tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78756842024-03-20T01:49:21.646-07:00Phoenix TearlessThe Golden Phoenix loves the Sun dearly and craves to reach it, but only badly burns his wings in the attempt and crashes back to the Earth where he bears excruciating pain without shedding even a tear, which only helps in increasing his longing for the Sun. He gets up and once again flies towards the Sun with renewed vigor. The day he reaches the Sun - the Sun will burn hot no more. <br>That day will I cease to be 'The Almighty'Phoenix Tearlesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15547778129917403937noreply@blogger.comBlogger125125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875684.post-59791005515041730382011-10-08T01:49:00.001-07:002011-10-08T01:49:30.847-07:00Step 3 of 3<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Done..</div>
Phoenix Tearlesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15547778129917403937noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875684.post-16542357983440764472011-09-07T17:05:00.000-07:002011-09-07T17:05:23.658-07:00El Goog to the rescue!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Awesome twist in the ongoing patent battle between Apple and HTC (read as Android using handset manufacturers including Samsung).<br />Google temporarily transferred few newly acquired patents from the Motorola acquisition to HTC, using which HTC gave a return punch by suing Apple.<br /><br />It is known that Apple started suing all Android based handset manufacturers like HTC, Samsung and Motorola for patent infringement earlier saying that phones running Android copy features of the iPhone. Apple could not directly sue Google since they listed Android as open source and non-profit.<br />To counter Apple, Google bought off Motorola and all its patents - few of which it is now using to help its partners like HTC and Samsung to launch a fight back.<br /><br />I love corporate wars!!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-07/htc-sues-apple-alleging-infringement-of-four-u-s-patents.html">http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-07/htc-sues-apple-alleging-infringement-of-four-u-s-patents.html</a></span></div>
Phoenix Tearlesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15547778129917403937noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875684.post-30412333692685091392011-07-16T07:54:00.001-07:002011-07-16T07:54:44.420-07:00Just observed.. my last blog post was 7 months ago :(Phoenix Tearlesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15547778129917403937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875684.post-28337049032277134882010-12-21T06:48:00.000-08:002010-12-21T06:48:22.161-08:00iP4I never thought I could come to say this.. always thought the iPhone was just a phone not worth half the hype. Not until I got the iPhone 4 myself, could realise the immense possibilities it has opened up for me - thanks to the huge app store. I dont regret at all spending all the money..Phoenix Tearlesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15547778129917403937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875684.post-54198016564647288482010-12-13T08:28:00.000-08:002010-12-13T08:28:38.928-08:00Step 3/3 - In progressStep 3 taken, results far far from optimistic..Phoenix Tearlesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15547778129917403937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875684.post-58702954942747748692010-10-30T12:14:00.000-07:002010-10-30T12:14:39.976-07:00Where does information down a black hole go???<b>Stephen Hawking:</b><br />
Anything that goes down a black hole does not come out. There is absolutely no way out - it only becomes a part of the immense density that comprises the core of black hole.<br />
Why would it be a different case with 'Information' ??<br />
Against the prevalent laws of conservation of energy, the case is different with black holes. There is no release of energy out of a black hole - and similarly no release of information out of a black hole - so no conservation there!<br />
<br />
<b>Leonard Susskind (decades later):</b><br />
There is no way anything is an exception to the law of conservation. That would mean that is a case against the laws of Physics - none can exist like that.<br />
Information that goes into a black hole actually comes out of the back hole, only, it would no longer appear in its earlier form. A signature of the information comes out but it is not distinguishable by humans since it is entirely segregated - seperated - spread out - far flung, at least to perceive. Still, it comes out and is present out there - so there actually is conservation - and the laws of Physics still stand unperturbed.<br />
If the name 'MOHITH' goes into a black hole, what comes out is a signature of the name, only we will not be able to understand it.<br />
<i>output:</i><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">M O H </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cccccc;">black hole</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">T I H</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Mohith Kunta </b><b>;) ;)</b><b> (2010): </b><br />
So, what comes out of a black hole is still present out there in the universe - out there waiting to be put together and understood??<br />
Consider this, I will send in the name 'BILL GATES' into the black hole just a few micro seconds after 'MOHITH' went in. Susskind's explanation would hold good here also, and the signature of the second name would also spread out as it comes out of the black hole.<br />
<i>output:</i><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">M L O A T I</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">I S</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">B </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cccccc;">black hole</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> E</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">H H L G T</span><br />
The above signature still contains the names MOHITH and BILL GATES. Only it is severely scrambled.<br />
Now consider that a few trillion names go into the black hole. The signature picture is very complex - just imagine.<br />
Now as per Susskind, since the laws of conservation cannot have exceptions, so the two names are still out there along with the other few trillion names. So the information is still out there.<br />
But... then... how can you call the output 'Information'??? There is something out there - trillions of alphabets - when no one knows what they make up for sure - Is it correct to still call the output of the black hole 'Information'? I would just call it random sporadic nothing - can it be called information?. If we go deeper into understanding this, one alphabet M which goes into the black hole comes out, but is no longer M - it would just be a million subparts of a hundred pixels (of which M is made of). Now, imagine what just happened to each alphabet of the names MOHITH and BILL GATES along with the few trillion other names.<br />
What happened was that the input 'information' became output 'nothing'.<br />
Now do you call this conservation? Conservation of what??<br />
Now this is different from other types of conservation like from light to heat. Both light and heat are different types of energy and are understandable. That is not the case with Information.<br />
It is more like losing the key to a really really complex cipher.<br />
<br />
There are ideas out there that black hole computers can be built one day. Lot can go in - stays there heavily dense. Lot of information goes in - what comes out - signature of the information. How can information be reconstructed by the computer out of the 'nothing' that the 'information' has become?<br />
<br />
Just some of my thoughts... may be if there is a way to still somehow keep a copy of the key, we may reconstruct information out of nothingness. Imagine the possibilities then - we can know the name of each person who lived on this earth ever, then how the person looked, then every thing he ever did in his life... same for every organism/thing in the universe - living/non living.Phoenix Tearlesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15547778129917403937noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875684.post-48472291130930208792010-08-20T12:55:00.000-07:002010-08-20T12:55:56.862-07:00Step 3 - Is this the start?Things have started moving. The pace seems fine.. at times little quick. Hope everything goes well cause I'm putting all the other plans on hold until it settles.Phoenix Tearlesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15547778129917403937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875684.post-7564740436473157652010-08-17T13:06:00.000-07:002010-08-17T13:06:38.790-07:00The Immortals of MeluhaMy latest read - The Immortals of Meluha by Amish.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ3cbGg8SK-Aebw7AUHPM6zbvwRpMBJOYS3sivG2wkvwEvJ1lMrNAA-ZXeCZ4DF_K6axZuEk5GFC66K2ny51XuGcBb8B6oc40xjMvtADgCS-MF8Rrc1i4vh9jf3BpIBuxSbKtW/s1600/the_immortals_of_meluha.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ3cbGg8SK-Aebw7AUHPM6zbvwRpMBJOYS3sivG2wkvwEvJ1lMrNAA-ZXeCZ4DF_K6axZuEk5GFC66K2ny51XuGcBb8B6oc40xjMvtADgCS-MF8Rrc1i4vh9jf3BpIBuxSbKtW/s200/the_immortals_of_meluha.jpg" width="149" /></a></div><br />
This is the story of Shiva, a tribal warrior who rises to become Mahadev - Lord Shiva.<br />
The premise is that all the deities we worship today were actually humans centuries-millennia ago. Humans who have been bestowed with that God like respect from people out of their deeds. Over centuries, the stories of these mortals have been treated with due imagination and fiction making them immortals and Gods we worship today.<br />
I always believed in the same theory as well.<br />
<br />
Meluha is the land we all know as The Indus Valley and Meluhans, The Indus Valley Civilization. So the narration was set in the timeline between 3500 - 2000 BC. Meluha was the kingdom built by Lord Ram with all his ideals of a perfect society - a society governed by strict law. The kingdom of Meluha was existing for about more than a thousand years at the time the story begins. So essentially, the story is happening 1000 years after Lord Ram created Meluha. Meluhans were all followers of Sun and hence called Suryavanshees.<br />
As the plot requires, there is a territory called Swadweep, which was the land of Chandravanshees - followers of the Moon. There was rivalry between the civilizations from time immemorial and Ram was worshiped in Swadweep as well.<br />
<br />
The legend runs among the Meluhans and the Swadweepans that a Neelkanth - man with blue throat will one day emerge and destroy all evil. Each of the societies out of their ignorance of the principles of the other society believe that the other one was the evil one.<br />
It is at this time that a tribal warrior chief Shiva comes to Meluha as an immigrant and is discovered to be the Neelkanth. It is now the expectation that as per the prophecy that Neelkanth will help the Meluhans end the evils of Swadweepans who have formed dangerous alliances with vile foreigners.<br />
<br />
The story which follows is the story of how Shiva turns into Mahadev - weds Parvati or Sati in the story - and discovers that his conception of what evil is - is completely wrong and that he had already been the cause of the deaths of thousands of innocent Swadweepans in the war he declares on Swadweep while fighting for the Meluhans.<br />
<br />
The book is unputdownable like any other book once you started reading. However, I could not understand why the author chose that particular timeline to narrate the story in. Shiva was born and is recognized as a God 1000 years after the time of Lord Rama in the narration. But isn't this flawed when every one knows out of the epic Ramayan that Lord Shiva was already a God when the story of Ramayan begins. Ravana the Asura was said to have been a great devotee of Lord Shiva. Wasn't it Lord Shiva's great bow that Ram breaks at the swayamvar to win Sita.<br />
The narration was at times not reflecting the age - there were parts of the narration in direct speech which lost the mythical feeling - vastly.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>This book is to be followed by two more to form The Shiva Trilogy. I'm sure to buy the next one when it comes out.Phoenix Tearlesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15547778129917403937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875684.post-65564653204244235492010-07-10T12:29:00.000-07:002010-07-10T13:18:00.974-07:00Is work the best medicine???The last week was one of good realizations. I was in chaos and there were several things bothering me, the least of all - having too much time for myself. Never in the near past was I so disturbed and yet still sane - being disturbed while being sane is the crevice into which one should never get. Disturbance is a state of the heart while sanity that of the mind - meaning a conflict of the heart and the mind unrealized.<div><br /><div>When I'm sane and able to understand that what I feel is a feeling that I should/need not feel, and still can't understand why I'm feeling, and suffer of the thought that I understand what I'm going through. Is there anything in the world that can be a medicine now?, a friendly chat... a phone call... the family... or friends - none??</div><div><br /></div><div>Then came the third day, with it came work... I have a outlet now - work. I took the plunge immediately like a duck into an oasis with a parched throat. Finding my retreat where there is no more need for the heart and where the mind is too preoccupied to listen to its drone, let alone a conflict. Funny but true - I was rescued from my own heart. Three days of work was what it took to be my original self again. I'm happy now that I realized that I knew what I was going through, found a partner in an unlikely entity - work, and that I'm now able to feel the touch of breeze on my cheek once again.</div><div><br /></div><div>Why do people study psychology.. when all they have to do is study themselves?.</div><div> </div></div>Phoenix Tearlesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15547778129917403937noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875684.post-72375403524008162372010-03-10T21:38:00.000-08:002010-03-10T21:45:31.376-08:00From A to THEIsn't this what we all strive for, fight for, aspire for? I, an A, have dreams to one day become a THE. The goal is chalked out and gleaming clear - the path however, is blurred. This endeavor will one day become THE endeavor and I - THE.Phoenix Tearlesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15547778129917403937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875684.post-42000003890316737022010-03-03T10:45:00.000-08:002010-03-03T10:58:42.966-08:00The Curious Case of 221-B ~~Reading nowThe unpublished diaries of John H Watson, MD.<br />A good one, yes, really.<br />Reading Conan Doyle, I could not help feeling there was always a part of the narration that went missing. That was his style, yes completely intentional. Maybe, he thought he would come back to the narrations one day and fill out the missing parts - and it did not happen.<br />Now. Here is the book by an Indian author attempting to fill in those gouges. And does it well. The writing style fairly resembles Doyle's. You read a narration and say "Yes. I thought the original was not the last of it. Now, this completely explains the story". Then you get to see the flops of Sherlock Holmes. Yes, really! He was not always correct. He was just another detective who got famous(Watson's words).<br /><br />**The term "Holmesian Canon" has been used more frequently than necessary in the book. The author might have found it fanciful.Phoenix Tearlesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15547778129917403937noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875684.post-34844949540412371792010-03-03T10:43:00.000-08:002010-03-03T10:45:08.249-08:00The day goes wasted. Yes, absolutely!<br />Then comes the evening.Phoenix Tearlesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15547778129917403937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875684.post-77339871722666292322010-03-02T11:24:00.000-08:002010-03-02T11:41:10.291-08:00What happened??A dip in the pool ought to calm the fiery nebula of thoughts bulging with whirling tornadoes of fire, ice and emotion, creating eruptions inter creating volcanoes of irritation waiting to blow out with the unforgiving force of nothing fathomable. It always worked.<br />But why towards this day's dusk, does it seem impossible to leash the havoc destined to be unleashed by myraid emotions???<br /><br />In simple words, what a bad evening!<br /><br /><br />**hmmm just discovered, words help relieve pent up frustrations!Phoenix Tearlesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15547778129917403937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875684.post-23497112473191788442010-01-26T00:24:00.000-08:002010-01-26T00:30:10.294-08:00Step 2 of 3Step taken successfully on 24th Jan '10. Result optimistic.<br /><br />Preparing... Evaluating strategies for 3/3.Phoenix Tearlesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15547778129917403937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875684.post-5415146483521745812009-08-26T11:04:00.001-07:002009-08-26T11:04:58.528-07:00Guess what ?????I'm back !!!(hopefully)...Phoenix Tearlesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15547778129917403937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875684.post-3756567523100110882007-10-30T07:41:00.000-07:002007-10-30T07:45:18.663-07:00Happy belated Birthday to me.....29th Oct -- Had a blast... The rainiest and one the most memorable days....Phoenix Tearlesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15547778129917403937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875684.post-53721299446469518492007-10-20T00:10:00.000-07:002007-10-20T00:22:23.679-07:00If only we can......If you can keep your head when all about you<br />Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;<br />If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,<br />But make allowance for their doubting too;<br />If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,<br />Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,<br />Or being hated, don't give way to hating,<br />And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:<br /><br />If you can dream -- and not make dreams your master;<br />If you can think -- and not make thoughts your aim;<br />If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster<br />And treat those two imposters just the same;<br />If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken<br />Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,<br />Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,<br />And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools;<br /><br />If you can make one heap of all your winnings<br />And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,<br />And lose, and start again at your beginnings<br />And never breathe a word about your loss;<br />If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew<br />To serve your turn long after they are gone,<br />And so hold on when there is nothing in you<br />Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"<br /><br />If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,<br />Or walk with kings -- nor lose the common touch,<br />If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,<br />If all men count with you, but none too much;<br />If you can fill the unforgiving minute<br />With sixty seconds' worth of distance run --<br />Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,<br />And -- which is more -- you'll be a Man, my son!<br /><br />- Rudyard Kipling.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;color:#ff0000;">This is the original and complete poem which featured in the telugu flick <strong>'Happy Days'</strong>.... Which Shreya ma'am(Kamalini Mukherjee) asks Rajesh to get by heart.... And which he recites during his placement process. </span>Phoenix Tearlesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15547778129917403937noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875684.post-85680462469057767492007-10-02T07:08:00.000-07:002007-10-02T07:22:13.033-07:00Happy Days<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPY8neqP1348GBWbEs_-PGNYNvo3O_Lt0eG276AEZ2Qdb5QXPXq8XghIFQub105fX82icJVIQT1zDqa8hAOCIQ9UszxebcGqxgeR3f-oBU267ayFwNGEZYgvEcjBqGVQiC-Jzf/s1600-h/happydays-0019.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5116741573681441458" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPY8neqP1348GBWbEs_-PGNYNvo3O_Lt0eG276AEZ2Qdb5QXPXq8XghIFQub105fX82icJVIQT1zDqa8hAOCIQ9UszxebcGqxgeR3f-oBU267ayFwNGEZYgvEcjBqGVQiC-Jzf/s320/happydays-0019.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Just watched the flick... Im all in praise for it. Shekhar Kammula has certainly the elements in him to bring some freshness into the dynasty ridden world of tollywood.<br />A must watch for youth in general and students in particular.... especially if u belong to the coveted 'engineers' community.<br />An engineering student myself, I come out of the theatre relating the characters and story to myself. For those of u who are into the hectic world of profession... u are bound to get nostalgic of ur college days, crushes, parties and loves while watching the movie.Phoenix Tearlesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15547778129917403937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875684.post-48366668015485867632007-08-27T07:13:00.000-07:002007-08-27T07:16:05.596-07:00Content & happy but.................... how long will the good days last??? for a week?... a month?... a year?... or for a lifetime?<br /><br />That was just the pessimist in me.Phoenix Tearlesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15547778129917403937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875684.post-71574932170638570212007-07-14T22:14:00.000-07:002007-07-14T22:58:19.068-07:00PossessivenessPOSSESSIVENESS --- What is it with this particular feeling.... it drives people to the verge of insanity. Especially among the fairer sex.... clients from Venus.<br />Is 'friendship' a synonym for the word 'possessiveness'?... again particularly among friends belonging to the opposite sexes.<br /><br />This particular feeling has gone a long way into disturbing what has to be one of the most wonderful relationships between some very close friends of mine. Friendship beckons possessiveness, which in turn beckons jealousy. Does friendship require that a person really has to kill his own principles and thoughts for the sake of the so called friend.... isn't it supposed to be more of understanding and mutual respect for each others principles and feelings?.<br /><br />Damn the P word.... it is driving so many people into the hurricane of emotional trauma... creating rifts between the very best of friends and partners.<br />I've recognised the danger of this possessiveness quite early and I'm playing along without being drifted into it... but alas not everyone has the foresight, so I see the bestest of friends drifting apart. There is little I can do except a word of the mouth, but I understand that neither of the friends can once again be the happy themselves.Phoenix Tearlesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15547778129917403937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875684.post-65872476075108866892007-06-16T10:36:00.000-07:002007-07-14T23:06:34.080-07:00Wah Taj !!!<span style="color:#ff0000;"></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEXxytU5YC0XJWXwXhVqJNUfgypztUPif4yd3mshGAV_7SjmcgzGCO2ckjan7SKj14e8N0ucGEs484tE_dOklZPf2QGw4TvrOPsM3TiUYiCDa8rVVbJXWooPqMzFDpJoTRt8h5/s1600-h/tajwater1024.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5076718769740288146" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEXxytU5YC0XJWXwXhVqJNUfgypztUPif4yd3mshGAV_7SjmcgzGCO2ckjan7SKj14e8N0ucGEs484tE_dOklZPf2QGw4TvrOPsM3TiUYiCDa8rVVbJXWooPqMzFDpJoTRt8h5/s320/tajwater1024.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>I wish it finds a place among the 7 wonders... to be remembered by the generations to come... to be read about... learnt about... sung about...</div><div></div><div>This is the last chance... <span style="font-size:130%;color:#ffff33;"><a href="http://www.new7wonders.com/">VOTE NOW</a></span> !!!</div><div> </div><div><strong>Post results</strong>: The Taj has made it to the list of the 7 wonders of the modern world, buoyed by a whooping 13% of the total votes being from India. Once again the population of India displays its might.</div><div></div><div><span style="color:#ff0000;"></span></div><div></div>Phoenix Tearlesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15547778129917403937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875684.post-90133064618702398742007-06-08T23:05:00.000-07:002007-06-08T23:24:06.207-07:00Opal Mehta Gets a Life<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMEOgjIPMZFOmzEphLwT3SDZ2z3FdsFvHXjYYhYLXpcklF4YN87aK0CvmE3Cxc4ONcFAJJPzFsQdx4Axaq5dDh0orWQWyCPu1XKsMc1jm6EdcYVO_YsHQ1QZoITVUJof0rNST2/s1600-h/opal1__SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5073942228002246770" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMEOgjIPMZFOmzEphLwT3SDZ2z3FdsFvHXjYYhYLXpcklF4YN87aK0CvmE3Cxc4ONcFAJJPzFsQdx4Axaq5dDh0orWQWyCPu1XKsMc1jm6EdcYVO_YsHQ1QZoITVUJof0rNST2/s320/opal1__SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" border="0" /></a>My latest read- a really funny book and a must-read. It's about this nerdy girl Opal Mehta whose ambition is to get into Harvard. She gets rejected the first time as she has no idea of 'fun'. But then she chalks out a plan with her parents which turns out to be a wreck. But still in the process she manages to get kissed, get wild and get a life.<br /><div> </div><div>If Five point someone appealed to you, this book definitely will too.</div>Phoenix Tearlesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15547778129917403937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875684.post-12529679297382893962007-06-03T00:11:00.000-07:002007-06-03T00:24:14.440-07:00Living with purpose - from Shubham's blogI was born in a middle class household.<br />My parents gave me the best education they could afford.<br />After schooling, I choose a stream of graduation, that most of my classmates did.<br />After completing my higher studies, I joined a respectable company.<br />After working for a few years, I got married; and my responsibilities increased.<br />Within a couple of years, my 1st child was born. A second one followed soon afterwards.<br />The foremost aim of my life now was to provide a good upbringing to my children.<br />I gave them the best education and values that I could, just like my parents had done to me. I saw them grow up and become self reliant.<br />The years passed by, I retired from my job, retreated to my hometown, and spent the rest of my days in peace.<br />Then one fine day, I had an heart-attack, and died.<br /><br /><br />Isn’t this the story of most of our lives?<br />Don’t most of us live our lives along predictable lines?<br />Aren’t most of the decisions we take during our lives dictated by what our peers are doing?<br />Have we ever sat back and wondered, if the decisions we make all our lives, are dictated by what we want, or what we have been told is the right thing to do?<br /><br />Have we ever asked ourselves the questions,<br />Why have I been born?<br />What is the purpose of my life?<br />How is my life different from the billions around me?<br />Am I not wasting the life God has given me, by just going through the motions?<br />How will people remember me when I am gone?<br />Or will people remember me at all?<br />Do I want to sit back at the fag end of my days, and be at a loss to figure out what I achieved in life?<br />Do I want to live an unknown life, and die and unknown death, like the hundreds of generations before me?<br />Or do I want to do something different, be someone different, make a difference.<br /><br />You may say,<br />Studying well, working hard, fulfilling my parents’ ambitions, and looking after my children, in the very purpose of my life.<br />If I can do all this well, I will feel I have been succeeded in my life.<br />After all, how many people can claim to have done all these things well?<br /><br />But I say,<br />Though not many succeed, but everyone tries to achieve the above.<br />What are you doing in your life which others are not?<br />What is your distinct identity?<br />Are you one among a million, or one in a million?<br /><br />Not everyone can become a Gandhi or a Gates.<br />Not everyone has the ability, or the opportunity, to change the world.But that does not mean each of us cannot make a difference in our own little worlds.<br />Each one of us can pursue a unique passion, follow a novel hobby, help the society, protect the environment, raise awareness, oppose injustice, read, write, play, sing, speak.<br />Why not do something that makes us unique, something that people appreciate, something that people remember.<br />No matter how small the contribution, no matter how few it impacts, it is better than living without a purpose.<br /><br />Kabeera jab hum paida hue, jag hanse hum roye..<br />Aisi karni kar chalo, hum hanse jag roye..<br />(When you were born.. you wept, while the world smiled..<br />Live such a life, that when you die.. you smile, while the world weeps..)<br /><br /><br /><br />This post was from <a href="http://www.my-mind-space.blogspot.com/">Shubham's</a> blog.... loved it soo much.Phoenix Tearlesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15547778129917403937noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875684.post-5748863744792299312007-06-02T10:56:00.000-07:002007-06-02T11:33:06.133-07:00Je suis arrièreMy last credible post is dated hmmmm..... 17th June 2006. That was like... an year ago. What have I been doing... lotta things happened, quite a lot.... k, really not quite a lot, just a few but gr8 in magnitude.<br /><br />I've been wondering if this blogging thing was just a fad that hit... stayed for some time... and went. I could not agree that this was just a fad... I wanted to come back... I always wanted, but it took some time. There are things which have come in recently like Orkut... and yes its true that I could not come back to blogging becs of Orkut. Orkut has become the first thing I open every day.. even before my mail. Social networking basically IS a great idea... isn't it.<br />I have gone thru my favourite blogs yesterday(also after a whole year) and guess what... most of them have been as numb as mine. So I'm not the only irregular blogger. I've got company.<br /><br />And I'm into the final year of engineering... and I still remember the day I joined as if it were just the day before yesterday. The three years have been fun... WOW! real fun... hope the final year stretches out and lasts a bit coz I'm enjoying the course.<br />I got placed in Infosys... it was my dream company. But then again it's not a really wonderful feeling when I've come to know that every bloke down the street and around the corner has been placed with some company or the other. I always wanted to be one IN a million but it happens that I'm just one AMONG a million. Truly pissed off!!!<br /><br />God knows when I'll be posting again.Phoenix Tearlesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15547778129917403937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7875684.post-1172858809778925662007-03-02T10:03:00.000-08:002007-03-02T10:06:49.790-08:00Just to say that I'm outta hibernationPhoenix Tearlesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15547778129917403937noreply@blogger.com0