The Kitchen

 The kitchen is my happy place. I cook when I am happy, sad, stressed and hungry! I look at kitchen like life. Life has all the ingredients like joy, despair, stress, surprise, fear, disgust and many more. So what do you make of the things dished out to you by life! I make biryani with stress, Egg curry with joy...and the list goes on! What do you make?

Sometimes life gives you very little to make something out of it, so you make the best of it from the little ingredients you have in the kitchen. TBC...

My Experiments with WIX Installer Technology

I am intrigued by the Installer world especially Windows Installers!!
After developing several installers in Installshield , InstallAnywhere , WISE and NSIS, I came across the wonderful world of WIX. Takes a while to get hold of this open source framework but definitely a very powerful tool.
The WIX tutorials are very useful which can be found here:

http://wix.tramontana.co.hu/

The only problem is, it does not have all the twists and tweaks one would need if you are making a very complex installer. After spending days and nights of research, I decided to open up this blog for some of the fascinating things I have discovered in the WIX world. All the information we need is so spread out for WIX that putting it all in one place helps for me.

In this blog am assuming you know the basics of WIX and posting some of the challenges that I faced when designing an installer and how I got it to work, thanks to those thousands of people who post online for most issues people face. So, I thought why not be one of them and help my fellow wixers out!!!

The Law of the Garbage Truck

How often do we let other people's temper affect our mood? Do we let a terrible driver, or a rude comment ruin our day?

The mark of a spiritual aspirant is how quickly we can regain our focus on what is important. One man learnt this experience while in the back of a New York City cab. Here's what happened.

He was travelling in a taxi, on his way to Grand Central Station. All of a sudden, without warning, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of them. The taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded and missed the other car's back end by inches.

Then, the driver in the other car, who nearly caused a huge accident, whipped his head around and started abusing the taxi driver.

But the taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. The startled passenger said, "Why did you take it so easy? The guy almost caused your car to crash and sends us to hospital!" The taxi driver laughed and then related what he called, "The Law of The Garbage Truck."

"Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of rubbish, filled with frustration, bursting with anger, and packed with disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it. And if you let them, they'll dump it on you. When someone wants to dump it all on you, don't take it personally. You just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. You'll be glad you did. I assure you.”

The passenger started thinking how regularly he let garbage trucks run right over him? And how frequently he took his own garbage and spread it onto other people, at work, at home, or on the streets? It was that day he promised to himself, "I'm not going to do it anymore."

Over time he learnt how to distinguish when a "Garbage Truck" was coming to dump all over him. He noticed the junk they were carrying and prepared himself to avoid it all being unloaded onto him. Like the taxi driver, he did not make it a personal thing; he just smiled, waved, wished them well, and moved on.

“Be always saturated with Love. Do not use harsh words against anyone, for words wound more fatally even than arrows. Speak softly and sweetly. Sympathise with suffering with an unshaken faith.”

....Adapted from "Let the Garbage go by..." By David J. Pollay

The Star Thrower....

The Star Thrower...

In his book, "The Star Thrower", Loren E.Eisley talks of the day when he was walking on the beach sands where hundreds of starfish had been washed up on the shore.

He noticed a little boy picking up the starfish one by one and throwing them back into the ocean. He observed the boy for a few minutes, accosted him and asked what he was upto.

The boy replied that he was returning the starfish to the sea, otherwise, they would die.

Eisley was both touched and amused. He asked the boy; how saving a few when so many were doomed would make any difference whatsoever?

The boy picked up a starfish and as he threw it back, said… "It's going to make a lot of difference to this one!"

Eisley left the beach and went home to continue writing only to discover that he could not type a single word. He returned to the beach and spent the rest of the day helping the little boy throw starfish into the sea.

"Our world has been profoundly influenced by the thoughts, beliefs and actions of all its past and present habitants. History is created not only by those whose names are revered and celebrated, but also by the infamous and unknown. All those who live, carve out in some special way their very own niche."

The Face of God...

A newspaper photographer was sent to Ecuador in 1987 to cover the earthquake that devastated much of the country. In midst of such catastrophic suffering, he witnessed a scene of compassion that moved him so deeply that he wrote a story about it.

Here is his account: " The line was long but moving briskly and in that line, at the very end, was a young girl about twelve years of age. She waited patiently as all those up front of that long line received a little rice, some canned food and a little fruit. Slowly but surely, she was getting closer to the front of the line, closer to the food that was being distributed.

The young girl did not notice the growing despair on the faces of those distributing the food. The food was running out. Instead, the young girl's attention seemed to be riveted on three younger children who were standing at a distance, across the street."

At long last she stepped forward to get her share of the food. All that was left was a solitary banana.

Quitely she took the precious gift and smiled her gratitude.
Then she ran across the street to the three younger children. She peeled the banana very carefully and divided it into three equal parts.She placed one part of the food into the hands of each famished child.

Then she sat down and with a smile, licked the inside of the banana peel."

"At that moment", the photographer concluded, "I swear I saw the face of GOD!"

Movies That Have Left a footprint in my life....

I am an avid movie fan....I can watch a movie in any language as long as it interests me.....I am not a big fan of chick-flicks, most of the movies that interest me are thrillers,serious drama and Horror movies with less gore. I am not going to mention movies that have influenced the whole population on Earth including me like Godfather, Matrix, Terminator, ......
Let me begin with Hollywood/International.
As a kid I still remember watching Evil Dead with half closed eyes. Now people call it a movie with Dark Humor.I still remember watching Schwarzenegger's Predator, Commando and Terminator 1 and 2 upteen times, rewind,play again and again(the VCR days).
Whenever I have a chance i still watch Predator just for the sheer thrill. Now coming to the serious movies that left a lasting impact on me. Let me begin with Shawshank Redemption, the movie taught me about HOPE. Stephen King ,the king of Horror , shockingly had written a master-piece of Drama.
Stallone or sly as they call him, gave me the courage to withstand everything in life through his Rocky series. They were truly inspiring.Then there was this movie called Courage Under Fire about Denzel Washington Investigating if a woman soldier in the army who dies in battle, deserved a medal of valor. Thats intense drama for you.
Then there are these foreign movies like Old boy(korean) which was remade as Zinda in hindi, then there is this really intense scary movie called Audition from Japan(no bloodshed or gore).

OK....let me continue this later.....

Blah..blah...

Yesterday was a busy day....had a meeting with one of good friend's Cousin regarding something at one of my favourite restaurants.....Banana Leaf....everytime I face anything difficult or challenging.....these days after watching Inception....I imagine myself in a dream...and assume the challenge as a hiccup while sleeping....you know something like I have fallen off a bed or a mosquito bite.....;))....that way challenges become fun....Thanks Christopher Nolan for that brilliant Idea.
 If any of you have not watched Inception, just go for it.
Inception Movie Information