So where does the bus take you to…?
From "Mangalore" to "Bellary".

I think what makes this different from a bus in New York with a Firefox Logo on it's sides is that the Mozilla Foundation didn't pay for this ad. Kalyan Varma took pictures of this bus.

I had some slack time which I spent browsing on Flickr™. So I encountered this photo in Miss Rogue's "Trip to Bangalore" photoset on Flickr™. The picture is titled ? and to be frank even I had the same expression on my face when I first saw the picture. Well mainly because it was written in Kannada and not Hindi… the only Indian language I can read

However when I read the comments on the picture it gave me an idea…
The kind of thing; painting such religious symbols are used in trying to deter people(read Men!) from doing which they were not supposed to do in the 1st place… happens more in North India.
Why don't the state governments run a campaign of painting walls with the 4 religious symbols; yeah we have to take into account Sikhs as well… they're the most recognized Indian community all over the world. Why do you think most hollywood movies have a "Sardar" instead of the common Indian male?
Oh, and there's an added benefit in this drive… promotion of religious harmony.
» The original picture along with the comments can be viewed here.

So perhaps you are a huge fan of Grey's Anatomy or some other medical drama. Or perhaps you've always wanted to be a Doctor since childhood. But if you're an aspiring medic and you're living in India you must have either of the following 3 qualities…
1. You must be exceptionally brilliant. (Going by the population of India, I'd say your mental ability must be close to Einstein's… being top of your class won't do it, you must be top in your district at least to consider or better yet your state!)
2. You must belong to a socially backward community. This will let you in even if you do not possess characteristics mentioned in 1.
3. Or if you do not qualify as 1 or 2, you must know someone who can get you a fake certificate stating that you belong to such a section of the society.
This in addition to your parents having loads of money, as medicine already costs 3 times it costs higher technical education.

So I was thinking that making a post after 10 days I'll definitely be posting original stuff! Sorry to disappoint both you (the reader) & myself…
It's not that I didn't have anything to write about, Google made a laughable allegation on Microsoft over the default search engine on IE7 in the wake of the public availability of IE7 beta2 and I've been thinking of writing an article on the importance of Internet Explorer (laughable most people might say, while I say… read what I have to say first, though it's still at least a week away), I also wanted to address a semi-political / industrial espionage topic that I chanced upon via Raj Shekhar's post and then there's this reservation scene, but I am happy that Miss B hasn't disappointed me on that. I mean if I didn't see a post from her on the issue it would make me believe that perhaps I am incapable of identifying the most basic traits of people I hang out with. And c'mon, gimme a break if you think it's me being an egoistic, self centered guy, you're wrong. Besides a very pretty lady keeps saying "Be what you are and say what you feel, coz those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind". Really… if I happened to not see her speak her mind on this issue I would be thinking she's not being her regular self. Could be the whole adjusting back to the North Indian setup

But that's what this post is all about. Although she's not on my blogroll but I regularly read Tara Hunt aka Miss Rogue (the hottest tech chic I know) . She talks quite well about the concept of "Consensus Kills". So I'm basically quoting her here…
What happens is that when one gets a bit popular and realizes that it is certain songs, posts, features, whatever, that seems to get them noticed. When this is recognized, it's perfectly natural to think, "Man, people dig this, so I should keep producing this." Popularity soars. Tall poppy syndrome occurs. The next big thing comes along. Popularity fades.

"Our strength grows out of our weakness.."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

The one thing that's always on my mind, especially when I'm eating out or hanging out at public places is keeping an eye for any/all triggers of migraine. These include not experimenting too much with food, avoiding bright & flashy lights. Because the one thing that I hate most when I get a migraine are the lost hours of productivity that affect the overall productivity of my team. Of course I'm talking about the instances when I get a migraine when I'm in the office!
However over the couple years I've developed a combat mechanism which is pretty effective. Thanks to the wonderfull coffee combined with analgesics and resting in a dark and silent room… I can ward off even a severe Migraine in under 3 hours.
Going by the rule of the business world, "Turn your weakness into your greatest strength"… there's one thing that I am proud of; is the speed with which I can accomplish tasks, which is attributed to my effort to always make up for the loss of productivity whenever I have a migraine. I think most people who are limited or challenged by some disorder/sickness automatically develop such strengths in one form or the other. In my case my speed & efficiency has turned into a quality that can stand out in my Resumé.

- This post is not about Wonder Woman, the Warner Bros. Pictures joint production with Universal Studios about the most famous woman super hero in the world. Though I am delighted that the movie will be directed by the creator of my favorite female super hero… Joss Whedon.
- Nor is it about a woman in particular, though it might seem to suggest that!
- This is about a realization I made today; that even if you've had the most exhausting day and you keep getting into frustrating situations one after another… the presence of a woman brings a tremendous calm in a man against his futile yelling or something like that in an attempt to get over a miserable day. And that it is this calm which brings a smile upon his face when the day is finally over.

UPDATE: Joss Whedon quit the project over differences with the movie studio and the project is in limbo.