Of Yorkshire and Shetland Ponies

Its Christmas time and time to spread the cheer. Had occassion to travel to the countryside. And as good luck would have it, was able to see a Shetland pony up real-close. Name's Betty, main diet apples. Height is 2.5 feet above any ground level and a beautiful brown coat. This wonderful piece of God's creation has a wonderful disposition and is wont to nuzzle up close to anyone who shows a bit of the good ol' fashioned TLC.

Of course, photo-ops galore, and have included one to let my memory linger a bit.

Wii

Nintendo has once again broken new ground - spelling doom to titans such as Sony and Microsoft. Wii orogonally named the Revolution is pure 3D gameplay , putting you directly in the driver's seat. Be it a first person shooter or a cookery game, due to the 3D movement of the console the player is part of the environment with respect to movement in a 3D matrix. In the case of the cookery game, the console becomes the player's virtual chopping knife, with the vegetables getting cut a la Gordon Ramsay or a Jamie Oliver, very neatly on the screen. The magic comes out best in games such as golf, sword-fighting etc. where the player is actually standing/sitting holding the console -i.e. the virtual golf club/sword and physically moving the console in like manner to see his or her avatar replicating the movements on screen.

Truly RevolutionaRY!!!

http://www.videogamesblogger.com/nintendo-wii-revolution/ for more insights

At £179 this is a steal - buy it and enjoi....freedom of expression in a 3D matrix.

This is what technology is about - the breaching of the next frontier in technology. Something straight out of an MIT Lab - into the hands of game-crazy mortals

The Lost Gospels

Saw a fantastic show on Channel Four BBC yesterday - The Lost Gospels.
What amazed me was the profundity of the entire information. Anglica priest Pete Owen Jones traveled from Nag Hamadi in Egypt to the St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, unraveling the mysteries of the Coptic scripts which never made it to the Scripture. The views, research and the alternate scenarios played out were truly mind-bending - and explored how Christianity would have looked had even one of the Lost Gospels been accepted by the fledgling Church, thousand five hundred years ago.

The Gospels of Mathew, Mark Luke and John are the ones that all of us are familiar with in the New Testament. The ones we were not aware about were - the gospels of Philip, Peter, Mary and Thomas. In addition there were the as yet undiscovered gospel of the Ebionites.

Gospel of Philip - radical idea - Jesus was a loved teacher, who loved his students back in equal measure, including Mary Magdalene
Gospel of Peter - radical idea - Jesus Christ was an God Himself. He came to Earth and abstracted a man - Jesus' body, to carry out His supernatural deeds and then left for His heavenly abode, leaving Jesus' body to suffer on the cross. This school of thought came to be known as the 'Deceitist' school of thought, 'deceiius' in Latin meaning illusion.
Gospel of Mary - radical idea - women had an equal part to play in the Church as men did. Also, this gospel established revelations pronounced by Jesus after His resurrection
Gospel of Thomas - radical idea - the female of the species is weaker to the male and not fit to enter Heave. This was spoken in the context of Mary Magdalene, who was supposed to have received the revelations from Jesus after the resurrection. Scholars interviewed by Pete Owen Jones mentioned that this might have implied that it could be the female aspect of one's nature - the effeminateness related ususally to weak beliefs etc.

The Ebionites gospel, contended that Jesus was a man and that it was his baptism by John the Baptist which made him divine. This gospel was rejected outright by the poweres that be, and the name Ebionite, meaning 'poor' in Hebrew was attributed to those who propounded this gospel. By 'poor' is implied the impecuniosity of thoughts of this particular sect.

Marcien from Turkey who reached Rome around 150 AD was the most revolutionary thought-leader who was struck by the dichotomy of the divinities presented in the two versions of the Testaments, the Old and the New. The Old Testament portrays a God who exacts revenge and retribution for any wrong-doing. On the other hand there is the God, who suffered Himself in order to release humanity from the bonds of pain and agony brought on by the weight of sins and perfidy. Marcien's solution was two Gods, which was explained by him in a couple of works which were instantly banned by the Church as heresy, leading ultimately to Marcien's excommunication. Marcien had propounded this because he felt that a God who loved would be more widely accepted, far removed from the Jewish God of the Old Testament who insisted that His subjects follow a strict set of rules.

So what finally caused 27 sacred texts to form the Holy scripture (New Testament) from among the 80 odd in circulation till around 500 AD. It seems that the three most important factors were - proximity to Rome with respect to where it was written, moderateness in outlook, pronounciation of a male led Church. Not satisfying even one of these criteria could have led to most of these 80 texts to be disqualified, so much so that even Peter's gospel was not included in the newly formed Holy Scripture of the Roman Catholic Church. The young Church was looking to establish itself as the world's foremost religion of the Middle Ages, donning the mantle of power brought upon by the conversion of the Roman emperor Constantine.

Johnny Mathis : Magic Lyrics

These lyrics are magic - do watch the video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvwVZJIru1k

A Time for Us (Love theme from Romeo and Juliet)
- Artist: Johnny Mathis
- peak Billboard position # 96 in 1969
- competing instrumental version by Henry Mancini charted at # 1
- from the 1968 film produced by Franco Zeffirelli and starring Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey
- Words by Larry Kusik and Eddie Snyder and Music by Nino Rota

---

A time for us, some day there'll be
When chains are torn by courage born of a love that's free
A time when dreams so long denied can flourish
As we unveil the love we now must hide

A time for us, at last to see
A life worthwhile for you and me

And with our love, through tears and thorns
We will endure as we pass surely through every storm
A time for us, some day there'll be a new world
A world of shining hope for you and me

For you and me

And with our love, through tears and thorns
We will endure as we pass surely through every storm
A time for us, some day there'll be a new world
A world of shining hope for you and me

A world of shining hope for you and me

A Time for Us

I was just sighing, thinking about yet another day wasted billing at £150 an hour for 7 hours, when I came upon this most wondorous of violin masterpieces -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsHOF7Av6Ks

The is adapted from the love theme for the enchanting 1969 film 'Romeo and Juliet'.
Youtube, yet another wonderful creation of mankind opened my eyes to this jewel of a video.

I suggest that anyone who feels that this world is rapidly degenerating into materialistic hedonism, should watch this refreshingly soulful video.

If your heart pines for more, then watch the piano arrangement by the genius Nino Rota -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpGNKVv2umA

Oh - Bless the soul who pines so
That his breath escapes and flies freely away
From his mortal body, leaving

But a trace of his mere wounded self behind

God bless

Project, Systems Development Methodology

I was working on a client requirement today and the question of the exact difference between project management methodology and systems development methodology came up. Be it for an advisory or an audit project, we normally tend to talk of both in the same breath, sometimes even blurring the lines between the two.

Will try during these ramblings to highlight a few differences and also de-mystify some new jargon in the process -

I had occassion to look at the MSF model for CMMI process improvement which does Agile development...

My rose pines for me

My lovely rose pines for me
As would a thrush for the evensong
Her smile so beautiful that I wish to see
But a reflection of her in the sun kissed clouds above

I am back in England again, as winter sets in and the migratory birds fly off to warmer climes, I am exiled to this bleak dreary land, where the sun rises at 8 and sets at 4. More painful to me this time, is this journey because of my heart I can feel no sign, having left it back to pine in my own land.

Marriage

Many consider matrimony to be an institution, so much so that it is spoken of in revered tones. How many of us understand that marriage is more a state of mind than anything else? Many of us, have married people whom we have got to know better in our places of work or from other social and professional avenues. During such unions, the two people concerned just transcend one particular sub-set and join up in another. Nothing changes - not the way they love each other, nor the way they together perceive the world around them. All that changes is that they are now legally wedded. A string of words which has got official sanction. Does the fact that the two people are married cause one or both of them to feel more responsible for the other, or cause them to love each other more? More often than not, this is not the case. So wither the hallowed, sanctimonious dither about institutions and things?

Marriage is a good way of taking stock, where are we now? Are we where we wanted to be, when we started out? Such is practicality of marriage. Shorn it off all its glamour and what we have is a relationship between two people that exists to assist in mutual aggrandisement - physical and emotional.

Six Degrees of Separation

Social Networking (as opposed to social Engineering) is a practical concept that we use everyday to find and ultimately use something that we want (well, now Social Engineering looks similar too).

Recent work(Six Degrees of Separation) was inspired by research pioneered in the late 1960s that focused on navigating social networks, explains the author Simsek. In a now famous study by psychologists Milgram and Travers, individuals in Boston and Omaha, Neb., were asked to deliver a letter to a target person in Boston, but via an unconventional route: the message had to be passed through a chain of acquaintances.
The people starting the chain had some basic information about the target individual—including name, age and occupation—and were asked to forward the letter to someone they knew on a first-name basis in an effort to deliver it through as few intermediaries as possible. Of the letters that reached the target, the median number of people in the message-passing chain was a mere six. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news6386.html)

This is a fascinating find, validated to a great extent when we use sites such as linkedin, orkut and others. If this sounds interesting then check out this interaction:

Worked with Alice at my first job
Got friendly with Alice's husband, Bob
Bob then found me my second job, and I ended up relocating
Passed my resume to Bob when I wanted to return to his city
Bob passed my resume to Charles, who had worked with him during a few earlier jobs
Charles passed my resume to Diana, a director at his current employer
It turned out that Diana remembered me from my first job
Diana passed the resume to Ed, another director
Ed interviewed and hired me (Source: http://www.techrepublic.com/)

Looks interesting? Well then why dont you try it out in personal life and put some method into the madness of maybe finding that elusive friend, that rogue song on the tip of your tongue or go and land that dream job of yours?

Lost in Hatta, found in Al Ain

This is an account written by my bro...Sankar Sri Pillai
Prepare to laugh out real loud...

What’s the perfect number of people in a saloon for a long road trip? One is an odd number and a very bored driver. Two is good but it gets kind of silent in the back, three is cool but chilly for the backseat passenger. Four makes it even. There’s a good flow of conversation upfront which has a funny way of transforming itself into laughter in the back. Could give credit to a genuine sense of humour forward or aft or a hidden source of laughing gas in the travel gear. Any which way you look at it, it’s cool up front and it ain’t chilly in the backseat - just the way to enjoy a trip.
Just the way we did it.
That’s us, three happy-go-lucky friends and one fat, amateur cameraman with a knack for missing the ‘Kodak’ moment’. Me. Must say, we made one helluva team.
The journey was to the twin tourist spots of Hatta and Al Ain and we four bachelor boys had been thinking about putting the two day weekend to good use and the combination of a fort and a dam, virgin green and hot springs seemed a sin to refuse. Some talked about escaping the heat. Miserable epicureans, They’re all the same. What’s Dubai without the heat?
So, backpacks in tow and with the Lulu Supermarket at Karama acting as our rendezvous point, we pushed off on a Thursday morning for Hatta, our first pit stop. Our plan was to hit the dune buggies, on the way to Hatta. Someone said it would be fun. He was wrong. It was crazy. And fun too. We’re sure we looked liked grossly oversized kids straight out of kindergarten, hollering and whooping on those buggies as the kids present on the dunes had their fair share of laughter watching us unceremoniously slamming into dunes and coming away with sand in our faces, mouths and some other less mentionable orifices. Scrapes, slips and skirmishes with the dunes, it was all part of what goes into male bonding for a bunch of bachelors to be chained in holy matrimony a year hence. A galling thought and one to be drowned with rapid swigs from the water bottle and vigorous pats after having enjoyed a session of serious fun. There was no escaping the sands with the car getting stuck nose first in a bucketful (trusted steed our car was but she WAS a small un) of the stuff. But it was nothing that a four wheel and its macho driver couldn’t help out with. A pull, a tug and our li’l baby was out of the sand in double quick time. So much for adventure. Later, as the air conditioned air gave way to the cool mountain breeze, we were delirious. Noise levels in the car hit an all time high as the laughing gas did its job with proficiency and we wound our way to the Hatta dam. We had to walk the final stretch to the top of the dam since our car would not have supposedly taken the load of four adults gorging on chips, sandwiches and all things that brings out sheer gluttony in man.
The dam at Hatta is not the picture one would conjure up of similar gigantic man made structures. There was not the roar of water, for there was hardly any, just a dreamy, shimmering pool of the elixr of life, ensconced amid mountains in stark grey and brown. It was quiet atop the dam except for the shrill shrieks of the children present with car loads of families, taking in the breathtaking view. It was mesmerizing, magical and worth all the huffing and puffing all the way up the steep climb to the top. Picture perfect moments presented themselves with landscapes and vignettes being stored away in pixels for posterity.
Moving away from the dam, our next stop was the fort at Hatta. Taking us back on storyteller’s wings to the mystical times of kings and serfs, the Hatta fort comes with its share of mystery and allure that evokes a sense of respect and humility in the eyes of the beholder. Come to think of it, the Hatta fort is not a relic in the real sense of the term, being only a couple of centuries old but there is a lot to see. From battlements and towers to quaint houses fortified behind the stout walls of the fort, the majlis, bedrooms, storehouses and more allowed us to take a peek into history’s pages. All that’s missing were the true occupants of the fort. They were replicated to a certain extent by wax dummies of stern soldiers kneeling and aiming their rifles and blunderbasses at the imaginary enemy through the peepholes; works of art that would have done the museum at Madam Tussaud’s proud.
Souvenir time! While yours truly settled for a compass (the lord alone knows why, I don’t) the others selected more sensibly from among a mind boggling array of items - miniature authentic Arab tea sets in copper and bell metal, knives, cute little treasure chests and jewelery boxes, lovingly crafted by skilled artisans, all for a steal. And yes, the dear man at the counter is most welcome to a decent amount of bargaining. We might say in retrospect that we were a bit harsh on him, swindling him of his wares for small change. He was a nice man. He even offered us cold water for our pains. Sob!
Time flies when you are having fun. We had set out at 10 in the morning and it was getting close to four when we bid adieu to the fort. For the more knowledgeable among us ignorant ones, that left just about an hour-and-a-half to catch the sunset atop Jebel Hafeet mountain at Al Ain. And old timers say if you miss the sunset from atop Jebel Hafeet your journey might as well be incomplete. That’s a distance of roughly 160 kilometres considering we would have to come all the way back to Dubai’s outskirts before taking the turn to Al Ain, all in the aforementioned time. That’s tough, even for a driver possessed, like our very own captain Blackbird at the wheel. And what’s more, we were hungry for we hadn’t had a regular meal since we set off and all those chips and other cholesterol enhancers we happily gorged on fizzled out as fast as its genre is labeled. A quick bite at a wayside restaurant was called for as we settled for, what else, burgers and sandwiches. We are all going to die one day, might as well do so with a resounding belch than with a cramped belly gasping for its next quota of diet crackers. The saving grace in all that overload of junk was the wine leaves and some fresh fruit juices and cocktails quaintly named Tinku and Dum Dum. Picking our teeth with the contentment of carnivores after a ritual feed, we blazed the trail to Abu Dhabi and onward to Al Ain.
Al Ain! The change was already noticeable as temperatures plummeted further and the green hit us between the eyes with a welcome wallop. Dodging road radars and restricting a sickening urge for road rage, we tore on towards Jebel Hafeet. The first view of the mountain was heavenly as it rose in all its grandeur from a neat range of evergreen trees in perspective on the highway. We forgot our resolve for a second as we almost stopped right in the middle of the highway to take in the view. But just in time. Hearts pounding and anxious eyes switching back and forth between a swiftly setting sun and the rapidly approaching mountain, we ate up the remaining stretch in right royal Formula lap timing. But nature is cold to man’s appreciation and the sun mocked our puny efforts. Twisting and turning our way up the meandering mountain road, we eventually realized that the sun had beaten us by a whisker. We took a few pictures, parking on a deserted stretch of mountain road and consoling ourselves that there always was a next time. Reaching the top of the Jebel Hafeet plateau, we were welcomed by hordes of people with the single minded intention of clicking the last rays of the sun and looking mighty happy at having achieved it. Smug tourists! Pah! Later, nursing our tea and cold drinks at the At the Top Of Jebel Hafeet restaurant (At The Foot Of Jebel Hafeet Mountain restaurant opening soon, watch this space. Joking) we took stock. It was close to six and we still had the hot springs to visit, a must for us weary travelers. Having fun is fun but it comes with its aches and the hot springs seemed an inviting prospect to, well, chill in the hot water. The trip down Jebel Hafeet was accomplished in half the time with father gravity helping us along. But it was still around eight when we reached the hot springs.
The hot springs has gone in for a decent amount of landscaping and hidden lighting systems makes it look like a dream world straight out of Alice’s wonderland. A cold stream that runs down a hillock was what we hit first. Resting our tired feet and twiddling our taut phelanges in the water was heaven. Later, the more adventurous among us (that’s the other three, I prefer terra firma to revolting heights, thank you very much what with that crazy rush to reach the top of Jebel Hafeet having strengthened my resolve) struck for the top of the hillock, made more slippery with the shale and algae as also the flow of the cold water down its sides. Done with all that climbing we rested our tired feet (didn’t we hear that before?) in the hot springs before lying back in the thick grass and gazing into an inky sky devoid of stars. Would have been romantic if the stars were there but that’s alright. You gain some, you lose some.
Everything had been working like clockwork this far except for the missed sunset but we had decent pictures of the same from somewhere near the top so it was a trip that was all said and done, a largely successful. one.
Nothing to cheer us up though when we thought of leaving all this in-your-face-freshness and nature for Dubai’s concrete. But that’s how I guess, we measure the success of a retreat. The less inclined you are to get back home, the more is your travel destination a successful haunt for those weary of heart and soul. It’s the perfect yardstick. We loved Hatta and we fell in love with Al Ain and hated the prospect of leaving it all. But leave we had to, however daunting the prospect. So with an unfaltering promise to be back for another shot at the sunset, we wound our back to Dubai, and civilization.

Back to India

And I am back in the cradle of civilisation(but please ignore the raods, the pollution and the ...).
Touching down in Ahmedabad and watching home grown tractors stroll up to the aircraft to pick up the baggage was a reality check. Further the heat wave which blasted a hearty welcome, put to rest any doubts about the welcome aspect of my return. Met by parents, a beautiful, 'smile'-ing fiance and a bunch of gruff taxi-wallahs, I left for my hotel, tonnes of baggage in tow...the 'phoren' return 'beta' of old.

The hotel 'Chateau Windsor' was pretty functional but okay. Relief from the heat, was afforded by a resilient AC. Lunch and dinner was spicy Indian 'khana' which promptly put paid to my hopes of a calm gastronimic return to the land of my origins. A Bangaali babu would have sympathised with me if at that point in time he heard the cries of 'Oooo Maaa...' intoned by me as I was locked up in the WC. So much for coming back.

Have recovered now and am getting compliments/brickbats about what I thought to be a pretty good physique back in Leeds. At least my fiance thinks that I look like a 'kaddu' - an Indian love term usually attributed by shapely lasses to their well-shaped male love interests. Hope the heat and the food changes the objective of that love-lorn description. And of course a visit to the gym wont hurt matters too much.

Chalo then...time for my pav-bhaji.
:)

Blackpool North

Blackpool - the queen of the west coast. This is one place you must visit, if you are visiting the west coast of England. Mind you, Liverpool is as beautiful and old-worldish, but much more commercial. This I suppose is understandable because of the importance of Liverpool in English maritime folklore.

India, seems so far away, when we see the orderliness and pristine purity associated with nature, in places such as Blackpool - society is held responsible for maintaining the beauty of an amazing place. "Blackpool is 30" implies that you can see little cars purring away behind one another at 30 miles an hour, to ensure that pedestrians and trams get leeway when they should, and who needs loud ferraris in a seaside resort anyway?

The Blackpool tower - mighty enough to rival the Eifel tower, the promenade - a sea-facing stretch of sandy beach,lined with grassy walking tracks and the longest sea facing line of little cottages I have seen, makes Blackpool a place ideally situated to take the weight off your leaden feet. Pity I can't be here longer. Maybe next time, I get a client here, I can do more, see more and perhaps live more of my life.

There are several hotels in Blackpool, and I have stayed in two of them - The De Vere - a divine pearl lining the string of gems making up hospitality chain, and the Hilton - up to hilt in executive types. Mind you, both cater to different tastes, but the cut and dry method of hospitality practiced by the larger chains sometimes does make you wonder about questions such as 'Why?','How?' etc.

Finally, an ode to the beauty of this beautiful little town -

The gentle sea, murmers to me
A silent breeze whispers its breath
A wandering sea-gull's shrill cry
Overwhelmed, it escapes me- a gentle sigh
Blackpool, at journey's end, has won my heart
I wish in vain, for it all, again to start

Leaving Do

Yesternight I had my leaving do - a sort of farewell party in which a few colleagues got together to recount incidents and milstones which had made the 6 month stay so remarkable.
Had been the entire day in Blackpool, and had to drive to Leeds to host the party.
The evening kicked off with a bunch of drinks (Vodka to Cider...with beers in between) at the Scarborough Taps - a favourite, old English drinking house in Leeds - known for Tetleys beer(which incidentally) is bottled right outside my house(Cheers maetee!!!)

Then came the 'walking the line' bit - trying to walk steadily towards our dinner destination which exotically enough was named "Spice Quarter at the Millenium Square" - pretty close to Leeds Metropolitan University(Leeds Met Rocks Dude ...)

The restaurant was nicely laid out - with drinks in the basement (a very posh sit-out and good service) and a lavish buffet spread on the first floor. Everyone had another couple of rounds of drinks and then went upstairs for dinner(walking the line, walking the line ...yet)

Dinner was a merry affair, with the hazelnut bites dipped in the amazing chocolate fountain(amazing piece of culinary innovation). Dinner was a mish-mash of indian, italian and thai - very good food. Imagine having a masala dosa(pretty good one too) in Leeds, and finishin off your meal with a ras'malai' (Shwe - 'malai' this time) and gulab jamun. The service staff were amazing and the the crowd profile - was generally mid-twenties with a sizeable section of posh seniors thrown in as well.

Loads of photos, with Katy almost drenched in Chocolate - a la me. Thereafter, started the smoke and the haze. 'Sheesha' time boys and girls - with senior managers joining in too. Apple and mint sheehsas were in order, followed by rounds upon rounds of drinks (neat schotch mostly)

Finally with everyone well over the legal limit, bye byes were said and fervent prayers were uttered that we meet each other over the coming week(what with the state of inebriateness that all of us were generally in!)

That was a night- truly well spent

A New Start

Who am I?
A pretty level headed sort of chap with a wide variety of interests ranging from pulse jets to the love-life of mite-sized ants.

Disclaimer
My thoughts published here are entirely mine and do not represent the thoughts of any particular organisation or entity.

Why did I start this blog?
Exchange my views with a bunch of like-minded souls, people who like to think beyond the mundane, and explore intellectual territories which would normally seem to be outside their ken.

Topics
Could virtually be anything under the sun - This is important. I will try and maintain threads detailing the randomness, as far as I can.