Happy New Year 2009

I wish a very happy (and productive) new year 2009 to all.

Looking back, here are some of the highlights of 2008 from my personal life

Beginning of 2008 (First Quarter)

• Learnt to drive stick shift (aka manual transmission) car
• Bought a car
• Learnt to drive it safely (mostly) through the traffic in Pune (It is achievement in itself )

Towards the end of 2008 (4th Quarter)

• Left my job after working there for about 8 years.
• Got new job, met new people.
• Learning new technologies.
• Facing new challenges.

I started blogging regularly (at least 1 post per week)

Whose fault is it anyway ?

In the book “The Monk who Sold His Ferrari”, Julian asks John to go over his day, and asks him to see what could he have done differently. John mentions how he cursed the traffic, and cursed the client and so on. Few days ago, I had a similar incident, which led to thinking, is it always someone else’s fault ? May be not.  If one is careful, lot of unnecessary arguments can be avoided.

LinkedIn : How not to write a recommendation

xxxxx is a detail-oriented manager who watches the balance sheet like a hawk without ever losing sight of the strategic objective

Have you received a recommendation as above, or have you sent a recommendation like this to someone ? If answer to either of this is affirmative, read on.

Security Personnel In India

In my previous post, I narrated an incidence at the Hospital involving less-than-effective security check. Another week and half,  I came across another incident involving less-than-effective security. This time it was close to home (really, about 100 meters away from my house)

It was about 8.30 at night, we were watching TV, suddenly we heard noises, I turned down the TV volume, and we could hear people shouting  चोर … चोर !!! (चोर (chor) means thief). So I went outside to see what is going on. Apparently, one of my neighbour had arrived with Hockey Stick, there were several people gathered few building away. They were talking to the security guard (and kind of implying why he couldn’t stop/catch the thief) Anyway, I couldn’t gather much as to what happened then. Everyone dispersed few minutes later.

Couple of days later, I talked to the security guard, to hear his side of the story.

Why I Blog

Use what talent you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best.
Henry Van Dyke

Initially I used to think, most of the information is available on the net, so why bother blogging ? All it takes in little bit of googling. But later I realized that although I may be relatively good at The Art of Googling, there are several people who may not be. They are looking for easy solutions, tips. Additionally, I may not solve my problems looking at specific page on the internet, Several times, I ne3ed to look through several sources, add my own experience as well as trial and error to reach the solution. So it would definitely help someone if I can put it all together and prepare a simple tutorial.

Apart from the Technical Tips and Tutorials, I also write the mini reviews, as well as my opinions which essentially are unique to me, so I should share it with the world.

Last but not the least, it helps me develop my writing skills.  I hope, some day it  becomes one of my primary skills.

Ambidextrous : The Other Side

After my previous post about learning to use your both hands, I realized that following things are true especially in the context of Indian Society/Culture.

• If your left hand is dominant since birth, your parents most likely would encourage you to use your right hand.
• But the other way round is very rare.
• In Indian context, left hand is considered less important of the two.
• Left hand is not to be used during the religious ceremonies (to offer prayer/aarti/prasad to god) – Applies to Hinduism at least.
• Using left hand to eat is considered bad manners. (Even if modern society is more careful about Hygiene conditions)

While things are getting better, some of these are century old cultural habits which will take long to change.

Please share your experiences of using your left hand (or non-dominant hand) in comments.

How to Drink Plenty of Water

It is very important that you are well hydrated at all the times. I found this article which talks about Are you drinking enough water ?

Although I generally have no problem drinking plenty of water during summer months,  during winter, I tend to not drink enough water. So here are some of my tricks to make sure that my water intake doesn’t go down.