Addie Granth

Employee Morale : The recruitment phase

2010-04-20T05:11:00.000-07:00

This is the first in a series of posts about employee morale (or rather lack of it) in an organization, which does not necessarily need to be a software company. Since I come from a software background - specifically product companies, my assessment is based on what I have seen so far.

Disclaimer: This is not directly related to my company, but based on what I have gathered from observation.

In the first article, I want to focus on the campus recruitment which happens to be the starting point of ones professional journey.

I have been part of many campus recruitment events. Most of the candidates in India, who appear for campus interviews do not have any prior experience. When companies come and blow their own trumpet, these unsuspecting gullible candidates start dreaming about the quality of their job, work profile right from that moment. Everybody is so eager to get a job that nobody even thinks of finding out whats under the hood. Nobody ever questions - what am I really going to work on - what is going to be my profile. Everybody looks at the company, what it does, how fat the pay packet is. That's it.

When these candidates finally join the company after day dreaming about their profile, work etc for many months, they find themselves doing something they were never interested in. For example, a person who is interested in development of features and products find themselves doing QA work or solving some bugs. Hold on -

* Is there something wrong with QA work?

* Is there something wrong with solving bugs?

Here is my take on it. There is nothing wrong with either of them. Both are essential functions in an organization. Solving bugs is a nice way to understand the product, but its a creativity-killer if that's the only thing a person is supposed to do for the rest of his tenure.

This in my view is a simple case of expectation mismatch. Who is responsible for it - I would blame both - the employee and the employer. It is a candidate's duty to find out what is in store for him, and it is an employer's duty to project the correct image and give appropriate information to a candidate. Wouldn't this be the ideal scenario?

What happens to the employee morale? It plummets on day 1. He had dreamed of implementing what not in the product, and now he finds himself doing something he doesn't like.

Well... This is not that bad a scenario because he still has hope. Hope that if he does well in this job, may be he will be moved to something better, or something that he finds interesting. The guy recovers from this morale abyss that we was in on day 1.

Baap Ban Gaya - 3 months back

2010-02-18T08:46:00.000-08:00

As the title says, I have become a baap of a very cute son. The fact of the matter is - woh mera baap hai. I don't control anything. When I sleep, when I get up, what I do (the same applies to Richa too) is all dictated by him.

Initially, Richa had to face a lot of problems because of the epidural anesthesia. Fortunately, she has recovered from it. During this period, which lasted approximately 1 month or so, things were very hectic for me; but I enjoyed every aspect of it - making my child burp, changing his nappies, putting him to sleep etc etc.

Initially, he would sleep all day, and remain awake all night. My eyes would close, and his would remain wide open. At times, I would plead with him - so jaa mere baap. Nowadays, he sleeps by 12 and wakes up around 5 in the morning. That gives us a good 5 hr sleep.

My kid sleeps between me and my wife at night, and when I get up, he gives me his beautiful smile. Can there be anything more beautiful than that?

You can see his snaps on http://picasaweb.google.com/aditya.r.kulkarni/Mihir#

Infertility treatment - new incentive by software companies

2009-10-13T10:49:00.000-07:00

This morning, when I got into my cube, I saw a paper listing the employee benefits being offered by my company. The list contained the usual ones - ESOPs / ESPPs / RSUs, Doctor on call, in house gym, stress management, medical insurance of 7L.

The thing that caught my eye was 'Additional 1L for infertility treatment'. Now this is something new and definitely worth debating. Lunch and post-lunch sessions were spent in debating 'why infertility treatment'.

There could be multiple reasons why this figures in the list -

The occurrence of stress induced infertility is on the rise among software professionals, so this can be categorized as an occupational hazard.
Husband and wife are not co-located because of on-site opportunities.
People do not have enough time - that means - no action and no reaction :-).
Last but not the least, it might just be a one off thing and the number of people willing to come forward for this might be very few; so the actual payout from the company might be very very less.

It might be worth asking the HR their reasons for including 'infertility treatment' in the list of employee benefits.

Book Review: Men Who Killed Gandhi

2009-10-04T22:12:00.000-07:00

Just finished reading "Men Who Killed Gandhi". What I like about the book is that it is pretty neutral in its tone - something very difficult to do on such a sensitive topic. The author, Manohar Malgonkar, has done a good job in describing the circumstances, the plot, the thinking of the "men" behind the plot, and the lacunae in the ensuing investigation.

What I didn't like about the book was the convoluted construction of sentences. At times, the punctuation marks were either missing or wrongly placed, and certain typos such as "gut" instead of "put". In short, lackadaisical editing.

If one reads this book with an open mind, it is definitely an interesting one.

Book Review: In the Line of Fire

2009-09-28T23:05:00.000-07:00

Just finished reading "In the Line of Fire". I read it just to see his side of the story. I am not an expert on any of the topics that he has written on, so I will not comment on the specifics mentioned in the book.

One thing that I find strange is that he has ways and means to justify all of his decisions and actions. He only agrees to a few juvenile mistakes, but nothing else. There are interesting insights on social reforms and national reconstruction.

On the whole, I think one should read the book to see his side of the story, but take things with more than a pinch of salt.

Water on Moon

2009-09-24T22:13:00.000-07:00

For the last few days, TV channels have been carrying this piece throughout the day. Two things which I find quite ridiculous are -

It was India's first moon mission and we were able to find water, whereas Americans went there so many times and were not able to find it.
In future, we will be able to use the water on Moon for drinking, making rocket fuel, making oxygen etc.
Till few days back, Chandyaan-1 was declared a disaster, and suddenly it has become a huge success.

To the news channels: please put the discovery in some perspective.

There was enough data available to suggest that there is water on Moon. However, the latest findings have given the scientific community conclusive evidence. In a nutshell, this has been an ongoing process and not a Eureka. Secondly, the amount of surface water on Moon is less that what is found on the hottest deserts on Earth. There are no lakes or ponds or glaciers there, not even a puddle. Nothing is known about the quantity of water buried deep inside the Moon, and whether there is any at all. That's what was crystal clear in the NASA press conference last night.

To all the scientists and governments: please manage the water on earth well. Otherwise we will have to really depend on the thin film of water that is present on the Moon.

Beauty of test cricket

2009-08-24T07:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I was watching the final test between England and Australia. The uncertainty - whether England will be able to bowl Australia out on day 4 or whether Australia will fight it out - was quite gripping. In the end, England did manage to win but Australia did fight it out, but it was quite gripping.

Hussey played really well, so did Katich & Haddin, but they made one mistake and that was the end of their innings. This is the beauty of test cricket - you make 1 mistake and you are out. As a bowler, you really have to bowl well (unless its your lucky day) otherwise you will get smacked all around the park.

I still remember in 2004, Rahul Dravid smashed a boundary of the bowling of Stuart McGill to win the Adelaide test match. How can we forget that? and India winning the Perth test after losing the Sydney test due to the most horrible umpiring in modern day cricket. How can we forget that? I belong to the school that believes in "test cricket is the real cricket"...

These days, T20 has resulted in an overdose of cricket, to the extent of causing indigestion. Test cricket has a soothing influence. 50-50 is the unfortunate victim of T20 overdose :-)

Finished reading "The Da Vinci Code"

2009-08-21T02:57:00.000-07:00

For quite some time, I wanted to read this book. When I saw the movie, I could not understand one bit. I seemed more like a hollywood suspense thriller rather than anything else. Finally, I could lay my hands on it, and amidst a busy schedule, I managed to finish it over a period of 2 weeks. Quite interesting.

Next one will be "India After Gandhi - by Ramchandra Guha". The Jaswant Singh - Jinnah controversy has revived my dormant interest in history.

DDCA Vs Sehwag Saga

2009-08-19T20:57:00.001-07:00

Last night, the news channels continued with their coverage of DDCA Vs Sehwag et all controversy. That is when I came across one of the DDCA selectors. The news channel was ranting about how the son of an influential office bearer of DDCA is being selected despite his poor performance and at the cost of other more talented players. Then they showed a piece of a TV interview with one of the selectors on why that particular player was being favored.

(A piece of unsolicited advise to news channels: This is not news, this is common knowledge.)

As far as I am concerned, this selector seemed very sensible. His argument was that the player in question is in the team of 15, but has never been given the opportunity to be in the playing 11. Since he has never played in the 11, how can we gauge his performance?

In pure hindi - "abhi tak to woh player paani pila raha tha. to jab woh bahar hi hai, to use aur bahar kaise kar sakte hain?".

Makes sense :-). Dude ! You have got to be a national selector. I am positive Salil Ankola (a competent bowler in my humble opinion, who very seldom got to play cricket) must be cursing his playing days when selectors did not have the common sense that you have shown.

Creativity at its best

2009-07-27T22:11:00.001-07:00

Abhijit forwarded me the snap on the right. The snap on the left has been downloaded from google images for the sake of comparison.

Enjoy the contrast :-)

Litti Chokha

2009-07-20T01:08:00.000-07:00

This Saturday, we friends went to a place called 'Chili Pepper' to eat Litti Chokha. Its a Bihari dish. The Litti is similar to the Baati from the famous dish 'Daal Baati', except that it is filled with 'sattu' and 'mustard'. I would say, it has a pretty heavy dose of mustard. I like that extra mustard. It just runs up my nose and makes me feel as if I have put my nose in a container of ammonia.

Chokha is nothing but mashed stuff - typically consisting of egg plant, tomatoes, potato, garlic, coriander and mustard oil. Except for the egg plant, everything else is raw. I love this combination. You can call it "Kachcha Bharit" in marathi.

The food was good. I really enjoyed the Litti-Chokha and along with chicken curry, it tasted fantastic.

Something that was really different was the attitude of the waiter. I guess he had a bad start to his evening because he was in a really foul mood. Some instances of his bad mood -

He was unwilling to join two tables. When we told him that for 1 hour, we will be uncomfortable, he said - "aapko 1 ghanta baithaunga kya main?".
Later, when we left some tip for him, he was unhappy with the tip and was grumbling under his breath.

Fortunately, there were more sensible waiters over there who told him to keep quiet.

Start-ups, Biggies, ESOPs, ESPPs

2009-07-18T00:47:00.000-07:00

I have been part of both types of companies - start-ups and established companies. For those who are seeking thrill, start-ups provide a great platform. Unfortunately, this thrill can be short-lived because most start-ups do not succeed. There are many reasons for failure of start-ups. The most significant one in my opinion is working on something hi-tech or cool rather than actually solving some real world problem. Other important reasons are that start-ups are mostly run as per whims and fancies of one person - the founder. His judgement is central to the success or failure of a start-up.

On a different note, why do people get attracted to start-ups. One reason is they seek thrill in their work. Start-ups do offer a lot of exciting work with stiff deadlines, but more often than not, a person ends up doing a lot of direction-less work. In contrast, things proceed at slow pace in an established company. A thrill seeker will definitely get bored by the time the project actually starts. I like both forms of working, as long as there is some direction and vision associated with what I am working on.

Another reason why people opt for start-ups in ESOPs. 20000 ESOPs worth 1 cent. Sounds great. Even if the stock gets listed at 1$, one will make 20000$. By this time, one actually starts counting the money in his own hands. All this is complete eye-wash. Many even agree to salary cut, and opt for the start-up instead of joining an established company. Quite foolish in my opinion.

Let me tell you why I consider all this foolish -

First of all, if you are chasing big money, you have to realize that very few start-ups actually make it big; so the chances that your 20000 ESOPs will see any reasonable valuation is very very slim. Even big companies play the ESOP trick quite well. When the stock is over-valued, they give large no. of ESOPs and when the stock is low, they give less no. of ESOPs.
Big companies give you the option of ESPPs. With ESPPs, if you time things right, you can make decent amount of money. Taking into account a minimum post-tax return of 10%, the annualized return for ESPPs is much higher. (10% for 5 months, 10% for 4 months, ..., 10% for 3 days). You can do the math.
Another benefit with ESPP is that you can start with as less as 1%. Some times when the stock price is high or market is falling, invest small amounts. The benefit is that in a falling market, your lock-in price keeps getting revised downwards. When the market starts going up again, increase your contribution to full 10%.
Another benefit is RSUs and bonuses. RSUs are like ESOPs but with a base price of 0, so you always make money on RSUs. The no. of RSUs given is generally a fraction of no. of ESOPs.
If you file patents, you can make decent amount of money with them. If your patent is business critical, every year you can make some money on it.

In short, if you want to make money, I think you can make enough money in a big company and you need not join a start-up. Join a start-up if the start-up is doing something radically new (not if it is doing some thing low-cost which more often than not turns out to be low-quality also, or is trying to outgun biggies like HP, IBM in an existing market etc), and you want to be part of it. Judging this is quite difficult and depends on one's experience and judgement. However, one has to always be prepared for some frustrating times and wasted effort. The good side to all this is that you can make some very nice friends and have some very nice conversations.

Hunt for Pav-Bhaaji in Bangalore ...

2009-07-04T09:53:00.000-07:00

turned out to be an exercise in futility. Richa was craving for something "nice" to eat since Saturday afternoon. Whenever she says "nice" - I know I am in a big soup because converting that "nice" to something specific is a very difficult task. Many-a-times, I have gotten so frustrated with this exercise of conversion that I have literally said - "Get back to me with something specific. I find all this very vague".

This time however, the conversion from "nice" to "pav-bhaaji" was quite quick. It was followed by description of how Pune pav-bhaaji is so good, and how Bangalore sucks. Nevertheless, pav-bhaaji it was. We then browsed through burrp to find out places that served good pav-bhaaji. Adyar-Anand-Bhavan was one of them and it was reasonably close.

AAB in Koramangala was way too crowded. Both of us did not feel like eating there. We made a quiet escape. We then went to Empire on Jyoti-Nivas-College road in the hope that we might get pav-bhaaji there. We forgot that Empire is a predominantly non-veg place, and both of us were NOT in the mood to eat non-veg food. We drank a glass of water and made another quiet escape from there. By now, we had given up on the idea of having pav-bhaaji.

Richa then came up with a place named "Babette's". Actually, quite some time back, I had seen a poster in NetApp. It is a continental place - we both knew. Looking at the exteriors, we thought it would be reasonable. Once inside, we realized that we two were the only people there. Richa warned me that it might be very expensive. After looking at the menu card, we realized that a simple soup was around 200, salads around 250, and entrees around 400. No wonder the place was empty. If the place is Taj, I can pay this much, and I certainly have paid this much in the past. For a place named "Babette's", paying 400 or so is quite atrocious. We made another escape, this time however, on the pretext that my pregnant wife can't eat Italian and Japanese food.

We then headed for Maharaja, a multi-cuisine place, with renewed hopes of finding pav-bhaaji and if not pav-bhaaji then some decent food. When we reached Maharaja, there was no place to park and the place looked full. So "yahan bhi give up ho gaya".

Finally, we parked near "Mast Kalandar", or at least where it was. We were searching for Mast Kalandar, but it was nowhere to be seen. We came to know that it was replaced by "Go Veg", and from the looks of it, it seemed like just a change of names. Anyways, the only other stop would have been "home", so we stepped in. The place looked "nice", the crowd was good, and we were sure we will get vegetarian food.

The food was amazing. We ate Jowar roti, Alu kulcha, Makke ki roti, Chole, Chat, Jal Jeera, Buttermilk, Maa-ki-Daal and Raita. Our tummies were full to the brim. My pregnant wife was also satisfied - which is a rarity in itself.

All this for just 250 bucks. Babette's ka soup and salad was around this much. Babette's - you are gonna close down pretty soon. I am confident.

Last few weekends

2009-06-30T10:52:00.001-07:00

Last few weekends were quite good.

Watched a play with friends in Ranga-Shankara called - "An idiot for dinner". I came to know that this play and the movie Bheja Fry are both adaptations of a French movie. I was very happy when Bheja Fry was made. I was under the impression that it was a movie in its own league and was probably a very genuine effort by Bollywood. Alas...

The play was quite good. The performance from the tax inspector was spectacular. After the play, there were shouts of once again and the tax inspector did not disappoint the crowd. The thing to note here was that he was such a seasoned and fantastic actor that one moment he was talking to the crowd - "what part you want me to enact again?" and the very next moment, he had already slipped into the character. Quite amazing.

My brother in law was here for a few days. He was playing Age of Conquerors, and that took me back to my IIT days. Those days, I used to play AoC all night, and in the morning, the whole AoC gang used to visit Maddu mess to eat "Anda Dosa, Medu Vada, Idly, Sambar" at 5:15 a.m. Needless to say, I used to sleep till evening. Those were some days. Anyways - had a couple of nice AoC games with my BIL, to the utter annoyance of Richa.

This weekend, I saw a couple of movies - "Before Sunrise" and "300". Plan to see "Before Sunset" coming weekend, and only then will I write about the pair. 300 is a good movie. It definitely arouses ones interest in history. Damn! I have to start reading history - that's what I had decided some time back, but this damned office work doesn't give me any spare time.

Rakhi Ka Swayamvar

2009-06-30T10:38:00.000-07:00

Atrocious. TV has become atrocious.

In the name of reality TV, anything and everything is acceptable. The quality of programmes on TV has become abysmally shallow.

When I was growing up, my family did not impose any restriction on my TV viewing. TV was clean then. We had only 1 channel - DoorDarshan. The quality of programmes on DD is still unmatched. It had poor technology, and ever so often we used to have "rukaawat ke liye khed hai", and the colored vertical bars. As far as the content is concerned, DD was miles ahead of Zee and its siblings.

In the words of Nicklaus Worth, the inventor of Pascal (for the uninitiated, its a programming language that not many people have had the opportunity to learn) - "Pascal is a great improvement over many of its successors".

Similarly, DD was miles ahead in terms of content. Its a totally different story of what has become of DD. However, even in its dilapidated present form, it cannot be as bad as others.

Continuing with Cricket - T20 World Cup

2009-06-29T04:32:00.000-07:00

Cricket has become a non-stop business. As soon as one tournament ends, we have another. The bosses of Indian & world cricket are milking the cricketers day in and day out. We keep enjoying the IPL and T20, but we don't realize that we are being taken for a big ride.

Lets get into some specific details and ponder on a chain of events -

After India's 2007 world cup debacle, the Indian audience was fed up with cricket. The mere mention of cricket would annoy people. The TRP ratings had plummeted, and ad revenue related to cricket for channels had gone down. With it had plummeted BCCI's prospects of making more money. The ICC was also losing a lot of money. They had to do something to bring back the Indian audience to cricket. Immediately after the world cup, we had T20 world cup, and who wins the tournament - India.
In the last year or so, the situation in Pakistan has been turbulent. No cricket has taken place in that country. PCB has lost a lot of money. Although the ICC has made a lot of money from Indian cricket, not much has been made from cricket in Pakistan. Pakistani audience too is not interested in cricket these days - they already have so many things going on in their day-2-day lives. What needs to happen - Pakistan has to win the next T20 world cup. Who wins the tournament - Pakistan.
Now lets look at the manner in which these teams have won the tournaments. When India won the tournament, nobody would have given India even 10% chance of winning the tournament. Australia, South Africa, SriLanka, NZ were the strongest contenders. Who won - India. Who would have given Pakistan any chance this year - only the most zealous of Pakistani fans. After losing to a newbie team like Scotland / Ireland - only the idiots would have given any chance to Pakistan. Who won - Pakistan.

Guys. Make your own conclusions.

Yeh Cup Kahan Jayega

2009-06-15T02:28:00.000-07:00

I am amazed to see the T20 campaign - "Yeh Cup Kahin Nahi Jayega". Last time there was a world cup in England (I guess the 1999 world cup), India did not make it past the super 8 stage. In 1999, the world cup was being hosted in England for the first time after 1983.

I remember the hysteria that the media had built up. Simply because the world cup was being held in England, and India had won the cup in 1983, India will win it again - was the prevailing logic.

This time around, we were the defending champions of T20 world cup and thats why we were the favorites to win. Many things went wrong in this campaign. Some of them are -

IPL - by playing too much in IPL, we were tired by the time we got to the world cup.
IPL - by playing too much in IPL, we have exposed all our strenghts and weakness. Others, who did not play that much role in IPL, were not idiots. They were watching us from the sidelines, and making their plans.
Too much expectation - India has always performed well when there is absolutely no expectation. Whenever there is an iota of expectation, we fumble. In 1983, nobody expected the team to win the world cup. After the debacle in the last world cup, nobody expected the team to win the T20 world cup.
Illogical bowling - look at the lengths Umar Gul is bowling, and look at what Ishant Sharma is bowling. It is self explanatory.
Poor fielding - we gave away 2 boundaries where there was not even a single run. We lost by 3 runs.
Jadeja - the guy is practically useless. He can only poke around. He cannot hit sixes. Not even 1 shot that he hit was convincing, and he wasted too many balls.
Raina - when he was being peppered with short balls, why the hell he has to go for a pull. He could have helped the ball on its way above the keeper. In short, lack of committment and lack of brains. One dimensional batting. This is where you need people like Tendulkar.

Bangalore 10K Marathon

2009-05-31T22:34:00.000-07:00

For quite some time, I have been thinking about participating in a marathon. Not the 42 km one. Just the 10km one. This 'quite some time' dates back to my days in Pune when I used to run 6 kms in flat 30 mins. That was quite some show. I was 24 then and weighed 73 kgs. Now 30 is dawning on me and I weigh 79 kgs. I can't run the same :-(. I still manage 3.5 kms in 22 mins or so, and can run probably 2 kms more but have to slow down a bit. However, the desire to participate in the marathon is very much intact.

Bangalore 10K marathon was just perfect for me, and Alistair was there to back me up. I was a bit hesitant - usual doubts crept in my head - whether I will be able to do it, whether I will start cramping etc etc etc - and I was delaying registering for the 10K marathon. One fine day, Richa just registered me for the marathon, and now there was no looking back.

I have been running and gymming quite regularly, but for last 2 weeks, I haven't done any serious training. I was sure somethings gonna give way on the marathon day. Surprisingly, when I entered the Kanteerva stadium and looked at the sea of people around me, a really strong motivating feeling gripped me, and from that moment, I never thought I could not do it.

The arrangements were great. Every km, they would hand over a bottle of water, and starting from the 3rd km, they were giving glucose and electral. I kept myself hydrated, and ensured that my heart rate was within reasonable limits. From what I was feeling, it should have been around 130-140 bpm. I walked a bit, ran quite a bit, and managed to complete it in 75 mins without any cramps or any feeling of discomfort. From what I reckon, I must have ran 7+ kms and waked 3- kms.

I must say, the people of Bangalore turned out in large numbers to cheer us. The runner's club had banners that read - "Pain is temporary, pride is permanent". And when you see old people outrunning you, you definitely feel motivated.

Etcetra

2009-05-18T22:05:00.000-07:00

Many things have happened in the last few days - an unexpected performance by UPA and a subsequent and expected reaction of the stock market to an unexpected event. Regarding stock markets, I can safely say - "I don't understand them at all" - and therefore, I keep investing in good large cap companies like NTPC and ONGC.

On a more personal front, I will be running on 31st May in the Sunfeast Bangalore Marathon in the 10 km category. As of today, I can safely manage 4kms without getting tired in about 24 minutes or so. I am hoping that I will be able to chug along somehow and complete the run.

Ate a lot this week

2009-05-03T11:21:00.000-07:00

Ever since I put my foot in Pune, I have been eating a lot. First night, I went out to have a bite of Naturals ice-cream - my favorite - Alphonso mango slices with mango ice-cream. The next day, my mother-in-law had made chicken. The next night, after my in-laws left for Mumbai, I and my brother-in-law had beer at midnight to beat the heat. It was so so hot and humid that beer with lots and lots of ice felt nice. I slept peacefully and woke up only the next morning when the power went off.

The next evening, I went to my brother's place, and once I am there, there is no escaping my bhabhi's culinary delights and that un-ending "आग्रह". The best part is even if I eat like pig, my bhabhi manages to feed me a bit more by saying "you haven't eaten anything". That evening, I had vodka with lime cordial, and tiger prawns in coconut curry for dinner. Delicious.

The next evening, I had gone to my friend's place for dinner. The spread was awesome. She had made fried Pomphret stuffed with green chutney, prawns made in Goan style, sol-kadhi, rice, and Alphonso mangoes for the dessert. Ate a lot and really enjoyed the goan style sea-food.

Next evening, we ordered some food from "Tunday Kababee", a new shop in Wanowrie. Some food here means a dish of chicken kolhapuri, mutton gravy and a dish of butter chicken. I was so full at the end that I had no space for the dessert. Unfortunately, that was my last full meal in Pune.

After coming back to Bangalore, it was time for Bala's birthday treat. He took us to Ebony in Barton center on M.G. Road, from where I could see a big chunk of Bangalore. Any city looks good at night, and Bangalore is no exception. I could see the screwed-up-MG Road right beneath me, and believe me, its a massive muck right now. Coming back to the food - I started with a Long Island Iced Tea. It was quite a cocktail - rum, vodka, tequila, gin and coke, and it was quite strong :-). The effect of cocktail was that I was cracking some really slapstick and idiotic jokes. It was followed by some chicken, prawns and khasta roti. That consumed every iota of space in my tummy.

Have eaten a lot in the last few days.. Now I need to get back to exercise...

Hot hot hot Pune

2009-04-29T23:53:00.000-07:00

I am in Pune right now, at my brother's place. Pune is a very special place for me. My first job, those bachelor days, the road in Range Hills, that Veritas office, the after dinner walks near Symbiosis in range hills, F.C Road Barista and CCD and cafe Sunrise, my days in PANTA, my house in Kalyani Nagar, the time I and Richa spent there, and the nice weather of Pune... There are so many things that bring me feel like returning to Pune.

This time however, the heat is unbearable. Its 42 and a bit sultry, and I am sweating even under a fan. The power cuts are making life even worse. Without an A/C, it is difficult to sleep at night. I know, people from Nagpur, especially my Mom-Dad, will say that we guys are unnecessarily cribbing in 42. Nagpur is reeling under a heat wave with temperatures crossing 47. Its horrible over there, and its not even the end of April. God only knows what is in store in the month of May in Nagpur and adjoining areas.

If there isn't a proper spell of rain this year, God only knows whats going to happen to all such places.

My take on IPL-2

2009-04-23T00:25:00.000-07:00

This edition of IPL is definitely going to be a quite different from last years. Last one was all about clearing one leg and tonking the ball for a six. This was possible because of the placid Indian pitches where the ball doesn't bounce higher than the waist on most occassions. Any lallu-panju player was hitting sixes. Not this time though.

In the very first match between Mumbai Indians and Raj Royals, it was evident that scores in excess of 170 would be a rarity in this edition of IPL. Tendulkar and Mumbai-Indians were smart in acknowledging this fact, and played to a perfect plan. Raj Royals, who don't have too many noteworthy batsmen in their team, could not counter the conditions. Similarly, only Rahul Dravid has been able to master the conditions for RCB. The likes of Yusuf Pathan, who are champions on Indian pitches, are failing now.

This edition will be much better for bowlers though. If they stick to good line and length, and can swing the ball, they will be difficult to tonk. Anything short and it will be dispatched appropriately. Unlike last year, quality spin bowlers will be successful. From the first round of matches, it seems like Bhajji, Murali, Ojha and Kumble will do well.

Did I forget to mention Shane Warne? Yes, because he belongs to an altogether different league. He's not a spinner, he's a magician. People say Murali can turn the ball on glass, but somehow I don't like his action, and find it suspect. Warne's action on the other hand is clean, and I love the way he flights the ball. He is most dangerous when he gets the in-drift. Although he has retired quite some time back, he hasn't lost the touch at all.

Looking at the matches so far, and the future availability of players, it seems Deccan Chargers are leading the pack, not only in terms of wins, but also in terms of overall strategy and execution. CSK and MI come next and are probably equally placed. RCB, PLs etc are all the same. Raj Royals, the defending champions, will most likely be placed at the bottom.

Time to catch up on my reading

2009-03-17T22:10:00.000-07:00

My reading habits have always been erratic. Some times I read too many books and other times I don't reading anything at all - except for the daily newspaper which I read from the 1st page to the last page, w/o skipping even a single headline.

Last couple of books that I read were written by Lee Child. Lee Child has introduced a character called Jack Reacher, who is an ex-MP, a dispassionate free-lance detective. The stories are interesting in the sense that the process of finding the culprit, the logic involved in doing so, is nicely laid out. However, the end of the story is pretty much boilerplate. One or two books are sufficient to know how the rest of them will be.

Suddenly, I have sort of developed some interest in history. I remember from my childhood days that I used to hate history the most, because my teachers used to gauge the quality of an answer from the number of lines that I had written. Moreover, teaching of history was based on the concept of rote-learning, which I have come to hate the most. Now that I don't have to appear for some exams, I want to read some serious history. I want to begin with the history of Indian Civilization, and then move on to others.

Looks like it is going to be a long project :-)

Back from Nagpur

2009-03-12T00:18:00.000-07:00

I am back in Bangalore. Bangalore is really a hill station if you compare it with Nagpur. It is early March, just the start of summer, and it was horribly hot over there. I was drinking close to a liter of water every hour, and still could not quench my thirst.

Wayanad

2009-01-29T00:19:00.000-08:00

Just came back from a 3-day trip to Wayanad, Kalpetta to be precise. I and Richa had gone with Shyam and Gayatri, although we did offer a free ride to Alistair also. Unfortunately for him, he was holed up in Hyderabad :-).

Some not-so-funny and funny incidents -

On the Mysore highway, a black swift was trying to overtake me from the left. Now, Mysore highway is a 2-lane (each side of median) road, with many U-turns, speed breakers, and umpteen no of interruptions. Some of them nobdoy can even anticipate - such as - ladies plucking flowers from the flowerbeds on the median, cows, bullock-carts and tractors travelling on the wrong side of the road and coming in opposite direction, and people going for a stroll right next to the median. One has to very watchful on this road. Anyways, the black swift driver was probably asleep in the wee hours and in his endeavour to overtake me, rammed straight into the backside of a mini-bus. I could see in my RVM, the bonet of his car crumbling. He was at a decent speed (around 50+). Just hope he is not dead.

In Wayanad, I and Shyam wanted some booze. We did not like the bar at the hotel, so decided to procure it from outside. Now, I did not know at all that in a communist state like Kerala, the govt controls even the sale of booze. We had to go to KSBC shop to get booze. We realized what we were getting into only after we reached that place. Dont even ask how pathetic that experience was. Had it not been for Shyam, I would have abandoned this idea completely.

The good thing about Kerala is its natural beauty - its greenery. It is quite refreshing to see so many trees and forests while driving. You actually dont feel tired at all.

Will post some snaps soon.

Skin creams, lotions and how much I hate them

2009-01-08T22:12:00.000-08:00

I see so many people buying the so called "age-miracle" skin lotions, creams, moisturisers in super-markets these days, and for a substantially heavy price. I am not sure the price they are paying for it is simply restricted to money. There could be other side effects of these creams which are never even mentioned.

First of all, I want to know what is the need to apply "age-miracle" creams in the age band of 20-30 when the skin is at its best. If for some reason, the skin isn't so good, then why do we not pay a visit to a dermatologist. It probably is cheaper to do so than to buy an age-miracle cream which costs 590/- and in all probability does not have any effect either. Moreover, it is not simply about cost. A dermatologist surely knows much more about the skin than we do, and a cosmetologist does. Moreover, being doctors, they can take a more holistic approach.

Yesterday, I was visiting one of my dad's friend, who happens to be a very good dermatologist. Richa asked him what should be done if you have a dry skin type. Firstly, he suggested to throw out all such fancy creams, and then told two very simple moisturisers -

Olive oil
A mixture of Glycerine (100ml), Rose water (100ml) and Lemon Juice (20ml)

These two, as per him, are the best moisturisers, in increasing order of effectiveness. Also, one has to watch his diet carefully - take in proper amount of nutrition and keep the junk away. Nothing else is required was his conclusive judgement.

I hope some sanity dawns upon people who regularly resort to off-the-shelf creams and lotions.

The Bizzare and The Amazing

2009-01-05T22:44:00.000-08:00

On my recent trip to Australia, I had the opportunity to experience some really weird and amazing things. Please note that I am not being critical here. My intention is to just report things in a factual manner :-).

I was surprised to find that bathrooms there do not have a latch. One needs to call out before he pays a visit to the bathroom. Otherwise... Moreover, none of the internal doors have latches. Moreover, many a times, half of the internal door is made up of ground-glass (translucent one). This holds true even in 4-star hotels in Australia.

When I was hunting for a rental accommodation in Bangalore, one person showed us a 2BHK house with attached bathrooms. When I inspected the house, it had a single bathroom attached to 2 bedrooms. This kind of architecture is unacceptable in India, and I was baffled to say the least. What if you forget to latch one of the doors of the bathroom? In Australia, such an architecture is very common place. In addition, you have to keep in mind that none of the doors have latches.

Lets move on to some amazing things now.

You can actually cycle down to your office. Cycles are allowed in trains and trams. Pretty easy, isn't it. Somehow, the bicycle still holds me spellbound. I don't quite know why, but I do like it very much.

When I was visiting the blue-mountains, I went to a shop called "Josephans". This shop serves some of the world's best chocolates, and undoubtedly the world's best hot-chocolate. The hot-chocolate that I drank after lunch was pure chocolate. No milk. No sugar. Nothing but beautiful dark chocolate. Of course, you have to love the slightly bitter taste of dark-chocolate to appreciate the hot dark-chocolate. Truly amazing.

Australia trip 2008

2008-12-29T20:13:00.000-08:00

It was a trip that I, Richa and my parents had been planning for quite some time. We all wanted to go there to attend my sister Apeksha's convocation ceremony. Unfortunately, Richa had to drop out because she could not get any leave. She had just joined a new company.

One thing I will admit here is that Richa was quite magnanimous in allowing me to go to Australia, knowing fully well that she will be all alone in India and will miss all the fun. I kept telling her that I will have a half-full/half-empty feeling there all the time, but she kept telling me to enjoy as much as possible in her absence. Richa, tussi great ho :-)

We took a Singapore Airlines flight to Melbourne from Bangalore. The flight was good, except that my mom and dad felt the lack of leg-space quite bothersome. At Melbourne airport, the customs clearance took a long time because Australia is quite strict about quarantine, and we Indians like to take our spices everywhere we go.

I was quite impressed with Melbourne city. Lots of cyclists, very impressive train network, lots of trams, lots of buses and not too many people. There is a certain charm about trams. I don't quite know what it is. The fact that one ticket works for bus, tram and train makes it all the more convenient. We enjoyed the trip to Yarra river, Melbourne Sky Deck, the Salaam-Namaste bridge, and the trip to the Queen Victoria Market. We also went on the Great-Ocean-Drive to see the 12 Apostles, basically 12 pillars carved out by the Antarctic ocean from the rocky cliffs on the shore. Also took a helicopter ride around the 12 Apostles.

From Melbourne, we all went to Goldcoast - specifically - the Surfer's Paradise. Lots of girls in very skimpy clothes, the beach, the sun, the surf, the wind - this place is special. Add to it a lot of roadside eateries dishing out an international cuisine and you have really come to paradise. I specifically enjoyed the omelettes at the Mediterranean cafes - full of spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, olives. Yummy. You have one, and you don't feel like eating anything till evening. The trip to SeaWorld was special - the dolphins being the star-attraction.

From Goldcoast, we flew to Sydney. Sydney is a bustling city, much more crowded than Melbourne. The ferry rides from Circular Quay (key) to Darling Harbour, and on the the Paramatta river were wonderful. I always thought that the Opera House was white in colour, but it turned out to be off-white in colour. Although we could not see much of Blue Mountains due the mist, the trip down to the rain forest in a Gondola and trip back up in a reversing train were pretty exciting. Incidentally, the train climb is one of the steepest train climbs in the world, if not the steepest.

I enjoyed myself quite a lot in Australia, although I did miss Richa quite a lot. I must take her there sometime ...

Well - you all can see the snaps here.

Give me time :-)

2008-12-25T16:11:00.000-08:00

"You don't give me time..." is the constant crib that Richa has against me, and probably she is right. In my routine life, I am so caught up with the mundane daily chores - office, traveling, gym, TV news, sports etc that I hardly get to spend enough time with Richa.

A bit of a digression here - I was watching a show on TV quite some time back. AB was being interviewed by Semi-Girebal on her famous non-sense show. She asked him a simple question - "What is the importance of your wife in your life" - and he replied - "She has given me two wonderful children".

I was a bachelor then, did not even have a girl in my life, but I immediately retorted - "What non-sense? What about the time you spent with her? Does that have no bearing on your life?
"

Now that I am married, and now that I am in Sydney, I kind of realize that I am so caught up in the labyrinth of daily life that I probably don't spend enough time with Richa. Not that I don't want to but by the end of the day, there is hardly any time left.

I just hope that I can find ways to take some time out from my daily life, and create some memorable moments for us. One day, if-and-when someone asks me the same question, I hope I will not come up with that stupid reply.

Waiting to be back home

2008-12-25T15:51:00.000-08:00

Right now, I am sitting in Gloria Jean's Coffee shop on Liverpool St in Sydney. Liverpool St is very much the heart of Sydney city, very close to the Town Hall Station. The time right now is 10:55 am on a beautiful Boxing Day, and today is my last day in Australia as I have a flight at 6:50 pm.

Since morning, I have been wondering how am I going to spend the rest of my time here. My family has gone back to Melbourne. The souvenir shopping is over. What next? So I found an internet cafe in Gloria Jean's Coffee shop and killing my time over here. And believe me, time killing is not over yet. I have to kill 24 hours at the Singapore Airport, as I have a connecting flight only the next evening. I might as well go out into Singapore and do some sight-seeing and take some Patel-shots :-)

On every trip, which happens to be a long trip for me, I have this great urge to be back home. When I was staying with my parents, all my trips were with them, so I don't know what it is to return back to them. When I was living alone, it used to be just-another-flight back home, and I used to be cocksure that I will have no interesting company on way back. It was always so, and it still is that way :-(

Things have changed a lot since I have been married. There is this strong urge to be back home with Richa, and the closer you get to home, the stronger the urge. The last journey from Bangalore airport to home will be the toughest of the lot. Fortunately, Richa will be there at the airport to pick me up, but let me tell you, its not the wisest thing to do - traveling 50 kms one way to pick me up at 10/11 pm when I can very well take a shuttle back home. Crazy it is, but I still like the idea of Richa coming at the airport - I get to meet here 2 hrs early.

Will blog about my Australia trip in detail later, with snaps and all. For the time being, let me just sign of with -

"Love you Richa"

The shallowness is abyssmal

2008-12-01T09:19:00.000-08:00

Last night, one of the politicians went to meet the family of one of the martyr's. The family, politely at first, and firmly later, refused to meet the politician. After all, it is the family's prerogative whom to meet and whom not to meet. I don't find anything wrong in it.

However, there is something very seriously wrong with our political class. Imagine I go to a person's place to offer my condolences. However, instead of going with humility and sincerity, I go there with a pomp to show off or go there because everybody else has been there. I also take sniffer dogs with me, just to be ultra-sure that there are no bombs at that place. How would that person feel?

The next day, our TRP-hungry media, questioned the family and the politician. When they should have left the family alone, they went to needle the family.

Here comes the worst - our eminent politician says - "Not a dog would have visited that house had his son not been a martyr."

Where is humility? Where is humanity? Do you understand that someone has died? Do you understand that someone has lost his son? Do you feel his pain? Do you know what is the value of life?

How can you? After all, you are Mr. Politician.

Where is the government?

2008-12-01T08:22:00.001-08:00

I was reading the latest post by Arun Shourie. You can read it here. As you read this article, you will notice in the 6th para that there is a link with the name Government. I accidentally clicked on the link and found this -

error 404 - not found

I do not know whether this is by design or by accident. Whatever it is, it sums up the whole situation. Where is the government?

Why is life equated with money?

2008-11-30T22:55:00.000-08:00

Everytime an accident happens which is due to failure of the government machinery, politicians come out and dole out a few lakhs as compensation. For the poor and the needy, this compensation is necessary because they could have lost the sole bread-earner in the family. The generosity is only a facade behind which is the opportunity to swizzle a lot of money. I some times feel the politicians eagerly wait for calamities to happen, do not take steps to prevent preventable-calamities such as floods, and then make a living out of other people's misery. Bihar floods of 2008 was certainly a preventable calamity, but nothing was done to prevent it. The administration slept on it, and millions in Bihar died. How many of them received compensation - well there is no account of that, and probably there never will be.

Another thing that I hate is that every time a soldier, an honest policeman dies on duty, these politicians dole out a few lakhs as compensation. Sadly, they do not understand the value of life, the meaning of responsibility, the meaning of duty. When Hemant Karkare died on duty, he was not doing it for money. When Maj. Sandeep or Hawaldar Gajender Singh died on duty, they were not doing it for money. They went down doing their duty, and this feeling comes from a sense of accountability that you have towards your job and responsibility that you have towards your peers and the men you lead.

No amount of money can encourage you to give up your life. Sadly, our politicians do not understand it at all and indulge in trivialising the contribution of soldiers by doling out money as compensation.

As crass as it gets

2008-11-30T21:04:00.000-08:00

Now that the siege of Mumbai is finally over, politicians have started coming out and started doing what they do best - talk and only talk. Barring a few politicians, who in fact are not politicians but statesmen, I consider their comments nothing short of crassitude. I have developed some kind of immunity for this crassitude because day-in and day-out, we are bombarded with their crass statements.

The recent statement, made by DCM of Maharashtra, was the worst of the lot. What angers me most is the fact that he made light of the whole incident saying - "Itne bade sheher mein 1-2 incidents to ho hi jaate hain." How on earth can you say something so insensitive, so stupid?

What did the CM do - take RGV to the Taj. I am not suggesting that RGV wants to make a movie out of it. However, he had no business being there. Is he part of the security establishment, is he part of the political establishment, is he an employee of Taj? No. Then what business did he have being at the Taj? What was his contribution to the resurrection of the Taj? Zero.

These people do not value life, especially others', I guess because their own relative has never been a victim of terrorism or any such acts. These politicians have no iota of responsibility, accountability, morality and humanity. I would say, we are the ultimate idiots, who have elected these super-idiots.

The people of Mumbai have been coming out with placards and holding a peace march. One of the placards sums up all my sentiments -

Mr. Terrorist: I am alive, what more can you do.

Mr. Politician: I am alive, despite you.

I am a Mumbaikar.

Hamare liye kuch mushkil nahi hai

2008-11-28T21:02:00.000-08:00

"Hamare liye kuch mushkil nahi hai" - the first statement made by an NSG commando returning after a successful operation - Operation Cyclone - at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Bombay. He said it such a simplicity and a sweet smile on his face, which is what makes it so encouraging and charming. Imagine what a billion people could achieve if all of us had the same spirit.

I was watching the action live on various news channels, and I could see the crowd clapping with joy when the operation at Nariman House ended. They were jostling, although not literally, to shake hands with the NSG commandos. They did not care whether the commandos were "Maraathi Maanoos" or came from other end of the country. They did not care about the religion of the commandos. They were there to salute the spirit, courage, and dedication shown by the commandos. This is the real India, this is the real spirit of people of India.

Where were the eminent politicians of Mumbai, who till some days back were busy breaking taxis? Where were the politicians who routinely attended bollywood functions? Where were the politicians who talk about Mumbai as if it is their own private property? Where were all these people. None of them had the courage to come out in open. In a way, it was good that these people did not come out because not only do they lack competence, but they also would have required their own share of security and created a ruckus out there.

Now the siege of Mumbai is finally over, but I am sure it is not the end of what we have seen. Our intelligence and security infrastructure is in shambles, and cannot be corrected overnight. I do not see any change in the foreseeable future because change requires tough measures, and our politicians are not the tough guys we need at this point in time.

26th Nov, 2008 - Bombay Attacked

2008-11-28T03:57:00.001-08:00

All the news channels around the world are carrying this piece of news. I won't elaborate on it too much. However, I am compelled to write a few things that I very strongly feel about.

For quite some time, we have had a very weak leadership, which has set the tempo of India's response. Our response is neither prompt nor appropriate. The siege at Charar-e-sharief and Hazratbal shrines has, in a way, set a wrong precedent and it is solely the fault of our political leadership. The defence forces are not to be blamed for these debacles.

Since then, we have had a series of terrorist attacks, bomb blasts in cities and in temples. So many people have died in these attacks, but we haven't learnt our lesson at all.

What I fail to understand is after each such incident, we pin the blame on Pakistan and say - "ISI is involved in this incident." Is it not a given by now that ISI is behind every such incident? Why don't we take this for granted, and prepare ourselves to counter them? We give Pakistan a list of wanted terrorists and what do we expect from them - to hand over these terrorists to us on a platter? I find it all too silly.

Secondly, our political class is great at using diversionary tactics. When confronted with the question of handling terrorism, they divert public attention on whether it is Hindu or Muslim terrorism, whether to call it that way or not. For God's sake, please understand that no matter what kind of terrorism it is, people in India, our very own people are getting killed. Instead of bothering about adjectives and labels, we must focus on the core issue - terrorism.

Thirdly, the kind of idiotic questions that are raised on TV channels is unbearable. Yesterday, I was listening to Times Now and NDTV, and both were as idiotic as AajTak - the benchmark index of idiocy.

Times Now: asked foreign anti-terror experts why other countries do not support us diplomatically in anti-terror related activities.

What kind of support we are looking for? We have to learn to solve our problems on our own. Why should any other country bear the brunt of our problems? It is silly to ask other countries to support us. We have to put an end to this menace.

NDTV: was wanting some positive comments from some film personalities about our political class uniting against terror. The example they cited was our PM and leader of opposition travelled in the same plane.

That is the least they can do. For 1 day in 5 yrs they did what was expected of them.

On a final note, a big salute and thanks to all the soldiers who fought and took care of the situation. They along with the hotel staff at Taj and Oberoi, who rescued people are the real heroes.

Why values are important

2008-11-24T20:43:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, I was reading an interesting article about the meltdown of Wall Street. You can read it here. This article gives you an insider's view of what was happening in the Wall Street, and how an unsuspecting common man, was being taken for a ride.

The business honchos at the Wall Street, who are the engineers of this financial crisis, do not have any moral standards. They knew exactly what they were doing, carving out AAA securities from shit. Even the rating agencies, that are supposed to be independent in their analysis, were accomplices. And now, these companies, the Citibanks, the Goldmans, and the lot are asking for a bailout from the government. Looks like a grand plan of robbing the taxpayer.

This is where values are important. I was listening to an all-hands call, and one of our VPs said that creating profit and more and more profit should NOT be the sole motto of a company. The motto should be to make a company a great place to work, a model company, a company loved by the community where it exists. Had this thought even crossed the minds of the engineers of financial crisis, things probably could have been different.

After a long hiatus

2008-11-02T01:30:00.000-07:00

After a long hiatus, I am back to blogging. A lot has happened in the mean time -

Bomb blasts in Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Delhi, and now in Assam. The government seems to be in a total mess and does not know how to tackle terror.
Lehman Brothers and quite a few companies have vanished from the radar screen, effectively forcing a lot of technology companies to go into a cost-cutting mode.
A very interesting test series between India and Australia is in progress. The Mohali test match was a great spectacle, and India out-bowled Australia in that match. Brett Lee's wicket (bowled Zaheer Khan) reminded me of Rahul Dravid being bowled by a similar delivery by Wasim Akram in the Chennai test. It was a great exhibition of reverse swing.

Let us dig a bit more into the cost-cutting measures in place, and how people have responded to these measures. Many of the cost-cutting measures in place in my company have been suggested by the employees. Here are some of them -

No work or work-only-from-home on weekends. This will enable the lab to be shut down. This effectively means that we don't require air-conditioning in the labs for 2-1/2 days. A lot of saving indeed.
Cut the frills from the beer-bash. Some may argue that beer-bash itself should be stopped, but in our company, beer-bash is more about bash than beer. By removing the chicken-tikkas, and chats from the beer-bash, the frills are gone. Beer-bash is not the same anymore.
Certain restrictions on food items such as biscuits, fruit juices, certain types of tea etc.

Among all measures, restrictions on food items have created the most flutter in the company. There was a big discussion regarding biscuits, coffee and tea. Some people were of the opinion that there should have been a poll about which biscuits to keep and which ones to remove. The person I guess is too influenced with "America Votes". One guy was upset that Twining's Green Tea was removed from the pantry. One guy probably did not enjoy the coffee from the vending machine, so he wanted somebody to make fresh coffee and serve coffee in the office. One guy was of the opinion that coffee should be served in flasks with a depressor.

I feel some times, no matter how much people earn, they still remain nothing but cribbers and are always game for free food. In these difficult times, I feel one should not crib about such petty things. Take for example the issue of green tea. For God's sake, there is Twining's Lemon Tea in the pantry. Drink that. The coffee is still of 4 types - Cappuccino, South Indian Light, South Indian Strong, and Espresso - and it is freshly crushed and brewed. What could be fresher than that? There are two types of biscuits - Britannia Cheese Crackers and Digestive.

What more do people want? It is time to increase your productivity, which in my opinion, is the best way to save and make money for the company. Wasting 6-hrs a day fighting over such petty matters is certainly not the way to go.

Terrified by weekends

2008-08-23T23:08:00.001-07:00

It was Friday again. Beginning of a new weekend. For me, in an ideal situation, weekend is the time to relax at home, watch some EPL action, some TV, some ELR (Everybody Loves Raymond), and sleep for long hours.

I would like to confess something here - each weekend, I am a bit terrified: terrified because I have to think of something to do, possibly new or at the very least not mundane, so that Richa doesn't get bored. Some times, I wonder, why do only men have to come up with these entertainment options? Why do only men have to think of places to visit? Why can't women come up with something that both the sexes can enjoy? Wait, I am not talking about ---, but an activity of some other sort that would mean "quality time spent with each other". By the way, watching movies together at home, watching TV etc does not qualify as "quality time" :-). A piece of gyaan that all married men should get used to asap :-)

I must admit I was fortunate at least this Friday because Sidharth had already planned on going to a movie "मुंबई मेरी जान". Richa suggested that we watch this one and I, admittedly reluctantly, tagged along.

Fortunately, the movie was superb. The cast, I would say, is better known for their acting rather than for their parents. Each actor, apart from Irfan Khan, was beautifully used by the director. Although the movie is based on Mumbai train blasts, it is not a cliche as it does not focus on police hunt for the terrorists. It focuses on the psyche of the people, the fear factor that sets in, the mistrust that develops among communities, and how the city, slowly but surely, comes out of the tragedy. It is truly a tribute to the spirit of Mumbai. And the song, "ऐ दिल है मुश्किल जीना यहाँ" is truly amazing.

Bombay-Pune Trip 2008

2008-08-17T22:54:00.000-07:00

Coming back to reality after a tour of fairy land isn't a wonderful experience. I had been to Bombay and Pune for the entire week, and the trip was remarkably good. The only problem is that such trips do end, and one has to get back to work.

I did a lot of things during this trip, especially catch up with old pals from Symantec and Panta. I was quite surprised and happy to see that these people haven't changed at all. Their world has changed (married, kids etc.), the world around them has changed, but they haven't changed at all.

Another thing that happened to me is that I was set back by at least 2 months in a span of 7 days. All the effort that I put in the gym for the last 2 months has been nullified by 7 days of gorging, forced on to me by an eager-to-feed mother-in-law. At times, I felt the urge to feed me was incessant and unnecessary. I am not one of those who is shy or who needs an invitation to eat. If I like something, I will definitely enjoy it, but I do enjoy it in small quantities. However, an Indian mind has still not become comfortable with the idea that good food can be enjoyed in small quantities. As they say - "तुम्हारा पेट तो भर जाता है पर खिलाने वाले की नीयत नही भरती".

Apart from the food, too much alcohol was consumed during the last week. At my uncle's place in Bombay, I indulged in liqueur tasting. I had shots of Cointreau, Kahlua, Creme-de-Menthe, Irish Creme and something else that I don't remember. Cointreau was the best of the lot. This was apart from 2 glasses of red-wine that I had during dinner at the Turf Club. I also had a brownish-red Californian wine at my brother's place and some red wine at Sheesha.

The highlight of the trip was the trip to Tamhini Ghat. Tamhini Ghat, around 60 kms from Pune, marks the beginning of picturesque Konkan. The whole landscape has a fresh green color during the rains. Somehow, the clouds get trapped in the hills and it rains almost continuously in the Ghat. This place is full of small waterfalls in the rains. Getting wet in a waterfall is one of the most enjoyable experiences. I like to have the sheer force of water on my back. For nearly 40 mins, I was in the water, behaving like a 10 year old kid :-), shouting and throwing water on others.

Ram Setu

2008-08-04T02:41:00.000-07:00

रामसेतू is quite hot these days. The bridge, approx 30 miles long, connects रामेश्वरम in India to मन्नार in Lanka. This bridge is visible in satellite images, and is made of limestone. The government of India has been shifting its stance on the issue of रामसेतू everyday. Too much of controversy has been created where there exists none. In my humble opinion, there are only two options here -

Either believe that रामसेतू existed, and continues to exist, and find some alternate route for the ships.
Or do not believe it at all, destroy it, and let the ships pass.

However, saying that Lord Rama himself destroyed the रामसेतू is asking for trouble.

I read an interesting article in TOI today. River तुंगभद्रा is currently flooded. Apparently, some monkeys had crossed the river over to the other side. I don't know how they did it, but they did cross over. Later, when the river started rising, they climbed tall trees to avoid drowning in the river. The villages saw the predicament of the monkeys, and alerted the forest authorities. As usual, forest authorities did not take any trouble, and paid no heed to the villagers' request to save the monkeys. The villagers took upon themselves the task of saving the monkeys. They built a bridge of barrels across the river. They then crossed over to the other bank in a paddle boat to woo the monkeys to cross the river. How do you woo the monkeys? With bananas of course. One person climbed the tree, and coaxed the monkey leader to cross the bridge. The rest of the gang followed the leader to the safety of the other bank.

Now, this looks like a story from पंचतंत्र, but it is indeed true. As true as reported by TOI.

An interesting junk mail

2008-07-31T06:24:00.001-07:00

Today, I got an interesting junk mail on my office email address. Interestingly, this mail originated from within my office because the sender knows quite a bit about the habits of the employees and the name of the VP. Without going into details, here is the email -

From: nobody@nowhere.com

Hello all,
It has been brought to my attention, by a certain soothsayer, that developer productivity, on a given day, is inversely proportional to the number of postings to dl-nb-random.
I have decided to monitor and use this, from this day forward, as a metric to measure what our employees are up to.
--
Weak Rum
President of Vice

Hardy's - Australian for Wine

2008-07-27T21:11:00.000-07:00

Last night's dinner was special. We all were having Pomphret (fried and Goan style) for dinner. I had picked up a bottle of Hardy's Cabernet Merlot (a red wine) from a supermarket.

"Red wine with fish? White wine goes with fish." is what many people will say on reading this article. Let me tell you a small story before I go any further. On a wine tasting tour in Napa Valley, California, I was asking some very obvious questions to the lady who was conducting the tour. She was telling me that she could feel "peach and cherry" flavours in the wine. Since I had read their brochure some time back, I knew she was telling me exactly what was written in the brochure. This prompted me to ask her - "Where do all these flavours come from? Do you add these flavours to the wine?". She said "No. These flavours come from the soil, but we dont add anything to the soil". I instantly knew that she was spinning-a-yarn. To me, all this looks marketting gimmick.

"Make a simple thing a bit complicated, and you will arouse interest."

The point of the digression was that if you like a particular wine, just grab a bottle and enjoy it, and avoid all the talk-about-the-wine.

Coming back to Hardy's. I had a glass full with fish, yes fish, and my head started swirling. Curious to find out how others felt - I said - "Hardy's is ... (searching for the right word) ... dangerous". Instantly, others agreed, except Richa, who had consumed very little wine. I felt extremely fizzy from inside. Like shaken soda in a can. Just can't wait to get out. A bit too happy. This feeling is superb. Worth experiencing.

Come home sometime and I will get one more bottle of "Hardy's - Australian for Wine".

Commentary on DD-Sports

2008-07-18T23:54:00.000-07:00

It was Saturday again, and as usual I got up early in the morning. Usually on weekdays, I get up around 9am, and on weekends, I get up around 7am. I find that quite unbelievable and strange.

I was surfing the channels, when I noticed that DD-sports was telecasting the final of Junior Asia Cup (hockey), the match India won against Korea two days back. I hadn't seen the match live, so I decided to watch it.

One thing I have noticed is that India always does well in the junior hockey event, but fares poorly in the senior category. I guess the other teams graduate very rapidly and we don't when it comes to playing at the higher level.

The soul of world hockey has changed, ever since "astro-turf" was introduced. Hockey is no longer "dribble past the opponent" game. It has become more of positional play, a quick one-touch game. Very much like football. If you ever see the Dutch playing hockey, you will understand what I mean. We continue to play the same old hockey which was popular when hockey was played on grass. Another major issue with Indian hockey is that we don't have a penalty corner specialist. Diwakar Ram is a budding talent, but he is still not in the class of Bram Lomans of Holland or Sohail Abbas of Pakistan.

The highlight of the programme was the pathetic English commentary on DD-sports. The whole commentary was made up of max. 4 words per sentence. The funny part was one commentator sounded drunk, and was interrupting his partner. Here are some excerpts -

Koreans moving fastly
Here come the Korea
The defence of the Korea
Yes Yes. Indians takes the move. On the attack.
Right, right. You are right. Chance missed.

Solar power plant in Nevada

2008-07-18T02:42:00.000-07:00

Solargenix Energy, http://www.solargenix.com/, has commissioned a solar power plant in Mujave desert in Nevada, US. I came to know about this through Nat Geo when I was watching MegaStructures. The plant is able to generate some 22MW of electricity and is feeding it into the Nevada grid.

The solar power plant works this way. Very simply, sunlight is reflected using concave mirrors onto a special tube. The concave mirrors and the special glass tube have been specially made by Schott, AG. The concave mirrors focus sunlight onto this special tube. The glass tube is special because it is made from ultra-pure sand. This sand is free from metallic impurities. This helps it in letting through a lot more light w/o reflecting any of it. The glass tube has a metal tube inside and the air between the glass tube and the metal tube has been removed, creating a vacuum. In short, its a thermos. Temperatures inside this thermos can be as high as 700C. A synthetic oil is heated due to sunlight. The oil heats water to produce superheated steam, which drives an alternator.

The power plant is spread across 40acres of land. The cost of building this plant was high - something around 250M$. Doesn't sound much, but so much money for 22MW of power is high. However, the beauty is - fuel is free. All your investment is one time investment. The incremental costs are only maintenance costs.

The sceptics will argue that it is way to costly to be commercialized. I disagree. We have to start harnessing solar energy, wind energy etc today. The fuel is free. We don't have to invade other countries to get fuel :-).

Something like this should be done in Rajasthan's Thar desert. It will probably go a long way in solving India's energy crisis.

Sports and Performance Enhancing Drugs

2008-07-15T09:54:00.000-07:00

Mohd. Asif is yet again at the center of a drug controversy. Some days back, he was detained at the Dubai airport for possession of cocaine, which he said was given to him by some hakeem. Now, he has tested positive for an anabolic steroid, which will, in almost all certainty, be Nandrolone. Some years back, he and Shoaib Akhtar, his good bat-wielding friend, had tested positive for Nandrolone. PCB had banned them, and in its inimitable style, had exonerated the duo of all offences. Now, PCB has banned Asif for life. I guess, PCB is helpless now, and cannot help a person like Asif who gets caught thrice.

Why do athletes take to drugs? Due to the pressure to win. The physique of an athlete, his endurance, and injury management have become so important today, that these athletes are forced to look for short-cuts. Anabolic steroids (Nandrolone being one example) provide them this short cut. They help in building muscle and bone mass by stimulating the body to create more protein. These steroids help athletes to train harder and longer.

But as you have definitely heard - "no gain without pain". One has to earn the muscle the hard way. Taking steroids to build muscles is not correct, not only because it is banned and unethical, but also because it puts you at risk. All these steroids have serious ill effects.

At times, even in gyms, the trainers offer your some good advice - "You should take protein supplements in the form of shakes etc." These protein supplements have a photo of a muscle-man on them. You know what I am talking about. My dad (a doc himself) told me a few days back that these protein supplements create electrolyte imbalance and put your kidneys under a lot of duress.

Another example is "lose 5 kgs of weight in 5 days w/o any exercise". Lot of TV commercials are promoting various gadgets that help you lose weight without exercise. Frankly, all that is lost is water. I have been running 2-3 kms per day, lifting a lot of weights, and eating normally, and I have lost just 1kg in 15 days. Still, I am happy with my progress, because I am not losing water. I am burning fat.

People should understand - "no gain without pain".

कभी ख़ुद पे कभी हालात पे रोना आया

2008-07-13T06:28:00.001-07:00

It was the final of yet another reality show "जो जीता वोही सुपर स्टार". Mandira Bedi was back in the spot light. It reminded me of the cricket world cup in South Africa.

When I started watching the show, it was time for the duo of Shahid Kapur and Vidya Balan to promote their upcoming film "Kismet Konnection". If not anything, the name has an Ekta Kapur "konnection". As usual, they mentioned that the film is different, and the moment they read the script, they fell in love with the script, and they had a great time shooting the film, and they shared a great chemistry with each other. So so cliche.

One interesting question w.r.t this camaraderie between realtiy shows and film promoters is whether any money exchange is involved? Or is it simply - we increase your TRP and in return we will promote our film through your show? This is the most interesting aspect of this association.

All this was followed by some stupid challenges for the contestants, and the judges clapping for them, and those fake whistles from the crowd. Finally, it was time to announce the 2nd runner up. I did not count how many times Mandira repeated "2nd runner up" and its meaning, but it must have been atleast 20 times. In between, there were those expected surprise breaks "जो आपके दिल की धड़कने तेज़ कर देती हैं". Just before they were going to annouce the results, the contestants were asked their "दिल का हाल. क्या कह रहा है आपका दिल आपसे इस वक्त", and they were asked to sing a song that reflected what they felt at that moment.

Harshit sang "सुनने वालों कभी ऐसा भी होता है" from OSO. I dont know how he could feel that way, but it is his heart and his feelings. Rahul Vaidya sang - "कभी ख़ुद पे कभी हालात पे रोना आया" and sung it beautifully. I dont know how he could feel this way, but because this is one of my favourite songs, I give him the benefit of doubt.

Rahul Vaidya singing the old melody was the only highlight of the show. You will be wondering why do I watch this reality show if I have so many abuses to hurl at them? Only for some good hindi songs. This is the only reason why I am ready to absorb so much of stupidity.

Left pulls the plug

2008-07-09T03:52:00.000-07:00

Last night, I was watching CNN-IBN and Rajdeep Sardesai was questioning politicians from various political parties. The agenda of discussion was "Left had pulled the plug on the government".

The Left was saying why the PM had to issue an important statement on the nuclear deal when he was not in India. The Congress spokesman replied that when the statement was issued, the PM was in air and in Indian airspace, so technically he was in India.

The fight then moved to why the PM had to make the statement in the first place. What was the big hurry? to which Congress spokesman replied that the left had demanded that PM give his final position by 7th July.

Sometime later, Rajdeep Sardesai asked a very simple question to the Left. "By voting against the government, are you not siding with the BJP, the party you are so fundamentally against and the very reason why you sided with the Congress?" to which the Left gave some convoluted answer. Now, if I understand correctly, if you are not with the AYEs, then you are with NAYs unless you abstain from voting.

Politics is one area where boolean logic can never be applied. As one prominent politician has said - "In politics, there are no permanent friends and no permanent foes". I guess, when confronted with simple questions with very clear answers, politicians tend to use diversionary tactics and start a debate on the most frivolous matter without addressing the core of the question. They have this unique ability to call an Apple and Orange and justify it in one statement and deny it another.

Something I find very interesting, amusing and worth inculcating.

Income Tax Returns and Refund

2008-07-07T10:20:00.000-07:00

Two very interesting things happened today - both are excellent examples of how things should not be.

I got my first income tax refund today. I was glad that ultimately I got a refund. I was all very excited to open the envelope, as I was hoping that I will find a cheque inside. Although I manage my taxes well and generally dont exceed the actual tax, some time way back in 2005-06, I had paid some 1K extra tax. This refund was for the same year. My excitement was short lived as the cheque was already invalid. It was more than 6 months old.

I was preparing all the paper-work for this years IT-returns when I noticed that my wife was given only 7K of deduction instead of 70K in the ELSS segment. I was shocked. I asked my wife to raise the issue with her finance dept. As expected, the reply was -

"अम्ह. एक ज़ीरो ही तो मिस किया है. अगले रीफन्ड मे ले लेना."

Both are excellent examples of carelessness.

Sholay Tune

2008-07-01T03:31:00.001-07:00

One of my colleagues has installed a new ring tone - the Sholay tune. The tune which Jay used to play on his mouth organ (harmonica). I love that tune. I have to get it from my colleague. Unfortunately, my mobile does not have an mp3 player. I need to install one. I dont have any data cable or any of the accessories, so not sure how I will be able to install an mp3 player on my mobile.

During our regular team meeting, my colleagues phone went off. In the midst of absolute silence, the Sholay tune was sounding great. My colleague was struggling to get his phone out of his tight jeans pocket. I enjoyed the Sholay tune.

One of our other colleagues quipped - "The National Anthem - huh".

What a pity. I was surprised to see that this fellow could not even recognize the national anthem. The anthem that one sings in his school day in and day out. The Sholay tune is markedly distinct from our National Anthem. Its impossible to make a mistake.

The fellow made it and then tried to cover up by saying - "Some other country's probably".

Day 1 - 7 day challenge

2008-06-30T08:22:00.000-07:00

I got up quite late, 9:30 am, as I was watching Euro 2008 finals late on Sunday night. Usually, Richa keeps my tea ready and I just have to microwave it. Today, I did not have the luxury of ready made tea. I had to make it myself.

I then had some cereal, got ready, and before leaving, folded up the damn quilt and made my bed. It was a hectic day in the office. I also had my share of the traffic when I went to HDFC in the afternoon to collect some damn certificate. In the evening, I worked out in the office gym - a bit more than usual. I came back home pretty tired and very hungry. I thought Richa would have forgotten all about the challenge. I was probably day dreaming.

I was greeted with a sarcastic smile - a smile that said - "Dear, I haven't forgotten anything about the challenge. It is time for some supper". Fortunately for me, there was plenty of "Pav Bhaaji" from last night. I just had to heat it and set it on the table. I was feeling a bit relieved.

Before dinner, I had to place all the washed utensils in their proper locations, and believe me, I had no clue which one went where. I have seen Richa do it in less than 2 minutes. I had to open each and every drawer quite a few times. Took me some 15 minutes to finish it. During dinner, Richa continuously kept teasing me - "How has your day been so far?". Each time, the smile got a bit more sarcastic and annoying.

After finishing the last chore of the day - cleaning the table and kitchen - without a doubt the most annoying one, I was back on my bed, relaxing and watching TV. I was hoping to catch some Federer - Hewitt match, but the remote was in Richa's hands.

I should have seen it coming!

7 day challenge

2008-06-30T07:43:00.000-07:00

On a quiet Sunday morning, I was relaxing in my bed and watching sports on TV. Richa had gone out to shop with our common friend. Usually, I am not amused at the thought of Richa going out for shopping, but this time, Richa had gone to shop for our common friend.

She had asked me to get the weekly grocery. I did not bother too much about the grocery till it was time for her to be back home. Hurriedly, I went to the store and got what she had asked for. In my hurry, I forgot to make my bed. The bed sheet had come off and the quilt was lying on the floor - unfolded. My clothes were strewn on the bed. It was indeed a real mess. I had planned on cleaning up the mess once I came back from the store.

When I got back home, Richa was already there. Quite angry at the sight of the mess that I had created. I got to hear a lot about how she keeps the house clean and how I mess it up, how she spends hours cooking and cleaning in spite of her hectic schedule, and how I do not realize my responsibilities etc etc etc. Then she dared me to exchange roles with her for just 7 days. By now, I too was a bit agitated hearing all my flaws and gladly accepted the challenge.

I had no idea what I was getting into then, but it seems accepting the challenge was very very stupid of me. Now that I have accepted the challenge, I will not chicken out of it. That is for sure.

Oranje flatter to deceive

2008-06-23T23:13:00.000-07:00

Euro 2008 has produced some fantastic football, the Dutch being the best of the lot. The Dutch along with Italy, France, and Romania formed the "The Group of Death". The Dutch played fantastic, fast, attacking football to beat Italy and France in the league matches, and won all their encounters with ease. In the process, they scored a total of 9 goals and only 1 goal was scored against them.

In the quarter final against Russia, who had been erratic till then, the Dutch, yet again showed that when it comes to the crunch situations, they choke. They looked like a school side in front of Russia, who thanks to Andriy Arshavin, played some very attacking football. The Dutch showed no fighting spirit, no will to win. They were lucky that the scoreline was just 3-1. Russians could have easily scored more if not for the Dutch wall Edwin Van der Saar.

When I look at Germany, they come across as a side that always bounces back. You cannot relax against Germany till the final whistle is blown. They always fight till the last. Sure they may have a bad match or two, but they still fight till the last. They always have the stamina and the energy to fight.

Unless the Dutch inculcate the German will-power, they will never win any major competition. They will always flatter to deceive.

A Drucker Gem

2008-06-19T01:03:00.000-07:00

After a long time, I am able to lay my hands on a book worth reading. My company, NetApp, has a tie up with Safari Online Books. When I have little work or I am not so keen on working, I can just pick up a book and read it online. Fantastic.

Currently, I am reading a book on Peter Drucker. There are lots of gems in this book. I am quoting the one I liked a lot. Peter Drucker was talking about the importance of asking the right questions when one of his students asked him -

"How do you know the right questions to ask? Aren't your questions based on your knowledge in the industries in which you consult? How did you have the knowledge and expertise to do this when you were first starting out with no experience?"

to which Peter Drucker replied -

"I never ask these questions or approach these assignments based on my knowledge and experience in these industries. It is exactly the opposite. I do not use my knowledge and experience at all. I bring my ignorance to the situation. Ignorance is the most important component for helping others to solve any problem in any industry. Ignorance is not such a bad thing if one knows how to use it, and all managers must learn how to do this. You must frequently approach problems with your ignorance; not what you think you know from past experience, because not infrequently, what you think you know is wrong."

Help Ashutosh Mishra

2008-06-09T03:03:00.001-07:00

One of my classmates and a very good friend, Ashutosh Mishra, is suffering from blood cancer. Please visit http://helpmishra.blogspot.com. We (all his friends, colleagues, classmates) are trying to raise funds so that he can undergo Bone Marrow Transplant.

I would appreciate if you could give some ideas about how to go about this fund raising activity more effectively, any social forums or organizations who can help us in this endeavour.

Motoring - today and beyond

2008-01-23T20:03:00.000-08:00

When the stock market crashed on 22nd Jan, I went into a shopping spree. For many people, a stock market crash is a black day in the history. A stock market crash when the fundamentals are strong also makes the stock cheaper, and hence presents an opportunity of getting good stocks quite cheap.

My friend advised me to buy some Tata Motors. Tata motors has been in the news for quite a lot of reasons. The Jaguar deal with Ford, and of-course the Nano. Much has been written about the Nano - how it will create a chaos on the streets, the pollution levels will rise etc etc.

The Nano, IMHO, will provide a big boost to the cab industry in IT-cities in India. The diesel Indi-cab comes for nothing less than 4.xL. In this amount, the cab-walas can probably buy 3 Nanos. The streets in Bangalore and Pune to some extent dont present an opportunity to achieve speeds greater than 60. With Nano on the streets, the congestion on the roads will increase further. Mileage should not be a concern because Nano boasts something around 20kmpl, slightly more than an Indi-cab.

What most people dont know is that Tata has invested in a company called MDI. Check out their website http://www.theaircar.com. There are a couple of good news reports that one can read. Tata has bought the license to build and market the car in India. The car will be available in India in a couple of years probably, and will be priced around 3500$. The real issue will be the ease with which one can re-fuel the car.

DishTV

2007-11-19T21:38:00.000-08:00

I was pleasantly surprised to see that in just 2 phone calls, I was able to renew my DishTv subscription. Last time I tried making use of their helpline, I got frustrated with their re-assuring words and complete in-action.

However, this does not mean that DishTv has corrected all its flaws. Some obvious flaws -

I had to send 5 sms-es before the their server responded favourably. Till then, it kept saying "Too busy".
Once the payment was acknowleged, DishTv people slept on it for 3 more days. They were waiting for the almighty to do some "akaashwaani".
They have a silly automated voice system. One can not press keys in between because the system does not recognize such keystrokes.
Even if you choose English as the language, the people speak in Hindi. Then why have the option?

All in all, it is still a major improvement from a totally flawed system to a bearable system with a few flaws.

After a long time

2007-08-18T00:51:00.000-07:00

I am writing again after a long break. I was tied up with work and fun-n-frolic for last so many days. Quite a few events occurred during this period. I never had a chance to write about any of them.

I have started exercising again. When I dont exercise on a daily basis, I can feel a definite under-current of guilt. I continuosly feel - Oh man! I should exercise, and when I don't, the level of guilt keeps increasing. One day, the guilt-dam bursts, and I get back to my exercising ways again. The key is to not let it build in the first place. I think we should not aim to run a marathon, but aim for consistency over a long period of time. With two weekes of exercising, I am feeling good again. A few niggles and sores are still present, but the overall feeling is awesome.

India celebrated its 60th anniversary of Independence. TOI headlines read "Sixty and Getting Sexier". TOI has proved yet again that it is nothing but a 16-ply-TOI-let-paper.

India won the test series against England. Many arm-chair critics, including me, criticized Rahul Dravid's decision of not enforcing follow-on in the third test. Many, including me, said - "Australia would definitely have enforced the follow-on". In hind-sight, I think, his decision was right and borne out of the desperation to win a series in England. We must always remember that we are not Australia who win almost every test series they play, hence they can afford to take more risks. Also, had the decision of enforcing the follow-on backfired on a placid pitch, all the arm-chair critics would have crucified Rahul Dravid and his think tank. Australian public is more into "footie" than into "cricket", so Ricky Ponting has to contend with less of such criticism.

New wonders of the world

2007-07-09T22:48:00.000-07:00

A new campaign. Select new wonders of the world. Will Taj be amongst the new wonders? Oh. Our Taj - the monument of eternal love will not make the list of wonders of the world. SMS Taj to 7575.

And millions of people sent their SMSes, worth 3-6 Rs each. The organizers spent a few million in distributing T-shirts, Caps, but gained billions because of these SMSes. Moreover, the campaign was not even backed by UNESCO.

Indian Idol, Voice of India, Wonders of the world - are all examples of making money by creating false impressions, and thus influencing people to send SMSes. Even the news channels ask people to send SMSes for silly things.

Taj will always remain as a symbol of love and a wonder of the world, but what we have done is label it as SMS-Taj.

Ciggys in Office

2007-07-09T22:36:00.000-07:00

A snap of cigaretthe butts. Why are these butts lying on a carpet inside the office?

Somebody smoked somewhere, and threw the butts behind a flower-pot in the office. I dont know his thought-process, but it was a stupid thing to do.

Paintball

2007-07-09T22:15:00.000-07:00

Quite some time back (almost a month now), I had gone for a paintball-shooting event. I was a bit apprehensive about it initially, but I must admit it was worth every penny. I give the entire credit to Alistair for managing to accumulate 10 people; otherwise the event itself would have been cancelled.

Although I had severe muscular pain after paintball, I am game for paintball. It is the ideal sport for ADM. ADM - are you game for it?

A country called S. India

2007-06-26T23:50:00.000-07:00

Last night, I visited my friend Sidharth. He recently visited Kerala, so was generally talking about the culinary delights from Kerala. He told me something which I will share with you here.

A chef in Kerala gave Sidharth his visiting card. The card had the usual details - name, occupation, address, and contact details. The address part was broken down into the exact address - the hotel name, the street... The state was Kerala - obviously. What about the country?

The country was S. India. When the chef was asked "What is S. India?", he replied - "Obviously South India".

Is there a country called S. India? Is it different from India? Is it not a part of India?

We Indians have not risen above petty things like - my state, my religion, my caste. We do not even have the courtesey to talk in a language understood by all when we are in a group. Very often I have seen two people talking in their mother-tounge in the presence of 10 others who do not undertsand the language being spoken.

I will repeat the oft-repeated sentence -unless we stop thinking in terms of state, religion, caste, and language, "इस देश का कुछ नही हो सकता".

Very sooon, I will upload the scanned image of the card.

हमारा बजाज - चुन्नु मुन्नु दे पप्पा दी गड्डी

2007-06-12T00:26:00.000-07:00

हमारा बजाज. The बजाज scooter. चुन्नु मुन्नु दे पप्पा दी गड्डी.

The vehicle of choice for so many people of the 60s, 70s, 80s, and the 90s. The last such scooter rolled out of its Pune factory last year.

People of my father's age are still in love with their bajaj scooter. None of the various models of bajaj scooter were sleek. They were all bulky. It had a 150cc engine. It gave around 50kmpl. I at times felt like sitting on a tripod, and working with stuff on the floor while riding our bajaj scooter. The foot-brake was uncomfortable.

But people liked it. Earlier, there was limited choice, but later people liked it because most people say - it starts with a single kick, it doesn't stall, spare parts are cheap, doesn't break that often, works well with adulterated petrol, and "खराब रस्तों पर भी तकलीफ नही देती", and "इस पे एक LPG सिलिन्डर ला सकते हैं".

The number of bajaj vehicles sold in India, over a period of 40 years, is a testimony to its robustness.

No wonder the punch-line was हमारा बजाज.

We had one such scooter too. It was my dad's, bought in 1990-91 I guess. 3 days back, the scooter was stolen from श्रीवर्धन complex in रामदासपेठ in नागपुर. After 16-17 years of working well, without any problems.

New shirt, new watch, new bag - बढियां है

2007-05-29T04:37:00.001-07:00

Richa just returned from US, and she got me some gifts - a swiss gear sack, a caravelle bulova watch, a wawa coffee mug, a sweat shirt from Atlantic city.

The swiss-gear sack (made by victorinox - makers of swiss-knife) can carry a laptop, has in-numerable pockets, an audio-port, and is very very sturdy. It has got very sturdy zips, unlike other bags. You can keep your mp3 player inside and can connect headphones to the audio-port which is outside the bag.

The caravelle bulova watch is also very nice. I like the small inner dials, and the color and feel of the strap.

The coffee-mug is a big one. It can store 3 cups of coffee, is microwave proof, works like a thermos too, and is spill proof. The best part is - it came for only 1$.

So much for the shopping which was done for me. I am happy she returned safely w/o any unwanted incidents.

Makkadman and India

2007-05-11T07:24:00.000-07:00

Today, I got two interesting forwards - one was how India should go about developing the second rung cities to ease the pressure on the metros. You can read it here. The photo shown in the article is that of Westside in Landmark building in Nagpur (my native place).

The second one is really funny. It is a perfect Indian adaptation of spiderman. See it here.

Enjoy your weekend!

Time to take a back seat

2007-05-09T21:34:00.000-07:00

There are times when you get so caught-up in the rat race that you forget to enjoy the little things in life. You are so caught-up thinking what you want to do in future that you forget your present. What you end up being is just a "rat" - nothing more, who is being fed by somebody to run as per his whims and fancies.

At times like these, some words of guidance from "dad" really help. They have gone through situations like this many times in their lives. After all, they have seen at-least 21 more summers than you.

The important step here is not to take a step forward, but to take a step back, and see where you are, and cherish what you have accomplished. Sadly, most of us have lost the ability to cherish what we have done, and have become some sort of cribbers. Another important thing is to develop some hobby - as it tends to support you in times like these.

I now realize the importance of taking time off, and having a hobby, or not pursuing those which I had :-(.

Experience of a lifetime

2007-05-02T22:40:00.000-07:00

I just happenned to read an article posted by Alistair about his experiences with hair-cut. You can read his experiences here.

This has inspired me to share my experience with hair-cut too. This one was no ordinary experience but taught me something which I will remember for my lifetime.

We had gone to भीमाशंकर on a hot afternoon, to visit the Shiva temple there. भीमाशंकर is one of the famous ज्योतिर्लिंगs. However, it is quite far-away from Pune, the road is not good, the journey is quite tiring, and there is nothing except the शिव मंदिर. By the time we got back to Pune, I was pretty tired.

When I am pretty tired, and incidentally have a long hair, the only thing that appeals to me is having a nice hair-cut. In such situations, if the thought of hair-cut even crosses my mind, it stays stuck over there till I am done with it. I get withdrawal symptoms if I don't get a hair-cut.

This was just the sort of time I wanted a hair-cut. I went to प्रशांत in औन्ध. It was all going fine till the bastard slit the back of my neck with his उस्तरा (blade). Blood started oozing out of it. I just asked him for a cotton swab so that I could stop the bleeding, and do the necessary dressing.

But no! My barber thought himself to be the dresser-in-chief of Apollo Hospital. He took the cotton swab, put it on the wound. Then to my horror, before I knew, he rubbed the wound with something. I did not know what.

The only thing that I could was - "ऊह आह आउच". I shouted at him - "ये क्या लगा रहे हो". To which, he said "फिटकिरि" (alum). I was zapped.

Now these barbers watch too much of hindi cinema. When the hero gets a bullet wound in his arm, what does he do? Yeah. He did the same with me.

He took a cotton swab, took a match-stick, and lit a fire on the cotton swab. He then rubbed my wound with a burning cotton swab.

By now, I had totally lost it. I shouted at him again - "खबरदार जो ये सब किया तो. चुप-चाप जो बचे कुचे बाल हैं, वोह काटो."

Since then, I have never gone to प्रशांत again, and I have never allowed any barber to use उस्तरा on me, even if he changes blades or does any damn thing with it.

Waiting for monkeys to complain

2007-04-17T01:18:00.000-07:00

TOI today reported an incident where some prominent doctors from Nagpur had gone to a reserve forest called Nagzira. In their merry-making, these people got a bit too drunk. The generous people they were, they offerred their drink in steel plates to langoors. As it would happen, some of the monkeys also got drunk.

Then a fight erupted between the doctors and the monkeys. The doctors were abusing the monkeys, pelting stones on them, and even throwing chairs on the monkeys. The monkeys in response were doing what they could.

The forest guides, who are on govt. payroll, were mere spectators. Some of the nature friendly tourists registered a complaint with the forest authorities against those erring doctors. When contacted by TOI, the forest in-charge had this to say - "We did not receive any complaints."

I suppose he is waiting for the monkeys to register a complaint with him.

Oh No! Not again!

2007-04-16T22:13:00.000-07:00

Shilpa is in news again, thanks to her, Richard Gere, and the nation's no. 1 news channel - Aajtak.

The not-so-general public, the moral brigade, the guardians of Indian culture - generated a lot of heat because Richard Gere kissed Shilpa Shetty on the cheek.

There were several reactions, and if you are not a cultural-moral policeman - you will find them hillarious.

- Shilpa Shetty defending Richard Gere - "It was an impromptu act he did for the audience’s entertainment."

We were certainly entertained. The credit definitely goes to you and the moral-brigade, and of-course to Aajtak for bringing the issue in prominence.

- Shilpa Shetty criticising the moral brigade - "It is really sad that the issue for which the two of us came together, AIDS, was totally sidelined and this frivolous issue has got prominence."

Good you realized you were indulging in a lot of frivolous acts these days.

- A moral-general - "We are a culture that worships women, we believe in ‘nari shakti (woman power)’. Padmavati, Durgavati and Rani Laxmibai are our ideals."

Oh! Cut the crap man. We all know what you do when you are not morally policing the rest of India.

- The real reason - "We are not bothered about how many times he kisses how many women in Hollywood. We are troubled with Shilpa’s behaviour. When the man was being outrageously indecent before a large gathering, why did she keep giggling?"

Whats the real issue here? Was it the man's indecency before a large gathering, or was it Shilpa's giggling? Decide your problem dear

सर्जरी - द्वितीय भाग

2007-04-04T04:07:00.000-07:00

Starting where we left off - well that is strictly not possible because as I said previously, you don't have any recollection of what happenned during your surgery.

When your anaesthesia starts wearing down, you can sub-consciously hear a few things. You still can't see anything because you are बेहोश for all practical purposes. I could hear my surgeon say - "सब कुछ ठीक हो गया".

In my opinion, this particular stage is extremely dicy. You are in a state which is similar to what you would be in, when subjected to narco-analysis. You react - w/o any fear, w/o any restraints which the society puts on you, w/o any restraints which you might have put on yourself.

If, at this time, your wife asks you - whom do you love the most, well don't be surprised if she later tells you that you named your ex-girlfriend, or a girl whom you had a big crush on in your college days. Believe me, it is that dicy.

Fortunately for me, my wife did not ask that kind of a question, but I guess, next time she won't spare me. One incident that did occur, as per my wife, was this -

Sub-consciously, I was afraid of the vasofix - yeah - the same vasofix. I had felt a needle going in, but never felt the needle coming out. I was under the impression that the needle is still sitting in my vein, and the axis of the needle and that of my vein are identical. Any disturbance in any axis could lead to my vein getting ruptured. Hence, I was sub-consciously very "conscious" of anybody coming close to the vasofix.

My wife was making me drink water periodically, to prevent my mouth from drying. In this attempt, she was coming close to the vasofix. According to her, I had a raised voice when telling her: क्या बार-बार इधर आके पानी पिलाती है. उस कोने में जाके बैठती क्यों नही?

To this day, I am conscisouly repenting for what I said when I was unconscious.

सर्जरी - पहला भाग

2007-04-03T02:40:00.000-07:00

For a very long time, I wanted to jot down my tryst with surgery, but could not do so for lack of inclination. Today, I feel like jotting it down.

It all starts with a few scans, a few tests. Your surgeon (your doctor till now) looks at those and says: "Young man, you need a surgery." You then fix the d-day with him, and from that moment onwards, pray that all goes well here-after.

A day before your operation, you need to get what is known as a "fit-for-surgery" certificate. It involves some routine tests like blood-sugar, B.P, and other blood related tests, some X-rays etc. If you pass, you are sure to undergo surgery; if you fail, I guess you are in greater trouble.

On the day of surgery, you tend to be apprehensive. There are a thousand questions that your mind cooks up, which in hindsight I can say are needless. What are they planning to do, has the surgeon done enough homework, is he skillful enough, will he be able to do the job correctly, will I tolerate anaesthesia well, will there be scars on my body, and god-knows how many others.

Once you reach the hospital, the first thing that is done is - recording your B.P. Soon you realize that recording B.P is done every 20 mins. Every 20 mins, a nurse comes over, takes your B.P, blabbers some thing to you - " अब मैं आप्को टेटनस का इन्जेक्शन लगा रहीं हूं." Each time the routine will be the same, only the contents of your bloodstream will be altered in newer and newer ways.

The fun part begins when you meet your anaesthetist. The first thing that they do is - you guessed it right - record your B.P again. I guess they want to be doubly sure that its absolultely right. Next, they start feeling your vein. You then gently ask them - "कोइ और इन्जेक्शन लगने वाला है क्या?" Yes: Vasofix. Vasofix is a prick-once-inject-many-times device. It remains seated in your vein, and acts as a one-way-valve. Anything can injected into your vein through the vasofix. You keep looking at the vasofix, when you should not. You get tense, your veins shrink, the anaesthetist taps at them, and gives up. Gently he/she says: "टेन्शन लेने की कोइ बात नही है. Relax. Don't look at the vasofix. After some time, he/she tries again. This time, you listen to what was told. You look away.

Ouch! Before you realize, the vasofix is inside your vein, and the anaesthetist is seen strapping it up with a sticking-plaster. Some more things are dumped inside your blood-stream, and you are all ready to make it to the big league - getting into the O.T.

The O.T is full of instruments, T.Vs, and some really state-of-the-art equipment. In the center, lies the stretcher on which you are supposed to lie. As soon as you enter, you can't help but look here and there. Soon you are lying on the stretcher, with your arms outstretched. The main surgeon then introduces the team to you. Everybody very politely says "Hi" to you. The anaesthetist then takes over and starts by asking some questions which sound weird to you then. Here is the dialogue which transpired in my case -

प्रश्न: आप किधर काम करते हैं?
उत्तर: PANTA Systems, पुणे
प्रश्न: Software है क्या?
उत्तर: हां
कहीं बाजू से आवाज आती है: आज कल तो Software की भेड चाल है. हा हा हा.
किसी और क प्रश्न: कितना m.l
उत्तर (मेरा नहीं): 6 m.l

Thats the last thing I remember, because as soon as the anaesthesia went into my bloodstream, I was asleep. I don't have any recollection of what happened later. My parents could see the surgery live on TV.

आज कल इस्का भी सीधा प्रसारण होता है.

मजेदार weekend

2007-04-02T02:00:00.000-07:00

This weekend was great. It was hectic, but it was great. It all started with me, Richa, and Shyam going to Alistair's place in जयनगर on Friday evening. After some search, फोना-फोनी, and some escorting from Alistair, we managed to reach his place. Apurva and Monica also joined us there and we had a good time yapping and whiling our time away.

The next day, Shyam and Alistair came over to my place. After a lovely dinner, we settled down to play cards. We started with GKB (गरीबों का ब्रिज). Shyam and I were partners, and we managed to beat Alistair and Richa by a handsome margin. The score in the end was - Shyam and Aditya +134, Richa and Alistair -34.

GKB was followed by coffee on the terrace. There was one more group on the terrace - the typical group of सुट्टेबाज and noisy people, whom I dislike very much; so we had to cut our coffee-break a bit short.

We were back to playing cards, and this time we started with Memory, and then followed it up with Judgement. Alistair was new to this game, but being the smart fellow he is, picked it up instantly. After two rounds of judgement, we realized that सुबह के पांच बज चुके हैं. We decided to call it quits for the time being, and all of us went off to sleep.

We all got up lazily, some time around 11 a.m, had breakfast, ate पाव-भाजी in lunch. We then settled down for another round of judgement. However, the best part of the morning was april-fooling our friends. It is something that I haven't really done in my life. Sometimes, it can be real-fun too.

All in all, it was a fun-filled weekend. I am sure there will be many such weekends in future.

Outsourcing and Sports

2007-03-30T05:07:00.000-07:00

Outsourcing of business processes is something that Indians are doing a lot these days. It is an industry employing millions of youths in India. This has created a lot of furor in the west, as people are losing jobs. People are getting tagged as "bangalored". Since I am not the person who has lost a job to someone else, I can not understand their pain.

Indians have also been outsourcing some important jobs to developed countries. Since the title mentions sports, let’s talk about outsourcing in sports. I am particularly interested in three sports - football, hockey and cricket.

Football in my opinion is not made for us. After watching the European leagues, I am positive that Indians simply can not play football, because we don't have the physique for it. May be some people from the armed forces can take it up, but others simply do not have the physique and athleticism for it. We employ foreign coaches who merely manage to improve our rating from 156 to 155.

Hockey - our national sport - and we hardly put any money in it. We have a hire and fire policy as far as coaches is concerned, and the funny part is we keep rotating the same coaches. I only hear the following names - Cedric D'souza, V Bhaskaran, and some others. How many times Cedric D'souza or V Bhaskaran have been our hockey coach - even they might have forgotten by now. A German coach, Gerard Rach, was employed and fired in the midst of a tournament. In spite of so many changes in coaches, we still play hockey with a straight stick, we still can't convert penalty corners, we still concede penalty corners by dozens, and we still dribble the ball needlessly thereby losing possession of the ball.

The real outsourcing happens in cricket. BCCI is crazy about foreign coaches - John Wright, and then Greg Chappell; foreign trainers - Gregory Allen King, Andrew Leipus, John Gloster. In spite of so much foreign investment for last 6 years, our players are still not fit. They are still not athletic. Our players still can't bat with a straight bat, still can't bowl at the death, and the same problems plague Indian cricket. With India's abysmal show (I can't use the word performance here) in the World Cup, there is bound to be some root-cause-analysis; and if there is none, my sincere advice to the BCCI would be to stop functioning altogether.

Sometimes I think we need to outsource the job of "playing" to the Australians - they excel in all three fields.

Code, Reports, and Presentations

2007-03-30T03:39:00.000-07:00

Recently, I joined a new company and have spent the last month reading various documents, reports, viewing presentations and reading a lot of C code.

One of the good things here is that the presentations are not mere ppts, but you see and hear a person lecturing you live. Some of the presentations were beautiful, some were what my professor used to call "reading from the slides".

The thing that is irritating me right now is the code I have been trying to understand for last 5 days. Very mildly put, the code is shitty. Some functions are as long as 2000 lines. Occassionally, you come across a function which is 700 lines in length. If that is not enough of a torture, 7 streams of functionality are using the same set of functions. As a result, the readability of code, I should say, is missing altogether.

I sometimes wonder, what do all the coding standards in an IT industry achieve, if the code that is getting written and checked-in, is not readable at all? And by readability, what I mean is ease of understanding for a person who knows the concepts and is new to the code. Mere indentation and how to use braces; should not be the only parameters of coding standards.

During my stay at IIT Bombay, the following links really helped me. I do not claim I am a perfect coder, or a great orator or presenter, but these have definitely helped me. You can also try them - no harm.

Bengaluru - a city for the rich

2007-03-28T22:29:00.000-07:00

Bengaluru is a city for the rich. You must have a lot of money here. There is no denying this. Be it housing, transport, eating, or entertainment. Every aspect of human life is costly here.

When I started searching for a house, I was amazed at the rent people were paying. A decent 2BHK house comes for anything between 13K to 16K. The deposit is always 10 times. The logic of 10 times eludes me. Those who are lucky can find a decent place for less.

The auto-walas here are the worst of the lot. They are just not willing to go where you want to go. The buses, as usual, are always overcrowded.

Entertainment deserves a special mention here. The multi-plexes here are very very costly. Tickets have to be booked a week in advance. Some times, even 2 weekes in advance.

All in all, it is a very expensive city. Those who migrate to this city should take into account the expense ratio before making hasty decisions.