Steve Jobs made me think………again!!!

First of all, rest in peace Steve Jobs. He is one of a kind and certainly one of the greatest visionaries of our time.

I have been reading about him all over again. His personal life seems as much fascinating as his professional life. Here is something very interesting about him:

Jobs said he was certain that his character had been formed from his experiences, not his birth parents or genes. He frequently referred to his adopted parents as “the only real parents” that he ever had.

And, this naturally reminded me of my post from 2007:

Genes and Environment

Now that I am reading so much about Jobs, I keep wondering if he should have responded to Abdulfattah Jandali‘s emails. Maybe, maybe not.

When do you restart a blog?

When one reader consistently keeps asking you about new content in your blog. It’s the persistence from that one reader which makes you start writing again. The zeal and the enthusiasm rushes back because now you have an answer to that reader. You suddenly realize that “Life in timelessness” is a farce and if there is will, there is certainly a way.

I have always believed that most of the poems I have written are because of my mother. Every time I call her, she would ask me if I wrote something new. She never got tired of asking and I couldn’t postpone writing forever.
This reader reminds me so much of my mother’s attitude towards writing and life in general. I am probably not the greatest blogger. I know I am not. Nowhere close, actually. But, this reader makes me feel like I am. And for that, I can’t thank him enough.

For all the good people from Singapore to Brussels, and New Delhi to San Francisco- good to see you peeking around, The blog is now officially re-opened 🙂

And to somebody out there, here’s your ode. Thank you.

It’s a girl!!!

Born on 29th April, 2011 at 1:54PM. 7.4lbs and 20.5 inches at birth.

Like Mother Like Daughter

 

Wife is a cleanliness freak. So, is the daughter 🙂 It’s all in the genes!!!

“Happy” Birthday Story

Long work day. Went home around 6PM. Wife wore the prettiest of black gowns. Kid in another new cute outfit. New car. Started a drive to a cozy restaurant. Clicked on the garage door remote. Dang, the door got stuck and wouldn’t close. Treid again, and again, and again! Got the tool box, nothing worked! Tried to close the door manually, not an inch down.

Past 8PM. Wife and kid in night dress. Me had a hopeless look. Called the handyman neighbor. Still no progress. Phoned up garage repair guy. 9:30PM. He said an hour. Dude came after 11PM. Tried everything and the door still didn’t come down. He decides to cut the cable. Both of us bring… down the garage door slowly. It’s midnight. I go to bed. Wife and kiddo were sleeping peacefully 🙂

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

When Do You Restart Blogging?

There are so many times you want to restart blogging, some of which include:

• Seeing at least five photos of Shobha Karandlaje every evening in the local newspaper – Her cycling, running, lighting the lamp, getting on a bullock cart and several other skills are truly admirable.
• Being the proud father of a darling daughter, whose picture was clicked by tens of cell phone camera owners, when roaming around Mysore palace during Dasara.
• Watching cricket on TV, day and night, and realizing how much I miss this in America.
• Completely getting frustrated by the traffic in Bangalore and cursing myself for being the ‘ohhh so sensitive’ NRI.
• Celebrating Deepavali with fireworks after more than a decade.
• Tracing Bendre‘s path which inspired him to write ‘mooDala maneya muttina nIrina’.
• Getting a CD released, which has my poems, my mother’s music and the biggest contemporary singers.
• Getting annoyed by the pathetic quality of Zee Kannada Sa Re Ga Ma Pa and especially getting irritated by immature comments from ‘judges’ such as Archana Udupa.

But, here’s the reason which finally made me write again:

• Mother and son talking way past midnight; listening to Susan Boyle, Adam Lambert, S.Janaki, P.Susheela and others; reminiscing the old days; remembering so many old friends, wondering where they are now; talking about all the happy moments, and the not-so happy ones, and learning several new things in the process; nostalgia……

Life is beautiful…………..

The Dreams In Which I’m Dying Are The Best I’ve Ever Had

As weird as it sounds, this sentence is just kicking the creative juices out of me (whatever of it is left, that is!). As you’ve rightly guessed, I am listening to Tears for Fears, Gary Jules and Adam Lambert. A week ago, I was listening to an Assamese song sung by my mother, over and over and over, again and again, past midnight, of course. And, this week, it’s ‘Mad World’. Anyway, I wanted to write a poem, but I will settle for a blog post.

Fatherhood has been amazing. The fact that she wants me to hold her and jump up and down, is free exercise – you know, I always tend to look at the bright side.  When I come back from work, she will be sitting on her mother or grand mother’s lap. I just go there and give my biggest grin and start talking to her. She instantly recognizes my face and gives the biggest and best smile in the World. Now, that is priceless! (Please note, Master card). I can never give up anything for that.

The twinkle in her eyes when she is happy, the droopy cheeks when she is crying, pure and untainted innocence – I am truly blessed. I am sure most fathers have these feelings – it’s the norm, for most of us, at least. I don’t know how the love gets divided when you have more than one kid (it probably gets doubled!), but when you have your very first child, the emotions and feelings are truly out of this World.

A long time back, there was a comment on my blog saying there is only one sun and one moon. Very true, but few (un)lucky ones will have to live through eclipses. Two days back, I was staring at the full moon. I remembered the bright sun earlier that day. I looked at my wife, and at my beautiful daughter. I was happy, I was content.

I wanted to write a poem, but ended up with this. Not too far, I suppose. It’s not all that cryptics, is it? And yes, I find it kind of funny and I find it kind of sad, that the dreams in which I’m dying are the best I’ve ever had.

Baby, The Babe Magnet

It’s been a few weeks that I have been taking my daughter out on hikes. The best one was when I had to drive through dirt roads and then hike around a mle and a half. It was certainly worth the trip – the waterfall was magnificent. But, something surprised me. Several of my Indian friends and their parents are shocked, to say the least, that I am taking a one month baby all around the place. Well, she seems to like it, so why not? 🙂

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

At least for now, my daughter has realized that “late to bed, late to rise” is the way to go. I am sure, that comes directly from my genes (although, I have to admit, certainly not from my mother’s side). It has been fun taking care of her past midnight. But, here’s a twist. She has developed all traits of being colic. It starts out sometime late in the evening and goes on for a few hours. The solution? I go into the master bathroom, turn on the vent and stand there for sometime. Sheesh, she has a really weird sense of music!

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

All the beautiful girls in the town have been really nice to me these past few weeks. “Ohhh, she is sooooooo cute”, “How old is she? Oh my Gooooood”, “Ohh, isn’t sheeeee a princeeeesss?” etc. have become quite common nowadays. I do rememebr an episode of ‘Friends’ when Chandler and Joey scored with the women, when they carried around Ross’ baby. Isn’t it an irony? When all the single men are waiting for a smile, the girls are busy talking with the new dad – handsome, of course 😉

Move Over Microsoft, Intel Is A Bigger Evil

Folks at AMD must be partying today. Wait a second, aren’t they right here in Sunnyvale, California? I am all confused now. How can a company in a capitalist society embrace the most ridiculous socialist ruling ever? Whatever….AMD didn’t have a party in several years, so let them enjoy the day!

Seriously though, when did giving rebates to high volume sales become a crime? Hasn’t Eurpoe realized that Socialist socities are a big flop? Why should hard work and success have a price tag? Isn’t it amazing how 19th century laws to prevent monopoly are still being used in the 21st century?

EU’s claim to fairness is making sure every player has equal market share. That’s the biggest joke in today’s business world. So, who is next? HP, CISCO, Oracle, Google – anyone above a certain thershold should decide to stop expanding and limit their profits, or else EU will be standing with the evil grin right next to you!!!

Have you noticed that AMD chips are manufactured in Germany? Sure, Intel has operations in Ireland. But between Germany and Ireland, we all know which is more powerful, don’t we? I am sure this has absolutely nothing to do with EU ruling. I just brought that point up, that’s all!!!

The babies in EU can cry a river. Companies like Intel are here to stay. Innovation is key to growth, some silly ass “bribing” cannot make a company great. Do the paper tigers in EU even realize the magnitude of research and development that happens in the technology sector? Do they know the amount of brainpower which has gone into making a 45nm chip a reality? If AMD had superioir products, they would do better. Infact, they did do better a few years back when Intel’s product line wasn’t the best. How did AMD manage to do well at that time, huh? Tell me, tell me how?

People with common sense know very well that all men are NOT made equal. There has to be a healthy competition. Only then will there be opportunity, innovation and eventually, yes, World peace. Go intel!