeks. Ultimately, agriculture is somewhat dragging the booming economy down.

Its very complex issue. The old favorite drought is surely a problem but its one amongst the others. The major problems are personal bankruptcy, high inflation rate, cost of cultivation, old technologies in agriculture, disastrous policies, politics, and the list continues.

Basically, Farmer is an entrepreneur and farming is his business. It’s again a management principle of cash flow. Well, Just had an overview of our Budget 2007-2008. From my opinion yet again a cautious budget. Some what focusing on agriculture, inflation, growth and of course politics ;-) with a laughing point of pet food. I really laughed my heart out!

Again the infrastructure is our main bottleneck. Now, the budget has increased farmers credit but is it enough? The power and electricity may play big role here as well as in IT. We know our sorry condition about power. Whats the formula for that? Leave it; budget can be a HUGE discussion.

Well, they say number of proposals to perk up agriculture is in progress. Lets see. Basically, Indian farmer is mostly illiterate. So it’s difficult to run a business. Agriculture is all about business that should be an organized process with fundamentals of entrepreneurship. In US, it works in a business way. World is changing, so the needs. Infrastructure has to be setup. Modern scientific methods have to be used. There should a perfect plan for farming business with ample equity capital. Big guns have to come up with farming organization giving employment to these farmers. Our brains have to be utilized to foster the great fruits from Indian Agriculture.

ओढ..

दुरवर पसरलेले हिरवेगार डोंगर
त्यावर चरणार्या जर्सीज़..
उधान वारा.. पाण्याला अलगद स्पर्श करणारा
साक्ष त्या वरंवार उठणार्या तरंगांची

पुन्हा दिसले आकाशात उडणारे तेच दोन पक्षी
निळ्या आभाळात राहणारे,
कधी काळ्या-पांढर्या ढगाआड लपणारे..
सदैव एकमेकांचे सारथी..

दोघांमधे मौन परंतु
भाषा आहे अमोघ वक्त्रुत्वाची..
क्षणात बागडणारे हे पक्षी
ना सीमा आहे कोणत्या प्रांताची ना कोणत्या देशाची.

पुन्हा दिसले .. परन्तु आज निघालेत लगबगीने
पाहुन काळ्या घनांना..
डोळ्यात त्यांच्या अनाम ओढ
चींता असावी त्यांच्या पिल्लांची..

हिरव्यागर डोंगरावरील तेच पक्षी :)

Nature rules!

Baseball, अमेरीकेचा राष्ट्रीय खेळ. त्यामुळे येथे Baseball च्या मैदानांची संख्या अनगिनतच. समजुन घेतलं तर कोणतीच गोष्ट अवघड नसते आणि शेवटी हा तर एक खेळ आहे. Baseball च्या ground वर Baseball नाही पण Cricket खेळण्याची मजाच वेगळी आहे. तसे पाहिले तर Cricket कुठेही खेळल्या जाऊ शकतो, भर रस्त्यावर असो वा Basement parking मधे. सप्टेंबर च्या सुरुवातीला संध्याकळी 8 वाजता दिवसभराच्या Cricket चा शेवटचा ball खेळला होता. त्याच मैदानावर डिसेंबरच्या शेवटी संध्याकळी 5 वाजता उघड्या डोळ्यांनी ball पाहनेसुद्धा अवघड होते. Actually, फ़रक आहे दिवसाच्या लांबीचा. जगाच्या ह्या भागात generally दिवसाची लांबी maximum 14.5 तास असु शकते आणि minimum 9.5 तास. Equator च्या दुर असल्याने असा हा फ़रक साहजिकच आहे. I can imagine life on poles... मला आज बर्याच दिवसांनी 9-10 चे भुगोल आठवत आहे. ;)

हुशार लोकांनी DST (Daylight Saving Time) concept सुरु केला. Thanks to Benjamin Franklin ह्याची सुरुवात झाली. Energy वाचवण्यासाठी, traffic injuries आणि crime कमी करण्यासाठी दिवसाची सुरुवात पुढे-मागे करायला लागले. They say that "Run for Daylight." (In US, in Spring, clock moves forward by 1 hour and in fall, it moves back by 1 hour. Previously, it used to start on the first Sunday of April and used to end on last sunday of October. But, from 2007 Bush presidency signed a new law in which DST will start on second Sunday in March and will end on First Sunday in November. Here is the link)

बर्याच देशांनी DST concept implement केलाय. त्याला महत्वाचा अपवाद आहे जपानचा. आपल्या भारताचा अभ्यास केला तर उत्तर भारतात maximum length of the day 14 तास आहे आणि minimum 10 तास. Southern ईंडियात हा concept निरर्थक आहे पण Northen ईंडियात may be फ़ायदेशिर ठरु शकेल.. जेवढा आपला विजेचा वापर आहे ते पाहता DST concept Northen ईंडियात implement करायला काही हरकत नाहीये. पण, आपली लोक हा complicated concept implement करायला तयार आहेत का?

There are complications but it's fun to adjust our clocks accroding to the nature. Afterall Nature rules :)

Cooking - its difficult to improve perfection ;-)

वरनफळ, हे एक असं नाव आहे जे ऐकुन आपल्या तोंडाला पाणी सुटलेच पाहिजे नाहीतर आपल्या जीभेला रसीकतेची चव आलेली नसावी. भरपुर दिवस झाले होते वरनफळांचा आस्वाद घेतला नव्हता. मग ठरवले की आज ह्याचा सुध्द्दा प्रयोग करावा. Lets try :-) तशी cooking मध्ये theory तर सगळ्याच गोष्टींची माहीत आहे. इडली पासुन ते पुरनपोळी पर्यंत... ;-) परंतु 12 च्या अभ्यासासारखे cooking मध्ये नाहीये. ईकडे theory पेक्षा practicals नाच महत्व आहे. तुम्हाला सगळे मार्क्स हे practicals वरच मिळतात. Moreover, practicals are difficult than theories. तर मग practical ची अशी सुरुवात झाली.
सुरुवातीलाच एक million dollor प्रश्न असा पडला की आता कच्ची पोळी कुठून बनवायची? कारण गव्हाचे पीठ आणुन पोळी बनवने म्हणजे requirement analysis मध्येच project ची deadline संपणे. मग half-cooked Indian chapatthis वापरायचे ठरवले. चींच भीजत घातली आणि डाळ शिजवली. जसा पैशाने पैसा बनतो तसेच अनुभवाचे असते. अनुभवावरुन अनुभव येतात. [(1 Number Statement ;-)] चींचेचे वरन बनवन्याचा तर दांडगा अनुभव होता, मग तेच केले, अतिशय खमंग आणि तिखट-आंबट वरन ready झाले... आता त्याच half-cooked पोळींचे तुकडे करुन वरनात टाकायला सुरुवात केली. मग cook व्हायला थोडा वेळ लागतो म्हणुन gas full करुन बाकी कामात गुंतुन गेलो, पन दुसर्या कामात ईतका मग्न झालो की भान हरपुन गेले. मग 30 मिनिटांनी पाहतो तर काय half-cooked कच्ची पोळी शिजुन त्याची almost gravy झाली होती आणि वरनफळ म्हणजे आंबट वरनात कुस्करलेली पोळी. मग कय !!! Taste करुन पाहण्याची वेळ आली ... delay किती करणार आता!!. आई शप्पथ अप्रतिम चव आली होती.. एकदम मस्त झाले होते :) आणि असा प्रयोग frequently करु लागलो ;-)