A Dream Called Life February 20, 2011
Posted by simarprit in Is anyone listening.Tags: english Poem, english poetry, Life, Poem, Poetry
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I need an introduction, I need to live
I need to move, onwards is my will.
Opposite forces pull me, and they pull me hard
Values and ethics challenge me, and they tear me apart.
Am I a painter or am I pained
Am I brilliant or just no gain.
Complexities of life, doubled edged knife
Always in doubt, life, an unending bout.
Characters change, but all play games
Games? Oh! I lost to all who came.
Deeply in love is a myth
Nuptial of sorrow and pain is my tryst.
Admire me? Yes, so many
Understand me? Only the uncanny.
I am the speaker, of my life
Unsaid is my longing for afterlife.
Moral? it is a sophisticated abuse
Like an electric bulb without a fuse.
God! Oh God! I have an appeal
My life, this life, does not congeal.
Life has a form
Why? Why for me it is called a worm?
If life had to be this torn,
Oh God! Oh! Oh My God! Why I had to be born?
Do I have to live my entire life,
Bruised, broken and bereft of “life”
I can see the lock, it is big
I can see my grave, which I can’t dig.
Far and away from my arms, lies the calm
Not able to reach, persistent itching on my palm.
Life, this life, I just can’t tame
My veins bleed and I don’t feel any pain.
Why? Why don’t I hear my inner voice
Why? Why can’t I have another choice.
Why? why can’t I have another choice.
BTW: I am the writer but not the narrator in this rendering.
Mint Fresh Spam December 22, 2010
Posted by simarprit in Uncategorized.Tags: email, Spam, Spam Email
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Just received the following Spam Mail…
it is mint fresh, first of its kind.
INDIA GOVERNMENT HOUSE.
THE MINISTRY OF WORKS.
INDIA.
HELLO CITIZEN,
THIS IS TO BRING TO YOUR NOTICE THAT THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA HAVE CONCLUDED TO COMPENSATE SOME INDIA CITIZEN JOB SEEKER WITH THE SUM OF EIGHTY FIVE LAHKS (85LAHKS) TO ENABLE THEM SETUP THEIR OWN BUSINESS OR FIRM OF THEIR CHOICE. BE INFORMED THAT YOUR EMAIL WAS CHOSEN AS ONE OF THE GREAT BENEFICIARIES. YOUR EMAIL WAS SELECTED AMONG THE JOB OFFERS RESUME THAT YOU HAVE POSTED AND IT WAS MAINLY SELECTED FROM THE TIME JOB OFFICE IN INDIA.
ALL YOU ARE ADVICE TO DO IS TO USE THE FUND AWARDED TO YOU JUDICIOUSLY AND EMPLOY OTHER JOB SEEKERS TO WORK FOR YOU IN YOUR BUSINESS FIRM OR ORGANIZATION THAT YOU ARE TO ESTABLISH WITH THE AWARDED FUND. YOUR WRITTEN CHEQUE OF EIGHTY FIVE LAHKS (85LAHKS) HAS BEEN ISSUED TO THE RESERVE BANK OF INDIA (RBI) FOR THE TRANSFER TO YOUR ACCOUNT. ALL YOU ARE NEEDED TO DO AT THIS POINT IN TIME IS TO CONTACT THE RESERVE BANK OF INDIA (RBI) VIA EMAIL WITH THIS BELOW DETAILS STATED BELOW.
FILL THE BELOW DETAILS TO THE FINANCE MANAGER:
1. BENEFICIARY FULL NAMES:
2. BENEFICIARY FULL HOME ADDRESSEE:
3. BENEFICIARY TELEPHONE NUMBER:
4. BENEFICIARY BANK ACCOUNT DETAILS(number):
5. BENEFICIARY AGE:
6. BENEFICIARY RECENT PASSPORT OR PAN CARD:
CONTACT THE RESERVE BANK OF INDIA (RBI) WITH THE ABOVE DETAILS FOR THE TRANSFER OF YOUR AWARDED AMOUNT.
SHRI G. PADMANABHAN
CHIEF GENERAL MANAGER
DEPARTMENT OF PAYMENT AND SETTLEMENT SYSTEMS RESERVE BANK OF INDIA.
EMAIL: www.rbimumbaiin@yahoo.in
AS SOON AS YOU CONTACT THE RESERVE BANK OF INDIA (RBI) WITH THE ABOVE DETAILS, YOUR AWARDED FUNDS OF EIGHTY FIVE LAHKS (85LAHKS) ISSUED TO YOU BY THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA AND THE INDIA MINISTRY OF WORK WILL BE TRANSFERRED INTO YOUR ACCOUNT.
BE INFORMED THAT YOU ARE TO START ACCESSING YOUR EMAIL EACH AND EVERYDAY AT THE CONFIRMATION OF THIS AWARDED FUND TO ENABLE YOU KNOW WHEN THE AWARDED FUND WILL BE TRANSFERRED TO YOUR ACCOUNT BY THE RESERVE BANK OF INDIA (RBI).
MR. BASU THETE (Dr.)
CHAIRMAN- COMMITTEE ON GOVT ASSURANCES
GOVERNMENT HOUSE INDIA
And…. I jumped December 7, 2010
Posted by simarprit in Uncategorized.Tags: Simarprit, Skydiving
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When I was all of 8 years old (1973) I jumped for the first time in my life all of 15 feet, all for Rs. 5 (a bet between brothers)
I never got my Rs. 5 as my elder brother told me that if I insisted he will tell our mother dear that i jumped, but with that one jump my dear brother made me fearless to a great extent.
I jumped from the sky and guess whose compliments made me smile the most, dear elder brother, of course. I loved it and look forward to writing a a full blog post on my experience. Till then here is the link…
Simarprit – An Interview by Roomy Naqvy September 13, 2010
Posted by simarprit in Uncategorized.Tags: Interview, Simarprit
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On September 12, Roomy Naqvy interviewed me on twitter. I enjoyed the whole experience of a “Twitter Interview”
Roomy: Simar, how would you define yourself in a tweet?
Simar : I always simmer but rarely boil
Roomy: So did you describe yourself as “Perfect”
Simar : I try to be “least imperfect” in everything I do. Perfection to me is an enigma
Roomy: “I always Simmer but never boil” – Great sense of fun and humor
Roomy: How many employees you have in your team today in all your Companies?
Simar : We are 140. We were 1100 at one point of time & then the US recession turned our business model & us upside down. Many gave up on us, felt we can’t survive, we got up, started walking and are now picking up the pace again
Roomy: Simar has replied – he has 140 employees in all. Check out: http://www.mapxlinc.com/aboutus.html –Simar’s company
Roomy: Simar, so were your parents Entrepreneur?
Simar : They were not Entrepreneurs. My Father and my late Mother worked for Central Government
Roomy: Simar, this is amazing. 1100 employees (and still 140 after recession) without Entrepreneur parents
Simar : It is a team work, we have a great team and we all made it happen
Roomy: If this question is impolite, please pardon me. How old are you? In your mid 40s?
Simar : I am 45
Roomy: Friends, have u seen his personal website: http://www.simar.in/ — really great hmepage.
Roomy: You first joined as Research Associate at NIIT. How old were you?
Simar : I was 21
The youngest at that position & without a degree in Computers, I am a Statistics graduate. At that time 1986 -87 you needed strong mathematics to be in computers, stats worked
Roomy: I found out that you hold a degree in Statistics, not computers.
So, I guess at 21, you got your 1st job. Ok
Roomy: Simar was 21 when he got his job as research associate at NIIT, he’s 45, an Entrepreneur. I’ll be asking him the next question
Roomy: Simar, with middle class settings, when you started your company, did u feel you would fail? Please feel free to give a long answer if you like. I think your reply to would be very inspiring
Simar : I believe in “Nichchey Kar Apni Jeet Karon – Guru Gobind Singh” Which means Determine & the victory shall be yours
Roomy: Simar says he finds what the revered Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh said, be determined and u shall win. Wow! This is so motivating. I was so ignorant. Never knew Guru Gobind Singh said something so great.
Roomy: Simar, did friends, relatives tell u that u were wasting your time in life when u started your company?
Simar : Some did, but most have always supported me. Feedback works. Some friends & relatives also proved to be opportunists – but then – it is all part of being an Entrepreneur. I always need family & friends to believe in me, they are my belief
Roomy: What Simar has to say, It’s fascinating and an eye-opener. Some friends & relatives also proved to be opportunists – but then – it is all part of being an entrepreneur
Roomy: How did you raise your seed capital when you first started? When was it? Which year?
Simar : Savings, Family, Friends & Entrepreneurs in that order contributed to Seed & also sustenance money in tough times. it is not only seed, it is equally about sustenance – Things do go wrong
Roomy: This is really inspiring. Friends, did you see his reply to my last question…
Roomy: Let us change track a bit. When your employees fight, how do you resolve conflict? (They are human, after all)
Simar : Hmm.. When they fight amongst themselves, I use passive strategies to contain conflicts and to make them work together. If they choose to fight against the company, it is a different matter
Roomy: This question was a tough one, I guess, Simar answered it well.
Roomy: You don’t have an MBA or HR degree, so, how did u learn to manage people’s conflicts in your company? Did you make some mistakes in managing people’s conflicts in the beginning?
Simar : For me education is a daily routine, I may not have worked for my degrees, but I study for about 2 hours everyday. One doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel, Management books, Conferences & Seminars are the right way to keep learning. Yes, I did make mistakes in the beginning & I did make a big mistake even last year. Mistakes happen. Intent is important.
Roomy: So, were u born in the US? How did you set up your US office?
Simar : My parents went to Patiala from Delhi to give birth to me. They wanted me to be a true blood “Punjab Da Puttar”. The US happened about 4 years back, we had gone to the US as part of Nasscom delegation, we liked San Jose
. We were doing business with US, but had no permanent presence there. Now I love San Jose & miss it
Roomy: How do you see yourself as an entrepreneur 5 yrs from now?
Simar : My role has been changing, even now I do 60% mentoring & 40% Entrepreneurship – I am working to make it 90% mentoring. I am slowly becoming an HR manager who would like to empower young Entrepreneurs. Compare believes in this. Over 10 projects under incubation are independently run by young professionals in their early 20s
Roomy: What is your biggest satisfaction as an entrepreneur?
Simar : I have never treated knowledge as a privilege, fact that I am always able to share everything I learn earns me my sleep. When you share what you have learned, the cycle gets complete – you have contributed to perpetual wealth creation. the feeling is akin to Bliss – very satisfying, very fulfilling
Roomy: The interview with Simar ends now. I would like to thank Simar formally for his time. It was enjoyable. Inspiring for others too
Simar : Thank you Roomy, I thoroughly enjoyed you interviewing me. You got me the way I am & your research was just wow!!
Job Openings at Compare Infobase and MapXL August 27, 2010
Posted by simarprit in Uncategorized.Tags: Internet, Jobs, New Delhi, San Jose
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I have never used my blog to work for me, almost never, but this time it must. Compare Infobase Limited has few openings in New Delhi office & in its wholly owned subsidiary MapXL Inc.
- Project Managers (3) BCA/ BE + MBA (IT/Marketing) with at least 2 years of independent website management experience – (Salary Range Rs. 700,000/- to Rs 1,000,000/- P.A) for CIL
- SM Technology Specialists (2) BE/ BTech Computer Sciences/ IT with independent team lead experience in handheld/ mobile devices and FB/ Twitter applications PHP/ J2ME/ J2EE (Salary Range Rs. 600,000/- to Rs 1,000,000/- P.A) for CIL
- Site Optimization Specialists (6) BCA/ BE + MBA (IT/Marketing) with at least 2 years of experience in managing sites with more than 10 million PVs per month. (Salary Range Rs. 8,000,000/- to Rs 1,200,000/- P.A) for CIL
- Content Writers US Economy (1), World economy (1), World Politics (1), Geography (1), Travel (2), Technology/ Gadgets (2) 16 to 40 hours a week (Compensation $ 10/- to $ 40/- per hour, initial contract for 6 months) for MapXL MapXL team would offer the compensation on the basis of experience and qualifications.
- Senior PHP programmer – Minimum 3 years experience (Compensation $ 65,000/- to $ 90,000/- (Payroll) PA, initial contract for 12 months)
You may send your resume to (nivedita at infobase dot in) and you may send me a DM at (twitter dot com slash simarp)
All vacancies are current and are on the basis of first right candidate gets the job. this blogpost is to supplement openings displayed at Compare Infobase site on Naukri.com
Google Realtime Experiment August 26, 2010
Posted by simarprit in Uncategorized.2 comments
It looks like someone just decided to do a 100 Meter dash at Google. My first take is that the Google realtime search requires higher degree of integration and needs help on interpreting embedded results on tweets.
The results look neat but they are currently populated heavily by Twitter, the other sources are contributing to a very limited degree.
http://google.com/landing/realtime is the best place to experiment it.
Currently the site is very basic & limited on features, I couldn’t see the advanced feature button, neither i could play around or tweak the results.
I couldn’t trace any 2009 entry, that means potential of going back is limited.
The synonym database is not up yet so simarp & simarprit give different results, the results are not getting mapped with identity name.
Geolocation and date filters are working fine and help in narrowing down results.
The T3 Terminal – New Delhi – A Review August 15, 2010
Posted by simarprit in Review, Uncategorized.Tags: Airport, Delhi Airport, New Delhi, Review, T3, T3 IGI
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- The roads are painted with vehicle lanes but proper light doesn’t fall on them.
- Entrance and Airlines Gates require some more order.
- Approach to the Departure terminal was obstruction free.
- Airline (BA) staff looked lost amidst challenge.
- Hand baggage tags can become a big issue if you miss at Airline counter.
- The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Lounge has issues, needs to put its act together.
- Immigration was hassle free and smooth.
- There is still work going on.
- There is more English & only English usage at T3 than even at BA’s T5 in London.
- You don’t get a feeling of “‘too many of us” the terminal is BIG.
- As a first impression the terminal looks more like a big Shopping Mall & a 100 restaurant food court.
- Overall the experience was a pleasant change.
15th Social Media Breakfast August 6, 2010
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We just came back from the 15th Social Media Breakfast event hosted by www.TwitSnaps.com #SMBTS as the event is tagged, has added tremendous value to what all I know and at the same time it has also provided me with an opportunity to share what all I know. The topic today was on Role of Media Sharing in Social Media, the way topic was unfolded and the flow of thoughts was a learning in itself.
The thought moved from YouTube & Flickr and their attempts on becoming social media hubs in their verticals and moved on to SlideShare, TwitPic, TwitSnaps and others. While we were at it we got a chance to share knowledge on emerging technologies and how they plan to make more transit websites hub of social media activity.
#SMBTS is evolving and I am confident that by the time we reach 100th SMBTS it would become one interesting place for Social Media amateurs and professionals.
Dalhousie India – Review June 14, 2010
Posted by simarprit in Uncategorized.Tags: Dalhousie, Dalhousie Himachal, Dalhousie India, Dalhousie review, Hill Stations in India
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We reached here on June 11, 2010 and as we were approaching the city I heard the air whisper to my ears – mixed bag. On day four I can say firmly the air was right, Dalhousie the hill town/station in the state of Himachal Pradesh in India is a mixed bag.
My random thoughts:
- Great weather, superb.
- Clean air, cleanest in 500 – 600 Km range from New Delhi, which also has better weather than Delhi.
- Dalhousie is not a priority with the State government based in Shimla. The state of Himachal Pradesh has given up on Dalhousie and Dalhousie has given up on the state.
- The town in parts is dead, I call it town because its own population is below 10,000.
- The town is just two roads and two chowks (squares/ nodal points) – Subash Chowk and Gandhi Chowk (GPO).
- Dalhousie is 80 Km from Pathankot, the gateway to Dalhousie is you are coming from Delhi/ Punjab side.
- Dalhousie has no petrol pump, the nearest is in Banikhet 13 – 15 Km away.
- Bakrota is 3-4 Km away from Dalhousie and is a great place to stay (not budget), it is at an altitude of 8,000 ft.
- There is practically no public transport.
- At Gandhi Chowk the statute of “Father of the Nation” is lost between a Church and Police Post
- “Downtown Dalhousie” is dirty, filthy and smells
- The climb to Dalhousie is not tough
- If you have a choice, small powerful car would always be the best choice
- You can’t get “garam pakoras” in Dalhousie no one makes it
- Khairati at Gandhi Chowk is a good grocer
- Novelty Stores in “The Mall” Gandhi Chowk is a decent multi-purpose store
- D.C. Khanna is a good outlet if you are looking for stuff which you can get in big cities
- Tata Sky works well
- Airtel is a big fail, it doesn’t work in Dalhousie and surrounding
- Vodafone charge cards are available against ID
- BSNL is the best network
- Tata Photon is great internet connection in Dalhousie area
- There is a Gurdwara near Subash Chowk
- Khajjiar can be a disappointment
- Yes, you can do amateurish Zorbing in Khajjiar
- Trek to Kala Top is good
- Trek to Dan Kund is great
- Chamba to Dalhousie road via Khajjiar is not wide enough for big cars, it becomes tough in stretches
- Raavi river has good flow in Parel near Chamba
- The petrol pump in Banikhet has bad reputation
- The first bus leaves from Dalhousie for pathankot at 6:00 AM in summers
- Kwality restaurant serves great food, prices are OK
More to come…
Portrait of an Indian Citizen June 12, 2010
Posted by simarprit in Uncategorized.Tags: Cobbler, Essay, Indian Citizen, Portrait
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This gentleman earns an honest living, someday Rs 20/- (less than 0.5$) and on a great day little more, say around Rs 150.00 (around $3.00). His services begin with Rs 2/- about 4 cents for fixing detached sole to the shoe and go up all the way to Rs 10/- (20 cents) for complete “cream polish’ of black/ brown shoes.
Every component of his makeshift workshop talks about his approach to honest living:
- The broom behind him is to keep his place of work clean
- The broken board and the polythene cover are to protect his “establishment” from rain
- Jute bag (Bori) is at an arms length to wind-up the shop if its rains hard
- Bottle of “cream” for the Cherry Blossom shine
- Shoe Horns to reshape shoes while polishing
- Cobbler’s Farrier/Hand
- Cobbler’s threads
- Neutral and Black Polish
- The hand tools
- Brown and Black brush
- Spare soles
- Nails
- Cobbler’s stone
He has everything and no customers, advent of sports shoes have brought a dead end to his profession. On some days he waits for four hours for a customer who will pay him Rs 10/- Sad but true. Every Indian is not an entrepreneur, but every Indian needs to live.