Raasukutty's

Tag: musing

  • Money

    Last week, I watched the tamil movie ‘Mankaatha’ with my college buddies. The film was all about money. The protagonist has even a dialogue “Money, Money, Money, I want the f**ing money”.

    Similar to this our life has changed course and started to be more money oriented. In school and college, I was just like any other kid wanting to enjoy life as much as I can. Once I got out and started to work, the first few years I spent all my money on enjoying life, buying clothes, eating out, going out with friends, buying expensive mobile phones etc. But at some point, the simple truth struck. “More money is what you require to enjoy more.” Soon, money was not enough.

    The room we stayed in after we got out of college was a single bedroom, where I stayed with four of my friends, the salary then was around INR 12000. This was not enough for me then and at the end of the month, I would have spent all. Same was the case with all my friends. Then it started raising. From 12000 it went to 36000. Even then at the end of the month, it was a close call.

    Why is that we cannot get enough? Why do we crave for money? Why is it too addictive than any drug to long for money? I always wanted to least care of money and enjoy life. But now, if someone asks, I would say to enjoy life, you need money. Is it money that is all I require. No. I need people, friends and on top of it money.

    Money, money, money… !

  • Steve Jobs

    Steve Jobs resigned from being CEO of Apple yesterday!

    A visionary, a man who loved aesthetics. Here is one of his best quoted speech Stanford speech. From being a simple dropout to being the CEO of a multi billion dollar corporation.

    One thing that Steve had was the love for the thing that he did and not giving up on his high standards.

    Thanks Steve for all the wonderful technology gadgets you gave us to love, including the Mac that I am composing this post on.

  • Appreciation

    Appreciation – One factor that drives one to move forward and keep continuing the effort.

    If a child is not appreciated when it starts to speak, walk or call out, it does not get the urge to do it the next time. Same holds true for grown up people too.

    Lets learn to appreciate. It motivates.

  • Thanksgiving in Florida

    This thanksgiving was memorable. A road-trip to Florida from Richmond with friends, what else can one ask for. As it was nearing the end of fall and temperatures were steadily dropping, Miami, was warm! Warm in air and spirit!

    All credit goes to Nair, Swami and Ravi who planned the trip! 3 days of nightlife and pure fun!

    It was a nice getaway from the routine, work, cook, clean, sleep… work, cook, clean, sleep routine. (You can see me cribbing :)) Now that I am back, completely refreshed!

    Miami, ‘Feels like being in Goa’, as Nair kept re-iterating all through the trip, with the Spanish lingo, beaches, water, bays, boats, fish and fun. Nice trip guys! With Miami, I have now travelled the entire east coast stretch, excepting Maine.

    Next is the cross-country trip! Vegas baby!

  • The Y

    When I came here to the US, I told my friends, I wanted to learn swimming and play guitar. So I have taken the first step forward, learning swimming. I enrolled for swimming lessons last months and have so far completed 4 lessons.

    Kick, Stroke, Breathe!

    Since I am doing my lessons in the YMCA, I also joined took a membership and now I also exercise at the YMCA gym. Reducing weight and looking at the first biceps curl is giving me a good feeling about myself. I still remember my first gym experience two years back when myself and my friend Ratish Kumar joined a class for Rs. 2400/- just for the cardio machines. We went regularly for the first two weeks and then I dropped off.

    I hope this time, I continue exercising.

  • Diwali

    I missed being at home most this Diwali. Usually, since school time, the biggest festival was Diwali. As kids, during lunch time, we used to discuss what crackers we got, 2 shot, 7 shot, fake atom bombs, fancy and novelties like parachute etc. It would start 2 or three weeks before the actual day. My parents used to take me and my sister for Diwali shopping(new clothes) during the Quarterly exam holidays. Well in advance before the crowd.

    Diwali had always been fun time for old and the kids alike. With Diwali, comes bonuses. My mother used to prepare all the snacks at home. I was always excused and allowed to have them even before we prayed; reason: I was just a kid. I used to be the first one to blast off the 50-100-200 walas in the street. It gives me  a sense of fulfillment of  celebrating Diwali. When I grew to be in the teens, we used to go to new releases on Diwali day. Then distribute sweets to friends.

    This year I missed all the fun. I roamed the streets to get to some shop that sell the firecrackers, but I could not find one. Maybe next year!

  • Halloween @ Kings Dominion

    Happy Halloween!

    This weekend was Halloween. I visited Kings Dominion (an amusement park closer to Richmond, VA). Being the first halloween that I was witnessing it was fun.

    First we had the thriller rides till it was about 8 PM, and then the halloween haunt started with the tagline “All your FEAR is here… “. Nice and funny scare zone, themed around harvest, burial grounds, dark groves and people trying to scare you with their costumes. The thing that was more scary was the other people in front getting frightened and falling down. Fun!

    I got scared when someone sitting in the bench, suddenly pushed a ‘Coke Bottle’ styled waste bin towards me…

    I really liked the vampires, they were beautiful just like those from Dracula movies, though they were not scary!

    On the whole, a funny, scary weekend!

  • Fall 2010 in Virginia

    It has been a year since I came here to USA, Yipee!

    Visited the Shenandoah National Park on Sunday. A wonderful drive on the Skyline drive, beautiful fall colors and the Luray caverns. After days of work in the city, it was a nice getaway.

    Rejuvenated! Next is halloween in Kings Dominion…

  • Playstation 3

    After a lot of debates on which gaming station to choose between XBOX, PS3 and Wii, I finally bought a PS3 recently.

    NFS Pro Street, Madden, Uncharted, Prince of Persia, Call of Duty… Purchased these to play around for another one month. Also, I have switched to watching movies on Netflix and DVD’s on my TV since the arrival of PS3.

    Officially, PS3 is now my entertainment center!

  • Love Marriage

    Recently, I read a blog post from my friend Srikanth on Marriages in India. There was a lot more that I could relate to, so here is my view on it.

    Marriages – In India, this signifies more than the coming together of two people. It is the coming together of two families and relations. It is an event where people want to showcase their position/status to the relations and friends. It means a lot to the parents of both the sides. Each caste/subcaste has its own custom ways of conducting a marriage. There lies the beauty of marriages too, elaborate preparations, sending out invitations, inviting people, booking of marriage halls, cameras, reception, food etc., and the list goes on!

    When it comes to arranged marriages, the process is simple. Everything is arranged. Which also means, everything is taken care of by the parents. This is one last responsibility that every parent wants to handle before considering their children to be mature enough to handle the world! With arranged marriages, everyone is happy, parents, friends, relatives and also the bride and the groom. Happily Ever After!

    In case of love marriages, the process is always complex, excepting in a few rare instances. Nothing is arranged. Since marriages are the coming together of two families, it takes a lot of time. Convincing the parents first to agree to it. If the boy and the girl belong to different caste/subcaste (forget different religions here), there comes the problem for convincing the parents to stop worrying about the society. Then comes the part where both the families have to meet. This is the hardest part. Both families have to like each other 🙂 If all these succeed, then comes the actual negotiation and finally marriage. The thing here is, no one in both the parties will want to hold the responsibility. Everyone will like to escape, to get away from the wrath of the society. So it falls on the heads of the bride and the groom, to do all the consoling and getting everyone to agree.

    One nice thing about love marriages is (as per my understanding), during this entire process, the boy and the girl get to understand and appreciate each other well. This helps in the long run of their relationship. They tend to talk over each and every step. Each one of them start to like the ability of the other to handle tight situations, supporting each other. Fruitful!

    Marriage is the occasion to commemorate the coming together of two people. An event to forget all differences and wish the couple a happy life together! When the life itself is not predictable, why not let people live happily till they are! Let Happiness prevail!