Me++;

When I was twenty, the dotcom boom was in full blast. Newspapers regularly carried reports of newly minted millionaires. Everyone wanted to be in the queue.

“So, when are you going to be a millionaire?”

And I strained to see as far ahead as I could. “Twenty six?” Twenty six seemed like a good age to be a millionaire.

Now I’m there and worth a few million paise.
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    code_martial — Mar 14, 2005 3:26:12 AM — #

    Happy Birthday once again :)
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    sumit_mittal — Mar 14, 2005 5:41:57 AM — #

    Heppy Budday d00d :)
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    manish — Mar 14, 2005 6:25:17 AM — #


    A few million paise and a few million experiences-to-learn-something-from.

    I would prefer to multiply them and call a billionaire instead.

    Happy Birthday.
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      ashwinb — Mar 14, 2005 7:45:58 AM — #

      My sentiments exactly.

      Happy Birthday.
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    shoan — Mar 14, 2005 8:06:07 AM — #

    Happy Birthday Jace.
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    madhav — Mar 14, 2005 8:18:00 AM — #

    A million wishes. Have a great birthday!
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      themadman — Mar 14, 2005 7:48:43 PM — #

      I will be in Singapore when yours comes around, so I'm wishing you in advance, old man. :p
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    itsjoy — Mar 14, 2005 8:18:40 AM — #

    Happy Birthday Kiran.
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    asmishra — Mar 14, 2005 8:40:24 AM — #

    Happy Birthday.
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    birdonthewire — Mar 14, 2005 9:17:38 AM — #

    Many happy returns of the day! As Vinod Kambli said about Sachin, "He took the lift, I took the stairs". Maybe you are just taking the stairs. The millions will come. But till then, happiness should suffice I suppose :-)
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      Kiran Jonnalagadda — Mar 14, 2005 9:41:02 AM — #

      Happiness is that ephemeral quality that is best striven for and not attained. Happiness is stagnation. And yet, the pursuit itself is enjoyable.
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        contentedbloke — Mar 16, 2005 11:44:49 PM — #

        Belated birthday wishes, Jace! Somehow I missed this entry - just saw your latest post which led me to this.
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          Kiran Jonnalagadda — Mar 16, 2005 11:51:58 PM — #

          Thanks, Bala. I have a feeling that chap is going to attempt harassing me some more. This is going to be fun. :-)
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    joge — Mar 14, 2005 9:39:07 AM — #

    Happy birthday jace.
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    saiprasad — Mar 14, 2005 9:43:05 AM — #

    Happy Birthday Kiran.
    Have a fantastic year ahead :)
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    mujib — Mar 14, 2005 9:44:11 AM — #

    Happy 26th. Have a good one.
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    rythm — Mar 14, 2005 9:44:31 AM — #

    Happy Birthday!!!

    May all ur dreams come true!
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    basrya — Mar 14, 2005 9:50:52 AM — #

    Don't bother about the moolah, just keep counting the good times and dream about more in the years to come. Happy 26th. Hope you have a blast!
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    sidcarter — Mar 14, 2005 10:02:26 AM — #

    Damn, you are a millionaire. I am a millionaire too, just that my currency is Yen. Many Happy returns of the day, dude :)
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    sunson — Mar 14, 2005 10:03:30 AM — #

    Happy Birthday!
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    cyberscorpion — Mar 14, 2005 10:14:01 AM — #

    Happy Birth Day Jace...
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    befuzzled — Mar 14, 2005 10:17:58 AM — #

    Happy Birthday! :)
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    rgiri — Mar 14, 2005 10:24:17 AM — #

    Best Wishes!
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    sajith — Mar 14, 2005 10:26:44 AM — #

    Happy birthday, Jace. May you stay forever young.
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    Anonymous — Mar 14, 2005 10:35:59 AM — #

    Many Many Happy Returns of the Day and Wishing You The Very Best, Kiran. Have stumbled on your blog a few weeks back and have been enjoying it quite a bit-the pictures and all, though i do'nt comprehend the tech talk too well!!

    Have a Great Year Ahead and Many More....

    akanukolanu@yahoo.co.in
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    eddd — Mar 14, 2005 10:45:05 AM — #

    Happy Birthday !
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    jayasankarvs — Mar 14, 2005 10:52:58 AM — #

    Happy Birthday.
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    deepsan — Mar 14, 2005 10:54:37 AM — #

    Happy 26
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    fox2mike — Mar 14, 2005 10:58:31 AM — #

    Many Many Happy returns of the day :)
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    swaroopch — Mar 14, 2005 11:19:14 AM — #

    A birthday is just the first day of another 365-day journey around the sun. Enjoy the trip. ~Author Unknown

    Happy Birthday!
    - Swaroop
    www.swaroopch.info
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    joshmachine — Mar 14, 2005 11:22:26 AM — #

    Happy birthday.. your millions is on the way
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    the_elcid — Mar 14, 2005 11:26:26 AM — #

    happy bday bro
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    gromhellscream — Mar 14, 2005 11:28:26 AM — #

    Happy Birthday:)
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    eh_donia — Mar 14, 2005 11:47:55 AM — #

    :-) Happy Birthday!

    Have a lovely year ahead. Some of the things you _could_ do are:
    * Take a world tour. (India tour bhi chalega)
    * Marry your girlfriend.
    * Donate a month's salary.
    * Go bungee jumping.
    Heh. I dont dare let my imagination go crazy here.. but, in short, have a nice year ahead!! Cheers.
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      Kiran Jonnalagadda — Mar 14, 2005 9:11:49 PM — #

      All four are lovely ideas. Especially #2. And a financier for the world tour would be very nice. ;-)
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    beerbal — Mar 14, 2005 12:05:01 PM — #

    Happy Birthday, Jace!
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    tariquesani — Mar 14, 2005 12:06:19 PM — #

    Keep at it - they will come to your door ultimately - for now Enjoy the day, Happy B'day
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    minn — Mar 14, 2005 12:12:24 PM — #

    Happy Birthday, Jace! I hope all your dreams come true and this year is filled with love and happiness. :)

    Have a good one!
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    jackol — Mar 14, 2005 12:39:19 PM — #

    Happy Birthday dude!
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    beatzo — Mar 14, 2005 12:43:56 PM — #

    Happy birthday, man. :)
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    linuxdubai — Mar 14, 2005 12:47:05 PM — #

    Happy birthday Kiran !
    Happy birthday Kiran ! You are few of the special people who make life of others a nicer one! We are happy to be your friend ,even without ur Millions.
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      Kiran Jonnalagadda — Mar 14, 2005 12:54:52 PM — #

      Re: Happy birthday Kiran !
      Thanks, Jayaram. The millions was partly in jest. In an age when it looked like it was within easy reach, everyone had dreams. I choose 26 simply because it seemed like a nice, round figure, and not for any real reason. Now is the moment to look back and think "haha, look at what fools we were."
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    shradha — Mar 14, 2005 12:48:57 PM — #

    well, u wanna try turning tables when u r 62?;)
    Happy Birthday Kiran!!:D
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    bernhard_k — Mar 14, 2005 1:19:38 PM — #

    my best wishes as well
    I guess other things in life got more important for you. Otherwise you would have probably made the millions by now ;)
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      Kiran Jonnalagadda — Mar 14, 2005 1:24:57 PM — #

      Life
      Heh, heh. I got distracted into exploring this newfangled thing called a 'life'.
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    sharat — Mar 14, 2005 1:57:45 PM — #

    Happy Birthday :)
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    frozenaftermath — Mar 14, 2005 2:06:07 PM — #

    Though I never wanted to be a millionaire, during the boom days I wanted to own a couple of what I considered as 'necessities' (home network, car, bar at home etc). At 26, I am still nowhere close to getting most of them and really struggling to find any coherent direction to what I am doing and what I really want to do.

    Have a good one though!
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    gnurpreet — Mar 14, 2005 2:45:32 PM — #

    happy birthday!
    Jace, the post did not hint very much that it was your birthday. Maybe I am not blessed enough to read between the lines. But since you have not said something after so many wishes, I infer that it is certainly your birthday!

    So Happy Birthday!! hey you are 26 already?? get married soon man, before you get too old :D

    Jace booze booze :D

    I am announcing in Partecs office that it is your birthday...
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      Kiran Jonnalagadda — Mar 14, 2005 8:53:03 PM — #

      Re: happy birthday!
      Heh, thanks. I thought the last line made it clear; I didn't want to explicitly state it. This post was modelled after last year's post. ;-)
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    yathin — Mar 14, 2005 2:46:32 PM — #

    happy birthday
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    tsk1979 — Mar 14, 2005 3:07:43 PM — #

    Happy b'day dude :). So you are finally into middle age
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    latelyontime — Mar 14, 2005 3:33:52 PM — #

    completely off the topic but \ Happy Birthday! :)

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    gnurpreet — Mar 14, 2005 3:52:41 PM — #

    aamir khan n u
    you share your birthday with aamir khan.
    now dont start thinking that you look like him :)
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      Kiran Jonnalagadda — Mar 14, 2005 9:08:26 PM — #

      Re: aamir khan n u
      I also share birthdays with two cousins and a rather famous chap born 126 years ago. Not that I think I'm as smart as him, either.
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    purplehazerads — Mar 14, 2005 4:42:55 PM — #

    Happy birthday. :-)
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    tushar — Mar 14, 2005 4:56:08 PM — #

    May your life be long and broadband cheap.
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    anitab — Mar 14, 2005 5:01:39 PM — #

    another march born?
    well, well! a very very happy birthday :)
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    uniquemary — Mar 14, 2005 5:01:49 PM — #

    Millionaire at 26 !
    "Now I’m there and worth a few million paise."

    So you indeed are a millionaire :-)
    Wish you a very Happy B'Day !
    Have a Great Day and ofcourse do count your blessings :-)
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      Kiran Jonnalagadda — Mar 14, 2005 9:09:29 PM — #

      Re: Millionaire at 26 !
      So you indeed are a millionaire :-)

      Aren't we all, given an appropriate unit? Thanks for the wishes.
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        uniquemary — Mar 15, 2005 10:29:12 AM — #

        Re: Millionaire at 26 !

        "Aren't we all, given an appropriate unit?"

        Very true ! Never thought on those lines , thanks for the insight...
        but very few are actually worth the millions(any unit)in their twenties,lots of them come to that value with age and experience only :-)
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          Kiran Jonnalagadda — Mar 15, 2005 3:06:57 PM — #

          Re: Millionaire at 26 !
          Come on, a million paise is a mere ten thousand rupees. Surely even a BPO job pays as much every month?
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            uniquemary — Mar 16, 2005 9:48:42 AM — #

            Re: Millionaire at 26 !
            "Come on, a million paise is a mere ten thousand rupees."
            You're right,but I was actually going beyond monetary terms ..thats all
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    themadman — Mar 14, 2005 7:51:38 PM — #

    Have a good one. You're still in your 20s. ;)
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    shekhark — Mar 14, 2005 7:59:50 PM — #

    HB
    Happy Birthday Jace!
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    ashwinne — Mar 14, 2005 9:49:28 PM — #

    Hehe, Happy Birthday Jace :-) May you get the $$$ and the adventures you wish for!
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    idea49 — Mar 14, 2005 11:05:01 PM — #

    i know you'll be there..you'll be a millionaire someday...
    only you hoped it'd happen to soon when you were young i guess :)
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    thaths — Mar 15, 2005 12:21:25 AM — #

    Happy B'day. What you need money for? It'll all work out in the end anyway.
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      Kiran Jonnalagadda — Mar 15, 2005 12:28:18 AM — #

      I didn't know then. I don't know now. But in a period when it seemed like we were all inevitably going to be millionaires, and newspapers reported ages, it was fun to set ourselves millionaire milestones. I arbitrarily selected 26, and it's interesting to see how it's worked out. That was the sole purpose.
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      ravi — Mar 15, 2005 9:07:27 PM — #

      Families? Kids? Old Age? Fun/geek toys?
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        mannu — Mar 16, 2005 5:09:38 AM — #

        security. freedom. power. balls. more money.
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        thaths — Mar 16, 2005 7:30:56 AM — #

        Possibly. Interestingly, I have had more fun, freedom and peace working on my lowest (and I mean LOWest) paid jobs than on my well paid jobs. I cannot answer your points about families and kids.

        I really think that the "money leads to XYZ" thought is a fallacy. Money could lead to those. In my case, it merely led to overwork, thoughtless consumption and not much happiness. I think each individual has to try their hands at things and make up their own mind whether tons of money is the way to go.
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    pavismaya — Mar 15, 2005 1:14:42 AM — #

    Hyappy Birthaday
    May the god bless you
    May not the devil kiss you

    Enzaaai
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    sunir — Mar 15, 2005 2:14:52 AM — #

    happy birthday, longtooth
    Happy Birthday, from a different time-zone. You have a couple months on me, but we're in the same position. I think it's amazing how much the dot.com boom has shaped our expectations of life, and how our generation of professionals dreams far out of the normal box.

    That isn't to say it's impossible, it's just that those dreams are harder than they initially seemed. All good dreams are. Otherwise, you'd just make bigger dreams.

    Personally, I've decided that those dreams are worth keeping. Keep it real.

    Have a good one, eh.
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    mannu — Mar 16, 2005 5:07:33 AM — #

    Yo! (Belated) Happy Birthday!
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    Anonymous — Mar 16, 2005 9:10:22 PM — #

    You're an LJ whore. When you're busy pouring your energy into something else other than this journal, you'll make it then. Unless the business plan is to sucker people who read your journal into buying something related to you.
    That was always the plan , wasn't it? Being popular as a substitute for having an idea eh?
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      Kiran Jonnalagadda — Mar 16, 2005 9:15:38 PM — #

      How unfortunate that you happen to be lacking a sense of humour.
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    kalyancreddy — Mar 16, 2005 10:06:40 PM — #

    Wish you a belated birthday, judging by the comments to this post, I sure believe that you are worth far more than *a few million paise*.

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