lets blog

Getting Thin

2008-08-05T10:30:00.000-07:00

Hi guys
Today i will write about one of the most important of turning points of my life. Things took time to change for me. Long since i remember i have been a chubby child. And believe me its tough being so, being the butt of every ones jokes for long just because you are different. I always wanted to shed those extra kilos from time immemorial but i never was in the disposition or the discipline to do so. All through out my graduation i have been what people term fat.
One day i made up my mind to lighten up. I have visited the gym lot many times but could never find the schedule right, so i started of exercising at home. I would jog do pushups and a lot many other exercises. I kept a strict control on my diet. Believe me i absolutely ate no junk food. With time i even decreased my food intake, but i kept up the exercise. I was 73 kgs when i started. One thing i didnt do was check out my weight reason being my f5ocus was never to loose weight but to be fit and in shape. Month after month went by One day i did check my weight it was 60 kgs. I never expected it to be so low it even went down to 58. People used to tell me that i have become too thin and even my parents i never believed them. I was doing amazingly well with my regime i was doing 30 pushups in a go and 6 to 7 pull ups. But one day and on many other occasions i felt drowsy and lack of energy. I realised that i need to eat properly gradually i increased my intake those days i used to devour 6 to 7 chapattis in a go. Now i a`m a`t a` rea`sonable 65 to 66 kgs. My regime is still on, i can do 40 push ups in first go 3o after that and 20 to sum it up i can do around 7 pull ups though i used to do 10 but with the increase in weight that has reduced.
All this i am writing after around one year. It took me an year to reach this stage. I still have to go far but i feel to be successful and have permanancy following is what is important.

Exersise to be fit not loose weight. Dont watch the scales everyday.
Dont overexercise. I do stomach exercises in the morning and later stomach and weight exercises in the evening a`ll totalling to around max 40 min.
Eat every thing dont miss out on that cake or that chocolate but eat in moderation.
Maintain your schedule but do take breaks now and then.
Sleep well. Though i am poor in this part but it is necessary to sleep well.

In short enjoy food, exercise daily and be active. You may go through tons of expert advice but what i have told you is something that took me 24 years to write and 1 year of experimentation and after maintaining tough dicipline.

Take Care my friends and remember just keep at it and if you like Jonnie Walker 'Keep Walking'.

The empty mind

2008-06-23T12:00:00.000-07:00

Mind is a whirlpool of numerous thoughts and emotions.
and yet its quite empty. At times events and actions trigger a whirlwind of memories that are bunked up in their slots waiting to be stirred up. Its as if each memory has a ear of its own. When they hear out their names they wake up their mates and stage a small ruckuss. And when they get tired they go off to sleep again.
Picture this, there are billions and billions of slots that are empty and many are constantly being built to house newer and more varied experiences and memories.
Memories relate to each other " okay buddy you got a white pair of socks too hmmm cool." " mine always stink a lot (hark hark )"
"oh ya well my grand papa fought in world war too"
They communicate very fast each one is hooked up to a network right from inception.
And yet mind is empty. no matter how much you stuff it there still is more that could go in.
In this very physically measurable mind, quite often memories get lost and yet they appear out of thin air as if a ginnie apparates.
Such is the complex mind, a vast vast empty ocean.
sshhhhhhh!! listen to the waves they speak a lot !

The subprime crisis

2008-05-15T01:24:00.000-07:00

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This what i feel is up with the US mortgage crisis.
US has had very complex financial instruments. Much more complex than we have in India.
They have been very optimistic in lending money. Believing that risk associated with the underlying assets could be divided and sold off after being rated by the rating agencies.
So the problem first started with the lending of subprime loans. subprime means lending to those who dont have a good credit history and are more likely to default as compared to normal creditworthy borrowers. And this is what happwned. Two things struck simultaneously- The housing bubble burst and increase in the intrest rates.
Every one expected the house rates to go up forever. But a point reached when supply exceeded demand and rates strated falling at the same time increase in intrest rates caused borrowers to shel out more. This resulted in a series of defaults. With their asset value shrinking and monthly payouts towards loans increasing subprime borrowers started defaulting. Banks that had loaned couldnt recover the costs even by selling the underlying assets because of decrease in net value and very low demand that had dipped further in the wake of the crisis..
A number of banks had to write off their bad loans. Bear Stearns one of the big investment banks would have been the first casulty had it not been saved by the US govt via purchase by JP Morgan. Still losses on account of Bear Stearns could hit JP Morgan hard. Bear Stearns pulled out its money on account of the losses form developing markets. This has been the phenomenon experinced by all the developing markets. In the wake of the crisis investors started pulling their money from and started taking it back to US. This lead markets into a spin.

With the decrease in consumer confidence demand decreased in US causing the growth to slow down . The fed has been stalling the economy from dipping into a ressions which seems imminent, by way of intrest rate cuts still banks are unwilling to lend even to each other. This has further decreased the growth rate. Imports were hit and the US dollar started loosing its value world over. This caused the exports from other countries to be hit even more. For them exports got costlier and imports cheaper resulting in appreciation of their currency.

Lessons learnt from the crisis is that developing countries need to diversify their trade and not be too dependent on US. They must be careful for such bubbles in their countries and have tighter lending norms but it may come at the cost of economic growth.
In US they have to improve their risk assesment models as well as tighten their lending norms.

So much for now. But with passing months knowledge gets added up to this topic. And it is a topic of much debate .

Does the sun rise from east ??

2008-03-29T11:43:00.000-07:00

We are used to the fact that the sunrises from the eastliterally it may be true so, but metaphorically is it? Does sun rise from the east? Or is it just our perception.
We draw a preliminary conclusion of things around us the first time we see them or come in contact with them. Things project a picture that we grasp as their true characteristics, yet due to some reason or the other few of the details either we miss out or they are subconsciously withheld.
As we gain experience we gain insight and we come to the truer characteristics that are projected. We change our mental perception regarding the thing.
These few paragraphs i presented above are quite general in nature but there are deviations from the general perceptions, which we tend to ignore
Firstly at times even though we change our perception with time but in quite a lot many instances the initial characteristics presented may be the truest.
Secondly even though we gain experience with time and form a mental picture of the thing, yet one question we need to ask ourselves is whether we gave sufficient time to understand the object under consideration? Whether our analysis was unbiased? Did our egos subconsciously come in the way of our logical reasoning?
My advice to all is given the time you have, do justice to the object of consideration, give it a fair bit of chance to shine and then only record its value. Most importantly one needs to get out of his comfort zones and needs to move towards uncharted territories to be able to realize relevant opportunities to move ahead in life (if that be your goal), or just simply gain insight of various nuances of life.

Nainital Exploits

2008-01-26T04:15:00.000-08:00

XXXXXXX This is the picture i took while climbing for Naina Peak. It shows the Naini Lake and practically the whole of Nainital XXXXXXXXX

Few weeks back i went to Nainital for a market research study. The work was for a single day but i extended my stay for another one.

I had no clear-cut plans as to how i would spend my second day. I had spent the first day's evening roaming the market and places nearby. On the second day i decided to take the rope way till Mountain View. But the thought of trekking up till Mountain View appealed to me more.

The path to the top was made of steep concrete steps. I was carrying a knapsack containing some food and a bottle of water. I bought some chocolates to last me throughout the journey. For a guy from the plains climbing is tough business even though being very fit. I had to stop every 15, 20 steps and take stock of my breath. At all my stoppages I absorbed what ever was present around me, the track up and both down, the hutments and how small the lake Naini looked from my vantage point. After a few hours of climb and after taking quite a circuitous route I reached Mountain View. While on my way to the top I had a few words with a number of people. I enquired them the correct route and sometimes even had a small talk. Once at Mountain View i got this gorgeous view of Almora and Ranikhet hills. I could have seen the Himalayas too, but the horizon was very foggy owing to the overcast conditions.

At Mountain View while chatting with the binocular guy i got my second target 'The Naina Peak'. It was a 4 Km hike from there till the top of Naina peak. The first Km didn’t involve much climbing, but the last three kms were through the woods. This was the toughest part. With not a single living soul the whole way baring a few wood cutters and the route being steep and rugged with cliff on one side and the situation being accentuated by the information that I got from the local ranger at the bottom of Naina peak as well as from the wood cutters that there were a few tigers in the jungle, the climb was a challenge for a guy like me going alone to the top. I had to watch each step that I took, as the route was very rugged. A fall could mean injury and problems while coming back.

Few lessons i learnt while this particular trekking exercise were to be properly clothed while climbing, good shoes and a supply of edibles especially chocolates and water. A climbing stick would always help while trekking. Also it is very important to stay calm and keep reading your body conditions. In the adrenaline rush to reach to the top always have in consideration that you need to get down too. It won’t help if you are on your last leg when you reach to the top. Especially if you don’t know whether a support system is provided for at the top to recover. I was few hundred meters shy of reaching to the top when i had to make the decision to turn back. After a 10 km climb I was bit out of breathe and had 5 km more to reach to the bottom.

Now the most perilous part of a climb is the journey back to the bottom. it is easy to loose footing while climbing down and one must always watch each and every step he takes. But once at the bottom one is filled with this great feeling of having achieved something and that takes care of all the sore feet and aching knees, which you tend to consider as you medals of honor.

Its 23 wake up!!

2008-01-06T10:28:00.000-08:00

Today i wanted to write about the oh ! so partial decisions by the umpires. Steve how could you be such a dim witted lark and Mr. Bennson or Bennison or whatever your name is, though I would like to call you Mr. Brinjal, you are such a sucker!! Why did you have to go where Mr. Ponting was pointing ??
Well i will come to my final word on it a bit later.

My main motto of writing tonight is a thought that crept into my mind yesterday. I was thinking to myself rather i was asking myself, what is it that i have been doing past 23 years ? What have I done for myself ? What have I done for the family ? What have i done for the community ? Haven't i been such a sucker myself ? ( Imagine me calling Mr. Brinjal a sucker, at least he is umpiring even if he does a heck of a job. )

What i have realized is that all these years i have been a resourse hogging machine that takes in lots of input, that people have generated after so much sweat and in return what i produce aint good even for the plants hehe !!

Even though this is the reality that i percieve, there is more to it, basically it takes a lot to become a man and there is no end to learning and improvement, which naturally would require hogging of resources true ! But a day comes when we have to give back to this world what we have reapped from it. It is simply passing from one stage of life to the other.

And a day shall come when what remains to be given back is just the physical self.

But boy !! would i love to change that and here I take an oath to do some thing about it !!

Coming back to umpiring decisions, Indians come back, you dont need to continue. It aint a gentleman's game no more!!

Can you stomach whats going in ??

2007-12-23T01:03:00.000-08:00

Can you ??
or not ??

are you a mirror?? or are u a black body ??

(To those who arent aware of a black body let me tell you this a mirror is all shiny when the lights are on, a black body absorbs all the light and heat it can and glows in the dark while the stupid mirror could come under your feet and you could be limping the rest of your life)

Do you have the power to absorb, assimilate and direct your inputs to a credible output.

What kind of a person are you ??

While here i have presented a simple model of two very different personalities yet as every body would agree with me there are infinite number of shades between black and white, along simillar lines these qualities i have thrown light upon may be present in a person or may not be present at all ( who am i to predict ?? ).

But just to speculate over the matter which one of the two are you??
Do you recognize people in their different shades??

Or is all this difficult for you to stomach??

Bottomline eat, sleep and enjoy life ( and do keep off the junk food and exercise daily )

Mystery History

2007-12-21T10:17:00.000-08:00

I ain't a bard, I ain't a poet
But i am a mystery to the beholder's eyes

Charming as my personality is, enigmatic is my demeanour

O dear reader rest in peace, I am a simple human being out trying to make both ends meet
Its but my style to do it out of vogue.

My Driving experience

2007-11-17T10:36:00.000-08:00

I started of as an admirer of those who could drive a car. I found that people could really drive well. Off course there are plenty who keep honking their horns, but i have witnessed cars whose drivers could make them fly.

The day soon approached when i was to try my hand at driving. I wasn’t sure, nor was my family whether i would become a sound driver but the journey had began.

I knew one sardar ji near Mayur Vihar Phase 2 market. He used to sell milk and eggs since i was a KG student and now when i was to become a fledgling in the art of driving he had started his own motor driving school, Vohara Motor School. I had the privilege of being taught by this chap himself. He used to teach me in crowded neighbourhoods, quite unlike other instructors. "First gear aur second gear, tussi ye pehele sikho kya raat lagayi hai third aur fourth gear ki!" was his usual rhetoric and though i went along with what he used to say I often cursed him under my breath- “Bloody pyjama chaap, wont let me drive the right way (my way)”, but now in retrospect I am happy he taught me the way he did.
It is due to his method of teaching that I could grasp the fundas of driving quickly. I even did a refresher course when I moved to my present abode and though this time I had a fair bit of driving experience, I didn’t fail to notice that motor schools want to churn out as many drivers as soon as possible hence they want them to quickly complete their course. One way to make them do this is to teach them in higher gears and in less crowded places this way they tend to drive fast and complete their daily course in a shorter span of time. People who come out of these fast track courses aren’t as thorough with driving, as they normally should be.

Learning in crowded places makes people handle traffic much better. And this is the key to becoming a good driver, to be able to read the traffic well and act accordingly.

Thus my advice to learners is to ask your instructor to teach in crowded places. Once in crowded places you automatically drive in lower gears. You may ask, wont it be dangerous to drive in crowded places ? and I completely agree. Driving never is without any danger. One may not be safe even in a stationary car while on road. But hey!! Relax just brush up your ABC (Accelerator Brake Clutch) and gear basics in empty parking lots or other such places and get a feel of the steering wheel. Once you are at chummy terms with the car go for the kill!! (Not literally though) and remember the instructor is always there to guide you. So don’t be afraid just let him know what you want and most importantly be sure what you want.

Happy Sailing Kapitan!!

Predicting the Future

2007-11-03T09:02:00.000-07:00

Ever thought whats in store in the future ?
Wouldn't you like to know how long you are going to live how rich you are going to become and who will be your future partner ??
My concept is simple. What ever is in the future is governed by the events in the present and what ever is in the present is governed by the events in the past.
To elaborate bit more, consider the present. Events occuring today are due to the events that have occured in the past. If we were to take into consideration all the events occuring today and were able to calculate the how they will interact with each other we may be able to predict the events that are to occur in the future. thus be able to predict the future.
The basic funda is that events in the past have interacted in a specific manner to produce events occuring today and have layed the blueprint as to how the events today shall interact. By developing mathematical techniques, if we are able to simulate the manner in which the events today shall interact we may be able to predict the events that are to occur in the future. In short we may be able to predict the future.

Cyborg

2007-10-10T02:57:00.000-07:00

I always thought over this a lot
Whats in the future for mankind? How will we evolve in the short term, say in the next 100 years, and in the long term, say in a million years. Its next to impossible to predict what will happen to us in the long term, i suggest one should watch discovery channel for that. One of these days the channel might come up with a 'man in the future' series. Though i do remember the channel showing one simillar programme where they had portrayed a scenario on life on earth millions of years from now.
But lets limit our thoughts to the short term future of human beings, atleast we can speculate a bit and put to pen our views.
In the short term i see a rise in diseases, our immune systems shall be better developed as compared to today. Offcourse there shall be a plethora of highly advanced medicines too.
In the next 100 years, at present rate of emissions our sea levels shall rise and people shall have to move to higher grounds, there shall be space constraints. The impact of these factors on us is a mystery to me. How these factors shall modify our behaviour and change us physically are points to speculate on.
While these are some of the factors that we dont have much control over, yet it might be possible to completely overhall ourselves in the distant future. In other words modify ourselves artificially. It would be as simple as going to the dentist and getting a root canal. While physically changing ourselves is possible even today, but i am refering to becoming a cyborg or a partial cyborg kind of a being, depending on individual needs.
While i may sound a lunatic but just think of the human part of becoming a cyborg. Lets take up a case. 50 years from now god forbid! you are unable to walk. Would you not like to replace your nonfunctional limb with a new, high tech leg thats a clone of your older limb but functions perfectly. And the good thing about these highly advanced prosthetic limbs as compared to those present today would be that they wont look artifical or function in a mechanical manner It would be like you growing a new leg.
When you have this miraclus tool with you, no longer would you require a walking staff or need to depend on anybody for your day to day activities. You may even be able to play basket ball again .
Now to extend this concept to the whole of the body, suppose you are able to replace any other part of your body, if this happens the world shall witness dawn of a new lifestyle revoluton. But then there is a limit to changing yourself. How much you change should be regulated by a higher authority. Only when you are in real need, should you be allowed to replace a part, otherwise whats the point of being a human being.
But one thing shall always remain, and that is your mind. You are what you are simplly because of your mind, all other parts are just accessories. What i mean is that your individuality is majorly mentained because of your unique mind, other parts do have a say but if we could exactly replicate them then they simply become accessories.
In short the whole point of becoming a man machine is to live a better life.

City Travel

2007-10-05T21:18:00.001-07:00

Ever traveled to different places. New cities and villages. Ever analyzed the traffic up close and personal? Ok lets talk about Delhi.Its a huge place and very dynamic. Something or the other is always happening here. Delhi Metro being constructed, VIP movements, Dharnas, flyovers and roads being built, all these have a bearing on the way we travel. Being pre informed is the only way to counter these vagaries.Broadly speaking there are two aspects of traveling in Delhi. First is the knowledge regarding roads and second is to know about the traffic pattern at different hours of the day. Those who travel on a routine basis are well aware of the traffic pattern. There are different categories of travelers, those who use the public transport and those who have their own vehicle. People using public transports have a sound knowledge of their routes and know how traffic snarls on these routes. People with their own vehicles have an added advantage to try out various alternatives and thus discover those hidden sacks of information to give a better understanding of the traffic. Bottom line to be a successful traveler you must first experiment with a variety of routes.Having said this, maps too play a crucial role in deciding on the routes to take. There are few maps in the market. I like eicher city map the best. It tells u about each and every road, traffic lights, flyovers etc. Quite often people have to travel to new places, maps are inarguably the best means to pin point your location and then plan out the route. And when you are lost, having a map at hand would soon set you on the right path. Combined with the knowledge of traffic, maps can make a successful traveler out of you.

Man At Work!

2007-10-04T00:42:00.001-07:00

The little fleck on the mirror, thats us

2007-10-03T11:23:00.000-07:00

Arre! dont mean to downplay anyone
but have u ever given thought to the fact that how so small we are in this immense universe, thats got no cornors, no edges, no roof, no floor, just an endless vastness thats totally incomprehensible even to the racing mind.
Some times i wonder, how the hell did it all start! We might have heard of the big bang theory and all, but the big bang didnt occur in a bag, did it?? There already was a lot of place for the universe to expand. Atleast thats what i feel
Now the question stares at me limpidly, like the mosquito sizing me up on the wall, how the hell did it all start. What was there when there was nothing and if there was nothing how is it that there is something now. Whats up, whats down, whats left, whats right????
Basically whats time? Is time just our way of understanding events that go by? I guess so . But in context of this empty space (thats not so empty as it contains the universe) probablly there is no such thing as time. Time is just a way to peg the starting and ending of events but the empty endless space had no begining and has no end. It was here always and shall be here forever, thus making the concept of time irrelevent.
Its just we the flecks on the so called mirror, waiting for our time to be wipped off making way for those yet to come.

A journey!

2007-10-03T09:14:00.000-07:00

Miles to go!!
A journey just started.
I dont know where i shall go.
I dont know what obstacles i shall scale.
I shall float like a cloud.
One day i shall pour out and cease to exist.
But before that day i shall go places, give shadow to people and hope to the trodden.
Their graces shall propel me to achieve far greater heights.
I shall not stop, i will not stop.
'cause i still got miles to go.
And the journey has just started.

The desi hand reader

2007-10-02T04:54:00.000-07:00

Were u ever interested when people said they could read hands. Yeah?? No?
Well I myself can’t answer that question cause I have always been the palmist (so called) in such situations.
But by experience, I can say, people usually are interested when ever a guy like me is in their midst. And boy! have I read a plethora of hands, from tiny crimpled hands to hands that could swat u like a fly, some pretty ones too.
And the analysis is the usual one “this is your lifeline, this is your luckline. You gonna live so many years and you gonna have so much money”.
Its fun analysing hands, and checking out people’s reactions, that are as different as their hands. Some call me a fake, few get impressed from what they hear, but all of them take it light heartedly.
Pretty soon every one starts predicting their own fate, this is when a lot of funny stuff pours out. Its fun to be all ears while this goes on.
After the merry making is over, people brood over changing their lines, but soon all these thoughts vanish in thin air, what remains is a faint glimmer in the back of their heads, yet some of them graduate to become palmists like me (wink).

GUITAR PICS (ENJOY)

2007-09-30T17:58:00.000-07:00

Wandering mariachi (street musician) player in Mexico

Electric guitar

Acoustic bass guitar.................................Classical guitar

The DU factor

2007-09-30T02:39:00.000-07:00

Hi guys

here i am, back with a thought. I dont know whether anyone has ever read my blog (except the guy who motivated me to start one of my own). still i shall write as if its a best seller (hehe)

well a lot has happened since the last time i pened down some stuff.

I have completed my grads, took admission in my postgrads and have since been living DUishtyle.

Life at DU is totally different than at IP, even though both of them are big universities in Delhi. IP is more sporadic in nature with islands of eden. In the times to come IP shall develop its culture too, maybe when its campus shifts and styles along DU lines but i guess thats in the distant future. IP university, for those who dont know, is near DU north campus . IP has its fests and activities which are famous with all IPians. The campus at Kashmere gate is a sprawling place. I have been a bit of an outsider to the IP way of life. Its how a DU guy studying in some remote college of Delhi, physically seperated from north campus would feel.

Now while pursuing my postgrads, i am right in the storm's eye, if i may put it that way. Yeah! i am in DU north campus and last few months have been awesome, what with k nags, irfans and tom uncles maggi point, i feel i have just scrached the surface and i am sure many shall second my opinion but these few months have shown me, why life here is so intoxicating to all.

Studies apart (hehe) its fun being in DU and soaking up its charisma.

a little to the left a little to the right

2007-06-13T11:28:00.000-07:00

a little to the left a little to the right, try as hard as you may yet the irregularities remain, but cheer up man its these infinite dots that shall put up a shade. so if u can, then start counting them and when u reach the end, u shall be a complete man

a life to live

2007-06-13T11:24:00.000-07:00

Brothers in arms and in deeds
seldom have we passed with a few deeds
and yet now when the days are over and a smile on every ones face
we know that its a smile and a heart of steel that shall see us through the tasks of life
for when the battles have been fought and the wars been done with
shall we lie in peace with a smile on face and a heart of steel.

Bumble Rumble

2007-06-13T11:15:00.000-07:00

Bumble rumble
whispers to mumble,
the talk of the day, in dreams and at this very hour
we swear to live a life of thousand hour
bumble rumble.

well i aint a writer

2007-05-24T12:38:00.000-07:00

well this is to be my first blog and i am a bit short of thoughts.
but a starts a start.
so here we go......

let me narrate to u what happened today

well today was one of the crucial days of our career.
we had an exam and were sure it wont be easy.
but we could never have guessed the extent to which our luck would suck.

read on i plead u not to sleep....

we got no choices in the paper and had to attempt all the question ( some son of a gun pushed us off the cliff )
that really was one tight spot considering the fact that the questions were the toughest of the tough. The paper was truly out of course, beyond what we were taught or had studied.

and to top the grand pudding we had a red cherry of an invigilator of simmilar sweetness.

so we trudged along the narrow road.

and u guessed it right, thats how it ended, we managed to pen down some thing or the other,
but my friend just informed me that other colleges were a lot more comfortable with the paper

this really bothered us a lot.

yet we agreed to be positive and focus ahead.

i think thats one truly important point. shit happens in life, whats important is to learn and move ahead.