Elicit Thoughts: 2007

I followed up on the news after a long time and all I get is the following:
10 year old children are used in place of oxen to plough farm lands as they say tractors cant be used here and it is not possible to get oxen. So all they get is 10 yr old children?
And when the Minister for Child Welfare is posed with the situation and is asked questions he says "what's wrong if the children do some work for their living?"
If the Minister of Child Welfare speaks as such, I can only imagine the work he's been doing for the welfare of children in the country!
How can people be so irresponsible!
Another example of extreme sense of responsibility was shown by Doctors in a hospital in Gurgaon who turned away a woman who was about to deliver, stating that her case was too complicated and the consequence was that she delivered in the parking lot and the baby died for the lack of care and treatment.
Do such Doctors even deserve a license to practice? Are they suitably employed?
Are such Doctors and Ministers going to help us in our dreams of becoming a prosperous country?
The obvious answer is HELL NO.
We can be upbeat about the stock markets, about the exponentially growing IT exports and blah blah blah. But what about the other undisclosed face of the country where babies dont earn the right to live because they belong to poor parents, where 10 yr olds plough fields in lieu of oxen 10 hrs a day and are not even allowed to complain?
Damn this hurts me.

So many plans of doing so many things, reading and finishing so many things and all washed by a single object of passion!
The Camera!
Damn!
My old college buddy visited me this weekend and he carried with himself his new Camera which is the kind I find interesting! So I just could let the opportunity slip away and forgot about all plans and just clicked and clicked in the last two days!
Well, some of them came out really well and I've got to work on them and a couple of them are here for you to see! :)
You can see a better quality version of these pictures in my Flickr photostream.
Sorry about the advertising but it takes too long to upload decent quality pictures on Blogger. :(



I hope you like the pictures.
There are more in the making. Keep a watch on my Flickr and you can see the newer ones.

Well Well Well!
I see that my reputation precedes me!
Ria already has announced about my avid blogging habits but I must say it was very generous of her to shower upon me some pretty words of praise...specially about my pictures! :)
I love it when someone calls my pictures good.
And that's me for you to see!


And let me do a little bit of advertising before I proceed...my pictures can be seen
here-
http://corridor.amvona.com/zombiezparadize

I am badly in need of buying an SLR camera so any donations are welcome!! :D

Living upto my reputation, I wont write much today...got truckloads of work to finish..but
I would definitely say "Thank you so much Ria" for extending such a warm welcome.
And I assure you, that you will see some beautiful pictures in your blog alongside more than occasional write ups! Just wait and watch!

And how on Earth would a post from me be complete without my trademark " :) "
What say Ria?

He met her at a party. She was so outstanding, many guys chasing after her, while he was so normal, nobody paid attention to him.

At the end of the party, he invited her to have coffee with him, she was surprised but due to being polite, she promised. They sat in a nice coffee shop, he was too nervous to say anything, she felt uncomfortable, and she thought to herself, “Please, let me go home…”

Suddenly he asked the waiter, “Would you please give me some salt? I’d like to put it in my coffee.” Everybody stared at him, so strange! His face turned red but still, he put the salt in his coffee and drank it. She asked him curiously, “Why you have this hobby?” He replied, “When I was a little boy, I lived near the sea, I liked playing in the sea, I could feel the taste of the sea, just like the taste of the salty coffee. Now every time I have the salty coffee, I always think of my childhood, think of my hometown, I miss my hometown so much, I miss my parents who are still living there.” While saying that tears filled his eyes. She ! was deeply touched. That’s his true feeling, from the bottom of his heart. A man who can tell out his homesickness, he must be a man who loves home, cares about home, has responsibility of home… Then she also started to speak, spoke about her faraway hometown, her childhood, her family.

That was a really nice talk, also a beautiful beginning of their story. They continued to date. She found that actually he was a man who meets all her demands; he had tolerance, was kind hearted, warm, careful.

He was such a good person but she almost missed him! Thanks to his salty coffee! Then the story was just like every beautiful love story, the princess married to the prince, and then they were living the happy life… And, every time she made coffee for him, she put some salt in the coffee, as she knew that’s the way he liked it. After 40 years, he passed away, left her a letter which said,My dearest, please forgive me, forgive my whole life’s lie. This was the only lie I said to you—the salty coffee. Remember the first time we dated? I was so nervous at that time, actually I wanted some sugar, but I said salt. It was hard for me to change so I just went ahead. I never thought that could be the start of our communication! I tried to tell you the truth many times in my life, but I was too afraid to do that, as I have promised not to lie to you for anything… Now I’m dying, I afraid of nothing so I tell you the truth, I don’t like the salty coffee, what a strange bad taste… But I have had the salty coffee for my whole life! Since I knew you, I never feel sorry for anything I do fo! r you. Having you with me is my biggest happiness for my whole life. If I can live for the second time, still want to know you and have you for my whole life, even though I have to drink the salty coffee again.”

Her tears made the letter totally wet. Someday, someone asked her, “What’s the taste of salty coffee?” She replied, “It’s sweet.”

Originally from : Gagan's Blog

It was raining heavily outside. Dark clouds gathered in the sky and nature was in its ominous best. I took a break from my work and went to the pantry to grab a cup of coffee. I had a sip and went near the window to see the rain pouring down heavily outside the glass structure. I was inside our huge office building, unruffled by even the fierceness of the nature. Through the heavy transparent glass, I could see a small girl trying to hold on to her umbrella which the wind was snatching away from her. I felt sorry for the girl, and was happy that I was not in a similar pathetic situation. Yes. I take pride for the fact that I am a software engineer. . I have everything which a common man would envy; money, status, respect, you name it I have it. I always wanted to be software professional and here I am, working for one of the best firms in the world. But then, am I really happy? Now, I could see an imprint of my palm on the other glass window, through which I reminisced my past, basked in the warmth of the sun shine.

My childhood was so much of fun. I vividly remember those rainy days, when I hugged my mother tightly during sleeping listening to all the stories told by her. Now, I have a big house here, but then it is just a house, not a home. My parents are pretty far away from me now. I have a cell phone to talk to them everyday, but then I really miss those dinners which I had with my family everyday. I could easily afford to taste all the different cuisines these days, but the best of food there, lack the love and affection which is present in the food prepared by my mother.

I threw a lavish party for my colleagues for my birthday, but then they would never replace the birthdays when my friends secretly brought a cake and at the end, half of the cake would have ended up on my face. The couple of hundred bucks that u save for a long period just to give a treat to your friends in the road side chat shop can never give the pleasure even after spending a few thousand bucks these days.

The scene of me crying and refusing to have dinner on the day when I fought with my best friend came to my mind. Today, she has gone far away from me, taking away my love and with it my life, but I am sitting and coding here with a false smile on my face. Everyday I meet new people, but then I long ceased to make a new friend.

It's true that I have a lot of things now. I have a nice bed, but no time to sleep. Lots of money, but no friends to spend it with. The latest designer clothes, but a worn out body. Quite a few to flirt, but no one to love. Awards for technical excellence, but no reward for the crave for peaceful ambience. A confident demeanor, but a reluctant and apathetic mind. Full of rain, but no sunshine even in the farthest distance.

Now, I could see the small girl on the road enjoying in the rain with her umbrella firmly in her grip. She might not have all the comforts which I have, but then she has the innocence and fun which I lost a long time back. I have decided to come out of this false fantasy, even if it is at the expense of losing the tap of the software engineer. I am going to again enjoy my life. I am going to go out in the rain and play with the small kid now. I removed my tie, and went near my computer to shut it down. Just then, I saw a new mail alert in my mail box. I slowly opened outlook and I found a message from my manager with an attachment saying that there was a critical defect in the code and I have to fix it soon. I convinced myself that I am not going to get bogged down again by these pressures and stick to my decision. I ignored the mail and went to the rest room. After a couple of minutes, the software engineer in me came out, his shirt tucked in with the perfect tie knot, sat before the computer, and started typing,

XYZ,

I am looking into the defect and will send the patch files before EOD.

SE

Happy Valentines Day. They say "love is eternal, no matter what". Maybe....
Here I'm posting one such love story, in PDF format - 2 parts.
Click on the image to download.



You'll need to install some fonts to read the document properly. Download it here, extract the files and copy-paste in your c:\windows\fonts folder.