Reflections

Book Pick: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

2011-03-29T07:47:00.000-07:00

Stieg Larsson's Millenium Trilogy has become a rage with book readers and this is the first in the series. I was naturally very eager to get my hands at it. Its an engaging thriller, no doubt, it drives you crazy trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together. But it seems these days any crime fiction needs to have a "sexual assault" and "a rape victim" in its plot. I'm tired of the sexual harassment stories, and I've decided to not read the other two in the series. I dont know what's happened with the Agathe Christie, Sherlock Holmes style where the focus was not on the gory details of the crime but on the unravelling of the mystery, and the "Ha! how did I miss that!" moment. Just want to return to simpler times and stories. I'm just not ready for Larsson.

I swear..

2010-12-12T02:02:00.000-08:00

I hardly ever swear.. but when I saw this in my post, it took all my energy to stop swearing.

Now you judge for yourself..

Book Pick: Barrack Obama's "Dreams From My Father"

2010-12-09T06:16:00.000-08:00

The title felt like a misnomer to me, maybe it could have been named “Roots” or “Origins”. This is the story of an individual who was a born to a black father and a white mother, and most importantly had met his father only once. It’s a story of how he goes back to his roots to discover where he originally came from, understands his inheritance and makes peace with it.
It took me a while to get used to the language and the flow, but after the first couple of chapters I was hooked to it. The turbulence in Obama’s mind about who he was, what he wanted out of life, etc. seems something that is common to most of us. Although the circumstances that he came from, makes these questions strongly imposing and creates the urgency to find an answer. I think he would not have asked these questions, had he been a white himself. It’d have been easier to dispose these questions off then. But the way one looks reminds of their origins and creates a necessity to understand that. I don’t think I can claim to have understood the book in entirety, but it’s very endearing to hear a politician speak of his innermost thoughts and in this manner. Some of his thoughts are very complex and also contradictory from one point of life to another, which is probably how a man’s views tends to change as he progresses in life. It’s interesting to see him question himself, and also be ready to accept his mistakes, and be willing to see from another point of view. It’s these contradictions that make the read worthwhile, and in many cases, there are no rights or wrongs, atleast they are not sermonized that way, its upto the reader to form his view, and I like that.

My lack of understanding of the American culture and political climate made it hard for me to grapple the concept of poverty in America. The description sounded closer to what we see in India in the slums and so I went with that for my visualization, but I could be completely wrong. I’d love to read this book in a year’s time and see how my perceptions change then.

It also made me think about my own roots and I realized I don’t know much about my lineage beyond my grand-father, and it’s terrible to realize that I have not even thought of this before. When you’re brought up in a cocoon and a simpler world you don’t tend to think about these things so much, I guess. Unlike Obama, whose complex heritage and up-bringing implanted the curiosity and also imbibed the relentlessness to pursue the answers.

My recommendation would be for you to read it, remember it’s an auto-biography not a biography. So, even more reason to grab one NOW.

Endhiran

2010-10-02T04:01:00.000-07:00

That I got to see it on the second day is thrilling! So have no option but to write about it. What I felt about the movie in bullets. WARNING: May contain spoilers.

Its Rajni the actor that is highlighted and not Rajni the superstar. C'mon, he doesnt even have an intro song!! It takes sometime to digest that, but once you get a hang of it, you love it.
The Robot Rajni compensates for the other softie, with all the stunts and special effects, so satiates your need to see Rajni in a different avatar.
Loved Rajni the villain - makes me believe that he is one of the grossly under-utilized actors. Towards the last 30mins, he shines brilliantly with his comic timing and villainy, can't think of any other actor playing that.. the way he goes maah..like a sheep, everyone in the theater loved it!
Rajni actually looks very nice, especially Chitti! Even Vaseegaran has a good scientist look on him!
The hardwork gone into the move is very visible. The story, screenplay, special effects are all tied together neatly. Kudos to Shankar -- he always weaves a good concept into a masala movie.. thats a special skill.
Unlike some Indian sci-fi movies where sometimes technology just means the protagonist using a computer with a DOS screen wondering what password to type, here the terminologies and the gadgets are actually awesome and very convincing.
Some songs are good.. some ok..by the way where was the 'kadhal anukkal' song shot.. the place is so gorgeous and not something that I've seen in other movies before.

Ishwarya is ok-ok.. she needs to remember that she is not always walking on the ramp. Acting wise not as bad as Jeans, but she looks very pretty even at 35! Some of the costumes look simply great on her!
The film could have been shorter by about 15-30 mins. One or two songs lesser would have been a relief in the second half.

Integrating with facebook

2010-08-17T10:49:00.001-07:00

A quick tested to check facebook integration for this blog.

Ah! Library! And some quick book reviews

2010-07-22T23:15:00.000-07:00

There is a new library chain called 'Just Books' that has been started in Bangalore and one of the branches is 10 mins away on my two-wheeler. So finally I've signed up and started reading regularly after sometime.

Starting with good old fiction for now, have been reading a few thrillers like one from Harlan Coben - 'No Second Chance', a typical fast paced mystery with a twist in the end.

And then a new one from John Grisham called 'Theodore Boone - the kid lawyer'. How long has it been since I read a neat simple story with no complications, a Nancy Drew style one from JG!

And one more called - 'A Room with a view' from E.M.Forster (yeah, the guy who wrote 'Passsage to India'). Occasionally I like to read one like this set in the 18th century with characters who dress and talk differently. It takes a while to get used to the language and honestly, didnt understand the meaning of some words, but takes to a far more simpler world where good and bad were defined very differently and world was never so fast paced. Not one of the best I have read, but just for taking the reader to a different time, it scores.

A quick review on the 'Just Books' library itself - its one of those modern ones at the look of it, where the library doesnt smell of dusty books, but more of a new age 'Crossword' store smell, which is nice in its own way! The good old library card with stubs has been replaced by a credit card styled one, and the issue and return of books is done through a computer which scans the card, ha! Sometimes it takes forever for the card to be scanned and then some more 'forever' for the books to be scanned. Once it also showed a book on the list which I had never scanned, the person in the counter mumbled something like ... previous person checkout, still in the memory, etc. Not sure how that can happen since it just logged me in with my card. On its book collections, I have never read John Grisham's 'The Firm' and so decided to pick that one up, since its one the most famous ones, but what do you know, I couldnt find the book on the shelf, which was quite frustrating. They also assure that if you want a certain book to be procured, they'll do it for you, but hasnt happened on the one that I've asked them for. I also think the Tamil books collection could be much much much better, its just one shelf out there. Considering the vastness of Tamil literature that is very disappointing to say the least. So, a lot of promises, but I'm willing to give some time before judging completely. Also it says IIM NSRCEL on the computer, not sure if the library itself is started by an IIM enterpreneur or the software system is designed by one, anyway I've a soft corner due to that.

They charge 1000/- as refundable desposit and 250/- as non-refundable deposit. 150/- per month if you need to take 2 books at a time, which I think is quite expensive, maybe I'm still in those days where I paid 100/- as the initial refundable deposit. The best feature is that one doesnt have to return a book in a stipulated time, which works well for me as I never get to read something at a pace I'd like to, what with the work and family et al. I was a member of the Elloor one (and actually still am) but its far away from my place and also they charge you 10% of the book for 2 weeks and it keeps getting incremented everytime you delay. So eventually I end up paying a lot of money anyway. I think if one wants to read very randomly Elloor is good, but if you want to read consistently then the monthly 150/- maybe worth it in Just Books. Also, if you pay for 6 months in 1 shot they charge only 750/- instead of 900/- so an additional monthly saving of 25 bucks.

Book review: The KiteRunner

2010-07-22T22:00:00.000-07:00

Its a book that left me speechless, and distressed. A tale of 2 friends, who are united and separated by a strange bond and turn of events. To me the book represented the two shades - God and Satan - that resides in every human being. How one overcomes the other in certain situations is really amazing. The book is set in Kabul initially and then moves on to the US and then to Pakistan and back to Afghanistan. the book brings out the story of Afghanistan as much as it does about the 2 friends. The author is very prolific and no wonder he won all those awards. There is a certain power in his words in that they haunt you for a while after putting the book down. His words have the power to paint these vivid pictures in front of you and somehow they are so hard to erase from memory. I find it hard to review the book, as I had a sense of conflict while reading the book. The book per se was brilliant with powerful characterizations and remained unputdownable. However, there is a sense of darkness to it, which somehow was very difficult for me to cope with. The betrayal was very hard for me to come to terms with. Somehow that remained edged in my mind for many days and had to be unseated with a lot of coaxing. If you are strong-hearted, you should surely read it!!

Moderation

2010-05-03T05:23:00.000-07:00

Absentia from my blog has resulted in some uncomfortable spam on my posts, hoping to delete atleast some of them. So moderating the comments on the blog from today.

The newspaper

2010-05-02T08:50:00.000-07:00

I think it was in my eighth or ninth standard that I started reading the newspaper. I had this awesome English teacher who inspired me to treat English as not another subject to study and score, but to enjoy and romanticize the language. She is the kind of teacher, whom you hope to live upto and even after all these years I am conscious that if she read what I wrote she should not be embarassed of being my teacher. Anyways there she created a desire in us to learn a lot of new words and the newspaper became a good source for that. Those were the days when we bought 'The Hindu' and there used the be this weekly column on grammar and we would devotedly cut up the clipping and discuss that in class. (Man, I cant even remember what that column was called, something with Thursdays I think ) Yeah, there were a few of us like this and we made our own gang.
Then there were the times when I was so glued to watching cricket and tennis that it used to be a standard practice to turn over to the SPORTS section of the paper. Again making clippings out of any interesting article was a favorite hobby and I had a complete folder of Sachin's and Steffi's silly mundane details.
Once I went to college, I dont remember reading the newspaper avidly, but there was this time when me and another friend of mine became crossword addicts. Not that we were very good at it, but we used to solve yesterday's puzzle since we would have the solution on hand ;) Oh common, dont tell me you havent done it before.
Fast forward, then there was time when I actually read the newspaper for all kinds of news, the politics, editorials, business, sports, the spiritual stuff, the page 3, well, everything.
Today, I think I pick up the newspaper from the door and leave it on the table and dont bother to look at the headlines even! The only time I pick it up again is the next morning to dump it in my cupboard so there can be space for the new one on the table. And yeah, its useful to gather the trash at home sometimes. Once a reminder of my zest to learn new things, today it just remains a sign of my guilt at not being able to make enough time for it, and in a way I wonder a reflection of my persona a bit. And even when I do get the time, there is a tendency to shuffle news on the electronic media rather than ruffle through the fresh browny newspaper.

Kids and ads

2009-12-05T22:09:00.000-08:00

A Big thumbs up to the new Airtel ad with that lovely kid distributing his dad's cell number to everyone in the school. Gets the message across about roaming being cheap and has a great recall effect.

Thumbs down to the Surf excel ad where a 50 year old woman watches a small kid act like a dog. Supposed to be amusing or what? I feel so odd seeing that kid roll around in mud like that.

Filmstars and privacy

2009-12-05T21:58:00.000-08:00

Have you seen this new Abhi-Ash ad for Lux? Not the one where they are playing hide and seek. Its the one where they throw a teaser saying.. "we have some news to tell you", thereby leading the audience to believe that she is expecting a baby. And then its supposed to be funny when Abhishek says "you get a gold coin with Lux". Somehow, couldnt appreciate the ad. I think there are certain things you shouldnt joke about. If you talk about how much your privacy is valued, you need to show that discretion at all times. Is it ok to get paid and hence not care so much about letting the world peep into your life?

What women do.. and men don't

2009-10-06T08:51:00.000-07:00

Last week, I was in a technical session (yes, I've been attending a series of sessions :) ) and I noticed something.. all the women in the room including me were writing notes so vigorously. All the men in the room had a notebook and a pen but I did not find even 1 guy in the room putting the pen to the paper.
WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY?

Do we smile at work?

2009-09-21T02:51:00.001-07:00

I attended a course on 'Presentation skills' at work last week. All the participants were supposed to give 2 short 6-8 mins presentation on any topic they like. What's interesting (or not) is that atleast 80-90% of the participants talked about their work, their projects, etc. Looks like our thinking capacity is now so limited that we cannot think anything beyond the scope of our work. In the first round, I gave something related to my work as well, but after seeing how boring it was getting when about 12 of us talked about it, decided to talk about my past US trip in the second round. I had spoken on this before in one of my toastmaster speeches and so that helped. It was a day long course and I was hoping to have some fun, but then it got all serious. One guy spoke on volcanoes though and that was hilarious!
After the first round, our trainer must have been verrry bored hearing all of us speak about the finance business. She asked one important question -- 'why wasnt any of you smiling when you were talking about your work?' I guess that's true!! People tend to get really uptight as such when they start presenting and then talking about work makes us serious as well. Wonder why?
How often do we smile at work anyways ...?

Hi hi hi hi hi!

2009-09-20T09:39:00.000-07:00

Vivek style la oru hi hi hi hi hi! I know its been a while. But I'm not disappearing. Just been a bit busy with the new routine and also with my other blog . Yeah, its a mommy blog and I've been toying with that idea for sometime. But didnt want to write about it here, hopefully the reasons are obvious.
So whats been happening?
- Watched kandasamy.. he he, the lesser said the better. In the intro scene Vikram beats up a policeman and sings something like a rap in between. I just couldnt stop laughing from that point onwards. A superhero with a sothai song :)) Shriya ..aiyyooo.. pls ma ivlo avuthu podanuma?
Want to watch -- 'unnaipol oruvan' even though its a remake of 'A Wednesday', heard there are some variations from the original and I like those kind of remakes (Read DON, not Ghajini)
Also on the list, Wake up Sid (A lighter version of Lakshya?), Whats your Rashee? (Is it time for Gowariker to give a dud or atleast Priyanka! This is called negativism :)
- I've been really amused and confused by this whole austerity episode. The twitter man is probably now in jitters. Time to swallow his words back I guess. As though the media doesnt have enough fodder on its own, politicians are working over-time to provide them some more. My take -- One man's luxury is another man's need. So really, if they are spending their own money, its probably not a big deal. We can ask them to donate some of their money for the general good, but not dictate their lifestyle. But Tharoor could have shut his mouth like his boss. And after the stone pelting, maybe the 'high command' will provide better peace of mind to their security guards by halting all the farce.
- Broke my cellphone bcos I was angry (are you all scared now?) and got a new one after 3 years. Nice Xpressmusic model.

YSR's tragedy

2009-09-04T08:57:00.000-07:00

Very unfortunate incident. But give me a moment to bitch about the media. Yesterday morning TOI had a headline about all the prominent personalities who died in air crashes and this was even before the chopper was discovered. How can they be so insensitive, I wonder! Whats the hurry to enlighten the world with that kind of information, who is really looking for that kind of valuable data?! I'm sure the family must have been already going through hell and then these media guys beat themselves everytime!

Back to work!

2009-09-04T08:48:00.000-07:00

Uhh!! Finally joined work after such a long break. Such mixed feelings - anxiety over getting back and excitement to break away from a monotonous routine and a wierd feeling lurching in the stomach about leaving the kid back home. But, so far so good.

Hope to continue blogging, but cannot do it from work, so maybe the frequency will dip down a bit. But I'm not going to disappear, so stay tuned.

BJP's turmoil

2009-08-29T22:23:00.000-07:00

Its interesting to watch this saga. When senior men working with each other for more than a couple of decades fall out, many things come out of the closet. Now you dont know whom to believe. Media is having a gala party though. My worry is that the ruling party has won a thumping majority and the opposition is at its weakest. Not so good for the country. Congress has typically got too arrogant when they were in similar positions of overwhelming majority, Indira Gandhi came up with Emergency and Rajiv Gandhi got into the Bofors scam. I hope this time around, sense prevails.
Seems to be a BAD time for all opposition parties in general. In TamilNadu midterm elections, AIADMK has opted out of the race complaining of poor quality of the EVMs which is another perplexing strategy since it only aids the dominance of DMK.

ARROGANCE

2009-08-20T08:56:00.000-07:00

What arrogance man! So they expect the custom fellas to google around who Shahrukh khan is!!

http://in.movies.yahoo.com/news-detail/63072/SRKs-interrogation-in-US-waste-of-time-Farah-Khan.html

Book Review: Tales of Beedle the Bard

2009-08-11T01:30:00.000-07:00

Cute breezy book, nothing out of ordinary though as one would expect from J.K.Rowling. Typical fairy tales, except the one with the Hairy heart. Whats really wrong with Rowling, it was quite scary and gross honestly. But the others are really chweet kiddy stuff. Lot of people argue with me that Harry Potter is kids stuff, most people who say that havent read the book, I want to say to them that your kids stuff book is actually this one, not the harry potter books. The first one with the Hopping Pot is my favorite, the kind of story you would read in Tinkle, maybe. Father teaches a lesson to the spoilt kid, nice. All teenagers though may like the one with Fair Fortune. The notes by the fictitious Albus Dumbledore add color to the book, they satisfy your urge to step into the Harry Potter world a bit, but, in some cases he (I mean Rowling only) goes into extensive references from other books and I mentally switched off in those portions.
Why I would recommend reading this? Read it for completion sake -- out of loyalty to Rowling and the world of Harry Potter and to claim that you have read it.

Dictionary Time

2009-08-09T05:34:00.000-07:00

I've always wondered if its okay to use the phrase 'pass out' in the context of 'graduation' eg. this guy passed out in 2007, and I'm wondering why are you talking about someone fainting in 2007 to me?!
here is the usage explained in the link ( http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pass+out )
pass out:
a.
to lose consciousness; faint.
b.
to die; pass away.
c.
to distribute, esp. individually by hand: to pass out discount coupons on a street corner.
d.
to walk or march out or through; leave or exit by means of: The graduates will pass out the center aisle after receiving their diplomas. Pass out this door and turn left.
e.
to be exempted or promoted from: Jerry passed out of freshman composition on the basis of his entering essay.
The example (d) seems to indicate that its fine to use it in the context of graduation. But still, that's not my first inkling. So, pardon me if I sympathize with you the next time you tell me the year you PASSED OUT!

yaad aa rahi hai..

2009-08-08T08:33:00.000-07:00

Remembering is an art.. or is it a blessing obtained only through divine intervention? I have a cousin who can remember a lot of minute details and I'm not referring just to birthdays or anniversaries; she would rattle off about when we went to a particular movie, where we sat, what we ate years back; she would be able to tell me the date when we had a particular conversation and the context that brought us to that conversation, incidentally she might even offer the timing when the discussion took place; she would be able to tell me what I wore for a particular birthday of mine and why I wasnt specifically too happy on that day. Sometimes its scary, sometimes funny and most of the times its precious because it brings back those wonderful moments in the past back to full glory in the present.

You have to understand me a little bit to comprehend why this cousin of mine would be an eternal object of envy to my yearning eyes. I cant remember a thing for god's sake! Its not about forgetting to pay a bill today or about forgetting an answer to a question in the exam, its not even about forgetting formulae or a task to do. As a matter of fact, I'm not too bad at the aforesaid. Its actually about those moments that I'd love to remember, but cannot seem to recollect. Its also about those people who I have met in my life, in my school, college or somewhere else (see I cant remember this too!) whose faces I can remember but whose names just do not pop out in my brain. Or in some cases, whose names sound so familiar, but well, how did they exactly look? And its not that these people were inconsequential, for some of them may have played a small yet significant or interesting role in those moments but later went into oblivion, yet they were worthy of reminiscing more than what I managed to do in real. So, I might be digging my eyes deeply into a yesteryear school album of mine and wondering who is this person standing next to me, uhm.. I know her name, wait, yeah she used to sit next to me in school..yeah, yeah, hold on, she once helped me with my lab work..huh! cant remember the name though, there I give up. Ok, you get the picture and you may think, hey its not that bad, I've been there, done that. But wait, its not just about forgetting people from school days, see you need to replace school with college or MBA classes, tuition classes, colleagues from just a couple of years back, and I'm not exaggerating, TRUST me. Why would I suck my own trumpet ? (he he, my version of the antonym for blowing ones own trumpet)

Book Review: My Country My Life

2009-08-03T10:54:00.000-07:00

I've been reading Advani's autobiography for about 3 months now and was able to finally say 'the end' today. Its a must read for anyone who is interested in Indian history/politics. I think there are 3 ways of reading this book -- think of it as tracking advani's life or indian history post independence or BJP's history. The fact that a very popular politician who is very much in the limelight has written his autobiography and that he is an octogenerian and that his life coincides with some of the significant incidents of Indian history make the book a compelling read.

I dont think I can even review this book, considering how voluminous it is. I loved the parts where he talks about his stay in Pakistan, Partition, Emergency and the unforgettable Ayodhya movement. He also talks quite extensively about the Indian constitution which is truly engaging. He has offered his view liberally on topics like communal reservations and pseudo-secularism which are worth understanding. One has to read the book with an open mind, because there is a lot of anti-Congress propaganda throughout the book, as is expected to be. So one has to read and look at it objectively from one's own point of view as 'Ok, Advani thinks this, so whats my viewpoint?' Also since the book was published in the year 2008, just before the elections, there are portions which sound like the party's election propaganda. But irrespective of that, its replete with anecdotes in his political life, his banter with other prominent personailites (like Musharraf for eg) and provides a great insight to his ideologies. Great read, get a copy.

Love Aaj Kal

2009-08-03T10:09:00.000-07:00

Yes, its a movie review, but hey listen, here is a movie review after a reallly long time, so be patient since I need to get it out of the system.
Its a good movie to watch but not a great one coming from the 'Jab we met' director, what with the expectations and all that! There are some really cute portions in the movie which make you smile like the first 15 minutes which is an 'out of the box' beginning and gets the audience hooked. Some of the dialogues are very cute and sound so genuine. For that kind of start, you start expecting more from the movie.

Deepika has a very charming face and a beautiful smile, but she can definitely act better and she NEEDS to work on her dialogue delivery. Like the scene where she tells Rahul Khanna -- 'main tumhe baad me sorry kah doongi', the entire theatre was in splits! Its supposed to be an emotional scene but falls flat with the way she emotes. There are many scenes like these which would have been more powerful if she had just delivered it better, the climax scene included! Also, whats wrong with her English... she pronounces 'promise' as 'pramisse'..?! Anyway, after all the criticism I still like her, because she has such a great screen presence and she is just pretty :) She is only a few movies old anyways.. !

Ok, I dunno how else to put this.. but I couldnt connect with the Rishi Kapoor-Saif Ali Khan interactions.. they sounded very filmi and before they speak one word, you are bored and know there is some flashback scene awaiting you, the dialogues in those scenes are very cliched..they've tried to intersperse the past and the present in Rang De Basanti style, but it works in some places and doesnt in some.

My main problem with this movie was the screenplay, I think the story was okay, there was some meat to it, performances were ok, but some of the incidents are not convincing enough or interesting enough. Like how Saif realizes his love for Deepika -- it seems a bit drastic!
I think many people loved the turban Saif's part, but even there except for the glances, I wish there was some more interesting rendezvous between the leading pair. The new actress is verry pretty and has a grace to her, but she cant dance at all and i mean AT ALL. But she is very watchable and suits the role to the T. I'm told her name is kept a secret, for what, no clue!
Saif is ok, not great, not bad, I liked the Sardar Saif more than the other one.

On the whole, not a great movie, but definitely watchable. Good effort but something went wrong somewhere.

Hosts and guests

2009-07-07T20:32:00.000-07:00

Some people are just awesome when it comes to playing a host. You go to their place and find the home so neatly maintained that you're not sure if its ok to walk on the floor with bare feet. Interesting starters are served along with welcome drinks. Nowadays the trend is to not serve Indian savouries as starters, but salads with cheese dips, koftas or kababs. For veggies like me, there is veg kababs, although I'm still scared to touch them when they're called kababs because there is a non-veg touch to it ;) So then people get talking and after a while the dinner is served. Gone are those days when everyone would sit on the floor with vazhai elai or even a normal plate, but the food served would be very South Indian style with curries, kootu, pachadi (raita), payasam (kheer), sambar, rasam, curd, etc. Now even if the get together involves all South Indians, the food served is invariably North Indian with rotis and subjis and raita and some rice like pulav. Not sure why the trends changed, but somehow North Indian food looks richer while serving. So unless its a get-together of relatives, NI food gets the nod. And then who sits on the floor and eats these days, every T,D and H has a dining table or people feel comfortable placing themselves on the couch so their eyes can linger on the TV. Its mostly a buffet where everyone attends to themselves. If you're still left wanting, a delicious dessert is in the pipeline. Like in everything there are good hosts and bad hosts.
And also there are good guests and bad guests. Most guests say nice things to you atleast for courtesy sake. But sometimes, there are these odd ones out. Once I had some relatives visiting me at 6:30 in the morning. They had informed me the previous night around 9:30pm when I was still working in the office. I had to work late night, so I ordered some breakfast through a caterer. Here I was relieved that I could find a caterer to take the deal at that hour and congratulating myself more when the actual food arrived, bcos it did taste good. However during the breakfast, the guests made tacit references to the fact that I couldnt cook myself as though I was lazy to cook. Relatives are always hard to please I guess!!
And then there was this case when I had a family visiting me after 9pm (I dunno why I always have guests at unearthly hours!) They seemed to have an opinion about everything, like water tastes better at their place, rice could have been cooked this way, oh! there is so much coconut in this.. uhhh!! I was so drained at the end of it torn between trying to keep a happy face and suppressing the urge to give a piece of my mind.
Wonder if its just me who is this lucky? Any experiences out there?

Reality shows for kids - to be or not to be?

2009-07-02T07:16:00.000-07:00

I was watching this show on Vijay TV -- Airtel super singer junior and it made me think for the nth time -- should we have reality shows for kids at all? So, these kids basically line up one by one and take their turns to sing. The judges listen to the songs and then tell these kids if they are selected, waitlisted or rejected. You should see these kids' faces when they are told -- rejected. I think taking part in competitions and learning to cope up with failures is good even during childhood, but TV as a medium somehow makes things too dramatic esp. for kids. The moment of failure or rejection is not a personal one and your emotions become an object of public scrutinty. These kids would feel embarassed when their friends watch them on TV, wont they?
What do you guys think?

Pum pu pu pu pum!

2009-06-22T00:43:00.001-07:00

Have you seen the new intel ad on TV? I think its a classic eg of how an ad should not be. So, this guy Ajay Bhatt, who is the co-creator of the USB walks into the coffee room and there is a bunch of women who drool over him. The gestures this person makes -- winking and some wierd thing with his hands, are deeply irritating. There are lot of problems with the way this ad is designed..
- If you want to play an ad in India, use Indians in the ad, so audience can relate to it. Probably they created one ad for the entire global audience. IMHO, this doesnt work.
- The caption reads -- 'Our superstars are a little different from your superstars'. What does this really imply? That the people inside intel are all geniuses and people watching this are stupid? Uhh! What a put-off!
- Apparently, this guy who appears in the ad isnt even Ajay Bhatt -- This is the real guy -- http://www.intel.com/pressroom/kits/bios/abhatt.htm

I've been ..

2009-06-21T21:30:00.000-07:00

Over the past few days I've been mourning
-- my back-ache.
-- the loss of a loved one.
-- Indian team's T20 debacle.
-- that I have still not learnt to wear an eye-liner.

A wedding weekend

2009-06-15T23:00:00.000-07:00

Just back from a cousin's wedding in Chennai. Thank God, we have weddings, otherwise these days we dont know who our relatives are. The last time I met most of them was in another wedding yrs back, so most ppl have grown by inches, lengthwise or breadthwise. Hairs have greyed, children born, people married, relocated from one place to another, jobs changed and a lot more has transpired. Sometimes you're surprised by what's changed and sometimes by what's not changed. People greet each other most of the time with comments like -- oh! neengala nambave mudiyalaye...! And then parents do the incredible by bringing someone to us and asking .. iva yaarunnu nyabagam irukka.. ! Most of the times we dont remember who they're, but then we nod along with an impish smile hoping the answer will be given by someone around in a few seconds.
Women are busy discussing each other's attire and then the inevitable comparisons happen. And then ofcourse, juicy gossip discussions happen in small chatter groups, some people actively participating and some people pretending to be ignoring. And do not think that men don't gossip, they do it in their own inimitable style.
And then the FOOD! yuummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!! Before you finish breakfast, the lunch time arrives (nothing to beat a vazhai elai sappadau!) and before you finish lunch, coffee arrives at your place and then snack time and then a delicious dinner and then breakfast again, and.. ok, you basically get the picture.. he he!
More than anything, I just love the customs of our wedding.. if you had been to a tambram wedding you know what I'm talking abt. Viaradham, nichyadhartham, mappilai azhaippu, oonjal, muhurtham, nalangu and reception -- the sequence keeps your interest alive. There is an ethereal quality to the sound of the matras uttered and the nadhaswaram and melam. And how may ever weddings I attend, I just cant help moving to tears when the thaali is tied. That's such an happy yet melancholic moment when the girl steps into a new family with hopes and aspirations and anxieties. Ohhh!! I just love weddings.

Mommy me!

2009-06-10T03:20:00.001-07:00

I've been reading so many mommy blogs off late that the itch in me has finally shaped into this post. I've always looked at mothers who spend all their time with their babies, as if there is nothing else operational in this world, with admiration, fear and perplexity. So, having bitten the bug myself now, I should admit I'm surprised at how I'm shaping up at this new role.
Firstly, I think its a process of self-discovery, of uncovering those wonderful emotions, traits and talents that have been lying dormant somewhere inside you and which seem to pop out all of a sudden as needed. There have been so many days in the past 4 months when I've asked myself -- 'Is this really me?' I've never been the baby-cuddler, as in, the girls who go -- 'wow! this baby is so cute!' person. But not any more!! Motherhood has brought out the sensitivity in me somehow; or maybe there is a certain childlike tendency to exclaiming like that which I didn't have earlier. Its really as if I've suddenly started noticing all the babies in the world. It has also made me a more vulnerable person, there is an inherent fear of my kiddo getting hurt by something, someone that there are so many 'what-if' scenarios that run around in my mind now. Some of those superstitions that have been handed over from one century to another, the ones that I've been scoffing at for years now, do not seem that ridiculous any more. I mean, they still seem wierd and baseless, but there is a 'why take chance' attitude! I've also found that I've a calm and composed side to myself -- I was feeling peaceful when I went into labor and didnt panic. Ofcourse I screamed with all the pain, but mentally I was feeling very calm. I still dont understand how I held myself that way -- maybe its the miracle of birth. And yeah, I now believe even more in miracles. More importantly, with the experience of being so close to someone's birth, I've come to appreciate life itself better and have thought more about birth and death and the process of karma than anytime before.
Secondly, its a matter of self-learning, of adapting to newer environments and undoing some older ones. Who says parents teach their kids about discipline?! My son has disciplined me more than anyone could manage in all these years in just a few months. He wakes up early and starts playing everyday forcing me to wake up as well with burning eyes -- so maybe if you're one of those late risers and want to quit the habit, you can try having a baby ;) He hates it if I'm not sitting next to him when he is awake which means I need to get everything done when he is sleeping. So basically he makes me plan my day better -- eat while he is sleeping, sleep while he is sleeping and cook when he is sleeping, blog when he is sleeping, talk to friends when he is sleeping, uhhh, this list is long, trust me!! Now, it gets better -- he wakes up at the sound of a cooker whistle or the grinding of the mixie which means I need to get these things done when he is awake and keep them ready so I can wrap up the cooking when he is sleeping (ofcourse!) So, why take all those corporate trainings on time management, just have a baby and you learn to multi-task ;) And then there is my temper which I dont even try working on bcos it feels so integral to my personality now. But now just a few days back I spoke a bit louder than usual to him in a slightly angry tone and he starts screaming like he understood all of what I said. So there, this is the best anger management course I've been to. So give a skip to all those expensive yet boring yet unfruitful mangement sessions and have a baby instead ;)
Ever since I had a baby people make this trite comment to me -- so now you understand how much trouble your mother went through. Somehow, this irritates me, ofcourse I know how much pain my mother took. I dont need to have a baby to understand that. But honestly, I need to admit that I now look at my mother-in-law with increased respect and affection. I now realize how cool, non-imposing and non-intrusive she is! It could be because I've a boy and I need to let go off him one day. (Man, this is one of those moments when I'm asking myself -- 'Is this me?' -- when did I turn in to one of these possessive women!) There is an episode in FRIENDS when Monica tells her kids -- 'I'm going to love you so much that no woman would ever be good enough for you!!' I often get reminded of that these days.
I still look at all women in admiration and at God who designed a process like this. I'm still scared and perplexed most of the times, but I've now learnt there is really no right or wrong in motherhood, its really about what suits you the best. More than anything, I've learnt that there is a whole world of treasure in a tiny tot's smile that can simply make my day rocking!!

Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!

2009-06-09T21:42:00.000-07:00

Ok, so what if I'm celebrating late, the king has finally taken his crown :) Instead of wasting this moment of glory by delving into an analysis of if he is the greatest ever, lets just cherish this moment.

While on French open, I am very proud abt Paes taking the men's doubles title. I think both these guys, Paes and Bhupathi get celebrated less by the media as opposed to say, even a second round win by Sania. Nothing against the damsel, but lets face it, short skirts and good looks get a lot more attention than talent per se. That could answer why Saina Nehwal may not be that popular, but even if we argue that she plays a less popular sport and that its not purely attributed to her looks, I'd tend to quip then that these two men who have been playing the same sport as Sania does, for a decade now, should be venerated more, for they have double digit GrandSlams to their credit.

Hungry media

2009-06-05T11:17:00.000-07:00

http://cricket.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/t20articleshow/4618722.cms

By the time I publish this, Dhoni has stormed out of a media session in response to this story. I think our media is going crazy coming up with stories. Just read the artice above, and just the quotes at that. What in them indicate that Dhoni is giving Sehwag a cold shoulder is not clear to me at all.

For eg. sample this..

Though neither protagonist is willing to come on record, Dhoni’s responses after India’s nine-wicket win in their second warm-up game against arch-rivals Pakistan were a giveaway. "I don’t want to make any comment about it," Dhoni said on his deputy’s fitness. "Maybe you should ask the physio to issue a press release."

Whats wierd about asking the physio to talk abt a team member's fitness? The entire article reeks of speculation. Now even if the story is possibly right, media has to provide more substantiative evidence before they provide fodder to the rumour mills. This is definitely irresponsible writing.

One phrase that caught my attention in the article -- packed and hungry media gathering. Hungry for what, I wonder.

Wierder than celebrating Oscars

2009-06-04T23:33:00.000-07:00

http://movies.rediff.com/report/2009/jun/04/chaiyya-chaiyya-on-us-top-ten.htm

Why do we really care what this lady thinks about our cinema or music!! Is this really a recognition of our music that prostitutes dance to it or that some phoren lady decided to tune in to FM one fine day, some songs caught her attention and she decided to list them down in a scrap book. Really, we need to refine our yardsticks.

Dynastic succession

2009-05-29T08:39:00.000-07:00

I know a lot of this is happening, Rahul Gandhi being credited for the Congress ascendancy, Agatha Sangma -- youngest minister taking oath, Stalin becoming the deputy CM, Jyotiraj Scindia, Sachin Pilot.. ok I can continue mentioning the examples. And also these are portrayed in poor light by the media in general. However, I do not feel such a resentment towards this, to be honest. Doesnt this happen everywhere, in the business world sons take over from fathers; in the filmi world, there is no concept of a takeover but sons or daughters follow the family trends, so this doesnt sound alien to me. Agreed, the post of PM isnt something to be inherited. But if you generally think about being brought up in a family which has been closely associated with politics, you'll probably tend to get involved in that arena, and you're probably in a better position to take the mantle of leadership and influence the people around you and also manage the public perception. The question really is if there is any talent as well -- many of these guys are well educated and have a solid impressive background. And after the first time or so, public would vote them out if they do not have the right policies -- like Indira was voted out after the Emergency.
I think the real worrying factor is that of criminals being allowed to fight elections, some of them win as well which is an extremely alarming trend.

Choosing the topic

2009-05-28T09:13:00.000-07:00

I wonder how some people manage to restrict the topics of their blog articles to something specific. For eg. some write on food recipes, some on politics, some on technologies, and so on. I came across this really cute mommy blog but I think I couldnt possibly write about just my baby and me. This blog is really nice and I had a great time there, I'd be adding it to my list soon. As for me, I just start with cricket, movies and then jump to relationships and then to politics and sometimes random thoughts and reflections. I wonder how that reflects on my personality. Now what category would this piece belong to -- maybe random thoughts!

Give me some story please!

2009-05-26T10:49:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I think the media tries to create news out of everything. Look at the portfolio allocations, they're going on and on about it for the past week. First Montek was to be the finance min and then it was PC again and finally it was Pranab. Guys, why dont you just wait for a few days to find out !?! The Cong-DMK squabble added some meat to their story however.
Today, it seems that both Barkha and Srinivas Jain from NDTV interviewed S.M. Krishna separately. Now, why would they do that?! They seem to be obviously running out of work to do.. Krishna's answer to Barkha on how his first day went -- 'it has been disturbing with issues on Pakistan, N.Korea, Nepal, so on and so forth' :)) Obviously, we dont need an interview to know that.

Girlfriends are the best!

2009-05-26T09:24:00.000-07:00

Girlie bonds are the best in the world! I'm not sure if guys can ever understand or appreicate them. Even if they manage to, its so hard to emulate them. The way girls can share everything under the sun without any inhibitions creates this unique bond between them. Today is one of my close friend's birthday and I pause here to reminisce those wonderful moments we spent together. I met her the very first day of my college, both of us anxious and tense about starting a new hostel life. As we got talking, we were pleasantly surpised to find out that we are going to stay in adjacent rooms. From that moment, there was really no turning back. We got along like a house on fire. I can't remember a single moment that I hadn't shared with her in those 4 years of my hostel life. We spent so much time together that sometimes I think we literally knew what we were thinking without even letting the other person know explicitly. We've seen each other through bad grades, family problems, relationship problems, boyfriends, job scenarios.. and most importantly we've seen each other's rosy and the ugly sides. I remember the times when we used to fight with each other and not talk for hours. And then we would leave sorry chits on each other's door :)) Or get a gift and leave inside the other's room as a surprise. Sounds so kiddish when I think about them now. But there was an element of simplicity and honesty in those moments that I truly miss now. Time has moved on and so have we, to different countries and to different roles in life, agreed we do not catch up so regularly although there were times when we used to pray that we land up in the same company for a job. The present has been the unexpected and the future will remain unforeseen but the past would always remain a treasure.
Happy b'day my dear friend.

The incorrigible me!!

2009-05-26T08:30:00.000-07:00

I cant seem to redem myself of this habit -- yes, I'm referring to reading the prediction of the day for my sun-sign every morning. Sometimes the predictions hardly make any sense. Look at today's for me -- You are uncommunicative and dont feel very social. You're inclined to assume a leadership role today. To me, these 2 lines contradict each other. I dont believe in it but still I just cant keep my eyes away from scrolling those few lines, I've to admit I'm an addict.

Missing IPL

2009-05-25T10:26:00.000-07:00

IPL withdrawal symptoms have started. Its getting difficult to spend my time between 8-12. I get so many things done during this time -- I cook, wrap up some work, clean the house , etc -- at this time that I really cant keep shuffling channels. So it was really nice to tune in to the match everyday and catch an occasional glimpse at a falling wicket or a DLF maximum (btw why have they stopped calling it a sixer!!) Sometimes, I would get to see Mandira's bold outfits, some of them nice, but some of them revealing her not-so-good-looking collar bones. There is also the really handsome Samir Kochar and the very eloquent Gaurav Kapur who looks like a lizard but talks so fluently that I envy him. I'm going to miss the zoo-zoos but I will definitely not miss the Madhavan-Vidya ads which make me feel I'm intruding into their privacy by stepping into their bedroom. If this makes me sound like I watch the paraphernalia than the actual matches, I promise thats not true. I could write abt Gilly's 21 in the first over or Kumble's splendid effort in the finals or Rohit Sharma batting like a superman but I'll leave those for another occasion. For now, I'm waiting for the world cup.

Yukkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk!

2008-07-20T08:15:00.000-07:00

Look at whats going on in politics! well, i know these things do happen, but does horse-trading happen so openly i wonder. now they're not even ashamed of it, like its a common place thing. Great time to be an MP! As I write now, Barkha is talking abt political morality, an invisible thing. Look at people like Shibu Soren, a murderer demanding posts. And JD(S) of which I have nothing good to say looking at the way it has conducted itself in the past 2 years, its dilly-dallying with BJP is enough to speak of its moral character, but its their time now ..IBN website says the going rate is 100 crore! Lets see what happens to the trust vote, maybe the one that wins has shelled out the maximum amt of money.

Change..

2008-03-29T00:02:00.000-07:00

Everyone wants to change their career these days! Most of the people I meet in office or my friends keep talking about switching their careers. Not surprisingly, most of these people are software engineers. I wonder what it is about this industry that makes people look out for more! Just a couple of weeks back I met a fresh graduate from college who was going to join my firm in a few months. Now, she already wants to change her career even before she starts one! So much for software industry being the most sought after..

1..2..3

2008-03-28T10:07:00.000-07:00

I think this is how a conversation between a news anchor (NA) and another journalist (JL) go..
JL: I have some news abt Left and UPA
NA: So, left is threatening to pull out of coalition?
JL: Yeah, the same, but obviously they are not.
NA: Thats good. I can reuse the same content we used past 100 times..
Seriously, this nuclear deal is confusing me. I am definitely not an expert abt it, but the whole Left-Congress smooch and fight story confuses me. Left keeps warning about pulling out of the coalition atleast once in 2 weeks. No one seems to debate on the issues - its either a generic - "not good for our country" or "brings lot of benefit to the country".
My other innocent question is whether these people work against any deadlines at all or not. The story has been running for years now and I'm getting bored.

Wierd

2008-03-28T09:42:00.000-07:00

Has life always been this eventful? News channels make me feel that there is so much going around..its always very overwhelming. sometimes its very wierd as well. Kingfisher flight hits a dog in the runway! Sehwag hits a 300 ;) And one of the constables in PM's office shoots himself while cleaning the revolver!

Nowadays nothing is a surprise, it seems. You pause for a second, and move on.

Whats happened with Tamil movies!!

2008-02-18T02:40:00.000-08:00

These days its getting difficult to sit through a Tamil movie! Uhh! Its like a punishment..one recent addition to this list is Bheema. Heavily inspired by 'Company', the movie is so boring and predictable. You watch the move for the first 5-10 mins and then you sort of guess the rest of the movie. The 'so-called' innovative climax is such a rip-off of 'Company' that I feel that instead of watching this movie I could as well have watched the original and had a better time.

So, here are some reasons why I think Tamil movies are at an all time low:
1) Predicatable story line:
Whats annoying is that there seems to be such a dearth for good stories that you are ready to welcome even a very average movie. Take 'Polladhavan' for eg. Whats so great about that movie is beyond my understanding. But its still supposed to be a hit! The story is nothing new, but you have a few good scenes sprayed here and there and then thats good enough to satisfy the audience that we lap it up! And I dont even want to get started with Vijay movies. They all have the same story line, that you cant differentiate between one and the other.

2) Portrayal of women:
This is something that makes my blood boil. Our movies are becoming regressive in the way they protray women. Most of the women seem to have a deep interest in criminals and falling in love with them for some strange, inevitable reason. Often, they have to hear a lecture from their male costars about how they need to dress and uphold thamizhnattu kalacharam. Mostly they dont seem to have a profession or a career. Almost all the times, they are rescued by their 'heroes'. And anyways in most of the movies they dont have dialogues and only come for a few mins during songs. Whats frustrating is that most of them have dubbing artists who dub for them and sometimes if you are turning your back to the TV, you dont know which actress it is. So, even that little bit of originality that comes from having your own voice is gone. Their facial expressions are also like out of a standard palette..no variations please!! Some of the newer heroes like Simbu, Vshal are worse - They constantly keep saying.. "indha pombalainga.." and "ennadi..vadi...podi, etc" I dont remember even MGR time movies addressing women like this.

3) The 'no-risk' appetite:
Movies have been predominantly made with the hero in mind. It was either a MGR or Sivaji starrer, Rajni or a Kamal starrer and the same trend continues! Thats a separate debate..but atleast one of the top 2 at any point of time had a lot of appetite to take risks and do quality movies. Now, thats hardly the case. I think Surya takes the maximum risk among all the top guys and thats why I like him. The rest are all vying for the same spot! Ajith is busy gaining and losing weight, anyway he seems to be taking a bit more risk but again, within boundaries.
I think its more of my angst that we had such great movies and directors earlier, but now we have hardly any signs of that.

What did you do over the weekend?

2008-01-07T08:50:00.000-08:00

I'm asked this question every Monday. I feel so pressurized to give an interesting reply to this. How do I make my reply different from what I mentioned last week? C'mon guys, I'm a boring person. I dont trek, I dont visit exotic places or drive for hours to find the perfect picnic spot. Every Monday, somehow the coffee and lunch conversations always begin with this question. Some people come up with extremely interesting anecdotes and funny tales and become the life of conversations. I choose to remain a mute spectator, If I say that I slept and cooked and cleaned the house, would it be worth anything at all?

So, guys, what did you do over the weekend?

Happy new year!

2008-01-02T22:52:00.001-08:00

Wish you all a very happy new year!!

Something interesting I heard in one of the talk shows - there was a debate about whether it makes sense to believe in astrology, numerology, tarot cards, etc. So, one journalist (who was against this and called these as superstitious) said that he had always been able to tell 2 things to people faking that he is reading their palms and he has always managed to get away with them..
1) You tell people that they have some temporary list of worries but this should soon get alright and things will be great -- the optimism about future line -- people love to hear this!
2) You tell people that there are some people who don't understand you very well -- basically the sympathy line -- works like a killer!

A beginning from an end

2007-08-03T08:50:00.000-07:00

I'm lost in the sadness of the end of Harry Potter series..The anxiety of waiting for the next book and waking up early to snatch a copy of the book and reading it in one go before others let out pieces of the story, will no longer be there. Its all come to an end! For all the Potter detractors who think I'm crazy, let me tell you, you're missing something in life. J.K.Rowling's style of story telling and carefully hiding and revealing pieces of the mystery and tantallizing the readers is brilliant! The way she knots everything together in her final book is so fulfilling.. classy finale! I am going to miss it so much :((

(I'll leave you to figure out what the title means..)

My look-alike!

2007-04-26T04:06:00.000-07:00

In Tamil movies, you often get this line - 'ulagathula unna madhiri ezhu peru iruppangannu solluvanga' - as in, there are atleast 7 ppl in this world who resemble you. Sometimes, the way twins randomly appear in movies and not to forget all Ekta's serials, where everyone has a look-alike most of the times, I wonder whether there are others in this world who look just like me. Wouldnt it be interesting!!?! Or maybe not..it'll be like looking at the mirror all the time..
I've met some people who strongly remind me of others who I've met previously..yday I met this person who looked so much like Sarah Jessica Parker (Sex and the city)..and I tell you the resemblance is uncanny..even her accent sounded like SJP's. There are other examples I could give you..but let me tell you I've started to believe that there are people in this world who resemble me.
I wonder, how do the spouses of twins feel? How do they differentiate between the twin siblings? Will they be cautious all the time in front of the other person??! In a way, maybe thats a perfect example of how attraction between two people is not limited to looks only. Because inspite of looking alike there is something in this person that differentiates from the other.

Congress responsible for Muslims' success

2007-04-19T21:28:00.000-07:00

You've got to read this article. Even by the standards of demented politicians, I'd consider this taking it way too far!

http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/apr/20uppoll.htm

transliteration

2007-04-19T09:29:00.000-07:00

My friend Abhinav talks about the transliteration feature to Hindi. I can kinda write in Hindi, but I'd have loved it if this feature was available in Tamil. I'd have exploited it then.
Anyway I'm warning you guys, one fine day, I'm going to use this feature and with my average Hindi you're going to have quite a treat.

Latest fad!

2007-04-18T08:54:00.000-07:00

Suddenly I tend to develop interest in a few fads and that it wades out. Eg. one fine day, I decided to goto gym, didnt last for more than a month. Then, I had the urge to get up in early mornings everyday, that went for maybe 2 weeks..and then lo!
When I started blogging, I thought it would be a passing fancy, but I cant believe I am enjoying it so much. My latest fad is orkuting. Its been going strong for the past 1 week. Not sure how much it can stand the tests of time..
In 'The Monk Who Sold The Ferrari', its said that if you wanna develop a new habit, you should do it for 21 days in a row and then it stays with you! I am very skeptical...I am very pessimistic about such theories working on a person like me. It also makes me think...if we develop a habit by doing for 21 days in a row, how come we manage to undo habits that we have been doing for years?? For eg, till my school days I used to get up at 5am come whatever ..Once I entered the college, the bug bit me and I started waking up verrry late! I always wonder how that transition happened..? Anyone to solve my puzzle?

Andaman

2007-04-07T04:27:00.000-07:00

I am back from a week long vacation in Andaman, and I am off blogging about cricket instead of Andaman!! Here are a few pics.

The above is the cellular jail (Kala Pani jail) Many were tortured in this jails and some went crazy due to the torture and some others died. It was really touching to think of those gory incidents. Everytime I see a place like this, reminds me that I should really value my freedom.

The one below is my favorite, bcos it shows the reflection of the sun on the sea, I could have taken a better one if not for those trees that were obstructing, but anyways.

This is the view from the cottage that we stayed in. Andaman has one thing in abundance and that is the bluuuuuuuuuueeeeeeeeeeeeee sea. I've not seen so much blue all around. Simply ethereal.

Endorsements

2007-04-07T04:01:00.000-07:00

While I'm on cricket, I should say I'm a bit perplexed by all kinds of views being thrown around. Everyone has an opinion to offer, not surprising considering the kind of following that cricket has in our nation. Agreed, we lost the world cup in the worst manner possible - which is that we were not even a contender for the title, not even close enough. Agreed that its time to take some drastic measures for the good of the game. However, I think some opinions are too intrusive into the players' choice and that makes me feel uncomfortable. For eg. the suggestion that players should only sign limited endorsements isnt something that I agree with. To me, that is their personal choice, as long as it doesnt impact the game. Advertising is a market and brands do believe that signing up cricketers will bring them more customers, which is precisely why they bring the cricketers into the fray. Its a market which will survive based on demand and supply, its pure economics, there are no sentiments behind that. If the cricket fans drool over their stars, they may end up buying the products and the brands benefit from that, so do they face losses, just like whats happening now after the world cup debacle. I am surprised that many people believe that they are somehow paying for what the cricketers do. There is one bullshit opinion that I came across - since the consumers buy the products because the players are in the advertisements, its supposed to be an indirect contribution in terms of finance and hence the players are accountable for the public money! This can be given as a classic example for what an illusion is! If the consumer is buying a product, the company or the brand is accountable for the money consumer is spending, not the cricketer, he is just a means. One can argue that the player gets more endorsements when the product sales increase, but again sales cannot be primarily attributed to advertising expenses, its a mix of product quality+price+brand value+consumer perception, etc. The players are being hired either due to the quality of their game or because they are stylish enough(X-factor). Whatever it is, its only their individual competence that fetches them these advertisements. If a player isnt playing well enough, he would not be signed up. In effect, advertisements are an offshoot of the game, not the center of the game.
I also wonder why people say this view - frankly I think people are jealous and nothing else. Former cricketers are unhappy that they didnt get paid so much during their times, journalists anyway have to give some viewpoint and public, lets not go there, bcos they are the ones who are breaking houses when they get crazy.

As I am writing this, I also read that BCCI has limited player endorsements to 3 per cricketer at one time, but I still stand by my view. Lets focus on how to get the team working as a team, develop a system which brings out good cricketers from the junior level. Lets even have a performance based pay, which is something which I think is ethical to talk about, but lets not fret over someone earning good money from advertisements. Lets mind our business.

Cricket saga

2007-04-07T01:49:00.000-07:00

With so much being said about cricket these days, this is one of the best articles I have read. To me, this appears closer to reality than anything else I've read on this topic.

Read on

Tata!

2007-03-29T00:35:00.000-07:00

I'm going to be off for the next whole week vacationing in one of my dream spots...! Wowww! Feels so good even writing that.
So you'll see a bit of silence over the next week, but dont worry, I'll be back with a bang ;)

With Bangalore saying "no show" to Tamil movies, I watched Mozhi when I went to Coimbatore last weekend. I was going to write more about it, but my friend Lakshmi has written about it already and it has most of what I wanted to say. You know when I was a kid, my mom used to make these lovely sweets and norukks, as the quantity keeps reducing in the vessel, it feels that these things are tastier. And thats how I felt about Jo's performance. I've always liked her, she doesnt have a traditional look or even a heroine like figure, but there is something bubbly and charming about her. Mozhi really made me feel what a void she is leaving on screen. And it also made me think that most of our Tamil actresses are under-utilized, they get real crappy roles ..

On those lines, Sivaji is going to be released...thalaivar padathukkaga waiting!! But he is looking older than ever before and I hope he isnt doing some unsuited role..Still, Shankar+Rajni combo is a killer, lets see whats awaiting. There was even a small coverage about the movie in NDTV!!

50th post

2007-03-28T05:49:00.000-07:00

This is my 50th post - my blog tells me..!

"Life isnt a matter of milestones, but a matter of moments" - Rose Kennedy

While I am talking about milestones, my convocation for my MBA happened in IIM on Monday. Its almost a year since I finished my courses, but I'm receiving my degree just now. It was a special moment, I should say. The enormity of it hasnt hit me yet, but I should say, it was an enjoyable and a high-profile evening overall. Mukesh Ambani gave away the certificate, while Nandan Nilenkani was the Chief Guest. Nandan's speech was especially very thought provoking and crisp. He talked about 5 skills that youngsters should have when they enter the industry. I dont remember all 5 - but a couple of things that stayed in my mind
We all know what a generalist does and what a specialist does ..he talked about a third category of a 'versatilist' - whos able to go deep when needed and stay high level when needed.
He also talked about how competitors can be so different from the traditional competitors. Eg. iPod being a comp. for the music industry

Mukesh asked us to remember our parents, faculty, etc.

Its difficult to point out whats special about these people, but it was evident that there is a lot of clarity in the way they think and speak and that was impressive.

I am writing this post in a bit of a hurry, so pardon me if it doesnt sound very cohesive.

I also cant believe that I havent written anything about cricket, esp. when its world cup time. The truth is that by the time I came around to writing about it, India was out of the competition and I was in so much loss for words about what to write..The blame game has begun again. Chappell's SMS is only adding fuel to the fire. People want Rahul's head. To add to the woes, Woolmer has been murdered and I'm still not out of the shock that this gentleman's game has become dangerous.

Anyway, one key lesson for me from this world cup.. I should never lose a battle the way Indians lost the game, I should atleast try whether its the matter of minor challenges at work or life at large.

The Argumentative Indian

2007-03-18T09:36:00.000-07:00

Reading the book now, its my first tyrst with a book that deals with such serious ideas...A good friend of mine suggested me to read this book as compared to watching stupid Bollywood movies :)) Not sure if I can let go watching stupid movies, but, yes, I can start reading such books..
Its not an easy read for a person like me, but there are some sections of the book which are very thought-provoking, and actually very interesting.

Amartya Sen talks about the argumentative nature of an Indian and how its in the nature of Indians to argue and talk about the different perspectives of an issue.
This particular quote caught my eye:

Just consider how terrible the day of your death will be. Others will go on speaking and you will not be able to argue back.
-Raja Ram Mohan Roy

How true!! I never thought of death in this manner

I am a bear!

2007-03-18T09:25:00.000-07:00

Agree its a horrible title...but someone recently told me that this guy is a bear bcos he keeps hibernating..and I thought since I am coming out of a bit of hibernation, this should be apt..
Anyways, back to business (whatever that is)...

I recently gave this speech in the toasmasters' club..and I thought I should share this here..Please read it with the thought that its written from a speech point of view...

>>
Do you believe that Santa Claus will deliver the gifts you have always wanted? Do you have a deep fear for the Chinese dragons lurking in your mind? Do you secretly cherish a desire to meet Superman?
Well, everyone has certain myths in their lives which they find hard to let go. I wasn’t an exception either.

It all began when on an otherwise mundane day, my manager walked over to my desk and announced that I’d have to travel to the United States for a period of three months. Naturally, I was very excited. It was going to be first trip abroad and my very first trip on an airplane.

It’s difficult to forget those three months. I had a few delusions in my life and those three months dispelled most of them.

My first myth that got shattered with time was my belief that
US trips help you earn a lot of money.

Someone told me that a trip to the US meant that I must enhance my wardrobe, I can’t wear my flashy salvar kameez in Uncle Sam’s land and walk without being noticed. Nor can I enter the US corporate world with my plain looks. This implied a lot of visits to the malls and the commercial streets of Bangalore. Not to forget my frantic visits to the beauty parlor to give me the elegant corporate look. After a few days, I was richer by a few trousers, shirts, blazers, sandals and shoes and my bank balance swore a witness to this. I also had to buy a couple of huge suitcases to take my wardrobe to the US, literally. One day, my mother casually mentioned to me that I shouldn’t forget to buy gifts for all my relatives, perfumes for women and watches for men would be ideal, she suggested. By now I could visualize my bank balance dwindling into negative amounts. Meanwhile, many of my relatives called to congratulate me on the wonderful opportunity I have got and also squeezed in a few modest favors during the course of the conversation. Some of them wanted me to carry things to their children who stayed in the US. My obliging them on my parents’ insistence cost me 20 kgs of the 46 kgs limit set by the airlines as the baggage limit.

My second myth that got blown away was my belief that flights are fun

I traveled by Singapore airlines, I spent the first lap from Chennai to Singapore with tremendous excitement not taking my eyes off the window, though nothing much was visible from up there. Unfortunately I couldn’t share the same feeling of euphoria on my second lap from Singapore to San Francisco. The weather disturbances outside caused the plane to jolt several times and the plane started oscillating back and forth. My frantic effort to control the nausea that followed is best left unmentioned. If you think that I had my worst share yet, hold the thought. When I finally landed in the US after a 35 hours journey I didn’t find my baggage; the airlines promised to find the baggage and send them to my hotel soon. Having lost all my baggage, the next day morning, I had to head straight to a store to buy clothes so I can go to office.

My third myth that fizzled out was my belief that US means an advanced luxurious life

Since my childhood, I had been led to believe this particular myth. To validate this further, I have also had colleagues whose value in the marriage market rose exponentially after they visited the US. One of my friends who was settled in the US wanted to find a nice, Indian bahu. He had come to India on a short break from his work for about three weeks. His parents had arranged appointments with atleast one girl per day. The very thought of a guy looking out for a girl in this manner appeared very repulsive to me. Equally contributing to this mad fare was the bride’s side who drooled over a US-return boy. This was something similar to a real estate broker showing a prospective tenant multiple houses during the same week. I used to wonder – what if the guy ends up liking more than one girl, just like one can like more than one house!

I had a few shockers in store for me when I landed in the US. Someone told me that the safest thing to order in a restaurant for a vegetarian like me is a veggie pizza. I explained to the person in the counter that I needed a veggie pizza. Can I add fish, she asked innocently. I told her – No, only veggie no fish. She, then asked me – Surely chicken must be okay? I tried persistently – Only veggie, no fish, no chicken, no eggs, no meat. I was wondering, where the luxury is if I cant satisfy my basic need – which is to eat. Another incident happened when I walked in to one of the grocery stores – I was looking for ladies finger and I tried explaining this to one of the helpers in the store. She pointed to my fingers and said – “There you have them”. And another supposedly refined thing is the US is the concept of toilet papers which still remains an enigma to me.

So, goes my story, when all my myths were allayed.

All of us have our own figments of imagination and its only experience and exposure that brings us in face with reality. Its said that the test of a true myth is that each time you return to it, new insights and interpretations arise.
So, dive in and test your myths. You never know what your interpretations could turn out to be.
<<

Good blog

2007-02-21T00:17:00.000-08:00

Found a very good blog - Acorn. Added as a link in my favorite blog hop list. Folks with inclination towards politics, business and economics..will like it. Check it out.

Thamizhukku amudhenru per

2007-02-20T00:40:00.000-08:00

Still no Tamil channels in TV...I dont care so much about it during the weekdays, but miss them during the weekend..No one seems to be talking about this issue. Looks like it'll be a few months before they tune the channels back. And I guess no Tamil movies too in theatres though I didnt check on this. I dunno how authentic this is, but I heard 20% of Bangalore is Tamil junta..what are they going to do all of us?? Maybe, send us away too..? Will that solve the Cauvery dispute? What we really need is a few rational minds and a government that knows how to control.

while I am at it

2007-02-19T23:46:00.000-08:00

While I am at the topic of advertisements, let me also mention one ad I dont like..there is this ad with Abhishek Bachchan for some credit card...dont remember which one.. they mistake him to be Amitabh and call him BigB..he is so proud of it and some crap like that..and he calls Amitabh to say.."Dad, they just called me BigB..we all know who the real BigB is...but it felt good"..what the hell..I just hated the very tone of this ad...sounded so self-adulatory...

rare sight

2007-02-16T07:06:00.000-08:00

As I was coming in to office today morning, I saw this beautiful moment. Amidst all the buzzling traffic, a traffic cop was holding the tiny fingers of a small girl and smiling at her. He was helping her cross the road patiently.
There is probably still some hope left :)

Ad snippets - 1

2007-02-08T22:28:00.000-08:00

Indian advertisements are undeniably one of the best. Some of them are brilliant and extremely creative. I thought I should record my favorite ads now and then..

A couple of starters.
- Mentos ad - Super catchline -Dimag ki bhatti jala de...One where the student walks backwards into the class and the professor mistakenly thinks that he is going out of the class and tells him ..."Sit down". Perfect example of lateral thinking! There is also another one where the barber does a wrong hair cut and covers it up in the mirror with someone else standing behind his customer...okay now thats not a great explanation...but u have to see these ads.

- Monster.com - Have you seen this "working for peanuts?" and literally the boss offering peanuts...I can so emapthize with it :) And another one with the concept of "Caught in the wrong job?" - cricketer washing clothes with his bat, a bharatnatyam dancer working in the aero base..superb!

Indian of the year?

2007-02-08T21:56:00.000-08:00

Did you hear it? Manmohan Singh is the CNN-IBN Indian of the year!! Hilarious..
Heights of chamchagiri.. Common guys, have some shame..

tolmolbol

2007-02-07T23:35:00.000-08:00

I read in an article somewhere that this is the best time for enterpreneurship in India! Can't agree more.
A bunch of my friends from BITS Pilani got together a few years back and started this firm called "PennyWise solutions". (www.pennywisesolutions.com) I should say I was very skeptical but impressed at the same time for their commitment and their ability to leave their status quo and risk into a new venture.
If you think its not a big deal, think again. Its not easy to survive on credit cards and loans and worry about every hundred rupee when some of your friends are making big money and able to buy a house and car and other luxuries and you still see yourself moving gradually.
To do this, one needs a vision and a passion..what we call as "fire in the belly"..and these guys had it! And they had belief in themselves, to top it all!
Their efforts have brought them a long way!

Recently, they have come up with this new portal called www.tolmolbol.com ..

If you are in India, this is a site you are going to be logging in frequently. Its a great search tool about your city. I think there are a few competitive products that offer similar features, but this site has an aggregation of many features in multiple sites and has much more! The best thing I like about it is its interactive mode..the fact that my opinion matters makes me incline to the site. Moreover, you can always post a random query and get answers from the network.. and there is more, but I'd urge you to visit the site yourself.

Just one word...the site is in its beta...so feel free to give your feedback and comments on this blogpost. Happy Bol!

catching up

2007-02-07T21:58:00.000-08:00

Just back from Tirupathi...I have been out of Blore for the past 3 weekends..1st I went on a campus recruiting trip..then the wedding..and then tirupathi..right now am desparate to spend a lazy weekend at home..just doing nothing..and blogging when I feel like.

I am just trying to catch up with all the news.

Monday is a bandh here...so seems like an extended weekend, though I am expecting me to have to work on that day. There is a sense of fear that has gripped Bangalore after the recent few issues that happened here. People get into a shell before any riots blow out. I reached Blore on Tuesday and the auto fellow welcomed me saying that it was strike on that day..I knew he was obviously lying to get more money from me..Anyways, I reached home and saw that none of the Tamil channels were being relayed..this town has become crazy..what have the TV channels got to do with this whole issue? Schools have been closed here as a precaution.
Last time, when Rakjumar died, the whole town was on fire...I saw many broken glasses on my way home from office..buses are set on fire almost as an instantaneous reaction to any issue.

Another sad thing I heard about was that the witnesses turned hostile in Prof. Sabharwal's case. And this is for a case that has video evidence..! I am really speechless..

Seems I was better off not catching up with news..

seetha kalyana vaiboghame...

2007-01-30T22:12:00.000-08:00

This is the wedding season...so many people I know got married last weekend! I attended the wedding of a relative of mine..I was excited, good food, lot of dressing up, catch up with people...wow!
I went for the mappillai azhaippu and then the wedding next day morning and then the reception...By the time, I attended the reception, I was bored of dressing up..and the thought of some more food was repulsive. Catching up with people...well, what can I say, that was more of an imagination rather than a reality.. I dint know too many people at the wedding..and anyways, old maamis have standard questions like "edhavadhu visesham unda??" which make you feel very uncomfortable.
I think the best time to attend weddings is when you are a kid, you dont have to go to school, you get to meet all your cousins...someone else dresses you up..someone else cares whether you ate or not.. and you keep playing the whole day and you still feel so energetic..the best thing is you dont have to goto office the very next day after attending the wedding.

Still, there is an aura about this wedding thing...Whether you enjoy or get bored, you still look forward to the next one you can attend ;)

The First World War (1914-18)

2007-01-14T00:09:00.000-08:00

Have been reading this book on the 1st world war. Although its not a detailed account of the war, it has a crisp representation of facts and recollections of the poets and soliders at that time and also some good pictures and narrations.
Some things that stay with me after reading the book:
- Around nine million people died in the war.
- There was a silent propoganda film done by Charlie Chaplin called Shoulder Arms (1918) and in it, he won the war by himself :))
- Italy started with being on the side of Germany&co but eventually became neutral and then joined with the Allied powers (Britain&co).
- People's egos and thirst for power could cause such a huge ruckus. For e.g. sometimes Generals took decisions for attacks and after a few days realized that it was futile. Instead of backing down, they decided to surge ahead causing more loss in lives.
- In Germany, food shortages drove people to start looking for food in rubbish and scrap.
- Technology played a major role, the fast progress of technology in just 3-4 years is amazing..for e.g. airplanes were initially used only for surveillance purposes but later the concept of fighter planes was born.
- Soldiers stayed in trenches for such a long time that German and British soldiers started exchanging cigarettes and alcohol on Christmas day. Soldiers felt closer to their enemy soldiers rather than those at power, since they felt that the other soldiers were also sufferers of the master plan of the royals.
- USA seems to have played a major role even in those years. USA had a significant role in ending the war and mediating between the two powers. Hmm...so now I understand where they get their genes to be a mediator.

Guru

2007-01-13T21:35:00.000-08:00

One should watch the movie for Abhishek. His performance is brilliant once again reaffirming my belief that he is a better actor than Amitabh. Abhishek as Gurukant Desai lives the character and makes Guru very alive and genuine. His gradual ageing and the addition of weight makes him very believable. I think Mani's strongest point is his thorough research on his characters and the backgroud.
I'm not sure why Mani did not totally agree that this is the story of Dhirubhai.. when you watch the movie, you have no doubt about it, though! The textile industry and then the pertrochemical refineries and then the heart attack and calling him "gurubhai" and the fact that he armtwisted many and the conversion of non-convertible debentures into shares....there is no shade of doubt, I should say!
Aishwarya, surprisingly, delivers a fine performance. The first movie in which I liked her was Dhoom2, but her role in that movie was to flaunt her body and not to really act.. Here, I should say, I've seen a new Aishwarya, who has delivered a restrained and powerful performance.

I wonder how Mani thought of Mithunda for the role of Manikdas Gupta, but its a superb choice..Man, what a performance. I've only seen Mithun in funky angry man roles, where he avenges the villain in the second half for all his wrong doings in the first...and to put it subtly,I just hated him in those roles. But here, he has a very well-etched out role..a man who is principled and is conflicted between his love for his son-like-Guru and his principles..The scene when Madhavan asks him whether he should publish the article about Guru...keeps you riveted.
I think we should see more of Mithun in the future.

Both Madhavan and Vidya Balan have such limited roles, that it leaves you wanting. Madhavan has lost so much weight and looks even better than he did in alaipayudhey. Vidya Balan is such a talented actress, that I feel she is wasted in these smaller roles..but she is probably now in Mani's camp, so I'm hoping he'll offer her something much better next. And Mani has kept up the latest Bollywood tradition of smooching...Mani, neengaluma...?? Anyway, I should say its a well-picturized scene and Madhavan is sort of becoming an expert at proposals.

The first half is so good, that the second half of the movie doesnt match up so well to it. But still, its a good product overall. In the end, whats stunning is the way everything Dhirubhai, I'm sorry, Gurubhai did is justified ...but thats a topic for some other time.

Wow!

2007-01-12T00:37:00.000-08:00

As I do everyday, yday too, I went to see my blog hit rate...and was surprised to see an amazingly high hit rate..On tracking where they come from, I finally found that my piece on new year resolutions has been featured in indiafm.com and india-forums.com. I have no idea how it got there, but am really excited!!
I think they should pay me for copyrights ;)

Refusal to vote!

2007-01-09T20:41:00.000-08:00

Read the following article in CNN-IBN about no-voting rights! I wasnt aware of something like this, so this caught my attention.

The going is getting tougher for candidates in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls as Mumbaikars say no vote to incompetent candidates.
Because casting vote a long procedure – you have to struggle to reach the polling station, wait in long queues, flash your voter's identity card, get that little dot of indelible ink on your finger and then you are all set to cast your vote.
But after completing all the formalities, you may wonder if it is all worth it if you feel none of the candidates on the list deserves your vote.
If you simply avoid voting, chances are there that someone will walk out of the booth having cast a bogus vote in your name.
And sloganeering and protesting after the damage has been done seldom helps.
With Municipal Corporation elections coming up next month in Mumbai, an NGO, AGNI is making Mumbaikars aware of a rather obscure rule in the Representation of Peoples Act that allows voters to register their 'refusal to vote'.
"You register yourself, cut your name, get yourself inked up and when the EVM gets started you can say you do not want to vote. The concerned officer has to fill up the form 17A according to 49O and your name is registered there, but as a vote it doesn't get registered," said AGNI Coordinator James John.
But voters feel that even this rule leaves a lot to be desired.
"You see a stronger thing is the right to recall a candidate who is not performing," said Anil Desai, Secretary of a local RWA.
But it's a good beginning to ensure more power to the people.

Oh! O.Henry

2007-01-05T10:00:00.000-08:00

Reading "The best of O.Henry" now, man what language! Compared to that, what we speak right now is probably not English. It took me a while to get adjusted to that style of writing and to even understand what he is trying to say..

Take for e.g.
" ..until one's cheeks burnt with the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing implied."
"..let us regard with discreet scrutiny some inconsequential object.."
" .. feminine change to hysterical tears and wails, necessitating the immediate employment of all the comforting powers of the lord of the flat"

"..What street could live inclosed by these mortuary relics, and trod by these spectral citizens in whose sunken hearts scarce one good whoop or tra-la-la remained?.."

Someone should translate these lines in English for me..

But in each of his stories , there is a superb and unexpected twist in the end..which is the spice really.. No wonder people call it the "O.Henry twist"

2006 - year of judiciary and media?

2007-01-01T22:57:00.000-08:00

http://www.ibnlive.com/blogs/rajdeepsardesai/1/29753/why-politicians-get-edgy-when-judiciary-plays-god.html

Got to read this! This is exactly what I've been thinking these days.. Little by little I hope this would cleanse the system...atleast there is hope!

NewYear Resolutions

2006-12-29T01:06:00.000-08:00

NewYear time is special, its a logical chapter when we leave behind past bitterness and welcome future happinesss..its a time which brings hopes along and rekindles the optimistic mindset in everyone, well, atleast temporarily for a period of a week or two.
Its also a time of resolutions..
My most common but never implemented resolution being that I should exercise and work-out ..
I was thinking what would be the resolutions that some famous people would/should/could make..
SRK - I will take my life's focus away from money ..To start with I'll get only 1/2 as much Amitabh got for KBC.
Aishwarya Rai - I destroyed Salman and Vivek's career once I became their girl friend. Now its time to step onto the next chapter and ruin Abhishek's career. What with becoming his wife, I can do a better job at it!
Amitabh Bachchan - Last year, I showed my face in almost every big banner movie that was released. When I couldnt show my face, I lent my voice. This year, I'll start acting in Mahesh Bhatt movies and I'll contest with Emraan Hashmi for the title of "Serial Kisser".
Karan Johar - I'll stop using the words "Mohabbat, Pyaar, Dil" in my movies. The budget for my movies will not exceed 1 crore. My movie name will not start with a "K".
Mahesh Bhatt & co - Emraan Hashmi has become a bore, now maybe we should start making films with Himesh as the hero. Instead of kissing the heroine for 20 times in the movie, he can croon in his nasal voice for 20 times and the movie will be a super hit.
Bollywood directors - Since we've already ripped off enough of English movies, we'll follow a new strategy and start adapting Japanese movies.
Akshay(e?) Khanna & Sunil Shetty - I'll stop acting.
Shahid Kapoor - Enough of critics commenting on my imitating ShahRukh and Salman. They dont seem to understand that imitation is the best form of flattery. Now its time to flatter Brad Pitt, then Kareena and I can become the Shahreena of Bollywood like the Brangelina of Hollywood.
Rajdeep Sardesai - I'll change the logo colors of CNN-IBN to match indian tricolor flag ..I'll make it green and white since saffron is already taken away by NDTV.
Laloooooo - I'll carry the torch of education to the alien world and train the Martians, the fundamentals of milking the cow by citing our railways as an example.
Advani - I'll start issuing media statments that are non-controversial and sensible.
Manmohan Singh - calls Sonia Gandhi and asks - Madamji, hamen kya new year resolution lena chahiye?

Raise a toast!

2006-12-29T00:41:00.000-08:00

Most of the people have jitters when it comes to public speaking. Its noted that more number of people have the fear of public speaking than the fear of death!
What makes public speaking such an enigma! You can talk to the same set of people comfortably when you are sitting and chatting with them informally, but when given a mike in your hand, the scenario completely changes! Some of us may not be necessarily scared of public speaking, but want to be more effective in it.
I know that many corporates have trainings on public speaking, but the best way to beat this demon is to keep practising, and joining ToastMasters club is a sure way to get where you want to! So, what is ToastMasters club?
It seems that in early years, people had problems when they had to raise a toast in parties or weddings. In order to help them raise a toast with confidence, this club was started..and now its reach is overwhelming. To check out more about this, click on the ToastMasters link in the side bar..
More than the fact that this club is popular, what impresses me is the strucuture of the club meetings and the awesome results and changes it produces. If you dont believe me, you can visit as a guest to one of the toastmasters' club meetings. Just google for a club in your city and go attend it today as a guest..You have to attend the meeting a few times to become a member.

If you attend it once, you'll know its impact and there is no turning back! If you are suffering from PSFS(Public Speaking Fear Syndrome - my coinage ;), this should be your New Year resolution :-)

Can iPods cause hearing loss?

2006-12-21T22:58:00.000-08:00

Found this research interesting!

If you wanna know more details, read http://www.hearingconservation.org/docs/virtualPressRoom/portnuff.htm

broadband

2006-12-21T07:54:00.000-08:00

Recently happened to read that BSNL is planning to give 2 Mbps to everyone who has 256 Kbps speed now...!! wow, nothing could change my life any better..I work from home atleast for 2-3 hrs per day and I only wish that this would actually be implemented!!

Here is what Dayanidhi maran said - "This is what BSNL is planning to offer, now its for the private channels to match it or beat it". Well said ;)

one night in the station..

2006-12-19T19:17:00.000-08:00

I don’t like traveling alone very much..becuase it makes me feel that simple activities such as catching an auto, reaching the station and then waiting in the platform, waiting for the train have suddenly become complex and boring activities. With company, the same things seem to be fun.
It was after many months I had to travel by train by myself. A few autos passed by and I said – “Cantonment station”. Some didn’t bother to reply and some shook their head with a smirk on their face as if this isn’t a place they would visit in their wildest dreams. One guy even offered enthusiastically – “Indira Nagar”, as if I would go where he wanted to do..I shook my head and walked on. Finally, an auto stopped by and agreed to take me, but with a condition “meterku mela 1 ½ kuduppeengala”. I nodded and then we set off. The meter came to 63/- and I thought I could smartly get away with 90/-, but he reminded me his condition and said – “1 ½ madam”. I reluctantly handed extra 5/- and then looked for which platform my train is. I looked at the watch and it was only 9:30 pm. My train was scheduled to arrive at 10:15 pm. I looked at the arrivals board and saw – Kurla express 10:00 pm. For a second, I was perplexed as to why the train would arrive earlier than the expected time. Then I checked again and saw that it said – “Platform 1”. Well. Kurla comes from Mumbai and reaches Bangalore city via Cantonment (lap 1) and then sets off from city to Cantonment (lap 2) and reaches at 10:15 pm. I realized to my dismay that the arrival board was actually telling me about lap1..which means the train hasn’t even reached Bangalore city yet..and would only come in by 10:00 p.m. All I could do was to wait and curse myself for arriving early.
I reached the platform and then looked for my coach position. It was a long walk, but I was happy because I could kill sometime atleast this way. I noticed that there were a lot of TVs fixed against the pillars on the platform. As I seated myself in one of the available chairs, I made sure I was seated in a position to watch the TV. It was playing… “Oadni chunariya ..” from “Tere Naam”. Bhumika was vigorously twisting her orange chunariya while Salman looked a bit bizarre with his supposed-to-be-funky hairstyle. I liked the song and I thought happily..maybe they would play some more hindi songs like this and it should be okay to spend some time like this. After the song got over, Amitabh Bachchan started speaking in his baritone voice about what a great time this was to live life .. well, Reliance ad. Hmm..One of Amitabh’s efforts to keep his friends happy just like how he is doing ads generously for his friend Amar Singh telling “aam junta” how UP has rapidly progressed under Amar Singh’s capable leadership. Some more stream of ads followed and I was getting restless. To my rescue, another song began..the music sounded familiar but the words and faces didn’t feel familiar. I realized that this was a Kannada song and one of Rajkumar’s sons was lip syncing to the songs. I stay in Karnataka and I want to live here peacefully, so I am not going to dare comment on Son of Karnataka’s son ;) After a bunch of ads again, my mind wandered as the smell in the station awakened my nostrils. I pay so much tax to sit on a dirty chair and to inhale a yukky smell and to wait for a train which, God knows when it was going to arrive. There wasn’t even any announcement about the train. Suddenly P.T.Usha’s sweet (ahem!) voice woke me up from the TV. “Love India, Love Indian Railways”, it said.. I couldn’t help smiling..the aunty next to me thought that I was smiling at her and started some conversation. As I was listening to her, I couldn’t help notice that they started playing Oadni chunariya again… So much for my inclination to listen to music at this hour. I realized that they have a 20 mins video with one Hindi song, one Kannada song and a bunch of ads. A well-packaged entertainment for a tired traveler. I almost dozed off listening to the aunty next to me…and when Bhumika made her appearance for the 5th time, I was so relieved to see my train in the distance and checked my watch – it was 11:15 p.m. As I got into the train, one thought lingered on my mind – Love India and Love Indian Railways!

Nach Baliye

2006-12-19T00:55:00.000-08:00

Tina-Hussain won Nach Baliye yday...this is the first time the one I thought will win, won.
I thought Amit Sana had a better voice but Abhijeeth Sawant won Indian Idol. Similar thing happened with Fame gurukul..when Kazi won instead of Rex..That was the worst ever..
Recently, Jassi Mona Singh won over Shwetha Salve in Jhalak Dikhla Jaa...
So, on the whole I had lost hope with all these shows...I strongly feel that talent takes second place in these reality shows..
But for the first time, my expectations and the results were the same in this case.
I think its got to do with the fact that these guys (T-H) have the X-factor (looks, chemistry, style, etc.) along with dancing talent..If the Tanaaz-Bakthiyar couple hadnt got voted out in the semi-finals, I think this would have been a tough finals..
Even then, I think Tina-Hussain should have won it bcos of their versatility in their performances so far.
Kudos guys! Way to go..

N.E.W.S.

2006-12-13T09:37:00.000-08:00

Nowadays, it seems that if you dont read the newspaper or watch new channels for 2 days, there is so much to catch-up on..!
The judiciary seemed to have a party last week with the judgements on Shibu Soren, Sanjay Dutt , Sidhu ..and the crucial one of the court ruling that no sanctions need to taken for arresting politicains...The claim itself was ridiculous in the first place, so this is a good slap on the face for people like Lalu who were trying to convince that their job has an exclusivity about it...such exclusivity that one can do illegal activities with no fear!
Its good to see that there is still some ray of hope..

I am trying hard to catch up with ASIAD..Although tennis has got a gold and a silver ..I'm happy that we have won many medals in Shooting section... Hmm...reminds me that we have many unsung heroes in the country!

On the contrary, some of our heroes like Paes and Bhupathi seem to fighting it out with words! They should stop making a fool of themselves...and realize no one cares a damn for all this silly talk as long as they play well.

Watched Dhoom2 when all this was happening... I can only say that Hrithik is a like a poem in the movie...Just read the poem and enjoy its beauty and the pleasure it brings you instead of looking at where is the similie, metaphor and the alliterations. Ofcourse, no efforts have been spent on a story...but the lead pair's brilliant and sexy chemistry makes up for it... The movie is all about skin and style..

Results are out!

2006-12-13T08:27:00.000-08:00

The day when the annual appraisal results come out....one can almost feel the tension in the air. Its a thing about which no one speaks...but still seem to be communicating something ..!! Its actually very funny to see people and their expressions..
Some signs that you can see:
- Every conference room is booked, you can't even imagine grabbing a room for 5 mins.
- No one is working, still , everyone is staring hard at their PCs.
- Everyone is asking the other for a treat ..ofcourse, no one wants to talk abt themselves.
- The lunch sessions seem to extend for atleast 2 hrs...Not to mention the coffee breaks which come in every half hour.
- Suddenly, people seem to be in a philospohical mood..there are talks about life, its purpose, whats happiness, etc.
- The 33.33% phobia catches on... No one can forget our Finance Minister's hand into our pockets on this day!

Amusing, really!!

Interviewing

2006-11-11T00:02:00.000-08:00

I am in office on a Saturday to interview people. Its exciting bcos firstly, you are not on the other side. Its always easy to ask questions, isnt it? You dont even have to know the answers. The tough part is dealing with the temparements of the different kind of people that walk in. There was one guy who came in and didnt sound too inclined to answer in detail, he started getting irritated if you probed him too much :) The best answer he gave was ..when I asked why you want to join this company, he was like... "I dont know"..Wow! what an honest reply.. I dont want such an honest bozo..who doesnt know why he is doing what he is doing. Then you also meet people who painstakingly go to any length to explain their point of view..sometimes the answer isnt right, but you kind of like the earnestness and attitude of the guy, hmm...tough decision to make! Thankfully, in those situations there is someone other than you in the panel and that helps you decide..
Hmm, interviewing isnt as easy as I thought it'd be... that too on an early Saturday morning and when you know you have a long day ahead of you!

Get DONned

2006-10-24T23:52:00.000-07:00

The reviews were disappointing...so I went to watch the movie with mixed expectations.. But to put it plainly, I loved the movie..I've watched the earlier one, but dont remember too much of the second half..and I am not a hardcore BigB fan, so I could watch this one without comparing every frame with the original..
ShahRukh as Don is simply superb...Man! how much I missed this "bad boy", reminded me of Baazigar days..The chase scenes were racy and Hollywood style...The movie is all about style..Kareena is sizzling ...well, if you dont think too much of the original song.. Priyanka comes back with a bang after some bad performance and bad make-up in Krrishh..Bomman Irani's character is neat and a surprise package. Arjun Rampal's role is better than the original..
But the clear winners are the twists in the story and ofcourse SRK..
The shocking climax and the other surprise elements in the movie prevented this from being a xerox of the original...And in that way, Farhan has displayed his creativity.
ShahRukh, what can one say abt the King Khan..he is in his element in the movie...he way he varies bet. being cunning, humorous, silly, romantic....cant imagine anyone else being so convincing as a DON..and worthy to play Amitabh's role.

As a matter of fact, I think this slick, stylish version of DON is better than the original, purists pardon me!

Updated: DLF cup

2006-09-18T08:03:00.000-07:00

Saturday was very disappointing, didnt go out anywhere waiting to see the match bet. Ind and Aus after a gap of 2 years..but, well..it turned out to be a circus.
However, series is interestingly poised.. WI-2 and AUS-1..India is under tremendous pressure to win both the next games to reach the final..It seems like there are 4 teams playing incl. rain ;)

Will we win both matches to goto final? I bet we will...

Well...what can I say, my predictions were wrong..but I'm an optimist, lets see what the Champions trophy brings along..

comments

2006-09-18T07:44:00.000-07:00

I've now allowed even users who are not registered, the access to give comments..
Play on!

S(J)illunu oru kadhal

2006-09-18T01:48:00.000-07:00

It started out as Jillendru oru kadhal..and then became Jillunu oru kadhal...and then Sillunu oru kadhal..thanks to our chief minister for scrapping entertainment tax for movies with Tamil names..Its hilarious how everyone is now renaming the movie titles...Last I heard was that Godfather is becoming Varalaru...Uh! I wonder how much money the govt. is losing in the name of TamilMania...

This is one of those romantic stories..Although there is nothing great about the story line, this is one of those really youthful movies that I have seen in a quite a while.. All 3 - Surya, Jo and Bhumika look picture perfect..Jo can look super stunning if she manages her waistline, but I guess, now with the wedding, she may not really need to..

Surya is definitely the scene stealer...he is getting smarter every day...he is absolutely convincing as the caring and devoted huband and father.. and totally dashing as the care-free college guy..he is amazing with all kinds of emotions - be it romance, anger or humor...he does it like a seasoned actor. He is one of the contemporary actors who seems to be taking atleast some risk in the kind of movies he is doing..very unlike Vijay, who has a standard formula for every movie of his!

The biggest plus of the movie is A.R.Rehman..superb songs...man, he is a genius! Listen to NewYork nagaram with eyes closed..what an ethereal treat to the senses! Shreya Goshal's voice is brilliant in Munbe Va, although I'd prefer if these singers can pronounce Tamil words well..Inspite of the brilliant music, it definitely irks when singers cant pronounce chinna la and periya la ..Maybe, we should start with Rehman on that!

What could have been a breezy romantic story turns a bit inspid towards the end..my take is that they probably forgot to hire an editor.. The producer could have saved some money by leaving Vadivelu out..He is a big put-off to the flow of the movie.. 20 mins gained straight away..!

(WARNING: This may contain some mild spoilers!)

And an aven bigger no-no is the last 20 mins when Bhumika returns...kadisala ellame kanavam...ennada pakkaravanga ellam paithiyama!! Adhula oru song vera...you cant resist looking at ur watch when machakari song begins..Andha dreama cut panna another 20 mins gain..I personally think that there should have been a scene where Surya and Bhumika meet and talk it out..instead of summarizing it in a letter..That scene would have been something that Balachander or ManiRatnam would have excelled in..but our director shyed away from it..And that leaves a big question mark...what kind of rapport did they two share after all these years??!

Had it not been for the length of the movie and some shoddy work towards the end, it could have been rated a top-class movie..but now, I'll give it, say 6/10. I think Tamil audience has not been this excited about a couple for some years now..I saw the movie in the theatre a day before Surya-Jo's wedding and the audience was screaming "Happy married life" ....
vazhga thamizhagam ;)

Omkara

2006-09-02T00:03:00.000-07:00

Its sometime since I posted my opinion on a movie...I wanted to write about KANK..but there is so much being said about it all over..maybe thats for later! Watched Omkara a couple of days back and its something that I feel compelled to write about.
I hate tragic romances...I am not particular about watching only comedy movies..I love serious movies but Omkara is more than a tragic romance...Its not about the story, its about the screenplay and the startling performances..
I'd rate this as the best performances delivered by Saif and Kareena...
I'm leaving out Ajay Devgan bcos unfortuantely for a good actor, the comparison is only with his past performances...there is a certain expectation from him as an actor and he has delivered that exactly.. he doesnt top the list bcos the role is tailor-made for him...its serious, its intense and he isnt required to smile or laugh (thank God!!) But he comes across very convincingly as Omkara and plays it with superb ease.
This is first time I'm convinced that Kareena can act..I've always wondered how she manages to get so many offers inspite of numerous flops. I am ready to change my opinion on her now. She is simply charming and beautiful and is so refreshing as Dolly, the girl who is in love with Omkara. Her expression in the final scene when she reacts to Omkara's accusations is just perfect. Your heart goes all out to her ..

Saif truly emerges top of the pack..seeing him play the cunning Langda is chilling..Whatever happened to the Saif who used to sing 'Olay, olay...' ..here is an actor other than Abhishek Bachan who has matured slowly and steadily and is a pleasure to watch.. Watch him in the scene where he expects Ajay to declare him as the next BahuBali and the honor passes to Vivek...his eyes just say it all..wow! Saif, you've finally arrived.

Konkona Sen delivers yet another fine performance...but again, you expect this much from her ...
Vivek does not have great scope to deliver...and Bipasha does her bit with the item numbers..

More than everyone else, its a director's movie and Vishal Bharadwaj is someone to watch for. It seems like he has a part in every aspect of the movie... (After T.Rajendar, this might be the guy who does story, screenplay, direction, music, et al.)
I love the song that Ajay sings to wake up Kareena...lovely!
The background score also gels so well with the theme of the movie...sometimes, there is some english kinda music that doesnt feel a part of the rustic setting of the movie...but this movie is about people and their egos and their darker sides...so you dont mind it!

Overall, I think its a beautiful time to watch Hindi cinema, you've all kinds of movie to watch..KANK and then Omkara and then DON and then Lage Raho and Rang De...wow! what a time to be an audience.

Grey shades

2006-07-26T07:45:00.000-07:00

Can we ever accept someone totally without being judgemental about them..? Well, I wonder...I tend to think that in some way, we are all judgemental about each other. There is this small corner in the mind that evaluates who a person is, what he stands for and compares it with others and most of the times, the self. There is this small selfish corner in the mind..that takes delight in the fact that it has less problems to tackle than someone else..
Isnt there a tiny bit in us that sneers at someone who leads a totally different lifestyle than us? And no, I am not talking just in financial terms...There are guys who like leading a particular career path...but there are others who throw away all the money and their work to do something that they think earns them true happiness....like, say, what a guy like Harsha Bhogle did..! But every such person may not be so successful like HB in what he does.. so, in that sense, is success the criteria for someone's lifestyle to be accepted..?
There is no right or wrong lifestyle, is there? But somehow we form a circle of friends who lead a similar lifestyle as us...and sometimes we come across people who do something so different from what we do and believe in something so different from what we believe in ....and we initially mock them for what they stand for...but slowly realize that there is a beauty in what they stand for too....and this myriad of shades that human beings display is what makes this world an interesting place to live in...!

The age of beauty

2006-05-10T01:36:00.000-07:00

Recently, I visited a beauty clinic with one of my friends..The place has an aura around it..its interesting to see how many have the time and money to invest on beauty these days, in a way I think it has become extremely important to look good and presentable..Skin treatments, hair straightening, perming, slimming - no one is hesitant to try these things nowadays. I was surprised at the number of men who turned up in the clinic..I asked one of the beauticians what men do here..and she answered that they mostly come here for skin facials and haircuts and many enroll in slimming sessions too. As you grow up, you notice some phenomenal changes in the world around you..something like the necessity of using a cellphone and to me , these beauty clinics are one such phenomenon..The exposure that India has to the international products is more now and many are willing to give it a shot...Some people get "makeovers" done..Basically, change in hair styling, dress the way that suits their personality, etc....I was sitting there with my friend and was impressed with all that was going around..In today's corporate world, being presentable is inevitable ..Although it cannot take you higher up per se, I've seen people being ignored or not taken seriously because they do not look smart.

As I was munching all these thoughts, a 10 year girl was walking in the corridor. She was pretty, slim , fair, tall for her age. She was wearing a short denim skirt and a red sleeveless top. She had straightened and also colored her hair with red streaks. She was wearing red sandals to match with her top. My first thought was that she looked like she was 16. She looked stunning, almost like a teenager...She was adjusting her hair constantly and her expression showed that she knew she was beautiful..She was extremely conscious of herself and knew others were watching her..
I felt a bit sad...I was wondering whether today's children are ageing faster than they should..10 is the age to run around and play and not care what the world thinks...its not an age to be obsessed with beauty..today's parents have huge money to spend on their children..But maybe they should use this money to give them more comfort, not rob them of their innocent childhood.

who moved my cheese?

2006-03-29T22:24:00.000-08:00

My blog has been dormant for sometime now..well, a new job and a new routine does that to you. Its amazing how, we humans adapt to changes in life. We move from one phase to another, one place to another and every minute, we are sub-consciously adapting to a new situation or environment..shifting into a new house, a new place, meeting someone new. Thats what makes life a challenge and worth living for, isnt it?
Moving into a new job has its own share of pluses and minuses. The good thing, ofcourse, is that you get paid better than before and you get to meet new people, you get to do different kinda work and so on. But there is also the fact, that you have left behind friends in your previous organization and it takes sometime to form another circle in the new org. You've to constantly watch out for people's behaviors and see what is the culture in the new place..It could be extremely interesting but needs a lot of patience, I guess.
As my mind was rambling with these thoughts last week, a meeting request popped up in my outlook. It was a training on "Change Management" based on the book - "Who moved my cheese?" I did not have too much work anyways, so I decided to check it out. I have read the book earlier and for the those interested in these kinda material, its a must read! But it gets a bit boring now and then..however the message is good.

The book is an extremely popular one, but for the lazy and time-crunched people, here is the short summary.

There are 4 characters Sniff, Scurry, Hem and Haw who are on the lookout for cheese (Read: your desire in life, career, money, peace, whatever). Sniff and Scurry are mice and are good at smelling the cheese and immediately hurrying towards the cheese (as their name suggests). Hem and Haw are humans and though they do not have good instincts like the mice, they have better brains. All the 4 find a cheese station and are happy eating from the station. Hem and Haw are so happy with what they found that they hardly observe that the cheese quantity is dwindling as days move on. But Sniff and Scurry notice that and prepare themselves for it. So, one fine day, when the cheese gets over, Sniff and Scurry search for a new station and find one which is better than the previous station. Hem and Haw, however just keep hemming and hawing about it. They are caught by surprise. They have no plans and are completely shocked. Haw, however, realizes finally that there is no point in just cribbing and decideds to move on and eventually manages to find the new cheese station. Hem, stays in the same place complaining "Who moved my cheese???" He believes that if he stays there, his cheese will eventually appear.
Think about it...Who are you?
Are you a Sniff who can anticipate change well?
Are you a Scurry who is a fast executioner?
Are you a Haw who adapts slowly to change, but manages to, finally.
Or Are you a Hem who resists change?

Petty Personal Issues????

2006-03-09T02:40:00.000-08:00

There was a very funny debate in NDTV last week..should cricketers be allowed to skip matches bcos of their personal problems? For eg. Andrew Flintoff skipped a match to assist his wife's pregnancy..then there was another guy, i think its Darren Gough, though I am not too sure, who left a tournament in between to sort out personal problems with his wife. The question was whether these things need to be allowed or whether they are to be treated as indiscipline in the team. People like Sidhu, Jadeja, Sonali, a former ranji cricketer and many others were in the group.

I was thinking that whether this is even a topic to be debated, to me the answer was very straightforward. But I was quite surprised to find that several others did have diverse opinions. When sonali asked how many would say that a husband should be by his wife's side during her pregnancy, not even 50% raised their hands. seriously, is that what men in this country think?! I'm not saying that everyone has to neglect their profession and attend to their personal issues, but there are times in a human's life when he has to give space to his or her personal emotions and whats wrong with that! I remember that Sachin played a match even after hearing his dad's death news. But, is everyone required to be such a hero, I doubt! Some of the comments I heard in that show..
"In the army no one is allowed to go home to attend personal issues, the same applies in every profession"
"One has got to be professional. If you've committed to your country, you should not go home and attend to such issues, no matter what the case is"
"Just because you had a silly argument with your wife, you should not be packing bags away from cricket"
...Honestly I was stumped!
I had my own questions..
Is fighting in the war the same as playing cricket for your country? Sure..its a prestigious thing, still..its a game. On the other hand, someone back home is fighting with real issues maybe.
Isnt this belittling the marvel of a woman delivering a baby?
If your marraige is heading towards a divorce, should you just let it happen and continue playing cricket?
Forget cricket, I have the same questions for every professional...except if you are fighting a war for your nation..

investing vs gambling

2006-03-09T01:12:00.000-08:00

Found this article pretty interesting..Its about the difference between investing in stocks and gambling..read on!

Is buying shares like gambling?

It was just a harmless discussion on the stock market. But it soon turned into a full-blown argument on whether investing in the stock market is the same as gambling.
One side insisted stock markets are not casinos. The other was adamant that whoever puts his money into the stock market is a gambler.
There are many who feel that investing in stocks is a major gamble, and this keeps them from venturing into the stock market.
So is there a difference between investing in stocks and gambling? You bet, there is!
Investing means putting your money where it will work for you in a manner that your wealth increases over a period of time. So you can actually make money by not just getting a job or setting up a business and working hard, but also by investing.
Gambling, on the other hand, is putting your money at high risk by betting on an outcome, which is most often uncertain, in the hope that you might win a lot of money, quickly.
However, the confusion over whether investing is like gambling also arises from the manner in which many people ‘invest’ their money in the stock market. If you run after a ‘hot tip’ and blindly put your money into a stock, chances are you will come out the loser. Here your idea of ‘investing’ in a particular stock almost amounts to gambling.
Investing, as opposed to gambling, requires some effort on your part. You need to understand the company whose stock you are buying, you need to follow the kind of business the company is in, you need to take into account the company’s current performance and its future prospects, you need to read up a bit and analyse the situation in the stock market before you invest. You also need to ascertain how good, reliable and trustworthy the company management is. Don’t just throw your money at random.
Despite these cautious steps, it is not guaranteed that you will be a winner in the stock market. However, it is certain that your chances of multiplying your money – albeit over a period of time – would be much better than in the case of gambling.
When we invest money in a company, we increase the wealth of an economy. As various companies compete in the marketplace, they manufacture products, offer services, generate employment and generally make life better for all. Gambling, on the other hand, does not help create wealth or value. It is done mostly for extracting the entertainment value of taking a risk and hoping to make a big killing.
The other difference between investing and gambling also is that in the former there is a reasonable expectation of profit.
There are risks in, both, investing and gambling. But taking reasonable, calculated risks is a part of life: one does it in business perpetually, but this is done with a lot of study, analyses and collective thought.
Stock market speculation, which is the process of buying stocks now with a view to selling them at higher prices in the future, is valuable and totally ethical. Companies that are more productive in terms of services that they offer or goods that they manufacture stand out (which is also normally obvious from the profits that they make) and such firms are recognized by stockmarket speculators. This recognition also leads to the rising of the company’s stock prices and thus its market value. As the company’s reputation and market value grow, it becomes easier for it to raise or borrow money to further its business needs and expansion plans.
Experts say that the longer you stay in the stock market, the better chance you have of making more money, whereas the longer you stay at the gaming table, the more chances you have of losing your wealth. If you have as strong and diversified portfolio of stocks, you can almost rest assured that you will make good money eventually.

CNN-IBN vs NDTV

2006-03-04T05:12:00.000-08:00

I dunno whats the intellectual reason that Rajdeep decided to float CNN-IBN, but I should say I am very disappointed with the channel. For one thing, it offers nothing different from NDTV. Even the color shades look the same..NDTV has red, orange and white mix...CNN-IBN has a mix of orange and black..well one has Prannoy and the other has Rajdeep. Whats interesting is their contrasting personalities, one sounds a little sober and soft and the other extremely aggressive, but both are excellent facilitators..and have complete control of their shows and have statistics in finger tips. But, honestly apart from that, someone please find out any difference between the two channels..the reporting styles, the news stories, the dress sense of the reporters are all just the same..sometimes you tune in to one and then to the other and u think its the same channel..both are reporting the same stories at the same time..had an overdose of the bird flu story last week. one calls it morning news and other breakfast news..one ropes in a clown like sidhu to comment on cricket ..the other offers competition by providing a better clown in the form of kris srikanth! That these two channels are competing is so obvious..Rajdeep's challenge would be to form a good second-in-line like Barkha Dutt..one good thing that comes out of this is that there is more number of jobs created for talented journalists. And yeah, I am happy to see Prannoy back in action with his budget and electoral analysis. But, I wonder how much money these channels make and whats the criteria for their survival..maybe they check the TRP ratings, but I'd love to know how they rate success and failure between these channels..honestly, I dont mind as a consumer..the more choice I have the merrier! I just wish that it was not recoating of the same product but a more interesting choice than that.

Stop it please

2006-03-04T04:55:00.000-08:00

Its time to stop this. The series of spats between Chappell and Ganguly is disgusting, though entertaining. The latest comments from Chappell came out when the media had almost forgotten the issue..maybe he just wanted to vent it out somewhere..maybe he thought that talking to a British magazine means the Indian media would not get to know of it..whatever the reason is, it came at an inappropriate time and it showed both of them in poor light..specifically, his comments indicating Ganguly needed the captaincy for financial reasons is taking a step too far! Maybe the rest of it is justified as comments but why dont they keep all this inside the dressing room..and focus on the game atleast for the millions of cricket lovers in India.
But I'm forced to believe one thing..that its such comments that help the media thrive...how else do they get masala..how else can the news channels compete with each other..after all, maybe someone's faux paus lends a career to another.

when you know you are getting old..

2006-03-04T04:36:00.000-08:00

There are a few startling moments when you reckon that you are getting old in the face of this earth..

when your friends are only talking abt their spouses and children
when the everyouth actors of your time suddenly start looking old on screen..dont believe me..watch preity zinta in 'dil se' and compare it with 'salaam namaste'
when you are discussing recipes with friends
when items like buying a house, investments and loans feature frequently in your conversations with friends and colleagues
when children start calling u 'aunty' or 'uncle' .. my neighbor's child even had a theory behind that..she told me that those who were still studying are didis and those who are working are aunties...
when kids come and ask u.."how did you guys communicate without sms and cellphone and internet"..man! seriously how the hell did we survive without all these?!
when you start looking at fwds as a nuisance ..thank god! those days of fwding to 10 other people to get moksha or to stop a disaster are over..
when 'Economic Times' starts making a lot of sense
when you are wondering how this year's budget would impact you
when you start understanding Ayn Rand's works

LAST class

2006-02-03T23:12:00.000-08:00

one tends to remember the first time he/she did something ..like the first day in college or the first time u went to movie with friends ..first love....first kiss..first job..etc..but sometimes there are also a few 'Last' stuff that stick out in your memory..
i still remember my last day in BITS..BITS being so far away in Pilani, I wasnt sure when I wud visit the place again..so i decided to take a stroll around the campus all by myself...every place brought back special memories with friends..the smiles and tears ..the classrooms, the IC(canteen) where i used to have my chai and samosa..the IPC (computer center) where we used to wait outside in queue to check emails..sometimes reserving seats thro friends..the one and only c'not where i used to hang out my with my friends sight adichufying guys...passing comments on love couples whether they r good for each other, etc..the unforgettable saraswati mandir which gives the feeling of peace just as u step in..the sharmas restaurant with its special chai and hot hot jamuns ..it was as though i wanted to capture all these moments and freeze them in my mind so i dont lose touch with them...I cant forget that stroll I took on my last day...it was a very beautiful feeling to just relive my special moments..
Well...here I am facing another 'Last' of mine...today is my last day of classes in IIM..i am going to attend my last class in an hour and looking fwd to it..I dont think I'd be studying any further, so maybe this is the last class in my life..but who knows..man simply proposes, god knows when to dispose! my IIM memories were not as sweet as my BITSIAN ones, mainly bcos i did it part-time..so there were no hostels..no hanging around always with friends...i remember this one more for the hectic moments and deadlines and deliverables..and the dynamic professors unlike the profs I had in BITS. But here I am in another milestone in my life and even though I cannot manage to capture everything in my mind..I can atleast capture my feelings in words and this piece in my blog is a modest attempt at that.

vasool raja

2006-02-02T22:30:00.000-08:00

Now, for a not-a-really-great-fan-of-vijay like me, its irritating to watch movies like sivakasi..and that too, when it was just 2 days back that i had watched majaa and had not yet recovered from the torture it put me through..! thats what made me decide not to watch any more vijay movies for sometime to come.. Vijay fans, ignore the post or goto the comments section directly and take a shot at me..you're all welcome! For one, I cannot stand anyone talking dialogues straight to the camera except if its thalaivar..and those jarring songs with the hopeless lyrics only made it worse! i hope tamil music does not get redefined to this, for gods sake! and asin, who i started liking a lot after the beautiful chemistry that she shared with surya in ghajini, was unbearable, too in sivakasi..and whats wrong with that director who suddenly appears in a scene and thinks he is actually praising vijay by recalling all vijay movie names..that just reminded me of children saying byhearted dialogues in school skits..if everyone acts like that in his movie...he can forget film making for the rest of his life..! and i think its time that all the heroes stop advising what women should wear..commenting on short skirts and tops is just an irony coming from them..wondering who they'll cast as heroines if no one agrees to dress up like that..even my favorite surya resorted to some dialogue like that in aaru, which was disappointing..'the worst scene of the movie' award however goes to the one, where vijay addresses the police woman and says..'policea irundhalum nee pombalai..' yukkkkk!! i am not one of those feminist types..but this one was too much to handle..

inspite of all this, i watched adhi..and honestly, i think it is a better movie than sivakasi..i've been missing seeing trisha in tamil movies for a long time now...someone said that she ran away to act in telugu movies since vijaykanth wanted her to play his love interest in some movie...i can sure sympathize with her..! adhi has a better defined story and a screenplay..however, the story is nothing unusual..how many times have we seen the hero taking revenge since the villain killed his family..actually the interesting element abt the movie is that trisha is also a part of it...but except her introductory scene, which arouses some interest, she doesnt do much for the rest of the movie except riding her 2-wheeler to witness vijay's action stunts in the end..if this part of the story had been developed better, the movie could have been of more interest...otherwise one starts predicting what the next scene is..so there is nothing to look fwd to..the songs are okay too...i think i need to hear them again to like them though..there r too many action scenes, but nothing unusual for a vijay movie..vijay plays a college boy in the movie..but i feel he has started looking better now than before, so i dont mind if he is a college boy or a school kid..however, its disappointing to see the top heroes do movies like this with no captivating story...but maybe this is where the vasool is!

hey readers!

2006-02-02T22:21:00.000-08:00

so finally i managed to add a visitor account to my blog. i've set up the initial value to a modest 30! common, i'm sure i had atleast 30 hits so far. So, lets see how busy this counter gets as days move on..you can also see my visitor stats by clicking on the link on the right bar. For other bloggers, who want to know how to set this up, just visit http://statcounter.com , and you are all set to go.
initially when i started to blog, i wasnt too sure what i wanted to write. there are several topics that interest me and that I'm passionate about..but i dont feel like writing abt each one of them...but i've fun reviewing books, movies and politics..so, for avid readers of my blog (hoping there are atleast a few of them!), you are going to see more of these columns in my blog. have fun!

Narnia

2006-02-01T23:15:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I had this sudden urge to watch 'Rang De Basanti' at 3pm. Realizing that the next show is in just 1 hr, I dashed to the theatre only to find that it was houseful, inspite of a weekday. Me and my friend decided we needed to watch some movie, having come this far. As I was getting tickets for 'The Chronicles of Narnia', I was wondering what is Narnia..is it a place or a name..? I didnt know its based on a classic novel by C.S.Lewis...However, the movie was a pleasant surprise...its a fairy tale where 4 children sent to an eccentric professor to escape from world war II, inevitably find themselves a part of another war...The secret cupboard and the beautiful, breathtaking world beyond it is a land of fantasy. I've become familiar with the concept of werewolves, thanks to harry potter. The wierd creatures in Narnia, feel like actual characters ..The kids discover that Narnia is ruled by a witch for 100 years and prophecy is that 2 boys and 2 girls will lead them to freedom..I kept wondering who will be Aslan, the king who comes to rescue these people...who else, but the magnificient Lion to play this character...any other human being would have been a great disappointment, i think..For once, I felt that a lion looks adorable..! The lady who plays the witch also fits the role so well...she has got this icy, cunning look abt her..And there are the usual masala elements with the lion sacrificing itself, etc..apart from being a fairytale, its also a story of the emotions kids face as they grow up..there is even Santa Claus without his red costume..! how the kids learn to play with swords, how they grow up and again become small are a mystery.. Ofcourse, you cant get too logical with the story...so if you want to give your brains some rest and want a delight for your eyes, just go watch the movie..you may actually find you like it!

'The Humble Farmer' in action?

2006-01-19T19:48:00.000-08:00

Its interesting to watch the recent events wrt the coalition government. Deve Gowda who has always been the commotion raiser in the coalition and expected to break the alliance with the Dharam Singh government any time, is not the hero of the day. Rather, an unexpected warrior emerges in the form of his son, Kumaraswamy. And the son forms an alliance with BJP and gets the support of 45 MLAs! And Gowda claims he has nothing to do with this. And writes a letter to the governor asking him to ignore his son's claim for majority. well, my knowledge of politics and the legalities of the assembly proceedings is limited, but even for a novice like me, its difficult to believe that 45 MLAs would desert Gowda! I am more tempted to believe that Kumaraswamy definitely had Gowda's blessings and probably, Gowda does not want to withdraw support in the open, lest it may tarnish his image. One has got to admire the guts these politicians have and the way they do chanakya thantra..

A...B...C...D

2006-01-13T04:13:00.000-08:00

Okay, for non-Tamilians - Fyi-- this is the name of a movie..
I should say, the trailers looked quite promising for this movie and a couple of scenes that they show in the TV reviews kindled some interest. I like Sneha, when she is wearing salvars and sarees, so I thought maybe I should check the movie out! Shyam has a funny voice in the movie, I dunno if its intentional for this character or his voice has become like that....whatever it is...it doesnt sound good! He could also do better to start acting...he has the same expression throughout the movie...which gets on to ur nerves....Sneha is quite appealing in her character and gels very well...The other 2 ladies come and go in the movie before u can form any impression on them..The movie reminds of bits and pieces of other movies..the bharathi character is like sujatha is 'aval oru thodarkadhai' and somehow the whole story itself reminds me of 'azhagan', with 3 women falling in love with one guy..the director keeps us guessing (thats what he thinks) till the end of the movie which irritates u..bcos u want the character of shyam to react in some way...in the climax, shyam explains why the other 2 women are really not in love with him and its all infatuation ..and i cant buy that logic..just bcos he has no feelings for them doesnt make their love as infatuations...and somehow both of them compromise and marry someone else..which makes u feel like 'what was all this big deal abt?' its the typical tamil cinema logic that everyone has to end up with a pair or he/she has to die..the climax is also messy..but by that time u stop expecting much out of the movie..
Whats good abt the movie is the format in which the movie flows...4 compartments in the movie coming together provides this ayudha ezhuthu kinda feel...which is good! the let down is in the aracha mavaye araikkara story..! so, if u r really vetti in a weekend, u can take the risk of watching this movie...