5 things I learned this week (Part 4)

Another week cruises by, and we are here again, as I recount to you 5 things I learned this week. This is sadly not going to be themed like last week, but like the earlier hotch-potch versions. So, let's begin in earnest, shall we??

Did you know...

1. ...that interest rates on loaned money in developed nations is less than 5 percent??

I found the following explanation and found it to be satisfactory. Tell me what you think about it.

"India is a developing economy which requires more funds for the investment purposes, so Government looks at more savings by Public. When more interest rate is offered by the RBI to Commercial banks and Commercial banks to Public, then Public will be interested to deposit their money in the banks and hence more savings. When banks offer higher interest rate for the deposits by the public(say 9%), then the same banks lend money(loans) to the people at higher interest rate (say 10% to 12%, comparatively more than interest on deposits). The same is even applcable to the developed economies. But, those countries are having enough funds so they'll not pay more interest on the deposits like in India. And in contrast they'll not charge more interest on the loans also like in India."

2. ...that Gurgaon without malls is like life without maals?

You can't find a decent apartment in Gurgaon without searching for months. You won't find the normal city restaurants in Gurgaon. You can't have electricity and water at all times in Gurgaon. But drop a coin, let it roll, follow it, and there is more chance of you arriving at the entrance to a mall than not.

All jokes aside, Gurgaon has malls - a lot of them. The MG Road here has some 10-15 malls on both sides of the road in a 2 km stretch, a few of them only finished partly. But when my parents told me that Kerala's Cochin had the largest mall in India, I had to accept defeat.

3. ...that the "MG" in MG road in Gurgaon is not for Mahatma Gandhi?

Indeed not. MG road in Gurgaon is the road that connects Mehrauli in South Delhi to Gurgaon city. And the M and G in the road initials stand for the name of the end points of the road, not for the father of the nation, as is the case in other cities.

4. ...that today marks the sixth month since I tore my right ankle ligaments?

Doctors said that it would take 6-12 months to heal completely. I'm still waiting for that to happen. I tore mine while doing a turn on the ball while I was playing football. It might seem complicated, but it actually was me stopping the ball with my right foot, and trying to turn a 180 degree. I heard 2 "tick tick" sounds, and fell down in a heap of pain. Bad things happen to you just like that. But the eternal optimist in me wants to believe that the Grade II ankle sprain, and the 2 weeks of enforced rest, saved me from some bigger trouble.

P.S. I started playing football again, 3 months after this injury.

5. ...that today is also the that shall be know as the day my designation reached the level of my qualification?

If you didn't know, I'm an Engineer by qualification. And today, after nearly 2 years and 10 months after qualifying as an Engineer, I got my second promotion at work which made me, from Assistant Engineer, an Engineer.

If you fancy another read, yesterday I wrote about what's there in my wallet, which you can read at 

http://husemeplz.blogspot.in/2013/04/whats-in-your-wallet.html

That's all from me for today.

Have a great weekend.

What's in your wallet...

I dropped my wallet today as I was trying to put it away after coming home from work. It's not that out of the ordinary from me, as I tend to drop anything that is droppable. But after dropping it, I spent the next hour going through the contents of it, reminiscing about the story of how it got there.

You can say a lot about a man from the things he carries in his wallet. Well here are the list of things you would find in mine, from the bizarre to the quaint.

1. 1 photo of Saibaba of Shirdi. It has been the custom at my home to keep a photo of Baba in any new bag/wallet. You'll find one in the suitcase I travel with, and also in my laptop bag.
2. Some notes. sometimes notes of 100; maybe 500; but you can always be sure of finding the 10s and 20s.
3. 2 Debit Cards and 1 credit card. This has to be the minimum requirement these days I think. If you want a quote on the maximum, my neighbour at office has at least 3 debit cards and 8 credit cards. It would be hard to beat that number.
4. My other cards, including visiting cards, metro card, privilege cards, insurance cards, driving license, etc.
5. Some 6-8 passport size photos.
6. One small Indian Flag, which a lady duped me into buying for 100 rupees saying the money was for orphans.
7. A parking ticket from "Sreekumar" theatre, from when I saw a movie there the last time I was at Trivandrum.
8. A feather from a duckling I had as a pet in 2006. I know that it is weird, but I carry it around with me like a good luck charm.
9. A Re.1 coin, minted in 1997, which was given to me by my grandfather.

That's about it.

I know that this might be an abrupt end, but that's all for today.

See ya tomorrow.

5 things I learned this week (Part 3)

“Oh Shit!!!”

That is the thought that first enters my mind, when I look at the time and see that its 4pm on a Friday, and I still haven’t started on this week “5 things I learned”. But, like for anyone else working in a corporate world, a deadline is nothing new for me. I’m closing in on three years of work experience, and looking back, the whole “experience” has been about meeting the current deadline, and then the one after that..

It might seem sad if you think about it in a one-dimensional way – working like this is like dangling a carrot (salary) in front of a donkey (me) so that it keeps moving in the direction that the master (company) wants it to. But if you are someone like me who thinks that work is only the means to make your life better - something which you do for 8 hours a day so that you can enjoy the other 16 without a fear or tensions - then the one-dimensionality of earlier analogy is something you wouldn’t mind.

The first thing I promised myself, when I decided to take the “work your ass off” route over the “study your ass off” route, is that I would never determine or evaluate my life based on my work. I’ve always tried to ensure that the “experiences” at work, and the ensuing frustration, be never allowed to spill over the thin wall that separates our personal and professional lives. It hasn’t been easy – under valuation in contribution to project, over looked for benefits, post-dated increments that is barely sufficient – a lot of such factors has made me want to crack open that wall, but it has held strong till now, and hopefully, forever.

Anyways, time to end the digression and meet the deadline. I’m going to theme this week’s new knowledge on “Time”, and I’m going to confess that I’m going to use the twin sisters of Google and Wikipedia to make it happen. So here goes something…

Did you know…

1. ...that the time we usually refer to in the hh:mm:ss format (called the metric system) is not the only one?

There are other formats like the hexadecimal and decimal formats. The decimal format is easy to understand. Instead of saying that it is 4:30pm, we say it is 16.5 hours. The hexadecimal format is a lot more complicated. For those of you intent on reading more about it, here are the wiki links.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexadecimal_time

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimal_time

2. ...that a one minute kiss burns 26 calories??

Now, there’s a way to burn off some fat in a sexy manner. Who’ll want to go to a gym if that is true? I say that cause you can’t believe half the stuff you read on the internet, and the other half are blatant lies.

Anyways, more of such quirky facts are available at http://www.did-you-knows.com/did-you-know-facts/time.php

3. ...that the name of the world's largest circulating weekly news magazine, with a readership of over 25 million, is related to today’s theme??

No points for guessing the name though. :P

An extra fact regarding TIME magazine is that they are said to possess a distinct writing style, attenuated by the use of inverted sentences. If you don’t know what inverted sentences are, let me give you an example. Only after reading this sentence did you become aware of the structure and usage of inverted sentences, ain’t it??

4. ...that “for every minute spent in organizing, an hour is earned”??

Oh if only I knew that before, I wouldn’t have such a short time to meet my deadline. :D

Anyhow, such phrases including the word “time” are there in common usage. Here are a Top 10 such phrases complied on the internet...

http://www.theorderexpert.com/2012/08/12/top-10-list-10-time-phrases/

By the way, read through that, read points 4 and 5 twice, then have a sly, wry smile on your face, if you saw what I just saw... ;)

5. ...that I love the old style of English, where the usage of now defunct words and a now dormant style of sentence structure, made sure that everything that is written and said, is epic to say the least?

And here is a quote in that style, by Mr. Benjamin Franklin in “Poor Richard's Almanac” about time to end this week's proceedings on this post.

“Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that’s the stuff life is made of”

Have a great weekend!!!

P.S. Earlier today, I posted a completely random post, titled "A Random Post". It's about some random things you in life, and how it..... Why should I spoil the fun for you?? Go ahead and read the original post at http://husemeplz.blogspot.in/2013/04/a-random-post.html

A random post

It's never too late to do something, that you had stopped doing long before, again.. That nostalgic feeling you get - when you ride a bicycle again; when you visit your ancestral home; when you hear your favourite lullaby; it's all the same..

That's what I'm feeling right now.. I'm writing this blog by typing it out on my mobile - the way I started writing my blogs some 5 years ago..

I had my trusty Nokia 6233 with me then.. I still have the worn out mobile with me, reminding me of the fonder memories of the yore.. Then I used to write such inspired nonsense (these days it's just nonsense) that I wonder how I even thought of writing those stuff..

Anyways, I'm deviating from my original train of thoughts.. What I actually wanted to tell you people is that sometimes it just feels right to do something old..

It gives you these exhilarating moments  which you would learn to value as much as those earlier ones..

I wrote this post over three days.. Starting on wednesday, while I was in a cab coming back from office; then yesterday, ay office, when I smudged and nudged this post into shape; and now, at MGF Metropolitan Mall, after watching "The Croods", when I'm giving the finishing touches.. This mall is refereed to by Alok, Anupam and myself as "Tharavadu", meaning ancestral home.. And it was such to us in our first year here.. The place we came for every holiday, a place where we knew which would make us happy..

As I sit here on this bench, thinking of a way to properly end this blog, I hear on the speakers here a song playing.. "Stereo love". The same song they played here when I first came here.. And for the whole of the first year... Needless to say, I'm getting that feeling again..

P.S. I wrote this on my mobile.. So spell check and grammar is out of the question.. So, please bear with me..
Also, the "5 thing I learned this week" blog is coming up as soon as I get home..

5 things I learned this week (Part 2)

There are some dreams you wish you never have to wake up from. I just had one of those.

I was in my room in my flat in Gurgaon, and everything was the same, except for two new doors. When I opened one door, I found myself coming out of my room in my home in Trivandrum. I was confused so I went back in and tried the other door. This time I found myself on the pitch in the Emirates Stadium (for those of you who are non-football freaks, that is the home ground of Arsenal FC). Anyways, I was so confused that I decided to wake up, and I find myself in my room  with just the one stupid door, which leads me back to this stupid world.

Anyways, I've deviated so much from the topic at hand that I guess most of you have already gone down and read the points I'm gonna say now. But for those of you who are intent on sticking with me, and have read through till here, let me personally welcome you to the five things I learned this week.

Did you know...

1. ...that there is a difference between unbalanced and imbalanced?

UNBALANCE means to unsteady something so that you try to make it fall.
IMBALANCE means a lack of proportion between two similar things.

2. ...that Eurofighter is a military aircraft that flies unstable?

Yup, you read that right. This brainchild of a party of European superpowers flies unstable at sub-sonic speed. So much so that it requires AI to control itself. Human reaction speeds can't control it. The reasons those geniuses made this seemingly idiotic feature is so that the flight can respond to change in trajectory quickly. Since it is already twisting and turning in all possible directions, it becomes easier to turn it in a different direction. This gives the flight a unique advantage in close combat.

You could say that the inherent IMBALANCE in the flight UNBALANCES it. (You see what I did there..;) )

But I can't help but wonder whether this was a EUREKA moment from one of the scientists..:D

3. ...that if you do overtime, your expenses also increases?

This is because you spend on things you normally wouldn't, thinking you are earning more. Simple logic really.

4. .. that my roomie thinks mosquitos follows lights?

I don't know where he got the idea from, but he believes this theory to such an extent that he keeps the light in the hall burning the whole night.

But don't take the guy to be a dumbo just cos of this. He has got a job offer to work with Mangalore Refinery today. He has more to him than he lets us know. Congratulations and Best wishes to him from my readers and myself.


5. .. that I can't seem to finish off two blogs that I'm writing right now??

**************************************************************

Now, if you could be burdened so much as to remember that I had skipped the last point last week, I would like to inform you that I have it now, and that I'm pleased to share it with you.

5 (of last week). ...that you can click the "Follow the Blog" button, available somewhere on this page, and you'll get updates directly to your feeder reader or something. I don't know how that works even after clicking the button myself - that's why you see me following this blog :D. But I think you can work it out.

That's all for today..

Have a Happy weekend folks!!!

5 things I learned this week (Part 1)

I’ve tried daily blogs. And I’ve been more successful in that than I expected. But like most of my other ventures, it became spasmodic and ultimately fell at the hands of its maker. Its’ corpse is preserved – mummified - in this online pyramid that we call the internet.

Anyways, so much for that. “Let bygones be bygones” goes one of my favorite sayings.

This is a new venture. And I would like it to be successful like my recent ventures. As the blog title suggests, I’ll be making a weekly note of 5 new things that I learnt during the week that was.

So, let’s begin this week’s countdown (or countup).

Did you know…

1. that there is a difference between Learned and Learnt?

While researching (read “googling”) the title for this very blog, I was stumped as to which of the above two words I should use. After further research, it turns out that LEARNED (having knowledge) is more of an adjective – used to describe a person.  And LEARNT (gained knowledge) is, well, the past tense of learn.

2. that the distance between the two axles of wheels on a bus is to be a maximum of 6 meters?

True story. ;)

3.  that it is possible for Gabbar Singh and Phoolan Devi to have a relationship?

Gabbar Singh (fictional character from the legendary movie “Sholay”) and Phoolan (real life character from our crappy life) are well known protagonists of their own evil, wicked stories. Both are similar in most aspects of their life, are egoistic and would take any step necessary to win their own battle. This led me to think that they can’t be a couple (without having a counselor telling them to calm down every 5 minutes). Well, apparently, they can be a couple. And I’m happy for them. 

That was a personal rant, and if you didn’t understand it, please be pleased to know that the people it was meant for, understood it.

4.  that the use of reflective tiles on the floor of adjacent bathroom stalls (with stall’s walls hovering one feet above the ground as they do in the so called "modern lavatories ) shall lead to uncomfortable scenes when you trying to go?

5. that, for the present future, I don’t have a fifth point to tell you? :P

Have a great weekend!!!

The road to hell is paved with good intentions

Day 3, Time 13.00

Debilitating Depression. That’s what Google says I’m going through right now. Literally, it means being depressed to such an extent that you make yourself weak and vulnerable to further depression, which as you would have guessed, puts me again at the starting point of this vicious cycle.

I’ve read that the third day is the hardest. The day when you realize that you’ve siphoned off the last of your adrenaline juice. Oh my sweet, sweet adrenalin!!! My great warrior!! You’ve fought the battle valiantly for me. But now, I know it is just me against the monster. It taunts me into going back to my old ways, constantly reminding me of the sweet memories I’ve had in the past.

To try not to think about those memories, I tried to read articles about quitting addictions. Here are a few excerpts that caught my eye.

“…Expectations are higher than ever before. Yet the one thing you depended on to cope with stress -- the addictive behavior -- is now off limits. This is why it is so important to have other ways of coping firmly established, ideally before quitting…”

Well, that’s just great. I should have read about things like this before I stopped doing something which was second nature to me. Now, I’m here – all alone, helpless and vulnerable – and I have to try to force me away from my addiction without a specific plan.

“…Ambivalence, the mixed feelings of both wanting to continue with the addictive behavior and wanting to quit, is part of the addictive process…. Often, this is felt in terms of "right" and "wrong," a moral dilemma….”

And this moral dilemma is further compounded by the following argument…

 "I would rather live a shorter life and be happy than quit and be miserable."

Well, that sentence draws a very thin line between right and wrong, and I’m not going to try and push you onto any one side of it. All I say is that you should think for yourself, keeping in mind that it is your life and your decisions, and make a choice.

I’ve read somewhere that all choices in life can be divided into two – the Good and the Pleasant. In this case, the “shorter, happy” life would be Pleasant one, and the “quitting, miserable” life would be the good one. I chose pleasant before. I’m choosing good now.

Upon further reading, I’ve come across the various effects that can arise due to withdrawals from addictions namely - Anhedonia, paranoia, psychosis, anxiety, agitation, suicidal thoughts, and vivid, lucid nightmares etc etc.

Well, I should have expected nightmares since I’m dealing with this monster.

Day 2, Time 19.45

Not much to report from today as it was a holiday at the office, due to the festival of Holi. I would have been halfway on the highway to madness by now, if it weren’t for my juniors. Playing holi, a game of football, a game of cards, 10 hours of sleep and some friendly face-to-face banter helped me keep myself away from the monster. Even though I was enjoying myself, I was constantly reminded of its presence, which was like an unknown shadow following me, waiting for a lapse in my concentration, so that it can make me fall prey to it again.

Luckily for me, I live to see another day in this new path I’ve chosen for myself. I just hope tomorrow will be easy like today.

Day 1, Time 23.15

Office got over slow. I didn’t want it to be so slow, but it was. I still haven’t found that key which controls time yet. Maybe I could have used the years I had in between the minutes I had to pass at the office to find that key. That would be a task worthy of me right now, especially because I don’t know how to pass my time since I quit my addiction.

It wasn’t that tough to rein in my thoughts of going back. I kept hallucinating that there is this huge iron hand holding me by my hair as I try to run back to my dear old friend. That mirage of having an iron fist holding me back did nothing to actually hold me back. The real reason for that was the “new year resolution” syndrome.

You would know how that works. The guilt of going back to do something you decided not to do is really strong on the day after you make that decision. This is normally associated with the way people behave with regards to their New Year resolution - hence the name.

Day 0, Time 20.06

I think I’ve reached the watershed moment in my addiction. Either I quit, or continue living this lie of a life. I don’t know how I’ll be able to live without this, how I’ll plough through these unforgiving times I’ve planned for myself, but I know that I’ll be strong enough to face them. This small effort I’m going to make tonight might be lost into the obscurity as another one of my attempts to quit, or become the single-most influential step I’ve taken till now.

With a prayer to the one watching over me from above to make this not another false-start, I checked the box written “Deactivate” and clicked on the “Save changes” button.  With that, my dear friends, I’ve quit Facebook.

P.S. To make the transition complete, I’ve signed out of chat on Gmail, quit twitter and stopped the internet service on my mobile. From now on, no chats, no pings, no pokes, no whatsapping. If you want to talk to me, meet/call/text me. I’ll do likewise if I want to interact with you. And this blog shall remain the only online portal through which I’ll continue to spew my madness. And you are welcome to not read it, if you find it not to your taste. On the other hand, if you welcome my tirades on life, please feel free to come back another time to check if I’ve something fresh for you to read. Thank you.

POST-SCRIPT

Day 7, Time 20.06

It’s all NOT going fine, but it could have been worse. It’s been seven days and I still am to go back to my old ways. I’ve started reading again, I’m writing again, I’m calling up my friends again, I’m going out (anywhere), I’m thinking of ways to spend my time productively, which includes dusting off the cobwebs on my director’s hat, which I had left untouched since 2010.

It is for exactly these little things that I committed this virtual social suicide for.