So what's the biggest thing you would do ever in life. We cannot predict right. We all might hit some divine intervention perhaps do that one thing which we would not have even imagined in our wildest dreams.

But If we were asked what is the biggest investment we would ever make in our life what would it be. If we were forced to make answer this, for a lot of us the biggest investment (material investment as I am sure lot of us do make larger emotional investments) we would make in our life would be the house we buy. I was thinking about this sometime back. The reason being I wanted to understand what would I look for If (Although I am sure that I would not go and buy a house due to sheer laziness of mine) I do go for this. What would I want my house to do for me when I get back home after a day's work or on weekends.
First of all my house needs to be full of life. It should be less of an artificial construct and more of nature at its best. I would prefer lot of natural ventilation, a big garden and minimalistic furniture which does not stand out but just fits in nicely. The garden needs to lend itself for constant renovation. I would like to constantly work on the garden and  refresh the same every season. A room for reading is a must. I would like to stock the same with all the books (whatever little) I have read. This would also be the place for me to build on my desire to learn something new periodically. Predominant color patterns would be green and blue as they are my favorites. It should have as little as possible but not less than what's needed.
Another important aspect of the house I choose would be not what's in the house but what's around it. I would like to be in company of people who want to talk and engage. But the most important addition to the house would be the right people, that would determine the kind of home I end up living in. More about them some other time.

While chatting up with my sister yesterday, she told me about this wonderful friend of mine who committed suicide this Wednesday. She was perhaps more close to my sister then me but I enjoyed every moment I spent with her. She was four years elder to me but that did not prevent her from playing with me when I was a kid. That also did not prevent her from long evening walks we used to take up many years back or the badminton games we played. She was one of the most respected students in our school, always excelled at whatever she did but most importantly she was a wonderful human being. I owe all my education to her as I used her textbooks (They used to come from her to my sister then to my neighbor and then to me). Everyone had a good word for her all the time. There of course is a lot more to her life and I don't want to pen all of that here. Couple of weeks back I was wondering If I would ever meet her again as I wanted to get back and talk to people who are good at heart and nothing else. God bless her and may her soul rest in peace. As is often said, "God takes away those he loves" and that is perhaps the reason she left us.

Few more days passed by. Lot seems to be happening in World at large and of course my life as well. The world seems to be grappling with what's right with respect to the turmoil in Libya. Should the dictator there continue to rule as citizens there themselves cannot overthrow him due to sheer force he possess. Alternatively, the world at large in the name of human rights can intervene in Libya and go after the dictator there. These are difficult questions as underlying this discussion is huge quantum of resources which Libya has. This is the reason the whole world seems to be interested in Libya but not in many other African countries with similar challenges. Allied forces (USA, France and Britain) have taken a strong anti Gadaffi position which means using military means to help Libyan people. India, China and Russia have taken positions which are different again driven by their perspective on how to benefit best from Oil present in Libya. Incidentally Libyan government has also made lucrative offers to companies from India, China & Russia reciprocating this gesture. The situation in Libya is fast turning itself into a situation where the line between what's right and what's wrong is blurred. The root cause of all these issues is inconsistent spread of resources which are needed for material prosperity of humans across all the countries. This causes all the tensions which we notice. This can be addressed in one of the three ways:

1. Forget material prosperity and focus on spiritual prosperity. However eccentric and stupid this might sound, the fact is this feature does show itself up in many places around the world. People in Bangladesh are happier than those in USA is perhaps an outcome of this. Though this aspect of human life is fast disappearing with a globalised world view coming in. 

2. Get rid of all the international borders and ensure that all the resources are equally shared by all. Impossible you all might say. For me its the other way, I have found it extremely difficult to understand what's different between a Punjabi in Ludhiyana and Lahore and what's common between the Punjabi in Ludhiyana and Tamilian in Chennai. These international borders are artificial creations and can be done away with provided we all put our heart into it. Having said this, I fully realize this would never materialize for obvious reasons.

3. Intervene with technology to ensure that one type of resource which is abnormally concentrated in one part of the world does not become more important than its fair share. For example, we need disproportionate focus on renewable sources of energy to get rid of irrational responses we have seen from all countries on Libyan crisis. This is perhaps our biggest hope for future but we need to improve our focus on this now.

Perhaps I am thinking a bit too much about the crisis in Libya and associated causes. It may be that I am making a simple issue complicated by using what may be termed as intellectual and stupid arguments by others. This brings me to another thought which has occupied my mind space for quite some time now i.e. intellectual dishonesty. I have been off late accused by multiple people of this. This also "seems" to be the underlying driving force for the way various countries are reacting to Libyan crisis. My simple take on this intellect beyond a point (the threshold level is very low) is senseless. Somebody has captured this thought nicely by saying that "a good rule of thumb is that too clever is too dumb". More on this some other time with a slightly more personal take.

The Life this Week...........

One more week has passed by. This time it was not routine and was rather different. It started with a visit to this place I had been planning to go for quite some time. Off late I have been pursuing two items in life and by the end of this week I realize that I would get neither. This week is special in that sense as it has decided a lot for me as far as what I am going to do over next 2-3 Years. I obviously don't know what Life has got in plan for me thereafter, not that I think Life specially plans for me but not sure which random outcome will influence my life.
I met a college friend of mine after a long time for dinner on Thursday. He was going through a slightly difficult phase in his job. But he was in a good mood, I guess adversity brings out the best in people in terms of humor. Among the many stories in mind the one which I kept thinking about thereafter was the following...
There was this guy who felt he has been deprived of everything in life and continuously complained and sought divine intervention to help him with this. Even the god got tired of his complaints and finally asked him what did he want? This guy started contemplating and asked the god for some time. He wanted to be sure so he asked the god for some time to think. God obliged. The complaints disappeared and both he/god were happier thereafter. Although nothing changed..........
This guy had everything right with him to perhaps do the best in class stuff in his life. He joined one of the Top 5 Universities in USA after graduation (where he did very well) and worked on some really good stuff. Published some fantastic papers and one fine day just flew back to India. He tried his hand at software jobs, then did an MBA at IIFT , joined a job then quit suddenly, was jobless for six months and then got into another job where he is in a bit of difficulty. When I look back I wonder what happened and why?

Other aspect which I have kept thinking (throughout this week) about was this change in my role at office which is going to get effected anytime soon. The only divine intervention I need this time is that I should gain some real knowledge after this stint. I want to acquire some real knowledge this time unlike what has happened to me in my current stint.

I also thought a lot about a change which happened in my personal life this week. On this I have neutral feelings (much like the answer I gave to a question when posed by someone in professional life) and I wish this special person all the best for her future. She deserves all things good in her life and may god bless her with the same.

This week also was special as my Mom got promoted in her job. Not that this was her first promotion in job but she moved from being a worker to an officer (Junior Officer though). She looses her membership of worker's union and is required to work couple of hours extra everyday. Not that she got it out of some special merit but it is a culmination of her diligence and patience. What I like is way she is still a bit scared of all things wrong and values good human behaviors (where I disappoint her).

Watched Tanu Weds Manu on Friday last week. Interesting movie (most of my friends seem to hate the movie) but I liked it. I like the honesty Madhavan brings to his character. He is perhaps the only hero who can drag me to a movie. I also liked some sequences in the movie especially the Jai Mata Di scene between Madhavan and Deepak D.

Lastly, this week has been special in Indian Politics as well. Common sense seems to have returned to the minds of our politicians. We have Congress agreeing to a JPC, subsequently Sushma Swaraj saying that she is fine with an apology from PM on appointment of CVC. All this augurs well for India as we need attention to economic issues such as Fiscal Deficit, GST, Reforms among other items.

All in all an interesting week....I am reminded of this quote from a senior of mine back in college (I am sure he must have flicked it from somewhere)..Life is a glass of Whiskey and one should drink it sip by sip.