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.