Little things

After Sept. 11th , one company invited the remaining members of other companies who had been decimated by the attack on the Twin Towers to share ! their available office space.

At a morning meeting, the head of security told stories of why these people were alive... and all the stories were just:

The ' L I T T L E ' things.

As you might know, the head of the company survived
that day because his son started kindergarten.

Another fellow was alive because it was
his turn to bring donuts.

One woman was late because her
alarm clock didn't go off in time.

One was late because of being stuck on the NJ Turnpike
because of an auto accident.

One of them
missed his bus.

One spilled food on her clothes and had to take
time to change.

One's car wouldn't start.

One went back to
answer the telephone .

One had a
child that dawdled
and didn't get ready as soon as he should have.

One couldn't get a taxi.

The one that struck me was the man
who put on a new pair of shoes that morning,
took the various means to get to work
but before he ! got there, he developed
a blister on his foot.
He stopped at a drugstore to buy a Band-Aid.
That is why he is alive today.

Now when I am
stuck in traffic ,
miss an elevator,
turn back to answer a ringing telephone ...
all the little things that annoy me.
I think to myself,
this is exactly where
God wants me to be
at this very moment..

Next time your morning seems to be
going wrong ,
the children are slow getting dressed,
you can't seem to find the car keys,
you hit every traffic light,
don't get mad or frustrated;

God is at work watching over you!

Received this from a friend by email.

Don't quit

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up, though the pace seems slow -
You might succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor's cup.
And he learned too late, when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out -
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt -
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit -
It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit.

- Author Unknown

My photo blog

I have created a new blog to share some of my favourite photos, taken by me using Canon PowerShot A580.
Click here to visit my photo blog.

Nokia 6233 - Review

I bought a Nokia 6233 mobile phone a week ago and i am writing this review after using my mobile for a week.
This mobile phone is neither very slim nor very bulky and this classic styled phone supports 3G (i dont think any other phone in this price segment supports 3G) and EDGE, has a nice TFT display, stereo speakers, 2 mega pixel camera, music player, FM radio, bluetooth and a microSD card slot. It comes with many useful java applications pre-installed. My favourite application is the wireless presenter, through which your powerpoint presentation slides in a PC or laptop can be controlled from your mobile using bluetooth. There are many applications available for download and i have downloaded and installed Google maps for mobile and the Bible application.

Pros : Good sound quality, supports 3G, decent camera, good battery backup.
Cons : No flash in camera, no symbian OS (.SIS files cannot be installed)

The price of this mobile phone during the time of purchase : Rs. 7100

God's Working on You

Little Jason was playing on the floor while his mother sitting, on a chair was busy doing some embroidery. Watching her in curiosity, he asked her what she was doing. She told him that she was embroidering.

He told her that it looked like a mess from where he was. He watched her work within the boundaries of the little round hoop that she held in her hand, he complained to her that it sure looked messy from where he sat. She smiled at him and told him, “My son, you go about your playing and when I am finished with my embroidering, I will put you on my knee and let you see it from my side.”

While playing, the little boy wondered why she was using dark threads along with the bright ones and why they seemed so jumbled to him. After sometime he heard his mother’s voice saying, “Son, come sit on my knee.” His mother sat him on her knee and the little boy was simply thrilled to see beautiful flowers that his mother had done. He could not believe it, because from underneath it looked so messy.

Then his mother explained to him, “My son, from the other side it did look messy and jumbled, but you did not realize that there was a pre-drawn plan on the top. It was a design. I was only following it. Now look at it from my side and you will see what I was doing.”

Friend, when you go through trials and pain in life, you may think like little Jason that your life is a mess. You may wonder why the Father is allowing such things to happen in your life. But remember the Father is working on you to make you a blessing to the world. You will be thrilled when the Father shows you the plan that He's been working on you and you will not cease thanking Him all your life.

Taken from Jesus Calls website

A solitary bird in a lonely river

This photo was taken by me at the Mysore zoo.

When going gets tough

As I was going through some tough times, i started scribbling...

Jesus, you promised to be with me at all times;
be with me when my going gets tough.

Help me to overcome all my doubts;
Help me to overcome all my failures.

There are times when people speak nicely to me,
and spite me in my absence.

My emotional graph goes up and down;
till my soul finds comfort in your words.

I know you will never leave me nor forsake me;
help me to realize this every moment.

whatever be the shame; whatever be the disappointments;
help me to face every situation with a smile.

coz, it is only a matter of time, till i see ur face;
and live a life without any sorrow or shame in eternity.

Hold my hand when i stumble;
so that i do not crumble.

Reasons and results

I was reading through Sreejith's blog and one line caught my attention.
"There are only two things in life, reasons and results, and reasons simply don’t count.”

A Dhoni tale finish for Chennai super kings

Three days back, we went to watch the T20 cricket match played between Chennai super kings and Bangalore royal challengers. We, a group of eleven people from our office went to watch eleven players from each team trying to beat the other.
Although Chennai started slowly, they were able to put up a good total mainly due to some big hitting from their captain. Bangalore had a pretty good start and during the half way, it looked like they might win the match hands down. But it was not the case. Some quick wickets and Bangalore lost the game from a winning situation.
Like every fairy tale ends with "they lived happily ever after", most T20 Dhoni tale ends with the statement that "Joginder Sharma bowled out the opposition in the last over".
It was a close finish and we enjoyed every moment of the game.

Donate 20 grains of rice and improve your vocabulary

I just came across this website where you have to find the meaning of the words and click on the answer that best describes the word and for each correct answer you click, they will donate 20 grains of rice to the needy through the United Nations World Food Program. You can also improve your vocabulary.

Click here to play and feed the hungry.

Nice poem

I received this poem by mail from my friend

Whatever your cross,

whatever your pain,

there will always be sunshine,

after the rain ....

Perhaps you may stumble,

perhaps even fall,

But God's always ready,

To answer your call ...

He knows every heartache,

sees every tear,

A word from His lips,

can calm every fear ...

Your sorrows may linger,

throughout the night,

But suddenly vanish,

in dawn's early light ...

The Savior is waiting,

somewhere above,

To give you His grace,

and send you His love...

Whatever your cross,

whatever your pain,

"God always sends rainbows ....

after the rain ... "

Worship songs - chord sheet

Well, if you are guitarist or a keyboardist and are interested in playing worship songs, then this information is for you.
I came across this website which gives the chord sheet for almost all popular Christian worship songs.
Click here to see the list of songs for which chord sheet is available.

A day without traffic in the life of a Bangalore biker

A day without traffic jams in Bangalore?............. Utopia?

It happened today when i was going from home to my office. It usually takes about 30 to 40 minutes in the weekdays to reach there and I hate riding my bike in that heavy traffic, which usually moves at a snail's pace.
But today, I was able to reach my office in just a little more than 10 minutes and I enjoyed riding in the roads which had less traffic. I wish that everyday is like this but I am also aware that everyday is not Saturday and a Monday will come and i have to be prepared for that.
Leave aside all that, I want to make the most out of my Saturday and enjoy the favourable conditions.
After all, a day without traffic is a rare thing in Bangalore.

Bangalore Blogger Meet

Saturday evening, I attended the blogger meet organized by Indiblogger and Microsoft. This was my first blogger meet. I have been blogging for about ten months and i haven't even heard of a blogger meet before.
It was nice to see many bloggers from different parts of Bangalore coming together and sharing their blogging experience.
Anoop and Anwin were simply superb.

Hats off to Anwin for organizing this meet and looking forward to more blogger meets in the future.

New words

I just came across some new words.... Would like to share them

Acme - the highest point of achievement or excellence

Carafe - an open topped glass flask typically used for serving wine or water in a restaurant.

Jocose - playful or humorous

Niggard - a miserly person

Miasma - an oppressive or unpleasant atmosphere

Palanquin - a vehicle containing a seat enclosed by curtains and carried by men (also. litter)

Quip - a witty remark

Safe in the arms.....

Trapped by smoke, the parents of a 9 month old baby girl threw her out of the window to be caught by awaiting members of the fire brigade four storeys below.
The baby fell safely into the arms of a policeman below. The parents also survived.

Fourth Umpire - Mr. Ricky Ponting

Got this article by mail....



After watching the test match, I feel some rules have to be incorporated by ICC to give the other teams a perfect clarification

(1) Ricky Ponting – (THE TRULY GENUINE CRICKETER OF THE CRICKET ERA AND WHOSE INTEGRITY SHOULD NOT BE DOUBTED) should be considered as the FOURTH UMPIRE. As per the new rules, FOURTH UMPIRE decision is final and will over ride any decisions taken by any other umpires. ON-FIELD umpires can seek help from FOURTH UMPIRE

(2) While AUSTRALIAN TEAM is bowling, If the ball flies anywhere close to the AUSTRALIAN FIELDER(WITHIN 5 metre distance), the batsman is to be considered OUT irrelevant of whether the catch was taken cleanly or grassed. Any decision for further clarification should be seeked from the FOURTH UMPIRE. This is made to ensure that the cricket is played with SPORTIVE SPIRIT by all the teams.

(3) While BATTING, AUSTRALIAN players will wait for the ON-FIELD UMPIRE decisions only (even if the catch goes to the FIFTH SLIP as the ball might not have touched the bat). Each AUSTRALIAN batsman has to be out FOUR TIMES (minimum) before he can return to the pavilion.

(4) UMPIRES should consider a huge bonus if an AUSTRALIAN player scores a century.

(5) All AUSTRALIAN players are eligible to keep commenting about all players on the field and the OPPONENT TEAM should never comment as they will be spoiling the spirit of the AUSTRALIAN team. Any comments made in any other language are to be considered as RACIALISM only.

(6) MATCH REFREE decisions will be taken purely on the AUSTRALIAN TEAM advices only. Player views from the other teams decisions will not be considered for hearing.

(7) NO VISITING TEAM should plan to win in AUSTRALIA. This is to ensure that the sportive spirit of CRICKET is maintained.

(8) THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE: If any bowler gets RICKY PONTING - "THE UNDISPUTED CRICKETER WITH INTEGTIRY IN THE GAME OF CRICKET" more than twice in a series, he will be banned for the REST OF THE SERIES. This is to ensure that the best batsman/Captain will be played to break records and create history in the game of CRICKET.

These rules will clarify better to all the teams VISITING AUSTRALIA.

Umpires guide Aussies to victory in sydney test

Australia won the second test against India, thanks to Bucknor and Benson.
How can you expect a 11 member Indian team to win against a 14 member Australian side (3 umpires, including the third umpire were playing for them).
This is not the only time they received favour from umpires. Chanderpaul once said that "if the umpires do not rule all the 50-50 decisions or even some 40-60 decisions in favour of Australia, most test teams can beat them".
There were a number of decisions which went against us when we batted as well as when we bowled.
Here are some decisions I would like to point out:
Symonds was stumped by Dhoni, but third umpire declared him not out when his foot was in the air.
Symonds was again stumped, but Bucknor even refused to refer to third umpire, when it was clear in the replay that he was out.
Dravid was caught behind when the bat was no where near the ball. Gilly appealed and Bucknor declared out.
Ganguly was caught in the slip(according to the aussies). But no one including the umpire was sure whether it was a clean catch or a one pitch catch. He should have referred it to the third umpire. But he asked Ricky and gave out.
How can Benson ask that question to Ricky when he should have referred it to the third umpire and who is Ricky Ponting to decide whether a batsman is out or not.
Australia can keep winning consecutively as many matches as they want as long as the umpires are in their side.

Happy New Year

Where did the year go?
Suddenly it was December....again- and we realize that with giant strides we started in January and within a blink of an eye, 2007 is on its back.
May this 2008 be a year of blessing and happiness.