You've got a Tweet.

Q: If fear of long words is hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia, what is fear of long sentences? A: Twitter!
There was a time I'd rummage the internet looking for interesting articles. Everything is information. Never know when it would become knowledge. I came across some very inane websites/blogs while doing that. But soon enough, I learnt the trick of improving my search terms and thus began a journey. I think my imagination powers must have peaked around that time, as the number of blog posts I could conjure with original ideas seem baffling now. The hunger for information made the search all the more delightful. So what has changed from then and now?
When I use the word, peak, I do imply that such passions are like waveforms. Spikes hit both upper and lower limits. I hit a low on the blog. Moved on to Flickr. Started writing Poetry along with my photographs. The viewers of my photos out-numbered the blog and like every greedy person I moved on to Flickr. But then along came Twitter.

Time - it is of essence.
Recession's upon us, no pretense.
Be Frugal - even with words! #Haiku.
You like to write. Correction: You think writing is your only forte. What do you do if you are given just 140 characters to write what you feel? Break up everything you feel like writing into small sentences and start flooding ideas. Nobody reads it. Not even you. U h8 2 use SMS lang!. You are left with no choice but to improvise.

It is a thrill to see how you scrutinise the effectiveness of each and every word when you try to fit it in 140 characters.

• Change tenses, choose shorter adjectives, choose better words to convey a message - be judicious. The idea behind the message never changes.


• If you thought that was easy, try using URLs in your message. Ofcourse there are plenty of URL Shortening services now like TinyURL, tr.im, bit.ly or is.gd to make life easier.


• Even then 140 characters is very limiting. If you wish to classify the message for easy retrieval, you might need a hashtag like #Haiku, #Quote, #Photography. Some more characters gone.


• Try pointing to a person by quoting his/her handle starting with '@' and there goes a few more characters.

There are many other constraints when you come to think of it. But does that stop people from using this service? Quite the contrary. I think everyone loves the challenge. It is no wonder that the number of Twitter users are growing by the thousands each day.
The most important (pertinent?) question everyone asks me is "What do you write about?". All I tell them is that you have 140 characters with you. Use it as you please.

• Twitter could be a group chat tool. Gather like-minded people. Discuss issues. Come up with consensus. All in 140 characters.


• Twitter is an instant news portal because news spreads at the rate of RTs! People catch on to a new and important event. Soon they become trending topics.


• It is an idea pool. You need loads of information to be able to generate an Idea. Twitter is the source. Plenty of people voicing their problems. Others shouting out solutions by the dozens.


• It is an excellent place to find like minded people. Looking for people with interest in Photography, Astronomy, advertising, coding, graphics or anything else. Just search on Twitter Search for certain words and you'll find people actively writing about those topics.


• Twitter is a (virtual) friend! Feeling down? Just shout out on Twitter, you'll find someone there consoling you... or pulling your leg! Either way, the disappointment is long gone!

The options are limitless. Correction. They are limited to 140 Characters. If you are already on Twitter, follow me. I write as Sudhamshu. If you are not, join in. I would like to know what you have to say.

Silent Dreams

Thoughts shroud my brain. Thoughts of things I've lost. Things that built my dreams. I sit alone for hours. Days pass by. Nights seem even longer. But these thoughts never leave me. They grow on me. Drag me deeper into my reverie. It makes me miserable.
Along comes the wave. The big one. If you thought you were safe at the shore, you were wrong. You try to evade it. It drenches you. Promptly it goes back. Just as it came. Where did your misery vanish?
Dreams built silently on hours and hours of thoughts. On Ideas never spoken of. All washed away by one swish. But I feel free. There is a feeling of relief. Soothing. I am released. Nothing can frighten me now. I am afraid of nothing.

I can't swim. Maybe I could if I tried. But in an ocean, I certainly can't. I decide to walk. Towards the vast ocean. On a pier. Every tide that hits the pier, rattles the walls. The whistling and howling grow eerily louder as the waves come and go. But I still walk. I reach as far as I could go. Only the vast empty ocean remains ahead. It looks enticing. Some other time. Not today. Not today at all. For today I conquer my fears.





I woke up early morning at 3:15 a.m to join a few friends. We went to a place called Thalankuppam, about 20 kms from Chennai. Its near Ennore. With the whole of the pier and the beach left to us, all we could do was keep clicking. The Sun rose from the waters. Colours filled the sky. We all just sat and drank in the pleasing atmosphere. Nothing can beat the fresh mood of the earliest of early mornings. Add to that a good sunrise at a beach and you know what is bliss. I should do this more often. Certainly worth the loss of sleep.

Free will or Destiny

Destiny - The ultimate agency that predetermines the course of events.

For long I have been of the belief that any single person is incapable of choosing the way he/she leads his life. No one can really plan out how they will fulfill their goals, guess all the obstacles that would come their way and be ready with a solution for it once they face them. I have always believed in that term called Destiny. What will be thrown your way is being controlled by something beyond your power. It could be good, it could be bad. But that is what is in store for you. I will not call it the Almighty or a God. Let's just leave it at spirituality.

The Observer
Another way of looking at Destiny is by being the "Observer". There's a game called "Hide & Seek" played by kids. One person is supposed to seek the other people who are hiding. From the 4th floor I used to watch some kids play this game. By being the observer, I could see everything unraveling in front of me. The ones hiding would have the seeker in their vision most of the time. The seeker on the other hand would just follow his instincts. More often than not, he'd unknowingly corner a hiding kid. I could easily say, "He's going to get caught". But none of them were actually aware of what was in store for them. Now I could play the spoil-sport and help out either the seeker or the one sought. But that would spoil the fun for both of them and for me too.
Try extending this knowledge to a slightly higher level. To the observer the whole path and the outcome is very clear. Each of the subject in himself instead lives everything minute by minute. Hoping that things turn out in favour of him, always making adjustments so that the outcome is as favourable as possible. But are they really in control?

Free Will - The power of making free choices unconstrained by external agencies

On the other hand, what if you were told you are totally powerless? You can't control what happens to you? You are just a puppet with invisible strings, dancing to the tunes of someone invisible? You would disagree. Could it just be false pride? Do you really have Free will?
To an extent you can control certain events that will happen around you. You learn to control more events through mistakes (of yours or others). We call it experience. What happens when the outcome of the event depends on more than one person? What if the desired outcome is completely opposite or slightly different? Does the eventual outcome depend on the collective inclinations?
The more I think about it, the hazier things become. But I tend to lean towards the opinion that free will does exist. It all depends on the actions of all the subjects that are part of the 'experiment'. Would that mean, more the population, more the conflict of interest? And hence diminished effectivity of free will? It just begins to get chaotic when I think of the numerous permutations and combinations of the problem.
It does validate another of my beliefs though. No single ever man ever changed History. He just influenced a lot of people to follow his views. It is they who changed the course of History.

Chaotic Abstract!

Scrutinising confidence

You are sent to a place you've never seen before. You are to meet people you've never known. No idea what they would say. No clue how receptive they would be to what you have to say. Does the prospect fill you with fear? You think you would start stammering & sweat your guts out? (Have you read this?!)
If the strange place is replaced by home and the strangers by your friends how easy does your task become? The difference between the two situations shows how confident you are of yourself.

Confidence (noun):Freedom from doubt; belief in yourself and your abilities.
A feeling of trust

Confidence is something I lack. It is a hindrance. An obstacle that stops me from taking the leap of faith. Leap towards things that are the domain of above average people. It has caused enough introspection. I scrutinise lots of people who come through as confident people. A few are "achievers", CEOs, self-made men, celebrities. First impressions are always deceiving. You spend some time watching them and then comes a point of weakness that shatters up all their defenses and opens up their true self. It is how they handle such situations that makes them what they are.
Barack Obama comes through as a confident man. Speaks with gusto. He was taking the presidential oath and the guy narrating his words was a bit fast. Obama buckled and missed a few words. He knew a billion eyes were keenly watching him. That was the moment he was bare... he is human too.
You could call me a sadist, but I take delight when such things happen. They give me a sense of belief that everyone is no different from one another. Everybody has their inadequacies. They all know what it is. They build up all their defenses around it, not letting you anywhere close. It is this defense that gives them the confidence they possess. Then comes a moment that suddenly breaks up everything & makes them stand bare, ready to be scrutinised. To be messed around with. Once you know what the other person's weakness is you are never nervous around him. You know his secret. Which explains why you are always confident when you are with friends. You know them, they know you even better.
Now this knowledge gives me a bit of confidence. No one is above board. Nobody knows Everything. If I'm wary of some stranger or star-struck, all I need to do is be patient. Find his weak spot. I will find it eventually. I could mess around with it and even crumble his life. But i'll just give him an inkling that I'm aware that spot exists. And then there is nothing to hide. No nervousness. Isn't confidence eventually described just as a feeling anyway?

Irresponsible Mumbai

Mumbai is a city that thrives on excesses. A few days after the dastardly terrorist attack on Nov 26, 2008 thousands of Mumbaikars gathered in a morcha. They strung banners mocking & cursing politicians, shouted slogans against them and demanded immediate action from the Government. Immediate action meant a war against Pakistan. The government luckily is much more sane than Mumbaikars.
Mumbai has got plaudits in the past for "moving on with life" after every bomb blast or terrorist strike. But what is truer is that the city is more forgetful or has a short memory span. When crowds air emotions so vehemently in any media available, you expect them to follow it up with actions. Their time for action arrived in the form of Lok Sabha Elections. What did the Mumbaikars do? They didn't exercise their vote and went on vacations instead.
There was just 43% voter turnout from the city. This includes Thane, Navi Mumbai too. The turnout is lesser than 48% that was achieved in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. Not to forget the excessive hype that was doing rounds on every news channel on the responsibility of every individual to cast his/her vote. April 30 got declared as a holiday in Mumbai so that citizens could exercise their right to vote. But Mumbaikars only saw the Long weekend, thankfully created due to the May 1st (Labour Day) being a Friday. How apathetic people can become in 5 months time!
I still remember how my friends went out in huge numbers to vote for Govinda last time. He won. We all saw what he was capable of as a MP!
Mumbai is a city that is run on money. People there feel that if they throw enough money, any task can get done. And if it doesn't get done - Blame it on the Government. Who allows such a government to be voted in by not casting their votes? Mumbaikars need to take a leaf out states like Nagaland which had a 80% voter turn out. Kerala had 73% voter turn out. Those states have far fewer problems than Maharashtra and yet people in these states show the world what a true democracy is meant to be.
All I want to tell the mumbaikars is - You have lost the right to pick on the Government.