A Decade Gone By...

31st December, 1999 :

I remember this day very well. It was the millennium. Probably the most exciting New Years I have ever witnessed. I had just turned 12. Back then, I was a young lad who was hell bent on spending the New Years awake all night partying at a friend’s place. A night out was a pretty exciting thing back then. Little did I know how common a thing Night-Outs would be once I'd be in college :P.

They were showing back to back shows of Titanic on Star Movies and a re-cast of a WWF Pay Per View show called Armageddon. I remember quite well what happened on that show but elucidating that here would be a waste of blog space :P.

The clock struck 12. My friends and I ran out of the house in utter glee and joy. We had no idea why we were so happy, but that's the beauty of the age I guess. The air was covered with a thick fog. A car at an arm's distance couldn't be spotted. But that was the beauty of Delhi's winter. The millennium had come. WOW ! How lucky were we to experience it. The rest of the night just flew away in playing games and eating chips. The next morning, the 1st day of the millennium was spent sleeping away the night before.

31st December, 2000:
I have bleak memories of this day. But yes I do remember a bon-fire and a me along with my friends dancing around it. Back then I was a maverick against pollution :P so I wasn't really too happy with the bon-fire ! Again the idea of a night out was exciting and we did go through with it at my neighbor's home. The six of us. WOW ! Back then it seemed like these days would last forever. It's funny how life takes turns and everything just goes away in one blink of an eye.

31st December 2001:
2001 had been a very bad year for many of us. The year that started the terrorist attacks on 9/11 as well as the parliament attack on 13th December. This day was spent quietly at home thanking God for ending the year and wishing the same would never occur. I do remember spending an hour or so outside in the cold celebrating new years. I took a small piece of a brick and wrote in bold "2002" on the road.

31st December 2002:
I remember this day ! I was at my Dad's clinic trying to learn History. My dad's a very learned man ! He knows a LOT ! But he never had any answers to my stupid questions of why it's necessity to memorize dates ! ( I have a really bad memory in such respects)

I was there at the clinic till 10 o' clock and then I came back and quietly slept.

31st December 2003:
Hmm.. This is one year I don't really remember so I can't write much on it. :P But probably the same tale of spending the new years at home with family. Oh yeah ! I remember now.. I went to sleep at 10, woke up at 12.15am and went out to wish my friends a Happy New Year and ran back inside and jumped back to sleep :P.

31st December 2004:

Oh ! I was in 12th. The year of the Rat-Race. But I guess I'll consider myself lucky enough to not have joined this Race-to-hell for IIT JEE. Probably because of my lack of interest in getting a rank and more interest in learning. I spent the night studying the Schrodinger Equation and determining the probability of the position of an electron in an Infinite Potential Well :P. I never did get any Rank anywhere :P… But I think it served me better in the long run. :)

31st December 2005:
Oh my first New Year as a college student. I had just come back home from a trip abroad to Singapore and Malaysia. But again I spent the New Years with friends sitting outside and chatting about how life has taken all of us to different places. Actually I was the one who was doing all the talking as only I had gone out while the rest were still in Delhi :P.

31st December 2006:

I was in my Second Year. Had just finished my exams 10 days before and had started work on a Project. I had kept myself busy for much of the holidays studying on the project but I had decided to give myself a break and went to an old friend's house. I went out with him to one of our favorite old hangouts and wished away the New Years in nostalgia.

31st December 2007:
In my Third Year of Engineering. Pondering over the year that had gone by. 2007 was a good year for me. It really changed me as a person, and only for the better. I was a much more confident and mature person by the time this year ended.

31st December 2008:
This was a memorable one. A house party. And I was the bar tender. The first time I got drunk in front of family. :P Well, not DRUNK drunk, but I did feel the kick :D. I guess that was the time my parents realized that I do drink (at least socially). But they didn't have any complaints. That was a very consoling moment for me because it showed how much faith and belief my parents had in me and how they now considered me an "Adult" of the family.

31st December 2009:
So here I am now. Penning down the last 10 New Year Eves. Drifting down memory lane. Images of the past flashing before my eyes. It's been a great journey- the Last 10 years. I have changed only for the better and I thank all the people who have been a part of my life in the last 10 years and who have contributed in some way or the other to make me the person I am right now !

Cheers to all of you. Thank you.. And here's to the next 10 Years !!! :)

I'm 21 years old..

I'm 21 years old. And I am ashamed. Ashamed of being a part of this world. Ashamed of my people. Ashamed to face the fact that those who teach me the difference between right and wrong themselves don't know what they are talking about. Ashamed to see the sun set down every single day and still the world doesn't change. Ashamed of waking up in the morning and genuflecting in front of the almighty in hope for a better world, in hope of a better life, in hope of more love amongst us. Ashamed to know the fact that I'm successful in my young life only because I was lucky enough to have a 'good' education, lucky enough to be born the way I was, lucky to have grown up under a safe shelter, lucky to have access to more than 3 meals a day.

I'm ashamed to know that I'm only one of the 6 billion grains of sand on this beach we call earth, yet I have never learned to feel at one with all. Is it because I was never taught this way? Is it because of the paradigm shift in the education I received throughout my life, which slowly changed from learning what's 'right' to learning what's 'right for you' ? Or is it because the world around me is just too ignorant to look at the the fact that there are ever-increasing problems that surround us and yet we go to sleep every night and pray to God to make our 'own' lives better. Pray to make our 'own' day better tomorrow. Pray for getting a good Job. Pray for getting rich. Pray for being famous.

I'm 21 years old an I am ashamed. Will we ever realize that the wars we wage are only a part of the vicious cycle of rage and resentment that keps on increasing every day? Will we ever realize that our brothers and sisters are out there who are dying of hunger and poverty and epidemics and illiteracy? Will we ever see beyond the bounds of our petty lives and differences that we ourselves have created amongst each other? Will we ever learn? Will we 'ever' learn?

Or is that too much to ask for?

Leger-de-Man !

Traveling can be a lot of fun. Especially traveling alone. Even more so, if you are keen and observant of the surroundings and the aura of opportunity hat surrounds you. I've been lucky enough to have been given this chance. The chance to travel the world and meet so many different kinds of people, their lifestyles, share their thoughts, their emotions, their stimulus to what surrounds them and the life that they define. In my 21 years of existence, I've become learned enough to know that people vary magnanimously ! And here I am, sitting alone and just observing the people who surround my existence. It's all an opinion really. Some would consider 'holding a nosegay in front of a porch' as stupid, whereas others would interpret the same as logical and brave.
The world's an oyster of variegated personalities, a multifarious plenitude of characters and a plethora of experience in living. The more you explore, the more you're left baffled. In this age-an-era, it's easier to travel and explore contrary to what Magellan had to go through to accomplish his ambitions. Technology has served in our favor and made it essentially trivial to go to different places. All you need is a tutorial on the web and some greens in your pocket. Our generation hangs between the valleys of the Angels and the Daemons. On one hand we're surrounded by the comfort and ease of technology and progress, and on the other we got Guns waging bloody tales in the newspaper every single day. Who's to make a choice anyway ! We can't really turn back time to go back to the dark ages, nor can we zoom into a distant future where television would be on a handkerchief.

I sit here, in a posh restaurant with a glass of Apple Martini and a bowl of my favorite, fish and chips. And I consider myself lucky. Lucky to be born this way. Lucky not to have been poverty stricken. Lucky not to be suffering from some epidemic in a third world country. Lucky to have an education. Lucky to be traveling the world at this an age. And more so...
Anyways, I got a flight to catch soon so I'll just go down and dig into my sumptuous banquet and fly off.. :)

Chao..

Oracle and Aerosmith !!!!!

It was a dream. I had to pinch myself to believe it. Oracle Open World could well be, to most, categorized as, a dream come true. When I entered the gates of Open World. A sort of whim hit me. I was taken back to those nostalgic lanes of childhood when I used to dream and wish I'd find a place where all sorts of chocolates and cookies and ice creams and cola would be strewn all over the floor and I could just pick it up and eat or drink it. Ah, Open World was of such standards. Except one difference- instead of the cola, they had Liquor !! Yeah baby - Beer, red wine, white wine... You name it, you got it !

To add to this fantasy, there were free rides, games, beverages and the big daddy of them all - THE AEROSMITH CONCERT !!!! There was a different high altogether. The atmosphere was gaining voltage, and you could feel the pulse going high. In front of me was a stage - with a mammoth drumset visible from up front (Man! how much would that cost !! ), some 5 zillion Watt Speakers, the size of .... well ... me and a HUGE ORACLE sign in the background. Suddenly the curtains dropped and it read - Aerosmith! There was a huge cheer by the crowd. People pushing each other up front in their best attmepts to get as near as possible to the legend himself. After an hour long wait, finally............ the lights went off, the curtains came down, and there he was ... right above my nose ! Steven Tyler - The lead vocalist of Aerosmith. It was surreal. To see them live. To see them in flesh and bone singing your favorite tune right in front of you. It's a different high altogether.

Aerosmith is undoubtedly one of the greatest bands of the present era. Steve's voice resemebles no other's and his inimitable style of singing and music is what makes this band legendary. Not to take any credit away from the rest of the guys, the guitarist Joe Perry, is a fine master himself. They blew the crowd away with songs like "Walk this way", "Livin on the edge", "Dream on" and "I don't wanna miss a thing".

The crowd had lost itself in a different world. As for me, I was no different ! His voice spoke to me ! It was unbelievable. The range of his voice is impeccable and original. Although I hoped that they would play a few of my other favorite Aerosmith songs too, but nonetheless, it was definitely worth it. To add to the worth Steve's joke about Windows was definitely a checkpoint of the show ! :) I'm sure Larry talked money with him and convinced him to do that stunt !

In the end, the night was mesmerising and breathtaking. A night to remember definitely ! Aerosmith rocks ! (And so does Oracle :) )... !!!

In the arms of the wind...

We live in a crowded place. A place which binds you to such tight chains, a place that squeezes all your virgin thoughts and floods your mind with mundane words of survival. We are blinded to the aura of richness that surrounds us. The same richness, which, if ever espoused, would bring about a feeling of deep content and happiness in us.

From the moment we're born, we become a part of this cycle which I like to call the "Cycle of serfdom". This cycle of serfdom slowly and steadily enters our minds and drives us away from our free thoughts of innocence. Its a natural phenomenon really. If we observe what Darwin did among different living species, we'll notice the theory of "Survival of the Fittest" applies everywhere. Not only in the arms of infancy and embryonic stages of life, but also in our daily lives. Our lives are a mere struggle for survival.

Some of us were born gifted, a vision and ability like no other. But these chains of survival snatch all that away from our blood. All we're left to see is that we got a lot of life running through our veins, going to a complete waste.

Anyways..... enough Blogging for now. Gotta go n sleep for a new morning, a new ring to the chain......

62nd Year of Independence

I think this year on Independence Day, is the perfect of time to set our goals and responsibilities straight not only as individuals, as students, as employees, as professionals; but also as moral citizens of this great Nation.

This year, on 15th August, I lay back thinking about the country. Where it has come from, and where it is going, and the role that I have to play in its path. Looking back on the years prior to independence, I think the youth lacks a certain respect and admiration for all the events that led to our independence and all those who shaped the future of the country in it's post independence era.

Let me exemplify this. Talking about people like Bhagat Singh, Subhash Chandra Bose, Mohandas Gandhi, I feel a striking difference of opinion among people of my age today. Some despise Gandhi and call him a manipulator. Some are of the opinion that Bhagat Singh and Gandhi were enemies and Bhagat Singh was the real hero and Gandhi was a crook.

The truth is that Bhagat Singh was a very dynamic personality and represents the youth of India even today. His courage and love for the country can never be embodied by any person of the present generation. He definitely is an ideal Icon for every child and youngster of India. But I'll tell you something that Bhagat Singh was not - a Mass Mover. He was a revolutionary of the order of Bhai Parmanand, Khudi Ram Bose, Sukhdev, Chandrashekhar Azad and others. Their policy of overthrowing the British Government by force was a minority ideology.

Gandhi on the other hand, was a mass mover. His ideas moved the nation. His ideology of Non Violence without doubt, shook the British foundation in the country. I'll tell you some allegations against Gandhi. He, at times, supported the British in sending Indian troops to fight against Germany. But think of this.... Britain and Nazis were enemies, and Hitler was looking to conquer Europe and finally the world. What if we didn't support the British, what if Britain lost out to Germany (remember the Battle of Britain ? ). What if Germany went on to conquer Asia after that ? Would we rather surrender to British or Germans ? So whether you like him or hate him, you can't ignore him in our country.

Honestly, after World War 2 , independence for India was on the cards.... No matter what. Britain's position was very weak. It wasn't even able to sustain it's own government, let alone ours.

So our struggle for independence played a key role, less in getting us independent from British, and more so in shaping the political future of an Independent India.

Now..... where are we headed ? Honestly, WE must decide that. We've already shown the First World Nations that their economy relies on our Brains. Now we must show them that India is gonna take over and dominate. I don't say this just for the sake of 15th August. I say this after years of research and reading so many books by great people and understanding their opinions on the Country.

We indeed have a lot of responsibility towards shaping the future of this great nation and let us all join hand in making this long last dream of our ancestors come true.

Jai Hind !

Thoughts worth a Pretty Penny...

Today, I felt elated. I felt I had a place in this world. That I was contributing to it in some bizarre and unknown way. Generally such thoughts never enter my mind. I spend most of my time fighting with my conscience over understanding the real reason why we're here. It's like my angels and devils face off head-to-head "No Holds Barred" !! But today was different... Somehow I felt a premonition of something different yet to come.

Not letting the moment go, I jumped up and opened my favorite book "Men of Steel" to page 4. And there he was.... Nandan Nilekani. Ahhh... There's a subtle human-ness in him, that separates him from all my other favorite Entrepreneurs. I got a whim to be just like him someday. "Infosys" Rocks !!!! :)

Anyways, I began my day (as usual), starting my laptop. I set up the Android environment. Yea, I've had some hands-on Java Practice and Android would be the "A OK" place to pick up some good ol' object oriented skills. Andriod's got some cool libraries and I'm waiting to start building some nice Applications.

Anyways, Mom called for Breakfast. I entered the dining room and there it was !! ... A bowl of fresh fruits.... 2 thoughts crossed my mind. One was "Good food... Good health" :) and the other was the main reason I was eating all this "Jaundice Recovery" :(... That made me sad !!

I brushed up on some good ol' Mathematics. Ahhh.... General 2nd Degree Equations. I studied the Quartic Equation today and Vieta's Method to solve it. I made a simple C Program to do the same. What better feeling than to merge 2 of my interests !!

My entire day went away in doing this and some usual Virtual Networking. Those cliched "Hi"s and "Wassup"s.... It's almost a recursive algorithm. And redundant too :P...

And in the end, I looked back on my day and pondered over the irony of the fact that I started it off feeling all pumped and relishing Thoughts worth a Pretty Penny and now there I was... All confused and muddled, feeling like a Lost ball in high weeds.

Anyways... Chao... :)

Music for the Soul..

This morning I woke up to the sound of music. The adagio rhythm ringing in my ears. Some leftover thoughts in my head like the dew of the morning. The only difference lay in its freshness. I slept late last night. A "not-so-pleasant" conversation with a friend followed by a half an inkling of sleep. The music played in my ears. The bittersweet symphony followed by a longing to make the ends meet.

I woke up to an excellent cup of bed-tea, followed by a fat free breakfast :P. The echo of last night's conversation resounded in my ear and made me feel like locking all them up in Davy Jones' Locker and start a new day.

Anyways, I took out my Piano and started to play. An F sharp scale was my mood. So I played a Ruben Studdard. It was soulful. It struck a chord hidden deep in my heart. Saved by the music...

I decided to do some improvisation and concocted some nice saxophone tunes along with a Hindi Classic song from the movie "Dil Apna Preet Parai" called "Ajeeb dastaan hai yeh". At the end of the session, I was back to my sane normal self.

Soon after, I opened my Facebook account. Did some nice chatting with a close friend. We discussed lots of interesting topics right from semantic searching and Operating System intelligence to the abstraction of the world and the Law of Attraction.

Still I had barely killed 4 hours of the entire day and still had more than 12 hours to figure out a decent plan for execution. To my luck, my friend showed up and spent the entire afternoon with me. We discussed a lot of issues. Some of which were exigent, rest of them were not really my cup of tea. So naturally, my impatience to end the matter was quite visible.

Soon after he left, I developed an appetite for understanding the Indian tax laws, so I pumped up my router and hit the Google button for some information. Soon after I decided to watch some ladies cricket. The semi final was on. India vs New Zealand. There I was on my chair, watching these girls play some fine cricket. Made me wonder how much of orthodoxy and prejudices they have to face and overcome to reach to their stand. It inspired me to make a difference in my life. Anyways, India lost.

So that was the end of my day. Another page of my life closed. As I slowly near the end, my inquisitiveness to understand my reason for existence increases and so does my enthusiasm.

All I would like is some Good Music for my soul please.... :)

What college taught us..

Now that college is over, I can look over it and think that college was much more than an educational experience. It was a lesson in life. I think we all have matured a lot from the day we entered the gates of college.

I think every one has a story to tell. A story, equally worth learning from. I think we've all had our share of experiences in college. Experiences of victory, of defeat, of pain, of laughter, of agony, of trust, of anguish, of relief. And in the end, as we look back, I realize that it was all worth it.

I step out of my campus as a better person, a more mature person, whose perspective of life has broadened, who has learned a lot of lessons, who realized his strengths and weaknesses and who is ready to face the next phase of life with full vigor.

Whatever life holds in store for all of us, and wherever life may take us, we all can surely thank our college life for the person it has made out of us...

Women Empowerment

Recently I got an incentive to do more research on the contemporary Woman... and what brings her here ! I mean.... the history of women that has led to the present stand that they hold in society.

I realized that throughout history, women have always been subjected to servitude and lesser than a handful had ever stepped up to fight the tyranny. And although society has changed today, there are still a number of problems and cases of treason reported on a global scale against women.

Women are still considered the weaker sex by their male counterparts and only a highly educated man (and believe me... that's rare) would disagree.

So we must play our respective roles to combat the problems of women oppression and give them the platform for competing at the same level against men and also the equal rights that they deserve.

All hail women ! :)
Cheers !!

Open Source and SOA ! Where's the work ??

A couple of days back, I was just surfing through sourceforge.com for some projects related to Service Oriented Arch. and found it a pain to find some core projects. The blogs were filled with people asking basic doubts about SOA and it really made me realize the need to really uplift the SOA Open Source Community.

I was part of a project on upgrading the OpenUDDI Registry and adding enterprise oriented Workflow management schemes and APIs to it. And the OpenUDDI registry was really nothing less than a 'shock' as compared to those high-end enterprise Registries.

Big vendors in the market like Oracle Corps and IBM are way ahead in the Middleware Department and have left behind their Open Source Counterparts in the quality and functionality of the products.
(Ironic that these firms are the biggest contributors to Open Source !!)

I think that Middleware needs a boost and its latent potent needs to be tapped cause, Middlewares basically redefine how Business is done online !

I'm Atin...

I'm Atin... I sit and think, who are we ? and what brings us here ? is there a purpose to the existence of the universe ? is there a pattern to the way time is unfolding in front of us ?
Why are we so tied down by our petty differences ? Do we realize how small we are in this universe? Isn't there a better way to live our lives ?

Why do we waste our natural resources ? Do we not realize that they are our precious jewels, without which we would cease to exist ? Why are we so selfish ? Does it hurt to do good to others ?
Is there God ? Is there a way we can see him ? Does God lie in good deeds ? If yes, then why do we go to the temple and pray for our selfish interest ?

Who are we? and what brings us here ?
I'm Atin.... My quest in life brings me to where I am today. I express myself in many ways.
Through poetry, music, words, painting and discussing.

That's what brings me here...