MINDprint

Cinco Cosas que Quiero Hacer Antes de Morir

2008-07-23T03:49:00.000-07:00

...which translates to "5 things I wanna do Before I die".

Yes..its been a while...and No ...I havent been extremely busy, tied up or any such excuse of an excuse....Yes... I'm back now...and No..its not cos I felt the sudden urge to go back to my literary roots or whatever....

Baba aka Nikhil is reponsible for my typing the 288 characters till now.

(u might wanna count..)

I'm listening to the title track of Bachna Ae Haseeno as I blog...and "yeah, baby when you see me coming! yeah, you better run for cover..." and yes.. nice, super lil track..would recommend...But I digress (which is as expected)

I think by the time I was 10 years old I had pretty much done 99% of all things a Human would do before he passed away. As you, my intelligent reader, would have realised by now...by plotting the number of unique human activities completed (y axis)against a human's age (x-axis)...the graph would represent an Beta curve.

For the Not-Quite-The-Einstien-yet readers, what I'm trying really hard to get at is this: In the universal set of unique human activities, I'm done with almost all of them. So the pessimist in you would say that I'm done living a full life.

But of course, we all know that the remaining 1% of the number of unique activities, when put in absolute terms, is still a sizable number. And I definitely intend to atleast try and ensure that the graph never touches the x-axis..ever.

So without much ado here are the top Cinco Things I wanna do..

Uno: I wanna hit the exosphere. Yep, space travel has to be THE THING to do. I hope I live long enough (and stay in a good enough condition) to undertake a low-fare commercial space flight (it might even be called Space Deccan or something)...

Dos: A smooth, uninterrupted ride on the German Autobahn in my Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren (with wifey of course and bachna ae haseeno title track in the backgroud), stopping only to pick up my KFC bucket from a drive thru inn.

( Yes..I am cheesy..and unapologetically so )

Tres: Time Travel. Dude..need I say more? While going back in time it seems is not feasible, it seems travel into the future is a theoretical possibility. There are only the nuances that need to be worked upon..In any case, I'll be first to line up for the low-fare time travel trip (Deccan Future ..anyone?)

Quattro: I wanna visit every country atleast once and ensure I fly every available airline. I want to experience every culture, taste all different types of Pizza, KFC, McD and Coke, experience every kind of in-flight entertainment (or the lack of it) available and collect all the available visa stamps on my passport.

Cinco: And lastly but not the leastly, I want to discover the one theory/idea/concept that will change forever, the way you, me aur hum, look, listen, feel, touch and taste the universe around.

Babaaa! your tag has unleashed the poor sense of prose in me. Never again..

Buhaha to one and all

Will the real Democrat Nominee please stand up?

2008-03-11T02:57:00.000-07:00

Now seriously, lets get real about this. Hillary ought to win the Democrat nomination and there shouldnt even be a contest around this. At the end of the day, this isnt really about the media hype, the bitching and slandering and the quotable quotes between the 2 democrat candidates. This is simply about the right person running the world's most powerful country - and running it right.

The Tata tea ad kinda puts my point across. Our steroptypical India politician, all smiles and grins, with party workers and bodyguards in tow walks upto and interrupts the breakfast of our not-so-typical Indian protagonist. The politician "demands" his vote for the upcoming elections. After serving up some of the tea being advertised to the politician, our protagonist goes on to ask the politician what his qualifications are. The politician, mildly amused, tells him that he has "been around" in this field for N number of years. To which our man asks for specific experience in construction, administration, etc etc.. and reminds him that he has applied for an important job. Our politician is ruffled and his party workers protest. Amused and outraged he mockingly asks our man, what he meant by "job". To this our hero delivers the curt punchline - the job of running our country.

I would go for 3 things when it comes to nailing down someone for the job - credentials, contacts and chutzpah. Credentials - do a wiki on both profiles and you know its Hillary who's got the depth and breadth of experience needed for the job. Not to forget, she was at a vantage point during her Hubbie's presidency giving her that one addl unique experience. Contacts - Essential to win consensus on various decisions she would need to take as President. Apart from the several years she has spent in this field and therefore a larger network base, the fact that she was first lady having had a former prez Bill as hubbie can only help in this regard. Chutzpah - Here's where a seriously subjective aspect creeps in. On the face of it, its hard to judge who's got the Audacity and courage needed to taken on the reins. I'd place my bets on Hillary, simply cos its like she's written the CAT exam twice - almost been there, almost done that. Sure Obama may have the Audacity of Hope - but I can see the feet of inexperience from under him crumble, given the eco-political juncture the US is in, in the global context.

So to cut a long monologue short, its time the Amreekan public got real and elect the right person for the job - the job of running THE country.

Without the fear of consequence

2008-02-29T22:58:00.000-08:00

1st March, 2008 - 60 days post-wedding and life's still the same. If one were to discount the total shift to junk-free diet, having to talk more than I was ever used to (communication is the key..they say), and an overall loss of a sense of that vague word called freedom, life's just the same as I had left it on the 30th Dec 07 ( and of course the phone bill's reduced by abt 400%).

This post isnt about my married life. The opening para is misleading. But then again, this aint a GMAT passage either..if you get the drift.

Ok here are some of my arm chair thoughts:

1. In a few years, India's + China's population will comprise close to half the world's population. In other words, every second person you meet, will most likely be one of the above. Chinese will have a larger ageing population and Indians, vice versa. Combine this with the fact that these guys are the seriously upwardly yuppie kinds and we have a whole new world order in place. Implications :- are you kidding me? I'll bet my laptop, Mckinsey have a whole team working dedicated to this one fact alone.

2. In a larger context, Laptops are the Pagers of this generation. Get ready for its mobile phone equivalent. Look around you. The seriously successful, DONT CARRY LAPTOPS....duh! Is it blackberrys then, you ask? Wrong answer. This also explains why I willingly bet my laptop.

3. A green revolution is around the corner and I dont mean agriculture. Hybrid cars, zero emission vehicles, bio fuel automobiles, and the like. Renewable energy is on the cusp of reaching desirable efficiencies. Implications: Invest in companies taking a lead on this.

Missus is serving lunch. I have to leave...but this aint the end. Muhahaha!

"No one said it would be easy......"

2007-07-21T01:17:00.000-07:00

Back after a long hiatus....

Its been abt an year since I joined P&G from Gillette. Looking back, its been undoubtedly a really tough year. Integrating and adapting the Gillette value chain into that of P&G....shipment issues, import issues, deployment problems, people issues...topped by managing a plethora of marketing initiatives..... the list was endles. The challenges were immense esp for an inexperienced and young team comprising of Ani, Kal , TeeYuan and myself.

But it wasn't in vain...the Gillette business in India bounced back and kicked some serious a**! :) We outperformed and outshone our competition through the year. There was blood everywhere...(and i'm talkin abt the "tonite, we dine in hell!" type :) ) Nothing could have made us feel better...knowing that we played a major part in this rampage...

So perhaps it didnt come as a surprise,when about a month back, the India supply chain leader nominated the 4 of us for the annual P&G India supply chain excellence awards - for our work in stabilizing the Gillette value chain....along with 6 other nominations from the other traditional P&G business units (like laundry, haircare,etc) and corporate functions ( quality, logistics, operations, etc) -each for their superior contribution to improve service, cost, cash and quality.

The awards would be given away at the annual offsite, which would be attended by the india and multi business unit supply chain partners.The award would be based on the presentation given by each team on the work they did. The selection process was rigorous - Each presentation would be put to vote by the attendees, and also critically evaluated by the Leadership team. The combined score of highest votes and evaluation score would determine the winner.

We knew we had done a good job. But convincing our partners and the other nominess about this wasnt going to be an easy task. The Gillette business was new ...not everyone undertstood its complexity. During the last year, our team silently dealt with all the operational issues....Business was never impacted...and so no one really knew that there were quite a few sleepless nights a few ppl were spending to keep things working. Hence our work remained fairly invisible except to those who worked with us.

We knew we had to do 3 things in our presentation in order to atleast have a fighting chance:

1. Clearly explain the scale of the integration, the Gillete SC complexity and the business impact if things didnt work out.
2. Very simply explain the topline supply chain interventions we made in each quarter of the year in a CAR format (no data and numbers overkill)
3. Get creative in order to engage our audience - Audio visuals, humour and the like (and this i'm good at :) )

The presentation took us a week to create. Fortunately, we had a good flash presenatation, which I had helped develop for our team in singapore earlier this year. The concept fit in very well with our presentation. That gave us the much needed mind-blowing opening. The rest of the presentation was abt the work we did...all presented in movie format..with good background music, visuals and the like.

The real presentation-making actually started the evening before D-day. By the time we were done with the presentation...it was past midnight. We had to wake up the same morning at 5am to catch the bus to Aamby valley where the offsite would be held. After we finished, we decided to head for our homes and catch up on some much needed sleep. We figured that since we were fourth in the order of presentation, we would have some time to do the dry run the following day.

The following day...we reached Aamby valley around 11am. After the leadership's presentations, lunch commenced at around 1400. We were hoping to have a quick lunch and then spend the rest of the time practising. On telling one of the managers that we wanted to skip the first 3 presentations, in order to practice our prez...we were told we couldnt do that. At almost abt the same time, we were informed that we had go first as the original first team had some last minute issues due which their presentation had to be postponed.

We spent abt 15 mins doin a dry run...and then hit the stage. The AV started... and there was no lookin back after that. Having done endless dramas, movies spoofs, ad zaps, presentations etc on stage through my school and college days, I've come to recognise one thing -- I know when I've got the audience attention...I know precisely what the audience mood is...whether they are enjoying what are they are hearing and seeing....or not.

In this case, 5 minutes into the presentation....I knew we had the audience and we had them real good! Laughter, claps, smiles...this gave the 3 of us (TY's based in singapore and couldnt attend) the confidence to present even better.....as it usually happens.

The presentation ended.... all we heard was thunderous applause...and handshakes flying at us...
Kal and I had to head back to mumbai the same day. Ani stayed back for the rest of the 3 day offsite. The presentations continued through the rest of the day and the following day as well. There were some really good presentations and we were hoping to be atleast among the top 3. We were the underdogs really and the underdogs from the erstwhile Gillette company had managed to convince our partners that we did a good job. But whether the claps and handshakes would translate into votes....we didnt know. And frankly, it didnt matter as much. What mattered to us was that one year of work had got its fair share of voice and visibility.... and that was good enough.

The next night was the rewards night...... I was at home by 8...back from a tough day at work....we were having a serious import issue again. The rewards night would have started I thought to myself...and then promptly proceeded to eat dinner, browse the net and channel surf oblivious to everything else....i needed to take my mind off work......At about 10, as I was watchin TV, I get an sms from Ani ......

"We won first prize congrats! Will call later"

It took a few seconds...and then it hit... We had just been declared, in effect, the supply chain champions in P&G India for the year 06-07 !

The feeling has sunk in now. I lived in the moment for the rest of the night...Friday morning, the congratulations started pouring in. Friday afternoon, I was deeply embroiled into the import issue. Friday evening, I sat back and thought... 0708 is gonna be tougher...need to get moving.
And today, its back to business as usual.

I want to thank one person who coached and helped our young team through most of last year. Without his help, there's no way we would have made it - neither workwise nor emotionally. Girish Mittal has been the bedrock of this success and this recognition really goes to him. Girish was in a transition role in P&G and had left about 2 months ago to join as SC head for Guardian - a pharma retail chain. He's doing well there....and on telling him the good news, he was very happy for us.

All in all, a fantastic year.....

I'll sign off with this quote I came across....

"No one said it would be easy. They only told me it would be worth it..."

Home is here and a movie to boot

2007-05-08T03:24:00.000-07:00

Have finally shifted into my house in Marol at Andheri(E). It definitely feels strange to stay in your own house after a span of nearly 9 years. The last time I was based at home was in the 12th standard in Trivandrum. 3 college hostels and 3 apartments later...I'm finally stayin in my own home. Still gettin used to the feelin....

A litttle something about Marol. After having stayed amidst the malls of Gurgaon and the zesty Andheri east, Marol is a definite demotion. Sure, marol's like 10 mins to office ...but that's about the only major advantage. And yeah, the international airport's like real close...so if I ever become super rich and decide to go to Bora Bora on a whim...I could do so without having to endure the traffic. (But then if I were super rich, would I stay in Marol?).

Saw "Saw 2" yesterday on Star. I'm no big fan of slasher flicks, but this one's plot was ingenious. If you dont mind some blood and gore...I would definitely recommend it for the sheer trickery the plot employs. The "twist" in this tale...is WOW!

Dealing with the Installers

2007-04-23T08:02:00.000-07:00

It had been a month since I bought a washing machine. I still remember the day I bought it. The balding portly salesman, grinning...the size of his grin perhaps competing with size of his rotund belly.

"Sir, this is the best model we have...fast-moving model, very good dryer, 3 year warranty...and very good price"

I hate sales talk. The more they blab...the less I trust 'em. Heck, I would have walked out that instant but, damnit! I needed a washing machine. There wasnt a decent showroom for miles around. And I wasnt gonna spend all afternoon looking for another showroom.

"Ok...looks good...any discount?"

" Sir, this is the besht price... it is heavily discounted...special offer"

That grin again.

"Ok..take this one. Will this be delivered to my place?"

"Yes Sir...by tomm morning, one of our boys will bring it your place and install it. Dont worry about that sir...."

I'm worried. The "boy" did bring in the washing machine 2 days later. On asking the "boy" by when he will finish installing....

"Nahi sahaab...install tho Toshibawaale karte hain...hum sirf delivery karte hain"

The frown on my face only too visible. He finished his "delivery". As he was stepping out of the house, I see another grin.

"Sahaab, kuch kharcha-paani...."

It wasnt a request mind you. He demanded it in a "grinny" sort of way...as if his paan- stained teeth would make me feel obliged to tip him. I hate 'em when they ask for tips in a slimy sort of way.

I gave him a 50.

All this was about 3 weeks ago. Not a day has passed since, when I havent called up the dealer, the "toshibawaale", ( even my dad, out of sheer exasperation, for some encouragement!) asking them, pleading, shouting, begging.....

The serviceman from Toshiba would at times say he would be come by 6pm....and I would leave office early and wait and wait.....but our friend never turned up.....

PS: You wont believe this....As I'm writing this blog, doorbell rings and "holy crap and miracle of miracles"...Its the Toshibawaala!!! I was so happy when he said he was from Toshiba...my smile went from one ear to the other (dont picture that). He finished his job quickly....explained the basics..and he didnt even ask for "kharcha paani".... Very professional.... damn, we miss guys like him.

Oh btw, I bought some furniture on Sunday. Delivery boys delivered the furniture yesterday and left with their K-P. Installer was supposed to come today...didnt turn up....

Another day in paradise folks!

2007-04-14T11:52:00.000-07:00

It was a warm day, the sun shining with confidence,a bright turquoise blue splashed across the sky. A day to wear a crisp linen pink shirt, light white capris and transcluscent escada shades and amble around barefoot on the beach.

Chris understood this...she didnt waste too much time dressing up. She lived the mood the day commanded. She drew the curtains back and the bright blue sky and ocean together beckoned her presence. An hour later she was a pink dot on the vast white sand beaches of St. Tropez.

The splash of the waves, gulls gently screeching somewhere...and the wind blowing against her hair and shoulders...these were all she was aware of. Its days like these, she thought, that she had always longed for...and yet...

2007-02-24T05:39:00.000-08:00

Saw Music & Lyrics a few day back. The movie was cheesy but I liked the song which Hugh and Drew spent the entire film composing. The song is titled Way back into Love. Beautiful music & lyrics.

Here's the link to the song.

WARNING : If your are like the detal metal lyricist in the movie....this song's not for you :)

2006-12-27T11:54:00.000-08:00

I wanna buy a camera. Its current price is Dhs. 1099. I dont have the money to buy it now.

So I go to the shopkeeper and tell him that I would like to buy this camera, but I dont have the money now. He then suggest I buy a call option. For this option, I have to pay him Dhs. 10 and he sets the expiration date as June 30th 2007. The option is that I can buy this camera for Dhs.900 after 6 months.

Lets see what happens. What do you think abt this deal?

2006-12-24T22:24:00.001-08:00

The merry family gatherings –
The old, the very young;
The strangely lovely way they
Harmonize in carols sung.
For Christmas is tradition time
Traditions that recall
The precious memories down the years,
The sameness of them all.

-Helen Lowrie Marshall

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

2006-12-15T05:54:00.000-08:00

There was a time... (and let me emphasise on the WAS again )...when I was Thin - Lean and Lanky. That was another time ,another world almost... when gorging pizzas, burgers, coke and the like, was done without the slightest sense of guilt - almost smug in the realization that I would never put on weight. Metabolism was something I took for granted.

Woe! Alas!..and all those other words which indicate shock/sorrow...that is no longer the case. Fact - I've put on X* number of Kilos in the past X*/2 months - and this having stayed on a plateau of 12X*+3 kgs for the past X* years.

The unthinkable must now be done ...exercise (ouch!) and eat a "balanced diet" (yuck!)...The good news is, I've yet to begin the former ( though sadly its inevitable ), the ugly news is...I have begun adding more fibre into what I ingest. I hit upon the superdiet forumla on one of those Kingfisher Airline superchannels...and the superformula is as follows. Take a plate...mentally draw a diameter across the plate. On one half, stuff it up with salad. Divide the other half into 2 quadrants - one filled with card, the other with protien.

I've just started on this diet (only for lunch mind you) and hopefully with the right kind of cardio workout..things should...er..work out.

So the next time, you see a lean, mean machine walking down the road...that's not me...I'm the fat log jogging on the other side of the road.

*number has been alphabetized to protect the innocent

2006-12-05T04:43:00.000-08:00

Here I am..supposedly a "comeback" , as some UK residents claim...

Anyways...well, as with any "comeback", there has to be some jing-bang, and hence the flashy template ( as UK residents would know, this not at all my style...but other ready made ones were prosaic...and make one of my own, u ask?...I cant even write in my own mothertongue, let alone HTML)

The "comeback" is in place and the jing-bang is in order. Sadly though, I dont have content. No fodder to chew on...yup, Life's been fairly, if not very, uninspiring off late (if you discount the leftover pizza in the fridge).

Been helping Dad in renovating the flat. That's been keeping me busy doing something I'm particularly bad at...home improvements. And I've learnt a lot! For eg: I now know that a door is not single slab of wood cut out from a tree. It is actually planks of wood stuck, hammered, filed, etc together. Honestly, how many of you guys knew this??

I also now know, asking the carpenter silly questions like, which tree did he cut out that door from...will prompt a smirk on his face, which reads " What a moron!".

In other news, my Christmas vacation - a full 16 days - is around the corner. It will be the longest vacation (16 days) I've ever taken since joining NITIE. Looking forward to a Merry Christmas and hopefully, if all goes well, a Happy New Year!

So until inspiration strikes me next ...I take your leave. Have a nice day!

2006-08-18T22:38:00.000-07:00

Wiped the mist of my glasses ;)

2006-08-10T08:21:00.000-07:00

Life's a blur...
....

2006-07-13T06:25:00.000-07:00

Well its official! I'm now employed with Proctor & Gamble. Of course, been working for/with P&G sometime now. But as on 1st July, I've formally moved into the rolls of the company. What that basically means is that my paycheck now comes from P&G.

Been busy over the last few weeks (who isnt these days), helping Gillette transition through the merger. I've had a tough time (who doesnt these days), but its been well worth the effort...learnt a lot..and I'm still learning.

In the midst of all these, Germany got only a 3rd place (saddening to say the least). But worst of all, Italy won! :(

Tommorrow is my last day at the Gillette office. Its a been a fab 18 months in this cubicle. Its also means a possible goodbye to Gurgaon ( relief!). Need to do something more with my free time than roam malls. Hopefully Mumbai will help in this department.

2006-06-09T23:19:00.000-07:00

Its that time again....vacation's over and back to work. The hols were, to say the least, fast! Unlike most of my earlier trips, I didnt roam around too much ( perhaps due to the paucity of time). Nevertheless, I did visit a few malls, including the Ibn Battuta and the Emirates Mall, only cos' they had something more to offer beyond the average "4000 sqft. of shopping". I also made the mandatory visit to the Karama shopping complex, and bought a few tees....given the great deals one gets there. What I did mostly was however, spend time at home, basking in the warm glow of parental pampering, chocolate shakes and air conditioning ( real hot here now!).

Dubai is still caught in the construction warp. Besides a host of mind-boggling skuscrapers,gigantic malls, mile-long hypermarkets, luxurious hotels and villas that are slowly springing up across this once desert state, they are also now constructing a a grand metro rail that will change the way people commute ( and also reduce the ever-burgeoning traffic). A good part of urban dubai is being dug up as I write this, in preparation for this grand project.

All in all, a good break from Gurgaon and even work to some extent ( yes, i did check mails and attend a couple of calls...couldnt resist!).

2006-05-31T05:35:00.000-07:00

You know ur in Delhi if...

...you are driving around in a white-coloured Qualis, and people are running behind you.

2006-05-22T20:18:00.000-07:00

It had been a while since I wanted to take a break, forget work and completely CHILL! And that's precisely what I did last weekend at Chennai.

My plan was hit Mumbai on Thursday and move to Chennai on Friday for the factory meeting and then chill bigtime over the weekend in Chennai. As luck would have it, I sprained my back just 3 hours before my flight to Mumbai. In fact, I couldnt move initially and I almost saw all my plans go down the drain. A frantic call to my in-house doctor (Mom), and I realised that this aint all that serious. I decided against staying back, and armed with a dose of painkillers, I flew to Mumbai.

Fortunately, things improved the following day ( Moov really works! ) and by the end of Thursday, I could actually walk comfortably. Of course, I took no chances and got as much as rest as I could.

The following day, flew to Chennai. The place was HOT! (literally). The factory visit went fine. By evening, I was on the taxi to Anna's place and I finally reached his place around 7pm. As luck would have it, Annna had a leg injury earlier in the morning, and he'd declared that mobility might be an issue for him as well.

The injuries didnt really upset our plans thought. Saturday morning,we woke up late to some great breakfast! :) ( Anna's mom's dosas are amazing!!). Headed off to the clinic on Anna's Eliminator to check Anna's leg. 40 minutes and 1 X-ray later, the doctor recommended complete bed rest for Anna. We left for Spencer Mall the very next minute :)

Had lunch with Joseph at the mall, and left for Joseph's place in the afternoon. Post that we went back to the mall to collect Anna's bike and then decided to head to Besant Nagar beach where we would rendezvous with the rest of the motley crew - Samoj, Meril & Surabhi.

The trip ( or should I say journey) to the Beach was fun! Anna got lost and we kept going around Chennai in circles, thanks to which I actually got to see quite a bit of the capital. We finally reached the beach and moved right into Barista for some cold shakes. Once the rest of the crew joined us ( the girls were pretty late...fairly predictable anyways) , we left for dinner at a nearby mallu joint.

Dinner was mostly fish ,parrotas and rice. And I dont think i'll forget the look on Surabhi's face when she saw the Puttu(rice cake) and Kadala(Channa) curry she'd ordered for!! During dinner, we generally caught on gossip, PJs and of course the standard pulling of legs we normally do. Post-dinner, we headed to our respective places. Before I hit the sack though, I wanted to complete one milestone on NFS. I didnt complete it and went to sleep anyways.

Next day, woke up early and headed off to Besant Nagar Church. BN church was actually a large compound with several buildings. I being new to the place, was heading to the chapel ( I didnt realise this was the chapel and the mass was in the main church elsewhere) and would have stayed there wondering where the mass was, had I not bumped into Meril.

Once the mass got over ( Meril,the choir was great!! And were u near the mike cos I could hear only ur voice! :p ) , Meril and I went to her place, where she was staying with Surabhi and another roomie. Anna joined us there, and we had some North Indian breakfast. It was quite good, considering it was made by MBAs ( just kidding!:) ). Post the breakfast, we headed off to Anna's place for more breakfast. The rest of the day, we stayed at home so that Anna could get his recommended bedrest.

By evening, I was off to delhi. Sitting in the flight, I smiled as the 3 days of fun flashed before my eyes...it almost felt like I was living the college days again.

Thanks guys for the making the trip ...AWESOME!!!

2006-05-06T23:20:00.000-07:00

Its been hectic these days. Real hectic. Decided to catch my breath yesterday and take out some time for art. Anna asked me to make him a t-shirt design(he actually liked my work...doesnt happen too often). Spend an hour or so to come up with this..

For starters, I wanted to capture the "serious-glam" side of Anna. Fortunately, I managed to stumble across the right snap of his in Orkut. I also didnt have the patience to hand-draw his image. That's when I stumbled on the Color depth reduction feature in Irfan. First, I decreased the contrast of the original Image by about 30% and increased the gamma correction factory by about 2.33 ( I love confusing my readers with useless hi-fi technical stuff..he he). After that I used the Color depth reduction feature to get the almost portrait like look seen above.

Blind Ambitiion ( not be confused with Blonde Ambition), came out of the look in Anna's eyes.

I have avoided the use of colour. It was a not a conscious choice. However, I feel its an effective one.

Once I was done with the above, I caught up on some TV. Came back an hour or so to review the work, when the spoofy side of me took over. I spend another hour with the above work to come up with this magazine cover..

This is perhaps my 3rd or 4th Mag cover ( the others were done in college ) and is by far the sloppiest :)

The cover attempts to capture the life and times of Anna in Gurgaon and his growing frustration with the Mall City. Hope I've captured it all, dude!

2006-04-17T06:42:00.000-07:00

Had a nice easter weekend. Church was fun. I got to do the Easter reading. Felt good to read the Bible out to a large gathering. Apart from church, I spent a part of the weekend, honing my paintbrush skills. The above mosaic is a result of that. I also discovered some cool things Irfan can do. I was able to do the 9X9 thanks to the panorama feature of Irfan.

The above art was inspired by a Lee Cooper t-shirt I saw at Lifestyle the other day. The tee had a contemporary-retro feel. So I thought I'd make a contemporary-retro t-shirt design with my face on it :) So picked by a snap of mine and did the basic block in a red hue. Then converted the same to other primary colors using the RGB inter-conversion feature of Irfan. And then used the panorama creation feature to create the mosaic.

Do you want a cool retro-contemporary design with your face on it? Say yes in the comments box, and mention how much you'll pay me to do it. If your price matches my expectations...I'll get in touch :D

2006-03-31T06:18:00.000-08:00

I was doin' my usual rounds at OM bookshop along with Anna when I chanced upon a book which had the most mind-blowing collection of graffitti that I'd ever seen! The book was a collection of graffitti from across different geographies and cultures. I dont remember the name of the book, but what I do rememeber is that the book was mind-blowingly expensive. So I didnt buy it (not yet atleast).However, it inspired me to contribute by two bits to graffitti art. And hence the above (on MS-paintbrush :( man, I miss photoshop...)

2006-03-28T04:25:00.000-08:00

The canteen food aint all that bad...though it can get monotonous at times :)

The above strip is among a series of strips (titled "A Cup of Merger),I had made on the P&G/Gillette merger, which I subsequently presented at our company integration interface. The strips had the coffee point as the basic theme, where employees usually meet for general news, gossip and of course..coffee. Being a silent, yet keen observer to this merger ( and to various merger-related coffee point conversations), I thought I'd capture various aspects of the integration from a humorous standpoint.

While the above strip has little to do with the merger as such, I still needed to vent my feelings on the canteen food :)

2006-02-28T04:28:00.000-08:00

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Alex!

Alexolatry is the mindless worship of Alex.
Japan provides over thirty percent of the world's Alex supply.
New Zealand was the first place to allow Alex to vote!
Humans share over 98 percent of their DNA with Alex.
Wearing headphones for an hour will increase the amount of Alex in your ear 700 times.
It can take Alex several days to move just through one tree.
Human beings are the only animals that copulate while facing Alex.
Alex is the male seed of a flower blossom which has been gathered and treated by bees!
Alex was originally green, and actually contained cocaine!
The eye of an ostrich is bigger than Alex.

2006-02-06T05:26:00.000-08:00

In love with "Jhalak Dikhalaja" from the movie Aksar. And no its not Udita Goswami, but the actual song! And again its the remix version I'm freaking out on. Somehow, Himesh has begun this trend of creating a slow version of a certain song ( which is for the movie ) and a remix version of the same (which is for him). And its the remix that ends up becoming the hot track of the OST. Looks like Himesh is playing selfish-selfish. But hey, I'm not complaninin'. Keep bringin' 'em on dude! (Now all I need is a dance floor and a babe...not necessarily in that order of preference!)

There's this other song I discovered on VH1 yest. Its called "L.O.V.E" by Ashlee Simpson ( is she Jessica's sis? ). I simply L.O.V.E the chorus of this song. Kinda innovative, but mostly catchy. Its a bit childish for my liking I admit. But there some of these songs that bring out the backstreet boy in me..and this is one of them :p

and Anna if ur reading this....I hope my camera is in one piece.

2006-01-17T05:33:00.000-08:00

hate waking up at 4am.Deccan flight to B'lore. meet up with CT, fats and other juniors. move to sood's place. the guy's rocks as usual! head to brigade road. stop at KFC. meet juniors - proved my theory that if u walk on brigade road, ur bound to bump into some CRECian.back to CT's place. catch flight to cochin. first experience on an ATR. reach cochin. catch up with mom. head to kottayam next day. catch up with bob and betsy.meet a cute girl. attend half of leena's marriage. rush back to airport on the wildest 2 hour ride ever. passenger on ATR being instructed how to operate emergency door. passenger ends up opening the door anyway. reached b'lore. flight delay. most boring flight ever to delhi. reached home.

Whew!

2006-01-02T04:52:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year, Amigos!

2 posts ago, I was weighing my options for New year's. I said I'd decide what I'm gonna do on the 30th and that's just what I did. 30th afternoon I decide I'm gonna spend my New year's in Mumbai.

Took the first flight out of Delhi on the 31st and landed in Mumbai at 9.00am. The flight was mostly uneventful, except when we were about to land, the guy next to me asks, " Is there a time difference between Delhi and Mumbai?".

As soon as I parked my luggage at Rohith's place, I knew I had to visit 2 places any die-hard Mumbai fan would wanna be at - Churchgate and Marine Drive. I also knew I had to get to these places through that notorious yet somehow endearing mode of transport - the local train ( of course, given the mumbai traffic, the local train was my only hope getting to these places and back before the day ended). Rohith was of course, more than willing to visit south mumbai and so the 2 of us set off.

Post-lunch, Ron calls and says that tickets to a new year bash are available at the Royal Palms in Goregaon and we are supposed to go buy the tickets from there. And so Rohith and I push off to Goregaon to get the tickets for our group of 5. The irony to the whole thing of course was that I come all the way from Delhi to get tickets for the New year bash for my friends who stay in Mumbai!

The party started off at 9. I wasted no time in getting to the meat. The rest wasted no time in gulping down a few drinks. The DJ was good and all of us were on the dance floor in about an hour. Finally got to see Anjan and Neo dance :)

The entertainment in the form of a belly dancer ( who we all felt was some out of work bar dancer) and the fire-eating guy was somewhat of a disappointment. But otherwise, the 5 of us had a good time. Of course on our way back, Anjan had to crib about the party. But that's Anjan and we love him for it :D

New year's day was relatively chilled out. Caught up with Raj for lunch. In the evening, after brief stop at Ron's place, we hit CCD. Once I started moving back to Rohith's place to get my luggage, I realised that the traffic was getting killer. Somehow, I get paranoid if I cant make it to the airport atleast 1 hour before the flight. And there's nothing like Mumbai traffic to bring that paranoia out of me in full force. I made it just in time for the boarding and wrapped my 2 day trip on reaching Delhi at 11.30pm.

Man...the 2 days felt good!

2005-12-29T04:44:00.000-08:00

Out of touch, out of reach yeah
You could try to get closer to me
I’m in luck
I’m in deep, yeah
Hypnotized, I’m shakin’ to my knees

I gotta know tonight, if you’re alone tonight
Can’t stop this feeling
Can’t stop this fire
Oh, I get hysterical, hysteria, oh can you feel it?

2005-12-25T02:29:00.000-08:00

Last week has been the most enriching Christmas week, I've ever had.

Last sunday, the church youth ( which includes yours truly) organized the games stalls for the Annual Church Fete. I had never organized a fete before, so this was one of those learning opportunities I was looking forward to. When it came to the fete, the priority was very clear - we were all gonna have a FUN time.

However, if success could be quantified, nothing like it. And what better way to quantify it than to see how much money we could make out of this.

Some of the considerations that came in while making our estimates of what we could earn were:

- No. of game stalls reqd
- Total no. of games played
- Price/game
- Costs - esp for the prizes
- Probability of winning for each game

The above 5 were key in deciding the profits we were going to make. Another important consideration was that no prizes should be leftover with us after the fete. The "inventory" of prizes should move, else the amount spent in buying these prizes and cost of transportation would be a waste. Moreover, this leftover inventory would not be serving its purpose - making the prizewinners happy.

Clearly, a situation emerged where we had balance multiple objectives of more participation ( and therefore suitable pricing), profits, no leftover inventory, and so on.

I made my own model prior to the fete, and from a profits point of view was anticipating only break even ( I overestimated the chances of winning,and underestimated number of games played).

I was wrong.

The Fete was a whopping success, not just in terms of numbers but in several softer aspects such as participant satisfaction, winner satisfaction, stall management, crowd control and so on. In money terms our profits were 40% of revenues.Not bad! ( beat my estimate atleast).

So that was Sunday. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were adventures in themselves. The youth planned for door to door carol singing on these days, when we would visit most of the youth member's families. Fortunately for me, being the year-end, closing was around the corner and so workload was somewhat thanda. Didnt waste this window of opportunity and so joined the choir every evening.

I have been part of 3 official church choirs ( including the current one). The current by far was the most fun choir ever! ( although our singing skills could use a little help!!. Special thanks for Mr. Sebastian for taking time out of his work and transporting us guys from house to house.

Of course, after 3 days of roaming around in the chilly weather, I caught hold of something that was inevitable - the common cold.

Thursday and Friday was a break ( kind felt low after the 4 days of excitement - something like withdrawal symptoms). Saturday, headed of to church to help fix the giant Christmas star on the roof. The actual star was done, but help was needed in hoisting the star to the roof top and in giving the electrical connections. The latter I enjoyed doing the most, cos I could finally use some electronics engineering I had picked up at our Lab Classes at NIT, Calicut.

Went for Christmas mass at midnight and the choir was lovely.

And that's the story of this Christmas week.

2005-12-14T04:42:00.000-08:00

I'm thinking about my New year Plans...

Didnt think abt this until yesterday when both Aditi and Ron wanted to know what I was doing for New year.

Ron asked me to come down to Mumbai.

Upside: its gonna be fun meeting up with the gang once again and of course...new years at Mumbai is no doubt, fun!

Downside: Cash flows are fast approaching zero and tending to negative. Check fares could save the day though. Also going down just for 2 days...it dont feel right.

Aditi has invited me over to her place for a bash she's planning (atleast on paper)

Upside: Wont have to spend peanuts and I might have a good time.

Downside: Wouldnt know the crowd too well.

Other options include going to for a midnight mass or hanging out at home ( ie. sleeping)

I guess I'll only know on the 30th what I'm doing gonna be doin...

2005-11-25T23:30:00.000-08:00

Since the blasts in Delhi, I've been thinking about security. Post-blasts, there's been a lot of hype in the papers about a lack of security. The public is angry with the authorities for not having forseen this, for their lack of intelligence on militant activties, ...for being reactive rather than proactive.

Post-blasts, however, you can "see" that security has been increased in several parts in the NCR region. Police personnel have been deployed to several areas, including malls,movie halls, and other places where people gather in large numbers.

But I cant help asking myself..."Is this all just being to done CONVINCE the public?"

I visit, metro mall almost every sunday. Post-blasts, if were to carry my bag into the mall, the guard at the entrance would frisk my bag to check if I were carrying an explosive or something. At almost the same time I'm thinking, "Do you think someone who actuals wants to carry an explosive would walk in through the front door of the mall?!!".

I get bugged each time they ask me to show me the contents of my bag. So now I get into Mcdonald's (which has an entry from outside) and then get into the mall through the backdoor. No one notices, no frisking, no questions asked. So much for the security !

There was an article in the TOI about the detectors kept at Pallika Bazaar. The article says they are metal detectors. But guess what? If someone were to walk into Pallika bazaar with RDX strapped all over him , the detector cant detect it. Cos RDX can only be detected by a benzene detector. Oh! oh!

My concept of excellent security is when the people dont know that they are being checked,frisked or monitored. In good airports for example, my guess is that the metal detectors at the security check point are all kept for "show" - to convince the passengers that they are doing some checking! My guess, is that the passenger often travels through several detectors innocously placed in different points of the airport - but he/she is never aware of this!

For example, the passenger would probably never know, that when he enters a duty-free shop, he/she has already passed through a detector. The passenger will never know that the beautiful and friendly woman at the cashier counter is actually a member of the security staff,highly trained to detect psychological signs given by a trouble maker.

When I was at the KL airport, I simply didnt have to go through the frisking by security or anything like that. My guess is, I might have been "frisked" by a hundred cameras already (some of them probably see-through! )

I'm not sure if a metro mall or a pallika bazaar has this concept of an invisible "security cloak" established. If they have, I havent seen it yet - and that's a good thing. If they havent, well ...all i can say is ...Oh!oh!

2005-11-24T04:38:00.000-08:00

Time for some self-praise.

I passed out of NITIE :)

...With an 8.23 CGPA :))

..and in the top 1/3rd of the Class :)

Its over at last.... :)

2005-11-17T04:58:00.000-08:00

"So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because that's where you will find success. On the far side of failure."
- Thomas J. Watson, Sr.

"Take chances, make mistakes. That's how you grow. Pain nourishes your courage. You have to fail in order to practice being brave."
- Mary Tyler Moore

2005-11-05T13:12:00.000-08:00

Finished Liar's Poker. This is one book I should have finished at B-School. But then again, its better late than never. Loved the way money markets , esp the Bond and Mortgage markets functioned (or mis-functioned) in the 1980s. The author takes us through his time at Salomon Brothers, while sarcastically commenting on the madness that was the money market. Since he was fresh out of B-school when he joined SB, his initial experiences at work was something I could relate to.

In other news, Arul and moi finally moved out of our shell ( read Malls) in Gurgaon and into the heat and hustle-bustle of Delhi, to meet Meril. The trip was memorable in more ways than one. As I said earlier, we finally decided to stop being lazy and actually take a 1-hour ride bus ride to Delhi. So it was our first foray into Delhi together. That's the first reason why it was a memorable trip.

The other reason as to why the trip was memorable can be found in Arul's Blog. Arul, millions of my Blog's readers will now log on to your blog to see what you have written about our trip. So please...dont disappoint them....

2005-10-08T13:18:00.000-07:00

30 minutes ....

Date: 8th October
Time: 9.15 am

Woke up in the morning..around 9.15. Done with the ablutions, I reach out for the newspaper and take my seat on the sofa. I reach the sports page, when I feel myself moving about on the sofa....I was thinking.."Why the crap am I moving about, when I dont want to? "...2 secs later, I realise its the sofa under me that's moving...

Time: about 9.35 am

I rush into the room where Thangi, sloshed over from last night, was sleeping like a log.... "Get up Thangi, the building is shaking....WE GOTTA GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE!!! GET UP!!!"

Time: about 9.37 am

I am making my way down the stairs, as are all the other inhabitants of the building. I hear a "Dont Panic" being shouted by someone. Somehow, that seemed to have a calming effect on people. The last thing you wanted was people rushing down the stairs like mad.

Time: about 9.40am

I just get out of the building and look behind...Thangi aint there. "I did see him following me...may be he's on his way down" -..................................................."Heck! I better go up there and get his ass down!"

Time: 9.45 am

Excitement and a sense of fear was thick in the air. Thangi, Kallu and Myself and a large number of tenants....standing in front of the building....discussing, the possibility of yet another tremor.

Epilogue:
An Earthquake measuring about 7.8 on the Richter Scale hit several cities in Pakistan in the morning of October 8th . The impact was felt throughout Afghanistan and Northern India. Delhi and cities around it felt the tremors at 9.30 am in the morning. High rise buildings were left particularly shaken by the tremor lasting for about minutes in Delhi.

2005-10-01T14:53:00.000-07:00

I'm back on the blogosphere ...at last! Its been a whirlwind of travelling, adventure and tons of fun the last few weeks. It began with Chennai (as mentioned in my last blog), then Goa happened out of nowhere, followed by a week's trip to Penang in Malaysia, rounding it off with trips to Raipur and Nagpur.

First stop - Goa

The trip was an outcome of a 4-month sales contest. Some non-sales guys including yours truly was invited for the event, since we had in our own ways, directly or indirectly contributed to the success of the sales contest, acheived the targets,increased distribution etc etc - bottom line being, our company just got a lot stronger and richer :)

The trip was 3 day one, spread over the weekend. Being my first trip to Goa ( I didnt do it in engineering or in b-school!! I know....I'm a loser!), I was looking forward the one place my friends couldn't stop glorifying. And I wasn't disappointed.

3 days we partied on like crazy dudes on LSD (its a similie...i didnt do drugs!....and i'm not being defensive either!! ). The most enjoyable part was when 6 of us, took 3 bikes and rode off to Palolem Beach.

Here are some pics from the trip...

With friends just before the evening cruise

The amazing Goa beach backdrop...and me :)

On our way to Palolem Beach

On the Experience Rating Scale..I'd rate this trip AWESOME!

2005-09-04T16:37:00.000-07:00

Arul wants me to blog on my trip to Chennai. So Arul, I shall oblige :)

The business aspect of the trip was so to say....an eye opener :o. Its career experiences like these that I've always wanted :) And I'm getting more than I expected!

The fun part of the trip was meeting up with Arul, Meril and Joseph. Joseph, who of course has familial obligations, could not spend much time with us, as he had to get back home. Aaaah....marriage, and the way it changes one's life :)

Meril had bought a hamburger that was bigger than her (so what isnt ?....just kidding dude!!) And by the end of the day, she was totally stuffed,and was left catching a half eaten burger, wondering what to do with it. (The last I heard, she ended up eating it anyways)

Arul broke down, complaining that TCS didnt have enough chicks. And how he missed NITIE and all his "friends" ;). He also couldnt take his eyes of a certain....ok, I think I shouldn't delve into the details here. :)

Joseph joined us for a bit. Though he didnt have anything to eat with us, I think his stomach was already full with the truckload of work he was handling.

I had a great time guys! Danke!

Arul, looking forward to your Delhi visit...we shall party like crazy!! :))

2005-08-18T07:10:00.000-07:00

I did it!! I finally did it! :))

I have always wanted to perform a perfectly choregraphed, explosive group dance number in front of a rocking crowd. Never got the chance in school, or college.

And I never thought I'd fulfill this dream at work!!

The theme for the dance was Bollywood. The entire dance sequence built itself with hindi film music from the 60s right upto the 2000s. Our group performed to a dance number from the latest era in Bollywood.

Here are some snaps of our group rocking to "Dus Bahane.." at our company's Mid Year conference/party

2005-08-10T19:26:00.000-07:00

Taking a cue from Shubam, I too have developed my own quiz

Go on to take the "Do you know your Alex" queez.

And then Check out the Scoreboard!

2005-07-23T05:22:00.000-07:00

Well, here's something I cooked up last sunday at the office. This is done in MS-paint and hence the amatuerish look. Wish I had good ol' Adobe Photoshop out here.
I'm still thinking of titles for the strip though. Some that came along my way include:
Desperate Alex - sounds too desperate
Alex and the city - I smell a lawsuit...

Guess i'll wait till inspiration strikes...

2005-07-21T07:16:00.000-07:00

Sarkar Rules!

War of the Worlds...WoW!

Fanstastic four...Fantastic bore!

What would I do without movies.... :))

2005-06-17T04:53:00.000-07:00

Water. Paani. Vellam. ( I'd like to go on in other languages, but i think we get the point).The right quantity of this liquid, at the right temperature when drunk when one is most thirsty, produces a sense of enlightenment. I have been experiencing this nirvana every single day in the last week.

Market visits can be fun...in winter. In summer, it gets bad. It becomes inhuman, when you are sent to a remote village in interior haryana and asked to walk, walk and walk with the salesman selling blades, brushes and gels to very "friendly" retailers.

The temperatures out there are bad enough. The hot and dusty winds ( or squalls as they are called) make you wish you were born near the artic circle. One can only guess why water therefore, becomes a source of Nirvana almost every hour.

Below is a snapshot of the market visit I made to Samalkha in Haryana. Along with me is one of the best salesman in the business, Joginder Singh.

2005-06-14T20:36:00.000-07:00

Was reading Buffet:The making of an American Capitalist. On visits to B-schools for giving guest lectures, he often plays a game with students so as to help them better understand his methodology in picking up the right stocks in the stock market.

The proposition he makes to the students is:
Given the guarantee that you would be entitled to 10% of any one of your classmates earnings for life, which of your classmates would you choose?

...obviously most of us wouldnt pick someone just based on a CGPA. A person's energy, intergrity, capability, etc would come into the picture. And these again cannot be quantified.

So while numbers, betas and alphas may help...Buffet would look beyond.

2005-06-12T15:52:00.000-07:00

Sometimes we simply know. We simply know what is to be done to handle a situation. We are completely in sync and are fully aware of another person. How did we know that we know?....we may or may not know.

A person's Insightful, Intuitive or the Innate understanding of a certain situation/scenario/person - Conceptuality - as I would like to call it.

A person's conceptuality on someone or something is function of his or her experience and/or genetics.

Clearly, if you have spend a great deal of time with someone, after a point in time you begin to sense how that person might react to certain stimuli. In conversation you end up completing his/her sentences even before he/she does. This is in essence conceptuality as a result of experience. So while you may not be born salesman, if you have spend about 5-8years in the field, at the end of it, you intuitively know how to sell, what clicks, what works and what doesnt.

Conceptuality as a function of genetics is debatable. We have all, based on empirical observation, at some point of time or the other would have observed certain people having a command over certain subjects and situations for as long as we've known them. Some are born mathematicians. Some by nature are very good at handling people. Some we've felt are born sportsmen/women. In several cases I have observed that either or both parents or ancestors have to some extent been involved in the field where the person is seen to be displaying conceptuality. Perhaps either or both parents or his/her ancestors themselves would have displayed conceptuality in the field.

Conceptuality in a person is not binary in nature. One has to develop one's conceptuality. First one must recognise one has it. On recognition, one may choose to develop it. What helps a person develop his/her conceptuality is a function of genetics, environment and self. You may realise you are a good sportsman. You may want to develop it. But your parents may not agree, your academic pressure takes away most of your time etc. Clearly, the environment here will not allow you to develop your conceptuality.

A superior example that comes to my mind in illustrating conceptuality in a person and the role of genetics, experience and environment is the case of Donald Trump.

Donald J. Trump is the very definition of the American success story, continually setting the standards of excellence while expanding his interests in real estate, gaming, sports, and entertainment.

If you go through the hyperlink above, one can clearly see that part of his conceptuality was inherited from his father who too was into small time real estate. But it was the experential learning and the conducive enviroment throughout this younger years that enabled him to develop his conceptuality to a level that was unsurpassed.

At the end of the day it is important to understand what one is conceptual at. Whether one chooses to develop it or not is one's prerogative. Atleast choice made should be an informed one.

2005-06-01T07:18:00.000-07:00

The last days at any place has a way of bringing out the author/writer in most people. Today, being my last day at NITIE, I too have succumbed.

2 of my most fulfilling years I have spent at this place. No doubt I've learnt a lot about "business and management". But the takeaways have been, great friends, lots of fun memories, digital photos/mp3s/movies, and of course...a job :)

[Neo thinks I should add pizzas to the above list..sigh..if only they were indeed a takeaway :) ]

Having paused and pondered...I must, as Neo, Anjan, Ron and Rohith would agree,...Keep Walking.

2005-05-27T01:59:00.000-07:00

Ever since she came into existence, Coo knew she had an independence most would envy. She could move,float, almost dance around without a care in the world. But she also knew that her existence was not without purpose. A purpose she knew, could snatch away her freedom...but for a good cause.

Coo belonged to a specie which consisted of only 0.03 percent of the population. Yet, life without them was unthinkable. Coo knew this. As she floated about in careless abandon, the sense of duty - of following the path her ancestors set for her - never felt stronger.

Destiny had other plans.

---------------------------

John had always been a loner. He had few friends. He liked it this way.

Ever since his childhood John had been fascinated with the idea of conjuring up things with chemicals, liquids etc using all of the laboratory paraphernlia. His father would always regale young John with stories of alchemists and wizards of the old days. Wide-eyed John would eagerly listen, secretly wishing that one day he too would become a powerful wizard who could conjure up magic spells and potions.

John grew up went on earn his degree in Pharmacy and went to making medicines and tonics for local pharmaceuticals. While he enjoyed his job, he was still looking forward to conjuring that one elusive elixir that would change everything.

One spring day morning, John woke with a startle. Half naked he ran into his lab and shut the door from within.

-------------------------

John and Coo met for the first time on the warm evening of 8th May, 1886 - a meeting that would change Coo's destiny forever , a meeting that would materialise John's life ambition.

While Coo was blissfully unaware of John, John always knew about Coo. He never thougt to much about her though. Ok, so she was an important specie but he couldnt care less - until that night when she came into his dream. She unravelled herself in ways unimaginable to John. Her destiny, John realised, was inexplicably linked to his.

---------------------------

BIRTH OF A REFRESHING IDEA

The product that has given the world its best-known taste was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 8, 1886. Dr. John Stith Pemberton, a local pharmacist, produced the syrup for Coca-Cola®, and carried a jug of the new product down the street to Jacobs' Pharmacy, where it was sampled, pronounced "excellent" and placed on sale for five cents a glass as a soda fountain drink. For the first time, Carbonated water was teamed with the new syrup to produce a drink that was at once "Delicious and Refreshing," a theme that continues to echo today wherever Coca-Cola is enjoyed.

2005-05-21T23:54:00.000-07:00

Back in Mumbai atlast! Humid as hell and traffic's never been worse..man, I love this place.

Last week, was my first public and international vocal performance. Yup, you heard correct...I actually broke into a song in front of all the respective Gillette Key account managers from India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Maldives.

The whole thing started when my roomie, JKC, had the audacity to give me a call while I was attending the offsite training class. I, of course, had no clue that if your phone were to ring during class, you would automatically inducted into the "Gillette Choir".

At the end of the class, I was forced to take centrestage.Took a deep breath, started off with "Look into my eyes...."

I lasted 30 seconds I think. My audience sadly didnt. At the end of it all, my instructor had only one thing to say, "Dont leave your day job for a singing career".

12 other heads nodded vigourously, in agreement.

Recommended listening:

Akon - Lonely, Kelly Clarkson - Breakaway, Nitty - Nasty Girl and
Udhyananu Tharam - Karale

2005-05-14T12:11:00.000-07:00

My four month internhsip with Gillette is coming to a close. Just a week left ( which I will be spending offsite ) and I hope to be in Mumbai. Terribly miss the place. A mandatory project presentation at NITIE, loads of movies(and hangin' out hopefully), and 10 days later, I hope to be in Trivandrum chilling at home...eating, sleeping, driving. 5 days later and I'll back in Gillette, this time as an MT ( the corporate caterpillar )

15 days is all I get...supposedly the longest "vacation" I can hope for in the next 5 years.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!

Must...make the effort....to...freak...out.......

Anna...movies with a vengeance we shall watch. (as Yoda would put it)

2005-05-12T07:41:00.000-07:00

I saw a mallu move last sunday called Udayananu Tharam. There are sensible movies and then there are ourtright entertainers. This movie is both - a sensible entertainer.

Mohanlal comes back into a role that suits him best - that which relates to the common man (and not the super hero persona which he had right from Aaram Thampuran and Narasimham to other flop movies). He plays the role of Udayan, struggling assistant director trying to make his mark in the south film industry.

I think the entire credit for this movie should go the Srinivasan who not only wrote the brilliant script(yet again) but did an amazing job in the acting department, enacting the role of the struggling Rajappan aka 'superstar' Saroj kumar.

An original and tight script, the Mohanlal-Srinivasan duo, and a great soundtrack is a sure recipe for success. And that is exactly what this movie is...a success and a tremendous one at that.

What struck me about this movie was the message it had for the Malyalam film industry, which has been struggling for survival for the past several years. Scripts have gone from bad to worse. Flops have become to norm. And to think this is in stark contrast to the Mallu movies of the early 90s, where hits were taken for granted thanks to some great original screenplays and comedies. This movie in some way tries to recreate the lost magic and is largely sucessful in doing so. The movie is a humourous take on the pathetic creative vacuum that exists in the Malayalam movie industry and drives home the message in no uncertain terms.

All in all, if you aint seen this movie yet...you are missing something :)

(non-mallus can expect a hindi remake) ;)

2005-05-01T00:01:00.000-07:00

Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Smokin Joes for having catered to my craving for pizzas on weekdays. You guys did an impeccable job of delivery-to-home, when i had no option for alternative dinner.

Having said that, while i appreciate your service...I think your actual product..namely the pizza, has lots of scope for improvement. True, you charge less...for less. But i dont belong to that category, as far as pizzas are concerned.

Home delivery by Pizza corner was discovered by me last week. I have therefore changed my service provider...and am a more satisfied customer. Product wise, there is a 100% improvement. Service wise, about a 30% improvement. But the corresponding Price increase in only about 40%. And that's not a bad deal :) I think variety is something PC can work on a bit more.

And now...more useless reading for people who have nothing better to do....

Personally, I've got nothing against rickshawallas. Its just that, when they overcharge me for a ride...I can't meekly accept it and I sure dont want to waste my time and energy arguing over the right fare. So the following discussion, is intended for people like me who believe in the saying...Dont get mean, Get even.

I have a theory, based on which I firmly believe you can outsmart any overcharging taxi/rickshaw guy 8 times out of 10. ( a little improvisation could make that 10 on 10)

My theory is as follows:

" The Extra amount charged over and above the correct fare is inversely proportional to the distance travelled"

So typically, it is seen that for short distances, the taxi guy tends to overcharge. But for longer distances, his fare tends to come closer to the actual. This is an empirical observation, not just for Taxis but almost for any service.

I decided to test this theory. I wanted to go to destination A (actual fare Rs.10).
I know that destination B( which is further from A ) has an actual fare of Rs.15

I walk upto the rickshaw guy and ask him if he would take me to destination B and what his fare will be. He says Rs. 15 (he has not overcharged, as it is a far destination and has charged the correct amount)

Then I ask him, what he charges for destination A. He cant say Rs. 15 again. So he was forced to say the right fare of Rs.10.

Assumption: You know the actual fares to different destinations.

So the idea is to work backward on the fares.

In short, no meek acceptance, no arguments...just plain intelligence.....(moderate pause)....BU-HA-HA-HA!

Happy May Day :)

2005-04-16T07:15:00.000-07:00

Been buried in inhuman amounts of work. I hope to dig myself out of it by the end of this month. But for now....a breather.

Here's something useless to ponder on:
Ever wanted to know how RICH you look. When I say RICH I mean in monetary terms. I've always noticed that some people, although just about financially sound, "look" quite rich. While some really rich people look just about financially sound. Perhaps among other things, its that certain individual's choice in the way he or she projects himself/herself.

I for one, dont really care...looking rich or looking poor is hardly I ever even want to be concerned with....So why this discussion?

Apparently, Rickshaw guys in Gurgaon do care - abt how rich one looks.

The flashback:

I take the same route often to my office in a cycle rickshaw, for which I've always been charged 10Rs.

Back to the future:

Unlike other days, when I dress up in dull office attire, today I was in my casuals -Reebook, levis...whatever. And so I walk up to the rickshaw guy and ask him the fare and he looks at my shoe... and says 20Rs.

I was amused...

So if you ever wanted to know what rickshaw guys think about your financial
status...you now know what to do.

PS: The above writing is a mere creative discontinuity resulting after the author spend 12hours of viewing excel sheets, making insane computations and reaching new levels of amalgation with his chair.

PPS: On a more serious note, I am thoroughly impressed with the RAGAM 2005 t-shirt (check it out at the RAGAM 2005 website ).

Kuttz and I had done the RAGAM 2000(?) T-shirt....but this tee is leagues beyond what I could ever come up with. Well done DOOD!

2005-04-03T13:31:00.000-07:00

Attended a Gillette marketing program launch yesterday, at The Grand, Delhi. To be honest, I was looking forward to the lunch and desserts at a 5 star Hotel more than anything else. However, I was in for a pleasant surprise. The launch was quite an event. They had beautful models on stage, doing a choreo. They had a life-size model of an F1 car on the stage...a precursor to the new product Gillette is going launch in June( sorry ....cant tell! )Lots of interesting ads and presentations, etc. Of course, the food was YUMMY! And I could go on and on about the desserts. I couldnt get enough....

At the end of the launch I asked one of the guys I work with at the CFA how he liked the party. He was like,

"Are you kidding me?...This is hardly even a sample of what Gillette does, when a new PRODUCT launch happens"

He then proceeded to tell me about the amazing launch party Gillette had for Mach3 Turbo... Lots of food, even more models, dances, glamour and of course you get Gillette freebies.

Man, I'm lookin' forward to June already!!!

2005-03-22T17:24:00.000-08:00

Terrain uneven

Act I

The whisper of the razor's edge,
slicing through my conscious entity.
The pain crystallizes across the indices of Miller.
The umpteenth synapse fires through the darkness...
bringing light it seems - irony pervades the dark aftermath

Reasons are far from obvious,
the truth is not really out there,
the Argand plane cannot be as complex,
the hollow wind, screams as it cuts,
through the razor's edge

Act II

Hope is given to those that seek
Flames engulf the tiniest ember
Enthroned in the light
Is the wisdom of yonder

2005-03-21T12:11:00.000-08:00

Started skipping today. The reason for my latest endeavour is Hillary Swank. Saw Million Dollar Baby the other day and was very inspired watching her skip with such amazing speed and skill.( and its also because Kalyan my flat-mate does it everyday ).

Woke up at 7.00am and it was drizzling outside. That didnt stop me from putting on my tracksuit, and walking over to the lawn outside my building , skipping rope in one hand and well, nothing else in the other.

And then I began. Only to be stopped by the rope getting tangled between by feet.At a distance I could see a couple of "morning walk" grannies giggling, as if by watching me they were reminded of their first time with a skipping rope.

I continued, only to get all "knotted up" again. Occasionally, I did manage to pass the rope under my feet. But then the occasional passes were only... occasional. Nevertheless, Hillary did it. And therefore, there's no reason why I shouldnt be able to.

But as Newton once hypothesised, "All men must tire after work", I too, after abt 30 odd attempts,had aching leg muscles (yeah, I happen to have some of those too) get the better of me.

Tommorrow ....will be a better day.

2005-02-12T22:50:00.000-08:00

Well here I am sitting at my office reporting from Gurgaon, the land of call centres, malls and low-rent housing ( relatively speaking ). Project has started off, which is going fine save for the problem that I have to travel all the way to Okhla in Delhi to work. This means spending 3 hours each day in a rickety bus ( DTC buses- the less said about them the better).

On the upside, I really dont have to worry too much about food like I used in NITIE. I can dig into all the junk food I want to here in Gurgaon and there are plenty of options available.

Switching over to a different topic, this is the time when most students who have given CAT are researching their B-school options at a more granular level, trying to find out as much as they can about potential B-schools they have applied to ( especially unofficial info about the school which you do not find on the official websites ). I know I did. Some talk to alumni, some prefer the grapewine but smart people use Google( and of course talk to alumni).And if some did use google to find out abt NITIE, I'm guessing my blog would show up on the Google listings.

And so I figured I'd do my part and post a brief round up about NITIE, Mumbai.

Life@NITIE :Most B-schoolers claim that they are being pushed to the edge each day, having to stay up till 6 am doing assignments everyday, quizes and cases everyday, etc etc everyday.

The above statements are all true except it does not happen everyday. There are times when the profs bombard you with work, quizes, cases etc or when you are part of a certain organizing committee for a certain event. And during these times, you literally get screwed. But then are also times, when you are lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling wondering what to do next.

The same holds at NITIE. What I personally have seen ( and experienced) is that in a B-school a person can be as busy as HE/SHE wants to be. He/She can set the pace of his/her life. One may chose to just stick to acads and focus on CGPAs ( in which case there isnt much stress). But if you want to get into extra currics and still want to maintain your CG then it becomes a tough juggling act. And believe me, if you cant manage both well, you'll be screwed.

The above was general myth-busting stuff. Coming back to the topic of life@NITIE. Officially Class starts 9.00 am and ends by 4.30pm. Obviously, there's nothing offcial about classes at NITIE. Most guest lectures/extra classes start at 7.00 pm and may go on till 12 midnight. Classes could also start early morning 7.00am.

At NITIE, very few stick to acads alone and most of them alternative interests. We have several Committees at NITIE such as Placecom, PMG( Prerana mgmt group - Prerana being our B-school fest), CyberCom ( the IT committee - of which I was a part of :) ) and Rotaract and several others. Entry into most of these committees is vry competitive and of course one is expected to work like crazy for the committee if one is a member.

For a place like Mumbai, NITIE is an unbelievably scenic place, nestled in between two lakes and there are several spots most of us hang out to chill. THere is the NITIE pond, the MDP terrace( my personal fav) and loads of trekking tracks. So if you wanna chill or take a break after a rough day, NITIE's the place to be.

Of course, we do have loads of masti otherwise - whether it be watching movies (enabled by a robust LAN and a movie server), playing networked games, or partying away to glory at the Sports complex, etc etc...the list is endless - its all there.

And this sums of life at NITIE in a nutshell.

Now that i'm feeling hungry( so what's new? ), i'm gonna pester Demand Planner Kalyan ( my senior/roomie ) to give me company for lunch.

2005-01-26T23:03:00.000-08:00

Watched The Aviator yesterday. It was released here the day after they announced that this film got 11 oscar nominations. So I anticipated a huge turnout for the first show and went there 3 hours in advance. But I was wrong. Not only did I get the tickets comfortably, I even got the seat I wanted :) (And the hall was almost empty!! )

The movie was well-made. I liked it a lot. I had read about Howard Hughes earlier on and I had a picture in my mind of him as this driven, crazy millionaire guy. This movie however, brought those facets of this man much better than I had imagined and in a much more sensitive way. And throughout the movie, the director maintains this unflinching focus on the protagonist, relegating everything else to the background. Leornado Di Caprio has done an awesome job and has come a long way as an actor. Cate Blanchett has given a wonderful performance as Kate Hepburn.

On the whole, this film has the grandeur and the sensitivity to make it a classic in its own right.

2005-01-24T10:54:00.000-08:00

Whatta ride!!

I was at the Global village in Dubai, the day before yesterday. Went with my folks and man, the place was TOTALLY ROCKING!!

There were abt 40 odd countries participating and each of them had their uniquely(and magnificiently) designed pavilions where they showcase their goods and culture. I couldnt visit all of them but some of favs were the Iranian and the Czech Republic pavilion. The Iranian pavlion had some excellent stone-carved handicrafts, but what i liked best was the live performance of this Iranian music troupe. I along with my parents walk into the centre of the pavilion (the pavilion being arranged in a unique concentric design) and we see this group of four taking the stage. 2 guys were playing Korg, one guy was on percussion( bongo like instrument) and one guy on the guitar. And then they began...and I was hypnotised. The guitarist was AMAZING!!! I've never in my 25 years heard such amazing guitaring....the strings were moving so fast...his fingers were floating in effortless motion....a masterpiece..and Iranian music has found itself yet another ardent fan.

And to top it all, since all pavilions had to have their local people manning the stalls, I got to see beautiful women from abt 20 different countries... :))

After the pavilion visit, we headed to the amusement rides. I was feeling particularly adventurous so decided to try the dare-devil rides. Man were they OSSUM!!! Adrenaline rush to the MAX! Couldn't try quite a few rides though cos the queues for some of these rides were unbelievable.

I definitely need more time in Dubai...there's just too much out here to see and explore.

17 days simply ain't enough.

2005-01-22T04:06:00.000-08:00

Well I did it. It was kinda irritating to see a couple running into the sea...I promised myself that I'd change the template someday..so here it is- my brand new, navy blue(i think),eye-friendly, subtle polka dot design based template...I'm lovin' it!

As with all code, there seems to be some bug with the HTML script for this template. Somehow, my blogs dont appear right on top and I have to scroll all the way to the bottom. So calling fellow bretheren blessed with the knowledge of HTML (or is it DHTML ?) to help me out here...would appreciate it (cos that's all i can do :) )

2005-01-17T04:10:00.000-08:00

Been here in Dubai a little over a week now. If progress were a place on earth, it would be in Dubai. I somehow still find it hard to believe the breakneck pace at which Dubai has been flourishing. Whats more astonishing is that, the pace has been maintained for more than a decade and there seems to be no signs of slowing down.

While the city has been moving ahead furiously, I've been chilling here for the past week ( the weather is kinda cold here). Been stuffing myself with food and more food (havent gained a kilo yet though :( ),teaching my sister algebra and exploring Dubai.

Been reading The Penguin History of the World by JM Roberts. Bought this book last week at Abu Dhabi Duty Free while on transit. This book elaborates upon world history from the ancient civilisations until 9/11 and upto present day and serves to satisfy my longstanding to read and own a book which details the entire world history. Hope to finish this book over a long period of time.

2005-01-05T06:52:00.000-08:00

Got placed...(atlast!) with the Gillette Company (Yeah, they make razor blades too ;) ). Moi will be working with International Operations. ( sounds good, i know...it ALWAYS sounds good :) )

Placements are looking very good this year, and there's no doubt about that across B-school campuses in India. At NITIE, its been outta this world!(well a few jobs ARE out of the country).

This week would, for all practical purposes, be my last at NITIE.

Like most mortals, I too have the urge to recap my time spent here at this college.

Unlike most mortals, I would like bring out moments and incidents that are unusual and capture the spirit of my life here and hence....lets hear it for...

Top 10 TRIVIA of MY LIFE at NITIE

#1 The first person I talked to in our batch when I joined NITIE - Vijay Singh, ma former neighbour and currently placed with IBM.

#2 I nearly got kicked out of college due to attendance shortage. It was for DataComm. Back then i was naive and didnt know that only 3 bunks are allowed for a 2 credit course. Fortunately, Prof had mercy and so I could write this blog today.

#3 I must have drank atleast 300 million tonnes of soft drinks at NITIE. Coke send me a certificate of appreciation recently, for being the single largest contributor to their revenues in the last 2 years. ( I hear Pepsi is planning to name their next drink after me)

#4 In continuation to the previous trivia..I'm the reason Bhaskar introduced soft drinks in our mess :)

#5 Without Pizza I would not have survived...Pizza Hut, Smokin Joes, and the company of Neel, Dikshit and an unwilling Ron take credit for it.

#6 I'm NOT creative. period!

#7 I'm also very modest. :p

#8 My first "paper" was on Globalisation for a contest at IIT-B. I had partnered with Samoj. The results were not upto the mark ( meaning our paper never got selected). That was the beginning of the end as far as paper writing for me was concerned.

#9 My ad for prerana (our b-school fest) got published in a national newspaper and magazine.( No more free creatives now...will charge fees...rates are negotiable).

and finally #10:

There was only one thing in NITIE that always gave me a high( literally!) and that was time spend on top of the water tank on the terrace of the tallest building in NITIE ( and perhaps one of the tallest points in in Powai by virtue of it being on a hill)...the MDP Hostel. I can never forget the AMAZING view I used to get from there, especially Hiranandani, and particularly of the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport ( I could actually see planes touching down on the runway!!). Damn! i'll miss the place.

2004-10-28T16:57:00.000-07:00

I haven't been jogging since the past 10 days. I feel a little bad about it. Fortunately, 6 out of those 10 days I can write off, cos' of Prerana and Confluence ( my girlfriend and my pet chameleon respectively ..... ok ok..just kidding..refer to previous blogs to know what those 2 are).

But I can't write off the other days now can I? So while Rohith, went jogging each morning, going from strength to strength(literally!)...Me, I've been generally lying around.

Consequence: Rohith has taken his morning exploits one step ahead and now plays Tennis in the evenings. I, on the other hand, have taken my slumber beyond the confines of my room and into the sacred realms of the classroom.

To offset this excessive and continued downtrend of my eyelids. I've decided i'm going to lie on my bed and think about what i'm going to do ...to...er..umm... offset this excessive and continued downtrend of my eyelids.

Some of my more intelligent readers would be probably be on their way to my room to pat me on my back or writing me congratulatory emails, as they read the above paragraph. The reason is simple. In the above para, i've subtly introduced the inside-out method of bodily rejuventaion.

Let me explain.

The human consists of 3 fundamental planes arranged in a sort of hierarchy - soul/spirit, mind, body. My technique simply advocates that in order to get your body all energetic again, you have to start at the roots - namely, the spirit. Then we move on the mind. A healthy state of the spirit and mind will automatically ensure a healthy body.

Which is why i'm going to lie on my bed and think. (I've skipped the spiritual development part here....it is assumed that 4 years in engineering and 2 years at NITIE is enough for anyone to develop a strong spiritual inclination. For the others who havent been through these 6 years...believe me, you shouldn't be complaining)

I think I'll go disturb Rohith now. (notice the subtle intertwining of the mind and body, resulting in physical action....my theory is already at work!...beat that Einstien!!)

2004-10-26T16:16:00.000-07:00

Was at IIM-A the last 3 days. Had an extended weekend, so six of us took off to Ahmedabad to attend Confluence at IIM-A.

I would like to classify my time spent there into two. Time spent comepeting and Time spent not competing.

With regards to the former, stranger things couldnt have happened. We cleared the stratosphere prelims, only to be told an hour later that the results had to be recalculated. In the new list we failed to make the mark.

We played the finance simulation game and we won( surprising i know...but we actually hit the jackpot!)...only to be told a half and hour later that the results had to be recalculated. No prizes for guessing.....the latest rankings put us at 4th.

And finally we actually qualified for BizQuizitive hosted by Sid Basu. Well almost.
Only 6 teams were required for the finals. Unfortuantely there was a tie between 2 teams for the 6th spot - IIMC and us. This had to be resolved first, which was to be done using a buzzer. The question was fairly simple and i think we might have missed out on the buzzer by a nano-second. IIM-C got in and we walked back.

As these fiascos happened one after another... I felt awed. It was almost as if there was this pattern .. a certain design that the 6 of us had to go through. It was too deliberate to be coincidence ( and no i'm in no way accusing anyone here of malpractice or anything of that sort...i believe the mistakes made in calcualtions were genuine).

I learnt a lot from the experience...and strangely , i feel good about losing. I never feel that way....but this time i did. I somehow believe it was almost as if we were actually kept from winning by a certain force ..for an unknown reason. But a definite reason nevertheless. What that reason is, i dont know...but it will manifest itself to the six of us sometime in the future...of that i am sure.

Regarding my time spent not competing - I had a jolly good time. Caught up with a lot of friends of mine at IIM-A and even some friends of mine who cams as participants from other colleges. I still can't forget some of the awesome free corporate lunches i had during these 3 days ( who said there's nothing like a free lunch ?). Breaksfast was amazing too. And in between all this, I spend some time alone taking a walk through the surreally lit corridors of the IIM-A buildings. Gave me a sense of otherworldliness....very hard to describe in words.

On the whole a mentally enriching experience....

2004-10-20T02:08:00.000-07:00

Its been Hectic...Exhilarating...Tiring...enriching....an experience....

Its been Prerana 2004 - NITIE's annual B-school fest.

Its our last Prerana...leaving NITIE in about 3 months...its fun experiences like these that i KNOW i will miss out on.

Been listening to "Jeene ke ishaare" from the movie Phir Milenge...been mesmerizing me for the past few days.

2004-09-29T16:30:00.000-07:00

EXAMS ARE OVER!!... THEY ARE OVER AT LONG LAST!!...lemme now do the traditional Mongolian Dance of Relief, before i resume typing.

Exams got over the day before. Rushed to the room, packed up, had a quick lunch and rohith, joseph and myself took off to Bandra to catch a train to Anand in Gujurat. We had been planning this trip for a while, the sole reason being to get to see AMUL and how it works. Jo had been in touch with the PRO, Mr. Partha for a while. He was very helpful and along with him Jo had worked out the entire visit.

Reached Anand around 11.00pm. Seeing the huge and neatly-constructed railway station, all 3 of us knew at once that this wasn't going to be just another small town we were expecting Anand to be (and we were right).

Checked into our hotel room, switched on the TV and saw KKHH ( for the benefit of my international readers, KKHH is Kuch Kuch Hota Hain, a blockbuster hindi movie).

10.00 am next day we are sitting with Mr. Partha in his cabin at GCMMF (Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation...they market the Amul brand of products). He takes us through the schedule for the day and then a brief corporate presentation.

We then move to the main Amul dairy plant. Here Mr. Sundaran, PRO takes us through the entire plant, explaining the various steps in procuring and processing milk. He also took us to the Amul Museum, where we saw the history of Amul and the 3 men behind the revolution (Mr. Tribhuvan Das, Dr. Verghese Kurien, and Mr. H.Daliah).

Had lunch and then left for the Tribhuvan Das foundation, which is charitable set-up providing help to the village community by provding free healthcare, daycare for childeren,etc. We moved to Vidya diary which is a Diary Technology institute cum plant, where diary students are trained hands-on for a year. The assistant manager gave us an overview of this plant and then we were taken into the plant and the some of the operations regarding how Emantelle Cheese and ice-cream were made, were explained.

We then were taken to IRMA ( Institute of Rural Management, Anand). We met up with the PRO who explained to us the spirit behind this institution and how this institute was set up under the leadership of Dr.Verghese Kurien.

Then came the moment we were waiting for - a meeting with Dr. Verghese Kurien - the father of the white revolution. We had heard so much about this great person. About how he integrated the villages across gujurat to create the most successful co-operative India has seen till date - AMUL. He was responsible for the sucess of Operation Flood and for making India Self-sufficeint in Diary. This was a man who married professionalism, profitablility and most importantly socio-economic welfare.

And at 5.00 pm yesterday we were shown into his office and there we saw the legend - in the flesh. We spent about half an hour talking to him. He related to us quite a few anecdotes from his life. He was quite old, yet he was very sharp and quite a humorous and jovial person ( "I've tried....and I dont think i've done badly" .... this he said about his career!!!)

Took a snap with him before we took his leave. :)

Having wrapped our programme for the day, we headed back to the hotel by around 7.00pm. The train wasnt until 10.20 pm and so we killed time by watching Andaz Apna Apna ( amazing PJ's! ). Had dinner , caught our train. We were lucky enough to get seats in the GC. And today morning we were back in Mumbai and back to classes at NITIE.

No trip I've ever been on comes remotely close to the satisfaction I've had during this trip. The story and the people behind AMUL and meeting the man who kickstarted this revolution....what can I say? It was AMAZING!

2004-09-25T20:06:00.000-07:00

Got this from our LAN.
Lyrics of this song called "Sunscreen" by Baz Luhrmann. Made it to the Billboard Top 40(1998-1999). Interesting read...

" Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '99.

Wear Sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 pm on some idel Tuesday. Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself. Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how. Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year- olds I know still don't. Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone. Mayber you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody's else's.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Dont' be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths. Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will Look 85. Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen. "

2004-09-19T13:02:00.000-07:00

There was time, not so long ago, when gmail invites were THE rage. You could get urself a Merc or even a girlfriend if you were among the lucky few to have gmail invites....some of the "not-so-fortunate" could sell their invites for as much as $400 on eBay...*sigh*

Even a month ago, I would have people doing my laundry for an invite...but now..*sighhhhhh* :(

anyways, got a few gmail invites...in case anyone's interested, leave me a message

2004-09-15T22:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to me!

25 years its been till today....started the midnight celebs getting by ass kicked (still hurts! ) ...and then having kisses smother me (still reeling!! )...Had yummy pineapple cake and of course, loads of Dew ( all that drooling abt dew to my friends finally paid off!).....Thanx a lot guys, you made my bday special :)

2004-09-11T16:15:00.000-07:00

This page is *finally* listed on google

keyword: alexj.blogspot

*duh*

That was the good news...

Bad news...exams start in less than 10 days. The 7 days of unadulterated terror and misery is on its way....

Must...S-t-u..-d..Y......

*static*Over*static*...and out *static**static**static*....

2004-08-29T09:40:00.000-07:00

Happy Onam to one and all! Today us mallus at NITIE got together to bring the experience of Onam to our campus. Onam, which is one THE most important festivals of Kerala, traditionally encompass a myriad set of activities.Some of them include, making the "athapoo"- which is a circular floral arrangement done on the floor, tug-of-war, the onam dance - performed by the lovely ladies clad in the traditonal cream sarees....the list is endless. There is of course a story behind why Onam is celebrated.

Of course, us Mallus were in no position to arrange for all these activities. But nevertheless, we arranged for the Onasadhya or the Onam Lunch at our staff canteen. We had a larger than expected turnout and we were happy to see the smiles on peoples faces after their meal. It just made our day :)

A huge thanks also to Ron, Neo, Josh, M.Raj, Gaurav, VAK, Sudeepa, Sabya and many others without whose help this event would not have been a success. Thanx for being a part of our celebrations guys!

Arthi, one of our juniors wrote this poem recounting her Onasadhya Experience

Mallu Food On a Banana Leaf….

Luscious emerald, becomes the dull green
When with water it is cleared
For a banana leaf finds its sheen
When laid barely upon the earth

The ghee added to steaming rice
Exudes a mouthwatering, tantalizing smell
And it would come as no big a surprise
As to how with every side dish they do gel

From the humble rasam to the sambar, so strong
Each dish has a flavor that entices the mind
For piquant lemon flavored pickle, the mouth does long
While sampling chutneys of various kinds

The curries each have their zing
Either spicy, tangy, bitter or sweet
Among the plantain and other things
In an amazing delectable mélange these meet

The poppadoms and plantain chips provide
An incomparable accompaniment to every dish
Even though they are placed by the side
They are every hungry gourmets wish

Even the humble rice and curd
Mixed on the banana leaf
Leave me in search of words
To describe their union, too brief

The last to be served up
But none to say the least
It left everyone refilling their cups
The milk payasam was the queen of the feast

Each dish so unique
Each with its own taste
Your stomach wants to speak
To tell your mouth not to make haste

But instead savor the flavor
Of each morsel, each bite
To hold the feeling forever
Seems uppermost in the mind

Finally after many servings and helpings one feels
Too full to get up and leave the delicacies
Each looking forward to an afternoon’s sleep
And praying that God sends Onam again next week..

- V.P. Arthi

2004-08-24T13:36:00.000-07:00

What character do I match in the Matrix?

I'm Neo :)

This is what this website had to say about me..

You are Neo, the chosen one, the slayer of agents
everywhere. A former nerd, you have evolved
into quite a stubborn hero.
Although Trinity is not that hot, at least you're
one of the few that can get some in the real
world.
You can stop bullets and you're immmortal; so what
the hell are you going to do in Matrix:
Reloaded?!

"Yeah. Wow, that sounds like a really good
deal. But I think I got a better one. How about
I give you the finger... and you give me my
phone call."

What Character From The Matrix Are You?

2004-08-24T01:23:00.000-07:00

Its raining ...and very heavily. An empty coke bottle sits silently by the window sill...almost wishing it were out there, in the rains. It realises its doomed to spend the rest of its useful life inside the dreary confines of an MBA grad's room.

How do I know all this about the empty Coke bottle? Well, you can see right through it :)

Jokes apart, been putting in crazy amount of work in "Designing templates" for multiple projects (inside the dreary confines of an MBA grad's room). Not to mention backbreaking and "colourblinding" StratMan assignments the Prof. keeps firing at us with impeccable regularity.....hmmm..impeccable regularity...sounds redundant in a superfluous way , if u know what i mean....

The song on my winamp just changed to "Uptown Girl". And all of a sudden i'm alive...this song does that you...it really does!

Been missing PiZZZAAAA!!!!.....I think I'll stop for now and mourn....

2004-08-18T15:25:00.000-07:00

I have off late been thinking of starting my own rock band (not the heavy metal kind, of course). My talent in making others play the guitar and drums is unmatched. But most importantly, I'm convinced I can sing......and VERY well! Now the few people, who've had the privilege to hear me strain my vocal chords would probably not agree. All I have to tell them now is...I wont be giving them any autographs.

My rock band will be called "The Rock Band". I believe this the only logical name a rock band should have and yet surprisingly, not a single group to my knowledge has ever taken this name. Now for my group members. I believe that everyone should be given a fair chance to showcase their talents. And that's what they can keep doing forever..... cos' HELL, I'M GOING SOLO, BABY!!!

Bryan Adams, Bon Jovi...all of em are probably "bands". But how many of us know the name of their "band" members. Do they EVEN EXIST?? (Which so reminds me of that My Band music video by Eminem ..hehehe )

My local barber will not be seeing me for a while, and yes if anyone out there got some torn jeans please mail 'em over to me. (If u dont wanna give me your jeans and still wanna discard 'em..i hear Wrangler's interested....they were selling 10 year old jeans for 1300 bucks the last time i visited 'em ...sheesh! what is the world coming to?? )

and finally, 3 ways to combat inflation.
1. Dont spend :)
2. Send the money you have to me so that i can form my rock band (also send some to my local barber)
3. Buy my album when it hits the stores. One rupee from after-tax profits/cassette or cd will be donated to the Combat-Inflation fund in Argentina ... (Hell, do they even have a currency?? )

let's rock, dude!

2004-08-14T11:48:00.000-07:00

This isn't me..
I know it..why am I here?
I can hear the walls crumble..
my mind constrains me, desperation and hope mingle.

I move across motion..
time has stopped.
energy is ethereal, crackling...
the dream is a now an apparition.

2004-08-14T00:24:00.000-07:00

Aaah Photoshop!*sigh*...I'm just discovering the most awesome things you can do with this one software. Was at it for four hours continously, educating myself from this COOL website. My back's still aching from all that sitting in front of the comp. (and, an ergonomical sitting position was the last thing on my mind!)

Checked out the Exorcist:The Beginning website. Mind blowing flash, I must say....Should be viewed alone in your room with the lights switched off. (I can do that cos I have a single room with a 2Mbps net connection...in short, the good life :) )

Post pizza session, Rusty, Ron, VJ and myself went for a walk around Hiranandani (Central Avenue to be precise)....and we were discussing futures and options....and for once, thanks to VJ I understood what the hell those two words meant... A pretty useful session for all of us.

And yes, the Olympics 2004 have finally begun. Go India...We ARE with you :)

2004-08-13T00:30:00.000-07:00

sharp, it glows....
from beneath the valley
naked he emerges
rays of the twilight
glistening in his eye
silence pierces the air
an aura of imminent victory

2004-08-12T11:30:00.000-07:00

A little something I did on photoshop ....with a tutorial :)

2004-08-12T03:32:00.000-07:00

Lazy afternoon.....

I think I'd like be here for a while....

2004-08-12T02:27:00.000-07:00

Blog testing...1-2-3

2004-08-11T11:23:00.000-07:00

As you can see, I've been refurbishing my blog all day.

*Finally* added links on my side window. Thankfully the template I downloaded had dummy links on the side window already. This made my job a little easier :)

The templates a little too mushy-mushy...those two silly dudes running around on the beach....but this was the best I could find. Will change it someday.

Had the pleasure of beating Hell_guard, Neo and Tarzan today in NFS:Hot Pursuit...

as General Douglas MacArthur aptly put it,

"In war there is no substitute for victory."

:)

2004-08-10T23:23:00.000-07:00

Back after a long gap..........no excuses, was too lazy to blog..also managed to forget my password in the process :) moved my lazy ass and recovered it today!

came across this site

Its got some awesome essays on economics, some written by none other than Keynes himself.Besides this site has got info about various countries regarding their history and their current political, economical and political status.

An informative read for the well-informed :)

2004-04-29T07:25:00.000-07:00

I was with Ram Merchandiser yesterday. He works for the stockist and takes care of the displays to be displayed (d-uh!) at the various retail outlets. He took me around to all the shops I had to visit, which saved me a lot of time hunting around for these shops. But he only walks...the only transport he uses is the local train to transport himself from one suburb to another.....otherwise, its only walking....

And i walked with him....walked and walked...and covered the two shops at mahim...

Then we moved on to Bandra...i ask him,

"Ek Auto le lein?" (shall we catch a rickshaw?)
"Nahin Sir, paas hain"...(No need sir, the shop is nearby)

and we walk and walk....and we reach the "nearby" shop after walking for nearly half hour....
(Half hour sounds less....but considering it was a blistering hot outside and the fact that i was walking all the way before that....)

After that, we hardly walked....cleverly combining the use of the auto and the bus, i get through the rest of the route with relative ease....(Hey, i'm getting 200 bucks for transportation per day...resources must be used optimally ;-) )

Though if it werent for Ram Merchandiser, I know i wouldnt have completed the route yesterday...Thanx Dude...

Epilogue:
Was late into the evening, i was chilling in my room, when i felt a pain in my left leg...the walking took its toll...I had a tough time going to sleep...the pain was well, painful .. ;-)

Just a Thought :

Was walking through a narrow lane, filled with potholes and dirty water all around....had do quite a bit of dodging around. So i was mostly looking down...i knew where i had to go...the destination was there. But what i couldnt do was look around much, couldnt see what was around me...i could have possibly missed out on some alternative routes, that i could have to taken to reach my destination.....

I was thinking about any business going through tough times(possibly due to external or internal fators)....what should it do? The above para tells me, that it should look at short term, look for immediate escape routes, even if it maybe costly in the long-term.....

I wonder if there's been business in trouble, that has done otherwise....if so, what's happened to that business...did it survive? if it has, has it emerged stronger ?...

2004-04-25T00:05:00.000-07:00

Been a week into the job......excruciating is too *nice* a word to describe what i was going through all of last week. But there's this AWESOME sense of fulfillment at the end of the day. That's coz, I'm actually out there DOING something....even if it means travelling in jam packed trains, getting headaches walking in the hot sun(not mention having to put on sunscreen..yuck!), being shouted at or worse, being totally ignore by retailers, as if i were some form of low life...

In a week's travelling, i've learnt more about Mumbai than i have in the last 9 months of actually living in this city. Since i get my lunch reimbursed everyday (with a cap upto Rs.200!!) i get to eat what i want, wherever i want to....so its been McD, Subway going on alternate days :))

....All this is of course, is apart from the amazing learning experience, of actually talking to retailers, stockists and customers and getting their point of view....Its great to see things as they happen out there, which isnt even half as close as the text book scenarios we learn in the classroom.

Mintzberg recently took a swipe at MBA students and the learning they go through at "B-Schools". Being an MBA student myself, I wouldn't entirely do away with what's taught at a B-school. Its textbook stuff and not practical stuff...many would say. True, but what written in texts are actually Experiences of many people spread over a long periods of time, which have been crystallised into a few paragraphs.

Unlike say physics, where certain principles are fundamental and apply to all situations (like gravity), in Management, every situation is unique and so what we learn in school can never be applied as it is. This i feel is the mistake many students make....they feel they've learnt all about they need to know abt business at a b-school..and feel they can apply what they have learnt as it is..which is simply untrue...

Then as Mintzberg said (Mahesh Murthy mentioned this in his BunsinessWorld column), there's the need to use a tool called "Gut-feel"...many successful leaders/managers are successful because they have used exactly this tool.

This tool cannot be learnt instantly(develops with experience, many say...i personally feel genetics have a major role). Its highly risky to use it. And the results are often unpredictable....which is why its easier to hide behind statistics, numbers and the like ....

And yet, there will always come a time in any managers professional life when he/she has to use "gut-feel"....In fact ,many important decisions have been taken on "gut feel"...logic usually takes the back seat....
Hard to digest for most MBA students...Logic just HAS to be there....if there's no logic behind a decision....then there's no decision....A common refrain among younger managers....no harm thinking that way...but its NOT the ONLY way....that's what we have to accept...

2004-04-25T00:01:00.000-07:00

just added a comment script...this is to test that

2004-04-18T08:26:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is when the grind begins...

Had a taste of the job on friday, walking all day in the sun, looking around for the 8 shops i was supposed to visit that day...the heat,dust, pollution, and the hustle-bustle that's typical of a day in Mumbai...really gets to you. Needless to say, the experience was humbling...Talking to retailers, you realise that not everything is hunky-dory on the frontlines as in made out in the corporate office....

MBAs in general dream of sitting in air-conditioned corporate offices, glassy buildings with plush interiors, a laptop and few good looking colleagues for company...

Absolutely nothing wrong with that...everyone wants to live the good life...but I personally feel, that there's this growth path one should follow.....going through some hardships initially, before settling in comfortably....Most companies (especially fmcg's) i know, follow this path for its new recruits...

I know what i've written, sounds pretty old...even cliched maybe.....but's its good to be reminded once in a while......it keeps you going through some tough times....like what i'll be going through over the next 5 weeks....

2004-04-15T11:38:00.000-07:00

back after a long hiatus...

dont wish to write down that's happened in my life since my last blog. Not that much has happened anyway.
BUT..yes, my 3rd module exams did get over...that's some serious relief. No more exams till september this year.... :))

As of now,doing my summer internship with colgate-palmolive. Involved in market research. Will get to travel all around Mumbai...hoping to know the city like the back of my hand at the end of two months. More importantly, will get to to meet tons of stockists, retailers and of course, consumers....
Col-pal's probably got the best sales setup in India...getting to understand and actually seeing it in action is in itself an awesome experience....

Looking forward to an exciting summer at col-pal...and of course, after that, a 25 day stay(hopefully) at home in June....:)

btw, most of my friends dont agree on this one....but I FEEL, Vanilla Coke's great....

2004-03-02T21:54:00.000-08:00

today was one of those days...things fell pretty much in place...had pizza, did a pilot market study and struck a deal with the printer and the photographer. Felt good, interacting with a lot of people (including the waiter at pizza hut) and getting it right :)

but its days like these, when your so caught up with how well things are going...that you forget to learn important lessons, which you otherwise learn through the bad or depressing situations you may go through.

....well, as they say, life's a long, ardous journey...but you deserve a little encouragement along the way...think i got a wee bit of that today :)

2004-02-24T09:26:00.000-08:00

hallo! guten tag...

no, u guessed wrong. i didnt just pick up the above german phrase from some language website....

i usually do that...but this time around, i'm actually learning german. Yes, that's right people, i'm learning a foreign language after a gap of like 11 years. 11 years back i was learning arabic. It was part my curriculum while i was schooling in the Middle East. Back then, i didn't like studying...not that i do now, of course. But now, i like to learn languages. I now have this oppurtunity to do the same (thanks to sujata, my german teacher).

Why the love for languages? Not very sure myself. But in some way, i feel learning a language takes you somewhere far away, into another culture, another place.....Its like being part of an adventure you always wanted to be in.

My environmental mgmt. test went OK. I hadn't done much studying. So for the measly effort i put in, I'd say i did pretty decent.

I played soccer today. After a real long time. I had been forewarned by my friends rohith and joseph that i'd be up against some rough guys who kick you more than the ball. I was undaunted. I had got this oppurtunity after long last (yet another oppurtunity!), and i didnt want to chicken out! I did remove my specs however. I was playing half-blind. BUt..we won

2004-02-23T09:12:00.000-08:00

hey...guess i'm back real soon...still learning how to blog...pretty interesting this thing is (duh?..i know...)

2004-02-23T09:00:00.000-08:00

hey....just a sample blog. will b back with something more substantial later. got a environmental mgmt test tomm :(