Next Orkut

Today, I read an article titled "The Next Orkut" in the Information Technology Magazine (October 2007 issue). Being an active member of Orkut, I found the topic very interesting. The first thought that came to my mind after reading the headline was, “Wow, I’ve found another network where I can scrap and add my friends!” :D

The article is based on a survey conducted among some prominent figures in the IT industry. Orkut is rated as the most widely used social networking site among youngsters in India. This is why Orkut was chosen as the MTV Youth Icon of 2007.

The main reason I am grateful to Orkut is that it helped me reconnect with many old friends. After leaving school and college, I completely lost contact with many of them. After joining Orkut, I searched for these friends using the ‘Community’ feature, which helped me regain my lost friendships.

Features like scrapping, videos, photos, and communities, combined with user friendliness, made Orkut very popular. Nowadays, Orkut has also added security features such as locking albums and videos and preventing non-friends from viewing your scrapbook.

According to Rajesh Lalwani, founder of Blogworks, Facebook will be the next Orkut. Facebook allows third parties to build applications for its platform. Millions have joined Facebook in the past few months, and several new applications are being added every second.

Not only Rajesh Lalwani, but also others like Rajiv Dingra (WATconsult.com, WATBlog.com), Dhiraj Singh (freelance journalist), and Surekha Shetty (Director of Marketing, PK4 Software Technologies Pvt Ltd) believe that Facebook will be the next Orkut.

How many of you know the founder of Orkut? I will tell you — his name is Orkut Buyukkokten. If you want to know more about him, here is the link:
http://www.stanford.edu/~orkut/

It’s time to tie the knot… that’s what my parents keep telling me. :(
Lately, I’ve noticed their blood pressure spike whenever they hear about my friends getting married. :D
Well, that’s quite natural, I guess.

But the main question is — am I really ready? Honestly, it feels unbelievable!

Existence of GOD

I don’t consider myself very intelligent to write much about this, but I can definitely share my view about God. I have had several experiences in my life that made me strongly believe in the existence of God — or some might call it a supernatural power. Like many young people, there was a time when I was skeptical and showed little interest in accepting that power. But over time, one by one, incidents happened that proved to me that He/She exists.

That power gave me the courage to face many difficult situations and helped me come out of darkness. He was there when I needed someone to share my thoughts and feelings with. He was there when I needed a shoulder to cry on. Whether in the form of my parents, my brothers, my friends, my teachers, or even strangers, He came to my aid when I needed Him the most.

Sometimes I think He is giving me more than I truly deserve, and at other times, the same mind wonders, “Why is He not listening to me?” I always pray that I am ready to accept all the sufferings He wants to give me — without complaint — but I have one request: that He stays with me until my last breath.

I truly believe in this saying:

“If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.”

One more semester is over. This time we had four technical subjects and one paper on management. This semester was really hectic. The four technical subjects were OS, DBMS, DSA, and OOP (JAVA). Each of these subjects also had lab sessions, so managing all of them together was quite difficult. Since these are all core subjects, we expect many placement questions from them.

Among all these subjects, my favorite is DBMS. During my B.Tech, I had DBMS in the syllabus as well, but back then I simply mugged up the theory to just get a 40/100 (the pass mark). When I heard that we had DBMS again this semester, I felt really sad and thought, "Oh my God, I have to mug up everything again!" But this time, something unexpected happened. Now if someone asks me about my favorite subject, I’ll say without any second thought, “It’s DBMS.” My full thanks go to the one and only Jay Krishnan Sir. Words can’t describe how well he teaches—he’s simply superb.

Let me also take this opportunity to thank some of my teachers who have influenced me in one way or another. Here comes the list:

• Thampi Sir – A person with knowledge about almost everything in this world. You cannot find another person like him anywhere else.

• Jayadevan Sir – A person with a huge fan following :). More than a teacher, he behaves like our friend. Sir, you are really great—we all love you a lot.

• Maya Teacher – Someone I will never forget in my entire life. She’s more than a teacher to me... just like family.

• SP Sir – If given a chance, I would attend his classes again. He cracks several jokes in between sessions (we all used to wait for that). We all liked the way he conducted his classes. His was the only class where I never slept! :D

• JK Sir – I have no words to explain his class. A person with a clear idea of what he wants to achieve in life. A true role model.

As the days pass, I’m sure this list will grow. To conclude, I want to share something I read in APJ Abdul Kalam’s book:

“The power of a teacher: Give me a child for seven years, afterwards, let God or the devil take the child—they cannot change the child.”

After a long time, I met some of my best friends today. It was a wonderful reunion. I don’t know whether I’ll get a chance like this again in the future. So today, I feel like writing something about friends… about friendship.

FRIEND — someone who will be with you throughout your life. I read this somewhere, but how true is it? How many of us really have friends like that? And how many of us are like that to others?

Looking back at my college life, I can say I had several good friends, but I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to keep in touch with them. I always wish I could rewind my life to fix the mistakes I made in the past (I’m sure this isn’t just my thought — each one of us thinks this at some stage in life).

Small ego clashes that usually happen between friends take away precious moments of our lives — moments we can never get back. The value of something is realized only after we lose it. It’s the same with friends. We understand their value and the place they hold in our hearts only when we’re far, far away from them.

Recently, I got an email from a friend. The subject was: “Things we should learn from the movie Dil Chahta Hai.” It was a wonderful email, and I found several valuable messages in it, like:

• Never be ashamed to go back to your old friends. Friends are there to understand your mistakes.

• There are relationships beyond boyfriend/girlfriend and friendship — very emotional and true ones, beyond many people’s understanding.

• Even though you may be the best of friends, there is always a limit which should never be crossed. Otherwise, it starts hurting.

• Improving your imperfections after you realize them always takes some time.

• Believe in love. True love will never let you down.

• In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

• The only unchangeable certainty is that nothing is certain or unchangeable.

These are priceless messages. We will understand or realize all these things at some point in our lives — but by then, it might be too late.

Maybe this is what they call the “so-called life."

Indomitable Spirit

Recently i read a book by the one and only A P J Abdul Kalam,the book is "Indomitable Spirit"...really a great book,a precious one(ofcourse it will be like tht,coz who is the author?).If u ask me i'll say ,A MUST READ,book for all the book lovers.The whole book is a message to the youth from,our missile man of india.He shares his experiences as a student,as a son,as a teacher,as a scientist,throught this book.The interesting part is that,he tried to convey his message in a very clever manner,by citing poems,so that even a small child can undesrtnd clearly.

Some details about our missile man:

Full Name: Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam
DOB: October 15, 1931
Place of birth:Tamil Nadu, India.

He was the the twelfth President of India, serving from 2002 to 2007.

He is popularly known as the People's President.
The Government of India has honored him with the nation's highest civilian honors: the Padma Bhushan in 1981;

the Padma Vibhushan in 1990;

and the Bharat Ratna in 1997.

Some of his famous books:
India 2020

India-my-dream

Envisioning an Empowered Nation: Technology for Societal Transformation

Guiding Souls: Dialogues on the Purpose of Life

Children Ask Kalam

Wings of Fire

Ignited Minds

Scientist to President

Some sentences in that book,really touched my heart(my soul),like:

*Give me a child for seven years, afterwards, let the God or the devil take the child, they cannot change the child. -shows the power of a Teacher.

*When learning is purposeful, creativity blossoms, when creativity blossoms, thinking emanates, when thinking emanates, knowledge is fully lit, when knowledge is lit, economy flourishes.

*An ignited mind is the most powerful resource on earht, above the earth and under the earth.

*If India has to become developed by 2020, it will do so only by riding on the shoulders of the young.

He winds up the book by mentioning a poem written by Rabindra Nath Tagore:

"Give me the strength never to disown the poor

Or bend my knees before insolent might.

Give me the strength

To raise my head high above daily trifles.

And give me the strength

To surrender my strength to Thy will with love."

Few days back,i watched a documentary named "Floating Lamp Of Shadow Valley"... which came on discovery channel... ..it was an inspirational one,it features the life of a kashmiri boy named Arif,a nine year old boy,who is the breadwinner for his family.He along with his mother and 3 brothers and sister lives in a small house..(i cant call it a house...it looks like a house..).Full documentary shows,how hard he works to earn money for their living.He works as a boatman,everyday he used to take tourists across dal lake.Even during late nights,he's ready to work if he get Rs.10/-..........

go thru this article:
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article1220081.ece

aftr watching this show,i understood:

1) that the things which i call as "big problems for me..are they really BIG???????????
2) the value of a "one rupee"
3)the value of "parents"
4)value of "education"

inshort the value of each and every thing in my life.....