An used computer

I feel interesting when I think how I found interest in my career in what I am doing now. It started when my father bought me a used computer for Rs. 8000/- from a relative with the money he got when he was retired. On that computer there was software and it had some tools which allowed me to draw, erase, smudge, blur, darken and lighten strokes. 

First of all computer usage was a new thing and the tool in it which allows you to paint is the second new thing. Both are interesting. They don't run out of anything. From then my late night working started. My parents used to come out of their bedroom to check whether I'm sleeping or not and shouting at me for not sleeping till 1 in the morning had become common. At that time neither I nor my parents know what to do with that interest I have. Eventually, I came to know from someone there are institutes which offer these kinds of courses. Tried to convince my parents but they did. I tried my best they got convinced but with one condition. I can pursue that course only after completing my PG study. I had no interest in doing PG. But for the only reason I could study multimedia stuff after my PG I studied PG. Spent 2 years like I was in prison.

Finally, when I was done with my PG I got into this city of Hyderabad and joined an institute and while I was studying multimedia after a lot of struggle for learning things I got a job in a company. After that with that experience, I got a job in a better company and after that another better company. The struggle for learning still continues.

By the way, the tool which my old computer had was Photoshop 7. :)

Lyrics to "Everybody is free to wear sunscreen" by Baz Luhrman

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of '97,

Wear sunscreen. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis or reliable then my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice....now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, nevermind, you won't understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded, but trust me in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future, or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum.

The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind: the kind that blindsides you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts; don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long, and in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive; forget the insults. (if you succeed in doing this, tell me how).

Keep your old love letters; throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives; some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of Calcium. Be kind to your knees -- you'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40; maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary.

Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself, either. Your choices are half chance, so are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body: use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or what other people think of it; it's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance...even if you have no where to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions (even if you don't follow them).

Do not read beauty magazines; they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents; you never know when they'll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings: they're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but what a precious few should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps and geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard.

Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old; and when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse, but you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you are 40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia; dispensing it is a way of wishing the past from the disposal--wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts, and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me, I'm the sunscreen.

My First Kiss.

A friend who uses his stylus as toothpick.

He says, "I am born intelligent, but education ruined me"....

Late Lilly

Opened her eyes in our palms.

I don’t know so much about dogs and their breeds. When my friends discuss about them I just keep quite and think about my dog which lived with us 13 years ago. That was the only living being which showed us her complete life-cycle. We knew her since she was at the size of my palm. It started living with us even before opening her eyes. I remember the day when my dad shouting on me when I was trying to open her eyes. Poor dog, she didn’t even see the mother who gave birth to her and didn’t even drink her own mother's milk more than two days.

When Lilly was 2 days old, her mother met with an accident and had to leave this world making her four children as orphans. Lilly was the un-chosen one among the four puppies. Thanks to humanity in our street. Some one chose a complete white puppy, someone…a male puppy, someone a complete brown puppy, but I don’t know why nobody chosen our Lilly. Finally we took her only because nobody was taking her. We had grown her like one of our family members. My dad taught us how to feed a puppy. First we would boil the milk, and make sure that the milk is lukewarmly boiled and fill in a small bottle which my dad prepared with a rubber nipple fixed on the bottle mouth. I used to fight with my brothers to feed her. I found that as a very cute activity. We were very much eager to see her eyes open, couple of times I tried opening her eyes by force and my dad shouted on me. Even before touching my tooth brush, every morning I would go to her to see how it was and how much it grew. She was really a beautiful dog with light brown spots on white fur. Among all the puppies she was most beautiful. Really she used to look pretty. When her fur was started growing with her age, it started looking even more beautiful.

She was very familiar with the whistles we made and the sound of her steel bowl. Wherever she was she would come to us swinging her tail with utmost love. My dad liked Lilly very much and she also liked him very much. I remember her pulling down my dad’s trousers when he was wearing it, she means she doesn’t want my dad to go out of the home. How lovely it was.

Lilly gave birth to two puppies, unfortunately one died with overgrowth and another one died with underweight. I don’t what we call that disease, infection or whatever in medical terms and I don’t know what was happened exactly, but that was the reason I was told. I was too young to understand all these things. After that thrice it gave birth to the puppies and none of them could live for more than few days. That means Lilly has no children on this earth. Every time she carried we used to feel happy dreaming about the growing both mother and children at a time. We hoped of having lot of fun with small Lillis. We thought of sharing and expecting the love of which Lilly got. But we were not fortunate enough to see the small Lillis. So our Lilly was "never before and never again" kind of dog for us.

Closed her eyes in our arms...

Lilly lived with us for more than seven years. All of a sudden, she started behaving oddly. She used to hide in dark places without eating or drinking anything. She spent like that for few months. We were not aware of such situations for a dog so we did not take any care of her because of our busy lives. One day, I still remember that was on Saturday, the reason why I am so confident about the week is, the uniform which I was wearing on that day, i.e., white and white. I think I used to look handsome when I was a kid, if not why would my couple of class teachers call me black beauty? Ok, that was on Saturday, I reached home at around 1 o’ clock, and I had noticed my brothers and father were doing something in the hall. They were cleaning the blood of Lilly which came out of Lily’s mouth and my eldest brother was ready to wrap the dead body of Lilly in a gunny bag and burry her at our village outskirts. I just went to her and touched her part where she has soft fur and patted her twice. After seeing that situation I did not feel anything –absolutely nothing. I really just felt nothing, I was very normal as usual.

A day after, that was Sunday, I was normal; I didn’t feel sad about Lilly. Sunday was over, and then Monday, I went to tuition at 6am and started studying. After sometime my tutor came and seated in his chair and before talking to anybody he asked me about Lilly “Hey Sam, is it true that Lilly was dead?” That was all, I still remember the way how I said ‘yes’. Just imagine, you are studying 8th standard and your father or class teacher comes to you and slaps you four times for a small mistake. How would you feel? How would you react? You cry like anything with all tears coming non-stop from your eyes. In the same manner I had outburst myself before my tutor when he asked me about Lilly’s death. All other students suddenly stopped studying and turned their faces at me and I was crying severely. That means something deep inside my heart or my subconscious mind told me that Lilly was no more for me.

Moral of the story: If you love someone truly, take care of them at any situation. Otherwise there is a chance of losing them forever.

Shaggy -Angel lyrics

Shooby dooby dooby doo woi
Shooby doo
Oh
Shooby doo dooby doo boi oi
Yeah, ah

Girl, you're my angel, you're my darling angel
Closer than my peeps you are to me, baby
Shorty, you're my angel, you're my darling angel
Girl, you're my friend when I'm in need, lady

Life is one big party when you're still young
But whos gonna have your back when it's all done
Its all good when you're little, you have pure fun
Can't be a fool, son, what about the long run

Looking back Shorty always mention
Said me not giving her much attention
She was there through my incarceration
I wanna show the nation my appreciation

Girl, you're my angel, you're my darling angel
Closer than my peeps you are to me, baby
Shorty, you're my angel, you're my darling angel
Girl, you're my friend when I'm in need, lady

Youre a queen and so you should be treated
Though you never get the lovin that you needed
Could have left, but I called and you heeded
Takin a beatin, mission completed

Mama said that I and I dissed the program
Not the type to mess around with her emotion
But the feeling that I have for you is so strong
Been together so long and this could never be wrong

Girl, you're my angel, you're my darling angel
Closer than my peeps you are to me, baby
Shorty, you're my angel, you're my darling angel
Girl, you're my friend when I'm in need, lady

Uh, uh

Girl, in spite of my behavior, said I'm your savior
(You must be sent from up above)
And you appear to me so tender, say girl I surrender
(Thanks for giving me your love)

Girl, in spite of my behavior, well, you are my savior
(You must be sent from up above)
And you appear to me so tender, well, girl I surrender
(Said thanks for giving me your love)

Now life is one big party when youre still young
And whos gonna have your back when it's all done
Its all good when you're little, you have pure fun
Cant be a fool, son, what about the long run

Looking back Shorty always mention
Said me not giving her much attention
She was there through my incarceration
I wanna show the nation my appreciation

Girl, you're my angel, you're my darling angel
Closer than my peeps you are to me, baby
Shorty, you're my angel, you're my darling angel
Girl, you're my friend when I'm in need, lady

Girl, you're my angel, you're my darling angel
Closer than my peeps you are to me, baby
Shorty, you're my angel, you're my darling angel
Girl, you're my friend when I'm in need, lady

Photogenic food

Lucky are those who eat their home food and gone are the golden days when I used to eat my home food. Alas! Where have those days gone when I ate that delicious brinjal and tomato curry with little bit of ginger garlic and my mother’s touch? Why are those days hiding far away and looking at me as if I deserve this punishment of eating photogenic food. Wish I could go back to the days and eat whatever my mom cooks, without saying a word. What am I eating now-a-days? Why the food which we are eating is just photogenic, and not hygienic?

Many times I wonder why people show so much of their business in the food which they sell. The ‘quality’ is just restricted to the shining of the steel plates and the smiling of the servers and the counter girls. Even I smile at them in turn, but just to stop the fire bursting out of my anger and out of my stomach, not for the food they serve. Really whenever I eat food at my office, I just think about the happiness and satisfaction which I used to get even with simple dish like hot rice, dal, mango pickle and ghee.

Readers, friends and associates, I’m missing the taste of my home food. If you are among the people who eat home-made food, feel good and thank God for your fortunate situation.