Charlie Chaplin's City Lights

In this post, I would like to share with you all one of my most favourite movies - City Lights by Charlie Chaplin. I consider City Lights to be the best movie of Charlie Chaplin. You can have a look at the following links to know more about the movie: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Lights
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021749/

City Lights is really sweet, funny, touching, and soul-enriching. A must watch for all!

I have uploaded the movie onto Rapidshare. The links are given below:
http://rapidshare.com/files/437819774/CC-City_Lights.avi.001
http://rapidshare.com/files/437819821/CC-City_Lights.avi.002
http://rapidshare.com/files/437819879/CC-City_Lights.avi.003 
http://rapidshare.com/files/437819936/CC-City_Lights.avi.004
http://rapidshare.com/files/437822785/CC-City_Lights.avi.005
http://rapidshare.com/files/437822668/CC-City_Lights.avi.006


 

Charlie Chaplin's Gold Rush

I am not a great connoisseur of movies, but do enjoy animations and the humorous one. I am a great fan of Charlie Chaplin, and have been collecting his movies for quite some time now. I however, like his full-length productions, not the slapstick episodes. My all time favourite is City Lights. I feel I have garnered quite a big and good collection, but one - Gold Rush - was missing! Alas! Till now, that is.

Quite a few of my friends do know about my obsession with Charlie Chaplin. I remember Siddhartha had once requested me to get Gold Rush for him. He used to enjoy Chaplin's movies, and we along with many other friends have spent many hours in our hostel rooms allowing the great-little master mesmerize us with his art. Who cared whether we had a end-semester exam the next morning!

Thank God! At last I have managed to get hold of a copy of Gold Rush. And thanks to RapidShare as well, that allows me to share my booty with my dear friends. So here's the link to the files! Sit back and enjoy with a cuppa of what-not!

http://rapidshare.com/files/395790909/Charlie_Chaplin_-_The_Gold_Rush.avi.001.html

http://rapidshare.com/files/395790913/Charlie_Chaplin_-_The_Gold_Rush.avi.002.html

http://rapidshare.com/files/395793325/Charlie_Chaplin_-_The_Gold_Rush.avi.003.html

http://rapidshare.com/files/395795280/Charlie_Chaplin_-_The_Gold_Rush.avi.004.html

http://rapidshare.com/files/395797702/Charlie_Chaplin_-_The_Gold_Rush.avi.005.html

http://rapidshare.com/files/395799686/Charlie_Chaplin_-_The_Gold_Rush.avi.006.html

http://rapidshare.com/files/395814096/Charlie_Chaplin_-_The_Gold_Rush.avi.007.html

http://rapidshare.com/files/395814231/Charlie_Chaplin_-_The_Gold_Rush.avi.008.html

The files can be joined using HJSplit.

The General

This is my first post where I am going to provide links to movies which I have uploaded. I recently watched The General starring Buster Keaton, and I liked it a lot. I read up reviews about the movie, and its start and it sure is a all-time classic. Many reviewers claim that "The General" is one of the best comedy movies ever made. Even otherwise, this movie ranks highly in popularity in various movie surveys. So you know, its a must watch!

I thought, Why not share it with my friends, many of whom are crazy about good movies. So here's the link to the files I posted on RapidShare. Go, Grab it!

http://rapidshare.com/files/395442683/Buster_Keaton_-_The_General.avi.001 

http://rapidshare.com/files/395442687/Buster_Keaton_-_The_General.avi.002 

http://rapidshare.com/files/395771320/Buster_Keaton_-_The_General.avi.003

http://rapidshare.com/files/395775855/Buster_Keaton_-_The_General.avi.004 

http://rapidshare.com/files/395780210/Buster_Keaton_-_The_General.avi.005

http://rapidshare.com/files/395778075/Buster_Keaton_-_The_General.avi.006

http://rapidshare.com/files/395773992/Buster_Keaton_-_The_General.avi.007

I have split the file using HJSplit, which is quite a powerful and popular splitter-joiner. The file can be found at http://www.freebyte.com/hjsplit/. Nice thing is that both Windows and Linux versions are available, otherwise you can use the jar file also.

Father Forgets

I have read the famous book  "How To Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie umpteen number of times. Besides loving the contents, I also like the author's brash and breezy writing style (ack: Ms. D. Carnegie), and the numerous little events that have been mentioned in the book. My personal favourite amonst them all is the piece titled "Father Forgets" by W. Livingston Larned. Here, I have just reproduced the piece for the benefit of all. I find it to be a stimulating read.

Listen, son; I am saying this as you lie asleep, one little paw crumpled under your cheek and the blond curls stickily wet on your damp forehead. I have stolen into your room alone. Just a few minutes ago, as I sat reading my paper in the library, a stifling wave of remorse swept over me. Guiltily I came to your bedside.

There are things I was thinking, son: I had been cross to you. I scolded you as you were dressing for school because you gave your face merely a dab with a towel. I took you to task for not cleaning your shoes. I called out angrily when you threw some of your things on the floor.

At breakfast I found fault, too. You spilled things. You gulped down your food. You put your elbows on the table. You spread butter too thick on your bread. And as you started off to play and I made for my train, you turned and waved a hand and called, "Goodbye, Daddy!" and I frowned, and said in reply, "Hold your shoulders back!"

Then it began all over again in the late afternoon. As I came Up the road, I spied you, down on your knees, playing marbles. There were holes in your stockings. I humiliated you before you boyfriends by marching you ahead of me to the house. Stockings were expensive - and if you had to buy them you would be more careful! Imagine that, son, from a father!

Do you remember, later, when I was reading in the library, how you came in timidly, with a sort of hurt look in your eyes? When I glanced up over my paper, impatient at the interruption, you hesitated at the door. "What is it you want?" I snapped.

You said nothing, but ran across in one tempestuous plunge, and threw your arms around my neck and kissed me, and your small arms tightened with an affection that God had set blooming in your heart and which even neglect could not wither. And then you were gone, pattering up the stairs.

Well, son, it was shortly afterwards that my paper slipped from my hands and a terrible sickening fear came over me. What has habit been doing to me? The habit of finding fault, of reprimanding - this was my reward to your for being a boy. It was not that I did not love you; it was that I expected too much of youth. I was measuring you by the yardstick of my own years.

And there was so much that was good and fine and true in your character. The little heart of you was as big as the dawn itself over the wide hills. This was shown by your spontaneous impulse to rush in and kiss me good night. Nothing else matters tonight, son. I have come to your bedside in the darkness, and I have knelt there, ashamed!

It is a feeble atonement; I know you would not understand these things if I told them to you during your waking hours. But tomorrow I will be a real daddy! I will chum with you, and suffer when you suffer, and laugh when you laugh. I will bite my tongue when impatient words come. I will keep saying as if it were a ritual: "He is nothing buy a boy - a little boy!"

I am afraid I have visualized you as a man. Yet as I see you now, son, crumpled and weary in your cot, I see that you are still a baby. Yesterday you were in your mother's arms, your head on her shoulder. I have asked too much, too much.

Wodehouse Lyrics

Sir P. G. Wodehouse is my favourite author. I just marvel at his style of writing, his jugglery of words - as if he is a musician playing some stringed instrument - and his die-hard optimistic attitude. My do not consider myself to be as carefree as most of the protagonist in his stories, but I could surely do with a pinch of optimism from the characters. I have bought and read quite a few of his books, and intend to complete the full collection very soon.

Here I also list down some of my favourite lines from across his different stories:

Thank You, Jeeves:

•  Womanlike, she evaded the issue. 
• The moving finger writes and, having writ, moves on, nor all your piety and wit can lure it back to cancel half a line, nor all your tears wash out a word of it.

A damsel in distress:

• Nature is ever callous to human woes, laughing while we weep; and we grow to take her callousness for granted.

Joy in the Morning:

• No recently engaged bimbo cares to discover that he was not the little woman's first choice. It sort of rubs the bloom off the thing. What he wants to feel is that she spent her time gazing out of the turret window in a yearning spirit till he came galloping up on the white horse.
• Say 'Listen' to any member of the delicately nurtured sex, and she takes it as a cue to start talking herself.
• When I had finished, she made one of those foolish remarks which do so much to confirm a man in his conviction that women ads a sex should be suppressed.
  

Winter Nights

Dated: 8th January, 2010.

The winter sky is shorn of its feeble stars,
From yonder a Christmas song rings in my ears;
Crouched and beaten, I sit brooding in the snow,
Awaiting for the pink tinge in the sky to grow;
This perfidious time is too slow to pass by,
Even the birds await the Sun and dare not fly.
The chilly wind whistles, and moans so hard,
My mind, my heart, the streets - all are scarred.
Through the lonely night floats the lovely choir,
Alas! And how have I yearned for a mellow fire!
In this cruel hour, my rag is my only friend,
For I fear this night is never to end!
As I think of all the misery winter brings,
Oft I miss the green and the fairies of spring!
With the shy Sun oozes through the first light,

I vow to fight on through the next winter night!

For Olive

The summer sunshine fills the air,

The morning breeze freshens up the Earth, so fair;

I lie awake, my mind full of pleasing thoughts

That in my dreams my lady love brought!

The ruby Sun glows bright
and white feathers nowhere to be seen;
Under the yonder tree, I lie dreaming,
As my lady love runs through the meadows so green.

The tired Sun drools to rest,

The birds fly back to their nests,

I wake as my lady love smiles at me

Her lovely touch is so enchanting to feel!

The Moon smiles cheerily in the dark sky,

and the world is covered in a fairy glow;

I feel the sweet fragrance of my love

as she dances away the night, so slow.

The Stars twinkle in the sky,

as pearls on her white velvety gown;

My lady love again fills my dreams

For Olive, my love is only my own.

Should I pray to Heaven, Thank Him
for the love that is mine; I believe,
I know, I have all the Shine,
For my love, my Olive, will only be mine.

Technorati Tags: Poem

My obsession with Sir P. G. Wodehouse

When I was in my teens, I used to love reading thrillers – the Hardys, the Famous Five, Sherlock Holmes, and so on and so forth. Then came Dan Browns, David Baldaccis etc. But of late my passion is enjoying the humorous and skillful writings of Sir P. G. Wodehouse. I did read one or two pieces of his work when I was in school, but was not able to appreciate whatever I had got hold of. Infact I don’t even recollect the book I had read. Then, I again stumbled upon this genius while I was in Pune. We had this neat little concept of sharing books among project team members. And that’s how I got hold of “EGGS, BEANS & CRUMPETS” and “THE ADVENTURES OF SALLY”. I gulped them down with a matter of days and enjoyed it so much that its after-effects still persist. Then on I have started collecting his works regularly, and am still not done. I have finished with the “BLANDINGS CASTLE” saga and the “PSMITH” series. Currently, am devouring “SUMMER MOONSHINE”.

Is all this fuss that I make justified? I rarely hear his writings being mentioned among friends. They feel this work is too devoid of life, and is too impractical and maybe a bit predictable. And even he himself did not get his due worth of attention and appreciation till late in his career.

But somehow I cannot help but enjoy his work. His style of writing is something I admire the most. The way he expresses little things, say for example while describing the emotions of a person experiencing something embarrassing, is incredible and unmatched. He has a complete mastery of words and is the best juggler. There may be other writers who have a more profound line of thought, but when it comes to presentation, Sir Wodehouse wins by miles. The chaos and confusion he creates, the picture of despair that he draws from the eyes of a forlorn lover is simply beyond description. And he has an eye for nature as well. The not vivid but still elegant description of nature at her best in English counties is something which I can feel from within. Then there is always the silly little fights between lovers, maybe borne out of suspicion or circumstances. As the characters themselves point out in the “BLANDINGS CASTLE” saga, the Blandings Castle is a dreamy little place full of impostors. However, what is worth noting that all the mischief and tomfoolery is without doing some real lasting harm on others.

Personally, I am bigger fan of “BLANDINGS CASTLE” than “JEEVES”. And my favourite character is the Earl of Emsworth, Clarence Threepwood. Oh! How I wish I could be like him. Nothing to do in this world, nothing to worry about, and just pottering about the ancestral home. His philosophy is simple – “Live and let live”.

This post is not a review of his works, but just an expression of my love for his writings. Wish my writing was as crisp and as lucid as Sir P. G. Wodehouse.

Technorati Tags: Sir P. G. Wodehouse,Jeeves,Blandings Castle,PSmith

An old email relived..........contd....

This post is in continuation with the last one, titled - "An old email relived..........". I had also visited our CSE Department at college and interacted with almost all our dear teachers. I had deliberately kept this description out of my last mail for two reasons : one being my last mail had become quite voluminous, and secondly I was unsure about how my narrations would be received by my friends. Seeing an instant positive response and the hunger to know more about one's own alma-mater, I posted the below mail the very next day 25th April, 2006 describing the happenings at CSE Department. This is how it went :

priyo bondhugon,

kalke department e giye prothomei mukh dekhlam tde'r. sir der jhups uni aar tandra pal bose chilen. ami giye dekha korlam.

emni anek kothai hochhilo tder sathe. salary niye khub dukkho korchilen. bollen je college teacher nichhe na. khub baaje obostha. ami aar koto samal debo. specialized subject hole anek bhalo porate partam. tomader aaro bhalo bhalo problem dite partam. ami bollam je syllabus change kora uchit. tate tde jeno aaro bhenge porlen. khub dukkho korchilen je subratara keno project koreni bhalo kore. tarpor pray amar pae pore gelen. bollen khoma kore diyo. hoyto tomader kom number diyechi, kichu mone koro na, manush matraoi bhul hoy. ami tomader motivate korte parini. aamar dosh.

majhkhan theke tandra pal khali daant bar kore hense jachhilen. hothat ekta adhkhaoa veg pattice amake offer korlen. dekhei matha gorom hoye gelo(keno pune basira bujhte parbe nischay!). email id dilen , sabai ke mail korte bollen. bollen recs jeno asi. uni amay sanga deben.

nandi to dekha matrai funda suru kore dilo. project er kaaj ki niye . ami satisfied naki , eisob. dept'er alumni der aaro active hoa uchit. sakale mile funds diye prizes suru kora uchit studentsder janye. teacherder sathe interaction kora uchit. aicte theke loke ese naki depter sirder khub jhere geche. anek queries kore chilo about the whereabouts of ex-students. nandi bollo "amra fyalfyal kore cheye chilam , bujhle. goutam dao kichu bolte parlo na , bhebe dekho. (ha ha ha)". bollo tomra ekta portal banao depter alumnider janya. goutam da seta link kore deoar byabastha korben. khub abak hoye gelam jokhon nandi sir prasun'er kotha jigyes korlen.

gsar er dekha pai ni. kavita boudir dekha pai ni. goswami kothay fute dilo. kotha bolar sujog hoy ni. dg chilo na, thakleo kotha boltam na.

gsanyal'er ghorer samne dariye chilam pray 5 minute. tarpor bollo ki dorkar. emni ekta duto kotha bollam , bollam je baire nit dgp'r cse depter khub sunam. byas kaaj hoye gelo. etokhhon danriye danriye paa byatha korchilo. ei mithye kothata bole ac roomer bhetore boste pelam. sunlen amar client avaya. bollen colleger sab internet er kaaj naki avaya kore. uni avaya'r sabaike chenen. ami jeno fire giye boli avayar lokeder je ami dr. g. sanyaler chatra. hostel'e internet deoa onar ekta boro achievement. anek habbhab nilo aarki.

sabitabrata hothat amake pase deke nilo. bollo o naki lic agent. sekhan theke or anek taka. anek bhantalo. ami jeno or kache insurance kori. eisob aar ki.

mane ja bujhlam keui paltayni depte. bhebe bhaloi laaglo. aar han, lgc1 aar lgc2 natun rong hoyeche, dark pink. jaghanya hoyeche. ke class nebe, kothay nebe ta niye jhamela legei royeche.

bhagya bhalo goswami chilo na nahole mail ta aaro boro hoto.

--
Swarnendu Biswas,
Project Engineer,
V & NGN Group,
Wipro Technologies,
Pune-411057.

Technorati Tags: NIT Durgapur,CSE

mob:- +919890021026

An old email relived..........

This mail was composed by me during my visit to Durgapur after spending nine months away from home. I was in Pune then working for Wipro Technologies. What makes this special is it was my first big journey away from home. I had come back home taking a two week long leave. And what a sweet experience it was!!! Really lived and enjoyed every second of that vacation. And I did visit our Alma-mater, NIT Durgapur. That was another first - first time since we left college. What I did after that visit was compose a long informal mail and shared my experiences at college with most of my friends. The mail had been composed in bengali on 24th April, 2006. Here's how it went:

bondhugon,

aajke ami anek din baade college gechilam. anek kichu natun jinis o tathya janlam, dekhlam. segulo tomader sathe share korte chai. tobe amar bangla ta ektu kancha kina, tai banan bhul hote pare.

ei jemon naru'r jhups kichui paltai ni. naru ekhono janaseba ba samajseba kore jachhe (or humble langarkhanaye ekhono pray bini paisate khudarta jubakder khaiye jacchen). isshhh punete jadi ekta naru thakto!!!

colleger samne natun gate hochhe, main building'er samne bosche suddha jaler(kare kaye ke zane!!!) foara. high voltage laboratory'r pase hochhe natun mba'r building. aar ekhon college'ta pray fort hoye geche, jabardast railing diyeche charepase.

college e ekhon natun director esechen jadio se temporary mone hoy. honur naam swapan bhattacharya , ju'r ex cse'r professor. maal tar naki khub funda, anek bhalo bhalo sab hold ache.

ebar campussing start hoar kotha chilo 8th may tcs diye. tcs bolechilo 150 jon nebe. second company naki infosys. swapanda naki infy asar byapare help korechen. apatoto ei duto asche jana geche. tpsw'te ekhon rajib chatterjee bose. tobe date postponed hoye geche. bodhoy summer vacation er por abar start hobe. ekhono obdhi final semester'er date o deyni.

25th theke recstacy start hochhe. char din'i bhalo artist ache. 25th ache fossils, 26th ache vineet (indian idol'er keu homra chomra hobe), 27th ache shreya ghosal aar 28th ache krosswindz. ami nije eka eka attend korbo na hoyto, bondhura keu ele amake ekbar janas.

college e koekdin aage aicte theke delegation esechilo. infrastructure, student performance eisob dekhe khub bodnum kore geche. boleche ekhono aaro unnati korte hobe. teacher der boleche je apnara students der motivate korte paren na. keu higher studies korche na. sabai pass kore chakri korche eta bhalo lakkhan noi, ei sob aar ki. sune mone holo amader dept'er teacher ra besh jhar'o kheyeche.

cse dept e gechilam. sekhane teacher der sathe dekha korlam , kotha bollam. je jemon se serokom'i ache. gandu hullu ket nilo, t de to choriyei gelo, tandra pal amake veg puff offer korechilo aar nandi dilo hullu funda. college'e ekhono serokom bhabe teacher recruit hoyni. process start hoyeche kintu ..........

na mail anek boro hoye jachhe. departmenter ghotona porer kistite janabo.

--
Swarnendu Biswas,
Project Engineer,
V & NGN Group,
Wipro Technologies,
Pune-411057.
mob:- +919890021026

"Knowledge speaks but Wisdom listens."

Technorati Tags: NIT Durgapur,CSE. Recstacy

Oxymorons

The following is a nice list of common oxymorons in our literature. Note that the list is not compiled by me and does not reflect my opinion. The following is an excerpt of an article published on the web. Accuracy of usage is also not guaranteed. The dictionary defines an 'oxymoron' as a combination of contradictory terms. For instance, a 'sensitive boss' would be an oxymoron! Here's the pick of the best ones ever heard or used.

50. Act naturally
49. Found missing
48. Resident alien
47. Advanced BASIC
46. Genuine imitation
45. Airline Food
44. Good grief
43. Same difference
42. Almost exactly
41. Government organization
40. Sanitary landfill
39. Alone together
38. Legally drunk
37. Silent scream
36. British fashion
35. Living dead
34. Small crowd
33. Business ethics
32. Soft rock
31. Butt Head
30. Military Intelligence
29. Software documentation
28. New York culture
27. New classic
26. Sweet sorrow
25. Childproof
24. "Now, then..."
23. Synthetic natural gas
22. Christian Scientists
21. Passive aggression
20. Taped live
19. Clearly misunderstood
18. Peace force
17. Extinct Life
16. Temporary tax increase
15. Computer jock
14. Plastic glasses
13. Terribly pleased
12. Computer security
11. Political science
10. Tight slacks
9. Definite maybe
8. Pretty ugly
7. Twelve-ounce pound cake
6. Diet ice cream
5. Rap music
4. Working vacation
3. exact estimate
2. Religious tolerance
1. Microsoft works

Technorati Tags: Oxymoron

Prayer

The following is a small prayer that we used to recite devotedly every morning for ten years of my schooling at St. Xavier's School, Durgapur. It seemed a daily core, and may be I was then not mature enough to understand the significance or the beauty in these lines. Now, after all these years, I probably am in a better position to appreciate the thoughts. And I miss those morning prayers that we used to recite – wholeheartedly, sometimes giggling, eyes seemingly half-closed etc.

Our Father in Heaven,
Holy be your name,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
On earth as in heaven,
Give us today our daily bread
And forgive us our sins,
As we forgive those who sin against us
Do not lead us to test
But deliver us from evil
Amen

Technorati Tags: St. Xavier's School,Durgapur,Prayer

My personal space

How come I write about this? Today I was going through some tips on how to improve real-time software application development. The author has very meticulously listed down quite a few points which can be classified as a checklist of Don'ts during development. Kudos to him. All the more for I stuck upon a particular statement the author had highlighted - "My problem is different - Learn from mistakes of others..rarely is a problem so different to be ignored".

This statement has started a flurry of opinions within me. Opinions vastly biased and now highly confused. This statement probably reflects a strong trait of myself and I realise it the more I go brood over the above statement.

What will this post contain?

I have now try and justify the particular trait that I am talking about.I will debate and try and see whether it acts as a virtue or a vice for me.

What I know about myself?

I always pride myself on my principles, honour is foremost. And a thing I try is to respect one's personal space. Be it colleagues, seniors, parents, rarely do I intrude until I find an opportune moment. This might be a bit different with friends, people whom I consider so close to ignore this demarcation. To illustrate, I find it very uncomfortable if I spring upon two people deep in conversation. It may be they are stuck with some issues which I am very competent in solving. Or they might be discussing something which I am not aware and would have been better off having shared their views. But so be it. I would rather miss something important than make a nuisance of myself.

There are some times of the day when I love to be myself and be aloof and spend sometime with myself. These mood shifts are so very frequent and irregular that even I am not sure how to handle those times. Right now it is feeling like bliss for I am undisturbed, listening to Bryan Adams and being able to pen down something about myself which I would love to explore and understand. I love to keep my world to myself. I love those moments when I have spent the whole monsoon afternoon reading a book and staring at the outside world, those chilly winter nights which I spent lying coyly in my room at the college hostel.

I attribute this trait to being a single child. I had everything a child could ask for - indoor sports , toys and parents willing to spend their time with you. My entire summers were invariably spent in the backyard playing cricket or tennis. So much so that I hated being away from home for any extended period of time. Seldom have I found it troublesome to idle away a whole day all by myself.

This has sometimes made things a bit complicated for me mostly in college and now in work. I feel this has limited my scope of sharing and increasing my knowledge. Maybe I would not have wasted time on those issues faced by my colleagues earlier but only if I had the sense of participating in conversations. This probably helps in having a broader outlook and being abreast of varied opinions.

Still it seems I respond better when asked for.

Technorati Tags: Personal

The Train

The whistle blows, the crows caw
The engine puffs, the coaches chuff
The train starts,
Onward to its destiny

It was a long, hard day in Kolkata. My friend and I had roaming all round throughout the day, and now it was time for me to return to my nest. We had a great time, sharing a lot, and meaning a lot.

Autumn

This is one of my personal favourites, dated 30th September, 1998.

After a long period of heavy rain
Whenever you look up at the sky
And see white feather-like clouds
floating, and smell the sweet
smell of the on-coming winter,
You know it is autumn.

Whenever you see the red-ball
Glowing brightly in the sky as a
valuable ruby in a bale of cotton;
And you are able to feel the
weak warmth in your heart; Gladly
you remember it is autumn.

When you see the rivers, lakes
Full to the brim, and
the rippling waves shine in the
moonlight as a mirror, and
at last all merge in one,
You know it is autumn.

When you move out of your
pilgrimage for a rendezvous,
And travel along the margin
of the greenest trees, your heart
is filled with the smell of joy,
You feel it is autumn.

When you travel to the country
And see the lush green fields
in full bloom with God's mercy;
And also see the little creatures
Playing out to their heart's content
You recollect it is autumn.

When you notice the hustle-bustle
of city life pause for a while,
And people rejoice in the pujas,
hear the hallelujah, foster the
uniting spirit of universal fraternity
You learn it is autumn.

And this is my revised version.....now come come....don't ask for the version management and the requirement spec......

After four months of heavy rain
Whenever you look up at the sky
And see white feather-like clouds
floating, and smell the sweet
smell of the on-coming winter,
You know it is autumn.

Whenever you see the Sun
Glowing brightly in the sky as a
valuable ruby in a bale of cotton;
And you are able to feel the
weak warmth in your heart; Gladly
you remember it is autumn.

When you see the rivers, lakes
Full to the brim, and
the rippling waves shine in the
moonlight as a mirror, and
at last all merge in one,
You know it is autumn.

When you move out of your
pilgrimage for a rendezvous,
And travel along the horizon
of the greenest trees and a blue sky,
your heart is filled with the smell of joy,
You feel it is autumn.

When you travel to the country
And see the lush green fields
in full bloom, with God's mercy;
And also see the little creatures
Playing out to their heart's content
You recollect it is autumn.

When you notice the hustle-bustle
of city life pause for a while,
And people rejoice in the pujas,
hear the hallelujah, foster the
uniting spirit of universal fraternity
You learn it is autumn.

Technorati Tags: Autumn,Poem

In the woods

This is one of the last poems I wrote before the interest ebbed or rather discontinued to be honest, dated 20th March, 1999.

The Sun was at its fiery best
when I entered the woods, my
rifle steady at my hand, and
my dog close to my heels.
It was a rabbit we had chased,
and that silly, weak creature
had almost given up. It was not
before long my rifle found its
target, and the dogs were mad
with joy.

As we rested in the cool woods,
my heart full to the brim with
the delight of a winner(victorious
over a rabbit). But what was it
I had killed that day? Was it a
mere weak creature, unsuited to
the world and the object of our
cruel mind? Or was it a sweet
little living being God had created
to add to the variety of HIS
wonderful creations?
It is a long time since; but still
now I have found no answer.
I feel guilty.

Technorati Tags: Poem

Last midnight

This one is dated 19th March, 1999.

It was dot-on-twelve, and
I woke. I wasn't really in deep
slumber, but something woke me.
It was not a nightmare, nor the
oppressive heat which disturbed me.
Was it due to a faint sound, faint to
the normal ear, but beat in my mind
like a gong? But then I saw, faint,
dark, massive, crouching slowly by me.
'Your hour is past now, come
Let's go', and then realisation
slowly dawned upon me.
All these years I worked
akin to a machine, but for whom?
I had earned nothing which was
going to bring me peace in my eternal
sleep. And then, in that last summer
midnight of my life, I wept and lamented
for not being able to live up to the
rules prepared by God for I was no
altruist.

Technorati Tags: Poem

Poems

I had a poor habit when I was a bit younger, I used to create trash on paper...sorry, poems and not trash. How can you call them trash when they are so close to your heart? Now after so many years, I feel the glow and love for those creations rekindle inside me...and so is the love for poems, love for good literature. I have planned to post those little pieces out over here as it is..Now that I go through them, I can feel and compare my mindset, my capabilities and maturity. I will also then try and refine and poslish those creations and perhaps make them better without changing or affecting the original theme.

What are you - a manager or a leader?

What are you? How do you identify yourself? Rate yourself against the following checklist.......And at the end of it all sit down and try and improve.

• a manager takes care of where you are;
  a leader takes you to new places

• a manager deals with complexity;
  a leader deals with uncertainty

• a manager is concerned with finding the facts;
  a leader makes decisions
  

• a manager is concerned with doing things right;
  a leader is concerned with doing right things

• a manager's critical concern is efficiency;
  a leader focusses on effectiveness
  

• a manager creates policies;
  a leader establishes principles
  

• a manager sees and hears what is going on;
  a leader hears when there is no sound and sees when there is no light
  

Do not remember the source of these definitions.....did read it somewhere....some leading daily might be.....and it was some three years ago...before i left for pune.....loved it a lot......

Lure for the west

Something that is not new is this....Lure for the west..........but how do you explain the cause which stimulates this lure? Just finished reading an article by Jay Dubashi which might go someway in explaining a few minute points as to the secret of the lure......after all these points do add up and make people often take revolutionary decisions....any way......here's the link........

http://www.valueresearchonline.com/story/storyview.asp?str=10618

Know "Know".......now Know this

Am not quite sure about the source of this.........just wanted to share with all ............

I know that I know,
My actions and words show that I know.
You know that I know,
And now you want to know what I know.

But why should I let you be in the know?
You appreciate me for what I know.
And I know when you know what I know,
Your appreciation will wither not grow.

It took so much of me to know,
Now suddenly, you want to get at what I know,
Without appreciating the one who knows.
Why should I let you be in the know?

Technorati Tags: Poem,Train to Pakistan

Touching read - Train to Pakistan

That is how I feel about the book "Train to Pakistan". Had heard about it for long without ever getting my hands on it, until a moment of foolish indiscretion from my friend presented me with the opportunity.

And ran through the whole book with say four hours and did enjoy it. Although one would miss the panache, flair and elegance in the writing (I certainly did!), still its a book with a lot of imagination, and truth in it. Can think of it as a painting of the real scenario during those Independence days.

The characters have also been depicted well, most notable are the magistrate Hukum Chand and the budmash Juggu, Juggut Singh. Hukum Chand's tender love for Haseena Begum matured as the plot progresses while Juggu is portrayed as the saviour of a great disaster. The blissful insouciance of Juggu is evident when he talks with some-Iqbal-some at the Chundunnager police station. How coolly he talks about committing and indulging in the world's greatest sport, his views on the European Community is too narrow and limited only to his own view. The communal harmony in the village of Mano Majra is warm but so are the adverse circumstances.

For me the best piece in the prose is the following, not sure about the original source whoever may the possibilities be including the author,

Not forever does the bulbul sing
In balmy shades of bowers,
Not forever lasts the spring
Nor ever blossom flowers,
Not forever reigneth joy,
Sets the Sun on days of bliss,
Friendships not forever last,
They know not life, who know not this.

Enjoy the truth in this rather than crib at the superficial pessimistic theme of this writing.

Technorati Tags: Train to Pakistan

Thoughts.....

have got nothing much to do yet, finding it hard to get adjusted to the new environment out over here (where?). am missing everything out there in pune, am missing every single second i had spent out over there, with my friends, family, colleagues and all. am thinking of penning down my experiences out over there. am really still a bit sceptical about my own writing abilities but lets see. i would love to write down something more in the wodehouse style. but from where and how do i start and how long will i be able to continue? how big and how detailed do i try to make it? questions, already a lot of questions and God knows how many more am i going to face. but surely i am going to give it a try. just have patience and wish me luck.

Three Men in a Boat

Well, my friend had bought this book and therefore I had a lucky chance to go through it. We had a passage from this book in our academic course and I had thoroughly enjoyed the passage. So I did never hesitate the opportunity which my friend's moment of discretion had provided me. And I gulped down the whole book in a single day. And so much did I like it that I was hell bent on owning one. Last week was my lucky day for I fulfilled my dream. Currently I am re-reading the same book all over again and my fits of laughter and level of enjoyment is still undiminished. I salute Jerome K. Jerome for this excellent reminisces. Might not please the purists as an excellent piece of literature but is wholly enjoyable. More so for it is completely void of romance and is closer to life.

NFC Manager

Currently my rank is round about 1100 for the September's game and I want to push up. So wish me luck.

Feeling bored

PG Wodehouse is the best guys, don't miss out.

Google Screensaver

Want a nice screensaver which would show or display custom pictures from your computer?
Use google screensaver for that.
Download it from rapidshare. copy the file gbsaver.scr to your windows directory and set it as the default screensaver. Modify properties and whoosh!!

Quotes of Albert Einstein

Here is a collection I collected over the net , it contains quotations from the big man, Albert Einstein, himself. Go through it and you will really enjoy his witty remarks and sense of humour. He could have given many a comic author a run for their money.

* "Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction."
* "Imagination is more important than knowledge."
* "Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love."
* "I want to know God's thoughts; the rest are details."
* "The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax."
* "Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one."
* "The only real valuable thing is intuition."
* "A person starts to live when he can live outside himself."
* "I am convinced that He (God) does not play dice."
* "God is subtle but he is not malicious."
* "Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character."
* "I never think of the future. It comes soon enough."
* "The eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility."
* "Sometimes one pays most for the things one gets for nothing."
* "Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind."
* "Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new."
* "Great spirits have often encountered violent opposition from weak minds."
* "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."
* "Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen."
* "Science is a wonderful thing if one does not have to earn one's living at it."
* "The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
* "The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education."
* "God does not care about our mathematical difficulties. He integrates empirically."
* "The whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking."
* "Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal."
* "Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding."
* "The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible."
* "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them."
* "Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school."
* "The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing."
* "Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater."
* "Equations are more important to me, because politics is for the present, but an equation is something for eternity."
* "If A is a success in life, then A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut."
* "Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe."
* "As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality."
* "Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods."
* "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."
* "In order to form an immaculate member of a flock of sheep one must, above all, be a sheep."
* "The fear of death is the most unjustified of all fears, for there's no risk of accident for someone who's dead."
* "Too many of us look upon Americans as dollar chasers. This is a cruel libel, even if it is reiterated thoughtlessly by the Americans themselves."
* "Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism -- how passionately I hate them!"
* "No, this trick won't work...How on earth are you ever going to explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as first love?"
* "My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind."
* "Yes, we have to divide up our time like that, between our politics and our equations. But to me our equations are far more important, for politics are only a matter of present concern. A mathematical equation stands forever."
* "The release of atom power has changed everything except our way of thinking...the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind. If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker."
* "Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence."
* "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed."
* "A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death."
* "The further the spiritual evolution of mankind advances, the more certain it seems to me that the path to genuine religiosity does not lie through the fear of life, and the fear of death, and blind faith, but through striving after rational knowledge."
* "Now he has departed from this strange world a little ahead of me. That means nothing. People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion."
* "You see, wire telegraph is a kind of a very, very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. Do you understand this? And radio operates exactly the same way: you send signals here, they receive them there. The only difference is that there is no cat."
* "One had to cram all this stuff into one's mind for the examinations, whether one liked it or not. This coercion had such a deterring effect on me that, after I had passed the final examination, I found the consideration of any scientific problems distasteful to me for an entire year."
* "...one of the strongest motives that lead men to art and science is escape from everyday life with its painful crudity and hopeless dreariness, from the fetters of one's own ever-shifting desires. A finely tempered nature longs to escape from the personal life into the world of objective perception and thought."
* "He who joyfully marches to music rank and file, has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice. This disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once. Heroism at command, how violently I hate all this, how despicable and ignoble war is; I would rather be torn to shreds than be a part of so base an action. It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder."
* "A human being is a part of a whole, called by us _universe_, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."
* "Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts." (Sign hanging in Einstein's office at Princeton)

Technorati Tags: Quotes,Albert Einstein

Origin of Murphy's Laws

Murphy's Law ("If anything can go wrong, it will") was born at Edwards Air Force Base in 1949 at North Base.

It was named after Capt. Edward A. Murphy, an engineer working on Air Force Project MX981, (a project) designed to see how much sudden deceleration a person can stand in a crash.

One day, after finding that a transducer was wired wrong, he cursed the technician responsible and said, "If there is any way to do it wrong, he'll find it."

The contractor's project manager kept a list of "laws" and added this one, which he called Murphy's Law.

Actually, what he did was take an old law that had been around for years in a more basic form and give it a name.

Shortly afterwards, the Air Force doctor (Dr. John Paul Stapp) who rode a sled on the deceleration track to a stop, pulling 40 Gs, gave a press conference. He said that their good safety record on the project was due to a firm belief in Murphy's Law and in the necessity to try and circumvent it.

Aerospace manufacturers picked it up and used it widely in their ads during the next few months, and soon it was being quoted in many news and magazine articles. Murphy's Law was born.

Technorati Tags: Murphy's Laws

Bumperball

This one is another for all you soccer freaks, provided you are bored with the previous link, by the way were you able to break my record leap????????????

http://bumperball.dk/