Agent Smith: Why, Mr. Anderson? Why? Why do you do it? Why? Why get up? Why keep fighting? Do you believe you're fighting for something? Something more than your survival? Can you tell me what it is? Do you even know? Is it freedom or truth? Perhaps peace? Could it be for love? Illusions, Mr. Anderson. Temporary constructs of a feeble human intellect trying desperately to justify an existence without meaning or purpose. And all as artificial as the Matrix itself, although, only a human mind could invent something as insipid as love. You must be able to see it Mr. Anderson. You must know it by now. You can't win. There's no point in fighting. Why, Mr. Anderson? Why? Why do you persist? Neo: Because I choose to. The Matrix and its power to relate to and thus help in solving philosophical and spiritual issues never stops surprizing me. Those who have read 'The Foutainhead' by Ayn Rand, will remember Howark Roark's statement - "the worst second-hander of all-...

Today I suddenly developed fever in the Office and so had to return in the afternoon by Taxi. It costed me a good 200 bucks from Lower Parel to Powai. Back in NITIE, I found IM12 (the new batch at NITIE) junta loitering around. I have been observing the IM12 students since the last two days, only to realize that I too was just the same 2 years ago. And today as I lay half-awake (as one does when he /she has fever) I reflected upon the way my Life and more importantly Lifestyle has changed in the past two years. Gradually, but profoundly I have changed into a more cosmopolitan individual. Not because of seeing many cities or being in Mumbai but primarily because of the net. I have interacted with people from different walks of life through the net and they have left a lasting imprint on the way I think. In the morning, on the breakfast table an IM12er instantly recognized me - no he was not my old friend, neither was he a distant relative - he was a frequent visitor of my blog!! To my o...

Check out this link before reading further: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1141192.cms Isn’t it amazing to know that just 2000 years ago humans were like machines – responding to stimulus just because of chain of the reactions that were triggered in their bio-chemical-electronic systems!! In fact, we still do most of our activities by the same bio-chemical-electronic impulse – it is what we call ‘reflex’. Imagine driving a car – when you slow down, you immediately shift to a lower gear – do you think, analyse or consciously lower the gear? I bet no! (unless you are still a learner). It happens automatically – a habit is nothing but a consciously analysed action getting coded in the bio-chemical-electronic control mechanism of your body. Humans are complex creatures, but based on the theory of evolution one can definitely say that the brain is essentially a heuristic engine. It learns by experience (why else would the industry want ‘experienced’ personnel?) – it forms ru...

The Saki Vihar Road and Saki Naka include my regular road to the current client . . . And probably the best places to see the MUIP ( Mumbai Urban Infrastructure Project ) project in full swing. This project started by the Deshmukh government aims to create an infrastructure akin to Shanghai in Mumbai. I was most enthused when I had first heard of this project but now that the project is halfway and heading towards Phase I completion, it has turned out to be a mere mirage! Why weren't the roads repaired? Hell! No. They very much were. Oh! So the new roads also lack quality. No - they are fantastic - all cement roads able of lasting a 50 years if not 100. Then?? In spite of the roads being widened and rebuilt the traffic situation has not improved a bit. In some areas it has worsened. Reason?? Lack of Civic sense. All along the Saki-Vihar road you will find vehicles parked. Almost 50% of the width i.e. 1 lane is eaten up by stationary vehicles parked all along. In places where the ve...

Well that's Good Morning translated to in German :) But this post is titled as : Guten'tag' = Gutenberg + Tag MaDaN a fellow student of NITIE, tagged my blog with the Book Tag- MEME . The chain came thus (I tired to trackback it) Thomas Luongo -> Knappster -> Ken -> Kevin Carson -> BradSpangler -> Yazad -> Nanopolitan -> SilentEloquence -> Pramod -> Madan -> Me!!! Guess the significance of 'tag' is clear - but what about Gutenberg?? Well this Tag is about Books - a concept that could never have become a mass audience subject but for printing technology. Gutenberg was the inventor of the printing press and hence the father of knowledge management - the Gutenberg Press and Gutenberg Bible are the most celebrated terms in history of Books. A perfect obituary to Gutenberg is the Project Gutenberg which aims to digitize, archive, and distribute cultural literature works. Enough about the title - lets get on with the post!!. Tot...

I boarded the local train to home from Currey Road as usual - but as soon as the local left the station some hustle-bustle started in my coach. On one end of the coach, a group of people gathered into a circle and slowly I could hear someone singing. A few more voices joined in soon and slowly a drum (A special kind of drum called Dholak in India) started - and them came a rejoinder of manjeere , a musical accessory. This is also called Taayl in Marathi ---> Within a few seconds the group gained tempo and started singing in unision - I could hear the word 'Tuka' and 'Vitthal' in their songs and I realised that these people were singing Abhang !! Click the image below to know about Abhang India by and large is a religious country - we have a illustrious history and a great culture. Religious movemements have always been the seeds of social gathering in India (the trend remains so even today when Ramdev Baba conducts Yoga sessions for 1000 people at a time). Abh...

Today while passing through Kurla, on the side of one of the busiest roads in Mumbai, I saw a man lying flat on his back [the photo above is just for the sake of it - not the actual] . On first sight I thought he was dead! But when I realized that his eyes were open staring at the sky and the passersby gave him nasty looks - I realized that he was drunk. This is as of 7.00 PM in the evening! This man lying as if dead will not rise until early morning when he slowly gathers sense and faces a tumouronic hangover! There are millions of such people in India - they die everyday!! Isn't it better for us to grant them a death-wish? Isn't it more inhuman to allow them to die everyday than to kill them in a homicide at one go?? I wonder ........................... Meanwhile it has been another day to call off!! The proceeding to shift to a 'new home' are in full swing - gave an advance of Rs 4000 today. So its going to be right there in Hiranandani - one of the most beautiful t...

The song 'Ek pyar ka Nagma hai' is running on my comp, the other window open on my desktop is the transcript of my NITIE interview [ http://kulkarninet.tripod.com/tscript.htm ] . The song currently plays the following lines (I am typing as the words play)- 'Kuchh paakar khona hai, kuchh khokar paana hai, Jeevan ka matlab to aana aur jaana hai. Do pal ke jeevan mein, ek umra churaani hai, Jindagi aur kuchh bhi nahi teri meri kahaani hai....' One of the questions asked to me in my NITIE interview about my entrepreneurial aspirations was - "As an entrepreneur what will be your starting budget – 1 crore, 10 crore?" I was simply overwhelmed by the figures and could only blurt out that I would start small. But today I understand that for succesful venture I would have to atleast be prepared for these figures and I really might start with such figures. NITIE has helped me to understand, comprehend and respect financial figures and other details of business. I have d...

I haven't written much about my younger brother Abhishek. Well .... a fantastic person who has achieved his dream of getting into the National Defense Academy (NDA). Today he returned home (Bhopal) after his first semester at the academy. Dainik Bhaskar covered their homecoming. Below is the photograph of the occasion- I have drawn a faint green circle around Abhishek. A few words from my father also form a part of the article in Bhaskar [ http://www.bhaskar.com/defaults/bhopal_newshindi5.html ] . Dad said he doesn't remember when the reporter asked him all that stuff !! Even I had a similar experience the other day. I got a call from a college friend late night congratulating me for getting my name in the Advancedge magazine by IMS learning. I was dazed for a moment thinking when I had given an interview to IMS. It later dawned that our Press relations committee IMpress had once asked me for a quote on our placements - they had passed on this to IMS. If anyone is interested in...

I was cruising through the Western Express highway (in Mumbai) when I noticed the road broadening work going on alongside the road. Giant excavators were cutting through the cliffs on the sides and the rubble (actually large stones) was being removed by other gigantic off-highway trucks. I could't but appreciate the 'might of man'. My thoughts moved to the wonders on the world - the pyramids of Egypt, The Great Wall of China and our own Taj Mahal. The gigantic structures made in ancient mediaeval times are a but a reflection of not only engineering skills but more so of hard labour. The city of Mumbai in fact is a wonder in itself - a group of 17 small islands being made into the most happening city of India. In fact 50% of South Mumbai ('town area' as people here call it) is built on reclamation land. It is difficult to imagine such monuments and cities to be built in the present day world. How did the ancient civilizations do it? The answer probably lies in the wo...