The Man from Earth

The house located in remote place...
The Man packing his stuff in mini truck....
Time is about late afternoon....
Few of his colleagues drop by his house....had wine...and its beginning of farewell talk...
Trying to find reasons behind sudden moving on from job of the character John Oldman....
And...here is the shocking confession....
The Man who lived thousands of years...a cave man...is no other but their fellow professor John....
After this you witness a most amazingly told story....do not allow you to move from your chair....and you start feeling the situation....

Except Shawshank Redemption, Phone-booth and Memento no other movie has made me feel to be in the plot situation...Screenplay by Jerome Bixby is so well written that takes you to the living room in which John is revealing threads of secret...opening new questions....and your mind behaves like you are the part of story...you are among the people who are sitting there and exploring John's mysterious past....

The entire film is set in living room...plot moves with conversation...no jokes..no sexual comments...no action...no fast pace story plots....no special effects...no action....its just TALK....
The film driven by thought provoking dialogs ..raised series of questions....explained in very scientific manner...anxious to disprove the statements...disturbed by instantly given explanation by John....doubts moves to frustration...who-what questions turned to why....making everyone in the film (including you nicely engaged audience ) to believe in what he says ....semi-belief...and now they want conformation....art of persuasion to complete new level... and this will go on till end...with nicely written climax.....you should watch it to feel it... Its just way cool...

Director has made good choice of location and other movie elements...costumes..music..set....elimination of all unwanted elements make easy to concentrate on movie's heart....its talk....remarkable expressions on faces....

Movies whole idea..selling point is "You can make people believe in anything" .....
no matter how absurd idea....
transform idea to persona to which audience can relate...can acquire trust...
be simple and weak element....just like audience...
don't prove yourself...let others prove you....
capture minds giving your ideas full emphasis...

Jerome Bixby's last work, a screenplay "The Man from Earth" , was conceived in the early 1960s and was completed on his death bed in April of 1998....keeps you amazed after you witness it....watch it...feel it...believe it...appreciate it....

I Wannt Selfish...

I don't want that = ? ~ ( I want that )

Few days back, I was talking with my friend about something - not sure what - but she mentioned that she really did not want to go. She said, I don't think that saying to you how much I don't want to go really conveys the sentiment. She said, I have the opposite of a desire, not the absence of a desire. She called it a dis-sire.

I thought about this for a while because the negation of something is not the same as its opposite. There is an "active" quality about wanting and there isn't the same "active" quality to "not wanting". The active nature of "not wanting" is communicated through tone and emphasis, not the words themselves. Lets say it "Wannt". e.g. From past three days I am eating rice, today I "Wannt" it.This concept of actively not wanting is more akin to repulsion or disgust than it is to the more benign "not wanting."

Sometimes, we are not sure of what we want, but we know what we "Wannt". So this is the thing that makes confusion many times. If you know exactly your wants then you can decide nicely. But if don't know your wants then you prefer to prune out "Wannt" part of it and leave with the subset remaining.

As we are talking about wanting something and Wannting few-things, lets take it to very personal level. Selfishness has become a dirty word AND an accepted defining characteristic of humankind. Why is that?

It seems to me that one of the greatest challenges in life is to figure out what I want. That is, to figure out what is to my benefit, what it is specifically, how to get it, etc. It seems hard to be purely selfishly motivated. The challenge of thinking of me, and only me, is making a decision on that criteria alone. Most decisions I make are based on a variety of factors, my interests of course included, and I suspect most people consider more than purely selfish variables.

PEOPLE are selfish, but I'm not. I think that's how most people understand the idea. I think that healthier way to think about it - and lose the pejorative connotation - is to understand that everyone has complex motives and interests, many of which include their own, perhaps exclusively. The statement: I have interests, desires and wants, and others do too; is probably more helpful than thinking that "People are selfish." It's also helpful to consider that people are struggling, constantly, to figure out and give shape to what they want, and think about how to get it. If we think of this as bad, we deny one of the core joys in life and the pleasures of ambition, competition and pride.



P.S. : This article has nothing to do with current placement scenario and people's decisions. Any resemblance is considered to be fictional.

Good Morning !!!

A hazy morning ....
The spade shape oars dipping into the clear water making delighting sound ... dip ... dipp ... dipppp .... listen to it for few minutes ......
A beautiful lake in middle of a valley with snow peak mountain range and green green pine trees on their borders ......
Greenery everywhere with white toppings and little bit brown-black rocks peeking through it to catch sight of sun ......
Large tracts of lotus with perfectly formed pink flowers floating on lake water and a long flat-bottomed boat with canopy above (Shikara) is passing through it.....
Lying on soft rose bed ... silky touching ... red colored petals ......
Chilling breeze flowing across the valley... giving a different pleasure ......
There is complete silence besides dipping sound of oars.....
A long ... wide ... lazy paradise ......
A pretty smiling face seen through partially closed eyes was trying to make mark inside me ......
I smiled back .....
shhh....hhhhh....hhhhhhhhhhhhh.....
complete silence for a moment .......

and then my cellphone rings ... bringing me to reality .... I saw Happy Diwali message on screen... "DIWALI means LIGHT, means ENERGY, means ENTHUSIASM means MOMENTUM means SPEED means PROGRESS means SUCCESS !!! Wish U a gr8 SUCCESS on dis DIWALI" ....
No wonder...it was a pleasant morning gift... Though there was dim LIGHT ... It brought ENERGY in me ... gave me ENTHUSIASM ... filled me with MOMENTUM to start a new day ... with SPEED marching to PROGRESS ... seeking for SUCCESS .....
I wish I could be there .......

Sup-plantation !

Before you start wondering if you landed up elsewhere..Stop!
My life has changed a lot since last year, so my blog also need sup-plantation. It has been long time I haven't written anything neither on my blog nor in my poetry additions. So this is just warm-up element after long gap.
Changing :-

• Light, joyful yellow replaced with dull, pointless black as a colorless dark life.
  
• Dusky green with little hopes has taken place of enlightening brown.
  
• The first most happy thing seen on this page is the title....return to my childhood , reverting changes back to my older days and just to forget the hard time faced in last couple of years.

Still, offering same refreshing smile to everyone without expecting anything from anyone in return. Because no matter how little your expectation is, it stays in your mind. Its like breath you take. When you take it...its cooler...it comes inside you...fill up your lungs..body...touches your hart..pump it...but when the work is done...heart throws away that breath...and it becomes hot...helpless and had to leave you...

I am just hoping to add up few light and colors to dull, dark life. Because hope is the golden line between clouds of hard time and distress...I know, I just have to wait till bright time spreads over the sky...

An Evening at Golconda...

Sunny afternoon in Hyderabad, six young explorer and destination...Golconda....the most magnificent fortress complex in India which lies on the western outskirts around 11km from Hyderabad. We reached there when sun was packing for the day and breeze was flowing through the corners of the hills comforting the leaves and giving moment of relaxation for everyone.
Entering into Fateh Darwaza [Gate of Victory] , we got surprised by the security check the metal detector door wasn't working. It was really surprising to see lack of security even after Mecca Masjid blast. What can we say, its India and we have short term memory. The door is 13 feet wide and 25 feet high and studded with steel spikes to protect it from charging elephants. At Fateh Darwaza can be experienced the fantastic acoustical effects, characteristic of the engineering marvels at Golconda. A hand clap at a certain point below the dome at the entrance reverberates and can be heard clearly at the 'Bala Hisar' pavilion, the highest point almost a kilometre away. This acted as the warning note to residents in case of danger though now it is a mere amusing diversion to visitors. But in actual we can't verify this as many tourists come everyday and there is continuous clapping sound and that get mixed up to hear anything at Bala Hisar. But never the less it was new experience. The main structure of the fort is laid out in a sequence of enclosures that holds the public and administrative structures to the royal residences and halls. The mortuary baths lie to the right of the portico. The baths were meant for the deceased royalty and harem ladies who were given the ritualistic bath before burial outside the Banjara Gate. Moving through the 'Nagina Bagh' we entered in area where ancient princes were used to play but before knowing the actual place name we almost named it with various guess ....one of them was 'Hamam'.. where Queen used to have bath...looking at the heavy metal cube lying on the ground..one of us said..no no..it was jail...after some photo session we all moved towards 'Badi Bowli' ( Big Well )...in Urdu 'Bowli' means 'well' where people used to have water reservoir for whole year. Me and KC just went on security wall...massive crenellated ramparts. That wall was around 10KM long , surrounding the fortress built on a granite hill 120 metres high. And with yes-no-yes-no we all decided to explore the fort with unusual way...little adventures and exciting...we started marching on that wall with ups-down..and walking on the "proper way" having nothing proper in it....KC heading the unit always finding the "proper way" way to march forward whenever we hit dead-end...it was getting excited..heavy feet relaxing in A.C. were now climbing on the rocks in hot sunny atmosphere...aha...really cool na...
Finally almost when we all decided to move back as at that dead end we found no "proper way" to move forward..suddenly Nitin said..."Hey Guys com'on...here is the 'proper way'..." ..."ohh...no..enough 'proper way'..."...but really that was real proper way in true sense...and we reached at top of the hill....Hurrey....mission accomplished....truly it was great when you do something offbeat and you finally make it...it feels good....then we went on exploring the normal tourist way enjoying the 'Prakratik Saundarya' .....oops..no 'Mazza' available on Fort...so thirsty throats have to accept Limca and Sprite... Then we visited a Hindu temple (Madanna's) belonging to the Kakatiya period carved out of a huge boulder. It has colorful murals of the Goddess Kali on the white-painted facade.
Another important structure is the mosque built by Taramati. As one clambers up and down the boulders through narrow patches and uneven steps we can see unusual clay pipes fitted into the wall planks – evidence of an efficient water supply arrangement to the uphill residential area.Prominent corner minarets distinguish the small mosque (1518) built by Ibrahim Quli Qutub Shah. The courtyard extend up to the ramparts providing spectacular views of the landscape below, for miles. Close to the mosque lies the small Rama Mandir under the boulders. Ram Das, a revenue official jailed by Abul Hasan Tana Shah for misusing state funds, carved images of Rama, Lakshman and Hanuman on the rock surface in the cell. We didn't get time to visit that cell as we were waiting for Dharmendra aka Baba who was supposed to be at Fort by that time. Vipul and Ankit waited at Bala Hisar for him and we other four continued our exploration as we did not want to miss the sound and light show on Fort.
The ascent of 380 steps finally culminates at the Balahisar Baradari, a wind-swept pavilion, twelve-arched, triple storied structure used as a durbar hall. It is divided by substantial piers into vaulted bays, a raised chamber with triple arches opens off the rear wall. On the uppermost terrace stands a stone throne. A pavilion, far away in the hills, is believed to have housed Taramati, Abul Hasan’s paramour. The Baradari shows yet another engineering marvel – natural air-conditioning provided by a gap in the double walls which sucks the air and releases it with accumulated pressure in the chambers. Steep narrow steps descend to the zenana quarters – Rani Mahal. These palaces, built on massive platforms, had high ceilings and walls covered with decorative niches, alcoves and cornices, essentially Persian in design. Now a days that place is used for sound and light show.that brings the legend of Golconda to life. With a spectacular interplay of audio and visual effects, the story of Golconda unfolds over centuries of splendour. The show livens up the glorious past and it is an experience worth watching.
So after enlightening our minds with glorious past of Golconda and beautiful gazal by Jagjeet Sing we moved out. Golconda Fort, architecturally it is very different from Northern India where the architecture was a combination of the traditional architecture and influences that were brought in by the various empires (including mainly Central Asian and Persian influences). Unlike the north, the south was very isolated geographically and was not influenced to the same level and has retained its own style. Nowadays the ruins have a desolate majesty in the midst of an arid plain....Hmm...Witnessing and experiencing great exploration.....we packed up for the Wang's Kichten...umm..yummy Chinese and Thai food....really at the end of the day I was feeling satisfied with unknown joy in my mind...unforgettable evening at Golconda....whuhh...

P.S. :- Photos... http://picasaweb.google.com/harshaliitm/GolcondaFortHyderabad

Stay on-line when you are off-line !

After hectic reading through the reflection documents and digging into some crappy tools' doc.s I got up from my chair and went in the corridor to have a sip of Boost. While roaming around with hot energy cup in my hand, I landed up on couch picking into newspaper. Suddenly one news caught my attention....Google launches new open source product called Google Gear on the occasion of Google's Developer Day. A wide opening to offline web apps. development. A tool which can help to lot of web apps. developer worldwide, a next step idea in Internet field.

Google Gear , an open source browser plug-in that will enable developers to create offline web applications using JavaScript APIs. As a developer, you’ll be able to make an application with the assurance that it will work offline and online across browsers. This tool is available for FireFox 1.5+ and IE6+ with windows, Mac and Linux support. Google Gear gives three basic APIs for developer. One API will handle the creation of data objects to store application information locally, another will be a SQLite relational database for searching the data, and the final part will enable asynchronous JavaScript so applications can sync data in the background without overburdening the browser. Google is planning to extend this tools' use to various applications. but, the first demo of Gears will be for Google Reader, but more Google apps are expected to come. Reader will add a green download button to the user interface. When you click the button, Reader will download the last 2,000 messages to your computer, preparing your computer to work offline or under a spotty Internet connection. Isn't it amazing? You can work while you are travelling, no one will stop you from virtually connected to the Internet. Some applications need continuous online support and can't be done offline just because you don't have the required data cached locally.

Downloading will take place in the background, using the asynchronous JavaScript API. While offline you can read these articles and carry out your usual sharing and tagging. When you get back online, just click the button and Reader will sync your offline activity with their server. Right now the syncing is initiated manually, but it’s easy to see that it will become more seamless as the program develops. Gears could conceivably solve the large data overhead problems of Google’s AJAX applications, pushing updates to your desktop instead of slowing down your browser. A simple idea taken from OS implementation of memory fetching. When you have to get data from server it is always better to have its local copy cached for faster access and even when connection is broken.


Again, Google is trying to beat his rival Microsoft with this open source tools. For this Google has tied up development with Mozilla ,Opera, Adobe and other industry partners to make sure that Gears is the right solution for everyone. But right now its business applications are not even at a sight as security concerns raised with this applications. Still in business world Microsoft rocks. Google is fighting hard to capture the business domain which is major source of income. Being most popular is not the only goal. Also you can note the point as this tool is open source to make the development faster as we saw in the case of FireFox launch. Google doesn't want to Microsoft come up with similar idea with better business applications before they come up with a product up to the mark. As normal layman is concerned this tool can do miracle for him who may not concern with security issues much and love to stay connected to work even when offline. So there will be no concept offline....You will be always online...Virtually...

Air Deccan...

Wuhhh,..... finally after great pressure and night outs I finished up with my assignment work ( still having two I's in this sem... :-) ) ...and next day, I knew, I am going away from Madras to complete new place...in city of Nijaam... Hyderabad....
Unfortunately I forgot to recharge my cell before going and on the day of departure I just got reminder...Oh..I have no balance left on my cell, so went to Gurunath took one recharge coupon and tried to recharge, but the bsnl god damn network as usual said... Network Busy..Try again Later...and that later didn't come. So...way to Hyd was started with delay from Hostel, first taxi came late then Ankit took some time to reshuffle his belongings to fit the 15 KG limit for flight and Sameer had a sip of watermelon juice just before leaving the IIT Madras campus...and finally we arrived at Chennai's Airport... ohwo..even Chennai is such a metro city still Airport didn't seem to be exciting as any other airports I have seen. ( even Bagdogara's airport was cleaner and neat than Chennai's )...
There we got our bags checked in for security and all got a Boarding Pass for flight...umma...what was that Pass...even our Saarang tickets have better quality than that.....obb.... Saarang ticket cost around 100 bucks but this our flight ticket cost was only Rs. 10/-... ( excluding the taxes n all :P )...so there is bargain on quality...o.k....so moving to check in area we had my fav. Dairy Milk ( Thanks to Ankit he didn't forget to bring that )..umm. yummy...after finishing my cad bury I was thinking of dropping those wrappers in dust bin...thank god I didn't find any close one otherwise I would have dropped my boarding pass along with those wrappers ...again you can understand the quality of wrapper was better than our boarding pass... ( no comments on Rs. 10/- ticket )...
For just time pass we roamed around and got up to 1st floor to watch landings and stuff....4 Jet Airways, couple of Indian Airlines and Kingfisher , one Saudi Arabian airlines and one of paramount airways planes were there....wait wait wait....what was that...is that a toy plain....no no no....that wasn't toy plain...it was Air Deccan safari...so sad...compare to others air crafts over the board that was so BIG in size...thankfully we were not going to board that one and our airplane just arrived to pick us...that was pretty good size...at least you can not call that as toy plain...size comparable to Kingfisher's one...So ...we moved towards bus to get down near our flight....pleasant welcome by air hostess....as there is no system in Air Deccan for Seat No.s we just put our self finding good position near emergency exit ( in case we need :P )...
As usual in-flight instructions started. It is really funny to watch air hostess acting on the stupid demo for safety (I couldn't hold my laugh)... so after few minutes we thought of relaxing a bit and tried to slide my seat back a little bit...umm...ymm..amm.... shit... damn air Deccan...no seat adjustment :( ... even bus seats are better than those... again..obb....bus ticket cost more than what air Deccan was... Rs. 10/- ticket... ..on the one side of a seat there was some radio channel kind thing where you can put your headphones and listen to some stations but air Deccan's counting start from 3...ya 3 ...no 1 and 2... ( I think it shows there quality...starting from 3rd class... :P ) even flight doesn't have any business class seat..
Our flight was descent one, at least pilot was experienced..out side view was beautiful....surrounded by all clouds and you in middle of air experiencing various shades of sun rays...awesome...at least you get to see mind blowing sight of sunny afternoon with Rs. 10/- ticket... :-) ...Monacco...monacco..parle Monaco...have you seen that ad. ?? where one guy flies along with aircraft and sell Monaco biscuits to passangers....ya...that air hostess remind me that ad when she came to sell Lays packets and all such stuff... oh man...it was getting funnier experiences with Air Deccan. There was some auction kind thing which they gave us while boarding...don't know, who will buy those items whose minimum bid was itself high that you get a better quality stuff from any shopping complex..
Finally after 1 hour of travel our flight landed in city of Nijaam.....at beautiful airport of Hyderabad... and we moved in for finding some accommodation in city. So, this was my experience with Air Deccan....of course with Rs. 10/- ticket....so meet you in next article about first day in Hyderabad....
cheers..

P.S. Total cost of flight to Hyderabad from chennai was Rs. 10( ticket cost ) + 1025 (taxes) = Rs. 1035/-

Just Another Evening !

::: Just another evening ::::

As Sun goes down...
breeze starts to flow...
I sit beside my window...
to watch beautiful show...

lookin thru that square...
I don't care...
I feel notihng...
jus' the cushy air...

wind is crazy...
and so my mind...
thoughts now run...
which I can not bind...

just another evening...
but also the blessing...
I came out of that world...
which was so boring...

Is that a heaven...
or just my dream...
everyone is around...
but I want to scream...

Now stop the clock...
bring moment to lock...
I feel empty...
have nothing to talk...

------- Harshal Patil

Moon

"In the darkening sky, if you cast your eyes,

You will see the silver lady rise,

Bathing the world in a steely blue

Edged with a haunting, silver hue"

Moon...just a sight of which gives a feeling of lightness, calm n peace of mind. Sometimes brain become motionless and mind starts flowing and often surprising journey through a world of rhythms, noise and silence, in search of small slice of tranquillity.Ever tried to listen sound of wind in nights, it just feel different. It takes me away from all worries, towards peace and I leave my soul free to explore the territory of wisdom, a philosophical kingdom of thoughts.
Looking at moon, may be full moon or a crescent one.... what a creation... looking at a lovely lady who just come out after taking bath...aahhaa...and showering the dark night with milky rays.... dreaming thoughts flowing all over mind... a feeling of relaxation.... you just need to experience it.

Moon, science might have proved his dependence on sun for light, his inability to give own light... But I will say look at him in just different manner. Just imagine, how kind he ( Moon) is ... a torturing, hot rays from cruel sun... he just accepts it... it absorbs all the abominable part of it.. and reflects a calm flowing stream of pastoral light... one should learn from him , how to make out of bad things and coming out with wonderful things which are hidden in the wrapper of agony of thoughts. In our childhood we used to call moon as 'chandamama' ( brother of mother Earth). He is so close to us... in our mind... he has his own virtual life cycle as all of us have... it goes shrinking with pain day by day and one day hides behind the shadow, but next day he starts building up his attitude and rise back to become full moon... and enjoys the joy of attainment and dims the effect of stars around. Its all philosophy, never get down in your hard times, you have opportunity to rise back again and avoid vainglory when your are top at something, it always results in extinction. I think that's why every time I look at him, I feel something different, something that I can't describe but I feel, just like your inner 'you' starts conversing with you.

In ancient Indian philosophy, moon has every important position. He is the one who drives the Indian calender which is though tough to manipulate but more accurate than the one which we all are following now. They believe that, all stars position and moon decides our life moves. Even in Muslim religion, they have importance to 'Chand ' on Id specially ....aha... I just love the crescent view of moon and Venus appears coming near to him...just remind me the marathi song by MangeshPadgaonkar- "Shukratara, mand wara... chandane paanyatuni.. " The moon sometimes reminds you the person whom you love so much but still far from them. ...huh....I will go on talking...I need to stop...
As today it was Sankashti Chaturthi , I had a fast for whole day and haven't eaten anything without taking first look of moon, that's the gift that Lord Ganesh has given to him. Its now 1 o clock in night and I am going to talk with moon...going to live in world of dreams...showering my self with moonlight and washing out all thoughts and clearing my mind from all worries....want to live in space of eternity.

Don't Let Anyone ....

:::::::::Don't Let Anyone :::::::::::::

Don't let anyone
in ur heart...
its a pain u feel
when u get apart...
and u will miss her
right from the start....
don't let anyone
in ur heart.....

Never will u forget
the times u had....
though the reflections are happy
it makes u rather sad...
think of every moment
tht beats in ur heart...
just donn let anyone
in ur heart...

The world 'round u
is not the world u see ....
u keep dreaming
and time just flees..
nights are longer
n days get short....
so donn let anyone
in ur heart...

...............
..........
..............
.........
................................

......................

-Harshal Patil

P.S. : My first ever attempt in English poetry writing...... Date:02/11/2006

Ten on Ten !!!!!

Hurrey!!!! I never thought I would start writing blogs...and here comes my 10th blog entry...TEN ON TEN ( surf excel ad)....
This is world cup season...anywhere, everywhere, wherever, okk whatever....Its cricket time..wuhh...1 crore eyes... opps 2 crore eyes... (we have pair na..ek ke upar ek free...) laid on today's match. But rather than fans big companies are also worried today. Why ? Market analyst believe that should India fail to reach the Super 8 stage of the World Cup, it would put Rs.3.5 billion worth of ad money and roughly Rs.13.25 billion in sponsorship money at risk.....After every over, after every wicket....you see the ad...and most of the times you wont switch the channel, because its very short time and you won't like to miss the little action in game. That's what this ad maker catch and throws billions of dollars on campaign.

This means, if they are investing so much in this then there should be some output. The whole philosophy of life is, first "sow," then "reap." That is the way the farmer does; he plants his potatoes and corn, and sows his grain, and then goes about something else, and the time comes when he reaps. But he never reaps first and sows afterwards. This principle applies to all kinds of business, and to nothing more eminently than to advertising. Can you just imagine how much money they put to make an ad for 50 paise of candy ?....Kuch dimaag ki batti jali...??....nahi na...toh fir Dobara mat puchna...nahi toh Jor ka jhatka dhire se lag jayega. Advertising is the art of convincing people to spend money they don't have for something they don't need.


Some ads really make us wonder...How can anyone think like this??... hope not by chewing mentos... :D ...So when creativity comes in the picture, advertising media is the best way to utilise it. Here, I won't stop myself mentioning very brilliant ad of Happydent ( click on it to watch video on youtube). What a idea to cell 50 paise candy. How much thinking is involved....just amazing. Sometime its the effect of tag-line, sometimes character , few times music or may be its presentation. One can not forget the little child from Britannia's ad..ting-ting-ti-ting... Thanda matlab Coca-Cola catch line...Airtel's music.....or old ad of Amul- The Taste Of India. You see advertising everywhere, streets, newspaper, TV, your mailbox, even your cell phone's inbox..wherever media is operating ads are there. Recently we had lecture by famous ad maker Prahlad Kakkar in Saarang. He refreshed our minds with many brilliant ideas. ( I won't mention his hotel's name here :P ).If you ever go to pune, you will see many creative names (many in marathi)of shops and hotels e.g. 'Ais-pais' , 'Thenga', 'My foot', ' Aai Ga' etc.

When I was a little child , I always wondered about, How can they sell newspaper with just Rs. 1.50 cost ? How can they telecast serials without taking any money from viewers ? Who gives them? ..ya...the readers, viewers only pays them, but in indirect way. Through ads. The reader of a newspaper does not see the first mention of an ordinary advertisement; the second insertion he sees, but does not read; the third insertion he reads; the fourth insertion, he looks at the price; the fifth insertion, he speaks of it to his wife. That's the catch, more you bombard , more is effect. Its just game of psychology. When you are viewing any ad, at that time you may not even willing to purchase that product, but when you go for shopping you will definitely choose product that you heard most of the times. Thanks to all this ad funda, who ever has invented of marketing things first time. They run every thing. Every event has sponsors, without sponsors it is just impossible to conduct large events. You see this world cup, because of sponsors only. Even the open secret about politics is Advertise only.Your cricketers like SachinTendulkar, stars like Big B, makes more money through these ad campaigns. Big B cleared his ABCL's loan by selling Hajmola, Navratn tel or cadbury. The man who stops advertising to save money is like the man who stops the clock to save time.

Coming to our own side, we also advertise everyday. wait wait...did you just read "WE" ??...ya you read it correct....How? and What for "WE" advertise ?...simple answer, you advertise yourself.. You try looking good, have a pleasant behavior...just to advertise yourself. That's how people come to know about you. If you don't then people may not even get to know about you.
Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you are doing, but nobody else does. So keep advertising.

Aha Insight !!!!

A beautiful creative photo of droplets


Yesterday night, after running through all day with network assignment and little bit of enjoyment at CS Club event, my mind start stumbling on various thoughts that came to mind. Suddenly my mind started debating to myself "Who is better, Scientist or Artist ?".....I don't know how my thoughts lead me to that, but it just flashes in my mind.

Scientist discovers, Artist creates......both are at their levels....you just can't compare them. The only thing connects them is the feeling..." Aha Insight ! " after every creation the peace of mind experienced is just, is just just....no....you can't bind it in words...but ya, it is great feeling. In my school time, we some group of friends always tried some hard mathematical problems beyond the scope of our level at that age. But whenever I got solution to such things..most of the times just after I woke up around 5 o clock in the morning, I have experienced such 'Aha' feeling. As a artistic part of mine, whenever I write some poetry, just after writing last line of it...sometimes it amazes me, ' Is this my baby?'...or sometimes looking at some beautiful photograph, my eyes react the pleasure I feel.

Many times it seems like art that is created is done in one go or it just sudden realisation of creation. But its not true. There must be innumerable fragments, ideas, impressions, feelings which are playing together, dancing, colliding, meeting, separating, always with some organizing principle coagulating the ideas to form a whole. Then, perhaps when we least expect it, we have an "Aha" or "eureka" moment.

Just look at the picture above. How that artist thought about engaging droplets into necklace ? He has to be mad to think such great idea. Just amazing ! If I decide to just write on the picture above, it will lead to another post ( I won't write more about it now). Various thoughts running all day, may lead to creation. Creation are originated from emotional background, some kind of madness associated with it. Is creative genius somehow woven together with "madness"? According to the dictionary, "to create" is "to bring into being or form out of nothing." Such a powerful, mysterious, and seemingly impossible act must surely be beyond the scope of scientific inquiry. No wonder creativity has for so long been "explained" as the expression of an irrational, intuitive psychic "underground" teaming with forces (perhaps divine) that are unknown and unknowable (at least to the "sane," rational mind).

How can emotional turmoil enhance creativity?

"... his raptures were,
All air, and fire, which made his verses clear,
For that fine madness still he did retain,
Which rightly should posses a poet's brain
-- Michael Dray ton "

Creative person , may be he is a painter, composer, writer or poet or whatever...many times he relates his current state of mind with his art. He dissolves his emotions in his art. Creative people can use their personal pain to help others find wholeness. The people who taste his art may not realise the feelings that artist could have experienced. If creation does come from "the depths of the mind and the depths of the personality and the depths of the unconscious," it may be that the introspective, ruminative state of depression can enhance this journey. "One goes down into the well and nothing protects one from the assault of the truth".

There are various aspects associated with art..It truly reflect our life. In fact, it is science of our life. You feel joy, you feel grieve, you feel proud, you feel distress....It is a dish having all taste of life. One has to have artistic view for looking at it. I wish I could get, eyes of photographer or painter , ear of musician, taste of cook, heart of poet, touch of sculptor and many more......I want to live my life to fullest....I always wish to get the feeling " AHA , INSIGHT !".

Life is an opportunity, cash in on it.
Life is an adventure, get into it.
Life is a tragedy, grow from it.
Life is a struggle, make it sacred.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a promise, meet it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a duty, fulfil it.
Life is a challenge, face it.
Life is a dream, realise it.
Life is beauty, feel it.
Life is bliss, experience it.

Tension ! Hussshhhhh

Huuuuuuussssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhh !!!!!!!!!!

I don't see any reason why am I writing this blog today? I have mid-sem which is gonna eat me as a breakfast tomorrow and I have not read a single line for it. May be, the state of my mind provokes my thoughts to come out at this time only.

"The time to relax is when you don't have time for it."

Ya, its true. Have you ever notice ,why do you get trillions of irrelevant thoughts while you are studying or preparing for something? If you don't , but I do experience such things. This blog is result of same. I always wonder why during exam times my minds start thinking of poems and unwillingly I have to suppress them. I wish , I could live in two time spaces at same time, one in which I am currently and the other space will be for all those thoughts which come in my way while living in first space. I can live my life at fullest doing what I want to do and doing what I should be doing uninterruptedly.

Without tension life will not be moving, this is by the law of physics ( courtesy: Newton's First law of motion :P ). Too much tension kills....ya that's what my physician told me when last Sunday I was at hospital having oxygen mask on my face and lying down on bed helpless. Why do I take tension....NO , I don't. It comes to me even I don't wish to have it. But from now onwards , I will not accept any tension because I have to realise the fact that, just flip the order....

TENSION = ITS NONE

Smile !

Smile ! :-)
Offers Nothing But Smile !
"Hey your blog name is about offering smile and you have not posted any article which offers it...why? " ...... So here it is.... Smile !

Smile, the word always reminds me of my all time favorite movie "Life is Beautiful". The way Roberto Benigni teaches his son to smile at any situation come across, no matter how critical it may look. The only thing which can make you stronger when you are in difficulty.

Have you ever been in the middle of an especially trying day when someone, unexpectedly, gave you a smile that lifted your spirits? It's a wonderful experience, but did you know that smiles can come in different forms?

"Kya har hasi ke piche hamesha khushi hoti hai Babumoshay?"...as Kaka said in Anand. Smile ! It may not always means happYness( no "i" ...yes "Y"....after watching The Pursuit of HappYness, I changed my way of writing this word ). The collage made above( thanks to flickr ) is self illustrative how different feelings that SMILE can express. It could be full of Wonder, Dreams, Satisfaction, Cunning, simply Joy, or sometimes it may cover with Sadness. Even while thinking of someone SMILE just comes to your face, unknown to you. It relates to your heart , in fact, I would like to say "Smile paints your Heart on your Face".

In physiology, a smile is a facial expression formed by flexing muscles most notably near both ends of the mouth, but also around the eyes.

We all have come across through this phrase : Smile! It improves your face value. The sentence set me thinking of the immense value of stretching our cheeks with such difficulty sideways a bit, a rare catch in this present-day hectic, tension-ridden, hurried and harried life. We have no time to smile at others but nevertheless find time to laugh at others. Its the biggest close-up smile (laugh).

They say that face is the mirror of our thoughts and it reveals all the feelings and emotions hidden deep inside. And smile adds glow to our face and grace to our personality. To express anger, it is said, we strain more nerves, while to smile only a few nerves are put to work. With a charming smile, we can do wonders. Others are put to ease with a sweet smile and they feel we are more closer to them. A mere smile even without uttering a word, reveals affection, appreciation and at times, sympathy.

Some people manage at least to grin like our air-hostesses. Of course, the latter add an artificial Namaste too. "Laughter is the best medicine." May be because it eases our tension, helps unwind the pent up feelings, and often forget our worries at least for a short period.

A smiling face gets instant welcome. Though the person may not be of much worth otherwise, the smile makes up the difference. It creates a pleasant feeling in the mind of the onlooker. It helps the person to establish a good impression. It shows the attitude of the person and willingness to lend a helping hand.

Smile has its own wonder. It enlivens the atmosphere and creates an envy in the minds of the neighbors, to put the ad way 'neighbors' envy, owner's pride"! They say a sprightly child is an asset. We put up a smiling face ("smiling bravely") in adversities, in moments of sorrow (feeling in depth) and during other trying periods as a social obligation. Then of course we can smile away certain embarrassing questions or avoid any commitments by using this harmless signal!

For the salesmen, this is an indispensable work tool he can not do without. It is his survival kit, a preface to the gift of the gab he might possess. This can even be described as a bait for his daily bread! Sometimes if we are not quite welcome, the greeting takes the form of a broad grimace. We no doubt enjoy a hearty laugh. But what we actually wish to have the last laugh on certain tricky issues!

With a flash of smile and being vivacious, we spread exuberance around. It makes the gathering scintillating. Like we score a little more mark in the exam simply because of our neat handwriting. In life too, we gain more marks by a cheerful smile and thereby expressing an agreeable face. A tremendous amount of goodwill is gained through this seemingly simple gesture.

If you wear a big smile on your face just before you say goodbye to somebody over the telephone then they will "hear" it. Don't ask me to explain that. All I know is that it works. You can just tell. Experiment with a friend. You will see that it is true.

Most important benefit of a smiling face is ease of relationship in family. It generates optimism, energy and a keen sense of belonging spontaneously. This collectively leads to togetherness. Isn't that what a family is all about?

In the end, I would like to share one poem I came across about Smile

Infectious Smile

Smiling is infectious; you catch it like the flu,
When someone smiled at me today, I started smiling too.
I passed around the corner and someone saw my grin
When he smiled I realized I'd passed it on to him.
I thought about that smile then I realized its worth,
A single smile, just like mine could travel round the earth.
So, if you feel a smile begin, don't leave it undetected
Let's start an epidemic quick, and get the world infected!

Keep the smile going by sending Smile, on to a friend.
Everyone needs a smile!!!
Keep Smiling :-)

-Harshal

Public Holiday !!

Raghupati Raghav Rajaram....my cellphone started ringing and unwillingly I had to leave my beautiful dream in halfway.I drew my head away from a shawl and by the time I picked that call, I missed it. I dragged my legs out from bed and I turned towards the monitor balancing myself from early morning laziness. I hit the chair and switched on my computer. "On 30th Jan, the day on which Mahatma Gandhi was shot...IITM enjoying rock show...what a pity...shameless people...".....this two lines of status message caught my attention through half open eyes. First of all rock show was over 29th night only. On 30th , some fusion music and hip-hop band were performing. But still I got his feelings behind that status message.

I strongly disagree with his statement.Why shouldn't we enjoy on such days? Do we need to stop all our work for it? Why??? I don't think it is necessary to sit down at home dumping all our fun time, work time. I know many of you won't like my thoughts. Those may be out of your so called Moral Respect towards national Heroes. But try thinking other way and ask one question to yourself "How many times have you given 'Shraddhanjali -bilkul Dilse'... to them on such occasions?? " I am sure atleast 90 % of you will answer NO to this question. Why do government keep national/ public holidays for such days? Just to relax at home ?? Take a break from office, studies ?? Why ?? ( This doesn't mean that I don't like holidays ;-) ...) But the purpose of keeping day off is not satisfied. So why is it against of so called Moral Respect ? Why should not we enjoy on such days? If you want to remember our national Heroes then just keep one day for remembrance to all and on that day you show your respect towards them.

P.S. - If anyone want nokia keypress ringtone for Raghupati Raghav Rajaram.... then write that in comment. I will post there.

Random thoughts

I know I'm sitting jobless and still have a trillion and a half things running on my mind. My current state of mind is so haphazard that I can't even bring it out in the form of words. No no, these aren't my mood swings. Call it multi-tasking or simply the lack of ability to streamline one's thoughts and think coherently to put up a proper post. In simple words, call it just an excuse.
The rate at which am watching movies has reached its zenith and the rate of socializing and networking has perfectly balanced my state of ennui(so bored...just trying some uncommon words :p). With the newly acquired musical collection, I couldn't be more busy!
Have you ever felt that you could be surrounded by a huge group of chattering people, yet felt lonesome ? And be with one person and find hours evaporating into seconds ?
And why is it that when you need people around, all of them are either busy or not reachable or are onto things that obviously make u feel measly.
I don't wish to live in this moment !
Hope is a misnomer !

The End !

I don't know how to start this story...like most stories similar to this one, doesn't have definite start. This incidence happened with one of my best friend recently.He is a straight-forward, calm guy. This post is based on the conversation I had with him. So little background about it, till he realised the feelings he was completely changed. She had started coming through his poetry, his dreams, in everything. Like all so called lovers he started experiencing sleepless nights, dreaming about her always, started watching SRK's typical stupid(?) movies , lost concentration in studies and what not. He couldn't hold his feelings longer and he finally decided to tell her everything he felt.

On that day he reached at the pre-decided venue 5 min.s before time. She arrived there and looked for him but she couldn't. Suddenly he came forward and gave her surprise...she was totally shocked and happy to see him. His mind was completely out of his control...he was not able to speak with words...just smiled towards her and they both got inside restaurant. A beautiful track from Saathiya was playing, favourite of both of them. Few minutes passed, no one was speaking a single word. Finally she broke the silence and started conversation. She kept talking and he was only listening and observing her. "Hey, today also I am late. Complete 9 mins late. Sorry...really sorry."..."Its ok, chalata hai", he replied with smile as usual. She asked in little serious voice, "XXXXX, promise me one thing."... "About what?"..... "Promise me, you will not leave me though I do any mistake. Irrespective of all my mistakes ,you will forgive me. Promise me... you will be with me whole life." After listening all this, he got little bit shocked, " Yes, I won't leave you whatever may happen XXXXXX. I will always be with you. But today, why are you asking me all this? " Smile came on her face and she answered," Thanks...thank you very much... I just felt somewhat nervous today that's why I asked you. really lucky I am." ..."Hahaa, its ok stupid.",he smiled. They talked for an hour and then she asked him, " You are going to tell me na , who is she? I couldn't guess...tell me na.." ... "hahaha...wait na..I will tell you". "ok".
He was somewhat circumspect. " Why your hands are shivering? Shall we tell them to turn off the AC? Are you ok na? What happened? ", she questioned him watching his situation. " Nothing re. I am fine. Aisehi bass. I think now your favourite song will be played- Tu hi meri shab hai", he smiled. And what a surprise , same song had started playing. He was thinking good mood has been set up, really nice..this is right time to tell. Both smiled. "Are you going to tell me today or not?" ... " Ya, ya...I will tell you today only. Just wait. Listen to the song, after that I will tell you"...And then finally the moment came. "You wanted to know na, who is she?..That person is you only"....Total silence...."Wait..don't look at me for few minutes. I don't know what to speak"..."ok...", and he turned his head...no one spoke for 10 minutes then ,"Arre I am not that good re. You are too good in fact best ...I never realised your feelings.", she covered her face with hands....again silence spread but he got the answer from her face. He was totally lost, completely down. " Do you want me to speak something? "... "No, I just wanted to tell my feelings and that I told. I don't want to hear anything."...His voice was down, he just stopped breathing. Its really hard when something like this happens. Still his face was smiling but he was crying inside. She held his hand in her hands. He felt somewhat relaxed by her touch....felt like she had kept her hands on his heart and stopping its fast beating. "XXXXX, I will never leave you. I will be with you till my death comes. ",she expressed her feelings. But he was not able to say anything at that time, he just closed his eyes....He took back his hands from her. He felt like someone is tearing away a part of his heart same time. At that time song playing was also one of sad song- Bheegi bheegi si. So much pain he was experiencing with fake smile still on his face. Again for some time no one was speaking. Then he changed the subject and chatted for an half hour and they left the place. While taking leave he realised that he had forgotten to give DairyMilk that he had brought for her..he took that out from his pocket. ohh no...its condition was just like his heart. Still she took it from him and they both left.
Next day I went to his place asking about what happened . I asked him," arre tell me yaar, what happened yesterday? and why are you upset? forget it yaar...ye sab chalta rehta hai..relaxed buddy"...." Arre Harsha, you will not understand all this and I can't forget re...and I don't want to forget too...Those are the most beautiful moments I ever experienced in my life. I can't forget them. Harsha, I am not upset at all( he smiled towards me). I am happy...arre I am lucky enough yaar..at least I didn't come to know her sandal number....", he kept his head on my shoulder and he started crying like little boy.

Note: One request, if you have identified HE or SHE in the post ..then please do not disclose their names in comments.