And now over to health section...

Researchers at the University Laval in Quebec, Canada, have concluded that too much thinking can make you fat.

Chaput added: "Caloric overcompensation following intellectual work, combined with the fact we are less physically active when doing intellectual tasks, could contribute to the obesity epidemic currently observed in industrialized countries.

"This is a factor that should not be ignored, considering that more and more people hold jobs of an intellectual nature."

For more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Health__Science/Deep_thinking_can_make_you_fat/articleshow/3920315.cms

Even more?  http://dredlund.com/columns/lbkn092608.html

Shores crossed

So much has changed over a period of time. Before 10 years I was a student and here I am, a student again. But more distant from that part of myself. 

Some crazy moments, which exist as memory are still churned in my mind like a cow churning its fodder, are past. The process is unending. Mind dwindles in past and future and loses track of present. Its difficult to keep a tab of current droplets of life which fill the jar of life. 

Thoughts which are so transparent at this moment, were so opaque earlier. It is so easy to gain access of opportunities or close the door tightly. Its a matter of choice after all. Colors can be as bright, as tightly you can close your eyes or open them and observe. The sky today looks the same even though my location has changed. I can see the same constellations that I could see from my college terrace, football ground in Mumbai and now here. 

Fulfilling dreams is an important step in life. Things which can be done very easily are postponed and thus are sacrificed for something else. The grains of sand can fly with the wind if they let go of their fear. The words are the same its just the usage that makes great orators, poets or authors more better than their counterparts. 

The footprints in the sand remain though the water gushes towards the shore. Its just that shores are crossed and new terrains ventured. 

Sometimes...

...its fun just to dip your head in the snow on the street, when everyone else is watching you.

...its rude to be good with everyone.

...its simple to be complicated and wonder about the complicated life. 

...its difficult to listen to Inspector Vijay jokes (courtesy Ashwin).

...its easy to cook food, with people screaming in your ear.

...its hard to see your dear ones suffer.

...its absorbing to plan for a steady future but know that its subjected to change.

...its exciting to visit unknown places with zero or 100% expectations.

...its different to observe at a smiley which is as confused as you are.

...its an cake-walk to be more nostalgic in class than in your bed room.

...its killing to watch someone suffer for no fault of theirs.

...its kewl to be uncool.

...its frustrating to limit life to 24 hours.

...its natural to be tensed about things beyond your control.

...its reliving to live in moments.

...its untidy to be more tidier than other people.

...its funny to watch people react on your stupid comments.

Pictures worded

Infusing colors, shades of reds and blues

an evening comes with life riding.

Dancing to the tunes, smiling, holding hands,

feeling the beats on your body, like magic wands.

Perfect blend of darkness and words, subtle.

Reflections of dreams, like sky-scrappers.

Ink mixing with water, like wind transcending.

Heart beats as images, full of passion. 

Lines flowing on a sheet, blank.

Riding the moments, an amatuer horse.

Wild roads, thumping adrenaline,

Pure emoticons, wild calls!!!

Stop!!!

Humans are so funny. They love challenges but can't contain themselves with achievements. 

Here is a short fictitious story. There was a simple guy, Richard. He used to walk everyday to his school. He had been watching the same buildings every time of morning and sunsets. He loved the journey so much, that it became a part of him. However, one day the road was under construction and he had to take the other route. He got so mad with himself that he started running in every direction he could. A simple common man was watching all this and stopped Richard and asked the reason. Richard explained everything as fast he could, to continue running like a wind. Man told him, 'Accept the road you have been given. Its going to school that is important and the new paths will keep appearing. Just keep appreciating them and walk on!'

Random behavior can be bothering but accepting it as a part of existence can make journey more meaningful. 

Just for a moment

So this thought came visiting, while I am watching this movie, "Before Sunset". 

How simple things are until we force them and make them complicated? Life has all the most beautiful moments decorated with music-less heart beats. Its something like a peaceful evening walk, besides a lake watching the moonlight. Watching the swaying leaves of the coconut tree, through which the moon can be seen. Watching the people sitting on the bench and wondering what they are thinking about. Enjoying the fragrance of sand, when rains decide to carry away the pain. Basking in the sunlight as winter begins to soar. Listening to the pigeons, after their long struggle for a place on window pane. Understanding the unspoken words, after a tiring day. Enjoying the delicacy of ice-cream, after a long walk. 

Heart likes what is simplified. Human nature has evolved towards simplicity. However, its the most difficult thing to achieve. Relations evolve and nurture, where simplicity is an essential ingredient. Work towards simplifying things, rationally and life will be a much better journey. 

Mail from tomorrow

My dear Friend,

I am your future. Not someone from Mars, but someone from 5 years. By this time you will be in your MBA at Boston College. Let me tell you something about myself.

I am a person who did MBA just like you and from BC. During the time I got admitted the US was going through a rough time. People were challenged by the great depression. Well, it was not like it but went close to it. Many big firms lost their existence like old oil lamps. Just that they ran out of light, if I may say.

Well, let me tell you what I am doing now as your future. I am involved in many activities. I work with a firm in New York. Its been a matter of few weeks that I joined this firm. The firm is one of the best Technical Consulting firms. I am handling a project that involves a big Indian firm's new M&A activities and I am due to fly to Mumbai some time soon. I like the work a lot but I wanted to involve myself in some other activities. Therefore, I started a small club that works for educating poor people across various part of India. Additionally, I am working with a friend, helping him in his business in NY.

I got married before 2 years. Its been a great time since then, as always. I have always known her as a beautiful girl and we have a daughter who is as beautiful as her mother. The daughter, has just started talking smaller words. I wish I had a photo of hers. My favorite photo has been the one which was taken when we had gone back to India and gone to Kerala backwaters. She is difficult to contain at one place, energy source just like her mother. 

Well, you can write me a letter sometime and I would be happy to post in replies. So feel free to extend the contact.

Yours faithfully,

Future you!!!

PS: I have so many stories under the pillow cover. Thought you would like to hear some. Take care.

New things, old things

Well, funny it is. Life, I mean. So many new things to experience that the list and time seem endless. Wait for a moment and the demon called Nostalgia catches your collar. Its like jumping from a cliff for an endless experience and waiting for life. Well, I don't intend to be serious here. 

I am tired of being philosophically boring person. But my head and heart work in a symbiotic or chaotic way and make me be this way. I know its raw, but it does not burn to be chaotic at times, right? 

In recent times, I keep missing the road that ran in front of my engineering college. No particular reason, but the view was breath-taking, especially in winters. You could see the 'Satpura' ranges covered by haze. The bridge on the road was an incubator for new ideas, which are old now. Everything about college was so different the last time I went there, but it was all still the same. The same place where I learnt many lessons about life and forgot a few. Travelling on a moped without light, on a moonlit night. 

Richard Bach's theories are still appealing. So is 'The Alchemist' and the idea of travelling for unknown. But that's what we do, always. Keeping ventured, being venturer and looking for new ventures is a natural progression, which we keep challenging to make our life complicated. Wanna live it simple, just one moment at a time? 

Drum beats are enthralling just like surging heart beats. New bands have different tunes, which connect with the same me. I have so much to soak myself in. I still dream about bungee-jumping, sky diving and bike ride, all the time. Needs are so different from wants. Keeping mouth-shut is not always painful, just tricky. To each his own, these are just random thoughts.

Rock On - The musical

Will this movie be remembered for songs or the new-old concept? Its a movie that starts with nostalgia and ends with a bright future. A mix of friendship, good music, songs and some good dialogues. A talented director, actor being born as a singer. Farhan Akhtar has sung songs well and I am sure that he has many more. Purab Kohli impresses again after a good performance in 'My Brother Nikhil'. First performance of Arjun Rampal that I liked. Otherwise most faces are new.

Strengths: Great music, touching story, natural acting.

Weakness: Predictability, Slack in movie.

Net-less life

Well before thoughts start drooling elsewhere, I would like to drag your attention back. The heading is about impact of not having internet (net) functional at home. Its been around 2 months that I am in Boston and this is a first exhibit of me feeling that things are better in India.

The net at home got disconnected on a silly note. Mis-communication is a mistake common reality everywhere but how stupid can one be? As a policy exhibited earlier on this blog, I won't highlight the name of the company providing us the internet connection. However, we asking the provider to shift the main connection to the second floor, considering we had a HiDef TV set, upstairs thanks to Anj proved to be like hitting our leg on a pole. What the provider did was funny. They disconnected the net 3 days prior to the day planned to shift the lines. Why? Because that's how they work here. BS, I say!! Even a small ISP could have acted smartly in remotest part of India.

The days are spent in college and nights at home, like in a desert. The fact that life hovers around net makes it so dependent on small things like these. Can we import some entry level workers from India to impart a training here? Is there any Murphy's law for this, just curious!!!

Stuck in a moment

The moment under the window pane,
felt tired of being lonely, alas!
It was another dry rainy day,
spent kissing the passion of a stranger.

Delighted by the dusky ride,
the moment decided to sit next to the street.
Finding peace under the big lemon tree,
hummed a few lines, an addiction!!

Moment then came back to the lover,
for it was missing the spot on the bench.
Strangers are strangers who walk past me,
but I am a crazy moment stuck under the pane.

Serendipity

Its 3.09 am in Boston, MA. I just watched a movie called as Serendipity. This movie was given to me a friend who means so much to me that I cannot describe it here.

Well, back to the movie. It's a movie which boggles me every time I watch the movie. Its a movie about two strangers who meet at a shop before Christmas while shopping . They decide to play a game. She uses a book (to write her name and phone number) and he scribbles on a 5 Dollar Bill (his name and phone number). They let go of both the things and decide that they will let destiny decide if they are meant to be together. After a series of experiences they are getting ready for their individual fate. Before submitting to his marriage, the hero # 1 decides to find the girl for the last time. The search intensifies till the time he is about to get married with Girl # 2. On the other side the heroin #1 decides to let go of hero # 2. Finally, as it was destined to be, they meet up and be for each other.

Lesson: Do you believe in destiny is a matter of choice. However, don't underestimate its power, you never know which train is yours and whats on the next turn. Things just don't go as per plans every time and this is what is important because this is what will lead you to your destiny. Believe in it, believe in yourself and believe in fate. Good night!!!

"We have relocated..."

...would be the plate if I would have ran a blog-shop on the right corner of the busy Internet Highway No.6. But just wanted to share that I am blogging for my college. So a new foot-print in the making. Do visit:

http://blogs.chatuniversity.com/bccsom/index.php/nilesh

Simple Ponderings

Can the past be foregone, just like a dark night?

Can memories orphaned, for being out of sight?

Can trust be broken, for a self's might?

Can the doors left closed, waiting for night to turn bright?

Road and gravel

So, you think that you know yourself well? Tried, tested and checked? Wait till the time you get to a new place and you will be either overwhelmed or shattered or both.

Travelling surely is fun and so is exploring new places, people and opportunities. However, its an unending journey sometimes towards and at times away from yourself and your goals. For that matter even the goals can be as dynamic as night and day. Just keep walking is the mantra. No matter how difficult is the terrain, have faith in yourself and your destiny. Now some people will buy it as it has paid off for them in the past. Some will discard it as a squeezed lemon.

As a friend said in the morning, ' Everything happens for a reason'. Let that follow the truce of time and you will be surprised by what is in store for you. However, don't just throw away the ability to work hard for this reasoning. Make every effort to walk the last mile and walk a little more, everyday. Walk with a dream in sight. Walk for a better day, for the time that you craved for. Ask whether you want something more and for whom?

Giving up on dreams just because it looks shimmering is inking your own defeat. Instead of justifying why not to do it, think of the positive outcomes and ask yourself 'Why not?' Beat the road, heat the rods so much that they will give away. Dream the dreams and work harder for them because the day has just started and you have it completely for yourself.

But for a moment

She had surpassed the walls of sanity.
Her heart feeling free like a cub
surrounded by love as she wanted it.
She dwelled in the insanity of freedom.

Her walk defined the pride in her decision,
her smile composed of millions of stars together.
Her passion for the moment defied rules,
she had counted nights in the loneliness.

Meddling with the grass leafs, she thought
'was it really worth a fight', 'for the death
of shattered dreams', 'for the dark nights
spent under the endless sadness?'

Now that the doubts wore mask of history,
she flew like an eagle, ready to reach
to the limits, to celebrate something called life,
to enjoy the new day under the blue sky.

The waters were clear again and so was her mind.
The lines were beautiful and so very pure.
The grains were waiting for a dusk.
It was almost there, but for a moment!!

Got the numbers?

The way education system in Maharashtra is changing I can only empathize with the maximum number of students. Currently Maharashtra State Board came up with a policy of normalising the scores of its students to make them equally competitive with the ICSE and CBSE students. I say its a good policy for the students of State Board who were suffering otherwise. But I also have some doubts about this policy.

1. Majority-ignored: With normalisation of scores, number of students who have passed the exams have improved. Nothing bad you will say. But here's the catch. The students who have scored more than 85% has increased drastically. With the nominal increase in number of seats the college are facing an unprecedented issue of admitting students. Students in Mumbai having less than 85% are waking to a nightmare of 'No-Seats-Available'. This competition is unending. If the students with more than 90% cannot get into their choice of college what about the majority? This problem wasn't thought of while devising the policy? If it was what is the solution?

2. 70-30% reservation: This is a fresh course of concern for students. If the students this year are breathing freely for this policy won't be introduced this year think of future batches. This policy states that 70% of the total seats will be available for students from that district only. So if I hail from some part of Mumbai which has less number of colleges I will compete in 30% bracket with the majority of students like me in other districts. Thus, I cannot hope for getting an admission in Pune also since I will fall in the 30% bracket, an alternative option.

The filtering policy applied in the 70-30 policy is completely mind boggling. This way the future generation is not only pressurised to perform from the age when they should rather explore but also feel the threat of left stranded in this majorly education based economy. Will this or wont this lead to brain drain?

PS: Feel free to drop your comments on this future-sensitive topic.

Civic enough?

The beauty that strolled on the road and got your head turning is back again. Its more sexy, oozing out energy and is more efficient. It has a lot to offer under the hood but as always its too expensive to tame a beauty like that, making it a beast. There is nothing like a free meal, after all!! A price tag of around 24 Lacs makes it looks like a sexy brunette molded in a Versace studded with Diamond rings.

Yeah Civic Hybrid is launched and how? Definitely exterior is the same stylish, sharp and mouth-watering. But its engine has changed and so have the gadgets. The Instrument panel wears a different look and simply makes life luxury. The best part of the whole deal is the Hybrid engine.

However, over a talk I heard my brother saying "With that golden price tag, I would rather go for a more aggressive car like BMW or something". Came as a harmony to me. Seems like the government is still adamant on giving these cars some space on the already crowded streets of Metros like Mumbai, Delhi. They are taxing with glory (104% as import duty). That makes this environment friendly vehicle out of reach for most of the people and thus drives down the volume. Its like a rolling ball. When less people buy it and wear the Green tag, it still has little impact on the whole purpose of going hybrid.

Its like selling the word green and taxing every alphabet of it at the price of Gold. Government should welcome this kind of a move with tax cut and promote other OEMs to come up with this technology. After all the perto-based PSUs can sustain the pressure for not too long. Anybody listening??

e Building

Here are a few things I observed the Indian IT companies are doing right.

1. Catching them young: Your target work-force is yet to enter the ripe age for performance. But they can be tapped by the competitors and you want the best from the campuses. You visit the campus in pre-final year and start with Pre-placement talks (PPTs, as they are termed) and impress the crowd. Show them the on-site opportunities, grab their minds by throwing some big names and show them a rosy picture of life in the company. Dont get me wrong. I dont have anything against the companies. Just that I am free right now.

2. Greasing the minds with money: So you find out that the mall culture has boomed and so has the desire to spend money in the fresh minds. You offer them a package that they cant refuse. Its liking buying them for good. Well now that you have got them in, what should be done to keep them involved? A quick solution. Offer them a salary hike even before they join. That builds a loyalty factor and gives free brand-building a face. Win-winning strategy.

3. Impressive Infrastructure: So if you ask anyone on the street what does India lack in and the answer before your question is finished will be "Infrastructure". Its a proven fact that humans love lavishness, scale of sizes and glitter. Make the factories look more bigger, space-like and there you have it employees would be talking about the brand more than the values it is based on. Make the cafeterias look like another episode of Jetsons and serve with a smile!!

I am sure these are not the only driving factors. But they are good enough to get the best brains. The strong systems, core marketing teams and sky-rocketing clientile list makes IT in India what it is right now. It surely has changed the outlook towards job across industries now and I hope this is just the begining.

Faves from Fight Club...

1. Fuck off with your sofa units and strine green stripe patterns, I say never be complete, I say stop being perfect, I say let... lets evolve, let the chips fall where they may.
2. Tomorrow will be the most beautiful day of Raymond K. Hessel's life. His breakfast will taste better than any meal you and I have ever tasted.
3. Tyler Durden: [pointing at an emergency instruction manual on a plane] You know why they put oxygen masks on planes?
Narrator: So you can breath.
Tyler Durden: Oxygen gets you high. In a catastrophic emergency, you're taking giant panicked breaths. Suddenly you become euphoric, docile. You accept your fate. It's all right here. Emergency water landing - 600 miles an hour. Blank faces, calm as Hindu cows.
Narrator: That's, um... That's an interesting theory.
4. I am Jack's smirking revenge.
5. All the ways you wish you could be, that's me. I look like you wanna look, I fuck like you wanna fuck, I am smart, capable, and most importantly, I am free in all the ways that you are not.
6. Tyler Durden: It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything.
7. Tyler Durden: You're not your job. You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet. You're not your fucking khakis. You're the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world.
8. Tyler Durden: The first rule of Fight Club is - you do not talk about Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club is - you DO NOT talk about Fight Club. Third rule of Fight Club, someone yells Stop!, goes limp, taps out, the fight is over. Fourth rule, only two guys to a fight. Fifth rule, one fight at a time, fellas. Sixth rule, no shirt, no shoes. Seventh rule, fights will go on as long as they have to. And the eighth and final rule, if this is your first night at Fight Club, you have to fight.
9. Tyler Durden: The things you own end up owning you.
10. Marla Singer: she's like the scratch on the roof of your mouth that would heal if you just stop tonguing it, but you can't.
11. You met me at a very strange time in my life.