Perception

Call it a coincidence!

I have been hearing about perception in various context. And, today it happened. There were some schedules circulated with dates for action items and responsibility. I was always looking at the date and was okay with the schedule. The fact happened to be that the person who was sending the dates was thinking that this is the 'sixth' month and was giving dates from June. I never realised this till the time he himself explained the date mistake to me.

This perception is one of the 'actors' in the movie "The Sixth Sense". The director would have used this perception to bring out the suspense in this sci-fi thriller. The message is "your eyes only see what they want to see".

The other movie was "Shallow Hal". The perception about beauty is well explained in this movie. There will be a dialogue in the movie.
"Beauty lies in the beholder's eyes"
"What is beauty?"
"Beauty is what the media projects as beauty. We dont look beyond that"

May be the statement is true. The inner beauty is the real beauty, but, we are trained, right from our birth, to consider only the external physical attraction as beauty.

If this is the case, there is no big difference between our life and what is narrated in "Truman Show" or in the worst case "Matrix".

Leaving everything aside, there is one beautiful song by Madonna on the same subject.

"
you only see what your eyes want to see
how could life be what you want it to be
you're frozen...when your heart is not open
...
"

Listen to the song "Frozen" when you get sometime...it is very nice.

...bright

PS : Can anyone tell me how to add video or audio clippings to the blog? TIA.

Friends படமும் Software Project-ம்

சமீபத்தில் நண்பர்களுடன் சேர்ந்து பிரண்ட்ஸ் [friends] படத்தில் வரும் வடிவேலு நகைச்சுவை காட்சிகளைப் பார்க்கும் வாய்ப்பு கிடைத்தது.
அதில் ஒரு வீட்டிற்கு [படத்தின்படி, அது ஒரு அரண்மனை] சுண்ணாம்பு அடிப்பதற்காக செல்வார்கள். அங்கிருந்து ஆரம்பிக்கும் பாருங்கள்...ஒரே கலக்கல் தான்!

அதிலும், நீங்கள் மென்பொருள் பொறியாளராக வேலை செய்பவராக இருந்தால், சற்றே உங்கள் வேலை பளுவை ஒதுக்கி வைத்துவிட்டு, இந்த குறிப்பிட்ட சில காட்சிகளை கண்டு களியுங்கள்.

வடிவேலுவை உங்கள் project manager ஆகவும், விஜய், சூர்யா, ரமேஷ் கண்ணாவை உங்கள் office friends ஆகவும் உருவகப்படுத்திக் கொண்டு பாருங்கள். ஒரு software development project ல் நடைபெறுவது அப்படியே கண் முன் வந்து நிற்கும்.

விஜய், சூர்யா அடிக்கும் லூட்டியும் அவர்களால் ஒவ்வொரு முறையும் வடிவேலு திட்டு வாங்குவதும், team member - project manager - client manager காட்சியை நினைவுறுத்தும்.

"நீ ஆணியே புடுங்க வேண்டாம்" என்று சொல்லும் போது, புதிதாக code அடிக்க ஆரம்பித்த team member - project manager பேசிக் கொள்வது நினைவுக்கு வந்தது.

"உன் வேலை என்னடா?"
"இவுங்க ரெண்டு பேரும் வேலை செய்யாம பாத்துக்கறது தான் என் வேலை" "போடாங்க....எவன்டா உங்க மொதலாளி..."
என்று சொல்லும் போது, ஏனோ எனக்கு என் project நினைவுக்கு வந்து, 'குபீரென்று' சிரித்து விட்டேன்.

உண்மையில் அந்த 15 நிமிடம் போனதே தெரியாமல், சிரித்து சிரித்து ஒரே வயிறு வலி தான் போங்கள்.

...பிரைட்

Scream Room - For Stress Management

who is under stress?
1. A football coach who shouts and screams during the entire 90 minutes play
or
2. A person behind the ticket counter in a busy bus / railway / station

Though it appears that the football coach takes lot of stress, the high impact is with the person who handles all the different type of people in the other side of counter, calmly suppressing all his anger.

In the similar line, though a software engineer is generally considered to be a blessed person for , he works in an air conditioned environment, sitting before a computer, the amount of stress handled by a software engineer is lot more than the stress managed by a MTC bus conductor working under the scorching sun of Chennai summer.

I dont have facts or statistics to support this statement. But, as a typical piscean, i go by my emotional quotient.

As a software engineer myself, let me also think about a simple solution for this problem.

In every software company, as there is a pantry room, a rest room, there should also be a "Screem Room" protected with sound proof walls.

image source: Internet

The associate who feels like releasing his anger / stress can simply walk into the room, lock the door, scream / shout / scold whatever and however he wants.

When he walks out of this "Scream Room" he will definitely feel relaxed and he will also be more efficient...

what do you say?

...bright

My Experiments with 'Body Building'

Everytime i stay in a different place [other than my sweet little home], I wish to learn something new or develop a new interest.

While in Bahrain, i thought of initiating a new activity called 'body building' - there was a Gym attached to our apartment.

Definition:
Bodybuilding is the process of developing muscle fibres through the combination of

1. weight training,
2. increased caloric intake, and
3. rest.

Someone who engages in this activity is referred to as a bodybuilder. As a sport, called competitive bodybuilding, bodybuilders display their physiques to a panel of judges, who assign points based on their aesthetic appearance.

Someone told me that "an activity well begun is half complete". So, i started with, the easiest path, taking steps 2 & 3.

Hmm...the muscle fibre is developing but, it is limited to a particular area between the thorax and pelvis.

Now, i am wondering how to reduced this 'overhanging with a thick layer of fat' in 21 days.

Any suggestions...

...bright

சினிமா...சினிமா

சமீபத்தில், உயிர் என்றொரு படத்தின் விமர்சனம் படிக்க நேர்ந்தது. என்ன சொல்வது என்று தெரியவில்லை.

நமது சிறப்புத் தன்மை [மேலை நாட்டவரைக் காட்டிலும்] உறவின் வலிமை தான். பெற்றோர் - மக்கள் உறவு, அண்ணன் - தம்பி பாசம், தாய்க்குப்பின் தாரம், அம்மா இடத்தில் அண்ணி, என்று நாம் போற்றி வழிபடும் உறவுமுறை பலவுண்டு.

ஆனால் சமீப காலமாக தமிழ் சினிமாவிற்கு என்ன கேடு பிடித்தது தெரியவில்லை, இந்த உறவுகளை கொச்சைப் படுத்தியே தீருவது என்று கங்கணம் கட்டிக் கொண்டு கோர தாண்டவம் ஆடுகிறது.

கண்ணைக் மூடிக் கொண்டு உலகமே இருண்டு விட்டது என்று நான் சொல்லவில்லை. இங்கொன்று, அங்கொன்று என்று இத்தகைய கேடு கெட்ட வாழ்வுமுறை சமூகத்தில் பரவி இருக்கலாம், இல்லாமலும் இருக்கலாம் - அது எனக்கு தெரியாது. ஆனால், இத்தகைய படங்களின் மூலம் சொல்ல வருவது என்ன என்று புரியவில்லை.

யாராவது ஒருவர் இத்தகைய படங்களை விமர்சிக்கும் போது, 'அகிரா குரசேவா' படங்களில் வரும் யதார்தத்தைப் போல் இந்த படத்திலும் தத்ரூபமாக வந்துள்ளது என்று கருத்து தெரிவிப்பார். அந்த நளினத்தை உண்ர்ந்து கொள்ள முடியாத ஒரு சராசரி மனிதனின் அறியாமையை எண்ணி வருந்துவார். ஆனால், படம் எடுக்கப் படுவது இத்தகைய சராசரி மனிதர்களை குறி வைத்து தான் என்றும், படம் பார்ப்பவர்கள் அனைவருக்கும் அகிரா குரசேவா பற்றி தெரிந்திருக்க வேண்டிய அவசியம் இல்லை என்றும் யார் உணர்வது, உணர்த்துவது?

சட்டத்தை பற்றி சொல்லும் போது சொல்வார்கள். "...ஆயிரம் குற்றவாளிகள் தப்பிக்கலாம். ஆனால் ஒரு நிரபராதி தண்டிக்கப்பட கூடாது..."

அதே போல், சினிமாவிற்கும் ஒரு நெறிமுறை வர வேண்டும். "...ஆயிரம் தீய எண்ணம் உடையவர்கள் திருந்தாமல் போகலாம். ஆனால், ஒரு நல்ல மனம் கள்ள மனம் ஆகிவிட கூடாது..." என்று.

பூனைக்கு யார் மணி கட்டுவது? சென்ஸார் போர்டு என்ன செய்ய முடியும்...தெரியவில்லை!

...பிரைட்

Some interesting discussion...

Today i went with my clients for a dinner get together in an interesting restaurant called Lanterns - One interesting place I like in Bahrain.

During the dinner there were lot of topics discussed from cricket to soccer, from indian movies to the local arabian folk dances.

The host being an Australian, we ended up in discussing what Australians are favourite of.

1. Cricket Australia
2. Kangaroo
3. Qantas.

QANTAS - The official airlines of Australia. It is an acronym for "Queensland And Northern Territory Aerial Services".

The first services provided by QANTAS was not by plane, but by car. They were serving as cargo transporters between the coasts of Australia.

Observations

• The data elements in the first ticket issued by Qantas is the same in the e-ticket that are issued now.
• The data columns in the log book of the first flight is the same as the data entered in the recent electronic sign-off sheet.
• Irrespective of the technology used to store the data, the data remains the same.
  

Trivia
In the movie Rain Man [1988], Dustin Hoffman will also give a trivia that, Qantas never had an accident. Not sure if this still true in 2006.

thats all folks, in the remaining time between these discussions, i had a sumptuous lunch and for the first time tried the fried icecream with coconut - yummy, it was nice :-)

...bright

Gandhi - The Movie

Today [July 14, 2006] the english movie Gandhi was telecasted in one of the local televisions in Bahrain [mbc 2].

The movie starts as on 30th January 1948, when Gandhi was shot.The next scene starts with the famous train journey in South Africa in the year 1893.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi to Gandhi - the father of a great nation in the world - The transformation was laid foundation in this historical journey.

When i saw this movie, i also remembered the story told to me when i was in South Africa for a short assignment.Even a decade before, the scenario in South Africa used to be like this.If there are 14 compartments in a train, only the last compartment will be reserved for the the natives of Africa. There will be thousands of people in a single compartment.The next three compartments will be reserved for the asians [the working community]. There will be hundreds of people in each compartment.The remaining ten compartments will be for the Europeans. And, surprisingly, there will be as few as 10 people for the entire 10 carriages.

I was also told that there will be certain location, where noone other than the white skinned people cannot even enter, leave alone staying there.

What makes Gandhi a great man? It is his principle and his guts to live by his principle no matter what happens.In one scene, he will invite the servant to have food along with the master. Gandhi's wife will refuse to serve to the servant and claim that he is an untouchable. She will question Gandhi, why is he forcing her. He will tell her that, you dont listen to me, but follow my principle with will. I hope this is what makes him the greatest leader.

In the same movie, he will also regret about the formation of the Congress Party and YES, the regret still continues...

BTW, in one of the blogs, someone was comparing Gandhi's "My Experiments with Truth" with SJ Surya's BF [Ah Aah] and Selvaraghavan's Pudupettai...Man, give me a break ! I feel that, even giving a response to such a blog is a great insult to an idolistic man like Mohandass Karamchand Gandhi.

...bright

All the "TIME" management

How do you feel:

• About people claiming that they are working hard; because, they are staying late in the office
• About people coming late to a meeting / party just to create a scene that they are very busy

If you feel "good" about being one among the list of people described above, this blog is not for you.

For me, the above people are a list of indecent gang [not even a group] who do not know how to manage their time.

Time - the most important commodity in life. It is a fixed asset for anybody irrespective of the age, color, sex, religion or nationality.

I dont know about the phrase "All are equal before GOD and LAW", but, i can say this : "All are equal before time".

No matter who you are, you can have only 24 hours in a day. You cannot change this irrespective of your power!!All that matters is only the way you manage this 24 hours.

Two incidents in the span of three days irritated the most about the people's general conscious on their own time and the importance they give for other's time.

Incident 1:
There was a team get together planned and everyone was expected to come at 8:00 pm. Surprisingly, that day, even the host was not leaving till 7:30 pm. Along with my two other friends, I went to the party location and there was not even a sign on party. We returned back to our room. After 30 minutes, when we went, again it was the same case. Then, we went to the host's room. They were just getting ready. Finally at 9:00 [already 1 hr late] we assembled at the party location. But, now, the big bosses [aka, managers] were not present. As usual, the party will not begin without getting the blessings of the managers. So, we waited for another 30 - 45 minutes to get the party started. Now the point is, the people who reached the party on time were simply considered "jobless" and the others as the "most sincere" and "dedicated" workers who work for the upliftment of the entire human race of the universe.

Incident 2:
The above incident is atleast among the same group of people [not involving the clients].The second incident is much worse.

The client [an Australian] had invited us for a dinner get together at 7:30 pm. He sent the meeting notice two days in advance and confirmed our availability. Today, when we opened our mail client, our calendar also popped up a remainder telling there is an appointment at 7:30 pm.It takes hardly 30 minutes to travel from the place where we stay and the restaurant, By this simple logic, i would expect to start from our place at around 7 pm. But, the person who is the only source of our transport planned to start from the starting point at 7:30 pm. When asked that it will take 30 minutes to go to the restaurant, the response was "The client should know that we are very busy and working hard" - what the hell...Adding fuel to this, one person went for shopping at 7:15 pm. We cannot leave without him and he finished his shopping at 7:45 pm. We are already late by 15 minutes. Then, we called the host and told them that we are starting from office and we will reach in 15 - 20 minutes. Unfortunately, we missed the route also and by the time we reached the restaurant, it was 8:40 pm and the clients were almost winding up [one person immediately left after we went there].

I was part of both the incidents and helpless other than to raise voice [without any proper response].

But, the question is, why do people take it for granted about their own time and about the other's time.

Being in IT industry, we do all the estimates based on person months which calculated at the rate of 8 hrs a day and 21 days in a month. But, finally when we calculate the actual time spent [not the effort put] is almost nearly 10 - 12 hrs a day and 25 days in a month [except Friday in middle-east and Sunday in rest of the world].

We keep cribbing about the clients working 5 days a week and only 8 hrs a day. But, we dont even tend to follow their methodic planning of time against each task.

I have read somewhere:
"...one who cannot manage his own time is the one who does not have self respect..."

How many of us have our "Self Respect"?

...bright

Short stories...[வலையில் விழுந்தது]

Source: internet [நன்றி, தமிழ்மனம்]

1. Romance / Comedy
"Oh God! who is the reason for queen's pregnancy?" exclaimed the King.

2. Fairy Tale
Once upon a time, a boy proposed his love to a girl. The girl rejected. The boy went on and lived happily forever.

3. Suspense / Thriller
உலகின் கடைசி மனிதன் ஒரு அறையில் அமர்ந்து யோசித்துக் கொண்டிருந்தான். அப்போது கதவு தட்டப்பட்டது.

I have lifted the above short line stories from the net, because i felt them interesting. I hope it will be the same for my readers too...

Star Shines down

I heard the name Zinadine Zidane for the first time when i started playing FIFA'98 pc game from EA Sports.

Later in UEFA 2004, i saw his prowess in the field when France played England in their first match. I became an admirer of this great man fondly called 'Zizou'.

I was hoping for France to reach finals only to give a royal exit to Zizou. How great it will be to announce retirement from the international arena as the captain of the best team in the world with the golden cup !

Everything went well. France, even though struggled during their first round matches, steadied themselves.

Zizou, who got a yellow card in the first match, got another yellow card. This made him lose the last match in their round one against Togo. But, that was a good move. He will clear his Yellow card debts, and will start fresh for the knock out rounds.

French team proved a remarkable come back in their matches against Spain and Brazil. Zizou is everywhere...The man is back to the form in style.

The french team defended their only goal against Portugal, that was obtained through a penalty kick and got into the Final.

The final is against Italy. As it is in any story, France got a favourable situation with a penalty kick. Zizou converted it into a goal in the 7th minute of the game. I was very happy for the French team and in particular for Zidane.

In the 19th minute Italy equalised the French lead. Anyways, French team was building confidence and more dominance over the Italian side.

The game continued in the extra time and there were two close finishes by the French team. During the extra time, the ball never crossed the center line.

Zidane did a marvellous header, which was guarded marvellously by the best goal keeper from the Italian side.



Then it happened. What I saw in the screen really torn me apart. I was broken hearted. Zidane had committed a serious violation and was shown red card. French dream to win the world cup was sealed the moment Zizou head butted the Italian defender. The rest is all stories and speculation on what happened in those minutes.



In the end, the dreams of lot of Zizou's fans to watch him lift the world cup 2006 was shattered due to some uncommon hot temper of a legend footballer.

The question arises:
1. The refree did not witness the mishap. He was aided by his linesman, who was in turn aided by the giant screen projected in the stadium.This means that the decision was taken based on the visual media. It is allowed in cricket, but is it applicable to football?
2. The refree had used the latest technology to make his decision - that is appreciable. But, is it correct? - Absolutely not. The same verdict had gone against France many times.
Their second goal against S.Korea in their group matches was wrongly declared as blocked by the goal keeper. Later, the video replay showed that the goal keeper was behind the goal line when he blocked the ball.
There were so many hand balls through out the game. And the refree never used media to take decision.

The argument can go on. But the reality is, France lost their cup hope, their star player went down. What should had been an valiant exit turned out to be a violent exit...

After all, he is human too and there is more than football in life. However, isnt it the character of keeping the head cool during those moments that differentiate a star player from a mediocre one?

STAR DID SHINE DOWN

my heart still claims that "zizou is the best" and yes the world thinks the same; he got the Golden Ball.

...bright [After the FIFA 2006 finals on July 9, 2006]