The Small Awesome Things

I was watching this TED video by Neil Pasricha (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajKMkIXN1eg) about how there are so many things that make our life awesome.

Only 3 A's are required to make it awesome: attitude, awareness, and authenticity. It's a beautiful and inspiring TED talk. Encourage all of you to watch it, and you should take a look at his blog too.
It's about 1000 Awesome things that are small things which gives us pleasure for a split second or more.

There is so much positiveness in that blog. On the same note, I was wondering about another website most of us visit when we are bogged by non-awesome things. The "F my Life or FML" website where people say about their everyday misadventures, and others have a good laugh. Both of these websites have something in common -- we have a few laughs, but they rely on two different concepts. The first one (1000 Awesome things) focus on the truly small and good things, while the FML website focuses on the small misadventures people have had in the past. Anyways, everything said, the best way to recharge is by being with family and friends.

Signing off, Have an awesome week ahead guys!

Do we really want to know?

Scenario: Late Night Thoughts
Inspiration in bits and pieces: *Onky and Fred

So, I have heard that when people really figure out what they want to do in life, it's true bliss. But, do we really want to know what we want to do in life? Isn't the uncertainty, the bursts of happiness, the understanding of small things and everything that comes with it what constitutes a wholesome life?

Maybe, if you really find out what you are supposed to do, life's no longer interesting. You have to give a shot at stuff, try different things. I have tried small ones and yes, it is hard initially but later on it gives this huge experience, that you probably would never get if you were so hell bent on sticking to a master plan.

Sometimes, when you see people, you know they are meant to do what they are doing, since they do it so well. But, really that does not mean that's what they are supposed to do. Take a break, try something else. Why should life be so serious? I strongly believe this train of thought stems from moving to Canada and the influence of some of my labmates (truly admire their decision process). I have heard of investment bankers who completely change from what they are doing 18 hours a day to doing labour work like plumbing. If it helps clear the mind and do something satisfying, it's totally worth the 'risk'. Yes, there will be the sceptical looks and the nagging feeling. I don't think I would do something like that, because while ibanking is software development for me, I do not know what's the analogy of plumbing for me!

It takes truck loads of courage to do something like this, but it should be fun and probably scary initially. Might be not right, but yes, you tried something different.

Similar thing goes with the small things... which is what I decided to start with. Yes, I am scared of the uncertainty. Wish me luck, I am sure I'll need it!

*Pseudo names are used, yes these people are called by these names.
F uses Fred when he wants to order pizza and people find it easier to to pronounce Fred rather than his original name.
Onky was called that by his college mates at NIT Trichy.

P.S: Just saw this video on TED. Something along similar lines, trying smaller things for 30 days.

http://www.ted.com/talks/matt_cutts_try_something_new_for_30_days.html

US Trip - Philly 2012

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, yours truly does not have the time to write a detailed travelogue. She does want to write about the eventful flight journeys, the crazy stuff you always do as a foreigner at some place, the very enlightening and interesting research conversations (yes, it's geeky) etc etc, but she does not have the time to do it. So here goes what I can do, some justice to the trip that was epic, to say the least.

I had my first US trip this year at Philadelphia. Was part of a POPL conference and thanks to the wonderful sponsors of the event - PLMW 2012 and the following POPL conference (both known and secret generous donors), the entire trip and stay was funded :)

The onward Journey
So, I left Vancouver for toronto and at toronto airport there was a near Indian cinema experience, running to the boarding gate for philly, because of some misunderstanding on the line I should stand at for the US customs.

The 5 days at Philly - It's always Sunny at Philadelphia :-)
Philly is a nice place, though not as beautiful as Vancouver. It was not at all cold, unlike what I was told. Actually it was pretty pleasant for this time of the year! Made a couple of friends from McGill and UCSB. Met many interesting people and conversations ranged from research to culture to cuisines in different countries.

The hotel I was staying at, the Hyatt Penn's Landing, had some pretty good view of the Delaware river and the bridge.


The food was good. We usually had dinners out, Mediterranean food with a gang of grad students.  Met up with a high school friend after about 4-5 years and went around the historical places at Philly. We did some sightseeing around Philly with a couple of other friends, the last day before leaving. Unfortunately, I could not go to New York because I had my flight the next day morning (Saturday).

It was actually a good break to be away from UBC and the grind of grad studies for sometime.

The Conference
It was pretty good. We initially had a workshop, where we had speakers like Ben Pierce (yes, the types and PL book author), Thomas Ball from MSR, some very interesting speakers like Simon Peyton Jones, Byron Cook etc. There were interesting topics, related to my research area, though very few. There was some talks on program analysis, security and privacy etc. Types and PL did not interest me much.
There were a lot of conversations, exchange of ideas, meeting fellow researchers.
We had a banquet at the art museum at Philly as part of this conference. The usual food and drinks, some art and history about US.

The Return Trip
The return trip was quite good. Came back with some new friends from McGill who were there with me till Toronto and they flew to Montreal after that. At Toronto, I met my twin brothers since I had a stop over of about 4 hours. They came to the airport and I got some of the stuff I left at Toronto, thinking I'll get them later on. Finally got my ski pants and other stuff. Had a nice lunch with them and then flew back to Vancouver.

All in all, it was a great trip. Met new people, caught up with old friends, met my brothers and had a fun time at Philly.

India as a I know it...

So, it's 8 AM here on a sunday morning here in Vancouver. I am getting this sudden pang of being in India. I would never think that my five years in India would change me so much. There's something about India, that 17 years in Abu Dhabi will never give me, or any part of Canada for that matter. Frustration sets in when I think about indian tax system, the corruption and all the other innumerable things we think about when we live outside India. However, since I am not doing anything about it (neither are all the remaining NRIs) I would not have the right to grumble about it. Hopefully, one day all this change and India will be the destination everyone will come to.
But this post is about all the good things that I miss when I think of India. This is to enlighten my non-Indian friends that India is not all that Russel Peters talks about :-). Ofourse, there's some truth in it as in all other cases.
I can close my eyes and feel I am in India when I get ...
The sweet smell of the earth when it rains in Kerala, the bus drivers who stop wherever you want, running behind buses, getting stuck in Bangalore traffic jams and looking at the other drivers who take it as it comes, speaking in non-grammatical hindi to Mumbai cab drivers, bargaining at road side shops when both the shopkeeper and customer knows that the price is high, the MG Road in each city, the countless train journeys each having its own story, the spices which makes each curry unique, the sweet coconut water directly from the coconut vendor on the roadside everyday on the way to Yahoo, the filtered coffee and cone shaped dosas at the restaurant opposite Besant Nagar beach in Chennai, the frenzied craze when there's a(ny) cricket match going on, the greenery which I cannot see anywhere else, the riverside adventures, the view of Trichy and Coimbatore at night from a flight at 30k feet, the misty mornings at hills in Kodaikanal and Munnar, the hair pin bends and waterfalls on the way to my paternal home at Wayanad, the customs and traditions that are unique to each place and ... the freedom which I cannot explain.

I have not been north of Mumbai, so I cannot do justice to the beautiful places of Himachal, Kashmir, the north east. Having heard a lot about the beautiful hill stations I hope one day I can see all these places too.

Looking forward to July... India 2012 :)

Ending with this song... makes me emotional whenever I hear this: http://www.saavn.com/popup/psong-EOlLqXyD.html?q=chak+de

Ciao