Lance Amstrong.. one of the most popular sporting icons in history...

why am I so late in saying three cheers to Lance Amstrong, the winner of Le Tour De France, his seventh title in a row... he sure is one of the most famous icons in the history of sports.. could not help posting couple of his pics..:-)

Lance... a cool pic!

Lance... Seventh straight title @Tour De France!

Terrorism in the new world!!

i am amazed at the increasing no. of terrorist activities the world over, almost all culminating in casualties and endless sufferings, leaving behind a plethora of questions unanswered.. after 9/11, it was 7/7 and going by the irrational deeds of terrorist outfits, we would be left without any choice of euphemistic names for such incidence in the near future..

it doesn't really require an academician's clear cut thought process to see that bomb blasts, explosions, shootings, kidnappings for ransom and hostage dramas are no means for a just solution to the cause they are fighting for.. they merely help to add to the list of victims! and the surprising fact is that, most of the suicide bombers, or those who are carriers in any other way, do not really understand why they do it in the first place..

unless people the world over learn to love each other with compassion, empathy and a deep respect for human rights, it is yet another name calling..

so long
roy

Parting blues!!!!

i have started counting the days with a cant-express-in-words attitude.. come next saturday, my wife would have left trivandrum to join State Bank of India at Bangalore.. she is flying to Lucknow on the 2nd to attend the month long training at SBI Staff college.. back again to bangalore, this time with a definite locale for posting.. it feels really good when you think about the damn good career she has landed up on.. it is tough 9 years after college, with a family to care for.. you really need enormous amount of energy, patience and a never-say-die attitude to hit big at this stage.. it is painful when you leave your 2 year old in the visiting room and the elder one left alone in the bed room to complete that piece of find-the-way for mickey mouse game.. it hurts to part the little one when you leave for class at 9:00AM in the morning.. and you are not going to be back until after 4:00PM.. it took about a year to fulfil her career dreams...

looking at the brighter side of life, her getting employed is exciting.. it's a dream come true... papa is proud indeed..and so are the little ones:-)

on the not-so-brighter side, it's tough for papa and the kids to leave without their mom, albeit for a few moths (Hopefully..so..).. i know, i would miss her more than anything else in this world..i was always late from work.. missed the house-hold commitments quite often, of course due to occupational hazards... had to say not-at-the-moment to her numerous requests for dining out or for taking the kids out to the beach... and there was those small fights, and our share of arguments...:-).. but then, the mere feeling that she was there for me, everytime, was enough to get me going...

it was a powerful hand wielding the wheel..you just sit back and relax, taking everything else for granted.. never bothering about those background chores happening!! doing laundry, washing dishes, sending the elder one to school, without ever missing the school bus, reminding about dwindling stock of vegetables, fish and grocery... hope papa would survive the challenging tasks ahead!!

on a concluding note... life sure rocks.. after all, parting is such a sweet sorrow, especially when it is for a good cause...

so long
roy

Celebacy! Not out of choice.....

i was quite amazed at this news snippet in the morning newspaper.. china's ever increasing gender disparity is a grave concern for the people and for the policy makers alike.. increasing number of males looking for female partners!!! i have heard of people choosing a celebate's life out of choice.. but this is beyond my imagination.. you gonna choose a single's life style just because there are not enough girls... LoL...

this has been atributed to a penchant for the boy child... i would imagine, in any a patriarchal society, girl child is treated with disdain... unless people change their attitudes & beleives in the age old ethos, nothing is gonna change... all you see would be celebates ruling the state..?

BTW, what would you call such a government? any takers...?

so long
roy

Induction programmes and the like..

the week just passed has been hectic in more ways than one... we had a bunch of youngsters joined our team on the 11th of july... never did see such a 'huge' recruitment drive in the past.. the guys and gals are awesome though... i am amazed at their enthu to learn new stuff.. looks quite natural when you are just outa college and all excited to conquer the corporate world.. i could not help recollecting the days when me too was a novice in a totally new environment..fresh out of college... new people, new rules, and an altogether new agenda for life.. LoL... looking back, all i see is the beauty of those days, when i joined as a graduate engineer trainee with one of the leading govt. of india r&d organization in the city.. amazingly friendly people... amazing work culture.. and it was with a sense of pride and joy that i left the place five+ years later.. my first love.. it sure did rock!!

three cheers there!!

so long
roy

Random notes again..

it has been a while i blogged anything.. was literally out of touch with fellow bloggers.. i saw myself back in action this morning.. visited all the blogs in my roll.. simba, atta girl, dave, suhas, zarine, anil, future mba girl, the list is endless.. and am back to mine to give u an update as to whats happening with me..

i had posted elsewhere about deepthy's selection in State Bank of India as an Officer.. the posting order has come and i see that she has been assigned to Bangalore circle.. me, with my little ones, waiting for those four years of 'away from family all alone' period.. i would imagine her spending about 4 years in Bangalore itself before the slimmest chance of heading for a posting in the home turf.. it is painful to be away, especially for her.. i would be around with the kids, barring the times when i spend at office.. for her it would be tough.. tough office hours, hectic schedules, and to boot, all alone at a never-been-there city...

on the brighter side, getting into SBI as an officer is an achievement in itself, for her and for the family.. it adds a secure feeling to life per se...

looking ahead, i would see papa and kids heading to bangalore in every three days' off.. i need to get a crash course on managing two-to-four year olds in a train, all alone!!! tough times ahead.. am sure it brings in more joy and excitement than the parting.. in the end, it is the feeling of well being that counts..

so long
roy

MNCs-Sponsoring-Indian-Acads...

couple of days ago, i came across yet another MNCs-Sponsoring-Indian-Acads stuff... P&G is 'investing heavily' in the department of chemical engineering at IISc Bangalore.. dubbed corporate sponsorship, i would like to peel of the euphemism and address the facts.. thinking along the funding lines, this is something to brag about.. on the other side, it is saddening to see indian brains developing emerging tech for MNCs right inside Indian Institues of repute... and the MNCs sell out their products in the indian market itself, reaping huge profits..

what if our institutions of higher education and research do work with local industries, developing technologies and taking up research work for them? this calls for only a slight change in attitude at either ends, academia and industry... moi waiting to see something hapening on this lines...

so long
roy