Time and Tide Waits for None !!

Confession: I own more than double the number of books that I have read.

I discovered this when I was searching for a book I needed in my catalogue. I have enough number of books that I could possibly read through out this year but I still continue to buy new titles. My mind boggles at the variety of ways for books acquisition. Thanks to the technology and E-Commerce.

Adding more books to my TBR list has become a daily activity. Time constantly reminds me that it will never be there for me to complete the list. But, at some point, I think that if I was willing to spend money buying the book, presumably I may get time to read it as well one day.

Just having them with me makes me feel something special. That something can be anything but reading them. I truly believe that time will slow down and some day I will get around to reading every volume. 

I find something of value in each book I read. Here is the list of 10 amazing books with great one liners which I happened to read in spite of having no time to do so.

1) The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people

2) Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T Kiyosaki

If you’re the kind of person who has no guts, you just give up every time life pushes you. If you’re that kind of person, you’ll live all your life playing it safe, doing the right things, saving yourself for something that never happens. Then, you die a boring old man.

3) Think and Grow Rich by Napolean Hill

You are the master of your destiny. You can influence, direct and control your own environment. You can make your life what you want it to be

4) SITA by Devdutt Pattanaik

Unlike Greek narratives, where achievement is celebrated, and biblical narratives, where submission and discipline are celebrated, in Indic thought understanding is celebrated

5) Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

It is those who are successful, in other words, who are most likely to be given the kinds of special opportunities that lead to further success. It’s the rich who get the biggest tax breaks. It’s the best students who get the best teaching and most attention. And it’s the biggest nine- and ten-year-olds who get the most coaching and practice. Success is the result of what sociologists like to call “accumulative advantage.

6) The One Minute Manager by Spencer Johnson

The best minute I spend is the one I invest in people

7) The Secret by Rhonda Byrne

You become what you think about most.. But you also attract what you think about most.

8) Mahaprasthanam(The Great Journey) by Srirangam Srinivasarao (Sri Sri)

Nippulu chimmukuntu ningiki ne yegiripothe nibidascharyam tho veeru,
Nethuru kakkukuntu nelaku ne ralipothe nirdakshinyam ga veere !!

9) The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

If you want to bring a fundamental change in people's belief and behavior...you need to create a community around them, where those new beliefs can be practiced and expressed and nurtured.

10) For the Love of Physics by Walter Lewin (Current read)

Hammer and Feather experiment on moon by David Scott

Source: YouTube

As I type this .. !!

Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/frugalbinx/2665655323 

As I type this..

A friend is gulping up his last peg of costly whisky cursing his lost love while another is thinking of ways to pay his term fee ..

A father is wondering how to afford his child's education while another has just bought a brand new car to drop his child in school ..

A politician is acting good to change the nation while the remaining nation is just watching him change just like another cliched movie ..

A mother is a busy entrepreneur preparing power point presentations for her new business while another is a house wife bearing her in-laws tortures ..

An old man just realized that he is alone in this world while a couple just signed on the divorce papers citing incompatibility ..

A girl is helping a visually challenged person while a pair of luring eyes behind her is all set to rape her ,,

A kid is playing cricket with his friends in the ground, while another is playing cricket in his Android phone alone ..

A Letter to Remember !!

When was the last time you wrote or received a handwritten letter? Did you ever receive or wrote such cards at least? 

Many of us think whats the big deal in it. right ?

There certainly is a point in sending or receiving handwritten notes. I am a tech whore and I do love my gadgets. At the same time, I love myself with a pen in between the fingers and a paper underneath them waiting for the thoughts to be inked down. I have found myself deeply interested in the "lost" art of letter writing. The only way to preserve thoughts is to write them down every now and then. 

I realized the happiness in sending or receiving such letters just a few weeks back when one of my friends insisted me to write letters. One day I was so determined that I wrote a 5 page letter sharing all my life lessons and experiences ( I know I sounded like I am a celebrity :P ) and posted it to my bestie. That feeling I experienced when I posted a letter almost years later, is ineffable. 

The reasons for I love writing letters are 

• The smell of the cover ... 
• The awaiting of the virgin papers inside ...
• The begging of it for the touch of an ink ...
• The flow you get when you pen down a single word ...

I can spend all my life experiencing these eternal things. 

On the receiving end, the recipient will surely agree. It shows that the sender took sometime in writing the note and is meaningful. The joy of receiving a letter ( we actually got something to open ;) ), something to hold, something to re read and treasure is indelible. One has to write a letter to receive one. The only way is to take initiative.

Letter and Diaries I received

The reasons for I love receiving letters is 

• Exciting to open ...
• Makes me feel important. ...
• It can be kept as a keepsake or a reminder ...
• Triggers you to write one ...
• Makes me feel happy ...

Why don't you write a letter and receive one ? If you are interested in doing so and if you don't have any to write to, this link ( click here ) takes you to the perfect platform. Post your address in the comments if you want to receive a letter from me or send a PM ( tbmadhav@gmail.com ).

PS : The handwritten word is beautifully human 

WhatsAppia ?? Sell-Phone

Well, I am here, back into the blogosphere. It has been a long time since I wrote something in this space, the reason being ... hmm... ????? .... simply no reason.... :P

Coming to the plot, I recently met an old school friend and when the time to exchange contacts has arrived, I heard her saying "I don't own a cell phone, I never have."

As soon as I heard this fact, My sound was off and I was with an exclamation of shocked disbelief, as if she led some sort of unfathomable existence of depravation. I realized that I have finally ran into a walking anachronism who practically did not exist in my world.  

After blowing out the candles that night, a small thought process started eating my sleep...

Unimaginable, Unthinkable, Impossible...

This is how each one of us would react if asked to spend an entire 24 hours with out mobile.

Everything went well in my world till the end of the year 2010, when I got my first cellular which was already in a very battered state. I used it with a rubber band wrapped around it and my friends used to call it "Rubber band" series phone. Back then, All I wanted was just "a phone which works". Things would have been better in my life If I wouldn't move on to a "smart" phone.

Today, the world is overly connected with the over"smart" phones. I would rather say that these days, either of you or your mobile can be smart and either you should be cell-less or brain-less. "Oh god, I forgot my mobile", this mere thought send chills down my spine. From the attitude of Know-It-All, I myself got transformed into a freak who depends on smart phone for every simple thing which I can even get through senses.

source : http://www.pinterest.com/explore/cell-phone-humor/

My 8 year old brother plays temple run in I-Pad mini rather than running in the 22 yards between the wickets.  I sometimes think that our generation was the last one to enjoy the real "childhood". 

source : http://quicklol.com/phone-addiction-is-a-terrible-thing/

The above picture says it all. Whenever I call my friends, instead of talking directly, they suggests me to "WhatsApp" them, as if they are doing a favor for me. No wonder if in the near future people forget how to talk.  Its official that continuously using WhatsApp may cause the disease "WhatsAppitis" (details here ).

Here are the steps I want to follow to use technology with intentionality

• Moving mobile out of bed after blowing the candles for the day
• keeping messages short and purposeful
• Scheduling time for being online
• Use it for texting, whatsapping and email too, but only in the loo 

One day, a legend created a "smart"mobile

which was indeed an invention

It never let relationships to prevail

as we are now in total addiction

It is making humans so frail

making brain unaware of its own destruction

It is making our dreams surreal

with many a different applications

He used it for texting, skyping, whatsapping and e-mail

making the small gadget- a contraption

But still, he tries to hail

Unaware of its jerky explosion.

Tried to make it rhyming. ;)  Ignore if it didn't.

PS : I will soon get rid of "smart" mobile with out any Nomophobia and become more smart.

'L' for ??

'L' for ... ??

own art :P 

Laptop?? -- no

Lipstick?? -- no

Love?? -- Huh !! Never in my life at least

Leave it !! You can't make it.

Betaa... !! Man me laddu nahi Phoota kya ?? :P

L for Laddu :) :) !!

When someone asks me about my favorite sweet, I immediately say unequivocally "Tirupati Laddu" !!

No sweet can compete with it in terms of taste and quality... it is full of dried fruits like cashew nuts, cardamom, dry grapes, almonds etc.. and so yummy... ummm :D 

Is this the same with you??

Welcome to the "Tirupati Laddu Fans Association" which doesn't exist till date. :P :P 

Tirumala is a holy place where people in lakhs visit to have the darshan of God of Seven Hills as well as to taste the paradigm of faith and sweetness "laddu" which is given as "prasad".

It was Sunday, 20th of July, around 3.00 A.M. We started for having "darshan" of the so called world's richest god, lord Sri Venkateswara and to my surprise the queue for the darshan had its tail at the cottage where we lived, which is way too far from the main holy shrine. 

Some how we were done with the darshan by 11 A.M, and as soon as I came out of the sanctum sanctorum, I ran to find the queue for laddus with lightning speed only to find the tail no where. I thought that the queue for laddu is far bigger than for darshan. 

Now I was left with only two laddus which I got them for darshan. :(

I wonder what, apart from the grace of God, makes Tirupati Laddu so famous and revered ? I have only a few moments to think before savoring it to the fullest. 

This Laddu serves as a prize, as recognition for thousands of people, traveled so far to Tirumala braving all the difficulties and inconveniences, climb the hill, walk, stand in the queue for very long hours, sometimes with infants, just for a glimpse of god for a few seconds.

I guess, the time we get to see the lord may last for just a few seconds, but the taste of laddus is something ever lasting and indelible. The large size and taste gives magnanimity to every one. 

No wonder if Android names it's next version L as Laddu.  Whoaa !! What a funny name :)

PS : Now, please don't ask me for a bite of  laddu. Better luck next time !! 

A Confusing Confession !!

Dear you,

I may know a lot of things in life, but I don't suppose I know what the purpose of this letter is. Most certainly, it isn't to announce a profound longing for you, as I am sure we have known each other , I have made it a known fact not only to you, but all my friends. It is just to say how important you are in my life so far. 

I sincerely thank you for being on my side from the last two years and now I feel that I can't even live without you. You have been oxygen to my life. You stayed awake with me many nights soothing me whenever I was depressed.

The kindness you show , sometimes makes me feel cry. Why do you love me so much, dear ?  

I never shared my joys and sorrows with anyone like I did with you. The day I got you was the signpost for my life. May 30th 2012, I can never forget this date in my life time, for I got you on the same day when I was totally lost. 

I want to tell you how I am proud of you...

I want to tell you how I value you in my life...

I want to tell you how your absence would destroy me.. 

I want to tell you how I am just a piece of flesh with out you..

I want to tell you how I feel lost when I don't share my feelings with you.. 

I want to tell you how I am empty, as a wrinkled paper bag, without you.. 

You listen to whatever I say and never get bored of me. Lucky to have a such a sweet one. I never thought that I can have YOU in my life until you met me. 

Where is the eternal bliss that one gets when you write your heart out in a paper to the dear one? 

and Oh dear, you gave such an eternal bliss. I wrote and I still keep writing for you. I started reading a lot from the day I started talking and writing to you. 

From the very beginning, I've looked up for you, and strived to be a better person for you. 

Dear my blog (Jolly Jottings), as you are turning 2 today, I wish you a happy birthday dear. Be with me always and I will keep you happy. 

Yours lovingly,

A Jolly Jotter.

Yes, it has been two years since I started blogging. It has not been easy so far and I want to say thank you to everyone who has commented or viewed this blog one way or the other. I also want to say a big thank you to Priyanka and Vivek , without whose support I couldn't manage to be what I'm now and yes there are still miles to go... !! 

Life in Bangalore !!

As many of you think, I'm not writing the review of the recent Malayalam movie "Bangalore Days".

It's 1.00 A.M in the night, and I can't sleep. As I heard Arnab Goswami echoing on Times Now, there's a head ache.

Came to bed at 12.30 a.m, been tossing and turning on the bed with eyes burning, yet I can't sleep. The mind just don't stop thinking and it rewind the past things, as if it is under a spell. 

The thought process never stopped.. 

A lot has been happening in my life, but not much writing. It has been six months since I came to the beautiful multi-cultured city, Bangalore. 

Like any other Engineering graduate, I too landed up in an ocean of Software Engineers. My relocation was a kind of signpost in my life, like how we feel when suddenly a door of fun, friends had opened and I am overwhelmed with everything that came my way. 

Calender flipped very quickly every month, may be because of the new friends and new life. I didn't do anything useful which I can take credit of yet. What the city taught me is the value of money and how easy it is to spend it :( ..  and the thought process never stopped until I felt a lump in my throat. May be I felt thirsty talking to myself.

And at the dawn my mind is out of the spell that I found myself happy with fresh mind. The windows of my room face east without any curtains or shades to block the view, so am immediately aware of the possibility of a beautiful sun rise, with light glowing behind the buildings.

The weather is so mild that I grabbed my camera and went up stairs in bathrobe and slippers wishing to capture the hot sun in my Moto-G. 

Even nature can make us smile everyday. It depends on the pursuit of the things in life. Cheers !!