finals time again.

I seem to post right before finals each quarter - wonder what's up with that? Perhaps blogging seems like an interesting alternative to studying??

To put it mildly, this quarter sucks! I am not having a good time at all in either of my classes, seem to have no motivation to study - am just floating, drifting, doing Ok, but just OK.. Am up-to-date with movies though! Da vinci code, and y'day, watched XMen3 - will watch Cars next weekend... I've watched so many Hindi movies i've lost track - I really liked Taxi 9211! Havent read any good books - dabbling a bit in Nietschze...

Getting into working out again, i think that's the only thing that'll keep me sane - And Subir, I have no recent pictures of myself - will post them when i get some...

Sydney, 2003

I have nothing new to say, so am just posting random pictures...

On happiness...

I am incredibly busy these days and constantly playing catch-up but amazingly, amidst the madness of my routine, I have the random epiphany -

My friend's mom, when I visted her in Hyd last year, remarked that money can get us comfort, but not necessarily happiness - I thought that was really wise and true - since then i've been pondering on the issue of happiness - specifically - what will bring me happiness?

Every so often its important to look back on our lives and connect the dots - well I did and realized that all the times that I've been truly happy is when I was involved in a cause greater than myself - when I gave more than I received. When I was able to feel genuinely sad or happy for someone else.

YOu see, i've realized that the pursuit of happiness and the pursuit of financial success are two parallel journeys, atleast for me - While financial success is all about getting, happiness is all about giving and sharing - While it is important to be competitive, it is equally important to be able to congratulate the winner at the end if we lose, and to rejoice in their success..
It is also equally important that when we win, we have a few people in our lives that we know will feel truly happy for us - those relationships are the ones where we did not say " what's in it for me"

While leading a purposeful life is important, it is equally important that we find purpose in selfless acts - thus making a seemingly "purposeless' act purposeful :-) i.e.being selfish because I find happiness in acts of service that contribute to more than the sum of parts.

Here's a question for all of you - When was the last time you were moved to tears because someone achieved their goals - where you had nothing to gain?? I feel we can never truly feel part of this world or with anyone if we are unable to connect to others at that level... I feel if we want to be happy, we need to start by being happy for others... !

Random stuff again..

i want to watch the following movies:

1. Lucky Number Slevin
2. The Notorious Bettie Page
3. MI-3
4. The Da Vinci Code

Travel to the following places:

1. New Zealand
2. Brazil
3. Greece
4. Montreal

And also Victoria's Secret and the company I work for have something in common: they are both going wireless :-)

They also need to swap brand names since Ipex sounds like a computer name & well, our mobile technology name sounds more like lingerie...

Thanks for the article M! Its hilarious:-)

As for school, Microeconomics is still a mystery to me after 3 classes - I havent opened the textbook so far, though the professor keeps urging me to - I better start to be scared and do something about it, i dont want to not learn - both classes this quarter are very intensive and time-consuming, and time is something I dont really have much of.. The WIB conference planning is taking up several hours of my time every week - this week alone, I'll have spent nearly 10 hours doing WIB conference-related work:-( I am worried about how I'll manage being WIB President in addition to school-work. But I've decided to do it anyways!

I am intrigued by Organizational Design - it feels very academic, but intriguing nevertheless - I am just afraid I'll become a very cynical consumer once I'm done with my MBA!! As a good marketer, you have to activate needs in people - make them want stuff - i think I'll market only stuff that's healthy for people to have - I am not going to market junk food for instance... Only socially-responsible marketing for me!!

misc

I need a 30-hole punch.

Spring Break

k, i know its been a while since my last post - perhaps I am not feeling very creative these days - Did pretty good in both my classes - the surprising thing was that I turned out to like statistics - I always thought statistics was boring, but it has some real powerful applications in the business context! Not that i would make a career out of it, but it was definitely useful to learn.

I've been spending my time in awfully dull ways these last few days - I mostly sleep or read ELLE - the only interesting thing i learnt was that "The Lord of The Rings - the play" will have its music composed by none other than our very own A.R. Rahman - the guy amazes me. I definitely want to watch it when it comes to the US. It'll probably come to Broadway first, so that'll be my chance to spend a few days in New York city. Or maybe I should go to London to watch it - which is where I saw "Bombay Dreams" - I also made it a point to see "The Mousetrap" in London, around Leicester Square, where its been running for several decades now.. Going to London and actually walking around on the streets with names that I grew up with playing Monopoly was an awesome experience, but more about that in a different post.

I am reading my first PG Wodehouse - i know, I am not sure how i missed this great author in my childhood - i seem to have read most other popular fiction writers - but his humorous insights are addictive - for e.g., in the book i am reading one of his characters says " everything in life that's any fun is either illegal, immoral or fattening" - i am completely bowled over... and look forward to many more hours of delightful light reading...

I still need to finish "The World is Flat" - somehow books that are overhyped either do or dont do it for me - this one just did not impress me, for some reason - it seemed rather shallow, but I think I'll save my final judgement for after I've read the whole book.

Increasingly, I feel there's not enough art and beauty in my life, perhaps because I dont have friends that are into art? I need to change that, seek such people out - I'd love to go to San Francisco to modern and classical art museums, the opera, watch more theater - i did that for a while. Theater has an allure for me that movies just dont... THe last play I watched was "The Lion King" - terrific costumes and performance - I thoroughly enjoyed myself - One of the great things about this country is the amazing array of activities it offers - no matter what your interests...

Random stuff

I think the following actors were very handsome - some of 'em in an atypical way....

Jack Lemmon
Henry Fonda ( did anyone watch "The Grapes of Wrath"?)
Spencer Tracy ( I think he was best when paired with Katherine Hepburn)
Warren Beatty ( i dont know of anyone else who fits so well in any story about Al Capone!)
Gregory Peck, Sean Connery, Sidney Poitier (in To Sir with Love)

They just dont make 'em like they used to - Brad Pitt?? Bah!