Sunday, April 18, 2010

Ultimate...

See the end.. its  toooo good

As a daily habit, the 10-year Old Pintu was reading newspaper.Suddenly he
asked his father, " Dad! What does it mean by 'Governance System' ? "
" Its Like....", father said while thinking, " See! I earn and bring money to
home, mean's I am a 'Money Holder'. Your mother decides where and how to
spend that money and that means she is 'Government'. That maid in our home
is doing all the household works, so she will be 'Labour Class'.. You are a
'Common man' or 'Public'. Your kid brother is 'Future' or the 'Next
Generation', understand?".

That day Pintu slept with all those thoughts. In the middle of the night he
woke-up because his kid brother was crying. He wetted the matrices so he was
crying. Pintu went to woke-up his mother. She was in deep sleep so Pintu
went to the Maiden's room to wake her up. But there his father was sleeping
with the maid. So he came back with frustration. Next morning father asked
Pintu, " Hey Pintu Darling! You understood the 'Governance System'? ". Pintu
replied, " Yeah Dad, I understood! When money Holder is exploiting Labour
Class, our Government is sleeping. Future of our nation is crying for not
getting their basic needs fulfilled and in all this Common Man is
suffering!"

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Software Engineer and Soldier

A conversation between a soldier and software engineer in Shatabdi Train.

Mr. Vivek Pradhan was not a happy man. He was the project manager and still not entitled to air travel. It was not the prestige he sought, he had tried to reason with the admin person, it was the savings in time. He opened his case and took out the laptop, determined to put the time to some good use.


'Are you from the software industry sir,' the man beside him was staring appreciatively at the laptop.

Vivek glanced briefly and mumbled in affirmation, handling the laptop now with exaggerated care and importance as if it were an expensive car.

'You people have brought so much advancement to the country, Sir. Today everything is getting computerized.'

'Thanks,' smiled Vivek, turning around to give the man a look. He always found it difficult to resist appreciation.

'You people always amaze me,' the man continued, 'You sit in an office and write something on a computer and it does so many big things outside.'

Vivek smiled deprecatingly. Naiveness demanded reasoning not anger. 'It is not as simple as that, my friend. It is not just a question of writing a few lines. There is a lot of process that goes behind it.' 'It is complex, very complex.'

'It has to be. No wonder you people are so highly paid,' came the reply.

This was not turning out as Vivek had thought. A hint of belligerence crept into his so far affable, persuasive tone. ' Everyone just sees the money. No one sees the amount of hard work we have to put in.


'Let me give you an example. Take this train. The entire railway reservation system is computerized. You can book a train ticket between any two stations from any of the hundreds of computerized booking centers across the country. Thousands of transactions accessing a single database, at a time concurrently; data integrity, locking, data security. Do you understand the complexity in designing and coding such a system?'

The man was awestuck; quite like a child at a planetarium. 'You design and code such things'.


'I used to,' Vivek paused for effect, 'but now I am the project manager.'

'Oh!' sighed the man, as if the storm had passed over, 'so your life is easy now.'

This was like the last straw for Vivek. He retorted, 'Oh come on, does life ever get easy as you go up the ladder. Responsibility only brings more work..

Design and coding! That is the easier part. Now I do not do it, but I am responsible for it and believe me, that is far more stressful. My job is to get the work done in time and with the highest quality. To tell you about the pressures, there is the customer at one end, always changing his requirements, the user at the other, wanting something else, and your boss, always expecting you to have finished it yesterday.' 'My friend,' he concluded triumphantly, 'you don't know what it is to be in the Line of Fire'.


The man sat back in his chair, his eyes closed as if in realization. When he spoke after sometime, it was with a calm certainty that surprised Vivek.


'I know sir. I know what it is to be in the Line of Fire'. He was staring blankly, as if no passenger, no train existed, just a vast expanse of time.


'There were 30 of us when we were ordered to capture Point 4875 in the cover of the night. The enemy was firing from the top. There was no knowing where the next bullet was going to come from and for whom.In the morning when we finally hoisted the Tricolour at the top only 4 of us were alive.'

'You are a...?'

'I am Subhedar Sushant from the 13 J&K Rifles on duty at Peak 4875 in kargil. They tell me I have completed my term and can opt for a soft assignment. But, tell me sir, can one give up duty just because it makes life easier. On the dawn of that capture, one of my colleagues lay injured in the snow, open to enemy fire while we were hiding behind a bunker. It was my job to go and fetch that soldier to safety. But my captain sahib refused me permission and went ahead himself. He said that the first pledge he had taken as a Gentleman Cadet was to put the "Safety and Welfare of the Nation foremost followed by the Safety and Welfare of the Men" he commanded and his own personal safety came last, always and every time.' 'He was killed as he shielded and brought that injured soldier into the bunker. Every morning thereafter, as we stood guard, I could see him taking all those bullets, which were actually meant for me. I know sir. I know, what it is to be in the Line of Fire.'


Vivek looked at him in disbelief not sure of how to respond. Abruptly, he switched off the laptop. It seemed trivial, even insulting to edit a Word document in the presence of a man for whom valour and duty was a daily part of life; valour and sense of duty which he had so far attributed only to epical heroes. The train slowed down as it pulled into the station, and Subhedar Sushant picked up his bags to alight.


'It was nice meeting you sir.'

Vivek fumbled with the handshake. This hand had climbed mountains, pressed the trigger, and hoisted the tricolour. Suddenly, as if by impulse, he stood up at attention and his right hand went up in an impromptu salute. It was the least he felt he could do for the country.


PS: The incident he narrated during the capture of Peak 4875 is a true-life incident during the Kargil war. Capt. Batra sacrificed his life while trying to save one of the men he commanded, as victory was within sight. For this and various other acts of bravery, he was awarded Param Vir Chakra, the nation's highest military award, and after that as is known about this nation, all such sacrifices of our soldiers are conveniently forgotten and that's the saddest part.


Please live humbly, there are great people around us, let us learn, winners are .....

• too busy to be sad,
• too positive to be doubtful,
• too optimistic to be fearful
• and too determined to be defeated
• Self-trust is the first secret of success.

HAPPINESS HANDBOOK

HAPPINESS HANDBOOK


Health:


1. Drink plenty of water.

2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.

3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.

4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.

5. Make time to practice meditation, yoga, and prayer.

6. Play more games.

7. Read more books than you did in 2009.

8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.

9. Sleep for 7 hours.

10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk every day. And while you walk, smile.

Personality:


11. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

12. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

13. Don't overdo. Keep your limits.

14. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

15. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.

16.
Dream more while you are awake.

17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

18. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.

19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.

20. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.

23.
Smile and laugh more.

24. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Society:


25.
Call your family often.

26. Each day give something good to others.

27. Forgive everyone for everything.

28. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.

29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

30. What other people think of you is none of your business.

31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:


32. Do the right thing!

33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

34.
GOD heals everything.

35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

37. The best is yet to come.

38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.

39. Your Inner most self is always happy. So, be happy.