Sunscreen Song

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 more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not 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 bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 pm on some idel 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. Mayber 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’s else’s.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Dont’ be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your 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 with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you 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’re 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 fishing 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 on the sunscreen.

Experiments with Mobile Photography

My collegue Shivaram and me were experimenting with taking photographs using the Sony W810i phone that Shivaram has. Some of the snaps came out really kool. Here they are;

Experiments with Photography.

Well these are not exactly experiments... these snaps just happened to get clicked by me and they turned out good. Click on the link to see them all.

Happy Birthday Aadi..!!!

Today my sister Jytoi and my brother-in-law Vivek were blessed with a beautiful baby boy. They have named him Aadi....

I am all excited on becoming 'Maama' :-)

Here are some of his snaps

Digital Sketching

I have been experimenting with doing some sketching using just a mouse... Here is a sample from the same

More experiments with cooking

After a very long gap i experimented with cooking again...!! This time i cooked 'Khichdi' and served it with home-made mango pickle.. it turned out really yummy !!!

Food for thought

I have learned...

• That the best classroom in the world is at the feet of an elderly person.



• That being kind is more important than being right.



• That you should never say no to a gift from a child.



• That simple walks with my father, around the block on summer nights when I was a child, did wonders for me as an adult.



• That I can always pray for someone when I don't have the strength to help him in some other way.



• That we should be glad God doesn't give us everything we ask for.



• That opportunities are never lost; someone will take the ones you miss.



• That there's nothing sweeter than sleeping with your babies and feeling their breath on your cheek.



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  That having a child fall asleep in your arms is one of the most peaceful feelings in the world.
  

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  That when your newly born grandchild holds your little finger in his little fist, you're hooked for life.
  
  

Experiments with Birthday Celebrations

Today is my birthday. Just for the sake of experimentation i decided that from this year onwards i wont be celebrating my birthdays.. So no more treats for my colleagues :-p

The thought process which led me to make this decision was the fact that very soon my generation would become parents to the new generatoin and as far as i remember we never celebrated the birthdays of our parent generation... So i thought it makes sense that maybe it is high time now that i also stop celebrating my birthdays.

Coming to think about it i really get a nice feeling too.. considering the fact the stupendous amount of money that used to get spent on throwing meaningless treats at fancy restaurants. Maybe i will spend the money hence saved on some good use for someone in need somewhere sometime :-)

Also this is just the right time to stop celebrating birthdays, for the past 25 years i have been having celebrations at my birthday.. for the next 25 years i will have no celebrations and the 25 years after that i will again start having celebrations and the cycle will go on ... interesting concept , isnt it ??