Personal Weblog of Deepak Vasudevan

An easy way to remember Rahu Kalam Some one asked me a while back how easily to remember Rahu Kalam. I was suggesting that is just a simple calendar item to remember but we need to ensure the fact that the time specified is valid only for the days when the sun rise is at 6 AM. He actually persisted on his doubt that whether always a calendar lookup is necessary. I just thought there should be some easy way to make one remember the timings of Rahu Kalam for different days. A quick Internet Search got me the following simple statement: "Mother Saw Father Wearing The Turban Slowly". Mother = Monday = 7:30 - 9:00 Saw = Saturday = 9:00 - 10:30 Father = Friday = 10:30 - 12:00 Wearing = Wednesday = 12:00 - 13:30 The = Thursday = 13:30 - 15:00 Turban = Tuesday = 15:00 - 16:30 Slowly = Sunday = 16:30 - 18:00 Source Courtesy: Wikipedia . I hope that this would be very useful for everone to remember the Rahukalam periods that occur everyday. There is a common belief that Rahakalam and Y...

Thursday Trash and Friday Fresh Todolist I just discussed about " Thursday Temple Trip Reinstated ". Towards this, there is another interesting coincidence. It has been my policy always to see that during the new (fiscal) year to see that any past backlogs are cleared and a streamlined set of objectives are defined for the next forward looking fresh period. Towards this, I took a little while to clear off the task statuses in my Todolist . The catch is that even if the task is update, if the todolist shows the old data, it might contribute to confusion and ambiguity. Both needs to go in a good harmony. So this Thursday also contributed to clearing off the old list and paving the way for the fresh Todolist. And when I say fresh Todolist, the software also seemed to have got updated with more features. Check out and download the software for yourself.

Worst case afternoon siesta A few days back I had an opportunity to visit an Internet Cafe around Saidapet around 2 PM in the afternoon. It was a comfortable cozy airconditioned block having a good ambience and a decent connectivity to the Internet backbone. A few minutes later, another guy checked in and took another system just opposite to me. No sooner did he start opening his browser windows than he started opening his mouth for a continuous yawning too. Me and another customer over opposite terminal to him were really wondering on the continuous bouts of yawning that he demonstrated. At a point of time, after witnessing continous four yawns, I passively started to count it. In a simple sample of 75 seconds (just over a minute), he performed a record of 25 yawns. I was really surprised on his Yawns Per Minute (ypm) record and perhaps I think this should be a worst case afternoon siesta that anyone could demonstrate. Even now, when I share this anyone, the entire area breaks into la...

Thursday Temple Trip Reinstated As I just mentioned in my other travelog and as a gentle response to the interim reschedule ( "Why did I change my Weekly Triplicane Temple Schedule to Saturday?" ), I just thought of sharing that the earlier trip schedules have been restored back. Interestingly, towards the close of old fiscal year (2008-09) and beginning of new fiscal year (2009-10), my Todolist ran through a lot of significant improvements in clearing the old backlogs and this one long pending issue got sorted out. As I have pointed out in my previous discussion, one of the factor that brought the interim reschedule was malicious efforts of a non-Hindu guy and the reformation was chipped in back through a very good slogan of 'Jesus Calls Prayer Tower'. Whilst casually going through R.A. Puram Greenways road, I had a glimpse of seeing their board and the slogan of them 'Prayer brings victory'. It is succinctly evident that we should not be carried away by mun...

Opinion Poll on Go-Ergo (March 19, 2009) :: What filmy gyan would you give to cool your short-tempered friend? Today (March 19, 2009), there was an interesting reader's opinion poll in My-Ergo section of Go-Ergo . The topic was the following: "What filmy gyan would you give to cool your short-tempered friend?" In fact, I also sent my views like the following: " Adhigama aasai padra aambalayum adhigama kova padara pombalayum nalla vazhndadha sarithramae illa Deepak Vasudevan (Verizon), Ahalya, Rajasekar (TCS), Sivakumar (Allsec), Senthil (Wipro) ". You can find the column screenshot listed below: You can also check out the embedded iPaper (Archive of Go-Ergo) from Scribd below: Ergo March 19 Publish at Scribd or explore others: Magazines & Newspape newspapers ergo

The Trip to Tirupathi is like Trip to US If you prefer a quick pre-scheduled trip to Tirupathi now, you can make use of eDarshan scheme arranged by TT Devasthanams from your region. The procedure is quite simple: Everyone (who is going to visit Tirupathi) have to personally visit the TT Devasthanam regional center. A token entry fee of INR 50 needs to be paid in the eDarshan counter. A fingerprint and a quick image of the user is recorded. A desired date and time of visit to Tirumala is printed on the reciept. The pilgrim needs to reach Vaikuntam Q complex at the pre-printed date and time for the darshan. I just thought the counter that gives the reciept and slot is quite similar to US Embassy Visa counters taking fingerprint and image of the visa applicant. :)

Exploiting Merciness ... I have this observation for a few days at least amongst different sectors of people in Chennai and just thought I would provide a synopsis on the same and share with others to get to know about others' observations too. I frankly feel that a honest kindness, no-looking-back-or-undemanding help or no-strings-attached charity had been kind of extinct species in Chennai. I have two incidents here: Whilst casually discussing about the challenges faced by the downtrodden people in our society because of reservations and bad administration of the government, one prankster in the group immediately was trying to take advantage of the situation, to everyone's disgust and was trying to preach about Christianity. I really wonder, why Christians in Chennai are so much behind conversion to their religion. Given even a little chance, these guys barge into it and try to make the most out of the situation. I really wonder, what is happening to the Anti-Conversion laws ...

Juvenile Mobile (Mis) Use The greatest advantage of technology these days are the vast penetration of communication tools and elements to all parts of the world from biggest towns to even remote villages. And by far, at least, with respect to the developing nations, cellular phone seems to be a good succinct and tangible example for this technological development. At the same time, I used to wonder whether this technological advent and miracle is being used correctly. The other day when I was commuting back to home from work, I had a chance to wait in the bus at Vijayanagar bus stand and watching some amusing incidents. I have been seeing one girl constantly on her cell phone right from Ambal Nagar through Vijayanagar. At Vijayanagar, even whilst alighting from the bus and negotiating the road cross, she was holding the cell phone and flirting out with little higher acoustics itself. Crossing the road, at least in traffic-sensitive Vijayanagar needs more careful attention. She has thro...

"Early Stopping Detector Syndrome" We discussed sometime about a situation where sometimes the superior takes an unwarranted advantage and makes his subordinate very timid . About two days back, when I was travelling in the bus, two girls were sitting in the seat adjacent to me (across the aisle). One girl got up from the seat and went near the conductor (exit way) but two bus stops crossed but she didn't alight from the bus. The conductor was a friendly guy in that route. He asked her why did you you get up from the bus so early? She was telling that she had some confusion at workplace and because of that a little hallucinatory image struck well even before the stopping reached and hence she got up. I just thought of sharing this incident with others. The simple moral rule is 'Remember IIS 6 way of operation. Run each process in its own process space. Your personal and professional chores should run in its own separate process space so that they do not interfere wit...

Happy Holi! Let us greet each other Happy Holi. Holi is a very colorful festival in India, particularly in North India. We would pray the Almighty on the occasion of Holi towards the following Global Peace and Harmony amongst everyone in the World True devotion from heart towards the Almighty.

"Why did I change my Weekly Triplicane Temple Schedule to Saturday?" I have been recieving a spurt of comments and emails with soft protest of changing my Weekly Triplicane Pilgrimage to Saturday from the usual Thursday. One of them had even contested that there was an earlier incident and I should have thought about it before advocating this change. I admit of this change but it was not in a hurry. It is an interim change for a variety of reasons which I would like to share it off here: The time taken to/fro the temple has currently doubled because of crazy traffic situations in Chennai, which might be partially because of horrendous mismanagement of traffic by CCTP (Chennai City Traffic Police), nonchalant attitude of Government to the evergrowing traffic and also callousness of private vehicle users across the city. An undue bad-eye effect and 'story-fabrication-efforts' of a non-Hindu guy in close proximity. I had to take this step to offset and to 'contain...

There are a lot of things to learn from a dog ... A little dog is a great tutor to us in more than one way. At least for me, my Word 2003 Office Assistant ("Rocky") is a great helper to correct our language, grammar besides helping us in arithmetic (Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Access). Thanks to Mohan Chandran for sharing a nice email on what all things we would need to learn from a dog. I would like to summarize them here: When loved ones come to meet, always greet them with a pleasant smile. For that matter, it never harms to greet anyone with a gesture ranging from a simple friendly smile to a formal handshake. Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride. Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy. Take naps. Stretch before rising. Run, romp, and play daily. Thrive on attention and let people touch you. On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree. When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body. No ...

A Slow Computer and a Handicapped System is a boon in disguise We have been hearing out laments and cribbing along different times from different people particularly when the (computer) desktop/laptop they are on is rather slow or unresponsive. They also get enraged and intimidated particularly when some of the devices malfunction (say) for example, some of the keys in the keyboard are suffering from acute wear and tear due to ageing. I just thought of sharing out a hidden truth which I realised from an exposure to both the categories of systems in close proximities. Here are them: We always envision computer systems as lightening fast entities to complete the job impeccably. With this vision having deep-rooted in our mind, the other truths have suffered going through a period of eclipse. They are: Slow and steady wins the race G arbage I n and G arbage O ut (GIGO) When there is a rash driving without paying attention to details, it often means the driver is racing towards Hell. We all...

Advanced Happy Ninth Birthday to SitaGita It is 2009 and it is her ninth birthday. Our Chellam affectionately celebrates her ninth birthday on 8th March 2009 [International Women's Day]. It was on 8th March 2000, she was born (launched) at Apcom computers. I have a unique pride of being one of the development team of Sitagita at 3rdAgenda. Let us wish her Many Many Happy Returns of the Day . For those interested, also check out our 8th Birthday Post here . Each time, I just post the birthday greeting right near the birthday however for others I send out advanced wishes. This time, it is for my Chellam and she got her birthday post well ahead (almost a week ahead).

Jaya Jaya Shankara! Hara Hara Shankara! I just thought of sharing this about the unique feeling of bliss during my trip to Sabarimala this time . I just observed in my return journey a station called 'Kalady' (Angamaly) little near to Kottayam/Ernakulam. I asked a few about whether this is same as 'Kalady' of Adi Shankara. People replied yes. It was a sense of great bliss to at least travel through the station and to get the blessing of Shankaracharya. You can check more about Kaladi from the Kerala Tourism page over here .

Glad to welcome 'Sathyanarayanan' into Blogosphere ... After so many years of hesitation, Satya seems to have started to share his messages and tone through his personal blog. You can visit Satyanarayan's personal weblog over here . I just recalled about his weblog, while sharing an other view of his text message over here . Again, as anyone laments, when I asked Sathya to share his views through his blog rather than as text messages, the (standard) response that he gave me were the following; which I just thought I would share it out here since they are more common to with any one and everyone should make a humble endeavor to conquer them to continue their journey to success: No Time: There is no such thing called 'No Time'. We have 24 hours in a day. When we say no time, it simply means the time has not been used properly. I would suggest you grab a copy of Todolist , to put each and every activity and track it properly. Can't remember to write: I get a topic ...

Fast Forward February February is always a shortest month. People always say that we need be very careful in managing time in February as it is very short month and it will fly away very fast. I had a good number of important tasks and activities including those involving slower governmental bureocratic processes but thanks to Todolist, all these have got cleared off. With the mind getting lighter, it is time to march ahead majestically for more laurels to conquer!

The Six Interesting Points to note in IT/ITES industry If you are in a IT or ITES industry and not capable of involving in dirty workplace politics and are honest, hard-working, then the following are the six promises/assurances that you would need to/forced to adhere to, at least in the current day trend: To develop a hatred for rest and relaxation To nurture an abysmal love and affection for tension To cultivate a passion to stick to work on regional holidays and weekends To self-satisfy and console yourself that you have blissfully exhausted all enjoyment of your life in childhood. To stop allocating time for your friends and families To energetically revenge on one's own self. However, there is a good way to deal with the situation below. Schedule your activities properly. There are plenty of free time management aids available now. A few good ones are listed below: Todolist Internet Calendars Windows Live Calendar Yahoo Calendar Zoho Calendar Google Calendar /* Source Courte...

Torching Summer and Let us lend a helping hand for those challenged ... It is just March 1st. Even one week before, I observed that walking in the road at 10 AM seemed to be painful and torching hot waves of Sun are burning everyone alive dead. In these cases, we should depict a sense of humanitarian gesture to all living beings in the world. I just thought I would draft out a first cut set of points which struck me as we can start helping everyone. When I say 'everyone', I am treating every living being (flora, fauna and not homo sapiens ) Talk to your regional shop keeper/apartment association and see if you can help out in the following: Watering the plants in the morning and evening. Plant some saplings in your street. If a small puppy or dog or kitten is struggling in the hot sun, call to your house and give it some water and some biscuit to it. You are welcome to help out people too individually. But do not entertain strangers into the house. They may resort to theft misu...

The pinch of Global Meltdown ... The prickly pinch or hard punch of global meltdown does not and has not spared even public sector organizations in India. I just came across a situation when the SMS renewal to Connemara Public Library came back 'Not sent to: <>' message. On calling, I found out the following reasons. There is now acute shortage and cost-cutting operations. Certain fancy features like SMS-based renewal etc. has been withdrawn. This is another instruction for us. At least till the end of 2009, we should learn to be more conservative and refrain from being spendthrift. It always pays and help to save and particularly in challenged days like these.

Bad Bad Chennai Attitude -- Make it Slow; Tense Them and Loot Them I wanted to share this tri-faceted sinister attitude observed with many people in Chennai (individuals and organizations too) and I really like to shun those base groups. The attitude of observation is as follows: Making the process of reaching our objective (goal) slower either by discouraging us. If they have power and potential, then they unwarrantedly procrastinate. As the deliverable gets delayed, naturally a state of tension or anxiety grips on us to explore other options as contingency plans. They make the most of the situation and loot us in every (other) possibility. Some examples of this attitude are: Airtel and other private ISPs promise good Internet Connection. But after sometimes, even loading of Google Homepage becomes slow. Since we become so dependant on it, they would try selling a higher bandwidth package. Small organizations have base middle managers who deny-delay career prospects to good people and...

(Missed) Call Menace in Mobile Phone I have been intending to share this experience for sometime still and just got the opportunity. Not sure how does it exactly match when the phone only rings at occasions when it is not required. Interesting incidents sparking me to write this are ("The phone rings for a voice call or to indicate a reciept of a text message") You are busy in the bank teller counter counting currency notes (to be remitted or being recieved). You are in the temple seeking the blessings of the Lord and in total silence to make you embarrassed and to make you look like a rude jackass to others, the phone rings. You are busy in updating your tasklist and the phone rings Now there is an easy solution. Keep away from the phone during those busy instances. Most telephone operators have equipped the subscriptions with services like Missed Call Alerts . I would also like to draw your attention to our previous discussions related to this here: Mobile Phone -- When and...

Cell Phone Lock to save some battery ... This was part of a learning in my Mobile Revival campaign . One cell phone dealer actually told that though less savings is there, it is always better when the phone has been used, to lock it manually and then press the hangup key. I also read this subsequently in another article. This way, the energy expended by it till the manual timer elapsed to lock the phone and shut the display can be saved. It is a little saving, I admit but drops make the ocean anyway.

"To rope or not to rope" One of the lesser known activities en route my Saturday Triplicane Trip (2/21) was to replace the worn out mobile cover. Now, I was thinking whether I should purchase a mobile neck rope also since having it in the bag or inner pocket was seeming to be a better alternative. I chose the latter at least now as an interim measure. The advantage of mobile neck rope are as follows: Better control over your mobile since no one can pluck it out without your knowledge Whilst your seated near the window in the bus, the risk of mobile falling out of window, particularly in Chennai where the journey is really turbulent and resembles roller coaster rides is less. The disadvantage of mobile neck rope are as follows: Less flexibility and compatibility to existing mobile covers. You would need to carefully chose one and make holes in the cover carefully. These days where building organizers and event managers take privilege and pride in giving so many ID cards on th...