Whats in a Name

You might be wondering what s 'Whats in a Name'. After all the billion people in the world have a name. Iam certainly not a name specialist to give much insight on names but i would try to share few things which i have come to learn. what prompted me to write this post was a series (Ok, not a series, but a few) events which set me thinking about the impact our name has in our life. Dont worry folks, i won’t be dwelling on explaining scientific things about names origin, their relevance etc. Let me see, how i proceed with it. Maybe I would start explaining it in a serious note and then view the lighter side of it.

There is a saying that ‘Names’ are for people, what ‘labels’ are for objects. You get identified by who you are (by the name) and it does have a impact people perceive you.



I came across this part in net that:
"A number of years ago, the newspapers ran a story about a young man who re-enlisted in the Navy during the time he was hospitalized for tonsillitis. Ordinarily, an event like this wouldn't attract public notice. What gave this story its appeal, though, was the fact that the man's name was Tonsillitis Jackson,"

Everything about a person sends a signal about himself to the outside world. It could be tangible things like the way you dress, the richness of your costumes, but there are a lot many intangible things like his persona and the way he carries himself. Name is one such thing that has a big significance. I came to know that when people call by your first name, your personal aura gets amplified. (If you are wondering what personal aura is, either keep wondering or find it out yourself.) i can assume that you would be googlish enough to find that out real quick. Unlike me, who had to find it out the hard way !

When i was in middle school, Our English teacher mentioned about the ‘aura’ in the class. Something along the lines of yourself aura getting multiplied when people call you by your first name. Being too young to understand what aura was, I and my friend did what all kids would do. “Ask people around you”. Well, that indeed proved to be a bad decision. I learnt the power of individual-brainstorming. As in brainstorming - is discussion in a group with each member coming up with different views on the topic. Individual brainstorming is when you ask each person his views individually.. You would be amazed to learn that you get different answers for the same question. I asked about personal aura to 15-20 friends and I got 15-20 different interpretations of 'aura'.

Agreed that English is a funny language and it does have an impressive list of homonyms. (Similar names but different meanings) i.e. "Jam" referring to bread-jam or Traffic jam. There are even words which has 3 different meanings. But if a word had 15-20 meanings, then no wonder, it should be definitely having the power to make an impact in your life. Coming back to the interpretation of ‘aura’ after getting different explanations, (ranging from “Aura- it should be one’s height”, “Aura – your weight”, “Aura - the pocket-money you get” to even “Aura –your breath”. The right meaning also found its way into this. “Aura - Charm or Air around a person). Being kids, our first choice was to decide that “Aura is the pocket money”. I and my friend planned that would call each other by our first names loudly every 1 minute and see how much our pocket money increases. We were like two explorers who have found the secret way to multiply our money.. That day we went home to see what happens to our pocket money.. My case was better, I didn’t receive any pocket money, my friend’s case was worse. Not only didn’t he receive any extra money, he lost the pocket money which he had.. Not a good omen. That was the end of the ‘Aura-money” scheme.Gradually, I got to know its real meaning at a later period.


Now few of my recent experiences about the Names.. This is about one of my friend in my college. Hopefully assuming that they wont be reading my blog, Iam confidently sharing the incident. In the college,prior to the first day , a list of students in each section is displayed. The second thing we look for in the list (First thing, what one sees is the number of girls in the section) is to look whether your name figures next to any girls names. I wasn’t that lucky yet my friend was very happy. The reason next to him was a girl named “Komal”. His joys knew no bounds and I guess probably he would be imagining things given the girls name itself was so soft (Komal means Soft in Hindi). The first day started and we came in and took our seats. My neighbor was busy looking for a girl to enter through the door and sit beside him. Poor fellow, he waited and waited. He was so oblivious to others boys around him that he didn’t notice that a boy had sat beside him. Obviously, he thought that boy had sat there by mistake.. But being the first day, and to display politeness, he just kept mum but inside cursing the boy to occupy someone’s else seat.. Finally during the attendance, it was to the class surprise when the boy in the girls seat raised his hand, in replying to the roll call of “Komal”. Well, something’s are bound to happen that way…

Finally on an ending note, had come across this joke about name of companies.
“Ever notice a theme in company names?
If it's a single somewhat aristocratic sounding name such as "Bogglesworth of London, Est. 1793", they're most likely a tea, coffee, or wine importer.
If it's two names, such as Gilchrist & Soames or Avalon & Gray, they seem to deal with soap, skin care, or clothing products.
If it's three names, it's an insurance firm or small law firm.
If it's four names, it's an upper tier law firm.
If it's five names, it's a small law firm that's merged with a soap company.”

Happy reading. :)

Because Husbands were once Bachelors too

Before any of you let your imagination go flying let me state upfront that this post has (mostly)nothing to do with the Husband and concerns itself with the Wife's role to a large extent. I had intended to have the title of this post as "Kyooki Husbands bhi Kabhi Bachelors thee".But then for universal understanding,i decided to stick by English title ! This post intends to analyze the situation of boys after his marriage when he dons the role of Husband !

Two of my good friends have got engaged this month. Few days back , they were relating the Engagement experiences and sharing the photos of their fiances.On talking about their fiances,their answers were like this "Avan, Software company le work pannuran" (He works in a Software company), "Avan rombe sadhu type" (He is of a calm demeanor) etc. For people unaccustomed to Indian traditions, they must understand 2 words before we proceed further. "Avan" and "Avange".



Both denotes "He" in English but the degree of respect varies in both. 'Avange' is used to imply that we consider the person with respect (explicitly conveyed in the words).It doesn't mean that 'Avan' shows lack of respect yet 'Avan' is used on a informal level and the lack of respect can be explicitly seen. I presume that you would be scratching your heads over 'Avan' and 'Avange' so to make Matters simple,'Avange' shows respect and 'Avan' doesn't when using it in sentence.

You might be wondering why Am I probing this matter over two words which differ by two letters 'ge'. If you consider the yesteryear's generation,say our grandparents/parents generation, the respect the women had for their husbands was explicitly shown in the way they addressed their husbands. Those times the women considered their better half to be equivalent to God. Contrast that with today's scenario when some women not even consider their better half to be half better than them ;D. (Not that I regret that this change has occurred). Today many women consider their hubbies to be equivalent to friends. This change implies the growing confidence of the women folks which is good for everyone.

On a funnier note,what inspired this post is the pitiable situation of the men folks.We all know that Man was expected to work and earn income for the family. Excluding a few men who were in higher strata,the others belonged to the middle or lower working class. They either worked under someone for a wage or carried out the instructions under the supervision of someone. So mostly Home was the only place where he could expect 100% respect for him from his wife. I assume this gave him the courage and patience to endure the hardship at work and go on earning for the family. Contrast that with today's situation where Home would be the place where he least expects to get respect !!! Even his peers might respect him but that would vanish as soon as he enters his home. Say few years back the girls used to address her fiances as "Avange" which over a period of time changed to "Avan".But in the current fast paced life, it starts with 'Avan' itself !!! ;) Whereas for women the above scenario works in reverse manner. (Home is the place where they have guaranteed 120% respect,the situation at work place might differ)



Another point which i noted was that in most of the engagement photos,the girl would be flashing the brightest smile (Yes, the MENTOS smile with brightness of 105%) and the guy would be flashing a feeble smile (say, brightness of zero watt bulb). I assume both must be thinking about their future. The Guy who had been a free bird till now imagines himself as a caged bird. And the girl who has been waiting to catch hold of someone who can listen to her endless talks and who can take over the role of her paying her shopping invoices has finally found that person. In a conversation i had with my friends, it seems an interesting trend is been observed in IT industry. People who are bachelors generally work late and now there is a new genre joining them for company. Any guesses who ???

They are the people who have been married for an year or so. It so happens that once a guy gets married he starts for home immediately as soon as the clock strikes 6. This goes on for say 4-6 months after which the tireless talks and the unstoppable shopping takes the toll on him and he prefers the safe haven of the company for an extended extra time of 1-2 hours.

Considering all the facts,it seems that the current generation might mark the new era for the women. Not only are they going to get the 33% reservation in Parliament in India (which seems very viable in the current government period), the trends points that a day may come when Men would have to fight for their rights and ask for reservation in Parliament... [One thing which puzzles me is the fact that how the Women Bill hasn't yet been rectified and passed by the politicians taking into account the fact that many are married !!!]



P.S: The post was meant purely as a funny one and does not intend to undermine the women role in the family in anyway. Women are equal to men in every aspect(barring a few) and completes him. The current scenario where both the man and woman take equal responsibility of running the family and are in a equal footing is good for the family,society and the Nation as well. I also take this chance to wish my two friends a very Happy and a Prosperous future life with their hubbies !

The Adventures of Jim,Rim & Sim

Well how do i start... The very idea of writing this chronicles was supported unanimously by all the three of us ( which is quite a miracle by itself !!!)... I had always held the idea that love always leads to distress and trouble and i was more than right in this case. Actually what had happened (we came to know later) was Sim had broken up with his latest girl friend, so he was a bit sad. Well, you cannot say very sad, one can say a bit upset. In case, any of you have started pitying him, i would suggest to think twice before you do that.


Actually Sim has had an evergreen record of finding a new girlfriend every month. It has been a surprise and still continues to baffle me and Jim as to how he's able to find new babes every month. Jim had a suggestion that maybe Sim knew black magic and voodoo stuff and we had even tried to press him for more information.,. yet we dropped the idea , what if he really knew it and used it upon us. The benefit accrued from the mission was not as exciting so as to possibly justify the risk involved., That apart, the fact remained that his girl-friendship abilities remained a mystery to us and he continued to make use of it.,.

Coming back to the main context, what happened was, that this time, he was on good terms with the girl for 2 months in a row. everything seemed rosy and good, when suddenly they broke up. Breaking up is never easy yet for anyone. Yet Sim is an exception. For him, breaking up is like a every-month ritual.,. I had never seen him get upset over that.,. What surprised me was that he looked very sad & dejected this time. Assuming that he had really started liking the girl and the
break-up had affected him, made us a bit soft towards him. He came back and then switched on the TV, (which again was a surprise. he usually comes back and gets on in his phone and always opposes TV watching as the TV sound disturbed his phone talk). So when he switched on the TV and sat there gloomily, our (Jim and Me) ennoble hearts couldn't hold anymore and we gently touched the topic of his depression.

That's when we knew we had made a BIG mistake.,. As if he was waiting for a cue from us, he threw the remote against the wall, and said in a high tone "Girls are always like this". We didn't get what he meant by "this". Yet as if to placate and sooth Sim, Jim also said "Very true, Girls are always like this". Sim threw a murderous look at Jim as if signaling that the stage was his and he was the main actor now, continued with his lamenting., He deplored on how the girls do not care for feelings and all they are concerned is for their own selfish gains.,. And he finally said the reason for his heart-break.,.

"I have broken up with her." We had already heard that a number of times. so we didnt take much of that. what we were more concerned is about the reason for the break-up. Jim took the initiative noticing that there weren't any more things to throw near Sim, asked him - why did you broke up ?

Sim: We broke up because she wanted someone who will be great and famous.

That perplexed us. This girl was indeed a unique species,worthy of preserving in museum. I have heard of girls desiring for money, jewelery , happiness.,. But not great and famous.,.

Jim said :You mean "great" and "famous". stressing each word as if he was reciting the ingredients for cooking a dish.

Sim: Yes, she wanted to be with some one who will be famous and great someday.

Jim: But how can someone be great and famous.,. Don't you think that's a bit hard to achieve,.,

Our conversation then veered to the fact about how people can become great and famous. Sim was of the opinion that when people do something good and then die, they become great and famous. In that way, he thought that the girl wanted him to die, so that her criteria gets fulfilled. Jim couldn't understand as to how will she be able to live with a Sim's ghost if he dies to become famous.

Sim had a suggestion to make.,. He asked us the names of the famous people in the world. Jim said there are so many domains and each one has its own famous personalities.,. Like in Sports, you have Tiger Woods, Roger Federer etc. If u take politics, you have many famous personalities across the world. But why we still didn't understand what he was arriving at..!

Sim: Well, one can become famous riding on a famous person's populace ,. Isn't ? Even assassins can become famous , he said with a evil gleam in his eyes. Jim and Me were so appalled on hearing this that we kept gaping our mouth as if someone is going to stuff sweet candies in our mouth. We looked towards each other and then realized that a face with open mouth was least pleasuring and looked more hideous.

Then Jim stammered you aren't serious,are you ? Sim said Of course , Iam not :) .That relieved the hell out of us. You never know what gets into Sim sometimes. He comes up with such unique, dazzling (so called brilliant ideas), that it sucks the happiness from a place for some time. Only when he says that he was joking that we began to breathe again.

So we spent an hour on coming up with genuine applicable ways to become famous. And we spend next one hour on what should we do to achieve those ways.,. At the start of the next hour, we were absolutely convinced on one thing. We had infallible confidence in our abilities that we were nowhere near or will be now where nearer to achieving something of significance which would make us great or famous. Jim suggested using Black Magic to do something, call in the black power arts and stuff like that. Sim said that would be too dangerous and that it could back-fire if not used properly. This confirmed the fact to a greater extent that he indeed knew black arts(otherwise how could he tell about its implications.)

Though faced with no solutions, yet the warrior inside us refused to subside.,. He kept on fighting the evil double headed "Famous" and "Great" Monster with his blazing sword, though it seemed that we were fighting a losing battle. But then as always, our Lucky Angel, arrived with a magical gem embedded sword which finally helped us behead the unbeatable monster. Actually all this time, while we were so engrossed in our discussion , we were completely oblivious to the TV sound/noise. But as the possibilities to become famous/great became less and less, we floated back to reality. It was then we saw the TV running.

Some programme on English literature was being shown. English literature had never held the charm for any of us but today it was different. The announcer was referring to the children's books like Don Quixote, Tom Sayer and said that it still retained its charm even after so many years.,. It was then the brain-wave struck us. If a person like Don Quixote can be immortalized by fiction, why not we.,. Agreed that we were not a knight like him but we had few good chunks of logic and intelligence than him in our grey matter.,. who cares if people will read our books or not !! At least our names will be immortalized in the English literature.


So here iam writing the preface for the book about the life's of 3 people : Rim,Jim & Sim.As usual when the discussion got over, Sim was back to his jolly mood and got busy with his mobile. Jim woke up and went for his daily routine. Neither of them bothered to ask/remember/discuss the previous day's happenings. As i was the only person left with some responsible attitude,the onus of penning down our life's chronicles fell upon me.

You might wonder, what in the life of 3 chaps be interesting to someone. Well, i cant say for sure, that it will be adventurous and heroic, yet i can say that we do have our own share of fun.,. For instance, if you take the case when Sim planned to go to gym and develop musculature like Jim or when Jim tried to take lessons from Sim about wooing girls and the response he got. Well, those stories are for the upcoming days.,. I cant guarantee that you will like it, yet that's not our concern for now,. As far as we are concerned, we will be evergreen in the pages of history. Rim,Jim and Sim.,. Sounds good, Isnt ??


Like Samuel Butler said:

"People are always good company when they are doing what they really enjoy" :)

Lallo Farce !!

Had received this video as a mail forward. Found it too hard resisting against putting in the blog.

As he says,

My mother always told me not to handle a buffalo by its tail, but always catch it by its horns. And I have used that lesson in everything in my life, including the Railways.

He indeed takes head on anyone who obstructs his path ;)

Get rid of Credit Calls - 100% Performance Guaranteed.

Before you start imagining that the above lines are a marketing gag, let me clarify that Iam yet to get into such business ;). It is about the credit calls from credit companies which Iam sure all people, (particularly the software people) are plagued with. On an average, in a week a software professional can expect to get calls from atleast 5-6 different credit companies. And how our contact numbers end up in the hands of the Credit Call Folks(CCF) is a mystery.

One explanation goes like Credit companies have an arrangement of sharing the information of the customers or so called prospective clients between themselves. Their symbiotic relationship ends with we getting miffed.

Iam not sure how many of us know that when we sign the Credit card agreement,there is an statement (written in very small font) which states that the Card Holder gives the Credit Card companies the right to share our contact numbers with other Credit Companies so as to provide enhanced servies to us.(Encouraging a person to take more credit and being in debt is indeed a great service !! )

To stop the incessant calls from CCF, I had heard of a solution where if we register in a site or send a sms(which one Iam not sure) to a particular number,our contact numbers will not be shared with other credit card companies. But the effort taken to lodge a complaint and by the day where we see the results will be for long.

In the fast paced world, where we look for immediate results, i came across a solution effectively practised by one of my friend , which not only guarantees immediate results, but also guarantees long term stability. So i thought i will share it with others for everyone's benefit.



A typical conversation that happens when a CCF calls you. Phone rings... Trink Trink..

You: Hello
CCF: Good Morning Sir/Madam (S/M).

You: Good Morning.
CCF: S/M Iam XXX calling on behalf of XXX Bank. We are offering New credit facilities to our esteemed Customers. Can you provide some details about yourself ?

You:(Think) Ok, so what Iam supposed to do ??
CCF: S/M, Which company are you working for ?

You: ABC company
CCF: How much will be your annual salary ?

You: Around 20K
CCF: What is your designation in the company ?

You: Software Engineer
CCF: S/M, we have an concession for your company specially. We offer Gold Value Credit card, where you get 5% cash back offer blah blah .......

Depending on whether you are interested, you go for it(Be assured that in the day itself, you will get calls from atleast 2 other CCF). If you are not interested, you say i already have a Credit card and after giving an excuse you keep down the phone albiet the calls from CCF will come incessantly.

Now the solution to the problem, Where in the conversation goes like this.

Phone Rings ... Trink Tring. You know that a CCF is calling you from the typical nos.

You: Hello
CCF: Good Morning S/M

You: Good Morning S/M
CCF: S/M Iam ...... calling on behalf of XXX Bank. We are offering New credit facilities to our esteemed Customers. Can you provide some details about yourself ?

You: Ok S/M
CCF: Which company are you working for ?

You: ABC company
CCF: What is your designation in the company ?

You:Handy Man
CCF: Are you a permanent employee or on a contract basis ?

You: Iam on a Contract basis
CCF: How much will be your annual salary ?

You: Around 4K.
CCF: Oh.

You: I need a Credit card please. When can i get one.
CCF: (No response or will ask some other Q about your finance)

You: Please give me a Credit card. I badly need one.
CCF: ( Keeps down the phone.)

Not only the CCF himself keeps down the phone, he also updates the database about your eligibility criteria(in a way informing other companies also). Hence no other Credit card company will call you up again. My friend who followed this strategy hasnt got any calls from any CCF after this one conversation.

So we have a solution quite Simple yet Effective !!

If you have come across any such information or any experience, why not share it with others. I would be glad to know of other creative ways to stop Credit calls...:)

Reason for Stock Fluctuation !!

A funny interpretation regarding the stock market fluctuation !! Bet it will make u laugh :)

Miscellaneous Post - Fun Forum

You see, the advantage of subscribing to various groups is that you are assured of a mail daily. It gives you a feeling of importance & satisfaction that you get a new mail everyday. ;) . Anyhow, since iam following that policy , my inbox gets flooded with a mail everyday.
I have been following a process, called the "Mail-Redirection". Its simple. Any mail which you get as a forward from a group, just forward(re-direct) it to your friend groups. The main incentive you get is that, you get to play the role of a knowledge/fun conduit. Not to forget, your friends appreciation.I came to know about this while i was conversing with my friend. he was like Prashant, how come you forward such good mails. they are fabulous.Iam like: " oh, thats nothing." So you see, forwarding good mails do earn you a favourable opinion.

One of my senior has suggested "Why not post those forwards in your blog". At that time, i didnt give it much thought. Now that i think about it, i felt that it's not a bad idea either. So i decided to post Forwards, Post , Jokes, which i hope to be entertaining to the masses.

At the same time, the Question of copyright issue came into my mind. Now suppose, the original creator of the mail comes to know of this and feels bad that he has not been given the credit. (Not that i care about him getting credit or not, as Life is infair !!), rather i felt that i must do justice on my part.

So i had to break my head and come up with a "Disclaimer" on my own. Here's my official Disclaimer:

************** DISCLAIMER NOTE ********************

The Post which has been published here have been reproduced as i had received it. This information was obtained as a forward from an unknown source. It is for your own use. The Publisher leaves it upto the readers to judge the authenticity of the contents. Information in this post is the property of a "benign & Intelligent creature" or the Original Author. Since Ideas are anyone's monopoly, the publisher recognizes the right of the readers to reproduce and distribute the information according to their whims.
While no attempts have been made to verify information provided in this post, neither the Poster nor the Publisher assume any responsibility for errors, omissions, or contrary interpretation of the subject matter herein.Suppose if the original creator of the post, comes across this material which he thinks as his creation, he is encouraged to claim his credit by commenting his name as that "benign & Intelligent creature" who created the information in the first place. He will not have anyother claim on the post or on its usage.

******************** THE END ***********************

Finally, wish you a happy reading :)