TTM: The Thinking Mirror

Don't Read if U don't want to laugh!

2009-09-25T01:03:00.001+05:30

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Can you! Can you hear me?

2009-08-29T00:31:00.008+05:30

Can you! Can you hear me?

I eat, I drink, I sleep, I dream.

But my soul is thirsty for you,

My heart - for love of thee;

Can you! Can you hear me?

---

The first rays of sun,

The first colors of life,

It’s you – whom I see;

Can you! Can you hear me?

---

The first song of nature,

The first ode to love,

Tells the tale of thee;

Can you! Can you hear me?

---

The first Apple of Eden,

The Cheering Spirits of Joy,

Your eyes beat all Ecstasy;

Can you! Can you hear me?

---

The first fragrance of rain,

The drenched aroma of earth,

It’s the time to break-free;

Can you! Can you hear me?

---

I eat, I drink, I sleep, I dream.

But my soul is thirsty for you,

My heart - for love of thee;

Can you! Can you hear me?

---

"Go India Go": 'The Thinking Mirror' Tribute

2009-08-16T17:54:00.005+05:30

Aate Jaate In Raaste Mein

2009-08-12T01:56:00.004+05:30

Aate Jaate In Raaste Mein

Aate Jaate In Raaste Mein,

Musafir Jo Milte Hain;

Musafir Ki Dilon Mein,

Musafir Cha Jaate Hain.

---

Laut Ke Na Aate Hain,

Yaadein Saatate Hain,

Kaise Jiya Jaye, Mere Yaar Tu Bata!

Dil Ko Na Mere Yun, Mere Pyar Tu Saata.

---

Tanha Kiya Tune, Aansu Diya Tune,

Tune Hi Ruswa Kiya Hain.

Dil Se Mera Khela, (Ha) Pyar Ka Ye Khela,

Achha Ye Shikwa Diya Hain.

---

O Meri Jaani, Ye Teri Meherbani,

Aysa Jo Pyar Kiya Hain!

Ab Bhi Kya Shikwa Hai Baki?

---

Aate Jaate In Raaste Mein…

The Tale of Line, Circle and You

2009-08-11T00:56:00.003+05:30

The Tale of Line, Circle and You

You call Him Deadline, so asks Line:

“Can He who never lived ever die?”

“Why not if Man does!”, says Circle,

Sun chuckles and Wind passes by.

---

Lived for tomorrow and You never lived,

Now, You’re back to where it all began;

Worked so hard and it did not work,

You ran so fast but in a Circle You ran.

---

Center is goal but in Circle you move,

Chase Your dreams and it moves away;

Deadline You cross and the next awaits,

You die every now and die every day.

---

The Line you target and Line you reach,

Never lived, dead and then born again;

In perpetual Circle the World moves,

Tale of Line & Circle is the tale of Men.

---

When I say…

2009-08-04T23:57:00.003+05:30

When I say…

When I say, ‘Be here, be with me’,

Don’t think that I want to bind you;

Being with you is what I cherish,

The moments are forever, though few.

---

When I say, ‘Be truthful and honest’,

I also mean, ‘Be gentle and not rude’;

I want you to be happy and fair,

Better be stupid but not shrewd!

---

When I say, ‘I miss you so much’,

I mean to say, ‘I care, I really do’;

Nothing much that I really want,

It’s enough if you just say, ‘me too’!

---

When I say, ‘there’s a problem’,

Don’t shy away, just be there;

I’ll resolve, you need not,

Just be patient and give your ear.

---

When I say, ‘Don’t leave me ever’,

Won’t stop you but love will remain;

I know you’ll go where destiny takes,

If you’re mine - will come back again!

---

It’s the journey that I call life

2009-08-04T01:36:00.005+05:30

It’s the journey that I call life

It’s the journey that I call life,

Destination is not the end but on way;

It’s not tomorrow, it’s now,

Live every moment, live every day.

---

It’s not matter that matters,

What matters is not ‘what’ but ‘who’.

What you are is what matters,

Not what you have or you do.

---

Your smile makes my day,

Not the gifts of yours,

Don’t need a diamond to say it,

I’ll prefer a red rose.

---

Little words of empathy,

Little acts of love;

Makes our world so happy!

Like the heaven above!!

---

Sapne Zindagi Aur Zindagi Sapne Hain

2009-08-03T00:35:00.006+05:30

Sapne Zindagi Aur Zindagi Sapne Hain

Choti Choti Akhiyon Mein Bade Bade Sapne,

Sapne Ye Sare Mere Bade Apne.

---

Ankhon Mein Nanhen Se Sapne Jo Aate Hain,

Ankhon Mein Ake Wo Dil Ko Lubhate Hain.

Sapne Jo Apne Toot Jate Hain,

Bhikre Who Moti Aansu Chhor Jate Hain!

---

Sapne Bhi Apne, Aansu Bhi Apne

Dono Hi Ang Hain Jine Ke;

Amrit Bhi Apna Zeher Bhi Apna

Dono Hi Cheez Hain Pine Ke.

---

Sapno Ka Amrit Tum Yaar Pilo,

Thoda Ye Jivan Khusi Mein Ji Lo.

Jivan Ye Bada Meetha, Ye Na Theekha Hai;

Badal Hai To Kya Suraj Na Fika Hai.

---

Choti Choti Akhiyon Mein Bade Bade Sapne,

Sapne Ye Sare Mere Bade Apne…

---

It’s a story of you and me

2009-08-02T05:44:00.004+05:30

It’s a story of you and me

A drop of dew on the grass,

It’s there and then it’s no more;

A medley of diverse colors,

It’s all new but still the same chore.

---

A shadow of darkness,

Then a rainbow of light;

We all get it wrong,

And then we get it right.

---

A harmony of discord,

It’s a song that we sing;

An act where we act,

Tired, still play with zing!

---

You love to hate me,

And I hate to love thee;

We are put into a cage,

And then we’re set free.

---

From sunrise to sunset,

It’s a story of you and me;

A wave comes to the shore,

And then mingles into the sea.

---

It’s A Whole New World!

2009-07-31T03:07:00.007+05:30

It’s A Whole New World!

The end of gloom;

Welcome the cheers,

I open my eyes

(And) open my ears.

---

The light I see,

(And) the music I hear;

All feel near,

(And) all feel dear!

---

It’s a whole new world,

It’s a brand new sight;

It’s a ‘happy’ morning,

It’s just so bright!

---

Night fades away,

Dark says ‘bye’.

Sun says ‘Hello!’

(And) birds say ‘Hi…’

---

Dances my mind

(And) dances my soul,

I’m not alone,

I’m part of whole.

---

A Journey to the Woodland

2009-07-21T01:55:00.003+05:30

A Journey to the Woodland

The Most-Bogusly-Active creatures that we are don’t get enough time otherwise and hence this evening plan. The three musketeers Ankur, Vinay and I went to a salon for trimming ‘naturally grown black protein filament that grows through the epidermis from follicles deep within the dermis in and around our face’ (read hair and unshaven beard) on a lazy Monday evening. After the trimming was done we at our own will and effort became not-so-proud-owners of some non-basic-necessities at a mom-and-pop-store. Note that none of us was intelligent enough to be duped by the innocent shop-keeper to buy the imported scents sold at throw-away prices.

Not sure whether bored by our confined life or inspired by the dancing rain, suddenly Ankur asked, “Why don’t we go to a different land?”. “Different land?”, Vinay was surprised! So, was I. “Yes, a different land...Woodland”, replied Ankur with an impish grin on his matured-childish-face. Laughter followed and the three musketeers followed the road to Woodland.

The look and feel of Woodland from the outside indicated that the inside ambiance will be posh. But someone whispered in my ear, ‘Looks can be and hence always are deceptive’. The staring banner announcing the discount prompted us to believe that we will get a good bargain.

Excited we entered Woodland but to find not much of wood. Rather the place was full of colorful-processed-fibers (read clothes) and not-so-colorful-processed-leathers (read shoes). Vinay and I went in search for not-so-colorful-processed-leathers while Ankur for colorful-processed-fibers. To put the reasoning in the most-hackneyed-language-in-the-world for your kind understanding: ‘We are never happy with what we have and always want to have what we don’t’. Understood? Better if you don’t. As you know, ‘Better if you think you haven’t understood when you haven’t coz then there is a chance that you will understand but if you think you have understood when you haven’t there is no chance that you will understand’.

Motley of diverse amenities that this land was did not look as posh as we expected it to be. Remember the whisper? Anyway, at last, some wood! Thin-hollow-rectangular-parallelepiped-of-processed-wood (read packages) with god-know-what-inside contributed to mess up the already-not-so-impressive-ambiance of Woodland further.

It's a common human nature to have innocuous doubts if we get too-much-value-for-money. Vinay checked a shoe model but was shocked to see the price-tag. The store personnel seeing our predicament tried to lure our Freudian-Ego by informing about the 30% discount. The bright quant chap Vinay was quicker and brainier than the experienced personnel to find out that even after the so-called-discount the price was higher than what he paid for an identical shoes last month. We wondered if it was a discount indeed or perceived discount to dupe the gullible consumers!

Whatever it is, the signal was strong and we both decided not to buy anything there and went to the apparel section. Ankur had already selected a shirt for him. He asked the store personnel if any other color of that design was available but negative was the response. Ankur asked us if his choice was a good one. As you know, especially for publicly consumed goods we feel more confident about our purchase decisions when it is corroborated by others. We nodded head to inspire the desired level of confidence in Ankur and asked him to have a trial. But the busy trial room could accommodate Ankur only after a long wait of two minutes. Tried and tested the shirt looked good on our matured-childish-angry-young-man and the 40% discount was the icing on the cake. We completed the-modern-formal-counterpart-of-barter-system (read paid the money) and left Woodland.

Education - the reality bites!!

2009-07-15T23:29:00.008+05:30

Education - the reality bites!!

Have you ever discussed, debated or at least thought about why India still has a long way to go and settled with the conclusion that the citizens our beloved country have to be educated first for India to grow further? If yes, this blog should help you get some more arguments for your next debate on the issue! If not, read on…

Education – we all know!

Before writing some complex sentences let’s start with a word, a very simple word ‘Education’. We all think we know enough about it – but do we really?

Let me try to help you. This is the definition that I got from an English dictionary - “Education is the activities of educating or instructing; activities that impart knowledge or skill” And, here is an totally different version from an Indian-monk who shook the world more than a century back - “Education is the manifestation of perfection already in man!” Now, which definition we choose is up to us! But then our future depends on what we choose today!! Educating India

When we talk about educating people - we talk about numbers, we talk about literacy rates. But, as you know - 'there are lies, damn lies and there is statistics'. What we are seeing today in India - there is a great boost in the initiatives to increase number of so-called literacy rates. But are we really bothered about educating our young generation? The answer is - yes and no at the same time! How, you ask? YES - if you consider the first definition (in red) and NO - if you consider the second definition (in green)! Yes, number of people being educated is increasing. But don’t you see an inversely proportional relation between quantity and quality in education field? While number of schools, colleges and universities are going up – the improvement in quality is not that remarkable. But to hide this grave issue - we resort to...yes again to statistics. We can see so many engineering and management colleges (including the so called ‘India’s largest university’ or those who ‘Dare To Think Beyond the IIMs!’) are coming up which have the impressive quantity (read numbers) to support their tall claims but what about the quality? Whatever it is, they have one thing for sure - good management - and that really matters! Now, what you call ‘good management’ is a critical and hence a debatable issue. So, let’s not go into that debate and instead remain within education arena.

Money is honey?

So, when I say - good management - administration of these mushrooming new colleges know one thing for sure - numbers matter - and hence they go all the way to ensure their students gets good marks in the exams - or rather good grades for that matter. This is topped with personality grooming and communication skills. And, to top it all - they maintain excellent rapport with the industry. Now, it is a mutual win-win synergistic partnership between the so-called-academic and the industry. Industry needs people to meet their growing demand and so-called-educators needs good placements to showcase their excellence which matters to them the most! We are going towards a society where the mantra is - 'it is all about money, honey!'. But is it? Ask any person who has reached height of richness and I'm sure he'll tell you - 'it is NOT ALL about money, honey!'. At the end of the day people want happiness, they want peace. And, money can give you everything but peace. Money can be the means to the end but not the end by itself. But many a times in life in the pursuance of means we forget the end and mistake the mean to be the end!

The vicious cycle

We can easily remember so many names who are who’s who of the corporate world (in India as well as globally) who are Indian. But how many really out-of-the-box innovative innovation have we seen from Indian students and so-called innovation-oriented Indian companies? Zilch you say - and I agree. We are into a vicious cycle - where presentation matters and not the content. And why I call it a vicious cycle is: from educational institutes the best groomed boy/girl gets the best job >> he reaches a high-position in the industry >> he influences a lot of important decisions >> the service/product of the company are as a result are not as good in content as in presentation >> ultimately it is the masses who consume it!

The Future – GOD Knows!

But the problem becomes more serious when the otherwise inspired students - seeing this vicious trend - fall prey to the trap or worse losses inspiration to go the other way. I admit that great people do not need inspiration but then the lesser mortals like us need some inspiration to tread the good-old-tattered-path. ‘We are all good by birth and it is the situation which makes us behave badly’. And, I'm really worried that we - the common people - are getting all the wrong signals from the neighborhood. When we see the high salary figures of Indian B-schools making news-paper headlines regularly - and no new original research paper makes even a 'tail line' - this is for sure is a dangerous sign! Priority to presentation is increasing and importance of content is decreasing. And, the biggest problem is yet to come - when all the best brains go for presentation who prepares the content? And without content what those great presenters will do? From, another perspective, when the best people go to industry - for obvious reason of pecuniary benefits - what about the next generation teachers and professors? Already the quality of teaching fraternity is following the bear run - and we are yet to see the worst! Who will educate the next generation? And, as you know - 'education depends as much as on the teachers as on the students'. Good teachers can make good students from average ones but not the vice-versa! But what is the solution??? GOD knows - you say? I agree again...