Panda's fundas

Management Funda 15: Deflect criticism

2011-06-30T06:48:00.000+05:30

I am just back from a short meeting where we sold a vision document to our client. As I saw Mark hard sell all that was in the document, we walked out of the meeting with no change requests. And in the course of all this, here is an anecdote he shared.

There was this guy who worked in the creative field. He had a boss who had the habit of finding and pointing out something wrong. So on days when he had to present his work, he would consciously wear mismatch of socks. And then just go and present. At the end of it his boss would say "All that is fine but your socks don't match..." !!!

So with people where you know you will be criticized, figure out a way to deflect criticism.

Who am I : Singnature lines

2010-12-01T14:17:00.000+05:30

One of the advantages of working for a maverick company is the chance to meet exciting people. Of late I have started taking notice of the signature lines of Thoughtworkers..

The latest one is 'Problem Solver'

I think that is way better than signing off as 'Business Analyst'.Each word carries a lot of baggage with it. The moment you write a 'Business Anaylst' or a Project manager, there is a lot background that gets painted even without the the person realizing. No one to blame. Stereotyping is just one of the many cognitive biases we have to live with.

But how do people react when they are faced with something that they cannot anchor to something else. It's just doesn't fit into the fixed frames of references they have made for themselves. Well this is another complex subject and a whole lot of other cognitive biases come into picture. Most of the times they tend to make a close approximation or rely on only one facet of information that they find handy or easily available.

Here is a small snippet of how people react to a innovative signature line (as expressed by of another Thoughtworker)..

I tried an experiment when I moved from PS into a sales role. I got business cards that said “leader of change” and some that said “Business Development Manager.” LOC cards get me a strong reaction one way or the other (what does that mean/how interesting to “is this a joke?”) while the BDM cards were immediately dismissed for fear that I would sell them something.

I would prefer this scenario better than letting others stereotype me. I am unique and I deserve a chance to describe myself to you... Even if it means unsettling your frames of reference or shocking you ..

Finding the post office (Mundhwa, Pune)

2010-10-08T17:05:00.001+05:30

For people looking just for the info:
Wikimapia Link
Google Maps Link -
18°31'47.67''N,
73°54'33.24''E
(Lat/long info as identified by Location services on my iPhone)
If you are comming from Mundhwa towards Ghorpadi.. Keep an eye for the rusted gate on your left. See picture below. It should be just after the Army Sports Institute campus starts (on your right).

------------------------------------------------------

It was indeed a big deal.

I had to send the the ITR-V acknowledgement by Indian Post (yes..they want it by normal post, no registered post, no courier and of-course no electronic copies). Strangely this is the last step of the e-filing process!!!

So the search began for the nearest post office. I am staying near Hadapsar and everyone pointed me to the Post Office in Ghorpadi. I started off by looking at the Indian postal department website. but sadly I could find no store locater kind of feature. Put in your zip code and it gives the name of your post office but not the location.

Google maps did not help at all. Seems like it has to go a long way before one can look up an indian address and expect accurate results.

Anyway I did find the Mundhwa Post office and just wanted to share the location.

What an idea sirjee

2010-09-21T18:30:00.000+05:30

How far can an idea take you..

I had not seen something like this for a long time. I would bet all my millions (if i had them!!) on this one..

What makes this idea great. It uses an established paradigm. Just a change in the way we look at an ubiquitous captcha...

Solvemedia has come out with a way to rake in the mullah out of public nuisance. The idea is to replace the ReCaptcha by marketing messages.. See the video below or visit their website...

Solve Media from Solve Media on Vimeo.

Seeing Human Interactions in a new way

2010-05-12T13:05:00.002+05:30

A nice video and some great visualization work done by the creators.

What struck to me immediately is that a study like this should have profound implications on decisions being made by the Marketing and Product management people.

Thinks to ponder..
How can such existing virtual communities be exploited?
Which products/services are dependent on these patterns of interactions between people?

Anything more??

We cannot just jump to the new

2010-05-04T18:53:00.000+05:30

As I was checking the feeds for my daily dose of mindgum, I came across this interesting article "Plato’s Cave 2.0 A New Myth for Adoption". Written in a different context and with a different purpose but is still true for all other scenarios.

You may not be the cheiftain of a tribe and may not be leading a group of people into new ventures but if you are someone like me who likes to experiment the fundamentals with himself, there is a lesson. The story/scenario that he describes might sound like one right from an AOE game but I relate it to so many things I do in my personal life. Let me describe the one that is fresh on my mind.

I am the only BA sitting with 10 Devs on the same table and my work involves working very closely with them. And all of them work on Ubuntu. In the entire team, leaving aside the PM (who works on a MAC) it's only the QAs who work on Windows (XP). I figured that it would be a great chance to try my hands again at Ubuntu. The last time I tried it out was on my personal machine but I hardly ever booted into it after I figured out a way to restore my windows partition.

This time around I did stick longer. My work here does not have much of dependency on using MS Office products. As an organisation, I think we are almost entirely into Web 2.0 apps. We use google mail, wave and docs. The collaboration within the distributed team happens mostly with Mingle. I used it continuously for almost a week and then small problems started surfacing. One fine day I wanted to draw up a process map and the open-source DIA was no match for visio. I kept missing OneNote (on which I am scribbling this note) although Tomboy Note seemed pretty good. Actually Tidlywiki or MoinMoin would also have served my purpose. I had trouble connecting to VPN (the RSA fob gave problems) while taking calls from home.

And next two weeks I kept shuffling between the two (Ubuntu and XP). But I now realize that, I haven't booted into Ubuntu for almost a month now!!

So this article struck me right on the face. These words seems like a reminder for me.

" We cannot just jump to the new. We have to explore it. This exploration needs to be organized as history tells us successful explorations are conducted – using larger and longer staying expeditions. At some point some people have to stay in the new world."

Pasted from <http://www.fastforwardblog.com/2010/04/26/platos-cave-2-0-a-new-myth-for-adoption/>

Moving into Ubuntu was not just a whim for that moment. Well..I loved the exploration..finding out new things and new way to do things.. But I wanted to it because I thought, it is the right thing to do. It is the new world.

I guess I am going to take another exploration into this new world. This time hopefully for a much longer time.

Time also to think about how many such explorations I have aborted without trying hard enough. May be I also need to keep trying to take the jogging sessions in the morning also.

No more death by Presentations

2010-05-01T01:38:00.002+05:30

What started as an odd off remark from Tarang / Gunjan /Akshay has had my laptop running continuously for at least 168 hours now.. I just decided not to end my firefox browser session till I finish reading on this topic and I am now doing so after almost a week!!! Lack of time /focus/ attention.. whatever..

The comment was about never again giving a presentation (at least not the BAs). They are a sadistic way to kill the interest and enthusiasm of your listeners. From the discussions that followed, what I came out with was almost like a word-cloud with pecha-kucha and Takahashi being in red, bold, xtr-large font.

Now they make much more sense to me. Wiki as always is a good place to start

Lightning Talk - A Lightning Talk is a short presentation given at a conference or similar forum. Unlike other presentations, lightning talks last only a few minutes and several will usually be delivered in a single period by different speakers.
Pecha Kucha — A similar presentation format.
Ignite - A similar presentation format.
Speed geeking - 5-min presentations are simultaneous, rather than sequential. Participants rotate through presentations in one room/chat space.

But all the above are mostly format for events. All of them similar in the sense that they force the speakers to keep it short.

However from there, I moved on to the much more interesting topic of new/unique/different ways of presenting. While Takahasi and Lessig Methods are simillar, there are subtle differences which you may not be able to figure out untill you see some of the presentations in those formats. Here are some links..

Takahashi - http://presentationzen.blogs.com/presentationzen/2005/09/living_large_ta.html
Lessig - http://randomfoo.net/oscon/2002/lessig/free.html (8mb audio video file.. takes time to load)

But more than all these I was happy to re-discover Prezi.com. I was awestruck when I had first come across it a year ago and the feeling still persists when I start thinking about the ways in which it can be used. You no longer create slides. It is a huge canvass and you zoom in and out of things that you are trying to explain to the audience.

What I had no idea was that, powerpoint has caught up. Folks at Microsoft Office Labs have a product called pptplex . No fancy transitions like what the (free) online version of Prezi provides but would certainly be easier for an existing powerpoint user to start using. Here again you have a canvass and the demo video made me feel that people at MS Office Labs took this presentation advice quite literally..

"Tell them what you’re going to say, Say it, Then say just what you said."

Just downloaded pptplex. Yet to try my hands at it. But at the end of it, I am far from taking the leap. I am still not talking about "No more presentations". It's an effort at making them different/unique/interesting. And that is because, there are times when you HAVE to give presentations. It's all about TPO.. Time Place Occasion...

Brakes

2010-04-08T17:40:00.001+05:30

I was just reading this post (Cloud 140) on a friend's blog. Reminds me of something that struck me a few weeks ago.

That day, as I took my bike out, I noticed that it had a flat tyre. Having cursed my heart's fill to who so ever let those nails be spread on the road, I started looking for someone who could mend it. My encounter with 'Anna' the proud owner of the repair shop is quite a story in itself. But let me limit it here, saying that he mended the tyre but screwed up the disc brakes of the front wheel. Next morning I realized that it jams up once applied and the lever had to be manually pulled up to set the wheel free again. So there was no other way but to restrain myself from using them till I got them repaired.

And those two days were even more frustration that driving a car. I found myself driving at 40 and very conscious each time I tried overtaking a slow(er) bum.

I realized that, if you don't have the power to slow down you will not be able to the power to accelerate!!!!

Aaramb hai prachand

2010-04-07T09:59:00.000+05:30

Life has been going a lil bit crazy lately. As the off-shore Business Analyst you got to drive the development activities being carried out from India. And that means quite a few catch up calls at odd hours with cients and counterparts on the other side of the world. Live Meeting late yesterday night, followed by a catch up call in the morning and I started feeling I have been living in a dream or may be the right word would be life of a zombie...

Time to shake things up.. Chuked the car keys and picked up my bike.. The normal 25mins drive was over in 10mins!! Having dissipated a lot of anger at the pune traffic, I am feeling a lot calmer :) It was almost like I was taking my revenge on the unruly Pune traffic that has been frustrating me since the day I decided to use the car to drive down to office. In the part of the city I drive, there is absolutely no sign of any traffic police and people have absolutely no respect for the 'Right of Way' of the fellow travellers.

In office, and I still needed a boost up.. Reminded me of, what we used to call our 'daily dose of attitude' in dubai. What had initially started off as a joke to get my flatmate His highness 'the king of sloth', out of bed each time we planned to go out somewhere, turned into one of my favourite tracks..Listen to it and either you will either love it instantly or just never hear it again. The track is from Gulaal.. and the lyrics goes like this..

(Aarambh Hai Prachand,Bole Mastako Ke Jhund
Aaj Jung Ki Ghadi Ki Tum Guhar Do) - 2
Aan Baan Shaan Ya Ki Jaan Ka Ho Daan
Aaj Ek Dhanush Ke Baarn Pe Utaar Do
Aarambh Hai Prachand,Bole Mastako Ke Jhund
Aaj Jung Ki Ghadi Ki Tum Guhar Do
Aan Baan Shaan Ya Ki Jaan Ka Ho Daan
Aaj Ek Dhanush Ke Baarn Pe Utaar Do

Feeling better now, so let me find something useful to do..

33 again

2010-03-10T10:17:00.000+05:30

Just cant help commenting on this. Just back from the office and watching CNN IBN..

Women's billed voted and passed in Rajya Sabha. Mamata Banarjee abstains.Sonia says, fulfilled my husband's dream. Her advice to the corespondent, "More women should leave journalism and join politics." The focus shifts to the newsroom, to Rajdeep and Suhasini. Suhasini haider sayz..NO WAY..

The move may be promising but I cant help being skeptical. And it is not about women or the 33%. It's about reservation as a means of empowerment. 50 years of reservations and it spawned off mover evil than good. Politicized, mis-utilized and exploited by a handful, it hardly met its intentions. The same is most likely to happen with the women reservations.

The bigger fear, the way I see it is that we don't create more Jayalalithas and Mayawatis. To me a Madhu Koda is acceptable but a Jayalalitha is not. Such cases do more damage to our social fabric than we realize. I am afraid, instead of women making politics and more humane or cleaner, will become exactly like their male counterparts.

It's like "The ring"...it just brings out the evil in you.

It's just the magnitude that differs..Worst case, you will turn into a Smeagol/Gollum (like Jayalalitha or Mayawati), a complete slave to the power. Event the best scenario doesn't look good..We don't need more Uma bharati (mad for power) or a Vasundahara Raje (who started having hallucinations of being a goddess) or even a Mamata Banarjee (who makes sure Bengal continues to be deprived of industry and peace).

I would have loved to hear the views of some of my friends on this. I do miss Bangalore..

Get your own bag

2010-02-28T13:10:00.001+05:30

Long time ago, Sunday mornings used to be a different. No I am not getting nostalgic about Rangoli and Chandrakanta. I grew up in a family that loves non-veg and I am no different. Sunday morning had a special task on my calendar. It was mutton day and it was my responsibility to wake up early and get it from 'Kallu Mia". This friendly gentleman still gives me a toothless grin as he watches his son and grandson serve my needs if I happen to turn up on a sunday morning.

In Bhubaneswar, such shops still attracts scores of patrons and the crowd on sunday mornings is still worth taking a look. You have to reach early to get the best service. And people over there are very particular about what they take. I enjoy seeing people haggling over which pieces they take depending on the menu for the day. And it is indeed an art worth appreciating when you see a veteran like 'Kallu Mia' spinning out a web of words as he makes sure non of his customer returns less satisfied. He would assure you that you had the best stuff for whatever you are thinking of making out of it, biryani, roganjosh, keema masala, he has a few tips for every thing.

Well enough nostalgia... What was notable today was the fact that in this area of Pune, the shopkeepers are taking some environmental guidelines seriously. The have stopped giving plastic bags. You have to go with your own bag. I am impressed. And I support this whole heatedly.. Go Green

Pune Pune Pune

2010-02-27T21:19:00.004+05:30

Time adds a special honey coat on memories. 5 years after I left this city, I was back and Pune impressed me in a lot of ways..

Bangalore life had made me accept huge traffic jams and house full boards at ticket counters. I was getting used to people around me talking in a language that I could not make sense of. All the same I had fallen in love with the silicon valley of India. Friends got added and I built a support structure that made me feel at home. Leaving was not easy. A few people had become too important in my life. But I had to move on.

Pune could not have been more welcoming. A lot had changed, though I still like to believe it is still the same. The growing infrastructure certainly impresses me. Magarpatta and Amanora type project are worth taking a look. The number of multiplexes seems to have truly multiplied over the last few years. The traffic has increased a lot. The temperature has surely gone North. But still its Pune :)

I needed a new beginning and what could have been a better place..
The frequency of posts had dwindled over the past few months. A lot of it has to do with the recent changes in my life. First weekend in a couple of months when I really got some time to visit this. The template hopefully looks much better now.

Law of Treats

2010-01-13T10:51:00.004+05:30

treat [treet]

–verb (used with object) : to provide food, entertainment, gifts, etc., at one's own expense

–verb (used without object) : to give, or bear the expense of, a treat

–noun : entertainment, food, drink, etc., given by way of compliment or as an expression of friendly regard.

Any happy event in life can trigger a treat. Whether you are giving or receiving, it is an occasion to celebrate. Considering the central role it plays in social life, I was amazed not to find any rules around it.

The following are some basic (elementary) rules for dealing with Treats. These rules apply for any real or complex Treats, regardless of the events that has led to it.

Additive Identity of Treats

Treat (Reason) + Treat (Reason) = Treat (Event)

If you have multiple reasons for giving treats, you still give A TREAT. All the requests (actually demands) for Treats from friends always cumulate to ONE Treat. A TREAT always settles all the pending treats (takes care of all events that triggered the demand for a treat) till the day of the treat.

Example: Treat (for Birthday) + Treat (for Promotion) = Treat

Rule of Treat Nullification

Treat (Reason) – Negative Treat (Reason) = Zero Treat

Any negative event nullifies all pending treats. So

[Treat (for Birthday) + Treat (for Promotion)] – [No Treat (my cat died!!!)] = Zero Treat

Multiplicative Identity of Treats

Treat X Treat = Treat

The nature of a cumulative treat does not differ from the treat given for a single treat event. To explain it further:

Treat (for Birthday) = Treat (at Bombay Post)

Treat (for Birthday) + Treat (for Promotion) = Treat (at Bombay Post) and NOT Treat (at Taj)

Distributive Effect on Treats

The venue for the treat is a inverse function of the Number of people to be treated.

I have to run back to work now.. but I think this is enough to piss off my friends who are going to badger me even further for treats :)

comitted bachelor !!

2009-12-23T14:10:00.004+05:30

Yes I am still a bachelor but I am stuck in a small technically undefined space. So I have taken the freedom of naming myself as a Committed Bachelor.

As far as the 'The great IndianWedding' goes, there is enough drama before as there is during and after the marriage. If you are familiar with the process of arranged marriage you will understand what I am talking about. Here is a try, inspired by the back cover of Chetan Bhagat's '2 States'

Marriages around the world are simple:

Boy loves girl. Girl loves boy.
They get married.

In India, there are a few more steps:

Boy likes girl, girl likes boy.
Parents ask for horscope.
Horoscope doesnt match.. story ends..

Horoscope matches..Boy talks to girl.
Boy loves girl. Girl loves boy.
Girls parents need to love boy..
Boys parents need to love girl..
Boy and girl allowed to know each other..
All goes Ok, Boy marries girl..

I am stuck somewhere in the middle of the process. Not yet engaged, so still a bachelor. But my world has changed. My closest friends have made it a point to remind me of my impending change in status. The advices are plenty and so are the warnings to mend my ways :)

Of so many small changes that seem to have suddenly creeped in, a few are particularly annoying. The one that tops my list right now is to report whether I have had my meals and what I have had!!!
You are supposed to call when you reach back home!!!
Suddenly a picture of Sai Baba and a special charmlet has appeared in my wallet!!!
The closest of my friends raise their eyebrows when i ask them to plan a trip over the weekend. Shouldn't you be spending time with your fiance.. Get to know her..
Vodafone is sure happy about the sudden spike in my air time..
Talking to would be relatives has become an important activity now.. After all the girl's family has to like the boy!!!
Guess what.. last two fridays have been dry days!!!
Oh yes.. you are supposed to remember a whole new set of dates now.. the way she is going I am going to have the whole calendar marked red :)
But all the same, this an welcome change.. and I sure need to some time to come to terms with all these..

messaging never stops!!

2009-11-27T10:59:00.002+05:30

I was walking up the stairs with a friend and couldn't help noticing that he was texting away all the while. He did not fit into the stereotype i had in my head. Teenage kids, young college going guys/girls and at the last end of the spectrum, 20 somethings in love!!!

This guy is a proud father of a new born baby, having crossed all the mentioned phases. But he is my colleague and seemed out of place in the formal environment smiling and texting away responses as if he were a love struck college kid.

Well he gave me new perspective... Complexities of a stage in life I am not yet into.

Having courted, and fought against the north and south divide, these two managed to set up their family life in Bangalore. Almost simillar to chetan bhagat's "2 states" story with the guy being from south and the girl from north. Now they live with guys parents. With the baby around both side in-laws are here and the two love birds are missing their quality time together.
With the kid staying awake most of the night, my friend has to sleep in a separate room so that he can make it to office next morning.

The only thing that comes to their rescue is SMS. Not limited to the sweet nothings that the couple shares but its kind of instant updates on what the baby is doing :)

Add the Hundredth Monkey

2009-10-05T18:03:00.004+05:30

Well here is how it goes..

... the instantaneous, paranormal spreading of an idea or ability to the remainder of a population once a certain portion of that population has heard of the new idea or learned the new ability.

In the original story, it happened when they added the hundredth monkey to the study group, thus giving rise to "the hundredth monkey effect".

How did I come to this.. I was wondering why I had added the book "Supernature" to my wishlist. There was very little available about the book but a lot about its author Lyall Watson. Apparent in his book, Lifetide (1979), Watson made what was believed to be the first published use of the term "hundredth monkey". Here is an excerpt his obituary (!!!) in telegraph...

This phenomenon referred to a sudden spontaneous and mysterious leap of consciousness achieved when an allegedly "critical mass" point is reached. Watson was writing about several studies done in the 1960s by Japanese primatologists of Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata).

Claiming that the scientists were "reluctant to publish [the whole story] for fear of ridicule", Watson wrote that he had to "gather the rest of the story from personal anecdotes and bits of folklore among primate researchers, because most of them are still not quite sure what happened".

Watson's tale was that an unspecified number of monkeys on the Japanese island of Koshima were washing sweet potatoes in the sea. But the addition of a further monkey – the so-called hundredth – apparently carried the number across some sort of threshold, pushing it through a kind of critical mass, because by evening almost every monkey was doing it. Moreover the habit seems to have jumped natural barriers and to have appeared spontaneously in monkey colonies on other islands and on the mainland.

Wonderful story and I want to believe it. And it has so many implications in the homo sapien world. But before I get into that, let me tell you what makes me want to believe in this theory. I remember a wonderful video of a folk of birds reacting to an predator attack (see sort sol in wiki) and kept wondering at how the decisions are made in such large collection of animals. Of course I would love to believe in my childhood fantasies. That there is always a leader who takes wise decisions as in "the lion king" or "the jungle book". But if you have ever wondered about decision making in bees, ants or fishes, you would have come across some theory or other about how the Collective Animal Behaviour takes shape. Consider this .. (an excerpt from wiki)

The fish did this by a simple quorum rule such that individuals watched the decisions of others before making their own decisions. This technique generally resulted in the 'correct' decision but occasionally cascaded into the 'incorrect' decision. In addition, as the group size increased, the fish made more accurate decisions in following the more attractive fish model.Consensus decision-making, a form of collective intelligence, thus effectively uses information from multiple sources to generally reach the correct conclusion.

If you agreed then so far so good, but what about humans.. Well I tend to believe it is not too different. It is said man uses 10% of his brain but sadly the percentage of men who use their brains is much lesser. George Orwell's "Animal Farm" was not in a fantasy land. Communist USSR and Hitler's propaganda is not too far off in history to be waived off. People do use their head and make decisions. But the type of things they make decision about varies and open to manipulation. On my own I should hardly be in a position to decide whether India should nuke its irksome neighbour but I do and I believe it is a lot of opinions working uniquely in my head to give a bias. Experiments in social psychology, clearly found out that most people are almost hard wired to take orders, to stick to social norms and follow the ruts laid out in front of them.

There is a lot study on this topic. You may want to have a look at a book called "The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations" by James Surowiecki. I am sure many of you have read "Wikinomics" by Don Tapscott. You may want to take look at it again keeping the Hundredth Monkey effect in your mind.

I know of no such studies in organisation behaviour domain. But this certain has its implications especially for the Training and Development functions. Should you find out the critical mass you need for technical skills in your talent pool? There have been so many COEs (Center of Excellence) I have seen over the past few years but a few successful ones have spawned off successful business offerings. Is there a pattern? Should you ensure that there are enough people learning and using the next fad tech world, so that you can expect to reap its benefits for the organisation.

I have seen a good number of quality initiatives. In case of six sigma initiatives, people are trained to be a part of the initiative and awarded belts (green, black and so on..) But is there any thought about how many of my shop floor workers need to be trained and certified.

Ever wondered how may minds must your marketing campaign influence to reach that critical mass...

May be it is the hundredth...

Oh GOD !!

2009-09-24T20:10:00.004+05:30

Once in a while, I get these mail forwards which I am sure are sent with best intention but I get irritated with the twisted logic they present. Or may be my thoughts are twisted :O

Here is one I got today:

This is one of the best explanations of why God allows pain and suffering ??

A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed.
As the barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation.
They talked about so many things and various subjects.
When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the barber said:
"I don't believe that God exists."

"Why do you say that?" asked the customer. "Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God doesn't exist.
Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people?
Would there be abandoned children?

If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain.
I can't imagine a loving God who would allow all of these things."
The customer thought for a moment, but didn't respond because he didn't want to start an argument.
The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop.

Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard.
He looked dirty and unkempt. The customer turned back and entered the barber shop again and he said to the barber:
"You know what? Barbers do not exist."
"How can you say that?" asked the surprised barber.
"I am here, and I am a barber. And I just worked on you!"
"No!" the customer exclaimed. "Barbers don't exist because
if they did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed beards, like that man outside."

"Ah, but barbers DO exist! That's what happens when people do not come to me."
"Exactly!" affirmed the customer. "That's the point! God, too, DOES exist!
That's what happens when people do not go to Him and don't look to Him for help.
That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world."

Here is what it means to me.
There is no benevolent, benign God. If you don't go to him and ask for help, he simply wont help. Apparently the sick, desperate destitute don't go to Him for help. Abandoned helpless children must stop crying and pray instead.

He seems to be like me. If you don't ask for help I won't. But then even I make an exception with my near and dear ones, whom I love. And all the while I kept thinking "He loves ALL"
!!!!!!

HappySad

2009-09-23T01:57:00.004+05:30

"Who knows what the tide could bring?"

What was definitely a inspiration today morning, now haunts me. There are some news to which you don't know how to react. Over time, you build a support structure around you. They become so much a part of your life you don't realize life could be any other way. Especially friends.

People come and go, and friendship continues to live on. At least with a select few. To be fair, I have been out for the most of the last two years. Money, career or simply wanderlust whatever we may put the reason, Life calls and we have to tag along.

Just the possibility made me think about how I am going to rebuild my support system. Whatever.. Banglore without you will never be the same...

5 second rule

2009-09-18T19:22:00.006+05:30

Oh!! you haven't heard of it..
Not to feel bad.. I hadn't either, before yesterday.

One piece of potato jumped off the pan and my friend picked it right off the floor and put it in his mouth. He looked my expression and said "What..It's Ok.. Haven't you hear of the 5 second rule!!"

"Anything that falls on the ground is safe to eat, if picked up within 5 seconds."

I was sure he was trying to make up for his impulsive action but I did check it up today morning and here is the link to the wiki article..

And so, it finds a place in Aaj ka funda :)

btw.. i got a mail from indiblogger today putting my blog on rank 72. quite strange since i had been contemplating on what a friend had put up in her status message.."Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.."

Keeping spirits up

2009-09-15T14:57:00.003+05:30

The day I landed in London, the duration of day was almost 15hrs. And today it has come down to 12.5 hrs. By october 24th, it will reach a low of only 10hrs. I can't even imagine a day with sunrise at 7.40am.
Date------Sunrise------Sunset-----DayTime
10-Aug-09 -- 5:38 AM -- 8:32 PM -- 14h 54m 16s
15-Sep-09 -- 6:35 AM -- 7:15 PM -- 12h 39m 24s
24-Oct-09 -- 7:40 AM -- 5:48 PM -- 10h 08m 24s

With temperatures dipping and the daylight hours decreasing, it's going to be difficult to keep spirits up... need to stock it up ;)

ManagementFunda15: Understand what you hear

2009-09-07T21:54:00.001+05:30

A great collection.. found here.

That's very interesting.	I disagree.
I don't disagree.	I disagree.
I don't totally disagree with you.	You may be right, but I don't care.
You have to show some flexibility.	You have to do it whether you want to or not.
We have an opportunity.	You have a problem.
You obviously put a lot of work into this.	This is awful.
In a perfect world.	Just get it working and get it out the door.
Help me to understand.	I don't know what you're talking about, and I don't think you do either.
You just don't understand our business.	We don't understand our business.
You need to see the big picture.	My boss thinks it's a good idea.
My mind is made up. I am adamant on the subject. There is no room for discussion. But if you do want to discuss it further, my door is always open.	F%^$ you.
I appreciate your contribution.	F%^$ you.
We're going to follow a strict methodology here.	We're going to do it my way.
I didn't understand the e-mail you said you sent. Can you give me a quick summary?	I still can't figure out how to start the e-mail program.
Cost of ownership is a significant issue.	We want all of the benefits and none of the costs.
We have to leverage our resources.	You're working weekends.
Individual contributor.	Employee who does real work.
Your project is on hold.	We've put a bullet in it.
Wrong answer.	You didn't tell me what I wanted to hear.
You needed to be more proactive.	You should have protected me from myself.
I'd like your buy-in on this.	I want someone else to blame when this thing bombs.
We want you to be the executive champion of this project.	I want to be able to blame you for my mistakes.
We need to syndicate this decision.	We need to spread the blame if it backfires.
We have to put on our marketing hats.	We have to put ethics aside.
It's not possible. It's impractical. It won't work.	I don't know how to do it.
It's a no-brainer.	It's a perfect decision for me to handle.
I'm glad you asked me that.	Public relations has written a carefully phrased answer.
I see you involved your peers in developing your proposal.	One person couldn't possibly come up with something this stupid.
There are larger issues at stake.	I've made up my mind so don't bother me with the facts.
I'll never lie to you.	The truth will change frequently.
Our business is going through a paradigm shift.	We have no idea what we've been doing, but in the future we shall do something completely different.
Value-added.	Expensive.
Human Resources.	A bulk commodity, like lentils or cinder blocks.
The upcoming reductions will benefit the vast majority of employees.	The upcoming reductions will benefit me.

Confessions of a network marketeer

2009-09-04T03:40:00.004+05:30

That's right.. it's not a typo.. I am speaking about a "MARKETEER".. a network marketeer..

A species that I thought had gone extinct. From the first starry eyed Day-dreamer I met during my first year in college to some of the high-fliers the trade, I have tried to gauge what has been the intrinsic motivation and how many of them were mere casualties of cognitive dissonance in a state of denial.

Most are as clearly brainwashed as a jehadi going for any suicide bomb mission, but some manage to show sign of intelligent life still remaining in them. From pure disdain to the understanding that that there is nothing unethical about the faster preying upon the slower and the clever looting the dumb, I have seen a great deal of change in my thinking itself.

On one hand, an absolute of lack of any credible risk taking ability in me has always made a fan of some of these people. On the other, I have always been handicapped by the analyzing mind that evaluated the success rate of any such opportunity with due skepticism as I saw my friends, relatives and complete strangers jump into the fray with varying degrees of success.

Today was a typical experience, where I sought to challenge the basics of network marketing with a person who has been a star in the field. (He showed me his income statements as proofs!!!) I wanted to share some interesting things that came out during my discussion with him.

1- It's not a chain. It's a network.
It started off from my analogy to a chain reaction. It took me 30 mins to make him confess that, a critical mass is required for him to continue in business and effectively he just earned from the initial membership fees of people joining the network. The product is the network (people joining it) and not the physical product they apparently seem to sell.

2- Everyone can succeed in this line. It's the effort we put in.
It's all about attitude and will power. Tell me more about that..As if there are not millions in India who want/will/wish to be like Aishwarya or Sachin. There are at least a finite number of intrinsic and an infinite number of extrinsic factors that lead to the success of any person in any line. This is no different. (Reminds me of the Camel Story) Not every one is suitable but you still want all those starry eyed dumbos to join because you earn off them!!!

I am now thinking if I should go into all the details of our discussion!!
But I have a confession to make. Selling is not easy. It means stepping out of your skin, successfully assessing the person across the table and connecting with him. You can spend lakhs and get a Management degree like some dumbos like me do or dabble in something like this early enough in you life. This is also a way to grind yourself in people skills.

I admire this 26 year old guy who had the guts to reason it out with me for 3hrs, simply because he could hold on so long and more because he has learned (because of his experience in this) how be a patient listener, how to negotiate on topics, how to be convincing, appear confident and how to give ground without losing face. All this that my MBA did not teach me and I have been trying to inculcate over all these years!!!!

PS: This post makes me happy because I seem to be coming out of the rut I was getting into...may I continue to meet such interesting people and they spur me to react..

I don't care

2009-09-02T02:58:00.002+05:30

The one and only time when I was part of a stage act was probably when I was in kindergarten and the name of the play was "I don't Care.." The story of a little boy who kept saying that and the things that happened to him.

I caught myself saying that today and then started thinking. Do we ever stop caring for people we love, issues we identify with or for that matter anything which becomes a part of our lives, for however short a period.

May be we just stop showing it. Time starts piling up transparent layers each time you stop yourself from sharing a thought or celebrating an occasion or skip a chance to be together. One day you realize that the feeling is gone. You can no longer see what you cared so much and why you cared.

Most times unintentional but at times you have to admit, you have connived in the whole process. A world of possibility never materializes as you steer yourself towards another alternate reality. And it all starts with "I don't care..."

Story of MH-02-Z-8508 : Learn from the Rikshaw

2009-08-24T19:52:00.007+05:30

How long does it take for a good idea to become a reality?

Less than two year for this one..

Today, I checked a forward from a friend that talked of a unique experience in a rickshaw. The most authentic piece can be found in Avanish Joshi's blog as "the Rikshaw Story"
or just try googling the number of the auto-rikshaw (MH-02-Z-8508)

I checked further to one of the links leading to an NGO called Nyayabhoomi which claims to be helping Auto drivers in Delhi.

Quite short of what I had envisioned 2years ago. (posted on June 17, 2007)
http://pandafunda.blogspot.com/2007/06/premium-autos-in-bangalore.html

But I was happy, and at the same time there were two things running on my mind..
1- it reminded that I used to maintain an file which I called Crazy Ideas. Just to record those untimely bolts from the blue, so that I can think on them latter...Good old days.. who knows where I lost that file :(
2- Long back someone told, if you have a good idea, you are responsible for turning it into reality... or else stop claiming it was ever yours :)

Log: Bangalore - Paris - London

2009-08-15T03:35:00.005+05:30

There are a lot of ways to narrate a journey. Some journeys are really special, there is so much that goes around you. As the scene around you change, a part of you keeps reacting to all that visual sensory overload. The changing landscape, numerous faces that pass by, each quirk that catches your attention and your brain shifting gears in response. But then there is always a secondary track that keeps running, analyzing, thinking, rationalizing issues, decisions you just took and those yet to be made.

At the end of the journey, having arrived, I seem to lose all that I had gone through. All that I agreed to, all that I wanted to do and all that I sweared never to do.

This one was probably one of those journeys but this time around I was typing it out on my iPod. Having managed to transfer it to my laptop today, I want to share what the journey meant to me.. of-course minus a few things. Mostly meaningless read out of context, but may be you could relate to a few of theese..

9th Aug, 00:01 : Time for a last call. She didn't pick up but anyway Happy Birthday!! I will make it up to her.. I better get her something good when I return..
Should I make another call. She might be reading a book but isn't this too much. My head is really heavy. This time around, the excitement of flying abroad is simply missing but this rush of emotions is too familiar. The last few minutes have been so good. This is exactly why I had been longing to comeback to India. All those landmarks, Downtown LA..Universal Studios.. Burj-Al-Arab all had been so good but having friends with whom you want to spend that last few minutes even at the risk of missing the flight.. priceless. We just had coffee at the CCD in Banglore airport and talked all kind of non-sense about non-issues. But frnds I am going to miss you all. Last goodbyes linger for long but I guess if it's from unexpected people it's natural to stick on longer..

9th Aug 1:40 :Sitting in the flight and instead of checking out the inflight entertainment menu from Air France, I am sticking to my iPod and typing this out. I guess, I need to clear this mess out of my head and anyway 1:30am is not a great time to watch a movie.

1:50 AM: The menu card is simply great. Simplistic yet impressive. Designed as a postcard it manages to make it's point. You are travelling to Paris... I will keep this as a souvenir. Start collecting now and I will be able to use it at some workshop like Steve did with those silly air sickness bags.. Wow!! I seem to be assuming I will stick on the the Travel domain long enough to be conducting workshops like him...But that where I got to reach.. Get paid for talking management BS :D
PS: I forgot to pick it up when I left the flight :(

2:15 AM: Did I really chose this playlist or is it running on shuffle mode for all songs?? And why am I asking myself this after 2hrs!! Have I been listening.?? And why did I refuse the wine!! Well I guess it's a lesson learnt from the first flight across time zones. No alcohol... it just aggravates the jet lag.. Anyway I am feeling too drowsy. Thoughts seems to have reached Alice's wonderland.. I am running but I am still where I started. I am feeling more confused than before..I am going to sleep off now.. there is no end to this analysis..its already been 3hrs..

4.15 Am: The idiot sitting next to me has spilled water on me while trying to get out.. I guess choosing an aisle seat also has its troubles..Anyway since I am up, this is the best time to shift to Paris time. THis is the best way to fool yourself about the jet lag.. Change over to Destination time some time during the trip and you wake up believing the time you see on you watch. You are in sync with the new time zone. Really helped me to be on time with the transfer between terminals last time. The flight map shows we have already crossed Middle East. There's no way I can prove Dilip was wrong about the flight going over Pak airspace.

7:04 Am: Wow!! If this is not co-incidence, these people have a great CRM practice. I was served breakfast on a priority..before anyone else. This seems to be because I had refused dinner last night!! How did they track that. Ohh.. I now see the steward pick up small cards fixed on the head rest of some seats. So did they mark all those people who skipped dinner?? Did my seat also have a card? I wish I had checked it earlier..

9:23 Am: CDG airport is really neat. I like this arched view. There is no free wi-fi here. This dumb piece of machine doesnt accept cards. NExt time I need to keep in mind to carry a few currencies of the transit airport. Where do I get Euros now.. So my tweet can wait till I reach London.. And yes.. I need to tell Ranjith that the wi-fi at Banglore airport still sucks!!

Now that's sight of a life time... Never imagined someone could look so graceful in a short gown!!! I swear she looks like Diana!!! French are sure pretty!! (it's ok..I know Diana was not french!!)So the uniform for Air France employees vary.. This is a lot better. simple yet elegant..

Before I forget. The entire immigration desk as well as the security check counter were manned by women.. Did I say "Manned"... Well, I would say this is a nice model.. should be tried out in India. Blue eyes!!! who spoke me of blue eyes last time??? oh yes.. And I am back to the same old thing!!! I thought I had finally got it out of my head..

10.15 Am: As we were walking into the flight, I was telling Mariam how a window seat would have been great. It was beautiful morning and we are to cover the English channel. The take-off and landing itself would be worth it. The ticket said 20D, and that meant an aisle seat!! But guess what, this was a smaller plane (3X3 seats) and mine is a window seat :)

Two radar posts!!! What's the need for two?? Seems like they have two ATC towers also.. Is it because CDG airport is so huge?? Two radars are fine but two ATCs.. highly unlikely.. I need to ask Arya..

Am I noticing for the first time, the design of the exhaust pipes of commercial aircrafts..I will never forget that interview in Vanarsi.. "If you really love aircrafts, as you claim, you should be able to tell me if the wings of a sukhoi is above or below the fuselage.." And I was thinking.. What's the fuselage!!! It's been a long time and I thought I had lost interest..

WOW!!! That's a CONCORDE!! So French have treasured it!! This seems like a true scale model.. a replica of the original legend..How long back was that?? Who was describing that first hand view.. over the breakfast table. I need step out the flashback mode...

Hey!!! I can see the shoreline.. Is it the normandy beaches..Anyway they look beautiful...

TO do

2009-08-13T02:51:00.003+05:30

I have been crossing off quite a lot of things from a virtual list.. Here are a few things I have crossed off..
Fish and Cheese
Scrambled Eggs and Bacon
Jacket Potato with bacon and cheese
Cottage Pie
Aero mint

there's supposed to be more.. How come all these are food items!!!!!! Where did these get into my head?? Enough of British cuisine. Let me set myself on a correction course and create a list that would look more natural of me :)

The Kohinoor
The Peacock throne
Eye of london
Nottingham
A castle tour
The Stone Henge
A hike along the country side and may be camp out..
Drive through the Scottish Highlands
Loch Ness
English beer/ales

Hmm.. that's better. and a little difficult to achieve in the few weekends I have here

Simply plug in..

2009-08-09T21:20:00.006+05:30

I am amazed how easy it was to plug into life here. Right out of Heathrow airport, who else but a friendly Sardarji.. Jas Bariah..Just take a look at his number plate :)
He said he does it as a part time on weekends and whenever else he can. This is how he described his job.. "I pick up and drop off you IT people whenever I can..just as a side business." He was accompanied by his daughter. I offered her a bar of chocolate (which I had to buy to get that 40pence required for the first local call) and both were very happy. He not only dropped me off, but gave me his phone to call up home and a SIM card from T-mobile. So within 30mins of walking out of the airport I had a contact number in UK.

Checked into the Apartment and I was connected to the Internet.. A colleague told us the basics of public commutation using buss and of course the Tube. Within an hour we had a bus pass and were walking down to have lunch. However much I wanted to avoid, people around me wanted to have Indian food and we were having lunch at "Punjab Spice"

A walk down home and I was having the first taste of English summer.. After a long long time the shutter-bug in me has re-awakened :)

I love my room here.. Just check this out.. A SUNROOF!!!!

Don't know if that is the right word..but it is just great.. the room is nicely lit and makes my mood a shade lighter. A real plant in my room....
And take a look at this... Is this going to finally inspire me to cook!!!

Confused

2009-08-01T00:26:00.002+05:30

I am confused and I am enjoying it right now.. Not to be biased by the title of the blog, I don't have any funda to give.

There are times that you realize that you are behaving irrationally, doing things you have never done in your life. You want to speak out but can't.

Seems like a little bit of hope and lots of meaningless possibilities that you are most probably never going to follow...that's all you need.

I just want to enjoy this feeling...

Chicken or Fish??

2009-07-27T16:07:00.004+05:30

That's an easy one for most of us.. But here is how the story goes..

"What do you like? Chicken or Fish.."

"Chicken.."

"Hmm..What if I told you, I like chicken.."

"It is still Chicken.."

She walked out of the room after the interview, but the question haunted her for quite some time. She was never sure if that was the reason she was not selected by that company. The scene described here is one that many of us go through at least once..yes that dreaded Campus placement season. I heard this story some time back but it has been clinging to my mind ever since.

Has this formal education and a client facing role blunted my expressions. Have I become more agreeable without realizing. I am having a feeling this is a side-effect of being in a client facing role in a service industry.

Actually there are very little in this world that is in Black and White. Then of course there is diplomacy. I was just wondering what the interviewer was trying to find out.. Is the prospect adaptable? or was he trying to find out if the prospect holds on to his/her opinions? What could have been the right answer?

Beat around the bush,"Fish is actually the best source of white meat...even I should be moving more towards it..."

Or, "Excellent choice Sir, have you tried out the fish dishes at The Fish Parade.. it's a great place.."

Or, "Sir, It's a matter of choice and how one has grown up"

You never know..

Where does Nandan Nilekani blog??

2009-07-21T16:23:00.004+05:30

It took me some time to find out. Here is the link http://imaginingindia.com/blog/
The reason i started searching was a forward from a friend titled "From an INFOSCION to a POLITICION - Nandan's Chronicles" It was a great piece to read but as always I needed to find out if this is indeed from Nandan. Didn't find it there but there are some nice posts which you should check out.
For your entertainment, here is the forward I received: Apparently written by a guy named Srikant Harihar. Here is a link to his blog
------------------------------------------------------------------------
From an INFOSCION to a POLITICION - Nandan's Chronicles - 2
Continuing the tryst with capturing the life and times of Nandan Nilekani in his new avatar as a Cabinet Minister, here is what he had penned after his first day in the Parliament. The last entry stopped when the House was just about to begin. Let’s see what happened thereafter….
The House was in pin drop silence. I was brimming with anticipation and excitement!!!! Manmohan had informed me that my introduction was one of the important points of the agenda. I hoped that I will be able to make my speech properly. After so many interviews and conferences, I was nervous today!!!! After the Speaker indicated that the proceedings of the House could begin, Manmohan formally introduced me to the entire House. He mentioned that as the head of the Unique Identification Authority of India, I was responsible to ensure that each and every Indian had a digital smart card as a proof of his existence.
Manmohan spoke about why I was selected and also some references to the various projects executed by me in Infosys were mentioned. The House listened with rapt attention. I was asked to say a few words and I did exactly the same!!! I thanked the Government of India for having given me this opportunity and I assured the House that I would strive to successfully deliver this project. The Speaker then formally inducted me into the House and before the proceedings could move any forward, there was a small commotion on the other side of the hall.
It was Minister of Textiles who had a comment to make before the next point on the agenda. He made a request that I should be attired in a more austere way instead of a flashy suit. It did not go well with the image of a minister who should live to serve the common man and should be less ostentatious in his habits. I stood up to reply. I offered my apologies to the Honourable Minister and assured that I shall be in a more acceptable dress next time. I felt that he was right. We also used to have corporate dress code in Infosys. So it's here as well!!!!
I sat down and felt somebody nudging me. I turned around and to my surprise; it was the former Indian skipper and one of my favourite batsman Mohd. Azharuddin. I remembered that he had recently won the elections. I smiled at him and mentioned to him that I used to like his game very much, shaking his hand. No Rolex, I noticed. Azhar told me that he would “fix” me an appointment with an Italian designer who had designed his dapper Kurta suit. An Italian designer in Milan doing Kurtas!!!!! I made a note of this and reminded myself to give this example to Friedman for his next book,” The World Markets are flattened”.
Since there was no doubt about the “Fixational” capacities of Azhar, I told him to give me the details and I would consider. The proceedings of the House went on with numerous bills being debated and passed as I sat as a passive audience waiting for my project’s turn to come up. After the lunch break, it was the moment for me!!!!
MY PROJECT”S FIRST REVIEW CAME UP FOR PRESENTATION.
I was at sea. My laptop did not have any reserve power. I went to Manmohan and apprised him of the situation. I was sweating. He calmly replied that this would not be a cause of concern. I was flummoxed!!!! The Speaker asked me to explain to the House on what were my plans for the Unique Identity Project. I replied that I have a plan prepared for 30-60-90-120 days’ milestones and I have presentation to make for which I need a power socket, a projector and a screen. I had no idea what was going to happen after this.
The next couple of minutes were a complete jolt for me. I was completely in a tizzy. Let me just summarize what happened. A Joint Cabinet Secretary Committee was set up to judge the feasibility of my request. The Under Secretaries for the Ministries of Power, IT and Broadcasting will prepare a Viability Report after scrutinizing National Security threats to my request. This was because the power socket comes under Power, laptop comes under IT and projector comes under Broadcasting. I have also been told to reconsider my timelines of 30-60-90 days and start thinking in terms of years. Probably, they are right. I did not have the foresight in this matter.
The summary of the issue is that I need to come up with a more inclusive, democratic, comprehensive long term plan for this project to be executed over the next five years. I have also been given a presentation slot 3 months from now (by which the issues related to the power cord etc will also be resolved). I am filled with mixed reactions. I was planning for a quick resolution; the management wants a strategic solution. I come out of the House and text Murthy.
“You won’t believe it but these guys work just like us. I am on a NATIONAL BENCH for the next three months!!!!!!!!”

B2B

2009-07-11T23:17:00.006+05:30

Back to Bangalore and I am falling in love with it again :)
The cool breeze as soon as I walked out of the airport was reason enough. Quite a few things seems to have changed or at least I noticed. It seemed to me like Deepika padukone and Hritik roshan are in a race to meet some kind of crazy sales target for banglore region. Every third billoboard had the picture of either of the two and I was really amazed at the range of products deepika was trying to sell me. In the end it got muddled up in my head. This is the exact reason why it is better to create a fictional charachter to sell your product rather than sign up a star. At least you know they would not be selling someone else's product. Be it zoozoo from vodafone or the ageold gattoo or the classic air india maharaja.. they have better brand recall.

Some thing else I immediately noticed was an ingenious ad from MSIL (maruti suzuki india ltd.). Absolutely great way to drive home the exact message. A small kid starts crying while his mom is doing mehndi. All the character of an extended Indian family try their best to quieten him but he stop crying only when his mother picks him up. The message "bring your maruti only to the authorized maruti service centers"

Life has been great so far..There are so many people to meet and so many old hangouts.. And of course I came across the Chinnai's, a mice restaurant on the outer ring road. Now we call it "Andhra Style Chinki Bar" the reason is, all the waiters/waitresses seemed to be chinkis.. The ambience isgood and the food is also fine but what makes it special is, there is a pub on the first floor which marks it out. And here is why.. "For the first time in my life I had come across a pub which ran telgu songs and people were dancing like crazy to its beats :)" That's how it got its name.

Weekend flew off in a jiffy.. Still trying to catch up with old friends. It feels good to be back in Bangalore

Out of sight..

2009-07-07T00:36:00.005+05:30

There are times I wonder if it is good that we cant read the minds of people who are around us. How many times have your thoughts wandered off, far away from your existing surroundings. An absolutely useful art if you are attending too many meetings..but truly obnoxious when applied in personal life.

The simplest trick that any communications trainer will give you (yea...I have been through enough of those corporate sponsored sessions..) is "BE PRESENT". Like Dale Carnagie says "Nothing flatters someone like your complete undivided attention." (in "how to make friends and influence people") It is applicable not just when you are face to face with a person but also when you are on a phone and now when in a net-meeting or a chat.

But there is another aspect of it. Applies more to our personal interactions. You might want to be elsewhere, with someone else but letting your mind wander off, you do injustice to the people who are immediately with you.

The Cardmaker

2009-07-05T11:40:00.010+05:30

Remember the last time you chanced upon an old album, a scrap book, an old journal that you didn't even remember you ever maintained. Well last night I did and it was 4Am by the time I cleared out the entire box. Some of the interests that you cultivate when you are growing die out and you don't even realize. Tit bits of paper and notes suddenly teleport you into a world that you once enjoyed.

Most amusing was a bunch of cut outs of what appeared as drafts/prototypes of Cards. And over a small period of time when I made those, I graduated from making them for myself to a small group of die-hard fans. There is nothing like a custom message, a card special card made to order, saying things that the person connects to and often a message whose significance only the receiver understands.

I remember a friend Mukesh who loved to collect cards. He would frequent the Archies and Hallmark shops and pick up which ever card he like. I used to ask him who do you give these cards to, and he always replied "I love them, why do you need to give it to someone.." I think he finally changed his ways and started giving them to people, if his marital status is any indication.

I don't remember buying a card in years...actually I don't think I gave anyone a card for a long long time. E-cards don't really hold that punch..

Here is a small snapshot (clicked away on my mobile).. however crude and unpolished they might seem to me today, yet reminds me of a little bit of creativity that I once had..

BTW there is a nice simple software called "Hallmark Card Studio 2009" if you are suddenly reminded of that itch AND photoshop/gimp is a bit too much for you.

ManagementFunda14: The Story of Bar Stool Economics

2009-06-30T00:22:00.003+05:30

This definitely deserves a place in my MgmtFunda collection. A nice way to drive a small truth of todays life. Vote for them in the slideshare contest, if you are a member..

Drunkenomics - The Story of Bar Stool Economics

View more presentations from slides2407.

"The Secret" book review

2009-06-22T09:39:00.004+05:30

I am just raking my brain for superlatives of the word "CRAP".. pure and absolute crap..

The fact that I picked it up says a lot about the marketing campaign and blitz it is all about. Wiki sayz by end of 2007 it had sold 4 milion copies of the book and 2 million DVDs of the movie of the same name. No wonder the foreword says " The secret has been used to attract all manner of things - from a specific feather to ten million dollars." Not for her readers but she is definitely a millionare because of the book.

A beautifully designed cover and glossy paper does not cover the hogwash inside (all that marketing team stopped short of is using scented paper!!). Of course there are no origingal ideas and she most conveniently accepts it in the foreward itself. But opening up a best-seller and having the feeling that you are reading the thesis draft of an undergrad!!!!! terrible.

I do not wish to judge the words of some of the big names that are thrown all around the pages of the book but it does irritate me as name-dropping would in any other context or medium. What pisses me off is that the book is touted as a New Age self-help and Spirituality book.
A Spiritual book that tells me this book will help me earn millions!!!!!!!!

This is just a compilation of random pieces of big speak by some well known (in the western world) speakers. As I started going through it, I kept thinking if they have been quoted in context or not..

What she magnanimously reveals ast the secret is a very simple concept that you must have come across a million times and in much more sensible words.. "The great secret of life is the law of attraction...so when you think a thought you are attracting like thoughts to you...your thoughts become thing."

What's put in the books may be great advice..(actually i woud suggest you view this web page and you might feel motivated...but then that's all there is in the book..a collection of quotations..!!) ..it's just that I cannot agree with the intent.. May be it's the very essence of the philosophy of the East. You cannot and should not even think of using the powers of the universe for selfish purposes.. it simply doesnt work that way..

The other part of the story could be my mistrust in the so called self help gurus of the West. Most of them are just charlatans selling hope to millions of losers, all thanks to an army of spin-doctors and media consultants..

ID3 data for hindi songs

2009-06-21T20:11:00.005+05:30

Picking up from my last post..to solve the problem of tagging the hindi songs in my playlist..
Not exactly what I want... but a small start nevertheless..
Just created a custom search on google.

there is so much to learn!!

2009-06-20T02:19:00.004+05:30

the sequence started from an innocuous footer on the tweet of a frnd..
while i use twitterFox for tweeting which adds something like "about 1hour ago from TwitterFox" below each post, this frnd has a footer which said "x hours ago from ubiquity"

Curiosity got the better of me and and googled ubiquity..and I have been hooked on to it since then. The link in the previous line was inserted using ubiquity (i just had to type link (space) ubiquity).. Quite frankly it's the coolest thing I have come across in years..

I just googled and left it at that.. some time latter, I was struggling with managing my iTunes library. Having wasted almost an hour in trying to find out an easy way to search album art and adding ID3 tags to my Hindi songs collection, I finally got to move by lazy butt and take things into my own hands...

I wanted to create a mashup which will let me search discrete pieces of data (album art, singer, album info et all) from multiple web-sites and present it in a single page for me. And so i returned to ubiquity. A better choice would have been yahoo! pipes but i returned to ubiquity because i was unsure of the workings of both.

One led to the other and I kept stumbling upon tools like mediamonkey and mp3tag, interesting concepts like Web of trust and tiddlywiki , . And right now i realized that it's already 3AM. Long time since something stimulated my grey cells to keep me awake past my normal timings.

Last time I was so excited was after my post on the Tiger and goats game. In the course of all that I had sent feelers to a lot of people. Meanwhile I was also hooked on to "the art of war" and had shared a documentary from the History channel. A concept that came out clearly was that a strategy of territory domination was clearly superior to that of a static rule based game like Chess. It clearly mentioned that lessons from Chinese game of Go could have saved the Vietnam war for the American generals.

Anyway the efforts to develop a web version continued till Rajen manged to find a version of the game as well as that of Go and passed it on to me. I should have updated my old post but this is as good a time as any to share it with you. (Uploaded it for you, here since i don't know the original sources..1.17mb)

A great day by all means.. it seems to me that there are some days which become exceptionally fruitful and leave you with a sense of awe. There is so much out there, so much to learn, experiment, try out and enjoy... it's just that we keep falling into the rut of our daily routing and professional lives..

Just to boost my ego...here is a link to my post what I defined as PASSION .. the transcript (sans the magic of the voice) of which runs like this..

Precisely that incessable curiosity, that irrepressible desire to know, no matter what the subject, no matter what the cost…

... live each day as if it were your last... learn as if you will live for ever.

This is what I am passionate about.. It is precisely this, it is this inextinguishable undaunted appetite for learning and experience no matter how visible no matter how esoteric no matter how seditious it might seem.

cheers.. i m happy today :)

Cardboard iPod Dock

2009-06-16T13:03:00.002+05:30

I did it :D
Not a great use of office time but yes 20mins spent on this was more refreshing than a tea break ..

For the article:
http://www.geeky-gadgets.com/feature-make-your-own-cardboard-iphone-dock-full-instructions/

And for printout of the design(pdf) directly go to:
http://www.geeky-gadgets.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/cardboard-iphone-dock.pdf

Who's devil???

2009-06-16T10:18:00.004+05:30

Off late I have been watching a lot of television series. I wanted to get hooked on to something after HIMYM Season 4 went off air and Reaper somehow fit in.

Nothing special about it, except may be the charming devil, the vulnerable Sam....

and of course the petite Andy.

It's all about Sam who has to work for the devil and catch the escaped souls from hell and his bunch of friends.

Today morning we were just having a conversation and I realized that there is no concept of devil in hindu mythology. There is no dark prince, the king of hell.

The closest I could reach was Yamraaj. But then he is not the devil. He is at par with the Gods. He collects souls and mets out the final justice but he does not induce people to do bad, to do evil..

I just cant figure out where I am going wrong but it seems the hindu mythology democratized even devil's kingdom. There are small cheiftains.. lust, greed, envy but no single overbearing figure as devil.

There are ofcourse Asuras, a very close parallel to demons but no Devil..

Anything comes to you mind???

What are the odds!!

2009-06-04T15:36:00.004+05:30

Odds that I open up an oyster and it will hold a pearl: 1 in 12,000
Odds of winning an Academy Award: 1 in 11,500
Odds of bowling a 300 game: 1 in 11,500
Odds that I get hit by a lightening: 1 in 5000
Odds of getting arthritis: 1 in 7

So much about statistics and probability... But I searched these figures becuase I am given an equally funny figure every now and then by our family astrologer..

A score of 28.5 on 36!!!! I said what does that mean. He said astrology is not an exact science. It is the probability that your marraige will be successful to this girl. Back in my mind I was converting the figure into a probability. Why...this is 79.16 % chances.. Converting that into odds..

Odds of this relationship succeeding: 1 in 1.2 Wow.. I now take a look and say, considering that I won't be doing 1.2 marraiges...this almost sure to succeed.. isn't it??

And I was so happy...untill I stumbled upon this..
Something more rakish..a bit more exciting...Russian Roulette..

Odds that I would still be standing after I pull the trigger 1 in 1.2

Coincidence!!!!!!!! That's frightening isn't it?? :D
So I stopped this analysis and decided to stick my decision of stubbornly ignoring anything to do with stars planet and my fate :)

Disclaimer:
I swear I did not make up those figures..Google and you will find them.. u may check these
http://www.funny2.com/odds.htm
http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/medical.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_roulette
(russian roulette odds: probability of survival is 5 out of 6 ie. number of empty chambers)

Unwind

2009-05-30T21:28:00.002+05:30

How do you unwind??

Should we listen to our expert John gray.. He sayz

To feel better Martians go to their caves to solve problems alone.
To feel better Venusians get together and openly talk about their problems.

So much for stereotyping behaviours. You don't necessarily withdraw into your cave, but may be don't really want to bitch about your workplace either, and a friend or two around helps..

I believe everyone has his/her way of unwinding. Some of us vent it out, here in blogs, some prefer calling up an old friend. There is something or the other one likes to do in order to get out of the tangle of everyday business. Some of it might be pretty funny. I had a friend who used to clean up his room on weekends and the relief on his face after that told it all. He used to be fresh and ready for action after that. There will be enough people who would say a little yoga is the best way to unwind at the end of the day. I would say 3-4kms on the treadmill works wonders.

There are people who need the newspaper. I never understood how lots of crappy news makes them feel better but still, they vouch for it. I have seen people picking up a book before they go to bed. May be its the legacy of those horrible student days..Nothing worked better at putting me to sleep than a book on my syllabus :) But sadly it doesn't work for other books. But still there are people who believe it works calms your hyperactive mind. Actually I think I read somewhere that your dreams are affected by what you read half an hour before you sleep. So better pick up the right books.

Sometimes it is just enough to let your favourite track play and do nothing. In 2006, I was into a gruelling schedule for some project and the only way to unwind was a long walk on the Palm beach road even if it meant starting off at 11pm at night. There have been times when I wonder why I was tinkering with an old gadget, taking the pain to make it work when I could just get another one from the market. Making it work, gives a certain satisfaction and lets me 'unwind' i guess.

For a long time, I wondered why I was collecting e-books that I would probably never read. CCNA guides, to machine gun manuals, if it looked interesting, I had to have it in my collection. Preferred surfing the message boards and forums to chatting. May be that let me unwind. Last year for almost 3months, i was hooked to watcing an episode of FRIENDS as soon as I returned from office.

Considering the 40+ temperatures here, going out during days is completely out of question. A friend here keeps pushing to go to the malls. Guess that's what unwinds him. Yesterday what we did was spend about 3hrs making ourselves a fancy lunch!!! Now who does that when you can order and get all you want delivered in 30mins. But then it was not about making lunch, it was unwinding. Instead of being glued to our laptops we spend those hours lecturing each other on all kind of weird topics.

I guess, it is all about getting your mind away from the usual and do something creative, something that keeps you busy, something that simply soothes those frayed neurons..

By the way, this whole thing reminds me, I lost the race to book this URL (http://unw.ind.in/) and Vigu managed to take it. I envy you mate..

Random lessons

2009-05-20T19:35:00.005+05:30

Life is a great teacher..
ya ya..We have all heard this enough number of times. But today I got hit by a barrage of life's teachings. I am amazed but I AM SO LUCKY to see this from third angle. :)

One: HMG oh!! if you haven't met her yet, let me introduce her to you... she is a High Maintenance Girlfriend. Most people dont realize the concept till they are right beyond the point of no return
Signs...they can vary.. Have look at a pretty good definition here
Btw I think I gave my friend a shatter glass effect today. Now if you are not a HIMYM fan then you would have no idea. So here are a few links ( 1, 2, 3) if you care to find out in detail. In short you don't realize the shortcomings of the person you like unless someone points out..
I might have unintentionally helped him realize "he has a HMG" I feel so evill :D

Girls here is a self check :) Take this test and dont feel bad if you are :) here is the most positive thing I could find on the net about you :)

Every man wants a woman who is sexual, sophisticated, and always keeping him guessing, yet he also cannot help himself from loving a woman who is sweet, caring, and someone he can drink beers with....
From a blog whose title says "Being High Maintenance, not Bitchy"

Two: u never know what life is going to make you learn. I met a friend yesterday who has suddenly become a SME (subject matter expert) on menstrual cycles!!!!!!!!
I was amazed untill he told me that he fears protection might have failed the last time he did it with his gf. No wonder his subject matter expertise also covered pregnancy tests!!!

Three: My friend passed out of one of the premier MBA colleges in India but sadly the mire of Indian IT industry placed him at a job which made him forget his career dreams. Wasn't Conflict Resolution, Negotiation, Change Management his fav subjects...Didn't he claim that this is the high adrenaline stuff that he always wished for!!! And all he had been doing for the last few years was drab business analysis ..creating fancy graphs and playing with numbers!!!

But I swear he is not enjoying the conflict management he is doing right now.. Well..to cut the story short, he is trying hard to get bring his love affair to its logical conclusion. It's hell of a job to engineer an intercaste marraige. Add language difference to it and you have deadly mix. I find him stuggling to utilize all his skills (strategic, tactical, phsycological) to get both the parties together.. Its not just an interpersonal conflict (sas/bahu, father's ego tussle) but an intercultural (no other state/language is as good as yours) conflict, a conflict in which you are a central charachter and that makes it one of the most highrisk/highgain gambles you are ever going to play in your life.. Hats off dude.. keep at it..

Look around and you will find something that will amaze you everyday

Self made Man

2009-05-18T13:09:00.004+05:30

The concept and visualization is so appealing, I decided to pin it up on my desk.. Nothing seems to have fired up my imagination to this extent after the fountainhead and the cover page of atlas shrugged..

Here is the image..

Self-Made Man is a man carving himself out of stone, carving his character, carving his future.

A here is the link to the website of the Sculptor/Architect (Bobbie Carlyle) who conceptualized this.

And ladies do check out the figuring for the Self-made woman. (Link)

Cheers

The Tiger and Goats Game

2009-05-14T14:17:00.008+05:30

Last Saturday, I stepped out of my appartment at about 6pm to go for a walk. This is the exact time when you get the chance to see the underbelly of the Dub*i's construction industry. The ant army of Indian/Paki/Bangladeshi/SriLankan workers are horded into vehicles to be transported to labour camps far from the city.

Now that's a price, civilization has to pay for creating a dream city and I am not interested in commenting on it. What I am about to write is about a sudden glimpse a forgotten (by me!!) Indian game that how it haunted me for the next two days.

A couple of workers waiting for their tranport sat on the pavement huddled around a piece of cardboard. As i passed them, I caught a glimpse of the chequered piece of paper infront of them. I should have stopped and watched them for a while and talked to them, but I moved on telling myself "I know this game.I have played it when I was a child"

30mins latter I was standing on the creek front tryin to figure out the exact number of boxes in the grid, the rules etc etc.. All I could remember was that years ago, this game had fascinated me beyond reason. I was the snobbish town Kid who used to land up in this dusty village every summer for his vaccations. It was very easy to be the center of attraction talking about strange things from the city, to other kids and they had to conjure up ways to show what they knew better than me. So be it the secret way to the big mango orchard, the expertise in catapult or simply winning in the game of cards, there was enough those kids were better at. One of the things where I did not want to lose was in the game of "Bagha Cheli" (Tigers and goats). In those days, it was the ultimate proof of how sharp you were. The varendah of the house right across my home had a permanent playing board. Some wise guy had drawn the board on the cement and left to dry. All you had to do was pick up 4 large stones and 20 small ones and we were ready for the game.

To cut the story short, I spent the next 2 days asking all the people who I thought had a remote chance of knowing about this game. I reached the conclusion this game never saw the commercial world and is limited only to the villages. So finally I hit the drawing board. Here is the final output. If any of you have ever played this game and remember the details, you will do me a favour validating the rules I have cooked up :)

The Board: Draw a (4 x 4 ) square grid. Connect the diagonals and the mid-point of the sides.
The Pawns: 4 Tigers, 20 Goats

The Rules:

This game can be played by two players.
One player control the Tigers and the other controls the Goats.
The players will have 4 tigers and 20 goats respectively. These are placed on the vertices.
The player with the Tigers gets to open the game by placing his 4 pieces at any 4 corners of the board.
The Goats are placed one by one anywhere (emply vertex) on the board.Untill all the goats are placed, they cannot be moved from their initial positions.
While each goat is placed, the tiger can move one step each time.
The pieces (Both Tigers and Goats) can move only over the lines.
A Tiger can jump over a Goat if the next vertex is vaccant. Each time a tiger does this, the tiger eats the goat and the piece is removed from the board.
The goats can render a tiger piece useless by cornering it or not provide it space to move.
Objective for the tiger: Kill and eat all the goats
Objective for the goat: Corner/Neutralize all tigers
No player can miss a turn.
No goat can move into the same position more than two consecutive times without moving another goat.

Seems like I have figured out the basic rules but can't figure out the finer details... I wish someone had developed this simple game for me to download and play :)

PS: Just 2 hrs after i completed the post, I have found enough material on the net..
1- http://www.gamepandit.com/games/tiger_goat.html (opens in a new page)
Nice writeup..
2- http://kreedaakaushalya.blogspot.com/2008/05/how-to-play-goats-and-tigers.html (opens in a new page)
A really detailed page, but of a different version of the game. Mentions that the board pattern is drawn on the parapet inside the mahadwara of the Chamundeshwari temple, Mysore
3-http://home.wxs.nl/~pvsanten/mmp/ppc_teng.htm (opens in a new page)
One for my handheld..but seems like a very old version.. wont work on winmobile6.1
4- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sher-bakar (opens in a new page)
General gyaan..
5- http://www.elvingames.com/tigers-n-goats.html (opens in a new page)
The best set of instructions.

Some images.. The last one is the one etched in my memories..

what horoscope!!!

2009-05-13T23:33:00.005+05:30

Some dayz back..Roshan asked a very simple question " how big is a deal, your horoscope to you?'

I refrained for answering... simply because I am frustrated with it..
I know I have screwed up with the template of the blog but my motto still remains

'Problems for overcoming, freedom for proving. And as long as we believe in ourselves NOTHING BY CHANCE. - Richard Bach "Nothing by Chance"

I kept ignoring it for years.. and it seems to have come back with a vengeance. As a matter of principle I dont blog about one of the very important thing happening in my life...."SEARCH FOR A PARTNER"

And this is where stars and planets have decided to take their revenge...

Just hate it, when my mom gets all excited about some horoscope matching perfectly...

Hmm.. enough said for the day .. I am just glad that i m putting something here. A lot of things have been happening in the past few dayz..but just cudnt get myselft to blog.. but i guess i m back now.. cheers :)

End of GM diet

2009-04-19T11:43:00.004+05:30

So I survived 6days of GM diet. Here is what the net result looks like..

Net loss of weight: 6pounds.. or 2.5-3kgs

Biggest problem: Low energy levels all through the week.

Biggest challenge: Devilish friends going all out to provide you with temptations

Final Verdict: It's not worth the trouble..
Go for a crash course like this when you goof up with your planning..May be you suddenly realize 1 week before a big event, that you look too bulky...

For me it was a test of will power. I swear i would have better results with a slightly controlled diet (i mean u can't be having biryani and french fries every day) and a good hour at gym.

But my target was achieved. I got the headstart I required. Now I am back to jogging and gymming to finish this job off.

This diet gives results but Make up you own mind if it is worth it... assuming you dont have masochistic tendencies!!!

GMDiet: Reached Day4

2009-04-16T10:27:00.005+05:30

Am I losing weight??? Don't know but I sure am losing out on a lot of good stuff.... Day two was only vegetables.. here is what my diet plan said..

DAY TWO: All vegetables. You are encouraged to eat until you are stuffed with all the new and cooked vegetables of your choice. There is no limit on the account or type. Avoid oil and coconut while cooking vegetables. Have large boiled potato for breakfast.

Never realized mashed potatoes could taste so tasty. But that was all..felt like a bunny munching on carrots all day. Tried to make some semi-boiled vegetables, but ended up turning them into a soup!!
---------------------------------------------

DAY THREE
Any mixture of fruits and vegetables of your choice. Any amount, any quantity. No
bananas yet and no potatoes today.

I expected Day Three to be tough but it was plain torture. To tweak one of my fav quotes from 'The Alchemist' - "When you really want to diet, the whole universe conspires to bring good food infront of you."

One of my colleagues was leaving for India at the end of his contract and we had a small farewell in office. Here is a pic of me...serving a delicious cake to the rest of the people around me.. In effect half the office now know abt this great knight on the path of GM diet..

Evening, we had a corporate get-together. Couldn't miss out on the chance to network with the big wigs from head office (u r really desperate for such occasion when u are on the client side hoping to get a feeling of what is happening in HQ back in India). So there I was, watching people sipping their drink and feasting on a magnificent buffet of biryani, chicken tikka masal and hot gulab jamun with ice cream!!

Final effect.. there are a few more now who have adopted me as the Guinea pig.. Licking up a scoopful of ice-cream infront of me, one of them said "Do tell me the results, I sure want to do this...if it works"

More than losing weight, this is turning out as a challenge to my resolve to continue till Day 7. I don't think I care about the weight loss any more. I will be happy that if i can simply stick to this diet till the end.

Smart people's secret: dont diet

2009-04-15T00:06:00.004+05:30

Well the fun continues.. I am receiving more and more fundas on dieting..

Here is the Best of the Best I have received yet..

When you diet, your main objective is to burn fat..Right?
60% of the Brain is made up of fat
So if you are dieting, you risk burning off stuff from your brain..in effect you become dumber when you diet !!!!

Well all this may be true..Let me share with you my true feelings on day 2 of GM diet, I saw that guy having a Pizza and I really felt I was DUMB to have got into this diet and all ..

Do you think it's the effect of fat burning off my brain :D

PS: If you are a compulsive googler..the next thing u would do is to check out if brain is really 60% fat. For others here is a bit of help..
Axons transmit signals to other neurons and actually fill most of the space in the brain. each axon is wrapped in a thick sheath of a fatty substance called myelin, which serves to greatly increase the speed of action potential propagation.
Source: Wikipedia
For those who like to-the-point answers:
Yahoo Answers
AnswerBag

GM diet : Day 1 - Survived

2009-04-14T17:41:00.003+05:30

They say, there are 7 carinal sins and every person has them although in different measures. I seem to have the sin of gluttony in greatest measure :)

BUT, I survived Day 1. Here is what the diet plan prescribed

All fruits except bananas. Your first day will consists of all fruits you want. It is suggested you consume lost of watermelon and cantaloupe.

And the overall guideline said:

The secret of this program is that you should never hungry. If it is a vegetable
day, eat so much vegetables so that you are never hungry. If it is a fruits day, eat so
much fruits that you are never hungry. You may be bored of eating vegetables all day,but you should not be hungry.

And i followed it to each letter. By the end of the day, I was crying for something spicy..at least something salty. My roomates made it a point to order some chicken biryani and have it infront of me. But I succeeded in fending it off by consuming a 2kg watermelon before they could get the delivery from the hotel. Gluttony paid off :)

I was too full even to look at it but half an hour latter I was having dreams of Kababs and Biryani..

BTW here is what i had yesterday.. Apples, Oranges, Grapes, Plums, Strawberries, Melon and of course Mangos. But still i swear you get bored of fruits by the end of the day..

Fashionable way to weight loss

2009-04-14T00:43:00.005+05:30

It has been some time since somebody gave me a funda worth writing here.. But today I got one that I had to check..

Since I announced that I am on a GM diet, there have been all kind of funny things happening. What I now realize is that everyone has a view on dieting and they feel obliged to let you know!!
And of course there are quite a few for whom I have become a guinea pig.."if it works for you, I am starting it next week?

Coming to the dieting advices. Here is the diet plan my friend suggests.. "whenever you are hungry take a little water...after 5 mins take some water...5 mins more and fill your self with as much as you can drink. Then walk out and have a smoke. There is nothing that works better.. Haven't you seen Models smoking all the time.. "
I said 'Yes'
"My friend that is the secret of their fabulous bodies. There is no better way to stay slim. It kills your hunger like anything... What is all this diet plan, fruits.. forget it.. start smoking.."

I didn't but made a note of this explanation. And a little bit of googling tells me there might be a connection, albeit for mice..
http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Study-finds-smoking-appetite-link/2006/03/22/1142703428313.html
http://www.news-medical.net/?id=5991

So all my smoker friends, i offer you another excuse for not quitting.. And it doesn't make you any more mouse like than you already are :P

GM diet..day 0

2009-04-12T23:53:00.005+05:30

And so it begins... There is no better way to settle this issue. KK if you are reading this, then 'Yes' I am going on the GM diet. Now we can settle it forever..it works or not.

If you are wondering what the GM diet is, then have look at this (http://www.iimahd.ernet.in/~jajoo/gmdiet.html)

Why am I doing this..
1- I didnt like my recent pics :)
2- If not anything this is supposed to detoxify my body..
3- I had serious doubts if I can do this.. Never ever taken a diet program. It's always been 'pump up' the excercise routine but never say No to good food.

Well life's got boring in the last few weeks so let's see how this goes..

For the records
I didn't weigh up today.. but 3 days ago it was 75kg

What I learnt today: Fruits are damn damn costly here.. day 1 is fruits and i billed 40 aed (multiply by 13 for INR) for some apples, oranges and watermelon!!!

Pringle chips and Wi-Fi

2009-04-05T09:31:00.003+05:30

It has been a long time since I did a DIY project. But yesterday when a friend mentioned that a pringle box can act as a pretty good Wi-fi catcher. The poor chap had spent a thousand bucks to get an external (usb) wi-fi booster, but that did not seem to help in his hotel appt. Finding me there, he made it a point to remind me that I was afterall an engineer and should take a look at his problem.

Well, there is nothing I remember of those 4 years of engg. forget about building wi-fi antennas. But I did spend some time yesterday to find out how easy (difficult) it was. My friend seemed to suggest that I just wire the empty can and connect to his external adapter...

Here is the exact method of building it, from the person who is credited to have tried it out in the first place
http://www.netscum.com/~clapp/wireless.html

It's not that simple afterall.. Well if I had enough time then...sigh!!!

Women better workers!!!

2009-04-02T11:09:00.004+05:30

The quality of work done by women is better. They work because they "want to" whereas men work because they "have to"

No I haven't suddenly turned Pro-feminism . It so happened that this statement was made while i was having a conversation yesterday. The first sentence is not of much concern. Everyone sure has a view on it (however biased it may be). But consider the second sentence, "Want To Vs. Have To"

Factually incorrect, I would say. People love their work (male included) and want to work.

The Indian social structure seems to be the base for the remarks made. But sure there are people we come across everyday in our workplaces who seem to just fulfill a ritual. This attitude/mindset sure makes a difference in the output. Again i said people. That means both male and female workers. A social loafer has no gender. This creature is obnoxious in both forms. It's just that, the means employed becomes so much more visible when it is a female.

Best looking laptop

2009-03-31T16:11:00.004+05:30

The best looking ones don't come cheap. But I spent the whole day drooling over these gorgeous pieces. Which one can i go for!!!!!!

1- The Dell XPS

2-Sony Vaio

3-Alienware m15X - too too good
4- Simply MacBook

5- or a Acer Ferrari

Mother

2009-03-25T11:57:00.004+05:30

Once in a while you come across a post that leaves you dazzled..
The words run straight through and you are amazed about the effect it just has on you. I came across such a post today. I happened to get it on Ramya's bookshelf. Phyllis Schieber has put in an wonderful guest post and i will recommend you to have look.

Here is a snippet to whet your interest.

I often tell young mothers to try to slow down and to enjoy their precious years with their babies. We are all so rushed, so eager to get to the next stage that we forget how quickly time passes. I am continuously amazed that I am the mother of a man. When my son recently came home from graduate school for spring break, I was so thrilled to see him. His dad had picked him up from the bus station in the city, and they were home by the time I arrived. As soon as my son saw me, he smiled with that sort of restraint one feels obliged to exhibit at his age. Unfazed, I threw myself on him, hugging him and declaring that he looked wonderful. He hugged me back tightly, and I knew he was happy to see me, but in my heart I was thinking about the little boy who would hug and kiss me so fiercely when I picked him up from nursery school and announce with heartfelt intensity, “I missed you, Mommy.” It was as though we had been apart for years. It would certainly be a little strange if my grown son did that now, but I wonder if mothers ever stop longing for those uninhibited declarations of love. I think not.

Ye dostiiii..

2009-03-25T09:48:00.004+05:30

"Necessity" they say is the mother of all inventions. But you find only a few around who have the spark to try them out. Last week my friend Junaid wanted a CD burning software and he wanted it urgently...almost like what our hindi film hero would put as "Life and death ka mamla hai" :)

He wouldn't let me know why..but i could see that this guy is upto something.. The next time I took a ride with him I found out what he was upto. He had found the optimum solution to a problem that many of face. Not all of yours friends like the same music and each time you go on a drive, there is a lot of fuss about the kind of music you have in your car.

He simply made a CD with different folders for his most frequent co-riders... All you have to do is shift from one folder to another.

I really liked the idea.. Well what if all of them are travelling together..which one gets played..I guess its gonna be settled the old way..Fight for your music :)

Birth of a temple

2009-03-16T19:06:00.006+05:30

You have probably seen this happen so many times. Temples spring up out of nowhere but each temple has a story behind it. The one I am going to write here unfolded right before my eyes. This time when I went home, this is what I saw. The view is from the terrace of my house.

15 years ago, our house faced a barren rocky stretch of land that I used to cross to reach the rail lines and place those 10paise coins on the tracks and wait for the trains. By the time I reached college the whole scene had changed. The row of thatched huts you see on the other side of the rails, filled up this space. The people in the 'jhopdis' slowly formed a part of our lives. The maid who used to work in our house brought in an amusing snapshot of their lives. An absolute chatterbox, I remember her telling my mother about how a kid in the Basti got miraculously cured. The granny of the child had seen in a dream that if she places a photo of 'Maa Tarini' and worships daily her grandson would get cured. And my mother latter told me how the neighbourhood aunty had forced the mother of the kid to go to the health care center (against the wishes of her mother in law) and take the required medicine for Malaria without which the survial of the poor kid was doubtful.

Anyway, that's how a small photo of 'Maa Tarini' reached this place. It was placed under a tree alongside a vermillon covered stone. The basti kept growing and slowly stories of faith started building around it. Soon there was were mud walls around it and you could spot incense sticks in the evening.

One day the Railways realized that the basti was an encroachment on their land and it was needed to lay an extra track. It was time to move. A partial demolition was carried out some time latter but the shrine survived and so did the basti. By this time I kept moving from pune to banglore and wherever my projects took me, but whenever I went home I couldnt help notice the shrine and how things were unfolding around it. I learnt that the Demolition drive had infact been reduced to 'Partial demolition' as people rallied around this small shrine and simply sat around it infront of the bulldozer inspite of the police presence.

The tussle continued and it seems the Railways and the State Officials (who now wanted to widen the road) managed to broker a deal with them. They got a good compensation (for encroching!!!) to aid in shifting and not only that the shrine which had become the rallying point got a great sponsorship. The contractor who had taken up the project promised to make it up by building temple provided they quickly vaccate as they had agreed.

So by the time I made my next visit, I found that that the people had taken the compensation amount and conviniently shifted to the other side of the rail track. The shrine had now turned into a temple thanks to the deal cut witht the contractor. There is a proper "Sandhya Alati" in the evening where a good number of people gather everyday. The stories around the shrine that had always originated from the other side of the road had expanded its circle of influence. My 'Kaki' had turn a 'bhakt' and I had to listen to her story about how she was saved from an accident by the blessings of 'Maa Tarini'. I tried in vain to argue but here was the clincher "How many vermillion smeared stones have you seen on the roads and how many of them have ended up in a temple like this..!!!"

Hmmm... I left it at that.. Sometimes it is difficult to take a stand on issues of faith.

The road has been 4-laned to be a highway, the much awaited rail-over bridge has also been completed and the Railways is working on laying an extra track near the old one. The basti has flourished on the other side of the track. The signs of improvement were clearly visible...there were handpumps, electricity bulbs... interestingly enough a few hundred meters down the road (on the other side of the track) there is a new vermillion smeared stone under a tree...

The Great Indian Marraige

2009-03-16T18:11:00.003+05:30

This trip has been all about marriages. ‘The great Indian Marriage’ in all its colors and shades makes a mosaic of splendid memories. A fine tapestry of high drama, emotions, a little show off and a lot of fuss around the lucky couple. It is a time when I get to meet a lot of people from a forgotten land, “my village”. A constant source of irritation and amusement, they seem to be an integral part of marriages in my family. My parents make it a point to invite them and they suddenly pitch into our normal lives. We clearly belong to different worlds and parents torn between both. But how can the marriage the complete with the wise ‘Nani’ who seems like a walking encyclopedia of all dying traditions of Orissa. The marriage is a string of several rituals and she takes on the task of policing them. Which earthen pot is to be brought, how many beetle leaves to put on top of it, when to start the ‘conch’, which leg to take out first, which side the girl should sit, she seems to know every fine detail. Then of course there is my granny who steps in to ‘Veto’ when there is a bit of confusion.

A permanent figure is my uncle, ‘father’s sister’s husband!!!!!’ (Related albeit a 3^rd degree cousin). Long ago (actually just a generation ago) we used to be a family of priests and my uncle has stuck on to the family business (if I may say so). The marriage simply cannot be thought without him supervising the ‘Puja’. He has to do the QC to make sure the idiot from our town is not skipping any mantras and everything is done as per Vedic rites. I love those scenes on the ‘mandap’ where they start fighting over one extra word in the verses (mantras) getting missed or added. I have seen him jump upon the other party (the priest come both from the bride and the groom’s side) quoting God knows what (I don’t understand single word of Sanskrit).

Then there are the old ladies, who love saying, ‘see how much you have grown up’. Well this time they were extra annoying with comments like “when do I see your Bahu.”, “Next is your turn”, “Don’t just bring in your girl, we want a proper marriage here”.

A great part of the marriage is the preparation of the traditional sweets. The bride usually takes load of this stuff on her way to ‘In-laws’. There are of course the ‘Boondi Laddoos’ but then there are the ‘Feni’ and ‘Gaja’ along with salty ‘Nimkis’. I got a chance to capture a pic of the making of ‘Labangi’ .

Made from Maida and stuffed with sweet coconut fillings, it is coated with a layer of sugar syrup and bound by a piece of Clove (Clove is called Labang in oriya) which gives it its name. An absolute delight when made by an expert. These experts would sit all night, usually a day or two before the marriage and in a marathon session prepare these goodies. Although now people prefer to order from sweet shops instead of going into the hassle of getting it made at home, the overnight session has its own benefits. Usually a small group of people have to stay around to supervise the making and that gives a great a occasion to catch up with a few people whom have not seen in years.

That brings me to the best part of my trip. A distributed family means you get to meet even your immediate relatives very rarely. The days are hectic and you have to take care of hundred little things and the only time you can get together is in the night after dinner. It used to be a conclave of us kids, and still has kids but we have turned into uncles L . But it is great fun to be with all the Bhaiyas and Bhabis, (their kids who refuse to sleep even at unearthly hours sniffing out the fun in the air) and of course there are people like me, the last of the disappearing “Singles” of our generation. The sound of laughter is hardly stopped by the closed doors and the meeting (‘Khatti’ in my terms) continues till we can no longer continue. Surprising small amount of sleep seems to suffice and you are awake next morning, thanks to your parents literally shaking you out of bed to get you started on some task or other.

Every day is so much fun, I could keep writing about them.. but its time to sleep now and be ready for office tomorrow..

Jago re

2009-03-16T11:47:00.006+05:30

How may times have I wished that the Voter Registration process was bit simpler. I wonder how many of you have a voter ID card. By the time we pass out of Engineering colleges, we start thinking of a Passport but a Voter ID...nope..

But as far I understood this is how things work. In my ancestral village, where my parents are on the voter list, the local agent of the political party takes the pain to make sure that my name came up on the voter list as soon as I turned 18!!!!!!!!! WHY? It is quite simple, I never manage to be present and someone stamps one extra vote and drops in the ballot box in MY name...

I did not even know if I could transfer my name to the city where I stay.

Well the election fever is rising in India (my short visit was marked with great political drama in my home state and I could feel all the excitement of being a part of the greatest democracy of the world). A friend of mine has put a status message saying "jaago re - voter registration done" The last time I had seen her get crazy about the Lead India campaign, so I was just wondering what she is upto this time and this led me to Jaagore site.

It's a must visit. Get some fundas cleared about elections and your voting rights. And do take this chance to register yourself if your are not yet registered.

Valentine Day Chaos

2009-02-12T23:17:00.002+05:30

I am overwhelmed by some great posts in my blogging circle this valentine's day. May be I planned something else but this is what I want to do now... As I approach valentine's day this is what's on my mind..

Some days back, Vignesh suggested I watch 'Chaos theory'. I love this theory and took the pain to find and watch it..but here is the message I want to share... let me share this scene which is right at the end of the movie...

"Ever heard Chaos theory Ed! Its a science, tries to determine underlying patterns in chaotic systems like weather, ocean currents, blood flow sort of things. But it turns out that are few things more chaotic than the beat of a human heart. Its beating up, slowing down. Pretty face, flirty stares. Its always changing on whats happening to ourselves out there its erratic sound of a bitch. But underneath all of that bump to bump mess, there is in fact a pattern, the truth, and its love. Most important thing about love is that we choose to give it, and we choose to receive it. Making it the least random act in the entire Universe. It transcends blood, it transcends betrayal and all the dirt and makes us human."

Wait till you feel you are ready to GIVE it and (believe me or not) receive it. It's not often that you may feel this way...wait for it..

Open up your hearts this valentine...give up to your whim...do what you feel like doing..take that weird step...Cupid is raining arrows...expose yourself :)

wrong turn of evolution!!

2009-02-10T00:44:00.002+05:30

Consider an ape and a human. An ape is much stronger and quicker than a human. Leave these two in the jungle and probable the ape would do a better job of staying alive. So what was the need for such evolution...where did evolution take such a turn.

Here is a theory that came out of a much spirited (literally ;)) discussion I was a part of this evening.

The evolution kept going right and if you agree that evolution happened in patches, then let me suggest this theory. A group of apes evolved into having much stronger brain power. (the point is, evolution focussed on the brain power for this patch having reached some level of physical abilities) These group of apes were strong enough to stop the predators just by their brain power, that was their gift of evolution for them to survive the wild. While evolution took this path, their physical powers kept on decreasing. Other lesser evolved apes gathered around them for protection and support. Slowly settlements appeared and the lesser apes also stopped evolving as stronger, faster wilder beings.

These group of highly evolved apes became the super creatures and took the place of Gods,priests and magic men. But sadly as settlements grew and civilizations started kicking in, there was much lesser need for them to use this evolved brain power and over the centuries they too lost it. We ended up evolving as human beings, weaker, slower and much tamer that the survivors of the wild.

Nice theory.. just for the heck of it.. Quite a different flavor from the well known Darwing and my fav Erich von Daniken..If any of you ever come across a simillar theory do let me know.

btw the discussion started off discussing religion!!

Rivers and Mountains

2009-02-05T09:10:00.005+05:30

My igoogle page popped this up today as inspirational quote:

"In the confrontation between the stream and
the rock, the stream always wins - not
by strength but by perseverance."
- H. Jackson Brown

I say this is bullshit.. the stream always wins because it's playing the game with a cheat code.. The win in this battle is all about having unlimited resources. A source that gets replenished perenially.

My sympathies are with the rock..

Can the analogy be extended to humans?? you decide.. if your ammo is something that gets replenished endlessly... great... use it against whatever you face.. you have found yourself the ultimate weapon.

But I think there is a limit to what you can put into something. Find the best way to do it and as long as you can but ... Be wise and flow around the mountain live rivers often do..

The river approach seems to be just perfect if you know that you are not too bright to find other ways...dull, dumb persistent brute force applied long enough is a good bet (some trivia: Consider encryption using a 128-bit key. For comparison purposes, let’s use a (so far) non-existent computer that can guess 1 trillion (1 followed by 12 zeroes) keys a second. On average, it would take around 2 million million million (2 followed by 18 zeroes) years to guess the key.) So there is hope is you live long enough :)

All the same, this reminds me of a few lines, i had come across somewhere long ago and thought I could always follow..

"When faced with a mountain I WILL NOT QUIT! I will keep on striving until I climb over, find a pass through, tunnel underneath — or simply stay and turn the mountain into a gold mine, with god’s help!”

Stick it up

2009-02-03T23:48:00.004+05:30

I have got a friend here who's quite obsessed with Post it notes.. Take a look and you will understand..Right from his workdesk to the dashboard of this car, it's all plastered with these yellow patches..

How do you use these little sticky things.. I just found out that they were invented by a 3M employee who wanted a bookmark that won't fall off from his choir book but can be removed without spoiling the book itself. Over the last 28 years people have so many uses including fun. Just search youtube for post it notes and you will find amazing videos and art work with these notes.

I guess the most popular is to use it as a reminder.. but when you create a such a mess like my friend does, I wonder how far it helps. I have used it to write my TODO list for the day, I have used it dispose chewing gums (ya...that's one of the best uses).. scribbled notes for people when i dont find them at their desks.. used it to note phone numbers (which anyway i lose with these stick ups)..i found someone interested in using it as origami paper..a friend found the best use in rolling up a joint..

I am sure you have seen it being used up in unexpected places...seems like it is one of the most ingenious inventions man ever made..

ManagementFunda13:KISS

2009-02-03T21:52:00.005+05:30

A small funny story..

A kangaroo at the Sydney zoo kept getting out of his enclosure every night. Knowing that mature kangaroos could hop very high, the zoo officials replaced the eight-foot fence with a ten-foot fence.

He was out the next morning, just roaming around the zoo.

They tore down the ten-foot fence and put up a fifteen-foot fence.

He was out again the next morning.

A twenty-foot fence was put up.

Again he goes out.

When the fence was forty feet high, a camel in the next enclosure asked the kangaroo, "How high do you think they'll go?"

The kangaroo said, "About a thousand feet, unless somebody thinks to lock the gate at night!"

How often do we rush into the most obvious solution and find ourselves in a greater mess!! This is obviously not an example of the hyped 'out of box thinking' but a nice demonstration of the futility of rushing into solutions. I am sure you must have come across the old story of how Americans and Russians solved the problem of writing in zero gravity.OR the story of how the Japs managed to eliminate empty soap boxes getting packed into cartons. This is also a reminder that solutions to problems can be much simpler than you imagine.

There is probably another angle. I remember having an interesting conversation long time back about "whether a problem can be solved at the level it is created" Quite an abstract question but what we were discussing was probably the fact that as consultants we tend to keep ourselves quite above and aloof from the problem and tend to believe that it is the best way to provide a solution. On the contrary if you don't step into the shoes of that poor operations guy and just diagnose the symptoms as seen from COO dashboard you would most probably be doing what the zookeeper did. May be this is different discussion i would keep for another post..

If you have heard of Occam's razor, it would be a good approach to keep things simple.

PS: If you missed the meaning of KISS in the title of this post it's Keep It Simple Stupid

The president is coming

2009-02-03T00:32:00.002+05:30

Just finished watching a movie called 'The president is coming'. A friend suggested it to me a couple of days back and I don't think I would have otherwise picked up this movie. Made by first timer and starring no big names, this movie give you a nice surprise..

The plot is simple. The president George Bush is coming to India and will shake hands with ONE young Indian. The story is that of selection of that young Indian.

Six contestants are shortlisted. The six contestants are Maya Roy India's best young Writer, Ajay Karlekar India's best young Social Activist, Archana Kapoor India's best young Indian Entrepreneur, Rohit Seth Call Center Accent Trainer, Kapil Dev Dholakia India's best young Stock Investor, Ramesh S Software Engineer. Maya Roy (Konkona Sen Sharma). She is one of the 6 contestants in a talent contest, who will stop at nothing to be the person to represent New India in front of the visiting US President, George Bush.

The movie is absolutely hilarious, the caricatures are stunning. Especially Ajay Karlekar and Kapil Dev.. You will probably laugh your guts out like me...

Towards the end, there is a bit of dark streak that you may not like but overall a different piece of work and I appreciate that. Go for it..It's an absolute must watch..

My new crush

2009-01-28T13:53:00.002+05:30

I have been toying with the idea of getting myself a projector. My friends tried reasoning the need for one, but I am convinced about its value proposition.

If you

Live a highly mobile life
Have regular parties at home ;)
Love playing those wonderful games (PS/Xbox or simply PC games)
Belive that eccentricity is a word invented by people who never stood out from the crowd

then you really really need it..

Nothing geeky about it..you cannot buy a big TV because you keep shifting between cities every few months. the laptop screen has its own limitations. If fitted all the above 4 then you probably have laptop with lots of brawn power..for processing as well as graphics but went with a small form factor to suite you life style.

Now just imagine...5 friends meet up at your place to catch up over a drink or two and watch that all important match.. how abt a big screen..

I think you can figure out the rest yourself. Enough talks.. here goes the beauty..

You can find out the specs from 3M site..
http://www.3mmpro.com/default.aspx

Why do I call it my crush..I may finally make a more sensible decision based on a more holistic view and not just the size..

Samsung SP-P400B seems to be a nice one.. For the first time I came to know that manufacturers have shifted to using LEDs which can give a longer life to your projector. That should mean much lesser brightness...need to check that...

my project projector WIP...but i love this samll piece..a must have.. (less that 400$ as google tell me as of today)

Chenapoda

2009-01-12T20:38:00.005+05:30

This is as a tribute to a friend's post I read a few days back.
A chenapoda is according to me is the best of the best among sweets from Orissa. When I read Sam's musings on "chenapoda" I went into that nostalgic frame of mind and was trying to calculate when I would get a chance go to Orissa the next time.

I am sure you must have heard this, an optimist's ultimate delusion about wishful thinking, "If you truly want something, the universe conspires to give it to you.." - Paulo Coelho and now made famous in India by SRK's hindi rendition of the line in Om Shanti Om

I was discussing Chenapoda with a friend here while not known to me another was getting ready to take a flight from Bhubaneswar. A few phone calls and what must have been a lot of lucky synchronization of the schedules of a lot of people, this object was on my desk today morning...after passing through several hands, a long flight over the arabian sea, through 3 airports and getting cleared through 2 customs..

Like Sam has described, the cheese is thoroughly mixed with sugar,elaichi and kaju etc., drained of all water and made into the shape of a cake. It is then covered with teak leaves and put in a oven with red hot charcoal covering it from all sides. That is what gives it a brown outer crust and a juicy soft brown/white center.

Not a great photograph and it did spoil some flwo diagrams I was working on but to one who has tasted it once, this should be enough to get the mouth watering again :)

Thank you Narayan and Ganesh who made this joy possible so far away from home..

the curious story of ..

2009-01-10T04:16:00.003+05:30

What a movie!!! Just finished watching "The curious case of Benjamin Button" You will need a lot of patience but it is enjoyable. Reminded me of the time, I first saw "the forest gump". Slow easy narration, stretching over an era, interleaving events that you know with that in the life of the central character.

Now, without giving anything away, I can say that it is a story of child born old and as time goes by he becomes younger and younger. What if this really happened...see the movie. You keep watching to see how things turn out. Benjamin finds adventure, romance, love, youth as he grows younger but people around him get older. Makes a very nice point about how nothing lasts..

I kept thinking where I had read something like this. I found out that F. Scott Fitzgerald had written a short story on the similar lines. But the movie has shown the story so wonderfully, I can swear it is going to be remembered as a classic.

I loved the way, the character Benjamin's looks have been handled. The resemblance to Brad Pitt on the very old and weary looking kid is uncanny. You will love to watch him grow younger till he is the dashing young Brad Pitt wearing his shades and driving a bike. Then again he returns after years when he looks like he is 20. The make up guy has really done wonders..

There are a few really nice lines in the movie.. I picked these up from the imdb page which btw has given it a 8.5 on 10. That simply means a must watch..

Benjamin Button: My name is Benjamin Button, and I was born under unusual circumstances. While, everyone else was agin', I was gettin' younger... all alone

Benjamin Button: You can be mad as a mad dog at the way things went; you can swear and curse the fates - but when it comes to the end, you have to let go.

Benjamin Button: It's a funny thing about coming home. Looks the same. Smells the same. Feels the same. You'll realize what's changed... is you.

Benjamin Button: [Voice over; letter to his daughter] For what it's worth: it's never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There's no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of. If you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.

Destop effect

2009-01-07T00:12:00.006+05:30

I suddenly revived from a slump over this weekend. Every task was taken with the same zeal as my New year resolution. In other words, I was doing nothing about it. And before I realized the lines in my TODO list had grown to scary lengths. Never realized what the tipping point was but woke up on Monday, forced a restart to my laptop, removed my desktop image... from this one which I had titled 'LetGo'

to this one, that I created out of a image on wiki commons...

Seems like it works :)

Moral of the story: Changing the desktop wallpaper also has its effects...revisit yours..

Love thy neighbour

2009-01-01T23:47:00.002+05:30

India and Pakistan are unique in their similarities. Quite simply they seem to love to hate each other. Their politicians having realized this have used it for all the wrong reasons. Not many in either country have a chance to meet someone from the other side and what we carry along is the prejudice about a stereotype born out of decades long propaganda and selective information sharing.

When I came to this place, I had no idea I would be crossing paths with my neighbors so often. They form a sizable chunk of the demography here. Dubai is a city of dreams for them and since late nineties a more preferred destination than many western countries. So you are bound to come across a Pakistani every now and then.. and like Indians you find them in all strata of life. From my barber to my taxi driver to colleagues in office, I have interacted with more Pakistanis than I ever thought I would.

The first time I went into a barber's shop, my friend told me "Why this one, there is a gujju shop down the lane.." Did not make a difference to me and I walked in. And of course there is no difference. Language is not a problem, they understand and speak Hindi like most of us and the conversations inside was not any different than you would have had in shop in Mumbai.

A lot of the taxi drivers seem to be from Pakistan also. They too are not very different from the talkative ones I am used to in India. The stories are simillar. Economic compulsions have driven them out like to this city and the dreams and aspirations are ones that you can easily identify with. One of them actually really surprised us with his chaste Punjabi. It took a while for the fact to sink in that there is Punjab beyond what we know..

Then of course, there are the highly educated professionals that share your workspace. Less talkative and as diplomatic as you could be in avoiding any topics regarding either country. But like any professional from the sub-continent, the talks do stray off to small talk on cricket, movies and sometimes a little Bush bashing.

But all this interaction slowly gives you tit bits of information that lets you feel that your neighbour is also like you afterall. Here are a few interesting views you would probably never get to know..

Karachi is spoken with the same passion as you speak of Bombay. It is a city of dreams, growing fast and is comming out as the economic hub.

Musharaff how much you may like to hate him, is considered much better than many past rulers and definitely the present one. I just could not help asking "Why??" He told me, "As far as I am concerned, he did bring development. My village now has water..."

All this present standoff, for a person near the Wagah border is all bad. The trade has stopped and they dont understand why people can't behave in a more matured, realistic manner and live to prosper together...

the last sunn 2008

2009-01-01T03:38:00.005+05:30

The last that was seen of 2008 sun in Dubai..I had planned well enough and proceeded to Jumeirah Beach, but fog got the better of me.. Anyway this is the last sun of 2008 as I saw it.. 5PM

A fantastic view of the Jumeirah Beach Hotel.. the fog adding to its charm..

A good year..09 was fine..

2008-12-31T16:54:00.003+05:30

I used to love the year end editions of newspapers. The countdown begins and they start a recap of the year goneby. What amazed me was how much i had missed during the year. Some news that you vaguely remember, others that you did not even realize happened and takes you by surprise. Especially awards, obituaries and some international events. But it's time to reflect. So I thought I should also do it for me..

Let us see.. Jan to April in USA...H1 confirmed (strange I get lucky in lotteries I am not interested in) in June...despite H1 factor, change jobs by July...dream trip to Laddakh...Aug to Dec in Dubai..

Wow... looks great..got to see alien lands, met lots of new people, made some great friends.. That's really great..

The year of recession...terror... superhyped elections.. and we all lived through it getting touched in some way or the other, but it I think I can say this was a good year for me.

Don't know about new year resoulutions.. but here is the last resolution for the old year.. I wish to take the photo of the last sunset of the year and hopefully do it every year after this... It's 4pm here and it has become strangely foggy!!! All new year celebrations and parties have been cancelled in Dubai but I am sure we will find a way to be happy..

All the best wishes and happy new year to whoever is reading this :)

Christmas gift : pass it on

2008-12-27T02:24:00.006+05:30

I was just going through a post byRoshan a fellow blogger..this one is a reaction to his thought.

I remember Mr. Sabu, my history teacher in class 6. A wonderful story teller he was (no wonder, i still remember what he taught us). Around Christmas that year he got us to listen to a nice story. A story of Santa appearing before a kid and teaching him some precious lessons of love and kindness. I sat all dreamy eyed and motivated to do something good... may be like that kid in 'Pass it on' who believed we can change the world..

Sadly today we don't. May be its the years of exposure to human greed, selfishness and hypocrisy or just our inability to see beyond the small setback each time we tried to do something good, we rarely do an act of kindness and compassion.

A few days more before we end this year and I was thinking if I did anything like that.. May be I did, maybe not but I soon realized my thoughts had shifted to if I had received any. Well.. I did. There are probably many. But right now I just want to thank Marc and his family for being so good to me when I was feeling all lonely and home sick in an alien country. Especially when they had no need to be sharing their time with me..

And I was not even gracious enough to send them a Merry Chirstmas card.. So here's a wish going out from my quota with God (if I do have any quota).. A great new year to these wonderful people.

I don't think every one gets a chance to do a superhuman act but a small gesture of human understanding, empathy and kindness is enough to make a difference. It may not always be possible to return it back to the people who gave it to you but I wish to spread each act of kindness and gesture of love received. That sounds like a great resolution for 2009 and for all time after that..

Paisa Kya na kare kaam

2008-12-23T23:49:00.006+05:30

People tend to value things that are not easily available. Never thought greenery could be one of them. Recently I had been on a trip to Al Ain and Jebel Hafeet. Al Ain is a well known oasis here and as expected there is enough greenery in and around it. Then we moved towards Jebel Hafeet, a mountain famous for the beautiful sight at sunset. On the foothills is a hot spring, which has been turned into a picnic spot. People from Dubai and Abu Dhabi throng this place during weekends. And here, I saw yet another miracle that only money can buy. Take a look at the pictures below..

This is a view from the public park around the hot spring. The greenery right in the middle of the desert attracts a lot of people. But the fact is that, the hot spring is just a thin trickle of water that feeds a large pool.

As we moved out, the stark difference became quite visible, the cliffs around were made of sandstone/limestone. Clearly quite inhospitable to any kind of vegetation and the hot spring not enough to bring out greenery over such a large area..

This view from the top of the mountain brings out the isolated green patch right in the middle of the desert..

So how is it possible.. As our car passed close to these patches, I could not help notice the network of pipes that spread over this huge area. All this greenery has been brought about by drip irrigation. Sprinklers work all year round to add color to this lifeless cliff faces.

I could not help wondering... all this at what cost... surely paisa kya na kare kaam...Clearly Adam Smith's law of scarce resources doesn't hold good here. Resouces, especially money seems unlimited and wants dont need to get prioritized..

As someone from a developing country where there is so much poverty.. where so many dreams, hopes and enthusiasm dies for the lack of resources, I can hardly say this is money well spent...

A lonely beach

2008-12-18T18:58:00.004+05:30

The day seemed gloomy right from the start, but I had to make this trip. It had been almost two years since I had quietly decided to move out of that place. I never knew how to handle goodbyes. Things were not unfolding into what I would have liked but I had made my decision. Time to leave...pack..load and move out. Never said goodbye to so many people. !! and a last look at the dispensary, the school, the half built temple and the hostel..

And today, I had once again decided to make the trip alone. A lot had changed in these years, and as much as I might say to the contrary, I still hoped people would recognize me.. The sky was overcast as I entered into the admin block and went straight to the exam section. I wanted my passing certificate and wanted to get over with it. This place had taken away so much from me...... Time to cut the last umbilical cord..

As I approached the huge gates, went over to sign the security records. And then there was a warm "How are you sir...Where are you now..". Someone still recognizes me here!!! Well out of those gates, I could not help stopping straight across the road, at place where we had spent half the evenings.. Sure enough, once again.. a warm welcome.. It was starting to drizzle and the number of people outside the campus was very little. Suddenly someone said "Bhaiya kaise ho aap.." I simply said "Sure I am fine.. and howz your try at animation going..you must be a champ by now". He started aapko kaise yaad hai. I said "Ragging is not all about fun dude..its about knowing your juniors.."

A small chit chat.. a bit of gyan about higher studies and job market and I decided to get going. It had just started to drizzle and I put on my raincoat as I started my bike. Just a few distance off and I could not help turning towards the beach. Something in me telling "Dont..it is not a drizzle, it is going to grow"but I had to. Parked my bike infront of the temple, did not go in but bowed just there and walked towards the beach..

Winds screeched past me, and the fine spray of rain started hitting my face. I rolled up the hood of my raincoat and let it come in. As i reached the beach everything was looking familiar and yet so different. Something in me was as heavy as the sound of wind outside.. memories rushing in and out faster than the tides hitting the shore. Bits and pieces of conversations, faces, small moments good and bad, spent during those years started to get mixed with the gust of wind and rain hitting me... Faces I loved... faces I hated... words that should have been spoken and ones that I never should have... Fight I fought and the ones I didn't ..small things I enjoyed.. starry nights.. dreams that begun here..

Stood there for a minute and as I turned back, I was thinking, "You can never forget...may be you don't want to...here lies a piece of your life...

DubaiDiary:Its Raining

2008-12-17T14:07:00.005+05:30

Something I thought I am going to miss this year.. Moved out of India just before the monsoons and I had absolutely no hopes of see it in this desert country..

But I am lucky..It is raining and it's a downpour.. A rare thing for people here but I am sure enjoying it.. Feeling so so happy seeing it rain .. Just two steps from being a kid again I guess.. A few paper boats and the joy is complete :)

But the best rainy days were sure back home.. Sitting on the balcony watching the rains comming straight across the bbsr airfield... some novel in hand.. light spray of water hitting your face and of course with Maa there to supply the pakodas..wahhh

ManagementFunda12: Expectation Management

2008-12-16T15:19:00.002+05:30

You do it every day with people all around you. More so in a corporate environment...with clients, with your project manager and sometimes within your own team. This story has been doing rounds of mailboxes since long...but sure is a great lesson in Expectation Management..
"Under commit and Over deliver", may not be the only solution but a sureshot way of staying in control. So here goes the story..
-----------------------------------------
A father passing by his teenage daughter's bedroom was astonished to see the bed was nicely made and everything was neat and tidy. Then he saw an envelope propped up prominently on the centre of the pillow. It was addressed "Dad". With the worst premonition, he opened the envelope and read the letter with trembling hands:-

Dear Dad,

It is with great regret and sorrow that I'm writing you, but I'm leaving home. I had to elope with my new boyfriend Randy because I wanted to avoid a scene with Mom and you. I've been finding real passion with Randy and he is so nice to me. I know when you meet him you'll like him too - even with all his piercing, tattoos, and motorcycle clothes. But it's not only the passion Dad, I'm pregnant and Randy said that he wants me to have the kid and that we can be very happy together. Even though Randy is much older than me (anyway, 42 isn't so old these days is it?), and has no money, really these things shouldn't stand in the way of our relationship, don't you agree?

Randy has a great CD collection; he already owns a trailer in the woods and has a stack of firewood for the whole winter. It's true he has other girlfriends as well but I know he'll be faithful to me in his own way. He wants to have many more children with me and that's now one of my dreams too.

Randy taught me that marijuana doesn't really hurt anyone and he'll be growing it for us and we'll trade it with our friends for all the cocaine and ecstasy we want. In the meantime, we'll pray that science will find a cure for AIDS so Randy can get better; he sure deserves it!!

Don't worry Dad, I'm 15 years old now and I know how to take care of myself. Someday I'm sure we'll be back to visit so you can get to know your grandchildren.

Your loving daughter,
Rosie.

At the bottom of the page were the letters "PTO".

Hands still trembling, her father turned the sheet, and read:

PS:
Dad, none of the above is true. I'm over at the neighbour's house. I just wanted to remind you that there are worse things in life than my report card that's in my desk centre drawer. Please sign it and call when it is safe for me to come home.

I love you!

Your loving daughter,
Rosie

Staying Awake while driving..

2008-12-12T22:46:00.004+05:30

Words of wisdom again...this time as I understand from the taxi drivers of Kerala..God's own country...and they just cant be wrong..

We were driving down after a wonderful meal at Al Ain. As expected, all were feeling drowsy and even Peter's blaring hard rock collection couldn't prevent me from sleeping. Finally he just gave up, cut the volume and started shouting.. Ok, now that we were up and for the sake of our driver we started the small talk. The topic was obviously, ways of keeping awake while driving and it was then that this new funda was thrown at me...

Keep some whole black pepper with you...When you start to feel drowsy, pop in a few seeds and chew them... Yes!! it will burn your mouth but I swear you would be awake for the next 45 mins or so, salivating and most of your attention focused at your burning mouth :)

As my friend said, "Tried and tested sir... by who else but the taxi drivers of Kerala.. they have to do long distance trips all the time and nothing works better than this..."

If any of you is trying out the black pepper solution anytime soon, let me know..

As for the rest of the techniques that the wise council discussed, none were as interesting.. here are a few:
The Golden Rule, ensure that the one seating on the front seat doesnt sleep..it spreads..
Stop and have a strong cup of tea..
Nope.. Coffee works better than tea..
Wrong.. Nothing like a smoke..
Stop wash your face and then drive again..
Bite your tongue !!!!
Laugh on a joke...now if you passenger can remember one..
Keep shouting at your friends who are trying to doze off in the rear seat..
Shut down the A/C.. in this part of the world, I think this would surely work..

Don't hesitate to add you special advice :)

Rab ne bana di jodi

2008-12-12T01:28:00.004+05:30

Once again a first day first show, thanks to my geo-spatial advantage and the boredom of these Eid holidays here in Dubai.

For those of you in India, waiting to see it released tomorrow: Don't expect too much. A DDLJ comes once in a decade and this is not the film of the decade. Shahrukh seems to have grown up along with me and from a heady, 'for the heck of it' youthful romance like DDLJ to a more realistic topic relevant to my age bracket, namely "the perils of arranged marriage". (beyond the sad Kabhie Alvida na Kehna)

The movie is absolutely watchable and has enough moments you would enjoy. Shahrukh does manage to give some wonderful light moments and Vinay pathak does a great side kick act. The new girl Anouskha is definitely the girl next door. She looks so ordinary that she was probably choosen especially for that fact.

Aditya Chopra manages to draw up a convulated plot involving as you might expect some moral dilemma and then untangles the mess into a happy ending. The fact is that you might end up having strong feelings with the way the the climax unfolds. Not a big percentage of population can be termed misogynist but only a few of you sane people should end up sympathizing with the the dumb charachter called Surinder Shahni (played by Shahrukh).

Rest better left unsaid.... Do go, and watch this movie, but don't worry if you did not get a ticket this weekend, it is not really unmissable...if that's the right word :)

Castaneda

2008-12-11T17:25:00.005+05:30

I have this habit of keeping a track of all books that I have been suggested to read. Especially when they come through random conversations with people I hardly know. I am quite sure there are many different facets to one's interest and different faces gets pictured when when you start talking to new people. And based on these short discussions they make an picture of the kind of person you are and suggest some books that they think you will like. I happened to mention once that I love Paulo Coelho's books and have read all his available(that referred to footpaths of Bangalore) publications.

This person mentioned you might then look for Carlos Castaneda's books. The book he referred to was "The Eagle's Gift". I came back home and made a note of it somewhere. Now I don't really remember when I transferred that list to Shelfari but a few days back I happened to check my wishlist. And thus began my search for Mr. Castaneda's books.

I don't really like e-books. Always prefer the touch and feel of a great book.. but at the same time I seem to have "Compulsive Obsessive e-book Collection Disorder"(severely aggravated by the free broadband in my motel in US and now the 1Mbmps connection here). It is a disorder because i hardly read those, but since I had no hope of getting my hands on Carlos books, I decided to go ahead with the digital copy. I did get all of his works (now stored as a DVD)

The first in the series is "The teachings of Don Juan"...

Sadly, I am not liking it.. I am almost halfway through it and all I can say is that I can understand the fascination that people from rest of the world have for it. Till now he has been describing his initiation into occult and hallucinatory experiences. But India is a place where you are exposed to many such stories by the time you are in any position to blog ( provided you share your origin to some village in a state like Orissa in India). These stories of black magic or occult are nothing new.

So I am still waiting to learn the teachings of don juan, but till then I am dissapointed. If you are from India and have heard numerous stories of witches, tantriks and hat yogis dont waste your time learning that bhang and ganja can get you on a high and make you feel things that you can never imagine in your sane mind or that there are people who are supposed to have strange powers which even you would agree not to believe...or that there is a different way to look at life, a way which your advanced physics and quantum mechanics cant explain..
,
But the story is yet to be completely revealed, so I rest my judgement till then. But as of now, my initial assesment is that, this is overrated and too much commercialized to have too much truth in it.

I downloaded almost 2Gb of stuff titled : Magical Passes: Supposed to be a series of steps that were taught by this Mexican/IndianAmerican for the well being of human beings. This matches my hatred for so called "Kriya Yoga" which I almost got sold into when I was 18. True lessons of life and that of the occult are not that easy to get, and internet is definitely not the channel. Anything that you get from the commercialized channels is sure enough commercial shit. You have to experience them to believe them and that does not come easy and definitely not to every one.

That brings me to something that I have been thinking of blogging recently. A friend of mine swears he has witnessed things which are beyond natural. I dont feel I can put it up in third person but I would definitely try to express it in some form.

I am a skeptic but too much of an optimist i guess.

city spirit

2008-11-30T10:24:00.002+05:30

I don't know how long you have been in mumbai but i did not really like it very much. Saw the riots, the flooding and then the train blasts..and what disturbed me most was the fact that most Mumbaikars turn "Comfortably Numb". Nothing wrong with the people, it's just the ruthless city life. But i admire how much they love mumbai.. i always used to get into heated discussions if I ever said anything even remotely bad about mumbai :) then I made peace with my frnds. By the end of my 9 month stay, i started appreciating a lot..

well talking of mumbai, people say Dubai is just like mumbai (albeit a lot cleaner and a much meaner version)... I can see why people say so. Both are a city of dreams. but not really a place you would like to live for ever. People from around the world come in here to make a quick buck, and I think they do. They change a bit in the process and think they have hit that equilibrium but the city keeps working on them and they keep changing ever so slowly without realizing. Some face their moment of truth and leave, but others are consumed by the spirit of the city. I could never understand the people who used to wake up at 4am and take a 3 hr journey in a local to work and spend the same number of hours to go back. But then I was to see the same thing over and over again. Whether San Francisco or Dubai, or if I may say so any big city, the conditions are not vey different.

People start before the day breaks and reach late in the night... at least 4 hours spent in traffic/commutation. But still they swear this is a good life. My reaction when I first saw those slums in Mumbai was that of disbelief and the only question that kept nagging me was that 'Cant these people find livelihood anywhere else". Even if they go back to their villages at least they would be able to get food and at least a decent place to live. Something simillar works on my mind when I hear of the hard life in these "city of dreams"

May be it is not easy to understand unless you live through a simillar experience. Afterall, here I am in Dubai and my life in Banglore seems like a kings life compared to this. May be people in these crazy cities create their tiny universe around them and do everything to preserve it. How someone rationlizes it is really a wonder of human mind, but i think everyone strives to reach an equilibrium between what he thinks he wants and what has.

focussed listening

2008-11-24T13:37:00.002+05:30

It's amazing how we can actually direct ourselves to listen to what we want. I am not going into any kind of psychological analysis, but a simple observation.

In all meetings, you will find a number of cross converasations happening at some point of time. Past few meetings I have been noting how I was clearly filtering out most cross conversations and focussing on only one that I am interested in.

Not a very brilliant observation.. is it. But what proved the point was the recordings. Since these were brainstorming sessions, I was taking a recording of the meeting to review latter. (I normally get too engrossed in discussing and forget to take notes)

So I came back and wanted to listen it back so as to tak notes. And what I found was that, some of the pieces of conversation that was there in my mind was missing. These were times when there was some cross conversation. The dumb machine recorded everything. How I wish, it could also target and focus only on what I wanted to hear. Too much to ask from technology I guess but may be one day...

I guess multiple recorders pin pointing the origin of the sound and then recording each source separately should solve the purpose. Like in Photoshop and 'n' other apps using layers, you should get an option to listen to all the sources or just tick off the sources you dont want. Hmm... sounds good.. but how to do it without giving each person a separate mic...

Ok enough, back to work :)

DubaiDiary: GoodMorning Dubai

2008-11-15T18:31:00.004+05:30

For most people like me, the day you wake up to see the sunrise is definitely special.. Whatever be reason for waking early, it's a new chance..

The world looks different during different times of the day and there is a special glow that the morning sun brings with it. OR may be simply because I see so few sunrises..

This morning, I decided to click away a few memories of a morning in Dubai and went off with my cam to the creek...join me..

The first rays of the sun on the Dubai creek
The Magic that the golden rays bring.. everything looks magnificent.. You are looking at a Dhow, that's what boats are called here...
The famous twin towers... Couldn't miss out the chance to shoot it with an aircraft :)
Footpath..Bank Street.. by the time i returned, people were ready to go to their work..

Bank Street again.. Al Rostamani... a name all expats know.. that's how u send money back..

Shaurya and Chandrayan

2008-11-13T00:20:00.002+05:30

Chandrayaan, reached its destined orbit, 100 kms off moon and India test firing Shaurya are the kind of news that somehow makes me feel good. May be it is just co-incidence but the timing is just right. When half the world is withdrawing itself into a shell with nothing but ominous news about financial meltdown gobbling up not only companies but threatening countries all together, today's news from India was a joy.

The prime minister is parleying with the president of USA, while the nation's media declares India's test firing of an enhanced neuclear capable missile being tested. Uncanny timing I would say. I remember the late 90's, a time when I was mad about getting into the defence services and followed each development on Prithvi and Agni with the zeal of an Indian cricket fan. Every time there was a China sponsored Hatf or Ghaznavi declared after an Agni, I felt like losing a test series lead. But I guess, today I feel like having taken a good enough lead.. Old rivaliry apart, to the whole world, this a message from a different India, much more confident, emphatic and self assured.

My friend says Chandrayan is a waste. But it is a message to the world and it was required. 'Tashan' hi sahi...

An pyramid or a colleseum doesnt really seem to make grear sense.. may be enough people in its time called it a waste but are still marks of developed civilizations. A race of people not too engrossed in the business of living. It marks an abundance of resources and brain, although in some way aimed at its shameless display.

All said and done, a little cynic voice in me says beware... Keep an eye on Machiavellian tactics tried on you. At most difficult times, cunning leaders can resort to uncanny tactics to keep the focus of their subjects elsewhere.. Only time will say..

Connecting..

2008-11-05T15:26:00.004+05:30

Ever since Narayan told me that he had Oriya songs with him, I had been requesting him to get me those. Finally I had them this weekend and I was really excited to find that there were some videos as well.

I have been out of Orissa for the last 5 years and when I was there, I never developed a taste for Oriya music. Until may be I had Jaga as my neighbour in the hostel. In spite of being always short of cash, he managed to save enough money to buy a stereo system and from that day onwards he would never miss out a album that was released. A little of his fanatic zeal brushed off me and I at least started to know the red hot numbers that was released in that period. Otherwise it used to be a few bhajans and classic oriya songs that I must have sub-consciously picked due to over exposure over the years. Though I must admit, the interest was mostly limited to hot tracks like "Ekda Ekda", which shared same kind of status as "Mungda Mungda" when it came to dance numbers. You got to know them to sync up will the frenetic crowds around you, whether it be a marriage 'baraat' or ganesh puja 'bisarjan'. And of course you needed to know a few sambalpuri steps. Seemed to me almost like the bhangra for odiyas. Most popular ones were folk songs had some kind of sambalpuri lyrics.

Strangely, I seem to come across more of Oriya music when I am out of India. In US i realized that YouTube has a great collection of oriya album songs. Considering the connection speeds in India (streaming video is almost impossible unless you are using a broadband connection), we can safely assume that most of these videos have been made available thanks to a bunch of nostalgic Odiya brethren techies. But I guess we should be thankful to them. I saw a new generation born and learning their first steps far away from India, thanks to these youtube videos. However ridiculous the lyrics, however clumsy the dancers, however archaic the dressing sense of even the lead actors and actresses, still it was Oriya music. A 3 yr old was dancing to its tunes while his proud parents watched on, may be taking a trip down the memory lane and happy that at least now there was something common between their childhoods, otherwise separated light years of technology, culture and mindsets.

This weekend while I sat down surfing through these DVDs, nothing much had changed. Still we had singer like Udit Narayan and Babul Supriyo (who are not oriya) bringing out full albums, the choreography had improved but was struggling hard to catch up (it was still like the 30 people dancing behind Govinda number aaAAeeEEe...), the dressing sense was still terrible though a few fresh faces (actresses) did lighten my heart up.

Having confessed that I was never a big fan, you can simply ignore my comments. But I must say it did get me nostalgic. It was not the music but the videos. Just seeing the streets of Bhubaneswar was enough to capture my interest and view the video. Dance numbers shot at familiar places like Nicco Park, Khandagiri, Chandaka road and chandrabhaga beaches made it a nice watch for me. Some of them touched deeper. There were a few that reminded me of wintry mornings of hilly Keonjhar that I must have seen when I was a child. A few capturing the soft golden sunlight through the misty mornings on a freshly harvested paddy field took me to memories that must have been ages old. I don't remember when I had been to my village the last time. It was not the girl wooing on the banks of the river that had my interest, rather the admiration of the peaceful settings and the fact that I had once a chance to live through that serene settings made me feel ecstatic.

It might be increasing difficult to ever trace back your steps into magical places like these but what continues to amaze me is that, the feeling of being there comes back so strong, whenever it does.. and i believe one should let onself to be lost in those magical moments..

ManagementFunda11: Mind your own business

2008-11-04T18:28:00.001+05:30

The Washerman, Dog and Donkey

Good story with old version…

There was once a washer man who had a donkey and a dog.

One night when the whole world was sleeping, a thief broke into the house, the washer man was fast asleep but the donkey and the dog were awake.

The dog decided not to bark since the master did not take good care of him and wanted to teach him a lesson.

The donkey got worried and said to the dog that if he doesn't bark, the donkey will have to do something himself. The dog did not change his mind and the donkey started braying loudly.

Hearing the donkey bray, the thief ran away, the master woke up and started beating the donkey for braying in the middle of the night for no reason.

Moral of the story " One must not engage in duties other than his own"
........................................................................

Now take a new look at the same story…

The washer man was a well educated man from a premier management institute.

He had the fundas of looking at the bigger picture and thinking out of the box. He was convinced that there must be some reason for the donkey to bray in the night.

He walked outside a little and did some fact finding, applied a bottom up approach, figured out from the ground realities that there was a thief who broke in and the donkey only wanted to alert him about it.

Looking at the donkey's extra initiative and going beyond the call of the duty, he rewarded him with lot of hay and other perks and became his favorite pet.

The dog's life didn't change much, except that now the donkey was more motivated in doing the dogs duties as well. In the annual appraisal the dog managed a " meets requirement" Soon the dog realized that the donkey is taking care of his duties and he can enjoy his life sleeping and lazing around.

The donkey was rated as "star performer". The donkey had to live up to his already high performance standards. Soon he was over burdened with work and always under pressure and now is looking for a job rotation…

If you have worked in a corporate environment, I am sure you have guessed the characters of the new story.

DubaiDiary:Inventing Privacy

2008-10-23T15:49:00.002+05:30

Like I said, most people share their accomodation and the biggest loss is that of privacy. But I have started to notice how people start inventing ways to regain their privacy in these cramped up spaces.

The simplest solution - Earphones : When Akio Morito was thinking of carrying music along, he never thought that it would one day be a device to regain privacy. Once back from office, within minutes you have your headphones ON. Turn on the music and lapse into your own world.

Where the rooms are shared by more than 2 people, there would always be cross conversation and at times you just dont want to talk. The earphones are your first line of defense. Does'nt matter whether you are listening to music or not, it has to be ON so that you can pretend that you did not hear.

Something I really really hate. It took a long time time to learn to be "Present", to pay attention to people right around you, to be responsive. And now I am learning how to IGNORE!!!

DubaiDiary: Lifecycle of an appartment

2008-10-23T14:32:00.002+05:30

Accomodation in Dubai is a real pain... You don't rent out a house or a appartment, you start talking about rooms and bedspaces. Especially in bur Dubai where I stay, I see this happening all around me. The rent for a 1bhk is at least 80+K AED (1AED=13.2INR as of today) p.a. Most of the people cant afford it and hence you find people sharing their rooms, sacrificing one of the most basic requirement of civilized society, "Privacy". Nothing very different from a bunch of Neanderthals cramped in a cave around a fire. Well that's a different story...some other time.. but here I wanted to share a short story my friend has penned down..
Based on true events :)

Dubai—Lifecycle of an apartment.

Once a long long time ago, a person decided to make money helping the needy in Dubai. Let’s call her the Broker or B. B rented an apartment, and decided to sublet it after furnishing it. Thus she will be helping the short term travelers and new people to Dubai. She got a nice apartment for 12000, furnished it and rented it out.

Initially there were 3 people in the apartment. Let’s call them C, D and E. C&D shared a room and gave 3000 each, E had a single room and gave 5000. This gave B 11000. Thus the minute she rented out the third and last room, she will move to profit. The third room was the smallest. As the largest room went for 3000*2 = 6000, the next room for 5000, she expected the smallest room to go for 4000. Thus she will get 15,000 as rent. She pays 12,000. A nice profit of 3000 per month for her work and furnishing.

Fortunately or unfortunately, a group of 3 people decided they could somehow fit into the tiny room. They were willing to pay 1800 each. This was slightly more than what B expected. She was happy. Then she felt if the tiny room is giving so much, then should not the big room give more? She was happy with the setup. You may call it her greed, but I think it was smartness to recognize the market dynamics. Common it made sense …small room goes for less than big room.

So she re-negotiated with the C&D. finally they agreed to take in a third person (lets call him S). B got higher rent, she was happy. And everything went nice for a few days. Now the people in the tiny weenie room felt that 1800 was too high, they could afford only 1500. B was not in favor of reducing rent. So they agreed to bring in a fourth person. So know it was 4*1500 == 6000 for the tiny room. Now B felt the middle room where E was staying was undervalued. If the tiny room gave 6000, that room should give 7000. E resisted and then finally agreed. Now it made sense that the big room should give 8000. So she started pestering the C&D to take a fourth person……

That’s how the ghettos in Dubai with 10-12 people in a 2BHK are built

Now what happened one day S asked C how these ghettos was built. C called D&E and all 4 soon were talking about the good old days. They then remembered that the rent has not changed for B. So they decided to find new apartments for themselves. First E found one and flew away. Bit later C, D and S also got a better apartment.

Initially the 4 guys in the tiny room were happy….they could take a bigger room. But the new tenants who came refused to pay 6000 for the tiny room. The house had a few empty rooms. DEWA and internet cost went high as number of people sharing reduced. The “4” realized that the others were paying 3000-5000 per head and not 1500 like them and they could not afford it.

Will this lead to a rationalization of rent? Will this lead to the “4” adding another 8-10 to the house to keep rent low. Will it see bunker beds like in Pilipino dwellings? Those I do not know, but I do know how the ghetto got built in the first place…..I do know why the rents in Dubai are so high. It is due to us and our brethren. We are to blame for it and not the brokers. We and especially my sloth J

-->link to the original blogger.. Lord Chaos :)

As a sequel I want a write a piece, the teaser for which goes like this:

Did C, D and S finally move off ....

OR did they end up getting deeper into this shit….. what finally triggered their exit?

Did the small room remain empty or is the market full of pathetic creeps who far outnumbered people like C,D and S?

Watch out this space...
Read the story of their exit...

a tale of sufferings, subversion of privacy, soul searching and finally bold heroic decisions to regain a more humane life :)

Management Funda10: Hare Tortoise/Be Strategic

2008-10-21T23:36:00.002+05:30

Lessons From Hare N Tortoise Story

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Management Funda9: Team work/Flight of geese

2008-10-21T23:18:00.002+05:30

First time I saw it was in 2004...today someone tried showing me again.. Seems like this one is going to live on for ever... A lesson to learn from the Geese. Reminds of Chanakya's 108 slokas. There are a few paras that describe the lessons you need to take from specific animals... I will get it from my old collection and share it here soon.

Team Work

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Management Funda8: How stock markets work

2008-10-21T23:03:00.002+05:30

"Once upon a time, in a village, a man appeared and announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10 each.

The villagers, seeing that there were many monkeys around, went out to the forest and started catching them.

The man bought thousands at $10 and, as supply started to diminish, the villagers stopped their effort. He further announced that he would now buy at $20 for a monkey. This renewed the efforts of the villagers and they started catching monkeys again.

Soon the supply diminished even further and people started going back to their farms. The offer increased to $25 each, and the supply of monkeys became so small that it was an effort to even find a monkey, let alone catch it!

The man now announced that he would buy monkeys at $50! However, since he had to go to the city on some business, his assistant would now buy on behalf of him.

In the absence of the man, the assistant told the villagers. "Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that the man has collected. I will sell them to you at $35, and when the man returns from the city, you can sell them to him for $50 each."

The villagers rounded up all their savings and bought all the monkeys.They never saw the man nor his assistant again, only monkeys everywhere!

Now you have a better understanding of how the stock market works."

management funda7:credit crisis

2008-10-13T13:58:00.002+05:30

Once there was a little island country. The land of this country was the tiny island itself. The total money in circulation was 2 dollars as there were only two pieces of 1 dollar coins circulating around.

1) There were 3 citizens living on this island country. A owned the land. B and C each owned 1 dollar.

2) B decided to purchase the land from A for 1 dollar. So, now A and C own 1 dollar each while B owned a piece of land that is worth 1 dollar.

* The net asset of the country now = 3 dollars.

3) Now C thought that since there is only one piece of land in the country,and land is non producible asset, its value must definitely go up. So, he borrowed 1 dollar from A, and together with his own 1 dollar, he bought the land from B for 2 dollars.

*A has a loan to C of 1 dollar, so his net asset is 1 dollar.
* B sold his land and got 2 dollars, so his net asset is 2 dollars.
* C owned the piece of land worth 2 dollars but with his 1 dollar debt to A,his net residual asset is 1 dollar.
* Thus, the net asset of the country = 4 dollars.

4) A saw that the land he once owned has risen in value. He regretted having sold it. Luckily, he has a 1 dollar loan to C. He then borrowed 2 dollars from B and acquired the land back from C for 3 dollars. The payment is by 2 dollars cash (which he borrowed) and cancellation of the 1 dollar loan to C. As a result, A now owned a piece of land that is worth 3 dollars. But since he owed B 2 dollars, his net asset is 1 dollar.

* B loaned 2 dollars to A. So his net asset is 2 dollars.
* C now has the 2 coins. His net asset is also 2 dollars.
* The net asset of the country = 5 dollars. A bubble is building up.

(5) B saw that the value of land kept rising. He also wanted to own the land. So he bought the land from A for 4 dollars. The payment is by borrowing 2 dollars from C, and cancellation of his 2 dollars loan to A.

* As a result, A has got his debt cleared and he got the 2 coins. His net asset is 2 dollars.
* B owned a piece of land that is worth 4 dollars, but since he has a debt of 2 dollars with C, his net Asset is 2 dollars.
* C loaned 2 dollars to B, so his net asset is 2 dollars.
* The net asset of the country = 6 dollars; even though, the country has only one piece of land and 2 Dollars in circulation.

(6) Everybody has made money and everybody felt happy and prosperous.

(7) One day an evil wind blew, and an evil thought came to C's mind. "Hey,what if the land price stop going up, how could B repay my loan. There is only 2 dollars in circulation, and, I think after all the land that B ownsis worth at most only 1 dollar, and no more."

(8) A also thought the same way.

(9) Nobody wanted to buy land anymore.

* So, in the end, A owns the 2 dollar coins, his net asset is 2 dollars.
* B owed C 2 dollars and the land he owned which he thought worth 4 dollars is now 1 dollar. So his net asset is only 1 dollar.
* C has a loan of 2 dollars to B. But it is a bad debt. Although his net asset is still 2 dollars, his Heart is palpitating.
* The net asset of the country = 3 dollars again.

(10) So, who has stolen the 3 dollars from the country ? Of course, before the bubble burst B thought his land was worth 4 dollars. Actually, right before the collapse, the net asset of the country was 6 dollars on paper. B's net asset is still 2 dollars, his heart is palpitating.

(11) B had no choice but to declare bankruptcy. C as to relinquish his 2 dollars bad debt to B, but in return he acquired the land which is worth 1 dollar now.

* A owns the 2 coins, his net asset is 2 dollars.
* B is bankrupt, his net asset is 0 dollar. ( he lost everything )
* C got no choice but end up with a land worth only 1 dollar
* The net asset of the country = 3 dollars.

************ **End of the story; BUT ************ ********* ******

There is however a redistribution of wealth. A is the winner, B is the loser, C is lucky that he is spared.
A few points worth noting -

(1) When a bubble is building up, the debt of individuals to one another in a country is also building up.
(2) This story of the island is a closed system whereby there is no other country and hence no foreign debt. The worth of the asset can only be calculated using the island's own currency. Hence, there is no net loss.
(3) An over-damped system is assumed when the bubble burst, meaning the land's value did not go down to below 1 dollar.
(4) When the bubble burst, the fellow with cash is the winner. The fellows having the land or extending loan to others are the losers. The asset could shrink or in worst case, they go bankrupt.
(5) If there is another citizen D either holding a dollar or another piece of land but refrains from taking part in the game, he will neither win nor lose. But he will see the value of his money or land go up and down like a see saw.
(6) When the bubble was in the growing phase, everybody made money.
(7) If you are smart and know that you are living in a growing bubble, it is worthwhile to borrow money (like A ) and take part in the game. But you must know when you should change everything back to cash.
(8) As in the case of land, the above phenomenon applies to stocks as well.
(9) The actual worth of land or stocks depend largely on psychology.

DubaiDairy:Al Ain - my trip to an oasis

2008-10-13T09:38:00.005+05:30

I had pictured an Oasis so many times in my head and I am sure so have you. Right in the middle of the desert with nothing around except date palm trees and a water hole. A few tents may be strewn around with camels sitting and watching you with their sleepy eyes.

So when I got a chance to go to Al Ain, I was really excited. Here was my chance to see an Oasis. On the way, I kept asking if the oasis is in Al Ain or somewhere nearby. I was told that it is the city itself. But still, the picture of an Oasis still hung in my head. When we reached Al Ain, there was surprise in store for me.

It is a sprawling city (actually the fourth largest in UAE) with beautiful roads, gardens and tastefully built buildings that give you a really different feeling, especially when you have just come out of Dubai. It is known as the Garden city in UAE and I could see why. There were big trees and I would not have believed it was possible in the middle of the desert, if I would not have seen it. I latter came to know, all this is because of a number of underground springs in the area. The temperature there was also much cooler and the greenery really soothing.

The first stop was the Al Ain Palace Museum, and it was really a great place to see how people lived and what the original culture was. But all the time, I was looking for the "OASIS". We managed to move there only after we fulfilled the demands of the youngest member of our team, Sohan, who would not let us go anywhere before he saw the zoo :)

A view from inside the Museum

Majlis Room - Museum

Now the zoo here is a quite a decent one, considering the fact that it is right in the middle of a desert and they have really tried to create a habitat for each animal. It was interesting to watch how they have managed to keep all sorts of animals from Gorillas to Ostriches to Penguins..

We finally proceeded to the OASIS but yet again I was disappointed. There was no central waterhole surrounded by palm tree or tents around. But soon I was climbing the palm trees plucking fresh dates and enjoying the scenery around. I learnt that there are a number of oasis of varying sizes in and around Al Ain and this one was one of the largest. The settlements around Al Ain are one of the oldest in the area and the government is ensuring the beauty of the place in maintained. I really appreciate the efforts, especially the ban on high rise buildings. Most of the buildings in the city are single storied and even in the heart of the commercial center, never beyond 2/3 storeys.

Al Ain

They are so tasty..

The best part was the trip to Jebel Hafeet (Jebel means mountain). As we moved towards it, a very interesting view emerged, you should see how they are trying to green the mountains around. Drip irrigation is changing the face of the mountains. Though we missed the target of watching the sunset from the top, it was a wonderful view of the entire town. As we climbed the serpentine road up to the crest of the mountain, the temperature drop was noticeable. The AC as shut off and we rolled down the windows to take in the magnificent view. The one hour spent there made me feel really great. I always feel elated whenever I am on a mountain top and the feeling here was no different.

A trip worth taking. Just go there and enjoy...

Square root of 3

2008-10-10T21:08:00.003+05:30

Harold and Kumar have done it again....A hilarious laugh riot that will leave you gasping for breath. But the best part was this song, that kumar sings to win back his love.. Do watch this movie (Harold and Kumar 2: Escape from Guantanamo Bay) and you will love it.. its much better than their first one..

I’m sure that I will always be
A lonely number like root three

The three is all that’s good and right,
Why must my three keep out of sight
Beneath the vicious square root sign,
I wish instead I were a nine

For nine could thwart this evil trick,
with just some quick arithmetic

I know I’ll never see the sun, as 1.7321
Such is my reality, a sad irrationality

When hark! What is this I see,
Another square root of a three

As quietly co-waltzing by,
Together now we multiply
To form a number we prefer,
Rejoicing as an integer

We break free from our mortal bonds
With the wave of magic wands

Our square root signs become unglued
Your love for me has been renewed

-David Feinberg

I am touched

2008-10-09T00:36:00.003+05:30

May be it's just one of those times when I am ready to swear the movie was better than the book. "Teusdays with Moorie" was always a special book but sometimes revisiting touches you in ways you never thought was possible.

The charachters in the movie played it so well that I had tears swelling up my eyes. There were certain scenes that reminded me of times I spent with my grandpa during his last days. Wish I had the power to bring it out, but may be some things can only be felt.

Moorie taught his last lesson on his death bed and may be rightly said "Some things take a life time to learn". There's more to life than you know.....

home is where you are

2008-10-01T17:16:00.005+05:30

After several days of junk food, I decided enough was enough. So I finally moved into the kitchen and my roomate meanwhile executed what he called "risk mitigation measures" . And what we had was this...

KPC fried chicken
Chicken pop corn
Alu-beans fry
Onions and green chillies
with Pakhala.. now that is a Odiya delicacy..
Absolutely great combination.. An East meets West story with a happy ending..

No matter where you go, you keep trying to make things as close to home as possible. I normally try to avoid this and take up the local cuisine, no matter whether it is within India (cuisine does vary to a great extent in different parts of india) or outside. I enjoyed the kolhapuri and wada pav during my pune/mumbai days, and then I moved on to become one of the greatest fans of the Andhra thali and Nandini. Wangi bhat, bisibele bhat is as close to my heart as anything else. Sandwitches and burgers became my staple food during my short stint in US. Unlike many people who go there for short trips I made it a point to go for mexican and local cusine and I liked it very much. Today you will find all the stuff required for making a burger packed in my refrigerator.. mayonese, mustard, salamis, lettuce, patties.. everything and I still love to make one myself rather than get it from McD's

But my heart always bleeds for that simple food I have grown up with..So whenever something like this happen, I am really very very happy.Home is where you are, there is no point in making your stay out of your country any worse... if you feel like it go for it, enjoy the food you like.

Orkutian choice of religion

2008-09-30T02:29:00.002+05:30

My orkut profile had been showing "Spiritual but not religious" and I did not actually want to change that, but one click on the drop down box and I spent the next hour googling a lot of stuff. There is great range of choices that this site provides now. It's not just Agnostic or Atheist or some of the lesser known religions like Cao dai or Tenrikyo; there seems to be a lot of new terms that you need to know. Here are some that might interest you:

rastafarian: The Rastafari movement (also known as Rastafari, Rastafarianism or simply Rasta) is a monotheistic, Abrahamic, new religious movement[1] that accepts both Jesus Christ and Haile Selassie I, the former Emperor of Ethiopia, as incarnations of God, called Jah[2] or Jah Rastafari.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rastafari

neo-paganist: Neopaganism or Neo-Paganism is an umbrella term used to identify a wide variety of modern religious movements, and as such is sometimes considered a group of comparitive religions, particularly those influenced by historical pre-Christian European "pagan" religions.Neo-Pagan religious movements are extremely diverse, with beliefs that range widely from polytheism to animism, to pantheism and other paradigms. Many Neopagans practice a spirituality that is entirely modern in origin, while others attempt to accurately reconstruct or revive indigenous, ethnic religions as found in historical and folkloric sources.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neopaganism

Unitarian Universalist: Unitarian Universalism (UUism) is a theologically liberal religion characterized by its support for a "free and responsible search for truth and meaning." Unitarian Universalists do not share a creed; rather, they are unified by their shared search for spiritual growth. Unitarian Universalists draw on many different theological sources and have a wide range of beliefs and practices.Both Unitarianism and Universalism trace their origins to Christian Protestantism and thus Unitarian Universalism has its historical roots in the Christian faith.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitarian_Universalism

Religious humanism: Religious humanism is an integration of religious rituals and/or beliefs with humanistic philosophy that centers on human needs, interests, and abilities.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_humanism

Scientologist: Scientology is a body of beliefs and related practices initially created by American science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard.[1][2][3] The major organization promoting Scientology is the Church of Scientology, a hierarchical organization founded by Hubbard, while independent groups using Hubbard's materials are collectively referred to as the Free Zone. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology

Drinking Calories

2008-09-28T01:06:00.002+05:30

This is a topic on which everyone around me has a funda!!!!
What's the releationship between drinking and getting fat? Of the most common are:
1- Beer gives you a beer belly.. it is the worst culprit.
2- Whiskey makes your face bloat up... I can see your face and know whether you are drinking..
3- It's not the drink.. it's the fried snacks that you take.. just enjoy your drink
4- It's not the drink.. it's the coke.. so the cardinal rule.. drink it only with soda or even better with water.
....
n- It's not the drink, people are too lazy to excercise.. that's all about it. Spend an extra hour at the gym and you are fine... haven't you heard, scientists have found that it's good for health.

The list goes on and on.. The last one is my addition :)

Well today a well wisher forwarded me a article from a more knowledgeable source than any other i know of, so I am sharing it here for all who have fallen prey to this sin. See this article and make up your own mind. (click on the hyperlink)

DubaiDiary: Surviving Ramadan

2008-09-25T00:42:00.002+05:30

Just a week in Dubai and the Islamic holy month of Ramadan started. Unlike India, things are so different here. One simple rule that turned my world upside down. "You cannot eat or drink in a public place during the day hours"

The hotel are all closed. Since there are a lot of Indian restaurants, they have found a nice way out. You cannot eat here but you can take a parcel. But the worst part is about drinking. One day I had to go to the Al Baraha hospital out here for my medical check up and as fate would have it, after the check up (abt 11Am) I had walk almost a km and stand in the sun for almost an hour before I finally got a taxi.. I was dizzy n was feeling like going back to the hospital. So its best to avoid any outdoor activity during this time.

At the workplace, things were really difficult. I kind of have short circuit between my tummy n my brain. As soon as the sugar levels started falling I found it really difficult to keep going. I realized I was getting irritable and was no longer thinking clearly. The problem is that the offices here dont have a cafetaria or kitchen, so there is no place you can eat. I anyway found my way out...I had heard somewhere that soldiers are given chocolates in their survival packs. Tried it out and I swear it works like magic to get your sugar levels back to normal immediately.

Now since i dont smoke, it was not a problem but I found my friends really suffering since it's a strict no-no in public places during this month. Life is allmost normal after sunset.. People break their fast and hotels etc open up. But all our haunting spots lose their charm during this month. Pubs, discos etc are almost empty.. so not much to do. We spent all the weekends partying at home and the only place you can go is a mall.

Anyway, I am so happy the month is almost over and it seems like I would be getting almost a week off for Eid.. Sounds like it was worth the trouble...

kismat connection

2008-09-17T18:53:00.007+05:30

I was just watching this movie called "Kismat Konnection" and it reminded me of a series of incidents that happened some time back. I am definitely not the lucky kind, so when there is a string of such extra-ordinary events, it is clearly noticeable. Just to relive one of such rare occasions, I took a look at my archived posts. The time was April of 2007 and here is the post I am talking about.
http://pandafunda.blogspot.com/2007/04/getting-lucky.html

Just yesterday I was talking to a friend, one of the very few who took the entrapreneurship route after the MBA, and we got to chatting about how things had turned out in the past 3 years. He is one of the typical lucky kinds, the kind of people for whom it stops raining when they plan to go out, presentations get cancelled if they had a late night party or get sudden recognition for simple things that other people keep doing all their lives. He had got married recently and as we were discussing the condition of his business, he said "Yes, may be that's why I decided to get some help from lady luck. But it seems she is taking her own time"

So people do think it's possible that someone is lucky to them and try to keep them close. I wonder if you have ever felt so OR tried to do something like that..

If you see the footer of this blog (bottom of this page), you would see that I dont really believe in this but that April of '07 I was ready to openly vouch that "things do happen by chance" But soon enough that lucky streak waned off, my lucky charm was also lost and I was back in the business of trying hard to make a difference in my life..