A Tale of Two Airlines: Squeezing Out Every Dollar from the Customer

Recently, I had to fly on two airlines on the opposite sides of the Airlines Industry's current financial state- Southwest and US Airways

I would like to point out the way the two airlines try to squeeze out every by showcasing one aspect-Online web check-in.

Southwest allows online check in one day prior with the ones doing it first getting the better seats.

US airways, an almost bankrupt airline, also has online web check-in. However, it automatically assigns seats. US airways, says that it assigns the best possible seats. However, what i found was completely different. I checked-in exactly 24 hours before. They gave me the worst possible seats. They gave me a choice for preferred seats though for five dollars...


What i believe is that they are cheating.. They are trying to sell the seats for their comfort... Did i mention that they charge 15 dollars and 25 dollars for the fiorst and second checked bags...


Look whats happening, southwest is becoming stronger and US airwys is taking a financial dive to hell..

CUSTOMERS RULE AND GROWTH IS ONLY POSSIBLE IF CUSTOMER IS SATISFIED..
LESSON LEARNT...

Divine Injustice...........

On my way to the campus, i saw a few people who were mentally challenged.. I have not been able to get the image out of my mind..
It made me sad....question my purpose....


Whats the point of my life and theirs??????????

Many-a-broken heart yearning for love..
and yet, all the loved around ones around me..

Should i feel lucky..
or angry at the almighty's divine injustice..

Children looking for their mothers
Mothers looking for their children

Some, mentally handicapped and yet happy in their own world
Some physically/ emotionally abused inspite of all the love surrounding them

I cant help but realise even god must be shedding his tears away
upset with himself and the helplessness

What kind of a justice is this, i say to myself..
Now, I see the reason to believe that I must be blessed....
But then, i think, why this divine injustice to some of my brothers/ sisters.???????????

What was the Speed of Travel in Lord Ramas Time?

Well.Tamilians celebrate diwali one day before the people from the Northern part of India...

So, the time it took to trvel from south to north was 24 hours..
I consider 2 hours of time for breakfast, lunch and dinner...Since, people of those times had no hotels to drop in for fastfood...

I am also not sure that the vimaanas of that time had bathroom...However, i am willing to ignore that time lost...

So,
Actual time of travel in the air=24- 2 hours of breakfast-2 hours of lunch-2 hours of dinner=18 hours
I assume that the battle of ramayana took place in the northern tip of sri lanka.. since story has it that the gates were right next to the ocean...

Distance from Sri lanka to Ayodhya =2100 Km

Average Speed of the Pushpaka Vimaaana = 2100 Km/ 18 hrs=116 Km/ hr

A quick comparison shows that the speed was equivalent to current transport system..

Remember the Ramayana Serial on TV...the speed they used to sindiacte for the pushpaka vimaana... it was too slow...probably


:)

The BOTTOM LINE is....


A VERY HAPPY DIWALI TO ALL OF YOU........

The Genius of Muthuswami Dikshitar..

Muthuswami Diskhitar is one of the renowned carnatic composers. His compositions are packaged in full splendor in every sense. You name it and its there- a high lyrical value, a certain simplicity and easy-to-hear feel that belies the taalam and raagam sophistication, some childish playfulness that expresses the sense of satisfaction he has achieved composing it..

Check out this song..Thyagaraja yoga vaibhavam..The song is a tough one to present and has material only the most talented can attempt with success..

This is what Wikipedia has to say
"His total compositions are about 450 to 500, most of which are very widely sung by musicians today in Carnatic music concerts. Most of his compositions are in Sanskrit and in the Krithi form i.e. poetry set to music. Muttuswami Dikshitar traveled to many holy shrines throughout his life, and composed krithis on the deities and temples he visited.

Each of his compositions is unique and brilliantly crafted. The compositions are known for the depth and soulfulness of the melody - his visions of some of the ragas are still the final word on their structure. His Sanskrit lyrics are in praise of the temple deity, but Muttuswami introduces the advaitin thought seamlessly into his songs, resolving the inherent relationship between Advaita philosophy and polytheistic worship. His songs also contain much information about the history of the temple, and its background, thus preserving many customs followed in these old shrines."


A good study of the pallavi reveals a play of words with the first line gradually decaying in to a single word as the pallavi progresses...[:)]...

Listen to the song here..Sung by Senmagudi with the skill dikshitar would have been proud of..



Ragam: Anandha Bhairavi
Thalam: Thisra Ekam
raagam: aananda bhairavi
Aa: S G2 R2 G2 M1 P D2 P N2 S
Av: S N2 D2 P M1 G2 R2 S

Pallavi

tyAgarAja yOga vaibhavam
sadAsivam tyAgarAja yOga vaibhavam
agarAja yOga vaibhavam
rAja yOga vaibhavam
yOga vaibhavam
vaibhavam bhavam vam

CaraNam

nAga rAja vinutha padam
nAda bindhu kalAspatam
yOgi rAja viditha patam
yuka pa bhOga mOksha pradam
yOga rUta nAma rUpa
vishwa srishtyAdi bharaNam
yuka pari krithyAga mAsa
dinakati ka dhyA varanam

Madhyama kaalam

srI guruguha guru sachitAnanda bhairavisham
shiva shaktyAdi sakala tatvA swarUpa prakAsham
sva prakAsham
swarUpa prakAsham
tatva swarUpa prakAsham
sakala tatva swarUpa prakAsham
shiva shaktyAdi sakala tatvA swarUpa prakAsham
(tyAgarAja)

A Song for the Free-Hearted...

I am a admirer of the hawaiian singer. Jack johnson..
He writes such relaxing songs...His songs inspires you to take everything nice n easy...

Here is one such song.. titled "Times Like these"

The lyrics and the chords of this song can be found here:

All...

Joker, Loving, Funny, Smart
All that a loved one says...

Stupid, idiotic, crazy and boring
All that an enemy says..

Who cares, Whatever, Dont even bother and probably a "wasssssupppp"
All that a stranger says

Those were the times, these are the these times, time moves on and time comes back,
All that an old friend says

All the words i hear,
Confuse me about what i am all the more,
i try to change some but not all..
but then think should i.
or should i not
let all of them be the same..Always...

Home...........

Did we miss something..

I heard my heart say...

I seem to possess everything..

yet, the sense of incompleteness prevails...

A strange feeling of loneliness..

Where did it creep out of...

As i see all my loved ones around..

my eyes are still searching...

As i thought over it..i realised

i miss that motherly touch..

I miss that sweet smell of the air.

I heard my heart say..

We miss a place called Home....

Food Palette............

Guess what this could be.................

When food is tasty and great, it fills you up with colourss....this is a colorful interpretation of a plate after the food served was cleaned up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For People wondering...Why the Lulll....
I have been upto something...

Navin

Sherlock Holmes And Einstein

I was reading the "The Woman in Green" one of the many great detective stories by Conan Doyle. By pure coincidence, i also came across this book by Albert Einstein called "The Evolution of Physics". There were a few nice paragraphs that perfectly explained the broader message in Sherlock Holmes....

Here are some of the key paragraphs from the book that make so much sense..........

"In nearly every detective novel since the admirable stories of Conan Doyle, there comes a time where the investigator has collected all the facts he needs for atleast some phase of his problem...These facts often seem quite strange, incoherent and wholly unrelated. The great detective, however, realises that no further investigation is needed at the moment, and that only pure thinking will lead to a correlation of the facts collected. So, he plays his violin, or lounges in his armchair enjoying a pipe, or chats with his dear friend when suddenly, by jove, he has it!!!! Not only does he have an explanation for the clues at hand, but he knows that certain other events must have happened and certain events will happen. Since he now knows exactly, where to look for it, he may go out, if he likes, to collect further confirmation of his theory"

Then Einstein goes on to say...

"The scientist reading the book of nature, if we may be allowed to repeat the trite phrase, must find the solution for himself, for he cannot, as impatient readers of other stories often do, turn to the end of the book..To obtain even a partial solution, the scientist must collect the unordered facts available and make them coherent and understandable by creative thought"

Wow...I am dumbstruck by the message in those paragraphs..A message of believing in patience; watching and thinking of the progress at every step of the way..

What a deep philosophy put beautifully by the great man in such simple words that even a kid can grasp...
Bravo..........

A Tribute to Shaheed Bhagat Singh

Most of background score (except for some RDB tunes and traditional indian songs) for this shadow play were composed by me..

Credits: Apart from my voicings, guitaring and keyboards, other voices include Neha Raykar and Apoorva Khare

Instruments used: A cheapo acoustic guitar and Epiphone Electric guitar linked to Line 6 amp (with inbuilt effects) and a Yamaha PSR 293 keyboard for the strings, and other instrumental voicings.

Recording: Most of them recorded, some played live.. Recording done using the Sonic Foundry software... and radioshack recording acccessories.

Enjoy

Navin

A Poem from Up Above

On my flight from Calgary to Los Angeles, looking out of the window... It was as if Lady Earth was wearing a veil, trying to hide her glorious face......Inspired by the view, this poem was written in flight.......

As the moon hesistantigly fades away

With only the clouds still

Dawn spills a palette of colours on to the sky

Soon I shall take a break from my dreams

And rise from the comforts of my bed

As I step on to the courtyard,

Leaves in a riot of colours blow across

Wind caresses my hair

While I wait in all stillness

The ocean shimmers and watches me

with her gleaming eye

as a flurry of waves scurry across her belly

As the hours slip through

Strings of sunlight and shadows from the apple tree

scale across my window

I realise

I belong to these fields

I belong to this glory called nature

With the sky as my mother

and rest of the elements that share my blood

I, the observer

watch the colours drained away by day

that the end of night and the onset of dawn bring...

Collage: The Net Savvy

Theme: The Net Savvy

This is an attempt at creative Art...
I am no artist myself. This piece took some imagination and some expertise with MS Paint..
It falls more in the category of collages...
The thinking man caricature has been obtained from Microsoft office clip arts available online.. Rest all is MS Paint and Picasa at work...

Inspiration: I had recently visited the Getty Art Museum in LA. There I came across an exhibition by Tim Hawkinson. You can read more about his work at: http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/hawkinson/
I was amazed by the octopus that he had created using a collaging technique. This "Net Savvy" is inspired by his work... :)

The Ant-Boy Goes to School

Introduction

I have always wondered...

How would it be to live in the world of smaller species like the Ants... We see ants walking on the streets evading us... I guess, when we walk on the streets, we are the equivalent of an avalanche, meteorites or a natural disaster for these puny species. What a hurricane or an earthquake is to us, we are, I guess, the same to these teeny weeny ones...

I am starting a new section within this blog - It's called the Small World Stories. In this section, I attempt to imagine their worlds taking them and the environment around them in to perspective...

I am hugely inspired by R.K. Narayans Malgudi Days. I am attempting to write these stories in that flavor...

You can access all the Small-World Stories using the following link: http://quickpoet.blogspot.com/search/label/Small-World%20Stories

Thanks
Navin

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Time to go to School"

Ramu could hear dad shout at the peak of his voice. That motivated him to sleep longer… Dad had just got a new leaftress for his bed. Ramu could not believe it when he first laid eyes on the Maple leaftress that Dad got for him..

Maple Leaftress… are you kidding me?

Maple Leaftresses are among the trendiest mattresses to adorn anyone's bedroom. Ones those were fabulously expensive… Only the Rich and Famous could afford them.

Ramu's family was a middle-grain family. They could barely sustain a decent life. Dad was worker-ant by profession and got an allowance of one sugar crystal and a few grains per day... In a colony where the Queen ruled with an iron hand, and her interests were of supreme importance, Dad's efforts went without due recognition. Further, Mom had left her family long ago... despite being the only girl-ant in the colony and a queen at that.

Their house was located in the remote corner of Mount Ant-More, far away from the bustling down-colony area. Ramu's middle-grain dwelling was definitely not the best. It was filled with lots of pheromones and dust. Ramu's elder brother, Shamu worked as news-stick-boy distributing news-sticks early in the morning to all the ant-dwellings.

Ramu could see his Dad reading the news-stick 'Ant-More Express' with his daily petal-cup of dew; the only luxury he permitted himself to.

"Cyclone Nike Boots expected to hit the colony every day at 8.00 AM and 5.00 PM"
"New sugar reserves discovered by SGC (Sugar and Grain Commission)"
"Queen Ant adultery scandal - Suspects identified by the police"
"USA (United States of Ant colonies) beats Ant-Artica in Ant-World Soccer Finals"

Ramu thought to himself, all that his dad ever did for him... He bought him a Guitar with silk strings; He made sure he had enough grains and sugar for dates with his girl ant-friends. He got him the trendiest clothes, ones made of the most exotic leaves.

Working hard to provide Ramu with the necessary amenities, Dad's Health had deteriorated. He was suffering from an extreme case of Un-Diabetes (Lack of Sugar in the body) and his once-known-around-the-world antennas had become weaker and fragile.

Ramu realised all that his Dad did for him, and in return all that he wanted was for Ramu to do well at school, lead the Mount Ant-More granary tracking team in intercolonial conclaves and finally rule Mount Ant-More along with the queen.

Ramu realised the sacrifices made by his family…

He got up...

And went to school.............

The Wisdom in Being Dumb

I was browsing the newspapers today when i came across an interesting quote by socialite Paris Hilton from the not-so-comfortable confines of her prison cell. She apparently made a blanket statement... "I will no longer act dumb!"

No longer act dumb!!!

What an interesting statement...I thought to myself
Can anyone 'act' dumb? I questioned myself

Isn't such a statement dumb?

But then, is being dumb a bad thing?

Who can forget the wonderful movie "Forest Gump"? It narrates how being dumb can help a person. The protagonist, Forest Gump is innocent and dumb and then there is Jenny, a smarty who can think better. As the movie progresses, one can notice how Forest Gump stays the same while, Jenny gets totally eaten up the cruelities of this world. This huge difference in their characters is best portrayed in the following dialogues towards the end of the movie:

Forrest Gump: Will you marry me?

Forrest Gump: I'd make a good husband, Jenny.

Jenny Curran: You would, Forrest.

Forrest Gump: But you won't marry me.

Jenny Curran: You don't wanna marry me.

Forrest Gump: Why don't you love me, Jenny? I'm not a smart man, but I know what love is.

What an eye-opener... Wow!!!

Being smart has its problems. A smart person is more prone to negative shades (such as lies, vengence, thoughts of hatred, dislike toward somebody) than a dumb person. On the other hand, a dumb guy at some level is at peace with himself..

I guess one needs to have both these shades in his or her personality. But, can one act dumb?

I have come to believe everyone is dumb at a certain level. And one needs to be smart enough to accept that dumbness exists and dumb enough to accept that one is not the smartest.

Daaaaaaaaaaaa...That was a confusing statement. I know I made sense, but cannot tell you
exactly how..Think about it !!!!

You dont need to act dumb.. you are dumb somewhere... :).. so, there is no need to act. The important thing is not to act smart...

How about applauding for the following award ceremony when the host says

"The nominees for for the best Dumbos are...."

If you think you are smarty pants and are not subject to a dumbside, Have i got some help for you!!!!!

Here is a site to help you develop your dumb side:

1. http://www.dumb.com/
2. http://www.dumblaws.com/

DUH ANYBODY ...:)

The Geek

Hair All over the Place

Lost in my own world.
Never a fashion statement nor cool,
I am the subject of Ridicule..

Looking for an answer
to Questions that Mother Nature seems to ask..
Questions that others least care.
But ones that give me a goal and a task.


I come in various forms, shapes and sizes
Like a mathematician, a biologist, a ecologist and names that may give you a few surprises
All i do is love my science in all its complexity
We are a much needed breed and guess what, we are a rarity.

We invented your cars and phones
and many others that make your life blissful
We created all those fancy things
that makes your everyday so beautiful..

Some call me I am just plain-crazy
Some say "Dude, you are a freak"
Hey, call me whatever u feel like
I love what i do cause i am just a GEEK..

Dedication: This is dedicated to all my fellow Geeks. All those who have a PhD or close to getting one or looking forward to get one, this is for you.. Rock on!!!!!

A Million Things

Image source: www.edsupport.cc

A Million things to say..

I Love you, I miss you, I admire you and I Adore you..
I Wonder Where..

A Million things to write.
About Nature, About Beauty in all its forms, About friendship and About Hatred
I Wonder how..

A Million things to think about,
About life, About goals, About acheivements and About Ambitions
I Wonder When

A Million things and A Million ways to do it,
A Million people with the same million questions,
I look for the answers i know its difficult to find..
Still, be rest assured, I will keep Looking
A million times...

Acknowledgement: This is inspired by a google chat with Tanushree, When she mentioned she has a million things to write but can never do..

I Believe I can Fly (Vedic Style)

Zooooooom !!!!!!!!!!!
There went a F-16 !!!

Far Far above me, i saw it flying..It was a ballet in the sky. The F-16 was weaving a web of magic in the air.Then, i thought to myself about the vedic times, when flying in the air was not uncommon.

I questioned myself, how could vedic planes not exist?

They had to, right.

How can one explain Lord Rama traveling from Srilanka to Ayodhya in a such a short span of time (Dussehra to Deepawali)..

The flight route of Lord Rama

A number of question just jumped in to my mind..

How could one explain Lord Hanuman making no fuss about traveling to Sri Lanka in search of Sita.

How could he fly alone. Did he not need a co-pilot or an air-hostess atleast, to supply him with the warm towels and much needed breaksfast, brunch, lunch and dinner, not to forget the snacks, orange juice and peanuts..:)..

What was the fuel.

Was he using a jetpack or some form of a single seater plane with enough cargo room for the mountain that had the sanjeevani herb.

I said to myself, the so called vimaanas-Ancient Indian Planes had to exist. These predecessors of Air India and Jet Airways had to be sophisticated and yet simple to find such great utlity in those times.

A closer Literature review of this subject revealed a few interesting facts.

To understand this, one needs to understand how time was split in to different eras (or yugas) in Vedic philospophy. According to vedic philosophy, time has been split in to four yugas:

1. Satya-yuga: Lasted 1,728,000 years
2. Treta-yuga: Lasted 1,296,000 years
3. Dvapara-yuga: Lasted 864,000 years
4. Kali-yuga: Lasts 432,000 years


It is said that 1000 cycles of these eras have taken place so far. It is very interesting to note that this results in the age of the earth as 4.32 billion years which is the same as the geological age of the earth (4.1-4.95 billion years) as determined by isotope studies..

1000 * (1728000+1296000+864000+432000)=4.32 Billion Years

It is said that the moral purity of humanity and the the ability to understand the mystical powers decreased with each passing era. Many point out that the advent of Vimaanas took place during the early years of the Treta-Yuga.

There are basically three types of vimaana, based on the era in which they were used. The treta-yuga vimaanas (25 variations of them) were were powered by means of knowledge of mantras. The Dvapara-yuga vimaanas (56 variations of them) exploited the use of tantric knowledge. Due to relatively deficiency in mysical powers, the kali-yuga vimaanas (25 variations of them) were based on mechanical powers. The kali yuga were referred to as kritakas.

It is said that the shape of these vimaanas were not very different. The vedic book "Vimaanika Shastra" describes some of the complex engines used by the vimaanas. It is strigking to note the similarity in present day engines and vedic engines.

What is even more striking are the detailed plans of these various vimaanas in ancient vedic literature.

Here are some of the pictures from these ancient indian texts:




BTW, i am travelling to india next month. I am flying by the Ramayan Vayu.. Man, they got some cool, trendy Tripura Vimanas-474. I am hoping to reach the Hyderabad VimanShaala in a days time.
Did i mention that the service is wonderful. They have got the best inflight service with indian classical music, nrutya pradarshan and harikatha shows... :P

I wish i could say this seriously...

But, i guess we dont deserve this luxury due to era we live in; an era of high moral impurity-the KaliYuga..

Acknowledgements and References: My literature review was based on a number of websites. A hugen thanks to the following website: http://www.hinduwisdom.info for the pictures and the indepth analysis.
Readers are encourages to visit this website for more details....

The Make-Build of Nostalgia...

Of Distant Memories...
Memories that can and should only be appreciated..
Of Invaluable Lessons..
Lessons that shape your present day
Of necessary failures..
Failures that made us appreciate the successes
Of those well-earned successes
Successes that gives us the strength to counter the failures
Of ever dependable loved ones
Loved ones who wipe your tear away
Of enemies..
Enemies that make us realize the necessity for love..

I pondered, i thought over it..
And realized thats what Nostalgic memories are made of....

Image Source: www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/images/nostalgia.jpg

Will You Be There

Image Source: Some Forwarded email...Actual source Welcome to comment

When the wind blows my soul away and i am left searching
When a million pieces need to come together in my life
When i have no motivation left in me and i am searching for a new direction
When things take twists and turns that are not so pleasant

Will you be there
Will you be there
Will you be there to say i love u
Will you be there to say "look in me to and a solution will find you"
Will you be there to take me away from the problems and put me back in the maze stronger and tougher

I hear ur soul say yes cause My soul can hear it
Just say it loud and clear..
For my mind to realise what my soul has heard
I ask you one more time with all my love at stake
Honey!!
Will you be there?

Realise...............

Image Source: commons.wikimedia.org


"Wake up! Wake Up !"

A distant voice started to whisper in to my mind...The voice was so assuring and demanding i had to heed to its commands..

It was a monday morning..

Birds chirping, it was a cloudy day. It was as though the clouds were trying to hide the morning sun in all its glory. Random thoughts started to go through my mind as i was sipping my morning quota of coffee.

Then, something happened.Ever so hesitantly, a strong dart of heavenly cool breeze whiffed across me. It was if nature was trying to convey me an important message in a subtle way.

As if i was instructed, I turned around and noticed someone.

He was interesting. He was compelling. He seemed to hold something that was important to me.He was saying a lot of things to me without uttering a word.

I could read his mind. I thought to myself about what he was going through..

He was someone hungry for success. Someone, who was attempting to master the art of positive persuasion. I had read somewhere that ""God created oysters with the capacity to transform an irritating piece of sand into a pearl. This serves as a model for us - every trial contains precious jewels which we can find and develop". I realised that this person was looking to put this philosophy in to practice.

He was someone, whose love knew no bounds.

He was lost in the world he has created for himself, looking for oppurtunities and chances and looking out for his loved ones.

He always tried to put a smile on his face. He was a man with deep concern for his loved ones.

He seemed to believe in the power of self-control.

Then, i noticed something that taught me a lot about myself...

Gosh...

I was looking at the man in the mirror..

Where Hands Speak the Mind....

Acknowledgement: A Big thanks to Dr. Arunava (yeah, u guessed it.. he just got his PhD) for the trip...It was supposed to be a boring day yesterday..I went to LA to visit the Canadian Consulate for Visa processing. From the moment the first ray of sunlight graced the day right until midafternoon, time passed according to the script...And then, a decision, what appeared to be hasty at that time, was made to visit the GETTY center in LA.
GETTY center is a fine arts museum near LA... This magnificient treasure house of "everything artistic" is nested atop the santa monica hills..
It was me and Arunava...
Yeah.... Right..
It was two guys who visited an art musuem without any compulsions from the opposite sex..
and
We are as straight as one can possibly get...:)


I am glad to say that we will never ever regret the decision.. The place was one of a kind..It had paintings and sculptures from as early as the 14th century to the current generation...We were glad to see and appreciate the intricacies of Van Goghs and Manets paintings.. We were also fortunate to have some expert guidance for certain paintings...
















And the best part was... It was FREEEEE.....