"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."
Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet meet and fall in love in Shakespeare's lyrical tale of "star-cross'd" lovers. They are doomed from the start as members of two warring families. Here Juliet tells Romeo that a name is an artificial and meaningless convention, and that she loves the person who is called "Montague", not the Montague name and not the Montague family. Romeo, out of his passion for Juliet, rejects his family name and vows, as Juliet asks, to "deny (his) father" and instead be "new baptized" as Juliet's lover. This one short line encapsulates the central struggle and tragedy of the play.
Reference: http://www.enotes.com/shakespeare-quotes/what-s-name-that-which-we-call-rose
How true is that phrase... and it can be applied in so many situations.
What's in a name, Romeo?
Monday, March 24, 2008
Calm Before the Storm....Do you know how it feels like??
It feels terrible and is worse than the storm sometimes. I feel that way today and I have no idea what is the storm or it could be just my imagination. A little scared, a little confused and then a little annoyed that it might be nothing at all.
It could be that I had a three day weekend and just not used to having so much free time and then the thought that "too much of a good thing is not good" might have triggered all this paranoia. It is amazing that just an extra day can trigger such paranoia. ok, I will tell the truth, its just not the extra day, things back at home and then the economy and somehow everyone (the TV, the newspapers, the internet, friends) has decided to attack HOPE. But then don't underestimate hope, it can rise from the darkest corners and all it needs is a little belief.
And we will go on and on. I always found the last para of Robert Frost's poem easy to remember when I was young. And you know what, it is full of hope and aspiration.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
- Robert Frost.
It feels terrible and is worse than the storm sometimes. I feel that way today and I have no idea what is the storm or it could be just my imagination. A little scared, a little confused and then a little annoyed that it might be nothing at all.
It could be that I had a three day weekend and just not used to having so much free time and then the thought that "too much of a good thing is not good" might have triggered all this paranoia. It is amazing that just an extra day can trigger such paranoia. ok, I will tell the truth, its just not the extra day, things back at home and then the economy and somehow everyone (the TV, the newspapers, the internet, friends) has decided to attack HOPE. But then don't underestimate hope, it can rise from the darkest corners and all it needs is a little belief.
And we will go on and on. I always found the last para of Robert Frost's poem easy to remember when I was young. And you know what, it is full of hope and aspiration.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
- Robert Frost.
"Gravedigger, when you dig my grave,
could you make it shallow, so I can feel the rain."
Listen to this song on youtube sung by Willie Nelson.
Just listening to the lyrics gives me goosebumps, but still I like listening to the song. Would you care about the rain after you died? seriously, would it matter??
But then thats the greatest human quality - to desire beyond what you can see - to ensure you have some joys even in your grave...
It seems absurd, but still so believable and so desirable. And its not a lot to ask, is it?
Feeling the rain is one of the best things in this beautiful world and if you have not yet experienced it, you should at the earliest.
And Willie Nelson's voice is just right for the song..the right tone and the right emotion.
could you make it shallow, so I can feel the rain."
Listen to this song on youtube sung by Willie Nelson.
Just listening to the lyrics gives me goosebumps, but still I like listening to the song. Would you care about the rain after you died? seriously, would it matter??
But then thats the greatest human quality - to desire beyond what you can see - to ensure you have some joys even in your grave...
It seems absurd, but still so believable and so desirable. And its not a lot to ask, is it?
Feeling the rain is one of the best things in this beautiful world and if you have not yet experienced it, you should at the earliest.
And Willie Nelson's voice is just right for the song..the right tone and the right emotion.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Experiences of the first week in a new job in a new city..
Day 1:
I set up my laptop and struggle with mac trying to understand why the control key doesnt work!!
Look at the empty inbox in outlook and wonder how long its going to stay that way.
I lose my way back home and miss exits twice and finally manage to get home after spending half hour driving in circles.
Day 2:
Set up the dev environment and try to remember how to run MySQL.
I see broken glass at different spots everyday on the drive-way to the ofc. Scares me!!
I manage to find some local radio stations that are equivalent to 90.3 and 92.9 after fumbling through some spanish stations.
I hate to admit, but I miss the delila talk show.
Day 3:
Finally start looking at yet another in-house built framework and realize I can never escape frameworks :)
Spend 40 minutes in horrendous traffic to reach home which is 7 miles away.
Day 4: Attend training session for a ER system here. You can never escape working on tickets either!!
On way back home, the car immediately behind me gets rear-ended and I am just saved by an inch. Need to change to a better auto-insurance.
Day 5: Attended the first team meeting and then nothing much interesting. Becoming an expert in dealing with bumper-to-bumper traffic.
Day 1:
I set up my laptop and struggle with mac trying to understand why the control key doesnt work!!
Look at the empty inbox in outlook and wonder how long its going to stay that way.
I lose my way back home and miss exits twice and finally manage to get home after spending half hour driving in circles.
Day 2:
Set up the dev environment and try to remember how to run MySQL.
I see broken glass at different spots everyday on the drive-way to the ofc. Scares me!!
I manage to find some local radio stations that are equivalent to 90.3 and 92.9 after fumbling through some spanish stations.
I hate to admit, but I miss the delila talk show.
Day 3:
Finally start looking at yet another in-house built framework and realize I can never escape frameworks :)
Spend 40 minutes in horrendous traffic to reach home which is 7 miles away.
Day 4: Attend training session for a ER system here. You can never escape working on tickets either!!
On way back home, the car immediately behind me gets rear-ended and I am just saved by an inch. Need to change to a better auto-insurance.
Day 5: Attended the first team meeting and then nothing much interesting. Becoming an expert in dealing with bumper-to-bumper traffic.
Friday, February 01, 2008
Distribution of Knowledge
How many times did you say "I don't know" today?
If you have a computer at hand, I guess hardly any.
Because all you need to do is "google it" and hundreds of web-sites pop up talking about it and there you are omniscient, the "know-all" :-)
I can see both good and bad in this. Previously (some 10 years back) it would be hard to find out about something you have never heard of before. Some of the ways you would know about it would be talking to friends, parents, relatives etc,. And then at School or College if they are academic topics. This not only increased your knowledge but since you gained the knowledge by interacting with people, you have also gained some social skills, made new friendships and actually had fun discussing the subject.
Reading from a computer screen is monotonous and a one-way road. You are not interacting with anyone unless it is a discussion forum.
Going through this, I understand why we are increasingly lacking in our social skills and why we think we can survive without friendships or relations. But you will end up feeling alone. Though Google can find any information you need, it cannot talk to you like a friend or give you a personal view point.
How many times did you say "I don't know" today?
If you have a computer at hand, I guess hardly any.
Because all you need to do is "google it" and hundreds of web-sites pop up talking about it and there you are omniscient, the "know-all" :-)
I can see both good and bad in this. Previously (some 10 years back) it would be hard to find out about something you have never heard of before. Some of the ways you would know about it would be talking to friends, parents, relatives etc,. And then at School or College if they are academic topics. This not only increased your knowledge but since you gained the knowledge by interacting with people, you have also gained some social skills, made new friendships and actually had fun discussing the subject.
Reading from a computer screen is monotonous and a one-way road. You are not interacting with anyone unless it is a discussion forum.
Going through this, I understand why we are increasingly lacking in our social skills and why we think we can survive without friendships or relations. But you will end up feeling alone. Though Google can find any information you need, it cannot talk to you like a friend or give you a personal view point.
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