Of Foibles, Fables and Folklore

finals time again.

2006-06-03T22:14:00.000-07:00

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

2006-04-25T23:37:00.000-07:00

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

On happiness...

2006-04-19T21:46:00.000-07:00

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..

2006-04-12T22:13:00.000-07:00

i want to watch the following movies:

Lucky Number Slevin
The Notorious Bettie Page
MI-3
The Da Vinci Code

Travel to the following places:

New Zealand
Brazil
Greece
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

2006-04-09T21:04:00.000-07:00

I need a 30-hole punch.

Spring Break

2006-03-31T10:23:00.000-08:00

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

2006-03-11T21:57:00.000-08:00

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!

My love affair with San Francisco

2006-03-10T14:48:00.000-08:00

As I drive on US-101, just as I start to see the city's skyline, or if after dark, the city lights, my heart skips a beat...

There's something about the big cities of the world - its like every corner has a story to tell, there's always something going on - good or bad, and life, seems to be really alive... Its like I can see people actually "living" - as opposed to the suburbs, where everyone seems to be in their homes...

San Francisco downtown, where I stayed, is fascinating in and itself. I love the roads, the people, the restaurants, the shopping, the activity... I feel like I am closer to Hyderabad every time I am in a big city.

Needless to say, I had a lovely stay this week, as I attended the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco - met quite a few people I knew, met a few others that I didnt know, but that I got to know just a teeny-weeny bit over the two days - the party on Tue night, at Jillian's was a lot of fun - Intel hosted an open bar, and there was pool, oodles of chocolate-dipped strawberries and other little dessert things, and did I mention the open bar?? I had a cosmo and two rum n cokes, played pool, and was happy until the next morning, when I woke up dehydrated and with a hangover - but went and worked out at the hotel gym and made myself worse...

But all in all, there's something to be said about conferences - there's something about the experience of a thousand-plus people from all over the world converging in one location, partying, sharing, networking, learning for 3 days, and then everyone goes their separate ways - the end of a conference always leaves me a little exhausted and a little sad...

This one was fuN! I am in love with the city all over again:-)

Life's little Punctuation Marks

2006-03-05T09:34:00.000-08:00

How blase our speech would be if we didnt use any punctuation - I've heard some people talk - they have no periods, commas or semi-colons when they talk, its a rather monotonous drone and I wonder if they even stop to catch their breath in between..

Yesterday, I attended a workshop called "The Articulate Woman - Finding your voice" - I relaxed so completely during the 3-hr workshop, and I realized this is where I am at peace, this is when I relax - when I am learning, growing, reflecting and correcting... We go about our daily lives, caught up in a routine of some sort, and then there are those chance encounters, those little experiences, that are transformative - that make us stop and think for a little while - we never forget those people or those experiences...

In my mind, all those transformative experiences are punctuation marks in life - they are what enable us to catch our breath, to soak in all that life has to offer - if we didnt have those, life would feel and perhaps be very monotonous, and after a point, perhaps feel purposeless - the worst agony of all -

At the workshop, I met older women, who probably just wanted to check the workshop out, I met lawyers, business owners and other professionals - and as I looked around the room, noone was exceptionally beautiful or accomplished or rich. But I was able to experience a certain beauty in the room that transcended everything tangible - they all wanted to learn , they all wanted to improve. The panel of lawyers were all women of South Asian origin, women who've dedicated a part of their lives to helping other women by being involved with organizations such as Maitri and Narika - organizations that help victims of domestic violence who are of a South Asian origin. As they spoke, I could feel the passion in their voices, the strength of their conviction... they simply refuse to accept that its OK to be the "abused"...

I discerned an almost childlike naivety in these women - an unshaking belief that they could, somehow, change the world just through their strength and their passion - and I realized, with a shudder, that they were...

I felt I was home.

my fav picture

2006-03-02T21:47:00.000-08:00

My friend Roopa and me in San Francisco. Morning after a girls night out consisting of smoking by the terrace swimming pool at midnite and plenty of wine and chocolate. (I am the one in peach)

Cant wait for spring

2006-03-02T08:57:00.000-08:00

Though this picture is kind of wrong, since there's the fall colors in the back, and my avatar's all dressed for spring... Here's the top 5 reasons I like spring:

1. i workout more
2. i can hear birds chirping
3. get to see a dazzling array of colors since flowers are everywhere I turn
4. days get longer so its no longer dark by the time I get home
5. Can start wearing sandals again

I have a really busy weekend, as well as a busy week coming up - Attending an event to celebrate the International Womens Day, which is on Mar 8th! I am sure this will be fun, as one of the workshops involves painting a community mural and the project's been named "the Mark of a woman" - what fun! So I will be in San Francisco next week, attending the Intel Developer Forum - Intel says it has all these great product roadmaps that will be unveiled there, hmmm.. hope its as good as the hype's being made out to be:-) I will be staying at the Marriott, in SF downtown.. cant wait!! This is what I get for booking my hotel room at the last minute - one of the best hotels!! The only bummer is that I'll miss classes, as I have no intention of driving from SF for class.. This also means I'll have to get my statistics homework done early this week so I can turn it in Monday.

is this a joke?

2006-02-25T10:29:00.000-08:00

Warning on an antidepressant medicine:

Antidepressants may increase suicidal thoughts and tendencies in children, adoloscents and sometimes in adults. If any of these side effects occur, please contact your doctor immediately.

Enuf said...

here's a thought to ruminate on..

2006-02-23T09:07:00.000-08:00

if you are thin, you wish you were a bit "rounder"
if you are on the heavier side, you wish you were skinny - like those models
if you are okay with your weight, you want to be shorter/taller
If you are okay with your height, you want more money
If you have money, you want a better education
If you are well-educated, you want to look glamorous
If you are glamorous, you want to be intelligent
If you had all that, you want a great spouse
if you have a great spouse, you want a nice house
ONce you have a house, you want a vacation home
Once you have a BMW, you want ??? a different car
If you have all this, you want to be younger
If you were young and had all this, you want more excitement
If you have everything , then you want to find out the meaning of life...since life now seems dull and empty...

Want want want.. whine whine whine...

I wonder.. Does innovation and human advancement thrive on discontentment? What would happen if everyone on earth were content to be as they are, who they are and with who they are... ??????/

my drive to work this morning

2006-02-23T08:47:00.000-08:00

And what a drive it was - it seemed like every nincompoop in the South Bay conspired to create obstacles for me by virtue of their idiotic driving - Driving at 40mph in a 50mph zone is not only stupid, its nerve-wracking - I always turn to look at the person who drives badly, once I get a chance to drive by them, and ahead of them - they usually have a zombie-like expression on their faces, as if oblivious to the fact that there are other cars on the road - they also look nonchalent as if to tell me that even if they were not oblivious, that they dont really care. But the one remarkable fact is that they almost never, ever turn to look at me - so my angry glares go unnoticed and unappreciated - I have this theory that if you stare at someone long enough, eventually, something makes them sense it, (perhaps its just peripheral vision), but whatever it is, they usually turn to look at you - not these idiots - they look straight ahead - its almost spooky - as if they've been programmed or something...

It was an ordeal, my friends, especially this one guy who was driving at 40mph, and stopped prematurely at every traffic light - once he did stop, then he kept creeping up on the guy in front of him, until the light turned green - and once it did, he then charged forth to end up at 40mph again!!!!!!!!!!

Most of the others were either Chinese men or Indians - I dislike stereotyping in general, but there's something to be said about people driving Toyota Corollas and Honda Accords - I dont know which way this works - is it that the cars incite their drivers to drive so gingerly, or is that so called "safe" drivers pick these cars? You tell me...

For now, I have to get back to preparing for my midterm..

on war...

2006-02-16T13:59:00.000-08:00

It never ceases to amaze me that every culture in the world upholds the same values, involving love, integrity and family. People of all cultures and religions all over the world need to feed themselves, clothe themselves even if through different food and fashions. The institutions of marriage and family are surprisingly similar too - Every country produces grains, dairy and vegetables, and meat. We all need water and air to survive. People all over the world transact on a daily basis - exchanging goods and services through currency. Everyone indulges in some form of performing arts - every country has produced painters, sculptors, dancers and musicians.... Schools and universities exist in all countries.

With so many things being similar, why then, do we clash? My theory is that we fight because we focus on our differences, and how those make us superior to others - Each of us, I believe, secretly wants the rest of the world to believe in what we believe, to love as we love, to hate as we hate - And this usually lies dormant, until a clever politician awakens this and unifies as against another group of people - We seek solace that we are not the only ones that feel these feelings, and nurture the comraderie that only a common enemy can evoke and sustain...

War, is business- Its not a clash of ideals, its not a clash of values - its a grab for power. I think war is the most primitive way of handling differences - If after so many years of evolution, we havent grown past that, perhaps we havent evolved all that much?

My colleague's son is in the Marine Corps and he is so proud of his son - I grew up thinking so too, about patriotism and the people that defend our borders - And I continue to have the utmost respect for these people that go to war on our behalf - I wonder what motivates them to face death- its probably because they believe that they are fighting for a cause - What if they realized that they were fighting for one man? - to further his cause and his interests....

Wisdom for all

2006-02-15T19:25:00.000-08:00

I am finally done with my Stats midterm - though I did spend some time on problem #2 - finally figured out it was a binomial distribution... At this point, I dont really care how I did on the exam..

So anyways, that's not what this post is about. This post is a summary of the wisdom I've collected from various guy friends regarding women:

1. Men dont care what brand a woman's jeans are, let alone what brand of lipstick a woman's wearing ( Note: not all red lipsticks are created the same - you need to get the one wiht the right blue or yellow base to go with your complexion)
2. Women spend a lot of money on general beauty/clothes upkeep - Men spend a lot of money too - on women!
3. All women are bi (statistically unverified)
4. All women are crazy (hmm...)
5. Women are generally prone to melodrama ( for e.g: when my friend suggested I overcome my fear of heights, I suggested that perhaps I should just jump off a cliff to cure my fear - which then of course led him to make this observation)
6. Girls are always using either chapstick or lipstick - and apparently guys dont like the new, gooey kind of lipgloss that women are using these days
7. Men dont understand women's fascination for shoes (high and low heeled - Elena had 120 pairs, she gave some away, now she's at 90 - I only have around 30) or handbags ( i mean, really, how different is a $1000 Louis Vuitton from a $40 no-name? - Let me tell you guys something - VERY!!!! )
8. Women talk too much ( No.. really?)

If anyone has any more wisdom to add, feel free to post a comment here...

I didnt realize women did so much to annoy men - I LOVE IT!! we rock:-)

P.S: Just found this on The Onion - a completely opposite spin on my post http://www.theonion.com/content/node/45382

Craziness abounds...

2006-02-15T13:07:00.000-08:00

I just realized how much pain women put themselves through on a regular basis - this is voluntary, self-invoked, deliberate...

One of these days, amidst the facials, waxing, massages, manicures, pedicures, haircuts, highlights and coloring, shopping for shoes and boots, shopping for clothes, shopping for cosmetics, shopping for bags to hold them all, shopping for jackets to keep me warm and stylish... AND with a full-time job, working on a part-time MBA, doing volunteer work and chairing women's organizations, being a social butterfly, attending networking events, keeping myself up-to-date on the latest film and political gossip, world affairs and business news, cooking wholesome food, shopping for groceries, keeping my home clean and tidy and always keeping an upbeat spirit and a Singapore Airlines stewardess-like smile, and trying to explore spirituality and philosophy, reading the latest business books as well as exploring the latest fiction, finding time to workout,
as I walk around in my impractical 3" heels ( I am 5' 8" btw), in my impractical knee-length skirt and my impractially clingy business shirt, with my impractical hairstyle - side bangs getting into my eyes and my impractically gooey lipgloss which makes my hair stick to my mouth... I'll set a minute aside to wonder - Why???

Until then, let the insanity of all this continue...

quality of my life these days...

2005-10-24T10:10:00.000-07:00

life before b-school is a far-out memory these days - My life, as are my fellow part-time MBAers lives, is becoming increasingly pathetic. My friend Marsha just IM'ed me to tell me excitedly that she had a lunch date with her accounting textbook today:-( Can it get worse than that? I am at home, tweaking my management midterm pondering the consequences of letting my hypothetical company's top engineer go... Of course, later today, I have school to look forward to. Fri night i finally managed to make it to a networking event - but it was sad - I ended up chatting mostly with Emma, who I kind of knew already... Also not sure how, in this land of huge numbers of Indians, I end up at events and activities where I am the only Indian woman - sometimes the only Indian. Thankfully, I dont get racially discriminated against - rather I am held as being slightly exotic, and interesting - Of course I've learnt over the years to not talk excessively about Indian culture or Indianness, runnign the risk of being designated to those topics for the rest of the evening - arranged marriages, elephants and vegetarianism to mention a few. Oh and these days, a new one - the meaning of my name. I dont know what the hell my name means and never felt it important enough to probe into. IF anyone knows the meaning of my name though, feel free to post a comment here.. Oh Well, atleast people have stopped exclaiming "Oh you've only been here x years, you speak really good English!!" which of courses forces me to tell them that I was educated with English as the medium of instruction, my mom and dad speak english, that I think in English etc.. On good days, anyway - on others, I used to say "yeah, thanks!"

BTW, I've started reading the Bible - THe New Testament. They've traced JEsus's family tree back 42 generations - isnt that amazing? I wish i knew my family that well.. My friend loaned it to me and said I could keep it for however long I wsihed, which is good, because at the rate I am reading it, it'll be time for The Second Coming - haha:-)

back to my midterm now - I think I will hold on this genius engineer for now.. ciao.

the day the balance sheet didnt balance

2005-10-18T18:57:00.000-07:00

spent all monday fretting about the accounting midterm. The management class was Okay, Adam finally got around to making my neon orange name sign - which the professor noticed - good - I think I am in love with her - except I am a woman so I cannot be in love with another woman - i guess I can, but OK, I am really not in love with her -but she's just so awesome - she's cool, suave, charming and pretty, AND smart as hell - and her hair is always perfect!!!

I also found out recently that i am low type-A, which is good - I always thought I was high typeA. I guess I could categorize myself over and over again in all aspects - until the cows come home, and still just be who I am.. My mom hates it that I've started giving names to everything. You are high-Machiaveillian, you have a high/low locus of control blah blah blah - i have no idea why I am sharing learnings from my organizational behaviour class with my mom - its not like she has any use for stuff like this... Oh well...

so anyway, the balance sheet didnt balance on the midterm. I ran out of time - i blame the professor - he jazzed up the question a little too much - wrote a story about this alcoholic CFO who didnt maintain any accounts - rather, he scribbled little memos on cocktail napkins during moments of clarity - i personally think this is unnecessary color to a bloody drab subject like actg.. What's he trying to do? make it interesting? so anyway, the first midterm didnt go so well. need more study groups - not sure about this part-time MBA program..

lunch with Andrew today was OK - he was cracking me up as usual, with his quips on Priti's BO - haha - Here's a little known fact about me - I hate lunching alone. As proof, here's my lunch schedule for this week and the next:

Tue, OCt 18 - impromptu lunch with Andrew - Midori
Wed, Oct 19 - Doctor's appt - otherwise would have been lunch with Brenda, Marsha and Carol
Thu, Oct 20 - Lunch w/Andrew - different andrew - in the RNB cafe
Fri, OCt 21 - lunch w/ Charlie - Rivermark ( prob. Red Robin)
Mon, Oct 24 - Lunch w/ Krista - TBD
Tue, Oct 25 - Lunch w/ Marco - tbd
Wed, Oct 26 - OPEN
Thu, Oct 27 - Lunch with Shweta (CBIT senior) - Rivermark
Fri, Oct 28 - OPEN as of now

These are a few of my not-so-favorite things

2005-09-27T13:36:00.000-07:00

Okay, really, its stuff I cannot stand and feel like violently shaking the person that does it, or otherwise indulging in similar not-so-polite behavior.. I am at work, so am not going to put these in any particular order..
1. sipping tea, coffee, or any liquid loudly - is there a word for this? slurping - at work? I think it should be listed in Intel's handbook as one of the things that can get you fired. Intel rules say sleeping on premises can get you fired - why not this? I think its more annoying than sleeping - sleeping doesnt annoy anyone - except if you snore then its a different story - perhaps that's why Intel bans it... Hmmm....

2. coming to a dead halt while merging on freeway, expecting all the cars in the right lane to come to a screeching halt because this retard's usually stupid looking car is now making an entrance.. Hello... dont these people read the California Driver's Handbook?

3. not making eye contact - causes me to label them as shifty, not interested, weird and uninteresting.. I had a colleague who would do this - he would look at my cube walls while talking to me - this always put me in a quandary - where do I look? It felt just a trifle strange to be looking at the cube walls as well... I wonder what would happen if you put 3 or 4 of such people together..

4. people who complete my sentences... Arrgh! Will someone please take them away? If I start to say something, is it too much to expect to be allowed to finish it? I demand that I be allowed to finish it in any matter of my choosing - I am pretty darn sure Miss Manners would agree. Also, since the other person doesnt know what the hell I WAS going to say, this then draws out the conversation - which I probably dont intend to do with this person in the first place... Grrrr

Of course what prompted this post is this guy sitting on the other side of my cube, sipping his post-lunch tea - I am going to make it a point to schedule 1pm meetings every day..

noone to read this

2005-09-27T00:05:00.000-07:00

I would, but its time to catch up on my beauty sleep - so long my lovelies:-)