Category Archives: Life

2015 Week 17 Update

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A very short week due to the long labor day weekend and quite a boring one too!

My ex-boss came to Singapore for a set of meetings and on Wednesday we went for a dinner with him, my new boss and one other colleague. While waiting for said colleague to bring his car around, my ex-boss was casually talking to me and I suddenly had this epiphany – for some reason I don’t want to go in too much detail here, the scales suddenly fell from my eyes and I really saw him for what he was. And I realised I gave him too much credit for my growth here. Yes he was responsible for what I am today compared to two years ago, but a major reason is also my work, my credentials, my achievements and what I brought to the table. So now I have more respect for myself and what I have achieved, so major, major thanks for that ex-boss! He’s still a very valued friend and mentor, but just not on the pedestal I had put him on earlier…

We had one moment of happiness yesterday when GG passed her Hindi SA1 (see yesterday’s post) and now hopefully this will spur both of them to do better in the coming SA1 exams for the other subjects.

Happy Monday and have an awesome week filled with positivity! I know I am going to have just that….

My Home State: Maharashtra

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Growing up, in Mumbai, May 1st was always celebrated as Maharashtra Day, the day my home state of Maharashtra, of which Mumbai is the capital came into existence. So I thought it is only appropriate that today’s post be all about Maharashtra.

Maharashtra, which means ‘Great State‘ lies in the western part of India with the states of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh to the north, Chattisgarh to the east, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Goa to the south and the Arabian Sea to the west. Mumbai, the capital city is the country’s financial capital, though some may debate this claim in recent years and the state is also home to Bollywood!

Maharashtra is one of the wealthiest and the most developed states in India, contributing around a quarter of the country’s industrial output and GDP. This is also the second most populous state in India with almost 10% of India’s population in the state. His probably does not take the migrant population into account, so the actual numbers may be a bit higher. This is also the state with the longest road network in the country and the first train service in India and in fact continental Asia ran between Mumbai and Thane (a Mumbai suburb of sorts) on 16 April 1853. The headquarters of Central Railways, Chatrapti Shivaji Terminus aka CST is the busiest railway station in India, serving as a terminal for both long-distance trains and commuter trains of the Mumbai Suburban Railway.

One of the greatest Maratha warriors is Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj who, along with his father Shahaji Bhosle is credited with the establishment of the independent Maratha Empire which defeated the Mughals conquered large territories in northern and central parts of the Indian subcontinent. The Third Anglo-Maratha war (1817–1818) led to the end of the Maratha Empire and East India Company ruled the country in 1819.

The British governed western Maharashtra as part of the Bombay Presidency, which spanned an area from Karachi in Pakistan to northern Deccan. A number of the Maratha states persisted as princely states, retaining autonomy in return for acknowledging British suzerainty. At the beginning of the 20th century, the struggle for independence took shape, led by nationalist extremists like Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and the moderates like Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Pherozeshah Mehta and Dadabhai Naoroji who were all born in this region.

The ultimatum to the British during the Quit India Movement was given in Mumbai, and culminated in the transfer of power and independence in 1947. After India’s independence, the Deccan States, including Kolhapur were integrated into Bombay State, which was created from the former Bombay Presidency in 1950.

In 1956, the States Reorganisation Act reorganised the Indian states along linguistic lines, and Bombay Presidency State was enlarged by the addition of the predominantly Marathi-speaking regions of Marathwada (Aurangabad Division) from erstwhile Hyderabad state and Vidarbha region from the Central Provinces and Berar. The southernmost part of Bombay State was ceded to Mysore. From 1954–1955 the people of Maharashtra strongly protested against bilingual Bombay state and the Mahagujarat Movement was started, seeking a separate Gujarat state.

Due to the mass protests and 105 deaths, by both linguistic groups, the Union government enacted the Bombay Reorganisation Act on 25 April 1960 which came into effect on 01 May 1960 leading to the formation of the states of Maharashtra and Gujrat by dividing the erstwhile Bombay state.

I can go on and on I guess, but this should be a good starting point for someone who is interested in the state of Maharashtra. One of these days, I’ll do a similar post on Mumbai…

2015 Week 16 Update

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One of the better weeks in recent times! Like I said last week, my new boss finally came in last Tuesday and he seems to be a nice guy – similar in temperament to my previous boss with whom I got along well.

We had a staff meeting this week and things I am working on seem to be taken up well. So far (touch wood) things are going well and hopefully this will lead to better opportunities within this organization. This is the biggest reason I am not taking very concrete steps to leave – I really like what I am doing here, if only people’s perceptions of what I do change – and this will happen when I get a formal title to what I am doing – then I can see myself having a fruitful career here. Ah well, let’s see how things pan out in the next six months or so and I will make a decision. PSLE will also be over by then, allowing me to take decisions I would otherwise not take.

We attended S’s cousin’s daughter’s first birthday yesterday and boy was it different! A mash-up between a corporate D&D (dinner & dance) and a wedding reception! All this in an HDB void deck. The loud music which made talking and thinking impossible, the MC who behaved as if he was in a D&D, the hosts who were most un-host-like and I could go on and on…They even had the baby change clothes three times in the hour she was around just like in a wedding!

Anyway, this was something we had to do as noone is S’s family was there. I would have loved to spend some time with the baby, but could not as the mom was busy with her relatives and so did not come near our table at all!!!

I can go on and on about this, but don’t want to inflict you with negativity….


Have a great Monday folks!

2015 Week 15 Update

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Another ho-hum week….

I started on my new job search this week, applying to jobs I may be interested in. I do not want to take very concrete steps as I love what I am doing here, but it’s the impermanence that I don’t like. My colleague E mentioned that there is going to be some openings in my department soon and that I should apply for it, as it is basically what I am doing, ramped up a bit. I will do that (Thanks E) and if I don’t get it, then it’s bye-bye company….

Oh, we’ve had a new colleague J who joined from a nearby country in Feb and he is so insecure! Technically he is the highest ranked among the three of us, but the lowest in terms of experience (he has this rank because that was his rank in his home country and they can’t downgrade him when he moved here). So he behaves like the king of the hill – wants all plum assignments and brown-nosing people. He is lucky that he has his fellow country-men around and in senior positions, which helps I guess.

I have to pen this incident down – last week, with all the problems my laptop was giving me, IT finally decided to give me a new one as it was long overdue. They gave me a temp laptop to tide me over till the new one was ready. Now this temp laptop had a privacy screen filter and immediately J wanted to know where I got it from and how he can get one. When E and I told him, these are not really useful he said “But I can’t see your screen from here”. For reference sake, E sits at my back (we both sit facing away from each other) and J sits on my side on the other side of the cube.

Now this makes me wonder – what else does he see on my screen and is he keeping tabs on me? Need to check this out soon….

Also our new boss is finally coming in next week – this was another reason I didn’t want to leave immediately – as I wanted to see if him being here will make any difference. My ex-boss will also be here the week after next to handover, so it will be good to see him too…

Ok, end of my verbal diarrhea….Have a great week folks!

Astrology: A Science or…..?

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Do you believe that stars and planets have a hand in our lives? Do you believe that the Sun, Moon, Planets and other celestial objects predict the future events of a person as well as their personality? Welcome to the science(?) of Astrology!

Astrology is defined as “the divination of the supposed influences of the stars and planets on human affairs and terrestrial events by their positions and aspects”.

It is the study that assumes and attempts to interpret the influence of the heavenly bodies on human affairs.

In many countries, including India, astrology is considered a science, a metaphysical science perhaps, but a science nevertheless. At the earliest known ordering of existence, long before recorded history, it has been called the “Mother of all Sciences”

According to astrology, planetary movements influence time, which influence us since we are all part of time. In India, when a child is born, it is very important that the exact time of birth is noted and the doctor or nurse in attendance does do it. The exact minute the child is delivered is noted, one reason why most birthing rooms have clocks there! This time, along with the latitude and longitude of the city of birth becomes the basis on which the child’s astrological chart or kundli is made. This document, then becomes the basis of deciding the date and time of all important events in the person’s life.

Astrology remains an important facet of Hindu folk belief in contemporary India. Many Indians, especially Hindus believe that heavenly bodies, including the planets, have an influence throughout the life of a human being, and these planetary influences are the “fruit of karma”.

The scientific community rejects astrology as having no explanatory power for describing the universe, and considers it a pseudoscience. Scientific testing of astrology has been conducted, and no evidence has been found to support any of the premises or purported effects outlined in astrological traditions.

At the end of the day, whether you believe in it or not, this is something quite personal. I have always been interested in the esoteric and the occult, so it’s not difficult for me to believe in this. Also, to a lot of us sciences like Astrology are emotional crutches we use to give us hope, that maybe tomorrow would be a better day, because the stars foretell it.

What about you? Do you believe in Astrology?