Fingerprints scanning !

Too much of everything is bad. Same goes with technology I guess.

I had gone for Aadhar enrollment today (after months of pushing it back..). As expected, there was chaos in the office. But I was glad because my form was accepted without any fuss (!) and now I just had to wait for my turn for the biometrics to be done. I tried to gauge the average amount of time required per person for fingerprint scanning, Iris scanning and then address verification etc. By looking at the number of people ahead of me (say about 5), I knew it was going to take a while. Went home and returned with a book.

When I returned after about half an hour, the number of people ahead of me was still the same ! Apparently some people request and get their job done out of line because they are related to so and so or because they had lost their turn earlier etc.

I patiently waited for about 2.5 hours more for my turn. By then, doubts had already started cropping up in my mind as I remembered the last time I had gone for fingerprints scanning. It was when I was in Singapore and had gone for the employment pass. It had taken me (and the officials there) about 10 minutes to scan my thumb prints. We had tried and re-tried for several times, but somehow the machine was not picking my thumb print.

Finally, it was my turn for Aadhar enrollment. I sat in front of the lady who had her Lenovo to help her do the biometrics. The first thing she asked me to do was to keep my left hand on the scanner for capturing the prints of 4 fingers. First attempt.. Error ! Prints too light. Second attempt.. Error ! Print not available for one finger. Third attempt (after putting on some vaseline on my finger tips).. Error ! Quality is not good. Only 20% captured. Set SLA is minimum 60%.. By this time, a lady and her mother-in-law.. particularly the mother-in-law, was getting irritated because it was their turn next. The m-i-l was also suggesting the correct way to place my hand.
After several attempts, my fingerprints could only reach till max 30%.  I was asked to wait and the next lady  was then called and her processing was completed within 5 minutes !

After her, it was my turn again. I tired with my left hand fingers.. Error !. Tried with right hand.. Error !
And for Aadhar, we need to take 4 + 4 finger prints + 2 thumb prints !!!! That meant my battle with the scanner could easily go on for at least an hour more....

We finally gave up, and I was told to come after a few days. I asked what's the point, my hands are still going to be the same !! Not that I was going to develop some new or deeper lines on my fingers in a few days..

Apparently the scanning process goes very well with everyone else. It's just me and my magical hands then.

(Positive thinking: I can easily do a crime and not worry about my fingerprints getting identified :) )

Thankfully we still have some primitive systems which allow access with good old swipe cards and not biometrics !

Guess I am going to be Aadharless for some more time..

Telepathy or Coincidence?

There are some things which can't be explained clearly by Science even now. This sense of telepathy is what i have strongly observed many times. Now i don't know if my ESP quotient is high or just that am mentally aware or simply put my brain has nothing else to do other than receiving or sending random signals !

I have shared this sense highest number of times with my mom. And 90% of the times it is related to Food !! Those who know me will argue that there is no relation of food and me, but let me tell you I do eat and have cravings many times. 
Once at office i had a craving to eat a non-veg dish that we had long stopped eating for some reasons. The same evening i returned home to see that mom had prepared it already. This has happened with various food items be it breakfast, snacks, or some outside dish. It is always something which is out of the way and still my mom has the same thoughts as I do at the same time. 
Who is sending signals to whom.. I have no idea.. but this happens. Some will say that a mother has a special bonding with her kids and hence this is not unusual. I agree with it, may be that is the reason it happens with me and my mom most of the times. 
But then there have been other instances too. Like suddenly you feel taking your phone out of your purse, and the next moment it rings. Sometimes we think of someone and we get something from their side too. 
This happened recently, and i even knew what the reply was going to be !!! 

This is not just between two people. I have seen this working by itself for me. Sometimes I think of a long lost song and there it is on the radio or tv or whatever. Once or twice I just had some flash thoughts that i wished to see some XYZ movie.. and it was aired within one or two days I had the thoughts.

I am not clear what should I call this.. telepathy or mere co-incidences. 

May be these are co-incidences and happen with everyone every time but people are just not aware about them and can't recognize them and hence and don't give them a thought.  

Or maybe Telepathy really works?

Or maybe.. I am weird !! Maybe.. 

I Like it..

This thing has been bugging me since a very long time now so thought to pen it down. Here it goes..
Give it a thought, suppose you have put some good efforts into some task at hand and you have really done justice to it. And you sincerely feel that it has come out well. Suppose you mention about it to someone and that someone may be anybody of your family, friends, colleagues.. That person says just few words like "You have done a good job" or "Nice one there" or "Its beautiful .. i like it" kind of things. Think about the satisfaction you get and just one appreciation makes your day, you feel that your effort has paid off.
I wonder why "Appreciating" someone or some thing doesn't come so easy to us. If we see something that really touches us or is really commendable I feel we should go ahead and express it. You may not realise how important it is for someone. For all you know, you may just make the day better for someone, you may lighten up their mood, you may as well help in reducing someone's inferiority complex.. And the best part is .. There are no side effects :)
I am not talking about the superficial things you say, just to please or flatter someone. I believe that type is done out of mere selfishness. What I think is the effect of a heart felt and true appreciation is very fruitful and can make a difference to someone's life and outlook.
This is true at any phase of your life.. be it at school, home, office anywhere.
For instance, try this simple thing. Compliment someone who touches your life everyday but you happen to take it for granted. We all do it some time or other. In fact we are so used to not appreciating that we find it strange if someone actually does it. Sometimes we don't hesitate in pointing out something we didn't like but pointing what we really like doesn't come easy. We hesitate in saying few good words for reasons known only to us. That's the saddest part.
Imagine saying thanks and complimenting the work done by your maid, or acknowledging the good driving done by a bus or auto driver. Your two words can make him feel better and happy about what he is doing. If he is happy his positive vibes will certainly reach others. Believe it or not, the effects do spread.
To be honest, in addition to believing in myself, I understand i also need appreciation once in a while. That keeps me going and that's a great confidence booster.
So if it is important for me then I realise it must be for others too.

On a lighter note, if I become a manager some day, my team won't starve for appreciations.. provided they do a good job !! ;)

Random thoughts

Thinking straight. By straight here i mean thinking in a single direction and not looking at various possible aspects. Am I a straight thinker? This question has cropped up in my mind various times that why can't I gauge things at different angles. It popped again today when I was playing Carom with my friends.

When you play, first thing you need to concentrate is your self game, but other than that analyzing the game and thinking from opponents view or guessing the probable attacks.. all this plays a very important role too. Its like if you want to play effectively you have to think laterally. I kept this in mind and constantly reminded myself that i should be analyzing the current situation and then play my game. But that just hampered my concentration, may be because it didn't come to me easily and I had to put in extra efforts.

Same is the case when i play cards, I just keep on playing my cards without thinking much about the oppponent's cards. I have actually bluffed a very few times while playing "Bluff".

I believe in people and situations as they seem, without giving a thought that there might be something behind it. People can easily thug me emotionally. Assuming that the world thinks the way you do...

If i say i can not think analytically or i am stupid then i know that is not true. Because if that was the case, how did i clear the aptitude and entrance examinations, solving Klueless levels, solving puzzles and word games..

Lazy or plain dumb ?