Its all a matter of Perspective!

Sometimes in life, we feel we have been dealt with a bad hand of cards. Things are not going the way you would like them to be.

i remember a story about my own life by my mother. When she was pregnant and i was growing inside her, apparently one day when she was going to work; she felt she was bleeding profusely at-least to the point that she was worried that she might have miscarried. She immediately went to the doctor and consulted about her worst nightmare. The doctor did not give any reassurance and only sounded alarms that she might have had a miscarriage. She also recommended that my mother to have a certain treatment (D&C) which would remove any remaining tissue in the uterus. Now, during this time our family was not doing so well financially. The D&C procedure costed about 300 Rs, that my parents couldn't afford. This unfortunate financial situation in my parents life is the best thing for my very existence. Sometimes what we presume as misfortunes is completely the opposite. So whenever, you feel you are unlucky or life has been little unkind to you; remember "Its all a matter of perspective"

The Unspoken Speech

Maatha, Pitha, Guru, Deivam; my list is a little bit appended. Maatha, Pitha, Guru, Nanban, Deivam. It’s almost natural that every generation would outgrow its previous generation. I have certainly grown from a small middle class family in the streets of Chennai to now becoming a scientist. It was always because, I was almost always dreaming and imagining what life can be. My family, friends, and surroundings facilitated me in doing so. Kids can dream but they always need a proper helping hand, to guide them, nurture them and protect them. I certainly had a lot of help and good fortune in being continuously navigated through my childhood, teenage, pre-adolescent years to adulthood. This is a dedication to them for I am forever grateful, forever humbled by their care, love and affection.

Maatha: (Amma and Akka)

I am proud to say I have 2 mothers; both of who immensely care, love and show unconditional love towards me every day. 

My mom was, is and will always be someone who pampered me the most in my life, showed me unconditional love and treated me like a king. The type of things she has done to my life has carved a mark on my personality even till this date. A brave woman, who taught me everything from people skills, responsibilities to priorities in life. She was clearly the reason that I understand the phrase, “Think from your heart not from your brain”. At a certain moment of my life there came a very instant where she showed me what it meant to think from the heart. I had huge aspirations to study abroad since high school. Later in college, there was another desire to not pursue a normal career path and to continue doing research and become a scientist. To make a long story short, it resulted in a situation wherein, I had closed all exits and options and thought only about studying further. But in the wonderful twists and tales that life was to offer, that dint seem like a logical thing to do as the financial struggle that the family would have to face was insurmountable. At least this was my very logical perspective, so I decided to drop my dream of leaving the country in pursuing the one thing that I really wanted to do in life. A whole line of family friends came to understand and listen to my perspective and also tried to convince me to leave. After however listening to my logical perspective on the issue, they were easily convinced of the opposite and agreed with what I felt. Not my Mom though, she saw the story a lot differently than I did. Although there can be financial obstacles in life, she felt you shouldn't lose hope, perspective on your dreams in life. She felt even if I did not achieve what I set out for in the field of research, it wouldn't be as much of a failure as it would be if I didn't even try and see what’s at stake. I am forever grateful for this life lesson and I don't think I can ever do anything as great as what you have done for my life. I am living my dream because of you and for that I am forever grateful and indebted.

My second mother (my lovely sister) is rather a very unusual character or atleast that's how I have always looked at her. Right from childhood, both my parents were working and so we were almost always growing up by ourselves. We came back from school to empty home, feeding ourselves on whatever snack was available, playing with kids and neighbors, defining our own curfew, limits and boundaries. This would have been like walking on knife for any other kid, but I dint have to worry since I always had my sister to guide me. She somehow knew, what she and I have to be doing at a very young age. Just so you know, the age difference is merely a year and half between us and yet she used to take the leadership role in scheduling time for snack, playing etc. A very early boomer exceptionally matured and her maternal instincts began because of me or so I think. Just as an example, when I was in middle school probably 5^th grade, we had this habit of discussing the day with each other, as we were our only companions. I had a history/civics test that day and my zest to score the highest score got the best of me as I asked the person next to me for an answer to a question that I dint know. I was successful in getting the answer without getting caught and scored high marks that day. I probably got one point extra because I got that answer from that classmate, but when I was telling my sister this story I saw her infuriated with anger. I quite dint understand at first what she was mad at me for. She said and I quote “I wouldn't have been bothered even if you had failed, but the fact that you copied/cheated in a test makes me feel ashamed of you”. That was a life lesson; I still think and refer to this story as the moral compass event in my life as it taught me about ethics and professionalism. Till this day, its been the guiding principle for the my research and career life. She has been in more than one time the moral compass, to help me know between right and wrong. I am not sure how god created such a divine being but I am and forever revere that special bondage that I share with my lovely sister.

Pitha (Appa):

My dad is the reason for my sense of respect I have towards education and logic. There is nothing I am aware of that he does not know. He had immense grip on the English language that I remember I used to be in awe when he was writing my letter of absence for school. Even my family and friends used to come to my dad for the same. He was also the legal/career council for a lot of people. There were many a times when my dad would be giving career advise to my friends, cousins and family members who used to tell me how lucky I was to have such a knowledgeable father. Although his approach with me was rather different, he never used to tell me what my next steps are. He just gave me a general outline and asked me to somehow figure things out of what I want to do with my life. I was definitely confused, baffled with the responsibility and yet I understand now why he handled me that way. He wanted me to own my life, he never wanted me to fulfill things that he couldn't accomplish. He somehow was the best mentor I could ask for and that's what each father should be, a fantastic mentor. Another trait that I acquired from him is the sense of value for ones duty. I have never seen him give excuses at work or deliver jobs incompletely. The sense of punctuality and pride in ones work is something that got instilled in me and I shall forever cherish that.

Guru (Uncle & Athimber):

         Everyone of god’s creation is divine. We can certainly enjoy the various characters that get displayed through the human form. Only some people however become your close confidante, godfather, and guardian like well-wishers. Guru is a title I give to my dear uncle and athimber for they certainly have carved my outlook on life. These people taught me without taking lessons or talking down on me. Their methods were unconventional; they just brought me so close to their lives and made me see life and the reasons for the choices they make. They never implied however that I should follow or live that same kind of lifestyle. My uncle, who I consider as my spiritual guru, has this great magnetic personality with an ever-smiling face. I can have the most unpleasant time at work or personal life but when I discuss it with him he puts things in perspective and makes me feel light of the situation. I have always felt an unbelievable amount of calmness and peace inside of me whenever I spend time with him. Life throws at you its ups and downs but you should not be moved by it.

       

  I have immense amount of respect for my athimber.  All you need to be successful is to completely believe in yourself and if lucky have someone else believe in you and your ideas. I feel extremely lucky in life because of such magnificent people to believe in me. I still remember the day when I had no real resources to fund my education and my athimber put his trust and belief in my dreams. He was not just there to encourage me but also made me feel so comfortable in using his resources to fund my education. That was remarkable as anyone else could have loaned me the money but no one other than my athimber could have made me feel a sense of pride in my dream.

Nanban:        

They say, “Show me who your friend and I shall tell you what type of person you are”. I most certainly corroborate with that statement. My friends played a huge role in my personality, habits and attitude. I have close friends who have stuck with me since high school and have made me feel and believe in myself when I certainly was not going through a great time in my life. They have been very much a part of my life and family even to the extent of putting 

themselves through trouble with their own family. Such wonderful friends, who travelled half way across the globe to just be a part of my wedding and share my happiness. One such friend even came and performed in my wedding. It’s just an amazing feeling to have such lovely people part of your life. Talking about friends, it’s not fair to not mention my wife who is one of my best friends. I have always wondered what is it about friendship and friends that is valued so much. When I was thinking about this, I immediately think about all the good times that I have shared with my friends. Let it be the coffee breaks, dinner or lunch sessions; something makes the time we spend with our friends enjoyable more than others. It’s probably because our friends let us feel comfortable with ourselves more than anyone else. Not that they don't express their point of views when it’s necessary but respecting each other’s opinions.

Deivam: (GOD)

         There are things in life that can’t be seen but can only be felt. Deivam falls into that eccentric category. It has to be said that, god’s presence is very much a matter of belief. Some people have such belief and some people don't. I have the belief in divinity because of the aforementioned people. All of them are infact wonderful divine creations that have manifested some amount of divinity through their actions or presence.

So chase your dreams, live your life and don't be afraid of failures as you usually will get some helping hand or find extra-ordinary strength in yourself.

         The purpose of this entire writing is not just to thank people in my life. I don't want to miss the opportunity to share with the world how much these people mean the world to me

                                          Thank you

Living through a webcam

Source: http://www.everythingusb.com/gsou-anti-peep-usb-webcam-18902.html

Any student who travels abroad for his/her education would resonate this feeling of living through a webcam. If you consider how culture and traditions have been modified to fit into the contemporary nature of our present lifestyle, it seems rather not that great of a change to move away from your home town into a foreign land and pursue your dreams. This however does not come without a price. We miss out on all those weddings, engagements, newly born baby, birthday parties etc. Is it that, we don't like these people whose functions you couldn't attend? of course not. Is it that we don't like these customs and traditions. Why have we adopted living far away in a distant land seems to be a question that a lot of students/non-resident have in mind.

We have all been harnessing our little vasco dagama inside of us. We have been the non-conformists by doing things as and when we like  and whenever we feel like it. The beneficial thing of living away from your birth place, you appreciate your home town a lot more. More importantly we realize why we left our home town, we just felt like it. When you really think how did it all start, when did you start pursuing your career to live abroad. It usually starts with people who were looking for something in the place where they lived and couldnt find it, or wanted to go elsewhere and see if the standards were the same. In either cases, people were not content and thats the beginning. Having said that, they don't forget all the true values of their home town, be it customs, religion, traditions and rituals. They carry it along with them to their new found land. They also add their own touch to each of these customs and traditions and make it their own. So we are fully aware of what we want and thats why we pursue. This is possibly why most of us felt a huge loss when we heard the news that Steve Jobs has left this world. Very few leaders in the world stands to represent all the misfits and weirdos.

It is because of innovators like him and so many others who had worked to make the horizon come closer. Now things have changed so much so that even doctors, therapists have resorted to their practices by consulting with their patients through skype. Skype has become such an integral part of our lives that we use it for professional and personal reasons. Right from having daily conversations with your folks in far away home land, meetings with collaborators and colleagues, skype has been omnipresent to the extent people has used it for online engagements, showing the newly born to the grand parents. Although the price of such moments is priceless, i began to think can we adopt living through a webcam? is it really popular? does it have the emotional appeal?

Lets say you are about to go on a vacation, you look up the place, check out the local tourist attractions, places to dine, activities to do. Obviously you can get all of these details with fully rendered images from google but that doesnt in anyway mean we had a vacation till we experience it. Or better yet, you might have so many friends in the social media, we share important events in our lives, wish each other for our birthdays, but till we meet our friends in person and share our wishes with our relatives, we will always feel distant. Life can be written as a story starting from our birth, school life, college, job, marriage, kids, growing them up ...grand kids,.. etc. Unless we experience it and live it through our own lenses and feel it through our receptors, it will not have the soul that life could offer.

By this, i dont intend to belittle the contribution of technology in our lives. Everything in moderation is applicable even in this field and when technology is put to use in appropriate areas and for daily events makes our communication with our loved ones in the far distant lands easy and not so distant. As a matter of fact, this is what i sincerely recommend.

Skype - available in any android, ios, pc and mac  (free video calling)

Whatsapp - available in any android, ios, blackberry smart phones and can be used wherever you have wifi (free dynamic messaging service)

The success of these applications can be traced to its common nature since they both are free and has the cross-platform support that most other applications dont have. This can be very well used in other areas in our society. Imagine when there is no language barrier and each of us can understand each other, no cultural differences, etc. By this i dont mean that there should only one universal language and one universal culture. The clarity among people to make languages and cultures to be cross-platform compatible is probably going to make a huge difference in making us feel a lot united. This would infact contribute to global peace as each culture would understand that the other culture which they thought was very different from theirs is actually very similar and peoples beliefs could be co-related. In this techno savvy generation wherein people have been thought to be hooked on to devices, we realize that the technology like facebook, twitter cater to our social needs and technology has enabled us that. Technology has understand human beings better as a matter of fact to create cross-platform interfaces to provide people with the online freedom which is almost a prerogative in every humans DNA. No wonder when Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddhafi was killed, it was not only libyans who was relieved but every other global citizen was happy for libya for its taste of freedom.

Whether it is for improvements in technology, community, society or any other field; 

"Freedom" is the key ingredient in the recipe for LIFE.

Joie de vivre

This blog article contains 926 words, 4163 characters and spaced at 1 line per page. See how i can make it immediately boring for the reader. Why does this happen, why do we make things unappealing; get confused in life and have discussions about i dont know where i lost all those years. The travel i could have made, places i wanted to visit, people i wanted to meet, if only i could have had the time!

First, stories from where i got an inspiration to write about this. I am reading a book "The best things in life" – Thomas Hurka. In the book they discuss about how each of us crave for pleasure from everything that we do and seek happiness. This is sort of like our purpose in life. A section of it talked about how drugs, cigarettes can give you pleasure but the problem is, in the initial stages just a little of it could give you pleasure but later stages you just need to consume more to get that feeling of pleasure. On the other hand in matters concerning passion and not an addiction, lets say you want to be a writer of course in the beginning stages, you may not be that great at it but as you keep pursuing on it the pleasure only keeps increasing and you feel greater and happier about your passion.

Later i happened to watch a TED video by Joan Halifax on how compassion, caring and other qualities which are primarily what makes us human, is sort of not realized till there is some sort of struggle faced by someone close to them (http://www.ted.com/talks/joan_halifax.html). Be it a family member or friend, till a person that you have well known suffers from it, most of us have an attitude to not grieve or mourn. Please dont mistake me, i am not referring to the entirety of the human race but for the most part when we are watching news and see that somalia has starvation issues, earthquake in japan, people killed in wars, riots etc; we take the news and can only think about the details of the news rather not about the emotional pain and suffering that people are going through. It felt as long it doesnt happen in my backyard, don't bother. Why is this a problem, you might ask; when you develop a society with future generations thinking along the same line then imagine how each one of us will feel distant from each other in the world.

Although social networking sites like facebook, twitter, google plus have made distances feel closer and closer; i want us to think about how all of us value our real relationships, the ones that matter the most. I have some uncles and aunts who were so good at keeping the family together at an age in the 80s and 90s where there was no Internet, forget about social networking sites. They used to meet us whenever they get a chance and regularly call us and talk to us about our studies and health and so on. Back then i used to feel, this is all some routine but then now they are no more i feel that i miss people like that. They simply used to call and find out if i was well.

Now this ongoing discussions about Americas debt, unemployment, GDP led me further to think about other key issues which is sort of the theme of this blog; What Matters?. I did not know about the king of bhutan, Jigme Singye Wangchuck who when he took office in 1972 at the age of 17  thought that the important measure of a country is not just by measuring GDP but by measuring GNH (Gross National Happiness). He identified some of the problems with whats taken into account with regards to calculating GDP and found that the most important things like involvement in the society, happiness, basically accounting for how people feel with their lives.

Photo Courtesy : Wikipedia

A businessman Chip Conley, a hotel chain owner who thought about what actually counts, implemented this (http://www.ted.com/talks/chip_conley_measuring_what_makes_life_worthwhile.html). He studied about Abraham Maslows hierarchy of needs which clearly talks about how human motivation is shaped. Its in the form of a pyramid with the fundamental being physiological and the top most being self-actualization. Upon interpreting this basics nature of human beings, chip conley devised his own pyramid for business by channeling Maslow into what he calls transformational pyramids including metrics to count employee sense of meaning and belonging in the company and the customer’s sense of connection. He started asking employees and customer’s questions pertinent to his business and due to which the employee felt a better connecting with the company and the customer loyalty increased. How can we make leaders measure the intangible things in life?

Can we measure how much we love somebody, what it feels when we lose a person who is close to us, how much happiness we feel when we work for something and get it. So when asked to the bhutanese about how do you create this form of happiness? they replied bhutan is a place which provides a habitat for happiness by asking people questions about how they feel about how their days are spent. Basically they believe in the principle proclaimed by Rabbi Hyman, Happiness is not having what you want but wanting what you have.

Photo Coutesy: http://andreebelle.wordpress.com/2010/05/03/gross-national-happiness/

So lets all create a habitat of happiness in whatever we do, wherever we work and how much ever we earn. Lets count what matters.

Applied Chemistry

Will we ever make the world we live in a peaceful, friendly and carefree environment ? ; many a times we start to wonder with so many global issues let it be poverty, illiteracy, global warming, hatred & war. As a chemist and researcher, adversities aren't new, in fact the quest for a solution by using the proven scientific concepts is almost a prerogative in our field. This led me to think if chemistry can in anyway help in any of these big challenges that we are facing in this current world.


Hybridize with the people around you:

Most of the problems around us start because, most of us dont have meaningful conversations with one another. By this i dont mean we are not receptive, we just preconceive ideas well before listening to the person around us. So lets hybridize and form those stable and strong SP3 hybrid orbitals since we will have head to head interactions and forming a shared electron covalent linkage, wherein we appreciate each ones uniqueness and react towards solutions for global welfare. Chemistry has in deed helps us with relationships. If you feel you give too much and your partner just keeps receiving things from you then you are probably in an ionic relationship. The aforementioned things does not mean just monetary things but much more important aspect of relationship like sharing conversations, spending time with one another etc. On the contrary when there is a mutual respect for one another in a relationship we end up with sharing our values, happiness, memories and a covalent type of relationship. There is a certain element of co-valency needed in every relationship.

The Hunds Rule of Budget to reach an octet:

When I see GOP proposal of the budget crafted by Rep. Paul Ryan, i start to think about politicians need to learn about Aufbau principle. Government is from the bottom up, the lowest energy orbitals gets filled first after which the next level gets occupied. People who are struggling to get by in this economic meltdown, now there issues need to be of prime focus. So if it is jobs, education, then lets prioritize those over the rest. In their budget, they also avoid to be symmetrical in their thought process. Now if they are suggesting that bush tax cuts for the wealthiest of americans need to be available since they contribute to small business and thereby create jobs, then lets keep 44.8% as the calculation for octet. To be more precise, lets keep 44.8-25 = 19.2% to be our octet number for you to be qualified for the bush tax cuts, else since you dont satisfy fairness as proposed in Hunds rule, you pay up since you dint contribute to the growth of the country.

Dextro or Levo:

Just because i expected some sort of logic in the budget proposed by dextro-wing party doesn't mean i am levorotatary. What i find strange is the handedness between them is not so clear. Their political point of views, be it in abortion, gay rights, immigration.,etc are not so different from each other to form a clear chiral (sane) center. They form only an emulsion if you ask me, saying that they are two immiscible phases and yet on most views conform to the same ideas . This is particularly true interms of the countries involvement in war and other non war movements where, they would want to give arms to rebels who may not even know how to use it. The countries involvement in wars shows the emulsion nature of these parties that are ruling this country which if it wants to be #1 in the world needs to spread peace and non-violence.

Inhibition of fat:

Another issue has been the global problem of obesity, coronary heart disease (CHD), basically the physical well-being of our human race. Drugs like Lipitor which is commonly use for coronary heart disease & diet pills like Orlistat teaches us a valuable lesson of inhibition. I am not prescribing these to be the solutions but the way the drugs act on your body teaches us how we need to act on ourselves. It works based on inhibition of some enzymes in the case of CHD to be converted to cholesterol and in the case of diet pills, fats not being absorbed as they dont get converted to fatty acids. Although there are side effects with these forms of inhibition pills, why do we torture our body and not inhibit ourselves from having not so healthy foods. Is it just because we are just not so well informed? could it be healthy food has become more expensive so we eat junk food? economy is bad, when there is no job why would i think about good food? education prices are so high, i cant wait to get out of school? it doesn't matter what job i get as long as it pays me well?

Inhibit yourself from such negative thoughts and know that world is what we make of it. Collectively, if we all want some sanity and logic in our world even in the world of politics, spread the word and there might be some amazing reactions just like in the world of chemistry.

Right Choices!! Cost More???

The options we have in this society are limitless. Right from food, clothing, automobiles, cell phones you name a product and there are just so many options custom made to fit the customer. This is however if you don't consider the price tag associated with each of those options available.

Let's consider the food industry, an average meal in the states is usually burgers and fries. It's a meat driven culture and how heavy the subsidies are to produce a $ 1 burger and still derive profit. On the otherhand how is this having a profound effect not just on the obesity levels but also on global warming by the transportation of there frozen meat industry. If you look at how much it costs to eat the right food, be it organic and eating fresh vegetables; it seems like you have to be rich to stay healthy.

Consider the automotive industry, there is huge SUV culture running as an integral part of the american society and I for one has always been fascinated by it. But then you think about the consequences of that society which is built on certain principles. I find nothing wrong with owning many vehicles if you could afford it but the greater majority of the society would be benefited if there was a public transit system that worked.

I am not complaining that the mass transit does not operate on time but the cost to buy a metro card is nearly being the same with no difference among income classes is going to build a society who is going to believe that in order to experience a good life, we need to make more money.

Now this is going to make people buy things on credit, have more stuff even if you could not afford it otherwise. Take up career options which are monetary driven and no wonder the society would then be comprised of invidual who are always running without knowing what they are runnning for.

So, for the better of human civilization and be an example to the rest of the world, People need to realise a deeper stigma in the mindset of people. We have an urge to want more and only when we realise and make sense of our needs, we as citizens will make the right options, elect the right leaders and rebuild the society in which there is no need to discuss about the very basic needs of human being met.

Global warming, Energy inadequacy, Obesity should be tackled by us not stimulated by us.

I recommend you to watch documentaried Maxed Out; Fuel; Food Inc

Be the Change and Make the change.

Going Green !!! Going Android!!!

Mundaneness is a common enemy to most people. We frown on anything that's become a routine, somehow things start to lose it's shine over a period of time. This analogy comes in handy for my long awaited review on Google Android vs Apple iOS. Apple and I have had a fairly long relationship, one which has hurt my pocket more than once. But it was the user interface that you are hooked onto. The way the company made newer generations of products and dint give customers any heads up on the time of release however makes them what they are now, "Apple - we like you provided you like us". What I mean by this, Apple has always been one of those companies which has made more money with even accessories which are in other company products comes as a default part. But people have never been bothered about Apples strategy,coz they are that good at what they make.

Lately however one cannot avoid noticing the backlog in technology voluntarily followed by Apple. No HDMI out, separate adapter for VGA connection, no blurry disc when you pay 2500$ for a laptop. Anyone who thinks Facetime and front camera is new, let's go back in history. Nokia in 2006 had dual cameras and phones had better cameras and it took apple a whopping 3 years to get these implemented. I agree that face time was a breakthrough in making people to stay connected and not missing those precious moments. But restricting this service to wifi and only to apple iPhone 4 only is the issue I had.

It just feels like yesterday when I was so excited for getting my hands on the iPhone 4. I must admit, first time to pre order any gadget was fun. It was turning out to be a great phone until those recurring proximity sensors failed on me. Then you start analyzing the product which I did since I am a tech buff. Granted people found the antenna gate to be an issue and those videos that went viral about losing bars by holding phone with that DEATH GRIP was a warning for Apple, yet they were not concerned. Their press conference spin off to show most smart phones were faulty dint prove anything at least not well received by general public. Since I was directly affected by their new product, I was more than watchful for Apples credibility and integrity in dealing with this new product.

So since lot of things dint feel good at Apple, after giving iPhone 4 a chance by getting it replaced one time so that the proximity sensor is not an issue. But the recurring problem pushed my limit. Returning an iPhone is still a hard thing to do, because you see how many users go crazy over it. Then again you need to stand up for what you believe in. iPhone lost it's lust factor and that's when I realized the power of being open source.

Welcome to the world of android where they studied customers and made sure people can synchronize phone contacts through their email account into the phone without using cables, no specific software. Custom made home screens and multiple widgets made it more enjoyable for users to feel unique although the devices may be ubiquitous. Actual multitasking capabilities, friend stream for social networking, separate news feeds based on your interest and video conferencing even over your wireless network redefined value for money.

It's finally great to choose between different models , different companies competing to give the best products, yet the experience is custom made to be satisfactory. When you are bored with your home page, your mood shifts from work to social, when you want your phone to ring in different tone, you don't need to make your own or buy it. Android understands these simple needs and have users like us contribute to one another. This makes any Android phone having multiple facets to be an ever addictive user interface and a growing community where consumers will always be the primary importance. Any company which does not keep the consumers first and just treats them as customers who help them become rich might profit for a short term, but is bound to lose it's respect from the users who make them big.

Think of a politician who helps people, becomes famous gets higher accolades and gets even greater positions to represent the people. If he forgets to do good to people, you know all too well how that road ends. So always remember your roots, priorities, values and stand up for what you believe in.