25!!! You Kiddin Me..???

I really can't believe in less than next 30 hours I will turn 25. I still remember how I graduated from High School, when I was just 15. So it really becomes hard to take the fact that I have grown so big (physically)...

The last few days have been really crazy... have had a lot of good things and bad things to say.. some things like...

Yesterday one of my former Global Project Manager from Lisbon, Isa Torga, with whom I have shared a good relationship during and post Lionbridge days came online on msn chat. And it was nice talking to her. It was even more beautiful to know that she remembers my birthday :)

Today was an awful day.. I had a total network crash at work today. I have no reason what caused the network to crash but was a terrible one... I thought it could be the switch, so I got it replaced but still the problem continued. So I have called in an engineer to work on this.

At the same time I was called in for a training on designs and internet security on the 4th floor and a NLMET Meeting on the 5th floor. I almost felt like being kicked at like a football in a match. The guys on the 5th Floor wanted me to attend the meeting, guys on 4th Floor wanted me to attend the training, and the guys on the 2nd Floor wanted me to fix the network. And then I had my friend Vio who initially msged and called me continously to fix the machine and then she does crazy things like changes her relation status to 'in a relationship' with me to freak her friends out... I am not sure if she managed to freak her friends out but she did freak mine.

By 4 pm I came out of the training I was attending to be with Sneha and Ravi who had got Pizzas for me. So that was a nice time with them... relaxing and having my pizza with them.

Now its 6.21Pm and I am really exhausted and bout to leave home... but I am talking to Debbie and its so cool... :)

Dancing with God!!

Pic Courtesy: klairy

When I meditated on the word Guidance, I kept seeing "dance" at the end of the word. I remember reading that doing God's will is a lot like dancing. When two people try to lead, nothing feels right. The movement doesn't flow with the music, and everything is quite uncomfortable and jerky. When one person realizes that, and lets the other lead, both bodies begin to flow with the music. One gives gentle cues, perhaps with a nudge to the back or by pressing Lightly in one direction or another. It's as if two become one body, moving beautifully. The dance takes surrender, willingness, and attentiveness from one person and gentle guidance and skill from the other. My eyes drew back to the word Guidance.

When I saw "G": I! thought of God, followed by "u" and "i". "God, "u" and "i" dance." God, you, and I dance. As I lowered my head, I became willing to trust that I would get guidance about my life. Once again, I became willing to let God lead. My prayer for you today is that God's blessings and mercies are upon you on this day and everyday. May you abide in God, as God abides in you. Dance together with God, trusting God to lead and to guide you through each season of your life.

- Anon.

Cartoons speak better than words...

Courtesy: www.joyfultoons.com

Crazy Mallus...

My friend forwarded this to me and I found it worth putting it here for you guys to read it...

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The Angel Gabriel came to the Lord and said 'I have to talk to you. We have some Malayalees up here in Heaven & they are causing problems.

They're swinging on the pearly gates, my horn is missing, they are wearing lungis and saris instead of their white robes, they are riding Toyota Corolla's, Nissan Sunny & privileged ones driving Prado & Mercedes instead of the chariots, and they're selling their halos to people for discount prices.

They refuse to keep the stairway to Heaven clear, since they keep crouching down midway eating samosas and drinking chai. Some of them are even walking around with just one wing & brewing illicit liquor!'

The Lord said, 'Malayalees are Malay alees. Heaven is home to all my children. If you want to know about real problems, give Satan a call.'

Satan answered the phone, 'Hello? Damn, hold on a minute.' Satan returned to the phone, 'OK, I'm back. What can I do for you?'

Gabriel replied, 'I just wanted to know what kind of problems you're having down there.' Satan says, 'Hold on again. I need to check on something.'

After about 5 minutes, Satan returns to the phone and said, 'I'm back. Now what was the question?' Gabriel said, 'What kind of problems are you having down there?' Satan says, 'Man I don't believe this! Hold on.'

This time Satan was gone at least 15 minutes. He returned and said, 'I'm sorry Gabriel, I can't talk right now. These Malayalees down here have put out the fire in hell and are trying to install air conditioning!

Missing Ireland...

Today I am working, not really a great thing on a saturday afternoon to crib about but cant help it. I have to work on this project and have to complete it before evening. Anyway, I was just listening to this beautiful song 'Yahweh' by the Irish band U2 and I so began to miss Dublin... Besides U2 are from Dublin too. Bono the vocalist of U2 lives in Killiney, just 5mins away from where I lived during my stay there. But I was a jerk I really never tried to visit his lane, I could have at least grabbed an sight of his home there... Guess that's why my Irish friends gifted me a U2 'Greatest Hits' CD, so I could always remember these moments I had here. OH My God... I so wanna go back... Anyways you guys check out this song, it's one of the most beautiful song by the band.

Linux Is The Future!!

Many of my friends know that I have begun learning Red Hat. Yes I am getting trained to be a Red Hat Certified Engineer. It's good money to be a Red Hat Engineer, because there are very few Linux Engineers around and its not easy to fix a Linux machine on your own like you would fix a Windows machine.

Well but the other reason why I love Linux is because of their ideology. Linux believes in the open society. We believe that Technology is free and is meant to be shared. Unlike Microsoft who holds their (crappy) technology to themselves, Linux is open to share it with the world. I know I am still using Windows XP as of now... but it wont be long when I would have moved completely onto a Red Hat or a Suse Linux environment... I was really thrilled to know how the US Army too has embraced Linux Operating Systems for its functioning. (Read here and here)

We, in our organization too have moved from Windows to Linux now. I don't think a NGO like ours can afford to pay as high as INR 14,000,000/- (approx US$ 285,714) for 100 users lics comprising of the Windows Server, 100 Cals, Exchange Server, 100 Exchange Cals, Vista, and Antivirus. Hence we have moved onto Novell's Suse Linux Enterprise Edition which comes to us for a meare INR 1,000,000/- (approx US$ 20,408).

There already lots of mid-size and large companies migrating to Linux from windows to cut cost and to have a stable environment, some of the reasons being Linux Systems (Server as well as user-end) are :-
1) More Stable - Linux machines have never crashed in the history of modern computing
2) More Secured - Linux machines do not need an Anti-virus and has one of the best onboard Firewall system
3) More Reliable - Linux machines are more reliable than windows and your database is more than just secured under the Administrator's thumb.
4) Cost Effective - Any time cost effective, cos the kernel & some of the components are free of charge for distribution, its just the cost of production is what you pay for.

Well now since its a Friday evening and its already 7.40pm here... i don't think I have the patience to finish of this post... so I am logging of guys... besides will you guys really enjoy reading all this technical junk anyway... So do yourself a favour and have a great weekend... ;)

For Indians Living Abroad

Pic Courtesy: Alison Lam

I was just browsing thru these pictures of my friend on Facebook when I came across this very interesting one. They shot this picture in one of the Indonesian Mall's restroom. Guess they put this up for Indians who do not know to quite use the commode... he he.. :)

I Feel Sick Today...

Pic Courtesy: Nicholson Cartoons

Today was a good day... lil busy than usual days... I had Benjie come again to work. We had a few video shoots for the project, which is damn funny... But I have been feeling lil weird... have this terrible cold since last night and haven't been feel quite good. So I don't really feel like working but fixed 2 machines. And now I am writing this blog and chatting with a friend of mine. I think I'll just finish this post here.. dont really feel like writing anything... (Yaaawwwwwnnnn) (Snnnneeezzee)...

Just Another Crazy Day...

Yesterday I had my friend Benjie Rajan come over to our office. He is a BMM student, an amazing visualizer and Digital Composer... He is working on a project for our organization and had come to our workplace in the afternoon and was here till late evening. After when we were done we found that Benjie's bike was missing. We didn't find it anywhere and found out that it was towed...
How did we come to know it was towed? well its simple, we found 'NPC' chalked out on the street where his bike was parked. But we didn't what NPC stood for, so we were trying to guess what it stands when I remembered how my bike was towed and was taken away to 'National Park Chowki'. So I told Benji that I think the bike could be towed to 'National Park Chowki' so we could try there.

Just then our building security gaurd comes to helps us out and asked us about the details of the bike. We thought probably he knew quite a lot, but it was so funny when he began to expand the abbreviation for 'NPC'. He was like... "I think 'N' stands for 'North'... now what would 'P' stand for..?? "

Benji, though was little upset bout getting his bike towed never missed an opportunity to enjoy the lighter side of life... he immediately exclaimed... "ummh... North Pole California???"

I have no idea what made Benji say that... but it was damn funny... and the security gaurd just nodded his head in agreement... We had this crazy laugh thinking about it all the time until we reached the chowki.

Once we reached there we found the bike and paid the fine. The RTO Officer was very nice to us and even offered to staple Benji's torn Driver License. We were glad to find such a helpful officer... but it wasnt for long until Benji asked him for the reciept for the fine he just paid and the officer shooed as away. Ben didnt want to get into an argument, so he began to start his bike but the bike just wouldnt start... after kicking for almost 5 mins the bike starts... and we figure out that the RTO guys not only ripped us of 200 bucks but also drained our petrol...

We were annoyed but just couldnt control our laughter every time we think about this incident. It was one crazy evening for us...

How Did My Valentine Day Go?

Valentine's day... not really much of a happening day for me. I really never got to have a Valentine Day with my girlfriend ever when we were dating. But its always a nice time to spend with your friends and loved ones. The people who really make you feel special on this special day...

As you all know (all the folks who read my blog religiously) that the last few years haven't been really happening for me. On Vday 2007 I wrote and recorded songs in a studio, that was one of the best times I ever had (read about it here). But this year it was a lil different. One of my friend who celebrated her birthday on the same day, asked me out. Well it wasn't a date or something, just a beautiful time with my friend. So then we got into a rick and drove towards 'The HUB' at Goregaon.


While we were travelling in the rick she began to cover her face up to protect herself from the dreaded pollution of the Mumbai Streets. It began to worry me as I didnt want the cops to mistake us for some Qaida militants on the loose... But then it got interesting when she wore these sun-glasses over them... and it was totally funny and reminded me of Monica (from FRIENDS) of that episode where she tries on the turkey to amuse chandler... should tell you... it was a pretty funny sight but I didnt laugh... but it got difficult when she said that this is what all the hot babes did to protect their skin...

So we reach at Hub by 10.15am and we buy the tickets for '7 Pounds' for the morning show (begining at 10.30am) and 'Marley & Me' for the afternoon show (begining at 1pm)


The movie began at sharp 10.30am and ended at right 12.30pm, leaving us just half hour to finish off with lunch so we could be on time for the 2nd show. We placed the order by 12.35 but by the time I recieved my order it was 12.55pm. I tried eating as fast as possible but managed to burn my tongue... and hence went easy with the pastas. We finished the lunch by 1.15 and missed the begining 15mins of the movie.

We got done with our movie at 3pm and then we were just window shopping around the mall.. checking out stuff in there... we left the mall by 3.30pm with a takeway meal from Mcdonalds.

I reached church for our practise by 4pm... and finished with it by 7pm. Soon after that I met Mike... and spend some time with him chatting as usual and enjoying some 'seek kabaabs' from Ustaad's corner.

By the time I returned home it was 9.30pm and I remembered all the people I had not wished the day... and began calling them up. I am glad they were very gracious to me accepting my apology...

It was one mad hectic day I had in a long time.. but it was nice... :)

Crazy Bugging Time...

I just finished writing my little post about the Valentines Day (see below) and our Accounts Server gets infected. Don't these bug creators have no other work to do... Figured out its a stupid spyware trying to extort information from the server. I guess it's time we upgraded to some powerful Firewall for our organization. Now I have no idea what to do as my anti-spyware software scans thru the machine and detects it to termination... its taking hell of a time... So this is what I am doing... writing another post on my blog... he he...

Just a word of caution to some young System Administrators, please do not blog while you are scanning your system... it could prove dangerous if you do not action some of the processes at the right time.

Valentines' Day Is Here... :)

Pink Sweet Hearts
Originally uploaded by Pink Sherbet Photography

So its the same day back again just another year... I have always wondered why the Valentine's day always pink... its not just about women... its for everyone. but anyways its nice to have a lil pink sometimes in your lives.. So this Valentine's day I have no idea what I am upto... but my dear friend Jos has invited me for a movie and lunch. So I hope this year to be a little different... maybe special...

Marine Drive... The Queen's Necklace

I didn't really have any intention of posting this... but I just love this picture of 'Marine Drive' that I had on my computer I thought share it with you all... This is so beautiful... some thing that make us proud bout being a mumbaite.. :)

PS. For all my Non-Indian friends... a 'mumbaite' is the local term used to describe 'Inhabitants of Mumbai (Bombay)'

Fun In Unpredictability

It so happened last Friday... Everything seemed as usual, I attended by Red Hat training at 7am and reported to work by 11.15am. I didn't really have anything particular in mind about what the day in store for me. I thought perhaps I would return home and laze around in front of my computer. But my 2pm Ajay pings me on gtalk and asks me if I am available to play the bass guitar for a gig that evening at Bandra, as their bass guitarist wasn't available for the evening. I asked what time is the gig and he replied it would begin at 6.30pm and I had to report by 4.30pm for the sound check.

I casually checked with my boss if there was any chance I could leave a little early for the gig. My boss was too cool to give me a break. I left from work by 3.30pm and reached Bandra, the National College Auditorium right on time with Abigail. We didn't get to do a quick rehearsal and played most of the songs Live. It was one crazy night... we loved every moment of it. It was a wonderful time with some of my friends and fellow musicians...

But the best part was the unpredictability of that day... with the surprising turn of events that unfolded that day. It was an amazing feeling. I so hope every day would be a very unpredictable packed with lots of surprises just like this.