This entry is being written more out of a desire to keep the blog alive, as I'm not finding enough time to write a fully original post, and this state will continue for next 2-3 weeks.
So here's a story, and the lesson which one gets from it:
A girl asked a guy if he thought she was pretty... He said: no.
She asked him if he would want to be with her forever... And he said: no.
She then asked him if she were to leave would he cry, and once again he replied with a no.
She had heard enough. As she walked away, tears streaming down her face, the boy grabbed her arm and said: You're not pretty... You're beautiful. I don't want to be with you forever. I need to be with you forever. And I wouldn't cry if you walked away... I'd die...
We need to have enough faith on our dear ones to interpret their words in right context, and not simply take them at face value.
Friday, December 15, 2006
Thursday, November 30, 2006
10 Immutable Laws of Security
Rediscovered 10 Immutable Laws of Security. When designing secure software/systems, it's important to know where to draw the line. For example, it's useless to try to secure a system against an attack which required physical access in the first place. If the attacker has physical access to your system, he can always use a big enough sledgehammer to break any other security you have applied.
Things to consider before switching job...
Software engineers in India are hot commodities in job market (at least till now), and keep getting new job offers. I framed the classical dilemma of whether to switch job as a question to a good friend as a question, and the clarity of the answer simply amazed me. I'm putting it as such (with some grammatical remodeling) for the benefit of others :-)
Question:
You generally like your present job and are getting a salary X (which is ok) and generally work Y (which is comfortable) hours a day. At another company, you are being offerered a salary 1.2-1.3 times X, but you will need to work lot more hours a week.
Answer:
1) If money is one of my priorities in life or if I need to raise some money in little time, then I would take up the job.
2) If I'm not staying with my family and whatever extra time I get each day after leaving from office and on weekends, I find it difficult to spend that time, then I would take the new job.
3) But in case money... or rather extra money... doesn't figure anywhere in my priority list... and also the time I get off the office... I've many things 2 do in that time... then I won't take the new job.
4) Finally, if I'm passionate about doing the work I've been offered to do in the new job... If my heart and soul lies in that work... Then even if it would pay me the same amount but allow me to work extra hours... I'll take up the job...!!!
Question:
You generally like your present job and are getting a salary X (which is ok) and generally work Y (which is comfortable) hours a day. At another company, you are being offerered a salary 1.2-1.3 times X, but you will need to work lot more hours a week.
Answer:
1) If money is one of my priorities in life or if I need to raise some money in little time, then I would take up the job.
2) If I'm not staying with my family and whatever extra time I get each day after leaving from office and on weekends, I find it difficult to spend that time, then I would take the new job.
3) But in case money... or rather extra money... doesn't figure anywhere in my priority list... and also the time I get off the office... I've many things 2 do in that time... then I won't take the new job.
4) Finally, if I'm passionate about doing the work I've been offered to do in the new job... If my heart and soul lies in that work... Then even if it would pay me the same amount but allow me to work extra hours... I'll take up the job...!!!
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Security cannot be added as an afterthought!!!
Earlier this week, I attended a training on software security. In university days, security concerns in programs were non existent for me, and reflected in programs I designed. This training brought back memories of a first person shooter multi player game (loosely inspired from quake) I created as assignment for Advanced Graphics course. It had a maze like 2 dimensional world, and though players were represented with nice graphics, they were internally represented as spheres, for purpose of calculating damages when they got hit. So if you would shoot at the head of a player in game, nothing would happen to him, since each player's sphere (hitting which damaged it) was centered roughly at it's chest :-).
As stated earlier, no consideration was given to security aspects at all. The clients broad casted the starting location and direction of each bullet fired by them, each client calculated how much damage they had taken from other's bullets, and transmitted this info to the server. Server's main role was to maintain a point count, and deciding where to re-spawn a player when it got killed. Everything worked amazingly well for a week long project.
But as I learnt later, it was a security nightmare. Even if one client is breached, the whole game will go down. A compromised client shooting bullets all over the game world would result in all other players being killed instantaneously, and the compromised client may choose not to report any hits to itself to the server, and hence become invulnerable. My only excuse is, that it was one of the 3 assignments, for one of the 5 courses, in one of the 2 semesters in that year. Later, while learning about software security in professional life, this example immediately came to mind. And the lesson is, security cannot be applied as an afterthought in a software. It has to be taken into account right from the design phase of any project. The security hole I left in the game was a design mistake which could not have been modified without rewriting essentially the whole game, except possibly the graphics engine. In this particular case, one client having being compromised should not have had such adverse effects on all others. If there was a foolproof client authentication scheme, or critical decisions were left to the server, the attackers would need to breach the fiercely protected server to bring down the game, instead of finding and compromising one of the unsuspecting clients.
As stated earlier, no consideration was given to security aspects at all. The clients broad casted the starting location and direction of each bullet fired by them, each client calculated how much damage they had taken from other's bullets, and transmitted this info to the server. Server's main role was to maintain a point count, and deciding where to re-spawn a player when it got killed. Everything worked amazingly well for a week long project.
But as I learnt later, it was a security nightmare. Even if one client is breached, the whole game will go down. A compromised client shooting bullets all over the game world would result in all other players being killed instantaneously, and the compromised client may choose not to report any hits to itself to the server, and hence become invulnerable. My only excuse is, that it was one of the 3 assignments, for one of the 5 courses, in one of the 2 semesters in that year. Later, while learning about software security in professional life, this example immediately came to mind. And the lesson is, security cannot be applied as an afterthought in a software. It has to be taken into account right from the design phase of any project. The security hole I left in the game was a design mistake which could not have been modified without rewriting essentially the whole game, except possibly the graphics engine. In this particular case, one client having being compromised should not have had such adverse effects on all others. If there was a foolproof client authentication scheme, or critical decisions were left to the server, the attackers would need to breach the fiercely protected server to bring down the game, instead of finding and compromising one of the unsuspecting clients.
Friday, November 17, 2006
An incomplete man?
Belgium abolished conscription in 1994. How do I know this, and of what use is this information to anyone? As it turns out, the event had side effects, some of which were entirely unexpected. In my last post, I mentioned conversing with a young Belgian man about European life, on my way from Berlin to Paris (in July 2001). I started talking to him as I was getting bored after listening to songs for hours in bus from Berlin to Paris, and asked him about places to see in Paris. Soon, the conversation moved on to songs we were listening. We exchanged Walkmans, and listened to each other's song for some time, and tried to translate the songs for each other. He was listening to German songs, and me to old Hindi songs.
After some time, the topic of conversation moved to friendship, and I asked him whether he had many friends. This simple question triggered something, and he started crying. I was taken aback for a while, but consoled him, and prompted him to tell me about his problems. Turned out that Belgium abolished conscription in 1994, and this guy was amongst the first ones to benefit i.e., to avoid military training. He was amongst the youngest in his college batch, and most of his peers had started their conscription when the orders to abolish conscription came in. So he was amongst the very few who did not have military training among his peers, and this made him the odd person out. Either his peers avoided him, or if not, most of their conversations were centered about cool things which happened during the military training. Some even suggested that he was an incomplete man without military training, and was not macho enough to remain in their group. Then onwards, he became an introvert, and had very few friends.
One thing to wonder is, this stigma was attached only to the minority who escaped conscription in a year where most people could not avoid it, and not to people in later years, where a vast majority chose not to go for military training. If doing military training is symbol of being a complete man, why don't most people voluntarily go for it? One learns new things every day!!!
After some time, the topic of conversation moved to friendship, and I asked him whether he had many friends. This simple question triggered something, and he started crying. I was taken aback for a while, but consoled him, and prompted him to tell me about his problems. Turned out that Belgium abolished conscription in 1994, and this guy was amongst the first ones to benefit i.e., to avoid military training. He was amongst the youngest in his college batch, and most of his peers had started their conscription when the orders to abolish conscription came in. So he was amongst the very few who did not have military training among his peers, and this made him the odd person out. Either his peers avoided him, or if not, most of their conversations were centered about cool things which happened during the military training. Some even suggested that he was an incomplete man without military training, and was not macho enough to remain in their group. Then onwards, he became an introvert, and had very few friends.
One thing to wonder is, this stigma was attached only to the minority who escaped conscription in a year where most people could not avoid it, and not to people in later years, where a vast majority chose not to go for military training. If doing military training is symbol of being a complete man, why don't most people voluntarily go for it? One learns new things every day!!!
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Fall of a tyrant
If you are thinking that I'm going to bore you with any political events, please relax. I have no such intentions. I just happen to remember an amusing incident, where it took just one bold girl to end a tyranny, where many others (including yours truly) had failed, and want to pen it down. This happened long back (in July 2001), when I was a summer intern at a software product company in Berlin. Many fellow interns took a week off the work, and planned to go to Italy. As I love to plan my own itinerary, I was reluctant to join them, and started planning a trip of my own.
Few good friends were interning in Paris at the same time, and I decided to go for a 4 day Paris trip instead of 8 day Italy trip. The only catch was that I was to go alone to Paris. Being a student on budget, I booked a return bus ticket from Berlin to Paris. Our story starts when I boarded the bus from Berlin at about 6 pm on a Friday evening in early July. The bus driver was a jolly fellow, but the conductor was an old woman reminding me immediately of Lalita Pawar. She made it very clear that no soft drinks or eatables would be allowed in bus. Some people, including me tried to convince her about letting us carry soft drinks and snacks with us, but she made everyone put all eatables in hand luggage, with stern instructions not to take them out inside the bus.
The bus started towards Paris, but everyone was unusually silent, as the conductor had rebuffed few people about talking what she considered noisily. The ride was very comfortable, and I passed time listening to my Sony Walkman. At dinner break, I started talking to fellow travelers in general, and eventually found a young man from Belgium to converse with, initially about things to see in Paris, and later about European Life. We resumed journey, and eventually I fell asleep. Early next morning, there was some commotion in the front rows of the bus. Turned out that the conductor had caught a young couple kissing, and was rebuffing the young man, who looked terrified, and was trying to apologize.
It was at that point, that the girl accompanying the boy stood up, and took matters into her hands. She argued with conductor for about 5 minutes, mostly in German, but I could make out that both were pretty angry. By then, all eyeballs were glued on those two. Suddenly the girl thundered (first in English, and then repeated in German): "Does anyone have any problem with me"? No one uttered a word, and the girl, emboldened, bellowed to the conductor lady: "Seems like you are the only one having a problem. Why don't you go and relax"? The conductor looked defeated, went to her seat, and the couple resumed kissing after some hesitation from the boy's side. And that's not the end of story!!! Within 5 minutes, I heard people conversing in louder voices. Few pulled out pastries/snacks from their bags, and several opened soft drink/beer cans. It was as if they had been liberated from a tyrant and wanted to celebrate. I won't debate about who was right and who was wrong here, but the point is, it proved that it only takes 1 person to instill courage in others, and to begin the fall of a tyrant.
PS: My decision not to go to Italy in 2001 turned out to be a good one, and I toured Italy for over a week in summer of 2002, with responsibility of handling most of travel and budgeting plans for the group, which I enjoyed a lot. That trip instilled in me an amazing sense of self confidence, and will be dealt with in a separate longish post.
Few good friends were interning in Paris at the same time, and I decided to go for a 4 day Paris trip instead of 8 day Italy trip. The only catch was that I was to go alone to Paris. Being a student on budget, I booked a return bus ticket from Berlin to Paris. Our story starts when I boarded the bus from Berlin at about 6 pm on a Friday evening in early July. The bus driver was a jolly fellow, but the conductor was an old woman reminding me immediately of Lalita Pawar. She made it very clear that no soft drinks or eatables would be allowed in bus. Some people, including me tried to convince her about letting us carry soft drinks and snacks with us, but she made everyone put all eatables in hand luggage, with stern instructions not to take them out inside the bus.
The bus started towards Paris, but everyone was unusually silent, as the conductor had rebuffed few people about talking what she considered noisily. The ride was very comfortable, and I passed time listening to my Sony Walkman. At dinner break, I started talking to fellow travelers in general, and eventually found a young man from Belgium to converse with, initially about things to see in Paris, and later about European Life. We resumed journey, and eventually I fell asleep. Early next morning, there was some commotion in the front rows of the bus. Turned out that the conductor had caught a young couple kissing, and was rebuffing the young man, who looked terrified, and was trying to apologize.
It was at that point, that the girl accompanying the boy stood up, and took matters into her hands. She argued with conductor for about 5 minutes, mostly in German, but I could make out that both were pretty angry. By then, all eyeballs were glued on those two. Suddenly the girl thundered (first in English, and then repeated in German): "Does anyone have any problem with me"? No one uttered a word, and the girl, emboldened, bellowed to the conductor lady: "Seems like you are the only one having a problem. Why don't you go and relax"? The conductor looked defeated, went to her seat, and the couple resumed kissing after some hesitation from the boy's side. And that's not the end of story!!! Within 5 minutes, I heard people conversing in louder voices. Few pulled out pastries/snacks from their bags, and several opened soft drink/beer cans. It was as if they had been liberated from a tyrant and wanted to celebrate. I won't debate about who was right and who was wrong here, but the point is, it proved that it only takes 1 person to instill courage in others, and to begin the fall of a tyrant.
PS: My decision not to go to Italy in 2001 turned out to be a good one, and I toured Italy for over a week in summer of 2002, with responsibility of handling most of travel and budgeting plans for the group, which I enjoyed a lot. That trip instilled in me an amazing sense of self confidence, and will be dealt with in a separate longish post.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Unstoppable force vs Immovable object
The following dialogue are from British romantic comedy Imagine Me & You. It's the story of a girl (Rachel) who falls in love on her wedding day (to complicate the matters, with another girl (Luce)). Our hero (Hector) had no idea what hit him till almost the very end.
Scene 1:
Rachel's sister: What happens when an unstoppable force meets a immovable object?
Hector: I haven't got a clue, I'm afraid.
Luce: It never happens.
If there's a thing that can't be stopped...
it's not possible for there to be something else which can't be moved, and vice versa.
They can't both exist. You see, "it's a trick question..." is the answer.
Scene 2: (Rachel: on her wedding day with Hector)
They say fairy tales have happy endings, even though the passage can be rough.
But Heck and I were mates and then lovers. And it's been smooth all the way.
Maybe that's a better kind of fairytale.
Scene 3: (Hector letting Rachel go to pursue her true love)
I want you to be happy, but more than anything, I wanted to be the cause of happiness in you. But if I'm not, then I can't stand in the way. What you're feeling, Rachel, is the unstoppable force, which means that I've got to move.
Scene 4: (Hector to Rachel's sister in a crying tone, after she is gone)
I'm trying to do the right thing...
and now I think I should have not...
'cause...
if she'd stayed with me out of guilt,
that would have been fine, wouldn't it?
I mean, wouldn't it?
The manner in which our hero said "I mean, wouldn't it?", made me feel really sorry for him.
Why write this up? Firstly, I liked the movie. Secondly, though the dialogue are very simple, they inter-relate beautifully to convey the following: Love is an unstoppable force, which can move any object, even those considering themselves immovable.
Scene 1:
Rachel's sister: What happens when an unstoppable force meets a immovable object?
Hector: I haven't got a clue, I'm afraid.
Luce: It never happens.
If there's a thing that can't be stopped...
it's not possible for there to be something else which can't be moved, and vice versa.
They can't both exist. You see, "it's a trick question..." is the answer.
Scene 2: (Rachel: on her wedding day with Hector)
They say fairy tales have happy endings, even though the passage can be rough.
But Heck and I were mates and then lovers. And it's been smooth all the way.
Maybe that's a better kind of fairytale.
Scene 3: (Hector letting Rachel go to pursue her true love)
I want you to be happy, but more than anything, I wanted to be the cause of happiness in you. But if I'm not, then I can't stand in the way. What you're feeling, Rachel, is the unstoppable force, which means that I've got to move.
Scene 4: (Hector to Rachel's sister in a crying tone, after she is gone)
I'm trying to do the right thing...
and now I think I should have not...
'cause...
if she'd stayed with me out of guilt,
that would have been fine, wouldn't it?
I mean, wouldn't it?
The manner in which our hero said "I mean, wouldn't it?", made me feel really sorry for him.
Why write this up? Firstly, I liked the movie. Secondly, though the dialogue are very simple, they inter-relate beautifully to convey the following: Love is an unstoppable force, which can move any object, even those considering themselves immovable.
Monday, November 13, 2006
Jim Corbett Trip : A fun filled weekend
On the weekend of 4th and 5th November, I went to
After breakfast, we played cricket for about 2 hours, and then played some team building games like tug of war. It was during this time that few fellows convinced me to fall from a table backwards during one such team building exercise, with a promise to catch me midway. Needless to say, they had no intention of catching me; I fell, and hurt my back most convincingly. I was out of breath for next 1-2 hours, but fortunately did not sustain any lasting injury (did I tell you that my Guardian Angel has a full time job?), and have learnt an important lesson. I've promised myself to be more careful in trusting people in future. We went to
We had a sumptuous lunch after coming back to resort, and then sprawled in the resort lawn for about an hour. Then few of us went to trekking inside forest with a guide from resort, and had an enjoyable trek in the forest for more than 2 hours. Our guide explained that animals don't attack group of people, and hence it was pretty safe. We saw tiger footprints at several places during the trek, and some other animals, but no tiger. We also overlooked a water hole where animals frequent from a ridge. The original plan was to rest for some time after returning from walk, but what actually happened was that 3 of us went to my cottage, and somehow we started a discussion about latest movies. The discussion moved on to sports, world politics, Indian politics and we do not know how time flew and it was time for bonfire. At about 8 pm, we joined the bonfire, but 5 of the most enthusiastic ones (including yours truly) slipped for open jeep ride at about 8:30 pm. It was a cold full moon night, and we enjoyed an hour long ride standing in an open jeep. We returned at about 9:30, danced for about half hour, had a nice dinner, and went to cottage. Again started discussions about everything under the sun, but I fell asleep at about 11:15 pm, after which, the meeting dispersed, and woke up when my friend shook me at quarter to four on the morning of 5th November. We ran about, woke up everyone, and prodded everyone to get ready ASAP.
We started for the safari to
After breakfast, we spent some time in our cottages, and then gossiped in lawn till noon (basically waiting for people to assemble), and then went to an old suspension bridge on river Kosi. Had a great time with adventure sports like rappelling and river crossing on rope. I was very excited by rappelling, and did it twice. After this, we prepared a raft from tyre tubes and wooden planks, using bamboo sticks as oars. Had a lot of fun crossing
We did not see any tiger, but Adventure sports, open jeep travel at night, jungle trekking, frolicking in river, rafting with self made rafts from tyre tubes and wooden planks, bonfire and Antakshari more than made up for that. Another positive aspect is since many of my friends (leech band members :-) ) were not able to make it to the trip, I got a chance to interact more with other people in the office team, and forged some new friendships.
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Unaddicted...
I have been addicted to Age of Empires since 1999, and have enjoyed each and every release of this magnificent game, starting from original Age of Empires (AOE), Rome expansion to AOE, AOE2, Age of Kings expansion, Rise of Nations, Age of Mythology, Titans expansion to AOM and finally AOE3. I've spent countless nights playing each of these with friends in multi player mode as this has been my major pastime for many years. Winning a game gave us the ultimate high, and losing a game felt worse than slipping assignment/project deadline.
But suddenly, playing AOE lost it's charm in beginning of this year. Since then, I have been playing lesser and lesser, and now I've not played a single game in last 3 months. Today, I discovered that The WarChiefs Expansion to Age of Empires 3 have been released, few weeks back. The very fact that I did not know of of this release is proof that I'm outgrowing AOE. And even after knowing it, I'm not having any desire to try it out. Finally, I'm unaddicted of AOE. Hurray!!!
But suddenly, playing AOE lost it's charm in beginning of this year. Since then, I have been playing lesser and lesser, and now I've not played a single game in last 3 months. Today, I discovered that The WarChiefs Expansion to Age of Empires 3 have been released, few weeks back. The very fact that I did not know of of this release is proof that I'm outgrowing AOE. And even after knowing it, I'm not having any desire to try it out. Finally, I'm unaddicted of AOE. Hurray!!!
Friday, November 03, 2006
Very Touching
I've copied the following from a friend's blog, and know that he too has copied it from somewhere :-). I am more than willing to acknowledge the author, but I don't know who s/he is.
10th Grade
As I sat there in English class,
I stared at the girl next to me.
She was my so called 'best friend'.
I stared at her long, silky hair,
and wished she was mine.
But she didn't notice me like that,
and I knew it. After class,
she walked up to me and asked me for
the notes she had missed the day before.
I handed them to her.
She said 'thanks' and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
I want to tell her, I want her to know
that I don't want to be just friends,
I love her but I'm just too shy,
and I don't know why.
11th grade
The phone rang. On the other end,
it was her. She was in tears,
mumbling on and on about how her
love had broke her heart.
She asked me to come over because
she didn't want to be alone, So I did.
As I sat next to her on the sofa,
I stared at her soft eyes, wishing she was mine.
After 2 hours, one Drew Barrymore movie,
and three bags of chips, she decided to go home.
She looked at me, said 'thanks' and gave me a kiss
on the cheek..
I want to tell her, I want her to know that
I don't want to be just friends,
I love her but I'm just too shy,
and I don't know why.
Senior year
One fine day she walked to my locker.
"My date is sick" she said, "hes not gonna go" well,
I didn't have a date, and in 7th grade,
we made a promise that if neither of us had dates,
we would go together just as 'best friends'.
So we did. That night, after everything was over,
I was standing at her front door step.
I stared at her as She smiled at me
and stared at me with her crystal eyes.
Then she said- "I had the best time, thanks!"
and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
I want to tell her,
I want her to know
that I don't want to be just friends,
I love her but I'm just too shy,
and I don't know why.
Graduation
A day passed, then a week, then a month.
Before I could blink, it was graduation day.
I watched as her perfect body floated like an angel
up on stage to get her diploma.
I wanted her to be mine-but
she didn't notice me like that, and I knew it.
Before everyone went home,
she came to me in her smock and hat,
and cried as I hugged her.
Then she lifted her head from my shoulder
and said- 'you're my best friend, thanks' and
gave me a kiss on the cheek.
I want to tell her, I want her to know
that I don't want to be just friends,
I love her but I'm just too shy,
and I don't know why.
Marriage
Now I sit in the pews of the church.
That girl is getting married now.
and drive off to her new life,
married to another man.
I wanted her to be mine,
but she didn't see me like that,
and I knew it.
But before she drove away,
she came to me and said 'you came !'.
She said 'thanks' and kissed me on the cheek.
I want her to know that
I don't want to be just friends,
I love her but I'm just too shy,
and I don't know why.
Death
Years passed, I looked down at the coffin
of a girl who used to be my 'best friend'.
At the service, they read a diary entry
she had wrote in her high school years.
This is what it read:
"I stare at him wishing he was mine;
but he doesn't notice me like that,
and I know it. I want to tell him,
I want him to know that
I don't want to be just friends,
I love him but I'm just too shy,
and I don't know why.
I wish he would tell me he loved me !
...'I wish I did too...'
I thought to my self, and I cried.
10th Grade
As I sat there in English class,
I stared at the girl next to me.
She was my so called 'best friend'.
I stared at her long, silky hair,
and wished she was mine.
But she didn't notice me like that,
and I knew it. After class,
she walked up to me and asked me for
the notes she had missed the day before.
I handed them to her.
She said 'thanks' and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
I want to tell her, I want her to know
that I don't want to be just friends,
I love her but I'm just too shy,
and I don't know why.
11th grade
The phone rang. On the other end,
it was her. She was in tears,
mumbling on and on about how her
love had broke her heart.
She asked me to come over because
she didn't want to be alone, So I did.
As I sat next to her on the sofa,
I stared at her soft eyes, wishing she was mine.
After 2 hours, one Drew Barrymore movie,
and three bags of chips, she decided to go home.
She looked at me, said 'thanks' and gave me a kiss
on the cheek..
I want to tell her, I want her to know that
I don't want to be just friends,
I love her but I'm just too shy,
and I don't know why.
Senior year
One fine day she walked to my locker.
"My date is sick" she said, "hes not gonna go" well,
I didn't have a date, and in 7th grade,
we made a promise that if neither of us had dates,
we would go together just as 'best friends'.
So we did. That night, after everything was over,
I was standing at her front door step.
I stared at her as She smiled at me
and stared at me with her crystal eyes.
Then she said- "I had the best time, thanks!"
and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
I want to tell her,
I want her to know
that I don't want to be just friends,
I love her but I'm just too shy,
and I don't know why.
Graduation
A day passed, then a week, then a month.
Before I could blink, it was graduation day.
I watched as her perfect body floated like an angel
up on stage to get her diploma.
I wanted her to be mine-but
she didn't notice me like that, and I knew it.
Before everyone went home,
she came to me in her smock and hat,
and cried as I hugged her.
Then she lifted her head from my shoulder
and said- 'you're my best friend, thanks' and
gave me a kiss on the cheek.
I want to tell her, I want her to know
that I don't want to be just friends,
I love her but I'm just too shy,
and I don't know why.
Marriage
Now I sit in the pews of the church.
That girl is getting married now.
and drive off to her new life,
married to another man.
I wanted her to be mine,
but she didn't see me like that,
and I knew it.
But before she drove away,
she came to me and said 'you came !'.
She said 'thanks' and kissed me on the cheek.
I want her to know that
I don't want to be just friends,
I love her but I'm just too shy,
and I don't know why.
Death
Years passed, I looked down at the coffin
of a girl who used to be my 'best friend'.
At the service, they read a diary entry
she had wrote in her high school years.
This is what it read:
"I stare at him wishing he was mine;
but he doesn't notice me like that,
and I know it. I want to tell him,
I want him to know that
I don't want to be just friends,
I love him but I'm just too shy,
and I don't know why.
I wish he would tell me he loved me !
...'I wish I did too...'
I thought to my self, and I cried.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Friday, October 27, 2006
The formation of Leech Band
It was last weekend of August 2005, and my company project team was on a weekend trip to Nainital. We reached Kathgodam by Ranikhet Express early in the morning, from where we proceeded to Country Inn, Bhimtal. We had hired a bus and a guide, and hence could have spent time in a way we best liked, without worrying about transport. After breakfast, we went to Bhimtal, and did boating for quite some time.
The group consisted of about 20 people, and pretty much every one was under 30 years. So we decided to go for trekking instead of following the usual tourist routine. We started circling the taal along a treacherous route, moving towards the hilly side of taal. It took longer than anticipated, and at several places, we had to move through 1-2 feet of water. We pushed forward, and eventually found a way going deep into forest. Soon, we were in a place from where, not a single trace of civilization was visible. The view in the forest was mesmerizing. Being rainy season, the forest was absolutely green, and we had trees with sparkling green leaves all around us. Suddenly, it started drizzling, but we were too much inside the forest, and decided to move ahead, but not before securing our digital cameras and phones in few plastic bags. In about an hour, we found a camping site. Our tour guide knew about it, and presented it as a pleasant surprise to us. The place consisted of few tents and a big thatched roof, with nice tables and wooden benches. Everyone was quite exhausted and took seats.
Suddenly, one of us noticed that his leg was bleeding profusely without pain. The camp people explained that we were attacked by leeches, which are abundant in rainy season. Soon, we discovered that more than half of us had leeches attached to our feet, and I too had 3 stuck to my feet. The simplest method to get rid of those was to put some table salt over the affected place, upon which the leech promptly stopped sucking blood, and tried to crawl to safety. In some cases, the bleeding continued for some time even after the leech was removed. The camp people served us with Hot tea and pakoras, and helped us clean up. It took some time to screen everyone for leeches and the bleeding to stop, but eventually, everyone was good enough to start on backward journey. Everyone was quite careful in return trekking, and we made it back to the Hotel by late afternoon.
Late in the evening, we had a campfire, and got a guitarist singing for us. Though his voice and guitar play was nice, he did not know many songs which people wanted to listen. One thing lead to another, and soon there were 5-6 of us at microphone, all singing whatever they wanted. All attempts to coerce them to come back and sit failed, and hence the "Leech Band" originated, a group of people who will capture the microphone, and won't let go till people are absolutely tired or bored, whichever is first. The name was suggested to commemorate the jovial spirit of us Software Engineers, which even a bunch of bloodsucking leeches failed to dampen. We sang and danced till well over midnight, and now, any Office Group trip is incomplete without a Leech Band performance around a campfire.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
More wheels for cars?
Remember those advertisements for 3 blade razors where the first blade left a 1 mm stubble, the 2nd blade trimmed it to about 0.5 mm, and the 3rd one cut the hair completely? Watching such ads, I used to wonder why those fools didn't get rid of 1st and 2nd blade, when the 3rd one alone is enough. The cutting edge and We're Doing Five Blades, confirm what I had suspected all along: More blades per razor are really marketing gimmicks and any tangible benefit to the customer is marginal at best.
Cars started with 4 wheels, and it's a pity that they still run on 4. If car companies were like razor companies, by now we would be driving Super 7 from Audi with 7 wheels or a Nimble 9 from BMW with 9 wheels. Also, Tata Motors would be advertising More Wheels Per Car, instead of pathetic More Car Per Car. These cars could possibly have kept running even if one or two tyres went flat :-) Is any automobile marketer listening?
Cars started with 4 wheels, and it's a pity that they still run on 4. If car companies were like razor companies, by now we would be driving Super 7 from Audi with 7 wheels or a Nimble 9 from BMW with 9 wheels. Also, Tata Motors would be advertising More Wheels Per Car, instead of pathetic More Car Per Car. These cars could possibly have kept running even if one or two tyres went flat :-) Is any automobile marketer listening?
Monday, October 23, 2006
Best of Raymond Chen's blog
I'm a regular reader of Raymond Chen's amazing blog. This guy has never ceased to amaze me with his knowledge of windows internals, easy manner of explaining difficult things and sense of humor. A recent article explains the length to which Microsoft goes (or rather has to go) to avoid trouble, and avoid getting sued.
Some personal favorites:
Some personal favorites:
- You can create an infinitely recursive directory tree: This one proved to be quite useful in a real project I was working on.
The Ghost who likes raunchy hindi music
Sometime in summer of 2004 (Back then, I was in Hyderabad), few friends planned to go out for ice cream on a Friday evening. You must be wondering how can a ghost fit into such a nice and innocent plan? Here's how... The senior most of us (a shy Bengali babu), offered to drive us to a nice ice cream parlor, and the moment his car CD player was turned on, a raunchy Hindi album song played out. Embarrassed, the fellow switched to radio, and uttered: "What disgusting music is being created these days... I wonder who listens to such songs."There were suppressed smiles all around, but we were too decent to point out to our dear friend that he was a bachelor living alone and the only person having access to that car. What we were left wondering was whether it was a ghost who put that CD in his car music system :-)
Diwali Celebrations!!!
This year's Diwali celebrations turned out to be the best I have ever had. Probably the best testimony to this is the fact that I did not get time to open my laptop between 20th and 22nd October 2006 :-)
Diwali means cleaning and decorating the house, some religious ceremonies, lots of sweets, some crackers, talking and meeting with friends/relatives and generally having a good time. This year, I did all this, and more!!! I met many friends/cousins, talked to even more friends/cousins, finalized a year end trip to Goa with cousins, and finally, set up music system in the common gallery on our building floor, and started a dance party at around 10pm on Diwali night, which turned out a huge success and went on till about 1 in the morning.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Don't go window shopping with him...
There's a close friend (Mr. A), whose has a knack for making decisions in a snap. Though having such a gifted friend has numerous advantages, it is not without it's perils. As an example, you cannot go shopping, and more importantly, windows shopping when he is around, one of our favorite pastime when on trips. While window shopping, the protocol is to get as much information about whatever you are planning to buy, and then make an informed decision afterwards. But our Mr. A makes decisions instantaneously, and carries a wad of bank notes with him. So if you are deciding whether the new earphones you are trying out are worth 500 bucks, forget about even asking Mr. A for advice. The last time a friend (Mr. B) tried that (in winters of 2001, during our institute sponsored Bangalore trip. And yes, 500 bucks in college was big money for most of us), instead of replying, our beloved Mr. A handed 500 bucks to shopkeeper, and shocked, Mr. B immediately decided not to buy those earphones, and not do any more window shopping that day.
Discussing courage and bravery
Here's my first attempt to write about something which happened a long time back, but is still fresh in my mind.
I was in a train with a group (batch mates from college) of 6 people, on a weekend trip, during summer of 2001. Those days, looting of passenger trains was in news frequently, and somehow, the discussion turned to what we will do if robbers attacked our train.
Everyone had an opinion, and lot of joking was going around. People wanted to flee, surrender, fight, use their unknown super powers and so on. This went on for some time, and then someone asked for my 'sincere' answer. I said that it will depend on the exact situation, their vs. our strength, the kind of arms they have and so on, but I don't have a 'ready made', 'fit for all situations' decision.
To raise the stakes, the question was changed to, what if they loot someone in the group. My answer changed to that the odds of my staying and fighting would increase, but again it would depend. Somehow, the conversation took a personal touch, and two of us were involved in a verbal dual:
Him: "Depend on what? How can you even think of leaving someone with robbers, and run away, or surrender?"
Me: "I'm not thinking of any such thing. What I'm saying is that I don't really know what I would do."
Him: "I surely would fight till there's life in me."
Me: "I can say this too, but I'm not sure that I would, so I will not say this. It's very easy to say and equally hard to follow such words."
Him: "You are a coward. How will you fight when you are already thinking about options of running away or surrendering."
Me: "We can only find out what any of us will do when we really face such situation. Till then, anything we say are just words."
Him: "What if your family is there?"
Me: "For them, I'll be prepared to fight till any eventuality."
Him: "So you have double standards. I am sure you will run away even when your family is attacked."
Me: (sarcastically) "But you will still be there to save them :-)."
Me: (continuing) "What my stand is that I know I can die saving my family, but whether I will do so for someone here, I'm not sure. And yes, god forbid if any of us is attacked, we'll see who will stand longer. The only thing is, I cannot promise anything now."
Him: "So you don't care about people here?"
Me: "Lemme put it this way, would you care more for your family, or people who you don't even know properly?"
Him: "For me, anyone in trouble is a personal responsibility."
Me: "Oh yeah!!! So far, I haven't seen you helping a beggar get a job, or admitting an orphan to school."
Him: "That has nothing to do with courage."
Me: "So is courage just about violent fighting? What about fighting the circumstances? What about helping others who are victims, though not of a direct robbery?"
Him: "I'll do all that when when I have more money."
Me: "How much more?"
Him: "Well, hard to say right now."
Me: "Can I assume you don't care for those poor people?"
Him: "No, of course not. Just because I'm not doing anything now doesn't mean I don't care."
...
...
There were some more words exchanged, but eventually, others intervened and we ended our verbal dual midway.
5 years down the line, both of us stick to our arguments as we are fortunate and have not been attacked by robbers to prove any of us right/wrong :-) . Why write about this incident? Because it taught me an important lesson. Too often we quickly come to the belief that our opponents are not only mistaken but scoundrels, something which is not true most of the times. It might be you who is holding mistaken belief, or in fact both may be correct in some way. What I learn from such encounters is that two completely honest people can easily have different viewpoint about a given situation, and it's good to discuss about the differences. You benefit simply by understanding more viewpoints about the issue. As a bonus, it convinces you that even those whom you disagree with usually have heartfelt good intentions.
It will be great if I can get more views on this.
I was in a train with a group (batch mates from college) of 6 people, on a weekend trip, during summer of 2001. Those days, looting of passenger trains was in news frequently, and somehow, the discussion turned to what we will do if robbers attacked our train.
Everyone had an opinion, and lot of joking was going around. People wanted to flee, surrender, fight, use their unknown super powers and so on. This went on for some time, and then someone asked for my 'sincere' answer. I said that it will depend on the exact situation, their vs. our strength, the kind of arms they have and so on, but I don't have a 'ready made', 'fit for all situations' decision.
To raise the stakes, the question was changed to, what if they loot someone in the group. My answer changed to that the odds of my staying and fighting would increase, but again it would depend. Somehow, the conversation took a personal touch, and two of us were involved in a verbal dual:
Him: "Depend on what? How can you even think of leaving someone with robbers, and run away, or surrender?"
Me: "I'm not thinking of any such thing. What I'm saying is that I don't really know what I would do."
Him: "I surely would fight till there's life in me."
Me: "I can say this too, but I'm not sure that I would, so I will not say this. It's very easy to say and equally hard to follow such words."
Him: "You are a coward. How will you fight when you are already thinking about options of running away or surrendering."
Me: "We can only find out what any of us will do when we really face such situation. Till then, anything we say are just words."
Him: "What if your family is there?"
Me: "For them, I'll be prepared to fight till any eventuality."
Him: "So you have double standards. I am sure you will run away even when your family is attacked."
Me: (sarcastically) "But you will still be there to save them :-)."
Me: (continuing) "What my stand is that I know I can die saving my family, but whether I will do so for someone here, I'm not sure. And yes, god forbid if any of us is attacked, we'll see who will stand longer. The only thing is, I cannot promise anything now."
Him: "So you don't care about people here?"
Me: "Lemme put it this way, would you care more for your family, or people who you don't even know properly?"
Him: "For me, anyone in trouble is a personal responsibility."
Me: "Oh yeah!!! So far, I haven't seen you helping a beggar get a job, or admitting an orphan to school."
Him: "That has nothing to do with courage."
Me: "So is courage just about violent fighting? What about fighting the circumstances? What about helping others who are victims, though not of a direct robbery?"
Him: "I'll do all that when when I have more money."
Me: "How much more?"
Him: "Well, hard to say right now."
Me: "Can I assume you don't care for those poor people?"
Him: "No, of course not. Just because I'm not doing anything now doesn't mean I don't care."
...
...
There were some more words exchanged, but eventually, others intervened and we ended our verbal dual midway.
5 years down the line, both of us stick to our arguments as we are fortunate and have not been attacked by robbers to prove any of us right/wrong :-) . Why write about this incident? Because it taught me an important lesson. Too often we quickly come to the belief that our opponents are not only mistaken but scoundrels, something which is not true most of the times. It might be you who is holding mistaken belief, or in fact both may be correct in some way. What I learn from such encounters is that two completely honest people can easily have different viewpoint about a given situation, and it's good to discuss about the differences. You benefit simply by understanding more viewpoints about the issue. As a bonus, it convinces you that even those whom you disagree with usually have heartfelt good intentions.
It will be great if I can get more views on this.
Writing some memoirs!!!
Many things keep happening in our everyday life, but then there are some which you remember forever. I have lots of such events to share, and will be putting them here, over next few months. Of course there are a lot of embarrassing memoirs, and things which, if shared, will compromise other people's secrets :-). Needless to say, such memories/events won't make it to here.
What I request from readers is their opinion in form of emails or comments. Brickbats are as welcome as garlands!!!
What I request from readers is their opinion in form of emails or comments. Brickbats are as welcome as garlands!!!
Monday, October 16, 2006
Preparing Mathri at home!!!
Yesterday was one of those Sundays when one doesn't really have anything specific to do.
Deepawali is around the corner, and we decided to make Mathri. Homemade mathri has a charm unmatched by any salty snack, especially with evening tea.
We got the ball rolling at about 11 am which in itself a feat on a Sunday morning. My father spent next 45 minutes mixing spices and cooking oil in mixture of gram and wheat flour to create the perfect dough. We, being the naivetes we are, made the dough with more than 3 KG of flour. When dear mother saw the dough, she nearly fainted. We had never made mathri from so much dough in one go. Actually, the mathri we make is very thin, and we realized soon that the task is going to take much more time than was anticipated originally. We set out to work at about noon time and mother took over making small dough balls, me and my brother the task of rolling the dough balls into circular disks, and father, the task of frying them into delicious mathris.
The first few mathris I rolled looked not like circles, but more like maps of various countries. My brother's mathris looked more like circles. When he pointed out this discrepancy, I had to explain to him that according to functional specifications of homemade mathris, the mathris are meant to be eaten, that too at home, and hence it didn't matter which country's map they resemble. Nonetheless, with time, the mathris started to look more like circles and less like maps. By 1 pm, we had filled the original container which was supposed to store the mathris, and hunt began for a big container. We were not even halfway mark yet!!! My brother turned on the computer and started playing music at high volume, and for once, mother did have other things to worry about than to complain about the high volume.
Mother emptied a big steel stock pot, which we managed to fill to brim by 3 pm, and finally had to store the final few mathris in a big aluminium boiling pan. We finally finished by about 4 pm, with proud owners of over 350 mathris, over half of which were my designer creations. The work might have finished a bit earlier, but Cricket match between England and India started at 2:30 pm.
My brother opened the TV at about 2:45 and shouted "Eleven for 2!!!".
Me: "Who's playing?"
Brother: "England and India." (He knew what I wanted to know was which team had lost 2 wickets).
Me: "Oyee..."
Brother: "Arre dono team khel rahi hai. Abhi kisi ne haar nahi maani hai."
Me: (in a threatening tone) "Uthkar aaun kya?"
Brother: (referring to disks rolled by me) "Nahi, banata reh nakshe. England batting kar raha hai."
English players kept interrupting the work by getting out, and making us rush to TV to see replays :-)
Currently, the mathris are being consumed at a fast pace, and I wouldn't wonder if they don't last even for 2 weeks.
Friday, October 13, 2006
Shakira! Shakira! Shakira!
A supposedly true article about how hard many people work to make a living, and an assertion that they deserve their small luxuries. It's the last 12 lines (starting from line: “Shakira! Shakira!” Eduardo says smiling.) which touched me.
Is it possible to have a 36 hour day?
Jon explains how it's possible to have a 36 hour day. Though I don't agree with everything, the article has some really nice and practical time saving tips such as optimizing sleeping patterns, optimizing diet and using software to your advantage. A good read.
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Favourite love quotes from movies
A collection of my favourite love quotes from hollywood movies. I've not assigned any ranks as it's impossible for me to declare one better than others. I stopped myself at a dozen quotes, and a sequel to this might appear one day :-)
Love Story
"Love means never having to say you're sorry."
As Good As It Gets
Melvin: You make me want to be a better man.
Carol: ...That's maybe the best compliment of my life.
Phenomenon
George: Hey, would you, uh, love me the rest of my life?
Lace: No. I'm gonna love you for the rest of mine.
Untamed Heart
Caroline: You love with your mind and soul, not you heart.
Adam: [Touching his chest] Then how come I hurt here when you're not with me?
Notting Hill
William: "I live in Notting Hill. You live in Beverly Hills. Everyone in the world knows who you are, my mother has trouble remembering my name."
Anna: "After all... I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her."
Indecent Proposal
"If you ever want something badly, let it go. If it comes back to you, then it's YOURS forever. If it's doesn't, then it was never yours to begin with."
Runaway Bride
"Look, I guarantee there'll be tough times. I guarantee that at some point, one or both of us is gonna want to get out of this thing. But I also guarantee that if I don't ask you to be mine, I'll regret it for the rest of my life, because I know, in my heart, you're the only one for me."
When Harry Met Sally
I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it's not because I'm lonely, and it's not because it's New Year's Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.
Imagine Me & You
"I want you to be happy, but more than anything, I wanted to be the cause of happiness in you. But if I’m not, then I can’t stand in the way. What you’re feeling, is the unstoppable force, which means that I’ve got to move."
Six Days Seven Nights
Robin: "You're here."
Quinn: "I decided my life is too simple, I wanna complicate the hell out of it."
My Best Friend's Wedding
"If you love someone you say it, you say it right then, out loud. Otherwise the moment just... Passes you by..."
Jerry Maguire
Jerry: "I love you. You... complete me."
Dorothy: Shut up. Just shut up. You had me at "hello."
Love Story
"Love means never having to say you're sorry."
As Good As It Gets
Melvin: You make me want to be a better man.
Carol: ...That's maybe the best compliment of my life.
Phenomenon
George: Hey, would you, uh, love me the rest of my life?
Lace: No. I'm gonna love you for the rest of mine.
Untamed Heart
Caroline: You love with your mind and soul, not you heart.
Adam: [Touching his chest] Then how come I hurt here when you're not with me?
Notting Hill
William: "I live in Notting Hill. You live in Beverly Hills. Everyone in the world knows who you are, my mother has trouble remembering my name."
Anna: "After all... I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her."
Indecent Proposal
"If you ever want something badly, let it go. If it comes back to you, then it's YOURS forever. If it's doesn't, then it was never yours to begin with."
Runaway Bride
"Look, I guarantee there'll be tough times. I guarantee that at some point, one or both of us is gonna want to get out of this thing. But I also guarantee that if I don't ask you to be mine, I'll regret it for the rest of my life, because I know, in my heart, you're the only one for me."
When Harry Met Sally
I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it's not because I'm lonely, and it's not because it's New Year's Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.
Imagine Me & You
"I want you to be happy, but more than anything, I wanted to be the cause of happiness in you. But if I’m not, then I can’t stand in the way. What you’re feeling, is the unstoppable force, which means that I’ve got to move."
Six Days Seven Nights
Robin: "You're here."
Quinn: "I decided my life is too simple, I wanna complicate the hell out of it."
My Best Friend's Wedding
"If you love someone you say it, you say it right then, out loud. Otherwise the moment just... Passes you by..."
Jerry Maguire
Jerry: "I love you. You... complete me."
Dorothy: Shut up. Just shut up. You had me at "hello."
Coach Carter (the movie)
Spoiler warning: Plot and ending details follow
I'm deeply impressed with the movie. When I set out to see it, I didn't know that it's based on a true story and was just expecting a cliche movie where a new coach comes, and puts new life in a failing basketball team, and helps them win some coveted championship. I did notice that the movie was 135 minutes long, and was wondering why they have to take so long to show a simple concept like this. Now I explain how the movie kept me hooked till the very end.
As movie starts, Ken Carter (Samuel L. Jackson) joins as coach of Richmond High School basketball team, 'The Oilers', who have never won the local basketball championship. Jackson is a school alumni, and wants to do something for the school. True to my belief, Jackson did his magic, and the team won the local level championship for first time in school's history. They do it in a fairy tale manner with an undefeated record, in about 70 minutes only. I don't care, I do love fairy tales.
The movie captures the team spirit with simple dialogue such as "You said we're a team. One person struggles, we all struggle. One person triumphs, we all triumph.". The coach's and team's highest ambitions have been achieved and the lovely fairy tale seems over. Now the question nagging me was, what are they gonna do in next 65 minutes?
What really happens is that not all is fine with our fairy world. In order to concentrate on Basketball, the team members have neglected their studies, and most are failing academically. The coach wants them to concentrate on their studies for a while, but the team members are blown over with their success, and want to prepare for competing at state level. To put a little background, it's an academically low ranking school, and most of the school's students anyways are supposed to fail, and hence no one really cares. In between, we are also shown love life of a player, and the attraction towards criminal way of life of another.
In a stern move, Jackson suspends all basketball practice, and predictably the students/players revolt. Jackson makes his case heard to public in following manner:
Jackson: [to the people in attendance at the board hearing] You really need to consider the message you're sending this boys by ending the lockout. It's the same message that we as a culture send to our professional athletes; and that is that they are above the law. If these boys cannot honor the simple rules of a basketball contract, how long do you think it will be before they're out there breaking the law? I played ball here at Richmond High 30 years ago. It was the same thing then; some of my teammates went to prison, some of them even ended up dead. If you vote to end the lockout, you won't have to terminate me; I'll quit.
The school administration chooses to override Jackson, and he prepares to leave. In the meanwhile, the player with tormented love life takes right decisions (and of course regains his love), and the player moving towards crime checks himself with some help from Jackson. In general, players realize Jackson's good intentions, and rally to his support (Fairy tale stuff again, but I do love it).
So what happens next? I would have bet my money on the Oiler's going on to winning the state championship. But actually, our Oilers are pitted against the state champions in an early round, and are defeated, but not before giving some scary moments to the champions. They lose the match but win the hearts. The final match has some memorable quotes, and the one which tops them all is:
Jackson: "Just because you deserve it, they won't give it to you. Sometimes you have to take what's yours."
And then we come to know that it's a true story, and most players of that team indeed passed out from school, attended college, and are reasonably successful in life. Who says fairy tales cannot be true?
I'm deeply impressed with the movie. When I set out to see it, I didn't know that it's based on a true story and was just expecting a cliche movie where a new coach comes, and puts new life in a failing basketball team, and helps them win some coveted championship. I did notice that the movie was 135 minutes long, and was wondering why they have to take so long to show a simple concept like this. Now I explain how the movie kept me hooked till the very end.
As movie starts, Ken Carter (Samuel L. Jackson) joins as coach of Richmond High School basketball team, 'The Oilers', who have never won the local basketball championship. Jackson is a school alumni, and wants to do something for the school. True to my belief, Jackson did his magic, and the team won the local level championship for first time in school's history. They do it in a fairy tale manner with an undefeated record, in about 70 minutes only. I don't care, I do love fairy tales.
The movie captures the team spirit with simple dialogue such as "You said we're a team. One person struggles, we all struggle. One person triumphs, we all triumph.". The coach's and team's highest ambitions have been achieved and the lovely fairy tale seems over. Now the question nagging me was, what are they gonna do in next 65 minutes?
What really happens is that not all is fine with our fairy world. In order to concentrate on Basketball, the team members have neglected their studies, and most are failing academically. The coach wants them to concentrate on their studies for a while, but the team members are blown over with their success, and want to prepare for competing at state level. To put a little background, it's an academically low ranking school, and most of the school's students anyways are supposed to fail, and hence no one really cares. In between, we are also shown love life of a player, and the attraction towards criminal way of life of another.
In a stern move, Jackson suspends all basketball practice, and predictably the students/players revolt. Jackson makes his case heard to public in following manner:
Jackson: [to the people in attendance at the board hearing] You really need to consider the message you're sending this boys by ending the lockout. It's the same message that we as a culture send to our professional athletes; and that is that they are above the law. If these boys cannot honor the simple rules of a basketball contract, how long do you think it will be before they're out there breaking the law? I played ball here at Richmond High 30 years ago. It was the same thing then; some of my teammates went to prison, some of them even ended up dead. If you vote to end the lockout, you won't have to terminate me; I'll quit.
The school administration chooses to override Jackson, and he prepares to leave. In the meanwhile, the player with tormented love life takes right decisions (and of course regains his love), and the player moving towards crime checks himself with some help from Jackson. In general, players realize Jackson's good intentions, and rally to his support (Fairy tale stuff again, but I do love it).
So what happens next? I would have bet my money on the Oiler's going on to winning the state championship. But actually, our Oilers are pitted against the state champions in an early round, and are defeated, but not before giving some scary moments to the champions. They lose the match but win the hearts. The final match has some memorable quotes, and the one which tops them all is:
Jackson: "Just because you deserve it, they won't give it to you. Sometimes you have to take what's yours."
And then we come to know that it's a true story, and most players of that team indeed passed out from school, attended college, and are reasonably successful in life. Who says fairy tales cannot be true?
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Creative Writing!!!
Today, we were doing an excercise about communication skills, and my task was to transform following sentence into a complete argument:
"I think we should launch the Cytherea product line on June 15th."
Following is what I came up with in 10 minutes, and amazed myself as well as few others:
I propose that we aim to launch the Cytherea product line on June 15th. I am presuming that Venus Corporation is coming out with a competing product in July end, and I believe that with our solid engineering team, we can deliver before them. Given that the prototype is ready and has received good feedback from test customers, the basic architecture of product is already in good shape. Does anyone think it is not a realistic goal? Please feel free to share any concerns.
Yes, this is self congratulatory, but today I came to know about the creative writing skills hidden in me, and a guy does have the right to pat his own back :-)
"I think we should launch the Cytherea product line on June 15th."
Following is what I came up with in 10 minutes, and amazed myself as well as few others:
I propose that we aim to launch the Cytherea product line on June 15th. I am presuming that Venus Corporation is coming out with a competing product in July end, and I believe that with our solid engineering team, we can deliver before them. Given that the prototype is ready and has received good feedback from test customers, the basic architecture of product is already in good shape. Does anyone think it is not a realistic goal? Please feel free to share any concerns.
Yes, this is self congratulatory, but today I came to know about the creative writing skills hidden in me, and a guy does have the right to pat his own back :-)
Monday, October 09, 2006
A beautiful day
It's breakfast time, and we are enjoying delicious Aloo Paranthas.
There's a certain sweetness in the potatoes, and my younger brother and sister are having an amusing argument about who bought the sweet potatoes and mother is made the unwilling referee. Myself, and a cousin (staying with us for few days) are laughing clutching our sides.
After some funny exchanges (like that the last time they bought potatoes, they were soiled, and so cannot be from cold storage, and how cold storage potatoes can be soiled before selling), my sister: "I know precisely how you got the sweet potatoes. You must have asked rates of the 2-3 varieties of potatoes the shopkeeper had, and bought the ones with lowest price". My brother is indignant and says that even if it's like that, he can never buy sweet potatoes. Brother: "I always tell the shopkeeper that I want sweet potatoes, and only buy from one who says he does not have any". Needless to say, mother, who so far was refraining from laughing, joined us in the laugh riot.
Start of another beautiful day!!!
There's a certain sweetness in the potatoes, and my younger brother and sister are having an amusing argument about who bought the sweet potatoes and mother is made the unwilling referee. Myself, and a cousin (staying with us for few days) are laughing clutching our sides.
After some funny exchanges (like that the last time they bought potatoes, they were soiled, and so cannot be from cold storage, and how cold storage potatoes can be soiled before selling), my sister: "I know precisely how you got the sweet potatoes. You must have asked rates of the 2-3 varieties of potatoes the shopkeeper had, and bought the ones with lowest price". My brother is indignant and says that even if it's like that, he can never buy sweet potatoes. Brother: "I always tell the shopkeeper that I want sweet potatoes, and only buy from one who says he does not have any". Needless to say, mother, who so far was refraining from laughing, joined us in the laugh riot.
Start of another beautiful day!!!
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