I just had a torrid experience with Air Deccan right now. I can't remember having flown with them and I'll make sure I remember to not do it again.
Here it what happened: I booked my ticket from Delhi to Bangalore (flight #661) for 9AM flight on 12th Nov through makemytrip.com. I got to the airport around 8AM and when I tried depositing my baggage at the luggage check counter they said the flight had already left and
that I need to go to the counter and speak to someone there. Obviously confused, I followed what I was told. On reaching the counter I was informed by Sahil, a smart looking man in his late twenties, that the flight 661 had flown its 'Winter' timing and had left at 5:45am! Confused as hell I thought waking up early was giving me 'daymares'.
But just in case it was real-what do I do? I decided to act normal and asked,"what do you expect me to do then?"
To which I got an array of options that would get me to my destination comfortably and in-time NOT. I was given TWO options:
1) take the 8pm flight the SAME day DIRECTLY to Bangalore ! I was feeling lucky "the same day?" I mean wow who gets a chance to waste their day going back and forth to the airport? Unreal.
2) take the immediately available flight to Chennai (which would get me to Chennai by 1pm and then take the 5:30pm connection to Bangalore. Meaning that I'd land in Bangalore around 6:30pm. And obviously there won't be a lounge for me to access whilst in Chennai.
Given the outrageous choices I decided to go with the latter.
Its 4pm and I just discovered that the 5:30 flight has been preponed to 5:10. I, obviously, found out when I decided to check in.
I just pity people like Sahil who have to face customer's wrath for stupid and premature policies of their organisation. Me? Today was the first time in my life when I worked out of the airport. And probably the last time I flew Deccan.
The choice really is quite simple (as their new ad campaign paradoxically claims!)
(Written on 12th Nov on my new iPhone:)) while I was at the airport)
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Nothing Leads to Something
This is my tribute to all who have faced nothing, believe in something, understand something and yet seem to know nothing. Dream On...If something is the way ahead, then let there be nothing..
Nothing leads to Something
What if there is nothing?All there is, is nothing
But we want to do something,
And we hear, to always aim for something
Here I am, no thoughts, no disturbances, no purpose, no aim,
No pleasure, no pain, nothing
But is it undesireable?
I know not, for I not have a push or a pull
I lie in the vacuum, feeling nothing,
And whilst nothing, I am nothing
After swarms of nothing, I turn around,
Only to feel something
With nothing behind me, nothing in me, and nothing for me,
I move ahead
I move ahead, with nothing,
To find something
Nothing will lead me to something,
Something, nothing else will achieve, nothing else will satiate
Thats the way for me,
From nothing to something
Nothing leads to Something
What if there is nothing?All there is, is nothing
But we want to do something,
And we hear, to always aim for something
Here I am, no thoughts, no disturbances, no purpose, no aim,
No pleasure, no pain, nothing
But is it undesireable?
I know not, for I not have a push or a pull
I lie in the vacuum, feeling nothing,
And whilst nothing, I am nothing
After swarms of nothing, I turn around,
Only to feel something
With nothing behind me, nothing in me, and nothing for me,
I move ahead
I move ahead, with nothing,
To find something
Nothing will lead me to something,
Something, nothing else will achieve, nothing else will satiate
Thats the way for me,
From nothing to something
Sunday, May 20, 2007
The dual advertising strategy
I think there is a lot of scope and work that can be done in the advertising space for mutually exclusive and benefitial industries/firms/brands. Think about it, Akshay Kumar advertising for Thumbs Up doing all his fancy stunts wearing Nike shoes, with his, "Just do it" attitude. Thumbs up stands for its macho image of one wanting to have it despite all odds. The Thumbs up and Nike attitudes blend so well that if someone can liaise between the two organisations owning these brands, both can benefit out of stuff like greater brand recall value and synergistic benefits and of course, smaller marketing budgets.
Some work needed to become the matchmaker of brands, marrying them for holy matrimony but it definitely makes sense to me. What about you??
Some work needed to become the matchmaker of brands, marrying them for holy matrimony but it definitely makes sense to me. What about you??
About to hang my boots
Well its decided. I will be hanging my boots. And there is no caveat or anything like that here. After my decent performance yesterday I have decided that enough is enough.
Just to bring you up to speed, we had the Bangalore midnight marathon yesterday (19th May'07). There were three races- the full deal (42kms), the half marathon (21 km) and the IT city run (5.4 kms). I got to know about the event from a colleague in office, ED, a fortnight back.
None of us in our office were anywhere close to being prepared for any run whatsoever and knowing the time left to prepare we decided to start training for the 5.4kms run. ED, RB and I signed up. It was fun for me because I was used to running for about 1.5- 2 kms in about 20 mins or so and thought that was it for me. I started training hard, too hard may be. One week into the training, last Sunday, after running for 6kms my calf muscles got jammed. They were aching pretty bad, and to top it, I had only a week to recover and continue training. I tackled it by resting on Monday and Tuesday, practising again on Wednesday and then resting on Thursday and Friday. I hoped it would turn out well.
It almost did. I got up yesterday feeling close to no pain in my calf muscles. I checked my office mails, rested for a while, dozed off for an hour and left with S for the venue at 5:14pm. We got there to find a huge field infront of the iGate campus being used to set up the stage, the stalls, and all that jazz. The race was to start at 6:30pm and we got there around 5:45pm. ED got there around 6pm and RB came around 6:10pm. We had fun looking around, clicking a few pics of the 'before' shot and streched a bit before the run. At 6:25pm we were asked to start gathering around the place where the run was to be kicked off from. We had a huge contingent from Thompson, Carewell, Green piss (Oops, I mean Greanpeace), Unisys and quite a few other IT firms. It looked to me that the race would have about 600-odd participants (I later discovered that number to be well over a thousand). At 6:30pm sharp the race was flagged off.
I wanted to do well but having not run this kind of distance in the past on road (owing to Bangalore's hazardous roads!) I wanted to conserve my energy. That plan went out of the window almost as soon as the race began. I had such a huge number of people running alongside, and ahead of me that I knew to finish the race the way I would want to, I would need to overtake the trash. I ran briskly, not too fast though, lest I'd loose it all too soon, for the first 500 metres or so and the population started to become rarified. And surprisingly I started feeling out of breath already!
I kept on and started my usual move of focusing on someone ahead of me and continuing to replicate their motion till the person ahead begins wearing down. That went on for about the next kilometre or so and I kept reminding myself the value of continuing to fight and carrying on. Well I did and soon my calf muscles began to give in. The pain of last week came back and topped with the stress of running on road made it really tough. On my way I met a couple of mid-forty-something blokes who were obviously running out of gas, like me. I slowed down to run with one of the guys. It was wonderful. All I said was, "Tag along?" And the reply was equally easy,"Lets try" After about 3 mins of running together, he had to stop. I egged him to come along but he seemed clearly done and so I moved on. I had a similar experience down the road when another guy seemed to be loosing his breath. Reaching alongside him I started clapping (stupid as it may seem, to some) and egged him on. I asked him to follow the ryhthm and just keep focussed. He took my words too well and started to run faster. I tried catching up but the guy got just too fast. I had to stop, even though it was just about a 10-second stop I couldnt run any further. Then I looked at that guy ahead of me and something just didnt fit. I had to out run him. I dont know why it meant so much but I had to do it. The calves didnt matter, the breadth didnt either. It had to be done. And so I started again. I followed him for another 500 mtrs before he began to start caving in. And eventually he did. Then I had to find another challenge and a guy passing me became just that. I ran with him for another 500 mts or so and then came the final turn. After seeing the finish line about 300mts away and having overtaken the 'passing guy', I could see one guy about 50 mtrs ahead of me and another just close to the line. In the next 100 mts I overtook the guy in front of me. At this time I clearly had no incentive , in terms of a better rank, to run faster. But like so many other things in my life, I ran, without a reason, but for the fact that I wanted to strech myself and feel the exhaltation of the sprint. I ran as fast as I could and just before the finish line I saw a small hump in the road. I had to put in so much effort as if I was crossing a foot high hurdle. But I kept running and eventually completed the race in the sprint. I was welcomed by the beating drums and a huge cheer by the crowd. I stopped my watch as soon as I crossed the finishing line and saw it show 28 mins and 33 secs. I asked S how many people crossed the line before me and he said about 6. That made me 7th! I waited, with aching calves, for RB and ED, who arrived 7 mins and 20 mins later, respectively. We stayed back for some time, collecting our participation certificates and clicking a few photos.
I am home now, writing this piece for posterity, with my legs still aching. I havent taken any medicines as I think its better to let my body heal itself. Anyways, so much so for the long story!
And for the title of this piece , I got to find out in the last week that the shoes I used for training in the gym (and also for the ITPL race piece down the blog somewhere too) arent exactly the right ones for running. I am gonna treat myself for the 7th rank with a new pair of shoes and let these ones hang. I love them.
Cheers!!
Just to bring you up to speed, we had the Bangalore midnight marathon yesterday (19th May'07). There were three races- the full deal (42kms), the half marathon (21 km) and the IT city run (5.4 kms). I got to know about the event from a colleague in office, ED, a fortnight back.
None of us in our office were anywhere close to being prepared for any run whatsoever and knowing the time left to prepare we decided to start training for the 5.4kms run. ED, RB and I signed up. It was fun for me because I was used to running for about 1.5- 2 kms in about 20 mins or so and thought that was it for me. I started training hard, too hard may be. One week into the training, last Sunday, after running for 6kms my calf muscles got jammed. They were aching pretty bad, and to top it, I had only a week to recover and continue training. I tackled it by resting on Monday and Tuesday, practising again on Wednesday and then resting on Thursday and Friday. I hoped it would turn out well.
It almost did. I got up yesterday feeling close to no pain in my calf muscles. I checked my office mails, rested for a while, dozed off for an hour and left with S for the venue at 5:14pm. We got there to find a huge field infront of the iGate campus being used to set up the stage, the stalls, and all that jazz. The race was to start at 6:30pm and we got there around 5:45pm. ED got there around 6pm and RB came around 6:10pm. We had fun looking around, clicking a few pics of the 'before' shot and streched a bit before the run. At 6:25pm we were asked to start gathering around the place where the run was to be kicked off from. We had a huge contingent from Thompson, Carewell, Green piss (Oops, I mean Greanpeace), Unisys and quite a few other IT firms. It looked to me that the race would have about 600-odd participants (I later discovered that number to be well over a thousand). At 6:30pm sharp the race was flagged off.
I wanted to do well but having not run this kind of distance in the past on road (owing to Bangalore's hazardous roads!) I wanted to conserve my energy. That plan went out of the window almost as soon as the race began. I had such a huge number of people running alongside, and ahead of me that I knew to finish the race the way I would want to, I would need to overtake the trash. I ran briskly, not too fast though, lest I'd loose it all too soon, for the first 500 metres or so and the population started to become rarified. And surprisingly I started feeling out of breath already!
I kept on and started my usual move of focusing on someone ahead of me and continuing to replicate their motion till the person ahead begins wearing down. That went on for about the next kilometre or so and I kept reminding myself the value of continuing to fight and carrying on. Well I did and soon my calf muscles began to give in. The pain of last week came back and topped with the stress of running on road made it really tough. On my way I met a couple of mid-forty-something blokes who were obviously running out of gas, like me. I slowed down to run with one of the guys. It was wonderful. All I said was, "Tag along?" And the reply was equally easy,"Lets try" After about 3 mins of running together, he had to stop. I egged him to come along but he seemed clearly done and so I moved on. I had a similar experience down the road when another guy seemed to be loosing his breath. Reaching alongside him I started clapping (stupid as it may seem, to some) and egged him on. I asked him to follow the ryhthm and just keep focussed. He took my words too well and started to run faster. I tried catching up but the guy got just too fast. I had to stop, even though it was just about a 10-second stop I couldnt run any further. Then I looked at that guy ahead of me and something just didnt fit. I had to out run him. I dont know why it meant so much but I had to do it. The calves didnt matter, the breadth didnt either. It had to be done. And so I started again. I followed him for another 500 mtrs before he began to start caving in. And eventually he did. Then I had to find another challenge and a guy passing me became just that. I ran with him for another 500 mts or so and then came the final turn. After seeing the finish line about 300mts away and having overtaken the 'passing guy', I could see one guy about 50 mtrs ahead of me and another just close to the line. In the next 100 mts I overtook the guy in front of me. At this time I clearly had no incentive , in terms of a better rank, to run faster. But like so many other things in my life, I ran, without a reason, but for the fact that I wanted to strech myself and feel the exhaltation of the sprint. I ran as fast as I could and just before the finish line I saw a small hump in the road. I had to put in so much effort as if I was crossing a foot high hurdle. But I kept running and eventually completed the race in the sprint. I was welcomed by the beating drums and a huge cheer by the crowd. I stopped my watch as soon as I crossed the finishing line and saw it show 28 mins and 33 secs. I asked S how many people crossed the line before me and he said about 6. That made me 7th! I waited, with aching calves, for RB and ED, who arrived 7 mins and 20 mins later, respectively. We stayed back for some time, collecting our participation certificates and clicking a few photos.
I am home now, writing this piece for posterity, with my legs still aching. I havent taken any medicines as I think its better to let my body heal itself. Anyways, so much so for the long story!
And for the title of this piece , I got to find out in the last week that the shoes I used for training in the gym (and also for the ITPL race piece down the blog somewhere too) arent exactly the right ones for running. I am gonna treat myself for the 7th rank with a new pair of shoes and let these ones hang. I love them.
Cheers!!
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs. I cant think of a more apt title for I am going through right now. I had just started reading iCon - Steve Jobs's biography- at the Bangalore airport whilst leaving for Delhi last week when I also chanced upon 'Triumph of the nerds', a documentary featuring super successful nerds like Bill Gates, Paul Allen, Setve Wozniak, and of course Steve Jobs. What has kept me enchanted about this guy is not just the success he has achieved, but also how he has achieved it.
I find so many parallels betweem him and what I feel and have known myself to be, that it is a revelation of a different kind. Besides other interests he has Zen, I have Reiki. It is trivia like this that has me spell bound.
Over the last few days (and not because of this book) I have also been practising Reiki and I feel that I am on brink of something. Something really significant,is about to happen. Unfortunately, I am unable to put a finger to what it is, where will it happen, how will it happen and to who it will happen. I just feel that something round the corner will change things for me upside down and I will hopefully get a chance to re-live the life of a nerd (not the quintessential booky nerd but my own definition, which is a nerd-cum-philosopher-cum-preacher-cum-healer-cum-visionary-dunno one one that puts it all together)- a life that I have long forgotten for safer and more lucrative options. Lets see how life pans out!
I find so many parallels betweem him and what I feel and have known myself to be, that it is a revelation of a different kind. Besides other interests he has Zen, I have Reiki. It is trivia like this that has me spell bound.
Over the last few days (and not because of this book) I have also been practising Reiki and I feel that I am on brink of something. Something really significant,is about to happen. Unfortunately, I am unable to put a finger to what it is, where will it happen, how will it happen and to who it will happen. I just feel that something round the corner will change things for me upside down and I will hopefully get a chance to re-live the life of a nerd (not the quintessential booky nerd but my own definition, which is a nerd-cum-philosopher-cum-preacher-cum-healer-cum-visionary-dunno one one that puts it all together)- a life that I have long forgotten for safer and more lucrative options. Lets see how life pans out!
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Who picks the tab?
Heyo!
Just back from lunch with S.. Had a good time. We went and saw a Lazyboy and will probably pick one up in the next few days.. We had our lunch at this place called 'The Village' and when it came to picking the tab I offered. My reason was simple: S just got a salary increment latter yesterday. He got a good raise because he worked hard. If I ask him to pick the tab- am I saying because you did good and are gonna get more mone, start by spending some on me? My view is, he has worked hard(ly) for it and deserves it. I should treat him to give a pat on the back (figuratively only)so he feels good about the letter (not that he wud have felt bad about picking the tab anyways). So if its one's birthday or anniversary, they should be treated and not the other way round (also that most people end up planning the whole thing to death and hardly enjoy the special day).
But thats the way it is. I paid and its different!! What say!?!?
Just back from lunch with S.. Had a good time. We went and saw a Lazyboy and will probably pick one up in the next few days.. We had our lunch at this place called 'The Village' and when it came to picking the tab I offered. My reason was simple: S just got a salary increment latter yesterday. He got a good raise because he worked hard. If I ask him to pick the tab- am I saying because you did good and are gonna get more mone, start by spending some on me? My view is, he has worked hard(ly) for it and deserves it. I should treat him to give a pat on the back (figuratively only)so he feels good about the letter (not that he wud have felt bad about picking the tab anyways). So if its one's birthday or anniversary, they should be treated and not the other way round (also that most people end up planning the whole thing to death and hardly enjoy the special day).
But thats the way it is. I paid and its different!! What say!?!?
Friday, April 13, 2007
Innovative: Generalisation Vs Customization Vs Personalisation
Heyo!
I was just reading this concept in CRM on Customization Vs Personalisation (C: is say, allowing a user to pick his/her choices from drop downs to choose a bouquet; P: is allowing them complete control of what they want there, in what quantity and what layout)
I just thought about the internet and the possible applicability of the concept above. How about a website that allows you to place items like User id and password anywhere on the screen. So, if I use rediff and gmail, but I like the layout and placement of the user id and password box in gmail, if I am allowed to place the boxes on the rediff homepage at a similar place- THAT is personalization. Wont it be cool? To see where you want it rather than where someone else thinks it should be (although both can be same too)? It can also be a differentiator from competitors who might not offer such facility.
Execution: I think execution shouldnt be a big problem here. The first time a user visits the webpage, the default page would be shown. The user can then drag-drop whatever (s)he wants where (s)he wants them. A cookie can be created alongwith the system address on the local system. Next time the user visits this page the settings can be picked from the cookie and items shown accordingly. One can also use the concept of 'continous' login as in gmail and save button placement settings with a certain user name.So one can move from a 'Generalised' setup to 'Customised' (as in Yahoo) to 'Personalisation'!
Ciao!!
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Innovation: iPod Lyrics
The background: Well I had this idea because I cant understand the lyrics of most songs. That said, it definately doesnt reflect my intellectual capacity ;)
"As-Is" situation & The Idea: So I thought that I listen to my songs on my pod and need to dig for the lyrics on the net and then play songs (on my pod or iTunes) and read the page on the net. Instead, what if I could read the lyrics on my pod/iTunes itself? Wont it be cool??
How to do it? The execution can be simple. I think one can download the lyrics from any source, paste it in Notepad and save it as a typical file extension, lets call it .kk (see I am a genious!). The only catch is that the file name of the .kk file should be the same as the file name of the song file. So if I wanna download 'Reason' from Hoobastank, I should have a reason.mp3 or reason.wav and have a corresponding reason.kk. When iTunes plays the track 'Reason', it should look for 'reason.kk' and if it exists, attach it as the scrolling text in the iTunes or the iPod, for that matter.. Simple aint it?!?!
Future business opportunity for Apple: I think a possible revenue generation source for Apple could be selling the lyrics of songs like their existing mechanism for songs. I dont know of any really famous sources that are comprehensive and accurate for providing lyrics. Apple can take the lead here and make money for quality stuff and maybe make it the only format acceptable to iPods!
I am still thinking...what say!?!??
"As-Is" situation & The Idea: So I thought that I listen to my songs on my pod and need to dig for the lyrics on the net and then play songs (on my pod or iTunes) and read the page on the net. Instead, what if I could read the lyrics on my pod/iTunes itself? Wont it be cool??
How to do it? The execution can be simple. I think one can download the lyrics from any source, paste it in Notepad and save it as a typical file extension, lets call it .kk (see I am a genious!). The only catch is that the file name of the .kk file should be the same as the file name of the song file. So if I wanna download 'Reason' from Hoobastank, I should have a reason.mp3 or reason.wav and have a corresponding reason.kk. When iTunes plays the track 'Reason', it should look for 'reason.kk' and if it exists, attach it as the scrolling text in the iTunes or the iPod, for that matter.. Simple aint it?!?!
Future business opportunity for Apple: I think a possible revenue generation source for Apple could be selling the lyrics of songs like their existing mechanism for songs. I dont know of any really famous sources that are comprehensive and accurate for providing lyrics. Apple can take the lead here and make money for quality stuff and maybe make it the only format acceptable to iPods!
I am still thinking...what say!?!??
Friday, April 06, 2007
An idea for Orkut
Heya! Just thought of what orkut can do.. Like they have a section of 'Mutual friends' they should also have a section of mutually exclusive friends..or whatever they may wanna call it.
The purpose of that will be that if I visit a friends profile I wanna see who all are there in his/her list who arent in mine.. Right now the task is tough and painstaking.. If they have a 'mutually exclusive' friend tab- it can be done by just a click!!
Ciao!!
The purpose of that will be that if I visit a friends profile I wanna see who all are there in his/her list who arent in mine.. Right now the task is tough and painstaking.. If they have a 'mutually exclusive' friend tab- it can be done by just a click!!
Ciao!!
Innovation idea: Safety Keyboard
Heya
Just thought of an innovative keyboard.
The purpose: High security keyboard, that would allow password security from keyboard too
Problem with 'As-is': No security from the perspec that if I record some1's hand movements on keyboard I can find there passwords out without the jing-bang of password cracking softwares.
How to do it: Well each key on the keyboard can have a 3D kinda-display which displays different characters when seen from different angles. So if you even type your password in front of anyone they wont be able to see it. Ofcourse the next question is- how do u let the comp know which is the correct angle? The solution to that is to have a pre-decided password which you will 'type' on the keyboard. Basically, based on the key pattern on how you've entered the password the comp will identify the 'correct' angle.
Cons/possible cracks: reduced typing speed because of 'non-standard' keyboard and possibility of the password being cracked if someone is at your eye level and sees the keys you are pressing and does it quickly enough to remember what u entered.
Possible application: High security, high value banking, transactioning- for public or private purposes..
Thats it..Ciao!
Just thought of an innovative keyboard.
The purpose: High security keyboard, that would allow password security from keyboard too
Problem with 'As-is': No security from the perspec that if I record some1's hand movements on keyboard I can find there passwords out without the jing-bang of password cracking softwares.
How to do it: Well each key on the keyboard can have a 3D kinda-display which displays different characters when seen from different angles. So if you even type your password in front of anyone they wont be able to see it. Ofcourse the next question is- how do u let the comp know which is the correct angle? The solution to that is to have a pre-decided password which you will 'type' on the keyboard. Basically, based on the key pattern on how you've entered the password the comp will identify the 'correct' angle.
Cons/possible cracks: reduced typing speed because of 'non-standard' keyboard and possibility of the password being cracked if someone is at your eye level and sees the keys you are pressing and does it quickly enough to remember what u entered.
Possible application: High security, high value banking, transactioning- for public or private purposes..
Thats it..Ciao!
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Unwanted Pregnancy
Dont be surprised at the title for this one. This one is in the memory of a fundo Holi I had last
Sunday-4th Mar'07.
It started off as usual with me getting up and wandering about not knowing what to do. MP, a friend from school, called up and I went to meet him near Montfort school. I walked down and he came in his car. It was good catching up with him and we talked about our present jobs, what happened in college, etc. After that he pulled out of his pocket a small box containing 'Chandan' and we marked each other's forehead with a 'Tilak'. After that it was time to go, or so we thought. The dude locked the door of his car with the car keys in it. Wow! We ended up calling his dad for the duplicate key and waiting for about an hour on the road for him. And when his dad came it was finally time to head back!
I came back home, only to find out that S had left for Masi's place and they were waiting for me to join them for Holi. Spotting an opportunity- I decided to take the plunge and started immediately for Masi's place and was outside her house in the next 10 mins, with the Gulal and another grainy paint I picked on my way.
S, SN, UN and MS were at the gate. SN and UN's faces were colored in Red already and I joined the party and ran amock for the next 15-20 mins rubbing gulal on everyone's face, dumping it in their hair and using some of the grainy colour with my spit to dye SN's hair. It was great fun and I was at the receiving too with people throwing balloons on my head and a lot of colour everywhere.
Then it dawned on me- I had to go to office the next day as a 'Client'. Shit. I dashed for the loo to run the colour off me quickly before it dried and matters getting worse. And everyone else followed. We used 'besan' and soap to try and get as clean as possible. We spent the next 3-4 hrs trying to clean our red, green, and yellow faces.
So I felt it was akin to an unwanted pregnancy- a small time of fun and a long and painful price to pay! lolz
P.S.: Just as a foot note- MB and my families met later that day and all went ok.
Happy Holi!
Sunday-4th Mar'07.
It started off as usual with me getting up and wandering about not knowing what to do. MP, a friend from school, called up and I went to meet him near Montfort school. I walked down and he came in his car. It was good catching up with him and we talked about our present jobs, what happened in college, etc. After that he pulled out of his pocket a small box containing 'Chandan' and we marked each other's forehead with a 'Tilak'. After that it was time to go, or so we thought. The dude locked the door of his car with the car keys in it. Wow! We ended up calling his dad for the duplicate key and waiting for about an hour on the road for him. And when his dad came it was finally time to head back!
I came back home, only to find out that S had left for Masi's place and they were waiting for me to join them for Holi. Spotting an opportunity- I decided to take the plunge and started immediately for Masi's place and was outside her house in the next 10 mins, with the Gulal and another grainy paint I picked on my way.
S, SN, UN and MS were at the gate. SN and UN's faces were colored in Red already and I joined the party and ran amock for the next 15-20 mins rubbing gulal on everyone's face, dumping it in their hair and using some of the grainy colour with my spit to dye SN's hair. It was great fun and I was at the receiving too with people throwing balloons on my head and a lot of colour everywhere.
Then it dawned on me- I had to go to office the next day as a 'Client'. Shit. I dashed for the loo to run the colour off me quickly before it dried and matters getting worse. And everyone else followed. We used 'besan' and soap to try and get as clean as possible. We spent the next 3-4 hrs trying to clean our red, green, and yellow faces.
So I felt it was akin to an unwanted pregnancy- a small time of fun and a long and painful price to pay! lolz
P.S.: Just as a foot note- MB and my families met later that day and all went ok.
Happy Holi!
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Russell Peters
Hey
I gotta blog it out before I forget anything..lolz..
My bro and I have just come back from seeing the Russell Peters(RP) show. It was mad!! For one, I havent stopped swearing from the time I stepped out of the arena.
The guy is a genius. He is spontaneous, he picks on folks from the audience and pokes fun at them (good only if u aint one of them!) So he started kidding with one of the 'goras' we had- he was a Zimbabwean and had come with his Indian girlfriend and RP started off by saying," See I knew whites would fuck around everywhere!" and then went on to joke about him having a black girl back in Zimbabwe, and a Chinese girl in Hongkong-some shit.. But just the way he says it, makes it hilarious! He asked a girl her name and she said its Wadia, and he started off on 'Whaddya doing?' Pure crap, utter bullshit....
He made some freaking stupid jokes about wanting to see quality Indian porn and having the Bollywood actresses in it.. And comparisons of folks with big dicks and small (and how the smallies- I just invented the word- work that much harder than the biggies, and that the two most populous countries in the world are points in case!) He also bullshited about 'hairy' Indians and how he shaves his balls off- coz it makes his dick look bigger! Then there was some crap about Indian being the cheapest- even cheaper than the Jews, and it went on and on
We were laughing all the way and it was awesome fun- not recommended for the stiff necked and sophisticated and kids without guidance! lolz
P.S.: There was also some crap about Punjabis in Canada and how, like each language has its thing, Punjabi having it as swearing..great fun..maiyava, penchod!!
I gotta blog it out before I forget anything..lolz..
My bro and I have just come back from seeing the Russell Peters(RP) show. It was mad!! For one, I havent stopped swearing from the time I stepped out of the arena.
The guy is a genius. He is spontaneous, he picks on folks from the audience and pokes fun at them (good only if u aint one of them!) So he started kidding with one of the 'goras' we had- he was a Zimbabwean and had come with his Indian girlfriend and RP started off by saying," See I knew whites would fuck around everywhere!" and then went on to joke about him having a black girl back in Zimbabwe, and a Chinese girl in Hongkong-some shit.. But just the way he says it, makes it hilarious! He asked a girl her name and she said its Wadia, and he started off on 'Whaddya doing?' Pure crap, utter bullshit....
He made some freaking stupid jokes about wanting to see quality Indian porn and having the Bollywood actresses in it.. And comparisons of folks with big dicks and small (and how the smallies- I just invented the word- work that much harder than the biggies, and that the two most populous countries in the world are points in case!) He also bullshited about 'hairy' Indians and how he shaves his balls off- coz it makes his dick look bigger! Then there was some crap about Indian being the cheapest- even cheaper than the Jews, and it went on and on
We were laughing all the way and it was awesome fun- not recommended for the stiff necked and sophisticated and kids without guidance! lolz
P.S.: There was also some crap about Punjabis in Canada and how, like each language has its thing, Punjabi having it as swearing..great fun..maiyava, penchod!!
Fair Deal
Hey
This came to me a couple of days back when a friend and I went to eat out for two days in a row. And I asked myself, "Whats the fairest deal (financially)?"
As it was the two of us eating- the gut answer was, "Compare the bill amounts for the two days-if the amounts are equal and each one pays one day each-it is a fair deal" But it isnt
A fair deal would be when I spend on my accomplice as much as he has spent (or would spend) on me. If these two sets of amounts are equal-then its a fair deal.
I know someone might think its stupid to be blogging about it, but what else can I say but- FUCK OFF! lolz
This came to me a couple of days back when a friend and I went to eat out for two days in a row. And I asked myself, "Whats the fairest deal (financially)?"
As it was the two of us eating- the gut answer was, "Compare the bill amounts for the two days-if the amounts are equal and each one pays one day each-it is a fair deal" But it isnt
A fair deal would be when I spend on my accomplice as much as he has spent (or would spend) on me. If these two sets of amounts are equal-then its a fair deal.
I know someone might think its stupid to be blogging about it, but what else can I say but- FUCK OFF! lolz
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Missed a connection in London
This is actually a post I wrote some days back and couldnt post it earlier.. So here it goes.
So I was at the Finsbury Park station at 8:58am today (11th Feb) to catch my train to Newark (from where I'd take a bus to Doncaster from where I will get a train to Edinburgh; man its a journey!!). And I thought I had reached in the nick of time.
Well, as life would have it it wasnt to be a 'regular' journey. Our train was to come to Finsbury Park and there were about 30-odd folks at the station with me. And of course, the train was to stop. But it didnt.
Funny. It really was. The Public Announcement system announced the coming of our train and it came, and went. Everyone just started looking at each other, some surprised and some shocked.We asked the station master to let us know what that was about and he said the train was supposed to stop there but he didnt know why it chose to skip the station. Well, as they say, "Bade bade desho mein aisi chhoti chhoti baatein hoti rehti hain":) (In big countries
small acts like these keep happening)
So I was at the Finsbury Park station at 8:58am today (11th Feb) to catch my train to Newark (from where I'd take a bus to Doncaster from where I will get a train to Edinburgh; man its a journey!!). And I thought I had reached in the nick of time.
Well, as life would have it it wasnt to be a 'regular' journey. Our train was to come to Finsbury Park and there were about 30-odd folks at the station with me. And of course, the train was to stop. But it didnt.
Funny. It really was. The Public Announcement system announced the coming of our train and it came, and went. Everyone just started looking at each other, some surprised and some shocked.We asked the station master to let us know what that was about and he said the train was supposed to stop there but he didnt know why it chose to skip the station. Well, as they say, "Bade bade desho mein aisi chhoti chhoti baatein hoti rehti hain":) (In big countries
small acts like these keep happening)
Saturday, February 17, 2007
When Bad is Good
Yeah! Sounds ironic, doesnt it?
Well, let me elucidate. On my way back from the Glasgow to Bangalore on 12th Feb, Emirates didnt have a good connection available. So I landed in Dubai on 12th mid-night and my flight
to Bangalore was 13th night aroung 9pm. So they arranged for my stay in a hotel and gave me no choice! So well, I had to stay in the hotel which I got for free and chilled out in Dubai's malls.
Well, there you go- a bad connection, I was put up and taken care of well-wasnt that bad, huh?
P.S.: Did I mention that it was only during my stay in the Dubai hotel did I take a bath after some 4 days? You cant afterall get everything, can you? And maybe Bad isnt that good
afterall, what say? :D
Friday, February 09, 2007
The Butter Chicken here is nice
Well here I am. Writing from Nottingham! I had a good day today, 8th Feb. It snowed in the morning and it was the first time I saw snow falling in person (outside of the telly tube) and it was so darn pretty. If you haven’t seen a snow fall you have been missing something in life so far. So add it to your list of things to do before you die;)
So I got to the office and we had a Quarterly review with one of my suppliers and it went ok. And I got back after the day's work and decided to eat at 'Chutney', the Indian restaurant near the Nottingham Castle. I ordered a Butter Chicken and a Nan. The food was yum as usual and it was still snowing outside. I had a seat besides the glass wall facing the street and the view made the whole experience even more scenic. After I was through a guy came and sat at the table next to mine and nodded and smiled at me. I returned the gesture.
He had white hair and must have been in his forties and was wearing a brown jacket. He was holding the menu and pointing at it asked me,"Whats good here?"
"What kinda food you like? Spicy or not so spicy?", I asked back. "Just about ok", he said.
"I'd recommend Butter Chicken. And ask them to not make it too spicy", I suggested. He browsed through the menu and asked,"But where is it on the menu? I cant find it"
"It isnt there. But they prepare it. I just had it", I smiled, pointing to my empty plate and the 'kadai'. The gentleman raised his brows, curled his lips in an inverted U shape and nodded at my tip. And then nodding again, smiled, and said, "Thanks."
"No probs", I retorted, a smile still on my face.
I then nodded to a waiter nearby. When he came standing next to me I streched my neck towards his ear and said in a loud enough voice to reach the next table," The food was great. Can I have my bill please? And I have just recommended the Butter Chicken of this place here to our man there. Do take good care of him." I then shot a glance short enough for me to catch a glimse of smile on that guy and it somehow made me feel happy.
After a while the waitress, who is a usual there, came and brought the machine to charge my credit card. And when I asked for the charge slip for gratuity, she turned it down, reasoning "I am very happy that you ate here. I wont accept any gratuity from you today". I smiled and promised a greater tip the next time and she replied with a smile on a blushed face. Which made me wonder, if I am waitress guy. She was giggling too much and was obviously seemed interested. And last trip's Subway memories havent yet gone away. So....Anyways.
But I am writing this to just highlight the one part of the day where a complete stranger asked me for an advice on what to eat, took it (yes, I made it a point to overhear when he placed his order, to check if he did order Butter chicken or not), and it was all so cool.
I cant imagine going to a restaurant back in India and asking a stranger what to eat and, you know, be so casual about it all. It was so cool. I think this informality, yet non-intrusiveness is appealing to me and I have seen it with not just one but many folks here. I liked it and maybe next time when I am in a foreign/unknown space I will look around too, and ask for whats
best in the house:)
Cheers mate!!
So I got to the office and we had a Quarterly review with one of my suppliers and it went ok. And I got back after the day's work and decided to eat at 'Chutney', the Indian restaurant near the Nottingham Castle. I ordered a Butter Chicken and a Nan. The food was yum as usual and it was still snowing outside. I had a seat besides the glass wall facing the street and the view made the whole experience even more scenic. After I was through a guy came and sat at the table next to mine and nodded and smiled at me. I returned the gesture.
He had white hair and must have been in his forties and was wearing a brown jacket. He was holding the menu and pointing at it asked me,"Whats good here?"
"What kinda food you like? Spicy or not so spicy?", I asked back. "Just about ok", he said.
"I'd recommend Butter Chicken. And ask them to not make it too spicy", I suggested. He browsed through the menu and asked,"But where is it on the menu? I cant find it"
"It isnt there. But they prepare it. I just had it", I smiled, pointing to my empty plate and the 'kadai'. The gentleman raised his brows, curled his lips in an inverted U shape and nodded at my tip. And then nodding again, smiled, and said, "Thanks."
"No probs", I retorted, a smile still on my face.
I then nodded to a waiter nearby. When he came standing next to me I streched my neck towards his ear and said in a loud enough voice to reach the next table," The food was great. Can I have my bill please? And I have just recommended the Butter Chicken of this place here to our man there. Do take good care of him." I then shot a glance short enough for me to catch a glimse of smile on that guy and it somehow made me feel happy.
After a while the waitress, who is a usual there, came and brought the machine to charge my credit card. And when I asked for the charge slip for gratuity, she turned it down, reasoning "I am very happy that you ate here. I wont accept any gratuity from you today". I smiled and promised a greater tip the next time and she replied with a smile on a blushed face. Which made me wonder, if I am waitress guy. She was giggling too much and was obviously seemed interested. And last trip's Subway memories havent yet gone away. So....Anyways.
But I am writing this to just highlight the one part of the day where a complete stranger asked me for an advice on what to eat, took it (yes, I made it a point to overhear when he placed his order, to check if he did order Butter chicken or not), and it was all so cool.
I cant imagine going to a restaurant back in India and asking a stranger what to eat and, you know, be so casual about it all. It was so cool. I think this informality, yet non-intrusiveness is appealing to me and I have seen it with not just one but many folks here. I liked it and maybe next time when I am in a foreign/unknown space I will look around too, and ask for whats
best in the house:)
Cheers mate!!
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Blood Diamond
I sit to write today after having watched 'Blood Diamonds' on screen in the morning.
S was there with me and had bought the tickets and so I had no clue of what to expect. To say that the movie was moving would be an understatement. The movie is set in the backdrop of Sierra Leone in late 90s where the show how the trade of diamond fishing (I couldn’t think of a better word). Its a hard hitting movie from the word go when 'RUF rebels' enter a village on their jeeps and start shooting people indiscriminately. No one is spared-man, woman and child alike, and for no reason.
The movie goes on and atrocities like amputating arms of villagers who manage to not get shot and the remaining ones going on to mine diamonds becomes a run-of-the-mill affair.
To cut the long story short, there were certain elements of the movie that made me sit back, some made me think, and some, cry. I felt appalled that we live in a society where we are SO crazy about some things around us that we are not bothered to think of anything else.
Just because I have my arms and get my food-I am not motivated to give a shit of what happens to the world. If I have the money, I should be thinking of getting a better car or a bigger house, or a bigger jewel. There is so much more to the world-and more importantly, I think, to ourselves- that we are missing out on.
I felt helpless at the way things were depicted. Not that there was anything factually incorrect I could find out. Nor am I implying that I am an authority to comment on the rebels and state of governments in Africa. I am simply saying that there is so much around us that happens and we just shun it.
I don’t want to sound preachy or anything like that, nor do I want to go for clichés like 'Consumerism is killing our sensitivity' blah blah.
My takeaway from the movie was that, all of us, those rebels, the government, the workers, the consumers, everyone is doing what they believe is what is right. The rebels want to rule the roost for the want of power and money. I guess I can say the same about the government too. The workers trying to escape death, or hoping against hope to steal a diamond to have a future for themselves. And the consumers who buy anything they get on the shelf. They dont know, and cant possibly know, the story behind a piece of jewellery that they feel would be a mark of their love for someone. Ironic, isnt it?
Yet, what is the solution? As a regular consumer I cant possibly possess the power to know if everything I eat, drink, or wear hasnt caused someone some pain or not. And similar arguments can be made for others being discussed as well. And I am not saying I have a solution. But I do have a thought.
What if everyone's perspective changes? I know it will sound presumptuous but hell
can anyone stop me from thinking?! What if everyone instead of trying to think of just about themselves think about themselves AND the environment? Okay I can hear you saying- this is nuts, but its okay, maybe it is, or maybe not.
If I can only function to do whats best for me and not do anything consciously that I think will harm anyone/anything I think will help significantly. Eg, I live in an apartment and no one has come to take the trash for a couple of days. What do I do?
I fling it outside my window because I dont want my house to stink (best solution for me). Well now my house wont stink but is the society any better? No. So if I can simply not throw the trash (the best solution) but either wait for someone to pick it or travel around and throw it where it can be picked faster by the guys who will come to pick the garbage?
Anyways, I think I dont wanna tread that point anymore to avoid exaggerating on only one part of the experience.
What I felt during the movie was that for any group of people to be able to live happily there are certain critical factors. Two key ones for me are, internal and external security and monetary strength. I am by no means saying these are the only things, if one possesses in abundance one will be happy. But what I am saying is that existence of these two factors, in my opinion, facilitates a general well being and gives people a chance to be calmer, happier, and fuller human beings. And each one should start cleaning their houses first before trying to step in someone else's house.
I hope someday I can be someone who can help my nation be strong on both these fronts (and some more that'll form the list as time goes by:))
S was there with me and had bought the tickets and so I had no clue of what to expect. To say that the movie was moving would be an understatement. The movie is set in the backdrop of Sierra Leone in late 90s where the show how the trade of diamond fishing (I couldn’t think of a better word). Its a hard hitting movie from the word go when 'RUF rebels' enter a village on their jeeps and start shooting people indiscriminately. No one is spared-man, woman and child alike, and for no reason.
The movie goes on and atrocities like amputating arms of villagers who manage to not get shot and the remaining ones going on to mine diamonds becomes a run-of-the-mill affair.
To cut the long story short, there were certain elements of the movie that made me sit back, some made me think, and some, cry. I felt appalled that we live in a society where we are SO crazy about some things around us that we are not bothered to think of anything else.
Just because I have my arms and get my food-I am not motivated to give a shit of what happens to the world. If I have the money, I should be thinking of getting a better car or a bigger house, or a bigger jewel. There is so much more to the world-and more importantly, I think, to ourselves- that we are missing out on.
I felt helpless at the way things were depicted. Not that there was anything factually incorrect I could find out. Nor am I implying that I am an authority to comment on the rebels and state of governments in Africa. I am simply saying that there is so much around us that happens and we just shun it.
I don’t want to sound preachy or anything like that, nor do I want to go for clichés like 'Consumerism is killing our sensitivity' blah blah.
My takeaway from the movie was that, all of us, those rebels, the government, the workers, the consumers, everyone is doing what they believe is what is right. The rebels want to rule the roost for the want of power and money. I guess I can say the same about the government too. The workers trying to escape death, or hoping against hope to steal a diamond to have a future for themselves. And the consumers who buy anything they get on the shelf. They dont know, and cant possibly know, the story behind a piece of jewellery that they feel would be a mark of their love for someone. Ironic, isnt it?
Yet, what is the solution? As a regular consumer I cant possibly possess the power to know if everything I eat, drink, or wear hasnt caused someone some pain or not. And similar arguments can be made for others being discussed as well. And I am not saying I have a solution. But I do have a thought.
What if everyone's perspective changes? I know it will sound presumptuous but hell
can anyone stop me from thinking?! What if everyone instead of trying to think of just about themselves think about themselves AND the environment? Okay I can hear you saying- this is nuts, but its okay, maybe it is, or maybe not.
If I can only function to do whats best for me and not do anything consciously that I think will harm anyone/anything I think will help significantly. Eg, I live in an apartment and no one has come to take the trash for a couple of days. What do I do?
I fling it outside my window because I dont want my house to stink (best solution for me). Well now my house wont stink but is the society any better? No. So if I can simply not throw the trash (the best solution) but either wait for someone to pick it or travel around and throw it where it can be picked faster by the guys who will come to pick the garbage?
Anyways, I think I dont wanna tread that point anymore to avoid exaggerating on only one part of the experience.
What I felt during the movie was that for any group of people to be able to live happily there are certain critical factors. Two key ones for me are, internal and external security and monetary strength. I am by no means saying these are the only things, if one possesses in abundance one will be happy. But what I am saying is that existence of these two factors, in my opinion, facilitates a general well being and gives people a chance to be calmer, happier, and fuller human beings. And each one should start cleaning their houses first before trying to step in someone else's house.
I hope someday I can be someone who can help my nation be strong on both these fronts (and some more that'll form the list as time goes by:))
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