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 :)

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!

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!!!

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.