Devil's workshop

My India, the India eternal...

2009-11-09T14:36:00.004+05:30

This is the title of a book I read long time back on the life and work of Swami Vivekananda. It also had some essays on the India he envisaged. I was in class 10 when I read that and was mightily inspired. A dozen years later, I am pissed off with the excuse for a nation called India!

I have refrained from talking politics on my blog, there are too many people who talk about it and not too many takers (not that many people read my blog anyway! :) ) but it was a deliberate choice. I felt that the caste/regional/communalist/communist political stands will not affect me ever, so always ignored the political mire. Never voted (not because I did not want to, but because I was never in my hometown at the time of elections), but have followed the happenings closely.
Today is a different day though. I feel angry, and I feel like I need to slap Raj Thackrey today. And the spineless Congress and toothless BJP. I feel like slapping every politician from every political party.

Firstly, over the last week there have been a huge debate over the singing of Vande Matram in madarssas. Honestly, I don't believe in nation, I have no patriotic sentiments. The only act of patriotism I have ever done was to donate blood for Kargill relief and that was 10 years ago I guess. It was the hangover of Swami Vivekananda's book. I am over it. I feel standing for national anthem is an exercises, but I do it. Because the sensible people of this country while giving me freedom of speech asked that as a price and I am cool with it. I get to pee where ever I want and for that if I have to stand for 52 seconds in a cinema hall, its not that bad, is it? So I cannot understand why there is such huge furore over singing Vande Matram. Either you make it compulsory or abolish. What the hell is voluntary patriotism?

Secondly, MNS beat up Abu Azmi for taking oath in Hindi, our "national" language. Well, my respect for nation is well explained above, so you can well understand what I feel about the whole incident. I love Hindi, am pretty good at it, but my love for language is not shared by MNS, too bad! They don't respect the constitution, well, neither would I if I had the choice. MNS is above law and I have already talked about my faith in the Judiciary.

What makes me angry is the cheapness of the show put up by our politicians. Look at Madhu Koda, what a brilliant con he pulled on Jharkhand. Brilliant. And here in Maharashtra we are fighting about whether or not an oath can be taken in Hindi.
I want to slap politicians not for their ineffectiveness, but for not entertaining us enough. In Karnataka the CM did a decent job by weeping in front of cameras, admitting that his priority was to save his government and not the flood relief. Good job sir, that's why they elected you, to save the government and not the flood victims. Who cares about the flood victims anyway, they don't have enough to bribe.
Madhu Koda taught us how to milk a bull. Did he robbed Jharkhand well!Loved it. (Jharkhand is my home state, and I think it is quite oxymoronic that I don't like the idea of nation, state is not that bad. The lesser of the two evils perhaps!)

I think we should be sending our ministers. MPs and MLAs to Europe. Learn for Sarkozy's and Berlusconi's of the world. Give us some value for the taxes that we pay!

Octopus and OUROBOROS

2009-10-04T16:48:00.003+05:30

They say hunger is the root of all troubles in the world. Greed is nothing but an insatiable hunger. Plato imagined "Ouroboros", the perfect animal which can eat itself when hungry. I have learnt that some species of octopus can also do it, they can "shed" one arm of theirs and eat it when under stress or intense hunger.

Sounds really crazy, but some thing that can sustain on itself would be great thing to have. Imagine if happiness can sustain on itself, I am happy today because I was happy yesterday and I will be happy tomorrow because I am happy today. Too bad it isn't the case.

What can sustain on itself is frustration. Unhappy with the current state of affairs, you try to change it and when it doesn't work out, it yields more frustration. But if it does work out, it brings immense amount of joy and relief.

But the joy has a short life span, and frustration seems to be endless. As if it is like the vast stretch of the dark sky above me, and I am just walking being guided by the stars that twinkle, like hope. Hope, is the only weapon one has against frustration.

I take a deep breath, look myself in the mirror and promise myself that tomorrow would be better. Thus I start my day, getting ready for the office.

Tea and me!

2009-09-28T17:20:00.006+05:30

If you ever asked me that what would I prefer, tea or coffee, it would always be tea, unless I am trying to act sophisticated (which I some times do!). Good old desi, I like my tea to be served hot and I take my own sweet time to drink it. Ginger over cardamom, little sugar, loads of milk and a good gossip, that's all that I need. I don't hate the CCDs and the Baristas of the world for not serving good tea. Tea is best had in the roadside dhabas, munching over a small pack of Parle-G and discussing the seriousness in the world with a smile on your lips.

Tea is not just a beverage, its like a dialect. Every place leaves its own mark on it but unlike people leaving marks on the monuments and making it ugly, tea is prettier for the marks people and places put on it. I believe the quality of the tea served in a place tells you a lot about the people that inhabit that place. The way it is served, the way it is had and the way you pay for it,

tells you how the place like to be treated, and how you can expect yourself to be treated.

I have traveled a bit and have found myself hating cities because they do not have the "Tea Culture". Take Delhi for example. The city boasts of two of the best universities in India (DU and JNU) truck loads of colleges and students swarming like bees. But hang around the campuses and you would not get the kind of "Chai" that you would expect. Students' tea ought to be light on the milk, strong with the leaves, a shade of ginger that leaves a good aftertaste which would help if you are smoking while having your tea. Unfortunately, Delhi's tea is just the opposite. Too much of milk, almost no ginger and light on tea leaves. Too smooth for my liking, as if the city wants to conceal its rudeness in the tea that it is serving.

Add to it the fact that your would be hard pressed to find a tea joint in most areas, and even more so on a Sunday. Why on earth should one be deprived of the joy of having a good tea on a Sunday?

If you ever visit Kolkata, you will be surprised to see the kind of tea served there. First the liquor is made and then the milk is added to it. A time saving way of making tea. One would be surprised because in Kolkata, every one has a lot of time, the laid back attitude of the city has not corrupted the way the tea is made though.

Thats a very British way of making tea, and the raj days are still there to be seen in Kolkata. The British Babudom has paved way for the Bengali Babudom. But bureaucracy nonetheless.

Pune for that matter doesn't care about anything. The place is young, vibrant and ambitious. The place is trying hard to get out of the Pensioner's Paradise image of its. The tea in Pune is served in a set of cup and plates and people drinking tea of their plates instead of cup is a very common sight. But you will also find places where tea is served in glasses and it makes me wonder if the city has not yet identified its true self.

And that brings me to my favorite city, Mumbai. Everything in Mumbai runs at a fanatic pace, except the tea shops. The fast food of the city is Vada Pav, a quick desi burger. The choicest mode of transport is the Fast Local, the breakfast is a quick fix Misal Pav( and I love it!) but the tea is laid back. Stirred in a Brass vessel to perfection, good dose of ginger and less sugar, it is tasted by the vendor first to ensure that it has his hallmark on it and then it is served. Nobody rushes through a cup of tea in Mumbai, as if it is their "Me-Time".

Me, my cup of tea and my balcony on a rain washed evening. Life is not that bad after all! :)

Intellectual Property, and a farce that is Indian Judicial System

2009-09-15T13:26:00.002+05:30

OKTATABYEBYE!
How many times in our lives have we used this phrase? But it seems that since 'Tata' is a brand name, one not can use it for any product or services. Bullshit.
Check Merriam Websters, the phrase Ta-ta originated in 1823, a full 16 years before Jamshedji Tata was born and 80 years before Tata Steel was founded. Can the Tata's rightfully claim ownership of the phrase?
Indian agriculture ministry argued the case for Basmati rice when it was to be patented by some American firm, saying that the usage of Basmati rice in India dates years ago and quoted ancient Indian poems in its support. So, by that logic, you cannot patent something that existed much earlier.
How come brand names are trademarked then? Well, it is the usage of a phrase in some context. You can start a hotel chain with the name Adidas, not another apparel range. That is to protect the consumer from counterfeits and helping the companies reap the benefit of creating a brand.
But it certainly doesn't mean that Mr.Jobs owns all the usage of the word "Apple". We should still be able to use the phrase, "an apple a day, keeps a doctor away".

Whats the issue with OKTATABYEBYE?
That MakeMyTrip wanted to name a portal OKTATABYEBYE and the Tatas found it infringement of their IP over the brand name. And guess what, the court ruled it in favour of the Tatas!
Ridiculous.
1) The context of the usage of the word TATA is not as a brand but as a word of English language.
2) TATAs are not in the travel business and MakeMyTrip's proposition is completely different.
3) The pharse used is self explanatory and in no way uses the word TATA as a brand.

Why did the court ruled it in favor of the TATAs?

Why do you think I call the Indian Judicial System a farce?

Living an image

2009-08-25T17:01:00.003+05:30

I work as a Sales Manager in a Internet Media Company. I have loads of programmers, journalists, movie critics and other sales people around me. In the building that I have my office, on one of the floors is the office of one the popular English Dailys and thus, have more of journalists and movie critics, the so-called opinionated and creative crowd.
So when I go down for a cup of tea and smoke with my friends, I just cant help but notice the stereotypes.
Think of an Indian Journalist, and you will think of shabbily dressed, bearded, khaadi wearing, bespectacled, smoking individual. Well, with so much of TV happening around, the over grown beard has given way to trimmed beard, khadis have given way to torn denims, but the glasses and ciggarettes are still there. As if they were the hallmark of intellectualism.
Drop closer and the conversations will never be trivial, it always is a discussion about the seemingly most important issues, almost always about 'the system'. Not that I don't like such conversations. I love them, you can talk about so many things that are wrong with our system without even proposing a solution. I love when people who have never voted criticize the democracy. I adore people who wear brands and then moan about the consumerist attitude, but that's a different story.
Coming back to our journalist and creative friends, as if the whole 'look' is necessary to 'being'. Sometimes it makes me wonder what is more important, to look the part or to play it?
It is not that the sales guys are far behind. We( and I count myself in) dress as if we are about to attend a christian wedding.
The programmers dress in casuals as if each one of them owns a Google! My company's CEO dresses in Black T-shirts and Denims, just like Steve Jobs does.
So we all dress for our part. And we do that really well. I am not sure if play them that well.
May be the stereotypes of movies and media reinforces the image in us. May be, we reinforce the stereotype by behaving that way. But which so ever is true, I feel that we live the image more than living the role.
Enough said, I need to go and fix my tie.

Radom, random-er, random-est

2009-07-20T14:20:00.005+05:30

This blog is the result of sheer impatience, I should be doing something worth while, but I am afraid, I don't have much to do.
My ex-roommate (ex not because he is dead or something, just that I have changed the city) used to say, life is a sinusoidal curve. I agree. Just that I want to use a diode and filter that to just the high part of it. But then, no such diode exists.
I work.I get a salary. At least for the Income Tax department, my bank, and for every one else including me that should be enough. But it is not.
I don't have fixed deliverable, and the fact that even if I do not do what I am supposed to; I can get away with it, makes me hate my job. It is not the same every day, some days I love my job, on most days I don't.
I know there is nothing wrong in feeling that. Everybody does. But I am failing to let it not affect other things in my life. I hate the dogs on the streets when I walk back home, curse the Mumbai municipality for the pot holes on the road, abuse the autowalas and the taxiwalas for the jam, and give a look to the kids in their mothers arm that make them wish they were never born.
I know I shouldn't. But I know that I do.
I need that diode desperately, and this desperation isn't helping either. So it is like the quick sand of depression and frustration that the more you struggle, the more you are trapped.

Writing this blog has not helped much either!

Advertising Industry is struggling. And how!

2009-06-24T15:39:00.003+05:30

Working for a media company, I know for sure that that the advertisers are trying to squeeze the blood out of the publishers. Publishers, in their attempt to get ahead of the rest, are using every piece of technology they can.

Browsing through the internet, I came across this link using Google Hot Trends, and I must say I was amused to see what I saw.

I know in reality people wish they were dead rather than married, but never thought that technology could compare murder and wedding!
In the image on the left, the ad for wedding comes up when you take your mouse over the underlined words "murder charges". This is a new way of showing ads on the internet using phrases from the content of a web page, and then linking that to an advertisement which is linked to that phrase.
The jury is still out if this style of advertising has its merits or not, but who, in his sane mind would be thinking about linking marriage ads to murder charges?

Sports, Life and Sour Grapes!

2009-06-22T09:50:00.002+05:30

So Pakistan did win the T20 World. Not that I am a big fan of this format of the game, but still, it is no mean achievement for a team which has not played competitive cricket for a sustained period, thanks to all the internal conflicts. Congratulations.
Indian radio channels are celebrating Pakistan's victory by mocking Younis Khan's lack of ability to speak good English. I agree, his not so good with the language but boy, he can bat! Remember his batting against Indian Cricket team!

I do not think that it is just Indian phenomena. The fans of Manchester United worldwide have suddenly started to see the negative influence that Christiano Ronaldo was having on the dressing room. I guess now that he is sold to Madrid (although for an amount which I dont consider 'Vulgar'), the ostriches have finally got their heads above the sand. All the fans who so badly wanted to see him stay are now relieved that he is gone.
I am sure similar sentiments would surface about Carlos Tevez as well now that he has confirmed that he won't be staying. "Oh, he is too similar to Rooney!" OR " He ain't worth that money!"
My take: I wanted Ronaldo to stay. He is irreplacable. I don't think tevez leaving is all such a bad thing. That might give chance to young Macheda and Welbeck.

I guess we devalue the thing that we cannot get to ease the pain of not getting it. It is the same with the girls who ignore advances. All of a sudden she is not pretty anymore!
Sour grapes!

Rape, class and India

2009-06-17T10:09:00.006+05:30

Shiney Ahuja is accused of raping his maid. Should have been a simple enough headline somewhere on the 4th page of a Mumbai newspaper. It is not. Shiney is a bollywood actor, famous and married.

Well, this is not the first instance of a rich and famous being accused of such an act but what is a first is the media and the public reaction to it.
Part of the reaction is, naturally, condemning the act. It is the other part that I am not so comfortable with.
The audience is baffled by the fact that the victim is the maid. Most of the comments that I see on the various news websites express disbelief and some even go to the extent of suggesting that the entire episode is a stunt by the maid to extract more moeny of her employer, which has gone horribly wrong. A section of people condemn the act not because it is rape, but it is a maid. How can someone rape his maid, someone who is not even good looking, is poor and as some readers say,"stinking"?

So the source of disgust is not the act, but the victim's social status. Is it OK to rape a high society girl? Or one should only try to rape people in their peer group? Why is it that the society thinks that the higher income people have more intergrity? Why is it that we all stood up for Priyardarshini Muttoo and Jessica Lal but cannot find enough courage to speak for the incident that happened in Khairlanji some two and a half years back?
Do we feel hurt more when we can relate to the victim in terms of lifetyle, and aspirations? And if yes, why?
Shouldn't the crime be judged on the act alone?

Amidst all this, Times of India published the findings of a the medical examination report, which will put to shame the porn magazine writers with the details and the decriptions. They did nothing of the sort with so many other such incidents.
The girl was perhaps raped within the closed walls of an apartment. The jury is still out on that one.

Times of India raped her publicly on the pages of a newspaper that is circulated widely.
Add to it the plethora of jokes doing rounds on Shiney Ahuja's episode. We have made a mockery of an incident that should have been unanimously condemned.

My India, what have you become?

Mumbai and Me

2009-06-12T16:01:00.003+05:30

Mumbai is a humbling city. No matter how much money you make, there is always someone making more than that. And its not just about money. The typical middle class dream of owning a house is a luxury here!
No matter when you reach this place, you would feel that you missed the bus by atleast 3 years.
How come the magical number of 3? The property prices double every 3 years, so the flat that you could have bought in your today's salary 3 years ago is already beyond your budget. By the time you make and save enough, the locality of your affordable house will move 5 further from your place of work (away from Mumbai, not towards it). So you have to chose cheaper house,or longer commutation time daily. And trust me, the prices will decide for the latter.

So every day when you hang on to the dear handle in the local train, you curse for being a good 3 years late!

Its like you are always chasing something here, no wonder the city never stops. Its like running on a treadmill which is moving faster than you can. You huff and puff, but you don't progress. This place sucks the life out of people, and leave them walking zombies, dazed with dreams that were never fulfilled.

It is a thought that scares the hell out of me. Everyday I back myself to survive this place, every night I convince myself that I did.

Transformation begins...

2009-05-22T11:00:00.003+05:30

Just two months back I was a student in a B-School. We have a tradition of yearbook where my friends wrote testimonials for me. I have not been very wise in choosing the right words to express myself when I talk to people. My friends joked that I had the subtlety of a sledge hammer. They said I needed to be more politically correct in expressing myself.

Now that I am working on an assignment where I will be facing clients, clients who, by the nature of the business I am dealing with, would be eccentric and egoist! My boss says that I am the right person to do the job coz he thinks 'I am a nice, diplomatic kid".

I am sure my friends will laugh out loud when they hear it. I don't know why but I take that as a compliment.
The game is on.

Qualifications and Politics

2009-05-18T09:15:00.003+05:30

Bhartiya Janta Party took on board IIM Calcutta graduates to 'manage' their campaign.
The result is that they had a loss of 22 seats.

Just reinforces my belief that qualification has no role in Indian Politics.

Its been a long time...

2009-05-11T19:29:00.003+05:30

It has been really long since I have posted anything here. Going by some of the comments, I have been missed by some. Thanks for that.

There has been a lot that has happened in my life over the last four months but although it is important for me, (the new job, moving to Mumbai, earning again) there is not much masala there. I work with a Dotcom firm now that is known for the interesting comments on its message boards. I have seen some of them on my blog too, and that is something that I am not happy about.

It is a free world, we all have opinions. What is important is how we express them. I was a 20-21 year old not so long ago in my life, and have seen some of them on MTV Roadies. I always believed that the Roadies culture was a one off thing. I have never seen such obscenities mouthed in real life and I certainly do not endorse them.

One must understand that certain things is this world are contextual. An American will not understand Gajodhar Bhaiya jokes. Someone who has lived in condos all his life would not be able to see the challenges people living in a house made of thatched roofs face during the monsoon. There is a wide spectrum of experiences that people have, and nobody can feel all of them.

We all must learn to respect when we do not agree or understand.

A comment by a gentleman/lady by the name of Readoholic and its reply by anonymous is what I am talking about.

To Readoholic: You do not have the judgment of what to read and what not, then it is not my fault. I am sure you would not dare to say such things when you meet people face to face, else you might have your face rearranged. But Internet gives people like you a place to hide. Good for you, bad for us!
To Anonymous: Thanks for defending me. One's dignity must always be maintained! My father taught me not to bite a dog when he bites you, and I think you can use the same advice.

May be, we all need to learn a bit of netiquettes.

The obituary of a dog

2009-01-12T23:32:00.001+05:30

There was a dog, one that did not warrant any more attention than is bestowed by the odd mischievous kid, or the household maid, who just cares enough to throw the bread instead of dumping it in the bin. Not that the dog cared much about the benevolence of the maid though. He had the fight in him; the bin was just a challenge. Neither did the mischievous kids with tripod cycles mattered much to him; he took pride in his ability to run.

So the dog fought through. He grew up, marking his territory and defending it vehemently. Flirting and maintaining the dog's dignity as he went along. Never barked at a kid to scare him, nor bit anyone to show that he could. He defended himself with vigor and made sure he was a no nonsense dog. The neighborhood kids grew up too and they had the bikes now. Every now and then he would run to show that he was good at it. And did he run with the bikes! He would run till he was exhausted. His legs would give up but he would not. The kids loved this game too, and they would tease the dog. He would gleefully accept the challenge every time it was thrown at him.

The kids grew out of the bike game and bought the cars. The dog grew older with the same zeal but had weaker legs. On a night when a kid was drunk, he threw his beer can at the dog. The dog barked at him, showing his teeth. He was old alright, but he still had some flames left. As the kid drove in his car, he ran after it. Ran with whatever was left in him, and the kid did not like it. He slowed the car and just as the dog was near the front tyre, he swung the car to its right.

The dog runs no more.

An extraordinary love story!

2009-01-07T21:13:00.001+05:30

These are bad times, in every possible way. Economy, politics, jobs, even the Gaza strip, there are things the way they should not be.

I am sure there are tales of doom to be told, but I will try not to add to the general sinking feeling that is around and will tell you a story. A story which happened around me, a story that I think would leave a smile on your face, and if it doesn’t, then you have been tracking the financial world a bit too much. Leave the pink paper down and read Calvin and Hobbes for a change!

I was standing at the Chatlet Le Halles metro station in Paris, waiting for the M4. I was annoyed about the fact that time between two metros at around mid night is 8 minutes instead of the 3 minutes during the day. My education has taught me that it minimizes cost and optimizes performance but when you are waiting on a cold night at a station, you don’t really care much about economic sense.

It was not really crowded and I was waiting for the train. My attention was caught by a man who was signaling something to a woman on the opposite platform. He threw a kiss at her and she blushed. Buoyed by the fact that there were not too many passengers around, she responded. The man went down on his knees as if proposing. She extended her hand as nodded as if she agreed. They were both smiling and throwing kisses. I said to myself, Paris is indeed a romantic city.

I was smiling as I looked on, but the drama was cut short as her train arrived. The woman got into the train and leapt for a window seat. She was still smiling and throwing kisses. The man waved his hand and she reciprocated. They kept waving to each other till the train disappeared. The man stood on the platform waving his hand.

My train arrived and I got in. I left for my apartment wishing all the happiness in the world for the couple. I wished them good health too, so that their love lives long. I guess they needed it.

And yes, the man was over 65 and the woman was atleast 60 years old.

Snow and a song

2008-12-11T00:06:00.004+05:30

It was snowing last morning,
And I was feeling like a kid.
I thought of taking some in my bag,
Rest assured I did.

I want mom to be here some time,
With flakes of snow all around.
I want to jump up and down again,
My joy would know no bound.

"What crap", you might think
"This is a nursery rhyme"
I totally agree with you but,
the kid in me had a bloody good time.

Help needed!

2008-08-04T19:43:00.004+05:30

Hi,
I am doing a project on "Ethics in International Business" and I can use your help.
Irrespective of the country you are reading this in, please spare 2 minutes of your time to take this survey.
http://www.esurveyspro.com/Survey.aspx?id=c17b5f08-31cc-460d-9cc6-c3cd7be9a71f
Please spread it among your friends as I can use as many responses as I get. The more geographies I cover, the better.
Thanks in advance.

Desperation and Inspiration

2008-07-11T21:52:00.004+05:30

I have completed a year in a B-School. But the learning has just begun.
In case you want to join a top B-School in the country and are reading this for all the good things that happen to you in a B-School, sorry, I will disappoint you.
The first year went by and I felt that I have not learnt much. I came with an idea that I will come across open minds, people sharing their experiences and willing to learn as they argue. I have now realized that when your own mind is preoccupied, you cannot learn new things. I know I am restating the age old wisdom, but you only realize that it is wisdom and not a fancy quote when it happens to you.
We all joined with high hopes and dreams of making millions. Then the sub prime happened. And now the markets are bleeding. Just today a friend of mine was not offered a job because he did his internship on Credit desk and nobody wants to utter that word in the market today, leave aside dealing in it. The future is not as rosy as we thought it would be. The India growth story seems history. From the dreams of the best job we are slowly preparing ourselves to the reality of any job, as long as it is some job! Add to that the expectations people have when they know where you are studying. The media doesn't help it either! I never thought that the news could be so far away from truth before I came here.
The times are turbulent. I have this opportunity to start something of my own. But I lack the courage and the conviction to do it. All these years of schooling has indeed done one thing, killed my risk appetite. In case you want to read what B-Schools should be doing and what they do, this is an excellent article. THE AMERICAN SCHOLAR
Just as I was getting into one of those spirals of disillusionment and disappointment, I came across this gentleman's lecture. I have heard inspirational talks before, but this is just not any other talk. In case you have the time, please watch this 76 minute long video on youtube. I am sure you will find something worthwhile, just I like I have found inspiration.
Randy Pausch - The Last Lecture
Now that the fear of future has subdued, the reality is here and it is not very pleasant one to look at. I have my exams from Monday and just like the last year, I know NOTHING!! Got to study Indian Legal System for the exam! Who wants to read that subject, I mean, if I am the manager, I would hire a lawyer if I need one! Somebody should teach Specialization of Labour to my Institute's directors!
But a man must do what he has to do before he can do what he wants to do!
I am off to study, but I want to thank Mr Pausch again! Thank you sir. Thanks a ton.

The best morning in quite some time!

2008-07-04T22:28:00.002+05:30

Today was one of the few days when I am glad I studying in this college!
I was busy chatting last night and by the time I realized that I need to sleep to attend the morning 8 o'clock class, it was already 4.30 a.m! I chose to watch a movie, "Khuda Ke Liye" which is a pretty decent flick!
Had the breakfast, served hot. Puris and Aaloo! These are the times I like the mess food!
Then I went to attend the lecture for Management, Culture and Creativity! That is the name of the course that I have taken. There was a performance by Dr Rajeeb. The gentleman is not only a famous Sarod player but also holds a PhD with his thesis on "Use of Computing to teach North Indian Classical Music"!
It was such a pleasure listening to him in the pin drop silence, sitting in the MCHV center! Then to hear his views on creativity and risks in making a career in music industry was equally amazing!
Then I came back and slept for 8 hours! :-)
Before I end, my heartfelt thanks to the Anonymous who gave me a lead for my project! Thank you very much!
I am doing my project on "Child labour in the Apparel Industry- Case Study: Nike".
Thanks!

Project blues!

2008-06-18T22:15:00.002+05:30

I never thought that deciding on the topic of the project would be the most difficult thing in my Post Graduation! It is not just any project, it has to be a report on some issue that should have something to do with Business, International and yes, ETHICS!
I have thought long and hard, and the ideas that I have, well, I will surely get an 'F" if I do something on them.
Nopes, you just cannot research on the Web and put something together. You have to interview the person concerned with that line of Business. So if I have to do something with auctioning of players in the Indian Premier League, I would have to interview Mr Mallya or Mr Sharukh Khan! Wonderful!
Somebody please tell my Prof that if I had the access to either of them, I would be making more money than what I would make when I pass out of this place!
I wanted to do a study of sustainability of ethical business in beverages industry. I thought that I can use Starbucks as a case and build on that. I was told that I would have to interview the CEO of Starbucks! Thank you sir, for making my job simple!
Now I am stuck! I have ideas coming to me thick and fast but at the mere thought of getting in touch of some international business head to interview him/her, they disappear faster than a drop of water in a microwave oven!
This is my SOS call to all of you! If you know someone who is somebody in some international firm, be it related to marketing, advertising, accounting, sales and distribution, please let me know! All I would do is a 15 minutes interview on some contemporary issue regarding ethics in that domain.

Good to be back!

2008-06-11T01:14:00.002+05:30

I am back to college. It felt a bit like the first day, new room, empty roads and no food to eat! :)
It has been a long time. 5 different places in last 2 and a half months have not yielded much in terms of experience to share but has been a good experience to live.
Mumbai is a peculiar city. Alive and dead at the same time! It epitomises the Indian growth story but also houses the backward looking political forces.
It is not about politics and hence I wont talk of it any further. Two things in Mumbai stand out for me.
The most private space for a couple is the most public of them all in Mumbai. Along the Marine Lines' shoreline, you can see couples doing, well, a lot of things! Wonder why has it not warranted some wrath of the activists?
Secondly, what the hell do the Mumbai girls eat? I mean, in Calcutta you would go weeks without looking at a girl worth giving a second glance, but in Mumbai, it would come down to minutes! The crowd out there is very much 'in'. I fell in love 8 times a day!
I miss travelling in the local! The joy in throwing yourself on the sea of people, great fun! I travelled second class and committed every punishable offence in the trains except travelling in the Ladies' compartment. Travelled without ticket, with improper ticket, with a second class ticket in the first class, I have done it all! I was never pulled up for ticket checking! Maybe, my formal dressing had something to do with it!
When I was travelling back, I saw a damn pretty chick at the airport and my hand went up to comb my hair. And I smiled at my own stupidity! I felt like a kid all over again!
The flight back witnessed some turbulent weather and I was the only one on-board who was having a good time! I was even reprimanded by my neighbour 'to wipe that smile off my face'.
I guess my sense of adventure is a bit misplaced!
Nonetheless, it was fun!

Chaibasa Diaries contd...

2008-04-27T00:30:00.002+05:30

I have nothing much to do these days so I watch a lot of TV and things that I see have, well, have opened my eyes to a world that I have not been in touch with at all, in the last year or so.

Roadies: I find it difficult to hate or love this show. I am amused that there is a crowd, which so desperately want to ‘be’ that everything is fair for them. I am a mere spectator of an event I just cannot classify. It is not a game as there is not a fair chance for people who are playing. It is not reality TV as there is too much of an impetus from an external source. I have lived in metros long enough to realize that this is not a representative sample. I have not met enough idiots, honestly. It is a bunch of characters who want a short cut to money and fame who believe that they are putting up a show not knowing that they are the show!
But it is cheap entertainment. Pure mockery of all what the old school believes as values.
PS: I am in love with Sambhavi!

Media: I love India TV. It makes me hate myself that I am an Indian. Seriously, the bad roads, the pathetic sanitation and drinking water problems, the lack of basic civic amenities after 60 years of independence, the corrupt bureaucracy, all pales to insignificance in what India TV presents as news. I feel bad for Vandana, the poor soul did not deserve to spend so much time in a pit but that was the effect, not the cause. Did you do enough as a news channel to make people accountable for the incident? No!
There was this news about a bicycle thief who was caught red handed by the crowd and he was beaten all black and blue by the mob. What I hate was the endorsement of the crowd behavior on the grounds that the courts and police are not competent enough. Somebody should tell them that two wrongs do not a right make!
There was more, an hour special on Tanushree Dutta! And also on the fact that a women was beaten up because she was considered a ‘Dayan’ (witch) by the villagers. You have the audacity to cover that live, bring the ‘experts’ in your studio to discuss whether someone can actually be a ‘Dayan’!
I think I read it somewhere that a society’s decay is reflected in the media. I am not quite sure of the fact that the reverse is not happening in India. For two minutes of fame, people might just want to try the extreme. An accused of murder calling media to surrender is an example of easy popularity. A few days back, a truck driver was burnt alive in Asansol (West Bengal) who had hit a school girl and she died on the spot. Well, will this change anything? More and more such incident will happen as long as the media does not condemn these acts of cowardice!

My municipality elections: Things went well, the noise pollution is over, we had Holi and Diwali at the same time in the processions and the buzz is over. I did use my right to cast my vote and it had no bearing on the election results. The candidates I supported lost badly! As always, the worthy is not the winner!

Amidst all this, Shewag provided some excitement. Thank you for an eventful innings in an uneventful contest.

The Chaibasa Diaries!

2008-04-14T15:29:00.001+05:30

I was born and brought up in this town and it is here that I am spending my time now. It has been a while since I last spent so much of my time here and things are really different. I have spent last 8 years of my life away from this town, and I get more respect than love these days when I come back. I am seen as ‘worldly wise’ but the affection that this town has for my peers is not there for me. As if I lost my innocence by studying and working outside.
On the bright side we have this branch of ICICI bank coming up. Now that will put this small, almost forgotten town on the banking map atleast! So instead of people queuing up in front of tellers, they would line up in front of the ATM. Too bad for the small talks that happened in the long queues - the cribbing on the inefficiency of the teller, on the fact that female tellers never come on time, on the hot and humid bank interior, on the political system, will pave way to impatience with another customer. The system will no longer will be the focal point of verbal brickbats but another peer would have to tolerate the verbal assault for his inability to use the technology! And I must add, people here have mastered the art of assaulting verbally. No, it is not Delhi-type verbal rape nor Calcutta-type verbal indecency, but a light hearted banter that is embarrassing and tickling at the same time! One doesn't really know whether to laugh or blush!
Sample this post lunch conversation between a teller and a customer at the bank:
Customer: “Lagta hai bhabhi ne aaj khana bahut achcha banaya tha tiffin mein”.
Teller: “Aap ko kaise pata?”
Customer: “Daba ke khaane ke baad aapke haath dheere chal rahe hain isiliye poochha.”

So the social fabric will be distorted. Someday, sociologists will study the impact of ATM machines on society.

We have municipal elections coming up! And the verbiage has achieved new heights! I was told that I belong to “Chaibasa ki yuva, shikshit, pragatisheel aur vikashsheel peedhi jiska Chaibasa ke prati kartavya hai ke who usse ek achcha ummedvaar chun kar de.” (That I represent the young, educated, progressive generation whose duty it is to elect a suitable candidate for Chaibasa municipality). You won’t believe that it was my barber who said that to me. Nopes, he was not in the preaching mode but he is one of the 155 candidates contesting the elections for 10 wards.
I just wondered where would I go if I need a hair cut next time!

Visiting the barber has some added fun as well. It is not a sophisticated saloon, but a Malgudi Days type place where you sit on a wooden chair, people of my height have the misfortune of having their knees pressed against the front wall, no AC, no magazines to read. You have this one newspaper, of which you might be lucky to get one page if you are waiting. Eight people each will have one page and it would be your bad day if you are stuck with the business news page. There is not much joy in reading about the bullions! The Hindi dailies that we get in this part of the world, make sure that they publish some or the other hot photograph on the gossip page. It sells! If you are really lucky, you will get that page. If you are not, try to find out who has it, and make sure you make the eye contact the moment he is done with that. If you have the front page, you will get to read half the news, because inadvertently, all the news articles on the front page conclude on some other page.
In the time that my barber is busy with my hair, he tells me all that has happened in the town since my last visit. It is almost like doing a system restore. He asks me when I was last in the town and gives me an update after that ‘cut-off’ date. I learn about all the affairs going on, how many and which of the girls ran away from their homes with their boy friends, how many of them are planning to run away, all the family feuds and dowry cases. It is a boring place as there are no page 3 parties happening. Out here, a cow died of electric shock is a page 3 news. When the best selling newspaper in the region is called “Chamakta Aaena” (Shining Mirror) you don’t really have much choice.

There is more to come! The broadband has not yet arrived here and the dial up connection isn’t very exciting here! I am off to have a cup of tea. The time of the day doesn’t really matter! You can have a cup of tea any time here! After all, it is Chai-basa!

The retail model of MBA placements!

2008-03-10T20:45:00.004+05:30

I have a theory!

Seriously, for a change I have a theory and not an opinion! And I might want to get it published in some International Journal with a fancy name, one which no one reads but always recommends!

How do the 'Sale' in retails work? You have this over production or under demand of a particular good. Or, you have some oddments, you see, the red may be a shade darker or lighter, the size may be a bit off. Whatever may be the reason, you have product which is either not in vogue or not in demand.

What do you then? Simple, discount! Slash the prices, club some useless offers, gloss things up and some one who wants labels and cannot afford them normally, will buy that! The poor shirt went for 50% off for no fault of it at all! It just happened to be different! And different is not in fashion any more! The 70's are over my dear!

Now think of the B-Schools! You have people classified based on their graduate education, CG, summers etc. And then you are compartmentalized. You are slot 0 box material, you will be sold at a premium. Then slot 1 will be at 30% discount, slot 2 at 50% discount! The big players come, bid and 'buy'. There are firms who cannot pay top of the bracket salaries and are slotted in the slot 2 category, pick the left overs and take pride in the fact that they recruit from the top B Schools! Aren't the ones slotted in the slot 2 oddments?

And then just as in the case of the shirt, there are so many parameters out of your control! The place you were born at, which school you went to, whether your family could afford a IIT coaching or not.

But then, no body has the time to read between the lines! So, the easiest way is to look in the boxes and pick your favorites.

The Big MBA sale is on. Hurry, offer only till stock lasts!

The week that was! Part 2

2008-03-10T20:18:00.004+05:30

There were some good things as well in the last week, things that I often ignore when I am in the not-so-good mood.
My blog is read across 4 countries and it has crossed 100 hits! A stat that I am really happy with! I agree that I have to pester my readers to know what they think about what I blog( I will refrain from using the verb 'write', I don't think that most of the things on my blog qualify as 'writings') but then, a feedback is always welcome!
I get frequent hits from USA, all thanks to my friend Akhil who made my blog his status message on gtalk and thus popularised it!
I have hits from France and Brazil too, but they are mostly because of my misspellings! Not sure if they should count as readers but adding them makes my blog 'global' and I would rather count them!
I have been told that my blog has a good female readership. Makes me feel happy and sad at the same time! The virtual me is more in demand than the real me! Talk about duality.
My friend got placed in Lehman Brothers, a much coveted company. Another one had his wedding dates finalised. My group has grown up!
A friend of mine got married and I fell for her the day she told me that she is going to get married. It has happened to me quite a few times now. Now I know what they mean by 'The forbidden fruit is always sweeter!'.
I just noticed that the number of blogs in this year so far is more than the whole of last year put together. I don't know if I am more creative/frustrated/simply 'lukkha'/interesting than last year. I will think about that when I will have absolutely nothing to do after the next few days!

PS: Just wanted to do a sequel to something, and hence is the title of this blog. Now that the itch is over, I will return to normalcy, whatever that is!

A week that was!

2008-03-08T21:45:00.003+05:30

When I first learnt about the funda of Fractal, I was amused to say the least! I never thought that there is a belief that says that what ever happens at a large scale also happens at the small small scale. To put it in more clear terms, as per the fractal theory, stock market will have similar behaviour in a minute as in a year, a hill will look the same if you look at it from whatever distance! The structure of the solar system is analogous to that of an atom!
Basically, the scale doesn't matter and the patterns repeat themselves.
When my week started on Monday with my paper of Financial Management, I was hopeful! The next day, I was happy to have done well in OR. I moved to Production Management and I was thinking about the least painful and scandalous way to commit suicide! I was so hopeless! Then Indian Economies went well and I was back to my normal self! Post HRM, I think I have achieved Nirvana!
Looking at the week in the light of the fractal theory brought me new wisdom! What ever happens in your life, similar things will happen in a week as well! Purely going through the emotions, I think I led a life in a week! You think I missed sadness, no I have not!
The week is over and so is my first year of management education!
All I have is examinations every 35 days and how much have I hated that. The assignments, reports, grades...
But now when I plan to leave all this behind for 2 and a half months during my summers, I think I am going to miss all these! I am so much used to a hectic life that I am scared that I will find ways to waste myself in my leisure!
I wont see some of friends for sometime and the useless cribbing will surely be missed!
Just as in life, I started missing the same things I hated a day ago!
One portion of life served, one portion of it lived!

Die or Fly?

2008-03-02T21:14:00.005+05:30

There are times in my life when I feel vulnerable! I have always believed that the fallibility of humans is their greatest strength, but at times like these my beliefs betray me! And surprisingly, makes me more human!
Through the glasses of arrogance you see things and smile! Much ado about nothing!
But when things happen to me, I feel like shouting at the top of my voice! I shout but the sound echoes within! It takes me a while to come to terms with the fact that I am indulging myself in a futile activity! Everyone tells me to forget and focus on task at hand, but what when the task at hand pales to insignificance compared to what you are asked to forget?
I wish to to be dead, beyond sorrow and grief, but then, the drive is so strong, that just when the firing squad is about to pull the trigger, I feel like smiling! I want to have one more try, one more hurrah, one more attempt to fly!
And thus I live on, winning and losing battles within, but, alive!
Less alive than before though! A part of me always goes numb with each such encounter. As if you have to pay a price to have the chance to breathe again. Paying my mortgages, if you can say so! They call it growing up.
No wonder when you grow up enough, you are dead!

Doing a life to life!

2008-02-22T00:08:00.002+05:30

I believe that if life had a life and a body to live in, it would have been a pretty lady, and that, at times makes me imagine myself taking her by the scruf of the neck, kissing her hard, and then dumping her!
Wouldn't that be doing to life what life does to you?

Valentine's Day collage!

2008-02-14T22:28:00.003+05:30

So it is 14th February. Just another day but not for a lot of people. I went out with a friend to get away from the hostel and this is what I am back with:
1) An aunty in early thirties with an uncle in mid thirties eating "Paani Puri" at a joint:
Uncle made it clear that he wants no chillies in his "paani puri". Plain and simple instruction.
Round 1: Aunty: Bhaiya, please add some chillies.
Round 2: Aunty: Bhaiya, add some "khataayi".
Round 3: Aunty: Bhaiya, put some green chillies.
Round 4: Aunty: Bhaiya, add some masala.
Poor Bhaiya!
Do women actually know what they want?
2) City Center, the famous mall in salt lake, had hosted a free dj show and there was this crowd of 300 odd, struggling to find an inch of space to put their foot and still managing to dance.
Interestingly, there was this couple of 40 year olds onlooking. I am not sure what they were wondering about. My guess is that it could be either of:
It was so simple in our times. A pigeon, a kite and a letter! OR
Wish we had this in our times!
I think it is the former. What's your take?
3)I heard of this 10th class student in a school neraby kissing a letter, which I suppose was from his girlfriend.
I wonder, is it what they show in movies that has become love now?
4) I saw this couple who would be easily past their 50s. Uncle helping Aunt have her "chaat" and instructing the vendor how she wants her dish done!
Old school of romance, zindabaad!
5) A lot of pretty gals with dumb guys, and a lot of sighs!
What price being pseudo intelligent?

Lessons from Kaju Singh

2008-02-12T00:02:00.000+05:30

One look at Kaju Singh will bring the memories of an anonymous Bihari villain from any Hindi movie. About 5ft 10, dark, overweight, with a ‘tilak’ on his forehead that makes him look all the more villainous, dressed in a Red T-shirt and a jacket that was white once upon a time and selling tea outside Dhanbaad railway station, one look at him and you would say, a very uninspiring individual!
That’s what I thought when I walked into his shop one chilly January night, a few days back. It was about 1 in the morning and I was waiting for another train which, not surprisingly, was late! (I can never understand why the trains get delayed when you are all alone, making the wait seem even longer!)
I walked out of the station, hoping to eat something and stumbled upon this tea shop. A VCD player and a TV set blaring out the songs from the forgotten movie “Aashiqi” and a bunch of people spending time watching that, the cheap Chinese miniature lights doing what they do best- irritate, I stepped near the stove to heat up and asked for a cup of tea.
While I waited for my cup of tea, my gaze shifted from the TV set to the signboard at the top of the shop’s door. It was not the name of the tea stall, to my surprise, it read in Hindi: “Stay away from AIDS. Only awareness can stop the epidemic. For free condoms, contact Kaju Singh” I couldn’t help a smile, the idea of vending condoms at a tea shop was a novel one!
Then I looked at the back wall, and it was full of framed certificates which sang praises for the community service that Kaju Singh had done. They spoke of his contribution in spreading AIDS awareness and I saw that he had worked in all day long camps! And I looked at him going about his business! The kid who works in his shop fumbled and broke two glasses. He just bent down, picked up the pieces and threw them away.
I just stood there, watching him go about his job as if nothing had happened!
Many of us who have donated blood make sure that it appears in our CVs and forms that we fill, and here is this guy, letting go of a day’s income many a times to work in spreading awareness!
We argue with the taxiwalas to save 10 bucks, and this guy lost Rs10 because of someone else’s fault and was still unruffled!
And I am the ‘educated’ one! I wondered, how much have I lost to education and greed?

That night, when I paid for my tea, I said ‘thank you’. I walked back, humbled, and with a lump in my throat.
May be, we all can learn from Kaju Singh.

And yes, he is a Bihari, one of the many whom Raj Thackrey hates!

Democracy!

2008-01-30T00:35:00.001+05:30

To put it simply, it is the form of government where every one has equal rights.

To put it in practice: At a party, a bunch of jokers play what they think is music, another bunch of losers do what they think is dance, I drink what we all know is alcohol, and we all have what we think is fun!

I love democracy! I can write what I think! And you still have a choice of not reading it!

PowerScrap - cut the crap!

2008-01-22T21:02:00.000+05:30

This new year, I received 100s of new year wishes. How much I wish at least one was for me!
The fact that you can send same scrap to all the people in your friendlist at one go, and you do, makes me think that you are some really lazy bugger, who is caught between scared of being neglected by people and hence wants to make his/her prsence felt, and simultaneously not caring enough to be personal and direct.
I know you are busy, and you dont really have the time for me but why do you have to tell me that on my face? You are putting a long esteemed relationship, an acquaintance, someone you have not even met and someone who just happens to be in your friendlist, all on the same page. I might be anyone of these to you, but then, someone or the other might have been the one with whom you had a long relationship!
A scrap is an impersonal thing, so far detached. Just like an SMS! You have not wished me well, not even thought about me. I get a scrap because I happen to be in your friendlist. Because I exist, not because I matter!
It is not me that I am talking about. It very well could have been anyone of those who read this, and those who don't.
And just to make the matters worse:
I had a very good friend who passed away in a road accident. I do visit his profile once in a while. The last time I was there, I saw this: 'Wishing you and your family a very happy new year - Poweescrap".
Yes, he needs this wish, in heaven. His family will also have a great year ahead without him! Thank you! I am very sorry that he cannot reply your (s)crap so I am saying thank you on his behalf. Thanks for remembering him!

Next time you use the mass scrapping thing, just remember that you could have hurt someone by wishing him/her well!

The cynic in me!

2008-01-07T19:48:00.000+05:30

I was talking to a batchmate of mine and learnt that Rajnikant is a god to him.

And over the course of last few years, I have come to realize that there are human beings who are 'God' to many people.

Only today I have realized that I have none! Here I am, with no idol, no religion, no God! For a moment I felt like an orphan.

I am sure there are more like me. (And if you are a female reading this and we happen to meet sometime over a cup of coffee, I would go any length to prove that I am unique! ) I have always held the opinion that being a really strong believer in god/religion/actors doesn't really help. If I need help, neither Rama nor Rajnikant(or Superstar Rajnikant as my friend warned me to call him) will come to help me! So why should I pray or follow someone?

But it is more than religion or filmstars. I have no political belief as well! I have never cast my vote because I do not believe in the system. Hell, I even abstained from voting in election for some posts in my college!

I do not have any specific taste in movies! I like psycho movies, but I like romantic movies as well! Check my profile and you would know my likings. In music, nopes,no hope there as well!

So at 24, I do not have any preference for anything in life! But my friend (I won't name him, else he would kill me!) is writing a learning algorithm that will compartmentalize my tastes and would tell me what kind of soup I would like today depending upon which side of the bed I have woken up! Jokes apart, he has a case that people actually show similar preferences in shopping and is doing a market research on that and he agrees that I am an exception.(See, I told you I am unique.)

Now that I sound like a totally uninteresting guy, there is a little positive to it!

I don't have any preference in people as well. Just don't be too sophisticated and don't think that you are god, and I can get along with you. I said "can", it doesn't mean that I will, but it gives you a chance. Wanna play? ;-)

OK, its neither matrimonial, nor dating profile so I will come back to the central idea.
So how bad/good it is to be ideal less? Honestly, I feel that makes me more open to people and experiences. I do not have staunch beliefs to shut people off. (There is a completely different set of reasons to explain my unpopularity but this is certainly not one of them.)

I have friends from all religions, all age groups, all strata of society, or as they call them in Marketing Research, SEC-A, B and C! Yes, I am limited to friendship with people belonging to either of the sexes only, but I guess that does not dilute my case. :-) And I haven't done too badly in life so, cheers to the cynical me!

Cheers!!

Its that time of the year again!

2007-12-29T23:26:00.001+05:30

So as the year meanders towards the end, you see and read the top 10 abc's of the year! You know, the 10 best/worst movies/songs/actors/politicians/pet dogs/ wardrobe malfunctions. (Hold on, did 2007 had a wardrobe malfunction? No wonder it was a boring year!)
I have my own top 10. The 10 quotes/lines I will remeber the year for. Some of them are contextual, some eternal, but if you are still reading, it wont be a bad idea to continue doing so.(Unless, of course, you have Katrina Kaif waiting for you! Trust you me, she is the only one worth missing this blog! Okay, lets get on with it!)

1. "Motherhood is a biological fact, fatherhood is a matter of belief."
-Proff Vidyananad Jha in the class discussion
VidJha, as we call him, has been witty but this one takes the cake. I am not very sure if this belongs to him, but I will give him the benefit of doubt.

2. "Kaamna, give me a kiss. ...... 30 saal bad tum apne grand children se kahogi ke yeh woh jagah hai jahan tumne Kabeer ko mehsoos kiya tha!"
- Jimmy Shergill in High on the Highway
The story has not went down well with a lot of people but I liked the story. yes, the actors could have been better, but this line and the way he speaks it, made it worth watching! 'Shafak aankhein, tez roshni ....' was another good line but I will stick to the mehsoos one!

3. "Dil ko banade jo patang saansein yeh teri woh hawaayien hain!"
- Vishal in Om Shanti Om
I am not a big fan of Sharukh Khan or Farah Khan. Both of them, in my opinion, are good, but not as good as they are made out to be! But this line, and the way KK sings it, makes me thank both of them for producing this bit of magic! Awesome lyrics by Vishal. Thank you! (I made corrections in this part, thanks to Pranav who corrected me that the lyrics were by Vishal, not Javed Akhtar as I thought.)

4. "Yeh dialogue to kissi film ka hai na.....abhi nahin hai, magar ek din ho jayega!"
- Sharukh Khan in OSO
What a spoof on bolllywood! I don't know if this movie is a tribute to bollywood, but if this was made with an intention of making a spoof on Hindi films, you have done a tremendous job Farah! Awesome!

5. "Wahin kahin shab kaatenge, chilam chataayi baantenge"
- Gulzaar Sahab in Jhoom Barabar Jhoom
I have always been a fan of Gulzaar's imagination and play of words. These lines take a complete different meaning for a college student. You spoke for us in these lines! Jhoom Barabar Jhoom!

6. "Growth is a political process."
- Proff Sudip Chadhuri, in World Eco discussion
Beautifully summed up the quandary that we have in many countries, and a more glowing example is West Bengal. RESPECT!

7. "Class mein kone ki seat mein sabse peeche kyon baithe ho, film dekhne aaye ho? Maje karoge?"
- Proff Prashant Mishra to a couple in Marketing class
I had never laughed so much in all the classes put together till then as musch I laughed then! Imagine a proff saying that in a post graduate class to a couple! Proff Mishra's classes were always full of such witty lines, but this one was in a league of its own!

8. 'All the truth in this world adds upto one big lie!'
- Bob Dylan, 'Times are changing' soundtrack
Its an old track and I have heard it this year itself! Brilliant lyrics, this is just one of the so many beautiful lines in this song!

9. "Tumhare dimaag ka antenna noise bahut capture karta hai!"
-Proff Ashish Bhattacharya to a batchmate of mine in class!
Dismissive. Thats the only word I have to describe this comment which was made in response of a question. I can assure you, the question was really dumb! AshBhatt, as we call him, is not as bad as this quote makes him look.

10. "Shit yaar, top 10 lines mein meri ek bhi line nahin hai!"
-Amitbikram Acharya, in a not so sober mood
Things that you have to do for friends! Sigh!

In case you have read it, please feel free to post your comments. Bouquets and brickbats, both will be entertained!

Wedding Invitations!

2007-12-14T22:41:00.000+05:30

"Hey Abhishek,
The time for the invite has dawned upon us - so here goes : It gives me great pleasure to invite you to my wedding reception on the XXth of December, 2007 in ABC.
It would be great if you could make it. Please consider this a personal invitation and I do look forward to seeing you at the wedding.
Regards,"

When you approach the top of the normal curve of your life ( I mean 25 years for the statistically illiterate), every now or then, you will get these mails! I have mixed emotions when the sender is a male(lucky guy, poor chap, gaya saala!), and confused emotions when the sender is a female.
Mixed and confused might sound same, they are not! With a guy, it depends on : love or arranged, lass or no-class, by chance or by choice. So it gives to a decision tree with varying probabilities( I had my Risk Management paper today and you have not so I will simplify it further). It is like the magician's hat, you don't know what he is going to pull out, you see and react! I am a nice guy, nicer to married couples with pretty ladies and nicest to couples with arm-candy girlfriends.(Now that it is my only chance to be seen in company of any pretty gal is a different story altogether). And hence, mixed bag emotions!

Confused: You cant help feeling happy for people when they are getting married! That is the natural reaction but then, it adds to my confusion! Along with the mail there is also this attached pdf with the details of the wedding and I wish it had my name and not the other guy's!
So here comes the sadness part! You look back on all the coffee cups that you left behind along the last few years, of the last desks of the class and those arbit conversations, of the moments when you tried to catch attention, and of those when you seeked none!
The coffee cups in savvy cafes will be replaced by tea in the drawing room, those "If I was not in a relationship, I would have asked you out"- fling will give way to "XYZ is a lucky guy to have you", "You are looking gorgeous/hot tonight" to " you are looking pretty" a casual wink to a polite hello, things will never be the same again!
No matter what people say, life is never the same after marriage and everyone around you will have to make adjustments if you are getting married. Friends wont make sly remarks in front of you and you will wonder what happened to their sense of humor!
Now I understand why they call it an institution and not a relationship!

And you would think I would learn when this has happened to me once! Ha! This is some 7th such mail and there I go again!
My life has the Markovian property! (Click on the link only if you have nothing, ABSOLUTELY nothing else to do. Don't blame me!)

ramblings after the end sems! and playing 'losing my religion'

2007-09-14T20:06:00.000+05:30

It has been a term, 3 months and the days have flown by! I will not say it is all fairy tale 'coz it is not!
"It has been an extra ordinary journey" Ha! That is one learning that I have, in last three months, and that is to shy away from superlatives. Life is ordinary! It is the people that make it extra ordinary! :-)
No, I am not in the oxymoronic state that I would revert to using superlatives immediately after dismissing them! It is just the kind of statements that you get so used to, things that are so heavy on the ears and the mind, and sit below the tree in the comfort of rising smoke and the warm darkness and you would see that these words are so meaning less! (So is this post! Why are you still reading it?)
You hear of competitiveness so often that you loath the fact that you ever competed to get here! You hear of relative grading that you might puke when someone says,"is he your relative?' (Okay, I am stretching it a bit too far, but I dont care!)
You see personalities and how much you would yearn to see human beings! Human being, I always find this word funny! What is more important, the being part or the human part? When you try to be human, to do you really 'be' and when you want to 'be' dont you sell the the human part? Yes, I know there have been saints and all, but it is not about them, its about you and, hang on, its not even about you, its about me!
But what it is about me? Why does it have to be? And even in case there is, why do you have to be a party to it?
I am not insulting you or trying to prove anything, but this is incoherent, illogical and it is written precisely to be that!
So many times, we try to make the sense and we fail! Ever wondered what sense the gibberish of a child makes? But then, isn't it the most comforting thing to hear!(One of the most comforting things, I must say. Another comforting thing that I like to hear is that there are sweets in the menu today! WH mess sweets rock!)
Ever seen the smoke that rises from the ciggeratte. It touches you, runs on your face, and rises up, as if it touches every pore of yours, and then dissolves in your blood. Then when you just let your head fall back, you spiral through your own thoughts, trying to hold on to a thought and then follow logic and make some sense!
Making sense! NONSENSE!!!
Coming back to being and living( see, it is so much well woven into the thought process that you try and 'make' some sense when all you are you doing is 'not making sense'!), ever wondered what it would be to pass through a day, not living it? A day which gives you no joy, no sorrow, no heart breaks and no memories! Hmm, may be a day like that would be a souvenir in itself!
May be, some day I will climb at the top of a mountain and watch the clouds having an affair with the peaks( another example that the things on top have very 'volatile' relationships) and just reflect! crib and dissect, dissect and crib, in whichever order.
And that brings me back to REM:
Every Whisper
Of every waking hour
I am choosing my confessions!!

Good night Abhishek, sleep!! The fucking majors are over!!

Erased!

2007-06-01T15:09:00.000+05:30

Today is my last day in Kanbay!
Things are happening at such a fast pace that I am not really able to contemplate on what is happening.
Am I sad? No, but I never hated the organization that I am not ecstatic about it either.
So what happens to you when you quit an IT organization:
They take away your photo id card and all you become is a number. A nameless, faceless number. The best time to tease a girl in your company. Before she can find out who you are, you are out of the company!
One a more serious note, it takes a bit away from you. Your identity is not entirely based on that card but it is one of the things that you look back with pride.
I always did. I loved my access card. It was a symbol of my existence as a professional, a word that I take a lot of pride in. It was my certificate of financial independence. And also, that I am an eligible bachelor! :)

Then your office extension is blocked. The company does not allow you to have the access to the resources like the free phone any more. Too bad you have to pay out of your pocket to call all the local friends you have to say that you are leaving!
You look at the instrument and think of all the times that you called your girlfriend. You think of arguments you had with your friends on that free phone. You look at the printer you used to print the stories and wallpapers for your home.
You start to wonder what a daughter who is to be married in a few days feels like.

Let me put it honestly, I have made more personal calls then official ones from my extension number. I have used the printer extensively during my GD/PI preparations. And now that I am leaving, i hear, 'Baabul mora naihar chhooto hi jaaye!!'

Then you get your exit interview. An opportunity to be as venomous as you can. talk about everything that bothered you.
I guess it is a window that provides the opportunity for organization to see how they are perceived by the employees.
it is up to Kanbay to make use f my 40 minutes of feedback. But I am not going to get an award whether they use it or not, so it is part of my history. Don't ponder, move on!

Then the office people come and deletes your personal folder on the server. Your access to the knowledge portal is revoked. You do not have the access to the intellectual property you helped in creating. 'The IP that you create is owned by the company'. I hate capitalism!

And there is one more thing that happens to most people but never happened in my case: Knowledge Transfer. No knowledge, no transfer!

And thus you are wiped off from the records. You become a part of the memories of the people you worked with, for good or bad reasons, but not a part of the organization.

But then, as they, this is life. As i move on in my life, I thank Kanbay from the bottom of my heart for the wonderful people that I met here and the things that I learnt. It is my personal blog so I don't have to be nice at all and I am not getting paid to say this either.

Now I am feeling sad! Is it for the seperation or for not getting paid?
Anybody's guess!

Slow time!

2007-04-26T11:47:00.000+05:30

Ever gone through slow time?
You thinking slow motion replays? Well, in that the motion is viewed for a longer duration making it relatively slow. Naah, I am not talking or rather writing about that.

Lets take a basic example. Say you are travelling with speed X, covering distance Y in time T.
Time= Distance/Speed
Life is normal.

But if you travel with the same speed X, and do not cover any distance, then the time must be zero!
The pure physicist would say, not possible! That is why we have metaphysics mate! ( And I am no Australian, I just realized that mate and meta are anagrams!)

I have done all I could, and I have not made any progress, so where lies the fault?
One waits and waits and waits, and the destination does not arrive. You wonder, is life moving at all?
The time slows done, becomes viscous, does not flow, like blood, which is about to coagulate! Imagine passing through that! The webs, the darkness, the 'bloody' density! You try to swim, the hands are moving, the feet too, but you are there where you were! So much for the efforts yielding!
You choke, you feel like shouting, you open your mouth to shout but the slow, viscous fluid fills it! You drink, but there is so much! You give up and then there is nothing to hold on to!
And then, having humbled you, time starts flowing again, smoothly as if it just exists to flow, like an innocuous bird which just exists to fly!
But you do not have the strength, you do not try to swim, you just float. You tend to think that it is nirvana, the moksha, you have been through all that there was, and you are past it. And then again you are deceived. You can still think, and you will dream, and aspire. You will swim again, and then time will humble you again!

And if it has not happened to you yet, remember, time is in no hurry!

A song, for me!

2007-04-19T19:11:00.000+05:30

I just heard my friend singing! No names, because I do not mean to offend him, after all, he is my friend!
So, my friend was 'singing', no, I think he was trying to sing. I guess the last sentence should tell you how good he was.
But then, does one need to sing well to sing?

A want a song, for myself, a song of my joys, my emotions, my ambitions, my success and my failures. If I sound like an egoist, I bloody am!

Why should anybody sing to please? I mean, cannot we be a bit selfish and just sing for ourselves once in a while? A song to mourn, to celebrate, to cry , to laugh, to express what you feel.
So what if I am devoid of a smooth and silky voice, I am not devoid of feelings! I am alive, and that is good enough reason for me to sing! Too bad you do not like my song!

Why should my poems make sense to you? They are mine! You were not there when I fell in love and cried the whole night, or when I first felt like hugging the banyan tree in my backyard.

And I want everybody to sing. Everybody has a right to be happy, or as Will Smith says, pursue happiness. Everybody has a story, everybody has a song.

I have a song! And I will sing it!

Education and Reservation

2007-04-18T16:56:00.000+05:30

I am not throwing brickbats on Arjun Singh or nor against the reservation. I am just trying to see things my way and sharing it! ( In case you do not want to read, you have the choice, so that makes me better that Arjun Singh, doesn't it?)

Education is not just a means of livelihood, it is about creating better citizenry, a more informed, active and aware population which participates in democracy constructively. (Am I asking for too much? I do not think so.)

The idea behind reservations must have been providing opportunity in a legal set up, one to which the society and the social structures has to abide by. ( Again, this is what I think, and I may be wrong.) The social conditions at the time the idea of reservation was coined need not be elaborated here, anybody who has read about the UP and the BIHAR society or has lived in them would know all about it.
Society, left on its own, would not have allowed the equality the architects of the constitution envisaged and hence, they made it the norm. And here comes the sorry tale of brilliant ideas executed badly!

The issue for me not whether the OBC's should be given reservation or not, but are we doing it the correct way?

Issue 1: Reservation in higher education to bridge the gap:
The gap is created from the day a kid goes to a primary school in remote village. He is told so many times that he belongs to this caste. Will him getting a seat in the IIM would help to erase the deep rooted caste structure? No!
But it would help his next generation. Yes, he would have better opportunity and thus, would be able ensure that the school his kids go to, they do not suffer the way he did.

Issue 2: Creamy layer should not be excluded:
Now, this is a bone of contention. The kids of the guy who went to the IIM, study in the best schools because their father can afford that. They get the opportunity to be equal. Now, should they get the benefit again? What about another kid in the remote village, who has suffered enough? Aren't his own caste people who have risen to the top blocking his progress, denying him of the opportunity to be equal? Yes.

Now the problem is defined, the solution?
Making it mandatory to quote the PAN CARD of the parents when requesting reservation. The income for a period can be checked, and hence, it can be decided whom should the seat go to. Neat, and efficient. There is a way of excluding the creamy layer, but is there a will?

Now, some more to add.
Lets make the reservation mandatory at the primary level, even in private school for say 30 years.
Now a kid from backward class gets admission to a good private school if his parents cannot afford a seat in the general quota. The kid gets his share of opportunities, he passes out from a good school, at par with the general category candidates, and then competes fairly in for the IITs and IIMs, with no reservation. That ensures that we get the best of doctors and engineers and managers. The society benefits as a whole. In 30 years, two generations can get the benefit and the society would move to a more equal platform. The rich will not block the way for the poor and we would have a fair and just system in place.
After 30 years, re-asses the situation and remove the reservation if the need be. We would be able to achieve what we have hoped for but have not achieved in last 55 years of reservation.

To do so, we need more primary schools, more teachers, more books and more scholarships, not the reservation in IIMs and IITs.

Mr Arjun Singh, are you reading?

( The views belong to the writer and are not intended to offend any caste or creed.)

Beginners guide to Pseudo Intellectualism

2007-04-02T16:19:00.000+05:30

5 Rules to become a Pseudo Intellectual.

Now don't ask me what Pseudo Intellectualism is all about? Incognizance is something, my friend, pseudo intellectuals are definitely against!
I searched the web but there was no definition available so I decided to define it. (One more thing that I have done to save this world !...and the Noble Peace Prize still eludes me!)

Pseudo Intellectualism:
Function: Noun
Meaning: Devotion to the exercise of Pseudo Intellect or to Pseudo Intellectual pursuits.
(If you have not understood the meaning of Pseudo Intellectualism by now, that means that you are looking for intellectual content in this article and hence, by the power vested in me as the head of the Pseudo Intellectual council, I deem you unfit to be a part of the Pseudo Intellectual community and hence bar you from reading any further!!!)

For those who have understood what it means, you need to know what is expected of you as a Pseudo Intellectual. It is about appearing knowledgeable, when you know nothing. It is about being able to argue with out having any stance, it is about being able to talk on matters you have no idea about and come up with catchy lines which have no relevance to the discussion at hand but still leave people in awe.

Let us now go through what it takes to become a Pseudo Intellectual.

Rule 1: NEVER READ A BOOK.

Gaining knowledge is against the basic spirit of Pseudo Intellectualism. It is a total NO-NO. Books make you wise. They make you think and they show the path towards intellectual enlightment and away from Pseudo Intellectualism. Wise guys are not eccentric (and I am using the 'guys' word to refer to both men and women) and that leaves the world such a bland place to be. The intellectuals are the one who look for logic or abstractness in the forms of expression. Now logically that means that any expression is either logical or abstract, either black or white? Why a thing can't be both, logically abstracted or have an abstract logic?
Now as, you might have noticed, it makes no sense at all and that is the very crux of the Pseudo Intellectualistic philosophy.
And now you know why we are against the books. Books will get a sense of logic in you, which is like poison for the Pseudo Intellectual in you.

Rule 2: ALWAYS READ A BOOK REVIEW.

Unawareness is something we cannot afford. The beauty of being Pseudo Intellectual is in being pseudo and yet appearing intellectual. Confusing? Let us see how to do it.
Read a book review and you would know about the writer's style, the pros and cons, the plot and the characters and that is all that you need to know to talk about over a cup of coffee/a mug of beer/a glass of wine.
Agreed that what you be saying or talking about is going to be the reviewer's understanding of the book, but then, you don't need to have a understanding of your own! You are a Pseudo Intellectual, not an intellectual, remember! Let the intellectuals do all the dirty work and we would just reap the benefits. And who cares about the originality?
The above argument holds for all sorts of means of expressions, not just books.
Never visit an art gallery but read about the art reviews. Do not watch a movie but read the reviews. (Incase you are reading rediff reviews, make sure you read the comments put on Raja Sen's reviews. Raja Sen is a Pseudo Intellectual; you do not want one Pseudo Intellectual to influence the other!)

Rule 3: SPEAK IN A LANGUAGE ALIEN TO THE AUDIENCE.

Now you might be wondering that you would need to learn a new language all together. If yes, then you have not yet realized the spirit of being Pseudo Intellectual, say one thing and mean the other, and when you master the art of being a Pseudo Intellectual, you would say one thing and mean nothing.
Read the subject again. If I meant what I had written, I would be writing this is the language which only I can understand. What I mean, and I am explaining this only for the purpose of you budding Pseudo Intellectuals, is that speak in a language which is difficult to understand.
Use a quote no one has heard before by a celebrity about whom no one has heard either. That will leave no one but you to vouch for its authenticity and you would be an expert on the life and deeds of that celebrity. So, you would become an expert without even doing anything. Now you know the advantage of being a Pseudo Intellectual!
Use very heavy words. Make a list of words having more than 15 characters, remember them by heart. Use them as frequently as you can. Most management articles are full of such words. They look glossy, and they make very little sense to the average people. So, when you use them, everybody would perceive you to be smart and intelligent.
Have as long sentences as possible. People have short memories. So, when you use long sentences, then whatever little sense it was supposed to make, would be lost in the middle and it would have nothing but a list of heavy words perfectly intangible for the average intelligentsia and the minds devoid of ability for concentrating for long periods of time. The last sentence was an example. It has 51 words and 242 characters to convey the fact that all you need to do, is to speak bullshit!
Statistics, my dear friend, are like magic tricks. Always useless, but they leave the audience in awe. Just take two numbers, divide one by the other, the order doesn't matter, get a percentage and use that in the discussion irrelevant of the context.

Rule 4: VOICE MODULATION IS IMPORTANT.

Always remember, a Pseudo Intellectual is someone who is pseudo and is perceived to be an intellectual. People who speak slowly and in high base are considered intelligent. Look at the politicians, who speak at the top of their voice, do you think they are intelligent? No.
Remember Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Mohan Singh? Now you know what I mean.
When you have nothing to say, think of something which makes no sense, lower the volume so that is just about audible, speak slowly so that it takes longer amount of time, lower the base and say it. For example, dreams are flight from the known to the unknown. You say it normally, and you would realize that everybody knows that! Say it the way I have advised you, doesn't it sound very intelligent?
Low voice, slow pace are the hall mark of a brain which spends most of the time thinking and less time speaking. So, you can create that impression even if that is not natural to you. That is the whole idea!

Rule 5: LEARN FROM THE MASTERS.

Read the interviews on page 3. Watch the one on one host shows. Observe bollywood actors and cricketers.
Always answer in English even if the question was asked in Hindi. Everybody understands Hindi, so why make yourself accessible to all? You have worked hard to get the knowledge (or the lack of it), why share it easily.
Observe actors telling you how much research they have done for a role when all they have done is to visit the parlors and the saloons. Who cares about reality, the perceptions matter.
Use the history well. Speak of great leaders as if you know them personally, even if they were dead three centuries ago.
Blame it on the USA whenever you can. The reservation system is responsible for the death of Kalpana Chawala in the space mishap. Relate things even if they do not have any relation. We thrive on spontaneity and scandals. Create them if necessary.

The last and the most important tip, have an opinion even if you do not know about what.
Even if you think that this blog is trivial and not worth your comment, put it. And you can use the content of this blog in your own name. Nobody will be sued! Pseudo Intellectuals are magnanimous. They don't care!

A day that was!

2006-09-11T22:24:00.000+05:30

No, I won’t blame Murphy for his laws! But now I just cannot help smiling at them! How true!

It was yesterday,I woke up late for my SIMCAT Test at 10.30, but still made it to the examination room on time, only to learn that the center did not have any question papers left ! Hence I had to run to the other center! I reached, but with fifteen minutes less for a two and a half hour long paper . To top it all, I started feeling pain in my stomach that reminded me that I had not had even a cup of tea since morning. But I sat through the paper and did FINE though i was not very happy then! Then I left for E-Square multiplex only to meet a MAMA (policewala) on my way.
No license, No PUC, No registration Papers! And I was not able to give him “I have no money!” story as I had quite a lot of money in my wallet! My wallet was lighter by 200 bucks by the time I was done with him! Then I went to watch a movie to find every watchable movie housefull . It was pretty hot at 2 in the afternoon and I had to meet a friend at 5 so I decided to watch ANY movie and to make my already bad day worse, it had to be DIL DIYA HAI!
I have not seen a movie worth writing a review about, but this one deserves its due. The movie opens with an item number by Udita Goswami and Asmit Patel! Lots of white skin, a pathetic Himesh Reshamiya song, some pole dancing follow... 5 minutes into the movie and one is left with no illusions about it being good. But there are times in your life when you want to torture yourself; times, when your tooth is about to fall ; you know that it hurts, but you still tease it with your tongue so that it hurts a bit more, and it gives you kicks!( I had paid for the movie and I was going to watch it, come what may!)
So, the the next few minutes are spent in establishing the fact the Asmit Patel is a BAD man to the D and to prove that, he is shown killing two people for no particular reason. He lives on drugs and liquor, is suppose to trade in human flesh or for some other strange reasons, is interested in getting Indian girls for his deals. (He is so bad that next time your kid is in no mood to sleep, please DO NOT SCARE HIM WITH ASMIT'S NAME!As far as i think, your kid might just end wetting his pants!)
Then you have Emran Hashmi, enters the movie by breaking a glass, and you know that he is poor despite that fact that he drives a BMW and sports designer jackets. He is in great trouble, he need 40K pounds to get his mother’s lungs transplant done, but fails to evoke any pathos in the audience. I did not feel any sympathy for him! He runs a travel agency with his partner Patel, whose first name is not important. Why is it not important? I don’t know; ask the director,may he did not bother to give him one! Then there is the girl. (THE GIRL. Geeta Basra, who playes Neha in the film is great to look at. Lot of people might not find her attractive and I wont blame them for that, she is not fair! But she has a good figure, lovely smile, beautiful eyes and dusky skin for which I have a fetish. She looks hot! There is this scene she calls Emraan at 4 in the morning to her room only to say that she was joking and says”Even Stevens Mr Saahil” That smile is worth killing for. I could have cut my heart out, begged on one knee for her to marry her, if she could keep that smile and twinkle in the eye for ever!)
Let’s get back to the movie! The girl and her family arrive from India on a tour of London and the tour is arranged by Saahil (Emraan). They try to trick the family by giving them sub standard facilities but the girl would have none of it! And to make up for that failed attempt, Saahil promises to be at their service 24X7! It is ok so far! Then you see the hero going to a bank to ask for loan and for the security of which he has a rented place to show! I mean, how silly that is! And then he gives a lecture to the bank manager on what he should do with the bank’s money, trying to raise sympathy in the viewer and failing miserably, again! During the course of his 24X7 service, he takes the girl to a disco and that song is the best song of the movie. It was great to listen that in the hall. There come Asmit Patel’s men, clicking the Indian crowd for the right chick! (That was very innovative actually, having a mobile camera to catch the dancing girls and to decide which one to pick. It looked so easy that was wondering if that movie was actually based in London!) And as luck would have it, they pick Neha! And then Neha misses her train to Scotland, is taken on a car to Scotland by Saahil. She has a sandwich on the highway, despite being warned by our hero that it was unhygienic, and as our hero foretold, she has a stomach bug and that too at a place on the highway where there is no clinic. But there is ofcourse Mithun’s (yes you read it right, Mithun Charaborty) house where they seek shelter. We are told that Mithun was a baddie himself but gave up everything bad for ‘love’.
It is now that the movie becomes unbearable! It is diificult tto stand Mithun’s character Ronnie. He preaches, plays a guitar and is...well, Mithun!
Then the girl stays there all night, reaches Scotland the next day. The hero learns that his mother is too sick and needs cash immediately, and this takes him to a casino. He, predictably enough, fails again( give me a break, he is Emraan, not Shakuni Mama!).
Then he gets a call. (There is supposed to be suspense here, pretend at least!)
The girl gets kidnapped and is seen with Asmit Patel, who planned to sell her but then decides against it and plans to marry her! [There is a song sequence where Asmit gets to do the love making scene which is again very aesthetically shot! If you look at the love making scenes in Murder, Aashiq Banaya Apne and this one, nothing has changed except the color of the bed sheet(of course, the actors are different, if you can call them that). It was black in Murder, White in ABA, and Red in DDH!]
Emrran gets a call from the girl's sister enquiring about her BUT (in midst of all DISTRESS and CHAOS) does not forget to tell him that Neha is in love with him!(Wow!).
Emraan goes to Asmit's place, with a lie that the girl's father had a heart attack (that was original!) and asking for the girl to come with her. Asmit declines and then Emraan kidnaps her from there (again!). He runs away from there beating the bad guys and being beaten by the girl! Guess where he goes?? To Mithun's place asking his help to drop the girl to her parents.
Mithun grabs this opportunity to scold Emraan,Emraan cries and tries to justify his action( He ctually says," Maa ke pyaar ke saamne mujhe Neha ka pyaar chhota laga" Wah! wah!) and then leaves???
No, he doesn't. Insread, he waits by his car for Mithun to sing a song, comes back and the girl forgives him for selling him to a brothel (Are huzoor; wah pyaar kahiye!)! And then Asmit patel comes with his gang, Mithun and Emraan nearly kill them all. But Mithun's wife is shot at by Asmit, and Asmit's baddies refuse to shoot Mithun and run away!
Then, in the hospital, Mithun's wife pleads to get the girl back for the "sake of love".
Mithun, the 'respected bad man' that he is, goes to Asmit's father’s place who apparently owns his empire to Mithun. He asks his son to return the girl, gets killed, and ok, finally( i just want to finish it now) Asmit is killed.
The girl's family is told a story that both Emraan and Neha got kidnapped, which they believe!
The story ends and so does this piece with a word of advice (It should have a social message, shouldn't it?). Stay home, don’t watch this movie!

My first flight.

2006-09-11T22:19:00.000+05:30

Ok, I have had my flights of imagination in worlds lesser known to anybody but myself; but this was the first time I was flying in the territory known to the birds and people who can afford the flights.
I was all excitement, I had never had felt a force closer to the g force that you experience when the plane takes off and the acceleration (0-60 in 6 secs flat does not qualify!). I left for Mumbai on Friday evening after an eventful day and stayed with my friend and kept asking him about the things to do and not to do on a flight and inside the airport. (This is closest to Navjot Singh Siddhu’s famous kid in a topless bar!).
I left my friend’s place at 4.30 in the morning and reached Sahara Airport after changing three modes of transportation. I reached the airport by 6 in the morning, and I was ushered in to the security check. The dream was materializing. I was about to fly in an hours time!
I went through the security gate and the customary and formal checking (I do not understand what purpose they serve coz I have never heard of any body with intentions to hijack being discouraged by those procedures!).Then I went to get the boarding pass.
The dream......hmmmm.......it was coming to an end..... and HOW is what follows....

I had the ticket of Sahara airlines on a JET airways coupon (which, when I got it, found very natural because of the merger thing in the air).The lady at the counter who has been trained to give fake smiles and greet you with the softest of voices even when she hates you like anything, greeted me with similar sincerity;with the same I- want- to- help-but- I- can't look! She said that she could not allow me to board the flight as it was on a jet airways coupon!
I was asked to speak to the Jet airways people and only they could take me to Calcutta. I spoke to them and was told that even though the ticket was on a Jet airways coupon, they could not take me in unless the Sahara people endorse that as it was for a Sahara flight!
As the merger deal fell through, they had stopped accepting the other party’s coupons!
I was losing my patience, and my dreaming was changing to a nightmare.
I was asked to cancel the ticket I was holding, and that I would need to book afresh and only then I can fly. Also, that as the ticket was booked by a travel agent (Travelguru.com) they could not refund the amount, theycould only stamp it 'FULL REFUND'! I would have to claim them.

I had no choice but to do what I was asked to, and I booked a new ticket for Calcutta and thankfully I got one for Rs5150, Rs1700 more than what I was paying initially! Thank god to credit cards that I was able to book that, my account only had 4000/- bucks!

I was told in the sweetest voices that they understood it was not my fault, but they could not help me. I felt as if they were telling me, look, we get paid to talk in sweet voices and do hell with your problem and get off my face.

And to top it all, the guy who advised me to book afresh, had the audacity to tell me that i was NOW actually flying cheaper!! I have had enough. I turned around and said," You have some balls to say that to a guy you have harassed in last 45 minutes, for a seemingly stupid thing!”
I was relieved to be actually leaving that I did not think much of the cost of the flight. (I would when I get the credit card bill!).

I did not get a window seat, the one who had, was sleeping all the time and I cursed her all the time that if she only wanted to sleep, why the hell she was occupying the window seat!
I learnt all the intricacies of SAREE trade because of an over enthusiastic lady to my immediate back, she had the ability to talk nonstop and she did that for two and a half hours, the entire duration of the flight. And she had the right volume, loud enough to not let you sleep and soft enough to ensure that you don’t turn around and ask her to talk softly!
And then, the airhostess was not pretty! Man, I said, all this has to happen to me!
At least the breakfast was good! I had no clue how to go about it. I just kept observing my neighbors from the corners of my eyes and went about it the way they did. They asked for Tea, I asked for tea, which was, to put it simply, YUK!
In the mean time, I forgot to tell you the good things about the flight. The acceleration on the runway, the steep climb while takeoff, the joy of things getting smaller and then getting lost in the clouds, the curve the plane takes while turning, the chance to look at the Mumbai sea from up above, the sight of the high rises, it was great! But that joy only lasts some 15 minutes, once you are in the clouds, it gets boring, it seems that the plane is stationary; there is no movement at all!
I just read every newspaper that was there to be read in the flight, and reached safely to Calcutta. How much I wanted to experience some turbulence in the air! Some bomb scare maybe, to add up some Xing that was missing in the airhostess!
One thing I could not understand-about the emergency procedures that we would need to follow if the plane had to make an emergency landing in water- where is a water body big enough for a Boeing 747 in between Mumbai and Calcutta? I found that very funny that security procedures are being followed just for the heck of them!
I landed at the Calcutta airport sharp at 10. and then I was waiting for my luggage, and as it went round and round without showing any signs of bag, I was getting anxious. I saw people staying calm about it, but I only pretended to be. That flight was to leave for Guwahati, and if they forgot to bring my back down, I would be with the only clothes on my body till they got it right. But after 15 mins, I saw my bag and was relieved to see that!
Then I had my ticket cancelled at the Calcutta airport and I left, for Salt Lake. The best thing about coming home after so many days is that taxiwalas think that you are totally new and ask for absorbitant fares. It is a joy to see the look on their faces when you tell them the exact fare and distance!
The flight was over and it left some questions to ponder about!
I had a valid ticket, some airlines had the money I paid, and there was of course a vacant seat. They could have saved me of all that trouble by just communicating among themselves and taking me on board. They did not. Have we enterd the age which realizes that the consumer is the god? Probably in India, we are not yet ready for that. There were two airlines, playing ping ping with me, when I had done everything right! And to think that nobody would lose his job over this, it makes me hate my job, coz I might lose it if I deal my clients like that!
We are still some way still quite some leagues away professionalism, and let us not get excited with the prospects of a improving services industry as we are actually not. The gloss is there, the substance is not. We run behind the shield of norms and rules when we are held by the collar and are made to answer the questions.
And it is 7 days since I logged my complaint at the Travelguru. I am yet to hear from them.
One thing is for sure, I am not going to use any of the three service providers ever if I can help that! And it also makes a case for the poor call center operatives for it is them who have to handle the angry customers for the goof ups at the backend!
Are we making the right people accountable? NO.
Are we ready to set things right? NO!
'Chalta hai yaar!'(...?...)

The same old story!

2006-03-15T20:10:00.000+05:30

You’re the one I want for me.
That’s what I told myself when she entered the cafeteria.
It was 9.15 in the evening and I was sitting at the CCD on FC Road in Pune. And waiting.
No, not for a hot chic to turn up and waive her hand and say, “Hiiiiiiiii” with the I part of the Hi so long that you can tie her up in the chain made of I’s, drawing attention of everybody in the café, no I was not that lucky (or unlucky, depends which way you want to look at it).
I was waiting for a cousin of mine who got married recently, but that is another story. Let us not digress.
I was sipping my cappuccino (it could have been any other coffee just as well, but this is the only name I could pronounce properly thanks to my friends, I don’t want to be embarrassed in front of the counter guy).
And she was standing on the pavement, probably waiting for someone. Tall, slim, and having all that what a guy wants, how much I wished she was at the café, in front of me!
She turned around, and got in the café. Might be sick of waiting outside.
I don’t remember what she ordered for herself, coz I don’t remember a lot of things when I saw her so close to me. I can kill for this girl, I said. I am not sure if I said that out loud but there were heads which turned in my direction and the girl gave me a glance, well.. I can’t describe what kind of glance that was.
She smiled, but the eyes narrowed.
And then she sat facing me, in the corner, just a few tables away from me.
She knows she has bowled me over, I said to myself. And she is enjoying the attention I was giving her.
Just when I was mustering enough courage to speak to this dame, the guy walked in and sat opposite to her.
I can’t say that I tried not to hear the communication. I was all ears to find any hint that this guy was her brother or cousin or uncle or even father! Anything but her boyfriend but it was not to be!
Howww caaaaaaaan youuuuuuu beeeeeee sooooo laaaaaaate?
That was irritating. How a girl can stretch every word of the sentence, taking three times the time to say it, I thought.
I am ssssssssssssssooooooo sorry jaaaaan! Goodness gracious me, this guy is coming straight from some K*^% aur K&!*8 television serial. Matching the girl for melodrama.
Noooo, you have to say sorrrrrrryyyyyy, the gal said.
I am soooooooooo sorrrrrrryyyyy.
Well, this guy was going to fight till the last moment to win the battle of stretching words with this girl.
I am not going to pain my fingers now by pressing the keys for that long, but I hope you might be in a position to understand how it was said by reading the text.
What took you so long?
Oh the traffic yaar!!
Traffic, at 9 in the night, impossible, this guy was lying between his teeth; I wanted to tell that girl. Dump him, dump him, and think about me!!!!!!
“You know what I did today?”
How could he, unless you tell him, I thought.
“No, what?”
“I met Sheetal today.”
And that was said with so much of excitement I wondered if Sheetal was the new Miss India I forgot to read about.
“And then we went shopping”
“And then you know what we did?”
Please say something that could be interesting for the eavesdropper, please, I cried.
“We went and had panipuris”
“And then we went and bought the new set of sandals”

My coffee was over and in those 5 minutes I had realized that the most intelligent part of the conversation was already over.
I would have killed the guy opposite to her if she had talked any smarter than what she was. But I smiled; if we had got together I would have killed myself as well.
I walked out of the café after paying the bill, and I looked at her again. My word your face can make anybody’s day, I thought. And then I thought about the brains.
I am not jealous of that guy anymore.

Limitation of individual

2006-02-27T20:19:00.000+05:30

The ideas expressed here belong to Saurabh, my friend. Though I do not endorse it, I think it is worth thinking about. He will never take the effort to put it in black and white, so I am doing it for him.

Do you accuse the hammer, if working somnambulistically you hit it on your hand?
You do not know how to use a guitar and create the music, and then is it the guitar responsible for the cacophony when it could have created music?
The premise is valid, but the conclusion is not.
Yes, we have not used language well. Language is just a tool, how can we blame the tool for our own shortcomings.
Language has evolved in all these years of existence of life. It has grown and so have we. So many generations have contributed to its growth that now it has grown beyond the capacity of an individual to comprehend its enormity.

Do you think that there is not a word, a phrase, a sentence which can express the way you feel?
There always is.
Only you don’t happen to know it.
We have had great writers, great literary figures but none of them have been able to capture all the human emotions with equal panache.
Some had their trade limited to humor, some to romance, so to tragedy. But none, NONE have been able to express it all.
One individual’s life is not long enough to feel it all, leave aside expressing it, and then you have your limited vocabulary to take care of. If you try, you will get a word. The vastness of the language rivals that of the oceans. You need to know how to dive and get the pearl.

The inability to express is a challenge to you, conquer it. It has never been the nature of the man to succumb. And that to an inanimate thing like the language, what a joke!
Take it on yourself, to win it over, and then expand it. Instead of cribbing about its short comings, make it your slave.
And leave the legacy behind.

Limitations of language

2006-02-23T21:31:00.000+05:30

This might make sense, might not. See, that’s exactly what this blog is about.
We talk, and express ourselves. But at times what the other party understands is just what we did not mean.
Why can not it be like mathematics where 2+2 is always the same?
Why do we need the tone of the voice, the look in the eyes, and the enunciation of the words to make out the intensity with which the speaker spoke, to interpret a simple sentence like “I DO”?
Why does it happen that at times what is stated in black and white seems everything except the obvious?
When you are reading this, you think, what the hell is it, but when I am writing it, it seems the most logical thing to me.
Isn’t it funny, some people have a way with words and when you begin arguing with them, with the most unshakable of beliefs in the infallibility of your logic and after the argument you have serious doubts about your thought process.
One faculty of the brain thinks, the other makes a logically coherent sentence out of it and the third is required to flex the muscles and you pronounce the words. And at times you feel that in that process the sense is lost. What you have said is not what you wanted to say. What the listeners has understood is not what you meant.
Whom do you blame? The process, the seeming incoherence of the entire process or the medium you chose?
I will put the blame on the medium, language. It has done wonders in the civilization, but at times it has failed.
It has betrayed its very purpose of existence, to express.
Why should expression of feelings be inhibited by the strength of one’s vocabulary?
How come something as mundane as the word power limits something as powerful as thought?
We have allowed it to control us. We have not explored other mediums of expressions, because we believed (or tricked ourselves in believing) that we have the all powerful medium.
How we have fooled ourselves.
And when I say we, I put blame on myself as well. I am using this web page to communicate to you, that I have failed as well. After 22 years of existence, this is the only medium I can communicate to you. With all its weaknesses, lack of options with me has made it the only tool I can use. I can’t dance and can’t paint. And it is people like me, who try to kill the dance, and the art.
We are so mediocre that the moment we come across brilliance and ability to break the path, we shower accolades. And trick them to believe that all there was to achieve is achieved. We are scared of the intellect, the light.
It is still dark, inside. Who said that the time we moved in the dark, shouting “Tamso Ma Jyotirgamaya” is over.
It is not. Won’t ever be. Because again, the light of knowledge will come hidden behind the dark words, words which will mean different things to different people. And then, we will phrase, and manipulate, to suit our own interests and we will customize the universal.
I wonder how much we have lost in those black and white prints!
Tamso Ma Jyoutirgamaya.
Asato Ma Sadgamaya.
Mrityorma Amritamgamaya.

Soliloquy....was it?

2006-02-02T13:11:00.000+05:30

It was another day in the office and I came back a bit earlier than usual. It was 7.30 in the evening and I had nothing much to do.
I took my bike and went to the near by railway over bridge. That is what I mostly do when I have time to kill and get the frustration out of my system. Why am I frustrated, you will soon find out. Read along.
Standing on the railway over bridge, with my bike’s key in one hand and a cigarette in the other, I looked down on the slums below. I took a deep breath and smiled, gees, I am a capitalist.
And I looked down (literally!) a drunken guy being chased by dogs and I couldn’t suppress a smirk. I puffed up my chest and thought, glad I am so much better off!
And I heard someone laughing. The kind of hysterical laughter that make you cringe. I must admit I had goose bumps then!
So you really think you are better off, it said.
I said yes.
What makes you think that?
I have a job, my own bike, money in my wallet and food in my stomach. I don’t have to be chased by a pack of stray dogs!
That is all you need to be better off!
What else do you want? I said.
You know the answer; just dare to ask the question.
I am not getting you, I said getting a bit irritated. The kind of setting this conversation had reminds me of the epic “DEEWAR”, and its famous “Mere pass maa hai” dialogue. Lots of melodrama and I hate that.
Ok, tell me, why does a 22 year old having a bike , money in his wallet and food in his stomach needs to come to look at the slums to feel happy?
I don’t know, it just gives me kicks.
Sadist, hmm.
May be. I wanted this to end soon, I was feeling uneasy.
Will you trade off your today for exactly a year back, when you were in college and no job and no bike?
I kept quiet.
Hello?
Why Do I have to answer you?
And the laughter again!
22 year old or a ten year kid, throwing his tantrums. You will answer it because you want to.
Yes I said. The answer is yes, is that what you want to hear. I shouted at the top of my voice.
Forget about what I want, know what you want.
This is not getting anywhere.
Yes it is, that’s the whole problem. You are so self occupied that the entire priority thing goes for a toss. You come here to satiate your ego, you loner!
I am happy!
Yeah right, you are. Puffing up your chest when you see struggle, for things have come easy for you. Filling up your lungs with smoke coz you think you have the luxury to do so, coz you have money.
It is my life.
Then why you want to go a year back? Coz you need friends, to listen and to share. You need warmth, you need shoulders to put your head on, and you need the silence, when you can go from one nonsense to another, you might not admit it, but you need love.
What the f***?
Not all that you need, can be bought, and acceptance is not defeat.
I can still work that out, and I have the choice. That gives me the power. I was not going to throw down the gauntlet.
This is what you choose, my sadist capitalist?
The train was approaching, fast and blowing the siren. I could feel the impact inside my head.
Who are you to tell me what to do and what to choose? God almighty?
The train was approaching close and it was difficult to hear.
That laughter again. The sound was too much to bear. I felt that my head will explode!
I am you.
And then there was lull.
The storm had passed.

Media mania

2006-01-23T12:13:00.000+05:30

With the advent of satellite communication and wider reach of TV attributed both to falling prices and rising income, no of news channels has increased manifolds in India.

Gone are the days when one had to wait to watch Mrinal Pandey reading news in Hindi at 8.30 pm on Doordarshan. Now all one needs to do is to switch on the TV set and some or the other “Breaking News” is flashing on.

Is it really for the good? Part of it, yes. The sting operations, the real time images, better quality, increased coverage, more opinions and the right to exercise a choice. But piggy back on all this is what is dished out to us, branded as INFOTAINMENT.

We have seen Amir Khan on prime time talking about his epic Mangal Pandey( was that!) when more important issues must have been given airtime, and the blood shown live when a minister was shot at in Bihar. It leaves me a bit puzzled as what is NEWS?

I saw a news piece on a prominent Hindi news channel about a reincarnation of a child, and that went on and on. I find both, the blood on the stage being shown as it was, and the story trying to show what there was not, equally appalling.

What have we done to deserve that is a question that needs to be answered. In the age where consumer is god, we are shown what we want. We have been indifferent towards these bigger issues for a long time and now that they have gone out of control we stand up and say we deserve better. Think again.

News is much more than facts and figures, images and interviews. Media has the responsibility of showing things in perspective, but in the times when TRP ratings decide what and how things are shown then their impact they can have, the fourth pillar of democracy have succumbed.

We are being materialistic in our attitude, and media has sensed it well. They tell what we want to hear, not what we should be hearing. After all, they are a part of society where being informed is a status symbol. We might feel sick in our stomach to hear it but it sells, and they are selling it well.

The worst part of it all is that this is here to stay. But like all natural cycles, after a boom there is a recession, and like the keen stock broker, one might have to wait for the bust to pick the best. It might take some time, but I believe that it will come. The sooner the better.

So.. you want work??

2006-01-19T17:55:00.000+05:30

It is 6.30 in the evening and I am cursing myself. Why, why I wanted to be worth the amount of money I was being paid for just billing the client and surfing net? When I was a kid I read a story about every hero being stupid and I liked that a lot but that might be the topic of some other blog, let me not digress.
It just happened the other day. Sick and tired of warming the bench, I mustered the courage and walked upto my team lead and asked for work.(For those of you are unaware, I am a software engineer). And he smiled, benevolent I thought, I now know, it was otherwise.
Smiles can be so misleading..you need the entirety of the individual to realize the exact nature of it, the exact curve of laugh line, the twinkle in the eyes, the glow on the face, and I was mislead.
"So, you want work?"
“Yes"
"Hmm, let me see.."
And I stood there waiting..
"I'll let you know the moment something comes up"
Good. At least things are moving, I thought.
The day was meandering towards an uneventful end.
Just when I was surfing and checking my mails, a window popped up "mail: Sub: Task of the day"
I looked at my watch; it is 15 minutes to the day. But atleast I had something to do. I was excited.
I opened the mail and it was some documentation.
The rest is history. I have been doing documentation for so long now that I do not remember what writing a line of code is.
All I wanted to do was to add value..to the organization and myself..I am told that I am doing that.. and how?
I can envisage him smiling everytime he sends me a mail, asking for more documents to be created, I know, behind those glasses fitted in a golden frame, those eyes have a sparkle, like the one a butcher has everytime he sees a fat chicken. Resting on the chair, pushing it back as far as it can go, he smiles.
Only if I knew what that smile means.

Why am I here??

2006-01-19T10:34:00.001+05:30

This is my first shot at blogging. and I have finally started it.Why?
Every thing that we humans do has a reason behind it..consciuosly or subconsciously we justify our actions. We need an approval, appreciation,acknowledgement of what we do..and I think that blogging caters to that need of ours brilliantly as it takes our opinions beyound the geographical bounds and the whole world(net surfing) becomes your audience. And we become actors..playing our part through words and showing emotions through logical construct of statements.
It is exactly this kind of gibberish that I keep coming up with and my friends say that I should pen t down. So here I am.. an egotistical with an opinion about everything under the sun and now having a way of speaking out.
Probably the reason of me starting to blog and the answer to the question"why do we have blogs" is one and the same.I think that my opinion matters and I need to voice it. You will have more of it now.. and keep posting your comments.
An_empty_mind