Journey of Quarters

It is amazing how time flies, especially when you are enjoying it. Not so long ago, I remember walking across the kitchen only to be slapped. Yes, that constitutes the earliest memory of my life !! I don't even remember the reason for being slapped. I do remember being consoled though...

Not all memories of my life are that unhappy. But yes, I do realise that when you turn 25, you have lived a quarter of your life, to be speaking very optimistically. Considering the wild streak in me, make it very very optimistically. :-) So what comes next ? Well you can expect one of the following from a blog that starts off the way this one did :

1. Describing the journey so far.
2. Reliving some of the highs and lows.
3. Evaluating one's progress in whatever be the judging parameters.
4. Making some resolutions for the future from lessons of past.

Normally I try to do all of above (mentally) but this blog is for a different purpose. Let us take a small detour in understanding this. Suppose you meet a long lost friend. How will the normal discussion proceed ? I for one would normally find out what the chap is up to now-a-days & then try to interpolate from what I knew of him/her from the past. This is what many call 'joining the dots'. Unfortunately when you join the dots, you use lines.

To explain with an example, if my friend earned 12 quarters per hour three years back and 24 quarters now, you would assume that he/she earned 20 quarters an year back and 16 quarters two years back. Though it saves your brain for putatively better tasks (such as catching up on latest movie songs ??), this is all but a compromise. And this compromise called JLC (short for Joining Lines Compromise) will manifest in the conversation as :

• "It is a long story, listen.." (close friend).
• "You NEVER check on me.." (beloved)
• "I knew you since you were THIS small.." (relative)
• "Abe, chodh yaar.." (not-so-close friend)
• "Now is not the time.." (former colleague, who is more interested in making quarters rather than talking to you)
• "How/Where/What are you.." (Beware! Could mean that the friend has forgotten about you, and wants to figure you out without making it apparent)
• "Bhul gaya ??". This one happens often if you are quarter-amnesic like me !!

So what am I arriving at ? Well, I know a bunch of people in this world whom I consider to be in my sphere of influence. They can influence me just as I can influence them. I intend to drive the point that atleast for these people, I would like to draw not lines but exact curves (B-splines for the geek-minded) between points. This means that if you meet me next time (in real or online), bore me to death with what's happening in your lives. If you find me silent in between, know that I am not a verbose person. Don't stop till you finish or find me in a quarter-conscious state. Believe me, I would love it.

To explain using our earlier example of 12 and 24 quarters over three years, it would imply that my friend earned...ahem.. well I guess I will leave the B-spline calculation part to you folks. I am sure you got the gist of it.

PS: Wondering why the blog was titled so...did you miss anything ? Yes, that is our JLC at work again.

$P