Life is too short to be spent worrying: Satish Nagasubramaniam

Books??
The one’s which would have more number of pages with some print on it?

About:

Not sure if I really acquired anything special to describe about me during this short span of 32 years of my living in this planet, but still I will try my best to say something here. I am Satish Nagasubramaniam born on the 28th of July 1977 and struggled to get even a basic bachelors degree and finally achieved getting two master’s degree. I was born and brought up in Chennai where I have spent 28 years of my life and then due to work, I moved to Bangalore and currently that is my home.

Satish Nagasubramaniam

I am a day dreamer and a humorist. I am member of HUMOUR CLUB and I have got numerous awards as the “Best Humorist” for many years. I started blogging just to improve my vocabulary and English skills and later I understood that blogging cannot help and I have to start from LKG once again, tried for an admission, but got rejected at the entrance test level. I am a strong believer of GOD and always feel that – “Whatever happens in life; happens for a reason”.

I blog at http://www.iyerpaiyan.com, I write “short stories” and anything and everything that is funny, but to be honest, I just blabber there. I am a day dreamer and work towards achieving my dreams. Wanted to be simple all thru my life and be good and do good for my community.

My Interview – My Life

Q: Welcome to Speakbindas.com. Let’s start with your childhood. Where were you born and raised? Any fond memories from your childhood that you cherish even today?

• I was born in Chennai and that too in one of the oldest places in Chennai called Mylapore. Where else a typical Iyer guy would have been brought up then. I am not a person who was good in studies or education, I always fail in my subjects and every time I have to produce a report card at home, that day will be a war zone. I always love to be alone and that is the time when I discovered myself, my talents, my strengths and weaknesses, for what I am today, the basic mould was done when I was a lonely child. I always cherish one thing from my childhood and that is the time where I spent time with my mom, we never behaved as mom and child, we were just more than friends. No hugs, No kisses, No pampering, she enjoyed me being independent and I enjoyed it as well.

• Those times would never come again in my life. Time heals everything. I was a brilliant cricketer, I should say that, I was good in all departments of the game and everyone thought that I am going to be a cricketer in my life, but fate decided the other way and put me on to computers, still I play cricket, but it is not the hard copy of it, it is just the soft copy. I still remember one run-out that I made when I was fielding in the deep, it was a straight direct hit on to the stumps and that was fabulous, unfortunately it was not recorded on media.

Q: As a child, you carried any special talent or art?

• I used to draw lovely cartoons and I still draw cartoons, but owing to work and other priorities in life, that talent almost faded away and I still feel for it. I draw caricatures and I was good at it. Adding on to that I used to write lot of jokes and some of my jokes have been published in leading Tamil magazines as well, I was thrilled to be the 1^st prize winner on Anantha Vikatan joke competition that was one great day in my life.

Q: What nickname/s you have/had so far?

• Ah, that’s a huge list. It starts from my college days, where I was nick named ‘Bhaashaa’ as I used to imitate “Rajinikanth” who acted in the movie “Bhaashaa” and that name still sticks around me. The next screen name I took was “minorkunju” and that is the only screen name I have for all the social networking sites I participate. I have another nick name called “Cheetah” which was given to me by some of my Oracle colleagues, they named me like that after seeing the energy and enthusiasm I had during one of our trekking trips.

Q: What education you acquired? How was it in sense of troubles? Whether you could complete the same easy way or faced the financial issues? If yes, how you overcame the same?

• I managed to do a Masters in Computer Application after a long struggle and a huge list of arrears. As I told you folks earlier, I am not good at studies, and GOD only knows how he made me a programmer and now an Architect. I should thank my dad for spending thousands and thousands of money on a idiotic child like me and he only made me join NIIT which is the real turning point in my life and that too for the salary he drew, NIIT fees was a herculean task for him, but still he did not say a single word, and agreed to pay the fees for me, so there were no financial constraints when it comes to my studies.

Q: Who was/were your best friend/s during your school/high school times?  Are you still in touch with them?

• Tough question, but still I wanted to be honest here. Raja is one of my best friends who I know right from my school days and I am still in touch with him, also there are other buddies with whom I am still in touch, but not very frequent. I am seriously blessed with a wonderful friend’s circle.

Q: What was your favorite subject of study?

• It is always PHYSICS and it is still PHYSICS and that’s why I did my bachelors degree in that. I am attracted towards Magnetism and Electricity subjects and I am a big fan of Logic Gates. I wish I could have done masters in Physics.

Q: What was your favorite sport?

• Do you really want to know this?? I think the answer would be obvious, what sport you would expect to be the favorite for a person from INDIA? Yes, your guess is right, it is Cricket and as like every other INDIAN, I see Sachin Tendulkar as GOD and no less than that.

Q: Any teacher that you still remember as particularly influential?

• There is one teacher who I will never forget in my life, her name is Kodhai Sridhar and she was more than a mother to me than being a teacher, she is the one who spotted the right talent in me and channelized my thoughts in the right direction. I am trying my best to find and get in touch with her, but I could not. She was working for Rajalakshmi Matriculation School in Chennai. If she happens to read this and I would be glad to get in touch with her. Kodhai Sridhar, I owe you zillions.

Q: What was the first job/profession/business you started working for after completing your education?

• Ah, I started my career as a web developer in 1998 and I started working after 7 months of me completing my Bachelor’s degree. I was one of the breaks I badly wanted to get into this IT industry.

Q: Are you popular in your friend circle or say your community for some art /specialty/talent you have? If yes, tell us about it.

• Ah, I don’t know, but I am one of the most loved individual in my friends circle, the fact may be that I am a good listener than someone who spews advices. I have friends who care for me, if I don’t talk to them even for a day. They are very protective on me, I would say, to an extent possessive as well.

Q: In addition to being paid money, how else has your career created value in your life?

• Well, you should work in such a way that you add value to your profession and that is how I work. I have travelled length and breadth of this globe and whenever I see some clients use the software that I have written, it gives me immense pleasure and a sense of satisfaction, and that gives some meaning to what I do and how I work.

Q: What is your most significant accomplishment as a professional/businessman/employee?

• The day I start thinking that I have accomplished something in my professional environment and that’s when I would be kicked out of the race, so I don’t think I have achieved anything great but I am working hard to achieve something. Miles to go for that stage.

Q: What does the word “family” mean to you? Who are in your family? Tell us about your family life.

• If I would have been the person who wrote the “Dictionary” module for Microsoft Word, I would have added “WORLD” as another meaning for “Family”. That is the driving force for anyone to do anything in his or her life, without a family, you would probably not come to office and work. Family in my opinion includes friends as well; to me they are a part of my family. In my house, it is me, my dad, my aunt and my sweet little granny, she is 88 years old and she is the binding and commanding person in my house, if she says anything, no further appeal and all I will do is execute. They are hunting for my Ms. Right and time would only say when that would happen.

Q: According to you what should be the role of a man and a woman in family life?

• They are more like the wheels inside your watch, if one fails to revolve, and then the entire thing comes down. Another thing the watch wheels teach us is, even though they meet at just one point, and they just don’t see each other any other points, still they are intact and work together, and that is how a man and a woman should be in a family life. They should work hand in hand and shutdown their ego’s and minimize their expectations. Life will be beautiful.

Q: What is your definition of “happiness”?

• To me it is a mind-set. Happiness is void, there is nothing called as happiness in life, it is the way we digest things within ourselves and move ahead. That being said, there is nothing called as “worries” in life as well. But we being humans; try to differentiate both of them and choose the best that suits us. I know I am sounding philosophical here, but I would want to admit the fact that, seeing a baby smile would be the most “Happiest” moment for anyone, it is not necessary that it has to be their child. Babies always come to this world by closing their hand, you know why?? If you open that, they will be having happiness hidden inside that.

Q: What is your most memorable travel experience?

• I am always a lonely traveler and I did not get a chance to travel with friends who I know very well, but that got sorted out when I came to Denver, Colorado, USA along with my team and that trip was fun. We enjoyed every moment of that trip and that trip would always be etched in my memory. This place is not sufficient to tell everything.

Q: If you were re-born as an animal, what would you want to be?

• I wanted to be born as a DOG. I know it would be an obvious answer, but I believe they are one of GOD’s best creations for mankind and the only animal which can be trained to be helpful to mankind is DOG and I would like to be a “guide” dog for a handicapped person, so that I can help him all the time.

Satish Nagasubramaniam

Q: Do you think life in villages or small towns is more peaceful than in big cities?

• Well, that is again a notion, as you all know; grass on the other side is always greener. But one thing which might be true is, in villages or small towns, the expectations of people who live there would be minimum, they may not want to have a Benz car or a luxury condominium, they would be pretty content with what they get, and if we define that as peace, yes, their life would be peaceful than our city life.

Q: Do you believe in God? Do you believe in rebirth?

• Oh yeah, certainly I do. There is always a super power which guides us in whatever we do, and without that super power you and I may not exist as well. If you define GOD as a piece of statue, I may not agree to that, because he lives everywhere and he is watching you 24X7. He knows what to give you and what not to give you, to me the work I do is GOD, the thoughts I get in my mind is because of GOD, so without him I am nothing.

• Re-birth, I don’t believe in that, because one can say if they have already born or not, every birth is a new episode, so talking about rebirth is like trying to paint in water, nothing would be concrete.

Q: Are you happy with present system of education? What changes you aspire to see in it?

• I strongly believe that we should move out of A of Apple, B for Ball scenario in the first place, we have to educate the kids practically and not bookish. I like the education system of US and would like to adapt the same to INDIA. We should kindle the creative thoughts of our next generation and should stop the mad rush behind MARKS, there should not be a MARK system in INDIA in future, not even GRADE system, evaluate a child based on their talents, I don’t believe in examinations either, a day or 3 hours cannot decide a child’s future. Bring the talent out and focus the child in the right direction where he can groom his talent and become successful. The bad mindset our parents have these days is, they say a strict NO NO to sports, which is a very bad sign, they think that their children cannot have a future on sports, but that is wrong, we should channelize the kid’s in the area where they would be 100% productive.

Q: What do you think about corruption amongst politicians/bureaucrats?

• Don’t put the blame on politicians or bureaucrats; that is a “scapegoat” approach. Why do we give bribe first? We wanted our job to be done without any hassles and we cannot wait? Right? First change our attitude towards bribing before we putting the blame on the guy who receives it, we are ready to give and he is ready to accept, so who is at fault? The buyer or the giver? Corruption can be stopped only if we refuse to give, otherwise we cannot kill that cancer. I would blame myself for this and not the society.

Q: What are your hobbies?

• I am not a person who sticks to a hobby. I generally don’t do anything for a long time, so if I have understood the definition of hobby, that is something one should be doing for a long time. I don’t have any specific one to say though.

Q: What do you read? In other words, are you into reading? If yes, share your favorite books.

• Books?? The one’s which would have more number of pages with some print on it? I think I have read few during my school times.

Q: What was the happiest moment of your life?

• It again goes back to my answer on “Happiness”. Whatever that satisfies you and your needs, gives you some pleasure, a comfort feel and that is what we define as happiness, it may not be something that you did for yourself, it may be something that you did for others as well, so if I have to choose the later part, I would say, the moment I saved a child from getting under the wheels of a bus, would be my happiest moment and I am still in touch with that family.

Q: What was the gloomiest moment of your life?

• The day I lost my mom, 20 years back.

Q: Say, you are sponsored to travel to 3 world destinations, where you need not to worry about costs for food, hotel or anything. Which destinations would you pick up, and why? Would you like to take someone along with you? If yes, whom?

• India. 2. India, 3. India. There is no better place in earth than INDIA, as I have travelled to many places across the globe; I think I have the eligibility to say this. I don’t have any special person in my life at this point in time, probably my dad, paati and athai J

Q: Are you into watching movies? If yes, which fills your list of favorites ones?

• Not a full time movie buff, but I do watch movies. If I don’t have anything better to do over a weekend, I watch movies. I don’t have any specific list as such, almost all the movies I have seen so far has thrilled me by some means.

Q: What are some words or phrases you use most?

• Everything Happens for Good.
• Time is the best medicine to heal anything
• Be good, do good, life will always be good.

Q: What image about you, you want to create in other people’s mind?

• A simple, humble, lovable humorist …

Q: What would be the one thing you would change about yourself?

• I don’t want to change anything; I would like to be what I am today. I have changed enough in my life.

Q: What is your deepest fear?

• GOD. I cannot lie to him.

Q: If you could meet one person, dead or alive, who would it be?

• My mom …

Q: What’s your favorite food?

• Any south Indian Chennai based food. Pongal, vadai, sambar, pakoda … list goes on …

Q: What’s your take on the technological advancement these days? Does it make people’s life simple or complicated?

• It makes people’s life simply complicated. There used to be days where I used to remember at least 25 phone numbers of my friends, today I don’t remember or memorize even one, even my cell phone number I have to check and then only let others know. But I welcome the technological advancements on the medical field and that has actually increased the longevity of people. I am not an anti-technology improvements fellow as well, I was just kidding in my first statement. Being in the technology industry, how can I say it is bad?

Q: What’s your overall perception of life?

• Life is a puzzle where you have to form your own questions and answers, all we have been given is a blank checkbox paper with black and white squares. We should know that we cannot write on the black squares, and we should also know what we need to write inside the white squares to leave a mark. Every puzzle can be solved only by the person who has that paper and expecting someone to solve that puzzle for us is mere stupidity.

Q: Any special message you would like to share with people you know as well everyone else? This question is question-less question. That means, if you have something inside you that you really wish to tell but couldn’t be covered in above questions, you can share it ALL here.

• Life is too short to be spent worrying. Always remember that your actions and deeds is what would reflect in your lifestyle. If you have a good heart and if you feel that you are still being neglected, just hold on for a second, charcoal should be burnt further for us to see the diamond, if you think GOD is frying you in a pan, it does not mean he is torturing you, he is just trying to get the best out of you.

• I thank my family, my friends and all my readers who are playing a wonderful role in encouraging me and supporting me to write me and I promise you all that I will work towards living up to your expectations. I sincerely thank Rathy (http://www.tantrumzz.com) for recommending me and my blog for this piece of interview.