If only...

Any time you decide to hold yourself back, think of two words that might haunt you in future: "If only..."

-- Deepak Gupta.

Its absurd to think and write quotes :P

-- Deepak Gupta.

Some more... :)

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy and Jill a rich widow.

-- Evan Esar

Seeing ourselves as others see us would probably confirm our worst suspicions about them.

-- Franklin P. Adams.

Oops !!!

On Nov. 10, 1985, Rhona Petrosyan, widow of chess legend Tigran Petrosyan, told Garry Kasparov:
"Garry, I am sorry for you."

A stunned Kasparov, who had won the world chess title just the previous day to become the youngest ever chess champion in history at the age of 22, queried:
"And what is there to feel sorry about?"

Petrosyan replied:
"I am sorry for you, Garry, Because the best day of your life is already over"

My first long-dist. bike ride !

Bhailog, agar 110kph half-our ride on the Khandala-Panvel stretch of NH-4 nahi experience kiya toh kya kiya ??!?!?!?.

As I embarked upon my first long distance bike ride from Pune to Mumbai, I had little idea that all my apprehension and anxiety of how I would make it was futile ! A smooth as silk NH-4, a lovely Honda Unicorn in its peak form ('tachometered' at 3000 kms) and little luggage (my shoulder-bag which actually gave support to my back while it rested completely on the a-bit-higher pillion seat), the ride was a piece of cake !

I started at around 6:30 am on a clear April Sunday morning. With little traffic on the road, my throttle wouldn't listen to my anxieties. Off it went and I was cruising at around 80 kph for the first hour. At around 8:15 am I made my first - and only - halt at the tiger point. It offers one of the most breathtaking views of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and the NH4 toghether with its flyovers and tunnels - all in one view !!!

With the morning sun making its presence felt with its teasingly warm rays of light, and a gush of fresh air having its lovely soothing effect on me, I set out on the speediest drives I have had till date on my bike. The around-70km Khandala Ghat-Panvel stretch is one of the best routes to push the throttle as hard as you please. A Pulsar 150 guy joined me at about this time and he was the one who got me to push the throttle hard. He aws like speed-locked at 90-100 kph... like a robotic machine... neither slowing down nor accelerating further. I maintained the 100-110 kph speed band for the better part of my 40 minute journey till Panvel. God I loved it to overtake the Pulsar guy at 110 !!! Just curious to know what must have gone through his mind. Was it, "Wow ! Too much dude !"... "Hohoooo... sahi ja rahela hai baap !!!" or "Iski khisak gayi hai... 'jayega' saala" or what ??? We continued our duel right till we reached Dadar !

Anyway, the ride had its share of "Oops !" moments. I was negotiating a mild curve down the road at no less than 80 kph when suddenly, a couple of speed breakers came into sight. There wasn't a sign-board to warn of it. Without my disk-brakes, I wouldn't have made it in time !!!

I reached my ex-college hostel (VJTI) at around 9:30 am - just in time to have a hearty breakfast with my ol' buddies :D.

All said and done, guys, Unicorn rocks !!!

Book Review - "Surely you're joking Mr. Feynman"

What would happen if a Radio fixer, A Painter, A Safe-cracker, A Percussionist, A Theoretical Physicist at Princeton and a Nobel Laureate in Physics come together in one body and soul ? Simple. You get Richard P. Feynman.

Richard Feynman is one of the most intriguing characters you would ever come across - An intellectual genius (as you would very well expect of a Nobel Laureate) packed into someone who, in any and every aspect of life is essentially "just another one of us" types. Sounds ironical, doesn't it ? hehe... read on....

Hilarious, Mischievous, Adventurous, Inquisitive, Simple and Ingenious are a few words that somewhat describe - more or less aptly - this autobiographical account of Richard Feynman's life. The book gives you your share of "Wow !"s and "Whoa !"s for Feynman's intellect, amply mixed with 'crazy' hilarity, a wonderful sense of humour (both in his real life as well as the writing style of the book itself) and laughter that you just can't get enough of.

It won't let you put it down as you steer through Feynman's life - right from his days as the little boy "who fixes radios just by thinking", right thru his days when he cracked the safe that mattered more than any other safe in the world then (the one that housed the top secrets of US nuclear bomb project), and thru his days when he got a playmate model (gasp !) to pose for him as he painted her profile.

The biggest single fact that makes one and all like this book is Feynman's marked departure from a stereotypical image of a reclusive genius one expects in a highly intellectual scientist ! The reader can relate to the character that Feynman personifies very easily.

A MUST read book for High School guys (Std. 10th - 12th) and a highly recommended read for people of all (other) ages. You just cannot miss it !

Book Review - My Journey Back To Life

The legendary consecutive seven-time Tour-De-France winner, Lance Armstrong, has done a commendable job in penning down this inspirational and thought-inciting autobiography ! And truly, as the book cover claims, "Its not about the bike" :)

Lance gives us a vivid picture of his childhood - of his brash, uncultured and aggressive (typically Texan) nature - and takes us through his early cycling days. One cannot fail to notice the impact of Lance's mom on his life in those days (and later).

Soon, in his teens when he is on the peak of his career, he takes us to the main theme of the book - Testicular Cancer - right from the night of 2nd Oct. 1996 when he was diagnosed, till his recovery and return to bike racing in 1999. The most striking thing about the ordeal is the way Lance changes as a human being - the way he sees at life, at everything in life !

A must-be book in your personal collection, go buy your copy ! :)

Well Said...

If you do the things you need to do when you need to do them, you can do things you want to do when you want to do them.
-- Anon.

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.
-- George Bernard Shaw

Experience !

Experience is the comb that Life gives you when you get bald !
-- A Chinese (or Thai) proverb.

Experience is what you got by not having it when you need it.
-- Unknown

And here comes the best of the lot...
Experience is what causes a person to make new mistakes instead of old ones.
-- Unknown.

Run !

“Every morning in Africa, a Gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a Lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest Gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you are a Lion or a Gazelle... when the sun comes up, you'd better be running.”

- Unknown (to me).

Another thought...

Those who want to fly... must know the importance of running on the ground

-- Viral Shah

Planning, and not plans, helps !

In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.

- Dwight D. Eisenhower (Courtesy: Yuvi)

Ours is the age that is proud of machines that think and suspicious of men who try to.

- H. Mumford Jones (Courtesy: Yuvi)

And I just hope……

Hope you were in these arms tonight,
I would embrace and hold you tight,

Your smile would brighten this dark night,
And give me courage to overcome my fright.

We’d sit gazing at the stars together,
And wish this moment would last forever,

Promises we’ll make and break them never,
My faith in you is worth a treasure.

Difficulties in our life we would not mind,
As sweet memories of the past we will rewind,

I thank the Almighty for being so kind,
Coz’ a gem like you is not easy to find.

The barriers between us, the distance, the miles,
All these thoughts bring tears in my eyes,

And I just hope……

You were in these arms tonight.

- Azra Sayed

The One that Rocky is !

"But it ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward."
-- Rocky Balboa to his son. ("Rocky Balboa" - Jan 2007)

"It ain't over 'till it's over."
-- Rocky Balboa to Mason 'Line' Dixon. ("Rocky Balboa" - Jan 2007)

"I gotta go out the way I gotta go out."
-- Rocky Balboa to his son during the final bout. ("Rocky Balboa" - Jan 2007)

A Software Developer

Why is why you think about What, When and Where. What is what makes you wonder how to find How.
One who starts with Why and works towards How is a smart chap. The other one is a software developer. :)

This Hospital needs DOCTORS - GOOD DOCTORS !

Not long ago, a visionary – books claim him to be one - envisaged a Hospital for PATIENTS who have physical disabilities pertaining to walking. He devised something called as CRUTCHES with a very well-defined purpose. A PATIENT shall use CRUTCHES only as long as he/she, WITH THE HELP OF PROPER AND RIGOROUS EXERCISES, becomes able to walk on his/her own. The Hospital did wonders for a lot of PATIENTS and seemed to work fine when it began its operations.

Later on, the Hospital recruited DOCTORS who were not exactly altruists. For their personal gains - let us say, filling their ever-growing pockets - they tried to become heroes in the minds of PATIENTS! How ? By letting them have improved and even more capable CRUTCHES, so that they stayed in the Hospital for a longer period and believed that it was their home, thus forgetting and undermining the basic purpose of the CRUTCHES and the hospital in general.

The following things happened -

1. The DOCTORS succeeded to an extent in making many not so sensible PATIENTS (the LAYMEN PATIENTS) believe that THEY HAVE A RIGHT TO and therefore MUST have CRUTCHES forever;

2. The DOCTORS succeeded to an extent in making the LAYMEN PATIENTS believe that -
a. They were inherently less capable than those in the outside world (lets call an outsider an ABEL).
b. Getting CRUTCHES is their RIGHTEOUS WAY to attain the same platform as the outside world.

3. The LAYMEN PATIENTS, falling prey to one of the most fundamental human tendencies, became less and less willing to DO THE NEEDFUL EXERCISES to get well soon and depended more on the CRUTCHES.

4. An ABEL who ran the race of life alongside a MAJORITY of other ABEL's and a MINORITY of ALL PATIENTS (SENSIBLE as well as LAYMEN), felt the sting of the hardships of running the race more intensely ON SEEING THE CRUTCHES of the PATIENTS.
a. Some SENSIBLE ABELs (VERY FEW) understood that the real culprits were the WICKED DOCTORS who created such a situation in the first place;
b. The other LAYMEN ABELs (RELATIVELY A LARGER COMMUNITY) cursed the person on the CRUTCHES who beat him in the race on grounds of using "undue advantage".
This led LAYMEN ABELs to develop a general feeling of HATRED and DISRESPECT for ALL PATIENTS in general (including the SENSIBLE PATIENTS); Clashes ensued which in turn led the LAYMEN PATIENTS to believe that the ABEL's in general are unjust and WHATEVER THEY ASK FOR (including the SENSIBLE ABEL's) is UNFAIR.

5. The DOCTORS exploited this growing feeling of hatred to endear the PATIENTS all the more to the CRUTCHES, telling them that they DESERVE the provision of CRUTCHES and that they should ask for them as their BIRTH-RIGHT.

Well, the cure seems NOWHERE in the minds of many DOCTORS at present... Coz they are concerned more about - rather ONLY about - their pockets growing forever in size.... Not all DOCTORS are wicked. But the better ones almost always are subdued by the 'System' of Administration in the Hospital. Some try to protest and eventually, face suspension from the Hospital.

The Hospital needs to recruit new DOCTORS - GOOD DOCTORS.

-- Deepak Gupta.

Understand Silence ! :-)

Speak less to people whom you love most... coz if they can't understand your silence, they can never understand your words !
-- Anonymous

Hope and Faith !

There are 2 things in the world which, when present, do not guarantee anything, but if not present, guarantee that there can't be anything - Hope and Faith.
-- Deep G.

Did you realize?

The first thing you learn while learning swimming is drowning.
-- Deep G.

Journey & Destination

Journey is the cake, and Destination, just the icing !
-- Deepak Gupta (Deep G).