Category Miscellaneous

Starting today, I will try and publish some posts with memories of some of the listless V Days that have gone by in my life. The first post in the series is about a dear friend and his valiant V Day efforts. The post is being copied and pasted from another blog that I had created. I guess its about time that the post appeared here too. Its called Simply Ankur and was first published on June 17, 2009.

SIMPLY ANKUR

Hmmmm so this place is already wearing a deserted look. No posts from anyone [:(]. I was expecting one from everyone…most of all from Ankur. The one good thing is Ankur is back in the loop and does take some time off to call me and complain about the contents of this blog. Joking…he was actually very gracious about the whole thing and took it completely like a man...

pleasant or pleasing or agreeable in nature or appearance

decent: socially or conventionally correct; refined or virtuous

Being nice is generally considered to be a virtue. Nice is a very broad and vague word and encompasses everything from being empathetic to helpful to being understanding and comforting and convenient. Right from our childhood we are taught to be “nice” to everyone without ever being told about the precautions that need to be taken. Being nice can forge great relationships, spread megawatt smiles and change the world. However, it can also be an emotional quicksand. 

Being overly nice to people can make them take you for granted. They stop seeing the emotion that goes into being nice...

A few weeks back I received a phone call from Shilpa. She seemed unusually excited and then she broke the news. She was going to get married on the 6th of February,2010 and expected me to be there on her special day. The formal invitation arrived a few days later. As the news spread, the “network” sprang to life. Kinshuk and I decided that we would be there. A few days before the wedding, Chatur and Kapil called up and confirmed their presence. Chatur even suggested a reunion. So it was all decided and we were all waiting for the day to arrive.

Since Kinshuk was arriving from Panipat, it was decided that I meet her at CP. I told her to give an hour’s worth of head start. And Kinshuk did that...

Her name means heavenly and divine and she isn’t much different from the literal meaning of her name. Meeting her was a fortunate accident, the sort that doesn’t happen everyday and to everyone. She is a gift from the heavens and a very special one at that- an unexpected gift at an unexpected time. It is not everyday that we meet someone with whom we share a spontaneous rapport. In fact, I would call it a divine connection.

She is quiet and soft spoken but her silence makes itself heard. She is simple yet elegant, at ease with herself yet busy with the world and confident yet vulnerable. She has the innocence of a child and the faith of a saint. She has the sparkling purity that only the feminine can possess. Her laughter is soft but resonates deep inside the soul that feels it...

There is a lot of focus in these trying economic climate on the performance of an individual. People all over but particularly in the IT sector are being handed pink slips on the basis of poor performance. A lot has also been said about the below par skills of our IT workforce. But what has not been touched upon is the lack of a motivation for an individual to perform well.

Managers try to lord over all the resources under them. There is no importance accorded to an individual on the basis of the skills he/she posseses. Business criticality is the sole criterion that determines value. To me this approach appears to be extremely opportunistic...

The average city dweller in these times suffers from what I refer to as the monotony syndrome. Despite all the modern wonders the struggle for existence and the urge to stay ahead of the pack leaves little, if any, room for people to relax and explore what the world has to offer. We do roughly the same things everyday and what aggravates the situation further is that we end up doing the same recreational activities every single time we feel the urge to relax and pause a bit. We spend most of our weekends visiting malls, watching movies or going on short drives which we fondly refer to as “long drives” chiefly to satisfy our own egos.

In our bid to remain competitive(read relevant) we have twisted and even corrupted the meaning of simple words such as “success” and “winning”...

Recently Priyanka Gandhi appeared in a television interview with Barkha Dutt on NDTV. Upon being asked if she really held no grudges against Nalini for killing her father, Priyanka gave an answer that set me thinking. The straight forwardness of the reply struck me.

Priyanka said that she had been “furious” with the world for a year after Rajiv’s assassination. However now she has forgiven Nalini. She said that the realization that Nalini herself was a victim of circustances had brought about this change in her. As she realized that Nalini too was a victim and that she herself had suffered a lot, Priyanka’s own victimhood had disappeared. She said in a way both of them were victims. The absence of the feeling of victimhood had allowed her to be non judgemental...