I Dreamed a Dream

I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high
And life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving
Then I was young and unafraid
And dreams were made and used and wasted
There was no ransom to be paid
No song unsung, no wine untasted

But the tigers come at night
With their voices soft as thunder
As they tear your hope apart
As they turn your dream to shame

I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I'm living
So different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed

Courtsey : Les Miserables

This song was performed live by Susan Boyle in the 2009 auditions of the show Britain's Got Talent.However, I stumbled upon her audition video only a few months back. Since then, I have seen this video an uncountable number of times, and yes, got goose bumps every time. Be it her divine voice or her absolute lack of interest in appearances or her heart warming nature or simply her attitude that's brimming with positiveness and simplicity; she is one lady you just cannot help falling in love with. There was something very magical about her that drew me so close; deep inside I could really identify with her. This also prompted me to do a significant amount of research on her life and background(I have devoured all her youtube videos) and her sudden rise to stardom from very humble beginnings. Her story is one that would never cease to inspire and has broad appeal to every commoner.

So what are the lessons drawn?

1. Appearances do not matter; attitude does. A person's attitude can provide the support and guidance necessary for channelising his/her talents. Appearances can only help you part of the way.

2. There is no work that's lowly or demeaning; every work is respectful, be it sitting at home and nursing your parents or working in affluent and polished workplaces.

3. Go after your dreams relentlessly. Age should never be a barrier. In fact, most people become famous only when they are old.

4. The way you feel from inside, the same way you see the world. So if you feel happy, content and positive from within, that's how the world will appear to you.

5. Don't bother about things others will think or say about you.You cannot stop people from wagging their tongues.

Long live Susan Boyle!! You have made me feel abundantly happy and you are very high up there in my list of personal heroes :)

Welcome 2012

It's once again that time when we bid adieu to one year and welcome another; a time to retrospect over the year gone by; a time to make resolutions for the next year; a time to make a fresh start on a blank slate; a yet another chance to get things right :)

So how do I summarize 2012 ? Around May timeframe I quit my old job in Novell, took a well-deserved energy boosting two month break, and finally joined Dell R &D in July, which incidentally is located in the same techpark as Novell. So much of the oldness was retained even though the workplace was new.And with the new job (having supposedly java requirements), I finally managed to shrug off the rather sticky .NET programmer tag (at least I thought so :)).But with six months gone, the work is yet to pick up speed here; not to mention that the project which I joined has since been shutdown leaving behind a cloud of uncertainty.However the exposure to technology in the new job has been quite satisfactory; I can now claim to be educated when bombarded with hardware related jargons; And not have my confidence go tumbling down a steep slope when confronted with a Java discussion.But by far, the best part about 2012 was that I was richer by a couple of really good friends :)(don't think I will ever manage to follow the advise of putting professionalism before friendship :)).

Although I have never been successful in keeping any new year resolution, it doesn't hurt to make a few; so why not indulge?? :). So here's my rather compact list of resolutions for 2012 in no particular order of importance

1. Renounce all forms of online chat (FB, Gtalk etc.). It has finally dawned on me that these chat engines are not only extremely addictive but also a massive waste of one's precious time.

2. Spend more time in the kitchen. Try lots of new recipes, instead of repeating the old ones.Start experimenting with non-vegetarian cooking.

3. Join the Camlin Hobby classes. Learn at least two new things, glass painting and something else.

4. Get the elusive driver's license.Start driving my 2-wheeler more regularly. Do something to tackle my road fright.

5. Become more disciplined and serious in life. Basically what this entails is, waking up early, cleaning the house, having breakfast, reaching office before 10:00, coming back by 6:00 and then do something useful which does not involve watching TV :).

6. Start reading more, be it newspapers or books or technology topics.Fully utilize my Just Read membership.

And that's it. A 6-point agenda should not be too difficult to follow (but who knows :( ). Bring it on 2012. I am not scared of you anymore :). However if someone can put me in a time machine and transfer me back to beginning of 2011, I will be more happy than words can say :).