Asura - Tale of the Vanquished Review

I don't like Ramayana, and especially Lord Rama, I get very irritated probably because I am a Lady and I would never want a husband like Rama who will doubt his wife's character. Along with that, I have heard a lot about Ravana being a very learned, kind-hearted and talented king.

So when my friend suggested me this book, I was very enthusiastic to read the story of Ravana. It was an Indian author, so I kept my expectations low with the language, and I doubted if an Indian could portray Ravana as a better person than Rama. You see, its not the author's fault, its just the surroundings, culture and  influence which has been instilled into us since childhood, that Rama was a Hero and Ravana was a Bad Guy. Yet, within few days of my friend suggesting the book, i bought it and started reading it. 

As I had expected, the language was no match to an American author, but recently I have been reading a lot of Indian author's so, I am now fine with it.  

The story as such began with dying Ravana narrating his life since childhood. I liked the way it started, especially till Ravana learning his lessons, understanding his goal and his people accepting him as their king. The Asura King. 

And, as I had expected, the journey of Asura King from nothing to Lankeshwar was a total let down. The writer instead of showing Ravana as a mighty king, portrayed him as an idiot who was enjoying kinship totally depending on his family and sub-ordinates, be it waging war or decision making. Ravana was shown as a person who once had the goal of giving asura clan a happy life and rule the world but ended up becoming a dummy king with family members becoming his ministers and managing the kingdom. 

Neither did the writer try to show any of his art nor did he portray Ravana as a hero or as a villain. He concentrated on this character called Bhadra who was doing the dirty jobs for Ravana and in-turn Ravana behaved as bad as possible with Bhadra. Not untill Mandodari was kidnapped, did I get to read anything good about Ravana. The only good part in the book was that Ravana accepted Mandodari and Rama did not accept Sita.

In last part of the book Rama was shown as a poor road-side crook who used wrong ways to kill people in war. The author did not use Valmiki's Ramayan and showed Sita as Ravana's daughter. No No, there is no suspense... no action,,.. no emotion... no drama..... just a plain script on life of a totally normal but lucky person named Ravana. 

Even after setting my expectations low, I was let down. Probably a non-indian author would have done justice to the story. Afterall you see, Indian's cannot forget that Rama is a hero but the funny part is that the author couldn't even portray Rama as a hero properly. 

With that I rate this book a poor 1.5 out of 5 and wouldn't really suggest this book to someone who thinks of Ravana or Rama as a Great Guy.

Back From the Dead.

Recently I have been getting very little time to even look around, observe and judge what's happening around me.

But, then I realized till I don't take the initiative of forcing myself to look around, I wouldn't. So, I have planned that I'll bring this blog back to life by looking around what's happening and write my perspective

So see you soon back here. 

Filter a Movie!!!!

Its been long since I posted anything here on my blog, But today I realized  something which I thought I should surely share it with someone. So here I am.

How Easily do people make mistakes by Judging a movie by its Name or Poster or even the First 5 or 10mins of the movie!!!! I pity people who do that and I pity myself for doing the same, for I have kept myself away from watching some really really nice movies which I should have watched long ago.

Well, you must be wondering which is that 'so great' movie which I am feeling bad for watching a little late or even if I wouldn't have watched what tragic would happen. Right!!! Nothing tragic would happen, but ofcourse at the end of my life I would be one such unfortunate soul who wouldn't have watched some magic happen on the big screen, a stupid soul who wasted all the time watching hero-heroine go around the tree, but didn't watch something which would have left me awestruck.

True!!! There are movies which are a must watch before you die and 8 months back I just said a No to one such movie. The Schindler's List.  I still remember the day I started watching it and just after first10mins, I switched to some colourful meaningless movie. Today, as I had no work, No Internet, I found that movie lying on my desktop and thought of giving it another chance thinking that even if I wouldn't like the movie I'll fall asleep due to its slowness.

First 10mins were the same like it was the last time, but then for the next 20 mins, I held my patience and tried not to divert my mind, and after that there was nothing on this earth which could divert my mind. I donno if its Steven Spielberg or Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley or the story which kept me glued to the movie, but at the end of the movie I was so overjoyed that I didn't waste my 3 hours in some silly love story, but also felt angry for not realizing what a beautiful creation it was, when I watched it for the first time.

Well, better late than sorry. I have watched the movie 'The Schindler's List' and if you haven't, do watch it. It is really a movie which is a "must watch" before you die :)

I am not writing anything about the movie here, just go ahead and watch it for yourselves for you will never regret watching it.

Why??? Part - 2

Here I come with my Part 2 of Why???

"So, why do you work from 9 to 9???? After marriage if a girl works from 9 to 9 then who will take care of the family, there will be no meaning left in getting married... Will you change your job and may be look for a job where you can work from 9 to 5 only???" This was a question posted by a real sweet father of a real shy boy.

When a girl has studied engineering for 4 years, struggled as much as a boy does to get good marks and a good job, why is the girl restricted to work only 9 to 5 or take her job lightly just because she has to manage family!!! Does the boy who has all the freedom to work late night, not have the responsibility of managing the family??? If the answer to this question is No, then I think parents do the right thing of mourning when a girl is born as she is still nothing more than a bonded labour.

Yes, I know bonded labour is a difficult word but that's how 90% of girl’s lives turn into after marriage. If you think the number 90% is too high then I think you just forgot to count the people who give the word "Bonded labour" a respectful name called "responsibility".

1. How many women till now have come back from work, sat in front of a TV with a hush while husband gets into the kitchen and prepares dinner???
2. How many men do accept to relocate when their wife gets a new job in a different location with higher salary???
3. How many women are asked to relocate when their husband gets a new job in a different location, just keep aside the salary??
4. How many men think about their in-laws and realize that along with their parents even their in-laws get older and need someone to take care of them???

Answers:

1. None, All he can say is, "its Okie sweetie ...you can make just one curry instead of two tonight, I know you are tired". And if he adds a topping of "I love you" then I would simply say that you have married the most disgusting person on the face of this earth. I still wonder why is the cooking department given to ladies in the family...while the most renowned chef's on this earth are all men??? 
2. None, Even if the girl's salary is going to become much more than the husband’s salary... Never will it be possible. And the lamest excuse you will get is "Sweetheart, we are already settled here, we should be happy in what we have".
3. 100% every wife whose husband got relocated will be asked to relocate irrespective of her career or her interests. There can one stupid reason and 2. Very very selfish reasons for relocation the one stupid reason is a wife shouldn't be away from her husband!!!! Ohh Is it. I didn't know this and if it is so then why is he leaving????  Well the other 2 very very selfish reasons are 1. Who will cook for the husband????? 2. If we stay separate then it will be double the cost!!!! So you can call yourselves a cook or a way to save money and take care of a family.
4. 1%... naah... 0.1% that’s what is the number I can see. I still don't understand how come it doesn't strike to any boy on this earth that a girl's parents also age, they haven’t come from heaven to stay young all their life and see what s*** is happening in her daughter's life!!!! Every guy wants his wife to take care of his parents like she would take care of her own. But what about her own parents?? 

 
If you are really really lucky then you will get someone who will have these answers for the above questions

Another set of Answers:

1. If you have done something really good in your previous life you will get a husband who will say, "I'll make some tea and cut vegetables for you to cook, till then sit down and chat with me". You don't need a guy saying "I love you" all the time. Love automatically shows up even if you don't say it verbally. 
2. If you are a really sweet husband all through this time, all you have to say is "Yes, I'll relocate for you, but I'll have to look for a new job. Give me time till I get one". Don't forget to put "For you" because that will automatically increase respect for you and bring uneasiness in her for asking so much. Girl's are emotional fools, even the smallest troubles faced by their loved ones will look super magnified to their eyes. Explain them sweetly if its genuinely not possible to relocate and if it is a good option to relocate then no fight at all, simply relocate.
3. There is no easy solution of this one. If its a short term travel and if the girl is not interested in relocating then don't force her. If you respect her feeling she will respect you more, probably you will face troubles for that short period but when you relocate back, she will love you even more. If its a long term, then it should have been discussed and made clear long back i.e. even before getting married. 
4. Indian culture has always given an upper hand to parents who have a son while parents with daughters are always to be within limits. Girl's parents treat Son-in-laws like God and fear society thus would never depend on daughters how much ever poor they are. All that a son-in-law has to do is a little chat now and then, a little respect and a little care and concern to his in-laws. Guy should think of his in-laws like his parents and listen to what they say. No parent would trouble their daughter by giving incorrect advise to their son-in-law. They live to see their daughter happy and all you have to do is show them their daughter and let them know that she is happy. 

Bitter Fact : Its true for both boy and a girl. A mother will always be a mother and so will be a father and its absolutely impossible for in-laws to take place of mother and father in a boy or girl's life. We can give them as much respect as we give our parents, we can take care of them as much as we take care of our parents, but we would never get the same emotional attachment which we get with our parents. This makes very little difference in a guy's life, but a girl's life turns upside down because of this. 

Inspiring Speech By Steve Jobs

I know this is just a copy paste of an existing article, but this is something so inspiring that I want this to be there in front of my eyes always. If I cannot 100% do what Steve Jobs says, I can atleast give a try. Right!!!!

'You've got to find what you love,' Jobs says

This is a prepared text of the Commencement address delivered by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, on June 12, 2005.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it's likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much

Courtesy: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html

The Cursed

Insomnia or sleeplessness is most often defined by an Individual's report of Sleeping disorder. "Report"!!! Why would someone "report' a sleeping disorder. He/She should simply throw a party for being gifted!!!. Yeah Gifted....I define Insomnia as a gift given by God to those very very few people who have actually got extra time in a day to live their life, to do something productive.

A day has 24Hrs in it, out of which we are recommended to sleep for a minimum of 8Hrs. So, a day simply has only 16 productive Hours. Now this is for a "normal" person neither 'gifted" nor "cursed". Cursed!!!! A very apt word in this context. I would say a person who has been showered upon with tonnes and tonnes of sleep is nothing but "cursed" by the creator himself. Its like "Child, I curse you, that you will waste all your time in sleep and will never get enough time achieve anything in your life in this world".

Unfortunatly I seem to be one of the person who was cursed. As soon as I get up after sleeping like straight 12Hrs,  ask me to go to bed and no doubt I will surely fall asleep easily for another 3 to 4 hours and yet my quota of sleep still doesn't get over. I am just so J about the gifted people and feel like thrashing those who complaint about it and do not recognize the gift they have been belssed with.

Top Ten Signs of an Awesome Web Analyst by Avinash Kaushik

Web Analytics by Avinash Kaushik. This is one such book which can be read by a basic web analyst to a person who wants to set up a web analytics company. Yeah... You will also find tips on whom to hire and who not to hire.


I always had the habit of reading the author's acknowledgement before starting to read a book. While reading the acknowledgement of Avinash K I came to know that this is going to be a beautiful book. In the acknowledgement I came across two points which struck a very strong chord in my brain and are going to stay there for an ample amount of time... Those two points are
1. Eat like a Bird, Poop like an Elephant
2. Think "Book" not "dairy" when it comes to blogging.


Now here is something interesting I found in this book..something very interesting for a person working on web analytics.


Top Ten Signs of An Awesome Web Analysts
1. They have used more than one web analytics tool extensively.
2. They frequent the Yahoo! web analytics group and the top web analytics blogs. (Here is the list of those top web analytics blogs http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/top-ten-web-analytics-blogs-january-2007/)
3. Before doing any important analysis, they visit the website and look at the web pages.
4. They understand the technical difference between page tagging, log files, packet sniffing and beacons.
5. They are comfortable in the quantitative and qualitative world.
6. They are avid explorers
7. They are effective communicators.
8. They are street smart.
9. They play offense and just not defense
10. They are survivors.


I feel point 10 is the most important. The reality is that the web decision makers mostly just want to measure the hits (Jim Sterne author and organizer of eMetrics summit defines hits as: "how idiots track success"). a key skill of great analysis is the ability to have patience, survive and say motivated in the world where people ask for suboptimal things.


Well, if you meet 6 of the above criteria you are a good web analyst and are on your way to greatness.
If you meet 9, you are a great web analyst. Congratulations!
If you meet all of the above criteria, you are a purple squirrel and you can command any salary at any company in this world!!!


Source: Web Analytics by Avinash Kaushik