Violet Indigo Blue...

The other day, a friend of mine made a drastic statement - 'North Indians have a poor-er sense of humor than South Indians." Without getting into the intricacies of the Northie/Southie debate, here's my take on SOH.

To me, it's a pointless statement. Someone's sense of humor could be totally in sync with yours or a tad unconventional or just plain boring and not provoke a chucke from you. But, is it fair to say that X's sense of humor is 'better' than Y's sense of humor?

There are no levels in sense of humor. One can't objectively say that X's is better than Y's, just because it is a very subjective issue. It's akin to saying, "Blue is a better color than red." Huh? Wha..? Similarly, one's sense of humor could fall anywhere in a broad spectrum from your perspective - a spectrum in which no particular color is 'better' than the rest.

Achieve...

Partly plagiarised and partly inspired from Edison, thought of the week: "Success is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration".

So, you burn the midnight oil, ask yourself thought provoking questions, put pen on paper or fingers on keyboard and keep plugging away. After countless sleepless nights of wondering whether you will achieve your dream, one gloomy Tuesday afternoon, it all falls into place. We have all been there, done that and got the tee-shirt (or the phone call or email or conversation). That feeling of joy, relief and energy has few parallels. Reminiscing those moments in my life never fail to egg me on to do bigger and better things.

Over the last few weeks and months, I have been privy to other people's successes - "Dude, I am *finally* making 100K!!!", "Witty, I got the promotion I worked so hard for!!!", "Yesssss! I got into the school/program that I really really wanted!!". It gives me immense pleasure to have shared this joy with them. Congratulations folks, you dared to dream and achieve! You know who you are! These stories continue to inspire me and make me feel excited about the journey that is life.

I believe our lives are governed by our own efforts as well as destiny. While 80% is what we make of it, 20% is dictated by forces beyond our control. At the end of the day, if one feels that they have put in 100% (or more) of their 80%, that's all one can shoot for. My $0.02 - don't hold back on your piece. Make it happen!

May the euphoria of achievement linger forever....!

PS: Tying into the whole 'Achieve' theme, my latest Gtalk tagline is 'Persevere or perish'. Darwin would have been proud of me! :)