Off to Coorg to chill out this weekend. Thanx Arun, for all the help!

You probably would if you knew you are going to get something like this. All I can say is, "whoa!"

Yes, do you think? If yes, here are some thoughts of mine which have been simmering within since ages, but which are stronger than ever now:

• Do we Indians find our identity in our chalta hai attitude? Or for that matter in the swalpa adjust maadi attitude?
• Are we ready to accept that we have taken this attitude far too long? Do we realize that too much of it is not good for us, for our country and for the general future of our world (example: people talk about traffic congestions. But how many talk about the pollution?)
• Don’t we realize that we are stuck with the holier-than-thou attitude of the British Raj? We look down upon people who don’t have as much as we do. We look up to/envy who have more than we do. And more here applies to power and money.
• It is common these days to compare ourselves with developed countries and find solace in the fact that even they have a pretty fucked up society. They are fucked, we are fucked…everyone is fucked so who cares! But isn’t that just an escapist attitude?

Well, life goes on….but hey, I have answers to the above points myself!

• The chalta hai attitude is because of many complex reasons. Well, the reasons themselves aren’t complex, but the combinations and permituations in which they occur are pretty complex. For example, all Indians are born into a society which has arcane rituals. They teach you to think logically at school, but all around you see logic and rationality disregarded to the least. You can do nothing but shut your eyes, close your mouth and pretend to be deaf. As you grow, the stupidity around you also grows. And you soon began to ignore them. Yes, you have to learn to see 101 sights, and ignore 100 of them to stay sane through a typical day. Of course, all this is just one of the myriad reasons for the chalta hai attitude. At least, this is what I have realized looking at my own life.
• We have succeeded in creating the most opaque, foggy, complex and irrational system. Hangover British Raj? Yes. But more than that. Our administrators have chosen to keep it this way because they are power hungry. A transparent system takes away power from them and gives it to the common man. Hello? Have you lost your mind? Why would anyone allow such a thing? So we respect power. We respect money. Cause both are something you and I commonfolk cannot achieve without thinking like Shakuni.
• The West has always been a symbol of success to us. So we idolize the West. Now given all the problems we see around us, isn’t it easier to point at the West and say, “hey, nobody is perfect!”

Now, do you think………well, forget it

Checkout this google video. It is just awesome!

At Marina beach, Chennai

Google Calender. Yea, and it looks awesome. I am waiting for the day when they integrate it with Gmail. As much as I hate Microsoft, I don’t know how I would have survived corporate madness without Outlook. And one of the features that I don’t think I can live without is the intergration of the calender with Outlook. So yes, I am waiting for Gmail to come up with something similar. I’ll never forget your b’day again then. Promise.

And today will go down in history as the day I discovered Tool.

I wish I had a book that explains how to not get run over by people. If I had one, I would have given it to a few people I know. Of course, in the times we live in, you could sleep with the person whom you want work done if you are not big enought to run them down (being bisexual helps). I get this particular thought after reading "One night @ the Call Center", where Esha does just that.

Anyway, coming back to my point, I cringe when I see people who a) Wish to run over others b) Choose to get run over by species a. C’mon, there is enuff for everyone. Why dwell in the myth of scarcity and not move on from retards and hopeless situations? Why do you want to be either of the kind? Yea, now I am thinking of the character Shyam, from Chetan Bhagat’s book.

Luckily I have been quite a loner in life, and I have been able to see abundance, although lately I feel like the walls are closing in. Yes, when you start working for a fixed amount of money that you expect at the end of every month, scracity start creeping. The more the money, the more the scarcity of time, original thought and choice with people. The more the scarcity, the more the need to run over, or the chances of getting run over.

Time will tell where this leads to. But deep inside, I yearn to get back to a simple life.

Shot at Tirumala. I don’t think many have seen this place.