What can you do in 4 days ?

Apologies in advance for a long post.

This is a deep and serious subject. I had to put together a presentation on what I would do if I knew I had four days to live as part of a workshop I attended recently. I struggled initially but finally when it was done there was a feeling of great calm as I know what to do if I have only 4 days left to live.

This is what I came up with:

Day 4:
I will initially spend some time to decide how to handle the next 4 days.

I don’t want pity or sadness around me. I cannot afford to let anyone know that I have 4 days. People will get all teary eyed around me. I have decided I will not be getting in touch with any of my exes. I don’t think I could handle that.

I wont do drugs alcohol as I want to experience and savour every minute I have and not blur it in a haze of booze or drugs. I may take up smoking though. Maybe I wont.

I will eat only ice-cream, sweets and chocolates, biryani, kababs and drink only soft drinks, milkshakes. I will refuse to eat fruits and vegetables ;-).

I will spend some time on making a budget to spend over the next four days (Something like a max of 5-10K a day for the next four days). I do not plan to spend too much as I want to make sure I keep as much as I can to help my family. No fancy trips, no five star hotel stays and no big purchases. Whatever I can keep behind to provide for my family I will do so. A smaller amount will of course go to my favorite charities.

I plan out a good story to use so that I can meet my friends but not have them act weird. I think they will, as soon as they know I have four days left to live. The story I plan to use is that I have accepted an offer to join a MNC abroad and so have to leave in the next four days. Havn’t decided on the name of the company. Sun maybe ?

Since I am very happy where I am, I decided that I don’t need to visit the 7 wonders of the world. I may take one trip though, to Kerala to meet close family. A very justifiable trip under the circumstances and since I am to leave the country soon. Plus I can never tire of visiting Kerala.

I will definitely quit work. Try to handover whatever I can to others within an hours time. I will have to come up with some weird story to say I am leaving on loss of pay or something. I have a total of 96 hours left and don’t want to think of work ever again. This step is optional as depending on my mood I may just disappear one day and not come back. To hell with two months notice and to hell with the project and deadlines. I have a more pressing deadline.

Set up an “out of office” notice to the effect that I will not be back that kicks off on the final day.

Update my website and blog to indicate no further posts will occur as I am going to be traveling on a long trip in the near future and to not expect any updates any time soon ;-). Something to the effect that I will post/email as soon as I reach my destination and as soon as I get access to email.

If time permits I want to compose and send out a farewell email to everyone I know. Configure software to send out an email after the fourth day with actual trip details so that people don’t wonder why I don’t/cant email after I go away. I hope to test this code/software out somehow before I leave J. Dammit been working on projects too long.

Call my friends with the story and fix up appointments over the next four days to meet for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Make all payments remaining on my credit card. Don’t want anyone (my remaining family) to be affected due to my going away suddenly and have to pay off my bills/debts. I don’t have any major loans going on so hopefully shouldn’t have any issues paying off my debt.

Pay any pending taxes. Same reasoning as above.

Close all credit cards/debit cards.

Cut my personal mobile phone connection.

Withdraw just the amount I have budgeted for. Plan to use only cash. Will blow all the money I have budgeted on my family and friends. I will not buy anything for myself other than food and entertainment.

Determine and prepare a list of all my financials and accounts detailing what is where. Insurance details etc.

Meet with my accountant and lawyer and draw up a will leave and instructions on who gets what.


Day 3:
Meet my friends who think I am going off on a trip to some foreign country. I am going to play up to their expectations and state that my final destination is to be the US of A. I want to have some fun with them.

I will of course be buying the food and if possible paying for the entertainment.

By entertainment I meant things like movie tickets/rides etc. Not what you were thinking!

When the friends have gone away I will spend some time with old photographs from school, college, work and beyond and reminisce about the great times I had with my closest friends.

I plan to spend some time on cleaning up my room and getting rid of all disposable items that will be of no use to anyone else. Things I cherish I plan to distribute to friends and family on the pretext that I won’t need them when I go away to USA. Mainly things like my watches, books, photographs,MP3s, cassettes and CDs.

Clothes and shoes I will not wear will be donated. I will be dressed in my best for my last couple of days. I will not buy any new clothes.

If I am up-to it I may partake in activities I had so far not tried such as bungee jumping/ parasailing/ jet skiing as so far I was being careful and wanting to live long. Nothing that could cause harm to others though like rash driving.



Day 2:
Spend entirely with my family in Chennai and if possible visit the remaining in Kerala.
Do nothing crazy but maybe spend time recalling joyous past occasions like weddings, trips and other events.

A flip back through the numerous family albums is inevitable as well.

I want to take my folks to their favorite restaurants and have meals with them. Maybe go to church with them if there is a Sunday in my 4 days.

Day 1:

D-Day. I want to spend packing up/ giving away stuff and generally preparing to go on my long trip. I have by now decided on whom to give what. People at home shouldn’t have to spend any tearful times going through my stuff trying to figure out what to do with it.

I would get a haircut and a shave J to be all set for the trip. Cut nails and shine shoes as well. Clothes hopefully will be pressed and ready as well.

Just for kicks I would go back to the gym and work out for a bit. May as well since those buggers will not give me back my membership fee. This is the last chance I have to use the membership.

If time permits I would also want to drive around my favorite hangout spots like Marina/Elliots beach, drive down ECR at a fairly decent clip, spend some time on OMR, visit my school, college(s) I studied, maybe even visit Spencers Plaza and have both an icecream @ Arun Icecream and a milkshake at the Fruit Shop. Switching off the engine would be a bit traumatic I am sure. I love the growl it make when I floor it starting off from a light going all the way to 4500 RPM wonder how it would be when I know this is the last time. Hey hope the place I visit lets me drive big block V8s / v10s or V12s or if I get to visit the automotive enthusiasts heaven I would get to drive the Bugatti Veyrons W16. :-). A sacrifice of an arm and a leg would be justified to get a drive in such a car !

I have picked out a plot and even settled the payment for the plot and for the builder. With the plot picked out and paid for, I want my future home built using fairly decent wood though not too costly or gaudy. I’m not going to care about termites J. With the carpenter paid for, I have no further expenses other than minor ones such as the travel expenses. I plan on pre-paying for that as well. A dark sober vehicle from Vincent Parker with place for a long box in the back should do quite well.

I would spend any remaining time with family and just generally wait for the flight to leave by listening to my favorite music and watching my favorite movies.

So long folks …my ride has just shown up and its nearing time for my flight. Shall mail/call you once I get there.

Head Mice/Mouse

Have you ever come up with an idea ever so crazy that you yourself say that this cannot be done or are just so lazy that you spend just a bit of time thinking about it and then forget about it ? I have and my idea was to come up with a way to track head movements using an everyday camera and have that used to control the mouse. I didnt have a camera at the time and didnt have the drive to go get one and spedn the time to write code that would accomplish what I planned. I just forgot about it and every so often I see details of it being implemented by someone or the other. This time it is IBM with the "Head Tracking Pointer". I sincerely wish I had followed up on it, I could have patented that idea. Dammit I thought of it atleast 4 years ago !

SVR & Son

A picture of my friend SVR's hand holding his son's foot :-)

Hyderabad Trip Photos

Finally spent some time to do some image cleanups and re-sizing of the following pictures from my trip to Hyderabad to attend a wedding. Danesh was there as well.

Venom

I am bitten by the Viper from this Revolutionary Venom Line . The widow looks interesting too ;-).

Bladecyclopedia

Some major blade Mallu Jokes from the Bladecyclopedia by Blade Pakri . Lots more other blade/kadi jokes there.

Celebrity Endorsements Wishlist

Pretty funny list. Wish I could come up with stuff like this: Sulfury: Celebrity Endorsements We'd Love 2 See

The Banyan

This past Saturday, I got to sit in while someone I know interviewed Vaishnavi, one of the two founders of The Banyan, a rehabilitation center for mentally ill women. I had earlier heard stories of how the organization was started but had not spent much time thinking about it.
I am in great awe of such people who devote their lives to the pursuit of greater things than just material gains.

This organization was started around 12 years ago by two students of Womens Christian College who noticed a mentally ill woman on the streets outside their college. No one was willing to help the poor woman who was cast out of her home as her relatives didnt know what to do with her. These two women managed to take care of this mentally ill woman and so started of the organization which has since helped several hundred other mentally ill women recover from their illness and even managed to unite them back with their families (even in remote parts of India).

The two gutsy ladies managed to persevere in the face of great odds against their succeeding and today have set up a first rate organization that is at the forefront of such rehabilitation in Chennai if not in India. There is a greater awareness of the organization and what they do, but they still require a lot of help (they have an average deficit of around 2 LAKHS a month !) to continue the good work they do (people can contribute money/services). Do visit their web page detailing ways you can help and also keep a watch out for a big fund raiser they are organizing for August 15th at Sathyabama/Jeppiar Engineering College. Do help them in any way possible.