I am in the college library...12:37 pm ..Just hanging around till 2:20 pm waiting for my interview..I just look around...Spring break is over..Classes have started full throttle.But when u look arnd u know our generation has been googled!..The serious types are proactively finishing up some projects with help from google..the procrastinators are googling at the last minute to finish up assignments..Some are just whiling away time logging into orkut , facebook etc etc with their google profiles or simply chatting in Gtalk..Boyfriends and girlfriends romancing or frens catching up..Some are updating their websites in GoogleApps..while others are trying to get cheap deals with Google Checkout..Most of us in college who don't have cars are just hinging on Googlemaps trying to figure their way around.And some like me are just passing time writing a blog about google with a google login .Arent' we just googled ? :)..Three cheers to the Google generation..

~A, free spirited like Google...

Wow !
I have been meaning to post in my blog space for a long long time now...Phew ! I really wanted to keep a track of my "American Adventure " (as Ralf my colleague called it :))..Maybe something like an American Diary..well it has been more than two months that i have been here now..So far so good.I just landed up here all alone.People thought I was bonkers.I thought I was following my heart.Why an MS now, they asked?Why not now?It perfectly makes sense to me.I want it and I am gonna do it.I dunno where i would land up but my heart knows it is right."What about marriage"?What about it ? It will happen when it has to happen.It is not a task that needs to be done and shoved out of the way.It just has to click right.Well that z how i am.Almost everyone i met seemed to disagree.And in after these two months today i seemed to have the best American experience.And believe you me it was on youtube.Ain't it funny ?Well life is funny.There was this amazing speech by Steve Jobs.About Apple,life and death and nothing made more sense than anything in life than every word he said.He said just follow your heart and instinct.They seem to know better than you where you should be.Keep looking and don't settle.You can't join the dots looking way forward but only when you look back you can make the connection.Starting out as a young UG in engineering i was lost.Something close to my heart was missing.But when I look back today it all makes sense.Today I won't have my life any other way.There are no regrets.I have left everything behind..my comfort zone , my secure life in search for something I feel is out there.I am gonna get it.The mantra is keep looking.Do something you really love.It will eventually fall into place and one day you would just look back and connect dots of your karma.Just don't think about the results.Just stay committed, hang on there,it always does work out...

~A, the lightseeker...

Smile...
Somehow i have stopped smiling.Like innumerables in Bangalore today i have simply stopped feeling.Like the ad goes if you were to describe yourself in a song,what would you use? I would say -Numb.Where are my days of endless chats with friends,where is the feeling of adrenaline rush at the prospect of something new, where z the excitement of tomorrow?Like David Brooks wrote in the NYT, i really feel my generation has been stuck in the odyssey age.The age where you are confused, try out double careers,where stability is seen as a comfort zone (and scoffed @)and the urge to move in and out of things happen more and more.And to add to David's perception where people have just simply stopped deriving happiness from simple pleasures.
Today is a sunday afternoon.When my mom recounts her days of youth on a sunday afternoon it almost has a surreal feeling today.Lying back in your bed,the Phillips record player playing Rhinestone Cowboy in the background and staring at the ceiling or endless discussions and arguments about almost everything under the sun with her siblings.I hardly see my sister.We hardly talk to each other.Its once in a year that i meet her.I miss what we used to share once.I miss those unaffected big laughs,never never ending chats.Are the bonds weakening?
Is all this worth for what i am pursuing?? Now all i think about is myself.My career.What i need to do next?I need to do better than the person next to me.I need to achieve standards.I set targets for myself and dream and strive to achieve those.Is that so bad?Why do i have to give up all i love for that?Why cant i have the best of both worlds?Why do mum and dad have to be away from me?Cant i have it all?
But today i am at that point where i cant give up my dreams.I just cant go back.But the heartache lingers that in the pursuit of dreams i am leaving behind so much..I wish i could have it all.

~Lara,the dreamer.

Colours of Raigarh.......

Tapan returned home weary and tired.Another day went by without any business.Not a single piece of saree got sold today.His family had been in this business since time immemorial.His father,grandfather,great grandfather and time till you could trace back had all been saree merchants.His grandpa would tell him stories about how his ancestors would dress up the queens with their exquiste sarees.And how with change those sarees had come to adorn ordinary people as kings and queens fell with upheavels in history.Colorful patterns;floral designs, polka dotted,geometrical shapes was what he understood.His father would bring in rich quality yarns of cotton,chiffon,georgette when he was young.The smell of those fresh bales still stuck to his senses.He knew of no other trade than selling sarees.It was not simply a business for Tapan Rai anymore.It was his way of life.The village women would wait for him to make his weekly round when he came in with his cart and set up shop under the banyan tree that stood like the old guardian of the village.The gentle breeze would carry the whiff of new sarees and the excited women folk would come out in groups to the cart near the tree.The young womenfolk would be all abuzz with excitement.The older ones would chide the young ones at their restlessness but what everybody felt was the beauty of the colors,patterns and endless yards of cloth around them.But things were changing.
Life was not so colorful as the sarees that were laid out in Tapan's cart.The crowd was much smaller.The smiling and bright faces were not there.All he could see was a pall of gloom.A fear of what tomorrow brings.Crestfallen mourning faces.Red shrieking sirens in the air.A small sound would scare all.More than colors he could see the white on women.The village was empty of life and soul.The war had killed their spirit as it killed their loved ones.The wives,daughters,daughter-in-laws,mothers had to everyday bid goodbye to their sons,brothers,fathers.Coffins arrived in lots everyday.Heart rending cries echoed in the air.The empty souls showed in their empty eyes.His heart broke at the sight today.He called out to his wife as he stopped ruminating."Shradhaa";he said"Pack those white cloth bundles tomorrow.I need to go back to the village".

If astronomy is your cup of herbal tea, you can check this out....

The outer space simply fascinates me like any other of my kind....My attempt at picking up this fascination to a hobby with the sunday morning cup of coffee and one day maybe who knows what..Just like i would like to define death as a miscalculation of a fraction of a second i strongly define life as 'Opportunities'..Make the best out of it with whatever possible..

http://www.astronomyforbeginners.com/astronomy/howknow.php#radearth

Oh how time flies..but some things never change....

~Lara the trojan warrior....

i am back again after a long hiatus.i guess it has become a habit for me as i sit to write every blog.i am away for long and when i return life has changed for me in a little way or the other.
i had planned a lot for this year.i wanted to write my gre and i have written.i wanted to fly to Germany and surprisingly i got the chance to do so.The feeling of landing up in foreign shores had been a long term wish for me for quite sometime.Coming from a middle class background some dreams seemed quite out of reach when i was a little girl.However my mother taught me to dream.Always! She said if you don't dream,you don't aspire.And if you don't aspire you never gonna learn nor dare to do things in life.
The moment when i got the news was quite numbing.i wasnt expecting it at all.But the moment it was out that i would travel,i just dint know how to react.i was ecstatic.i might seem very burgoise in penning down such feelings but this is how i exactly felt and i am gonna say just the way i felt it.My parents had tears in their eyes when they heard this.My mom always had big dreams for me.She is a brilliant lady but being a homemaker for more than 30 yrs is not a very enterprising job.even with my one year and a half of work i am already thinking of the next step.i wonder how mom feels at times?
Not to move beside the point,7th of July finally arrived.A hectic day ensued in office and finally at night i left for the airport.Deba and kk came with me and it felt good to have them beside me.My colleagues brought whole of their families.So we got quite lost in the maddening crowd :).
Finally after all the formalities,we sat down peacefully waiting for the flight at 11:30.Spoke to all my loved ones.Mom,sis and etc.How time flies!Finally the call was there and we boarded sharp on time..The next morning when the LH 755 landed in Germany it was like a dream come true..i just couldnt believe it..i had made it on my own and there is no feeling greater than being able to live upto your dreams! May fortune always favor the brave like it always has....

~A,all-about-myself

Finally back again; i have been away long..the queen is back with her razzmatazz..Its been really hectic ever since i departed. Well to begin with the big yellow taxi was ready to pick me up on my way to the Thomson Prometric Airport. Well i departed home a little early, thinking it would be safe to arrive a little ahead of time. Everything was in place.My tickets,my duffel bag and my job was clear.All i needed was a smooth drive to the airport with my friend Deba.However as i was about to leave,the phone jingled in my purse.I thot who could be this? Deba's name was blinking on the white mobile screen. As soon as i picked it up, she spoke excitedly.Sorry A. I cant make it.An emergency has come up.I was disappointed.We had planned for this trip from january. but i could understand.i said dont worry. i will be on my way alone.And as i sat anxiously in the big yellow taxi alone, i finally felt that i had grown up.Taking a big step in this world , completely alone. Just me and my shadow for my friend. The ride was bumpy,confusing lanes, filled with moments of anxiety.And as i was approaching the airport, my heart pumped faster.How time flew.I was finally here.To face my destiny.To challenge my fears and meet life head-on.i went with all my armor.Soldier in armor,solitary soldier.

I checked in.My credentials checked i sat down.Was waiting for the call.Finally i was ushered inside the giant aircraft.i was travelling alone.i took my seat.i had the proverbial cold feet and even hands too.The crew was very hospitable.but they cldnt help me calm my nerves.My fear for flying was rearing its head.And suddenly like it came it was gone.The anxiety disappeared.i convinced myself the beauty i would experience in the joy of flying would be much more than fear would ever get me. finally i was making peace with my fears.exorcising the demons of uncertainity and anxiety.And yes,beautiful did i land! i finally made it alone.Conquered my fear of the unknown..However the hand(or rather the trident ;-) that helped me i would forever be grateful to..

~lara, the returnee from exile

"The Blooker Prize"

A 32-year old New Yorker who spent a year trying to master every recipe in a book of French Cookery has become the inaugural winner of a prize devoted to books born of blogs. Julie Powell, a frustrated unpublished author approaching 30 in a dead end office job,came up with the idea of attempting to cook all 524 recipes in Julia Child's 1961 cookbook Mastering the art of French Cooking.
Her husband suggested chronicling her eforts online,where her musings on life,love and cooking drew an ever-larger cult following.The blog led to a publishing deal: Julie and Julia:365 Days,524 Recipes,1 Tiny Kitchen Apartment and it sold more than 100,000 copies.
Julie Powell claims that she had no idea wat a blog was until a week before she actually started writing.

She is quoted as: The medium really liberated me and motivated me to do the work and not obsess over the details.The community aspect of blogging and the intearction with others kept me honest,kept me writing and kept me from sinking into my habitual self-loathing.

The prize was established by Bob Young who made a fortune from his Red Hat Software Business.

To find out more about the The Blooker Prize:

http://lulublookerprize.typepad.com/

~A ,The blogger Enthused

A Big Yellow Taxi...

They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swingin' hot spot
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot

Ooooh, bop bop bopOoooh, bop bop bop

They took all the trees, and put em in a tree museum
And they charged the people a dollar and a half to see them
No, no, no
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone
They paved paradise, and put up a parking lot

Ooooh, bop bop bopOoooh, bop bop bop

Hey farmer, farmer, put away your DDT
I don't care about spots on my apples,
Leave me the birds and the bees
PleaseDon't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone

They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
Hey now, they paved paradise to put up a parking lot

Why not?Ooooh, bop bop bopOoooh, bop bop bop

Listen, late last night, I heard the screen door slam
And a big yellow taxi took my girl away
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot

Well, don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone
They paved paradise to put up a parking lot

Why not?They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
Hey hey heyPaved paradise and put up a parking lot

Ooooh, bop bop bopOoooh, bop bop bop

I don't wanna give it
Why you wanna give it
Why you wanna giving it all away
Hey, hey, hey
Now you wanna give itI should wanna give it
Now you wanna giving it all away
Hey, paved paradise to put up a parking lot

This is where i come in?
Another lazy afternoon today.Amazingly four days off in a row.A lot of time for introspection and retrospection. its almost been a month and i still feel numbed.life does go on as normal.it always does.my life is so important to me ans so is everybody else's when they see theirs.But when u try to visualise a cosmic picture of evrything , almost everything is invisible to the naked eye.Probably i have been following the latter policy of late. But a time comes and reality kicks in and you gotta see things for what they are.i m lying in my bed with a book.the eyes seem to be more reading the ceiling than reading the black lines in the book.When u have time to yourself so many things are percieved clearly.Ever since that day i could come up with only one question again and again..Where did i fit in all this? i was never there really.Wat did i have to do here? Wat did i get? i feel there is a hand of destiny in all that happens in your life.i keep questioning myself how did i figure? i cant bring myself to blame myself or anyone or any circumstance.i can only ask "What was my part"? Did i deserve this?When i look back everytime questions just cloud my mind..just questions...just questions..

~Lara,the soul in introspection..

Walmart in India....

i am currently reading the book 'Welcome to the United States of Walmart' by John Dicker where i can find the author describing Walmart with a begrudging respect, awe, contempt,vile to describe the opening.I never pondered to think what impact ,controversies Walmart stood to generate in the US except knowing the fact that it featured at the top in Forbes List of Fortune 500. However when i got hold of the book i really felt like finding out more. To start with:

Walmart's Profile:


Type

Public: (NYSE: WMT)
Founded: Rogers, Arkansas, 1962
Location: Bentonville, Arkansas, USA
Key people: Sam Walton (1918-1992), FounderH. Lee Scott, CEOS. Robson Walton, Chairman
Industry: Retail (Department & Discount)
Products: Wal-Mart Discount Stores ,Wal-Mart Supercenter,Sam's Club,Neighborhood Markets ASDA
Revenue : $316 billion USD ($11B FY 2006)
Employees: 1.7 million
Website: http://www.walmartstores.com/

Currently there are around 5509 Walmart stores around the world out of which 1,980 are supercenters.Walmart has expanded around the world.While in the US the natural policy would be to acquire land and build up new supecenters or neighborhood markets when it comes to spreading across the globe , Walmart believes in buying out stores and branding them with the Walmart tag.In Mexico,it bought up Cifra,brazil it was Lojas Americanas,in Germany Wertkauf,South Korea Makro,Britain's ASDA and Japan's Seiyu. Walmart is so huge that it is like a giant personality on its own and kinda feels inappropiate to call it an "it".

While on this note of expanding businesses of Walmart i was wondering what about our country?

India represents a $250 billion retail market,growing @ 7.2% a year and forecasted that modern retailing is yet to set in.

Talking about Asia and India,we see that there are around 56 Walmart stores in China and it has been a resounding success.This has lead to Walmart setting its sights in the world's largest democracy.However India already outsources apparels to Walmart from a centre in bangalore.

Walmart CEO John Menzer was in India and was in discussion with the prime minister Manmohan Singh regarding opening of Walmart stores in india.They are trying to influence india's FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) policy which currently stands at 24% so that it is increased to around 49%.Manmohan Singh was the pioneer of the globalisation policy which has really influenced and enhanced Indian Markets.

However Walmart Ceo has stated that that Walmart would make a foray into the Indian Market ,FDI or no FDI increase.

The average urban household income in India is about $3,000 a year, roughly in line with China, and the consuming class has grown from 35 million families in 1996 to an expected 80 million this year. That's roughly in line with the U.S. Menzer said: "This is a very big opportunity for us" .

No matter the opposition the Walmarts would face from the likes of shoppers' stop,lifestyle,pantaloons etc , shoppers in india always look out for the shopping experience.Yes,the Walmarts are infamous for wiping out the mom and pop business retailers,yet they continue to grow in full abandon.

~Lara,The Walmart Analyst :-B

Cashing in on your youth...
Bliss it was in that dawn to be alive,but to be young was very heaven
~William Wordsworth
I am working for more than a year now as an IT Professional .And like many people of my age i am handsomely paid by the industry.Without even my realisation a year has wheezed by and yet i havent really taken stock of my financial situation.i am even planning for higher studies by the fall of 2007.So what i need to do is take a realistic and practical approach to my finances.In the past year without even my realisation i have accrued debts on my credit card which my parents still dont at this age.i have lessons to imbibe i guess.i have been kind of casual towards it.but a lot of perspective has changed with evolving and a lot of interaction with friends who have a good consciousness towards it.friends who have been through the same roller coaster binge of spending money and then actually starting to manage well. i guess the power what i have is i am still in my twenties.i can manage to save , invest and still pursue a higher education without being a burden on my retired dad.but just like charity begins @ home,a disciplined finance regime begins at home with oneself.
And to keep your finances in discipline,i want a put in a few pointers.
Mind your Money
Rate your financial status:
1.i know all about my financial inflows and outflows. 2.i manage my finances in the best way possible. 3.i know that my credit card dues add up if not settled in time. 4.i have set financial goals for my self and i am working towards it. 5.i know i am building an asset when i take a housing loan,whereas i am spending when i buy the best wheel in town. 6.i have more than 2 credit cards and i juggle them to the best effect. 7.i avail all possible tax exemptions and benefits. 8.i know its important to have staying power to invest in the stock markets. 9.i am adequately insured for my dependents to feel secure about. 10.i do not bank on borrowing money from my parents,siblings or spouse.
Rate 1 for every point you answered yes.
(0 to 3):Red Flag: The proverbial financial duck can be taken any time.You need to understand your finances better.Its time to get a hold on your financial life.
(4-6): Fork in the road: You need to work on most things.But for the most part you know and understand you are flirting with danger.
(7 plus): In Sync: Keep up the financial planning.Your sense of responsibility shows that you know that financial planning is important. So if you havent started a plan,what z keeping you?
Quiz Courtesy: Outlook Money.
No matter what i cant seem to still agree that buying wheels is an expenditure :-)
~A ,the finance fledgling.
Change:
"The willingness to surrender what you are to become what you can be".. Change when it is possible before it becomes inevitable....
~A

If u fail to plan,you are planning to fail

The greatest adrenaline rush you would probably ever get is from motivation...its from my experience of having felt that. its pretty normal for people like us..twenty somethings to be caught in between the horns of a dilemma of making decisions and correct choices in life.its so us.But people would probably call you indecisive and inconsistent.i read somewhere that if you haven't made any mistakes in your life then probably you haven't tried out enough. Tats so correct!
So what i started out to say is that these swings of indecisiveness,confusion would always be there.But just like these surround our minds then eventually comes a clarity in life which just changes almost about everything. And when there is light,when the road is clear you are just so thrilled of having achieved that; that it makes you happier and thrilled with rushes of adrenaline which no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow would ever give you.
The clarity is the rush u have at the end of the expedition of finding yourself. You just lap up the motivation you have in your life.you hunger more..you thirst more.your pain in achieving that is the pleasure you get!
And on this note of motivation i would like to add this little story:
Motivation – The Key To Success
Lou Little was foot ball coach at Georgetown University. The collegepresident came to him one day and said 'Do you know Harold Chapman' 'Sure', Lou answered. 'He has been on my squad for years. An average player . Theproblem is that he is not well motivated.'"Well", the president continued, "we just received a message that his fatherdied. Will you break the news to him" The coach put his arm around Chapman and told him the sad news. "I am sorryson, you take a week off." But the next day Chapman was in the locker roomsuiting up for the game. "What are you doing here" the coach inquired in amazement."Today's the big game. I have got to play in it" he replied."But you know I have never included you for the game""Include me today and you won't be sorry", the moisteyed player stated very firmly.Softening, the coach decided that if he won the toss he would use him on thefirst play. He could not do that much damage on the kickoff return.Georgetown won the toss.At the game, Harold came tearing down the field with the ball like a tornado. The coach, shocked, left him in for another play and then another. He blocked, he tacked; he passed; he ran. He literally won the ball gamefor Georgetown University that day.In the locker room the coach, perplexed, asked, "Son, what happened" The player said…" My father was blind. Only today he witnessed my game" Motivation provides stimulus.
~Lara , the motivated..

Only when the half gods go do the full gods come in....
~Lara.

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Life as i see it...
The soulful strands play in the background.I sit in the darkness.Am i trying to hide from the world or from myself? The past casts its shadows again.i try relegating my thoughts to the deep recesses of my mind. i say to myself i dont wanna think about it...i am trying to hide from my own thoughts,own revelations and own realisations.But it has its own way of rearing up in your thoughts.Its been sometime now.Things are more difficult when there z no one or nothing to blame.Human beings are capable of such masterpieces that at times it baffles themselves.These creatures are a spark of providence and like himself they possess the capacity to create,to imagine,to beautify..But the saddest part is that these masterpieces get wiped out in the ravages of time.However the beauty it generates in its lifetime is worth keeping it forever .And that ability to create once,engenders the hope to create beauty again.And the only thing it takes is time..Like Bob Dylan puts it in his song, there is a time to heal..there is a time to kill..Its only time that makes you realize the beauty of all what had happened,makes you treasure something more,something which perhaps had not been there in you before.And it makes u a better person.A better heart.A heart that understands..A sincere heart that loves and understands..
~Lara,the melancholy soul..