and moving onto the weather report

it is raining cats and dogs here in college station, err..wait, sorry, it is a beautiful day with bright sunshine and cool winds. Time to take your sunglasses out and enjoy the beautiful day. Oh kindly wait, from the reports that just came in, it is a windy day in our college station. Wind chill is causing temperatures to dip down to 52 F(okay, smile, but we are in texas!). The winds seem to be slowing but the skies are still cloudy and whoa! we are having a downpour all in a sudden..
seriously, this is exactly how it was the weekend that just passed by!

little miss muffet

Well, atleast she had a spider to come and disturb her while eating her curd. Nothing is here right now for me, no entertainment whatsoever. It is one of those times where one just sits in front of the screen or paper(during good ol' paper and pen times) and waits for the answer to take shape in front of their eyes. As if the answer to the problem is going to pop out and straight get channeled into their brains. It is one of those times where eyes just stare into eternity and brain is lying completely still, with not one thought to process.
bah! that was too much fundae for a simple word: bored

crystal ball

I received this link as a comment to my note on Google
A very interesting blog, gives a quick review of the start of Internet (yes! surprise!surprise, the WorldWideWeb was a European venture and not an American, like the row blvs).
Well,the point is, I happily read on till 2005. Then from somewhere within me, I felt a force that stopped me from reading on. I finally realized I am anti-crystal ball :). Huh??..yes!Well, it is not that I don't want to know what my future, just that I feel it would take out the thrill of existence. I would speculate, as an economist(not completely though), I would make my proves, predict market behavior, yada yada. But I would never want to know EXACTLY what would happen. The element of surprise/shock is lost, there is no incentive to live. Forgive me, I did not mean to sound as if the only incentive to live is to know what would happen tomorrow, but yes, the element of mystery is what makes life so interesting/boring. I wonder what would happen if we all knew EXACTLY what was going to happen. There would be no hope, then I guess no perseverance, either complete morality/immorality, no dilemmas, no counselors. Would there be the course optimization(because would we have alternatives?)
I am still intrigued by those who can predict future, sometimes look up on Y! astrology (well, true, they mostly talk abt topics that have binary results like money: u either make or loose, romance: u either have it or not). Even in this case, there is a percentage of failure, as whatever they have mentioned is a possibility and not a fact. But if future was EXACTLY known, dah, I wouldn't be writing this blog.
Often times when I wish I knew what would happen, may be I should remind myself how boring life would get if I already knew and saw my future.

Free Mojtaba and Arash Day

to know what and why:visit here
Je suis libre

misty days

Got an email this morning:
'Hey! it is snowing here, all white, felt like letting you know'.
A snowy day..all white and cold. Fluttering snowflakes, chilly winds, chocolat chaud.
I wasn't all that unlucky, nature had a pretty picture awaiting me as I got out of class:
It was a misty day..beautiful, soft and silky mist. The mist covered the green football fields, hid the clock tower, brought in dew drops, washed the sky, cheered some people, made some think, made me write :).
It was silky, white curtain. Behind this curtain was probably a shy girl, a playful boy, a peaceful old woman, a hurrying officer, a world in its own. Or probably it was a stage, filled with artists, waiting for the curtain to rise and enthrall the world with their performance.Or it was a boundary of a quite town, oblivious to the world. Or better it was a door on the pathway to neverland..

another cribbing s/w prof.

MS Access just messed my life big time! Deleted a record which has corrupted a table. I was warned against touching that table.
God Save me!
~A

name game

My friend (pointing to me)-"this is my friend"
Personne to be introduced - " Hi, I'm Catherine"
Me - "Amrutha,nice to meet you"
Catherine - "Nice to meet you, Rutha"
ME- "???"
ah ok, since 1.5 years now, Amrutha -> I'mRutha,
can't blv I lived with this name for 24 years and did not realize this.
:)

note on v day

And herez an interesting bit I found on the whole Vday Festivities: ancient pagan worshippers found this time of the year the beginning of spring and fertility. Donc, they celebrated it by cleaning their homes and doing things very similar to the ones we do for Pongal( a South Indian harvest festival).Pagan worshippers held women at very high esteem as she was revered to have the power to create a new life. During this period, some rituals were performed that was believed to make women more fertile. At the end of all the festivities, single women's names were all put together in an urn, picked by bachelors and marriages were conducted. Well, that does not exactly happen with Pongal, but I know a lot of weddings are conducted in the month of "Thayee". So, there is continued rendition that makes me believe Hinduism and Paganism are related.
hmm..interesting

grr..brr..texas

Now this is what I call unpredictable climate. Monday, it was hot..I tanned just playing tennis for about 45 mins!
today it is, well..brrr..whoever called it wind chill factor? I think it is wind kill factor, and in the howling winds, fell on ears as wind chill factor.

brush with past

Someone visited Pilani and has sent pictures. I can almost smell pilani in the air around me. I am flooded with pictures,faces,images from my past. It is such a rush... I can close my eyes and hear voices around me, calling me from times long gone by. So vivid, clear and calming. It feels like a home coming. An experience that has changed my life forever. A picture is not worth just a thousand words, a picture is an experience.

V Day

Another scrap on Valentine, another posting on a blog?Oh....Well, yes! Love is anyway one of the world's most harassed topics.
Being the faintest romantique, to me, there is hardly any mystery surrounding St.Valentine. Well, there he was a simple guy who decided that men were better off not being single. So when men had to go to war, he protested and encouraged them to show their love for their respective women. It seems it was quite sometime ago..guess about 1700 years ago.
Herez what I find funny with V-days:
1.Monday morning, oh Feb. 14th, I should tell him I love him? Haha haha..I do not need one special day to tell someone that I love them.
2.The zillions of bucks on roses, chocolates and pink colored things is just way too much. Ok, Feb 15th, where do I keep them?
3.United Colors of Valentine: We get color coded too! Oh, wear some color to let everyone know that you are available. You are committed, tell the whole world with this color. You are in a relationship but want to get out of it, wear some other color.. Err..excuse me?
Criticize me, may be I am getting old and find these things silly ( in fact, embarassing!), but I definitely don't see any sense in them.
Talking about theory of Silliness, I find can it to be of three types:
a. I can be silly because I am stupid
b. I can be silly on purpose and giggle about it (accepted, it is a l'll girlie)
c. I can be silly and don't know I am silly.
Now, Val day, it is the 3rd category.
But sure, it is party time for all those florists, chocolate makes, teddy bear makers, toys shops, masseuse..the heights was pendants of my school logo! Seriously what? Bad enough forgetting Val Day, and as if that wasn't all of it, imagine gifting/receiving a pendant with the school logo on it! God Bless the Capitalists! But hey look, I can see a way out, here's my penny for a thought:
1. Surprise her! We like surprises, a val day is anyway expected.
2. Make her feel wanted, don't get clingy and needy, but just make her feel important and a big part of your life
Bonne Chance a tous,a+

Google Inc.

Google seems to face stiff competition from Yahoo!, AOL and MSN. Especially with all the news about the new search engine from MSN and about Longhorn (the new OS from Microsoft) being tightly integrated with search capabilities, Google needs to be thinking of a good market positioning strategy. Turning into a full fledged marketing portal like MSN or Yahoo! would not be a good idea as it would greatly dilute the brand image that Google has built over 6 years of its existence.
I wonder if Google has thought about powering the travel sites and maps. I am still not sure about the technological implications, but so far, Google has done a very good job in relevance, speed and comprehensiveness. It shouldn't be a problem to extend it. Sometimes, I wonder if the company is getting too big to be nimble. It might be possible to work as induvidual business units, but there might be interdependencies. I like the creativity at Google, their different dimensions of search implementation. Would it be possible for Google to strike a deal with Yahoo! and power its search? Management gurus might drop me like a hot potato for this suggestion, but it sure looks like a good idea. Again, depends on how much Yahoo! makes from its search. Provide feedback on relevance and incorporate that in ranking a page. Again, ranking from experts, suggestions from them on a particular topic, especially in Google Answers might help.
Wonder what their next move might be?

blaming work

quite easy to do, ain't it?Why didn't you do this?-I was busy. Why didn't you come on time?-I was busy. Why didn't I blog today?-I was busy. Somehow, I keep reminding myself of my dad's words: " There is time for every single thing that you want to do in your life. You shouldn't be trying to find time to do things, you should Make time to do them". Wonder how it would be if we could actually transfer time from one day to another :). Probably possible in the parallel universe where another me is sitting and lazing below a huge oak tree, reading all the books that I want to read in this life! Well, got a long nite ahead, a case, test on tuesday and general readings :). So, stay tuned, more tomorrow morning(well, tomorrow morning here in CLL)..a+

random acts of kindness

okay, so there we were, having rented a car, learning to drive and we needed a patient teacher! My neighbors, Jimit, Sid and Uday had another roomie we did not know about all this while. S'apelled Troy (ok,that was franglais), this quiet american was bang different from most of the others who I had met or known. I usually thought that with Americans, one needed to fix appointments for everything(dint Ash also mention this in the Late Night show?). It was common among us to just get together one evening at someone's home, unannounced, sit and chatter and suddenly decide to take off for a movie or coffee. Somehow, I never imagined this to happen among the Americans. Most of the them seem to decide what to do, when. I have heard a zillion times, "ok, I will call you at this hour and then we can go and have some coffee maybe". Anyway, so the point is, I thought Americans never did random acts.
Troy, begged to differ. Friday evening, he was lazing and there we were, a bunch of enthued kids(ok, growing adults) with a car. Et, voila, he offered to teach us to drive. Now, the thing is all of us had a little of driving experience before and it needed immense amount of patience to sit with us. And he did! With each one of the 4 of us, sat through, explaining in a calm voice, even when we were driving rashly, turning at a speed of 60 mph, getting honked at on the highway. It would have been a good three hours he spent with us. We finally finished up with our work, then he took off. Although, he has never said anything to any of us as yet, I am sure and aware that we upset his schedule for yesterday.
Such random acts of kindness, doesn't it make the world so much more better place to live in.

quick smile

finally found one reason to be glad that I am hitting 25 in abt a year - car insurance and rental rates!

post script

just a note to my previous blog, it really has nothing to do with my life. just musings of a working brain. :)

je me souviens

We were a wonderful couple. Many of our friends were jealous of us. My man was perfect for me. It is strange, now, when I think of how it all started, I see myself now wishing that I was different or he was, or that we just hadn't decided to get together. I do not actually remember how we first met.

I am a free lance journalist and my job takes me everywhere in the world. It was on one such business trips that I met him, I think. Our flight was delayed and both were sitting next to each other and working for quite a long time without talking a word to each other. It is funny, but to us, our work was our life. I remember that is why I really started liking him. With him, I felt freedom, unstrung from the usual ropes of relationship..Never heard "you did not call me", "you did not mail me", "we aren't spending enough time together" in our relationship. Strange that I thought this was freedom..but now...

Caught in the web of work and rest, we missed to touch each other. Locked in the world of travails and tasks, we forgot those "wish you were here" calls, the little notes on the kitchen closets. As we unraveled the mazes of complexity at work life, our cozy home was becoming a house. We were falling apart without realizing it. I kept traveling and he, working. Now that it is all over, I feel empty. I miss him, but I can’t tell why. I miss him, but I can’t tell how. I was searching for reasons to hold on to him, for answers to all the questions that were never raised, for solutions to all our problems that did not exist between us.

I began to realize that we did not fight like normal couples did, we did not argue like them. I wasn’t envious of his pretty secretary; he wasn’t asking me questions about my life. We seem to just move on as two friends living together, oblivious to the existence of the other; like two roommates who completely compromised with each other. I wished so hard that were weren’t alike. I dreamt that we would suddenly find each other different, and start all over again. Differences that we can enjoy and learn from, diversity that would add spice to our lives, disparity that would color our lives. I wondered if he was going through the same thing as I, if he also did not know if we were right or wrong in making this bold move.

We parted ways not because we found a reason to; rather because we could not find a reason to walk together.

I think it is the people

It is Career Fair Spring 2005, here in Mays Business School. Scores of companies have put booths, company representatives walk in looking crisp early in the morning( as early as 7.00 am). Anxious students give their smartest look and put their best foot forward. I have enjoyed Career Fairs for 3 semesters now. My first two were not the best I could have had. So, I did something different last sem, hosted a company. It was a wonderful and different experience. Met the company representatives who seemed so warm and friendly. I was surprisingly silent at the breakfast (reminding myself of that one particular scene from F.R.I.E.N.D.S where we hear Ross' thoughts, just after he tried kissing his cousin :). I did not, definitely not that morning, get into any kind of situation like that, so just shut up). Met them a couple of times during the day, reminded them about the free massages (poor people, standing all day and talking to students!) yada yada..when I felt comfy, pulled out my resume. And the rest is fairy tale. This company was the most warm one I have ever known, it is probably their size I thought. Rigorous rounds of interviews, multiple formal dinners, great guidance and support from the people. Finally, made it! got the offer, but couldn't take it. This is where the twist is. I met this company reps today again, a semester later, at the career fair. This morning, I quickly stopped to say hi and they seemed busy. I knew they were probably not too happy. But just now, I stopped again, to meet them more leisurely, and wow!they were genuinely disappointed that I had turned down their offer. Karen, who was my guide and point of contact, meant it when she said she was disappointed. I could see it when I spoke to John. And these guys are pretty big in the IT dept! I felt a pinch of guilt, coz, the only difference the other offer made was better green bills. A little more of green bills. I am not sure if I would meet people like them, if I would be as happy as them to go to work, but I just hope it would be so. :). Karen says just when I said goodbye:"Anytime you are moving to Austin, just send me an email and we will see you again :)". John says: "Stay out of trouble, we will see you again, after may be two years!". Never did I expect this! With people like this, it is no wonder this company is ranked for the 6 consecutive time as one of the best employers to work for (Fortune 100). In all, I finally realized, it is not organization, its policies, its balance sheets, market cap...it is the people.

Preyanka Mani 

thanks pre dear

The pleasure of having a wonderful roomie, the warmth she gives when she smiles, her sweet demeanor, the wisps of vapor from the freshly made tea..thanks dear, going to study now. and I have miles of pages to go before I sleep. Thanks, Pre, you are an little angel

bossy people

Really puts me off when someone who is not a good leader, just cannot manage people from different cultures, is not professional tries to render a WRONG philosophy in life. Upset now, even after telling this girl a zillion times, guiding her , she doesn't just seem to get it! Grrr....some people!

whatz in a name?

Slaugher houses are also called "Plants"..what ironies in life

-source: my "interesting and delicious" slaughter house case due for class on tuesday.

R series in parallel?

Very strange thing happened yesterday. In our french class, each of us had to read an article in french and bring it to class. What I noted was that out of 20 of us, I can bet more than 11 had an article that was connected to religion in some way. Mostly, the topics revolved around iraq, iraqis, muslims, acts of extremism, pope's health! Really really surprising. I was so wronged in assuming that religion is not on top of the things for people. Of course, I did have questions for them once each one finished their summary. Any guesses on my article?..err..well, as usual, I never did my devoir :d
a+

soft song to myself

As I walked down my roads traversed gazillion times so far, I realized how beautiful a world we have built for ourselves. When you live in a university town like mine, sitting idle even is such an experience. Students, faces, the different colors, hands held, laughters, tension writ faces, wringing hands, interviews, campus shuttle, everyday BATTALION, colorful trees, the arrival of spring, classes, courses, scribbled notes, plans for weekends, home games, the huge gym facilities, movies, AggieNights, Chipotle, exchange students :).
It is a grand experience..one of my professors commented that he was in the profession as it keeps him young mixing and staying around youthful vigor. As it gets closer to my graduation, I wonder if I would ever miss these things, or would I have time to stop and think about them. It is a beautiful world, so far advanced and so full of emotions from the one that existed billions of years ago. Lost in thought, I boarded a bus, a friendly smile brought me back to the shuttle. It has been a long way..chennai, dusty rajasthan, college station. Wonder where the roads are going to take me next. Country roads, take me home..

R series

Religion:
During the usual exchange of emails with Vijay, I started thinking more about this concept that we all seem to have built around ourselves. My first claim (Prabhakar, thanks!): whether one is a believer or not, he is bound by religion. The very fact that he chooses to not believe in it, he proves that such a concept does exist and goes on to give the believer reasons justfying his belief(or rather disbelief). I was trying to gauge how much religion forms the basis of one's living. Do people act in a certain way because they belong to a certain religion or they belong to a religion and thereby act in a certain way. What I am trying to pick here is if religion is the cause or the effect of people's practices.

While there a group of us wondering why we are doing whatever we do in the name of rituals(and there are some who fail to find any compelling reason follow rituals at all), there are another group of ppl who don't even think about this "why" part. It doesn't seem too difficult to understand why as a brahman, one needs to wear the sacred thread. In my view, the sacred thread is a constant reminder to him that he belongs to this community and needs to follow a certain way of life. But as Vijay rightly pointed out,this is a constant reminder and do we need this constant reminder? well,Yes, like one tends to forget a language unless he continues speaking it, rituals can fail to pass through generations, unless it is practiced. A mon avis, Religion is a way of life, a faith/belief, habit. But key here is to remember that one cannot force a habit (ever tried giving up smoking or sticking to your New Year resolutions?). It is a personal choice. What has been rather depressing is that relief work for the tsunami affected areas have also been tainted with fanatic religious motives.

will continue later(rather late in the night/trop tot le matin)

listen to the weatherman

Scene 1: Yours truly feels I felt very Indian today, so wore a nice Indian top, footwear that goes well with it( people call that beauty flipflops here :( ). Stepped out, things are fine. class went on ok.

Scene 2: raining hard, cutting chill winds, poor me struggling with my bike, bag and COLD FEET! No wonder the expression came about..COLD FEET! I think I can take any part of me cold..cold eyes, ears, nose, mouth, hands, but not FEET.
There is this feeling of a million knives slowly cutting through your skin. I could feel my blood freezing slowly in my legs. Each drop of rain slices through my skin and burns it! After sometime, I had to consciously make an effort to walk. I couldn't feel my legs anymore. Wiping off the piercing rain, gathering all my courage and strength, I tried to keep moving on. My work place seemed so far away. I thought I was going to die at one point. And strangely, the only sorrow in my head was..what a strange way to die!I was thinking about how the headlines would have been in The Battalion: Graduate Student dies due to Flipflops. followed by a drop in the sales of flip flops..next month first tue, there would be Silver Taps. I sincerely prayed to God not to let me die such a poor death. Goodness!I do have a huge ego..:)

By far, this was the most painful journey to my office. I am definitely not a person to live in the north. The only thought(s) that was warming me was the condition of the poor souls living in Alaska and of course someone ;) .

Moral of the story:
- Listen to your weatherman.
- South Indian wear(for women) does not suit US of A
- Not matter what you cover or not, cover your feet!

this thing called

orkut- Networking power unleashed.
Ever since I was introduced to orkut, been wondering how much of benefit is reaped from the site. The idea is fantastic, proves six degrees of separation, but need to know how much of professional benefits are achieved. As a user, it is frustrating with the slow servers, the bad Doughnut comment, server errors and given such conditions, it is difficult to imagine business networking over such a community.
In a real world(read Graduate Business Career Center), networking is a more formal event. Personal interaction, gestures, etiquette, language are some key components. It is not half as romantic as chatting with stranger and realizing that we have common likes and interests. There is no room for fumbling, errors, guesses, cheesy tacky comments. Be it small, medium or large business ventures, I think personal interaction is a key component. Thankfully, I look at this as one spot that cannot be 'virtualized'.
Couple of suggestions may be: - to keep the latest comments on the first page in a discussion.
- show lesser number of friends and communities in the home page
- limit the number of photos that can be uploaded