Its the its-been -a-year post for this blog and actually my first post on this blog is apt for a re-run. It goes:
Thats about the best I can describe whats to follow. I shall follow the following method of basing all posts on a single crystallisation of thought and thereafter just Ramble On.
The Path to Insanity
Confused,nomadic vision i sought
Spiralling towards the horrific insane
Journeying upon the train of thought
A trip down memory lane...
A trip down memory lane...
And Hari, you'd better post something..
Monday, October 31, 2005
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
People
For a strum of my guitar
A breath of stale wet air
Sweat, heat and the smells
That I've grown up with.
The sounds, the clatter of
bat on ball, the sweet flow
of uncouth words from
ill-spoken drivers of the
yellow three wheeled
monsters that crawl
through the dense smoke.
And the smoke that chokes.
The train that trundles along
its course with people of
all ages and all sizes
of all types and smelling
all differently. People.
People everywhere.
For a moment with the
people I care for. All of them.
A breath of stale wet air
Sweat, heat and the smells
That I've grown up with.
The sounds, the clatter of
bat on ball, the sweet flow
of uncouth words from
ill-spoken drivers of the
yellow three wheeled
monsters that crawl
through the dense smoke.
And the smoke that chokes.
The train that trundles along
its course with people of
all ages and all sizes
of all types and smelling
all differently. People.
People everywhere.
For a moment with the
people I care for. All of them.
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Priorities
"... Avi Kremer, was diagnosed with ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease, a progressive, neuromuscular disease. He wrote an article in the student newspaper about how he had gone from dreaming of running a Fortune 500 company to wanting to stay alive long enough to marry his fiancée."
I saw this in an article I was reading about HBS. This got me pondering, how we never really realize what things mean to us till adversity strikes. After all the studying, working and the money, everyone realizes at some point that they might have got their priorities wrong. The things that we take for granted- family, friends are the things we go back to.
And this second excerpt:
"... Business school for many students is a life-editing process as much as an educational one. You are given the time to think about what kind of work you will find fulfilling. You meet and hear people from so many fields of business and with each encounter think, yes, I could be like this person or work for them, or please, get me out of here..."
This was something that struck me as being very true. Very few people seem to know exactly what they want out of this education... everyone knows they'll get a job that pays but which one of those jobs do they want. Questions like "Am I doing this just because others are doing it?", "Will I actually enjoy this?", "Am I doing it for the money?" need to be asked to figure out our priorities and I continue to believe ... enjoy your work and you'll be good at it. This place gives you a wonderful opportunity to figure this out.
PS: Here is the link to the article:
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/49f9b676-e65f-11d9-b6bc-00000e2511c8.html
I saw this in an article I was reading about HBS. This got me pondering, how we never really realize what things mean to us till adversity strikes. After all the studying, working and the money, everyone realizes at some point that they might have got their priorities wrong. The things that we take for granted- family, friends are the things we go back to.
And this second excerpt:
"... Business school for many students is a life-editing process as much as an educational one. You are given the time to think about what kind of work you will find fulfilling. You meet and hear people from so many fields of business and with each encounter think, yes, I could be like this person or work for them, or please, get me out of here..."
This was something that struck me as being very true. Very few people seem to know exactly what they want out of this education... everyone knows they'll get a job that pays but which one of those jobs do they want. Questions like "Am I doing this just because others are doing it?", "Will I actually enjoy this?", "Am I doing it for the money?" need to be asked to figure out our priorities and I continue to believe ... enjoy your work and you'll be good at it. This place gives you a wonderful opportunity to figure this out.
PS: Here is the link to the article:
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/49f9b676-e65f-11d9-b6bc-00000e2511c8.html
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Saturday, October 15, 2005
Break Free
Every once in a while, something happens that gives you hope, energy and a sense of relief. It's a break from all the "The most important thing I accomplished", and display of "leadership abilities" to plain old quizzing, exchanging trivia, talking about mindless things, taking walks around campus in the cool climate and sitting by myself, away from the noise of the party and enjoying the quiet. It's a good feeling when you have nothing to say, no point to make but write or talk just for the heck of it and ramble aimlessly.
This isn't a journal type of post where I detail my week or a post with current affairs and perspectives. This is a post I have put up to get some words out there.
This isn't a journal type of post where I detail my week or a post with current affairs and perspectives. This is a post I have put up to get some words out there.
Saturday, October 08, 2005
Some Pics
The Creator of the blog ... his passion
Da Guys
Intellectuals' Talk
Most Importantly ... The lady who made me post
Redneck Country
When you have not slept two nights in a row seeing a crazy guy driving the wheels off an old piece of shit, early 80's car on dirt roads is real entertainment. His hub caps were actually flying off. This guy was in the ditch driving at a 45 degree angle as if he was gonna drive in the field to overtake the car behind us. And at the intersection he was doing circles in the dirt. Now thats a great way to start your day! Am on the drive back from the job right now. Had to leave at about 1 AM. Two hour drive and the job was done in about three hours. Definitely one of the sweeter jobs that I've been on. Just yesterday I got back from a 22 hour job. Managed to get a bit of sleep in the evening though.Im going through my training phase currently where I need to study and at the same time see jobs at the well site to learn the operators jobs. The fun part is getting to drive all around Alberta. The countryside is on the whole very pretty and for the most part pretty flat. There's apparently a saying in Sakatchewan(a bordering province) that you cane "see your dog running away for three days. So you get to see beautiful sunrises abd sunsets everyday. But I guess after a while you get used to seeing these things everyday.One thing I've learnt is to appreciate the sun a lot more. But I guess Im getting used to the weather gradually. Its all a matter of dressing properly and not getting wet. You'd better dress properly when its -4 outside with a stiff breeze and you're up on the rig floor. Hell, you Learn to dress properly. So its been pretty busy and thats the way its gonna be for a while now down here in Redneck country...
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
The Village
1992
On the banks of the Kaveri. A serene setting... greenery flashing by, cows along the river, women with the clothes they wanted to wash, a tea-shop with some men sitting and reading the paper, listening to the radio. A large house in the "town" about 35 km from Trichy. Welcome to my yearly holiday. I hated it- being away to my grandparents' for 30 days with my cousins, aunts. Seemingly, with nothing to do except take a walk to the river every morning, play around in the school ground, read some comics in the afternoon, chat around with thaatha in the evening and go to sleep early- around 8.30 coz the day would begin at 5.00. 30 days of this every year.... the fresh air, milk from the cow at home, thaatha's empty school wiith the library open to us, a battered M80 and a Chetak in front of the house. Every once in a while there would be a real treat. We would accompany him to the fields in another really small village. The bananas and the sugarcane, the paddy and the coconuts. This part, I really enjoyed. The walk around the fields and the water all around us. He was really proud of the new under-ground sprinkler system covering the entire field!
I was too young to wonder why the labourers on the fields refused to wear shirts or sit on chairs. They were deferential towards me and I was 8. I was too young to understand the troubled lives these men who depended on the lands led, the rains would fail and there would be no crops to work on. There would be floods and the same would happen. One of them stayed in our house in this other village. All I wondered was why I wasn't getting more bananas!!!
The school was his child. It was the only English-medium school in the village. It had about 300 students and classes till Standard Five. To me it was just another place in the town, a small place which didn't strike you as a school, coming as I did from the city. It was by no means small for the people around the area.
1996
I still didn't enjoy my visits. I could never get used to the mosquitoes- I didn't complain half as much about the mosquitoes in Chennai-, the toilets constructed at the back of the house. missed not having things other than DD. But, there were other things I enjoyed more. How we used to fight over thattha’s chair the moment he left the room. Every evening was more fun. The time passed by, talking about books – English, Tamil… Sanskrit even.
The fields were in trouble. The sprinkler system meant that the huge lands had to be sold to a single buyer and very few in the area could afford it. The way, things we do for progress, affect us!
The school had 600 students. Classes uptil Standard 8. New buildings, the concrete monster eating into the greenery. More construction to mar the beauty of the place… more children being educated.
The number of vehicles had grown and the greenery was reducing but somehow, I got the feeling that no one really cared.
2002
I realized what our visits meant to my grand parents. It was their break of the year, a time to be spent happily with their family. To be proud of grandsons and grand daughters being educated in the city and enjoying the comforts of life there. It was their time of joy after having brought up their kids in the village on a school teacher’s salary.
The fields were gone, sold to a buyer and so was the cow in the house, to the reaper. The motorcycles were gone too and so were the books in the house- to the school library coz thaatha couldn’t read so much any more.
The house had been re-modelled. There were signs that it was occupied by old people. The walking sticks were out. The backyard had shrunk.
I looked forward to these visits. It was my break from the monotony and noise of the city to the not so fresh anymore air of the village. It was my refuge every vacation. The walk to the river (river bed now) had a calming effect. But, I realized that my stay was becoming shorter every visit. I always seemed to have some work to get back to …. Not so important it turns out (in retrospect).
The school had 1000 students. Standard 10. Obtaining all the necessary licenses was a problem for English medium schools - officials applying the rules to suit their whims.
The man who worked the fields was wearing a shirt and the number of vehicles had increased but had any real progress been made?
I went back 2 days ago. Kaveri has water.
But things have changed. There was a concrete jungle awaiting me and the cellular networks, Cable TV and computers were all great- the old world charm was missing, the rural setting existed no more.
Am I being selfish and criticizing progress just because I don’t have a quiet and peaceful village for my vacation? Is the direction of progress right? Are the changes only superficial or has there been any real progress in the social sphere?
I need to study this some more coz this is a portion of India I’ll never get to learn about later.
On the banks of the Kaveri. A serene setting... greenery flashing by, cows along the river, women with the clothes they wanted to wash, a tea-shop with some men sitting and reading the paper, listening to the radio. A large house in the "town" about 35 km from Trichy. Welcome to my yearly holiday. I hated it- being away to my grandparents' for 30 days with my cousins, aunts. Seemingly, with nothing to do except take a walk to the river every morning, play around in the school ground, read some comics in the afternoon, chat around with thaatha in the evening and go to sleep early- around 8.30 coz the day would begin at 5.00. 30 days of this every year.... the fresh air, milk from the cow at home, thaatha's empty school wiith the library open to us, a battered M80 and a Chetak in front of the house. Every once in a while there would be a real treat. We would accompany him to the fields in another really small village. The bananas and the sugarcane, the paddy and the coconuts. This part, I really enjoyed. The walk around the fields and the water all around us. He was really proud of the new under-ground sprinkler system covering the entire field!
I was too young to wonder why the labourers on the fields refused to wear shirts or sit on chairs. They were deferential towards me and I was 8. I was too young to understand the troubled lives these men who depended on the lands led, the rains would fail and there would be no crops to work on. There would be floods and the same would happen. One of them stayed in our house in this other village. All I wondered was why I wasn't getting more bananas!!!
The school was his child. It was the only English-medium school in the village. It had about 300 students and classes till Standard Five. To me it was just another place in the town, a small place which didn't strike you as a school, coming as I did from the city. It was by no means small for the people around the area.
1996
I still didn't enjoy my visits. I could never get used to the mosquitoes- I didn't complain half as much about the mosquitoes in Chennai-, the toilets constructed at the back of the house. missed not having things other than DD. But, there were other things I enjoyed more. How we used to fight over thattha’s chair the moment he left the room. Every evening was more fun. The time passed by, talking about books – English, Tamil… Sanskrit even.
The fields were in trouble. The sprinkler system meant that the huge lands had to be sold to a single buyer and very few in the area could afford it. The way, things we do for progress, affect us!
The school had 600 students. Classes uptil Standard 8. New buildings, the concrete monster eating into the greenery. More construction to mar the beauty of the place… more children being educated.
The number of vehicles had grown and the greenery was reducing but somehow, I got the feeling that no one really cared.
2002
I realized what our visits meant to my grand parents. It was their break of the year, a time to be spent happily with their family. To be proud of grandsons and grand daughters being educated in the city and enjoying the comforts of life there. It was their time of joy after having brought up their kids in the village on a school teacher’s salary.
The fields were gone, sold to a buyer and so was the cow in the house, to the reaper. The motorcycles were gone too and so were the books in the house- to the school library coz thaatha couldn’t read so much any more.
The house had been re-modelled. There were signs that it was occupied by old people. The walking sticks were out. The backyard had shrunk.
I looked forward to these visits. It was my break from the monotony and noise of the city to the not so fresh anymore air of the village. It was my refuge every vacation. The walk to the river (river bed now) had a calming effect. But, I realized that my stay was becoming shorter every visit. I always seemed to have some work to get back to …. Not so important it turns out (in retrospect).
The school had 1000 students. Standard 10. Obtaining all the necessary licenses was a problem for English medium schools - officials applying the rules to suit their whims.
The man who worked the fields was wearing a shirt and the number of vehicles had increased but had any real progress been made?
I went back 2 days ago. Kaveri has water.
But things have changed. There was a concrete jungle awaiting me and the cellular networks, Cable TV and computers were all great- the old world charm was missing, the rural setting existed no more.
Am I being selfish and criticizing progress just because I don’t have a quiet and peaceful village for my vacation? Is the direction of progress right? Are the changes only superficial or has there been any real progress in the social sphere?
I need to study this some more coz this is a portion of India I’ll never get to learn about later.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
