In search of Nirvana

Au Revoir

2008-12-31T11:57:00.003+05:30

Tis' the last day of the year. And what a year it was. As some news channel had said, it was a year to forget. The year started with a whimper, and then came the big crash of the stock market. And since then, it has been downhill. Unfortunately it ended with one of the boldest terrorist strikes on Indian soil.

In all this time, I managed to finish 3/4ths of my MBA. Still some more time left before I call myself Master of the Universe. It seems only recently that I had written the post on 1/4ths of an MBA. Yet, it feels like a long time ago. On the road ahead, there are a lot of things to think about, a lot of things to do. Among them I have to decide the future of this blog. I haven't written much lately here. Partly it is because there's not much inspiration left, nor the time with the daily routine of MBA. And even though there are only a few months left for its finish, I somehow feel this blog has completed its purpose.

I've learnt a lot of things in this journey, I've grown quite a bit, especially in the last four years. Yet, the more things have changed, the more they seem to stay the same. It is time once and for all to change permanently the things which are not required, to pick up things which will help you in the future and then carry on the journey. Maybe I'll write here once in a blue moon. Till then, I'll be somewhere thinking up something trying to be somebody.

And let us all hope 2009 is a better year for everyone.

What I learnt in MBA

2008-12-05T23:09:00.001+05:30

I had heard of the saying 'You scratch my back, I scratch yours.'
In MBA, I learnt the saying, 'You screw my a**, I screw yours.'

Yeh hai meri kahani

2008-12-03T18:19:00.002+05:30

Before one year - Hum jahaan khade hote hein, day-0 wahin sey shuru hota hai

Before placements - Bhagwan mainey tumse aaj tak kuch nahin maanga.....

During the interview,

Me - Main is resume per haath rakhkar yeh saugandh leta hoon ki jo bhi kahoonga sach kahoonga, aur sach ke siva kuch nahin kahoonga.

Interviewer - I-Bankers ke bayaanat aur sub-prime ko madde nazar rakhtey Taz-e-raat-e-hind, dafaa 302 ke tahet , muzrim ko 5 lakh ki pagaar di jaati hai

Me - Maa, me 5 lakh ka MBA banne wala hu

Mom - Yahi din dekhne ke liye maine tujhe paal pos ke bada kiya tha? Ab hum kisi ko muh dikhaane ke layak nahin rahe

(Prospective) Father in Law - Haraamzaadey! Teri itni himmat! Meri beti par dorey daalta hai! Teri haesiyat he kya hai? Is ghar ke darwaaze, tumhare liye hamesha ke liye band hein

Dost (IIM waley) - Maine tumhe kya samjha, Aur tum kya nikley!

Girl friend - Mai kahti hoon, Door ho jaa meri nazron sey

Doctor - I'm sorry, hum kuch nahin kar saktey. Ab Sab oopar waale key haath mein hai

Faculty - Bhagwaan pe bharosa rakho. Sab thik ho jaiye ga

One more attack

2008-11-27T12:32:00.003+05:30

One more attack happens in Mumbai. Hearing such news has become routine nowadays. The latest attack which happened in South Mumbai, in 5-star hotels and in CST railway station was one of the worst in recent times. This time there were no remote detonated bombs. This time terrorists literally walked in, and started shooting. What were the police doing? CST is just opposite the BMC headquarters. Isn't there supposed to be proper security? The Maharashtra State Police headquarters is at a walking distance from the Taj Hotel. So is the Mumbai Police Headquarters. When will the government learn? How many more lives have to be lost? Has the state devoted itself to kicking out North Indians out of Mumbai? Its time you start kicking the 'right' people out of Mumbai, those who carry out such attacks, not those who come to Mumbai to earn a decent living.

Every terror attack now comes as a predictable sequence of events. The attack happens, the PM condemns the attacks, so does the Home Minister. There is a probe set in. And we await the results. Until the next terror attack. Is the government asking for 'A Wednesday?' The worst thing is that people will hail and salute the 'spirit of Mumbai.' Mumbai will again wake up tomorrow as if nothing had happened. The spirit of Mumai? What a load of bull. It is not the spirit which brings it back to its feet, but apathy. Apathy towards the condition of the common man. The familiar reactions are 'We were not affected by it. Why should we stop going about our daily lives?" "I have 4 mouths to feed, I have to go to work." "Who can postpone the inevitable?" Is this what the spirit of Mumbai is all about? Turning a blind eye to the daily sufferings of fellow citizens.

Tomorrow the spirit of Mumbai should not wake up. It should instead take a long vacation. And it should not come back until the government has taken concrete measures to protect its citizens from such blatant attacks. The whole of India needs to think hard and long, are we safe in our own country? Am I alive today just by luck? Where is the safety of the common man who may get gunned down anytime due to the lackadasial approach shown by the authorities time and again.

Change was required in the US, and the people voted. A bigger change is required here. The message we need to send out to the government is we do not want you to give any condolences. We do not want you to condemn the attack. We want action. Can the government guarantee that?

Updates (Saturday)
* This attack has turned out to be one of the worst and boldest terrorist strikes in the country. It shows yet another glaring failure of the authorities to ensure safety for the common man. The impunity with which terrorist can come and attack any city in the country is shameful on our part.

* The PM has invited the ISI chief to help in the investigations! Cmon which world are you living in? Calling the people who have trained and helped to propagate these terrorists will in no measure help the investigation. The Indian government should stop being diplomatic about it and start calling a spade a spade.

* A sincere salute to the ATS officers, the MARCOS unit and above all the NSG commandos who handled the whole situation with the expertise and competence expected of them. Wish the same could be said for our inept politicians.

Desh Drohi - The rise of KRK

2008-11-26T21:15:00.003+05:30

Back from an examination paper which didn't go too well (what's new?) So I should most likely be in a mood to unleash my sarcasm on someone. The most likely candidate this time around is the new kid on the block, KRK. I'm sure you've heard of him, or seen the movie trailers doing the rounds on TV these days. He is the hero of the new film Desh Drohi which seeks to send a message of brotherhood and harmony across the nation. And no, its not about LOC or Indo-Pak relations, but about the feud between the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and the northern states.

For once I won't ridicule anyone. Reasons, political and otherwise, forbid me to do it and I do not wish to turn this into a sarcastic free-for-all. Some say it is a movie worth going to, because it teaches about the importance of being together in these troubled times. Some say the movie is not worth a review. Is KRK a replacement to SRK? Who know, but all said and done, in the eternal words of Jugad Singh, Aadmi sachha lagta hai. (Wish the placement season would be as simple as this)

My friends say there is no comparison between SRK and KRK. But isn't that what people said when SRK came into the scene? SRK vs Amitabh? KRK vs SRK? As Einstein put it, its all relative. He has a long way to go and so here's wishing the fellow all the best in Bollywood. We come in peace.

Three days

2008-10-19T00:55:00.001+05:30

Three days are all you need to understand someone deeply
Three days are all you need to discover their foibles
Three days are all you need to fall in love all over again

Three days are all you need to feel the pain of their tears on your chest
Three days are all you need to see the sad goodbye in the swelled up eyes
Three days are all you need to make the everlasting wait unbearable

From funeral to funeral

2008-10-17T15:13:00.002+05:30

Nassim Nicholas Taleb in his book, "Fooled by randomness" writes, "It is said that science evolves from funeral to funeral. After the LTCM collapse, a new financial economist will emerge, who will integrate such knowledge into his science. He will be resisted by the older ones, but, again, they will be much closer to their funeral date than he."

One and only one funeral comes to mind now - the sub-prime crisis, the latest funeral in a long list of never-ending deaths.

P.S. On a related note, MBAs did not cause the sub-prime crisis. We are just not that intelligent.

Definition of an optimist

2008-10-17T14:50:00.003+05:30

An optimist is someone who is happy about the weight-loss while sitting in an airplane that is crashing straight down.

You've come a long way baby

2008-10-12T13:52:00.003+05:30

It is often repeated in global business circles that when the US sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold. But have you ever wondered what happens when the US catches a cold? Judging from recent events, this is what precisely has happened. With the burst of the housing bubble, US has dragged down many other economies of the world. Even the BRIC juggernaut has slowed down.

When did the turn of events happen? When did sub-prime, which was a catch word in B-schools and a hot topic of discussion, suddenly turn into a monster? We have come a long way since last year. A lot of money has since flowed under the bridge. Last September, the sub-prime crisis had just reared its ugly head but no one could have predicted the level to which it has affected every one of us today. Governments are hastily organizing bailout packages for mopping up bad debts. Age old institutions are going off the radar. Investment Banking as a concept has been wiped out.

As far as India is concerned, the decoupling theory was badly routed. India has not been immune to the global hiccup. Inflation reached alarming levels, the pathetic levels of IIP has demoralized the industry and the stock market have seemed to lost all steam. The irrational exuberance which led the Indian stock markets to record highs till January has been squashed. The exuberance has gone; now only the irrationality remains. Newspapers scream valutions at 2005 levels, but who has the courage or the cash to buy today? Judging from the industry scenario, it seems India is heading for a recession with no brakes. And I'm on that train.

P.S. The above is not a rant, nor a crib. Just a dispassionate look on things which have happened and which are in store.

Of Sardars and Idli

2008-10-09T19:17:00.001+05:30

What is the height of frustration?
A hungry sardarji sitting in Murugan's Idli Shop.

Is it time to worry yet?

2008-10-01T00:27:00.005+05:30

An article I was reading on ZD-Net had this to say about the effect of the global financial crisis on Indian IT firms.

In fact, Premji, one of India's richest men by virtue of his share in Wipro, apparently practices frugality to the extent that he orders 'by-two' samosas in the office café. 'By-two' is a famous local habit, quickly adopted by newcomers, of splitting one order of anything (coffee to soup) between two people to save on costs.

Many of the now bankrupt firms had accounts with the IT giants for developing their IT systems. And since they are no more, the fallout is going to affect the IT industry as well. And here we are being complacent, having McDees and Coke Floats and Subways. Are we being smug about the whole situation? Are we choosing to hide behind a imaginary veil of hope? Has the time to start worrying come yet? Time itself will tell.

Recipe for the perfect evening

2008-09-24T17:51:00.001+05:30

A light breeze,
Some dark clouds,
Some screaming monkeys,
A hot cup of tea,
A splitting headache,
A half-eaten pack of biscuits.

Add a few things,
Remove a few things,
and you've got a perfect evening.

7 Laws a manager must remember

2008-09-20T20:55:00.003+05:30

1) Murphy's Law

This is arguably one of the best known and widely quoted laws out there. It was named after Captain Edward Murphy, an engineer in the US Air Force who created it in a fit of frustration. In its simplest form, it says "Anything which can go wrong, will". Many of you might have experienced a corollary of Murphy’s Law in daily life while standing in a queue. The queue in which you stand seems to always move the slowest. Although you cannot do much about selecting the right queue, in the world of business a manager can use this law to be prepared. In this day and age of highly complex and interconnected decisions, it is prudent to have a contingency plan (or many) if the one you choose doesn’t work out. Software projects may overshoot their deadlines, demand forecasts may go horribly wrong because of sudden rise in raw material prices, or the marketing campaign which you so carefully thought up of may go haywire because the competitor trounced you with a newer product. As a manager, you are paid to make decisions, and unless you learn to anticipate things which can go wrong, you won’t be making much progress in your career.

2) Parkinson's Law
"Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion."

This is another law which is quite well-known in the scientific and business community. This was first coined in an article in the Economist in 1955, and time and again it has proved to be true. On the outset, this law simply seems to point that it is important not to procrastinate. A manager is supposed to be efficient in doing his work and in allocating the time required for its completion. But if one digs deeper, one can find out at least two hidden meanings.

One is the principle of budgeting. The actual resources for a project will expand to its budgeted amount. This is a very commonly used practice by functional heads while deciding their annual budget. Rather than improving their department’s efficiency by aiming to cut down on the actual resources used, managers actually allow the bloating of resources so that their forecast looks accurate. Moreover having a higher budget for their department can increase their prestige. An effective manager should instead proactively measure and fight any unnecessary bloating of resources.

The second implication of this law is from the field of Economics. It hides in it one of the basic mechanisms of supply and demand. In the long run, the demand for a product increases to match its supply in order to achieve equilibrium. Although in Economics the reverse is also easily true, once the supply decreases, the demand for that product also decreases (due to higher prices). This is not so easily seen in the business world. If the time available for a project decreases, there is a highly likely chance of it overshooting the old and even the newer deadlines by a significant amount. Thus the Parkinson’s Law enables you to prepare your project plans more carefully.

3) The 80/20 Law

The 80/20 law, also known as the Pareto Principle was actually framed by Juran, one of the leading exponents of quality in manufacturing organizations. This law has been empirically observed to be true in so many situations that it has become universally applicable. In its most general form, it states that 20% of the causes drive 80% of the consequences. In a business environment, it can be applied to many situations - 20% of the employees do 80% of the work, 20% of projects will take up 80% of the resources, 20% of the employees get 80% of the salary(?) etc. A variant of this was even used controversially in GE by Jack Welch to categorize employees into three bands. He exhorted the organization to make the top 20% “feel loved.” Application of this law can help a manager to find out which resources are costliest, which customers are most valuable, which employees are hard-working and thus focus resources on these important causes.

4) Hurst's Law
Complexity can neither be created nor destroyed. It can only be displaced.

This law parallels an oft-repeated adage, "Problems cannot be solved." For every problem you solve, there arises at least one problem equal in complexity to the 'solved' problem. Business consultants would do well to keep in mind this law. Armed with a heap of tools and techniques, consultants work to re-engineer business processes and re-structure hierarchies, promising an effective and efficient organization. But many a times they fail to foresee that the new structure is simply creating new complexities which have not improved the overall condition at all. Managers grappling with supply chain issues can also keep in mind this law to ensure the proper flow of information and resources. The entire value chain needs to be looked as a whole to ensure that the complexity is not simply shifting within the organization. They should instead find ways how it can be actually shifted out of the system.

5) Parkinson's Law of Triviality
Organizations give disproportionate weight to trivial issues.

Anyone who has been in a meeting that seemed to last forever has come across this law. The frustration multiplies when your bosses are the ones who guide the meeting and you're but a pawn in the meeting. A very common tendency of managers is to jump into the problem immediately without structuring or organizing the facts first. By not spending time to understand the requirements, one tends to pick up the most obvious problem that comes across and work towards solving that first. But the most visible problem may not be the most important. Following this approach proves to be very wasteful in terms of both time and resources. A manager should keep this caveat next to the Pareto Principle in importance and ensure that by assigning priorities to the problems in front of him, he can apply his resources in the right order and in the right proportion.

6) KISS principle
Keep it simple, stupid

The importance of being precise is constantly hammered by B-schools into students. However a mistake which most newly-minted managers make is to confuse precision with verbosity. Managers are made the butt of many jokes on how they use complex words and phrases even for describing something simple. Thus, “we sell toothbrushes” may turn into “we provide complete oral hygiene”.

Though it is important to be precise to prevent errors, such precision should come from simplicity. As Einstein said, any fool can make things bigger and more complex. It takes a touch of genius and lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.

Saying that your organization engages in continuous value creation may look good in mission statements but a manager should be able to simplify things. Not in a way to leave out any particular detail, but so as to be able to explain the 4Ps or Maslow’s hierarchy to a 4-year old child. Spouting out management jargons may impress your peers at the annual industry seminar but will always leave your subordinates confused after they come to you for clarification.

7) Unintended consequences
Any action taken purposefully will produce some unintended consequences.

This is a law which parallels Murphy's Law, but unlike its more famous counterpart, this adage actually allows positive side-effects. This may ensure that a company may find a new use of a previously scrapped product because the government has changed regulations or even the fact that getting fired from a job gave you a chance to develop that entrepreneurial spirit in you.

Although possibly apocryphal, the story of how 3M failed in its quest to develop super glue and instead created one of the most useful inventions in history – the Post-it note is proof enough of this concept. Another example of this law at work in the business world is Adam Smith’s invisible hand concept. An individual aiming to better his interests may actually produce certain consequences which were totally unintended in the beginning. This law ensures that a manager keeps in mind that there could be results which no one has thought of before. He can then take steps to minimize the damage as much as possible. Of course if the side-effect is positive, a manager can claim the action to be intended and well thought of.

The obsolete 6pm rule

2008-09-20T10:04:00.001+05:30

Nowadays post-mortems can be conducted even in the dead of the night.
- Professor, Strategic Marketing.

Pun Intended? :)

Sub-prime and buyout blues

2008-09-16T18:38:00.001+05:30

Last year, the sub-prime crisis had hit the US home mortgage sector. Around one year has passed since the term came into fad. A lot of articles have been written, a lot of gyan dispersed on the topic. Even I have had some fun with the sub-prime buzzword. But now it seems the circle has been completed. After Bear Stearns collapsed in March this year, it was the turn of the venerable Lehman Brothers to find a similar fate. However there were no takers for the institutions. BoA has agreed to buy Merill Lynch, so such saviour for LB. The financial crisis which we made a lot of fun of last year has come back to haunt us. Though the financial sector has been the worst hit, there will definitely be a trickle down effect in other functions, IT, marketing etc.

The financial system seemed to be in a dire need of a catharsis and recent events seem to have helped in the cleansing. Now it remains to be seen whether the ruins of the financial sector can be cleared in a few months time or is it time to sit at home wondering what to do with an MBA degree? My optimistic (naive ?) self says that the rubble will clear. So it is time to be prepared. It is time to fire up all cylinders, even if there seems to be no road ahead.

Cchange forrtunes througgh numerology

2008-08-29T09:05:00.004+05:30

It's official now. Alternative career options are coming back with a big banng. After the recent foray of Jawed Habib into hair-cutting schools, Sanjay B. Jumaani (did I get the number of as right?) is planning to open a numerology school where he plans to teach eeager students the art of adding, twisting and dropping letters from the nnames of celebrities and movies to supposedly turn around their fortunes. He was the 'engineer' behind the naming of the hugely popular movie 'Singh is Kinng', though it remains to be seeeen whether that was the reason why the movie was actually successful. Like a true businessman he says that currently this market is largely unorganized and thus there is a huge potential for such business.

In my opinion, it was ok when you changed the spellings of names of movies or actors. It's their personal choice on how they want to spell their name. My English teacher in school used to tell me that you can pronounce proper nouns any way you like. But what gets to me is the uninhibited way they change the spellings of English words to suit their numerological beliefs. Isn't there any such thing as good grammar? Thus we have names like Singh is Kinng, Heyy Babyy and C Kkompany. Well, Bbollywood cannot be bothered with such petty issues. As long as the film doesn't have any content, the sstrange sounding name won't worsen it anyhow.

One more business opportunityy I missssed. Dammnn.

Laundry woes

2008-08-16T22:49:00.003+05:30

Why the last laundry person ran away...

Lose control

2008-08-09T10:35:00.000+05:30

Have you ever experienced that feeling while riding a bike when suddenly your wrist twists a little more than it should? The bike lurches forward, and for a moment you feel totally out of control of the bike, like it is taking you where it wants, not where you want it to go. Immediately you catch hold of yourself, forget everything else and loosen your grip on the accelerator to get back in control of your bike.

While riding a bike the blip on the radar screen disappears but momentarily. Now replace the word 'bike' with another four letter word 'life'. How difficult (or easy) is it to gain control now? Here you're driving on a crowded highway. Here there is not an inch to take or give. The blip this time stays missing for a longer time. So what happens? You crash into people. That is how conflicts arise. That is how fights happen. That is how people get killed.

Riding a bike with no brakes is not a good idea, so is life.

Drawing - an old hobby

2008-08-06T16:38:00.002+05:30

Trying to revive an old hobby of mine. Who is this character? Please rate.

Synchronized dudeness

2008-08-06T16:30:00.003+05:30

Patting strangers on the shoulder and blurting out 'Chill dude' can be injurious to health (and possibly CGPA) if the stranger turns out to be a professor! :)

Hair-cutting schools

2008-07-11T20:31:00.007+05:30

Jawed Habib has opened a hair-styling academy in my home town, Vapi. Now, I would consider opening a saloon would be logical but opening a training school for hair-cutting? In Vapi? I didn't know there were so many budding barbers in this town! After 12th standard, forget engineering, MBA, MBBS. Give the HAT (Hair-cutting Aptitude Test) and join the academy. According to an ad of his, the world needs more Jawed Habibs. Wondering how many will he find in Vapi?

But consider the following statements:-
* Hairstyling is the career of the century.
* The beauty saloon industry is growing at a rate of 40% and is around Rs 1500 crore.

Here are some back of the envelope calculations I actually had the time and craziness to perform...

As I passed through the academy today, another thought crossed my mind. I wonder how do they give training to the students? I mean the theory would be straight-forward, but what about the lab sessions? Where do they get volunteers to try their hair-cutting skills on? I wonder which is more scary - going under a medical intern's scalpel or under a barber-trainee's scissors?

For me going to a hair-saloon as fancy as this is like visiting a fancy Italian restaurant - I never know what to order. I prefer the IIT Madras saloon kinds where there is no need of a menu. Medium or short. That is it. Someday I may have to go to such saloons if a particular some one insists. Well that'll be the day...

Anyway welcome to the city, Jawedbhai H.B.B.S. Your presence in the city means that my small town is expanding and I have a good business opportunity here.

Sales v/s after-sales service

2008-07-11T12:48:00.001+05:30

It has been my general experience that there is a wide chasm between the budget allocated for sales and that for after-sales service. Most people would argue that after-sales service is a part of marketing and that according to marketing gurus, marketing starts well before the product is developed and continues well after the consumer buys the product. A standard textbook definition. But in real life, does a company really focus on that after-sales part diligently? Few companies do so.

Take the case of banks, for example. Private banks nowadays send a representative to your house when you tell them you want to open an account. They help you fill up the new account forms, they take the minimum account opening balance from you etc. But does the bank maintain that level of service once the account is active? When I want to change my address, I have to go to the nearest branch. To reset my ATM pin (when I've forgotten my old one) I have to visit the nearest branch.

The most obvious point of difference is the type of interaction itself. While opening an account, a 'representative' from the bank comes over to your house. While doing other transactions, you are forwarded to a call-centre where after you press (quite) a few buttons, you reach a human at the other end. And what happens then? Even for a simple request, the call-centre 'executive' tells me to visit the nearest branch!

The counter-argument would be that it is because of the security aspect. Banks would like to be sure that they are dealing with a genuine customer before they do a sensitive transaction like closing an account or changing ATM pin or issuing a new ATM card. But its not that personal interaction would get rid of all these problems. We still have news reports of people duping the bank branch by forging a signature while sitting in the bank itself. Investing in technology can be (if the bank wants) justified in terms of providing customer service.

Another major difference seen between these two services is that while one is an integral part of the organization, the other is generally outsourced. Would any company dare to outsource its sales division? No it won't. Yet companies do not hesitate while deciding whether to outsource the after-sales service division. It is less of a headache they say, dealing with irate customers and product returns.

Why can't organizations be more balanced in the level of both these kinds of services? If B-schools have a specialization for sales and marketing, why can't they have a specialization for after-sales service? Isn't that what is required in the service-oriented economy?

I'll wait for the day when the banks agrees to send a representative to my house to close my account. Until then providing a 24x7 customer care number is just another gimmick in order to attract and impress customers.

Random thoughts at the airport

2008-07-09T10:24:00.002+05:30

The rise in global crude prices, and the rapid increase in inflation has hit the Indian consumer hard. More so for the airlines. There is no longer the kind of buzz that was seen in airports just a couple of months ago. Flying has been toppled from its pedestal as the most preferred way of traveling. People are starting to turn back to railways for a slower but cheaper way to travel. This is evident from the lack of queues for the security checks, the empty seats in the departure lounges and in the airplanes itself.
...
I can see a few passengers lazily strolling about the lounge, having coffee and chatting. They choose to ignore the PA system announcing the final boarding call for their flight. Only when the desperate airline officials start asking passengers individually whether they are traveling by that flight do they realize that the plane is waiting for them. They get up, grumbling at the half-wasted coffee (even though the coffee there is awful) and throw it away to make way to the bus.
...
Kingfisher Airlines still continues to pamper its 'guests' but bother other passengers (and possibly make them envious) through multiple pre-boarding calls. Their air-hostesses are still the best-looking.
...
While in the line, I think however much we may learn in MBA, we're still ill-equipped to deal with other cultures. While I'm standing in the line, a man (possibly Japanese) respectfully bows down, gestures with one hand wishing to cross the line to get to the other side. I wonder what would most of us have done in his place. Just shove and push? Or maybe spill out a perfunctory 'Excuse me?'
...
Once in the plane, through the window I can see something which makes me squirm. Airports boast of being technologically modern, with conveniences of all possible kinds. But I can still see a lady sitting in a wheelchair being pushed by an airport employee in the hot Chennai sun. Why such treatment? Aren't the buses supposed to be handicapped friendly? Why can't she board the air-conditioned buses which all the other passengers use?
...
The flight has ended. The airplane has stopped. Here goes everyone out of their seats fetching their baggage from the overhead storage. Why are you in such a hurry uncle? Let the doors open, let the ladder be positioned. Do you want to jump out and break your bones? Relax India.

The Three Mistakes of my Life - A review

2008-07-06T09:32:00.003+05:30

I just finished reading Chetan Bhagat's newest book, The Three Mistakes of My Life (3MML). After reading One night at the call centre, I didn't have high hopes from this book. It seemed that he was trying too hard to come up with books one after the other, consequently his stories lacked the depth of research which would have been warranted. However 3MML is a better book, in terms of the story line and the credulity of the story.

This story is set in Ahmedabad at the turn of the millennium. It talks about three friends (with similar undertones to that of Hari, Alok, Ryan from 5 point someone), who having nothing better to do, start up a business. For those following Gujarat's history in the last decade, two major events shaped the history and the life of people living in Gujarat, the earthquake and the riots. The best part about this book is the way Chetan Bhagat weaves in these events into the story. This integration of fact and fiction is brilliant.

I could relate to the story and the events as I spent those years in Ahmedabad itself. I was there during the earthquake, during 9/11 and during the riots. The despair, the surprise and the tension, I have felt it all. Other references in the story to Law Garden (Love Garden), ATIRA and Navrangpura have obviously been influenced by the author's years in IIM-A. All these places are quite close to IIM-A's campus. And here lies a few glaring inconsistencies in the story. The story is mainly set in the pols of the old city of Ahmedabad. It would be prohibitively expensive for three 21-year olds (who we know are not too well off) to travel by rickshaw to the new city and back. Anyone in their position would take the city bus. I would give the benefit of doubt about the incessant use of mobiles and SMSes. Although those were quite expensive as well, I can safely assume that looking at the profits they were making Govind was able to afford the mobile.

SPOILERS BELOW

And my last peeve about the story, was the climax. For those who haven't read the book, there are a few spoilers ahead. So beware. The protagonist Govind mentions the third mistake of his life as being too late to save Ali's wrist from being slashed. As a result of this he couldn't play cricket the way he used to. But in the end his wrist gets better. So technically that is not his mistake. But the climax itself, with Mama killing Omi and getting bumped off himself was too contrived. This is how I would have ended the book. Govind's last mistake would be unable to save Ali, or in a moment of nervousness, stopping Ish from saving Ali. Mama would be successful in his killing spree. And Govind would live with the death of Ali constantly on his shoulder. That would be a convincing reason for him to pop some pills. Moreover his inability to save Ali would further strain his relation with Ish. But well, that's just me.

SPOILERS END

All in all, 3MML is a better effort by Chetan Bhagat than his previous book. I would recommend this book to anyone wishing to have a glance at how Ahmedabad got shaped in the last 8 years.

Previous posts about Ahmedabad:
ATIRA, A morning on the railway station

A close shave

2008-05-26T19:50:00.003+05:30

I still remember the earliest instances of me sitting in a barber shop. After cutting the hair, he used to take out this strange looking instrument, insert half a safety blade in it and then proceed to shape the sideburns and the back of my head. It was a strange but ticklish feeling. I didn't dare move at that time.

Fast forward to the present day when you have fancy razors with n number of blades. According to a story by the Economist, it took 70 years after the invention of the safety razor to come up with a razor with two blades. Since then the number of blades has been rapidly increasing so much so that they almost seem to follow the famous Moore's Law. And just like my computer hardware is behind in this race, so is my shaving hardware. I still use a measly two-blade razor. And I have to dig and scratch to get a smooth shave, nothing like what the ads show, one quick stroke and its done.

I'm taking the example of a specific company but I'm sure the others in this market do the same as well. We had the Gillette Sensor, then Sensor Excel, then there was the Gillette Vector (one of the worst razors I must say), then Mach 3. Recently I heard about the five-blade monster, Gillette Fusion.

I've also heard that there is a battery operated version too which vibrates. Talk about an oxymoron. When logic says that you need a steady hand while shaving, why would anyone need a vibrating razor? I shudder to think of the consequences of misguiding it...

But with regards to the number of blades, I have always wondered how close is close? The continuous increase in the number of blades has promised a closer shave with each improvement, but the question which comes to my mind is "What is going to be the tipping point?" How many blades would you need on a razor before one of the blades peels out the skin too. Yeah, then your cheeks would be baby red, and probably you'd cry louder than a baby too. That would be a classic law suit in the making. But strangely, the safety razors have been pretty safe.

Maybe I'll get my chance when the six blade version comes out. Or is it already here? Till then I'll practice my cuts and nicks with the good old two-blade version. Or for those who want otherwise, here's a guide to good shaving. I haven't read it tho'. I'd finish shaving faster than the time it takes to read it. Maybe I'll read it before the day of my wedding.

Snail mail and email

2008-05-17T10:54:00.001+05:30

One of the most important functions of post-offices was (is) making sure that mails reach you on time.
One of the most important functions of email providers is making sure that some mails don't reach you at all.

Inspired by an ad.

Click - Movie review

2008-05-16T19:06:00.002+05:30

A person gets a remote using which he can control his life. He is able to skip all the 'boring' stuff, he can slow down things, or even entirely skip chapters which he doesn't want to be part of. A sci-fi film? Not exactly. It is more of a movie the whole family can enjoy, and in fact a movie which the whole family should see together.

As the story builds up, you see that the remote concept is a very important metaphor for the things in life we get irritated about and wish we could just skip. Be it going for a dinner with parents, or having to choose between work and taking the kids out for icecream. It wonderfully explains the wrong choices we make sometimes, especially involving our loved ones. The idea between the movie is a beautfiul concept and the remote control is a beautiful way to express that concept.

My only grouse with the movie is the choice of the lead actor. Adam Sandler? For a sensitive and dramatic role? No way. He tries hard but he brings the same devil-may-care attitude he has for the gross comedies he has been in before. He seems to be the only one who just doesn't gel in. Having said that, the movie is still good, the two kids are cute, and Kate Beckinsale is smokin' as usual There are a few scenes in between which jar the viewer. David Hasselhoff could have been avoided. This could have been a excellent movie, if not for these minor mishaps. The ending is expected and in a way disappointing to me, but it still makes for good viewing.

The movie could instead have been set in the 70s, and could have used some versatile, more sensitive actors for the lead part. Still, the movie has a very important message and I suggest anyone married - or otherwise - should go watch the movie and make better choices the next time you have to decide between going for a vacation with your family and working overtime for that promotion. There may not be a Rewind button for you.

Syriana

2008-04-29T19:49:00.004+05:30

Rather than me writing a half-baked review on the movie, I'll quote an amazing paragraph I read in IMDB's message board. To realize what this movie represents beyond the individual characters is further mind-blowing.

"At the risk of oversimplifying things...I think it's helpful to look at the film as an intricately woven metaphor spun from an everyday "snapshot" of what's going in the world to guarantee American access for oil. The brilliance in the film, for me at least, is in the totality of that snapshot; it captures everything, good bad and indifferent.

The characters aren't so much driven by themselves, rather they are what they represent. For instance, Christopher Plummer's character, beyond whoever-the-hell he's credited as playing, is America. George Clooney's role, beyond "Bob," is that of the "intelligence community" in America.

Matt Damon, beyond the energy consultant, is the well-intentioned, market-economy in America. Matt Damon's wife is everyone who's just trying to get by and be happy in America. Together, they sort of represent "the people" of America, and their child who dies in the pool is the American G.I., the people's sons and daughters, caught up in something completely out of their control, yet still paying the ultimate price just for being there.

Everyone's character, all the way through, even down to the African man who tries in vain to get on the elevator with Damon, Clooney and "the good prince" (can't remember the actor or his character's name), represents something else. And it makes film insanely good.

Just that small elevator scene speaks volumes because in that snapshot, you see America's treatment of the problems in Africa. You've got the American business community (Damon) and the American intelligence community (Clooney) all too busy focusing on the Middle East (the Prince) to notice, or care, that Africa is being neglected and left out. It's just a moment in the film, but so, so powerful.

And that's really what the whole movie is. Just a big, smart [metaphor] with everyone playing a part."

Thanks ben_m_hall, wherever you are.

Of tunnels and bright lights

2008-04-29T16:22:00.002+05:30

People talk about seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, but what if you're in the wrong tunnel? Where does that tunnel lead to?

Goodbye Mr. Akhtar

2008-04-01T18:52:00.003+05:30

He set the record for the fastest ball bowled
He hit a team mate with a bat
He led an 'active' sex life.

He was charged for doping
He is now banned for five years

Good bye Shoaib Akhtar, you won't be missed. And wherever you are, get rid of that accent.

Race - on a twisted highway

2008-03-25T12:00:00.004+05:30

1) The movie starts with a rich well-to-do family; brothers involved in horse racing and betting
2) Twists start
3) Twists continue
4) Twists continue
5) Intermission
6) Twists continue
7) Cameo by Johnny Lever
8) One more twist... sigh
9) Well this twist wasn't much of a twist. I was expecting it.
10) A well executed race sequence, and yeah a twist during the race too.
11) Rest of all is fluff

Tell me why
* In one of the scenes, the same woman (in a bikini) passes behind Anil Kapoor and Sameera Reddy at least four times. What is she doing? Is she part of the conspiracy, or did a budget cut force the directors to use the same extras?

* If the story is based in South Africa, why do they still talk in Rupees? Ghar ki yaad aa gayi?

* Who wrote Anil Kapoor's cheesy jokes? Though I liked his habit of eating fruits. Sharpens the mind it seems.

* If the brothers wade in so much luxury throughout the movie, why did they have to mortgage their property in South Africa?

All in all, this movie has more twists than a bowl of noodles. But I would still recommend this movie. Why? Precisely because of these twists. You have to wonder, if not appreciate the creativity of the writer and how he managed to convince the producers of such a movie. Saif Ali is the star of this rat pack. Akshaye Khanna goes overboard is some scenes. Dalip Tahil could have been given a bigger role. Maybe a couple of twists involving him could have made for a complete package. The women are mostly candy floss but still form an integral part of the story. I have a gut feeling this movie will run well. Watch it, if for nothing else, than for dear old South Africa.

Holi hai

2008-03-22T19:38:00.004+05:30

5 packs of Gulal: Rs 300
1 old t-shirt, 1 pair of shorts (undergarment optional): Rs 250
One bar of Lifebuoy, three sachets of shampoo: Rs 26
1 broken pair of chappals: Rs 110
Fine for messing up the hostels: Rs 250

Seeing the pearly smiles peeking between the multicoloured faces: Priceless

Today I celebrated what was one of the wildest and unruliest yet one of the most hilarious Holi ever. The days before the festival saw a campaign by the hostel authorities warning students not to play Holi inside the hostel premises. But like every years, these rules were merely on paper.

In the morning though, it seemed that the fever had not reached the campus. But gradually, one by one, shouts and screams pierced a quiet Saturday morning and it was clear that no one was to be spared today. After rubbing Gulal on each other, we turned to more 'fast' colours. As I said, no one was to be spared today and those who chose to stay inside their rooms were the people who were doused the most. Along with them their rooms also received a makeover. Unfortunately, we created a lot of mess inside the hostels for which we'll have hell to pay.

But for now, we went out in search of fresh targets. We found a small dirty pool of water and the process of dunking began. The first victims were the featherweight people in the class who could be easily lifted and carried into the water. They were asked to sit still while the others gave them a rejuvenating bath in the open air. Each one of the class members were dunked one by one.

Then started the customary dances on classic songs of Amitabh and company. But it seemed most of them were staring at the girls who were dancing by. By then, people were exhausted and ready to head back home but not before a hilarious photo session. The unofficial Kingfisher calendar of 2008 was created in a matter of half an hour. No exotic locales, no expensive make up, just pure instinct. We didn't even need a costume designer, the torn shirts themselves provided the fashion.

Now came the cleaning process. No amount of soap, whether used for human or clothes or dishes, could remove in one go the art we had painted on our faces. But I tried as much as I could and I'd say it will take me the better part of the week to remove it all out.

But I'm in no hurry. This is one colour which can stay on forever. These are times which you cherish when you pass out of college and earn big bucks. These are times which you wish could stay on forever. We know that tomorrow we'll have to answer for the mess we created in the hostels. But these are times when no amount of fine is too much.

What explains my love for animals

2008-03-21T21:41:00.003+05:30

I have always been excited, as a small child, while visiting zoos. Seeing all those animals in one place was a treat to me. I used to just gaze at them prancing around peacefully. Sometimes I would feed them, sometimes touch their furry skin. But it broke my heart to see them confined to pens and cages. It made them all the more inaccessible for a person who wanted to know more about these creatures. I was constantly amazed by the diversity of the fauna which God has created.

And when I got selected here it was like a delightful dream which came true. The campus is a heaven for someone like me. There are endless acres of flora and fauna which one can discover at one's own leisure. I prefer the night when there is calm, and a certain chill in the air. That is partly the reason why I volunteered for the night patrol. It is aimed at protecting deer from stray dogs that roam around in the campus at night.

I still remember that night when I found a small deer with its head stuck in some thorny branches beside the lake road. It was struggling and in the process scratching itself against the thorns. I went up to the deer and slowly and carefully held the branches apart so that I could put it out of its misery. The dogs would have otherwise done their deed.

My friends sometimes say that I'm weird because I show so much interest towards animals. Are there so few humans around that you want to spend so much time around animals? Sometimes they crack ugly jokes. But I ignore them. These creatures of God have no one to help them. They are my weak spot. It is in my blood to be so interested in animals. You see, after all, I am a werewolf. And tonight is a full moon.

Shahrukh Khan

2008-03-15T18:21:00.005+05:30

I never imagined that I would devote a post on my blog to Shahrukh Khan. Many people love his movies but I'm one of those people who don't particularly like his acting, especially in movies like Om Shanti Om, Main Hoon Na, Mohabbatein. For me, my 100 bucks is better spent on books or food than watching such a movie in the theatre. But when you consider the reason for his selection of roles and the way he acts, it boils out to something very simple. He does it for the masses. People love him not what he does, but how he does it, for the intensity and the goofiness he puts in in some of the characters he portrays. While that has become, for him, a restriction of sorts, he is considered one of the most bankable stars in the Hindi film industry today.

One of the few movies in which I liked his acting, Swades, didn't do well at the box-office. This means that, Shahrukh Khan the actor and Shahrukh Khan the entertainer are totally two different persons. And one has to take precedence over the other. Further, people are likely to idolize one of these two persons.

Another reason why I like Shahrukh the person is evident in two documentaries I've seen about him. One is the Revealed series on CNN, and the other is a documentary by BBC(?) The man has had big wild dreams. In one of the documentaries, he says, as a young boy he wanted to own the city. But after all these years, it seems that the city owns him. In many aspects he is right. But what's more the city (and the country) loves him. Watching Shahrukh Khan's life story is more inspiring than watching one of his movies. The way he brought himself to Mumbai from Delhi, the way he struggled doing TV serials, the way he risked his career by taking on negative roles in his early days shows more about his calibre then his roles as Raj or Dev Saran. Watching what inspires the person who inspires a million hearts is more worthwhile than watching, frankly, most of his movies.

Some people reach a position in life for which they have given their all. And when they reach it, they have the right to be proud about it. They have the right to call themselves the King. And today Shahrukh Khan, without the backing of a filmi family, has reached that position solely on the basis of his hard-work and passion.

These boots were meant for walking

2008-03-03T08:32:00.004+05:30

Did I write about my plan to walk my way to good health? I think not. So here goes nothing. Last quarter (=semester/2) I had decided to start a health plan according to which I was supposed to go for a walk every morning in the IIT Madras stadium. The plan was mildly to moderately successful. Out of about 60 days, I managed to go walking for a grand total of 1 day. Impressive.

Now I've decided to renew that plan. The study load is expected to be less at least for a week now. And I feel if I get through this one week, I think I'll become regular at walking daily. Today was my first day, or rather my second (cumulatively speaking). I walked for around 5(?) rounds. It all reminded me of the good old days in Ahmedabad where my friend and I used to go walking daily in ATIRA. After a couple of rounds of the joggers' park, a cup of lemon juice and I felt ready to take on the world.

And for some reason, after the tiring walk, the sight of the grand campus of IIM Ahmedabad opposite the road used to rejuvenate me. Sigh. Things could have been so much different.

Emerging trends in finance and investing

2008-02-27T19:07:00.003+05:30

This is what an MBA should teach - read, analyze and create reports. Not tacky presentations put up in a couple of hours.

Emerging Trends in Financing and Investing in India - A report created as part of the Corporate Finance course.

The Office of Dunder Mifflin

2008-02-26T20:49:00.002+05:30

Right now I'm watching the Halloween episode of the award-winning comedy the Office and laughing my guts out. The Office is based on a similar British series of the same name. Even though I had heard of this unique and wacky sitcom (can one really call it a sitcom?) the Office, more than a year ago, I only started to watch it last year. And I must say that the Office series is brilliant. No wonder it has got so many awards. The show even has its own website here. The unique aspect about this is that the camera is hand held and the action seems all spontaneous. The actors at times look at and talk to the camera giving an indication of a third party being present.

Each of the characters in the Office have some quirk or the other and they are hilarious in their own right. Jim and Pam's awkward and secret (or not so secret) dalliance with each other. Dwight Schrute's paranoia, his constant butt-licking of the boss, and his one-upping of the other employees of Dunder Mifflin. The never-ending jokes by the boss on Phyllis (the fat woman) and pseudo-racist jokes on Stanley - the proverbial black guy in the office. And of course how can you forget the boss, Michael Scott played by Steve Carell. He amazingly plays the irritating boss who constantly tries to put the best side of him to the camera and how he supposedly cares for the employees. His attempts at modesty and self-effacing are hilarious, partly because that is what happens in real life too. Each episode Michael faces a different situation which he somehow manages to deal with. Another interesting aspect of work life depicted in this show is the relation between the management and the shop floor. Michael Scott unwaveringly tries to try out his motivation techniques on the workers in the warehouse who obviously don't care a shit about his attempts.

Let me finish watching this episode now. Did I mention that I have a Corporate Finance exam tomorrow? Oh well. Forget F.R.I.E.N.D.S.; go watch the Office, especially if you think that after an MBA, things will be all hunky dory in the office.

Challenges in entrepreneurship, anyone?

2008-02-16T18:40:00.002+05:30

S T Coleridge said in his immortal poem, "Water water everywhere, nor any drop to drink."

I say, "Jargon jargon everywhere, not one in my head did sink."

SWOT of stubborn and flexible people

2008-02-12T12:52:00.000+05:30

Let's assume that all the people in the world can be divided into two categories - flexible and stubborn. This division is on the basis of their ability or willingness to learn something other than their domain of knowledge. Now, the strength of the stubborn people is their expertise and confidence in their domain. However their weakness is that they are probably afraid of failing in the other domains. That is why they stick to their own field and possibly sometimes disparage the other fields.

Now if we take the flexible people, their strength is their ability and confidence to adapt to other domains. But their weakness is a possible lack of expertise in their own domain. That is partly the reason they readily accept to try out various other fields.

I guess each has something to learn from the other

Lack of self control and what I plan to do about it

2008-02-11T22:18:00.000+05:30

Lack of self control is something which one faces some time or the other in life. For me, it is a continuous battle. Mostly I lose the fight, sometimes I manage to save my face. Be it in anything as simple as sleeping for one hour less or not having that extra cold drink or piece of pastry, I totally lack control. I shift into short term mode and rarely think of the negative long term effects which this would have on my body.

Its funny when you read about all good habits but you lack to follow them yourself and one day you wake up and see that you have this disease which you could have avoided all the time along by practicing a little bit of moderation. As I said for me, cure seems to be the easier alternative than prevention much to the consternation of the people who care. I make up some excuse or sometimes blatantly lie about what I did or what I failed to do to prevent such an occurrence. I blame the weather or my genes if I fall sick. But I know I'm lying and I know I'm suffering. I know that my self respect will increase only when I learn to say no to things, and start doing things which are beneficial to me in the long run. So here goes nothing.

To start with I'll concentrate on what I eat. No more stuffing (junk) food into my stomach mercilessly. I eat only when required. Let's push my limits. If nothing else, I'll learn one thing from Total Quality Management. From today I follow Toyota's 5 whys approach. Before stuffing anything in my mouth, I will ask myself 'why.' On one hand while I may not be able to wait to ask 5 questions but I will definitely ask myself one the necessity and requirement of anything I put in my mouth. There are many people who can validate whether I'm doing this diligently or not. I may not lost 10 kgs (which I need to) using this method but I'll at least set an example for myself on which to test other things as well.

In related news, I came across another example which proved that getting a 9.x CGPA doesn't get you commonsense free with it.

A laborious MBA

2008-01-30T19:14:00.000+05:30

'A manager must learn how to perform under pressure.'
'A leader must learn to manage deadlines.'

This is a common refrain given to justify the heavy workloads given in B-schools. But according to me, focusing on urgency and deadlines is not the only thing for a manager. What this would do is to create firefighters and crisis managers. And not all people perform to their fullest under pressure. Being a manager is not only being able to perform under pressure but being able to create something different, something which no one else has thought up of. And genius is something which normally needs patience. It may happen once or twice in the middle of the night but mostly it needs to be cultivated patiently. When you give assignments and ask students to submit them a couple of days later, sometimes two to three assignments in a day when you consider all the subjects, you rob the students of their creativity. In their haste to 'get it done', they do a shoddy job and mostly copy it from seniors or from the net. Just type out a sentence or two from the case in Google and you'll, in most cases, get a solved version of the same from the Internet. There is a difference in a presentation given by copying sentences from the net and breaking them down into bullet points and a presentation made after reading articles or reports and by developing unique insights from the group. There is a difference in a presentation given by dividing the slides among the members and a presentation made together after brainstorming and arguing the possible alternatives. The presentations have become so cliched that I can safely bet with my eyes closed that the slide after the title slide will have an Agenda and the last slide will be a Thank You slide.

One may be able to fool some of the people all the time, but not all the people all the time. This shortcoming easily glares up in the corporate world. When you do this in front of a customer, he or she is most likely to see through the bull. What needs to be done is to make the MBA course thorough but not urgent/laborious. Give us the motivation to read the Economist, to read McKinsey reports, to read HBR. Make us study them. Do not give the case studies two three days before the submission. Give them at the beginning of the quarter/semester. Set a deadline, preferably at least two weeks before and give the students the time and space to work out something. Point them to reports or articles which will help them out in their quest. Let the students know that original thoughts will be appreciated. ~~And yeah, most important of all, set up a peer evaluation. This is most important to ensure that everyone works or at least shows up for the meeting.~~ (<-- This deserves a separate post)

Appendix A: Here's just an example of the number of cases which might crop up in an average week.
Financial Management - 1 case per week. 2-3 pages only but impossible to decipher.
TQM - 1 case per fortnight (as of now) 5-6 pages. Somewhere on the easier side but supremely boring.
OM - The mother-in-law of all cases. One case per week, which will soon scale up to two. Ranges from between 4-10 pages long. Totally hopeless unless you're an operations freak.
MIS - The best and the simplest to understand but (yes, I'm an IT engineer, but still) painfully long. Two cases per week (at 8am), each case 14-20 pages.

That works out to around 5-6 cases every week. Couple that with average of 6 hours of class daily and surprise quizzes always around the corner. Where is the time to smell the roses?

Sunrise over Ascendas

2008-01-09T19:09:00.001+05:30

taken from IIT Madras

Flog them bastards

2008-01-05T19:22:00.000+05:30

"Two recently married women molested in front of a posh hotel in Juhu, Mumbai on New Year's Eve." As I write this, one dilemma comes to mind. Who the hell is to blame? The hotel authorities would say that the incident didn't happen on their property. The police would say they were already overworked during the New Year's and were short of men. Men. That is a word which we will have to redefine. The people who did it were not certainly men. Probably under the influence of alcohol, they became something undefinable and something dispeakable. And as if eve-teasing wasn't bad enough, these people have become so bold so as to openly grope and fondle women. And I speak not of this particular incident, but the general rising trend of such incidents which are becoming more and more common every passing day. What is more horrifying is that on the Net, people are actually searching for the pictures that the photographers have clicked rather than for the actual news item itself. And we say that we empathize with the victims. Sad, isn't it?

Now that the police have arrested some of the suspects, a long winded procedure will start the end of which is uncertain. To protect their identity and their self-respect, the victims may probably drop the case. Sometimes it feels to me that the corporal punishment practiced in some of the Gulf countries seems to be the best and the quickest method to punish the perpetrators. A severe flog in public on their naked, exposed skin will bring them back to reality and hopefully incapable of doing such a crime again, both mentally and 'physically.'

An interesting coincidence. The song playing in the background as I write this, 'Where is the love?'

Why I may never get top grade

2008-01-01T21:54:00.000+05:30

I found a very interesting article online which compared attributes of high achievers, gifted learners and creative thinkers. To a layman the three may not seem all that different but apparently they are, and hugely so. Here are two important extracts which more or less sum up the article.

...the teacher announces an assignment, and the high achiever quickly tries to determine what the teacher most wants so he can please and satisfy the teacher's intentions: "What do you really want?" The gifted learner ponders what to do that would most interest her as she learns: "What I would like to do is..." Simultaneously, the creative thinker's mind begins to race with all of the diverse and varied possibilities that could be explored...

And,

...the teacher poses a question to the class. The high achiever is delighted because he knows the answer and is in control: "Oh, I know that answer!" The gifted learner considers multiple nuances and alternative perspectives: "The question could mean..." or "It might suggest..." or "Another way to say that is..." or "Yah, but..." The creative thinker is still obsessed with the seemingly endless possibilities of the earlier assignment, concentrating so much on his ideas that he completely misses the teacher's question...

I guess I have a pretty good idea where I belong. 75% creative, 25% gifted learner. And that pretty much sums up where I stand.

Here's the article (High Achiever, Gifted Learner, Creative Thinker). Specifically, the table at the end of the article is interesting and useful.

The creative thinker

Wonders
Daydreams
Overflows with ideas, many of which will never be developed
Shares sometimes conflicting opinions
Questions the need for mastery (yeah man)
Prefers the company of creative peers but often works alone
Is independent and unconventional
Is original and continually developing
Improvises
May not be motivated by grades (he he)

QED

One fourth of an MBA - II

2007-12-24T12:29:00.000+05:30

Rather than editing the former post (One-fourth of an MBA), I'll add on to the post. Many changes have occurred since I last wrote that post. I got the results, got a few certifications along the way, among other things. The results are at best average. I'm somewhere half way among the class as far as grades are concerned. Time to make a very important point. Even before the exams I had lost all concern in the grades I would get in the exams. I had literally followed 'Grades are moh-maya' and had taken it easy. Now if I say that grades are not good, it may feel to most as a case of 'sour grapes'. A better if not ideal situation would be if I can say the same thing 'Grades are moh-maya' even after being at the top 10% of the class. Then it would be a real test of character and self-control ;) Hmm, that's a thought.

AFA Vapi is concerned, it is the same old place. Nothing new except a few more brands opening their stores here and there and a few more buildings getting built. Many other things have changed, most of which I won't jot down here. Due to a cruel turn of fate, I'll be in Chennai on the 31st itself. But then I guess I have to forget all luxuries and pleasures of life till the time I'm doin' my yem bee ay.

Jeet gaya Gujarat

2007-12-23T12:18:00.000+05:30

जीत गया गुजरात!

One fourth of an MBA

2007-11-29T21:31:00.000+05:30

The exam fever is almost as good as over. Tomorrow is the last exam. It wasn't much of a fever anyway, more like a cold. It troubled me for a week, went away on its own. Of course the result is another fight altogether. With tomorrow's exam and a couple of other assignments, the first semester ends. Twenty five percent of my MBA degree done.

In this four months, I made many friends, learnt a 'huge big' number of things, mostly outside the classroom and by watching group interactions. Of course there was some classroom learning as well. Some of my beliefs got strengthened, some questioned and reversed. How would I rate this semester? 6/10.

Now a month long vacation back in sweet Vapi. Got things to do, got people to meet. And get ready for the next quarter as well. This probably will be my last post from IIT Madras in 2007. See you next year.

PS. I will probably fill in details in this post at home. I want it to be a comprehensive analysis of the first quarter of these two years.

The joys of being a consultant

2007-11-20T08:17:00.000+05:30

Sigh... The real joy of being a consultant.

At this point, let me clarify a misconception that have plagued consultants from the advent of crore-plus salaries. There goes a one-liner saying 'Consultants are people who take your watch to tell you the time and charge you for it.'

Agreed. That's what consultants do, but the important thing here is that the watch (your business) is not the typical watch with a clear digital display. The watch (your business) here is an ancient sundial or (god forbid) it could even be a candlestick. Now tell me, will you be able to tell the correct time on this watch of yours or do you need a pistol packing consultant like the above depicted?

The practical side of MBA

2007-11-16T09:57:00.000+05:30

Of what use is learning the derivation for the Simplex Method?
Of what use is analyzing the complexity, formalization and differentiation of an organization?
Of what use is drawing endless charts of supply and demand without being able to apply it to daily situations?

Why can't we have a more practical and commonsense approach to an MBA?
Why can't we have more Rajeev Karwals in the classroom?

How to make a whiteboard in $2

2007-11-11T22:18:00.000+05:30

The second epidemic (here's the first one) that I was talking about is the 2$ white board I made to remind me of the countless project and ppts I have to submit in the course of getting an MBA. Here's how to go about it:-

1) A 1-metre plastic sheet (the kind used to cover books.
2) A whiteboard marker.
3) Transparent or brown cellotape.

I'm sure the rest is simple. Stick it onto a wall, preferably a white or a light coloured one. Scribble away.

Gunda - Movie Extraordinaire

2007-11-11T21:53:00.000+05:30

There are two epidemics spreading rapidly in Pamba Hostel which yours truly is guilty of starting. The first is the under 2$ whiteboard and the second is the cult Mithun movie Gunda. I felt that both these deserve their own post. This post will talk about Gunda. This movie has a cult following in IITs and IIMs. I don't want to dilute the cultism of the movie by describing it here. GreatBong has written about it. If you're keen on watching the movie without letting a review spoilt it, some online shopping site sells this movie for around 8 Euros. That is 432 freaking Rupees. Is it worth buying the movie? With that amount, I could have eat about 7.1 Subway sandwiches. Still I have to say that it is a movie which has many USPs - Mithun (hereby referred to as Prabhuji), an assorted set of villains, a monkey which can rival Yuvraj Singh in catches, and a world record for the largest number of rickshaws ever used in a fight scene (The multi-starrer superhit 'Main hu mard rickshaw-wallah' doesn't count as it used special effects in many scenes).

Even the soundtrack is something to write about. Hummable and singable superhits like Nasha nasha karta hai, is nashe me dum nahi or Teri akhon ka jaadu chal gaya. I wish I could find mp3s of the soundtrack. Kanti Shah must have used some latesht state of the art technology to prevent duplication of the tracks. Another feather in his cap, I guess. I wonder if Himess can make a remix out of it.

Go watch the movie. But leave your brains behind.

The monsoon has arrived

2007-10-28T09:12:00.001+05:30

Yes, it seems that the rains have finally reached Chennai. That was the only reason I woke up this early to write - the weather. It is raining, the sky is gray, and it is the perfect time to play Dido’s song Thank You. Shit, I realized that it IS the perfect song to play for reasons unknown to most.

The one place I would love to be right now is at my home. I remember waking up on wet lazy Sunday mornings, my mother making me a hot cup of tea with fresh khaman, fafda and jalebi, and I reading the crisp newspaper or just lazily browsing the TV channels. The filling morning breakfast, the yummilicious traditional gujju lunch and a long siesta in the afternoon. Sometimes I used to eagerly wait for the evening F1 race. Contrast those days with now.Now I’m stuck here in a dirty 6 x 12 hostel room with monkeys as the only visitors. There, I spoiled the whole mood I built up. Oh well.

Somehow I love the Chennai rain more than Mumbai or Vapi rain. The rain in Mumbai pelts you with big droplets and soaks you completely. Then God laughs out loud through noisy peals of thunder and as the old joke goes, he takes a picture with a flash of lightning. The Chennai rain is different. It gently kisses you before floating to the ground. The Chennai rain is perfect to walk in with your girlfriend hand in hand, under one umbrella. Someday I will too.

How to answer any eco-financial problem

2007-10-25T21:52:00.001+05:30

The wonders of supply and demand

Though the diagram more or less explains it, here's the gist of it.

1) Start by discussing the problem, maybe by repeating the definition.
2) Try to link it to the Supply and Demand concept.
3) For added effect, link it to an existing economic issue, like the sub-prime crisis or the P-Notes issue.

The interviewer is likely to be impressed! While you're digesting this, read the previous post as well.

Blame it on sub-prime

2007-10-15T21:39:00.000+05:30

If the sub-prime crisis has given anything to the junta in general, it is a no-holds-barred excuse to attribute anything and everything to the crisis. Even though the topic is now stale and the interest of the people is moving on to newer issues like the never ending bull run in the Indian stock market or the Sethusamudram project, sub-prime has become a common term in our vocabulary.

The appreciating rupee? Because of sub-prime.
Rising interest rates? Because of sub-prime.
Falling interest rates? Because of sub-prime.

Even in the classroom, we find the sub-prime crisis rising up now and again in all subjects ranging from Economics to Operations Research and Organizational Behaviour. Every Tom, Dick and Harry has now become an expert in sub-prime. Its high time when I'm waiting for the following scenario

While at the local snack parlour,
Me: Why have you increased the price of bread omelette?
Gurunath stores: Saar, sub-prime. Hens tensed up. Supply of eggs low. So omelette now more expensive.

Prime excuse of sub-prime
Professor: Why didn't you come to class yesterday?
Me: Sir, I was affected by an acute attack of sub-prime.

What is MBA?

2007-10-13T06:46:00.000+05:30

Bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit fart bullshit bullshit bullshit crap bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit

Raincloud

2007-09-29T18:20:00.000+05:30

Today the evening sky was suddenly consumed in the dark clutches of an enormous rain-cloud and the sky turned from a dull gray-blue to pitch-black in a matter of minutes.

What's with all the high fundu Sanksrit names?

2007-09-29T12:02:00.000+05:30

As an MBA student, a very important and common occurrence is the B-school fests and the related contests. While most of these B-fests are fun and worthwhile to participate in , one interesting thing I have noticed about these fests or at least their names is that they are almost always in Sanskrit or in shuddh Hindi. Most of them are high funda names whose meaning I don't understand without staring and thinking for a minute.

I understand the reason for having the title of the B-fest itself in a language other than English, it adds charm and exclusivity to the whole festival, but do individual events have to sound so fundu too? Why can't we have names which are easy for everyone to understand at a single glance? Why do I have to look up the dictionary to understand what Pratidwandi means or what am I supposed to do in Shashwat? A similar trend to follow is to use Latin names. A simple stock market game has to be called Prosapia venalicium venatus. And a hospes sermo would garner more attendance than a guest talk.

'Hey do you know I'm participating in Navinmetra and Udgati?'
'Um... that's nice, all the best for ... uh... whatever you will do there...'

I wonder if this trend is an extension of would-be and new managers to spout out new fundae the meaning of which even they can't explain in real terms leave alone the poor listener. Whatever it is, the trend of giving out such names is likely to continue, because that is precisely what it is - a fashion. And as usual, I feel otherwise. What I would rather suggest is the addition of a subtitle in English like those Hindi movies. It will help angrez ki aulads - The children of the Britishers like me. We can have Parichay - The introduction, or Antardarshi - Timing the stock market etc.

Before ending this, it would be only proper to share the festivals here at IIT Madras. Saarang is the hugely popular cultural festival, Shaastra is the tech-fest, Samanvay is the b-fest.

Note - Names of some B-school fests have been changed to protect identity. The words given above may not mean anything. If you plan to use any of them, I deserve a royalty.

Where are the rains?

2007-09-27T16:07:00.000+05:30

As someone who has lived in and around Gujarat all his conscious life, I feel confused at the pattern of monsoons in Chennai. It is the end of September and I haven't seen a day of continuous rains. By this time, Vapi or Mumbai would have lashed you with all its fury, given you a couple of holidays thrown in and by and large a few bouts of cold as well. Chennai has a very different pattern. It is burning hot for four to five days. Then suddenly, out of nowhere you see some dark clouds hovering above your head. Those are the warning signs of an hour or so of rains, and more importantly a surprise quiz in the OB class. But the wind carries the clouds away before you can say 'I wish I had some tea and hot pakoras.' Not that I mind though. I am not much of a monsoon person anyway.

The reason for the low rainfall in Chennai during this time of the year is of course its location. I am told that Chennai gets most of its rains through the retreating monsoons. This means that the peak rain season is Oct-Dec. So I guess Chennai is yet to get its share of rains. As someone who is learning the importance of drawing pictures, here are the rainfall figures for Mumbai and Chennai which will give you a better idea. Clearly, the monsoons are yet to come, and considering the view from my room, I'm eagerly waiting for it.

Mother of all exams

2007-09-27T16:06:00.001+05:30

Had a wonderful time in the exam today. Not that the exam went nice; rather it was one of the toughest exams I ever wrote. Still I didn't feel disappointed at all. I was laughing at myself for my inability to make heads or tail out of it. In the end, I managed to fit in a distribution to one of the questions, managed to draw a graph among other things.

PS. Friends are forcing me to study for the next exam. Have no motivation to do it but will do it anyway. Will probably complete this post in the night.

Time to be back

2007-09-25T15:51:00.000+05:30

(7:57)
Right now I should be buried in my Organizational Behaviour text book. I have an exam in an hour or so. But somehow I felt I had to write this post now. I think the time has come to open up this blog for its second innings. Don't have any justifications as to why now, but somehow I feel the time is right. I still don't know what I will write here; probably it will be the same old blog - my unwanted opinions on anything and everything. But one distinction I will make is that I won't post any creative material on this blog. The stories, the poems, the one-liners will stay on my other blog. Let this blog continue its journey to what I had created it for - In search of Nirvana.

What a day! Today I regurgitated 2 months of course material in around 2 1/2 hours. Whether I did a good job or not will be clear in a month when the marks come out. Never have written so much in so little a time. Next is the mother of all exams - Data Analysis for Management. Don't think I've forgotten what's after that. Financial Accounting - the grand-daddy of all exams. Two days of pain followed by two hours each of shock therapy. Lets see how many parts of the body I still have intact after that ordeal.

Structure of a brainstorming meeting

2007-07-18T12:24:00.000+05:30

1) Set the meeting before lunch; this would be the first part of the meeting. In this encourage the brainstorming without any limit on the ideas.
2) While breaking for lunch, suggest everyone to think up of any new ideas during lunchtime.
3)Set up the next part of the meeting after lunch, when you can convert the ideas into a more practical framework.

On life and bullshit

2007-07-12T11:18:00.000+05:30

Then God said, Let there be light: And there was bullshit.

My future?

2007-07-09T16:12:00.000+05:30

Different people peak at different times

2007-07-06T17:39:00.003+05:30

Which one are you? Which one do you want to be?

What is going on in the world today?

2007-06-26T18:55:00.001+05:30

Sigh.

No farewells

2007-05-26T08:26:00.000+05:30

I don't need to pack my bags,
I don't need any lengthy farewells,
I'm ready to go,
Just call me when you want me God.

Innovation & belief

2007-05-11T07:14:00.000+05:30

Innovation and self-belief will get you to the top

Who the fudge makes all these effigies?!

2007-05-01T11:01:00.000+05:30

For all you budding entrepreneurs and businessmen, here is an interesting business proposal. Have you ever wondered who makes all these effigies which are being burnt in the middle of the streets every time a minor issue comes up in the society? Effigies have been burnt of almost every imaginable person or thing. We have had effigies of Greg Chappell, Darrell Hair, the Iraq war, producers of Big Brother and even onions. Nowadays if you haven't burnt an effigy, you haven't done anything significant to help society. Looking at this craze, I feel there is a very good opportunity of starting a profitable business in making effigy-models. Demand from all over the world will ensure that our business won't be restricted just to India. We can export these effigies to our neighbouring countries and the Middle-East as well, where there is already a fledgling market thanks to Dubya and his dubious war.

I mean what would be the investment? The public isn't looking for an exact look-alike of the person being burnt. All you need is a resemblance of a human figure. Two hands, two legs and a head. The face of the celebrity can be printed out easily and cheaply (We can charge a premium on laser-prints). Of course, the final price will be decided once we develop a proper business model. And with all the media channels in a hyperactive mode, we are sure to have a profitable cash flow as well. Moreover the social work we are doing by letting people vent their frustrations through burning effigies will work wonders for the Corporate Social Responsibility crap.

Thirty five sq. metres of land has been acquired adjacent to the proposed Maha Mumbai SEZ for our manufacturing facilities. Our tagline - 'Making efficient effigies in indigenous SEZs'. It rhymes too.

This would be just a sample of our services
* 24-hour delivery
* Black and white or colour effigy
* Different sizes - Economy, Medium, Large, Premium etc.
* 7-day money back guarantee (Conditions apply)
* Scented effigies - sandalwood, rose, orange etc.
* One box of matches free with every effigy.

The downside. The pollution issue. How much does effigy burning contribute to global warming? George Bush would find a reason to invade a country - Weapons of Global Warming. But shhh, this information will stay within the Board.

Ping me if you want to finance this venture :)

Good To Great - book review

2007-05-01T09:39:00.000+05:30

Well I currently don't have the time to write a full-fledged review. The book was good, applicable not only to companies but to individuals as well. The central point of the book revolves around The Hedgehog Concept which is based on three circles:-

1) What you can be the best in the world at
2) What drives your economic engine
3) What you are deeply passionate about

Cutting through all the jargon, it basically means do a job which you like, which you're good at, and which provides sufficient income. A job which I love and it still provides me money? Almost close to an oxymoron.

The second most important point (for me) in the whole book was the concept of preserving the core ideology of a company while at the same time changing operating practices in line with the environment. This point is very simply put in the book I'm currently reading. 'It happened in India' by Kishore Biyani. Rewrite rules and retain values. I'm tracking my reading here.

Lagaan - Cricket without the cricketers

2007-04-27T17:15:00.000+05:30

Another image created by removing the person, and keeping the clothes. I know I have got nothing better to do.

High American standard company contacts me

2007-04-26T18:53:00.000+05:30

I found this mail today in my Inbox.

---
Hello Friend,

I saw your profile on Timesjobs.com [hell, even I don't know my profile anymore] and short listed few people to present an unique Home Based Work Offer.

We are an International American Company. [like the phrase, our company is world famous in India]
We are operating in 64 major countries working for past 26 years.
We Deal in Health Nutrition & Tele Communication.
Right now our company is looking out for people for its new division called "ShapeWorks" TM,
to perform different functions

like, Customer care, Supervising, Management,
Working on Internet with an option of Working from home.
Without sacrificing your current occupation.
Our company provides all support and training needed.
You can do it part time or full time in flexible hours.
No Qualification or Experience Needed…
And we have a High American standard of income.

For more information you can come down to one of the oriantayion [I was gonna apply but this put me off] sessions on:

26th april 2007 thurssday [???] at 6.00 pm sharp*
or
27th april 2007 friday at 6.00pm sharp*
at
hotel sahaja palace,conferanceroom.ashram road.behinddinesh hall near torant house [umm, which city should I go to?]

These are the only dates for company oriantation [arre atleast you should have copy-pasted from above]
And Ask for Mrs.xxxxx at the counter.

All the best,
MRS. XXXXX

Director- Business development
xxxxxx@yahoo.com
CALL, 09xxxxxxx, 022xxxxxxx

Please Take Print out of this letter to the interview.

*There will be a Regn Fee of Rs.30 at the counter

Rang de Basanti - A generation disappears

2007-04-25T18:38:00.000+05:30

Did this in my free time. Click to view full. Original image here.

Dilbert comic for 23rd April - Long boring meetings

2007-04-25T12:19:00.001+05:30

This comic strip made me laugh like a baboon! Can't wait to get into the boardroom and witness this firsthand. :-)) The interesting thing is that this happens in the classroom too.

PS. My only concern is, are baboons allowed inside the boardroom?

How to read faster - an experiment

2007-04-24T11:15:00.000+05:30

Today I am starting with the book 'Good to Great' by Jim Collins. Along with it, I made a Google spreadsheet to keep track of the number of pages I read daily. I have kept aside 10 days for reading the whole book and thus it works out to some 26 pages per day. By creating a chart showing the actual and the optimal reading speed, I get an idea of where I am and whether I need to speed up.

The observations I hope to ...err... observe are:-
1) Does keeping track of daily reading help me increase my speed?
2) Does it make me more regular? Is there any correlation between the day of the week and the number of pages I read?
3) Does reading faster necessarily result in better comprehension?

Update (1st May 07) - Although, I managed to finish reading the book faster than the optimal and the revised targets, a single book isn't indicative of any trend. So I plan to extend this experiment to few other books as well. Read about the review of Good to Great here.

Tuesdays with Morrie - Book review

2007-04-23T18:03:00.000+05:30

Finished reading this book in little over two days. A simple and clear read. I found it quite moving, especially about the deteriorating appearance of the author's professor and the difficulty in doing simple things which we take for granted. Having experienced a recent death in my family, I know how difficult it is for the family to see the person suffering. Thinking about death is an event which is a reality check for the victim, for and those around him. It brings to the forefront simple things such as love, support and understanding and puts behind things such as money, fame, power etc. As explained by the author, the book was littered with Morrie's aphorisms, some of which were worth thinking twice about. Here are my favourites:-

"Do what the Buddhists do. Every day, have a little bird on your shoulder that asks, `Is today the day? Am I ready? Am I doing all I need to do? Am I being the person I want to be?' "
A simple reality check. Am I doing the things I'm supposed to do or am I just chasing the pot at the end of the rainbow?

"The truth is, Mitch," he said, "once you learn how to die, you learn how to live."

If you want the experience of having complete responsibility for another human being, and to learn how to love and bond in the deepest way, then you should have children.

This is how you start to get respect, by offering something that you have.

"When you're in bed, you're dead."
This sentence, I feel, has multiple meanings. Besides the literal meaning, it also means (to me) that as long as you're in bed, you're unlikely to do any useful work. Get out of the bed, get out of the house, get into the community if you want to do something worthwhile.

If I worried about being forgotten after I died?
Hmm. Most of us probably worry about this in secret.

...there are a few rules I know to be true about love and marriage: If you don't respect the other person, you're gonna have a lot of trouble. If you don't know how to compromise, you're gonna have a lot of trouble. If you can't talk openly about what goes on between you, you're gonna have a lot of trouble. And if you don't have a common set of values in life, you're gonna have a lot of trouble. Your values must be alike.
Amen to this.

God is a DJ

2007-04-21T09:18:00.000+05:30

If God is a DJ, why doesn't he ever play my song?

Suicide and video-conferencing

2007-04-20T22:02:00.000+05:30

It seems that the media has started providing long distance telephone call service to needy people. An example of this is the recent suicide attempt by one Jahnavi Kapoor and the subsequent telecasts of her talking with her mother and her brother live on national television. Oh, did I say telephone service? Change that to videoconferencing. Its quite simple really. All you have to do to get selected is to dig up some sensational issue, preferably about yourself or it could be about any celebrity. For example, you can claim to run away from home because your parents didn't agree to an inter-religion, inter-caste or same-sex marriage. Or you can tell the news channel about your relationship with any celebrity. That's it. The news channels will take it from there. They'll hook you up with the celebrity, with your parents, relatives etc. You'll also have the choice of having either an astrologer or a psychiatrist at your disposal. Umm, I just cut my fingernail. Do I qualify for the long distance call? I need to call up Arjun Singh urgently.

Gourmet coffee, anyone?

2007-04-16T16:13:00.000+05:30

After going through the coffee lovers' thread at pagalguy.com, I realized how far the coffee industry had come. With retailing coming into the forefront in India and with the setting up of international coffee chains, people now sip coffee named 'The Devil's own', 'Almond Frappe','Kaapi Nirvana' etc. And to think that I'm still stuck at the small Bru/Nescafe pouch. Just add water and sugar, it says, and you'll have your own espresso ready. Sip... Lick... Ummmm... it says. Well, never mind the fact that its more of sip... blechh... spit... @#$!%&*

I have never been attracted to coffee. For me it never did its job. In fact, coffee has a calming effect on me, quite the opposite to what it is supposed to do. I remember the countless number of times during my CAT preparation that I have felt asleep just after having a cup of coffee. For me the good old chai is a major addiction - especially in the morning. Don't try to talk with me before I have had my morning tea or I'll make you squirm in pain.

Whenever I have had coffee, it was due to circumstances. Coffee helped a lot in my college days. It was mainly because I hadn't come across any instant tea mix. During the submissions and the exams, the all-nighters had to be survived through. The 3Rs. Nescafe pouch helped me through those long nights. But I'm sure I was only one of some ten people in Ahmedabad who actually drank that instant coffee. I remember my roomie looking at me strangely many a times whenever I drank this concoction. Another time when it helped was at my previous company. Gathering with fellow ~~internet surfers~~ software developers and spending time near the vending machine was always a good excuse to get away from the boss. Eventually we had worked out a strategy which involved visiting the vending machines on all the floors once in a day. Ultimately we calculated that a mixture of 3/4ths coffee and 1/4th tomato soup will do wonders to your concentration and help you through the ~~siesta sessions~~ meetings. But there was a side effect on some which involved an extra visit or two to the loo (which again was a welcome break).

To me, coffee has been useful in many ways. It may have its lovers, but for me, Wagh Bakri scores over The Devil's Own.

Formula One - The formation of the equals

2007-04-15T18:54:00.000+05:30

Well well. What a race! Massa managed to hang on to his pants this time. And Hamilton is proving to be a revelation more and more after each race. Wouldn't be too surprised if he's now at par with Alonso as an equal driver. I wouldn't go as far as compare him to Schumacher. Coulthard maybe. He'll have to work much much harder to be compared to Schumi!! Even Massa could be an equal contender to Raikonnen if he performs well in the next couple of races. It is going to be a really good year.

Poor Coulthard had to retire bcoz of his engine. He worked hard to catch up with half of the herd. Alonso had a quiet race.

PS: Just a draft. Will clean up this post later.

German is in, Java is out

2007-04-09T11:50:00.000+05:30

To be frank, I don't have much knowledge of foreign languages. Of course, I know a little French e.g. Parlez vous is the name given to the Parle-G biscuits which are exported to Paris. ich (German for I) is the cute sound which one of my friends makes when she sneezes. Puta is Spanish for umm... well... never mind. The point is that I have never learnt a language in its entirety. And that's what I'm about to do now. I'm planning to learn German. Actually its not a new thing. I have been trying to learn German since my college days. Thought that learning a new language would improve my resumé. But time and other constraints caused me to put such grandiose ideas aside and dive back into my engineering books. In the struggle to learn Java and C++, the quest to learn German went kaput.

The second wave started during my project days. SAP was implemented in the company I was doing project in, and again I dreamt big dreams of going to Germany for SAP training. Thus having a working knowledge of German would have helped me converse freely with the 'Germanese'. That stint again was short-lived.

As far as I can remember there were a couple of stints more, dictated by the situations and the spurs of the moment. But all these stints didn't help in any way. Considering my limited German vocabulary, a Yahoo chat conversation would go like:-

Me: Guten Morgen/Guten Tag
German: Guten Morgen! Wie gehst du heute?
Me: Umm... well... uh... Auf Wiedersehen.

*Click* *Click* *Log-off*

But now this bhoot of learning German has again taken over me. So I have downloaded the Complete Idiot's Guide to learning German (Extra Idioticity Edition), and this book coupled with the Internet will help me learn this authoritative language. Then I'll have a multilingual blog. Then I'll get visitors from Germany. Then I'll be ... (beta niche aaja). Anyways, if nothing else I'll feel good at learning something new.

So, Auf Wiedersehen for now, and ja, to the foot-in-the-grave politician I was talking about recently, du bist ein schwarzes Schwein (Tsk tsk. I can see you running to Google Translate. Chalo uski bhi link de deta hu).

The last king of Scotland

2007-04-07T09:12:00.000+05:30

Just saw 'The Last King of Scotland'. When I had first heard of the title, I didn't know what it was actually about. Then two things attracted me to this movie, firstly it was about Idi Amin, the notorious Ugandan dictator, and secondly Forest Whitaker played Idi Amin's role.

The movie is a dark, grim movie which starts out with a mixture of suspense and humour (mainly due to Amin's charm), but then as the movie progresses we see Amin's dark side. Forest Whitaker has delivered an excellent performance, every bit worthy of his Oscar award. The suspense during any scene where Amin's advisor gets the guts to suggest something to Amin is palpable. The way Whitaker pauses before replying is, for a lack of a better word, too scary. We think he's about to burst out and shoot the poor chap to Kingdom Come, but then he gives a huge smile and the tension dissipates. James McAvoy plays a Scottish doctor and personal physician to Idi Amin. At the beginning, he comes out as arrogant, cocky and carefree. Again as the movie progresses, he realizes the mess he has gotten himself into. His character was as dark as Whitaker's. A short role by Gillian Anderson was another pleasant surprise.

The film has been rated mature, and two scenes in particular are really gruesome. I won't reveal them here, but be prepared to watch the horrors perpetrated by Amin's regime. I guess showing the violence was the only was for people to realize the extent of his cruel dictatorship. This site has some of his videos.

All in all, a very good movie. It will get you interested in Idi Amin and his eccentric ways and, like Blood Diamond, it will give you a glimpse of the continent of Africa.

TIA.

Freakonomics - A half-read book

2007-04-03T17:42:00.000+05:30

I started reading this much-hyped book a couple of days ago. Currently I'm halfway through the book and I found it to be a mixture of interesting, absurd and downright boring. The book starts with explaining the importance of asking the right questions. But to me the questions asked in the book are strange.

Strange? Yes.
Useful? No.

Judging from the title of the book, I guess it isn't meant to be a serious study in the field of economics (again, is it economics or just plain statistics?) and the society. Just a freak correlation between unlikely to be related events. Some of the explanations given are worth thinking about, like the part on asymmetric knowledge or the part on conventional wisdom:-

But they cannot deceive on their own. Journalists need experts as badly as experts need journalists. Every day there are newspaper pages and television newscasts to be filled, and an expert who can deliver a jarring piece of wisdom is always welcome. Working together, journalists and experts are the architects of much conventional wisdom (not necessarily a positive term).

while some of it is just plain commonsense. Like the question 'Why Do Drug Dealers Still Live with Their Moms?' The answer is simple. The small fish in the gang are bound to earn much less than the average. It is only the leader of the gang and his few trusted cronies who would earn good enough to get their bling bling and their low-riders. This certainly didn't warrant living six years with crack dealers or getting hold of the financial transactions of a crack gang.

At one point (the description of the KKK) I felt it so boring that I wanted to abandon reading this book. But it was sleepiness which was making its effect felt (again due to the book?), and so I started reading it again. I hope to learn something by the time I finish it.

Update (9th April 07): I'm done with this book. No I haven't finished it. I have kept it aside. I couldn't take more of these strange comparisons if they were not going to be useful in any way. While reading this book, I was reminded of another writer of the same genre, Malcolm Gladwell. His book, Blink had made the presses and had got many raves. The same feeling had accompanied me while reading Blink and The Tipping Point. I felt the book to be empty of spirit (There I go again). Just a collection of numbers and statistics. While both this writers have gone against the norm and brought out innovative ways of thinking, I just can't digest their writing. So I'm keeping this book back in its shelf. In the future when I'm getting bored in the CEO's chair, I'll pick up this book and make up some nice Dilbertian theories to irritate my employees, while at the same time, impressing the Board of Directors.

Kkkaash Mmujh Mein Bhhi Thodii Akkal Hotiii

2007-04-03T07:18:00.000+05:30

Although it is still a draft, here is my first episode.

[Suspenseful music and slow motion as the husband walks in to the hall]

Husband01: My watch! It has stopped ticking.
[Heavy drums. Zoom-ins of all the other members of the family one by one. Pan the camera from one shocked face to another]

Vamp:[Looks down and smiles smugly] Relationji, are you sure it isn't your brain which has stopped ticking?
[Zoom in on the lips, and the sly smile]

Mother-in-law: [Eyes wide open. Stern expression.] Bahu, talk with some respect. Do you have any idea what you are saying?

Vamp: [Looks sideways and smirks.] Its true only. The whole samaj knows that you dropped him on his head while he was small. Who knows what all has stopped ticking?

Mother-in-law(of vamp): [Red hot eyes. Burns in anger] Slapppppppp! [Multiple echoes of the slap. Drums again. Zoom in to the astonished and lost faces of the family members.]

A quick ad first...

This programme is sponsored by Anacin. Quick relief from headaches.

Note: Anacin is currently available only in limited quantities. Most of the stock is used by the Board of Directors of the company for agreeing to sponsor this programme. Our sponsorship ends after two months. Thereafter we will be free to release more medicine to the general public.

Back to the programme...

Mother-in-law(of vamp): [Red hot eyes. Burns in anger] Slapppppppp! [Multiple echoes of the slap. Drums again. Zoom in to the astonished and lost faces of the family members.]

Mother-in-law(of vamp): [Wipes the make up stuck on her hand from the slap. Tears come to her eyes.]

Vamp: [Turning to face her husband (Husband02)] Aiejee, ojee. See what your budhiya mother is doing to me. You said to me you'll take care of me after our marriage. This is what you do, stand silently while your mother insults me in front of the whole family (and the 10 crore fools which are glued to their TV sets ) ? I won't stay a moment in this wretched house. [Turns around and walks out from the set]

Husband02: My dear Vamp, wait for me. [Follow Vamp out of the set].

Mother-in-law(of vamp): Bahu (To wife of Husband01). Look after your husband. You're the only one who will take care of this huge house after ~~I have an argument with the director over payment issues~~ I die. Please take care of this house as your own.

Wife01 [Wife of Husband01]: Jee maaji. [Turning to Husband01] .Come let us go, buy a new battery for your watch. Then it will start ticking.

In the next episode... Who do Husband01 and Wife01 encounter when they reach the watch repair store? Who is the owner of the watch repair store? What is the relation between OwnerOfWatchRepairStore and Wife01? Keep watching for more of Kkkaash Mmujh Mein Bhhi Thodii Akkal Hotiii. Write in the comments on how you liked this first episode.

Wanted - Shooting crew for a new daily soap

2007-03-30T18:45:00.000+05:30

After failed stints as a software engineer and an MBA aspirant, I'm planning to pursue a new career, that of a TV soap producer. I know this is a thankless field, lots of hard work with not much ROI, but the pleasure which the viewers of my soap will get, the appreciation which they will shower on me will be enough for me to carry on this altruistic work. Here are the current requirements and the briefs for the show. I want a fresh approach and thus I'm building everything from scratch. If you meet any or all of these requirements, please comment or mail me.

Editor: One who is experienced in rewinding and forwarding film endlessly, so that the viewer is continuously bombarded with the latest fashion, the dialogues, the locations etc. Your responsibility is to think up of ways to expand 5 minutes of footage into some 12.5 minutes of an episode. Also, while editing, the following division of the 30 minutes will be preferred:-

5 minutes recap of the previous day's episode
7.5 minutes of ads
12.5 minutes of today's episode
5 minutes preview of next day's episode

Camera Crew: One who is adept at the techniques of zooming and panning. Only candidates who have relevant experience in this may apply. Tilting the camera sideways to show the metaphorical earthquakes in the lives of the characters will be (to take a phrase from Midnight's Children) a masterful stroke, yaara. Experience in multiple camera setups (so that the zooming can be done in parallel) will be a bonus point.
Warning: Constant zooming in and out can lead to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome for the cameramen and epileptic seizures for the viewers. The producers are not responsible for any damages that may arise due to the same. After all, we wouldn't be making this soap if we cared so much about the viewers.

Post production & Special Effects: Since most of the special effects will be taken care of by the makeup artistes, we do not require a Silicon Graphics setup. However, talks are in progress with Industrial Light and Magic for the special effects. Ours will be the first Indian television programme to use Hollywood-style special effects. Not even the world famous The Bald and the Bootyful have used such effects. But for now, the applicant must be deft in tweaking the hue and saturation of the characters especially after shocking revelations. e.g.

Man: I'm about to become the father of your child.
Woman: What?! [Zoom, Pan to the woman. Decrease saturation. Turn the whole scene to black and white. Stay for two seconds. Increase saturation. Again back to normal.]

This all has to be done with split-second precision. Thus you will have a very important responsibility of adding colour to the lives of the characters (and removing that from the lives of the viewers).

Make-up artistes: The entire operation hinges on the make-up artistes. For most of the scenes, only two palettes will be required - the Vamp palette and the Bahurani palette. The former should contain blues, greens, browns etc. and the latter should contain pink, red, and other soft colours. At any point of time, the characters must not be without makeup, be it just after waking up, after taking a bath, or after giving birth to a child. We want to show that the bahuranis are beautiful naturally and don't require any makeup.

We have an arrangment with KaKool Hair & Beauty Saloon (Goregaon branch) for providing foundation cakes and hair colour at a discounted rate. So liberal use of the same is encouraged. Innovative techniques such as using chili powder for the maangtikaas will do wonders to improving your chances for selection. The chili power will not only subsidise our costs, but will also make the bahuranis cry with more ease when the powder drips onto their eyes or nose.

Costume Designers: Just like the make-up palette, the fashion wardrobe will be divided into two types. One - loud, revealing, outrageous dresses for the vamps and the other - conservative, covered-from-head-to-toe kind of dresses. Other accessories such as jewelery should follow the same trend. Bindis in the shape of hearts, clubs, diamonds, spades, snakes, ladders etc. will be preferred for the vamps. Bahuranis will have round bindis.

The vamps will use the latest mobile phones to hatch their subversive plots on the innocent bahuranis and jamairajas. The bigger the cellphone the better. According to currently running soaps, the Nokia Communicator series is preferred. Good news: we have tied up with MTNL to provide the ringtones for all the mobile phones used in the programme. Thus, the phrase 'MTNL hai to behtar hai' will play out every time a mobile rings. Actors and crew members are expected to show their allegiance by replacing their favourite ringtones with this one. Again, to subsidise costs, we may replace the actual phone by using a dummy or even a compass box. We will assume that the audience is foolish enough not to know the difference (after all it is watching this show). For the bahuranis, the accessories will include sitars, harmoniums and/or cooking utensils.

Writer: You are the one of the most important crew members. The entire story depends on your fertile mind. You will be expected to provide innumerable twists and turns, ups and downs, lefts and rights to the story. Writing the story while commuting on Mumbai roads will provide natural inspiration. Keep in mind that the story should start out as something and end out something completely different. That will be a true test of your creativity.

While you're free to explore different genres, the storyline of our programme will be a combination of - A suitable boy (Vikram Seth), Autobiography of a Yogi (Paramhansa Yogananda), Morning, Noon and Night (Sidney Sheldon) and I, Robot (Isaac Asimov). Please submit a sample of your writing while applying so we can gauge your writing expanse.

Sound editor: Your responsibility will be to provide a background score keeping in mind the events on screen. Your musical canvas must include thunder, lightning, drum rolls, high hats. Think of it as a jugalbandhi with the constant zooming and panning of the camera crew. You don't need to be a Rahman but don't be a Reshammiya either.

Director: You will be responsible for converting the writer's ~~regurgitations~~ dream to the screen. You must be assertive. You must be be willing to enforce discipline on the crew members. Conflicts on set must be handled with finesse. The current trend is to just threaten to bump off the character in the soap. We will modify this technique by making the character go in to an indefinite coma. We have specially erected a hospital set for the same. However this technique doesn't work for off-screen crew members. Innovative suggestions are welcome.

That's all for now. I will keep updating this list as and when I hire and fire people. Bookmark it for the latest updates. The title of our programme hasn't been finalised, but going by current trends, it will start with a Kk (Yes, that's a letter which is soon to be added in the English alphabet).

Update: My writer has just provided the first episode. Carry on reading the first episode

Midnight's Children

2007-03-30T18:03:00.000+05:30

Sigh. I finally finished reading Midnight's Children. I had taken up this book little less than a week ago. And what a journey it was. From the birth of Saleem Sinai on the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947 to his encounters with various characters who shape his life (and whose life he shapes). The book is one of the wittiest I have ever read. The literal way in which events recur in Saleem's life is a very good metaphor for the cyclic nature of everyone's life and family. Another unique technique which I have never encountered before in any book is the author's use of shifting forth in time by revealing the fate of a certain character and then coming back and continuing with the original story. The exact opposite of building a suspense. However, this technique works beautifully and does not detract from the flow of the story. Moreover it adds a lot of wit to the narration. The way in which the author carries this out shows the confidence with which he writes. This was my first Salman Rushdie read and surely not the last.

Incidentally, this is the third book related to Mumbai which I have read within a year. The first two were Maximum City, and Shantaram. An involuntary obsession for a city I love, and if everything goes fine, then hopefully a city in which I will spend the next few years.

A Thinkpad taken apart

2007-03-30T17:45:00.000+05:30

Not for the faint hearted.

A little cleaning behind the ears

Yes, it still works!

Where is the accountability of the Indian cricket team?

2007-03-26T16:55:00.000+05:30

A nation of billion and the eleven of the most unaccountable chaps + 1 Aussie are selected to represent the country in (and bring back) the world cup. And what do they give us? Shattered dreams.

Both Rahul Dravid and Greg Chappell have washed their hands off the entire debacle by saying 'We are responsible.' Now to me, that is as obvious a statement one can make. We all know you are responsible. Give us something more. What you have said is the effect. Let us know the cause. Give us something more than 'We didn't play well enough.' Taking responsibility is fast becoming a fad. Previously, when teams lost a match or a series, there was some vague reason given for the bad performance. Nowadays, teams whole-heartedly agree that it was their responsibility. Saying that seems to release them from giving further safai. In the above-linked interview, Guru Greg blankly refuses to comment on the reasons for the early exit of the team from the world cup. The team won't say what Sehwag was doing in the playing eleven, they won't explain the complacency with which India played Bangladesh, they won't explain what certain players were doing in the dressing room outside the team. All they will say is that they are responsible.

Spiderman was taught that 'With greater power, comes great responsibility.' I would like to take this one step further by saying, 'Along with responsibility, comes accountability.' Accountability is when you explain the reasons what went wrong and why it went wrong. When the Guru says this to the press,

I am not employed by you people, I am employed by the BCCI. Obviously, I will have to face up to them and give them a report and give them some indications of what I think.

the first thing that comes to my mind (especially from the second sentence) is a meeting of the coach and the captain with the BCCI and the selection panel, press cameras trying to get a glimpse or a few sound bytes, and the meeting ending with the members slapping each other heartily on the back and having tea and biscuits. The report will lie neglected on the table until some secretary will push it among his files and then add it as yet another official document to be relegated in the shelves. Well, I'm digressing from the topic.

Almost half of the players have become amateurs comparing the time they spend on the cricket field and on the ramp or in front of cameras. Why do you want to dabble your hand in everything? Do your modeling/marketing in your free time, not at the cost of your cricket or at the cost of others who are working much harder to get a place in the team?

What can be done about the Indian cricket team now? I can just hope that the selectors send some of them into exile. Play some county cricket, then earn your place in the team again. The team ~~cannot~~ should not carry on players who are at the verge of retiring just to give them a graceful exit. Play as long as you want, but only if you're worth for the Indian team.

What can be done about the coach? Since the coach refuses to accept the failure of 'their' strategy, I don't know. Chappell once said that the team was aiming for the World Cup and thus he qualified the messing and the muddling of the members and their playing positions. Now he says:-

Eighteen months is not a long time to build a team.

How much more time do you need, Guru Greg?

There are a lot of unanswered questions in the minds of Indian fans. Its time for the BCCI to answer these questions. Its the least they can do for a country which stays up late after midnight to faithfully watch India win. Being the richest cricket board is nothing, being the best is everything.

Spam on Orkut

2007-03-20T23:37:00.000+05:30

Sigh. What do you do when you get spam like this through Orkut? I have preserved the formatting.

Hi ...Orkut is deleting Profiles again
message: Dear user because of
sudden rush of people signing upto orkut is come to an attention
that we
are vastly running our of resources so with in a week any one who
does not receive this scrap will be deleted of our server . We know
that you are still using this account We want to find out which
users
are actually using their orkut accounts so if you are using your
then please send this scrap to every orkut user that you can if u do
not pass this scrap to anyone then we will delete your account
Just
follow these simple steps. 1. Click on the "Messages Tab" in your
account. 2. Click on the "compose mail" option which is the last one
of
the four icons you see together. 3. Select "all friends" 4. Cut and
Paste this mail.

And this...

HEY ITS DIANNA, FROM THE DIRECTOR OF ORKUT,EVERYBODY SORRY FOR THE
INTERRUPTION BUT ORKUT IS CLOSING THE SYSTEM DOWN BECAUSE TOO MANY
BOTTERS ARE TAKING UP ALL THE NAMES, WE ONLY HAVE 57 NAMES LEFT, IF YOU
WOULD LIKE TO CLOSE YOUR ACCOUNT, DONT SEND THIS MESSAGE, IF YOU WANT
TO
KEEP YOUR ACCOUNT ,SEND THIS MESSAGE TO EVERYONE ON YOUR LIST. THIS IS
NOT A JOKE, YOU'LL BE SORRY IF YOU DONT SEND IT. THANKS DIRECTOR OF
ORKUT, TIM BUISKI. WHOEVER DOESNT SEND THIS MESSAGE, YOUR ACCOUNT WILL
BE
DEACTIVATED AND IT WILL COST YOU $ 10.00 A MONTH TO USE IT

C'mon people, do you think a company which gives you almost 3GB of space for free will suddenly run out of resources?! Sheesh, grow up. But then that's the problem. The people who send such mails won't ever read my blog, and those who read my blog (hopefully) won't ever send such mails.

World Cup Fever

2007-03-20T20:57:00.002+05:30

Well, this World Cup seems to be a bit dull what with the odd timings of the matches for people living in India. I don't have the patience or energy to watch TV late into the night, almost into the next day. Maybe, if India reaches the semis, which looks really tough right now. Anyways a few snippets from the India-Bermuda match:-

First and foremost, move over Inzy. The new aloo is here. I'm talking about Dwayne Leverock who took a blinder of a catch in the India-Bermuda match. The man just stretched out and gulped Robin Uthappa down. An brilliant catch considering his size and experience. The way he ran between the wickets was another sight to watch. He wasn't lazy. He gave it all. Nice maan! He is now among the top 5 players searched on CricInfo. On a side note, he is a policeman in his country. Guess the pandus everywhere are hefty.
Bermudan coach Gus Logie has this to say about Leverock. "He is a guy with a big heart, he will always give 100 per cent and be first at training, it's just unfortunate that the weight issues take precedence."
What I was really impressed with was the fielding of the Bermudans. For a team with around 4-5 Powar-sized players, they were surprisingly agile and enthusiastic. They slid and dived. They dropped catches but they tried.
Tendulkar was wasted in the match. The Indian team was probably scared to death about losing against Bermuda and so they strengthened their middle order but sending Tendulkar this late wasn't required. Rather they should have sent him before Dhoni. Anyways, another excellent show by Dada, he really seems to have come back refreshed from his exile. Sehwag, one century doesn't a champion make. So you'll have to do better than a century against Bermuda to impress me. I don't understand why Dravid is so keen on playing Sehwag again and again. The law of averages finally helped Sehwag. But what about the other 15 matches where he got out for a measly score? His batting average in the last 16 matches is 22.73. His highest score was the one against Bermuda. He score more than 20 runs only two other times. You still believe in Sehwag? Lage raho.
The World Cup has not been that exciting this year. Even though there are more teams and no clear favourites, it hasn't kindled the usual enthusiasm of the people. One reason I feel is that the value of the Cricket World Cup has been diluted because of other tournaments like ICC Champions Trophy. I do not feel the need for a 'mini World Cup'. According to ICC, it is required for the development of cricket. I do not understand this logic. Rather than have another tournament mirroring the World Cup, ICC should hold a tournament for the so-called minnows. Let them fight it out every two years or so, and decide which teams will play the World Cup. The winner of this 'Cricket Development Trophy' should get sufficient funds/resources/help in developing cricket in its country. That, I feel, will do more for cricket than burdening all the players and teams with a mini World Cup.

Looking forward to the next encounter with Sri Lanka. Lets see how they handle Murali and company.

World Cup Fever

2007-03-20T20:57:00.000+05:30

First and foremost, move over Inzy. The new aloo is here. I'm talking about Dwayne Leverock who took a blinder of a catch in the India-Bermuda match. The man just stretched out and gulped Robin Uthappa down. An brilliant catch considering his size and experience. The way he ran between the wickets was another sight to watch. He wasn't lazy. He gave it all. Nice maan! He is now among the top 5 players searched on CricInfo. On a side note, he is a policeman in his country. Guess the pandus everywhere are hefty.
Bermudan coach Gus Logie has this to say about Leverock. "He is a guy with a big heart, he will always give 100 per cent and be first at training, it's just unfortunate that the weight issues take precedence."
What I was really impressed with was the fielding of the Bermudans. For a team with around 4-5 Powar-sized players, they were surprisingly agile and enthusiastic. They slid and dived. They dropped catches but they tried.
Tendulkar was wasted in the match. The Indian team was probably scared to death about losing against Bermuda and so they strengthened their middle order but sending Tendulkar this late wasn't required. Rather they should have sent him before Dhoni. Anyways, another excellent show by Dada, he really seems to have come back refreshed from his exile. Sehwag, one century doesn't a champion make. So you'll have to do better than a century against Bermuda to impress me. I don't understand why Dravid is so keen on playing Sehwag again and again. The law of averages finally helped Sehwag. But what about the other 15 matches where he got out for a measly score? His batting average in the last 16 matches is 22.73. His highest score was the one against Bermuda. He score more than 20 runs only two other times. You still believe in Sehwag? Lage raho.
The World Cup has not been that exciting this year. Even though there are more teams and no clear favourites, it hasn't kindled the usual enthusiasm of the people. One reason I feel is that the value of the Cricket World Cup has been diluted because of other tournaments like ICC Champions Trophy. I do not feel the need for a 'mini World Cup'. According to ICC, it is required for the development of cricket. I do not understand this logic. Rather than have another tournament mirroring the World Cup, ICC should hold a tournament for the so-called minnows. Let them fight it out every two years or so, and decide which teams will play the World Cup. The winner of this 'Cricket Development Trophy' should get sufficient funds/resources/help in developing cricket in its country. That, I feel, will do more for cricket than burdening all the players and teams with a mini World Cup.

Looking forward to the next encounter with Sri Lanka. Lets see how they handle Murali and company.

Allocation for education increases

2007-03-19T18:16:00.000+05:30

"In allocating resources, school education must have primacy. Hence I propose to increase the allocation for school education by about 35 percent from Rs. 17,1333 crore in 2006-07 to Rs. 23,142 crore in 2007-08"Hmm. Wonder where the money will actually go...

Had made this image a long time ago. Uploaded it now. Must be more prompt in future.

300 - March to glory

2007-03-18T17:20:00.000+05:30

Just saw 300, the movie based on the comic book by Frank Miller. The story is about 300 Spartans who fight against the huge army of Xerxes, a Persian king. It is based on the battle of Thermopylae, though both Frank Miller (in his comic) and Jack Snyder (in the film) have tweaked it to make it more stylistic. I haven't read the comic yet but I know of Frank Miller's Sin City (which too was made into a movie by Robert Rodrigues of Desperado fame). His comic book style is - for the less comically inclined - Max Payne style. Stark, high contrast, two colour work. The trailer of the movie will be enough to get you to line up for the tickets. Though I must warn here that the movie is beautiful but is not like the typical Hollywood movie. There is enough violence in the movie but people expecting stuff like Gladiator will be disappointed. One needs some patience to sit through the movie. The good part is that there is something for almost everyone. If you're a fan of Frank Miller's style, then you'll like the way that Jack Snyder has been faithful to the comic book. If you're a fan of CGI, you'll absolutely love the landscapes. The movie was entirely shot on blue/green screen with the backgrounds added later on. If you like war, you'll like the 300 men fighting against the 'hundred nations of the Persian empire'. And to top it all, the soundtrack highly complements the action on screen.

This movie is likely to become a cult favourite like the Matrix or the LOTR trilogy. Though a sequel seems improbable, lets hope that Frank Miller comes up with another equally interesting story to follow up on this amazing movie.

PS. One thing though, watch this movie with your friends. If you have a girlfriend don't take her to this movie. She'll berate you for the same all your life. Instead treat her to some half-baked movie like Honeymoon Travels or Just Married. Then you can berate her for all your life.

Update: The only thing I didn't like about the movie were the cliched speeches. Some samples - "This is where we fight. This is where they die", "Remember this day, men, for it will be yours for all time". Another thing I found unnecessary was the narration It was really irritating. Yes, the whole story was written from the point of view of Dilios narrating the epic battle. But it could have been avoided in the movie.

The two World Cups

2007-03-13T13:27:00.000+05:30

This weekend, two of the biggest sporting events (for me) are starting. First the Cricket World Cup. Technically it has already started but the first match of India is on the 17th. And second, the 2007 Formula One season is starting at the same time with the first race on the 18th in Australia. This year there are quite a few similarities between these two sports. With the retirement of Michael Schumacher the F1 championship is open. You can always argue that other drivers had already taken his position. But it was only on a bad day for Schumacher or due to technical failure in the car. The grit and determination of the man was unmatchable.

Many changes have been made in this year's championship. Rules have been changed concerning safety cars, practice sessions, tire availability etc. Bridgestone will be the sole tire supplier this year. Those of who complained about tires being the most important thing in the race and downplayed the achievement and skill of drivers can now shut up. Sadly there will be no close contests between Alonso and Schumacher. The latter will be though racing through each track in his mind. The shifting of the drivers between teams is also going to be interesting. No more Montoya for McLaren. In fact he has retired from F1 and gone to Nascar. Alonso takes his place. Raikonnen has similarly shifted from McLaren to Ferrari. He will partner upcoming driver F. Massa. (Hoping for a good run from Massa this year. He showed some potential last year.) As far as teams are concerned, I guess at the beginning of the season the three top teams are likely to be Ferrari, Renault and McLaren (in no particular order). Lets see how the season picks up.

My picks for the drivers championship - Alonso, Raikonnen, and maybe Fisichella. Even Jenson Button is lurking in the shadows.

The similarity with the Cricket World Cup is that again here Australia is no longer the clear favourites. Seeing the recent performance of the Aussie team, it seems that many other teams can win over the world champions on a good day. Ricky Ponting will have his hands full this year. Preaching about the Indian team is like talking to a child who doesn't listen. The same old people making the same old mistakes. I could write a lot about the cricket team but I'll just shut my mouth and watch the matches. Dada, a lot depends on you now. You have a thing or two to prove.

Adios to one and All the best to the other two.

Man who would be God

2007-03-11T02:36:00.000+05:30

Here's a simple test for the person who is claiming to be God. Give him a wildcard entry to Kaun Banega Crorepati. Let's see if he clears the fastest finger first round. If he doesn't let him go back to his job (if he still has it). If he does, at least the money will cure some of his delusion.

The changing colours of India

2007-03-03T19:12:00.000+05:30

While passing through the main bazaar road of Vapi, I saw many shops selling Holi wares - water guns, gulal, colour powders etc. Children were pestering their parents to buy the latest water guns and choicest colours to spray on their friends. What was interesting is that most of these shops are divided into two areas, an inner area which is the main shop, where they sell their usual stuff; and an outer temporary stall where they sell certain things according to the season. In Diwali, the colours are replaced by fire-crackers; in Ganesh Chaturthi, idols of Ganapati are placed; in the monsoon, umbrellas hang out in the shops. Also its not that only a certain kind of shops use this strategy. Among the ones I saw were a mobile shop, a cosmetics store, an electrical store, even the old Writer stores which usually sells mouse traps among other things. It is interesting to see the owners (cleverly) supplement their income through these temporary stalls. Seeing the changing facade of these shops gives a fleeting glimpse of the changing colours of the festivals of India.

Religious fanaticism - A lack of confidence?

2007-02-05T10:35:00.000+05:30

"You are never dedicated to something you have complete confidence in. No one is fanatically shouting that the sun is going to rise tomorrow. They know it's going to rise tomorrow. When people are fanatically dedicated to political or religious faiths or any other kinds of dogmas or goals, it's always because these dogmas or goals are in doubt."

This interesting paragraph from the book I’m reading currently Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance makes me think of the religious fundamentalism that is sweeping, not just India, but the world over. Be it Hindu fundamentalism, including the Bajrang Dal and the Shiv Sena, or the Islamic organizations like Al Qaeda and JEM who perpetrate violence in the name of religion. They talk about their undying faith and belief in their respective religions and their holy books. They urge people to follow those traditions and make anyone who doesn’t follow these traditions their enemy. They say all of their tradition is being replaced by ‘western culture.’ Come to think of it, it does this show their lack of confidence in their own culture? Their goal of an Islamic state or a Hindu rashtra gets diluted with the spread of western influences. Is this why they resort to fanaticism?

Empty soda can pen holder

2007-02-04T14:17:00.000+05:30

A lazy Sunday afternoon.

Two empty soda can bottles.

Nothing better to do.

Out comes a soda can pen holder.

Baba Ramdevji, now can your empty Ayurvedic medicine bottles do that?

Oh yeah, happy birthday to me

Unused potential

2007-02-03T13:09:00.000+05:30

My life till now has been wasted potential. Or more correctly, unused potential. Like a dedh-volt battery lying in an unused torch I haven’t been able to use my energy and ability to provide light, if not for others, even for myself. Due to some reason which I do not remember I have been pushed under the darkest of the farthest corner of the shop. My only companions are cockroaches and ants. A friendly little mouse rocks me back and forth when it tries to nibble the plastic switch off the torch I’m in. Other than that I lie still. I do not know how long I have been lying here. I don’t know how much of my energy is still left. All I know is that I’m in the wrong place. All I know is that I have to get out of here. I’m waiting for the day when the shopkeeper will find me, look at me, check if I’m still working. That day I will brightly shine into his face and lighten up his shop and it will be the happiest moment of my life. I have waited long in this damp dark corner. If I can now only push, push the torch into rolling out in the open. ~~Help me little mouse.~~ No I must learn to do this on my own.

Shilpa Shetty wins Big Brother

2007-01-29T05:11:00.000+05:30

Shilpa Shetty finally won the controversial reality show Big Brother. In a related story, a drunk bicyclist rammed into a telephone pole on Daman road. Yawn.

Black Friday

2007-01-27T12:51:00.000+05:30

Black Friday - the much acclaimed film on the Mumbai bomb blasts is finally set to release in India. Although pirated copies are freely available on the Net, I was waiting to get my hands on a proper copy of the film. Better still, I'll be able to watch it in cinemas. Finally a break from the Karan Johars and the Nikhil Advanis.

Since much has been said and written about the film, I'd rather talk about one of the songs in the album. The songs have been performed by Indian Ocean. The song I'm talking about is called Bandeh. Here are some extracts from the song which are my favourite.

...are neendein hai jakhmi
are sapne hai bhooke...

are mandir ye chup hai are masjid ye gumsum
ibadat thak padegi ho...

...kise kafir kahega kise kayar kahega
teri kab tak chalegi ho

Full lyrics of the song are available here.