Om Shanti Om - Bollywood Potpourri

Om Shanti Om - the diwali blockbuster directed by Farah Khan was a post diwali trial for me. I usually don't watch hindi movies. I kind of stick to tamil movies - fact is that there are so many getting released that you literally don't get the time. But, for no reason, this is my second hindi movie in a week and my god, I don' wanna be doing anything like this again.

For some reasons, OSO is a good movie. We'll see all that good parts in bits and pieces as we try and strip this movie. The adaptation of the 70s was excellent. Movie begins with Chintu Uncle and his famous OSO song which sets the right mood and tempo for the movie. Excellent work by the editing team. We definitely know that the video being shown is an old piece, but the seamless plugging in of that with the film is quite commendable. And this is not just here, it continues for a few more songs in the first half.

SRK is a junior artist who aims to be a superstar. He is truly, madly, and deeply in love with Shantipriya (Deepika Padukone). Wow, this woman is definitely someone to watch out for. This is her first film and her screen presence makes you flabbergasted. The first half is just the 70s. Most things about the first half of the movie reminds you of what your mom and dad would have witnessed in the theater or within their friends circle - bell bottoms, step cut and wave cut hair-style, checked trousers in bright colors, wide belts with large metal buckles, cute gowns and frocks with polka dots, tight fitting salwars with filigree at the sleeves and neck lines, color matching earrings and bindis. In between all this, I noticed the Ovaltine Ad too. Remember this drink?

SRK takes a dig at everything - the whole industry, the way it works, the filmfare awards, the fits that people throw and some at himself too. At one point he says "overacting to mere khandaan me hi hai" (overacting runs in the blood). And then comes other stuff like "Phir bhi dil hai NRI". The name sentiment is perhaps the best. We know for a fact that a number of heroes - both yesterday and today have changed their original names to what we know them today as. Om Prakash Makhija (SRK) is another one who wants to do that but is not successful.

Kiron Kher is the mother and she is definitely overacting. The SRK Syndrome? She is a painful mother who is so annoyingly loving and caring. Maybe SRK needs such people in his team.

Deepika Padukone (DP) is going to be serious competition for Priyanka Chopra. At 5ft 9in, she is stunning and her smile is so fresh like a breeze after a monsoon. It gives you an eternal feeling. OSO is more an SRK movie - its completely about the hero, but still Deepika plays a very important role and the plot of the movie is around her. DP has totally worked on her style. She has perfected the seventies art of walking and smiling. The turning of head and waving of hands is just flawless. In effect, she is trying to bring back to us the Asha Parekh, Tanuja, Sharmila Tagore, Zeenat etc. And she does a good job in that role. There is one scene where they play badminton. The men in white and women in colorful salwars. A typical 70s setup - more love and less lust.

First half of the movie goes on at an interesting pace and suddenly we realize that an intermission is perhaps best and then the whole drama begins. Within 15 to 20 minutes, we are done and its time for a break. I have no plans of writing the story here.

The Alchemist Philosophy holds good - "when you really want something to happen, the whole universe conspires so that your wish comes true."



Songs are amazing, but the story line does not have any depth. Its totally on the surface and everyone is skating on it till the end. Parts of the movie remind you of Kamal Hassan's superhit film Enakkul Oruvan. Then some parts are like the English movie Grease - don't ask me why. Its just a thought that I got. Then the next is The Phantom of the Opera. The bungalow scene, the lights, the staircase and the chandelier aren't anything phenomenal. All of that looks like an adaptation of the Opera movie. At some places, even the musical notes are comparable.

Well OSO serves one purpose. If a tourist asked what he could take from India as a Bollywood Souvenir, then they can probably buy a copy of this movie. Every top star in Bollywood has made a guest appearance in this movie. So he or she can go back to their country and show a glimpse of Bollywood.

Jab We Met - Balle Balle Love

Yeah, so the main theme here is the boy-meets-girl story. But Imtiaz Ali, the director has taken it to an extra level. Its not the typical boy-meets-girl and then emotional love, separation, songs etc.

I havent watched Socha Na Tha, which is also another Imtiaz Ali movie. From what I know, that is also a boy-meets-girl movie. I hate such themes. I always think - why cant bollywood directors and screenplay writers learn from malayalam movies or even tamil movies - offlate a few of them have been really good. Most Hindi movies are just extravagant and bombastic - nothing else.

Okay, when JWM started, I didnt know what was happening or rathe, what was going to happen. Well, we know that Shahid (Aditya) has to meet Kareena (Geet) somewhere and something has to happen. But that took some time. When Geet started her dialogue, which only stopped almost close to the intermission, I was totally annoyed and irritated. Aditya tries everything he can to shut her up and leave him alone - nothing works. She is almost stuck to him like a leech but later we see that she brings about a positive change in him.

At one point, Aditya explains to Geet about his past. That's one emotional drama. You are almost deciding that this movie is also taking the same dramatic turn, but thank god, that doesnt happen. Both characters have a very good sense of humor and that lives throughout the film.

In the second half, roles change. Geet gets dumped by her boyfriend and ends up lonely. Aditya takes her shoes and becomes the enthusiastic, can we say, boyfriend.

Other things that I almost liked - the friendship between Aditya and Geet. They almost understand each other so well and are affectionate. They accept each other's life even when there are failures. There is no sad music in the background when one leaves the other, no coming back and hugging each other. The next thing is the songs. You must hear to the one below. This is perhaps my favorite.



Few things do stand out in this movie - we still have the Punjabi family that is hopping, dancing and partying a lot. Then they worry a lot. We do have loud uncles, but thank god, we dont have a crying mom. But they are not painful to the eye. Also, elders in the movie are not troubling the flow of the movie by being extra emotional. Their roles are justified. But we know that most family settings in Punjab, atleast from the Hindi movies, are highly ornate. And to support that argument, we have colorful lehengas and huge bungalows. The best part is the usage of the washing machine to prepare lassi. Thank god, I dont remember seeing butter chicken.

On the other hand, there is a lot of insight that this movie provides - especially in the character of Kareena Kapoor (in the initial half). She comes across as someone who is not shying away from the difficulties that a person would face. She is cheerful, bold enough to be blunt and open about what she wants. She is a breeze of confidence and that encourages Shahid to change himself and his lifestyle. Problems do not mean that its the end of the world. The key is to remain determined and confidently happy to face these blocks and strive to be successful. If you keep brooding over your past, its not going to make anything about your future better.

Marudhamalai and Malaikottai

Saw two action packed movies over the weekend. absolutely no logic and totally hero centric movies. By the way, when have tamil movies focused on giving more screen presence to the women folk? Maybe, one in fifty movies?



Marudhamalai - action king Arjun comes back with yet another police story, but this time there is a change. and you'll realise that when you watch the film. every hero who plays a police is usually an assistant commissioner or an IPS or an Inspector. In this case, our hero is a simple constable. He joins at the lowest ranks and hence, there is a lot of scope to move away from the larger than life image, at least for the initial parts. after that it gets to the usual - crouching tiger type stunts. the story starts off with a very light mood - enough room for comedy. Vadivel is at his best again as Encounter Ekambaram. He is actually a senior in the police station, in comparison with the hero. At a number of instances, we can see him use his superiority as a tool to initiate a comedy track. Nila who supposedly plays the female lead gets side-lined big time. For once, this story does not involve the bad guy abducting the girl to take revenge. Love and enemity are two different tracks in this movie. A good decision by the director to keep them apart. In tamil cinema lingo, there is a new term called "build-up". This movie has got enough of that right from the beginning. Songs are below average - i dont think anyone would want to hear to them more than once. Laal plays the bad guy. The scope for performance in his role is very less. Most of the time we see him behind the bars. The one part that I liked other than the comedy is when the hero takes action against false claims made by a politician. This is very much in reference to what happens today. A number of people (mostly politicians) make public statements without any evidence or reason. The media takes notice, but after a few days, it just dies out. No one is bothered.



Malaikottai - action youth Vishal comes back. Offlate, all of his movies have been anything related to just ruthless fighthing - Sandakozhi, Thimiru, Tamaraparani, and Sivapathigaram. Female lead is Priya Mani. Priya is very pretty when she wears short tops and mini skirts. If you'd noticed her in Kangalaal Kaithu Sei (the Bharathiraja movie), then you'd go agape. In this movie, she is usually wearing a salwar that doesnt suit her appearance well. Rather the character is like that - a pious engineering student in Trichy. You can't expect her to be in tank tops! Anyway, she is totally side-lined. No scope at all. Few lines here and there, just to justify the need for a female lead. Vishal plays the jobless youth. The only impression I get, from seeing him in this movie is that he can just jump around and get a few kicks. More fight sequence means less scope for displaying acting talent. Standard expressions - you can make out that the Vishal in Sandakozhi is the same as Vishal in Malaikottai. The getting into character aspect is very less. Ashish Vidhyarthi and Urvashi have been roped in for the comedy but it doesnt stick well. There is nothing special that I can remember about this movie. I still wonder how cinema halls are managing the cost by running this stupid movie. Oh yes - The remix version of the "Ae Aatthaa" song. That was just awesome. Maybe that's the reason!

Surutapalli

So, during our trip to Kalahasti last weekend, we decided to go to this place called Surutapalli. This small temple town or lets call it village, is on the way from Chennai to Tirupati. On the route to Tirupati from Red Hills in Chennai, you will reach a point called Periyapalayam. Take a diversion from there and you will head towards a place called Uthukottai. A few kilometers on the highway that leads you away from Uthukottai is this place.

The specialty of this place is that its the only Siva temple where the Lord is in a Sayana position (sleeping). In every other temple, you will find Lord Siva in the form of a Linga, but in this temple, you will find Siva sleeping on Parvati's lap.



Story goes like this - on the advise of lord vishnu, the devas and the asuras were churning the ocean of milk. the mandara mountain was used as the churn stick and the serpent vasuki was the rope. when the mountain sank, lord vishnu supported the mountain by taking the tortoise incarnation. this was the kurma avatara. the first item that emerged from the churning was a pot of poison. the devas and asuras rushed to lord siva and pleaded with him for protection. Lord Siva then swallowed the poison, but before it could go further, Parvati pressed his neck and the poison remained there permanently. That is why we know Lord Siva by another name -- Neelakantha (blue throated).

It is believed that Lord Siva, after consuming the poison, was very tired and drowsy. So, he lied down to rest on Parvati's lap at Surutapalli.

This place is famous for so many other deities. Here, the Dakshinamurthy is seen along with his consort Gowri, which is something you don't see in any other temple. There is also a Durga sculpture where the goddess is holding a parrot in her lower hand and the other lower hand is resting on her thigh. This is very rare for a Durga sculpture.

Another rare feature is at the entrance. The doorkeepers on either side of the temple are also with their consorts. In every other temple, you will find the doorkeepers alone.

Holiday round-up

Last few days have been really crazy. On Friday I left to Sree Kalahasti - one of the Pancha Bhoota Shrines of Lord Shiva. The deity here is represented as Vaayu Linga, which is Air. On the way, we visited another temple called Surutapalli, which has got a very special story. My next post would be on that, since I need to upload a photograph too. Saturday morning darshan at the temple was very good. At the same time it was surprising to see that a lot of people now have started visiting temples. 10 years back, the story was different. The people who were going to temples were traditionally going to temples - i mean every year or through generations. But now, there is a lot of belief in the boxes that are part of the horoscope and the planets that reside in the same. People are ready to spend any amount of money as grants to temples or do any kind of puja. Its a totally new phenomenon.

This got over on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning was fun game in the rain. Then the next trip started. To Bangalore. Another ISB wedding. I caught the afternoon bus in great hopes to reach the reception early. But you can never rely on these people. The road was amazing. But the average speed was just over 65kms per hour which sucked big time. Sunday evening was a great day to catch up a lot of friends. Around 20 of them had come down from various other cities. There was food and booze - since it was in the army officers mess. The next day was a traditional Iyengar wedding. I was done with everything by 11am. In between all this I had to attend a few phone calls from my client, answer a few questions and ensure that my project was running on schedule. (These people never leave me alone!)

Caught the afternoon bus back to Madras. On the way stopped at a small eating joint and bought some pirated dvds. I havent checked whether the dvds play but I got 4 latest movies. This place is a few kilometers before Krishnagiri on the highway, when you are coming from Bangalore and the guy has any latest movie you ask for - hindi, english and tamil. If you are a cop reading this blog, then this a tip for you. There is a huge business that is thriving and perhaps a huge network of people are happily earning. Whats the point in catching the ones in the city. India's strength lies definitely in its villages.

Rushed to Courtyard Marriott for a team dinner. The buffet sucked. They served continental food. Some of the items were okay. The starters were extremely bad. No variety at all. Even in the main course, it wasn't anything worth mentioning. For the price that we paid, I felt that Residency Towers was a much better deal. Coming to the desserts, there were six ice cream flavors and JUST ONE SCOOP. On asking, the guy told me that the kitchen has only one scoop. Wow, thats something for a five star hotel! Ambience was good. I liked the live music concept.

Had another day off yesterday - a trip to Coimbatore. It was My Best Friend's Wedding. Still was bombarded with phone calls from office. Now I am back here waiting for the Saturday Game.

Fiction: Missy on the Bus

At quarter past seven, the neighborhood is bustling with activity. There is atleast one person in every house that is getting ready to leave - to the office, to the school, to the college. The road, even though its one of the inner roads in the area, is constantly used by School and college buses. People are never tired of honking. By the time its close to half past, you can definitely hear to a multitude of sounds - you cant even guess which vehicle crossed your gate. Its a busy day everyday and sand particles start picking up with the wind.

He walked across all the inner roads. It was brisk 5 minute walk. Soon he reached the main road. Quickly he walked over the small median to the other side. It was the usual point. The same people were there. Nothing was different. This was an everyday affair and had a strange monotony attached within. He thought about the long journey he had to take. Even though he didn't have to drive all the way, it was quite a tiring journey - the morning sun shone right through the window making the insides feel like an oven. During all this, the bus arrived. The loud but sweet FM music was playing. It was time to get to that second row seat, recline and sleep. A good 40 minute sleep in the morning would always keep him refreshed for the rest of the day.

The bus started in its own pace. It reached another destination. More people finding their way to the empty seats. Then his eyes spotted the last person entering the bus. Dark lavender colored top embroidered with white flower patterns, plaited hair, a small black bindi to rightly decorate the forehead and a bright morning look on her face. From her looks and the way she walked, he could guess that she was very simple and innocent. She never looked up - perhaps it was the South Indian style, the women when they are outside never lift their head up and walk. It was more a precautionary thing. She sat right in front of him. It was the usual seating order. As the vehicle moved to the next stop, she looked out. Her eyes displayed an expression of expectation and eagerness. The moment her friend entered the bus she changed into a quick smile. "How are you Akka*" - she said as she saw her friend taking the seat beside her.

A small conversation started between them. The loud music coupled with the hustle and bustle on the main road completely cut them out of the world. From looking at them, he could sense that they were enjoying every bit of what they were talking about. Girl talk! he thought. Why bother. He closed his eyes. He wanted to go into sleep mode.

The power nap didn't last for long. He woke up. This wasn't any sharp turn or a sudden breaking. He looked around. Some more people had taken seats. The bus was full now. He looked at her, not through the gap between the seats, but on the window pane. The dark glass had become like a canvas and was reflecting a nice portrait of her face. He could see her eyes - they discoursed a flurry of thoughts. She spoke nothing.

She took a pet bottle in her hand. Holding the bottle in one hand at the base, tapped the cap of the bottle with her palm. She looked at her friend and chuckled. He understood what she did. It was an imitation from the movies about how the men opened whiskey bottles in Tamil Nadu.

He smiled and went back to sleep mode.

"Characters on this post do resemble people in real life, but as readers you don't have to come to any conclusions. This is just another attempt to make the blog a nice place to visit."

*Akka - tamil word for elder sister

Where do you live?

Blog Action Day

October 15th is Blog Action Day. On this day, more than 15000 bloggers all around the world would write their views on the environment. This could be anything - from new technology to create a cleaner and healthy surrounding, to avoiding some things that you have been doing to make this world a better place.

In a developing country like ours, we cannot afford to let the environment go to the dogs. But what can you say or what can you do - the sheer number of people around you are perhaps the problem. America is clean and clear because there are less than 400 million people for a land mass that is almost the size of India or perhaps more too. And we are just proud of having more than a billion. On the other hand, China, having a population as much as ours, is getting ahead in no time.

Before you address the environment, its important that you address WHY THE ENVIRONMENT? To get an answer to that, we'll have to work on education. Everybody needs access to a school which would teach them about working towards protecting the society they are part of. That's when they will realise. there is no point in telling people not to use plastic bags when we are not investing in an alternative - right? Its the same thing here. If we need people to follow something, then we'll need to facilitate the same. They always say - put the people first.

You might just argue - what about the people who are already educated. They themselves are doing things that are causing environmental damage. This is just a vicious circle. First of all, we do not have strict laws that protect the environment. Even if you claim that there are a few laws, the other problem is that we do not have people to enforce these laws. The people to policeman ratio is pretty bad in our country. There are more people who say - WHY SHOULD I CARE. Someone will fix it. With such elements, its difficult. Sometimes I strongly feel that we need a one party rule in India - like its in China or how it was in Germany. In such situations, rules will be rules. They will not bend to become policies. The same educated lot, when they go the US or Singapore to work, ensure that they dont do anything of the sort they do in their home country. WHY - its only that FEAR FACTOR. A fear that they will get caught and that will be the end. Over here, the attitude is - who cares, nobody is there to question. So yes, we'll need to get a bit of that fear here too. Maybe we'll have to introduce incentives to enforcement agencies for helping to protect the environment - like collect the fine from the individual and provide a share of that to the enforcer and the rest to the government. This way, people wouldnt even dream of violating a rule.

In a huge country like ours, we need investment to protect the environment. for that we'll need money. and money comes only if the system has revenues. and we know that most of the money that is available, gets squandered.

so here comes the bottomline: if every government employee and member of state just takes home only his or her salary and nothing else, then the system will have enough funds.

every home should grow atleast one tree. we know that we cant depend on the council to plant tress on the road. so its better we do it on our own.

if you have open space at the back of your house, then create a dumping pit for the biodegradable waste. atleast the soil there becomes fertile enough to grow more trees.

oh my god.. what have i written?

The Both Room in Besant Nagar Beach

Another Classic Find

Shantaram - Book Review

This was long due.

I read Shantaram months back. And since, then I was waiting to write a small review and never found the opportunity. So here it is.

Shantaram is a colorful novel right from the beginning. Every emotion that you look for, from the human heart, is packaged in the 900 odd pages. An ex-junkie and robber enters India after escaping from an Australian prison. That first bit itself raises your expectations of the whole - I could call it thriller too! This guy is the author and his photo reminds me of Liam Neeson. Lin enters hot Bombay - the maximum city. And his experiences in Bombay are not comparable to a travelogue. Rather a handbook for fake passports, drugs, stolen medicine, weapons, money and what not. Amidst all that Lin makes a local best friend - Prabhakar who helps Lin start an enchanting life in Bombay between 1981 and 1987 starting with learning Marathi.

"And I did--I liked everything about her. I liked the Helvetian music of her Swiss-American English, and the way she pushed her hair back slowly with a thumb and forefinger when she was irritated by something. I liked the hard-edged cleverness of her conversation, and the easy, gentle way she touched people she liked when she walked past them or sat beside them. I liked the way she held my eyes until the precise moment when it stopped being comfortable, and then smiled, softening the assail, but never looked away."

He falls in love with Karla - beautiful and enigmatic. Its amazing to see how her character has been sketched. She shows strength, determination, and confidence under various circumstances. "Heroes comes in three types - dead, damaged and dubious" . This is one dialogue I remember from the book that Karla made. Karla is Lin's connection to Bollywood, prostitutes, smugglers, police officers, afghans and iranians.

Further, its just unbelievable to know what all happened with Lin during his life in Bombay. He sets up a clinic in the slum, hooks up with local mafia to fetch medicines, ends up doing money laundering and fake passports. Over the seuqnce of all these events, Lin ends up at the Arthur Road prison. I cannot say that he gets beaten up black and blue. When you read those chapters, you'll feel miserable. Is prison that worse? Nothing like what you see in the movies. Its painful and traumatic. You start thinking - will he die in prison? what will happen next? will someone save him? why is he getting tortured for such a long time? (this, mainly because the prison chapters run for quite long).

Khader, the savior, gets him out and brings him back to business. Then comes another episode - the trip to Afghanistan.

Discussions about life, metaphysics, morality, death - at some places in the book, you kind of get this feeling that its not at all done reading this once. You need to mull over it again and again. Thats when you see the light behind the curtain.

Some of the characters like Qasim Ali, Johnny Cigar, Didier, Lisa, Abdullah are very lively and whenever you read parts involving them, you get a feeling like watching a western movie.

The main theme, as I could understand, in this book, is Lin's pursuit to find out the finer details about green eyed beauty Karla and the muslim don Khader. When you read this book, you definitely get thinking - Wow, I really wonder if I can see a Bombay like this.

what you'd like in this book is perhaps the amount of authenticity that it contains. although some parts have been dramatized to make the flow interesting, it still is an account from Lin's life. there is realism and richness. you also come across a tough world.

and i hope, i have inspired some of you to pick up that book.

The Hindi Class

Mahesh was more than elated. It was his first Hindi class in that term, right after quarterly exams. 11th standard was a joyous year and he was determined to take the best of every minute in being a teenager. He knew he had to attend the class in another section.

The school was quite small. The administration had opened the matriculation branch for the first time and they had been given just 3 classrooms to start with. Hindi class was a combined class. Combined - that term brought smiles into the eyes of the boys. That was the only time they could enter the girls class. Officially! Otherwise it was impossible. The girls class was sandwiched between the Principal's office and the teacher's room. Nobody could walk across, unnoticed between these two rooms. Attenders kept moving continuously between both rooms and occassionally into the girls classroom too, just to give a notice. The boys used to hate this. Sometimes, life could have been better as an attender. To get past them and take a quick look into the girls class was a big challenge. Mahesh, in fact, kept numerous bets with his friends. Pepsi at the roadside store in the evening was the most wanted.

Less than 10 minutes for the bell to ring. Science class was getting over. Mrs. Malathi was talking about Fraunhofer. But Mahesh's concentration and thoughts were completely off. He was glued to his watch. Every minute was important. Students had less than 5 minutes between each class. And especially for Hindi class, a lot had to be done. Pack just those two books and keep them ready. You dont want to carry your duckback school bag and pencil box. What will the girls think of me? One stylish writing instrument to grab their eyes. Rush to the rest room to wash your face. Tuck your shirt. Parallel trouser was the vogue then. He had stitched one very recently. One of the girls actually made a casual offhand comment. From then on, he made sure that he wore it to the Hindi Class without fail. Comb your hair properly. It was the only chance he had. He had to be impressive. The boys were not allowed to sit along side the girls on the same bench. They had to sit in different columns. But still, they were less than 2 feet away.

One glance from her and that tired look on your face? he couldnt let that happen. He quickly put some powder and tapped it into his face. Musk fragrance - he had read about it in the weekly teenage plus magazine. Musk was a fragrance that men preferred. Mahesh wanted to present that bold character in himself.

Science class got over. He was all set. Ahead of time. But still there was one thing he always wanted to do. Arrive late to the Hindi class. He thought he could make that classic late entry and do that ramp walk into his desk. But then he remembered Mrs. Vandana, his Hindi teacher, who always mandated talking in Hindi during the class and made comments in front of the girls.

"Aaj kaunsaa perfume lagaake aaye? Lip-stick lagaana bhool gaye kya?" (what perfume are you wearing today? have you forgotten the lip-stick"

"Jitna preparation tum log ladkiyon ko pataane ke liye karte ho, usse thoda kam bhi exam ke liye karte tho acchhaa rank milega." (the amount of preparation you guys do to impress the girls, if you did even half of that for your exams, you will get better grades)

It was such an embarassing moment and it wasnt just for Mahesh, but the whole boys contingent who did no want to be there in that situation to hear to all that. But still, Hindi Class was fun and memorable.

Remembering Cricket

Saw this one while browsing....



This conversation is taken from one of my favorite movies of 2007 - Chennai 600028.

for people who dont understand tamil, sorry, the fun is lost if i try to explain the joke. so forget this post.

The Red Revolution

Vodafone is finally here. The transition has begun and its very evident. I am just seeing that Vodafone is painting the whole city RED.

First it was Maxtouch. Then it became Orange in 1999 - the color was orange, changed to Hutch in 2002, but still retained its color. Later in 2005 it became pink and now its RED.

The Pug is still around and now its inside a red colored kennel. Imagine the kind of branding exercise that needs to happen for such a transformation. So many million subscribers and there shouldnt be any trouble. Hutch is India's second largest mobile phone operator and Vodafone is the world's largest mobile phone operator. The branding makeover is estimated to cost the company atleast INR 500 crores.

What I like about Vodafone is the simplicity and the message in their ads. I remember this one ad I have seen in the UK and it was just amazing.



Consumers want to get more out of the present moment, and Vodafone can enrich that experience with its products and services. A campaign thought that was encapsulated in the ‘make the most of Now’ endline. This TV execution launches the Now campaign using an analogy of someone who has to make the most out of the present moment - the Mayfly.

Cross Talk?

Hello Readers... I got this email in my inbox today from I dont know who. Just sharing it with all of you. Read it and forget it.

=============================================================
Dear Balaji,

Congratulations again!!!

You were telling me that you would decide about PWC or not before next week. I could see that you were bit skeptical in the morning whether it is best for you or not. I just feel like sharing few things, which I felt, after talking to you.

As a third person (especially I don't have much knowledge in your field), I see PWC as a big company where you can learn lot, as it is an epicenter of knowledge.

But, I don't know whether this is the dream job for you or not; whether it is a best package or not; whether you will hold more responsibilities or not; whether it is better working environment or not. I think you should know it better than anyone in this world from the available information because you are smart guy who knows about yourself.

Whatever be the case, I have confidence in you (from the way I see You) that you will grow for what you are. You have talent and you will definitely deserve for what you are either shortly or may be in few months or years; certainly you will grow to the best. My support is always there for you; and please feel free to discuss anything if I can be helpful to you.

May be a logical discussion (either to yourself or someone whom you adore or someone who is not biased) will increase clarity in the decision that you will make. I always try to write what I have in mind to make the picture clear rather than having many things in mind. Above are some suggestions which I follow; and may be you have better ways of decision making.

Best of luck for your new endeavor and we are always there to back up your proceedings.

Urs
Srini

P.S.See you soon during Diwali

Poem: Blue Crush

A bright sunny day it was
mid october if the date is a want
the day had come to an end
the bell rang; that was the sign

he rushed through the busy corridor
in his usual stride
past that small nest
where the chirpy birds reside

he stopped there
for he witnessed what he could not believe
a damsel who was never around before
coiffure that reminded him of just rapunzel next
a little beam across his face
he asked himself - is it her?

feelings he had deep inside
he wasnt sure, so he had to hide
she did not know, she had no clue
the secret was stored in mind for a while

walking on the road
towards the bus stop
he thought their eyes met
she looked away
maybe she was scared, he thought

he took the chance
for he knew time would never tell
the road bend was the spot
no one around
silence the only companion

he looked in her eyes
she seemed surprised and confused
yet he felt good
wanting to tell her things from his heart
"I" - that was all he could
then he smiled and she smiled back

it didnt matter to him
it was a wonderful day in his life

Sethusamudram

I generally dont spend time on all these political affairs hitting the stands. But this one caught my attention. For once, I felt that Dr.MK was trying to make some economic sense (dont know what political gains he has out of this).

This project, that aims to reduce the distance travelled by the ships, has seen so many governments that perhaps no other project in India has seen. The first proposal for this project was produced in 1860. As I was doing my research on this project, I noticed one issue that read "This project cannot be completed in 3 yrs and it will take atleast 30 yrs". Even if the government had dredged one kilometer every year, considering the way in which things move here, we would have completed this project much before independence. Ok, you can always blame it on the British. Maybe it was because of them that it got delayed. But after that? Well, I guess most of the people involved in economic development then, were so confused that they thought - we dont even know what to do in land, why go to the sea?

Coming back to present situation. You know that if people want to just stop something, then they can blow it just totally out of proportion. So a bunch of environmentalists came in and complained about protection of corals and species.

Then came the stalwarts with their evidence of Rama's bridge to Lanka being present there. Especially the BJP Leaders, who generally do not have any logic in what they propose to say about Hinduism. The bridge dates back around 3500 yrs. According to the Vedic system, Ramayana happened about 880,148 years ago. And it was the Treta Yuga. After every Yuga, the world is created, destroyed and re-created. Ok, lets not confuse ourselves with mythology and carbon dating. by preserving that portion of the sea, what are we going to get. Not even one person can take a photograph with the bridge in the background. nor can they go to that point and tell their friends, can you see below - thats the bridge lord rama built.

Shouldnt we be more focused on economic benefits at this point? If someone tells that the projected profits or savings from this project is not correct or the amount of traffic is not going to increase because of this, then its quite acceptable. thats the direction in which we have to think. someone tells that the pre-tax IRR of the project is 2.6%. Thats the exact point to note. And then we keep wasting time on doing some processions and meetings, taking up the time of the public, media etc. And blame each other!

Interesting Read

according to scientists, females are predominantly attracted to 'weedier' types, who look 'kind and trustworthy'.

Jerry Hall says - to keep a man happy, a woman must be a cook in the kitchen, a lady in the drawing room and a slut in the bedroom.

For a woman to be truly happy with a man, he would need to be a hunk in the bedroom,a cook in the kitchen, a vision of machismo in public, a wimp in arguments(but not too much of one, as he must gauge the right times for listening sympathetically and conceding absolute defeat, as opposed to the times when the only correct thing to do is tumble you crossly into bed), and easily capable of fixing everything from broken dishwashers to awkward work dilemmas, without being in any way controlling in matters which you can handle perfectly well without his great clodding interference.

while females worldwide struggle to be Superwoman, what they want for themselves is Superman. Clark Kent for the wimpy days of the month; a rippling superhero on demand.

the more obvious point is that men and women are, and have always been, deeply ill-suited to a lifetime's monogamy. The idea of trying to spend decades with one other person is both loony and doomed. It can't work; we should all stay alone. But that point is a bit depressing, so let's be glad that these 'scientists' are invariably talking nonsense and best ignored.

Little Miss Sunshine

Finally, I got a chance to see this Oscar Nominated movie. It was awesome. The cute little girl in the movie, Olive, surely wants to be the prepubescent beauty queen called Little Miss Sunshine. The movie begins with Olive practising the moves in front of the TV.

This is the Hoover family - totally dysfunctional. The dad (Kinnear) is a motivational speaker. His nine ways of doing something doesnt get him anywhere. But he still believes that he can make it big and sell books based on his theory. His daughter Olive (Abigail) is also a great pipe dreamer. She, with her not so great looks and tiny pot belly, has this great confidence of winning the crown. Brother Dwayne (Dano) is preparing to join the Air Force and is silent for most parts of the movie. Toni Collette is the mom in the movie and she is depressed with her husband. throughout the movie, she tries to keep her family together. She comes across as a supportive mother who is confident and strong.

Grandpa played by Arkin is an amazing character. He does use the F word so many times in the movie that it becomes very uncomfortable. But he makes one comment thats perhaps the best one in the whole movie - "A real loser is someone who's so afraid of not winning he doesn't even try."

Steve Carrell is the mom's brother, the uncle, who gets rejected by his gay friend, tries to commit suicide and then ends up in the house. throughout the movie, he supports the family in what they do, but still keeps his serious face. I dont even remember him smiling a bit.

The movie is all about these 5 people getting on a VW Wagon and heading to California from Albequerque, the events that happen on the way and how they pull it together. suddenly dwayne realises that he is color blind. knowing that he cannot join the force, he cries hard. grandpa takes an overdose of drugs and kicks the bucket.

but the essence of the movie is the togetherness that it creates. the ultimate feeling for everyone in the movie is Olive's participation in the contest and they would go and do anything to see her on stage.

best part - Olive goes on stage and dedicates a song to her grandpa. when quizzed about where her grandpa is, she innocently says - grandpa is in the trunk of our car.

Workplace never gets better

So the next thing I did was to enrol in the Fitness One run gym at the office. Although the name of the Gym suggests a good brand, inside here its like yet another street gym with few standards. I dont understand, why the Gym fee has to be this low. Its actually less than a third of what you have to pay outside. And because of this, the facilities are quite bad. And the music sucks! Big Time. It just spoils your mood for a good workout when you hear that.

The most and ridiculously funny part is the dress code. You are not supposed to wear a sleeveless t-shirt to the gym. And this rule was given by the HR Department here. I still havent got the point.

Found this on another blog and thought I must let you all know. Click Here

And the next thing is about people just pushing their work to you. So this is right now happening to me. People above just transfer all the junk work to you and they keep waiting for you to let them know. In the middle, there is nothing called a follow. All they do is write an email and keep quiet for 10 days. At the end, jump at it and whatever. Still the problem of doing something because someone used to do it before exists around here. Not much of reasoning.

News spreads quite fast I say - my project was running off-track for a while. Luckily, we managed to get it back to running on time. That was after I spent two whole days trying to explain why we didnt deliver on time. So, the first question that your peers or seniors ask you (with a dirty smirk on their face) is "I heard that your project is delayed and the client has raised an alarm". All they want to know is whether your ass is on fire. Few months back, there was a huge appreciation that we were doing extremely well. Not many people bothered. And people have their own egos. A notion that just because they have spent donkey's years in the Services Industry, they know it all.

And the non-stick gum could be in stores by 2008! Its getting too technical. So you can read more about it here. Click Here. Please do not consider this as a filler to my blog space. Its just my initiative to let you know those interesting facts from around the world.

I still remember a gum incident that happened in school. I think I was in 10th grade or maybe 9th. A friend of mine was a big fan of the BIG FUN bubble gum. Remember this brand? This brand was literally an our time brand. The Babool and CenterFresh and whatever we have now are all late entrants. Anyway, so out of doign something for fun, this friend pulled out the gum and stuck it on another friend's head. You know these things. The stuff they put inside are so strong that it just got stuck completely. It gave no way. The next day my friend had to get a haircut done. That one place on his head looked like a small crater.

Poem: Her Shadow

She entered the temple hall
white frock and jasmine flowers
black walls and incense sticks

raising her hands upto the sky
indirectly she said "amma*, please hold me high"

with palms together, she looked ahead
not knowing what she was seeing
a belief that was innocent

minutes later they walked out
into the surroundings held by the wall
horizon trying to eat the orange ball

she looked down and surprise!
a mythical figure had taken her side
confused but not afraid, she stood
thoughts in her mind of different kinds

three steps to the right
the dark friend was still by her side
three steps to the left
and nothing had changed

suddenly amma lifted her
and the dark friend was gone
she wondered where


* amma - tamil word meaning mom

What happened to Orkut

Orkut was simple, plain and nice. I liked it the way it was. It wasnt like all those Beta Sites trying to do too many things at one go.

And then, the magicians rather product managers from Google came, said Abracadabra - changed it.

Now, the look is still like the Old one, but not quite like that. It feels more cramped. When I look at Orkut now, my profile feels claustrophobic, cluttered. I have no words to say.

No, its not the fact about taking time to get used to all of this. If it did not appeal the first time, then its probably not going to at all.

And today, there are other features. Like who updated and what was updated. This is a copy from Facebook.

The most innovative company of today has started copying now?

Chak De India

As promised, I begin my review of Chak De India. Saw this movie yesterday with a packed audience in the Sathyam Complex in Chennai, in their largest screen.

What a wonderful feeling it was. A different essence of patriotism, for the country and for the game. I had read a good number of reviews of Chak De. So, I did have a lot of expectation about the movie. Nothing was contrary to my belief. In fact, the movie did take me by surprise at a lot of instances and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The fact that every game is important and its the interest of the players that matters is evident. This movie went on to show everyone that there is much more than CRICKET for India.

Shah Rukh Khan (SRK) is not really the hero of this movie. He is rather the leader who is also a facilitator. The main characters to watch for are the girls who come from different parts of the country for a common cause (well they dont initially, but they change themselves over the course of the movie) - the spirit of sportsmanship and the fact that they represent the country.

This film is a classic example of managing difficult teams and people. There are several instances where SRK provides motivation and drives the girls to victory. As the story progresses, we can see a leader emerging from each player on the field. Togetherness makes a great difference.

SRK is not the coach who shows the girls the easy way out. He is harsh and a true task master. He treats every girl on the field like a man. No sacrifices just because you are a woman. If required you have to fight it the hard way. And the girls who form the cast are just like that. We see that they don't get upset or weak because of all this. They are rash, come across like warriors, but they do understand each other's feelings and respect that too. They live for each other and are compassionate.

Then there are the men on the board who drink tea and eat biscuits to keep criticizing the women. I guess this is what really happens at the top. These people just look for the money and not the talent. And this could be true even with BCCI or the Indian Olympics Committee. What purpose does it serve in having someone who is politically strong as a president or a senior member of such organizations. What is the value add he or she is going to bring?

We still haven't learned those lessons. The London Olympic Committee chairman is Lord Seb Coe who was an Olympic Champion in his time. But we have a bunch of good-for-nothing fellows sitting there.

Coming back to the movie. The government officials are stunned by the women's game and they are forced to sponsor them. And what more, the underdogs win. The second half is just hockey matches between different countries and its really fast, but exciting. There is one part where NAIK calls home and says "Marke aayenge par haarke nahi aayenge" or something like that, which translates as "We'll return dead, but we'll not return as losers". My eyes were full when I heard that. Those few words had so much power and emotion packed inside that it created an uncontrolled burst of happiness within me and I was happy that I was able to share the same enthusiasm that the players displayed on the screen. It was total involvement.

And this movie was inspired by the Women's Hockey Team that won the Gold in 2002. Another interesting read on the same lines is the HINDU Article. Thanks to Neha Viswanathan for these links.

Overheard...

I heard this when I was sitting in the office bus on my way back from work.

(Conversation translated from Tamil)

Woman speaking to someone on the Phone: I just got on to bus. I should reach by 9pm. Dont worry, I will not miss "Kolangal".

"Kolangal" - a tamil word in plural for Kolam, which is a design that is made out of color powder. You could call it Rangoli.

Anyway, Kolangal here refers to a mega-serial/soap that has been running for more years now. Mega-serials/soaps in Tamil Nadu are known for their baseless and dragging storylines, filled with crying daughters, agony aunts and nagging men.

What I was surprised about is the amount of interest that this woman showed in terms of being on time to see some goddamm soap which is so irritating and a total waste of time. We complain of our mom's and grandmom's watching these programmes day in and day out and here we have young women in chennai who are interested in these things. You'd say that this is a one off, I wouldnt quite agree. Chennai women are still like that.

ICICI Credit Cards - Worst Customer Service Ever

ICICI boasts to be the fastest growing bank. What's the point. Their customer service sucks.

When I joined work, I had applied for 2 credit cards. One was Standard Chartered and the other one was ICICI. ICICI went over the board and even promised to give a photo card. Standard Chartered did not do all that. They just promised a simple and value creating card. And they lived up to that. The card reached me in less than 2 weeks of my application - without much hassle. No too many phone calls asking for this photocopy and that verfication. In fact, I had provided the least amount of documentation to these guys and their service was excellent.

Coming to the Indian outfit - ICICI. I applied to the card and from then on, there was no response. After about 15 days of application, I tried calling them. Firt thing I find out - one of the guys who collected my application form has resigned and the other has no connection with the Credit Card team. So, they still havent filed my applciation. No action has been done for 15 days. I sent out a stinker to their manager and then things get in progress. Their executive calls me frantically and then asks for some details, along with proofs. With reluctance, I gave them the documents they asked for. Then is another period of silence. No action for 10 days and then I get a call from a representative, telling me that the application has been filed and it would take 45 days for whole process to get over.

I thought - What the F*** is going on? It takes a bank 10 days to generate a credit card application number and another 45 days to send that card to me! Totally insane.

Who is that Senior Vice President who made such horrible Service Level Agreements? 30 days to verify a person's details and 15 days to generate a credit card number and mail it across to the applicant. I havent seen this happen with any other bank I have ever dealt with.

ICICI boasts that they have 7,000,000 credit card customers and they are still growing. Whats the point.

When Citibank was here, they told us that they dont want to be a JUST ANOTHER BANK. Now I can totally understand that. For Citi, they dont want to service any tom, dick and harry in India. They want to service only premium customers. So they are not even bothered if their customer base doesnt grow at even half the rate at which ICICIs grows. But ICICI wants to just spread like fire and do nothing. They dont want to keep the set of customers who would never default on their card payment, rather they are more worried about getting their sales target.

Well, this is my experience. Maybe you got your card faster. ICICIs poor service level extends to their ATMs as well. Any outlet you enter, to withdraw money, there are atleast 10 people in queue. And this is an ALL DAY situation.

Blog Action Day

Why PDA?

Nowadays its almost becoming like the next best thing to do on the road. Before, it was just there in the film or maybe the SITCOM - the hero used to run around the trees hand in hand with his woman. Then came coffee shops, temples, book stores, the library, and many other public places. Oh yes, how can we forget the beach. And now we see all of it around us.

Today if you take a walk around the most visited public places in Chennai, you can hear noises that you'd usually hear inside the bedroom rather within the four walls of any place where you'd find some privacy. Sometimes you'll also get to see more. If you walked along the beach, you'd find people engaged in a lust filled activity. And perhaps this is not just with Chennai, it might be true with every city that is trying so hard and fast to be on the track of becoming a Metro.

This was the topic of yesterday's discussion on TV - whether we should allow such things or should we try and stop this?

Our country is going through a phase of transition where we have been questioning the certainities of the past with the happenings of the present. Our's is a place where a guy walks into an Infosys or a Wipro and calls his CEO by first name but does not do anything of that sort to his elders when he is at home. The indian mindset is one place where you will find a bluetooth dongle and a religious pendant co-existing in the 21st century. So, for a fact, we know that we are one of the most self-adjusted species in the world. Given that, should we allow Public Display of Affection (PDA)?

People argue that its me and my partner. How does it bother you? Well the point is that we have never lived like that in this country. We dont live in India like how I lived in London for 2 yrs. My neighbors didnt even smile at me in those 2 years and it was NOT because of me! There, most people live just for themselves. They call it their SPACE. Whatever, perhaps such societies were more outward and were not bound by rules of religion or anything in those lines. But even in a place like London, there are restrictions. Once when walking into the train station, I saw two people making out big timein one of the building corners. Quite soon, the police came around and asked them to leave.

So there is definitely a limit everywhere and with things like this, we cannot afford to create a law or draw a line telling what we can do in public and what we cannot. It is a personal choice.

The fact is ours is still a free land. People can do what they want as long as it does not affect the general life of a person. Kissing and hugging someone on the road obviously does not affect a third person on the bike. The only thing that could happen is he might get distracted and bump into the next vehicle on the front. And we cannot say that people should mind their own business. After all you are in a public place and respecting certain untold values that our society cherishes, we should keep ourselves in control of what we do. The only question is - would you do that in front of your family or friends. Not quite, right! So there is the answer.

SuperStar Rajnikant

Top Rajnikant Facts Published (thanks to an ISB Friend)

There is no theory of evolution. Just a list of creatures Rajnikant has allowed to live.

Outer space exists because it's afraid to be on the same planet with Rajnikant.

Rajnikant counted to infinity - twice.

When Rajnikant does a pushup, he isn't lifting himself up, he's pushing the Earth down. (God help me.. i cant take this anymore)

Rajnikant is so fast, he can run around the world and punch himself in the back of the head.

Rajnikant doesn't wear a watch, HE decides what time it is. (LOL)

Rajnikant gave Mona Lisa that smile.

Rajnikant can slam a revolving door.

There are no races, only countries of people Rajnikant has beaten to different shades of black and blue.

Rajnikant's house has no doors, only walls that he walks through.

Rajnikant can divide by zero.

Newton's Third Law is wrong: Although it states that for each action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, there is no force equal in reaction to a Rajnikant turnaround kick.

When taking the GRE, write "Rajnikant" for every answer. You will score over 1600.

Rajnikant has 12 moons. One of those moons is the Earth.

Rajnikant grinds his coffee with his teeth and boils the water with his own rage.

Archeologists unearthed an old English dictionary dating back to the year 1236. It defined "victim" as "one who has encountered Rajnikant"

If you Google search "Rajnikant getting kicked" you will generate zero results. It just doesn't happen.

Rajnikant can drink an entire gallon of milk in thirty-seven seconds.

Rajnikant doesn't bowl strikes, he just knocks down one pin and the other nine faint.

It takes Rajnikant 20 minutes to watch 60 Minutes.

The Bermuda Triangle used to be the Bermuda Square, until Rajnikant kicked one of the corners off.

There are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Rajnikant lives in Chennai.

Rajnikant once ate an entire bottle of sleeping pills. They made him blink.

James Cameron wanted Rajnikant to play the Terminator. However, upon reflection, he realized that would have turned his movie into a documentary, so he went with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Thousands of years ago Rajnikant came across a bear. It was so terrified that it fled north into the arctic. It was also so terrified that all of its decedents now have white hair.

60 yrs of independence

As we get closer to 60 yrs of independence, I just get reminded of how it was when it was 50 yrs of independence. Exactly 10 years back!!

I'd joined Pilani. Life in general was totally different from what it is now. See how technology has evolved! The comforts that we have wasnt anywhere close then. Emails - I didnt even know what an email was in 1997. How it worked, how do i email, was all something new for me. In fact, I was acting like how my dad does today - try and be away from technology and not accept the advantages it has. Still hold by your traditional methods and claim that its still better - in some ways yes it is. Not in speed of delivery. In 1997, letters still took a big portion of my communication gateway. I wrote letters to friends and family, sent them greeting cards. The whole idea of planning postal deliveries in advance was all kept in mind. The email in Pilani was running on something called PINE. I struggled and learnt how to write my first email and how to send it to the guy sitting next to me. As time passed, people got themselves adapted to the email culture and the letter became almost obsolete. Again a type of disruptive technology. From then on, the whole product cycle of the letter has been coming to the Decline Stage.

The other thing was the Telephone. People used to stand in queues in hostels to receive phone calls from parents. Every minute wasted in holding the line for someone to come and talk to their parent was repented and complained about. Weekend queues in our own C'NOT was filled with students trying to call their parents and friends. The words that I can never forget are - "All lines in this route are busy". But now, we have mobile handsets. Another disruption. I wonder what happened to so many STD shops around the campus. I guess they have started selling pre-paid cards and mobile connections. The way a technology changes the lifestyle of a society is so evident in a place like pilani.

Next comes DOPY - department of photogrpahy. One department that used to take all photographs during the festivals in pilani. all we need to do is get ourselves clicked and order the photos through our room numbers. student volunteers in DOPY used to hang around with hifi SLRs and take photos. a private photo studio had a contract to develop photos and deliver them to our rooms. now we have Digital Cameras!!! we take our photos and send them to everyone through email. so what happened to DOPY? It used to be such a favorite department for photography enthusiasts. For others like us, the attraction was that some of the good women on campus used to be in DOPY and they used to get photographs of us. Now people must be devoid of such small pleasures.

When technology brings some tangible benefits into your life, it also takes so much out of your life. You understand that only when you look back.

Merciless People

I was born, insignificant to this world. Many came into this world like me, in fact, some, with me as well. We didnt know what this world had for us, neither our parents did. They obeyed their masters and followed them wherever they were. Life wasnt subject to torture and pain, but was perhaps at the mercy of a few. With a meek understanding of everything around me I started growing up. I played with my friends without knowing day or night. Our dreams were restricted to smaller pastures among concrete jungles. Sometimes even those areas were fenced. And the focus shifted to mass dumping grounds. A few years passed. I grew. I grew without knowing what was happening around me. Suddenly one day - mommy was gone. I dont know what happened. Its not that I distinctly know how mommy looks like but she was there for me at least for sometime and then I almost felt like I was left to be by my own.

Then one day, a fierce looking creature arrived. Although it has a close resemblance to how the masters were, it still looked dangerous. Within a few minutes, it caught hold of some of us, dumped us on a mini-van and drove. We were separated. Separated from what was our small world - it wasnt a paradise, but we felt safe when we were there. We are taken to another place and the future wasnt clear. I cried, but no one would listen. I tried to break free from the clutches, but I could not. Even if I did, where would I go? I was feeling lost. Wherever I'd go, I'd probably be caught and brought back again. Suddenly......

That was it. It was a horrible sight. Seeing an animal getting slaughtered. I didnt see it directly but I could feel that within me. There were cries before the small thing was brought to the insides of the meat shop. If the creature had a sense of what was happening, then it would have known that death was closer. If it was own when the guy was getting it into the truck, then imagine. What if someone caught hold of you in the morning, dumped you onto a truck and told you that you will be dead in few hours. Its the same feeling. Just not expressed. Knowing exactly when you will be dead is perhaps the worst thing you want to know in your life. At least God has been great enough not to give these speechless creatures that sense. But isnt there a better way to do this? Use an anaesthetic or something.

Gender Genie

I came across this new thing called the Gender Genie - a website that tells with 80% accuracy whether an article was written by a man or a woman. In fact, I wanted to test it and I tried my last post on it. The result was - the male score dominated the female score by more than 100%. the algorithm is based on the fact that men and women can be categorised under certain styles of using words. women use more personal pronouns whereas men are inclined towards using words that quantify nouns. in fact the whole paper is available on the website.

at work - we have a local version of Toastmasters. There is a meeting every fortnight, late afternoon, and people are invited to talk on prepared topics. there are table topics as well. anyway, i had the chance to attend one. with great expectations i walked into the hall and i found less than 5 people in the audience. out of 5000 plus people in the office, there are just 5 who want to test or work on their communication skills. i wonder if so many are busy with work. im quite sure that its not the case. just that they are too lazy to move their butt from the seat they have been warming for the whole day.

at this juncture, i must also tell you that generally, the communication level inside the organization is extremely poor. people know to code well. they might even enter the limca book of records for maybe coding so many thousand lines in a day but they are extremely bad at writing even two lines for an email. most of the english that people write is verbatim of what they talk over the phone or to their friends. i mean - the thought just falls into words. it doesnt get any flavor of grammar. and i dont understand why people are not bothered. is this a lack of interest from within? i do see organizational initiatives once in a while, but i have a general feeling that in all this struggle, the aim is just to make sure that ends meet ( i mean, to make sure that business happens. like we had this concept called JIT - Just In Time and later when I was doing in-plant training with a renowned manufacturing firm, the production manager told me that there was new term called SHIT - SomeHow In Time).

Food for thought - George Orwell listed four writers' motives: sheer egotism, aesthetic enthusiasm, historical impulse (the desire to record things as they are, for posterity) and political purpose (the desire to push the world in a certain direction).

Do you know what you are doing?

I suddenly realised that even in an organization like this, people are working in silos. The concept of synergy is lost.

I read this line in an IMD Article - "if your customer knows more about what they buy from you than you do, the true cost of unintegrated IT gets very large"

and its almost the same thing thats happening around me. the customer talks to me and gets something underway. at the same time, he talks to another person who probably sits in another location for the same thing. since there is not one effective communication channel established between the decision makers, sometimes we end up doing the same thing over and again. the customer is extremely smart. he knows that we work in such a model. so all he needs to do is get both of us working and choose the best solution. and what do we get - business at twice the acquisition cost.

very basic concepts that i remember reading from the management of organizations course keep coming into my mind. most of it just happens because it happened before. if you question the fundamental behind whats happening, then there is hardly anyone to answer. but if they need something, then they are constantly behind your back. i remember filling some workbook during work. i was new to it and all i was given is the last month's workbook to see and replicate. there were more than two sheets on that workbook and i was sure that the numbers in the sheets had to match. that was the logical step. so i went on and checked all the sheets a number of times and nothing matched. i was surprised. and we follow this every month like clockwork. do we really have an objective?

and in the next category are team members. in fact, i dont even know the kind of work these people are doing and yet i can figure out that some of them are happily free riding. but some of them are so shameless. they know that they are wasting time and still expect that they have to be promoted after a performance review. i know of one who is quite an experienced fellow - more than me, just in the number of years. but now i know for sure that even years of relevant work experience is definitely a bad criteria to judge a person's abilities. for this guy's work is just instruction based. if you tell him to think on the fly and do it, he will panic and break down or wash his hands and shout back at you.

and on top of all this is the bureaucratic nature of doing work. there is a restricted car park - where only people from certain levels in the organization can use. and then the people in support services keep opening the doors and saluting senior staff. if you are at a certain level and above, work gets done faster. if you are at the lower end of the ladder, then you are at the mercy of whoever that guy he is. he would think that he is doing you a great favor by just doing his job and nothing else. in fact, he is there to do that, but he thinks that he can keep you waiting as long as no one complains. QUASI GOVERNMENT - as one rightly put it.

Trip to Gingee

So yesterday, we managed to do that trip to Gingee Fort.



Gingee Fort

You can see the photos on this slideshow. All credit goes to Manu for having taken wonderful pics.

Gingee is about 3 hrs drive from Chennai. Take the NH45 to Tindivanam or Dindivanam and then from there take the NH66 that goes to Thiruvannamalai. You will reach Gingee when you drive about 30 kms on that road. You can learn more about Gingee Fort through Google. My post is just to showcase the pictures.

Bhavan's Nite

This post is dedicated to all my Pilani Friends (year 1997-1998) and its part of my initiative to record certain events in my life - the concept of blogging wasnt even anywhere close to India when this happened.

Bhavan's are like hostels in other colleges. Just that in pilani they were called Bhavans with different prefixes as well - mine was called Budh. One of the oldest I would say.

So at the end of each academic year, the junior batch in the bhavan gave a farewell party to the senior batch. Typically, you get to stay in a bhavan for 2 years. Again, mine was an exception. People in my degree stayed in Budh for a year and then moved to Shankar. There are 6 junior hostels (that house first yearites and second yearites), excluding the girls hostel and 5 other senior hostels.

The farewell that the juniors conduct is called Bhavan's Nite. Its a spectacular event. Its like a war between the bhavans. Each hostel has a theme and its kept a big secret from the others. In fact, I have seen people getting into fights for leaking information. There is also the first mover advantage. Bhavans that open with a bang and conduct the first nite set the benchmark for that year - good or bad. The cultural secretary of the hostel has a fund for the Bhavan's nite which was around 6K during my time. Over and above that each hostel can gather more funds from the juniors based on the level of flamboyance they set.

Negotiation skills started right from undergrad for people like me. When Bhavan's announce their date for the event, it might clash with another. Its like ISB. Most events are held when everyone has time. No Bhavan wants its nite to be attended only by its own people. They want the whole campus to come there and talk about the event the next day. So, when there is a clash, negotiations happen. And yes, the nite is the ONLY EVENT in which you can invite the girls to your hostel premises. So, if you need to get the hot girls from your batch, then you need to negotiate and conclude because then the girls might start choosing. You dont want that - do you?

Preparations - there is a Co-Ord for the event. Rumors run around that whoever stands for Bhavan's Nite Co-Ord runs for the Hostel Rep post the next year, which is part of the Students Union. That is some kind of power. So, right from preparing for the Nite, you are kind of split into groups. Politics begins right there. An events schedule is drawn up. Skill sets are identified. A fund is allocated for people who work - their night time tea and biscuits is sponsored. So, there is scope for a treasurer. Usually there is a back-drop - a huge chart 20 feet by 10 or whatever. And people make a painting on that based on the theme they choose. I still remember that we painted an old greek temple - depicting the state of our hostel and also some relation to revival. Teams for everything - events, back-drop, decoration, lights, sounds, dinner, and yes invites.

Innovation was next on our mind for the invites. Every bhavan worked hard on getting the right invite. Brainstorming sessions happen day and nite to work on the design. People come up with prototypes. Our's was like an old manuscript with burnt edges. I still remember another one - it was like a pot. You open it and fumes come out like the Aladdin Lamp and then you can pull out the invite. Some invites were based on heavy origami work. We had one guy in our batch who was an origami champ. So his hostel leveraged his core competency.

Budget also has an impact on the food. The larger - we get more items in terms of starters, better ice-cream (although cassatta used to be the standard) etc.

Next thing was decoration - from the entrance, the way it is designed. I remember Gandhi Bhavan had an entrance which was like a maze. Size of the stage and height from ground level. We made our own stage - built using wooden cots borrowed from everyone's rooms. Planning the whole stage - length, width, whether we needed a side stage or a ramp, makeing it as flat as possible - everything was done in-house.

Events - as usual there is music performance, couple of dances, a funny skit and then games for the seniors. Of course, we have Mr. Whatever Bhavan and Miss. Whatever Bhavan - for the fun part you see. Ours was called BOY'97 - Budhite of the Year 97. Kinda kool - aint it?

I still remember the Nite we did when we were in our final year. This was one Nite for ourselves. We did just for the enthu factor. And we performed a skit mocking some our friends, seniors and juniors. That night, some of them paraded into our wing and caught the collars of few of my friends who were involved in the drama. It was good fun - yes, at the cost of someone.

Super Busy Weekend

Ultimate Frisbee was totally ultimate this weekend. We had a good game. Played for more than an hour. The next step by default was to go to Murugan Idli Shop at the end of the road for a sumptuous breakfast.

Then Saturday was suddenly slow. My car was longing for a good wash and wax polish. So I decided not to deny him a good wash (in Spanish, car is masculine and bikes are feminine - did you know that?). Anyway, I decided to go and watch July 4 - the latest Dilip movie from Mallu Land. Nice songs but hopeless storyline. During the movie, I could figure out that the music director had actually borrowed a few notes from other popular music that I know of.

Five Point Someone was the next attraction for the day. I didnt imagine that it would attract so much attention from the chennai theater enthusiasts. well, my friends were telling me that they never got to see the Yo Girls in chennai and they were all there. Pretty teens to Beautiful ladies - all of them. Any spec you came up with, there was atleast one match. Back to the play - it was amazing. All the characters were given equal importance. In fact, there were a few IITians in the play. Neha and Hari pulled it off big time on stage. The way the Prof's daughter looks at the student is just the way it happens in most schools I guess. Vidyuth who was the narrator - i think he is also part of the chennai runners group - was just right in doing his task. Even though the whole play was totally the book, the adaptation was extremely good. The play took a decent dig at commerce students.

On Saturday, we also managed to squeeze in an alumni-current batch meeting. the current batch was back for term 2 break after a rough and tough fight with markstrat. there is another meeting - the official one that ISB is organizing in Chennai. That will be during the first weekend of August.

"1001 ways to find out if she is the right one" - thats the title of the book i am trying to search for in my latest quest for knowledge. and it is a mad mad world. sometimes i feel like a peeled orange in a juicer ready to be crushed or squeezed. do i really want all that i want - that's something i got to discover. i think i have opened a huge pandora box. life's like that.

More theater and Myself

I continue my review about the play I saw on Sunday. I realized that I had forgotten a few things. Though the play was highly practical and has a strong yet silent message, there were umpteen number of breaks in the play that disturbed the flow. There was a scene change almost every 2-3 minutes and after a point it was rather annoying. I can understand that whatever was done is perhaps justified but maybe the director could have worked out a better way.

Some Chennai Theater goers, especially the ones that land up to watch Tamil Theater - SUCK. They have no etiquette. Rather, they'd think that etiquette is a new ticket that they could buy. Even after announcements to switch off mobile phones, people were busy answering calls. Some entered the hall after 20 mins and then also walked out in the middle. Then there were few who gave laudatory comments after certain dialogs. WTF is wrong with these people. They just couldn't shut their mouth. I hope more people in chennai read this and a general opinion spreads. People really need to be well mannered and respect the efforts put in by the production team.

Yesterday, I was speaking to my cousin who lives in the UK. Somehow she had heard that something other than the usual was happening with my life. After a while she asked me the million dollar question, rather questions I would say - Are you ready? Do you know that the person is THE right one? I was like Hmmm - It depends (like the typical MBA answer), maybe or maybe not. The situation was really like Shah Rukh Khan in Dil To Pagal Hai, when he asks Dixit - "How will I know? Will she hold a placard and tell me Hi, its me and I am the one". And then Dixit says - "He will tell you" and points to the Sky (what she meant is God or the Spirit of whatever). That time it sounded absolutely funny and it even now does. I think this feedback mechanism works for love at first sight. For people who have been through that first sight thing many times, its does not give a steady state answer. And generally, a question like this is mostly a complex polynomial equation with too many variables and dependencies. There is definitely an objective function, followed by certain assumptions and criteria. Ask me and I will never have a perfect answer. Because thats me.

The happy mind

It was time again to watch a play enacted by Dummies Drama. This group has been doing extremely well in the chennai theater circle. After a long time, the city's theater enthusiasts get to see serious tamil drama - apart from the usual SV Sekhar, Crazy and YG comedies that have now become quite a boring affair, mainly because of being repetitive and sarcastic.

Anyway, Vinodaya Chitham was the latest effort by Sreevathson and team. A story about how much contentment you need in your life and whether there is an end to whats happening to any person in this world. The play started off very well - ample opportunity to create comedy strips, very natural and simple, like the ones between the humorous husbands, witty wives, bantering friends and joshing daughters. Comedy that simply blended into the story line without giving the audience a chance to regret.

The protagonist is on the other side of 50 when familial responsibilities are at peak (son's and daughter's wedding planned). Office work is good as well. Suddenly death comes. He cannot take it. He fights the character called death and wants to come back to earth to fulfill his duties. An interesting piece of dialog that I remember. "If I die after a few years, after I finish all that I had thought about, the others will be mature and they will understand it" and then Death says "When will you be mature". This was a turning point in the story and it struck my heart like the sound we hear when a slave who bangs the distress bell in the castle.

He seeks time to do everything and death says OK. All this while no one knows that a strong message is being poked through their minds, because almost every minute there is an exchange of dialogs that evokes a laughter. After seeking time, the protagonist sees that all the events that happen around him are not happening to his satisfaction or favor. He is not happy but he has to take things the way they are. Also, these events would have happened anyway and his presence was unimportant. This gets explained in the latter part of the play during a serious conversation between him and Death.

When things happen on the positive side, then its LUCK. But when things go belly up and totally wrong, its FATE. Its always up to us to decide whether is Luck or Fate. Its the mind. We are so happy some time and then we pray to God that we should just leave this world as we are and when he actually comes to get you, you are afraid and you need more time.

The play ends when the protagonist is upset with what happened with him and he feels that he could have left this world and that's where Death picks him up again. One way, no return. And Bhaja Govindam plays in the background.

The translation of the Sanskrit verses goes like this - " Oh fool! Give up now the thirst to amass wealth; Getting rid of vain desires, fill the mind with good and holy thoughts; Entertain it with the wealth you acquire by fair means. "

Born two months later??

Your True Birth Month Is December

Logical Patriotic Ambitious Not egoistic Loves praise Loves to joke Fun to be with Not pretending Loves attention Short tempered Hates restrictions Loves to socialize Loves to be loved Loyal and generous Impatient and hasty Changing personality Good sense of humor Honest and trustworthy Influential in organizations Takes high pride in oneself Active in games and interactions

What's Your True Birth Month?

Travel Photography awards

Two photographs taken in India made it to the list. Here they are. Can you guess the locations? Beer Treat Assured!!!


This one above should be easy to guess. There arent too many around in the country like this.



This might be a tuffie. This photograph was taken by Mani Puthuran.

Seven Eleven Remembered

Year 2006 same date - Britain came under a big shock. There was an attack. In train stations and bus stations. I still remember that day. I was on the train in south east london, much farther from where the events had happened. A typical early morning where I walked into the crowded Docklands Light Rail, popularly known as the DLR for Londoners. Unaware of anything that happened, people were busy browsing through newspapers and some fiddling with their ipod, rest with a novel. Within 15 minutes of travel, I reached my station Canary Wharf, where I work and we were informed that the train wouldnt travel past till the Bank Station which was probably another 15 mins away. Surprising that on a busy morning, the train suddenly stopped mid-way. When I get into the office, I learn that there has been a power failure in the station. Still the news isnt out. My parents were visiting me and they were supposed to take a train or a bus to see Tower Bridge. For their luck, the news had trickled down through a few local ears and they walked back to the apartment. Within a few hours the BBC made the official announcement and the country was in SHOCK.

It was just the previous day that London won the bid for the Olympics. The whole country was overjoyed. There was celebration all around Trafalgar Square. And that day was the G8 Summit in Gleneagles, Scotland. For which, there were enough protests.

This event happened and everything came to a standstill. Mobile networks were completely jammed. Transport systems went belly up. Chaos everywhere and while sitting at office with the radio I could sense the agony and pain that family and friends of the injured and dead would go through. I think this was the closest I have gotten to being part of a serious situation and it was very disturbing.

And these events are still happening - people from the same community. Ruthless lunatics they are. Now they are giving another threat for Rushdie's knighthood. They quote the permission of Allah. Did they ever read the Quran in their lifetime? Because it never said anything close to what they are claiming. And they go around killing their own people. I guess, God gave these people too much oil, a new religion but no brains to be protective and productive.

The death of the cassette tape

I am running out of time to write a post. Hence, I decided to post this stuff I read a few months back. Very interesting - reminds me about product life cycle and markets. For readers from the ISB, might be a very good example for a CP during your elective courses.

THE eject button has been pressed on the audio cassette for the very last time.

Currys, the UK’s biggest electronics retailer, yesterday announced it is to stop selling the tapes.

Woolworths and HMV have already removed them from their shelves.

Currys also predicts this Christmas will be the last time it sells hi-fi systems with tape decks included.

Compact cassettes could be frustrating at times — hissing, stretching or getting chewed up in tape decks — but while MP3s and downloads are all the rage now, tapes played an important role in musical culture for more than 40 years.

The recordable tape was introduced to Europe in 1963 by Philips.

Originally designed for dictation, tapes soon became used for home recording and even data storage for computers.

For younger readers, the compact cassette consisted of two miniature spools between which a magnetic tape was passed and wound. This mechanism was housed in a protective plastic shell.

Cassettes took off in the Seventies, offering a recordable alternative to LPs. Pre-recorded cassettes went on sale in Europe in 1965, and from the Seventies to the Nineties became one of the most common formats on which to buy music.

The appeal of the cassette was boosted by the launch of portable music players such as the Sony Walkman in 1979.

A massive 83million tapes were sold in the UK in 1989. Yet by last year the figure had fallen to a mere 100,000.

In the Nineties sales of pre-recorded tapes were overtaken by CDs and record companies started phasing them out.

And in recent years the digital music revolution has pressed pause on the old-fashioned practice of “home dubbing”.

Even Currys managing director Peter Keenan said he will look back with “fondness” at cassettes.

Indeed, the tapes and the players had their good points.

They were more resistent to dust, heat and shocks than most digital media and fixing cassettes didn’t need hi-tech equipment — any tape which spooled out could be wound back in using a Biro.

Their durability saw them act as catalysts for social change, taking rock and punk music behind the Iron Curtain and creating a foothold for Western culture.

But cassettes were not popular with everyone — especially record companies.

In the Eighties the British Phonographic Institute launched an anti-copyright infringement campaign under the slogan “Home Taping Is Killing Music”.

In 1988 the House of Lords ruled in favour of Sir Alan Sugar’s Amstrad that producing a high-speed twin cassette deck did not infringe copyright laws.

Despite the digital music revolution, it is thought around 500million tapes are still in circulation.

And beware, here are other devices we reckon could be on the way out next:

Answering machines; Fax machines; Portable CD players; Watches

You have been warned . . .

Weekly roundup

I didn't realize that its been a week since i wrote something on this space. A friend of mine who reads this space regularly had to remind me of that. He did ask me whether it was because of work. my frank answer is - is definitely because i have been trying hard to find work in the last one week.

ever since Sivaji happened, i have following up quite regularly on the movie. a whopping budget of 90 crore (international readers please excuse me for using crore) indian rupees - can you believe that. and i also heard that the superstar got 17 crore as salary, which is the fixed component and then a variable pay that would come from distribution revenues. mba stuff happening here too.

anyway, during the last week, i hardly went for work. on monday i was in bangalore attending a wedding and catching up with few friends from b-school. then on wednesday, mr.manjeri(the coimby man on my blog's main page) and i left to tirupati to attend another wedding. during this time, my manager decided to get me into a new project. all this while i was supposed to work for a chicago based bank's projects. not that i had started work on that. just that the allocation had been done and the people in that team were doing some knowledge transfer - very much like the gyaan sessions at ISB. too many PPTs and stuff like that. on friday i was introduced to the new project and i said yes. although its 90 percent confirmed that i will start work on this one from monday, anything can happen. bottomline: i still dont have work.

another funny incident happened at office on friday - a friend of mine entered the office lobby wearing sandals and the security guard stopped him. he wanted my friend to get permission from the HR because there was a slight violation of the dress code. i was furious. this is a place where people walk in like a herd of cattle especially between 9 and 10 am. nobody checks a shit you could walk in with a detonator and that silly guy wouldn't know a thing. with such a security lapse uncared for, this guy demands a dress code authorization. extraordinarily funny.

every IT consulting company in india is preparing to start a full fledged technology consulting arm. and we are also seeing whats happening with the dollar. azim premji had once said that it would take 36 yrs for the rupee to be at par with the dollar, but i kinda feel that it might happen in like 10 years. suddenly all firms are aggressively looking at revenues from europe. and i got to hear that Infosys is trying to get something from Cap Gemini. Thats actually a very good strategy. CG is headquartered in Paris and a large portion of its revenues is from Europe. They always say - quicker the better and this is also some kind of first mover advantage. companies want to pay less and thats why a lot of them are moving out of india as well. today, we are in a different game. the cost advantage is no longer with us. we need a new and radical strategy.