The Missing Piece

Friday lunch

2009-06-05T13:51:00.001+05:30

One thing that I liked while working are the Friday lunches. Not only was it a relief from the bad food at the canteen (the food at the canteen has to be bad in a software company in India ) but it was also a great bonding experience and a chance to try out the different restaurants around the office. The best though was the first six months at work outside college when we had very less work. The weekend would start right on the Friday mornings. Not that I missed them but I just remembered those days when I went out with the team here today. It was my first Friday lunch with one of the teams I am interning with and it was a nice and different experience. We went to Bonifacio high street , which I would recommend for luxury shopping . Btw, I just go for food (esp donuts at Krispy Kreme) and not for any luxury shopping(I made a note of the ALDO accessory shop there though since I am searching for a good leather wrist band for long now) . The experience was different but expected. I know being an Indian among these Filipinos, most of the talk would be about comparing India and philippines. So, right from the time we left the office till we started running towards the office after the lunch because of a sudden rain , we compared as many things as we possibly could : the cable television, the cars, the export of milk, shopping habits of Filipinos (all Filipinos love shopping but lets just say women are worse), software jobs and salaries, telecom provider rates,Katrina Halili sex scandal and one Martial art the name of which I forgot. One of the conclusions of the discussion was that Philippines is an expensive country than India, something I found out the first day I entered this country. But it was an interesting discussion and a nice experience. The food was good too . We went to an Italian restaurant and I had a Seafood Cioppino.

20 ways to get and stay Happy

2009-06-05T07:25:00.002+05:30

In this time of economic crisis there are many articles that offer help and guidance to people to keep themselves up. I found this article titled the same as this post in TIME and in fact found it interesting. It is from 2007 but has resurfaced again. It has some usual advice but some of them are different and interesting.

Count your blessings
Hear the Music
Snog. Canoodle. Get it On (Now it is getting interesting :)))
Nurture your spirituality
Move your body
Laugh Big
Do something nice for someone else
Make more money than you peers (I told ya it is different)
Seek Positive Emotion as a Path to success
Identify with your heritage and culture
Use a happy memory as a guide
Play the part of an optimist
Try new things
Tell your story to someone
Balance work and home
Keep expectations realistic (Be like the Danes)
Make time (avoid saying that you are always busy)
Visualize Happiness
Smile
Marry Happy (not necessarily the rich)

You are an AIM MBA if….

2009-06-04T15:12:00.004+05:30

1. You enter the school with the expectation that b-schools generally have big campuses when in fact you are already standing near the back gate
2. You experience the most authentic Indian MBA experience you can ever get
3. You have hardly been to Manila though you study at AIM, Manila.
4. You realize there are more secretaries than professors in the school
5. You have never seen two professors together
6. You have to get 80% to pass a subject
7. You realize ‘low pass’ means a Fail
8. You make up some imaginary illness and visit the in-house doctor and the nurse once a week
9. You think everyone except you in the class is always bull-shitting
10. You feel like punching the bank clerk when she says the words ‘debit’ and ‘credit’
11. Two weeks into the course you stop worrying about getting a job because you can get a job as an accountant anywhere
12. You can talk about restructuring ‘WalMart’ at 8 o’clock in the morning having got up only at 7:55am and without reading the case
13. You definitely know for sure that if your class is asked for “100 business ideas” , 98 will be about selling Indian food and that too inside the campus
14. You still believe Operations Management only applies to restaurants(esp japanese) and hospitals
15. You are surprised when Operations Management is mentioned as a quantitative subject in your score card
16. You realize that only Marketing is being taught under different subject names
17. but still you didn’t know what the 4Ps were when you got a marketing WAC
18. Your favourite subject is Strategy Management and Ethics and it is the same with everyone in class
19. You still wonder how ‘Class Participation’ is graded and think your ‘nationality’ matters.
20. You think ‘culture’ (or ‘kulchure’) of a company is the source of all problems in the corporate world
21. You can proudly say “I know many people from the Embassy”…whichever country you are from.
22. The coolest thing that is ever done on campus is throwing somebody in the pool, which by the way is banned
23. You feel you are really cool because you can sit by the pool side and booze till 8 o’clock in the morning
24. Your future wife/husband is shocked to see ‘Jessica’ and ‘Heidi’ in the 5 favourite names for naming your Indian daughter
25. ‘You still love the school’ but wonder Why

There is so much that we can add, so if you can think of something good put it in the comments and it will be added.

To finance or not to finance

2009-05-29T08:50:00.002+05:30

Term 2 results are out and my results are what I would say “OK” and what my dorm mate says “decent” . I am consistently in the “OK” range and see myself in the same range for the next two terms too. Not that I am not trying to improve but here grades are so much tried to how much you speak in class and even after knowing about that and how much class participation matters, I just cant speak out on everything and anything in class. I speak enough to just to keep myself safe. It is not like I have a problem with speaking out but just I don’t see myself doing it so much like some o do here.
Just remembered that none of the famous bschool bloggers are toppers in their class( Wouldn’t they be studying instead of blogging). So, atleast I am in some catergory :)). Anyways , I am not struggling with MBA anymore and I am content with that. The internship is going good and the first experience of actually working in a company as a consultant is good. I think the thrill in being a consultant is starting from scratch. There is nothing at start and after so much of data collection, research , meeting people and analysis , you can see things coming together and you really enjoy it. I also realised something, I haven’t used any of the tools that I learnt in the strategy management course. It was a not a conscious decision not to use any, but I feel good in the sense that I didn’t use any tool for the sake of using them but still managing to do what is expected out for me.
I also chose the electives for Term3 two weeks back.I have always liked the course titles irrespective of what is being taught in those subjects :)). Here are the electives I have chosen.

New Management Concepts
Advertising and Sales Promotion Management
Corporate Finance and Financial Service
Sales Force and Distribution Effectiveness
Operations Strategy
Global Marketing Strategy and Policy
Technology Strategy

I am not doing any specialisation. Finance is something that I don’t want to do and Marketing is something that I can’t to . So I have taken a mix of GM, Finance and Marketing courses. The biggest dilemma was ofcourse whether to choose the one finance elective or not.There is something about finance in AIM. Everyone gets so agitated and worked up when the words “FM1” or “FM2” are mentioned. People are more scared about finance than swine flu here. I myself am not interested in finance but not for the reason that I can’t manage it but because I don’t like it. It is something I can do but don’t want to. I don’t like dealing with money so much. If you think I am saying ” I don’t like money”, you are so wrong. I said I don’t like dealing with and managing it. I used to hate my salary statements for the fact that they had too many line items. I always wanted a salary statement that said “Gross salary – Taxes = Net Income” . Now isn’t that simple? It is not that I don’t like chasing money but I don’t want to get into finance and chase money by actually chasing it. But the good thing about studying finance is that, everything I study in it is new and actually interesting. That’s the reason for the one finance elective.

9 to 5....hmm actually 5.45

2009-05-22T14:58:00.004+05:30

So I am back to work and doing my internship now. It was serious work right from the first week(It has been three weeks since I came here). The people are nice and I have some how managed to get what I am supposed to do on track. I have never done an internship before . My under graduation didn’t require me to do an internship and so I didn’t bother. None from my undergraduate class also did one as far as I remember. So it is a new experience especially if you are working for a grade. I didn’t want to miss my last internship opportunity too considering the fact that I have to write a thesis which was the other option if I didnt want to do an internship. The current economic crisis didnt help it. Making a company to actually hire you as an internship and proving to them you did actually learn something(*wink*) in the MBA is actually tough in these times. Some how I managed it and it wouldn’t be fair if i say it was all luck : I worked for it. Also I didn't want to go back to India for my internship. I wanted to experience the work life here . Being the only Indian, infact the only foreigner among these Filipino IT guys is fun. They all think all Indians are some IT wizards and I have no objections to that :)).
I think AIM’s career management services needs a mention there. Though I didn’t get an internship through them, they have helped a lot more students than the previous years to get an internship through the school . Things are changing for good.

The Walkabout week

2009-04-01T13:43:00.007+05:30

It's back to HBO(Human Behaviour in Organization) this week and it is probably the best yet. We are having the walkabout presentations and it has been enjoyable till now. Projects ranged from blind folding for a day,overcoming the fear of public speaking, getting to know different cultures,golf,basketball training,controlling libido,dating,evening with a prostitute and spending time with the filipino mass which was mine. If you carefully notice it is all about coming out of the comfort zone and doing something you have always hesitated to do and i should say my classmates have done a very good job.

And there were free hugs too.Here is the video which i thought was the best video among all.

11 to 16 - the rankings story

2009-02-19T06:13:00.006+05:30

AIM doesnt feature in many rankings.I found very little about AIM's rankings when i was searching for it last year. topmba.com was kind of the only site where i could see AIM in a proper ranking.It was 11th in Asia in employer's preference . Though 11 may not be a position I like seeing AIM in, the only consolation was that AIM even with its poor placement history was above some IIMs in India which have exemplary placements . The rankings for 2008/9 are out and its even worse for AIM.AIM now stands at 16 having dropped 5 places from last year.

http://www.topmba.com/research/global_200_business_schools/
top_business_schools_2009/asia_pacific/

I like this school a lot unlike many others and it has been a very good experience till now. Having said that I have to agree with the ranking too.AIM isnt as good as it used to be and is thriving on its history mostly.We get taught everyday about accepting change and not living in the past and about how to brand anything to make it a success but i see how the very school that is teaching me these things fail in them. But luckily, AIM has realized it very recently and is working on it. I can see some hope though I am largely sceptical .It is not the usual cribbing that you get from students about their institute. Infact i knew most of these things before coming here and they have only got confirmed now.Still i made the choice and i would advise anybody who want to join the institute to look into all aspects carefully and decide.I am only painting a true picture of how things are.

And the most important question: If given a second chance , would I change my decision about joining AIM? NO : things havent gotten that bad yet:))

Wassup

2009-02-19T05:26:00.005+05:30

It is not about time anymore.I did have the time to blog and did start writing posts but somehow couldnt finish them. I hated my writing 5 lines down the posts.It has been four months now and the blog is almost dead.My time management hasnt improved a bit and I am still kind of struggling to get anything done.By the way , the results did come and they were pretty average. I am happy considering that I know my potential well :)). This term is similar and different in a lot of in ways to term1. Different because, there are less numbers to crunch and there are more qualitative subjects meaning you are not lost in the class even if you havent prepared or know the topic well.Similar in the way that,though it is not as rigorous as the previous term, the amount of readings psyche you out. I am not even sure how many HBR articles i have read in this past month.There are many term papers to be written and a walk about to be done. oh , if you dont know what a walk about is, this is what Prof.Ricky Lim said about it

"In the MM and MBA we make students do a “walkabout.” This is based on the Australian aborigine custom of sending young men into the bush, to fend for themselves. In the AIM version we send students out on a mission of self-discovery. They stay away for a few weeks on projects of their choice—the professor should not interfere in this choice, nor are there pushed to do a corporate internship. Instead we ask students do something risky, very challenging, something they have not done before. The experience must be transformational. Students can build a well for a poor Filipino village, or start a reading library for a local community; one student decided to take dancing lessons, not having the experience in his entire life: he became quite a competent tango dancer! The lessons learned are not at all textbook, but in Mintzbergian fashion, the student learns from visceral experience, which makes learning sticky and permanent."

As expected I am still figuring out what to do :))

Why I went to my bank twice today ?

2008-10-28T20:43:00.004+05:30

Financial crisis psyches people out. Before when somebody said a big company has gone bankrupt you would rather question their credibility than believing the news. But these days, bankruptcy is like the “in- thing” among companies . So you better believe it. This is what happened when last month when my roomie woke me up during a nap and said “merrill lynch got sold and lehman brothers went bankrupt”. I woke up still sleepy and said “get lost, no way and this is why you woke me up for?” and went back to sleep(i used the F-word twice in the real conversation but this is more of an MBA blog now and some decency is expected :))) ). So after that I don’t even doubt any news about bankruptcy and that is why I ran to my bank twice. There was a news that the bank(Bank of Philippine Islands ) where I have deposited my precious dollars here has gone bankrupt. All my money was in the account and I would be broke in a week. By the time I heard the news some have already withdrawn all the money and emptied their accounts. A search on the net didn’t give me anything and that is when I started to believe it may be a rumour. Anyways I went to the bank as I had to withdraw for my expenses and expectedly some students were already there. I came back after hearing from them that it was a rumour and also realizing I didn’t take my id which was required if I have to withdraw dollars.
I read some economics after that (not for saving the world from the financial crisis but for the exams next week) and went back after an hour to withdraw some money and also hear from the bank itself what was going on. They were expectedly surprised as to why many AIM students were withdrawing all the money and realized what was happening only after I told them. They said they were stable as of now and wanted to know the source of the rumour. “I wish I knew that” was all I replied back.
No company gives a clue saying they are going bankrupt, it is let out only after it happens. Till then they keep saying ”they are stable”. So….

What else do i say, I am just pathetic

2008-10-26T15:40:00.005+05:30

Shame on me, I couldn’t find time in a whole month to write a post. Yeah..yeah it is the initial months of a rigorous MBA but for one month (i.e) thirty days(or thirty one…whatever) I couldn’t manage like 20mins. How bad can I be at managing time? Simply Pathetic. And I haven’t done many other things either like…hmm….reading newspaper. I know the US presidential race is heating up, someone of Indian origin has won the booker prize and there is a big financial crisis….what was that big company that went bankrupt? I don’t remember……I am just kidding…..I am not that bad :))), I do know whats going around me but not enough.
I think it was the fourth week when we got our schedules and found out that we had an accounting test, QA exam and a WAC along with the most number of cases we have done till now for a week. We had to rethink our learning team(LT) discussions. When seniors told us in the first week that all the excitement will die down we didn’t believe that. We said “definitely not” when they laughed at us saying “don’t bother discussing all case, you wont even read some after some weeks”. Some were like “no way, we are not going to the class without discussing any case in the LT ”. Looking back we realize some practical thinking would have helped. Seniors definitely know something we don’t, otherwise they wouldn’t make that face everytime they see us :).
So then it was quizzes galore with one accounting quiz every Monday, plant visits, operations management games and never ending cases. Accounting(let me be specific, Financial Accounting) is finally over and though frankly I feel happy that it is over, I am not ecstatic like many here. Yes, it was hardwork but the learnings were many. I have a feeling accounting is and will be the most important course in my MBA. Let’s see whether my view changes in the future and more often that not, it does(you see, I am human :))) ).
I am not getting better at time management either. I still cannot figure out whether it is willingness or necessity but I spend most of my time studying like everyone else. But every MBA student around the world is doing that. No good MBA program is easy. Yet they find time and many student blogs I read are updated once in two days . Though they post that they don’t find time, they actually do , otherwise they wont be posting but the one reading(that’s me) doesn’t find time. Hope I don’t wait until the next term break to make the next post (oh…did I mention that I am in my term break and that’s how I found time to post). And I wear a t-shirt that says “ We blog, Therefore we are”. Shameless me!!

P.S : Last Friday, it was Diwali night and I enjoyed it. But dint really know why they had a gangster fashion show for Diwali :)))) . I cheered for my friend though.

BS

2008-09-25T14:35:00.004+05:30

The one thing that students here talked most about last week is BS – Bull Shit. What is interesting about this is that it is not something that is totally unrelated to our studies. When I knew about the case methodology at AIM, I felt relieved . I had a doubt whether I will get the required grades through the exams and thought Class Participation(CP) would be my saviour here. Only after landing up here you realise that CP is the most difficult part. CP is just not speaking in class, it is about making sense too. In some cases it is even more than that. Apart from making sense you also have to add value. The marketing case opening in which I got busted would be a perfect example. From the professors point of view it is very important that they use the airtime well to involve as many as possible to get what they want out of the case discussion. But till now it has been taking time for each good point to come out. One reason may be because we are all very new to the subjects and still haven’t got to the right mode of analysing the cases. But the reason that concerns the professors the most is BS. They think many put their hands and speak bull shit just to earn their CP points. They want us to know that they are smart enough to see through BS. They have been teaching for so many years and handled hundreds of students like us. They also know that there will always be some air time that will go waste in useless discussion and humour. But when that crosses the line, they start acting. I think that is what has happened and that is also why we have a poll to vote for the “Bullshitter” of the class.
Personally, I feel this is unnecessary. My CP has been relatively low till now and I also feel this BS is wasting airtime in the classes. But I feel this poll a little harsh. The person who gets voted will obviously feel shattered and I don’t think he/she will get along with the classmates well after this. May be the results should not be made public and the professors should counsel the students who get voted privately. No one is so bad in the class to deserve a public verdict(we Asians are rash,aren’t we?). Atleast it should be postponed till the students are comfortable with the subjects and also to let them settle down from their initial enthusiasm of getting into a top MBA program and wanting to prove that in class.
But what about this? Why stop the bull shitters at all? I feel there are learnings from them too. If I cannot handle a few of these in class what am I going to do in the real world in a managerial post(whether I will get one is another issue…hehe ). There are going to be lots more of them out there. I need to learn to handle them or even outsmart them. There aren’t going to be any professors out there who are going to stop these people. I have to tackle them and even worse they may not be MBAs or educated even.(why the hell did i ever leave my job and come for an MBA).
Everything is a learning at a bschool, even bull shit. No wonder the fees are high :)))).

So much for networking

2008-09-17T19:29:00.006+05:30

I deleted my account, I mean on orkut. I never thought I would do it after having joined it a month after its launch in 2004 and being on it for more than 4 years. Initially it was fun. But after that, apart from getting in touch with some of my old school friends I didn’t find anything else interesting at all. I don’t communicate with my friends through scraps and I don’t hit on girls on orkut. That is pretty much any guy who I know does in orkut. I don’t go to some (female)stranger’s profile and scrap “I want to be friends with you” .I want to bash the fellows who do this, seriously. So I am out of that site

Some say in this modern world networking is important (especially being an MBA student at AIM where placements are blah blah blah ) and you have to network as much as you can but frankly how they want me to do that in orkut is something that I don’t want to listen to even. And these groups in orkut are a big farce. I have done nothing in orkut groups except joining them. Yeah..yeah I know…it depends on how you use it but orkut is not a serious place and for that matter any social networking site. I don’t know how many use it seriously for their benefit though it is not meant for that. I have read about some MBA students who don’t really like to be on these sites but do it just because the whole class is on it and they would lose the network . Me not doing it.I have already got many invites for facebook, hi5, friendster etc etc…and almost all from the same people. The same faces that I see everyday will be also be there when I log on to orkut and facebook. And some intelligent creatures scrap their classmates “hi” and “how are you” whom they would have been with in the class just an hour ago.

If you get a feeling I am so unsocial, you are wrong. I have my friends and I have ways to keep in touch. But I don’t use every techno piece of crap that comes on the net.I feel some have got the concept of networking wrong. I am not an expert but I at least know what it is not.

The terrible case opening

2008-09-13T21:03:00.002+05:30

In case method, opening a case for discussion in class is a must-have experience. Every student is expected to open a case atleast a few times in his/her MBA. Further more, if you get that chance through a cold call it is an even better ( or worse) experience depending on whether you pull it off or mess it up. It was not a cold call for me today when I opened the Marketing Management case today but I got bashed very badly. It would be more appropriate if I had used the f-word instead of bashed. All case openings in the past two weeks have just been paraphrasing the case facts after which the floor is opened for others. The case I opened was a very small case and there was no big solution or strategy to come up with. What happened was given and according to me it was just a discussion on “Competitive Forces”. First, Professor Cruz gave a chance and just when I was about to start he stopped me and asked “ before you start What do you think is the conceptual topic ? ”. First hit. I was searching for some jargon expecting it wont be as simple as competition or competitive forces and couldn’t manage one and was sitting with a blank face. The only consolation was that nobody answered it correctly until the professor almost spitted it out.

The focus then came back to me and he gave me a go ahead to open the case. I wanted to make it up for my hiccup and make the opening as comprehensive as possible and cover all the case facts. I did that pretty well, concluded with my thoughts and was pretty happy. But Professor Cruz was not done yet. He asked me who was my friend in class and I said “everybody” . Then he pointed one guy and asked me whether he was my friend. I said “yes” and he turned back to him and asked him “whether I added any value apart from paraphrasing the case facts”. I went blue. All the case openings in the past weeks have been the same as mine but he chose to do this with the unlucky me. He came back to me to ask whether I thought I added some value or not. I said yes and even fairly justified it. He was a bit convinced but I clearly understood the impression that he got of me through this case opening, that I am just empty talk. Incidents like this happen everyday and in every class and there are embarrassing moments for everybody. But there are learnings from each. This is the second week and we have just done around 10 cases but I am not sure whether we are taking them as cases. We deal with them more as problems or puzzles rather than cases. We don’t involve the business angle at all. We just use our imagination and fail to apply any business concepts or methodology to it. In this case I and my study group didn’t discuss anything that was beyond the case facts. We shun theory and that was the reason for my screw up. Professor Cruz is very good in this and the way he drives a case discussion to explain a concept is damn good. So any class participation which doesnt add value to the discussion is just gibberish.

Got to learn some things the hard way.

Survival

2008-09-08T00:35:00.012+05:30

The first week of MBA is behind me. It was without doubt interesting. Learning through cases is really good. One has to come prepared, not only read the cases but also discuss it with your CAN group and have a solution in hand before entering the class. This makes the classes every bit interesting and gives you a feeling that you are really learning something. Here are some of my observations and realizations from week one.

I am very bad with names. I just cant remember the names. I have close to 130 batch mates and I still don’t know the names of more than half of them. I forget the names a second after they introduce themselves. The same happens with cases too. I can see how the professors remember the names of every character in each case and always mention them by names while I tend to mention them as “that store owner” and “the chief doctor”. Remembering names is very important in business and I suck at it.

Class Participation (CP)– When you have got your admission you always have the feeling that you outsmarted the interviewer with your verbal skills and you will have no problems with class participation. You even feel happy that 40% of the grades are from CP. When you land up here though, you are stuck. You don’t have anything to say in class half of the time and in the other half you have something but everyone else also has that and mostly the chance goes to someone else. The really good fellows can be easily spotted. Those are the ones who put their hands up for the difficult questions and really come up with a good answer. I am certainly not one of them, at least as of now. And never underestimate the professors. Some here are of the view that they really can't track class participation. They are so very wrong. I actually admire the way how the professors remember every point that each one of us has made and how they get back to the right person when some point comes up later , sometimes even after an hour. And till now no professor had pointed at the wrong person. I fell pathetic thinking I cant even remember the names:)))

The professors - When I first researched about the institute I found that there are very few non-filipinos in the faculty. Infact I even thought of asking the interviewers about the faculty diversity at AIM but was advised not to do so if I was serious about getting into AIM. Having spent three weeks here my apprehensions have vanished. Their educational background and experience are on par with the best. There are accountants who have worked with big organizations and headed associations, consultants who have worked on big construction projects here, economists who still have big responsibilities with the government and advisors who have worked with past presidents. Their nationality is of the least concern.I seemed to have forgotten that AIM is called the “Harvard of the east”

WAC – Written Analysis of Case is the thing that the students here fear most about. We had our first WAC on Friday and everyone was a bit scared about getting one on the very first week. It was a sit down WAC meaning a straight four hour session where we need to read a case and write the analysis at one go. The seniors mostly had overnight WACs where they were given a case on Friday evening that had to be submitted Saturday early morning which meant they had to do it overnight. I enjoyed the WAC though I bungled it big time by dealing too generally with the case and giving long term solutions rather than suggesting a precise to-the-point solution. This is exactly what the instructions told us not to do.

Learnings from the first week : I need to improve a lot .....in everything.

Recruiter’s Night 2008

2008-09-05T21:47:00.006+05:30

AIM’s Annual Recruiter’s night was held last Wednesday at the AIM Conference Centre. Well to start with, the first years were not invited officially or unofficially and 5 of us had to get a special permission , courtesy of Regnard who was kind enough to arrange it for us.The evening though was typical. A few stalls from the companies , a very good welcome speech from President Estrada followed by one from the Enrolment Management and Placement (EMP) director Prof. Eli Santos , smartly dressed seniors many of whom I saw hurriedly shaving at the last minute in the dorm :))) and good food. I don’t know much about what happens at the recruiter’s night at AIM but looked like everyone felt satisfied. With the Indians students forming the major chunk of the MBA class year after year the pressure on campus placements has increased. From what I hear , the response from companies have been good and is increasing by the year. The prominent companies that have come to campus or attended the night includes some big names like Ayala , Telus , Qtel , Convergys , IBM Daksh , First Gulf bank , Cognizant and HCL. Also the placements have just begun and there is so much more to go. Good luck to the seniors and let them all have a wonderful placement season. Another good news in the air is that the class of May 2008 has been fully placed.

But could the night have been better ? Yes. definitely yes. The event could have been much better and to rightly put it , could have been much more impressive. I know it is very easy to criticize something when somebody has done all the hardwork but I felt there were some more things that could have been done and some things that could have been done much better , like the student presentations. They were too short , contained very common information like class diversity and previous work profile which I don’t think impressed the recruiters. To add to that , one of the guys got tensed getting on stage and fumbled badly with the presentation. When it is your recruiter’s night , I think such mistakes are unpardonable and leaves a very bad impression. Also , not much was shown to differentiate an average AIM MBA from the other MBAs. The USP of AIM is the pedagogy and the rigour that moulds the students here but when that is not highlighted enough , there is something definitely missing. Also the total non-involvement of the first years and the apprehensions of some seniors on seeing us in the night were unfortunate. We only wanted to know how it happens so that we can improve upon that in the next year. Now having done that by actually sneaking in , I think the takings from this meet would help us to do a much better job the next time.Thanks to Regnard once again for helping us out.

Section B

2008-08-30T23:46:00.005+05:30

The Pre MBA is over and the regular classes , what’s called the MBA proper is starting on Monday. I have got a bunch of cases and three heavy books which I haven’t opened yet since I am studying (ahem..ahem) for the second Accounting test on Monday. Also the sections have been divided and I am in Section B. Traditionally (the rumour goes like) all the top students are put into Section A and Section B is kind of an underdog team. Some take this very seriously and many already are planning to ask for a change from B to A. I think I am in the right group though (*wink*). Our study groups are yet to be decided and we took the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) assessment to assess our personality types and make the study groups as heterogeneous as possible. I liked the assessment session and found it to be one of the better things we did in the pre- MBA along with spread sheet modeling using excel which was the most useful session.

We also had an informal session with the seniors (which most of the class skipped) to help us with their experiences and most importantly on how to survive the MBA. That’s how it is here. The first aim here is to survive it but as one of the professors said “it wouldn’t be enough if you just survive it. The very fact that you are admitted here means you can do it. You got to do much more than just survive.”. Special mentions to our seniors Pia , Nina and Wendy who are all wonderful seniors and patiently answered our ridiculous and immature questions. But one message was very clear - Make friends. Only those who attended the session can tell how much that was stressed. That seems to be the mantra of surviving here. I can do it – making friends is always easy,isnt it?.

P.S : Section A has an early morning class on Monday which we don’t have and so can sleep peacefully. Section B is happy :)))))

Language of Business

2008-08-25T23:11:00.004+05:30

Some things are really not for me ,like Accounting . The number of credits and debits just drives me crazy . Accounting or “Language of Business” as it is called, is something that us driven some of us in the class to really think again on whether MBA is the right thing for us . I am not very good at it and will never will be but like all things new it is getting pretty interesting by the day . With all this accounting and economics I am slowly beginning to understand what MBA is going to be all about . Though it is well known that businesses are more complex than what we think they are , going deeper and understanding the specifics is certainly interesting . Like the other day , we went to some finance sites and got the balance sheets and income statements of some corporations . What looked like numbers certainly made great sense when some financial ratios were calculated and interesting information drawn from those ratios about the companies , even including some forecasts . I have never even cared to maintain my personal finances leave alone analysing it , but doing it for some great companies was certainly exciting . Good if this excitement really turns into some marks and it infact did to a certain extent today . We had our first accounting test today and my marks were in the decent category . Interestingly it bust two big myths regarding an MBA at AIM here . First being an engineer certainly doesn’t put you in an advantage in an MBA as it is generally perceived . Commerce and business studies graduates are way ahead when it comes to subjects in an MBA . The number crunching which engineers are supposed to be good at doesn’t certainly account for anything . And to get into an MBA anybody has to prove their quantitative skills through the tests . That math knowledge is definitely enough and atleast I cannot see how engineers are at an advantage . Secondly , the MBA batches in AIM over the last few years have had more indians than any other nationality , even more than the Filipino themselves . That is the case with our batch too.The general myth is that Indians do much better than the others because they work hard and are very serious about their studies . And then came the test results today and all top scores were non-indians . Indians are good and they really work hard but others have various other skills and talents . Infact one thing I can visibly see in the classes is that they ask better questions than us and their answers too are very analytical . For me, this is important as learning from diversity is one of the most important takes from an International MBA . At AIM it is emphasized more than anywhere else . With the case based methodology and the studying actually happening in groups called CAN(Case Analysis Groups) , learning from others is very important and it is even better if everyone is as different as possible from the others . Having been surrounded by indian IT engineers most of my life , I am already liking the presence of Filipino psychologists , Chinese history majors , Americans PROs , Indonesian mechanical engineers and Bhutanese bankers . As of now I am loving it :))

First Day

2008-08-20T10:53:00.005+05:30

First day is the very first day except when you are at AIM . Arriving here last Friday for the classes which started this monday, I thought I would just finish registration , collect the pre-mba material and chill out in the weekend .But it was not to be . The grill of the so called AIM MBA started even before entering a class room . Two chapters in accounting , 3 chapters in economics and some quantitative analysis were needed to be read before the first class. Down went my chill out plans for the weekend and I was studying the subjects that I would rate in my not so favourite subjects. Its not that I hate numbers but I don’t like them either especially when it appears as balance debits ,credits and accruals , too confusing and in my opinion things that have been unnecessary made complex . MBA is exciting before it starts and after it is done but certainly not while you are doing it :)))).

Anyways apart from sulking about my studies which I guess I will be doing a lot during the course , I have kind of settled . Manila looks great and you get a feeling of living in an advanced nation .The problem with this though is that the even the costs are likewise , exorbitant by asian standards . The interesting thing here is that the peso is a weaker currency than the rupee and so in absolute terms the amount you pay for each item is more than in rupees . You don’t like paying 50 pesos for a sandwich and feel it is very costly(it infact is) though you would happily spend 3 pounds for the same in UK even though it is actually 4 times more costlier .

And in other things , my roommates are a great bunch of guys and we celebrated the first birthday with the usual birthday bums(see picture below) and a nice chicken treat at the nearby mall . The Chinese fellow in my room is all excited about China’s performance in the Olympics and jumps and screams for every gold they win (these Chinese are very patriotic, aren’t they).

Filipino food is not as bad as we expected it to be. I tried it yesterday with my room mates who luckily are food lovers like me and also like trying out different food . The Filipino lady serving Indian food was staring at us though :)))).

I also got to meet the AIM blogger in a review class . A very nice chap and probably the only regular bschool blogger from AIM. Check his blog for the post on the QA review class that he took for us .

MBA now

2008-08-16T12:27:00.004+05:30

I have been off this blog for quite sometime now but I had things to do this time and was running around a lot (cant justify not finding time even for a post however busy you are , isn’t it? *wink*) . Anyways i was getting things done for my MBA at Asian Institute of Management and actually moved to Manila yesterday keeping up with my track record of not being in a place for more than a year . Questions like Why MBA ?,Why now and Why AIM? are better left with the interviews and questions like what after the MBA ? and what will I do graduating in a recession ? are questions i don’t know the answers for and don’t intend to find an answer for some time atleast . All I know is it is going to be a different experience and a tough one too considering the rigour of the MBA programme here. It has already been quite an experience with the Singapore authorities almost not letting me travel to Philippines but realising afterwards and letting me through , staying in a nice dorm with six other fellows including a Chinese fellow with whom i was talking about china and india till 3am on the very first day , running around a lot within an hour of arrival to get things like mobile connection and bank account(don't know why the other guys wanted to get everything done on the very first day , enthu perhaps....hehe ) and also getting to eat Indian food prepared by Filipino women which i think is going to be the case for the rest of my stay here.

Too good

2008-06-25T23:55:00.003+05:30

A fill up post before i get my a** up to write something .

Two cute videos i came across in youtube

He's gonna kick my ass

Charlie bit me

Look who’s dancing too

2008-05-23T14:05:00.006+05:30

I had my salsa performance in front of a live audience last Saturday . Surely I was excited as it is my first dance performance ever , atleast that I know of . I have danced before but all before 5^th standard and I have no memory of it all . I even recently found a old snap of mine in UKG dancing at some school function . I looked cute with the famous and no-more chubby cheeks which everyone liked pinching till I left school . Apart from that I have danced a few times at discs . I don’t consider myself a dancer and more importantly was never interested in it . But here I am very proud of my dancing abilities after jiving and performing salsa . The dance was a hit and there was a huge applause and “once more” shouts . “Once more” – for a dance which had all amateurs including me who started learning only 2 weeks before . If you think 2 weeks is enough , you are bloody wrong . In all the two weeks we just achieved a quarter perfection of the instructor’s . oh…and how did I forget this . The very first day of the classes , when we were practising the first step the girl dancing with me said “You don’t look like you have started learning today . You are pretty good ” . I was on cloud nine .

And as always the best thing about being part of anything is the people you meet . It was a motley bunch and here is a sample of the people it had.

My partner , a phd in economics and a professor in the same at some engineering college .

Her sister , a ground staff in Air India who cribbed many times about the baggages lost and the pasting she got from the seniors .

Two school girls who have given their 10^th exams and want to chill off before they see their results .

Brother of one them who has passed 12^th with a bl**dy 96 percent but may consider a career in dancing from what I can see…hehe

Two heroes….yeah heroes acting in the remake of a hit telugu movie as college students .

The queen ,atleast she thought of herself like that , a second year medical student with whom I could have danced a little more if not for her mother who also joined the classes with her and kept an eye on her always.

A disgruntled IT employee who after working in the industry for 9 years took 2 months leave on loss of play and joined the class .

And the not so disgruntled five other IT employees which included Me .

And here they are...

Be there

2008-05-23T13:08:00.002+05:30

Chennai blogger meet

08/06/2008 at 16:00

The same answer

2008-05-13T17:23:00.008+05:30

13 going on 30 is a comedy movie, a Jennifer Garner starrer with nothing great to remember about , except one scene . It the scene where she realizes how selfish and vile she has become at 30 . She goes back to her parent’s house to find some solace . A beautiful song is played in the back ground and at the end of the song she asks her mother “If you were given one chance to change something in your life , what would you ?” . The mother jokingly answers “The wrinkles I guess” and then continues saying “seriously , NOTHING . I have certainly made many mistakes in my life but wouldn't change any of them . What I am today is because of what I learnt from the mistakes ?” . An amazing answer I thought . I asked myself “What would I do ?” . I am an ordinary human being . Even the thought of such a question is too tempting . Would I use such an opportunity ? Definitely Yes . But you got to be highly responsible with opportunities . With great powers comes great responsibilities . Same with the case of opportunities too . But then , what would I change ? . There are too many things that one chance is not enough . Infact about 50% percent of my life I guess . That’s too much . But If you stop reading and try answering the question for yourself , you would come near to that figure . I am no exception . Looking back at life , you can very easily think your life was a total failure , life was unfair to you , you deserved much better and that you were not the one responsible for all your failures . You take pride, infact boast saying the position you are in today is because of the extra-ordinary hard work that you put it in and determination you had and nobody else could have done it . That is the problem with us , hardly anybody thinks he had had an easy life . Then whose life would you choose to have . Every single one of them comes with its share of problems . You think you could have been born in a rich family , gone to the best school , aced all the important exams in your life , get into the best jobs , become a multi millionaire,own the biggest house in town ,have the cosliest of cars and get the beautiful girl you couldn’t . But do you believe the people who have got all these would be content and change nothing in their lives? . You would be surprised.As they say “For each his own” . And then there are mistakes you committed that you want to change , like the exams flunked because you never gave a sh*t about studying in college , the entrance tests you didn’t fair well in , the earning opportunities you missed and the stupid fight you had with the girl of your dreams because of which you can never have her back . Yes, life would have been much happier if all these had not happened but we are never mature for the age we are . You blame yesterday for today , last week for this week , may for June and 2007 for 2008 . At 25 you think you were stupid at 18 and should have handled something better . At 18 you would have felt the same about something you did at 12 . The irony is , at any point you always feel you are mature enough to handle things that are happening to you . But you never are . Mark this day and the things that are happening around you . Ten years from now you would feel you were immature today and could have done things better. You feel so because you don’t live the moment now . You just think of the action alone in isolation . The circumstances that lead to the act and how your feelings were shaped by it then are somethings you can never feel the fullest now . You can always think you could have done well in college , but at that time you would have felt college is for enjoyment and you can always get a job later . If that stupid senior of mine can get a job, I definitely can . It is even more difficult when it comes to girls.You hit yourself for fighting with your girl . You realize now that you should have gone easy , after all she was your's . But you miss the ego now that you had then which made you feel “why should I give in if that stupid girl doesn’t ?” . The loss in both the cases is what makes you understand the gravity of what you did then . So , however you try , unless you have an extraordinary ability to know the effects of things you are doing today , you cannot change anything about your life . I dont have that ability . I am an ordinary human . I may not have the best of lives forward but I also know I cant change anything about it .And that’s why my answer would have been the same as the Mother’s.

Ahs and Ums on a Friday evening

2008-04-30T19:35:00.009+05:30

I have this new friend in office . A very nice chap with varied interests , though all esoteric and which I find difficult to follow . But Why should I care about his interests ??? hmm ..….because he drags me into all this and since I manage to find time for everything other than my work , I agree . The First was Toastmasters . He called me on a Thursday evening to check whether I can join him for a toastmasters meeting the next day . He used to mention about toastmasters often in passing saying it was some public speaking club, but only after he called me for the meeting I went to their website and had a look . Toastmasters is this international organization for public speaking and leadership . You can find a local chapter in any city and many in big cities . I don’t want lessons in public speaking not because I am good at it but because I don’t need them . I don’t like to sermon people nor do I need the skills to convince others , because convincing others is something I hate . But then , there I was in an auto rickshaw with him going to the meeting just to see how it all happens. He said we were just guests and I thought I can happily sit back and listen to the speeches . Only after I reached there I found out that anybody who is a non-member is called a guest and also have to participate in all the activities . The introductions started and it was quite an eclectic mix of people . Like any other club , it was reeking of formality and there were many designated members like toastmaster of the day , president , secretary , grammarian and timekeeper . The first activity was extempore. Everyone who came to speak started off with the same usual beginning “Good evening toastmaster of the day ,Good evening president , Good evening secretary …….. ” . Hearing so many Good evenings made me hate the evening . I never understand why people say good morning or good evenings when you can say it just once before addressing all who are present. My friend sitting aside kept prodding me to go pick a topic and speak and after some time I did . I started “I think everybody is distinguished here and so I am just going to say one Good evening to all the distinguished members ” .That was the first time everyone laughed and I was surprised they could do so since you easily get a feeling laughing was prohibited there . I continued in the same comic tone and during the feedback at the end of the meeting everyone said they liked my comic sense . It was good considering in reality I always have the look of a convict who is on the guillotine and going to have his head cut off in a minute . Then the most important feedback came by .I dint know one of the grammarians there had this interesting job – counting “ahs” and “ums” in the speeches . These are called fillers in speeches and it is considered bad to have too many of them. I got my count of Ahs and Ums and was quite surprised I used a few too in my speeches . Something I learnt and which I wasn’t aware . Something worth for the hundred bucks I paid. What ?I paid ? Yes I did .The so called toastmasters address people as guests but charge them . So much for the etiquettes they teach. !!!!Charge the guests !!!! . But it was nice evening having got to meet so many people some of whom were veteran speakers and also getting a feedback on my speaking style .

And then there was this girl.I saw her while entering and went and sat next to her .What to do ? As always those were the only places available…hehe. I did leave one chair between us according to the Indian decency code of seating for Indian girls and boys.Sitting next to a girl is still a crime,atleast in my city . We did share a few glances and even looked at her once during my speech to see whether she was laughing for a joke of mine . She was but the the wildest laugh came from someone sitting in front of her , the secretary of the club, an old lady whom I later found out to be the mother of the gal….ahem ahem - A little off target . Anyways I have grown up now . I am more restrained when it comes to girls these days.I am older,wiser , meaner and uglier than before. No more do glances or even other overtures from girls excite me. But then you can always have fun and play with them a bit and I don’t miss a chance ….never ever :))). So after the meeting I went up to the everyone in the room to bid good bye . Mother and Daughter were standing together and I went ,greeted both of them with a smile and started a conversation with the mother . She was a nice lady and we had a conversation about her laughter and she said that is one thing she cant control . I never did once speak to the daughter though she was seriously following our talk and laughing with us . I said goodbye only to the mother and just walked away . Her face dropped a bit but I dint care . Five minutes later I was still not gone since every goodbye involved a talk for a minute or so . I looked out for her and caught her glancing at me standing with another lady . I smiled at her and she returned it . Just then , I started walking towards her as if to talk to her but turned to the lady next to her when i went near , shook hands and said a goodbye to the lady and came back without minding her . Her face dropped and I could clearly see how pissed she was . I felt ecstatic….it feels really good to hurt gals(*drums rolling*). I know I know …I am a bloody indecent rude snob .:))) . Nothing big but you don’t miss a chance considering I may never meet her again and she may forget it after 5 mins . And what about my friend - He was damn serious and was discussing about the technicalities of public speaking all the time .

Dum , Rum and Bum

2008-04-11T16:17:00.005+05:30

Procrastination is a big problem with me . Sometimes I just cant get enough of delaying things . It's been almost two months since I have posted and the reason is not that I didn’t write anything but just that I didn't post them. I had four posts in hand but just couldn't post it . I was not in the right of moods the last month and everytime I took one of the posts to put it in the blog , I felt better not . And yesterday I deleted the word document that had all the posts . After the usual "why the hell did I delete all that?" feeling , I decided I should definitely post today . Also I am encouraged by the increased appreciation I have got for my blog . Feels good and everyone thinks I am very funny and hilarious . I guess they haven't read some of the blogs I have been reading , otherwise they wont even visit mine if they want something funny to read . Blogs from kickass indian females(the kind i like..hehe) from which you can learn more about life than from anywhere else . You also learn other things like their boob size and what happened the last time they went to the gynac. Not the dirty details you despo, just the experience but then , even if it is, what the f**k . Arent we adults . And don't you squirm reading this guys. I know you have been discussing women (of the naked kind) from school like me . And you gals , if you think the spectacled software engineer groom from US or Bangalore , whom your parents got you engaged to has only been studying in school and college , now go face the truth . Believe me, it is better being this way , otherwise you are more likely to file for a divorce for his abstinence .

Coming back to the topic ( did I start on that in the first place) I was searching for something to post. I got up this morning and the first thing that ran through my mind were the words "DUM , RUM and BUM" . No idea why this happened , may be left over from a dream ( oh man , I want to know what that dream was ). Anyways , the phrase ” Dum , Rum and Bum ” used to be my " What's up?" statement while chatting . Lets get something straight .What do boys chat about ? booze , fag and girls . They dont chat about global warming , inflation and Deepika Padukone hooking up with Ranbir Kapoor . They have their own worries which are mostly about the three things I mentioned . So why the “Howvu?” , “How is work ?” and all that crap . Get to the point . Like this ….

CASE 1 : When somebody pings me ( things in brackets are my thoughts )

Friend : Hi da…. (I have no idea why they put all those dots after each line , but then who cares )

Me : Hi

Friend : Howvu ?

Me : I am fine . Howvu ?

Friend : I am good da . Howz work ?

Me : Going on machi . What else can I do apart from writing buggy code ? The same stuff . What about you ?

Friend : Great da (So, there is something great about coding too ? ). I finished a Sun certification (*yawning*) . Planning for switch (When did you ever stop switching?) . You planning to switch ?

Me : What makes you think I can pass a technical interview ? Only I know how i got this job even . No such plans what so ever .

Friend : So, planning for some studies then . I have been thinking of executive MBA . We are too late for a full time MBA .

Me : Too late ????….WTF….dont talk like some 40yr old . So how are the babes in your office ….

See now that’s where the really chat starts .

CASE 2 : When I ping :

Me : Hi sir

Friend : Hi da…howvu?

Me : Fine .What's with Dum ,Rum and Bum ?

See now that’s how quick I do it . Cut the crap about certifications , job switch and Executive MBA. Get to things that matter most in life .

If you still haven’t got it, DUM means fag, RUM means booze and BUM means girls . Though my writing may sound a little lewd , I totally respect women and the word BUM is just for the rhyming . Come on gals , how can I degrade you , you are all sweet hearts . So lets keep the “BUM “ out off this post though out of the three I am more of an expert(ahem..ahem) in this . In fact I am not even a trainee in DUM and RUM .Yeah….Yeah I don’t booze or fag . If what’s running in your mind is “What???This a**hole doesn’t drink???? ” then you are not alone . You have the company of all those who I know in this beautiful beautiful world . But things may change . I may start and believe me I will become an expert in no time . That’s how compulsive and addiction prone I am . But then this life is a little boring . I have always believed in “variety is the spice of life “ thing. I try for variety in everything in life but I have never got into boozing . Why ? . Is it because I want to portray myself as a good boy .Bull sh*t . The last time when somebody said I was a good boy was when I started learning addition . Even if you give a crore rupees to my friends , they wouldn’t say I am a good boy . They will probably hit you.So be careful . Girls may say so , but then from when did guyz start showing their real self to girls (if you are the girl friend of one of my friends , consider you never read what you just did and he doesn’t booze or drink like he has promised you (*wink*)). So now that I really don’t have a reputation to keep , I think I can start . Anyways , it wouldn’t change things much when .Already everybody who knows me thinks I booze but lie that I dont . No more need I order Mocktails ,which buy the way is no cheaper than the cocktail my friend sitting next orders , no more need my friend have to order a pitcher(spelling right ???) and tell me to take a snap with it and no more need I just have chicken with coke when the guyz around who are on a high wonder where did all the chicken go ? .

And one thing to all these boozers , just because you drink , you are not cool and become the yo-yo dude in the crowd . It is just because you want others to think you are cool , that you booze . Only we (non-boozers) know how emotional you get once you are on a high . Don’t gimme the cool dude crap to me . Remember 9 out of 10 cool guys don’t drink .

Update in life : More people around me now call me Leo (my new nick) and I like it.

The notes from a fellow dieter

2008-02-17T16:49:00.003+05:30

You know something is not going well when you start looking for the calorie count in every food item you buy . Suddenly diet coke becomes your best friend and you see for the word “diet” in everything you eat - curd , biscuits , sandwiches and even sweets . You dread seeing your belly because it hides your d*ck and you have to see your most valuable tool only in the mirror hiding below the belly. That’s when my friend decided it is time to change his life style . He started off with getting up at 6am which in his words is midnight and many hours before he usually gets up . Two days of morning walk and he was snoring in his bed the next day .His girlfriend ,whom he had called for company during the morning walk, actually liked the idea and the change in her boyfriend 3 months before the marriage . But she was standing all alone in the morning in the ground on the third day .It actually took a threat from her saying the marriage is in doubt that woke my friend on the third day . Unfortunately for me , I was the one who was sitting beside him when he decided to change his life style . I said “yes” when he asked me to accompany him to the sandwich shop for a whole week for lunch .But where we ended up was not the sandwich shop but the SUBWAY next to the sandwich store . I got a chicken sub and since he was on a diet(or was he) ordered for a chicken salad which costed like a day’s pay . Three days to SUBWAY and chicken salad , we didn’t know whether we lost weight but lost too much of something else - money. After realizing we have to be the CEO of a company to afford SUBWAY salads daily and also not to go there until we became one in the future (which means we wont go to SUBWAY again). , we headed for the sandwich shop next door as originally planned . Veg sandwich , club sandwich , European delight , creamy corn and whatever was in the menu was tried . Sandwich was in the hand but his mind was with the Andhra mess , meals from which had actually given him the belly . If you don’t know where half of india’s software engineers go for lunch , just go to the nearest Andhra mess . The little boy in the Mess who pours sambhar can identify the company of a person better than the NASSCOM chairman , knows every id card , salaries for each designation in different companies and can even give career advice . And all the big food companies set shops in the tech parks thinking they can actually make money and can charge ridiculously exorbitant rates. No way if an Andhra mess is nearby . This continued for a little more than three weeks and the results were good – for me .I lost 2 kgs and he gained some .Bugger out of desperation had been hogging in the night and made more calories than if he had eaten his original meal for lunch . The story sounds familiar ? . There is a similar page in most software engineer’s diary .A good (but not so good) salary gives them a paunch immediately and some want it to show to their future in laws as a sign of prosperity – ridiculous . I am not the one to advice on diet but in dieting and exercising , what is most required is patience . A crash diet for a month or mad exercising for a week wont compensate for what you have accumulated for years.

Update – He still is using a mirror .

Indian of the year

2008-01-31T20:44:00.000+05:30

I thought it would be Vishwanathan Anand but Mr.E.Sreedharan , the chairman of the Delhi Metro got it . For once I liked watching an Indian award ceremony and this year’s “Indian of the year” awards by CNN-IBN was certainly different . The awards weren’t certainly sensational making it distinctive from other such awards which give Rajini Kanth the “entertainer of the year” award for acting in the worst movie of the century . If I were to choose a theme for this year’s awards , it would be “Silent Achievers” . This feeling was pretty evident with many recipients , especially Mr.O.P Bhatt , wearing a “Can I win such awards too?” look . Infact he got emotional in his speech and was overwhelmed by the very thought that someone from the public sector could also win such awards . Even I didn’t know Mr.O.P.Bhatt but his record this year has been stupendous with everything that he has done having positive figures which run to lakhs of crores . Same with R.K Laxman , who inspite of being very famous and doing what he does best right from the 1940s ,has only five other major awards(Source: Wikipedia) to his name .I think giving the life time achievement award to him was really admirable with Ram Guha even mentioning him as a worthy candidate for the Bharat Ratna . Anand was definitely the clear winner in the sports categoty, though I earlier thought the Indian team as whole would win every sporting award this year for their 20-20 win . Was not really convinced with Chidambaram winning the “politician of the year” but then India grew at 9.6% this year . So he has done something . Once all the winners in the categories were awarded , there was this big question of who is going to win the big one , “The Indian of the year” . Few of the guests were asked to name their choices and every single one of them said it has to be “E.Sreedharan” . Anand for his achievements and also for being the inspiration behind the growth of chess in India definitely deserved the award but then India needs more than just great sportsmen now .A 76 year old man who is still working even after so many years of his retirement and who has two of the most prestigious railway projects to his credit definitely deserves the credit . The notable thing though is that he has completed the first phase of the Delhi Metro 2 years and 9 months before schedule and is also ahead in the next phase .And all this while dealing with bureaucracy and corruption . A lot depends on him for improving the rail transport in Delhi before the 2010 asian games . A worthy winner indeed.

BSTRD

2008-01-26T11:59:00.001+05:30

I wish telepathy was real . I never believed in it but now I wish one guy could hear all what I was cursing him – The a**hole who stole my phone in a crowded train last week . If he had heard all the profanities he would probably shoot himself . One chance I got to use all the nice bad words I knew in English ,Tamil and one in Hindi . I was hurrying to receive a friend in Airport and ran like hell to catch the train which went to the Airport. I caught the train but lost my phone .Yeah..Yeah it was my first phone and a lovely one but I am not like too attached to it to feel a lot for it ,probably because it was a cheap phone .So it is not the monetary loss but the fact that it makes me feel I am very careless , reminds me of my 1^st standard Maths teacher Mrs.Meenakshi who wrote “very careless” and “very very careless” in every test in my test note . I always got more than 98 but it was always 98 or 99 except once when I got centum in about some 12 tests. I somehow managed to make a silly mistake in each test , which costed me 1 or 2 marks. Should have listened to her advice I guess(*a picture of her advising me is running in my mind at this moment*). I never went near 90 afterwards – why get 99 and also a remark . Ironically , I always thought I was quite the opposite (i.e) more careful than I should be (If you are a friend of mine you would probably be laughing now). Infact once I got into the train, I checked for my purse and phone but that b*st*rd got lucky and nicked it just after I had checked. It also reminds me of an incident when a friend of mine lost a smart phone(which had a windows OS) he had bought from UK . He was involved in a small accident and a guy from the crowd asked his phone to call the ambulance in the context of helping him . All he did was smartly slip away with the phone amidst all the confusion . My friend said “I think that guy deserved it .Smart phones should be with smart people . Why should it be with a dumbo like me” .I feel the same way and may be he is smarter but then he is a !@#$%^ F&^%$## b*st*rd too .

The lips and the looks

2008-01-16T19:13:00.000+05:30

There is one thing that everybody is dead sure about me though they would have met me for the first time in their lives just half an hour ago – That I am a compulsive smoker and a heavy boozer . The worst part is nobody believes that I am not ,even if I tell them I am going to fall off the roof . I ask them what makes them think so and invariably the answer is “nothing particular, you look like that and I know I am right” .What the f**k ? . All this for somebody who is boozically and faggically challenged . Poor me . Having friends is fun , but boozing ones when you are a teetotaler (eeeeeee!) is horrible . The way they frawn when I say “man get me an extra coke ” when they go to buy coke for their booze is as if coke costs some 10 times more than whisky . But still got to put up with these guyz for I get free chicken for the coke(*wink*) . The story on how I survived one year in UK with drunkards like this will be more pathetic than “Cast Away ” . Girls too are no better and don’t believe when I don’t booze in a corporate party and I won’t be surprised if they had thought I am putting up a good boy show for impressing them . And this one girl in particular was definitely sure I am a big time fag and the reason she said was that “your lips say it all” .Why she saw my lips is a different story (ahem…ahem) but I am not some Tom Cruise to have rosy lips , I am a dark ugly Tamil Guy . But what she said what also was a revelation for me and made me think whether this was the reason as to why I am still single (not sure here) , as if I am a drop dead gorgeous investment banker in wall street having no problems except my lips . I know I know…..I sometimes think too much of my self….hehe.

For one last time to all the good souls (esp of the female kind) “I don’t booze and smoke” and still single(again..not sure here (*wink*))

For God's Sake

2008-01-15T15:46:00.000+05:30

Indians pray a lot , too much in fact . Everyday in the morning and evening , once in a week in the temple and most importantly whenever they need something , like a good exam result , job or contract . They smear their foreheads with colours, wear amulets and chains with deity pendants , keep a deity picture(one for men and many for women) in their purses and pin up a “Om” or “Swastik” symbol in their cubicles at work . The elitist Indian class , the so called software engineers even don’t spare their screen saver and computer desktop . They also keep getting some forward or the other saying it is the only picture ever taken of tirupathi balaji or some rare ganesha or the only picture of sai baba and that they may face dire consequences if they don’t forward it to some 108 persons . If you are already thinking that the atheist in me is going to criticize God and the religious beliefs of Indians and trying to justify atheism , it is definitely not so . I am neither the torch bearer of atheism nor a campaigner trying to enlighten people to lead a proper life. Actually what I say to those who get ready to argue whenever I mention the word atheist (which is not often and unless someone asks me) is that when it comes to Indian people , atheism is the worst thing that can happen to them . Even after being ardent believers and extremely religious we are only half humans and even lesser civilized . We read various stories and see numerous religious films , where invariably god defeats and kills the evil men , but still we don’t stop our wrong doings . Indians are extremely selfish , go to any odds to get what they want , many earn money by cheating others one way or the other whether it is charging more or adulteration or compromising on quality , don’t care about the destitute and don’t respect other religions .But everybody thinks he/she is good and the rest all evil . Why are we so morally decadent when we are “God fearing” and believe god will punish every wrong doer ? . Because nobody in the living history has ever seen god take a shape and punish somebody with a trishul or charka as we see in movies . But everybody believes and want that to happen , but for others .As centuries pass by many think god doesn’t punish but just keep giving(mostly money) . Millions go to sabarimala every year thinking God will grant them everything if they don’t eat non-veg , bath twice daily , wear black robes , avoid profanities , abstain from sex and go bare foot to the temple . Take the example of auto drivers in Chennai .Invariably many fast and go to sabarimala but their conscience wont even privk when they fleece every passenger even during the fasting month .They know they are wrong but still don’t care . Politicians who ask bribes for even building a temple , government babus who think taking bribes is their birth right and policemen who in this country do what they exactly shouldn’t be doing ,all fall under the category . All the fast and abstinence is not just a formality for the month to impress god but actually a representation of how you should live your whole life . I doubt people realize this for they get into boozing and binging and make up for all the booze and chicken they missed for a month in one night . How they justify this, is only , as they say “known to God”.Many businessmen and actors go to tirupathi every year just to put lakhs in the hundis but don’t even think of donating a few thousands to an orphanage . Just like they do their business dealings, they pay bribes to God to keep them going . They think money just appeases god and will multiply how much ever they put in the hundi and also that donation is just like putting money in the drain . And also why is that every person thinks his religion is the only one . Even hindus who have a thousand gods don’t accept another by the name of Christ or Allah . Everybody wants only their religion to prevail in this world . They have every right to crash planes into towers , bomb trains and destroy sacred monuments if it doesn’t belong to their religion . Whichever god , if present ,wont certainly allow this .Lord Ram wouldn’t be sitting in the skies enjoying the demolition of babri masjid or Allah enjoying bombing thousands of people to death.

Fear- this is what rules us. We fear for everything in life . We are not even supposed to ask whether god exists , refuse to eat prasada or not put vibhudhi in our foreheads when we leave the house . Infact many don’t even know how they started believing in god and why they still continue doing it without even thinking of refuting a single aspect of it. Right from birth they are accustomed to it and make it a habit like brushing or bathing. This sort of rot following is what is wrong . Most people don’t know what their religion actually says and wants .Religion for them is “praying” and god blessing them back with money and good life . They think everything they possess might be lost if they stop praying. But this will all change when as a nation we mature. Superstitions will be abolished and god and religion will be put in the right place .Most importantly , the fraud leaders ,priests and cheats who use religion for their benefit and hypnotize people to what they are today will die a pathetic death . And there is enough evidence .See the developed countries and their perspective of religion . Britain is 75% atheist and it is one of the most non-corrupt and peaceful countries in the world . When India becomes a developed nation we don’t need atheism but just a realization of what religion and god are and most importantly what humans and human values are . If at all I pray ,it would be for this .

600028

2008-01-14T19:22:00.000+05:30

This pincode now made famous by a superhit film last year is the pincode of the place where I lived the first 18 years of my life . Film makers always had a liking for the place with the bus numbered 12B appearing in many films and also having a film by its name . It is not actually a Kodambakkam which smells of film even before you step into the area , but there were some people from the cine and tele industries who were mostly one hit wonders but are looked upon whenever they walked by . It was also through one of these small time TV serial directors I made my TV debut of 5 minutes, who picked me up while playing cricket in the nearby ground .Though that remains the only time I came on TV and will ever be , I have fond memories of the place which goes by the name “Foreshore Estate” for its proximity to the sea. These were all running through my mind aboard a bus last week when I was going to Mylapore , another nearby area which shares the pincode, for the Mylapore festival . It was for the Mylapore quiz conducted as part of the festival and with a born-and-brought-up Mylaporean as my quiz partner, I at least wanted to make it to the finals. I reached the place well in time (ahem..ahem) and my first reaction was “oh sh*t” . There were only kids and their grand parents in the room and I immediately punched my cell phone to call my partner . “Man it is a kids quiz , I am leaving” was what I said and he assured me it is not and told me to hang on atleast until he turned up . I was sitting there with unease, for all others were either too young or too old to speak to . I even had a thought of how embarrassing it would be if we make it to the finals and win the quiz defeating 10 year olds .But that was short lived and the eternal quiz winners of all the Chennai quizzes , the qfi teams landed . Though I knew they leave no quiz unattended , I was surprised they had come to one where all were school kids . It was little reprieve for me though I now knew the chances of making it to the finals were very bleak with some of the best quizzers in the country sitting besides me . The prelims happened with my mylporean partner doing justice to his bringing up in the area and we did good , but not good enough .We didn’t qualify much to the disappointment of my partner who got senti about betraying his birthplace and kept blaming himself throughout the quiz . Two qfi teams qualified which had landmark and KQA quiz winners but the rest of the finalists was what set the stage for an interesting finals . One of the other teams had two nearly-eighty grandpas who were born and brought up in Mylapore and who still didn't seem to have got enough of the place having walked the same streets and dirty alleys (each one of them having atleast one small Ganesh temple) for nearly eight decades . Another team, a complete contrast having two 10 year olds , who had just met in the quiz and named their team rightly so as “Just met” , another having a young medical student and his nearly-eighty grandmother and the last but the best team of the day consisting of two Mylapore maamis in their fifties, who left cooking sambhar unfinished and bumped into the quiz and qualified for the finals . Since the theme was Mylapore , even if you have won some hundred landmark and odyssey quizzes , your knowledge wont match to theirs , which was gained through living there for half a decade . They were actually leading in the initial two rounds particularly with questions like identifying some temple in a remote blind alley in Mylapore . The most funny moment of the quiz was when they complained to the quiz master(a college guy who put some heavy accent to impress tam-bram gals ) saying the format(infinite bounce) was not fair and they didn’t get to answer questions . Their complaint was no less innocent than their usual complaint to the street vendor for having given them a rotten tomato the previous day and that brought a smile on everybody . Altogether a day well spent .
Though I didn’t exactly live there , it was very near to the place were I lived and even nearer to my school and I could still see the same book store I used to buy my books at and where no book ever went out of stock , the same crowded streets with the vendors shouting the prices(though the prices they now shout looked like a hundred years has passed since I was last there) , the same small hotels , the names of which I never knew but can make out by seeing them and the same people who never change their life style and hold the ethos of the place intact.

Moral of the story : I DO GET NOSTALGIC :)

The Voice

2008-01-07T19:23:00.001+05:30

Did you hear the voice on TV, the voice which represented a billion(and a little more) indian voices and put Ponting on the spot in the post match conference after the second test ? . Here is the man and his post regarding the moment.

http://rajreflects.blogspot.com/2008/01/losing-respect-and-getting-under.html

Cup is fine but where is the cricket ?

2007-09-27T14:43:00.000+05:30

Just when I thought of writing that I don’t like twenty 20 and so wont care even if India didn’t win it , India won . I am not one of the Indian fans who gets euphoric about this victory and draws solace for all the losses they have had for 24 years but nevertheless it is our team and I cherish it as any true cricket fan would.
To put it very bluntly I don’t like this format at all, it is less of cricket and more of something else. Call me old school or whatever this hitting is what I wont call cricket. Cricket is not throwing a ball into the field and running around to put it into a net like other sports. Cricket is a complex sport with zillion rules and one needs more than the ability to throw or hit a ball to be successful in it. Cricket was never meant just for hitting 6s and 4s . You realize this when you yourself have played a lot of cricket as a kid . At first all you like is batting, you wait for the chance to bat and when you get one ,all you do is try to hit the ball as hard as possible(I am speaking about the normal kids who have no formal training in cricket but have played it no less than any other) .But when you grow up you realize it is not all about hitting hard , there is more to bowling than you thought there was and you need to apply your head a bit than hit the ball . That’s also when you realize why the Indian batsmen are not trying to hit a six of every ball and stop telling your friend they don’t know cricket . In a cricket game there are many strategies to be framed right from setting the batting order according to the score , which bowler to choose for that particular over , how to set the field (like putting the fat guy as a close fielder so that he need not run much :)) , how to pace the run chase , take a single of the last ball to retain a strike ,just play defence in a particular bowler’s over , bowl a bouncer followed by a yorker to confuse the batsman and many more , all this in a 10 over per side match we used to play . I grew up in the age of the one-day matches and I know there were lots of criticism for the one-day format itself . The short form meant the test cricketers have to change the way they had played all these years .They thought it is too short to realize the full essence of a game of cricket . For them a test match is what real cricket is all about , a long drawn battle ,a game of strategies , a game where the real talent of any player comes out gradually . In ODIs they didn’t have time for anything .They had to start making runs right from the first ball .None of them would have thought 30 years later cricket will be played with just 20 overs per side and there would be a world cup for it. Test cricket never had one.
Twenty 20 is an insult to bowlers because it shows them no respect . However well you bowl all what the batsmen are going to do is try to hit a six out of it . They don’t have the fear of losing wickets because it is just 20 overs and any player be it a bowler or a batsman knows at least how to hit the ball . Bowlers are reduced to no more than bowling machines . Cricket is equally about bowling as it is about bowling and this is why 20-20 is not cricket . Batsmen are no better either .All they want now are muscles and not techniques or strategies . Infact even a captain has a very minimal role to play . It is just a lengthier version of the last five overs of an ODI. All it is going to do is change the ODI into a hitting game as well .With scores of over 300 becoming an average these days it is all going to be 400 soon . There will more 6 sixer overs and no more you will be talking about it as something great as we did about gary sober’s and ravi shastri’s(even though this was in domestic match) record for many years . And keeping in mind the emotion that Indians put in for watching a match, it is all set to be even worse for the pressure levels for Indians .The casualy rate is definitely set to rise.
Twenty 20 is best suited for gully cricketers and not professionals . These formats brought into to glamorize the sport is taking the fun away from it. Though I don’t accept of cheer leaders dancing for every boundary and wicket in what is called the gentleman’s game , i have no problems with these half clad dancers . There are many ways to improve a sport and make it interesting than shortening it and bringing in dancers . If I want a three hour entertainment I would rather watch football or hockey . These are meant for that. Not cricket.

why complicate things ?

2007-09-24T14:41:00.000+05:30

It doesn’t matter

2007-07-25T14:07:00.000+05:30

Today is indeed an important day in Indian history , the day a woman became the president of the largest democracy in the world . Even US hasn’t had a woman president till date though presidency means something totally different there . But then what does “The President” mean to an ordinary citizen . To me and I hope it is right , it is a highly symbolic post whose owner has no powers what so ever in the matters concerning the country . It is ironical that the first citizen of the country symbolizes what is the state of every ordinary Indian citizen’ – of helplessness . All the hullabaloo for choosing somebody for the post is highly unwanted and it is just for political parties to show their clout. And with all the mudslinging against each other’ s candidate it looked like anything except choosing the president of the country .
So after all this did we get the right president ,a person of high integrity who commands respect and whose past life has at least been of some good to the country ?. A blog I visited , read “by choosing Prathiba Patil, the country has already lost “ . It had mentions of the cases against her family members , crores of property and her dvivine ability to talk to the dead . As is the case with any politician in India , we all know how they earn their money , how they use their powers but they cannot be charged unless proven blatantly . Though personally I would say she is a wrong choice for the very reason that she should be cleared of everything against her before she occupies presidency , my repudiation is for a totally different reason– of her and the parties who supported her being extolled for us having our first woman president . Though I didn’t watch her post-swearing in speech , I am sure it must have had lots of women talk in it , meaning about the upliftment of women . Firstly ,even her selection was pure politics . The congress and left parties couldn’t agree on an extension for Kalam nor on the choice of other candidates like Shivraj Patil , Pranab Mukerjee and Somnath chaterjee . So somewhere out of the blue came Pratibha Patil’s name and she was chosen because nobody had anything against her. The fact she was chosen just because everybody favored a woman president is conspicuously false. Leaving the issue of her choice , neither has Prathiba Patil got a past record of working for women’s empowerment or anything concerning them . She was another woman politician whose name I first heard when she was selected as a presidential candidate and I am sure it is true for most people like me. Does she even know of the plight of women and what to work towards even if she wants to . A woman president doesn’t mean the state of women in the country has improved . Ignoring the exceptions , women still are the same suppressed lot whether in the metropolitan cities or in the villages , considering being modern doesn’t mean something has changed . In this country women are still helpless as before . The farmer wives in vidhabha are struggling for a living after their husbands suicides and are being pushed into prostitution . A 22 yr-old woman had to stage a semi nude protest on the road just to get the attention of the press , for her complaints against her in-laws and husband for domestic violence fell into deaf ears . Similar case of nude protests by Manipur women against the atrocities on them by the Indian armed forces . There are millions of women living in poverty not to mention their irresponsible husbands, who are factotums of their familes . There are cases of women who go out far for work , traveling in train ticketless , working in inhuman conditions just for 30 rupees a day . They come back well into the night only to see everyone sleeping and to finish their chores (as is expected out of every indian woman ) , rest for a few hours and start back to work still when the others are sleeping . They get to talk to their families only on Sundays when it is an off .They wont even know what India is and what presidency is . And as I mentioned earlier it is not just the villages . Women in the cities are educated , suave and earn equally to men . But are these the signs of empowered and liberated women . Comparing with any developed country (hoping that is what India is trying to become) even the most ultra modern of women don’t have the liberty of how to live their lives , what to wear , what to study , where to work , when to get married , whom to get married to and whether to continue with their profession after getting married . However modern they are , they still are brought up to serve their men and children , though I am sure many may not agree with this openly . I hope I am wrong but I am sure I am not .
Women in India don’t need symbols like Prathiba Patil . Nothing is going to change if they have a woman president . It simply doesn’t matter.

Attitude

2007-07-02T00:27:00.000+05:30

Something that i picked up from Orkut . Whatever (crap) it is , its nice .

"
A small truth to make our Life
100% successful....

(if)
A = 1
B = 2
C = 3
D = 4
E = 5
F = 6
G = 7
H = 8
I = 9
J = 10
K = 11
L = 12
M = 13
N = 14
O = 15
P = 16
Q = 17
R = 18
S = 19
T = 20
U = 21
V = 22
W = 23
X = 24
Y = 25
Z = 26
______
Then

H = 8
A = 1
R = 18
D = 4
W = 23
O = 15
R = 18
K = 11

Makes 98%
______

K = 11
N = 14
O = 15
W = 23
L = 12
E = 5
D = 4
G = 7
E = 5

Makes 96%
_____

L = 12
O = 15
V = 22
E = 5

Makes 54%
_____

L = 12
U = 21
C = 3
K = 11

Makes 47%

(None of them makes 100%)
_____

Then what makes 100%??

Is it Money? ..... NO!!!

Leadership? ..... NO!!!

Every problem has a solution,
only if we perhaps change our "ATTITUDE".

It is OUR ATTITUDE towards
Life and Work that makes
OUR Life 100% Successful..

A = 1
T = 20
T = 20
I = 9
T = 20
U = 21
D = 4
E = 5

Makes 100%
_____
"

Gone Home

2007-06-26T14:00:00.000+05:30

Whats common among Indra Nooyi , Randolph Peter Best (original drummer of Beatles), Nasser Hussein, M. Subramaniam, 13.04° N 80.17° E and Me ?

Since it has “Me” you would have guessed by now it is nothing great. The answer is , the 34th largest metropolitan city in the world originally called “Madre de Deus” in portugese and later Madras and now Chennai . Apart from the famous people (yeah yeah not me : - ) ) in the list , Pete Best was born in chennai and M Subramaniam is it's current mayor (for one last time it is not Stalin anymore) and the degrees are the coordinates of chennai .

So why are you reading this rambling instead of doing something useful . Its because I am free right now , it’s a Friday and so no project documents open in my computer and also because I suddenly realized I have a long forgotten blog . With no topic striking me I decided to atleast put a post on what I do best and what have done one more time – moving places .This time it is not “moving to” but “moving back” to Chennai . I am still not sure whether it was a right decision but I am already here. I used to “so what ? ” people whoever said Chennai is a horrible place with a sh*tty sweaty weather because nobody need tell me about it and it is true and you cannot do anything about it. But then even I got pissed when I got fully drenched by time I reached office on the first day . Then decided atleast I shouldn’t complain .Its my city .hmmm….lets see.

Also realized how much of a nomad I have become when I packing to leave Bangalore . All clothes fitted into a bag and all data went into a USB key .That’s all , I was all set to leave .Was wondering how much of a detached life I was living and how inherent this style of living has become in me . I knew I was going to miss the people and my favorite restaurants but I know they are not gone for ever. So I said my byes and just left . Oops...i needed to change the status in the messenger and i changed it to "Gone Home"

W.O.R.L.D C.U.P

2007-05-03T11:07:00.001+05:30

W – Worthy Winners. As Ian Chappell said “If there is one good thing that happened in this world cup it is that the best team emerged as the winners”. You love them or hate them, but you cannot ignore the Aussies. Their strength is just not their cricketing skills. It is an aggregation of skill, mental strength, and ability to handle pressures and it is far better than even the second best team. There may be a common enmity against Australia but it is more of an envy than enmity .People start hating you only when they are helpless against you and it is a sign that you are the best . I said the same about Michael Schumacher and it applies to the Australian team also. It is also said that the monopoly of Australia is actually killing the game but until they are the best team in the world , they will be winning the world cup how many ever times it is and who ever likes it or not.

O - Others , meaning the other teams . If the teams have to be ranked now , the world cup has already made the job easier . Run down the teams top down from the finals and you would get the rankings . It would mean putting Bangladesh and Ireland above India and Pakistan but is their anyone who doesn’t agree with that. I haven’t liked Srilanka from the day India lost to them in the ignominious 1996 world cup semi finals but my appreciation for them certainly has increased . Here is a team which is very less flamboyant than the other teams but more talented than all others except Australia . They look to have a natural talent and play very well as a team .And South Africa , my initial favourites , have the attitude very much personified by their captain . For them no challenge is bigger than them and they go all out for a win but get impetuous at times and lose their way . About the Indians , so much has been said and done but lets at least hope some good sense prevails after all this chaos and we end up with a good team.

R – Requiem for Woolmer, a good cricketing soul. If you can get yourself to come out of your failures , improve yourself and become a champion , you are undoubtedly good . But if you can do the same on others you are great and Woolmer was one such great. I was really sad the way he died but I only hope the investigation doesn’t bring a big blot on the game he loved so much.

L - Last Act . World Cup is the most important event in any game and the final ,the most important game . But the Cricket World Cup 2007’s final was no were near. The final is the game even non-followers of cricket see and that almost gives the whole picture of the popularity and passion the game has all over the world. Apart from all the mishaps and bungling that happened throughout the event the final was the second worst next only to woolmer’s murder. All that begins well ends well. If this is true then the World Cup was a perfect example. First the final had a bad start with the rain interrupting play and the match reduced to a 38 over per side game . If it is the most important game in the tournament and if two days have been allocated and if people have paid exorbitant amounts for a final’s ticket then why not have on the next day . But then this was the least shameful of the things that happened on that day. Everybody who stayed awake till early morning the next day to watch the match would have seen two celebrations by Australia , the first one interrupted by the umpires and the remaining three bowled just for a formality and then the actual celebrations .Though practically it didn’t make sense I thought following the rules is always good only to find out the next day that what happened was exactly the opposite . According to the rules , a game can be pushed to the next day only if the chasing team hadn’t played at least 20 overs and there was no reason why Australia was told to bowl the remaining 3 overs after srilanka took the light. A fitting finale for a forgettable World Cup.

D - Defeat .A defeat now is definitely not what it is to be earlier. It is something else now and much worse. Any sport is to produce a winner and a loser in each of its instance. While the winners had the spotlight on them before, it is the losers who have it now. I think there is a clear line between being a loser and a failure at least in sport. Defeat in a single game or a series doesn’t mean the players are failures. All that follows a loss in a game now are pathetic. Captains resign (or thrown out) , coaches sacked , the team booed at , player’s houses attacked , their endorsements cut and even people killed . Such are the stakes in cricket now, money has spoilt this sport more than any other . A game of cricket now produces one winner but 12 losers (including the coach). With this unhealthy ratio the game is not getting any better.

C – Caribbean. A country in which cricket still runs on past glory and the past is already 3 decades old . They have had many greats or more aptly greater greats than any cricketing country had ever had. But it is time to forget the past and move on particularly at this moment when the only cricketer who held the game together in the past decade has retired . It is no good for the team but everybody cant be there all the time . They still haven’t got up from the slump the team went into when the last generation players retired . One only hoped hosting this world cup would be a turning point . Sadly neither the country nor the team or even the event benefited. Also this event was less Caribbean than any other I have ever seen before . If the high ticket prices stopped the crowds from going to the matches which they generally occupy to the maximum capacity , the ban on musical instruments and any such things took out the very Caribbean flavour that the place is known for .

U – Underdogs .If this world cup was about anything it is definitely the underdogs. For me they are ones who retained the essence in the otherwise dispassionate World Cup. They came into the world cup not expecting to win but to have a good time and to give something back to the game which recognized them worthy to play in its most prestigious event. I unrealistically wish every team plays like the minnows. They were accountable to no one for their defeats, they didn’t have immature fans waiting for them in their countries and most importantly they didn’t feel they were bigger than the game . All they knew was cricket , enjoyed every run they took , cherished every wicket they got and left with the original essence of the game still in them . Nobody expected them to shake the world cup but they definitely ended stirring it up.

P – Players , at last . Though no player is bigger than the game it is mostly about them and good performers are always worthy of a mention. Each event brings out some winners and some unfortunate losers and also serves as a launching pad for some new talent . While Matt Hayden , Jayewardena , Kevin Peterson , Ponting and Glenn Mcgrath ruled this world cup , the greats like lara , Sachin, Inzamam and Flintoff let themselves to be ruled . But then the game will go on . In every game one team wins and the other loses but the game always goes with the winner .It simply doesn’t care about the loser.

The F word

2007-04-16T10:02:00.000+05:30

People, if you haven’t seen “The Departed” still and have no plans of seeing it either then you are missing something . Its not Martin Scorcese’s oscar winning direction though I have to say it was really awesome , the wonderful acts of Jack Nicholson, De Caprio and Matt Damon or the other aspects like screenplay or whatever is involved in movie making .They have all been well recognized and the movie has got four oscars including the Best Picture and Best Director ones .So lets not care about all that . What you are going to miss is hearing the word “FUCK” some 200 odd times and really enjoying it .Though you hear it and use it so many times everyday this movie really takes it to a different level . That’s what makes this movie so cool . I wouldnt be totally wrong if I say every dialogue in the movie has FUCK in it . I am not going to write it as F**k or F@#$ because it is a beautiful word (*wink*) and it is criminal not to use it in it's original form . Also do notice something . Count the number of times you use the word (if at all you use it )for a day or two after you have seen this movie .The count will be on an all time high . I have broken a few records already.

And please , from now on don’t say F stands for things like Fashion and Friendship .There is only one word which deserves to be called the F word and it is FUCK.

And this is not a fucking movie review .Go see the movie people :-)

Off the mark good ones

2007-04-03T09:08:00.000+05:30

Whats wrong with IT ?

2007-03-28T10:04:00.000+05:30

India seems to be on a high these days . What ever be the newspaper or magazine , it has India shining painted all over it . All of them talk about something called GDP which I faintly remember studying in 8th standard . GDP is growing at a rate of more than 8 pc for the last few years which some say is a indication of India becoming a super power ,something that I totally disagree with.Then there are these Mergers. The M word is the latest fashion in corporate India these days .Whether it is the quietly done Birla-Novelis deal , the hard fought Tata-Corus auction or the long drawn Arcelor – Mittal battle , it is seen as the coming of age of Indian entrepreneurship or business acumen whatever you call it . In the midst all this hullabaloo “IT” which was seen as the spearhead of India’s development has lost its sheen . No more is India just about TCS, Satyam and Infosys . It is about everything now , right from steel industries to construction companies to private airlines to the horribly copied Indian fashion and even the blatantly plagiarized indian movies .Even though the TATAs , Ambanis and Birla were there much before these IT companies gained prominence they where not , atleast to me , portrayed as the face of developing India as these IT biggies . No company can even think of the kind of adulation that Infosys has got . Being part of this IT industry , whatever be the downside , gives everyone a sense of satisfaction and settlement and more so the ability to pay higher EMIs (*wink*) . But everyone outside seem to have lot of complaints . All of them want to get into IT or atleast want their children to and nobody is stopping them but when either of these doesn’t happen , they do what they can do best , criticize the industry .
I was watching a debate on IT industry on television which obviously was between a group of IT professionals and a non-IT cum conservative lot who think of themselves as the bearers of morality and culture in this world . Through out the debate , all I could sense was a feeling of jealously in the opposition which comes from their idea that IT professionals earn way too much than they do .While it is true that it is higher than many industries , it is not at all too much to blame the IT people for all the problems that is prevalent in the Indian society today which includes drug abuse , molestation , abandoning parents and even price hikes . According to them , somehow working in an IT company made a guy marry one of his colleagues against the will of his parents and abandon them. The story was that his father for all of the 20 plus year dotingly brought him up sacrificing all his pleasures and that guy’s sudden wealth(because of an IT job) made him independent (as if it was something bad) and arrogant. Is this the first case of this kind we are seeing in India ? . How can profession change your nature and attitude? This guy would have done the same wherever he would have gone to work . And then there are all these complaints about rave parties and drug abuse . According to them most IT pros go to rave parties every week , use drugs and molest women there .What crap ! . Anybody who has 1000 rupees to his/her disposal every week can go to a disco. From people i know there are many who party but none dope . Most of them pick up their bags to go their hometowns in the weekends to see their families than indulge in revelry . Also , as always with the media , the television program itself didn’t do anything to help the IT image .It sort of helped the bashers . The program started with an IT professional bragging, showing off her lavish home , laptop (probably her project’s) , big plasma TV and new car and above all attributing all this luxury to the IT field she is working in . Also as part of the episode , an all Chennai survey was conducted to know from people whether they were jealous on IT professionals .
IT pros these days are connected with lavishness , rudeness , arrogance and debauchery .Not long ago these were all connected only with cine stars and fashion models . Even land price and Auto fare hikes are blamed on them . It looks like autowallahs in chennai fleece people because IT employees don’t bargain and give what they are asked for and the same is expected out of other people . if u ask me I haven’t seen a honest autowallah in Chennai in my life .Though there is little sympathy about IT pros working like dogs and not having a proper personal life many think they deserve it . This attitude really is disgusting . But then this is all a bloody farce. The same people who complain don’t stop their children from getting into this field , only prefer IT brides and bridegrooms for their children and feel very proud about them too. If at all they even get remotely connected with IT . everything takes a sudden turn .The same mouths say that IT industry has brought India out of poverty , has made the middle class stronger and is a symbol of Indian intellect.

So as the title says is there something wrong ? Definitely , not with the industry but with the people.

Amen.

A 5000 pound car and a 500,000 pound Mercedes

2007-02-20T09:57:00.000+05:30

Suddenly in office the desks become cleaner, the food becomes tastier and your cubicle has a new name board invariably with a spelling mistake in your name . If you are working in an IT firm you must have guessed already it is a Client Visit . You can never guess what levels people go to make the Client visit smooth particularly in the so called Indian IT biggies .This is not meant to be an offence to these companies but because there is much at stake for them and so much competition that they don’t take any chances. I was in my first project then and the UK relationship manager called us for a meeting a day before the clients arrived. I didn’t know what for but he told us to wear matching socks for the pants, take print outs of the project architecture(I didn’t realize we had one till then) and stick them in our cubicles and most ridiculously mention the toilet as ”loo”. White skin automatically gives an inferiority complex to most Indians. Are not we still the same Indians who shamelessly look at every foreigner on the street and think he is an American billionaire while the reality is many Americans save for the whole year for their holidays . In my three years in IT i am yet to see a manager who has said a “no” to a client even if he is a developer like me but just that he is on the other side of the planet . They are always the privileged, it is absolutely fine if they leave office at 3 in the afternoon , don’t complete their work by the deadline and go on a long leave during the delivery. They are the clients but even when these affect our work not a word is said . And the way people involve in cajolery when they speak to clients is absolutely horrendous. Every time people talk with the clients it is never only about work , it always includes a talk about India and the country they are from . The most famous of the topics include the Indian food , Indian coffee and not to forget “The Taj Mahal” . And then from there it goes to America , junk food , las Vegas and the horrible coffees you get there. I do talk about these to clients but not to an ridiculous extent , not every time at least . If I was one of the clients I would really feel pestered but these fellows know Indians well and enjoy the over indulgence. My manager told me “Yuva , you are the only one in the team whom the Onsite manager doesn’t know by name” . I know it is not all true but I replied “That’s fine. Till a week before even I didn’t know that guy’s name”. I have met this guy only once and I have only as little business with him as he has with me. Whoever it is - development lead, Onsite manager , the project owner , head of IT , research head or even the CEO , the same applies . Here it is considered aloofness and non-interactiveness but people don’t even realize that it is the way the westerners work . They are absolutely friendly and easy moving but when it comes to work they like it all professional , interactive to only the needed extent ,don’t over indulge and always maintain a personal space.
In fact I have always liked my clients . It’s a problem entirely with us .I like the way they work , their professionalism , management , interaction and straight forwardness . They have a very aplomb air around themselves .You can learn more from working with the English for a month than from anywhere else. You realize the difference between how you do things and the how things should actually be done . Enough of this soliloquy about westerners but what they expect from us is some good quality work and straight forwardness . Unfortunately they mostly don’t get either . All the over caring , sweet talk and fake miles that is done when they come here is to cover that up. Under the smiles there are pity lies and a lot of dirty mess. It is all a bloody ruse . It is all made-up . A very good example is the most used word in the IT industry - Deadline .All the troubles that any ordinary engineer faces basically emanate from this very word .The deadlines accepted by the marketing guys( who by the way have no idea how the work is actually done) are not a result of careful planning and thorough analysis but more of an auction bid .Unacceptable deadlines are accepted with a broad smile just to pip another company from bagging the project . So there is something wrong even before a project starts. So how do you meet these deadlines? .Obviously by making people working day night like dogs and disregarding all the processes. Just that the clients are made to believe that all the processes are followed and people are working nights because there are genuine technical problems and they are committed in getting them solved . You only get tagged uncommitted and rebellious when you try to change this . No points for guessing who I mean by “YOU”.
But then you can cheat some sometimes, many many times but not all always. If you think clients don’t know what is happening , that they are very glad to be in the midst of us enjoying the attention , you are a fool . They know everything is worth only its cost . They cut jobs and send the work to India not because we are God’s gift to the world but because we are cheap labour. They digest things not because they don’t have any other way but because they already know all this would happen. One my rather arrogant clients supposedly had said “I know what to expect from a 500,000 Mercedes and what not to from 5000 pound car” . People don’t even understand what an insult this is .Everything is drowned and forgotten in the beer that flows in the team party after the release .Next day it is another project and another client. No post mortem is done , not a lesson is learnt but only smiles looking at the photos that were taken with the clients last night in the party .

Then and Now

2007-02-14T12:41:00.000+05:30

Looking back i feel it was all very kiddish, but then I was a kid then . The first world cup that I followed was the 1992 one and still remember how mad I was about it . I ripped the schedule from the Hindu days before the start and began writing my prediction for each game . I think I wanted West Indies to win the world cup but lose just the match against India .As always with the Indian team what happened was quite the opposite . I woke up 4 O’ Clock in the morning only to see India drubbed by West Indies . Also got most of my predictions wrong and to add to all that Pakistan won the cup . But then it was all fun and also it was just the beginning of my cricket madness . It continued on from there to 1996 when Vinod Kambli returned crying in the semi finals against Srilanka and then on to 1999 when the world cup started exactly on the day I finished my last of the many engineering entrance exams . I remember throwing the books and rushing to my grandma’ s house to see the match on the new big TV . I didn’t return home till the world cup was over during which I think I read every word of every sports magazine available on the stands, something that I can never do with my school books .
And now, just yesterday I knew that the World Cup is starting next month . I still don’t know on when it is starting exactly , what are the teams participating , how long it is going to be and who all are in the Indian Team . I realized that its been very long since I watched a match and cant even remember the last time I sat through an entire match . To be frank I am not one of the cool dudes who stopped watching cricket just because it is more of an Indian sport now and started following Tennis , F1 , league football and NBA . I was following all these sports even when I was madly following cricket and still follow most of them except NBA though not as much as before.Cricket has always been my favourite sport and always will be . But then unconsciously I have stopped following it . Looks like sports(read as cricket , I am an Indian) has taken a backseat in my life .What has taken the front seat? God Knows!.
So my favourite time is back and I am gonna compensate for all the missed cricket . As one of my college mates rightly put it “The World is not enough but the World Cup certainly is!”

FW: A Girl's Diary v/s Boy's Diary.....

2007-01-23T09:55:00.000+05:30

This is one of the forwards that keeps coming to me now and then but nevertheless very funny . I just cant stop laughing every time I read this.

HER DIARY

Day night, I thought he was acting

weird. We had made

plans to meet at a

cafe to have some coffee. I was

shopping with my friends

all day long, so I

thought he was upset at the fact that I

was a bit late,

but he made no

comment.Conversation wasn't flowing so

I suggested that

we go somewhere

quiet so we could talk, he agreed but

he kept quiet and

absent.I asked

him what was wrong - he said,

"Nothing."I asked him if

it was my fault

that he was upset. He said it had

nothing to do with me

and not to worry.

On the way home I told him that I loved

him, he simply

smiled and kept

driving. I can't explain his

behavior; I don't know

why he didn't say,

"I love u,too."When we got home I felt

as if I had lost

him, as if he

wanted nothing to do with me anymore.

He just sat

there and watched TV.;

he seemed distant and absent.Finally I

decided to go to

bed. About 10

minutes later he came to bed. I decided

that I could not

take it anymore,

so I decided to confront him with the

situation but he

had fallen asleep.I

started crying and cried until I too

fell asleep. I

don't know what to

do. I'm almost sure that his thoughts

are with someone

else. My life is a

disaster.

HIS DIARY

Today India lost the cricket match

against Bangladesh.

DAMN IT !!!

Semantics of a fool

2007-01-22T09:51:00.000+05:30

This week it was Hugh Grant in the “From the Actor’s Studio” show in SONY PIX and boy he was good .One of my favourite actors and the coolest one among them . Brutally frank and absolutely hilarious this man lights up the screen whenever he appears . I saw the show for just five minutes but he admitted to fornicating and teachers having a crush on him and one of them passing him though he performed miserably in a vocabulary test . I was too tired to watch the show further but then decided to take a vocabulary test since it has been so many years I last learnt English . Not knowing how to do it without a computer I took my dictionary and thought of picking words at random and trying to guess their meaning . I don’t know whether to call it a vocabulary test or a semantics test but then realized if there is something common between Hugh Grant and Me it is the performance in the test . I had no idea what many words meant. So the grapes turned sour by the time I crossed my tenth “I-have-no-idea-what-this-means” word and consoled myself with the shameless excuse that I am an Indian and its enough if I know as much English so as to manage my studies and profession .Who cares if “Savant” means a scholar and “psephology” means “study of election trends” , words I may not ever use in my life and there is always the same dictionary if at all I encounter them . Then came a thought about what is the minimal vocabulary I can do away with in a normal day in my life . At work it is just enough if I know what “Dear” , “Team” , “Regards” , “Bugs” , “Meeting” , “deadline” , “Thank you” , “Build” , “version” and “Deployment” means . Apart from these the vocabulary that I use is not from English but mostly from C# . Outside work I can just do away with knowing what “babe” and “Amazing” means , both often used in the same sentence(*wink*) apart from the normal English . So went happily to sleep and got up in the morning only to refer the dictionary thrice for the first four sentences I read from today’s Hindu(needless to say you should laugh here) .

So the fool in the heading is me and I have no idea why I came up with that and don’t even know whether it is grammatically correct but then that is the very point I am trying to drive here.

P.S : I am a pretty normal guy and don’t involve myself in weird activities like taking a self- compiled vocabulary test . This is the first and hope this is the last too .(*wink*).

Another end and Another beginning

2006-12-30T01:17:00.000+05:30

There goes another year, as always.It may be a cliché to say time flies but the truth is it does , faster than you think .You cannot do anything about it but only feel sad that you are another year older . My age is my most hated number. Definitely !!. I turned 25 this year and it pained when I thought “I am quarter of a century old” . It is just one more than 24 but the number 25 hit me . May be it is because till 24 I was the same what I was at 20 . There were no significant changes in me and I didn’t give a heck about it either. But turning 25 I felt like age is catching up and that the world is a lot younger than me unlike till the day before my birthday when it looked a lot older . Gone are the days when all the achievers on TV were older than me and I thought when I am their age I would do something at least half as good as what they did . But now Sania Mirza and Wayne Rooney are already world famous and super rich and both are a cool half a decade younger than me . Cricket teams used to be made of old people but now many captains are younger than me. So should I stop kidding around , be more serious in life ,act like a responsible adult and try to achieve something .May be but I have no idea how to do that . I feel like a fool.
So should I plan for the whole year now ? I cant, even if I want to . I don’t even know what is going to happen a month from now and how the heck can I plan for a year . I think I should at least be making some New Year resolutions .Oh no , no way . I don’t make any new year resolutions and I wont ever. I cant live a whole year without binging on junk food , I cant get up before 10 in the morning or stop ogling shamelessly at girls. I didn’t plan or make any new year resolutions last year but I think I had a good if not a great year . I came back from UK , went to my first rock concert , had a good time in Mumbai for nearly 3 months , quizzed a lot, went places , made lots of friends , shifted jobs and with that shifted to a new city .There were a few failures and a few heartbreaks but then it is abnormal only if you don’t have them . So all I am going to do is eat some cake , drink some cola , greet everybody “A Happy New Year” and sleep expecting to have not a great year ahead but just another great “Tomorrow”.

WISH YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR .STAY BEAUTIFUL.

Dress Code

2006-12-12T16:40:00.000+05:30

Enchanted

2006-12-06T16:36:00.000+05:30

The last book I read was “Freakonomics” by Steven D. Levitt . A very unconventional and interesting book from one of the best minds living today . But the book took me more than 20 days to complete and was a bit of shame for me considering it was only a 200 page book . I am reading the 6^th book in the Harry potter series right now and I am sure I am gonna finish it today .I just started the book a week ago and it is a 608 page book and I don’t want to finish it either. I just cant put the book down and it is the only thing I have looked forward to after finishing work everyday in the past week . So why the difference ?. What makes Harry Potter so interesting ? Why are even adults engrossed in the book while it is meant to be a children’s book ? So why do people who think it is kiddish to read Harry Potter turn fans just after they read the first book ? Whats so gripping about this book that kids connect so much with the main character that they don’t want Harry Potter to die in the last book.

These are the reasons why I think so.

The Magic World - Not many stories in the world can boost of creating a world of its own that makes many kids think it may well be true . This according to me was one of the primary reasons why this book became a phenomenon . The meticulous effort of the author that has gone into creating the magic world is definitely laudable .The magic school , the ministry of magic , quidditich – the game played by the wizards , the Hogwarts express , the moving photographs and many more have all become a craze in the real world . I really understood why a movie cant really stand up to its adapted book how ever high tech it is made when I saw the first potter movie . I really enjoyed reading the authors description of the magic world but the movie didn’t even create an impression and felt sorry for those who are seeing the movie without reading the book. I have stopped watching potter movies or for that matter any adapted movie.

The main character Harry Potter - People or rather Muggles who don’t follow Harry Potter think it’s the story of another Super Hero . The fact is he is not even portrayed as a talented boy . He is an ordinary kid who is ill-treated by his guardian family and somehow couldn’t come into terms with the magic world he is told he belongs to .A very normal character with emotions that you can expect from any kid. In fact , if I remember correctly not in all the first 6 books has Harry done a great act of wizardry considering that he is the main character . He doesn’t do that well in exams , cant understand the classes properly and is always helped by someone or something to get out of trouble . Every character in the book pities Harry Potter and it is same with the reader too . But this is the reason what makes me wait impatiently for the next book . I really am interested on how the seventh book is going to be knowing well about this character and how it is going to do what it is supposed to.

The story telling and narration . If you think Harry potter books are written one and one , you are definitely wrong . At least the main characters , happenings and twists were well conceived during the first book it self ,at least according to me . The book has many back and forth references that really amazes you and which is not possible if each book is stared afresh after the previous one . I can put a few examples here but it would be too technical. Also the narration is as gripping as it can ever get . Each book throws out a lot of mysteries and even though many are solved and many answers given you still have a feeling that only the last book is going to answer it all.

Well by now if you have got a feeling that I am a jobless and useless Harry Potter fan , you cant be more right .

So for all you muggles who haven’t read Harry Potter still ALOHOMORA!

If you are a potter fan reading this I really would like to know which potter book is ur favourite.

I liked the second one "Chamber of secrets " the most.

People and Places

2006-11-24T16:21:00.000+05:30

If you have lived all your life in your hometown most likely you would hesitate to move anywhere else even for your work and more so if your company has branches in the city .But not me . I was indeed very happy and excited when i started working after college and even more so when i had to move to Hyderabad for the same. I was spoilt like many when it came to comfort which I laugh at looking back . To be very frank I was genetically accustomed to home food. A couch potato of sorts having never bothered to try cooking or cleaning or for that matter anything which does not involve eating and entertainment I had doubts whether I would enjoy living outside Chennai even though I was excited. But it couldn’t have been better.

Right from the first day there was a sense of bonhomie instead of the expected nostalgia. Everything was new , the office , the people , the language and the food .But I liked them all . I decided to stay with some hyderabadis from my batch instead of Tams to explore the city more . Getting to have some nice hyderabadi biryani and see a telugu movie……I repeat a telugu movie on the very second day in Hyderabad was a good or more correctly a different experience. And it was no stopping from then on till I left Hyderabad 2 months ago having stayed with so many people , having tried almost all restaurants in Hyderabad and having met some of the coolest people you can be friends with .

I would have enjoyed as much in any city if I had the same people but Hyderabad was definitely better . The city was known for nothing except biryani and pearls but it had its own uniqueness . Infact it was a very moderate city .Nothing was extreme about it like traffic in Bangalore or congestion in mumbai . To describe Hyderabad in a sentence it is city full of movie lovers , so much that many times you cant get a movie ticket even on weekdays . A place with some of the best restaurants which caters to people from all over India . Surprisingly the only South Indian city where people use more Hindi on the roads than the regional language . I have met many many north Indians who felt it would be better to settle in Hyderabad than even their home towns and many alike south Indians too .The sad part though is it is getting bangalored now but it is coping up well . It has far better infrastructure then any other city and everyone awes at the kinda roads u have in Hyderabad.

It is good to have friends who speak your language but it is great to have friends who don’t . If I take a count I have more non-tam friends than tam friends . With each one of them it is a different experience . Have kannadigas , andhrites,mallus , biharis ,marathis,bengalis ,goans and Kashmir pandits as your friends and you will know what I mean .They all fell into three categories - people u like , people who like you and the managers(*wink*) . Honestly before i went to hyderabad i undeniably had some apprehensions about the "Gulutis"(as i know them then) I am going to meet. But it all changed in the training we had before we went to hyderabad where I met some of the nicest guys you can meet . At the end of the training I found them to be more friendly and more jovial than the Tamils even and I still stand by it even to this day. This was one of the reasons which convinced me in to thinking that staying with them in hyderabad wouldn’t be a bad idea .

If it sounds like I am saying Hyderabad is the best place you can be in and andhrites are the best people you can meet, it is an emphatic “NO” . The point is each place is unique and every culture is different and that’s what makes it interesting . Not only are cities in US , UK and Singapore places but every city in India also is . But I am not the foolishly patriotic Indian who says everything and anything about india is the best . Liking or disliking your country has got nothing to do with this. It is about the different experiences you can have . Having lived in Uk for a year and also having been to Paris there is no doubt that they are among the best .But for me Chennai , Trivandrum , Bangalore , Mumbai , Hyderabad ,London ,Paris and all the places I have lived in or been to are the same, each unique and enjoyable in its own way.I switched jobs recently and had a option of Chennai or Bangalore . Though Bangalore is not that far from Chennai I chose Bangalore just for a different experience. I already like Bangalore though people keep here keep cribbing about traffic and congestion .I hope I like it all through.

So if variety is the spice of your life and you see the good side of every thing and luckily get a chance to work or study in some other city grab it , meet different people , eat different food and learn different languages. Factors like being Single or married , vegetarian or non-vegetarian and language matter only a little and there is something for everybody in everyplace . I know orthodox Brahmins who cry about eating in daabas and messes and others who cry about not knowing the language but happily go to Japan and china for onsite just because they get extra pelf. We have this mind set of always wanting to work in our home towns or else go to a foreign country. If you can enjoy being in a totally alien place , eat ridiculously bland food and enjoy being with people who look down on you and treat you condescendingly believe me you can have a blast in any of the Indian cities if you have the right attitude and passion.

"Eve"il Intentions

2006-11-21T16:46:00.000+05:30

If you ask a man how does he feel about a woman who has killed her husband, most probably he would say he feels sorry for her .But if you ask a woman what to do about a man who has beaten his wife ,”Hang Him” would be the response mostly . This is the attitude men and women have about the other sex in India . Unfortunately for Indian men this feeling is more intense among educated women who think they are the saviors of the uneducated and rural women . The problem with this attitude is not only blind sympathy but also vindictiveness against the other sex . The recent “domestic violence law” introduced by the minister of women and child welfare is just that .

Nobody in the all the panels that was constituted for this law did realize what it is up to .The law is very offensive than being protective that it does more harm to men than it does to protect women .Its only objective is to enslave men who according to Renuka Chowdry have no other work except beating and torturing women. One of the excerpts from the law mentions that “ any verbal or physical abuse on a women or her siblings in a present or a past relationship is deemed as domestic violence”. As Karan Thapar put it rightly if u call the brother of a girl who was your girlfriend 10 yrs ago “an ass”, you can be put in jail . Shocking!!!!!!! It is but was is even more appalling is the fact that the minister not only accepts that the law can be misused but most definitely wants it to be misused . Immature and sarcastic comments like “it is men’s turn to suffer” and “…it is just that I have so much pity for men” may amuse her but it is not going to help her in the course of implementing this law . So then what happens to “gender equality” now ? Is it still “gender equality” if men suffer and women become the so called “greater sex” ?

There is not even a modicum of doubt that women in India are suffering even in this age and it is very unfortunate that this is happening in a country which is slated to be the next super power. Also there is no doubt that these atrocities should stop and women should be given equal rights. But then taking an amateurish ,short-sighted and sentimental approach in eliminating these atrocities will not only gain opposition but also cause the law to fade away in due course. That is the reason why all the laws that have been brought in till now have achieved little. . There should be a comprehensive and holistic approach (which is missing in every law that is made in india) which aims at the root cause and devises mechanisms which gives provides permanent solutions . Steps like increasing the literacy rate, building confidence and encouraging women to have an active career and achieve financial independence should be the way going forward. It is a well known fact that women are gullible only when they are illiterate or financially dependent on their spouse.

There is also another interesting aspect of “domestic violence” . If you have noticed this term is more synonymous with the “Mother-in-law” atrocities than “wife” beating . So why are only men targeted? Mothers, sisters, mothers-in-law and sisters-in-law are more responsible for the atrocities against women than all the men put together, at least as equally responsible. The mothers –in- law are the ones who prefer a grandson than a granddaughter, the mothers are the ones who bring up the girls differently than the boys making them submissive in nature and also imbuing with the idea that their ultimate aim in life is to get married, serve their husbands and bring up the kids and the sisters-in-laws are the ones who treat their brother’s wife as an alien even if she is of her age group . The important point to be drawn from this is though they have suffered they consider it a privilege to treat the girl who gets married into their family badly . All this are clear indicators that even if all the men change because of this law, women are still bound to suffer because it is the women who are enslaving themselves and others.

I also don’t know whether it is because Renuka Chowdry thinks that all women are innocent in India or because of the total disregard for men that she thinks this law will not be misused by women and that it is ok for men to suffer because women have been suffering for so long . Cant she realize if the man in the house who in most families is the bread winner and the head of the family is punished , it will affect the whole family and the lady in the house mainly . Cant she realize it further increases the hatred of men towards women and can split houses which are already torn and that equal participation and acceptance is required from men to make any law successful.

I don’t want a Man’s world out there but with people like our minister and laws like this one I think a Woman’s world will be far worse.

Oops!!!!!!!

2006-10-27T20:08:00.000+05:30

Have you felt embarrased when your friends find out that something you told them before is a complete goof-up . erhhhhh....feels bad even to recount that isn't it . Then think what if you are the senator of new york and also a former first lady of US.

I dont know why this 11-year old controversy came up recently in the news but it is nonetheless interesting and funny.

Hillary Rodham Clinton on a 1995 trip to Tibet had told that she was named "Hillary" after the famous mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary who was the first man to conquer Mt.Everest.But unluckily for Ms.Clinton she was born in 1947 and Sir Hillary's expedition was not until 1953 . To top all this she defended herself saying that her mother knew the beekeeper-turned-mountaineer Edmund Hillary in a publication while she was pregnant in 1947.

So how many mothers name their kids after some unknown beekeeper in NewZealand.Good on you Hillary!!!!!!! To err is "always" human.

where google just isnt enuf

2006-10-13T10:59:00.000+05:30

Third Time lucky…but are we?

2006-09-29T17:49:00.000+05:30

“Its my third match against her this year and I guess it is third time lucky for me “ said a smiling Sania Mirza after defeating Martina Hingis in the Hansol Korean open . The newspapers that blared about Martina’s sublimity five days ago are now squealing about “Sania The Extraordinaire” and surely she has a reason to smile , for she can surely bask on this glory for some days to come though she may not win the cup . She has all reasons for not worrying too much even if she doesn’t win the cup because sponsors would have already queued up in her house .
While she is very talented and commendable for her little achievements, she is no way exemplary. Then why this nepotism towards Sania while there are lots of more talented sports persons in India . It is now a open a secret that it is for the “I’m cute ! NO shit ” T-shirt wearing attitude chic than the talented sports person inside . If not then Koneru humpy who for the record is younger than Sania ,won the “Womens Junoir chess Championship” at the age of 14 in 2001 and only second in rankings to the all time great Judit Polgar should be the one who should be in every hoarding in every city and the one who should be in ads right from Tata Tea to Sprite .As usual its business , isn’t it . The corporate houses , the pragmatic they are shun talent for money and pour in millions where the peoples eyes are.

But is it right if we just criticize the companies? Are we(the people) right minded? .Is our thinking balanced or is it too somatic ? Would you even recognize Humpy in an ad or would you switch channels thinking who is this rustic looking girl ?Would the companies get the expected results if Sania is replaced with Humpy ? Why a motherly attitude towards “the babe” and a step motherly attitude towards “the brainy” ?
Another question that is worth contemplating is “As sport lovers do we endorse just “FORM ” and not “CLASS”” ? ,do we fail to realize that “form is temporary but class is permanent “ ?.That I believe is the curse of Indian sports , particularly Indian tennis , for all the tennis stars that India has produced have gone on to become millionaires with just sporadic victories . The amritrajs , the krishnans , leander Paes and Sania “The Mania” Mirza have made the most of their popularity by just hanging on and winning just the first rounds and occasionally something notable , hardly have we produced a world class tennis star.
What about our very own cricket ? We had Sehwag and Zaheer all over our TVs preaching us what shaving blade we should buy ,which cola to drink and even which cycle tire to buy? . Now one is tonsured and just fills up a place in the team and the other is in oblivion . It all over to the piliferous Mr.Dhoni now who I am sure will meet a similar fate , but not Dravid or Tendulkar . Not that Tendulkar was not class then but a years ago I wouldn’t have said that about Tendulkar . I am a Lara fan and he epitomizes class in cricket for me ,for his ability to deliver when the team needs him and the very treat for your eyes when you see him bat . I am not a Tendulkar fan even now but I have to admit I was short sighted . He is a class apart , for he is insurmountable .No bowler can ever admit to having made him bow down . But what I liked of him is that he never is “Out of Form”. This may not go well with everybody but I would say those who don’t agree with this are short sighted . What we expect of sachin is a century in every match . Even a string of 5 matches without a fifty makes him “out-of-form” and all this for a man who has made the most runs in the planet and has a commendable average of around 50 in both forms of the game.
The average Indian sports lover gets entrenched by what the media says and goes by just the entertainment value that a sport provides. Not only does it favour a few sportsmen but only few sports . That’s the reason why nobody knows who is the captain of our hockey team that too being a national sport and that’s why when the discussion in BCCI is which five star hotel to book , the Indian railways hockey team was made to stay in railway coaches(because it is the railways team) in the stations and the women’s hockey team is begging for months for extra shoes and bats. While the prevalent idea is to blame the government what we don’t realize is that it our bias to Cricket and the companies trying to capitalize on that is what is killing the other sports .
Until we change we would be extremely lucky even if we get a bronze medal in the Olympics….leave alone Gold.

Start , Camera and Action

2006-09-19T20:22:00.000+05:30

Its been nearly 7 months since I last came to Chennai. Though I have been only in Mumbai and Hyderabad during that time I don’t like coming home every other week. I usually prefer a break of a week or 10 days once in 4-5 months .But this time its different .I have quit my job and since the new company asked me the joining date I was liberal in giving myself a long much needed break…..and I had lots to catch up too.

Do you know that the cinematographers in hollywood see the PH value of the liquid used for the development of pictures? For sure I did not ….until Thursday. This was one of the numerous things my cousin, a Chennai film school grad and a starting cinematographer and director imbued me with on that day.
I called up my cousin last thursday to hang out with and I am glad I did.The Hungarian film festival was going on in the city and I knew I got the best guy with me to go with.We started of early and had some nice chettinad food and went shopping .Still having an hour to kill we decided to go to Spencers Plaza which by the way was near to the South Indian Film Chamber where the film festival was going on. So we decided to go to landmark and again luckily there was a sale going on there. Burnt some more cash,got some books at pretty cheap prices and then headed to the film festival only to know that entry is only for the chamber members . My cousin suggested against getting a membership on the spot and I hesitantly agreed and so we came off. But I am glad I did,for he started talking about films, not the usual gossips but about cinematography , details about scripts ,screen play and many intricate technical stuff. I was really taken aback by the things this guy knew and was glad to know the other side of glitz and glamour . But the best part of the day is that he taught me how to use a camera(I had a bad digital camera). He taught me about white balancing , changing exposure and also suggested I throw my camera to trash and get a new one :-).I really enjoyed the day and was a nice change from my usual days filled with code, bugs, scripts , deployment and demos . I was glad I had a cousin in a different industry unlike some people I know for whom everybody in the house is a software professional and they talk about IBM , Accenture ,j2ee , .net and web services more than anything else.

A day well spent ….and planning to go to the International film festival in GOA next time with him , with a new camera ofcourse(*wink*).

And I shall be known as........

2006-09-16T16:51:00.000+05:30

I jumped upon blogthings.com and found many tests to give me my name in different cultures and here they are

Italian

Your Italian Name Is...

Ottavio Esposito

What's Your Italian Name?

Russian

Your Russian Name Is...

Dimitrios Aleksi Ivanov

What's Your Russian Name?

Hawaiian

Your Hawaiian Name is:

Mauli Keahi

What's your Hawaiian Name?

German

Your German Name is:

Bastian Timo

What's Your German Name?

My favourite ones......

Pirate

Your Pirate Name Is...

Bloody Wicked Willie

What's Your Pirate Name?

Monster

Your Monster Profile

Undead Nightmare

You Feast On: Peanut Butter

You Lurk Around In: Movie Theaters

You Especially Like to Torment: Vegans

What's Your Monster Name?

I better stick to my Indian one.

Trying Hard

2006-09-16T14:51:00.000+05:30

It was another of the Friday nights where we talk till we doze off in our chairs.The best part of staying with friends is the chats and debates you have about everything under the sun from studies to international politics , reservations , girls and movies.While seeing the news my friend started on Israel and Lebanon and so we had a topic.I was amazed by the astounding knowledge this guy had about Israel and middle east asian crisis (it is middle east isn’t it *blinking*) .He told so much about israel , Palestine , Lebanon , hizbollah and the Israel intelligence (I forgot the name) but we finished early as he was sad and reeling over Jyothika ,his fav actress getting married :-)))))))))

It was just 1:30 am, a little too soon to sleep and I was in no mood to read .So I switched on the TV to catch up some nice movie .Unfortunately all ended up seeing was Himesh Reshammaiya crooning channel after channel till 3.00AM when I decided to go sleep though I didn’t feel very sleepy .

I did wake up early , at 12:30 in the afternoon to see that none of my roommates where in the house . So thinking of what do and that too with no roomies around I decided first to atleast go to the nearest browsing centre .For the past two and half years that I have been in and out of Hyderabad I have never been in such a place as the one I am staying in right now . There are no browsing centers nearby expect one sify iway , some one and half kilometers away where the connection is so fast that I can go have a tea by the time the browser opens . So after putting in some thought and also considering office was pretty near I decided “it is better to go to office”.

I hope my ex-managers don’t read this blog. For all the fights I have had with them for not accepting to work on Saturdays , I am was in office on a Saturday ,that too when there is very less work(to be honest non at all) in the project.As I entered the office one of my ex-project mates looked surprised and howled “Is that Yuva I am seeing on a Saturday………………in office…….**** man” .And just as I sat and finished checking my hotmail ,another friend and long term colleague of my mine came in and stared enquiring(I cant find a better word) as she entered

She : Hi Yuva

Me : Hi ***** , whats up , in office on a Saturday .

She : Yes my project is going live tomorrow…….some last minute fixes and bugs.

Me : Going live tomorrow on a Sunday……that’s weird.

She: Yes what to do ……u know the way it all works……(and some yaada yaada ).

Me : ok ok.

She : And you……why are u here in office……..work is it?…..and whats happening in ur project.

Me : Nope ……just felt bored… came here for browsing …….and about my project it was all fine until I joined(*wink*)

She : So u don’t have a girlfriend? (it was more of a conclusion than a question.I was also taken aback considering she is one of the most quiet souls I have come across in the company and hardly gets into discussions like this )

Me(Suprised) : Fortunately or Unfortunately no……I wouldn’t be here on a Saturday if I had one………may be girls don’t find me smart enough.

She : No that’s not the case Yuva

Me : Oh is it (with a sardonic smile)…then what

She : Yes….it is just that you are not trying hard .

And I couldn’t stop laughing all day thinking of “trying hard”……….hahahahaha…

i wish it was true

2006-09-15T17:05:00.000+05:30

I took the “What do people envy about you?” test and this is what came up

People Envy Your Confidence

You have the attitude and self esteem to take on anything. Failure is beyond not an option for you - it doesn't even cross your mind.

People envy your ability to take on any challenge ... and they're secretly afraid you think you're better than them. You don't. You're just sure of yourself.

What Do People Envy About You?

All I can say is I wish it was true.

NUMB3RS

2006-08-19T17:19:00.000+05:30

133 - scraps that I have in orkut

68 - friends I have in orkut.

…………………………
…………………………

6 - months since I last went home

5 - accommodations I have been in this year

4 - projects I have worked on this year

3 - movies I have seen this year in theatres

2 - no of books I have finished reading in the last two weeks

1 - no of times I have checked my personal mail this week

0 - no of trips i have been to this year.

So as of now I have been too long out of home , changed too many accomodations , worked on too many projects , have no old friends in Hyderabad , so not hanging out a lot and only reading books.... and yes orkutting a bit. Life sucks………should change………It will.

Face Off

2006-07-31T00:34:00.000+05:30

If karan thapar hasn’t studied one lesson thoroughly in all his years at prestigious schools like Doons, cambrigde and oxford it must be the “The Art of Interviewing” .Fate turned out to be that it will one day be his career.Seriously Karan thapar is losing it these days. The nemesis of many politicians doesn’t seem to have it any more . His tricks don’t work out any more. He seems to be getting back what he was giving his guests all these days….nightmares. Anybody who has been following karan thapar these days especially Devils Advocate(in CNN-IBN) would atleast agree to an extent with me. But where did the master of all interviewers lose it .He is very well informed , does his home work,has an amazing prowess in English and looks inviting but along with all these he seems to have an attitude that shows discern towards the guests.He seems to be thinking of all Indian politicians as bird brained and bimbos.But not all is his fault too . Its what I call “new age television”.

I have always been a big follower of TV interviews and talk shows .I admired the hosts for their prowess in English and the way they conduct themselves. That was when I was a kid , the days of Prannoy Roy. To me he personified what I call “quintessential high class educated Urban Indian “. He was simply adorable and is till now the best TV personality I have ever seen . He used to be all over the DD channels during elections and in numerous programs I never missed. But if all is right with my memory I have never seen him take the person he is interviewing to task.His body language,eye contact and responses made any guest comfortable and respond to him without any incredulity. He got the answers he wanted but without even a sting of slyness. But those where the days of DOORDARSHAN too………infact only DOORDARSHAN which contrary to its name was short sighted.A channel which people cared only during the Friday Chitrahaar and Sunday movie . Well it was a government channel .The tag “government” like in government hospital, government school in India means “bad ,good for nothing and useless” .I must say it lived up to that reputation without even a speck of doubt except for some news programmes. Well the fact is it is still perceived like that till date.

So coming back to “new age television”, the new news channels that have come into being (some 45 in the last count ) are a far cry from what DD was .They are just not about unexciting slodgy news but hard hitting , intriguing , introspective and sensational news.But they seem to have taken the sensational part a bit too overboard. Awfully overblown 24/7 live coverages,illogical questioning by mike wielding assassins called field reporters and mobbing anyone and everyone at the slightest sight of them to get the first news seems to be the order of the day.But what these channels are doing is what doordarshan wasn’t able to.Take on any person daringly and ruthlessly without caring who they are and where they come from , whether it is the president , prime minister or any You-know-who in the country.What I like is the homework and ground work they do before taking on anybody and completely catch them off guard.They leave no stone unturned to get what they want. In India this is not a bad way of doing things ,a country where corruption and foulness is eating up the country in all departments and people have no choice but to live with it.

But as with anything else there are certain codes to be followed with interviewing too .Though anybody can be questioned on anything the very fact that they have accepted your invitation to be interviewed should be respected. Nobody likes to be insulted on national television by anybody even if it is Karan thapar for that matter. Many Indian politicians on the outset may look like dorks but not everyone is a fool and if the host thinks he can take these thugs hands down things take a ugly turn, particularly if it is Rahul bajaj , P.Chidambaram and Jaswant Singh , elitists who are the best in what they do , for whom facing the camera is as much a routine as drinking a cup of coffee.It all started with Rahul Bajaj’s appearance in Devil’s advocate . Karan tried turning the plates on bajaj but what he got was “in-your-face” battering replies. Here is an extract below to get a feeling of how it all went.

Karan Thapar: Mr Bajaj you are wonderful with words but the problem is that you are short on logic. Parliament and being an MP is part of politics.

Rahul Bajaj: Where did you go to school Karan?

Karan Thapar: Is that relevant?

Rahul Bajaj: It is very relevant because your logic is illogical.

Karan Thapar:If it is relevant I will tell you. I went to Doon School, Cambridge, Oxford and I know a lot about politics.

Rahul Bajaj: I went to Cathedral, St. Stephens, and Harvard, slightly better than you in every respect. So I understand logic. But I am a humble man unlike you.

Karan Thapar: I am not sure you are showing humility at the moment. You are showing a lot of defiance.

Rahul Bajaj: The audience will judge that.

Karan Thapar: The world assumes and has done so for generations, maybe even centuries.

……..and then came Chidambaram who got the better of Karan by smashing his very potent weapon , baffling guests with questions even while they are still contemplating the answer for the previous question(and this is another thing I hate about Karan’s style).Chidambaram took his time answered questions one by one in the most diplomatic and politically correct way I have seen anybody do it.He was simply awesome….he indeed was.Karan had no option but to be patient and listen to his answers ,something which he is not used to.Last came Jaswant Singh , one of the most elegant politicians India ever had. He showed what happens when a man like him gets offended. He accused karan of daring to call him a “traitor” on the recent PMO mole issue .Karan for the first time held back , realized he had gone a little overboard and was even happy that he was finishing the interview .What he forgot is if he can be ruthless so can the others.If he thinks he is very consummate in asking questions , he should also realize others can be equally good in answering them . Everything should be done within its own essence without which it loses it sheen and it applies to questioning too. And what I expect out of interviews is not sensation but sense.

Good Will Hunting

2006-07-24T02:10:00.000+05:30

Well "good will" is something which u cannot associate when u r speaking about neighboring countries these days, certainly not with India atleast .From Pakistan to china to Bangladesh to what not I have hardly come across a day where there is no news about a dispute between India and its neighbours . Well today it was not supposed to be one of those days…….

I was watching a news report on the evacuation of people from Lebanon and all countries were doing their best to help their distraught citizens return back. The developed countries as usual did it in style. Australia had brought in plush bus to carry their people to ships and Britain some sort of a speed boat (not sure though !@#$%^&*) . The scene didn’t look the same in the Indian camp with long queues of pale and uneasy looking faces standing to get into the ships. But the faces where not all "Indian" and thats what made the “news of the day” for me. The Nepalese and Srilankan governments have asked the Indian government for its help in evacuating their citizens also along with ours and the Indian government was more than happy to do so. It was heartening to hear that India is the only country to have done so. It felt good when the Nepalese and srilankans thanked the Indian government for saving their lives………I repeat …….saving their lives. What the Indian ships brought home are not a bunch of foreign nationals but the good will of two nations which have asked the help of what they considered as their big brother. It may be the smallest of gestures but these are the things which according to me is going to make up a better tomorrow, a tomorrow about which we can only dream of today , a tomorrow where nations don’t consider neighbours as bombing targets , a tomorrow where countries don’t destroy themselves for a piece of land , a tomorrow where nations stand up to help another before even an appeal is made.

And I am a proud Indian today………as everyday.

bend it like beckham….naaa…….butt it like zidane

2006-07-17T00:51:00.000+05:30

“Italy Italy Italy” was what I said when my roomie asked me which team I was rooting for in the world cup final . why did I pick italy (*eye brows raised*) , a team in which I hardly knew anybody except totti .The answer is simple . Thierry henry .why ? he is the one who scored against Brazil .no more reasons needed. period . I am a great fan of Brazil but a crazy one too.
This world cup is said to be the most exciting in the recent times but to be honest it was nothing new . The usual favourites , the usual upsets and the usual bashing .Believe me, its the third world cup I am following and I didn’t feel a pinch new about this event . But to cover all that up came the bouncer which simply knocked me out . What an ignominious finale to the most watched event on the planet . An absolutely adorable hero behaving like a unapologetic rowdy . what made such a mansuetude guy (though I know he has got 14 red cards in his career)act like that ????? I don’t know and I don’t wanna know either . But what I know is ,zidane knew that he was in a world cup final, he was the captain ,his team is heavily dependent on him to win the cup and that he deserves a wonderful exit from football . Then why did he do such an act ?? U got to ask the man himself.Its probably one of those moments which everybody faces when you forgot the place u are in , the thing u r doing and act in a fit of rage . And what did I think of him. Nothing ….nothing at all. He may be a big hero but he is human . So am I and to err is human. ………And I am not the best of men to comment on him either.:-))))))))

I am fine now

2006-06-30T12:08:00.000+05:30

i was suffering from blogophobic coma for the past two years. I didnt know really know what i was doing for i deleted all my previous posts and wasnt able get myself up to post in the blog .....but i am fine now:-)))))))) hoping to update sometime soon.

God created men,god created women....but what did they create for themselves….”Orkut”

2004-06-10T09:15:00.000+05:30

Having finished my first project(which by my standards is a great achivement) and being told to prepare(doing R&D according to my manager) for my next project i am quite outta work.Sending and reading mails and browsing have become the order of the day coupled with a hour long lunch break and two half hour tea breaks.In this process of pushing time i jumped into this site called "Orkut" , an online community.so whats new about the new orkut(www.orkut.com)that makes u an addict(believe me everybody spends a considerable 2 hours on orkut every single day ).before going into details let me mention that this is another invention from yet another stanford guy.....sorry a geek by the name Orkut Buyukkokten on the lines of yahoo,google,sun and what not!.how in the world do these stanford guys alone come up with such ideas....

Having given such a build up let me go into the details.

1.This community has up to this date over 400,000 people and is growing tremendously (wondering how a community of that magnitude missed ur notice!!!)

2.U cant just join.u shud be recommended by a friend.

3.once u gotta friend u can see the profile of any body(read as "any girl") and their pics too.

4.there are desperate guys looking for girls(some for guys too) and more desperate girls looking for boys(shud i mention they look for girls too.).so now u have a point to go to the site ...isnt it.

5.Also groups for every damn thing on earth including some nice technical groups(which is of no use to me anyway).

bored of being a yahoo.try being a orkutian and enjoy the fun.

if u want an invite, mail me and thou shall send it......

getting started....

2004-06-03T12:59:00.000+05:30

my first blog entry....yea i am in too....:)))))))