20% off - Did you take it yet?

No, I am not selling anything, but just asking you - Did you take your 20% time off of your hectic schedules to rejuvenate yourself? 

I came across the concept of "80/20 Innovative time off" which is employed in Google Inc. Now, first thing first, they are GOOGLE, they have loads of creative people, who have to work within the limits of competitiveness. They cannot be like the modern artists, whose works are sometimes beyond the reach of smaller people (like me).Their creativity has to sell to the mass public. So, how can you keep them motivated to get the best out of them, while not pushing them towards a situation similar to "writer's block"?

Answer is simple - Just let them do what they like, approximately for about 20% time of their work life. I specify "work life" here because weekends are not included in "work life". Yes, with the weekends you actually get somewhere closer to 30% time off, but then thats not helping the company anyways. Taking time off from office is not equal to honing your creativity. Weekends are meant for de-stressing, relaxing, unwinding, attending to family, friends, relatives etc. and not to think about work.

Majority of the companies will not do that, I know. Their reasons will vary from - How can we then meet deadlines?, The employees are not getting paid to do what they like!, Are you nuts? 20% is almost a day, we do not have time to waste a day, silly!!! etc. etc. But then who is asking them to do what they like? Still, since I am not working in Google, I would like to think of something that might work.
1. How about meeting once in a fortnight to discuss if anything can be changed from whatever was done in the fortnight? This might just take an hour but still, I am sure will help in a long way.

2. People across the company keep attending seminars, conferences etc... how many times have they shared whatever they learnt there? (you might take notes from those kinds of seminars or you might take pride that you are far ahead, but it will be good in both ways!)

I know that there can be many more such simple things that, when made a habit can really take you places. While they are not what I would call the 80/20 Innovative Time Off, but the results could be similar.

That was the organization level, but how can you apply this in your life? We are all running, running and running madly to satisfy the personal and professional goals, while trying to catch up with health, wealth, society. Not everyone can do that successfully, hence what they leave out from their life is - their passion! Now, if you are reading this blog in your early or mid 20s and thinking, no, I do not connect with what the author is saying, I am telling you, if you can keep up the same attention to your interests and passions after 10-15 years, you are incredible, but you cannot really predict that today right?

In a typically active weekday, my 9 hours are in office, the morning time is no good to me other than just rushing up to office, so when I come back home in the evening, I have approximately 5 6 hours left, which I have to juggle between cooking, relaxing, talking to family. I missed out doing what I used to like most - blogging and photography. And then, came a time when I read about this 20% off concept and I thought, I NEED IT! My 20% off means an hour in the evening (sadly that much only!) But, damn it works wonders. This one hour is when I cut off from the remaining world and live in my own. I read articles, plan my blogs (not that I am very active, but now it is better than ever before!), read a lot about photography or work on my photos..just do what I like, if it means on some days, to do nothing but just simply sit. Do you do that? If not, try it! Yes, there will be phases in life when even that much will be too much to ask for, but those phases will be like passing clouds... I do not think this is applicable to only office-goers, but even to homemakers. While we think homemakers have more time in hands to dispense, sometimes it is not so! Even if you do not go to office, you still have the rights to claim your 20% off! This is to do anything, which is not your daily chore or responsibilities!

Just one hour is all you need, this is when you are your employer and your employee! Some one argued with me that it would be selfish to think about your own interests especially when you got married or have a new born in your lap, but on a serious note, if taking an hour off in a day for yourself looks like an indulgence to you, I pity you!

PS - I do not really know how many of us take time to do things we like, but I have really seen my friends who after moving to different phases of life like being a wife or a mother, have actually become robots, mechanical people. Like in mentioned in my previous post, make the most of your life, when you have the energy to do so! Once again, thanks a lot dear Google, you have given me one more good thing, other than Google search, Google maps and Gmail!

Regards,
Raji!

Management Lessons from Life!

Did you ever ask god - please god give me just 2 hours more in a day.. 24 hours are not just enough for me??? ( I did so recently and if you have never done that, there is no point in reading this post!)

I started thinking over it, why are these 24 hours not enough for me?? And I got the answer - ineffective usage of time (or read - no time management). Immediately, I opened my sticky note app in my phone and made a time table for myself, for an entire week. I added reminders in the phone to tell me what I should be doing at every 3rd hour of the day! I went to sleep, looking forward to start my "organized life" with the cracking of dawn the next day.

My to do list - do yoga (anytime thats best for that day), get ready, go to office, come back home, clean the utensils, make fresh dinner, spend some time socializing, talk to mom and dad, fix breakfast and dress for tomorrow, sleep. Believe me, 24 hours is just about perfect for that. Most of the people I know work along similar lines. 

Was I successful in doing that??? NO - I was never able to do that!
Sticking to plans which I made for myself were also not easy for me (huh!).
I tried the first day, I failed! Nevertheless (old habits die hard...), I tried again the second day, I failed! Third attempt - I fail to begin the day as I planned, but somethings fell in place.
Fourth, fifth and so on.. same old story repeats every time!
There wasn't much change from what I was doing earlier to what I was doing now (or the only difference was - I was more depressed than ever!) 

Come next Monday and I go to my yoga class and 2 things which my yoga teacher said, stuck a chord with me - 1. "Respect your limits" 2. "You cannot do everything everyday".
And I questioned myself - did I not respect my limits ? (I did, I din't make a stringent plan for myself!)
and what I want to do is what I have to do every day, how can I skip anything there?

I thought for this again! There had to be an answer to this. And yes, there was. I worried about ineffective time management while ignoring the more important factor of life - Energy Management!


Time and Energy are not mutually exclusive! Every single day of your life, you have 24 hours, but do you have the same energy levels everyday? Forget everyday, you don't even have same energy levels all through the same day. Then how can you do everything everyday? Did you just not cross your limits?

So what am I getting at??? I am simply pointing out the obvious fact - human body is not equal to a clock. period. (while some great people have trained their bodies to be like that, mediocre people like me have not been able to do so yet!)


I have realized that there are special magical hours in a day for me, everyday, when I achieve far more successful completion of my daily goals than all the rest of the hours put together (while the clock was ticking at the same rate!). My energy levels are far greater than any other time of the day. I have made my peace with it - there are time periods in a day, when I am simply good-for-nothing! I cannot start or finish anything! Then why should I include them in my time tables? This a dangerous mode because when I have not yet finished what I wanted to do in the previous hour, how can I just stop that and proceed with what I wanted to do in the current hour? And there it goes - the avalanche of missed time points rolling down!

So what are the steps in getting goals completed daily? Firstly, Realize what are the most active time zones of the day and plan your work (professional or personal) accordingly. I am talking for those who have almost fixed schedule daily. There is no second step.

A lot can be talked about and thought about effective energy management and I would definitely write up more on that as and when I can. But for now, channelizing work through the active time periods is doing wonders for me and I hope every one can make a note of it.

PS -- If this is a topic which is like basic principles of management classes, pardon my ignorance, for I have learnt this from my own experiences and not the management classes. All I know is it works.

love,
Raji 

www - weird weird world!!!

1. Like I said, politicians crack me up!!! The latest news being Amar Singh - Bipasha tapes! (Now, I don't know if the person in the tapes is Bipasha the actress or Bipasha someone or if she is actually Dipasha. (Who cares anyways!)), but as I was reading the news this is the ad that kept showing up in my next window - PRICELESS@!!!!!!!

2. Now, I got a dress from Chennai, and it is of "Karishma" brand, so I Google-ed it to show it to my friend, and this is what I get - 

Remixed Songs - Original Nonsense!!!

Long time since I have been here....but now I shall be more regular (a promise to myself!!) Now this promise will come true because I have decided to write on things (of which I am not any part of) that hurt me -- 1. as a concerned citizen of the great nation of India and 2. as a tired-of-nonsense customer of the Indian film industry (I am fortunate that I only watch movies in 3 languages!!!)

There isn't much in my life other than these two broad topics anyways... 

Is it only me or does every one (or at least most of you reading this post!) feel ashamed that we have to put up with the most unoriginal and pathetic music now a days. Leave aside plagiarism which is what most of the Indian film industry is anyways fleshed out from, but anybody noticing increasing trend of using old songs to put shoddy new lyrics and blatantly murdering them on the name of remix / item songs? 

Do I really need to ask some one, have you heard old vs new Dum maro Dum, Pyar do pyar lo and Laila O Laila???? Can't we just leave the old songs alone? I understand the GenX and Y want to hear more rock stuff and to satisfy everyone's needs, remixes were happening.. but then why add lyrics which totally spoil the songs? Read this - unche se uncha banda potty pe baithe nanga?????? And then you want to come clean on why Dev Anand did not like your song??? 

vs 

The other two songs come no clean but this was the most horrible of the lot!! These music directors should be now branded as serial killers on loose... Remixes are not new to my generation and we have tolerated a lot of crap on the name of the "pop music and remix" but this one now takes the cake!!!

Pritam dude - you got to really think out of your regular box and make something original... I wish we were never even nominating these ^$$es in the awards categories, isn't it okay to have less music than to have this rubbish?????

I sincerely pray to god that if you don't come up with original songs then you don't even get any sales!!!

--exhausted music lover!

Speech Prowess of Chetan Bhagat

I came across this speech in one of the numerous forwards in my gmail and felt it was worth sharing here - A good article (or rather speech) by Chetan Bhagat. There are a few things in this speech which have a good positive effect on the mind (at least momentarily if not for all your life). Read and have a good thoughtful time - 

This was an inaugural speech given at Symbiosis. It might be a little longer, but is at least worth reading once!!

Good Morning everyone and thank you for giving me this chance to speak to you. This day is about you. You, who have come to this college, leaving the comfort of your homes (or in some cases discomfort), to become something in your life. I am sure you are excited. There are few days in human life when one is truly elated. The first day in college is one of them. When you were getting ready today, you felt a tingling in your stomach. What would the auditorium be like, what would the teachers be like, who are my new classmates - there is so much to be curious about. I call this excitement, the spark within you that makes you feel truly alive today. Today I am going to talk about keeping the spark shining. Or to put it another way, how to be happy most, if not all the time.

Where do these sparks start? I think we are born with them. My 3-year old twin boys have a million sparks. A little Spiderman toy can make them jump on the bed. They get thrills from creaky swings in the park. A story from daddy gets them excited. They do a daily countdown for birthday party – several months in advance – just for the day they will cut their own birthday cake.

I see students like you, and I still see some sparks. But when I see older people, the spark is difficult to find. That means as we age, the spark fades. People whose spark has faded too much are dull, dejected, aimless and bitter. Remember Kareena in the first half of Jab We Met vs the second half? That is what happens when the spark is lost. So how to save the spark? 

Imagine the spark to be a lamp's flame. The first aspect is nurturing - to give your spark the fuel, continuously. The second is to guard against storms.

To nurture, always have goals. It is human nature to strive, improve and achieve full potential. In fact, that is success. It is what is possible for you. It isn't any external measure - a certain cost to company pay package, a particular car or house. 

Most of us are from middle class families. To us, having material landmarks is success and rightly so. When you have grown up where money constraints force everyday choices, financial freedom is a big achievement. But it isn't the purpose of life. If that was the case, Mr. Ambani would not show up for work. Shah Rukh Khan would stay at home and not dance anymore. Steve Jobs won't be working hard to make a better iPhone, as he sold Pixar for billions of dollars already. Why do they do it? What makes them come to work everyday? They do it because it makes them happy. They do it because it makes them feel alive. Just getting better from current levels feels good. If you study hard, you can improve your rank. If you make an effort to interact with people, you will do better in interviews. If you practice, your cricket will get better. You may also know that you cannot become Tendulkar, yet. But you can get to the next level.Striving for that next level is important. 

Nature designed with a random set of genes and circumstances in which we were born. To be happy, we have to accept it and make the most of nature's design. Are you? Goals will help you do that.

I must add, don't just have career or academic goals. Set goals to give you a balanced, successful life. I use the word balanced before successful. Balanced means ensuring your health, relationships, mental peace are all in good order. 

There isno point of getting a promotion on the day of your breakup. There is no fun in driving a car if your back hurts. Shopping is not enjoyable if your mind is full of tensions. 

You must have read some quotes - Life is a tough race, it is a marathon or whatever. No, from what I have seen so far, life is one of those races in nursery school, where you have to run with a marble in a spoon kept in your mouth. If the marble falls, there is no point coming first. Same with life, where health and relationships are the marble. Your striving is only worth it if there is harmony in your life. Else, you may achieve the success, but this spark, this feeling of being excited and alive, will start to die.

One last thing about nurturing the spark - don't take life seriously. One of my yoga teachers used to make students laugh during classes. One student asked him if these jokes would take away something from the yoga practice. The teacher said - don't be serious, be sincere. This quote has defined my work ever since. Whether its my writing, my job, my relationships or any of my goals. I get thousands of opinions on my writing everyday. There is heaps of praise, there is intense criticism. If I take it all seriously, how will I write? Or rather, how will I live? Life is not to be taken seriously, as we are really temporary here. We are like a pre-paid card with limited validity. If we are lucky, we may last another 50 years. And 50 years is just 2,500 weekends. Do we really need to get so worked up? It's ok, bunk a few classes, goof up a few interviews, fall in love. We are people, not programmed devices.

I've told you three things - reasonable goals, balance and not taking it too seriously that will nurture the spark. However, there are four storms in life that will threaten to completely put out the flame. These must be guarded against. These are disappointment, frustration, unfairness and loneliness of purpose.

Disappointment will come when your effort does not give you the expected return. If things don't go as planned or if you face failure. Failure is extremely difficult to handle, but those that do come out stronger. What did this failure teach me? is the question you will need to ask. You will feel miserable. You will want to quit, like I wanted to when nine publishers rejected my first book. Some IITians kill themselves over low grades – how silly is that? But that is how much failure can hurt you. But it's life. If challenges could always be overcome, they would cease to be a challenge. And remember - if you are failing at something, that means you are at your limit or potential. And that's where you want to be.

Disappointment's cousin is frustration, the second storm. Have you ever been frustrated? It happens when things are stuck. This is especially relevant in India. From traffic jams to getting that job you deserve, sometimes things take so long that you don't know if you chose the right goal. After books, I set the goal of writing for Bollywood, as I thought they needed writers. I am called extremely lucky, but it took me five years to get close to a release. Frustration saps excitement, and turns your initial energy into something negative, making you a bitter person. How did I deal with it? A realistic assessment of the time involved – movies take a long time to make even though they are watched quickly, seeking a certain enjoyment in the process rather than the end result – at least I was learning how to write scripts, having a side plan – I had my third book to write and even something as simple as pleasurable distractions in your life - friends, food, travel can help you overcome it. Remember, nothing is to be taken seriously. Frustration is a sign somewhere, you took it too seriously.

Unfairness - this is hardest to deal with, but unfortunately that is how our country works. People with connections, rich dads, beautiful faces, pedigree find it easier to make it – not just in Bollywood, but everywhere. And sometimes it is just plain luck. There are so few opportunities in India, so many stars need to be aligned for you to make it happen. Merit and hard work is not always linked to achievement in the short term, but the long term correlation is high, and ultimately things do work out. But realize, there will be some people luckier than you. In fact, to have an opportunity to go to college and understand this speech in English means you are pretty damm lucky by Indian standards. Let's be grateful for what we have and get the strength to accept what we don't. I have so much love from my readers that other writers cannot even imagine it. However, I don't get literary praise. It's ok. I don't look like Aishwarya Rai, but I have two boys who I think are more beautiful than her. It's ok. Don't let unfairness kill your spark.

Finally, the last point that can kill your spark is isolation. As you grow older you will realize you are unique. When you are little, all kids want Ice cream and Spiderman. As you grow older to college, you still are a lot like your friends. But ten years later and you realize you are unique. What you want, what you believe in, what makes you feel, may be different from even the people closest to you. This can create conflict as your goals may not match with others. . And you may drop some of them. Basketball captains in college invariably stop playing basketball by the time they have their second child. They give up something that meant so much to them. They do it for their family. But in doing that, the spark dies. Never, ever make that compromise. Love yourself first, and then others. 

There you go. I've told you the four thunderstorms - disappointment, frustration, unfairness and isolation. You cannot avoid them, as like the monsoon they will come into your life at regular intervals. You just need to keep the raincoat handy to not let the spark die.

I welcome you again to the most wonderful years of your life. If someone gave me the choice to go back in time, I will surely choose college. But I also hope that ten years later as well, your eyes will shine the same way as they do today. That you will Keep the Spark alive, not only through college, but through the next 2,500 weekends. And I hope not just you, but my whole country will keep that spark alive, as we really need it now more than any moment in history. And there is something cool about saying - I come from the land of a billion sparks.

Thank You!

By Chetan Bhagat

Susmit Basu's IBNLive Blog - The rewards of bad behaviour

I loved this article. It came out yesterday (4th Feb 2010) and I read it more than 5 times at a go (not because I din't understand, but I just loved the fact he used simple situations of life to show how interconnected they are with the worst ones.)

As time will pass of, this link will be lost in the world of internet and so, I want to make it a permanent in my directory!!

You can read it here or simply click on the title to reach its actual source!! ( I am sure if you like the article he would appreciate your comments). This story (just like my previous blog of ant and grasshopper) is a very good take on how the world evolves from the worst situations. 

The Rewards of Bad Behavior

"A Well Behaved Child". Remember your primary school report card with those remarks by the teacher? Did your parents' faces beam on seeing the card? Probably not. They were more likely fixated on the B in English Literature to be bothered about recognition for good behavior (their concern shifting to who the best tutor could be to turn that B into an A+ in the next term). On the other hand, the really naughty classmate who had not wreaked as much havoc over the term as he was expected to ended up with a large bar of Cadbury Fruit & Nut from the teacher and relieved expressions on his parents' faces.

When you returned home, it was your demanding, misbehaved sibling who got all the attention, who had to be coaxed and bribed into silence. If you were the content, quiet one, you maybe got a smile and a hug from your folks. Little more.

This is the paradox of bad behaviour. It is always, in a sense, rewarded in a very tangible way. Good behaviour, on the other hand, is mostly taken for granted. Rewards, if any, are intellectual (and rather intangible).

It doesn't end with children. Just as infants discover the profits of throwing tantrums (even with the inherent risk of punishment), a lot of the grown up world does too.

Take the work place. It happens often that part of the work is grudge work which no one in the team enjoys doing. There is always that one colleague who, just like everybody else, does not like it, but who, unlike the rest, makes a veritable mess of it. He is no nincompoop, so you find it incomprehensible as to how he manages to mess things up. You think to yourself that when the time comes, your diligence will pay off, but when less tedious opportunities open up, this colleague is more likely to get a shot at them. The explanation you may get could sound like: "you're good at what you do, but he is not. We're just trying to put him in a role that works for him."

Such contradictions play up in other, more serious settings, such as geo-political conflicts. Militancy has flared up in Afghanistan over the past year with a resurgent Taliban. A large part of the population suffers on account of underdevelopment and unemployment. Some of the unemployed, on the promise of a livelihood may have turned to militancy, but most have not. Yet, the solution being shopped around these days by the Afghan government, with the tacit backing of some nations whose troops are stationed there, is to 'reward' the militants with jobs and cash if they lay down their arms. What does this mean to those who remained unemployed but did not join the Taliban?

Similarly, the financial crisis showed that a big financial institution could get away with all sorts of bad behaviour. If they had lived like high rollers, taken all kinds of unmanageable risks (read: gambled) and lost big, they would not be left to their fate but rescued (read: rewarded) with bailouts. Those institutions which had remained prudent during the bubble years, waiting for the impending doom of the gamblers, could only rue their double misfortune - once for not having lived like the high rollers and again in seeing the house come to the losers' rescue.

People inherently abhor confrontation unless there are immediate gains or the threat of grievous losses out of it, and this gives rise to the tolerance for bad behaviour/ the tendency to reward it. Hence, when confronted by unreasonable and belligerent people, we are more likely to give in to their demands than try to reason with them. Indian political parties have long understood this and have frequently resorted to bad behaviour as a means to realize their political goals, and as a people, we have time and again, given in to their tantrums and in all likelihood will continue doing so.

But, more later. It's time to switch on that reality show where everyone's always in a catfight. It's too enticing! Plus, I do not like that person who's always polite and courteous. She makes things so boring. I'm definitely voting her out today.

The Modern Ant and Grasshopper story!

This is a very true or unfortunate version of the classic Aesop's fable. It has been doing rounds in internet and e mails and I thought it is necessary for the people to see it if they haven't yet.


OLD VERSION: The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.

MODERN VERSION: The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant’s a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.

NDTV, BBC, CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.

The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the ant’s house.Medha Patkar goes on a fast along with other grasshoppers demanding that grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter. Amnesty International and Kofi Annan criticizes the Indian Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the grasshopper.

The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the grasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for prompt support as against the wrath of God for non-compliance). Opposition MPs stage a walkout.

Left parties call for “Bharat Bandh” in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry. CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among ants and grasshoppers.

Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway Trains, aptly named as the ‘Grasshopper Rath’.

Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the Prevention of Terrorism Against Grasshoppers Act  [POTAGA], with effect from the beginning of the winter.

Arjun Singh makes Special Reservation  for Grass Hopper in educational Insititutions & in Govt

Services.

The ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government and handed over to the grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV.

Arundhati Roy calls it “a triumph of justice”. Lalu calls it ‘Socialistic Justice’. CPM calls it the ‘revolutionary resurgence of the downtrodden’ Kofi Annan invites the grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly.

Many years later…The ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multi billion dollar company in Silicon Valley. Hudnreds of grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewhere in India.

Slumdog Ghajini

Heyy... please dont misatke by my title, Slumdog Ghajini, I am not insulting any movie, in fact, I am totally impressed by both and I am hoping I meet more people of my interests!!

First, a  beautiful thursday with Slumdog Millionaire followed a Ghajini friday. Both these movies are so different, but what binds me is the music by the God himself. Although I expect a lot more than what Rahman gives everytime, but still I love it the way it is. 

Rahman aside, I just want to put my reviews of both the movies for I felt these ones are definitely a worth dekko!! I have become a huge fan of these movies and I am just doing what I can to promote them.

Slumdog Millionaire is a story of a guy from slums going on to be richer than what he can even dream of. Living abroad lays the platform to see India more. I loved so much to see India, Mumbai, Agra etc on big screen in USA. Now why this movie?? Firstly, story - not that it has not been heard before, but certainly same thing told differently. The script is awesome and the narration very beautifully laid out. A-story-behind-each-question theme is simply superb. Secondly, The faces of the protagonists are new and gives even better appeal to the story. The hero aint masculine, the heroine aint dumb glamourous doll and the villian aint scary. They are normal people whom we really identify with. I am not an expert to talk about the technical aspects but yes, I could feel the difference. Also, It was good to see Anil Kapoor, Irfan Khan and Saurabh Shukla sitting among the American audience. I can't stop mentioning Rehman's score. I dint actually like the music when I saw it for the first time but after seeing the movie I think otherwise. I am not sure if it's convincing enough for someone to get up and go to see this movie, but yeah do watch it if you like things - zara hatke!!

Ghajini - I have to confess that till I saw the hindi version of it I din't knew what the title meant. I saw this movie earlier in tamil and was interested in this movie only to see Amir Khan and hear Rehman. The first thing that flashed after completion of the movie was that winners dont do different things but do things differently. The movie was good in Tamil, and other than the last scene, it is no different here. Its just a feast to watch Amir. I am frankly not in to highly musculine bodies, so the 8 - pack Amir actually dint mean anything to me but after having seen the movie, I felt may be it was necessary to carry off the killing machine image. I never saw the watch in the three hours, I dint feel bored - another plus point of the movie. Its refreshing to see Amir in a mainstream role which he had not done since long. I am sure this movie will reach the heights it is intended to because of the brilliance of the director. Asin is the same and looks good here also. Nothing is wasted in this movie. Every actor, every locale, every scene is captivating. I hope this one becomes a real huge hit for it deserves to be one. Go for it!!

My assets.. My precious creations!!

http://picasaweb.google.com/raji.852/Drawings?authkey=3AznBcQbEuw

Some of my cherished drawings... in fact includes all of them.. good or bad.. left are those which I could not scan or lost!!!

And BTW - My family's picture and my dad's drawing are not done by me, but since they are drawings and related to my family - they are here.

Relations!!! They change....

Congratulations world!!!! for new 7 wonders, I have dwelled enough into it, but I am yet to understand the history and significance of the
2 natural wonders of the world,
the man and the woman, in a relationship.

For the reason, the more I dig into it, the more haywired I get.
I just want to know, understand these differences which most of them do not understand and term them as changes growing out of newly built attitude, ego,
lack of concern or what ever.
Years ago, he was a stranger, he came into  her life and
things suddenly changed.Life became a bed of thornless roses. She saw the
world completely coloured pink.
Oh wow how beautiful!!!!
Likewise, he saw what an angel she was, how perfectly god tailored her for him,
how could be he so favored by luck???

They were completely in love with each other,
there were rainbows all over sky. How cannot people see the
upcoming spring, why they complain of fall???
Happiness comes in disguised as love!!!!
Love is the most effective teacher, it teaches you what all you could have never dreamt off.

Eventually, he sees he is missing yet another important aspect of his life, his friends!!!!
He loves them too...


When I am giving 24 hours to her, then cant she give me back an hour or so to myself???? Oh common, she is the best girl in my life and dats so because she understands me perfectly,
and she wouldn't mind an hour.
Will an hour in my day would make her upset??? NO!!


Whats happening???? Its 10 in the nite, he is supposed to call me, what's he doing??? where is he???
Even yesterday he was late, I hope am not askin him too much out of life, but he has promised to be with me whenever he needs me, then why this distance today??? Should I ask him or not???
Hell leave it...I am gettin too much paranoid... How can I live with him for the coming 60 years of life if this is the way I am goin to think???
And then the phone rings, lol.. see that smile...Did anyone see her so happy in the entire day???

Time slowly passes away, there is this career they have to chase... earn money.. build a house... Oh life!! wen wud u give peace a chance??


Why is she like this?? Common I want some place for myself, she never understands me, how can
she expect me to be with her every moment of my life? She was not like this earlier,
she used to be calmer,but now she wants a reason of every breath I take!! Whats her problem??
Why doesn't she give me any space??
Oh god..He z changed completely... I am completely baffled by his behaviour...
I left my friends, my family for him and it looks as though he is going to leave me,
he does not need me anymore... I am just a past for him.
All he needs is career, friends, money.. where do I stand??? He is left with no time for me..
When he knows he wants me to give him space, why doesn't he know what I want???
He used to say he loved me thrice an hour, and now?? Once in 3 days, I have to remind him we are supposedly in love..

Now, I want to know, who has changed??? He or she???
or was there some thing else we missed out???
The time!!! Time changes everything...
Everyone is a target of the same old TIME!!!
We want nations to change with time, but we are scared to see
ourselves changing wid time!!

Please give her the protection, or reassurance of your love for her she wants...
Jus tell her how much u need her and look what you have done to her??
She smiled again!!! She feels blessed again!!!
Give him some space for himself, he wants to come back to you,
but your questions repel him...He still loves u!!
He wants a companion not a boss...
He has one already their hanging on his head...

If your partner has changed, you have also done to the same extent,
or may be more since u see everything different...

This was just one attempt from me to understand a relationship from the perspective of
both sides of the coin.. Would u ve been happy if it was always sunny or rainy or snowy???
What if nights stopped happening???

Think it over!!!
Love is a beautiful garden...
But u cant admire the beauty if u can't see the fall,
Just be patient, spring has time to come!!!!