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Showing posts from 2006

One Hour at Charminar!

Mere thought of visiting a Muslim majority area used to elicit apprehension in me. I am a Hindu by birth, but I would rather call myself agnostic. Being born as Hindu and brought up in a Hindu society had its effect on me. I do respect all religions but there used to be certain trace of doubt toward Muslim, perhaps media had some role in that owing to Hindu Muslim rift. Its not that I never interacted with any person born Muslim, if fact few of my friends are Muslim, but the interaction was limited to one to one, in class, in hostel and likes. I have never been to a place surrounded by mostly Muslims, till we decided to visit charminar one night during ramzan. I had been to charminar earlier also but that was in broad day light. Prejudiced and apprehensive, like many other Hindus, that we were, reached the charminar area at around 11 pm in the night. The rational behind the daring move (perhaps I can term it that way) was we could be assured of their moderate behavior owing to the fact

What shall i do now, sir!

I am Santosh, 13 years old boy. I used to work in a road side hotel, but the other day the hotel owner told me that I can not longer work in that hotel, for that matter any other hotel, restaurants or home, as the govt has banned working of children at these places. I must be happy, you may think. Yes, I indeed was. I never wanted to work. I wanted to go to school as Shainky bhaiya, at whose house my mother works as maid, goes. But there are five more mouths to be fed at my home and that’s why apart from my mother, who works at few houses in the officers colony near our slum, and father, who works as daily wage laborer, I and my younger sister, all of 10 years, who helps my mother in her work, used to work. But now, after this ban no body is employing us any more. The earning hands in the home have reduced. And it is becoming very difficult for our family to survive. Should I be happy? Just because we are poor does not mean our parents don’t love us. Any damn living being loved their o

Makes You Happier?

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Perhaps :) (c) http://www.gapingvoid.com/

Creative moi!

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Well picasa hai na.

Media Planning?

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Another addition!

Everybody loves a good drought The big moo India unbound The romantic manifesto The camel club Q & A

Technology, Entertainment, Design!

About the latest ideas in Technology, Entertainment and Design, also Business, Science and The Arts... any subject area offering something fresh and important.

Now Google.org!

Guys at google never seizes to amaze us. Check this out.

Day 0!

Today is day zero of "I know what". And I better make it to the end.Be strong. BOL to me :)

Whatta Ride!

Riding the bike in the rain. Whatta joy. I love it :)

Ganesh Chaturthi!

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@ my apartment. It was after quite a long time saw some kindda cultural event with kids putting up some skits, dance and songs. And all of them were enjoying themselves.In the colony back home they used to have these kind of events on 16th jan, 15th aug and 15th sep (engineer's day) and it used to be great fun. Did somebody say growing old kills all fun! And to add that kids of 10-12 years have started calling me uncle :-D . I am not that old yet!

Rum is not bad!

Well that makes it vodka, rum, wine and champagene ;)

Life Insurance!

Two billboards cought my attention while coming back from office today. Both of them for life insurance and from non financial companies ; Bharti Axa life insurance and Reliance life insurance. Though Reliance had presence in financial domain represented by Reliance Capital , it is completely new venture for Bharti. So diversity seems to be in thing for big enterprises.

There is nothing as baggage from past, whatsoever!

Today is the new day, start afresh :0)

Last Mile Connectivity!

The last mile is the final leg of delivering connectivity from a communications provider to a customer. And last mile connectivity is real time head ache for the service provider. In essence how a service/product provider connects to the consumer is determined by the process/method of last mile connectivity.      Same holds good with any service or the product. Okay you, as a service provider (as in service industry) and product manufacturing company, got a great service/product to offer with all those features and everything. But Success of the same depends apart from quality the way your last mile connectivity elements works. For example, if you are offering a product then sales person and in case of service also the person representing your organization becomes face of your product/service and hence they are your last mile connectivity. How successfully and efficiently you get new customer and then repeat customer depends mostly how your front line workers do their job. In most of

Yun Hota To Kya Hota!

Rubbish! Key sara sara, what will be, will be. Put on your sincere effort, plan and execute but have the courage to accept the result. No point in brooding what if? Yun hota to kya hota? Aisa hi hona tha . As they have said in Geeta, karm kiye ja, fal ki chinta mat kar . So put on your 100% for the cause but be prepare to accept the result in its full totality and take responsibility. Don’t just sit there and watch, do something. Nothing will happen if you don’t try. At least give it a try. Just do it.

Web 2.0 !

Content generation (as in blogging; uploading various kinds of files) and consumption thereof is the single most important idea WEB 2.0 is based on. Then there are many social networking sites around, friendster , myspace , meetup , orkut , yaari , hi5 , ryze , linkedIn to name a few. Few web 2.0 companies are coming in this space. Then there was sixDegrees.com that last from 1997 to 2001. More or less all these networking sites can be said to based on the concept of six degrees of separation , according to this anyone on earth can be connected to any other person on the planet through a chain of acquaintances with no more than five intermediaries . And almost all of these sites offer same features, scrapbook, testimonials, photo gallery, and blogs. All of these come for free. Then ad remains only way of getting revenues. Then like no of eyeballs for TV programs, no of unique user define the sponsorship. But with so many sites around on the web wide world, which is not limited b

Whisky tastes aweful!

Even if that is 12 years old black label :-0)

When will this stop!

Or will it stop ever? This is reality of present world and we have to live with cowardly acts of terrorism. I don’t understand what point they are trying to drive home. I hate to say but terrorism acts cannot be prevented, we can hardly take proactive measures but perhaps reactions can be channelized in proper way. If you want some help or can provide some, please visit Mumbai help . Post script : Or perhaps a more efficient intellegence can help prevent these acts.

Champs are made of stuff!

Long time since I saw a tennis match. Yesterday, second round at Wimbledon, Rafael Nadal (2) vs.  Robert Kendrick (237). After trailing behind 6-7, 3-6 in first two sets it was 5-6 in the third set and Kendrick was serving the match point at 40-40. But champions are made of stuff, somebody rightly said. Final outcome of the match which ran for 3 hours and 40 mins on the center court, Nadal wins by 6-7, 3-6, 7-6, 7-5, 6-4. He survived 28 aces of Kendrick. Boy the grit, determination and confidence of the no 2 were worth watching. Not to undermine Kendrick’s effort. He maintained his cool and was very poised unlike Nadal, who after winning each point was exuberant. Over all a very good match.

Amateur Photographer!

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Trip to Srisailem, through lens!

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Apan chalein Srisailem. Abids in the early morning. Road to Srisailem. Hardware park , nanotechnology park, fab city etc. are on this stretch of road. Sonali and Priyanka. Check out the tree tunnle in the background. Jana bahot hai door. Reservoir at Dindi dam. Ruk kyun gaye? Badhe chalo. Our small group in front of the temple. Step roads leading to Srisailem. We! In front of the dam. Somebody told these are Kerla boats.

The Temple!

I am Hindu by birth and never entertained my choice on my religion. I am spiritual but not religious. I am not a believer and perhaps also not an atheist. Usually I am neutral when it comes to religious issues. I neither go overboard with religious rituals nor is it like I don’t step in to a temple. At times I do visit temple with my folks. Things I like about temples are peace and serenity. Apart from temple I had only been to church hence I cannot compare different places of worship. So when we visited Srisailem over a weekend I been to temple also as a customary visit. The temple complex, whose existing buildings date from the 2nd century AD, is the Bhramaramba Mallikarjunaswamy Temple, it is one of the 12 'Jyotirlingas' in India as well as one of the eighteen most sacred goddess shrines, or Shakti Pithas. Shiva is worshipped here in his form of Lord Mallikarjuna, and Shakti, his consort, as Sri Bharamaramba Devi. Two things I found unusual here; first the shivling was subm

Parasite!

During the Srisailem trip something involuntarily made me think of John Galt . Okay, I very much understand and acknowledge the divide between haves and have-nots. And by Indian standard I am doing reasonably well. I am a libertarian . Also I believe charity is one thing and free market is another. And two should not be mixed. I am a supporter of free market. Free market is all about demand and supply. You got a skill, a product or a service and if there is demand for the same in the market, you can exchange the same in lieu of something tangible, say money. The cost is determined by the demand. And with time there evolves minimum price for items being traded. Unless I am not exploiting you by underpaying you should not demand more for your services/products/skill. Your skill has a worth and I can negotiate, okay, but can not force my will to you. You are free not to trade with me. But once we have arrived at a negotiated price that’s what I am going to pay you. And you better accept

A Saturday well spent!

24th June, 2006 4:10 AM: Trring trring hellomotto. Trring trring hellomotto. Snooze. Soon after another alarm goes off. Okey guys lets leave the bed and get ready. Fast! Call Laddu. Check if Samars are up. Bansal ko jagao. Ask him to check with Arshi, if she has wake up. Arre amitji jaldi karo , bus aa gai hai. Dekho dekho mishraji hasn’t taken bath. Meanwhile Laddu and Sonali has already boarded the bus. Abe Doctor jaldi nikal. Hume fir Deepak aur Priyanka ko bhi pick karna hai. 5:30 AM: After dropping Mishra, Bansal and Laddu near an ICICI bank atm we went to pick Samars up.” Sir come down to the main road, as the height of the bar on the road leading to your home is too short for the bus to cross .” 5:45 AM: We all (9 of us) are on our way to Srisailem. With couple of halts and photo shoots on the way we reached our Saturday getaway. Had darshan in the shiv-shakti temple . It was almost 12 in the noon , and it had been almost 8 hours since we were awake and were very hungry. We h

Don't grow old...!

Many people are afraid of growing old. I'm afraid of growing old and boring. Many people are afraid of growing old, alone. I'm afraid of growing old, insane. Many people are afraid of losing their looks. I'm afraid of losing my dreams. Many people are afraid of losing their youth. I'm afraid of losing my soul. When you're 15, 35 seems ancient. When you're 35, 15 seems juvenile. A turnaround in a split second - two decades zoom past and before you know it, it's only a mile to the next millennium. Don't fear age, it's a right of person-hood. Don't fear death- it's life's greatest jest. Don't grow old - you don't have to. Don't date because you're desperate. Don't marry because you're miserable. Don't have kids because you think your genes are superior. Don't separate because you think it's fashionable. Don't drink because you have troubles. Don't gamble because you think winning is inevitable. Do

Few good lines!

Why is it important for you to always win? Do we really need a reason for our every action? So life continues by trial and error If any part of your uncertainty is a conflict of your heart with your mind - Follow your mind!' "I realize, small aim is a crime" - Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam Smile please.! No one is worth your tears. You're not wrong. You just expect me to be the perfect person I am not. :) In hindsight, everything is easy, all pain is avoidable. That one extra mile is what makes all the difference. Go for it! It is incredible how the mind comes up with justifications when it suits our personal purpose. Truly loving another means letting go of all expectations. It means full acceptance, even celebration of another's personhood. There is just a thin line between asking for a rational explanation and cribbing. Does this sound too idealistic? Maybe. Does it make business sense? You decide. Is it better to die trying? Any day. © if any is duly acknowledged.

Hyderabad , from a distance!

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A little too far. Door door tak badal. Badal hi badal. Aur badal. My cam comes with 12x zoom :0). Above pic without zoom. A concrete jungle? Good heavens.. Approaching ground. Near. Nearer.

Enough of denial!

Okay! I have been such an a$$h@l* all these while. Denying, till this very moment.Come on face it, accept the reality you damn fool.

Cold Calling (Messaging)!

Scene 1: You are in a meeting and ping ping , buzz of your cellphone indicating arrival of a sms. Dhoolpeta Spl! To set CALLERTUNES like Oka Naatito, Nippulu Pedavula, Maa Area, The Beginning, Vastavaa & More, Call 123419. Chgs Rs 6/min. Scene 2: Sunday afternoon, you are trying to get a good afternoon’s nap, ping ping , another sms on your cellphone. Play the Football Quize, SMS GOAL to 123 and win a trip to visit Football Crazy Goa. SMS Lucky or log on to www.hutch.in to get prize details. Rs 3/contest SMS. How irritating. Even after my repeated requests to Hutch that I don’t want to receive any promotional messages I am still getting them and with good frequency of at least 2 a day! First they said I need to change setting of my mobile phone, then they did some settings at their end but without any effect…… I am fed up with this cold messaging ( cold calling !).

Clean City , Green City !

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The oldest Shopping complex - The Kamani Center View near kharakai river. Another view near kharakai river. For a change cattles in the field and not on the road. A small basti! This road is in Adityapur. Those who had been to this area around a year back just can not believe this :-0). The river kharakai. The kharakai bank. Still the bank of river kharakai. That small hillock is made up of fly ash. Jamshedpur is surrounded by small hills. The time square @ Jamshedpur. Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata. Going towards Bistupur. Still going towards bistupur. Still going towards Bistupur. And the Steel city. A birds eye view of the city. Gai humari mata hai!

And you said he needs Reservation!

Read this ( you need to change the date as 03-June-2006 and then select region as Jamshedpur in City NewsLines in left column ). Tudus are native of Santhal Pargana and come under ST category. By the way 180 to pack bags for IIT from Jamshedpur ( you need to change the date as 01-June-2006 and then select region as Jamshedpur in City NewsLines in left column ). And that includes my cousin Shainky :-). Congratulations and way to go dude!

You Would Just Love'em!

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My Dady Strongest!

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(c)Bill Watterson Click on the image for clear view.