The idea is simple, a kid is born into a system. The kid goes to school, then college, then finds a job, then gets married and have a couple of kids and those kids repeat the same. The cycle never ends.

To be honest, the Rat Race is easy, its something what others expect you to do and obviously you live a common life. The framework is set for you, you just have to go along the flow.

Last day, I was at cochin with my friend @Zeqox and I heard him saying to a friend of mine (@Rajeshtaracad) that I was now off the framework, out of my comfort zone. Thats when I realized that I was off the rat race, and that moment just felt awesome.

Now it doesn’t matter what I do; honestly I am not 100% sure of anything right now, but I am loving it. There is so much to learn, so much to see and so many places to go. I am so glad I have a great bunch of friends to turn on to and to support me when I am in doubt.

I believe the opportunity I have to choose my way at my will is not something everyone have. I feel so blessed for the awesome opportunity

Finally I feel that I am off the RAT-RACE is a post from: The Kuttappi

Yesterday morning I went to collect my Smiley Card (a privilege card that gives you flat discount at selected outlets) in their office at Kaloor. I met up with the man-behind-the-show, Mr. Benjith, we started talking. A question that he asked me got me thinking.

How am I going to get what I want, if I don’t really know what I want?

Well, I do like to do something nice and BIG with my life. I want to be someone for my loved ones to look forward to. The problem is, I don’t know (yet) what that is. I was hoping to find it eventually, but I am not sure if that is ever gonna happen. And even if it does happen, that wont be what I want to be, that will just be what I happen to be. You get the difference?

There is difference in marrying the girl you love and loving the girl you marry, rt? Something similar. I got this big tip yesterday, to quantify my dreams.

Obviously, I need money to make it come true, so one step I can take is to find out exactly how much I am going to need and how soon am I going to need it.

That’s a start.

After that, I Had some really nice time with @Shalvinpd (we went to check out a house first) at his home. From there I went back and collected my replacement 8GB Pendrive. Shalvin dropped me near North bridge where I met up with @RajeshTaracad and went to his home. His mom makes awesome Doshas! Love it

This Got Me Thinking. What do I Really Want? is a post from: The Kuttappi

I have been a YES Man for a long part of my life. I could never say No when anyone asks me anything, especially the ones who love me and the ones whom I love.

Give it a thought, if you just said YES to everything, you are not making choices. The choice is already made. That isn’t fair. I thought Life was about choices.

To tell you the truth, saying YES makes good relationships and makes you feel content and awesome. The feeling that someone else is happy is great.

The YES policy have got me into troubles as well. Once you say YES to something (for instance, a help request), its your responsibility. You got to deliver. With my nature, I would put off my priorities to get the job done. I have ended-up not delivering my priorities many times.

There is one down-side to it. If you keep saying YES, others would take advantage of you as well. Most people are lazy. I would say everyone is lazy, some are more and some are less. Who doesn’t want to spend his time at a beach or partying?

Lately, the YES policy ceased to work. I said YES to NO.

And guess what? Saying No feels equally great as saying YES. ‘NO’ might hurt someone, but if the deal is not worth putting off your priorities, you got to say NO for the greater good.

And saying NO relieves you off the stress the YES would bring. Which is really good.

So, for all the things that I can’t deliver I just say NO. Hmm, I am a little diplomatic, I guess I know to say NO in a way that he wont be hurt. (Yeah, I am a big deal )

After all its for the greater good

Saying Yes to No is a post from: The Kuttappi

RSI = Repetitive Strain Injury. I had known of this condition from my friends who have had this before – Kenney, Ranjith, and Binny. Since I never used to sit on my laptop like they did, I never cared about it until my wrist started paining.

Home Medicine: Adjusted height of the chair and got a wrist band. Took rest from not so important stuffs like chatting, Tweeting etc. The pain was going away.

I went to the doctor today (thursday) and he took an xray of my hand (I have a small projection on my left wrist, just to make sure its not a bone). He gave me tips and advised to take breaks.

Obviously, the position of the body is most important. The sitting posture should be such that all the parts get proper support. Don’t carry on work once you feel pain.

Find ways to prevent RSI here and here.

Update: I took rest for three days and the pain is totally gone.

Two Weeks of Work and RSI is a post from: The Kuttappi

So he comes up with a cool nice design thinking that the client would be impressed. Sooner or later he would find that the client have something else in mind.

Oh boy, where did the idea come now? Why didn’t you tell this earlier?

All the work is gone, he have to start from scratch. And if he is not working on a hourly rate, gone are those hours too.

I have come across this situation in every project I have worked on. They don’t know what they really want, so they give us the baton.

Better nail them first, and ask what they have in mind. Give them samples or ask for samples. And be prepared to be feel down. #NoteToSelf

Here is a related good read: Buyers are Liars. Wait, What?

Buyers are liars. Amen.

Buyers are Liars, wherever they are is a post from: The Kuttappi

My Laptop (Dell Studio 15) came with a Bluetooth mouse. It looked just like a mouse at first, soon I found 2 extra keys on the side, couple of hours later, two more hidden buttons were revealed.

These extra buttons can be configured to do a cool bunch of operations like minimize all windows or close windows and so on. The buttons on the side are forward and backward by default.

Open up a Presentation and you can use these forward and backward buttons to move through the slides. Hold the mouse in your hands and it is you presentation controller.

The phone is not a phone

In fact, its not just the mouse, most cool mobile phones out there can be used as a remote to control slides. I paired up my mom’s Sony Ericsson k810i with Windows Vista and the phone asked me if I would like to use it as a presentation controller. Kinda cool.

If your phone doesn’t have something like that, probably there is a good free software out there to make it one. Google FTW

Takeaway Tip: Take your next presentation in style, you already have a bluetooth controller with you.

Get your Free Presentation Controller Here is a post from: The Kuttappi

I turn to this video for inspiration and courage whenever I feel down. @AravindJose also said the same, I know you will also love this one. Its amazing.

Here goes my favorite part of the speech:

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.

And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

Stay hungry, stay foolish

I have these words on my desktop, right now. Get one for yourself. Click the image.

A text version of the speech is available here. Get inspired

Stay Hungry Stay Foolish is a post from: The Kuttappi