Change is the only thing that never changes

I have changed my blog to www.harryram.wordpress.com so the future postings will be found there. Please feel free to comment there.

Friendship

Probably it is the word, which never fascinated me. I usually never been close to people , but usually end up having a bond with them.

On this friendship day (though I don't understand why they celebrate it)..I thought of sharing my thoughts about my friends.

Ravi: A person, senior to me during my intermediate..but by the turn of fortune, had become my classmate during graduation. I still remember the day when a common friend of mine Srikanth introduced me to Ravi on a cricket ground, I used to call him Anna (now the words I use to address him are to be censored).......A person who really brought in lots of changes in me and who has changed a lot because of me. He has quite a lot of similarities with me. A guide to refer to, a friend to share the thoughts. But one thing is for sure ..we are in most of the times on verge of a conflict..but always manage the situation by cracking a joke out of that situation and making fun on ourselves (not on each other). This is probably the reason why my sense of humour has increased.

Srikanth: A friend whom I know since my intermediate. We roamed together 24x7x365.....a friend whom I treat as lucky charm for me. Because any application or any interview he accompanies me is always a success. Now he is in US. but always find time to have a chat now and then.

Shambavi: The only new friend I had made in past many years. I met her at the workplace in Juno, we are cool friends. A person who has lots of patience to laugh even at my stupid jokes.. and to appreciate me on every thing I do. Best female friend I have ever made ( not that I have had many female friends). She is probably the only female friend whom I may say I trust these days and share a thought always on everything. A moral support to me and the first girl whom I had found to be respecting her liberty and individuality. A very responsible person , caring and intelligent.

Pranav : Forms the intermediate trio with me and Srikanth. A person so jovial and thought provoking that keeps you alive always. He is a person who gives the background score for my songs in the Sanskrit class..ending up with poor Srikanth being thrown out of the class for laughing at us. He is now in Tanzania.....luckily coming back to Hyderabad this October after 2 years. Eagerly waiting for his A.R Rehman like background score..for my S. P.Bala Subramanium like voice( hahah).

Swetha : She is the first female friend I ever had in my life. Though most others assume that both of us were in a kind of relationship..but we were quite clear about our friendship. She had been my moral support for most of my life after intermediate...but out friendship ended up in a mess..probably because of stupidity of both of us. I remember, how both of us would speak over the phone for hours together everyday. The most amazing part is that we never met during our 5 yr long friendship, which started at the end of Intermediate and we never met after our farewell ..but stayed in touch over phone for next 5 years. Just as I had titled my previous post 'After all Earth is round'... this seems to have been proven again ..even I got selected for Infosys ( a place where she also works).

Ambika: A classmate in my tutorial during my intermediate..... a person who is as mentally as strong as weak she is. A friend whom I am not in touch these days as she move on to US and busy with her office...She is a person whom I know as much as I don't know her. Always a mystery but has been a good friend to me.


Wow I have quite a lot of friends!!!!

After all Earth is round !!

It was Galileo, who first claimed that Earth was round, but people made fun of him and called him atheist. But the attitude of people towards one another often proves his claim to be right. The phrase 'after all' is used for every other person......hey he is after all a peon..hey he is after all a kid ...so on......

But what does the phrase "after all" mean? After all means that the person is behind everyone. Let me discuss about two of my best friends, one is an M.Com student and now working since a couple of months....while other is a B.Sc graduate and working since 2 years.

The first friend in my view is after all a commerce student, an illiterate in science and technology. For her, I am after all a science student, very dumb fellow in auditing and commerce.

The second friend, in my view is after all a graduate, while I am a post-graduate. For him, I am after all a fresher, while he has 2 years of experience behind him.

After all these after alls.......... I am the last one standing, as far as my friends are concerned. While for me they are the last persons standing at the queue towards success.

But is it possible all of us standing at the end of the queue of success. According to laws of physics ' no two particles can exist at the same location at the same time' . So all of us cannot be after alls..i.e.., cannot be behind each other. So how are we after all to each other? Simple, we are standing in a queue which is round.

OK if we are standing in a round queue , now who is superior to whom or else who has better chance that the other?? None of us have better chance than the other nor we have equal chances....we are in the race like that in the game of musical chairs, so its sheer momentary chance that pushes us ahead of the other.

According to Pauli's exclusive principle "No two electrons in an atom can have all the four quantum numbers same" . So when no two fundamental particles like electrons can be same ..so how can we humans made up of billions and billions of electrons have equal chances ?

So it all started with 'Earth is round' and proves that Earth is really round !!

End of a Ka(a)lam----time

I thought of sharing my views on DR. A.P.J. ABDUL KALAM, who inspired, challenged and guided the youth of our nation. Today marks the end of a kaalam(time) as he steps down from the chair of the President of India

Born on 15th October 1931 at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, specialized in Aeronautical Engineering from Madras Institute of Technology. Dr. Kalam made significant contribution as Project Director to develop India's first indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-III) which successfully injected the Rohini satellite in the near earth orbit in July 1980 and made India an exclusive member of Space Club. He was responsible for the evolution of ISRO's launch vehicle programme, particularly the PSLV configuration. After working for two decades in ISRO and mastering launch vehicle technologies, Dr. Kalam took up the responsibility of developing Indigenous Guided Missiles at Defence Research and Development Organisation as the Chief Executive of Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP). He was responsible for the development and operationalisation of AGNI and PRITHVI Missiles and for building indigenous capability in critical technologies through networking of multiple institutions. He was the Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister and Secretary, Department of Defence Research & Development from July 1992 to December 1999. During this period he led to the weaponisation of strategic missile systems and the Pokhran-II nuclear tests in collaboration with Department of Atomic Energy, which made India a nuclear weapon State. He also gave thrust to self-reliance in defence systems by progressing multiple development tasks and mission projects such as Light Combat Aircraft.

As Chairman of Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) and as an eminent scientist, he led the country with the help of 500 experts to arrive at Technology Vision 2020 giving a road map for transforming India from the present developing status to a developed nation. Dr. Kalam has served as the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India, in the rank of Cabinet Minister, from November 1999 to November 2001 and was responsible for evolving policies, strategies and missions for many development applications. Dr. Kalam was also the Chairman, Ex-officio, of the Scientific Advisory Committee to the Cabinet (SAC-C) and piloted India Millennium Mission 2020.

Dr. Kalam took up academic pursuit as Professor, Technology & Societal Transformation at Anna University, Chennai from November 2001 and was involved in teaching and research tasks. Above all he took up a mission to ignite the young minds for national development by meeting high school students across the country.

In his literary pursuit four of Dr. Kalam's books - "Wings of Fire", "India 2020 - A Vision for the New Millennium", "My journey" and "Ignited Minds - Unleashing the power within India" have become household names in India and among the Indian nationals abroad. These books have been translated in many Indian languages.

Dr. Kalam is one of the most distinguished scientists of India with the unique honour of receiving honorary doctorates from 30 universities and institutions. He has been awarded the coveted civilian awards - Padma Bhushan (1981) and Padma Vibhushan (1990) and the highest civilian award Bharat Ratna (1997). He is a recipient of several other awards and Fellow of many professional institutions.

Dr. Kalam became the 11th President of India on 25th July 2002. His focus is on transforming India into a developed nation by 2020.

Today he steps down from the chair which gave him the nick name Protocol breaker and People's President. He brought in many changes in the precept ion towards a President of India. He was more people friendly and approachable than many of his predecessors. He changed the height of the President's chair , which used to be higher than others on a dias, when he used to be the Guest of Honour on any occassion. He walked into the forest area around Rastrapathi Bhavan, even without security.

His simplicity really moved me a lot. Couple of days ago , I was watching Ramnath Goenka Memorial Debate on NDTV, where Dr. Kalam was the guest. During the debate among the leading journalists of India like Barka Dutt, Rajdeep Sardesai, Shekar...., Dr.Kalam raised his hand to ask something ( wow what a manners , We have forgotten to raise our hands even in classrooms). What he asked was even more appreciable, he asked the journalists on the stage "How do the journalists and the media take part in developing the Nation, how do they help in reducing the number of people from below poverty. The debate continued among the journalists on the stage, while Dr. Kalam was seated among the audience, listening to them. Then he started to leave the hall, as he had anotyher appointment, but a person on the stage wanted to respond to Dr. Kalam, who was passing by the stage. Dr. Kalam took a few steps back, I thought He would sit on the chair again, but he instead casually sat on the floor of the stage, with all others on the satge sitting on the chair.....wow indeed a Protocol breaker.

He is the ideal man to be an idol. He reminds me of the famous dialogue from the Rajesh khanna film "Bawarchi" where he says " It is so simple to be happy, but it is so difficult to be simple".

World Around

I have seen people getting involved with the corporate culture and their mechanical lives, with no time to watch the beautiful things around us.


Praise worthy is the craftsmen of this wonderful ring,
Seeming to move like a bird's wing,
The melody of the chirpy bird's song,
Enchanting it's mantra all day long.

The fragrance of the beautiful rose,
Fondling the thoughts as they arose,
With every drop showering as rain,
Brings the spirit of do it again.

The magic of love,
Soaring high as a dove,
I May not know if it's craftsman is God,
But the maker is a dramatic Lord.

Tale of twin cities--three things I observed

A very tiresome day today, got up early at 8.am, something which I had not done in past 2 months. Had to leave for a temple around Banjara Hills, not that I am becoming holy these days, but my friend Ravi wanted his bike to be blessed on the 2nd anniversary of its purchase. I had been to the outing after many months (as I am lazing around these days..enjoying the retirement from 17 years of education).

First we went to the bike service centre, to complain about the very bad service they had provided to the vehicle in past two days, when it was with them for servicing. We came across another annoyed and dissatisfied customer, complaining to the incharge there. From the behaviour I observed three things,

* The service providers feel Customers are stupid.

* They don't have the long term plans to satisfy people

* India is full of such incident, as we were not the only annoyed customers.

On the way to Banjara Hills, at a traffic signal, as the red light appeared, a chap came up to the people waiting for the green light, with a bunch of wiping cloth, I had observed three things from this incident,

* The chap has a brilliant business sense and uses the available resources efficiently, he may not be an Ambani now, I cant predict his future!

* He was among the very few businessmen, who did not build concrete artificial and suffocating mall, spoiling the ecology and the natural beauty of the cites.

* India still lacks the motivating attitude towards such small time vendors.

Finally reached the temple, wow a great big temple resembling a shopping mall, with people selling tokens for this vehicle puja ...prasadam, archana, abhishekam...etc ..what a commercial sight!!. I observed three more things here,

* Devotion has now become so commercial and animal sacrifice still exists in India, God knows when people start treating him with vegetarian menu.

* I never understood how the two or three lemons and the garlands help smooth run of vehicles which are made up of hundreds of mechanical parts.

* After the puja, we came to the footwear stand, I was lucky to find my footwear still in the place where I had placed it, but my friend was not as lucky as me.......so obviously my third observation was that ....the old myth that footwear get stolen from temples ..is not a myth but a never ending saga of reality.

Since my friend would not be able to ride the bike, I took control. Observed three things on the way back home,

* I was feeling bad on the way, not because my friend lost his footwear, but
because of the traffic and the amount of fuel we were wasting while crawling through the road.

* The number of cars have risen like the sudden rise of godly men into the lime light. More because of the loans provided by the banks who cash upon the false pride that people get by owning a car.

* Wow, we are not trying to be like the US, but have copied it to such an extent that most people here have started driving on the right side of the road.

We reached a footwear store and here too I observed three things ( God knows when such three things will come to an end) ,

* We casually told the salesman that my friend has lost his footwear in the temple and he replied that it was a good sign to lose footwear ( Ya I too believe that it is a good sign to lose your foot ware, but it is good for owner of the footwear stores and not the owner of the footwear).

* People are superstitious, even now in India.

* We Indians try to find a positive consequence for every lose or any bad incident like loss of footwear, spilling of oil, breaking of mirror...etc (never ending list).

End of the tour of twin cities....!!!!

HOPE

Hope is the magic word that I wanted to discuss in this post. After a long time, I remembered that I have 2000W speakers connected to my computer hahah.....never bothered in that recent past to listen to songs (rarest thing for a person like me). Got hold my old play lists and my favourite songs. Heard the song toota toota ek parinda ...Allah ke bande hasde.....by Kailash Kher....wow the lyrics really caught my attention as if it was the first time I was listening to it (listened to it thousands of times earlier..sometimes it was the only song I used to play for days together). Wow what a lyrics....

Toota Toota Ek Parinda Aise Toota
Ke Phir Jud Naa Paaya
Loota Loota Kisne Usko Aise Loota
Ke Phir Ud Naa Paaya

O O O O Toota Toota Ek Parinda Aise Toota
Ke Phir Jud Naa Paaya
Loota Loota Kisne Usko Aise Loota
Ke Phir Ud Naa Paaya
Girta Hua Woh Asma Se
Aakar Gira Zameen Par
Khwabon Mein Phir Bhi Badal Hi The
Woh Kehta Raha Magar
Ke Allah Ke Bande Hasde Allah Ke Bande
Allah Ke Bande Hasde Jo Bhi Ho Kal Phir Aayega
Allah Ke Bande Hasde Allah Ke Bande
Allah Ke Bande Hasde Jo Bhi Ho Kal Phir Aayega

Kho Ke Aapne Par Hi To Usne Tha Ud Naa Sikha
Kho Ke Aapne Par Hi To O O O
Kho Ke Aapne Par Hi To Usne Tha Ud Naa Sikha
Gham Ko Aapne Saath Mein Lele Dard Bhi Tere Kaam Aayega
Allah Ke Bande Hasde Allah Ke Bande
Allah Ke Bande Hasde Jo Bhi Ho Kal Phir Aayega
Allah Ke Bande Hasde Allah Ke Bande
Allah Ke Bande Hasde Jo Bhi Ho Kal Phir Aayega

Aa Aa Aaa
Tukde Tuke Ho Gaya Tha Har Sapna Jab Woh Toota
Tukde Tuke Ho Gaya Tha Aa Aaa Aa

Tukde Tuke Ho Gaya Tha Har Sapna Jab Woh Toota
Bhikre Tukdon Mein Allah Ki Marzi Ka Manzar Paayega
Allah Ke Bande Hasde Allah Ke Bande
Allah Ke Bande Hasde Jo Bhi Ho Kal Phir Aayega
Allah Ke Bande Hasde Allah Ke Bande
Allah Ke Bande Hasde Jo Bhi Ho Kal Phir Aayega

The song gave me another word to discuss, that is HOPE. Though my knowledge of English might not be too great, but I feel that HOPE is not a simple word but an abbreviation.

I feel HOPE means Have One Positive End, so whenever we feel let down and say "I, Hope"..we mean "I, have one positive end" the word hope brings in the confidence about future, that is lacking at that moment. In my earlier post Power of Mind and other senses, I had discussed that faith can move mountain-like troubles, but Hope is the word which can bring in mountain-like confidence in you even when everything is going the other way.

It reminds me of a friend of mine asking me how I can laugh and be happy all the time. I never knew the answer to that question, but tried searching for it ( I am too curious person to be a Happy person). All that I could find was either I was too conscious about my self-respect or was with a hope that everything around me is fine or at least will be fine in the future.

One thing that every friend of mine would have noticed in me is that I relate everything to movies or somehow bring a movie into the conversation that is never related to it. So even my this post ( like most earlier ones) also has a movie to be discussed, apart from the song by Kailash Kher......Allah ke bande hasde....

The lucky movie this time to be featured in my blog is Om Jai Jagadish, a hindi film directed by one of my favourite actors Anupam Kher (the Kher surname is just a concidence in the post..Kailash Kher and Anupam Kher hahahaha). There is a dialogue said by Anil Kapoor " Har kahani ka anth accha hota hai.....aur agar accha na ho....to samjo ki woh anth nahi hai"

So Hope for the best Folks!!