is it the righ path?

i am having second thots about quitting now, what with the job market not happening now, ppl scared to put in papers even with humiliating compensation reviews n me here all set to quit and join the academia again.
The world i am steppig into now is of break neck speed and cut throat competition, watever u do ur neck is always on the line. Decisions have to be taken in a jiffy and if u falter even for a second there's someone else to take an upper hand over u. Confidence levels have to be paramount and one must be always on his/her toes ready to embrace whatever's coming at them and extract the most out of it. All's very rosy till u have a steady supply of self belief and conviction the moment u r unsure of urself u lose it all.
I am more of the TZP kid kind, not a brilliant artist but i like to ponder over things on the pot, enjoy nature and the views even if I'm just walking on the road side. A slow leisurely pace is what makes me happy. So am I ready for the journey thats ahead of me? to shift gears and go into hyper drive? Well for starters there's no shortage of confidence or conviction in self. Smart Risks are in short supply, most of mine have been disastrous and I've been in a philanthropic mood lately. Thats a serious issue. I want to be a ruthless, competitive, cold psycho with no care for humanity but thats wat I want to be, my love for any form of life is too overpowering to ever make convert me and I'm glad for it. Its always a toss between the practical and the dreamer kind. Be practical only when needed else I love to dream.
I was reading 'India unbound' by Gurcharan Das. One partcular section in it made me ponder.
He says people have intrinsic abilities based on their caste (i hate casteism and reservation). He gave examples like from India. The baniyas are into trading, business empires, stocks,etc and flourishing. They are expert risk takers and mostly it pays off for them. The indian IT revolution was launched by Brahmins. Its based on theory and conceptual thinking and they too flourished. The artisans or 'vaishyas' are very good at creativity now I don't remembr what example he gave but I found out my own examples among friends and I was convinced that the theory he had put forward is quite true when applied to the indian context.
That again set me thinking, am I on the right path?
I am damn sure I am and I'll prove it soon enough (hopefully) :)

energy security

With the rising oil prices doesn't it hit us all that oil is a non renewable resource all over again. Though the price rise has nothing to do with depleting oil reserves at all as has been confirmed by the OPEC countries and has more to do with a weak dollar but I feel its high time all the countries realised how soon we might be running outta all fossil fuels and the position we are in with renewable resources is not very bright. We'll be brought back to the stone age and all activites will come to grinding halt. All the civilizations will come to a nought. It would be an ideal doomsday scenario.
The present day realization about energy resources is pathetic to say the least. Governments are concerned about growth, industrialization, obliterating poverty but this issue which if we were to face in a matter of 50 years, wud be a disaster beyond imagination. Though the time scale with us is a little more than 50 years but it isn't far off. As such India's biggest operational oil-field Bombay High's output has already gone down and our dependence on crude is increasing manifold every year, the number of cars on our roads notwithstanding, most of our power requirements are met by thermal power plants. Forget about other countries, our country will be thrown into complte chaos and looking back at some of our communal clashes, the violence that will follow would be savage.
The only possible alternative for power generation is nuclear but our politicians don't have the courage to take it on. But this too is not a long term solution and is totally dependent on uranium supplies which again is not permanent.
Some other alternatives like solar power, wind power, fuel cells are either not efficient enuff or are extremely costly. A very good option would be nuclear fusion but we've not been able to have controlled reactions yet.
All in all the picture is very gloomy and there's no hope in sight. There's so much hype and propaganda over global warming, hope they extend their agenda to include alternative forms of energy too (though it's part of their agenda but the reasons are different). All the citizens of this planet must realize this basic truth, the repercussions of which may not be far away and work united to sustain our energy needs lest we want to welcome another stone age.

last day mail at infy

Today is the last day of my 2 years 8 months and a few days long journey with infy.
As much as i want to avoid this but the sentiments do pour out on such occasions, so if this mail ain't senti, then nothing is!!!
For all these times it was not just a job here but a way of life.
From a student I trained to be a professional, now I am going back to be a student albeit a polished one.
The friendships developed here would remain invaluable, the ups n downs we together shared will remain as fond memories. A part of me didn't want this stint to end, while another wanted to move on to the next challenge in life.
I had the rare opportunity to work with the best sort of people around, be it my managers, teammates, colleagues and I hold no grudges against anyone. I have made friends whom i have not met till date but that won't come in the way of maintaing the bond.
Finacle as we all know has taken the big leap and I hope it reaches the stars.
I have a special corner for Fin Russia and I wish all the people associated with it, all the very best.
As we finish one chapter of life, a new chapter starts. Its the memories that stay with us forever.
With this parting note, I wish all of you the very best in all your future endeavours.
Au Revoir!!

Chilika

If you ever happen to catch a train from Kolkata to Chennai, Bombay and know where Orissa is then I wud suggest to keep your eyes glued to the window screen after crossing Balugaon Station coz soon enough you'll cross the largest salt water lagoon in Asia - Chilika lake, sprad across 1100 sq km covering 3 districts of Puri, Khurda and Ganjam. Believe me the sight is as breathtaking as a sneak peak of a snow covered mountain peak from a flight, early in the morning glow. The splendour has to be experienced to understand i'm not exaggerating. You can find some pics in my orkut album which I took from a moving train when going by Konark Express. It was dusk and there was hardly any line of distinction between sky and water, the horizon had disappeared. Far away I could see the sandbars and the Bay of Bengal in its majestic spread.

Chilika is famous for its tiger prawns which are mostly exported leaving precious few for th elocal population to relish. Dolphins and Sea Cows have also reportedly been spotted in Chilika but by now they must have fallen prey to the heavy fishing trawlers that are destroying most of the flora and fauna thats found in this habitat.

Lots has been written by Oriya poets like 'bhaktakabi' Madhusudan Rao, Gopabandhu Das (Raha raha khyane Vaspiya Sakata, dekhibi chilika charu chitrapata) and Radhanath Ray (major kavya composer) about Chilika and I had no idea about their works until an uncle of mine introduced me to the lines I have quoted above. The sheer beauty of the literary prowess of these erstwhile bearers of oriya heritage has directed me to do more research into their works. My poor grasp of the oriya script not withstanding I will make it a point to read some of their works especially on Chilika.

I have not had an opportunity to go for a boat ride on it but thats another item on my to-do list, will bear fruit soon enuff.

oriya wedding

indian weddings can be quite an affair and are no less synonymous than the the 'big fat greek weddings', if any they're all the more gargantuan, like a lumbering elephant slowly making its way thru the 10-15 day proceedings.

Now of course the ever improvising indians have shortened it to 4 day affairs citing the vagaries of professional lives including the leave constaints of the marrying couple.

I think now having a house wife is a big liability, if u need a decent lifestyle, then ur wife ought to earn somewhat similar to ur package but its at the risk of a satisfied family life, well i can commnt on it only after i gt some first hand experience.

This year is the year of marriages for me. Its heppening all around, 3 cousins, handful of friends, many college mates, wherever i see someone i know is donning the wedding hat. god bless all of them!! I got to attend 2 marriages, after a long long time i was able to participate in a family gathering of this proportion. Its an extremely happy event, with so many happy reunoins, functions, ceremonies, rituals, a must have experience.

The important rituals in chronological order are as follows.

1.Mangana(the Bride's brother called 'Baradhara' comes to groom's place to give him the invitation) - the invitation is read out by a pandit from the bride's place to the elders of the groom's household followed by some pooja.

2.Haldi Ceremony - On the morning of the grooms departure for the wedding, all the ladies in the house put lotsa haldi (turmeric) on him, probably to make him look fairer and for the antiseptic properties, it also acts good against suntan. he's made to look like a monkey n then allowed to go for a bath, all the others have a gala time teasing him. I've seen women in chennai with so much haldi on their face that their skin actually looks an amalgam of black n yellow, u wud think its a new breed. But once they start speaking... well looks are deceptive.

3.Marriage - Its a a host of proceedings clubbed together, starting rom the groom leaving his house, throwing rice back at his mom followed by the baraat going to the bride's place (hectic dancing activity), then some pooja where in all the elders from bride n groom's side performing poojas with their respective candidates. Then comes the main marriage pooja followed by the unwinding of the knot by the bride's sister('saali'), she demands for some moolah for opening this knot, its a funny exercise. Next come thje games, handled by the bride's side elderly women, the groom is made to loose these, fun nevertheless.

4.Bidai - The Bride leaves her fathers house for the groom's place. Generally a teary affair and I refrain from capturing these scenes.

5.Arrival - The groom's sis ('nananda' in oriya) blocks the bride's way and asks for gifts before letting her enter the house, again its fun. Then the bride puts jaggery (sticky gur) onto all her dewars (brothers in law), kinda like holi but here we can eat the color, sometimes the dewars also feel like reciprocating this gesture(i missed this one, forgot we too cud do this). The Bride is accompanied by her brothers so that she's not harassed much. As I have seen, its the groom's side who end up troubling the brothers n they scamper for cover asap, leaving the bride to our mercy. Come on!! we ain't so bad yaar.

6.Reception - There are generally 3 receptions, one from the bride's side, one by the groom's side n one by both for their friends in their workplace(wherever they're settling). Its a pain for the couple, they have to sit painted and dressed thruout the event and keep smiling at whoever arrives to shower their blessings on them. Sometimes a camera is permanently focussed on the couple and the live feed is shown outside to the guests, leaving the couple in a dilemma as even to eat might look improper u know, when thr are ppl waiting in queue to bless u.

7. Fourth day pooja - This is where there is no elder's involvement. the couple starts their life from this pooja, till this day the bride is worshipped as a goddess (after all so much pooja was done unto her all these days) and is barred from touching anyone's feet or seeking blessings. Hence from this pooja they are actually man and wife and can live together.

The above was a very short description of an ideal 'oriya' wedding. It used to be much more stretched out in the days of yore but nowadays what i have described is pretty much what happens. In between there's lots of conch blowing and 'hulhuling' for warding off evil spirits, u gotta be there in those sessions, it can make u seriously constipated, I pity the evil spirits who lurk around to haunt on such occasions.

One good thing I picked up in these 2 marriages is the subtle art of conch blowing. I cna saw i'm well on my way to master it. Feeling very proud.

Some wedding pics can be found at my orkut profile i'll leave one pic each for all the occasions i mentioned above.

The amount of involvement that u feel in these occasions is good enuff to leave u craving for more such occasions but the irony is that I'm next in line after this batch of cousins is thru and i'm in no mood to surrender my bachelorhood so soon. Hopefully the plans I have in my mind bear fruit and I get what I want. Its tough trying to please all. Its just impossible according to Newton's laws, somebody's gotta loose i can just make it 'Zor ka jhatka dheere se lage' mild.

Its an important lesson i've learnt over the years, u shud be extremely careful not to hurt those who care for u the most. Ok now I'm veering off course, lets stop it here for now. I gotta put one more post for my oriya literary prowess (all gained in this recent trip, thanks to my chacha (uncle) who, with his son was in hyperdrive this wedding and made sure there was a not a dull moment thruout the stay).

blogger doesn't allow me to attach more than 5 pics at a time, its a shame. Lets see if i can pull out a jugaad.

Done somehow but the sequence is in a disarray, make out for urself which is what.