Have a wonderful new year 2006!

phew!!! webservices, components, transaction, transformation, orchestration, end points, mapping, workflow..... last three days i hv been listening to all these terms (and many more) for more than 5 hrs per day. Day 3 i.e. today was more of discussing and suggesting solutions to some of the project scenarios which we will be implementing over the next few weeks. yes it has been quite a bit of learning. the sessions got over by mid day and we had been out for lunch to a nearby restaurent. well, as of now nothing more to work on... and think i wil scoot as early as possible. and am not too keen on coming to office tomorrow :) Its just just 3 days to brand new year. btw any new year resolutions??!! i have quite a few.... Anyway, Wish you all a very happy and a wonderful new year filled with joy, success, and peace.

Speaking Tree - Every Day is a Celebration For the God-conscious - Dec 28, 2005

We awake each morning not knowing what to expect from the day ahead. Will it bring good fortune or pain? This uncertainty creates feelings of fear and instability. How is one to deal with daily life when one is filled with uncertainty? Mystics and saints view life from a higher angle. They recommend that we live each moment with full trust in the Lord.

Trust in the Lord requires a conviction that there is an unseen power who created this world and who created us. It means having knowledge that our soul has been created by God, and its journey is under God’s will. It requires conviction that God has sent us into the world for a purpose and our destiny is to fulfil that purpose. This means that we cannot leave this earth before our destined time comes. It means that certain events that happen to us are also preordained by God, and that what happens is already laid out for us. It also means that we have been given some free will in which we can make some choices.

Some of what happens to us each day is God’s will. We also have free will to choose, and we can make choices that are going to be beneficial to us and those around us. Our journey in life is a process of evolution of the soul. Sooner or later the soul is destined to return to God. The end goal that God has for us is that we attain this freedom. At the right moment, we get a helping hand when we think all is lost.

Ernest Shackleford dreamed of crossing Antarctica by dog sled, a 2,100-mile journey. Shackleford and his team began the journey. Unfortunately, the boat taking them to Antarctica hit an ice pack and sank. Luckily, the men survived, but they found themselves in waters with drifting ice floes. The nearest land was 200 miles away. The nearest human outpost was 1,200 miles away.

They salvaged a one-ton lifeboat which they pulled with them, crossing from one ice floe to another. When they reached an area that did not have anymore ice floes, they got into the lifeboat, but the waves were often 90 feet high. Somehow, they made it to an island of ice, which had never been crossed before. It took them seven months to reach civilisation. When they finally arrived, they told their friends that they felt the presence of an unseen power guiding them on.

The beauty of God’s unseen hand is that sometimes we actively pray for help and receive it, but there are many times when we do not even ask for help, and help comes anyway. These times are reminders to us that we are not alone. One way to feel God’s presence is to meditate. The energy emanating from God is a principle that manifests as light and sound. The light is greater than any light one experiences on earth. The sound is a divine melody that reverberates without instruments or vocal chords.

The more consciousness there is, the more ethereal the sound. Let us make everyday a celebration. The next time we feel helpless and alone, let us remember that God’s arms are around us. Let us offer thanks for the myriad ways in which God’s love surrounds and protects us.

Day one complete.. two more days to go. Actually it wasnt as tiring as i had presumed. more bcos it was more of hands on than just listening. also the trainer is my former collegue. we both were project mates at netkraft. so was nice talking and sharing the past with him. he is a tech consultant now and will be travelling to Ireland in another week or so. well looking forward for day2 as he has said it will be more complex and challenging. me going for home.. probably will meet a frend on the way. bye.. keep cool ;)

Cast Iron training..

me off to a training session in the academy block... will b back sometime late evening. shall catch u later guys... enjoy!! what is Cast Iron?.. well, click on - Cast Iron Systems

Speaking Tree - The Lotus of Consciousness Is Thousand-petalled - Dec 27, 2005

The journey from loneliness to aloneness is a long and arduous one — from the seemingly playful ripples on the surface of our being at the outset to deep shadows of conflict and contradictions — as we move on to discover ourselves.

To reach the innermost depth of understanding and tranquillity, each one of us, as a free thinker, has to walk the lonely path to self-discovery through the noisy mind. Life in its essence does not change; it hasn't for thousands of years. Life flows, as ever, with all its ups and downs.

The question is: Can we flow along with it in a naturally abundant, joyous, balanced state of being? From the chaotic state of mind, we first travel the difficult distance to the state of loneliness, which for some, may even be an anxiety-ridden experience. But in itself, it is the first and most promising milestone towards self-realisation. From there begins the journey towards aloneness.

Loneliness is the mirror carved out of our introspection — it reflects where we are in our journey towards the ultimate. At the take-off stage we are nothing more than lost particles in the vast universe and yet not quite so... for we are determined to find out who we are.

Aloneness is that next step towards self-realisation and then with consistent, aware evolution comes the finer state of aloneness; it keeps getting better till finally one arrives! There is no conflict left...problems get resolved. We had perceived challenges as problems because of our deep-rooted conditioning.

Rarely are we brought up to think that every challenge carries a huge potential, a juicy seed for our inner growth. Evolution, like pregnancy with its labour pains, is a process that carries the amazing promise of a whole new life.

In aloneness, we begin to cherish our own company and in the same measure as that of the stars, the trees and the breeze. We become one with the universe, in tune with life. Then you want nothing, crave for nothing, desire nothing because you have everything. You have you with you and that you is life in totality itself: the ultimate. Your journey to the higher self has to begin and end with you and only you.

The moment of self-realisation can happen anytime. It depends upon your readiness to receive it, upon the purity of your being in everything you do. Open your being to life and magical things would begin to happen to you. Your own life energy will flow through you, surprising you with the infinite joyous energy you carry within yourself.

You would no longer be lonely. Instead, you would be the ecstatic self which is total in being alone and in tune with nature. For the first time there would be no conflict between existence and you. As Osho said, "You will be able to sing the song that you have brought into your heart which has remained unsung for so long.

You will be able to bloom into thousands of flowers. Or as we say it in the East: You will bloom into a thousand-petalled lotus of consciousness, of awareness. That is, God, or still better, godliness".

The Speaking Tree!!

Starting today i will be posting some great articles.. which takes me, you, us .. everybody one step closer to God and self-realization. These are articles from the editorials of the times of india newspaper and is called "The Speaking Tree".

some techie sites...

http://www.techtree.com/
http://www.extremetech.com/
http://www.pcmag.com/
http://www.computerworld.com/
http://www.practicallynetworked.com/
http://www.eweek.com/

Riding High

Riding fast on my fiero on a bright sunny early morning was all that was required to spur me up for wat seemd to be quite a long day ahead at office. I started from home pretty early.. wantd to reach office before the Bangalore (bengaluru) traffic peaked. its a 15km ride from my home. and boy! it was one terrific ride today... no signals, not many vehicles, smooth ride all the way... felt as if the road was laid only for me. Also today was one of those mornings when u carry forward the feeling of larger than life attitude from the yesterdays !!! Feeling light and cheerful is certainly contagious.., moreover as they say - "The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up" ... so smile maadi!! :)

Fun-filled trip to Pune

It was a perfect get-away from home, work and worries… a 3-4 day off from all the worldly headaches and a trip with frends to some distant place was all that was needed to relax and rejuvenate.

We headed to Pune for a training on one of the products required for our projects. Accomodations were arranged, tickets were booked, luggage were packed and we were all set (four of us.. myself, N, S and SH). Our onward journey started on the Saturday evening from Bangalore. Ahead of us was an 18hr train travel in a 3-tier AC … which we thought wud be the most boring part. But it turned out to be the most fun filled part of the whole package. I don remember the last time when I had been out on a train journey with frends.. yeah I traveled bt Chennai and blore evey weekend when I worked for CTS Chennai. But it was alwys an overnite travel. So here I was with 3 of my project mates on a Saturday evening chatting, eating, teasing, playing cards (Badam Satta, Bluff and a new game called ‘Phat’ :))… none of us were in the mood to sleep. we stayed awake till pretty late and slept only after we got several warnings from the co-commuters ;). The next day it was a lazy (Sunday) morning… and the first thing that was on our mind was to meet SH’s mom and bro who wud meet us at Gulabarga station with some nice food preparted for our lunch… the train wud stop there for 10min and it was fun to meet, greet and grab all that they had got for us.

It was almost 4pm when we reached Pune station. S’s sister had come to escort us to the place where we had our acc booked. my second stint of Pune was ok, thot it was more impressive on my first visit. Anyway… the weather was good.. unlike blore which is pretty damp for quite sometime now. All four of us were pretty tired with the journey.. we got settled in our rooms and then had a nice dinner and dozed off, for we had make at our training center the next morning at nine. We did make there but atleast 30 min late, thanks to the taxi driver who came late to pick us up. First day at the training was pretty decent with theory sessions being covered during the pre-noon and pracs during the post lunch. but the sessions which were supposed to complete by 4pm… got dragged till 6pm. we were pretty exhausted … Day1 at the training was over. That evening S’s sister took us for a small roam inside Pune. We saw MG Rd and visited a couple of stalls .. and did some shopping. Then we were taken to the best eat outs in Pune. “Durvankur” … the place where u can find the maharastrian food at its best. Well, I don’t remember what all I ate that day but yes we all ate soo much that we cudn get up from our seats. we sat for a few more minutes at the table and then started back to out service apartments, which was quite out of the city. the clocked ticked well over 9pm as we hired two auto rickshaws. well this was how our day ended.... some amazing never eaten before maharastrian delicacy. Slept to the core that nite only to be woken up by S the nxt morning.

Day2, 9am and we found ourselves sipping coffee in the corridors of the training centre. Still pretty lazy.. but one good thing happnd on day2 was we started with the practical sessions which was unfinished on the prevs day. The learning went on till 6 again and we did quite a lot of work on day2. The satisfying part was we cud see some outputs. Well, it was evening and we had to cover the Fergueshen College Road before. “The” place where the Pune youth wud hangout. Most of the famous restaurant, cafes, coffee bars are located on this long stretch. We all had a walk thru the streets .. took a few snaps (which includes the one posted on this blog). The best of the lot. S’s sister took this snap and she moved even before my digi cam flashed and took the pic. Hence u can see the feet all of us :D. truly a fantastic, unforgettable evening. That nite S’s sister had cooked some amazing veggie stuff for our dinner. Ate nicely and gave a gift we had purchased for her. Infact we couldn have asked for more… we got some superb company for the two days we spent in Pune. She provided great comfort level as she kept us engaged and never did we feel that we were outsiders. Tremendous energy levels. Well, Tuesday night was all over as we slept early as we had to catch our trains the next day arnd 12 noon. We obvsly wantd to stay for one more day in the city as we dint see any places as such. But we consoled ourselves that there is always a next time.

We boarded the train at the Pune station at exact noon and started towards Bangalore. We were blessed with some well cooked food for lunch. We had an all day of journey ahead of us…. this time it was a two-tier AC so it was only 4 of us in the compartment. it was pretty comfortable. another 18hr travel and we started doing what we were good doing at.. having fun !! listened to music, chatted, played a lot of improvised versions of the games…. laughed to the core. Seriously it wud hv been a pretty boring journey if we had to travel single. The company was good, and we all had a brilliant time. Ate all the junkies like ice cream, bhel puri, tomato soups, etc and kept ourselves engaged till nite. No doubt we were sort of exhausted traveling all day. so we decided to sleep early. And it was my mom’s phone call that woke me up in the morning. She gave me the news that my sister in law gave birth to a baby girl in mysore. Sweet was the news… there cud hav been no better way to complete our unforgettable journey. N, S, SH n myself .. for all of us it was a nice break and happy time together for 4 wonderful days.

We all certainly wud hav opted to stay back in pune given a choice, but then we wud hav never looked forward of visiting Pune again. Now we do!! The memories of this visit wud certainly live in our hearts…. so that we cherish them forever.

Bangalore Habba!!

Its Habba time, when our city celebrates its cultural spirit with panache.

The third edition of this annual cultural event will be celebrated from Dec 2 to Dec 11, 2005.

>> 'Habba' in Kannada means 'Festival'.

>> This year it will be bigger, better to mark the 'Suvarna Karnataka' (50 yrs of formation)

>> Over 2750 artistes from Karnataka and 250 artistes from across India will participate in Bangalore Habba.

>> Habba will spread the festival across towns in Karnataka such as Mysore, Dharwad, Chikamangaluru, Mangalore, Tumkur and Mandya to create awareness about different performing arts and share euphoric experience of the Habba with people living outside Bangalore.

The programmes will be conducted at public places like parks, temples, malls, Cubbon Park and Art Espresso to facilitate more people to witness them.

Dance, music, theatre, fashion and interactive sessions are planned in malls and the Resonance and mega events at the Palace Grounds. This event aims to reinstate Bangalore as the culture capital and not just IT/BT capital.

Login to know more about programms.

http://www.bangalorehabba.net/

Come celebrate the Habba and Dazzle along !!