Today, August 15th 2010 is 63th birthday of India. Happy Independence Day to all my fellow Indians.  Here is a great Indian National Anthem video by A. R. Rahman and other best artists from India, my all time favorite.

I often do this at movie theaters and then I realize I shouldn’t have done this, awkward moment. No hard feelings buddy.

Credit: The Oatmeal

You’ve got a big, important report to write for work and you’re dreading it. The deadline has been weighing on your mind for weeks and so far, you’ve done nothing about it. At this point, its do or die situation. Still, you set aside time this afternoon to buckle down and get to work, but instead you’re playing Solitaire, you’re checking Facebook, you’re reorganizing your pens, you’re chain-smoking on the fire escape, and you’re feeling like crap. You’re procrastinating.

If you think you are alone in doing so, you are wrong. Everybody I know is facing the same situation. They keep delaying their important stuff. Some people think that this is not the right time or perfect time to do it, some people think let me just watch one last Youtube video before I get started on it. The reason are different but the phenomena is same, Procrastination.

The only way to make procrastination productive is to get SOMETHING done instead of EVERYTHING. This will at least get you started and starting means the hardest part if over, which is stop delaying. Let me know in comments how you deal with your Procrastination and how you make your day more productive by GTD.

I used to use library when I was a kid. It was a fun way to explore new books and the mystery of the world. But internet changed it all. I haven’t used library since ages, as everything I want is available on the internet. (You know, the not-copyrighted ‘free’ ebooks that you can download from P2P, you know what I mean)

I went to the city library few days back just for a change. I got a library card and thought of borrowing some book for a change. The book I wanted was already checked out by someone. So I had to put it in a request. But the system of request and holding is very inefficient, here is how.

If you want to borrow some book, you search library catalog. If the book is checked out by someone already, it gives you an option to reserve that book once it is available. So whenever that person returns the book, the system emails you about the book availability. All this is fine. But the book is now on hold and library keeps it for you for 10 days. If you don’t show up in 10 days, the next person who reserved the book gets it.

So the problem part is the 10 days hold period. For example, I recently requested a book “Into the Wild“. I got an email after 2 months of waiting. Currently the book is on hold for me. They will keep on hold for 10 days. And there are 78 more people waiting after me for this book. So the book just stalls for 10 days without any use, even if there are 78 people waiting for it. Suppose if I don’t show up and the next person in queue also doesn’t show up, that will make the resource (in this case, the book) unavailable for next 20 days, even if no one is using it.

I bet this is happening every day at library. 1000s of books are kept just on hold, making the system very inefficient. Most of the resources are just staying on the shelf even if there is hunger for knowledge. Which is against the idea of library. I don’t yet know whats the best way to manage this. Let me know in comments if you have any idea. May be someone will implement it after reading this.

Why haven’t I thought of this before. This could be the greatest toilet hack ever. And given the simplicity and the amount of time required, this prank can be done by any freak. Just try it yourself at different locations at different time. I would love to see this kind of modern-era disturbance.

A few days back, one of my friends suggested me to watch the movie Outsourced. I watched it and liked it (liked it should be read in comparison to “loved it”). The movie was based on outsourcing American jobs to India. An American telemarketing manager lost his job in US and he was given a choice of going to India and train people there or just let go his current job.

Yesterday, I came across this great reality TV series 30 days about outsourcing. Chris Jobin, 37, a computer programmer from New York is laid off from his job. He came to know that his job has been outsourced to India. He decides to go to India and live there 30 days to find his job but he couldn’t (he’d need “Indian experience,” he’s told). He ends up working as a telemarketer in a call center.

The most interesting part about this social experiment was how Chris’ mind changed over these 30 days.

When initially he heard that he got laid off and his job has been outsourced to Bangalore-India, he was very frustrated and angry on the Indians who were getting his job. Well, that’s a natural human behavior, anyone would have reacted the same. Chris thought that the only reason the jobs were getting outsourced was because of the cheap labor. His father argued about this at dinner and said “I think it’s a good thing. I think it’s going to create a growth market and a place to sell American products and services. If companies don’t take advantage of cheaper labor resources, then they become less competitive, they disappear, and the jobs disappear with them.”

While working in India for 30 days, he saw how Indian economy was catching up, how India was exactly the same as 1980’s US. He was amazed to see that 16 people were being fed by his single job outsourcing. This completely changed his mind. He realized that people who were doing his job were not even aware of the job losses in US. And it was wrong to get angry on these people, it’s not their fault. The people who decide to outsource American jobs are the billionaire executives, VPs and CEOs.

Well you wouldn’t get the complete picture unless you see this episode yourself. Here it is.

Some american dudes visited china and they are talking about their experience of their stay. Now this is what I call the first-hand-experience. Their words describe the true flow of their experience. For some reason I loved it. The video is long (about 10 mins) but its worth watching it.

This is a small Poem I studied in my school around 8-9 years back. There is something magical about this poem that I still remember it.

I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For, so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.

I breathed a song into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For who has sight so keen and strong,
That it can follow the flight of song?

Long, long afterward, in an oak
I found the arrow, still unbroke;
And the song, from beginning to end,
I found again in the heart of a friend.

I have compiled some thoughts of Great people about the best thing that is available in this universe. My friend, Mr. J, laughed after reading this. But I didn’t find anything funny in these. I think it is because Mr. J has never drunk. So what do you feel about this? How serious are you about these?

” Sometimes when I reflect back on all the wine I drink I feel shame. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the vineyards and all of their hopes and dreams . If I didn’t drink this wine, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. Then I say to myself, “It is better that I drink this wine and let their dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver.”

– Jack Handy

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may leave you wondering what the hell happened to your underwear.

“I feel sorry for people who don’t drink. When they wake up in the morning, that’s as good as they’re going to feel all day. ”

– Frank Sinatra

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may create the illusion that you are tougher, smarter, faster and better looking than most people.

“When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading.”

– Henny Youngman

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may lead you to think people are laughing WITH you.

“24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence? I think not.”

– Stephen Wright

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may cause you to think you can sing.

“When we drink, we get drunk. When we get drunk, we fall asleep. When we fall asleep, we commit no sin. When we commit no sin, we go to heaven. So, let’s all get drunk and go to heaven!”

– Brian O’Rourke

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may cause pregnancy.

“Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”

– Benjamin Franklin

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol is a major factor in dancing like a retard.

“Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza.”

– Dave Barry

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may cause you to tell your friends over and over again that you love them.

To some, it’s a six-pack, to me it’s a Support Group. Salvation in a can!

– Dave Howell

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may make you think you can logically converse with members of the opposite sex without spitting.

And saving the best for last, as explained by Cliff Clavin, of Cheers.

One afternoon at Cheers, Cliff Clavin was explaining the Buffalo Theory to his buddy Norm. Here’s how it went:

” Well ya see, Norm, it’s like this… A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members. In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. That’s why you always feel smarter after a few beers.”

– Cliff Clavin

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may make you think you are whispering when you are not

There should be a better way to start a day, than waking up every morning.

– Brijesh Chauhan