Rhythm of life!

Music works miracles to the mind! It makes babies smile, dance, zoom, chuckle out loud. It has the power to make people across all age groups, economic strata, regions, nations swing through emotional extremes! If you can close your eyes and zoom out of the externalities, you will see your fingers, arms, body sway with the rhythm, almost involuntarily! It can calm down the the nerves and excite it almost instantly. Ever wondered why ? Is it the urge to synergies with the rhythm of the heart beat that triggers it all ?

Some forms of entertainment are innate to the human existence. It comes with how we have been engineered by nature! Music, dance, games, painting, dressing up ... all in group and solo settings are part of human wiring! No matter how man evolves across generations, this shall be so, maybe? What else falls under this category ?

Have we redefined search for mobile ?

The last decade has changed the definition of search. From going to libraries and pouring over newspapers, we have reached an era where searching is also known as googling. Rightfully so.....information is now on our fingertips, its instantaneous and almost always spot on relevant! Thank You Google. You have truly organized worlds information for the web.

Fast forward to today. Mobile has changed how we look for information. Its not limited to the search box on Google or the browser from the web. Now, its all within the app/well within the context of what you are up-to. Expectations are soaring high. We not just want answers, we want them packaged so we don't need another tap. We want problems solved for us so we can use our mind-space better.

For example Facebook. Facebook has evolved from being a Friend networking platform to a lot more. Now, we can find smart deals, favorite recipes, parenting advice, news, information about next set of events... sometime even travel itinerary for our next trip! Its all there in some way, shape or form. And FB has interspersed all this so eloquently, that once you are in for a piece of information, you almost always spend 30 to 45 min on the platform meandering your way though the newsfeed. Its impressive how FB has created such powerful social groups. Social affirmation is so powerful that, information from FB Groups can be so much more relevant that what you get from the WWW.

However, this rich information creates a new challenge. There is 'soooooo-much' information in the newsfeed, and you invariably wanted to go back to something later in the day or week. The "save" feature from FB is a big boon and helps bookmark news. That said, very often, you are not sure about everything you want to come back to at first glimpse. What do you do then ? How do you search ?

For instance:
- I saw this super interesting article about incorporating STEM eduction into daily kids activities. This was last week. I want to find it again & FB has no idea what I am looking for. Can FB find the article that was a part of my newsfeed, before showing me other information ? How about showing me information from my friends/groups before showing me other things ?
- I forgot the name of this acquaintance of mine who works at XYZ company & went to abc school with me. I really want to message them. How do I look up their name ? Can I simply search "XYZ company + ABC school" ?

As FB evolves from a networking platform to so much more, their search needs to evolve to keep up with expectations. The phone is now my window to the world. I use my mobile device at-least 50X more frequently than my laptop. Searching my iphone 6 and getting relevant information at my fingertips is still a far far dream. Here I am looking for a note that I typed last week about the best brand for baby mittens. I typed this in a hurry when a friend spelt out the name over a phone call. Can I find this note without having to pour through all my apps/notes?

Quality of search or information retrieval needs to be high everywhere. It all starts with the phone/tablet itself. Then its the individual app you are perusing. Top places where we spend our time - email, social networking, shopping, news. While Google succeeded in channeling search on web with the toolbar, how can search experience be the best across every point of entry on mobile ?

Happy New Year 2016!

Happy New Year! Every new year is exciting. It brings a whole new series of yearly celebrations. Birthdays, festivals, anniversaries..there is so much to look forward to. After all, isn't life about those precious moments spent with and for loved ones :)

We have been living in San Francisco the last four years. Every year, we look forward to the NYE fireworks right by embarcadero. My little one is now a 3 year old. Its her first fireworks show and I have been waiting to share this special event with her. New Years eve is not the same anymore though. The television was buzzing with news about beefed up security in all of Europe, fire in a top 5 star hotel in Dubai. Fear of terror and simply the fear of unknown is top of mind for most people. Its really sad that this is the world that our children are growing up in. They need to grow up in a secure world. No matter which economic class you belong to or where you live, living without fear is a fundamental right, more so a need!

As we walked to embarcadero to witness the SF fireworks, all these thoughts were buzzing through my mind. We did not change our mind, we did not stay at home, we simply decided to be a part of the excited crowd waiting to see the lights. It was a very special show, the best I have witnessed in the last couple of years! Soon the crowd, the cheer and the happiness of the people around me took over and we really enjoyed the show.

I wish and pray for a safer world. A world where our children can live without fear or doubt. A world full of love and compassion. Amen!

The iDen Story : The African Lesson

After a long long time, got reminded of days at Motorola and all that I learned from my first job!

There is so much more to it that this, but these lines have had a lasting impact:

"Every morning in Africa, a deer wakes up.
It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed.........,

Every morning a lion wakes up.
It knows it must run faster than the slowest deer or it will starve to death.......,

It doesn't matter whether you are a lion or a deer....when the sun comes up, you'd better be running...........!!!"

My definition of love ...

"I love you, not for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you."

Tap into your inner genius!

Human Brain - What a wonderful creation! It can do so much. Handle diverse thoughts, deep indefinite memory, link the two, create deductions, take it all a step further and create the unseen - the power of imagination. How awesome is that! Sometimes, you feel like simply letting this awesome creation of God assimilate and process; to talk to you. There is a lot that goes into it everyday, every moment. Sometimes, thoughts want to come back out, processed. The internal self wants to communicate back to the external self. Probably this is what great thinkers achieved via meditation or deep thinking. The ability to listen, listen to this creative genius within you is such a blessing. Its a recursive loop for the most part. The more you listen, validate and send back messages, the deeper,insightful and relevant the next days insight. Isn't that a superpower ? We as humankind sometimes don't realize how powerful we are, if we simply look within ourselves. This deep thinking and meditation can happen in many ways. For some, its quite time listening to your thoughts, like a flowing stream. For some-others like me, its quite time with a pen. I like to write those thoughts down. Its like letting the inner energy manifest though a pen. Its abstract. I arrive at thoughts and realizations that I could have never imagined until then. May be, that's what manifests as intuition. Call it what you may - I am sure we all have experienced it at sometime and felt that its pure genius! The genius of the human mind. It doesn't matter if its mine or yours. We are all geniuses to our own merit. Its all a matter of tapping in. Those who do, spread knowledge and enlightenment. They lead their generation. They take mankind forward. They are remembered as the 'chosen ones'. Take time. Listen to your inner voice, your inner genius. Lets resolve to create a generation of a trillion geniuses. Lets help mankind take the next step in the right direction. There a lot for us to do!

Change!

The person that I am , change has always been hard. Be it the most pleasurable change, or the worst nightmare, change is hard. It brings its share of unknowns, its share of risks. We all handle this in our very own way. The reality is, change is inevitable. The theory of evolution (true to the extent that we know it), proves that those who handled change well, survived. Others simply perished. Those genes were never meant to reach the next generation. If the theory holds, the mere fact that you and I are alive today, says that we are pretty well adapted to accept change. I like to remind myself this, more often than I currently do! Change is inevitable, those who flow in the direction of current, have the maximum energy to make the most of it once the tide has passed. Those who resist, drain away all their energy before the calm. Its important to flow with the flow until the tide passes! After all, once the change is set in motion, there is no going back. You either swim or sink. Then why not, give yourself the best chance to swim ?!

Take charge!

A much cliched and very short note, more so for myself than for the world! Though, I want to hit the publish button, so anyone else who feels the same can resonate and have an awakening moment the way I just did. There are times when life becomes a big long laundry list of to-dos that you have to deal with. Day in and day out, you always have a little more to do than you actually manage to get done within the day. For a moment this morning, I tried to pause and wonder why! Why am I having an extra long to-do list. Some part of it is just me being a lot less organized when it comes to personal life than I am on the professional front. I don't typically write down. Little objects at home, remind me of associated chores and I simply get them done, or talk about it and conveniently forget it once again. For some reason, the most important things get done (mostly) in time, though the little ones fall through the crack. And when the number of forgotten 'tasks' increase a certain count, I start feeling sad and a weird sense of ' i don't have time' creeps in. Now that I have realized what the problem is, its about time, I pause, take charge, prioritize what I do each day, based on its importance, instead of what happens to meet my eye & I might have A PLENTY of time :) Let see! Though super simple, I will come back and write about, how I 'took charge' in a month! Stay tuned!

Excitement!

I am really excited about the new entrant in my life. Both she and I are waiting for her to say 'Hello World' and step into this world. The world in which I live. This is probably the moment for which I was created. She is one more of God's infinite miracles. God creates his miracles with utmost care, love and perfection. When she lands in my arms, she is going to be just that. The fact that it is up to me to mould this bundle of joy into a good citizen of God's world makes me feel so special, a little nervous and definitely very excited. Being a mom is God's best gift to a woman and I am happy its happening in my life. I can't thank my mom enough for what she has been in my life - my strength, my pride, my inspiration. I hope I can live up to it and take care of my little one the same way. Thank you Amma and looking forward to meeting my new love :)

New Beginning

I have been wanting to write for quite a long time now. I have often read of the term 'writers block' but for almost four long years now, have experienced it myself. Being able to write is a blessing. Some might wonder what I am talking about, but really, free flow of thoughts and being able to just sit aside and coherently put it across in words is sometimes hard. Sometimes one walks into a cocoon, a special place where you like to be secluded from thoughts, though not really alone. You immerse yourself in monotonous everyday happenings, fight away from any moment for yourself. You don't engage a whole lot with anybody, just go about the mundane, speak as much as you need to to get done work, spend your woken hours immersing yourself in the life of virtual characters and just live. This generation makes it so very easy with the computer and television. You fail to realize that hours, days, months and years have passed. Once you are in a shell, you are there. The longer you are there, the harder it becomes to wake up and say 'hello world'! The world around does not really miss you, its just you, refusing to connect with yourself. Sitting all alone for half an hour, eyes closed, with just oneself becomes the worst nightmare one can every imagine. And from there, you want to come back. Not because you miss the world, not because you miss close ones, but just because you miss yourself. You want that inner self, who can think clearly and coherently. Its the search for oneself. It will take time, but is sure bound to happen. Someday soon! "Yeh duniya laakh sataye, khud se khafa na rehna kabhi, Dheeme hi sahi, apne aap ko khud tak aane to de yoohin"

Superstitious Me

I always considered myself beyond those feelings of "if you got it right by wearing the white top and black skirt" this time, then may be you should wear the same combination every time"! Esp. when the dress you are wearing, or the vehicle you traveled by or the first person you spoke to that day has no direct correlation with the "success metric"! But no, looks like I have done it too! Esp. during tough times, those little 'lucky charms' seem to be peeping their head out n saying..'use me'!!!

It might sound ridiculous, but there seem to be many who fall a prey to this wierd tendency to correlate the 'not so correlated' factors to success. And busy basking at the glory of present success, we forget to register in our mind things that 'really did make a difference'.

That makes me wonder if success indeed can be reasoned out? Are there always these list of things that indeed made a difference? Does the age old adage of 'hard work leads to success' and 'secret of success is consistency of purpose' really explain everything ? Is there this big facet of unexplainable 'something' that is a significant ingredient? We try n call it Gods blessing, luck, miracle, life levels out..n many such things!

Nah, I am not trying to say that its all about luck, I am wondering if luck is a player, then not all of my future is correlated to what I do today or ever did in the past. Whats so new about that ? Nothing! We all know that future is not predictable, there is a lot of uncertainty and no one knows what 5 days from now is really going to be all about! But then, if that true, they why at all are we trying to be careful and planned and prepared for something that we have no clue about! What is the mad rat race all about? Think short term, plan short term n do what your heart n soul is happy about! Anything beyond that seems unconceivable to the human brain.

Then why try and predict something and be so scared if someone actually goes back to trends out ur prediction over the years ? Would the curve overlap with reality ? With a remote probability of it does, can you be rest assured that the overlap will continue ?

That doesn't seem very convincing, does it? Guess I need more coherence...Will continue!

Tenali Rama

An Amazing lesson to all looking for a job!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S44g8SHdiNU&feature=related

Miracles : Do they really happen ?

Some of the best things that happenend to me came from no where, at times when they were least expected.

So much that they force me into believing in 'good times' when just about every single move clicks and 'bad times' when best efforts seem futile!

But when there is a global problem and pretty much 80% of the world is going thru 'bad times', do these 'universe conspiring to make things happen' theories still hopd in equilibrium ? Neone tried running numbers ?

I prefer ... a few ... to ... many!

This time I am speaking as a customer and am talking about all the product options lying before me. I still remember my second day in the United States and my first visit to Walmart! I can almost affirmatively say that I was lost. There were atleast 10 and at the max I guess 30 options per product type - and this could range from basic ingredients like Sugar, Salt and even Milk! It was almost a rush, when my friend who had been kind enough to take me shopping wanted me to grab all that I wanted to and belive me or not, at the end of almost an hour, I was confused, dazed, wondering how I should wade through this without reading the specs on every product!

Having lived in India, where the largest departmental store will have not more than an average of 2 options per product, I had no clue how I would walk the maze! Shampoo, moisturizer, shoes, dresses, swimsuit, ...name just about the next plan on your agenda and you have to research through website and figure out what fits you right! Coming to think of it, I wonder why?  Is there a reason why we need so many options?

Putting on my thinking hats I was wondering why.  Most obvious reason seemed to be the diversity associated with the place. But then I wonder if United States is more diverse than India ? Every Indian metro should have a fair representation from about 20 different cultures to say the least, and this does not include the diversity brought in during immigration. Why is it that we do not have so much choice ? Is it that our consumers are not demanding, or is it that we have got conditioned to live on the usuals ? I cannot somhow accept that the Indian consumer is mundane and ease to tame! No way! 

Is it that the consumer is more aware of the product here ? The constituents and what they want in it ? Or  are there so many entrepreneurs here, that results in so many product options and each one almost "creates" a reason why his product is different from the rest ? I really wonder why ?

The irony lies in the fact, that despite so many options, I have not been successful in locating that one product that exactly mathes the one and only option that was available back home. May be I am a lazy shopper, or may be, the right stuff is always way too expensive! But, coming to think of it, I prefer buying a single packet of Aavin milk that serves as a source of all vitamins and minerals and works as a wholesome food to a vegetarian, as opposed to being deficient in Vitamin B12 just coz' I chose to buy '2% low-fat milk' as opposed to "whole milk"! May be I did not read the product description, or may be, there is indeed an alternative. Whatever, I know it for a fact, that end of the day, I miss India and the easy shopping that happenend there!

Companionship ?

Courtesy: http://nikisays.blogspot.com/

Dazzle with Zazzle!

Have been interning with Zazzle.com, a five year old bay area start up over the last month. And must confess, its been an amazing journey so far, this summer…

At the face of it, Zazzle might appear to be just another player in the online apparel market. Though over the last two years its evolved to be so much more that all that. One visit to the manufacturing unit, and I was impressed with the effort the company puts into completely changing the manufacturing style of established goods: to product them with the best of quality & finish, in the least turnaround time the industry has ever seen. And the best part, the company ensures that all this is brought to your monitor at the most economic price!

Every attempt to brand this place as an online market place, an apparel player, a youth crowd puller just about failed. This company seems to be all about innovation, and whats tough about innovation here is, they innovate on the most established age old manufacturing process of basic everyday commodities.

Awaiting an exciting journey with Zazzle!

Grad Life!

I have been writing and discarding blogs a million times over the last 6 months (oh man ! its been half a year in Stanford)! I cannot believe it! Finally decided to pen down random, arbit thoughts as they come by and click -'Publish Post' :)

The quarter system is indeed crazy. There is so much to do and so little time to spare, that almost every single second you spend relaxing, you are gonna enjoy it! I was blessed with the best start an international grad student can ask for. One of my best pals, was a student in the same department, living in the same apartment complex wrapping up her last two quarters! I inherited, a friend circle, all the department gyan, amazing company, comfortable shopping rides, great vacation trips, a of course a taste of US life, from her. To add to these, ofcourse, was complete tuition waiver and a big fat stipend in the first quarter. I was PAMPERED !!!! And as it happens with most pampered kids - spoilt !!! :P

Grad life is never complete without its share of struggles, and now I am slowly entering the grind. For most students, its a transition from struggles to comforts - with me (as is always the case), the graph has a tweaked course of ascent! Am into my second quarter now, almost mid way through - working part time with a front desk office, earning just enough to take care of living expenses and hunting for and internship and assistantship for the next few quarters. It can be a little distressing, but I guess this is what makes it worth the ride. I guess the pain wouldn't have been worth a mention had I not got used the comforts of corporate life over the last three years of life!

There is so much to do at Stanford, and every moment spent unproductive feels like a burden. Dance, music, sports, art, history, politics, entrepreneurship, health, food - there is sooooo much to learn. Every student I walk past has something great to offer, to this world. There is so much untapped talent all around and a 4-5 quarter masters program does not do justice to this place. To truly become a Stanford student - you ought to be an undergrad here, and if you have missed that slot, then plug yourself into the PhD program. Of course, in the latter, the university leaves the onus of making the best of the place almost entirely on you!

Disclaimer : All statements above are personal opinions and the reader is not obliged to believe them as is :) Ciao !

As we all part ways ...

Its been two long years .... Since the day we all stepped into this big corporation with dreams to being "professionals" and discovering the little space in each others heart where we could still be new college pass outs :)

We enjoyed those long discussions, arguements, back bench commentory...but(t)-wara sessions.., evening cafeteria sessions, noisy fifth floor screams, vocab sessions, bravo news, CAT discussions, GRE preps, advises, lectures, technology overviews...., annual days, dances, team lunch n dinner, birthday parties, movies, treats, lunch sessions, chai sessions ....
So much and yet so little...I wonder if I have covered two years here... It was great to have a wonderful bunch of friends...As P always says...Your first job mates are always...ur best pals..Come what may :)

Here we are all..each heading in a different direction.... bidding adieu to one another..with a smile on our face and all good wishes in our hearts...holding back all those amazing memories and wishing nothing but to best for the future ...

I will miss you all ... Our 5th floor gang rocks :) Bravo...!!! Good Luck to Ya All.... Where ever u are..U'll rock :)

The budding cartoonist! -- Zoom in to See

Pursuit of Happ'y'ness

Back to blogging after a long long while. Life indeed has changed over the last few months. From days that seemed to reflect monotony, I have learnt the art of generating vibes. I've started loving a new day....more n more. The transition was seamless. Thank You God :)

"Pursuit of Happ'y'ness" is a very ordinary story...the kind of story normal people can relate to, the kind of life that you and me live. The movie brought back to life some questions I've often asked myself .....

- Why did God bring me to earth ?
- Do I want to live a life as ordinary as the billions around me ?
- What is my mission in life ? What is that one thing that I am born to do that God felt no one else in this universe would do ?
- Is success really measured in terms of reputation, money, social relations and standards ?
- How would I say thank you to God for making me more fortunate than the kid born in slums ?
- How do I pay back God/Nature/Mother Earth/India ?

I've never really found answers to these questions. Being materialistic matters a lot, being successful matters a lot, but somewhere deep within I wonder if these are what really matter ?

Would I be really happy the day I become the woman of my dreams, with a successful career, a happy married life, well groomed children, happy parents? Are these in itself too much to ask for. Is the quest to look for some satisfaction over and above these, being a little too demanding ?

I still wonder ... ?