Book Review : Angels and Demons

Hahaha, whoa.. Who is this guy to write a review of one of the most successful and critically acclaimed book by Dan Brown. I know, I am no one, but I could not stop myself penning down the feelings immediately after reading this book, And here I go !
569 pages and around 14 hrs spanning across 5 days, thats what it took for me to read this fiction. I was in deep clutches of the plot wherein the characters and the mystery kept unfolding with every chapter bringing a new one every time along with. I kept talking about this for the entire week when I was into it and I am certain this is going to have an everlasting impression on every reader of it. The charisma was so great that while reading it, I was in no mood of doing anything, even the essentials took a back seat.
With The Da Vinci Code already in attire along with its screen version , I could visualise Tom Hankes as Mr Robert Langdon, the Harvard symbology art scholar and the hero of the thriller. Although, I can easily say that even if I would have been unknown to any of the other works of Brown, I would have visualised the entire book with equal ease.
With Antimatter, the author's usage of science was put to a test, however Brown's genius levelled all the barracades quite comfortably. With no doubts on the in depth knowledge of Vatican history, Brown depicted a real picture of the marvellous architecture of the city along with its pen piucture of Swiss guards and cardinals, so true as to be come out of the pages of the book and stand infront of you showing their full vigor. At the same time, the layout of the city of Rome and the four churches symbolising the basic elements of Illuminati, the secret self enlightened sect presented a treasure hunt to every reader forcing one to go to Google Maps and check & confirm the same. I could not stop myself reading the wiki of Galileo and Bernini, the so believed Illuminati masters while reading the book. I also read about Professor Langdonn & came to know that the on screen name 'Robert' was actually pointing to the Drexel professor John langdon, an expert at ambigrams. Ofcourse not to mention the spectular ambigrams of Illuminati, Earth, Air, Fire and Water along with the Illuminatus diamond. I bet everyone who read the book would have tried drawing one. I also recorded for my own personal interest, the speech given by Cameralango to the BBC reporter at the hour of ultimate crisis.
I initially had 3 people (not mentioning their names for the sake of those who have not yet read) in mind as Janus, the mastermind behind the entire conspiracy. The third ( least probable one) was removed quite early though,when he died. However, I must admit that the actual one was my second bet, and when it was revealed and the way in which it was, made perfect sense to me. It left no doubt about the motto behind the plot and the adjustment made in the same by Janus to achieve the destination.
With my second nature of finding the alternative ending or should I say no ending to any story, I analysed the entire book after finishing the same for few minutes wherein I concluded that if the deceased pope would have used object/ task based gramar in his conversation rather than subject based, the story would have had no beginning itself. There would have had no shattered confidence in faith and no science overtaking God and there would have had no Angels and Demons for us. Dan did an excellent job by din't doing it. Overall, it is one of that book which made me satifisfied from within, the one which put my heart and brain cells to equal use and the one which I can tell anyone around me to read and feel contented.

For more curious folowers of Brown, here is a link to the trailer of the movie based on the same novel supposed to release in May' 09
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd5v4yW-RKg

0ne night @ Atlanta Airport

Heading for the United Airways flight to Charlotte at 8:10 pm on a sunny day of Oct 6th & bound for Lexington for a business trip, I started from my office in Alpharetta at 5 for my home.
Dressed, had a cup of tea and headed for Airport at 5:30. The Airport is 45 miles from my place and I was sure that even in the worst of traffic, I would be able to make it in time & so did I.

I reached Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta Int'nl Airport at 7:15 pm, got security clearance by 7:30 and was at US airways terminal (Concourse D, Gate 26) by 7:45 pm. Just 100 meters before the terminal was my fav Chili’s. Quite tempted and thinking of getting no dinner at midnight when I will reach Lexington, I thought of grabbing something quickly. However once I reached there, the idea shifted from take away to dine in. I knew that I had only 15 minutes to dine, but still hopeful of making it, I stood in the queue for getting in the restaurant. There I met a lady who was greeting everyone in the queue. She was quite obese but upon talking to her about my veggie habits, she mentioned that she has also turned veggie for reducing herself. She added that daily meat diet at Burger King has made her such. She was quite joy to talk to and I really enjoyed those 2 minutes laughing and exploring new views on being a vegetarian.

I was served by a Malay lady to whom I asked for a home salad and French fries with lemonade. It was 7:50 pm when I was served. Thinking, I still have plenty time to make it to my flight, which was around 15 minutes, I ate watching AFL. At 8 pm I asked for the cheque and with few happy moments of eating something, though not the greatest of foods, I rushed for the gate 26. To my surprise there wasn’t anyone there except the on ground staff of United Airways. I still had no hopes lost since I could see the carrier still outside. Quite unaware of the fact that the gate actually closes 10 minutes prior to the departure and that entry is prohibited after that, I asked the lady to guide me for the flight. At that my thoughts came to a halt when I realized I have missed it..She said that they announced my name quite a time and that they cannot help me except booking me for the next flight which is at 5:30 am in the morning. I was perplexed as to what to do now, I had to give a presentation at 10 am in morning and the next flight is going to land me on Lexington soil at 8:50 am. I will hardly have anytime to reach to Hotel and get ready for the presentation which I was sure going to be a 2+ hours long. Along with that came the thoughts of spending the entire night at airport since I could not afford to go to a Hotel and miss my flight for the 2nd time as getting ready by 5 am in the morning was itself a daunting task.
Apart from that I was getting angry to myself for having that salad in chilies which costed me such an inconvenient night. With a second thought of trying to reach Customer care to see if they can accommodate me in any other carrier (Delta had one for Lexington at 9:30 pm). However it was a very costly affair since they could not transfer me directly to other carrier and that my (my company's) ticket for United will be wasted (costing around 750 $ for a return fare) and would have to give around 700$ one way for Delta. I decided wisely and went back to the United crew and asked them to book me for the 5:30 am flight. I consoled myself by saying that it is going to be an exciting journey for sure now and the rest was although not great was something different for me.

I found myself a seat near a power outlet so as to charge my lappie and cell phone as I was sure of making their max use this night. Also, I was carrying few of my GMAT exercises to be given, which I instantly planned to give tonight. Didn’t wanna tell this to anyone for a moment so got engrossed in GMAT exercise. However in 15 minutes, I got bored and started wandering around, a teenage girl was talking to some of her friend on the phone booth very near to my seat. With an unintentional eavesdropping, I came to realize that she is also one of my kinds today, she sat beside me after finishing her call and I could not stop confirming about her situation and hence asked her about it. Therein, she told me that she has missed due to wrong terminal map and that she has been given a next flight at 10:30. However, she consoled me by saying it feels relieving when you know that you're not the only one who has missed. I really laughed at that, getting consoled at the same time. After she left, I called up my friend back in Alpharetta to inform that I have missed. However I could not tell them the exact reason for the same more because was not still convinced that I missed my flight. Talked to my fiancée back in India and told her about the same. She, like my other friends, expressed her concerns about spending night at airport but at the same time laughed also upon my mentioning the reason for the same. I eventually decided to content it to myself.

Thinking of the 7 long hours still ahead of me before seating in the plane, I recalled the desert survival game played in ILP & checked all the options and essentials. Instantly I stood up and went to Chilies again before it gets closed. Quite contrary to the previous time, I opted for a take away this time. Took the traditional chips and chili sauce from them and went back to my seat. The water bottle I was carrying was enough for the night. I started eating some of it while watching the same AFL, live from Philips Arena. Eventually after eating a few, I got bored of it, more since I never used to dine alone, I decided to stop eating and do some internet surfing. Also was on my minds the tomorrow's presentation and the impact my spending the night at Airport will make on the same, There was no free internet connectivity, so I thought for first checking the presentation I had to give, I also informed about the incidence to the manager at Lexington, so as to keep him ready with backup plans. I went through the presentation once and decided to go back to my GMAT exercise. Did like 60 Questions on Data Sufficiency in an hour when I saw a crowd full of Airport maintenance staff around the area where I was seated, the Gate 26 of Concourse D

I could not understand what this lot of people, around 30 of them all with Red T-shirts, was doing there. Then came to know that it is their usual place of gathering since there was a room to keep all their belongings/ equipments just opposite to this part of Airport. They were quite aloud in their conversation and were in plenty, I initially was amazed, somewhat scared later on and eventually got back to my work thinking that I might be there usual stuff. I was for sure had no Enochiophobia. However I could not focus anymore on the math questions and decided otherwise, It was already 11:45 and I decided to give a call to my parents and talked to them for long, With excitement I called up my dearest buddy and informed him about the same, Quite natural to our relation, he gave me all the teasers of being a gujju, worrying about eating more than anything else etc. it was a nice little talk which cleared my brain and ticked the sleeping alarm of my mind. Therein began my hunt for a suitable place to sleep. I had no expectations of getting a cozy 4 star hotel room as was booked for me in Lexington, but still had my hopes high to get something worth lying upon. Could not find anything except a deserted cluster of chairs without any partitions at gate 24. I decided to use my bag pack as a pillow and thought of spending some hours trying to sleep. I put all kind of alarms to be sure of not waiting any more after 5:30.am. I almost woke up every hour and tried to check my watch and eventually at 4 am got up and decided to spare the rest of few minutes at gate 26 itself.
The new day saw no unforeseen incidences, I reached at 8:45 am and quite adeptly got ready and reached the conference room by 10 am, It was my first visit to Lexington and everyone I interacted with on phone were strangers to me but the moment I entered the room wherein everyone was waiting on me became quite a good scene, The presentation lasted for > 3 hrs and was awesome. In the eve I was back on my way to Atlanta. At 10 pm I reached Atlanta, looking back at the terminal where I spent my night the other day.
All in all, the day was a happening one with me boarding 4 flights a day to fulfill what I was supposed to !

The XAM Consternation

For a person who has always been phenomenal at studies and cracking exams, it was quite an absurd to think about consternation for exams. But when you will take a deeper look on the psychology of such a person, it is the one who has the maximum fear of it. The reason is quite simple, more you are aware of the potential roadblocks in the success, more you assess them for failure and in the process increase your fear for the things that may not happen in reality. However, in my case I do analyze all the situations with utmost importance to its probability of occurrence also, but I really find it as a challenge to prove myself when such a calamity occurs and I put my max efforts therein to come out as a winner
Well, a similar kind of scenario happened to me when I went to give GMAT. It was a sunny day with no chance of any thunderstorms, or heavy rains at all. I had to reach 30 min prior to the exam time of 4:30 pm on a Friday. Quite satisfied with the timings I chose for the exam, I decided to start from home at 2 pm for a 10 mile trip to Pearson exam Center. While commuting by GA 400 freeway, the Google estimated a total time of 23 min. I still thought of taking 30 minutes as was wondering what I will do reaching so early to the center. Still I did not wanted to spend my time at home doing nothing as I stopped studying a day back itself and was doing office work till 1:30 pm.

I had my lunch at 1, took a shower and got dressed up by 2, started at 2:15 pm from home. I borrowed GPS navigator from one of my friend to make sure that I reach proper destination. With excitement in my mind of cracking it and to get a good score, at least the one I used to get in mocks, I pressed Gas and the 2008 Honda civic was on the roads. I also was thinking about all the times I will enjoy after giving the exam as I was out of reach of dear ones for quite a week now, Also was in my mind, my friend who has come down from NC to stay with me for some time and today being his first day, I should have been with him more than any other day. In 5 minutes, I was on GA 400 freeway heading south for Dunwoody.

I entered the freeway from exit 11 and barely reached exit 10 wherein I noticed the brakes sign of every car in front of me. I was amazed and also was concerned with such a heavy traffic on the road with no car driving at more than 10 mph. eventually the speed kept decreasing with every yard and the vehicle got to a halt at around exit 9, me being in the right most lanes. The sirens of Ambulance, Police cabs and Fire Brigade were the next to come. The Doppler effect of the same came to a stationary level at a distance of around 1 mile from where I was. I sensed some kind of accident ahead and thought of it as a temporary situation. With all high hopes on US police capabilities of clearing the scene quickly, I checked my watch which showed 2:45 pm. With 7.5 more miles to go according to GPS and more than 1.5 hours in hand, I was easing out and tuned the radio to hip-hops. The wait time kept on increasing and now it was 3:15 and I could see the signs for exit 8 around 500 meters away.

Although was quite hesitant to take to state roads, I decided to give this a try since there was no movement yet on freeway and also I had my navigator with me to help me out with the directions. I drank some water and adeptly crossed 3 lanes and came in exit lane. The road was full of thousands of others like me and the situation looked worse here with a traffic signal at every half a mile on average. Struggling to reach on time, I kept trying whatever I could. I also tried to keep checking with my GPS navigator about shortest distance/ fastest time etc options but with no success. The final distance on the state route has increased from 7 miles now to 8 miles. I also tried with all my analytical capabilities to understand roads, which no doubt is good, and I successfully was able to commute for 1 mile on a deserted road parallel to the crowded street. But I eventually had to merge with the main street of Alpharetta highway/State route 9 and could not help myself but wait. I also, in my efforts to reach on time and to avoid traffic, took myself in every mall which had an exit opening even after 100 meters; this helped me save few but precious minutes. At this time I told myself, that it is really my time, the stage is all set for me to prove myself. I already got the challenging situation to prove myself. The exam more than anything else needed concentration of mind, and this incidence of today was more than enough for anyone to shatter the confidence.

Eventually at 4:15 pm, I was still 6 miles away from my exam center and in desperation called my friend who advised me to connect to the center and let them know of my situation. This was a wise advice and I followed it immediately. The guy who responded was quite calm and listened to me patiently and confirmed my admission if I reach the center by 5, and will have to decide at the time only if I reach after 5 pm. I assured myself that I can reach now and can make it before 5 for sure. I drove for 15 more minutes and crossed around 1 mile on that busy road. By luck or by chance, I could see now an open road ahead and I just could not stop myself pressing thru gas as hard as I could. The Civic float like air on that open road and I could just feel that excitement again. At 4:35, I was at my destination according to GPS; however I could not find the center anywhere. In the despair, I asked a guy to help me out but he was apparently new to the place as well. I again checked my navigator and this time it told me to drive 1 more mile. I was disappointed with the performance of the machine but eventually consoled myself saying after all that is bound to make some error. At 4:40 , I was in the parking and rushed to the building, As was in a hurry, instead of checking the directions to the center, I thought it wise to ask a lady who was just passing by, she took me to the directory and guided me for the 5th floor. At 4:45, I was in center and in front of the receptionist, believing I really made it and now it is on me to make this a worthwhile day.

I am not sure how many times I drove the new Honda Civic on the curb today, I am not sure how many times luck favored me today, I am not sure whether my decision of taking it to a state road was good or not, but as it turned out at the end, I did everything on time and was out with flying colors. It was truly the Neophyte's serendipity that I observed for myself today.

Idiosyncrasy- Those typical ways !

Well the idea to write about this subject clicked when I came across this word. I liked this word, more for its elaborated meaning and I eventually decided to write something down.

I observe people, I try to understand them and then make them understand me by exercising a mutual bond. This habit of mine has led me come in close contact with so many people and rarely have I seen similarity between any two of them. Every one has their own typical ways to act, react, argue, admit, criticise, admire, love, fight, and live.
Some of them are very remarkable in their ways and leave an impression and you start identifying them by their habits and not by names.

One of this way was of a person whom I met and could not stop falling in love with. This person has a great listening capabilities and would hardly ever display his emotions. He resorts to letters or mail to get his word of mouth and always expects that others will understand him without being asked for. Well he is famous in his circles of friends and rightly so. He is like a kid whose mom takes care of him for everything and also loves him the most. However, sometimes you cannot live up to his expectation as spoken words takes the precedence and you break his heart and yours in turn. This has taken time for me to learn and implement and now I no longer need him to make me understand what he needs.

A second personality comes in mind is of a person who never shows his emotions and never even want others to know what he is going through. He is a friend of himself and do not want anyone to enter his personal circle of trust. However, he breaks down sometimes and then resorts to those with the personality of showing trust and love and thereby he confesses his guilt, his setbacks and his desires. I like to be on the receiving end of these traits but could not admire them completely more to my belief of living life in my way.

A third one is of the person who is friend to some, enemy to few, and unknown to many. He likes occasional visits of limelight but still want to keep himself bounded to the circle of few trust worthies. One takes times to enter his circle of trust and when entered can be there forever without much efforts.

Fourth one is of an anthropologist, He loves mankind and is there to help others always. He does not need any motivation of personal interest to serve others. He, however irritates his own near ones as they grow the belief of losing him gradually. He, however is shallow from the within and takes this service as a way of gaining confidence within as he has lost it quite early. I feel pity on them since it is not luck but their own acts which has led them to do so.

A fifth one is of a person who is there just to influence others by either taming them or by loving them. Actually this comprises of two traits, those who tame them forcefully and those with love. I shun those people who take wicked means to come on top, and want to remain away from them as much as possible. Also ,they are the ones who actually come across many setbacks and when they get a chance want to come on top of everything and everyone who come across. The sub category of those who use love as a means to influence others are the one whom everyone loves in return. These are people who are average in intelligence but are hard workers and without any selfish interest loves others and do charity. It is in their habit to help others in need and thereby gets lot of acclaim from many others.
A sixth and quite similar to the 5-b described above is of the person who believes words are better spoken when required in the beginning of any relationship and not when you secured the one. He helps to most, cares for many and loves to some and expects the same in return. He is a family guy and is loved by all. He is an ideal person to take to your family and also is a must in your circle to get a shoulder to cry upon and to get an ear to pour your heart out. However , the setback with this trait is they expect returns. These are hence not a very easy maintenance category.

Some of other traits are :
Intelligent but not gaudy - They earn the title of Guru and are the ideal ones.
Intelligent and gaudy- They are enforced with the title of Guru and people take benefit of them by resorting to them in need.
Accommodating- Everyone is welcomed and served. Likes to be served as well. Should have people with these traits in ur circle to enjoy time
Foolish and Gaudy- Enjoy these traits, they are the best time pass.
Foolish and hardworking- Pity on these, help them come to speed.

I believe I fall in the sixth and 5-b category and I keep trying to get the assets of 1st category.

Too many options confuse me !!

I need to do MBA, or rather I should improve on my technical skills and try for a better job and earn more by using my H1 B option or rather I should switch job at offshore and settle in some good city or I should not do any of these and keep going on with whatever life gives me and just improving on my day to day goals of learning tennis, reducing weight and improving stamina..God, someone help me please in this turmoil.

Well, as I guess everyone would have experienced, I am too confused with multiple options. I do not have my goals clearly lied down. I am on the crossroads of career and dunno where to go from here!!

Why does life gives so many options when only one can be fulfilled at a time. When I ponder more over this, I conclude that it is actually my cowardiness or lack of confidence in myself that is driving all these confusion. I am not excellent at technical skills, I agree I have learnt whatever technical skills I know, over a period of time while at job, but my roots are not deep down, they are very shallow on ground level and a mere breeze can unroot my professional tree. I try to improve upon these aspect of mine but I hardly get time to do this or rather I am not so willing to.

When it comes to pursue a business post graduation, I think am good at root level though, as a true Marwari blood runs deep down my nerves even after a good IT career. But here too the failure comes to my thoughts since the tree is without leaves or rather stems itself. I have not gathered much information over time on various aspects of life, business, and in short any and every worldly, past and current affairs. This makes me feel that I will have to do a lot of exercise to get to a point of succeeding in any personal interview or group discussion. The turmoil hence continues.

I am a H1 B holder, I can switch to any damn company offering me a good job here, I can encash this opportunity atleast, but then comes the thought of all the US recession going on, job markets getting worse and worse, and even if I get one, what my future has after marriage is a question, never answered yet..I don't know whether I will continue in US or will go back to India and get settle there itself.

Well, amidst all these dilemmas, I am continuing my present state of affairs and with whatever I have on palette, but this keeps killing me everyday as I can't concentrate on anything. I lost all my tennis matches, I am not taking care of my body and health, I am not giving much output at work too, and not doing those things which used to make me feel great like cooking and chatting to friends. I am just behaving very much opposite of what I was before.

Reading Unbound India, inspired me today with a risk taking approach of marwaris and gujjus as in Birlas and Ambanis. If I believe I can do it even somewhat, it is better to give it a shot rather than just filling white space of this blog. but stil I am in search of a trigger, a provocating thought or advice, a word of comfort for my mind, a feeling of backing me up with whatever I get in risking my career.
Can you help me out?

Nostalgia !

Wat has happened to me, I am not the same Vikas any more !!
I can't focus on work, in fact don't feel like working anymore, just wanna take a long vacation and enjoy life as it is. I lost my concentration from so many things including writing, sports & even friends..Man I am lost..............



India trip was so beautiful but after that nothing has remain the same as I left it before. Life's killing me here in US with all new faces..Time keeps on rolling without much of personal development. I m just not liking it and feeling as if I am lost..

I do not know what to do when I come from office, I do not know whom to talk to when I m down. I think I m missing someone very dearly. Am I missing all those dear ones whom I left for my own sake? I decided long ago that I will never miss them, or at least I would pretend not to, then why I m not able to do so now. Why am I feeling nostalgic?
Why am I craving for the best times spent back in India rather than enjoying the fruits of US? Why am I longing for my fiancee, my parents and my friend??

Its human to miss and long. It is that psychological behavior of human mind that leaves impression of better times more distinct than not so better. And under those longing times the logical part of mind is overtaken by the emotional part and results in agony and pain of missing someone dear. These are the times when if someone or something tries to come near by showing warmth and love, can easily enter the circle of trust. Also, these are the times when one can be easily uprooten and taken advantage of.

Well, the best thing to do in these times is resort to old trusted friends than making any new commitments. Also, try to do things that you like apart form talking to dear ones. Its kinda jet lag which takes its own time to go.

I m sure with all these facts known to me, I will surely be over this sooner than later, However, I hope that I never have to depart from my loved ones anymore ever !

Its hard to accept oneself's follies but easy to criticise others !!

Isn't it right?
We always find so easy to find follies with people, to criticize them even many time when they in noways, associated to your life, but that's quite human to find faults with others, then y its divine to improve on your follies?. I really hate this kinda people ..
Y can't people just admit to their mistakes and try to improve? Y can't they learn that its human to err, and its very much the human who can improve by learning lessons from his own mistakes?
When you mistake initially, there will be couple of wise men around who will criticize you for your wrong done and advise you to improve, but oh poor , the more wise you, you were busy enough to discard that and to prove that you were never wrong. Good job you did by turning the people around you not to advise anymore and thereby cutting down your path to improve. These wise men, now no longer are wise for you and instead of feeling to be fool by advising, they just ignore your mistakes and move ahead in life. In long run, TIME, the almighty teaches you in a harder way the same lesson and the same wise men were brought into picture again as a mock viewer of the show enjoying every bit of it !! Do you really wanna be one of that fool or the wise men?
Well, The phrase I believe, and I swear, this is for and with everyone that I find around, "be open to criticism". This gives you an opportunity to learn not for the current mistake but any forthcoming ones too. you can never be perfect , neither those wise men, but the mutual exchange of intellect can help you improve upon. It leaves you not with embarassment but with a goodwill of being a learner and listener !!
As is rightly said by someone, Always have the enthusiasm to do things like a fresher in the job, so that you never cut your scope to train yourself, to build yourself.
Well, This was followed by Gandhiji , this is followed by those wise men, and this should be practised universally, to really overcome many of our worries!!
Lets try to be as quick as a hare keeping the wisdom of the tortoise intact :-)
Amen