Rediscovering Myself

A Wonderful Sunset

2007-05-22T04:36:00.000-07:00

Nope, I wasn't here recently...
It just so happened that i was trying to figure out how to add photos to my blog. So, while fiddling around i came across this wonderful snap that I’d clicked almost a year back. This is a sunset during the month of May at my hometown, Kottayam in Kerala...

I can still remember; I was driving down to Frolic's and this was on the way. As I watched the beautiful horizon, i just had to pull over and click a few snaps. The hue that the sky had was just magnificent. With such an idyllic view, you can truly get lost... You realize that you've taken so much for granted, especially everything around you...

I guess, it’s good to get lost once in a while... Makes you think... ;)

DNA Imagini

2007-05-05T20:35:00.000-07:00

Today, as i was surfing, i managed to stumble upon this site that promised to provide me with me visual DNA. Needless to say, i was intrigued. I tried it out and i thought it was real cool. It also gave he a widget that i could put up on my blog, so here it is... My Visual DNA...

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Some songs are just so trippy!!!…

2007-04-16T11:04:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: Music related post; Preferably you should've listened to atleast a few Zeppelin songs

I was just sitting round and surfing, while listening to a random playlist on Winamp. That’s when it happened… It was so weird. One moment, I was surfing through the numerous tabs that I had opened. The next moment I’d stopped everything that I was doing. That familiar guitar riff rang loud in my ears. That’s when I knew…

I knew that today, I was gonna trip like crazy listening to the song.

Yup… for people who know me well – you’ve guessed right. The song’s Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven. And yeah, it’s the extended version. Yup, the whole 14:57 minute classic… Considering that this was what I started off with, when I started listening to rock; maybe it just has this unique position in my mind.

By blending in the greatness of Robert Plant’s engaging vocals; Jimmy Page’s mesmerizing guitar riffs & Jones' rhythmic base and Bonham’s eclectic drumming, the song has an existence of its own… In spite of being close to 15 minutes long, it never ceases to amaze me how this song can just captivate you.

You close your eyes and get you can get lost. Your head starts swaying to the music. Your hands automatically curl up and start moving as if you’re playing that 16-string monster. Every pluck of the guitar just seems to resonate on and on, it just pierces your mind. You can feel your pulse quicken as the song moves on. And, as the tempo builds up, you feel that it just couldn’t get any higher. But, to your surprise you’ll find that the song keeps building up, further and further… The uninterrupted 9 minute riff can just elevate you to another plane. Makes you wonder if this is just a song or whether it’s a journey. One that can take you to the surreal, if only you just let go of everything that you’re thinking about and immerse yourself into the music.

As the climax approaches and the distinctive notes blend with the beats, Plant’s vocals come at you… with a vengeance… screaming at the top of his voice, he infuses so much energy into the climax… you can’t seem to stop and wonder about what is happening to you…

“If you listen really hard,
the tune will come to you at last,
when all is one and one is all,
to be a rock and not to roll…”

I don’t know what made me write this post, but I’m amused…
I think I was High… High on music!!… Nothing else can explain it…
But then, its not a big deal… Some songs are just so trippy anyways… ;)

Three Cheers!!!...

2006-10-22T03:52:00.000-07:00

Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes... the ones who see things differently -- they're not fond of rules... You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things... they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.

If you're wondering how i could come up with something like that, stop wonderin... This is a Steve Jobs quote... Was just surfin across some arbit site, that's when this caught my eye and instantly i felt that this should be on my blog... So, here it is... ;)

Well, now i'm worried

2006-10-21T23:23:00.000-07:00

Well, not that I felt like blogging, but after a long time I was really jobless, that’s when I thought of seeing what’s happenin on my blog. I type in the URL and wait… Nothin comes!!!... Now I’m worried, I’m guessing I made a typo, so I copy and paste the URL. Still nothing, now I’m worried. I’m thinking whether I’ve lost all my posts (However less in number they are…). I sign into blogger and I’m so relieved to find all my posts. I just try creating a new post and republishing the index and lo, to my delight; my blog’s back…

Just this small incident made me think about how precious my (small ;)…) blog actually is to me…

Its funny… you have all the time in the world to laze around, drink, sleep, yap, vile away time. But no time to do something productive or worthwhile- like reading the paper, blogging, surfing other blogs, keeping in touch with old friends, reading that book you bought ages ago, spending time to yourself just looking at what’s happening round you… So on and so forth… ;)

Well, can one afford to do that?...
I’m sure one can.
But at what price does it come at?.
If it comes at the price of having to sacrifice time from friends and everything else that means fun, is it worth it?...
Frankly, I believe one can never know.
So, what can be done about it?...
Honestly speaking, nothing…

I guess its just upto every individual, see what one has to gain or lose and to take a stand where he/she feels is right. And it’s very ironical that what’s right need not always be right and vice versa. Anyways, without getting deeper into my thoughts on this… Let’s just go on to something else that’s caught my fancy of late…

Friends… Sorry to disappoint u, i’m not talking bout the hit TV series. Just friends in general. How many of us know what a friend actually means?... You may know what it feels like to have one or to have lost one. But do we actually know what a friend means?. That got me thinking… What do I think a friend is?. The first thought that rushes into my mind is someone that you care for… But then is it just a one way thing?... Well, for me I guess not. Its always stronger when you know it’s the same the other way round too.

But is that what the world thinks too?... Well, Wikipedia doesn’t think so.

Wiki says, “A friend is any person that you like or know. People who are friends talk to each other and spend time together. They also help when you are in trouble.”(Funny to see how they defined it as a one way thing and not mutual).

In any case, How lame, huh?... Or so I thought until I read further on…

“A true friend should be there for you no matter what. They should help you in times of need, but usually at the times when you need them most they disappear.”

This totally cracked me up.
LOL, must say this was an classic…
Anyways, WRT this I started thinking bout whether, when it came to friends, I was wrong or they were right. Needless to say, I got lost I my thoughts… ;)
[Always a nice excuse to get out of tricky situations… ;)]

In any case, I’d love to believe that what I’ve always known and believed will always hold true…

God works in wonderful ways…

2006-05-28T21:39:00.000-07:00

Well, here goes nothin… Lemme give u small update on what’s happening with me before I start off with my ramblings…

A couple of weeks ago, it so happened that I was surfing and my mom came and sat beside me and asked, “So, any news bout your admissions?”. I struggle for an answer, so I decide to divert her attention by showing her a college website… IMI was the first college that popped into my mind. Typed in the URL and while the site loaded up, I was busy explaining to my mom that this was one of the colleges I really wanted to make it to. That’s when I realize that there’s a new link on the page and it says – second waitlist. I go through the list and find that I actually am waitlisted… By now you already know what I’m getting to, so I’ll cut my story short… I had to wait for about 8 days, but I finally received the confirmation. YES, I’ll be going to a b-school this year and funnily so its probably the B-school I was impressed by and wanted to be a part of, the most…
Well, what can I say other than, “God works in wonderful ways….”???...

Talking bout leaving, well I’m sure I’m going…(I’ve already sent in the fees…). But I’m not ecstatic. YUP, can u believe it???... Now, u must be telling yourself – “Screw this guy, he’s not happy with what he gets…”. Don’t get me wrong, its not that I have a problem leaving but its just that I (almost) made plans for the next year. I ‘actually’ started liking my work. I ‘actually’ thought I was getting paid pretty well. I ‘actually’ thought I had a challenging few months ahead. Lol, I ‘actually’ thought I’d get to spend a year with my parents… ;)… I ‘actually’ thought I’d get to buy another dog and see him grow… I ‘actually’ thought I’d finally get to stay at home for another year. But all these are just miniscule reasons… The greatest reason would be that I ‘actually’ would’ve been here for my sweetheart (btw, on chat our codenames are fun and frolic)… So, there you have it… I’m just a lil sad that I’m leaving ‘FUN’ behind… would’ve been nice to see her once in a while, go out for lunch, go on a drive, bring her home for lunch with the folks, go for a swim at the club, go to her place to spend an evening listening to a good record, go for the odd mal movie, go write our mocks together, meet up at four for snacks and coffee, talk on our phones till midnight… would’ve all been ‘FUN’…

But I guess life moves on; just cuz I’m leaving ‘FUN’ behind doesn’t mean I won’t have her or be a part of what she’s going through… Sure, things are gonna be hard; for her at work and me at B-school… Its gonna be real hard to leave my better half behind… But, then life does go on. I’m sure that there’s a plan in all of this and I’m grateful to God for it. I already see a part of it panning out… ;)… So, guess I’ll just have to look at this as an opportunity to take our lives to another level…

Well… God works in wonderful ways…

Of Dreams & Nightmares

2006-04-02T17:06:00.000-07:00

Well, I just woke up from a dream, or was it a nightmare?... well I’m not quite sure… what was happening in my dream?. K… guess I got nothing better to do, so here goes.

I’m sitting at the portico of my house, with an empty book and a pen in my hands. This man walks up to me, I stand up and wish him. He asks me to take my seat. He looks at me strangely and asks, “Okay, Mr. Sam, shall we start?”. I gulp and with a wry smile say “sure sir…”. Next thing I know he’s asking me what percentile I have, what other calls, what I’ve been doing since I passed out (lol… not literally, he means passed out from my engineering), why I took up engineering, why I wanna do my MBA and what not. Finally he says, “now that we’re done with the pleasantries, lets start off by asking u a few questions from your engineering”. He proceeds to give me a question on the most horrible subject ever in my engineering, “Antennae, Waves and Propagation”. Knowing that my admission to a leading B-school is based on this question, I squirm in my seat. Finally decide to rewrite the question itself on the answer sheet (to buy me some time). And strangely enough, I cant lift up my hand to write… I try harder… feels like its gone numb… try again but to no avail… finally think that I’ll try lifting it up with my other hand, that’s when I realize even my other hand’s not moving… I look up into the skies and start screaming!!!!!!

And I woke up. Ok… fine, I admit. The ending was a figment of my imagination, but what the heck?. Had to make it interesting, right?. Anyways, here I am…

Bout 10-12 months back I decided that I would write CAT (well, if u don’t know what CAT is, then I see no purpose in you reading this thread, but in any case CAT is an exam that’s used as a criteria for ur selection to some of the country’s premier B-schools). I moved to Chennai, picked up an apartment, studied quite a bit and wrote the exam. Oops, did I forget to say I had lots of fun in between??... Well, yeah I did… anyways, coming back to the point, I gave the exam. Thought it was gonna be a big waste and that I didn’t do well, but I ended up with a 94.32%; which was great considering all that I had put in… wrote a couple more exams too like SNAP and XAT. SNAP was great and XAT was sad… anyways, getting back- I was relieved cuz of my marks and waited for my calls. It was during this time that I heard of this Bschool called SPJCM Dubai… the flair of the program caught my eye and I almost decided that I was gonna be there. Wrote the test, got a call, went for the GD and interview. It all went pretty well and I was feeling pretty confident bout it. All I had to do was wait for the results. In the meantime, I got calls from IMI, TAPMI, FORE, KJSOM and SPJIMR. That’s almost the time when I got to know that SPJCM was not how I dreamt it up to be, that it was more bout hype than facts. But, reality bought me back to the ground and I realized that I’d gotten carried away in the midst of things… just a couple of days before my IMI interview did I actually realize how confused and misled I was… but by then I guess it was already lost, with hardly any interview prep, I went in there and made a fool of myself… came back determined to do well in my other interviews… next came SPJIMR, lol the panelist guy had decided on hearing me speak that he wanted me to join the FMB programme which I was unwilling to. So, in spite of having the best interview I ever had, I got kicked… next I had FORE, the interviewers were 2 old men, they were interested in the procedure, and I had a chance to bring out all my positives, interview clicked and I got an admit… unfortunately FORE was not the college of my dreams, so I have decided not to take it up. Next came my final interview TAPMI, it was such a farce that I’ve decided to write devote an entire entry to B-school interviewing. The panel was least interested in interviewing me, and I also had an interview which consisted of more tech questions than I have even had in a lab viva… thought I handled them well, but guess they had other plans, not blaming them much, they had to pick from 150 from among 1800; not an easy task… anyways, thru all of that non sense, it was a very rewarding experience, I met so many interesting people at the interview and it gave me a small idea as to what it would be like to be a part of a top MBA programme…

So here I am after 8 months, back to square one…

What have I gained during the past few months?... well, I’ve gained everything… I’ve had my sweet memories, had my rocking parties, had my share of slogging, went thru numerous mind numbing mockcats, got a feel of what its like to go thru an experience like CAT, had the chance to meet so many new people, started my blog, had my share of lazy days on which I did nothing but cook, eat, watch TV, surf, sleep and what not and also, had a feel of what its like living with someone special ;)… the list is never ending… I firmly believe that the past few months have helped shape my life… helped gimme strength to face whatever may come my way…

As I’m sitting here today typing this, I know for a fact that what I’m doing is right… and if its gonna take a year more out of my life to get what I want… then so be it…

On a lighter note… I’m reminded of what I used to always tell people or write in their autograph books during my engineering-

Just when u think you’ve got life all planned and figured out, it always finds a way to come back and screw you… lol… that’s why I now say-
Don’t take life too seriously, no one gets outta it alive anyway…

Shemmy Sam Chandy

2006-01-30T17:43:00.000-08:00

Yes... That's it. That's my name.
Wondering why i said that?...

Well, i was really jobless today morning (nothin new tho!!!), surfed for bout an hour and a half. That's when it hit me to just try my luck, google my name and see what comes up...
I have tried googling "Shemmy" before but never actually thought of my full name, so did it and nothing came up.

That's when i thought to myself, why dont i just blog bout my name?. Well, that's what you're reading now.

My name's Shemmy Sam Chandy. As far as as origins are concerned,
Shemmy has its roots in the bible - According to the account in Genesis, Noah was the son of Lamech and the grandson of Methuselah. He and his wife had three sons: Japheth, Shem and Ham. So, guess Shemmy's the personalized version of that.
Sam's the short for Samuel (from the bible again). Samuel comes from a Hebrew word which means "name of God" or "heard by God". It comes from 1 Samuel 1:20, where Hannah names her son in memory of her requesting a child from God and God listening, there have been many other convoluted etymologies given. The most frequent, and traditional, of these is Heard of God, seen as a reference to God hearing Hannah's plea.
Chandy - Chandy is my Father's Christian name. It's a derivation from the biblical Greek Xander or Alexander.

Well, coming to what people call me, its generally Sam or Shemmy. Used to be only Shemmy till my engineering days, until i came across people in my college who just couldn't pronounce my first name right. So, thought i'd make life easier for them and let them call me Sam, guess slowly its stuck.

So, how's that for a nice morning's work?

Statutory Warning

2005-12-18T22:01:00.000-08:00

Statutory Warning: This blog contains my vague recollections of the past week. It may be broken and inconsistent at parts, but any such occurrence is purely incidental. ;)

Whew!!!, that was one crazy week…(more than a week, but even then…). It all started after I got back to Chennai to write my JMET (for the uninformed, it’s a management aptitude test for the IITs and IIScs, whole load of crap if u ask me, cuz the math was so hard that even the best would solve a max of bout 6 out of 40). Well, I’d better stop cribbing bout it cuz I could fill up pages with my rant bout it (exam went well though…).. ;).

So, like I was saying, it all started when I got back to madras to write my exam – was real busy chillin out and doing absolutely nothing that u could say I was on my own trip. In fact I even drank the day before the exam!!!. Had a nice time there (except for the fact vini wasn’t there, kept calling her in bet to find out what was happening… lol, was fun writing each other mails all over again. Kept waiting, checking my inbox to see in any new mails had landed. And when I finally get one, spend minutes staring at the screen and smiling… ha ha- twas real fun).Even went to culturals of the Madras Christian College, a friend was singing… was there for moral support… ;). Was real fun listening to the music and stuff, exceeded my expectations a lot… The highlight of the day was seeing the MCC band play, and I must say that they were refreshingly different. Had a few good comps, one of em was really fun- called “symbi”, bout this girl symbi and bout dating her… haven’t laughed listening to a band play before, but then this was great stuff.

I must say that I usually hate going for rock shows cuz the bands usually muddle up great sounding songs, but these guys were crisp, they knew what they were doing, and they did it well. They also gauged the crowd well and on the whole was an enlivening experience. Would rate them among the best bands I’ve seen play (not because the others have been bad, but just cuz I felt their songs synced well…).

Also, another highlight of the week was that I got onto the first metro train in my life (yup…u heard right). And contrary to my belief, it was real fun- the journey was fast, convenient (lol, I stay near a station…), clean and to top it off was real cheap. At the end of the day, was real impressed. I’ve resolved to go by metro whenever I can rather than taking my bike and wading through dust and traffic. Its good that the people of Chennai have this added lifeline, something that puzzled me was that the journey was so cheap that I’d really wanna know if the government was really making any money out of it.

Well, now I’ll get into the highlight of the week – buying my first digicam. Before I get into the details, I’ll lay the groundwork for a bit. Been wanting to buy a digital camera for the past few months, did quite a lot research too, but when it came to actually buying it, always used to run into some roadblock or the other. Finally, it so happened that I was talking to my dad and he said, “Buy it tomorrow, if u want to…”. And that was the final nail. Got to my comp and started researching models and finally after comparing all sorts of specs, narrowed down my choices to two- first being the Canon A520, the second being the Canon A95. Both had their pros and cons, but preferred to go with the former. Mainly cuz there was a difference of bout 5 grand between the two and which I thought wasn’t worth it… checked out the models on Saturday at premier stores in spencers, negotiated the price for a nifty 13K and told the guy that I might come on Monday and left. It so happened that I had to leave on Sunday night, so had to pick it up in the evening before I left, or else I wouldn’t have a cam for Christmas. Pushed off for spencers with my two sidekicks - Joby n Sam… ;). Got there by bout 6pm, went to the store and said the words I’d been wanting to say for so long, “Hi, I wanna pick up a Canon A520”. I watched as the guy who initially smiled on recognizing me, slowly stopped smiling, turned serious and to my dismay said, “I’m sorry sir, we’re outta stock”. And I’m standing there with an expressing, WTF???????. Thinking to myself- Man, this is such an anticlimax. The friggin one time I have ething working my way and I’m here to get the camera and here’s what happens. Joby n Sam know I’m disappointed and try telling me that its ok and that they’d pick it up for me (lol, was sweet of em). Anyways, not to be outdone, I decided to screw with the guy, slowly started telling him that I was working in bangalore and it so happened that I’ve gotta reach there on Monday itself and if I didn’t pick it up today, I’d have no other option but to buy it from some place in bangalore cuz I wasn’t gonna be comin back to madras in a long time and also cuz I already had all the money ready. And Bang!!!, that did the trick, the guy who initially told me there was no chance I’d get it before Monday asked me to wait for a few min, he scurried off made a few phone calls, got back and told me with a beaming face, “Sir, we can get it for u, but do u mind waiting for a while, its gotta come from our godown. We’ll give it to u by 730pm”. i told him that, that would do and that I’d take a walk thru spencers and get back. We go browsing thru landmark, and finally at bout 725pm, I get a call asking me to come over to the camera showroom. Hurry off to the place, to find the same guy with this huge grin on his face. Gave me the camera, asked me to open the seal and verify its contents. After showing me the basic functions, handed me the bill with a smile and said that he’s given it to me 5 minutes earlier than he’d promised. Anyways, all in all, a win-win situation, I got a good deal and also more importantly on the same day; for him, he managed to get one closer to his sales target. Made me think a lot bout how much better customer service is getting in India….

Anyways, me tired now. Recounting stuff that happened is hard, also lost the flow cuz I got a phone call. Can’t seem to think straight now. Well, along the next few days I’d been to mysore to check out my cousin’s bike which was being repaired there. Finally, got back home a couple fo days back. Well, that’s about it for now…

Well, finally I’m in too…

2005-12-08T18:17:00.000-08:00

Well, finally I’m in too…

Always wanted to blog, but never got around to doing so. Laziness playing the all-important co-conspirator. But then, as days passed by, kept feeling this irrepressible urge to start doing something that’s
1. Productive
2. Creative
3. Hmmmmmm… I’m so creative, I can’t think of another reason.
Anyways, I have genuine doubts as to whether the ‘creative’ part’s gonna come out. And whether this is gonna be a failed attempt (like the one that was when I thought I’d put up my home-page.. long story). But then, being the person that I am - I love trying. Just gonna try and force myself to do it, hopefully this shouldn’t have an untimely death.
I’ve always at some level felt I was good at writing, but contrary to my belief, reality proved me wrong, for every year that passes by, I seem to be losing my literary prowess (Keep laughing, I’ll still mean prowess). Feel sad at times, that four years of my engineering harmed my literary skills the most, something that I was intensely proud of, during my schooldays.
So, one fine day, I thought to myself, “What if I started blogging?, What if it helped me write better?. What if being subjected to the torture (;) of blogging, I actually end up sharpening my writing skills?. What if it could also be a way for me to spend some time to myself, away from the idiot box?. What if?.......” many more questions (But I’m sure u’d much rather move on, I’m sure u would’ve gotten the gist by now).
So, guess this is going to be a sincere attempt on my side to try to reclaim a little bit of what I’ve lost. Hope God (and a someone special :*) help me through my endeavour of.....Rediscovering Myself