Stuff happens, they need to be reported

Surviving the Schulich MBA

2011-09-07T15:02:00.000-07:00

1. At your graduation ceremony take a safety pin along. They will not provide you one as "officially" the pin can tear up the rented robe (you get to the cap)
2. Account for a lot of extra expenses - trips, dinners, graduation ceremony - $20 for the grad photo, $54 for the graduation ceremony, $108 for the formals, an insane amount for the deerhurst
3. Wireless routers are needed in the residential houses. Its better if you carry one as stuff is generally expensive in Canada
4. As soon as you land, (Schulich India) - apply for an OCWP - you are eligible for it as you have spent 6 months as a York university student already.
5. Study really well in the first year so that you get good grades and are eligible for a host of scholarships from the school.
6. If you are attending a cocktail networking event, be prepared not to eat / drink anything. (There is hardly stuff anyway) Focus on meeting people. We know that they know that its all hogwash but you gotta do it.
7. Staying in the Assiniboine Residences has benefits and perils
I. Benefits
a. We have a Santa delivering presents all the year round in the way of people moving out and leaving stuff that they no longer need in the ground floor. Be patient and soon you will chance upon - printers, lamps, chairs, microwaves and other surprises. Remember, it would be your turn to play Santa when you move out!
b. You get to see a lot of people, which is otherwise a rarity in that part of town
II. Perils
a. Frequent disturbances from people pulling the fire alarm - trust me you cannot sleep through the alarm (its an offence as well)
b. You do not get much credit in the way of tax rebate as the university housing is supposed to be subsidized ( in reality however its not so compared to the options available around it)
8. Even if the meeting rooms are booked, try some of the smaller class rooms on the second and third floors. they are usually unoccupied and open. If someone comes in, be assertive!
9. There is a combination of TTC transport that can take you from Pearson airport to York University - make sure you either have a token or 3 dollars in change for the TTC fare. The public transport stop is at the lower levels of the pearson airport. You can either take the 58A to Lawrence west and from there take the North Bound to Downsview or take the 196 to Kipling station, travel east bound to st george, change trains and then take the north bound to Downsview
10. Restaurants are way overpriced at York Lanes but you cant help and treat yourself occasionally. I dont have much idea about non veg but there are decent options for vegetarians - try the paneer wrap at Indian Flavours, the 2 veggie combo as Pagoda, Subway and the 5$ basket at KFC. There is a vegetarian plate at Jimmy the Greek which I think is the best value for money. While I personally like Mangia Mangia there have been a lot of raised eyebrows about its health standards. If you do not mind spending $5, then you may want to check out the Indian buffet options at Islington Steet. For an all inclusive cost of about $15 you can have really good food.
11. Beverages at Timothys in the college is Overpriced and I would rush to the Tim Hortons in the Seneca building for a quick sip. While the muffins and the cookies at Timothy's also are expensive, I would highly recommend it as they are fresh and delightful
12. Before the actual winter sets in, there is a decent sale on winter wear. Make use of this - you will need the extra layers of clothes.
13. If you are someone who looks forward to buy electronics on the cheap, wait for the boxing day sale. Otherwise I dont find the prices very attractive round the year.
14. There are a couple of options for groceries near the university - Food Cents (which is at a 10 minute walking distance) and No Frills (which is about 20 minutes away walking or about 8 minutes by TTC). If you do go to Islington, then you can also plan to shop at the Indian Bazaar where you will get more indian things than an actual store in India.
15. For haircut again there are a couple of options - at the University Mall (near Food cents) where the hair cut ranges from $14 to $20 and at Islington where it costs about $10 (do not forget to add $5 if you are going solely for a haircut to Islington which i think is a waste of time then)
16. Dont think twice while spending the $300 worth of print credit. Most of the students end up with a credit balance that expires just at the end of the final term (before you realize it)
17. The library is a great place for reading magazines and journals, utilize this facility well as I believe this is one of the best plus points of the school
18. There are a couple of clubs at York University which organize screening of Indian films and "significant" cricket matches - keep an eye out for it
19. Join the Schulich Connect Yahoo Groups. This is the unofficial site for selling and buying household stuff and books at schulich
20. Internet speeds are great at the residences however do not go overbound and download too much stuff. Your connection is monitored even if you believe it aint and illegal downloads attract special attention.
21. Make sure you have a nice portfolio bag and a good suit with you as you would need them for attending interviews
22. As soon as you land, apply for a credit card and try and get your driving license. You will need to deposit money for the credit card - $750 for a $600 limit credit card - and then maintain good credit as this credit history will result in a good credit score when you apply for a loan. Similarly when you apply for a driving license early on and let time pass, when you actually go ahead to get insurance, this cost will be lesser. Carry a letter from your RTO (Regional transport authority, the people who issue your driving license in India) that you have been driving with a valid passport for "X" number of years and have not been involved in any accidents . This letter will help you skip a step in between when applying for your driving license in Canada.
23. Canada's Wonderland is a great place to visit. Plan to go there in the summers as it is closed during the winters and its hours of operations are also shorter for the short duration it is open in the winters. Look out for offers here as well as they do come by.
24. When buying electronics there is no point doing price comparison between Future Shop and Best Buy as Best Buy bought over Future Shop quite a while back. The other significant brick and mortar shop is "the Source" which is quite useless when it comes to competitive pricing. You may want to explore this site called tiger direct or ITxchange where you can generally get good deals on computers
25. During the winters, due to the heaters, the air inside the rooms tends to become very dry. You may want to consider purchasing a humidifier.
26. A trip to Walmart requires you to take the VIVA Orange transportation service which costs $3.5 one way (or 2.6 if you take a 10 pass ticket). However if you can finish your work at walmart quickly, then you can use the same ticket to head back within 2 hours.

The Attack of the Font Monster

2011-05-01T21:57:00.000-07:00

After the initial shock of the news wore off I was more fascinated by the affect it had on the websites of reputed news agencies and I was not disappointed !

CNN and The Wall Street Journal had shot their website design to pieces by increasing the font size of their headline to huge proportions. Their graphic designers would have had a tough time for sure. On the other hand The Globe and Mail and The Times of India did not compromise their designs to accommodate a piece of news and I respect that. The others were somewhere in the middle.

What is the message that websites are giving when they do this ? In case you wear glasses and you cant find them, we do not want you to miss this piece of action, so allow us to blow it up for you. Maintain some dignity guys!

Killing the iPad 3g softly, from Inside

2011-04-12T22:01:00.000-07:00

What is the most likely thing you will carry in your pocket if you are a tablet owner. I am guessing you will have a killer smart phone that can do almost everything except the dishes. No wait, it could possibly do that as well - there must be an app for it.

The leader in tablets, Apple has two flavours of the Ipad - Wifi and 3g+Wifi. You pay a cool $130 extra to get the 3G capability on your pad. But step back and think, is it worth it ? You may say yes, it is. I need to be connected to the internet when I am travelling and there may be no wifi around.

Think again and reach for your pocket and look to the skies (there would be a cell tower around somewhere). I am willing to bet your Apple iPhone has atleast 2-3 bars of signal strength (provided you are not covering up the antenna area!) and that is all you will need to connect your iPad to the Internet - the magic of wireless tethering.

Very powerful concept, that allows your phone to effectively become a router to other devices including laptops and tablets. It does not really make sense any more to pay extra for that 3G capability. I would love to see, how Apple responds!

The game now hinges on your service provider, to provide you with a plan that encourages you to use reams of data on your smartphone. This means a couple of things for service providers

1. All devices are made equal - No disparity in charges per mb depending on the device that consumes the data
2. Exponential growth of data traffic on the wireless network - Time to redo calibration of network capacity

The Business of News

2011-03-01T00:01:00.000-08:00

Here's an interesting piece of original research by me! Sitting in Toronto during the final months of my MBA, while glancing through Indian Newspaper sites, a thought crossed my mind - Where does all the news come from ?

So I decided to do a little research on 7 newspapers from India who have an online presence. The idea was to try and determine the source of the news - for instance PTI (Press Trust of India) , AP (Associated Press), Reuters etc. For the purpose of this research I purposefully did not include Television based news sites (as I really discount the quality of reporting on non business Indian News Channels)and I focussed this study on non financial newspapers only. This research was conducted on 1st Mar 2011 at about 1.30 pm IST.

I did consider three more papers - The Statesman, The Telegraph and The Tribune but I decided not to include them in this research. The main reason why I chose not to include them was because of the fact that they either do not do justice to the online format by trying to replicate the print news as is on the web (no, I am not referring to the ePaper versions) or they simply have a horrific site design.

For once, I am not going to include my viewpoints on the outcome of the research and I would like to invite you to comment on it. I am expecting that this post would generate different viewpoints and thats the reason why I do not want to channelize those thoughts by providing mine upfront.

A request - if you do quote this anywhere, please mention the author's name!

Enabling credit card payments

2011-02-12T00:26:00.000-08:00

I am fascinated to see the adoption of technology. Square Inc is now offering any one with an iPhone / iPad (with an Internet connection) in the US the ability to accept credit card payments. This means cab drivers, electricians, mechanics, plumbers, flea traders and sunday market farmers can accept small transactions through credit cards. (oh, i am not sure if they would have an iPhone). I would be tempted to use one for the heck of it but the transaction fee is set at - 2.75% + 15 cents per transaction.

I think the transaction fees are slightly high but that is possibly because it is still trying to figure out proper risk management techniques. I think the image says a lot. and this is the example of only one of the companies doing it (the coolest one by far) there are other Payment Processors engaging in this niche area as well - Sage Payment solutions (looking at mid to small sized merchants), PayWare Mobile processing. Cool stuff overall...

I am so angry with ICICI Bank...Money Manager account

2011-01-31T19:36:00.000-08:00

I am so angry at ICICI Bank for trying to force its customers to use the Money Manager software on its Internet Banking offering.

Ok, so a little background first....around New Year's time (or atleast thats when I noticed it) ICICI Bank introduced a service called Money Manager on their Online Banking system. The way I see it, it is a personal finance software which aims to help with your day to day expenses. I think its quite neat as a concept and its bound to catch on with other banks having a substantial retail base.

This is fine but there is a catch to it. The Bank has decided to charge for the software (25 rupees per month) after an initial trial period of 90 days. So far so good, the Bank can do what ever it pleases as long as it makes the rules clear upfront. Obviously, I am not interested in the software as I dont want ICICI Bank to charge me Rs. 300 a year for a software that I personally will not use.

So, whats the way out? Thankfully there is a way out! Customers can unsubscribe from the service. Hey but, whats this. I cannot unsubscribe before 31st Jan 2011 ? Really !? Weird. So I put a reminder on my phone to unsubscribe from the software on 1st Feb 2011. When I visit Money Manager on 1st Feb 2011, surprise - surprise. The unsubscribe date has been postponed to "on or before 28th Feb 2011". What a cheap, underhand trick.

They think, by forcing people to remain subscribed to the service they can induce customers to use their software. No it does not... It makes people mad. And it makes them write a blog about the horrible experience and let their friends know about it.

And oh yes, I have updated my calendar and shifted the date to 28th Feb 2011.

Lets have another round on personal Integrity!

2010-10-05T18:44:00.001-07:00

Its legal! So what do you think when you hear this. It means that the laws of the land have said it is ok to do so or the laws dont have any explicit opinion about it, hence its legal.

Think about it. Where do the laws come from? They definitely do not originate from human nature, otherwise we would not go about breaking so many of them on a regular basis. These are created by people based on their judgement about right or wrong at the time of framing the law.

Now this does not mean that the law is all encompassing. In fact laws are created when people find ways to do things which are not right but the law at that time did not object to it. Think about hoarding. Inherently it means that you are utilizing your resources to stimulate market demand without exerting direct compulsion. This would have been perfectly fine if you were not dealing with food.

My point is that even if the basic values of a person are in the right place, he cannot always depend on the legality of a situation and decide accordingly. He may end up violating his values without even knowing about it, unless some one explicitly points out to him. So it is necessary that you question your own move and be comfortable with it personally, cause if you seek solace or justification externally, you probably will twist the message to suit your frame.

These thoughts are not mine. They are credited to my professor, Dr. Mark Kamstra from the Financial management class at Schulich. I am really glad that they have shaped my thoughts in this manner and the experience has compelled me to pen my thoughts down...

Integrity - by Michael Jensen

2010-09-19T12:16:00.000-07:00

I attended a talk on "Putting integrity into Finance - A positive Approach" by michael jensen on the 17th of September 2010 at Schulich School of Business and was propelled to share the ideas discussed.(http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=876312). Michael had a very interesting way of defining Integrity which was void of morality or ethics.

Drawing from the field of ontology he said that integrity is such a basic quality of a being that it cannot be termed as good or bad. An entity has integrity when it is whole and complete. For organizations to have integrity it is important that the design, the implementation and the use of the organization - all three are carried out in a manner which was intended and planned for.

He goes on to further say, that integrity can be maintained in two ways :
A. When the person (or organization) honors his promise in timely fashion.
B. If he is not able to honor the promise, then inform the other party well in time and be ready to accept consequences. There have been numerous cases where companies have gained customer loyalty at times of service failures just by ensuring that the company does everything in their power to amend their shortcoming.

Integrity comes when a person follows the rules and abides by the law of the land. Interestingly, integrity can also be maintained if a person chooses to not follow the rules but let everybody else around him know of his intention of not following them. He should accept all consequences openly and not have anything to hide. A shining example in this regard is Mahatma Gandhi who openly defied the government with his non-cooperation movement and accepted all the hardships.

Some of the interesting analogies he drew were :
1. Integrity compared to spokes of a bicycle : If some of the spokes of the bike are missing and we keep on adding weight onto it then the bike would eventually give in and fail.
2. Integrity as compared to gravity : Like integrity, gravity is neither good nor bad, it just is. Gravity keeps the atmosphere together or it is instrumental in causing death when a person walks off from the top of a building.

These ideas seemed revolutionary to me when I heard them.. I know I have been able to convey only a fraction of the enthusiasm I had when I attended the seminar itself but I would love to hear thoughts of people around this.

Have you been using Windows as well ?

2010-08-15T14:55:00.000-07:00

You have probably heard a lot of things which Microsoft does that are not exactly approved by the masses, but are you really bothered by them ? I mean, if IE comes preloaded in Windows and not with Google Chrome or Firefox I do not care personally. I can pretty much download Chrome and start using it.

Then there are those few things which start bugging you. You are the admin of the laptop and even you do not have access to some folders. I agree, system files hence probably in some weird imagination Access Denied.

So far, it is livable. But Windows really gets to me when it comes to installing updates. First every time you connect to the internet there are some updates waiting for you - as if I have won a lottery and am privileged with them updates. These are essentially fixes for goof ups that Microsoft could not iron out and now is attempting them in parts. Had it been something actually beneficial it would definitely not be available as a free update!

The point that really psyches me out is that Microsoft has the temerity to assume control of my PC and do an automatic restart of Windows so that its updates are installed correctly. I mean, what gives it the confidence that if the user has not specifically authorized a restart of the OS, it should just go ahead and assume it within a 5 minute countdown ? I could have programs open and some unsaved work.

Well to hell with them says Microsoft, we need to get that update fixed!

I wonder if this kind of programming talks about the mindset of a company which has held a death grip on the software industry. I have never used a Mac but I doubt whether its users have a similar gripe.

Small Miracles!

2010-07-15T07:12:00.000-07:00

Small miracles! We three brothers - Me, Anant and Anupam went bowling in Kolkata after a long time...In the first game itself Anant scored three strikes in a row in the first game. In the second game I performed the same miracle...! Wow...

Living in Kolkata

2010-07-15T06:55:00.000-07:00

I think this picture defines Kolkata for me..sadly....its a group of men passing in front of my building shouting slogans, in essence - "cholbe na and korte hobe". I dont get it...What will not do and what needs to be done...!

I am disappointed at being in Kolkata, I find it depressing. Could this be because I am not studying here and have relatively nothing to do ? I like the fact that I am with my parents here and Chandni and that I am able to play huge amount of TT but overall I find a sense of prolonged gloom in this city...Anyways on to Toronto...!

Financial Dilemma - The question of nominee and heir

2010-04-20T21:27:00.000-07:00

In a landmark ruling the Bombay High Court has granted ownership of shares belonging to the deceased to the nominee instead of the legal heir. This was done basis the interpretation of the Companies Act and Depositories Act which were deemed to be different from the laws governing insurance companies and housing societies.

It was made clear that in the case of insurance companies and housing societies, the nominee was just the guardian of the property and rightful owner was the legal heir.

I wonder what would be the case when it comes to Banking. My understanding and experience in this sector says that a nomination is essential so that in the event of death, the bank can discharge its duties by transferring the money to the nominee and then the nominee and legal heir can battle it out for ownership. Though I think the legal heir should get the ownership.

There is a bigger question - how can we have different laws defining the role a nominee across multiple financial sectors. It is a sure fire way to increase the case backlog of the already overburdened courts..

Stroke of Strategy

2010-02-22T23:20:00.000-08:00

One of the recent masterpieces of a strategy implementation can be found in the Direct to Home (DTH) market in India.

There have been a lot of instances where technology was "lifted" from the west and implemented in developing countries like India. Some of the examples have been straight forward like - cellular technology (both GSM and CDMA) and large format shopping stores and supermarkets, while some have undergone an adaptive transformation to suit the Indian palette - for example the localization of the Mc Donalds franchise with a Happy Price menu. (Though I admit, it took some time for Mc Donalds to figure out this winning strategy).

Coming back to the domain of DTH, there was a fair amount of controversy with the launch of this service in India. The local cable operators almost took up arms to destabilize the launches, government officials being iffy about the format. There was obvious support from the channels as they could finally have transparency in viewership figures. My post however does not deal with these strategic issues as they affect the DTH industry as a whole.

The first DTH service was launched by the TATA group, in association with the Star group as Tata Sky. This was a phenomenal development and the customers started warming up to this idea. The point to note is that when the market developed enough, then the other competitors stepped in, notably - Dish TV, Big TV, Airtel. I personally think that some one who can judge the experience of the various services, Tata Sky stands out way above others. But the point is that people had options and there was no real reason to choose Tata Sky over others.

Have you wondered why do soap companies keep adding one thing or the other to their products and re-releasing their product constantly? Why is it that your shampoo bottle is in a constant run to get facelifts and present a more slick and appealing outlook every season ? Differentiation.

So again coming back..what was it that Tata SKY could now do to counter the plethora of service providers crowding the market? And bang - we have Tata SKY Plus. Not only do you get dvd quality reception, you can record it now as well! This is great strategy in play.

At the time of launch, TATA had the option of launching Tata Sky Plus right away, instead it decided to leverage the novelty of DTH first and then sweep the market with PLUS. This is because it anticipated that the world will copy and follow its first approach and it would NEED to have a second "brahmastra" to regain the market. Till date, no one has been able to counter this service with a similar offering but it will be interesting to watch the TATAs counter copycat moves!!!

The Blind Side

2010-01-30T07:07:00.000-08:00

Finding Forrester, To Sir with Love, October Sky and now I think The Blind Side. Fantastic film. There is something delicate about a struggling student story and it chokes me up totally when I see something great happening on screen.

Sandra Bullock plays her part perfectly as the care giver in the movie. There is a certain resolve in her eyes which comes through brilliantly. Another interesting character was Michael Ower's younger brother. Totally awesome outlook. Must watch.

A new blog

2010-01-26T11:22:00.000-08:00

I have always had a fascination with ads and I remember some time back talking about doing something about it. Well I have done something about it. Stuff happens, they need to be reported.
I have created a new blog - http://ad-addictions.blogspot.com/. Lets see, if I can do justice to this new venture.

Peace.

Signs of aging

2010-01-19T02:57:00.000-08:00

Was attending a guest lecture from a Ms. Shira Abel-Shvo at Schulich India. The topic of the lecture was quite offbeat (from my initial perspective) - Social Media.

I am guessing that every one will be able to figure out the content of the presentation but the reason why I am writing this blog is the revelation which I had about my increasing experience level...!

I was attending a lecture about how to network on the digital media...Facebook - linkedin - twitter - friendfeed - blogs etc. I was transported 30 years back in time, sometime in the early 1980s, when managers would have been put in a similar room and introduced to the Personal Computer.

I think social networking is a hard thing for the people of my generation to adapt to but for a couple of generations below me, it will be second nature. I would be very surprised if it is not. The tools may change, but the idea will be around for sure...

A different spin on Digital Piracy

2010-01-13T01:35:00.000-08:00

There is a whole generation of young and middle aged people who have got used to enjoy things for free. Software, latest music and movies. Companies and governments around the globe are going crazy in developing technology and regulations to stem the growth. Pressure is being exerted on Internet service providers to filter sites or report on their clients. Individual pirators are being sued and made example of. And lets not forget about the attempts of the media to demonize roadside DVD pirators in India by linking them to Dawood Ibrahim's gang. ( I personally think that there is some truth in the last point)

While all this is being done, I am compelled to think of an immensely positive development with the spread of piracy. With the advent of piracy, the market size of these digital products has grown immensely. Why am I saying so ? I dont have numbers with me ( my Schulich professors would insist on getting some though) but when I meet people on the street having internet access- they listen to the latest music from Bollywood, watch latest Hollywood and Bollywood flicks. 95% of them are not paying for it. Data is being downloaded day and night, aided by the packages of ISPs (Internet Service Providers) like - Unlimited download for a month for Rs 999 only.

Every one knows what we are going to do with unlimited download but the industry is not doing anything about it. Its like with the introduction of VCR after the VHS on which you could record stuff off the television. Its like introduction of the cassette recorder where the purpose was to record voice, but it was usually used to create mixed tapes from CDs- fuelling countless love stories !

The previous paragraph was a slight digression from my main topic...Anyways, imagine the day when we are able to control piracy...When we are able to change the mentality of the people to make them voluntarily pay for digital entertainment...That day, these media companies will discover an expanded market, ready for consumption, beyond their expectations.

What piracy has done is that it has hooked the people on the culture of consuming. The "free but illegal" hook has jump started countless people to get on the cheap entertainment bandwagon. I have a strong feeling that when the free tap is turned off, people will still need their daily fix of entertainment. And thats when the cash cow will start mooing...

India's stand on climate change

2009-12-07T07:34:00.000-08:00

The two cornerstone's of India's policy on climate change are :

1. Historic responsibility of developed nations versus the developing nations

2. Equity on per capita carbon emissions.

The Copenhagen summit is going to start the process of unraveling the complex issues related to climate change responsibility and in my opinion is a start of something good and concrete.

While I agree with the historic responsibility angle I am not content with the per capita carbon equity stand as I dont think it is correct. It gives an unfair advantage to over populated nations like China and India. I think instead of a per capita approach, we need to have a land mass based approach which includes a component for green cover. There are a number of reasons why I think this is a better approach :

a. This approach penalizes countries who have allowed population to grow beyond control.

b. If a country manages its greens well, then there is more room to spend carbon

c. Land represents the quantum of natural resources available to the citizens of the country and gives a better picture of the capacity of the country to support the emissions.

While on the topic of emissions, I have for long felt the ineffective way airconditioning systems are implemented in residences. A/Cs are switched on mainly during the nights when there is absolutely no movement apart from the occasional turning and tossing! Then why the need to cool up the entire room ? Like our cars and airplanes, we need to have personal climate control at homes as well...

Pyromaniac at work!

2009-12-01T03:09:00.000-08:00

Entries submitted for the db Logo competition...Few people know that I have an addiction to fire..!

Shocking movie timings

2009-11-13T05:01:00.001-08:00

I am left speechless by the movie timings in Mumbai.

Its like Get up, expunge, brush teeth (or not) and go for movie. Have popped corn for breakfast!

A Bad Form Design

2009-11-06T06:33:00.000-08:00

A simple form is one of the most powerful tools to reach out to a much larger audience than you had previously anticipated.

I learnt the value of simple form designs during my stint in Deutsche Bank, thanks to Rajiv. Now I am very critical of an interface design and cant help myself when I see such an error on a site as famous as Twitter.

On the login page of Twitter, the "Remember Me" checkbox is after the Login button. What possible advantage could Twitter get by placing it after the Login button ? I mean after you check the box, you would need to click on the login button right ? So you check the "Remember Me" button and then unnecessarily go back to the Login button and continue.

I think its not quite efficient as most of the users of Twitter would access it from personal devices and not through cafes and hence would almost always click on the "Remember Me" checkbox when they Lgin..

A driving experience in Mumbai

2009-09-28T21:03:00.000-07:00

I am writing this letter in the hope that it will reach out to a large set of car owners in Mumbai and they will be able to benefit from my experience.
A couple of days back I was driving from home in the evening in my ALTO and was crossing Bandra on Linking road. Suddenly a person crossed the road and pointed hurriedly at my bonnet and mentioned the words sparks and "aag". I didnt pay much attention and thought that I had misheard the person. Then another person on my left came out and again pointed at my bonnet and mentioned that he could see severe sparking.
I panicked and ground the car to a halt (near the amarsons petrol pump). A third person came out of a parked car and said that he too could see the sparks. By this time I had switched the engine off and was pushing the car to the left hand side of the road. This person then asked me to open the bonnet and start the engine. I opened the bonnet and went to start the engine and to my horror I could actually see sparking near the battery of the car.
The person mentioned that he knew of a maruti service station near by which would be able to do the needful. Leaving the car with my colleague, I walked to the petrol pump but the service station was closed. There was a person however standing outside it and was carrying some sort of tools on him as well. He agreed to look at the car and help out. Upon inspection, he mentioned that the "alternator" was problematic and had to be serviced. He was not able to give a clear indication of the costs though.
For some reason I called up my mechanic at that point in time and he immediately warned me of this modus operandi of fooling people. What had actually happened that a team of three identify cars of old make and target them. Upon opening my bonnet, when I went to start the engine, one of the members loosened the battery wire which links to the "coil" because of which the sparking occurred.
The experience was quite traumatic and I was compelled to write this mail when some one again tried to pull the same gag on me at the Bandra-end of Bandra Worli Sea Link.

Effective way of improving productivity in India?

2009-09-26T14:11:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest changes I have felt in my life since I moved from Kolkata to Mumbai was the concept of 8'o clock in the morning.

In Kolkata, 8'o clock means BRIGHT sun and daylight. In Mumbai 8'o clock is pleasant and chilly. While 7 pm in Kolkata almost means dead of the night, in Mumbai I am just about leaving office and there are still some hints of sunlight.

So now I think, is it important that the concept of 8'o clock be uniform across the country? Would introducing two time zones in the country aid it in any way ? I think it would lead to better work co-ordination and help tremendously in an increasing global economy. Agree it would lead to massive confusion in the beginning but people would learn to adapt. It might just spur a mini economy of its own with people coming out with new products to help others adapt to the time zone. Imagine, going from Mumbai to Kolkata, we would adjust our watches!

Think of the situation today. If some one from the North East wants to schedule a meeting then he would probably be most productive at 8'o clock and want to keep the meeting at that time with his western India counterpart. On the other hand in Western India, 8'o clock would be when people would start to get out of their homes. (This I am assuming that people will adjust to the solar clock and instead of having a 9to5 office timing will have something like a 7 to 3 office)

If my assumption is "incorrect" then we are already in a big bowl of pea soup. People would start their offices at 9 but by the time it would be 5, the skies would be pitch dark as the sun would have set by then(in context of Eastern India). Which means, that they would need to make special arrangements to travel in the dark. It means more electricity consumption for lighting up street lamps, car headlamps etc.

The SUN drives everything. Humans tend to carry out maximum activities in daylight and in its absence we wait for the next day to begin (ya, i know not much nightlife for me!). Isnt this why Benjamin Franklin introduced Daylight "Saving" Time (come on, I know you saw National Treasure, even though you hate the guts of the producer) so that the extra long hour of the day could be used productively?

Anyways, as per MapsOfIndia, India's longitudinal expanse is from 68degrees 7 and 97degrees25 east. Theoretically, with a change in 15 degrees, half an hour should be added / subtracted from GMT.

Now, the part which baffles me - When we look at US, there are 4 time zones and when you look at China they dont have a time zone as of now. (they used to have 5 time zones half a century ago)

This is one point I am not able to understand as China is doing fantastic in terms of productivity and all the global economy stuff without having multiple time zones?

What do you people think ?

Storing renewable energy

2009-05-11T10:18:00.000-07:00

I have often pondered about the problem on storing excess renewable energy so that it can be used later on. However i never could come to a logical conclusion..

Storing energy in batteries is really not the rite away. Batteries themselves take a certain amount of carbon for manufacturing and they are not really reliable on a long term basis. Again some time back there was this idea that cars would be hooked on to the grid which would allow excess energy generated at night to be pumped into the cars and then retrieved back during the day when the other guys need it...But it does not still make sense..the idea is workable but not elegant...

This other day, I came across a documentary on the news where some island nation had put in plans to achieve carbon neutrality by 2012....They had wind farms, obviously...but what i really liked was the way they stored excess energy..they would pump up water to a high reservoir which would then be allowed to flow down and generate hydal energy...Pretty simple huh...

use the extra energy for creating potential energy...amazing...

The best travel site so far - expedia.com

2009-03-20T19:51:00.000-07:00

Before going on a trip, I do extensive research to try and figure out the best deal on the net. We are planning a trip to Hongkong - a 4 night / 5 day kind of deal, where one night is spent in Macau.

The Indian setups like makemytrip.com, cleartrip.com and ezeego1.com are useless when I want to do a flight + hotel booking. They offer them separately, whereby I loose the advantage of bulk booking..Obviously, there is the option of taking the holiday package where I travel coach class, have buffet breakfast, lunch on coach basis, something else on twin sharing basis and some other thing on sharing basis. I feel put off, when I read such stuff...Useless..In any case the I think the Indian sites have a long way to go before they can develop the market for non packaged holidaying.

Looking at International sites, I admit I went to two sites only - travelocity and expedia.

The reason why I have not clubbed traveloctity with Indian sites is because it is primarily an International player which has made a presence in India as well.( For me, making a presence means that I get to pay in INR and the site probably has payment options via local banks. )

Going by travelocity's lineage, the site offers a good combination for flight + hotel booking. However the service is very basic and there is no intelligence applied to the idea.

Going to expedia.com was a true delight. I can

a. Book a multi destination trip - really cool

b. Book a trip in which I want to book a hotel for only a part of my stay - Now this is the option which has really made me smile. As I mentioned before, I wanted a one night macau and 3 day hong kong stay. All other sites offerred me a 4 night hk stay or nothing else. This site atleast gave me the option to choose 3 nights in hk and book return flight tickets with them and yes it works out cheaper if I take this combo when compared to booking the itineary item by item.

Agree, this still does not allow me to choose the Macau in the same one payment deal, but I think that would be the next step in travel planning.

The only other time when I have been more exhilirated about booking trips online was when I booked my first online ticket with Air Deccan. If any body wants to build a good travel site, expedia.com is the site to emulate!

One of those "Did you know" questions

2009-03-13T05:31:00.000-07:00

Did you know all watches made in the world, which carry roman numerals, have the number "4" represented as "iiii" and not the conventional "iv".

Talk about information hiding in plain sight. Every one must have come across a watch with roman numerals, but how many of you guys knew about this ?

The little somethings which cheer you up

2009-02-28T03:45:00.000-08:00

U2 gave a free gig in London at the BBC tower. Thank you Bono! Not everything is driven by capitalistic needs..Well almost..I would not exactly say this was an entirely charitable event as they were promoting their new album but what the heck...Seeing U2 perform live and that too for free...

Now this is something which can happen to you only if you stay in a major metropolitan city...:-)

In some way, I can relate to myself staying in Mumbai. Nice feeling to have on a Saturday afternoon....

Another thing happened while I was flipping channels. I stopped for a few moments on BBC. They were talking about interesting sites....villageofjoy.com - this has to be the mother page for all forwards ! I liked it..spent a nice hour browsing..

Disappointing show at Oscars 2009

2009-02-22T21:40:00.000-08:00

Slumdog won 8 Oscars..Wow...ya..but I am not really bothered....A.R. Rahman winning two oscars ya well, that was something.

But am I really interested in who wins and who has to be content with a nomination?..No..I am in it for the show...And as the master of ceremonies Hugh, did not stand up to my expectations.

To me, OSCAR nite is a time when humour flows like champagne. Oscar 2009 was as dry as and devoid of wit as a boring compliance training.....It somehow had a look and feel of Bollywoodaward award nite with performances..Though to be honest, some of the bollywood award nites have had more humour. Remember Shahrukh and Saif doing their bits ?

Anyways, apart from the low key Hugh Jackman (who by the way was not there most of the time during the later half of the show), I really liked what Will Smith packed in for those few brief minutes. I enjoyed that. Sean Penn's speech was also refreshing...

May be I am growing up and have started noticing things from a finer angle because I thought I noticed quite a few faults in execution at the Oscars

1. The first time they displayed a video on the screen, some moron actually drew the curtains so the picture was displayed behind the blue curtain and you heard some one call "open it s..."

I was immediately reminded of the Cricket world cup inauguration in the eden gardens at Calcutta. The laser show was fiasco as the curtains were not tied down.

2. The 5 piece screen was a nice implementation. It breaks and moves around. very Nice piece of creativity. However the problem really comes when you have to present one giant screen...There were so many times when you could see cracks visible...The seam was showing..

3. The camera work for the TV audiences was so frustrating..... During the memorial song performed by Queen Latifah, the camera angles kept hovering around the various screens and only "sometimes" focussed properly so that the TV audience could actually have a glimpse of the artists which are no longer there with us..Thankfully, they had some sense and did not focus on queen latifah even once....the swerving of the camera angles really made me swear..

4. Talking about the memorial, I was heartbroken to not see Heath Ledger being included in the service. Is it because he had won the Oscar for the best supporting actor. That is not possible because there are only two people in the world who know the names of the academy winners before they are announced. The two guys from PWC..that is supposed to be it. I feel Heath has been wronged by the academy by not including a small background of his short life's work.

I really have no comments on the concept deployed at this year's award nite. However the closed theatre group kind of atmosphere meant unnecessary TV presence of some stars over and over again. As I said I have no comments on this aspect as the attempt at an original design was made. Something a little different in thinking is always appreciated. The end result however was nothing to write home about.

To think of it, OSCARS have been really hyped up...However I dont value the bollywood version of it as much...Seeing the Osacrs live to me is like fulfilling a year's work in those three and a half hours. I am disappointed, but there is only hope that next year I will feel more cheerful about the show..

Acknowledge the Pioneer.

2009-01-01T11:21:00.001-08:00

The new Nokia 5800 is coming..SMS Touch to 55555 to prebook..Sure..looks great, slick advertising....Hey wait, there is this Sony Ericsson's Xperia or something...Then there is the ridiculous sound LG 10000...As if the name was making up for something.

One thing is for sure that the market for iPhones has suddenly turned very competitive..But did you notice the one thing that these phones have in common..They are all iPhones wannabes. Sure some of them are much improved over the iPhone's offering. But the concept of touch..Nokia seems to advertise like it invented it..Lg is promoting it through a butterfly followed by a really cheesy couple who seem to revolve around the phone.

Samsung and Sony Ericsson are doing something a little original..

What I expect is really a little gratitude to Apple from these companies for heralding in the future.

Support for Aamir Khan on shunning Indian Awards

2008-07-25T11:26:00.000-07:00

Till some time back I used to agree with Aamir Khan on not taking part in the award functions of the Indian Film Industry (except the National Awards) because it is a farce. Now I support his views and more.

Punkaj Kapoor has done a brilliant piece of acting in the small but much celebrated film - The Blue Umbrella. He pulls off the role of the village baniya effortlessly and delivers a mind blowing performance. Apart from his facial expressions, body language - his dialogue delivery and more importantly his accent - thrilled me. He has a certain quality of speaking through his eyes ( which you may have noticed in Maqbool), which is continued in this feature film as well..Now, I think I am veering off topic here.

I was talking about the awards...So what does the film industry do, they bestow upon him the best villain award...This was disastrous. When Punkaj Kapoor went on stage, he himself said that he didnt know why he was being given that award as the role was not villainous. I agree with him..There is no label which you could give to the role, may be an award for outstanding acting would be more like it - but instead his character was given the best villain award.

I saw the film and almost felt the frustration Punkaj Kapoor may have had experienced on the stage, receiving the award. So I recommend that you watch the filmfare for all the latka and jhatka they do but switch to your fav saas bahu saga as soon as the actual award ceremony begins.

Pets

2008-07-03T18:32:00.000-07:00

Very often people ask my opinion on having a pet. Most of the time I reply back with what ever I feel at that point in time. The opinion that I maintain is that I do not want to have pets. People would construe it as that Aditya does not like pets.
This infact is not true. To be honest, I love dogs. The bigger the better. Absolutely adorable creatures. Their love is unconditional and all they ask from you is a little attention and a place in your life. Everything about dogs is great. Right from the time puppy time to adolescence to an adult....Well I guess not everything.
Life is complicated. There are hazaar things and relationships which have been thrust upon you right fron birth. You are expected to honour and reciprocate the love showered upon you....There are some relationships which are there by default - parents, siblings, grandparents, maternal side uncle aunts, paternal side uncle aunts and there are some which you end up making - spouse, children, grandchildren ( the last one is not really under your control, but its your doing)...In such a situation I feel why should I complicate my further by adding another relationship....
A canine is extended family...He is happy when you are happy and sad when you are sad. The vice versa is also true....The pain however of losing him is what keeps me from keeping one....The average age of a dog is about 1/6th of a human lifetime or 1/5th in some cases...There will be a situation when you can do nothing and your dog will pass on due to old age...The pain i think equates with one that of losing your offspring. I dont have kids yet, but I think the degree of pain would be in the same region...This certainity of pain keeps me away from owning a dog.

When ever I meet people who have a dog, I really love going to their house and I try to play and be friendly with the dog as much as possible....But almost every time I think about the worst case situation.....

Great Movies - Comments Invited

2008-05-19T09:58:00.001-07:00

I'll just fire away
English
Meet Joe Black
Scent of A Woman
Indiana Jones - Raiders of the Lost Ark
Stargate
Finding Forrester
October Sky
Terminator - Judgement Day
Bourne Supremacy
Die Hard 4.0
Rambo
The Last of the Mohicans
To Sir With Love
The Color Purple
Home Alone
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Dog Soldiers
Contact
Ice Age
Daylight
School of Rock

Hindi
Dil Chahta Hai
Hum Saath Saath Hain
Taare Zameer Par
Hum Apke Hain Kaun
Dilwale Dulhaniya Le jayenge
Bawarchi
Anand
Sholay
Vaastav
Sarkar
Jab we met
Others
Cinema Paradiso
No Man's Land
Amelie
Das Experiment
My Sassy Girl

I intend to make a list and own orignal DVDs of these some day. So add movies in your comments which you think are must watch. There are only two criteria - Do not add movies by what critics, go by what you think is great. Do not search any online sites for movie names. The movies have to be top of the mind recall...

My new love - Pearls Before Swine

2007-05-05T11:51:00.000-07:00

You know what is the best part of working...You get paid!! :-)
I have been doing some spending.....After I completed my Calvin and Hobbes collection, I thought - this is it..I am not going to like any other funnies....Thankfully it is not so.

There is still a lot of sarcastic humor left (if that kind was ever in short supply!). Pearls Before Swine - by Stephan Pastis..I find his humor good and interesting..

His drawing style is simpler to Bill Watterson, his language is however one up. I guess he specializes in twisting popular phrases and sayings. His characters are straight(pun intended) and simple - Pig, Rat, Goat and Zebra with a couple of friendly crocodile neighbors thrown in...

I already have three books (1. This little Piggy Stayed home 2. Nighthogs 3. The Ratvolution will not be televised - from his collection...and am having three more delivered..oh boy life is sweet...

Taj through my lens

2007-05-05T11:32:00.000-07:00

Hi,

Had been to Agra recently while on a trip to Vrindavan. One good thing is that there is a 1 km embargo around the Taj which allows only non polluting vehicles to come within the 1 km range. It may be too little too late. I couldnt help but notice that our national heritage had blackened considerably since the last time I saw..Any way, I had my digi cam and could not help but take some snaps....Some turned out ok, some I liked a lot..Have posted two of them here. The third one is exceptional...It is of a couple visiting the macabre. What amazes me is the expression on their faces....

Green Street Hooligans

2007-02-01T10:00:00.000-08:00

so...what does this title make you think..? I was completely blank when I watched this movie. Hence I enjoyed it so much...

Well, you pretty much guessed it - I am going to let it be that way for you as well.

Cant help but tell you

1. This is not your regular film ( thats pretty easy, or it would not have been on my blog)

2. The blood shown is pretty real and the fights are not done by stunt men...

I think I have spoken enough....Enjoy this one with a twist.

Lord of War

2007-02-01T09:53:00.000-08:00

Nicolas Cage delivers a powerful performance in this battle crazy feature film. Nicolas Cage is an arms dealer who supplies to all high and low with the luxury of having no conscience.

The film is not gory and does not have the in your face documentary charm, inspite of dealing with a subject so controversial. RUF, blood diamonds, massacres, dictators - you can imagine it. I cannot help but compare this with Blood Diamonds......and if you liked Blood Diamond, oh my - will you be blown by this piece of work.

What really works for me is the so suttle display of guilt and emotion worked into the parts of the movie. Thought provoker and oh yes, a must watch!

The Inheritance Of Loss

2007-01-23T06:04:00.000-08:00

I read this book (which won the Man Booker Prize). Must say, all the judges on the panel would have been sadists. Not a single person in the entire book is ever happy. Everybody is cribbing and has enormous griefs of their own. Too much sadness for me. I think even rage has not been depicted properly. There was one time in the book, where I felt that things are going to pick up pace, but I guess the tempo just fizzled out..I thought at a number of places continuity was also an issue.

To be honest, I had actually thought that this book should be burnt right away. But as Chandni has started the book, the bonfire will have to wait...

Contemplating an Idea

2006-11-20T06:52:00.000-08:00

Its been long since I have updated my blog. I guess since the time my laptop was stolen I never mustered up the zeal to write a blog. ( Yes, there was a robbery at my place and no i do not wish to write about it at all)

My marriage date is nearing its final countdown ... I think I will go cuckoo when the countdown reaches single digits ( No, this blog is not about that either)

For a long time, I have had an avid interest in the advertisement business. I view ads very critically and try and judge the impact of an ad on the consumer market. Even at work I cannot help but interfere with the marketing team, it just excites me. So I have been thinking about it and wondering. Maybe I should have a blog that talks about the various ads in the market (obviously I will write about those ads which are worth a mention). These could be print, tv or even radio.
There is one problem which I am facing when I consider the possibility of this site. I want to put up the ads on the website so that my readers can experience the ad first time. Sourcing material would be real tough. The best option which comes to my mind is TV grabs and online adaptations of successful offline campaigns, but in this process I feel I would be spending more time collecting the ads than commenting on them.

What are your thoughts?

R e q u i e m for a DREAM

2006-09-21T12:28:00.000-07:00

Cult movie. Brilliant music. Let me tell you who all have poached music from this film - Joan of Arc - The Messenger, 1 Hour Photos and even Lord of the Rings (they copied the music in a trailer). I have heard this in an album, the song being called - Zoo York. I have always liked this particular song.. I saw the trailer of Joan of Arc a number of times just to listen to the music over and over again.

Think about the title of the movie. Look up what "requiem" means. I am sold on the title itself. Something similar to Trainspotting - another cult movie...

Watch them both.....(this blog was posted when i was watching the movie...)

Now that i have finished watching it..

1. My facts were all wrong - this was released in 2000...that means this does not have an original score.
Second - Do not watch this movie...Too depressing..(end of blog)

About Jay

2006-09-08T15:13:00.000-07:00

I should have known Jay from school (BHS) but as fate has it we met at MSR Boys Home in nimma Bangaluru...I very clearly recollect the day when I first met him outside the (no gates in MSR that time) hostel. I think he was moving in with his luggage with a relative's help. I was in one of those chirpy irritating moods, where I would give gyaan for no good cause and then feel good about it. I think I tried the same stunt with Jay as well, telling him which room to take and all..Its funny how best friends meet...

Uske baad, our friendship grew organically...(Not like today's companies, which believe in acquistions of the overseas kind)....Long talks on varied subjects and long walks along different paths...Few things came out pretty quickly...Jay was very well read and had immense compassion about his convictions. An avid reader of India Today, I dont think he has ever missed an issue since may be class 7 or 8....This fact I realised Jay, when you discussed the Shah Bano case with me.

Being in his company has always been a treat...Not to mention you would get to meet all kinds of strange earthlings (that you never knew existed)..He has the uncanny ability to see through people and understand their DNA. Even in a poorly managed college Ramaiah, he formed a circle of friends that till today stand by him. I know how difficult a task this is, knowing how poor
my social skills are (my pathetic attempts at Orkut are not worth a mention..!)..

When he found his life partner, he stood by her and his decision. I know life was not easy for him at his home and his better half's home due to this "arrangement". Not to mention all the people who kept falling all over the place over him. Its not quite difficult to ignore all these people who admire you when you have such a committed relationship, but what is impressive is not letting all that attention get into your head. I really never doubted that Jay cared a damn about them...

Due to lack of time and not lack of content, i have got to wrap it up here.....
Cheers.

All round cricket

2006-09-05T11:58:00.000-07:00

Cricket is said to be an allrounder's game. This was perfectly exemplefied in the match between England & Pakistan courtsey Heir.

Hair, out of prejudice slapped on a ball tampering charge on Pakistan. The ball was 18 overs (some papers say 55 overs) old and had begun to reverse swing, which is not very out of the ordinary. He had on very shaky grounds slapped the fine. The number of runs was not really an issue (5, in case u were wondering) but the slander of ball tampering is too great for a team to take sitting down. I dont know what the rule book says, but a 5 run penalty for ball tampering is too small. Its like a 250 rupee fine for 100 crore ghotala. If ball tampering is found, then it should be actioned upon immediately and severely.

Pakistan on the other hand is a different story altogether. In the spirit of the game they should have continued to play and put up a show for the paid public. They did manage to make a show of the whole affair. I am not against protesting, but drastic steps taken to prove an unnecessary point are not needed. They could have worn black armbands - worn their t-shirts inside out, I dont know something, but not this. From their action on television it seems they were not sure of their decision. When the umpires and the batsman came out, they didnt go....Why did they have to go out later ? Do they expect the umpires to tow their line on field? This is not done...

The following is a little sensitive and people are advised to read it with a pinch of salt.
I am forced to consider the idea - Would any other team, say India have done the same thing if faced with a similar situation? I would think not. I think Pakistan had to prove their point and the only way they thought they could do so if they made a lot of unnecessary noise about it. Could this be because they feel they were targetted and had to umm..."strike" back harder ? I know this blog reeks of racism, but I could not help putting it up...

My Musical Genome

2006-08-19T04:21:00.000-07:00

Ok Rohan,
Admit it..This blog title has you interested..

I have found a source of endless music on the Internet - tripleW.pandora.com. This site was introduced to me by a colleague of mine - Neel. ( as in neal and nikki...).

Very interesting concept.

Often you like a piece of music and listen to it like two hundred times..but then what .. ? Dont you feel the need to listen to something like what you have just heard? Sure you could buy the album or ask your friends around who will help you out with their limited knowledge on more of such kind...

Now figure this, can you tell me one reason why the radio is so popular? My personal opinion is that because the radio plays music on an endless shuffle mode. The surprise of randomness is what makes the radio so popular - though the chances of listening to himesh chamiya ..sorry!..typo...re-shame-iya...in every second song is very very high......

The only problem with radio is that it caters to a very large audience and is forced to play popular music - imagine in a city like mumbai with 6 active radio stations only one of them plays angrezi geet, AIR (so dont go blowing up All India Radio base stations just yet, pls)..So you are forced to listen to sub standard stuff in the hope that something good trots along..

Pandora.com is a project intitiated by musicians. Here you specify a song / artist which u like a lot. Based on the analysis of the first song played by Pandora, the next song is automatically selected from a huge pool of songs...this goes on....each song that Pandora selects, you get to vote if the song is to your liking or not...based on your input, the next song is selected. Very interesting.

Do not treat this as a station which plays your requests online. It strives to play your kind of music and retains the random nature of the radio. Take my advice and give it a shot.

Cheers

Travelling First Class

2006-08-14T07:58:00.000-07:00

I dont know what to write on the bomb blasts.

Should I mention the inhuman targetting of packed locals or should I laud the spirit of Mumbai for getting back on its Tracks the very next day. ( I know i took the first class compartment on 12th July 2006).

Should I talk about the intelligence failure or the bravado of the people living in chawls and slums near the station area who helped the injured risking their own lives?

Should I mention the fact that the two minute silence observed in mumbai at 6.34pm (along with the PM) was actually incorrect as I remember receiving the first information of the blast at 6.20 pm?

May be I should mention how comfortable travel was for a week in the 1st class compartment after the bomb blasts.

I am sure that the newspapers did a lot of selling and airtime on news channels would have been on a premium.

Targetting only first class compartments - what am i to make of it ? Is it a sign that the "upper" class is being targetted or should I take solace in the fact that it is probably easier to plant a bomb and escape more easily in a first class compartment ?

I really do not know what to write. May be a lot of time has passed since the blasts and this post. I guess this also goes to show something about the nature of distant past and the strength of public memory.

Issues are abundant...

Dilli ka haal behaal

2006-05-05T07:27:00.000-07:00

I read this article on Rediff. Man, Delhi is the pits right now. Read on...and comment.

Delhi power crisis: Shops to shut before 1930
May 05, 2006
Faced with the growing power crisis in the national capital, the Delhi government on Friday issued a slew of guidelines directing commercial and residential consumers to cut down electricity consumption during peak hours. Government offices in the capital have been directed not to use their air conditioners after 1830 hrs while shops and business establishments will have to shut down before 1930 hrs, as per the new guidelines issued by the power ministry.
The city has been reeling under severe power crisis for the last few days because of shortfall in supply due to "over-drawing from the northern grid by neighbouring states", resulting in rotational loadshedding in several areas. Industrial units have been barred from functioning between 1830 hrs and 2300 hrs and shops across the city will have to remain closed for a day in a week apart from the normal market holidays. Advertisement hoardings will not be allowed to draw power for illumination, Electricity Minister Haroon Yusuf told reporters in New Delhi after a high-power meeting reviewed the power situation in the city. "We are appealing to the citizens of Delhi not to use air conditioners before 2100 hrs. All these efforts would lead to conservation of 250-300 MW of power. Presently the city is facing a shortage of 400 MW," he said.
He said Himachal Pradesh has agreed to provide 200 MW of power from next week in addition to the 190 MW supplied by the state. The Dadri plant will start functioning from May 15 and will generate 210 MW of power. The instructions to the shop owners and industrial units will remain in force till July 15, he said.

Shantaram - Gregory David Roberts

2006-04-29T02:16:00.000-07:00

First I read A Suitable Boy and then I read Shantaram. Well one thing is for sure I do not have any fear of fat books any more. Shantaram was a cool 900+ pages which I read with relative ease and a lot of dedication.

These were my thoughts when I picked up the book as a birthday gift from my sister. Thanks Sis! I was thinking, hmm interesting topic ( Escaped convict, mumbai slums and a lot of crazy things in between), fat book - so there should be a lot of snob value attached in reading the book! You can say anything you like, but seeing a fat book in the hand does evoke a lot of questions...!

Anyway, enough about why I bought the book....This book is fascinating. There are a number of reasons why I loved it and I am going to list it point wise

1. I have always had a fascination for the Mumbai slums. This book gets me as close as possible to them without getting my hands dirty ( you know what i mean ).
2. Through out the book, Gregory talks about the various restaurants in Mumbai which actually exist.I mean in a regular novel one does not need to mention actual restaurants but here it has got me all the more interested. I am keen to check out Leopold's and Mocambo after reading about them. I have already seen Shamiana. These restaurants make the story just the more believable and helps the reader to identify with Shantaram and his world.
3. There is a good amount of philosophy involved in the book which does not go over the head. It has been presented to the reader in a digestable manner.
4. There are some incidents and places mentioned on Mumbai which sound utterly crazy and unbelievable, for instance the Standing Babas!

There are hundreds of more reasons hidden in the book to make it interesting. I suggest go explore!

Read it!!

Munich - Much munch more

2006-04-21T23:05:00.000-07:00

Saw a late night show of Munich yesterday. There were two factors that had made a positive impact on me even before I stepped into the theatre
1. My friend, Rohan had passed a very important test successfully and he is now well on his way to become a PhD! Yeah!
2. Rohan's blog on Munich, had sort of derated the movie for me.

So as you guessed it, with my expectations lowered and my spirits high, I ended up quite liking the movie. The fact that it deals with the events after the killings did not matter too much. The presentation was nice and through out the movie there was a desirable effect due to the absence of a constant background score. Well made and well accepted.

Couple of observations.
The movie was made around an international event that must have been well publicised inciting a lot of emotions. This some how was missing in the movie. Do not get me wrong, I would put the movie down in the genre of Drama / Action / Thriller and that too a top one. Films like Schindler's List how ever have a category of their own, and I had expected it to be in that league. I believe given the sensitivity of the event, the theme had the potential of moving emotions in people and be critically acclaimed. So now I am not surprised of its treatment at the Oscars (though I have come to believe now that Oscars are no longer a yardstick to rate films effectively).

I was pleasantly surprised to see Eric Bana in the lead role. I liked his acting and association with the character. As a whole his performance was appealing. I saw him in Hulk and was much impressed. It could have been because I liked Hulk a lot, but the actor finds himself in my favour.

The only spoiler in the movie were the explicit scenes (which were not really explicit really). The desparation show in Evner's mind could have been displayed on a much better platform than the nocturnal bed.

Good movie, glad I watched it. Lets put at it this way, I cannot affored to scoff at a Spielberg movie with out experiencing it first hand.

Chao

Sermons over a cut

2006-04-13T06:50:00.000-07:00

Ever since I moved from SPJIMR, I have not had a decent haircut. I like this slope on the back which is short and neat. The barbers in my area dont have a clue about it. Some have come close but even a 50 buck "Hazel" haircut did not meet my expectations.

So as evident from where I am coming from, I went back to the same barber near my college in Mumbai. Light of Asia. Manned and operated by a muslim family. Situated next to the mosque, you can say it is pretty much a muslim "dominated" area. For me dominated means that in the event of riots who emerges less brutalized. Anyway, I had gone to this salon with happy memories of college and in hope of a good trim.

The man (owner) seemed to recognise me vaguely until I introduced myself as a former student. It did not really matter but he was very pleasant anyway.

I told him the kind of cut I desired and he started on with his craft. Very artistic, polite and delicate in his movements. I do not know how it started, what was the seed that initiated the conversation which followed for the next 1 hour over a haircut..

I asked him if he knew the price of a flat next door. ( Some swanky place where flats are available for 70-80 lacs a piece)....He was genuinely astonished by the price and commented that if men were wiser they would group together and erect a building for themselves in the collective capital. Logical yes but feasible no....I guess this was how co-operatives came up in mumbai...anyways...

We spoke at length and then the topic veered towards religion. Here was a devout muslim who even used to read the Aazan in the adjoining mosque. His view was very simple. There is one and only one way to reach God. It is either Hindu, Christianity, Muslim or any other religion. But there is exactly one religion. There cannot be multiple paths. Only one path is the true one and the others are a quagmire. He was not saying his religion is the right one but there can only be one religion. I on the other hand believe that religion or no religion God can be reached. There was bashing of idol worshippers where as I supported idol worshipping. A lot was discussed.

One of the questions I raised was "Why has God sent us to earth?" Prompt came the reply, to worship Him. My response - so basically He has sent us here to praise Him and laud Him. If this is what was all that we were to do, then why didnt we stay where we came from and praise Him from there? Why would God choose to have people follow Him? Does He have a point to prove to the Devil? Anyway......This and many other things were spoken and debated.

I didnt oppose him vehemently on every point ( not advisble to argue with a man having both your neck and a razor blade in his hands). The reason why I thought a lot about this conversation was because I had assumed he had knowledge of his religion and I believe that all religions preach peace and advocate tolerance towards other religions. This I hope forms the basis of all religions....It didnt seem so at the Light of Asia......I am also not too sure what does Kaballah preach....

The poor man had a terrible head ache coz of the high involvement talk we had. He infact had to lie down after giving me the haircut....Well, at least I have something to write about.

The Unthinkable - 21 grams

2006-03-03T08:36:00.000-08:00

No baba...not the movie...I have done something unthinkable
Rather the unthinkable has happened to me...( umm well, happened to me again...). I was watching 21 grams on Star Movies. The flick started at 11.00pm (as a part of Oscar mania) and despite my initial disinterest I watched it. This was mainly because I wanted to see what was in the movie. I kept on till 12.30pm and I knew about half an hour was left when I decided enough, I need to go to sleep....This maybe ok with some normal people, but not me. I chose to sleep over an unfinished movie ????
I have seen as many as 7 full length feature films in one day ( on vcd ) and Insha Allah I will better this record in days to come...( Ah...a blissful thought). But this attitude of mine has come as a surprise. Was it that the movie had become just too boring ?
Help...I do not want my interest in movies to wane!!!

Googled!

2006-02-24T05:54:00.000-08:00

It seems Google can not seem to decide what it should do about indexing blogs. Some time back when I typed my name and googled, my blogspot profile used to show up in the first 5 results. In the recent past I did a search again , this time how ever there was no information on the blog. Today the Blog information is back on again. What is happening...? Similar thing happening with my bank's site. The cache information of google is not consistent. Some time back it was showing the updated pages, but today it is displaying a much older cache ?

Can some one throw some light or is this a googly after all ?

The Eye

2006-02-18T06:38:00.000-08:00

The most captivating part of the movie for me was the start when the cast was shown. White screen, eerie music and hands groping about on the white screen. It totally hooked me on to the movie..

Sadly, I did not watch it alone at 2.00 am in the night with all lights off.

In my opinion I dont think The Eye was made with a view to scare people. It is chilling but not scary. Ya, there are ghosts and some gory scenes but it is not scary....(I think the scariest movies I have ever seen are The Shining and Dog Soldiers ). I had a friend, Avishek who watched the movie with me and going by his word, Naina is an exact copy of The Eye. The 22.2.7777.8.2.777.3.7777. !

Well made and I am glad I watched it. The music needs special mention. Not too present to interfere with the movie but yet strong enough to enhance the effect..

I was just thinking, three blogs in a day ( in an hour..), am I going overboard?

O s a m a : The Movie

2006-02-18T06:33:00.000-08:00

This is a very depressing movie. Not a moment of happiness..Constant drudgery, leachery and pain.

While watching it, I sincerely wanted to believe that she will get a lot of strength, something good would happen to her, she will stand up and face the world like a brave girl, overpower her tormentors by grief and evoke sympathy and love.

Instead what was shown was reality. Am not too happy posting this one on my blog but I have made a commitment, so it is here......

V for Vendetta

2006-02-18T06:19:00.000-08:00

I am totally hooked onto this one...There is only one person to thank...Thank you Tamal...( I think I have left enough links which connect me and Tamal and Rohan, so if there is ever a piracy raid....!!!) Anyway

This 380 page saga is captivating. After office I get down to reading this and go on till as much as 12.00 - 2.00 am, inspite of having office the next day. The art work is dark and graceful. The concept of a villainous hero though common it has a brilliant groundwork. It fascinates me.

I was trying to analyse my liking in comic books. I love Batman and I have a luke warm liking to Superman, Wolverine etc etc..I do not even remember the names...I think, I like heroes who become heroes. When the story involves a tragedy as the source of strength it seems to introduce a never ending tragic effort to achieve and set things right. The struggle to remedy the past along with the regular bad guy bashing probably add my oregano to the feast. This could be one reason why I might be liking V for Vendetta. Hmm....

I can only think of one exception to this, "Calvin & Hobbes"! Oh my God! Sometimes I do not believe how fortunate I am to have the entire collection in hard copy...! It is all safely kept in Calcutta...Nicely covered and all..ahhh...

Next blog coming very soon...

Superman - For Tomorrow

2006-02-11T02:40:00.000-08:00

Lately, I have hooked on to the Online comics given by Tamal. These are high quality reproductions of the originals which he mooched off from the net somewhere. They are irrestible , like you just cannot stop at one.
How ever when it comes to comics, a lot of times I feel handicapped. The comic world is wrapped in a lot of history and background. To appreciate it fully small nuances have to be remembered....

When I was reading Supermans's - For Tomorrow series I read all the volumes in one sitting. My problem was that I rushed through the pages and a lot of the story slipped by me. So expectedly there were a lot of times when I was groping in the dark to understand what is going on...
I guess this is the reason why people say - Too much of a good thing is bad. This has to be the reason why DC comes out with them one at a time.
Never the less it was an evening well spent. Some of the art work was awesome. Thanks Tamal.

Zatoichi

2006-02-10T05:38:00.000-08:00

Out of the films that Tamal has given me this is one film which I recall as a favourite. I think this film is more like a Japanese mainstream movie ( masala movie, in Bollywood terms ). Very smooth swordsmanship and it just excites me. I know some people will bash me up for making this comparison but this movie reminds me of Bruce Lee's perfection in martial arts.

I do not care who the director is or the actors are, I believe the film should stand by itself with out any big names backing it. Anyway, the theme of the movie reminds me another well made movie on similar lines - Blind Fury. If I am supposed to compare them, I would say Zatoichi is the better of the two. Maybe it is because a sword looks better in a Japanese flick. Do I hear some one say "The Last Samurai"? You were saying.....?

Moi

2006-02-07T01:51:00.000-08:00

This is me from my camera in Mumbai at a restaurant called stomach...More animals to follow soon.

The Godfather

2005-12-30T06:06:00.000-08:00

I had picked this book out of sheer boredom. There was nothing else to do and I thought why not try it. I had got this book for a friend as he had gone crazy for books by Mario Puzo. Anyway I picked up this book with mixed feelings. I mean I have seen the movie atleast 3 times ( and this was a well made movie). What could the book possibly offer ?
But I was stunned to read the book. Page after page just floated by and I had to fight myself to not to read it. The finesse of presenting the various characters is too much to be portrayed on the silver screen. In fact a part of me believes that I enjoyed the book more because I saw the movie. There were many characters who had to be clipped off/ given shorter roles due to Cinematic restrictions. In the book they play a far more important role. They bring out the depth in the Don's thinking and far sightedness. One such character which was underplayed was "Jhonny Fontane".
I am glad I read the book and I am thinking if I should start The Sicilian or Fools Die. Thanks to Abhishek!
By the way Rohan, I see some hope for me reading the Trilogy. Especially now that I have discovered the joys of reading a brilliant book after seeing a well made movie made on it.
Cheers

We are an inspired lot

2005-12-23T20:16:00.000-08:00

It seems that Bollywood cinema is doomed, or rather the people watching them. The common man is being duped and he does not even seem to care. People are making rip-offs like there was no tomorrow.

Starting from the movie which is yet to be released, Holiday....Oh my God! Is there no sanctity in this world....Two words : Dirty Dancing. The trailers are so suggestive...The dance sequences, the "holiday" mood. Thankfully, they didnt copy the name and keep it something like "Ganda naach" or something.

Next in line : Bluffmaster. This high ticket movie is a rip from The Game (starring Micheal Douglas). Though I must admit that it is a well made one. They have not copied every byte from the original and have tried to innovate.

This one is something so outrageous, that i am just gonna mention the name and the source. You detectives can think up the matter. Deewane hue Paagal - There is something about Mary.
I didnt like Something about Mary, dont like Farley Brothers' ( or some duo ) style. This movie inspite of having a class actor like Paresh Rawal has just debased itself.
Man, how does Kareena go for a loser like Shahid kapoor.

I was duped into thinking that Home Delivery was going to be a copy from Hitch but it was thankfully not so. But the movie was pathetic anyway.

Sarkar was something different. What I like about the movie is that, Ramu acknowledges that it is an inspiration from The Godfather, and that this was his tribute to him. This is acceptable. He is letting the people know.

There is some respite. Movies like Kalyug also exist which was based on the big bad world of Porn industry. The movie was not about sex or erotic art etc, but had presented the topic very tastefully. Interestingly "neal n nikki" had more skin on screen than visible on a cow. What was Kajol's sister thinking..

I bet it would have crossed your mind...Who is this guy who has watched all these useless movies..Man tell me about it!

Cheers

One night @ the Call Center

2005-11-06T23:53:00.000-08:00

This one is a must avoid book. Crappy to the core. I have read it and now I know that I have wasted Rs 95. Well to be honest, this is the first book I have which has been signed by the author, so there was a certain charm in reading it. But that is it. His presentation style is very dry, I didnt find any realism in his writing. May be Tamal can comment on this better. But I still feel that the book was written with nothing specific in mind. It was easy to follow "Five point some one". But not a single part of the writing style has been carried forward. I do not mean to say that an author should stick to a particular style of writing but this book does nothing for the reader. Just to be sure, before I trashed this book, I had asked for feedbacks from friends of mine. End result - Bad book. One book ( signed by author) available for sale - Please contact blog owner!
Cheers

Five Point Someone - Chetan Bhagat

2005-10-25T20:43:00.000-07:00

Seems like I am enjoying reading now. This post is about Five Point Some One - Chetan Bhagat. Though I read this book while I was reading A suitable Boy I am posting it now for one simple reason. I want the world to know what I have read. I dont know why, but I would just like to post a blog on all the novels I have ever read. Boy, that wont take much time. Anyway...
The other special reason why I am posting this is because, I had the opportunity and good fortune (it didnt feel like this later) to meet Chetan Bhagat in person at Crossword, Kemps Corner. He was there releasing his book, One Night at the Call Center (Tamal are you listening ??) . Fortunately/Unfortunately there was no crowd there ( 9.00 pm - Supposed be the time Bombay starts waking up...anyway). Seemed he didnt really care about his fans. I was in two minds whether I should take the book or not but I felt that if I dont buy the book and get it autographed, I might just regret it later on. Well there you go Crossword, your ploy worked. I wish I could get to meet Vikram Seth as well...hmm...
Five point some one is a good light hearted book. You are not bored for a second. But there are no ups and downs in the novel. It maintains its own pace and ends like a normal regular day life ( I wish with Sasi's paranthas ). By the way, the word Sasi just reminds me of Rani Mukherjee in Yuva...Sasi....Good book. I recommend it as light reading on a Volvo bus doing an over nite journey when you just dont enjoy the drab flick or the person snoring next to you. It is not a classy book so I would think there is no snob value attached with it, just the pleasure of reading and having read the book.
I guess you could soon expect a post one "one night @ the call center"
Cheers

An Equal Music

2005-10-25T00:26:00.000-07:00

Hello World!
I just finished An Equal Music - Vikram Seth. I must say I am disappointed. Not by the novel but by myself. This novel was not meant to be read by me. There was so much which was beyond my comprehension. All the nuances which are associated with performing music , I could not identify with any of them. Sure there was a lot of emotional play also but I do not think that Vikram Seth would have that in his mind when he wanted to write this novel. I feel there is so much in music which I am totally unaware of. It is not that I know a lot but it felt like moving into the sea from the well....Anyway those who would be musically inclined would absolutely adore this book.
Cheers!

Novels

2005-10-16T11:00:00.000-07:00

Its been some time since I have "reported" any thing, but things sure have happened in this time. For one I finally finished Vikram Seth's "A suitable boy". I took an awfully long time to complete this book, having started almost 16 months back. In the beginning I was dragging myself to read the book and then I just stopped reading it. I read Dan Brown and a couple of other novels before I decided to finally pick it up again. Once I started it again it was unputdownable.

I remember the time I was trying to find a good price for this book. As it turned out, a famed author like Vikram, his books were awfully expensive. Being the penny pincher I am, I desisted myself from buying the book at elite stores like Crossword, Oxford etc. I turned towards Fort and after some scouraging I managed a first hand edition for Rs 400. I would say, not a bad deal for a 1350 page saga.

I dont think I have the strength to write a review on the book but I can still go ahead and recommed it to the people I bump into. The one thing which struck me in his book was the lack of melodrama.

Having read A Suitable Boy, I am tempted to read other books by him. As a result I had trotted off to Fort again ( but this time the hawkers have been evicted, only a few daring remaining baring their trade on the pavement ). I managed a second hand copy of An Equal Music for 110. The original price is 500 and the book seems to be in a fairly good condition. I hope that this book will also turn out to be one of my long lasting memories. May be I am a little hasty in seeing that I find his style of writing, in this book rather uncomfortable. Well, time will tell.

Cheers
Aditya

Batman Dead End...

2005-09-26T00:09:00.000-07:00

Hi, its me again.

I am recovering from a severe bout of viral fever. Was away from office for almost a week. It was a welcome break ( anytime ) but it could have been spent in a better way!

After going through information posted on Tamal's blog I hunted down a link that would allow me to watch Batman Dead End. After the praise came the downfall.

The instant reaction to the film were memories of third rate Hollywood films, something like Terminator 8 or something. It is a movie which has absolutely no appeal, acting is no good (though I like the Joker bit) and as my good friend Rohan had mentioned only one scene is worth a mention, the one with the cape.
You must understand that I am not criticizing the low budget movie, I am admonishing the film. Being a low budget flick does not warrant a poetic charm or a soft review. Its like Batman is wearing cheap (pre-owned )latex. Blair witch did ok with shoe string budget.
In comparison to Batman, I could suggest another series of short films. BMW films. Short, classy, different and pulsating. I am sure producing them would have cost an A-bomb but it is worth it. Music is good, direction is awesome and the "hero" manages to create a fan out of me.
Tamal, I am sorry for you that superman will be featured in crimson. But face the fact, it is something that Superman is coming back in a movie. It would mean more money in the business, higher reach to people.

This is the same reason why I think Peter Jackson has done a good job. Not everyone will get down to read Tolkien, this way atleast some of his work is being made famous.

Cheers

Damn small world

2005-09-24T17:06:00.000-07:00

I crave for days like these. How often have I hoped that I bump into some old college/school friends. These things dont happen just because we wish.

And when they do happen, it has the power to leave you speechless. I was at my mausi's place on Friday, recuperating from my illness, studying for the Oracle exam next day.

One of mausaji's cousin enters the room and greets mausi. I have a quick look and my mind sets racing. Some where it rings a bell that this face is not unfamiliar. My brain quickly scans about 50 faces unitl i get a 90% probability for a class mate from Christ College. You see, I had joined Christ College, Bangalore for MCA but then I quit it within a record 7 days. Not that I am proud of such a deed but circumstances were such that I had to do so..Anyway that is a long story...May be in some other post.

Mausi introduces and then things fall into place. Weird...very weird feeling. Seeing somebody in such an unexpected way in a such an unexpected location. I mean first of all I was in Mumbai not Bangalore, and then I was at Mausi's place and not my "dera", Andheri. I do not know how many times I must have said - Damn Small World...

Come to think of it I had spotted another acquaintence while I was in SPJIMR. He was doing the FMB course there. But I just didnt feel like talking to him. I have always harbored this feeling that when people meet old friends/classmates the first reaction is to shy away ( unless the opposite person is now a gorgeous chick!). It is a very funny thing. I know I feel it, do other people too feel it ?

Cheers!

Simply Fly

2005-09-14T22:21:00.000-07:00

I booked my first online ticket today. Flight from Calcutta - Mumbai for 2500 on Air Deccan.

I was very happy and satisfied with the way the online booking was executed. Clean hassle free selection of dates, flight and origin/destination. Payment through ICICI Debit Card ( I thought I would have forgotten my internet banking password ) and the best part - Instant Ticket! I printed my ticket after the transaction was over. So simple. No brokers, no ticket delivery people, no nothing!
This has been one smooth experience.
Truly Simply Fly...

( I had actually written quite a long post, but before I could publish it the connection snapped...Oh Crap...so i didnt want to write out the whole thing again)

Cheers
...

Convocation

2005-09-13T21:42:00.000-07:00

My PGDIT convocation took place on the 10th of September, finally !! Earlier it was washed due to the infamous Mumbai rains. This time too, it nearly didnt happen.

Anyway my parents had come from all the way to Calcutta and my bro Anant had come from Surathkal. Boy, did he have a rough journey in the bus.

I am glad the convocation went well. The speech given by the chief guest was so totally boring and out of context as well but it was made up by the next professor who was from Virginia Polytechnic (or something like that). I felt proud receiving the First rank medal and I cannot describe what my parents must have felt when they heard their son's name being announced in the auditorium. ( Hmm...may be I should have asked for a reward or something from them :) )

I so bungled up the speech. There was this whole thing about who would give the speech and in the end I thought that I would not give a speech and then my name was called to give one. Mausaji says the "Speech" was heart felt, but that is only a nice way to put it.
Those who know me, will find me in the photo!
Cheers....