Wednesday, April 16, 2008

FeedBurner Initiative

As you can see at the right hand side (if you are in my blog), I have switched over to the overly popular FeedBurner to burn my feeds and present it to you. FeedBurner gives lots of advantages like being able to find out how many subscribers you have etc. I am not going to into the details.

Have a good day!

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

One hour please?

Photo taken by me as an example of a stay at home dad and kids.Image from WikipediaI got this in a mail. It was simply amazing:

A
man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door.

SON: "Daddy, may I ask you a question?"
DAD: "Yeah sure, what is it?" replied the man.
SON: "Daddy, how much do you
make an hour?"
DAD: "That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?" the man said angrily.
SON: "I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?"
DAD: "If you must know, I make Rs.100 an hour."
SON: "Oh," the little boy replied, with his head down.
SON: "Daddy, may I please borrow Rs.50?"

The father was furious, "If the only
reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I work hard everyday for such this childish behavior."

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.

The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?

After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think: Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that Rs.50 and he really didn't ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door. "Are you asleep, son?" He asked.

"No daddy, I'm awake," replied the boy.
"I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier" said the man.
"It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you.. Here's the Rs.50 you asked for."
The little boy sat straight up, smiling. "Oh, thank you daddy!" He yelled.

Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills. The man saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.

"Why do you want more money if you already have some?" the father grumbled.

"Because I didn't have enough, but now I do," the little boy replied.

"Daddy, I have Rs.100 now. Can I buy an hour of your time?

Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you."


The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness.

It's just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts.

Do remember to share that Rs.100 worth of your time with someone you love.

Monday, April 07, 2008

Travelling Soldier

Statue dedicated to the traveller.  Oviedo, Spain.Image from WikipediaDecisions

Each decision counts. Each one.

Either you wake up now and start your day or press the snooze button. Either you choose to go to college or bunk it.

As you walk forward in the journey called your life, you have to make decisions regarding which road to take. Sometimes, there are clear directions to your destination, but sometimes there aren't any at all. All you can do is to decide which road next to follow based on your gut feeling, and with each decision you make, your course of journey changes, irreversibly.

There I stand on the crossroads, unable to decide on which of one to take. I recall Robert Frost's "Road Less Traveled":

ROAD LESS TRAVELED

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth

Then took the other as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet, knowing how way leads onto way
I doubted if I should ever come back

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence
Two roads diverged in a wood
And I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference

-Robert Frost

I am sorry that I can't travel both. Neither can I stand there indefinitely. I need to decide and move on. Life is made up of a series of decisions, each one changing the course of it. You eventually decide wake up and go to your classes.

Keep your destination clear in mind and believe that whatever you do is for the good, and you shall never repent. Hope is what keeps us running. It is with the hope that tomorrow's morning will be bright that we go to sleep today.

Sunday, April 06, 2008

The meaning of Life

What is it?



Its on a Sunday evening that I started introspecting and wondering about the meaning of life. This animation called life, this river that alters the course of life of others as it passes by, this gift given by someone up there beyond our understanding, this one beautiful recipe that tastes both joyish and sorrowish, this drama where some play big and some ever get noticed, what is it, what is its meaning?

As I stand in my room with my eyes closed, listening to the plain music that flows and fills the surroundings, I try to think about what I want out of my life? All I feel is a sense of deep silence and whenever I do this again, the question eludes me to the deepest of its mysteries. Why is it that on this road, we can only see backwards and not see what is at the front? Steve Jobs beautifully summarizes life:

"You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life"

And so what is my next dot going to be? Is it something that I know? I am never sure of what is going to happen tomorrow, may be that is something that keeps life interesting. If God ever came to me and asked what I would want, what would be my wish? I don't know and I never would know. I many times come up with an answer and it amuses me that each time its different. That is why, I tell God to deal with the problem of others, but I just ask him this one thing - that each and every decision I take, I would never like to repent in the future and I ask him for the strength to be able to face the results. After all, its these decisions that mark the dots on the canvas called life.



Further Reading : Steve Jobs' Commencement Address at Stanford