My Digital Universe, Poems

For a realistic win

Cheran Ratnam

Whatever you do with integrity,
When taken away abruptly,
Don’t panic, simply hold steady.

Not every victory is straightforward,
Even when you feel cheated, defeated,
Do something else you always wanted.

Let time decide when it’s over,
Use your time, it’s not forever,
Hardships inflicted may be a favor.

Let compassion be always dominant,
Without it, never try to be prominent,
Be real, kind-hearted and persistent. 
With time, your story will unfold,
It’ll bring to light the pain untold,
There’s more to life than more gold. 

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My Digital Universe, Poems

Getting old 

Cheran Ratnam

When the tea becomes cold,
And there’s no hand to hold,
You are now getting old;
No point doing as your’re told.

You realize there’s a hole,
As you search within your soul;
Like a fisherman with no pole,
You keep fighting for your goal.

Some just want to be a mole,
Watch out! They will take a toll.
Those who are looking for coal,
Use the kind-hearted to maul.

Don’t treat me like some doll,
Or a cat with a plastic ball.
I don’t have to wait for your call;
Or for Saul to change into Paul.

My Digital Universe, Poems

Any given day 

Cheran Ratnam

Always keep things simple,
And remember to be nimble.
It won’t pay, but stay humble,
Care not much about a dimple;
Reality is more about the pimple.

Do things that may seem ridiculous,
Not to you, but for the superfluous.
Not for their sake: live scrupulous,
Follow your passions and be meticulous.

You’ll find many smiles to be dubious, 
That’s not your problem, Mr. studious!
Pay less attention to things too fabulous, 
Be careful with time, when your laborious.

Whatever it is, that helps you sleep,
Shouldn’t bother your neighbor, please!
Spread jam on toast not hate on prose,
We can only handle each other in a dose. 

My Digital Universe, Portfolio

Social Media Strategy for 2019

Cheran Ratnam

Social media, in many ways, is where the public meet the company face­-to-­face (digitally).

It is also where a company’s achievements, leadership, and influence should permeate, especially since digital activity on mobile devices (where social media dominates), has been increasing rapidly.

Over the past few years, we have seen massive growth, both in audience expansion as well as engagement, driving traffic to other web resources, and most importantly, leads.

In order to capitalize growth and build a strong presence in digital for the future, I propose the following organizational structure and strategy.

Social Media Srtategy.png

My Digital Universe

Since you must be polite all the time, let me be rude in my writing, slightly and oh yeah, incoherent (coz I can, when I want to). So judge me.

Cheran Ratnam

There comes a point in life that dreaming about what makes you happy simply isn’t enough. Well, at least it did to me. It sure didn’t happen overnight and a lot of different things contributed to the realization of what that is, over a considerable period of time.

The tears, fears, disappointments, hurts, people, circumstances, PEOPLE, did I say PEE POLES?!!!

… you name it.

It was this lingering feeling that I always pushed to the side, thinking I will do it when I have this, or when I have this and that figured out.

But one fine day, life twisted my arm and kicked me in the nuts and instead of drowning in tears or uncertainty, I decided to just fucking do it. I don’t like to cuss, but I want to be honest here. So, if that offended you, I’m sorry, then again, I’m not. The preceding lines will explain as to why I am not. The apology was for formalities sake. But we don’t care about that anymore do we? Trump’s proof of that!

Anyway, that’s how I felt after everything I’ve gone through that month and the years leading up to that FINE day. So, as it is with most major decisions in life, with a lot of uncertainty and tons of faith to make it work no-matter-how, I convinced myself that time for me to live was NOW!

If you happen to know me in real life, you would know me as however you describe me behind my back to someone that’ll never tell me how you described me. Mostly nice, I hope, if not, I don’t care if you can’t say it to my FACE.

But we all know that who we really are and what we really want in life are often buried deep inside of the facade and the act we put on in public. Yeah, ACTORS/ACTRESSES! it’s not a secret anymore. We all act. That’s why we wrap our privates in fancy cloth! Or you are afraid they’ll fall off?

Well, at least most of us don’t go around wearing a robe that outline all things we hope to be and do in life. Heck, I didn’t even have a clue of how I could live out just this one aspect of one of my life-long dreams. And I am not saying that I am living it out just yet, but I’m sure as hell close to it than I was ever before.

Life … well I’ll stop about life right there. I have no clue what life is yet. I’d be lying to you if I was to say it’s this or that. So, let’s say this one passion of mine was a huge driving force for me to go get my education, but it also made me miserable when I realized that even with that (with added nonsense after my name), I didn’t happen to be one of the lucky ones that could just go out and do it.

The best way to describe what I experienced from time to time since that one FINE day when life twisted my arm, is “there’s no pearl without pain.” These are my grandmothers words that I reminisce whenever sorrow tries to dominate my mind. Sorrow is real (and normal in subjective doses), in case you are one of those that think it’s only for sissies or think that you need deliverance every time you feel it. No offense, but I’d rather not hear about it if that’s what you think. That said, I hardly express it. It’s really none of anyone else’s business anyway.

So, yeah, again about that day. That FINE day: What felt like an utter robbery of my efforts, a squeezing out of brainpower like orange juice from an orange, I was able to hand over to the hands of the almighty and say, well, justice, you take care of this one. And me? I’m going to hit the road.

So, here I am, at 4:00 am, waiting for a connecting flight for 6 hours (for an hour’s worth journey) popping Tylenol to cope with the shivers and fever, yet, happy though, as a freezing kid in the snow, finally having the balls to write about that FINE day. So, in this interpreted version of what happened, things are cool. Stellar. Fantastic. Rockin’. And most importantly, FREE. Yeah. FREE. SO, SUCK IT. Or Swallow it!

My flight will be in less than two more hours. Ciao!

My Digital Universe

3 things I learned from my trip to the Rocky Mountains

Cheran Ratnam

1. Negatives may be hidden positives

While we were on an off-road hike, it started to rain and snow from time to time. At the time, we got a bit nervous because we had hiked non-stop for a few hours and had a few hours back down through the woods. Later on, while getting close to our campsite, I realized that:

  • The short stops we took because of the rain was much needed for everyone in the group to recover
  • The rain cooled things-off when it started to get a bit too hot

Sometimes things won’t make sense right then and there. But, when you reflect back, from a fresh perspective, even the unpleasant moments can be seen in a different light.

2. It’s in the way that you use it 

We all have strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes your strength in one area can be a weakness in another. If I had to tried to outrun my friend that was trailing ahead of me, I might have gotten too exhausted to enjoy the scenic views once I got there. I decided that in order to keep up with him, I was going to keep a steady pace and take shorter breaks.

My friend’s approach, which worked for him, was to sprint through large steps and take a long break once he reached flatter ground. My competitive nature wanted to do the same, but I didn’t want to be exhausted. In the end, we both reached our destination simultaneously.

3. Take a minute or two … or three!!! 

I always find myself torn between wanting to stop at every beautiful spot and taking a picture Vs. wanting to blaze my way to the top as fast as I can. Part of me wants to savor the beautiful wild flowers and skip rocks on still waters, and the other part is in a rush to get to the “grand view”.

This time around, since I wasn’t rushing through, I took time to appreciate the wildflowers. I am so glad that I did. We can get too caught up on the future and forget to live the present. My past, now, is perhaps a bit more colorful, because I took those stops and didn’t power through the hike. If I was to look at a video of the hike, there will be more footage of me taking-in the beauty of Adam’s Falls than me panting, trying to catch my breath. There are times you make a run for it and times you pace yourself.

Here’s a short video of a few hikes that we took in Boulder and at the Rocky Mountain National Park, CO.

 

 

My Digital Universe, Poems

Winds – Visual Poem

Cheran Ratnam

Winds

At times tossed, turned or even rattled,
Rain comes- rain goes,
Yesterday, today or tomorrow?
Sunny days- warm smiles,
Minutes pass, don’t come back.
Cold nights- frozen tears,
Mock away past cheers,
Wind blows: leaves fall,
Child throws away the doll.
New day: same measures,
Past rules- past fears.
Stone wall- false hope,
Tossed away across the shore.
Birds fly, snakes crawl,
Dog barks but mountains don’t Fall!

 

 

My Digital Universe

Programming Humans

Cheran Ratnam

In a world where human interactions are getting reduced to a behavioral analysis, the challenge my friends, is to disrupt that ridiculous analysis.

We humans are not robots. We were endowed with free will. The day that we become predictable, we will become programmable.

Our brains were created with the ability to conjure up endless possibilities and realities. A program, no matter how advanced, can only do tasks that it was programmed to do, by a HUMAN.

After all, it’s our unquenchable thirst for creativity that brought about the concept of a program and the ability to create it. So, aren’t we hindering the natural progression of advancement by trying to amend its progress with our finite “wisdom” and the poisonous need for control, when we try to program fellow humans that have unique talents and unfathomable capacity that a machine or any amount of practice will never be able to replicate?

Programming and randomness

Routines are great, but the randomness of a falling leaf is what makes the world beautiful.

The randomness of nature has a purpose. Nothing happens on accident. Instead of laboring to exercise more control over each other, we should labor to accept, understand, and truly respect one another.

That’s why in a band, the bass player doesn’t try to play exactly what the electric guitarist play. That ability to tune into a common frequency makes a sound so pleasing to the ears that it makes the cells in our bodies jump in ecstasy. That’s why we are constantly searching for something new. That’s why we get tired of the mundane and crave adventure.

Programming and certainty

The unknown shouldn’t make one fearful. It should stir-up excitement. After all, some say that our realities are shaped by what we attract with our minds. Most of the problems in the world today is due to distrust and an absurd superiority complex that overrides our ability to look at issues without bias or preconceived notions.

Sometimes learning means unlearning things that block progress. Just like it only takes a spark to light a fire, it only takes one positive thought in the right direction for our un-programmable-selves to learn to think differently.

 

My Digital Universe, Poems

Why be a rubber ball?

Cheran Ratnam

If life gets hard …

Be a rubber ball.

Why?

You can’t drown a rubber ball.

No matter how hard you try to drown it in water, it will pop back up.

If you try to smash it against a wall, it will bounce back – and if you are not ready for it, it might hit you in the face!

Reality check!

A rubber ball is pretty much indestructible.

Unless, one uses overwhelming force.

Using overwhelming force to destroy a rubber ball is absurd.

Lastly, a rubber ball is simple, uncomplicated, and lots of fun.

Kids love rubber balls.

Who doesn’t want to be loved?

 

 

 

My Digital Universe, Poems

Thoughts on Sri Lankan Independence Day

Cheran Ratnam

 

We received freedom?
Didn’t we always have it?
We decided to give it away –
Then struggled to get it back!
They got it on a piece of paper,
But never in their hearts.
They started fighting,
Instead of freedom, they spread hatred.
Little ones and old ones,
All born in the same paradise,
Looking for freedom,
As freedom burned in street corners.
We grew up in their mess.
We wanted out of there,
Now we long for paradise.
But they are still fighting?!
When will you stop?
Let us enjoy our paradise?
You have had your time.
And look where you have brought us!
We don’t want a king,
We don’t want your ideas,
We don’t want your hatred,
You can keep your freedom.
We don’t have those boundaries,
We don’t have jaded glasses,
We see each other as brothers and sisters,
Who suffered at your dependence.
Independence is freedom –
From dependence.
Dependence on your old ways.
An unfree mind will never be free!
We hope that it won’t
Take as many years for all to see,
The unity and the oneness,
Instead of the division and the otherness.
So that a new generation
That don’t have your poison,
Will join hands as one nation,
Away from your separation.
In – dependence of each other,
In- dependence of that unity,
In – dependence of that clarity,
Will celebrate independence, in-dependence.
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