Tortoise Tales

The Poet in Me - 1

2007-11-18T11:31:00.000-08:00

There are times when some long dead ancestors soul perhaps asserts itself on me.
And I spout poetry.
Is it good? Or is it not?
I wouldn't care to find out.
Check it out if you like...
Or you could just go take a hike!!
(No offence meant... not one of my inspired moments... just made it rhyme thats all! Grin!)

Ramblings

So many thoughts go through my mind,
Strong thoughts, weak ones... some of every kind.
Wonder why they affect me so...
Wonder why i can't let go.

There's no point in all their strength...
All their knowledge and all their wealth..
When they're all of a kind..
Who seem to simply detest peace of mind.

I wonder what I'm doing here....
Stuck in a crowd but no one near.
Wonder if i should be moving out...
Away from the squabbles, away from the thought...
of a deadly storm not far away....
of hurt and hatred thats here to stay.

So many thoughts go through my mind,
Strong thoughts, weak ones... some of every kind.
Wonder why they affect me so...
Wonder why i can't let go.

Heraldo on its feet - finally!

2007-11-18T11:03:00.000-08:00

Its been some time now. Been busy nurturing my baby. Just taught it to walk a couple of months back... August 20th, 2007 to be precise.

Its been a roller coaster ride. Funds crunch. Sanction problems. Took a little over a year to kick off but its on its feet finally now!

Didn't turn out exactly as planned. Had initially meant to get into outdoor advertising full time but then that still hasn't kicked off due to a multitude of reasons. Not really concentrating on it any more. Heraldo's maiden venture has been a tie up with Amul - have opened an exclusive Amul franchise. Slowly plan to convert into a proper fast food outlet... still dabbling with the logistics.

So far so good. Its been performing well the last two months. Well on its way to breaking even now - estimated time at current profit levels is around 20 months. Hope to bring that figure down drastically by product innovation and streamlining soon.

All the best babes!! :)

Day Tight Compartments

2007-08-05T14:39:00.000-07:00

Sir William Osler, the founder of the world famous Johm Hopkins School of Medicine, in a lecture to the students of Yale University told the students that a man like himself who had been a professor in four universities and had written a popular book was supposed to have "brains of a special quality." He declared that this was untrue. He said that his intimate friends knew that his brains were of "the most mediocre character".

What then, was the secret of his success? He stated that it was owing to what he called living in "day-tight compartments." What did he mean by that? A few months before he spoke at Yale, Sir William Osler had crossed the Atlantic on a great ocean liner where the captain, standing on the bridge, could press a button and - presto! - there was a clanging of machinery and various parts of the ship were immediately shut off from one another - shut off into watertight compartments. "Now each one of you," Dr. Osler said to those Yale students, "is a much more marvellous organisation than the great liner, and bound on a longer voyage. What I urge is that you so learn to control the machinery as to live with "day-tight compartments" as the most certain way to ensure safety on the voyage. Get on the bridge, and see that at least the great bulkheads are in working order. Touch a button and hear, at every level of your life, the iron doors shutting out the Past - the dead yesterdays. Touch another and shut off, with a metal curtain, the Future - the unborn tomorrow. Then you are safe - safe for today!.... Shut off the past! Let the dead past bury its dead.... Shut out the yesterdays which have lighted fools the way to dusty death..... The load of tomorrow, added to that of yesterday, carried today, makes the strongest falter.

Shut off the future as tightly as the past..... The future is today...... There is no tomorrow. The day of man's salvation is now. Waste of energy, mental distress, nervous worries dog the steps of a man who is anxious about the future...... Shut close, then, the great fore and aft bulkheads, and prepare to cultivate the habit of a life of "day-tight compartments."

arz kiya hai......

2006-06-20T06:17:00.000-07:00

gulshan ki faqat phoolon se nahin,
kaanton se bhi zeenat hoti hai.
jeene ke liye is duniyaa mein...
gham ki bhi zaroorat hoti hai.

ae waaiz-e-naadaan,
kartaa hai too ek qayaamat kaa charchaa
yahaan roz nighaahen milti hain,
yahaan roz qayaamat hoti hai

woh purshish-e-gham ko aaye hain,
kuchh keh na sakoon,
chup reh na sakoon
khaamosh rahoon to mushkil hai,
keh doon to shikaayat hoti hai.

karna hi padegaa zapt-e-alam,
peene hi padenge ye aansoo.
faryaad-e-fughaan se ai naadaan,
tauheen -e-muhabbat hoti hai.

jo aa ke ruke daaman pe
'saba' woh ashk nahin hai paani hai!
jo ashk na chhalke aankhon se,
us ashk ki qeemat hoti hai

Baby Heraldo Officially Born

2006-06-08T06:06:00.000-07:00

My dream company has officially been incorporated on the 31st of May 2006.

Heraldo Marketing & Advertising Pvt. Ltd.

Feels funny knowing that how good... or bad... the company will become rests entirely in my hands. My decisions and judgements will shape or mar its future. Now I know how it would feel like to raise a kid.

Total Power.
Tremendous responsibility.

Right now its in the intitial licensing stage. Plan to officially begin operations from August.

Fingers crossed and hope for the best!

Zin at Calangute Beach - Goa

2006-06-01T05:49:00.000-07:00

This is my baby niece Zinniya (Zin) at Calangute Beach, Goa. Situated in Calangute the Queen Beach of Goa lies 15km from Panjim, the capital city.

Food for Thought

2006-06-01T05:15:00.000-07:00

"India must be the only country in the world, where people fight to be called backward"

- Narayan Murthy

Yeah?

2006-05-26T12:45:00.000-07:00

Eat one live toad the first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.

Reflections

2006-05-23T02:11:00.000-07:00

great pain can sometimes cure great shortcomings of the character....
it may, in reality be a boon in disguise.

when people you care for get disillusioned with you...
all you can do is to introspect,
learn,
shed a silent tear,
and move on.

what you've learned from the experience,
however bitter,
may enrich you enough to make many more people smile some day.

its no point getting down and getting stuck.
thats against the interests of the greater picture....

the beautiful journey that's life.

January 23, 2005 - New York Times

2006-05-18T03:18:00.000-07:00

Sensex Sickness

2006-05-17T07:59:00.000-07:00

No. I haven't mistyped the heading.

In case someone doesn't know, the Sensex crashed this last week....
and so did I.

Down with viral fever the last couple of days. Bored stiff sleeping. Been toying around with the comp the whole day. Bored with that as well now. Dying to go for a drive. These stupid sneezing fits destine otherwise. Might do it anyways.

Here are a few of my latest pics. Took them last week when Saurabh had come down to Cal for some time.

I quite like the collection. Complete range. Right from the baby boy look so inherent in me (Wink!) to the chain puffer look I'm dressed in most of the time nowadays.

Till the next time. Seeya all and have a fantastic time. Lemme know how you liked the snaps... just to inflate my ego a bit. A sick man needs some TLC you know!

Grin!

Sarshad.

Kids sometimes..... aaargh!!

2006-05-08T00:23:00.000-07:00

I always thought I was a kid.
But it looks like I'm growing up.
I just cant seem to connect with them nowadays.

Day before yesterday.... had gone to a friends place. The nut still hadn't got back from the market or wherever she had gone and so I was sort of sitting in the car and amusing myself by chatting up with old friends.

It is extremely important to visualise my position in order to appreciate the significance of my subsequent reaction. Usually when I'm idling in the car, I have my weight resting on the drivers door and my legs crossed comfortably under me.... with some soothing music playing in the background and the aircon running if I have the fuel to justify it.

It was exactly in this postion that I placed a call and started gossiping this time as well.

Now the fun begins.

This young kid (must be 5 or 6 years old by my estimate) suddenly comes and knocks on the passenger side window. So I rolled it down and asked him what it was. He just stood there cheekily and refused to utter a word. After about a minute of awkward waiting, I shrugged, rolled up the windows again and left him to his lot.

Exactly two minutes later (I was still blabbing away) he chooses to skirt round the car and come over to the drivers side window.... and you guessed it.... knock again.

So I rolled it down yet again and asked him what he wanted. Another bout of awkward waiting followed and receiving no response I started concentrating on my conversation yet again.

Then the little imp started playing around with the antenna of the car. He would raise it, then lower it and he kept doing it till I rolled down the window a third time and asked him not to..... at which he momentarily stopped.... but resumed the moment i turned my attention away from him.

By this time I was feeling decidedly uncomfortable for some reason. I mean.... I'm not scared of kids as a rule...... but this one was certainly starting to perplex me considerably.

Then it happened.

The gobledygook suddenly opened the door from the outside. And given the fact that I was leaning on it.... and with my legs crossed..... you can well imagine my predicament. i swung backwards and before I knew it, was actually hanging half out of the car. It was by sheer presence of mind that I prevented the other half.

And I blew.

You dont know how I screamed at him.

And he skirted round the car again, went to the passengers side door and started wailing with his nose pressed to the window once more.

Whew. Thank god that nut (my friend) came back just at that instant. Got out and ran into the house. Came out quite some time later. Haven't seen him since.

Can't help wondering why he was so obsessed with me.

Kids sometimes...... aaaaargh!!!!!!

A Father's Love

2006-05-05T12:14:00.000-07:00

Love as powerful as your Dad’s for you leaves it’s own mark. Not a scar. No visible sign. To have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever. It’s in your very skin. Nobody can touch you for this reason. It’s agony to touch a person marked by something so good.

Harry Potter
The Philosophers Stone.

Dreams

2006-05-05T12:10:00.000-07:00

Dream...
And as you dream,
Remember...
That only you can make your dreams come true.

Reach...
And as you reach,
Remember...
Success takes time,
Devotion,
And sometimes a little Disappointment.

Believe...
And as you believe,
You will find...
Reaching gets easier,
Setbacks get More manageable,
Life becomes More meaningful.

There's a wonderful dream Waiting just for you...
I know you can make it come true.

Have a Great Day Ahead!

The Cracked Pot

2006-04-16T19:16:00.000-07:00

A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole which he carried across hls neck.

One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master's house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full 2 years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water in his master's house.

Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made.

But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.

After 2 years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream.

"I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you."

"Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?"

"I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master's house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts," the pot said.

The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, "As we return to the master's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path." Indeed as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path and this cheered it some. But at the end of tile trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the bearer for its failure.

The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on YOUR side of your path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them.

For 2 years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master's table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house."

Moral: Each of us has our own unique flaws. We're all cracked pots.

Some of us don't grow old gracefully, some are not so smart, some are tall, large & big, some bald, some physically challenged, but it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding.

You've just got to take each person for what they are, and look for the good in them. There is a lot of good out there. There is a lot of good in you!

Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be bent out of shape. Remember to appreciate all the different people in your life! Or as I like to think of it - If it's not for the crackpots in my life, it would be pretty boring.

Thank you to all the crackpots I know! Thanks for being my friends! :)

American History!

2006-04-12T14:48:00.000-07:00

This is from a recent email I received. Only person I know who could potentially replace the South Indian is Sunil Teluja - an enclyclopedia like none I've ever met before! :)

A South Indian Student on his first day at school in USA. It was the first day of school and a new student named Chandrashekhar Subrahmanyam entered the fourth grade.

The teacher said, "Let's begin by reviewing some American History".

Who said "Give me Liberty , or give me Death"?She saw a sea of blank faces, except for Chandrashekhar, who had his hand up:

"Patrick Henry, 1775" he said.

"Very good!"

Who said "Government of the People, by the People, for the People, shall not perish from the Earth? Again, no response except from Chandrashekhar.

"Abraham Lincoln, 1863" said Chandrashekhar.

The teacher snapped at the class, "Class, you should be ashamed. Chandrashekhar, who is new to our country, knows more about history than you do."

She heard a loud whisper: "F**k the Indians," "Who said that?"she demanded.

Chandrashekhar put his hand up. "General Custer, 1862."

At that point, a student in the back said, "I'm gonna puke." The teacher glares around and asks "All right! Now, who said that?"

Again, Chandrashekhar says, "George Bush to the Japanese Prime Minister, 1991."

Now furious, another student yells, "Oh yeah? S*ck this!"

Chandrashekhar jumps out of his chair waving his hand and shouts to the teacher, "Bill Clinton, to Monica Lewinsky, 1997!"

Now with almost a mob hysteria someone said "You little shit. If you say anything else,I'll kill you."

Chandrashekhar frantically yells at the top of his voice, "Gary Condit to Chandra Levy, 2001."

The teacher fainted.

And as the class gathered around the teacher on the floor, someone said, "Oh shit, we're f**ked!"

And Chandrashekhar said quietly, "George Bush, Iraq, 2005."

Times of India Cartoons!

2006-04-12T06:39:00.000-07:00

Illusions

2006-04-11T14:04:00.000-07:00

The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah

by Richard Bach

A Brief Introduction to events leading to this extract:

An automobile mechanic has healing powers. He becomes so popular that he is forced to quit his job owing to the thousands who used to throng him everyday and not let him work. He retires to the hills where he is labelled "Messiah" and this is the message he preaches to his followers through a short story.

Extract:

Once there lived a village of creatures along the bottom of a great crystal river.

The current of the river swept silently over them all - young and old, rich and poor, good and evil, the current going its own way, knowing only its own crystal self.

Each creature in its own manner clung tightly to the twigs and rocks of the river bottom, for clinging was their way of life, and resisting the current what each had learned from birth.

But one creature said at last, 'I am tired of clinging. Though I cannot see it with my eyes, I trust that the current knows where it is going. I shall let go, and let it take me where it will. Clinging, I shall die of boredom.'

The other creatures laughed and said, 'Fool!! Let go, and that current you worship will throw you tumbled and smashed across the rocks, and you will die quicker than boredom!'

But the one heeded them not, and taking a breath did let go, and at once was tumbled and smashed by the current across the rocks.

Yet in time, as the creature refused to cling again, the current lifted him free from the bottom, and he was bruised and hurt no more.

And the creatures downstream to whom he was a stranger, cried, 'See a miracle! A creature like ourselves, yet he flies! See the Messiah, come to save us all!'

And the one carried in the current said, 'I am no more Messiah than you. The river delights to lift us free, if only we dare let go. Our true work is this voyage, this adventure.'

But they cried the more, 'Saviour!' all the while clinging to the rocks, and when they looked again he was gone, and they were left alone making legends of a 'Saviour'.

And it came to pass when he saw that the multitude thronged him the more day on day, tighter and closer and fiercer than ever they had, when he saw that they pressed him to heal them without rest, and feed them always with his miracles, to learn for them and to live their lives, he went alone that day unto a hilltop apart, and there he prayed.

And he said in his heart, Infinite Radiant Is, if it be thy will, let this cry pass from me, let me lay aside this impossible task. I cannot live the life of one another soul, yet ten thousand cry to me for life. I'm sorry I allowed it all to happen. If it be thy will, let me go back to my engines and my tools and let me live as other men.

And a voice spoke to him on the hilltop, a voice neither male nor female, loud nor soft, a voice infinitely kind. And the voice said unto him, 'Not my will, but thine be done. For what is thy will is mine for thee. Go thy way as other men, and be thou happy on this earth.'

And hearing, the Master was glad, and gave thanks and came down from the hilltop humming a little mechanic's song. And when the throng pressed him with its woes, beseeching him to heal for it and learn for it and feed it nonstop from his understanding and to entertain it with his wonders, he smiled upon the multitude and said pleasantly unto them, 'I quit.'

For a moment the multitude was stricken dumb with astonishment.

And he said unto them, 'If a man told God that he wanted most of all to help the suffering world, no matter the price to himself, and God answered and told him what he must do, should the man do as he is told?'

'Of Course Master!' cried the many. 'It should be pleasure for him to suffer the tortures of hell itself, should God ask it!'

'No matter what those tortures, nor how difficult the task?'

'Honor to be hanged, glory to be nailed to a tree and burned, if so be that God has asked,' said they.

'And what would you do,' the Master said unto the multitude, 'if God spoke directly to your face and said 'I COMMAND THAT YOU BE HAPPY IN THE WORLD AS LONG AS YOU LIVE.' What would you do then?'

And the multitude was silent, not a voice, not a sound wsa heard upon the hillsides, across the valleys where they stood.

And the Master said unto the silence, 'In the path of our happiness shall we find the learning for which we have chosen this lifetime. So it is that I have learned this day, and choose to leave you now to walk your own path, as you please.'

And he went his way through the crowds and left them, and he returned to the everyday world of men and machines.

Getting drunk at Little Italy at Fort Knox, Camac Street, Kolkata, India!

2006-04-09T20:53:00.000-07:00

Yeah.... getting drunk is the only thing I can think of posting.... post my experience at Little Italy yesterday in the evening. It's supposed to be a somewhat upscale eating joint that's come up recently. Though I must admit that it does have style.... right from the valet who parks your car and the extremely personalised service they provide you.... I have nothing to say for the food there.... mainly because its 100% veg!!!

I ask you.... do Italians not eat non veg? Is ghaas phoos their only means of sustenance????

After the initial disappointment, I had a nice time on the whole though. Settled down with jeejes for a round of Antiquity and meaningless argument and what with my sisters and Zinny there as an added bonus.... not to mention the definitely romantic ambience there ... it wasn't a bad experience at all.

Talking of romantic ambience..... I'm sure I was missing somebody in my drunken stupor..... now I wonder who it could be..????!!!!! Hmmmm!!!

Memory Lapse? Perhaps.

Wink! Wink!

Anyways.... this was just to wish you guys a Good Morning. Right now supposed to sit down with sis and work on some report she's preparing so guess can't hang round too long!

Till the next time we meet....

Cheers!! :)

The Tibetan Spider

2006-04-08T03:31:00.000-07:00

A Tibetan student was practicing meditation in his cell when a spider descended from the ceiling and hung suspended in front of him. It slowly spun around, attached to the end of its web, until the novice tried to catch it, at which point it raced back up to the ceiling in a second.

Every day for a week the student's meditation was disturbed by the spider. It even seemed that it was getting bigger, that it was becoming more adventurous, and sometimes tried to swing back and forth in front of him, with all its legs spread wide.

"This spider is bothering me," thought the novice, "and making fun of me. I'll catch it one day, I know will!"

He became so upset that he went to ask the advice of his Spiritual Master.

"I hid a knife in my sleeve while I was meditating," he said. "I wanted to kill the spider when it came down, but I didn't succeed. It disappeared the moment I thought about catching it."

"Replace your knife with a piece of chalk," the Master replied, "and make a cross on the spider's back each time it disturbs your meditation. Come back and see me in a week."

A week later the novice returned to his Master's cell and knelt down before him, his head lowered.

"Lift your robe and look at yourself," the Master instructed. To his great surprise, the novice saw a big X drawn on his own chest.

This short parable may seem absurd, and yet it contains a profound truth.

The spider that disturbed the novice during his meditation was his own bad conscience, which always surfaces when we are most relaxed. And what do we do? We accuse it of trying to harm us, we say that it is someone else, we seek a threatening monster to fight with. But the monster, the spider, is our own self.

We have to be able to look at ourselves objectively in order to overcome our worries, before they assume a form that we have not chosen.

"Know thyself!"

This phrase is attributed to Socrates, but it also appears on the facade of the Temple of Delphi. 2500 years later it is still relevant, and will always remain so!

Till the next time...

Have a marvellous day folks! :)

Back from the shadows!

2006-04-07T14:02:00.000-07:00

Yup that's me. Been in near hibernation for some time now so just thought I'd refresh your memory with a nice lil closeup!

Guess I should have done this a long time back. Sort of create a corner where I can interact in future tense with whoever's interested!

Ugh! What did I just say?

Almost 2.35 am here and got nothing to do. Sleep for some reason eludes me. I guess the culprit is the assurance that I need not put my nose to the grind tomorrow. Saturdays are off for me you see! Now how many of you are jealous?? :-)

Actually borrowed this idea off Saurabh. He runs a blog too..... alwaysgetdrunk.blogspot.com, which he claims is his emotional scratchpad. Now I've been running financial scratchpads for quite a while now viz pcparadiso.blogspot.com but I thought this was a neat idea as well. A place reserved for me and the people who know me.

Hey here's something interesting I just found out. If you're running Windows XP, for some reason you just CANNOT create a folder named 'con'. Probably Microsoft's way of curtailing crime or something?????!!!!

Yawn! My usually hyperactive thought process is almost paralysed right now. And to think Abhishek thinks I'm gonna wake up in the morning to go for a jog!

By the way.... If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

Food for thought till the next time I drop in!

Take care fellers!!!

Sarshad.