22 December, 2010

04 November, 2010

To dream or to do?

An unfortunate legacy imposed on every Indian and more so a bong ever since one is born. Why does it always have to be a choice between Gandhi or Subhash? The fight for ideologies totally defeats the purpose. It isn't about respective success or failure either.

Both men had a dream and had the courage to follow through on it in whichever fashion they saw fit. That was all it was. The hype needs to be cut out at some point. So why not now?

Ideological justifications are for the lazy and weak-hearted. It is easiest to hide behind the excuse of ideology.

Our generation can do better. Our actions and not choices make us who we are. It is up to us therefore, to move out of this tragic situation and commit to doing rather than resting on past laurels.

08 October, 2010

India's Royal Jeopardy

Considering the spate of foolhardy statements by Rahul Gandhi over the years now, one can safely assume that he is on a rampage to compete against himself when it comes to stupidity. Perhaps his party high command bases his performance appraisal on an yearly quota of silly and immature statements made in public and a year on year hike on the number of such.

While being groomed for the PMO perhaps, he has been assigned on a blunder-fest fastrack. His success is perhaps measured as a function of the number of gravely-misinformed statements versus corresponding public outcries. As India's government sponsored royal family eagerly awaits the coronation of its heir apparent, we citizens are forced to bear a nail biting agony.

In keeping with the legacy of our political prince, perhaps one day Rahul Gandhi's autobiography will read - My Experiments with STUPIDITY.

04 October, 2010

It has been over a month now at AIIM but we seem to have lost all count of time. So much has happened that it is quite difficult to pen them all down. Check out the link to Life @ AIIM under my photographs section for a sneak peek. For the sake of summing up, let's just say, it has been an extremely fulfilling experince so far. An amazing lineup of faculty and TESTS and TREATS!!!! I have never attempted so many tests in so short a time ever!

Considering the breakneck speed of knowledge distribution and overflow at AIIM, we decided to continue the same routine for our first relatively free weekend. Result = Movie marathon!!!

Verdict of the Movie-Marathon weekend...

- Tere Bin Laden = A comedy of errors

- Expendables = With Sylvester, Statham and Arnold all in the same movie.... we definitely need subtitles! What is with these action heroes and their speech???

- Once upon a time in Mumbai = Whoever told Ajay Devgun that he was hero material?

- We are f...amily = Something is wrong with us for even thinking to watch this after stepmom!

23 August, 2010

20 July, 2010

Aatishchoooo !

Why do they call it 'snuff' powder?

08 May, 2010

On ungainly assets

I am just an ordinary girl in many ways. I love my clothes, trinkets, random and regular shopping activities just like any other girl and have quite a distinctive taste of my own in all of the above.

When it comes to cars however, let's just say my taste is not so discerning. A car to me is just an enclosed carriage that needs to deliver me from one point to the other while protecting me from sunburn, rain or inopportune accidents. Hence, is definitely not something that I like to fuss about.

My team members have been after my life these last few months over why I do not own a car of my own yet and prefer to just hire one. It is difficult to explain to guys why/how I failed so miserably at the driving lessons from my dear dad. Hence, using a comfortable facade of - "I am meant to be driven and not drive" - has served me well so far.

Don't get me wrong. While I can well appreciate the comfort of a luxury car, it would never concern me deeply while buying my own car (if I ever feel so inclined). My vehicle(s) of choice is simple and short -

1. Maruti 800 (a/c would be nice) for the average Indian road.
2. Second hand autorickshaw for the Hyderabad roads (no frills required).

An asset that depreciates faster than the weather and is associated with high recurring costs, I consider an economic liability. To those who are still gloating over your latest acquisition of a white elephant, best wishes from 'your's truly'.

The Happily Deluded

The traffic on Hyderabad roads follow certain strict rules. Coming back from work last night, I had a glimpse of what fundas lie behind some these rules. Let me list the rules first and desecrate some of their making as we trail along.

Rule 1
While on Hyd roads, a road is a road. There are no lanes!

Rule 1
While on a Hyd road, every slow moving traffic has all the permission to take the right path (lane...if I may)

Rule 1
If you have a two-wheeler and happen to be in Hyderabad, the roads are automatically your 'Baap ki Jaagir' (lawful inheritance). Feel free to swing, dance, run or crawl...oh and of course...use the right lane by all means :)

Rule 1
You must always stay ahead in the race. The Hyd crowd takes this dictum very seriously and apply it to their driving too...literally.

It is ok to start late...but shame on you if you fall behind in traffic.

Rule 1
The APSRTC buses are the indomitable Dadas aka DONS of the Hyd roads. No Gandhigiri for these bhaiyas though. At their benevolent best, you are allowed to trail behind them. However, since they suffer from more bad hair days than not, be prepared to incur their wrath & risk getting crushed anywhere/anytime.

Rule 1
A footpath is only an extension of the road for the discerning Hyderabad traffic players. Nothing more nothing less. If you can drive, by all means use the footpaths whenever you wish.

Rule 1
So what if you couldn't get your mono-flying license? All you need to fly on the Hyd roads, is a yellow bike with a pointy end and a girl to bring up your rear end. That's it... and you are ready to take off!

Rule 007
On Fridays and Saturdays, no two/three wheelers drive on the left side of the road. These are the 'Hafta Wasooli' days. Every law abiding traffic policeman worth his salt (or sugar, butter and the like) can be found on the streets. Don't worry about breaking a few traffic rules here and there...as long as you are not stopped by the police...you are doing well :)

29 April, 2010

Tidbits of fun facts I found online

ADULT: A person who has stopped growing at both ends and is now growing in the middle.
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BEAUTY PARLOR: A place where women curl up and dye.
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CANNIBAL: Someone who is fed up with people.
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COMMITTEE: A body that keeps minutes and wastes hours.
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DUST: Mud with the juice squeezed out.
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EGOTIST: Someone who is usually me-deep in conversation.
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HANDKERCHIEF: Cold Storage.
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INFLATION: Cutting money in half without damaging the paper.
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MOSQUITO: An insect that makes you like flies better.
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RAISIN: Grape with sunburn.
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SECRET: Something you tell to one person at a time.
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SKELETON: A bunch of bones with the person scraped off.
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TOOTHACHE: The pain that drives you to extraction.
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TOMORROW: One of the greatest labour saving devices of today.
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YAWN: An honest opinion openly expressed.
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WRINKLES: Something other people have, similar to my character lines.

21 April, 2010

Indians ka Paisa Lootao Morcha - IPL 'Premier' League

An article from 'The Hindu' so close to my heart that I just had to have it up here. Read on if you haven't already.

"Freebies for the IPL — at a time of savage food subsidy cuts for the poor — benefit four men who make the Forbes Billionaire List of 2010 and a few other, mere multi-millionaires.

And so the IPL fracas is now heading for its own Champions League. Union Cabinet Ministers, Union Ministers of State, Chief Ministers (and who knows a Governor or two might pop up yet) are being named as people trying to influence the bidding process. Both houses of Parliament are in uproar. The taxmen have launched a “survey.” Many in the media and politics are happy to reduce it all to issues of propriety or personality. For, the BCCI-IPL is one platform where the Congress and the BJP cohabit, normally with ease. Big money is, after all, a secular, bi-partisan space. (Or tri-partisan: let's not deny the central contribution of the NCP to this phenomenon.) It's also interesting that the media, though now compelled to give the IPL's underbelly some coverage, are still reluctant to ask larger, harder questions. To go beyond their Modi-Tharoor feeding frenzy. And to avoid induced amnesia.

It was just 10 years ago that cricket was rocked by the game's biggest-ever match-fixing scandal. That too had its centre of gravity in Indian cities, and involved Indian bookies and Indian businessmen. But along comes a new hyper-commercialised version of the game. It has scandal-waiting-to-happen written all over it and the media say “wow! This looks great,” promptly going into the “willing suspension of disbelief” mode. This venture had the right names, high glamour and, above all, big advertising and corporate power. There were obvious conflicts of interest (apart from what it did to cricket, the game) from day one. Here was Big Business in open embrace with its political patrons. There were also those who did not give the public office they held a fraction of the time or importance they gave to the BCCI-IPL. But few serious questions came up in the media.

Now there's a forced discussion of opaque dealings, bribes, and “we-know-how-to-deal-with-you” threats. Of shady investors, murky dealings and, possibly, large-scale tax evasion. Of franchisees alleging they were offered a $50 million bribe to exit. Or claiming that a Union Minister warned them to withdraw from the rodeo with grave threats. It all leads to things much bigger than Modi versus Tharoor or issues of “impropriety” (a nice, genteel word). Leave aside the narrow money details or the fact that some franchisees are thought to be losing tens of crores each year. Skip the fact that despite those losses, newer franchisees between them put up over Rs.3,000 crore for two teams that don't exist. Only a tiny band of journalists have at all shown the scepticism demanded of their profession. These few have stuck at it gamely only to find themselves isolated, mocked as party-poopers and the recipients of threats and abusive mail.

How about questions on public subsidies going to some of the richest people in the world? The BCCI-IPL cost the public crores of rupees each year in several ways. The waiving of entertainment tax worth Rs 10 crore -12 crore for the IPL in Maharashtra alone was discussed in the State's Assembly. It was little reported and less discussed in the media. Maharashtra has extended other support to the IPL, which is yet to be quantified. This, despite being a State whose debt will cross Rs. 200,000 crore in the coming year. And there are similar subsidies and write-offs extended to the BCCI-IPL in other States, other venues.

A whole raft of concealed freebies from public resources to the BCCI-IPL is also not discussed. We have no picture of their full scope. No questions either on why a public sector company should be billing itself as the “sponsor” of a team owned by the fourth richest man in the planet. No questions asked about issues ranging from super-cheap land leases and stadia rentals and low-cost stadia security. We don't even know what the total bill to the public is: just that it is probably in tens of crores. We do know that these supports to the IPL from public money come at a time when subsidies to the poor are being savaged. But we don't want to go down that road. An inquiry into the IPL must cover the BCCI as well and must record all the open and hidden write-offs and subsidies that both get.

Who stand to gain from the public wet-nursing of the IPL? Among others, four gentlemen who make the Forbes Billionaires List of 2010. Three of them are team owners and one is a title sponsor. All dollar billionaires and long-time residents on the Forbes List. Then there are the mere millionaires in the shape of Bollywood stars. For all these and other worthy people, governments bend over backwards to make concessions. Even as they slash food subsidies in a period of rising hunger. Big time partying is an integral part of the IPL show. Only look who is paying for that. Street argot has already begun to brand the IPL as Indian Paisa League or, more directly, India Paisa Loot.

But the BCCI and the IPL preside over huge sums in advertising. So even when the IPL angers the media by pushing them around on coverage restrictions, the media cave in. The larger silence continues. The strongest criticism of what has been going on (till the Kochi chaos) has come from Sports Minister M.S. Gill, an old-fashioned cricket lover actually worried about the game. Not from the media that cover the IPL. He has criticised the tax concessions and security subsidies that have hurt public security in the cities concerned while the IPL is on. It's also worth pointing out that Mr. Gill is the one Minister (of the four Ministers on your TV screens in the present drama) actually connected with sports in a legitimate way — and not tainted by scandal. But maybe that's natural: the IPL has little to do with sports.

The Sports Minister pointed out a long time ago that there were dangerous conflicts of interests at the top levels of the BCCI-IPL. He also told Karan Thapar on television that he found the idea of “letting off tax” (waivers for IPL) quite unacceptable. “This is a poor country. I never forget that. There is a huge deficit in the budget even this year ...” And went on to say that: “when business is earning it in the shape of these teams and whatever the structure, I think the legitimate tax should be taken and should be used for the country maybe even for sports, other sports.” Far from that happening, we are taking it from the public and handing it out to the billionaires.

Fire brigades in the cities have been muted or overruled in their objections to the IPL's ‘hospitality boxes' (where seats can cost you Rs. 40,000) as fire hazards. But some of these tickets also get you to a late night party with IPL stars and other dubious benefits. Some have raised the question of what this does to the players' performance the next day. But the party goes on. Nothing could be further removed from the lives of the ‘cricket crazy public' — whose supposed interests are invoked for every new spin to the game. IPL does not come cheap.

Mumbai's elite recently preened themselves on Earth Hour where the city saved some power by switching off lights for 60 minutes. Great savings could be made if all IPL games were played in daylight. There is something ugly about that much electricity consumed by a private profit entity (guzzling public money) in a season when Marathwada and Vidarbha suffer 12-15 hour power cuts. Something that always devastates the performance of their poorer children in the examinations. They could end up having (on paper at least) a Right to Education, but none to electricity.

With the IPL comes the convergence of the most important media trends: the ABC of Media — Advertising, Bollywood and Corporate Power. Corporate barons and Bollywood stars own cricket teams. One IPL team is owned by a newspaper. Other dailies have become ‘media partners' of IPL teams. Some Bollywood stars have ‘promotional agreements' for their films with TV channels who disguise their paid-for gushing over those films as “news.” Once national heroes, cricket's top icons are now ‘capital assets' of the franchise owners. Once proud of their disavowal of tobacco and liquor advertising, the icons now plug for the latter in surrogate form. And are linked to the former in other ways. And a once great game moves from heartfelt public ownership to a pocket-driven private one; from a national passion to a hyper-commercial nightmare."

17 April, 2010

Flavour of the quarter

My customary three month crushes are well known to all my friends. They are fully aware of my weird 'flavour of the quarter' syndrome & are more often than not, ready to indulge my weirdness. There is however a strict pattern that I adhere to - It is always a one sided crush. :) Hence, as I smoothly transition from one to the other, they all end on a happy note.

This latest crush of mine however, ended on a sad note when I decided to watch Phoonk 2. How I wish to go back in time and edit my lapse of judgment! My instincts were alerted when I first found that Phoonk 2 had the same cast as the last one. Something screamed on the lines of "people needing to learn from past mistakes". However, I decided to ignore the warning signs and decided to endure the movie, come what may.

After a mind-numbingly boring first half hour, I went to sleep for the next half. On waking up, I was forced to deal with the reality that my crush had worn off :( After being thoroughly exorcised of my latest 'intellectual engagement', I came to the following conclusions -

1. You can never truly understand what motivates men.
2. Most men never learn from their past mistakes.
3. Most women love to cry on a man's shoulder to enforce their own sense of fragility.
4. Most women hate to help themselves.
5. Most women love to assign all 'corrective responsibilities' to men irrespective of the man's capabilities.
6. Atheist or not, most men just suck at choosing good homes for themselves or their families.

Indulge me if I am wrong.

15 April, 2010

The 'Sparsh' Sparks

Haven't found any news worth pondering about lately.

From the unabashed uncouthness of the "People's Representatives" of the country, to the victimization of innocents, the death of unsuspecting & ill-equipped jawans who die protecting the political fat asses (pun intended), to the marriage between two religious and professional heretics, it all seems so mundane these days.

I laughed in the face of a friend once on hearing a happenstance called the end-of-the-world. As on this day I find myself looking forward to such a proposition. I have held no illusions in my mind for a long time now. Yet, always held on to hope. I no longer wish to read the newspapers these days & dread watching the news. One embodies negativity and the other lacks credibility.

My friends suggested some hardcore partying to get me off the pits. My family suggested some spiritual rejuvenation (I praised the lord they hadn't suggested marriage). Just when I thought that conscious human thought has reached a point of 'no recovery', Sparsh happened. Winning or losing is not key here. What is important is that the 'underdogs' have spoken. Even if you do not 'go change the world', I wish 'more power to you'.

15 February, 2010

Valentine blues

Most everyone "falls" in love at some point and quite a large number live to repent the same. Would it then be justified to say, "He\She was "felled" in love"???

Guess, I am just sour grapes coz my Valentines day was spent reading a book on Sociology :D Life sure does seem pathetic without my rose-coloured glasses.

02 February, 2010

On the Rann

Watched Rann last night. To say it was great would be unfair on my part. The concept echoed my thoughts and hence my take is definitely a biased one. It is hard to come by good actors these days, but even harder to find better directors. While I have always sidelined Verma to category B, Rann shows a lot of calibre. Having often chosen Bhandarkar films over RGV's, I feel it necessary to congratulate RGV for his attitude shift and concluding the movie on a hopeful note.

Ritesh was refreshing. Veterans like Paresh Rawal, Monish Behl, Rajat Kapoor need no calibration. Amitabh yet again wins hands down for his depth and delivery. The characters are well defined and the plot is nicely paced.

The surprise element of the movie however, is not in its story. The character of Jai Mallik played by Kannada actor Sudeep steals the show. Several hearts broke for Jai. A new star emerged after a long cold period of chocolate heroes. Sudeep lives up to the quintessential model of tall-dark-handsome as well as the angry-young-man. After his highly forgettable role in Phoonk, Sudeep, thanks to RGV, seems to have finally found a footing in Bollywood. I hope he is here to stay.

As is apparent from above, my judgment of the movie is perhaps a little skewed. Hence, I leave it to you to watch the movie (or not) and draw your own conclusions.

My comment on PeerPower

Subject : Question: Will US protectionism on outsourcing hurt the Indian IT sector?

Protectionism or not, what matters is what happens next. Tax-cuts aside, the fact that most outsourcing enterprises "could" pull back is a threat that can no longer be ignored. With the Indian economy largely dependent on the service sector, the threat of an economic downturn in India, looms large. While China has from the very onset secured its internal industries, what are India's options? The sagging and overstaffed PSU's can no longer act as remedy. India will have to wake up to its nemesis soon. Concerted efforts and drastic corrective actions are needed with immediate effect.

We need to focus on strengthening our own manufacturing sectors. Subsidies and government grants are required to encourage budding entrepreneurs, thereby creating more jobs. Higher cess should be levied on electronic/appliance imports to allow emerging Indian enterprises (that lack scale) fair competition. Encourage private entrees into essential government sectors like defense, funding hi-tech r&d and offering lucrative grants. Our primary concern should be to protect, secure & eventually empower existing Indian industries from foreign competition.

It is unlikely that outsourcing firms will decapitate their Indian operations immediately. Keeping in mind the lucrative markets both within India as well the Asia-Pacific countries, tax-cuts may not seem a lucrative lure in the long term. We have therefore, a buffer of time. It would however be in our best interests to act before the buffer expires.

10 January, 2010

Today's Femme fatale - Tomorrow’s torchbearer

Coming up with a list of my top five women of the future required a lot of deliberation. Obvious names which keep cropping up all the time like Indra Nooyi, Kiran Shaw Majumdar etc, I decided to ignore. Not because, they do not merit the credit but because, they belong to a passing out generation.

My quest was to identify young torch bearers and futuristic women of potential. Sorry guys but Katrina, Aishwarya and Kareena simply cannot hold the candle to these gusty others. Don’t get me wrong but I have no patience for someone who cannot get herself to even converse in the very same language that helped her showcase her only talent (read looks). Kareena and Bips own precious little in the higher department and lose points each time their inter-“views” and personas are aired. Aishwarya falls just short of reaching the top five. Much as I admire her wax-like beauty, she could have done a lot more than just working for personal gains. While I have cited the reasons for the why-nots, the toppers get only a brief generalization for being chosen.

1. Brains as indicated by their ‘word of mouth’ or pen/keyboard.
2. Actions in real life that range from community service to personal lives to business acumen.

Those wanting more credibility can do their own research. Please understand these are my top fivers and you can beg to differ. I do not pay heed to character certifications or cast value judgements. Hence, feel free to take your own stand. So without further ado, my top five women for the future in alphabetical order are –

Preity Zinta
Priyanka Chopra
Sagarika Ghose
Sunitha Krishnan
Sushmita Sen

Having a point of view is important.

To be or not to be

I was quite upset to note in a recent survey that Shashi Tharoor did not qualify in India’s most eligible bachelor list. Which idiot cares about an age gap when a man has brains in spades? And then found he had married again :P. Nevertheless, it requires a significant size of guts (not using the b-word for propriety) for a public figure to express a personal opinion with candour, court controversy as well as risk the ire of seniors.

It is a known fact that certain regressive policies of certain haloed individuals set India backwards by a good many decades. If facts come as a shock to some old bones and some newer, much softer ones, then I recommend shock proof vests for them. Tharoor, join a better party. Better yet, start a newer and better one.

Granted, his TED India talk wasn’t great. Granted, the five star accommodation fiasco should have been avoided. But hey, no one is infallible. I like my heros real.

A well thoughtout ad