Day in Day out

All hail !!!! the Moor of Venice

2006-07-30T23:56:00.000-07:00

The Moor of venice .... Othello , brilliant movie ... Ajay Devgan as Othello is the silent presence in the movie and Saif Ali Khan ( Langda Thyagi ) as Iago is too brilliant for words... he carries the role so well that at sometimes you feel like throttling him but then thats what he is supposed to do. Kudos to Saif .. Vivek Oberoi has a passing presence in the film and Konkona Sen Sharma as Langda...'s wife portrays the village belle wedded to an outlaw perfectly. Bipasha is a passing presence and Kareena Kapoor has played desdemona well....

Naseeruddin Shah is the typical politician running things from Jail and one who works his caste votes and can get elected anytime...
My only lament was that some of the movie was in Bhojpuri and took some time for the average Tamil Brahmin to understand , but then there was Virdee and some repetitions of dialogues required....
The climax is heart rending and the movie is brilliant and the songs are just too good... a must watch for any shakespearean and movie critic... Langda... is what acting should be ...

My 0.02

Chennaizombie

How do you price a book?

2006-07-30T23:35:00.000-07:00

A great paradox .... how do you price a book ? while you have some books which quote at something like 95/- and some paperbacks which quote at 400 plus rupees.
I don't get it , a paperback is meant to make the book reachable to more people and more so from the fact that the hardbound edition has made some money and the paperback is either meant to recover whatever money is required and or increase subscription.

Some of the major contributors to this are ;
1. Author's royalty ( or sometimes a flat fee for the same )
2. Publisher's brand / premium
3. hardbound / paperback...

Here the noble thought of making the book accessible to a wider population is lost ... you have books by a few authors which are way to expensive to the average man and in some cases the academic population - the student is left out of the equation. I do agree libraries are there for this but there too with regard to works of fiction / non fiction become unreacheable to many.

I just saw some paperbacks of thomas friedman and krugman etc which have about 500 pages quoting at somewhere in the range of 400 rupees , I would rather call it a glorified hardbound rather than a paperback. This in turn leads many ( including me ) to either look for the book online or scrounge the various back streets of bangalore for the same at a fraction of the cost.
Books which are supposedly good but by an author not well known are allso priced similarly ... especially management books ( maybe I too should write a book!!! ) and then after investing a considerable sum on the same , find the book below standards leading more to the street sellers.
I do release that book publishers also have to cut trees and pay a lot of people starting from the typesetter to the copywriter... but then it becomes a question of who should sacrifice for the sake of literacy... the author ? the publisher ? the book seller ?....

Chennaizombie

Books and Life

2006-07-23T22:02:00.000-07:00

Getting pretty bored with life.... nothing to do other than stare at girls and feel bad later... but what the heck , thats me. I felt that I was the one feeling like that but seems like my friends are not pretty far either.
I have a friend in Singapore who does some research in Analog Electronics etc and is waiting for a chance to get out of Singapore.
Same could be said about my dear friend Kini who has got tired of the sand and the camels in Oman ( cause there's nothing ellse there!!!)
Virdee.... no idea , looks like he is trying to become a surd after so long and before he forgot what a surd was....
Mike... he too is settling down...
Arun Subs... as usual ... nothing new...
and me ... sinking deepped and deeper into books. A llong list of books to kill time...
Arundhati Roy - Algebra of Infinite Justice... anyone who is following the Narmada Bachao Andolan and the book which essentially is a collection of political essays by her please do read it and then you will know the politics behind dams , people rehabilitiation and greed. Beautifully written book and would almost convert you into a socialist / non capitalist. The writing is very similar to Amartya Sen and is lucid and very well written.
Another book is called "Born Confused" by a first time writer called "Tanuja Desai hidier" nice one , only thing is that the first 150 to 200 pages are boring and the book picks up after that.
now its back to Ernest hemmingway and "Farewell to Arms" - beautifully written as usually and yet to complete it.
If you are into non fiction - go through - "Midnight in the garden of good and evil" and "Bridges of Madison County" the latter would make anyone wish they were photographers as well.

And till I get something new to do ... like work should revive the blog and continue what I do now - stare at girls and read books!!!

Poor little bad guy

2006-03-10T22:37:00.000-08:00

I'm reminded of richie rich when I write this but would like to make an exception - never been rich so the term poor little rich guyu does not apply. To make a distinction - Bad guy.... sort of Oxymoron...
Was reading my friend Kini's blog on family - not literate enough in HTML to put the tag - its ritzkini.blogspot.com - kinds reminded me of my cousins... but then to narrate my story would be called plagiarism...

Kahaani mein twist - To start with - Tam Bram - not a care in the world - bought up in esteemed brahmin traditions - and would relate better to Thayir Saatham than Pizza - not that I complained - Thayir Saatham became a cannot live without food for me and again not complaining.

Now - Burgers - Alcohol - whoa - where did the Tam Bram go ? but again not that I complain!!!!

Leads me to a different track all together from where I started from - have to polish my blogging skills - coming back to family - Kini forgive me if some of it sounds familiar - but like in the movies - ' Naan Solvatthellam unmai , unmaiyai thavira vaer ethuvum illai'

A family of about 7 cousins and we all grew up about 5 minutes from each others homes - of course there was the age difference but still the windowpanes and shins breaking still applied. Other than that there was the friend circle where had our adventures and used to drive people wild with something or the other - and especially Diwali was a time of high alert for the entire Khandaan!!!
*wild is to be construed as something that kids do and not as adults , I would like to make that classification right away to avoid misconceptions!! Like how wild do yu think a Tam Bram can get - not much by any means of imagination

Also suddenly you realize your moral fibre and go calling on your cousins- Kini it happens - atleast your calling rates are cheaper!!! I ran out of money calling up from Seattle and now its come down that I am back in India.

Anyway I think I lost track of what I wanted to say - better compose it in a separate post and sen it out later- till then I have a business requirement to document and that unfortunately pays for my food and this does not!!

Chennaizombie

One Night @ the call center

2006-03-01T21:41:00.000-08:00

Amazing book by Chetan Bhagat. Some things are super cool but I am not too sure at the end if he was referring to 'God' as a factor which makes people buy his books by reading the paperback or merely refers to 'God' as your internal voice.

Also some of the people you can relate to but am not too sure if you have to be working at a call center to be able to relate to one of them.

This might sound too religious / altruistic but the book was kinda nice and makes you think about listening to yourself.... but does everyone else ? and how should one react to the inner voice?

Sort of book review and kinds bored at work and hence the blogs....

Chennaizombie

To BE or not to BE

2006-03-01T19:26:00.000-08:00

This is the question going on in the minds of scores of students in Chennai. But I would blame the AICTE for the same. How were these colleges allowed to participate in the counselling if they were not AICTE approved.

Questions the AICTE has to answer:
1. How did they suddenly realize after 4 years that these colleges did not have AICTE approval ? - did the supreme being come in the AICTE CHairman's dreams and asked him to act on it?
2. How did they turn a blind eye to this for 4 years?
3. What about the students who have passed out of these 'DEEMED' universities for the past 4 years ? those who hold good jobs , those who have gone for higher studies?

Questions the college management should answer:
1. How did they get their feet into the counselling?
2. Parties involved - politicians , ministers .. the list I am sure will go on...

Questions the government should answer:
1. What was the education ministry doing - plucking berries? and sitting pretty?
2. The government being the same when deemed university status was given , the usual conspiracy theory of the previous government did this will not hold.
3. With elections expected soon - what are they going to do ?
4. Will there be any legislation against such offenders - both the AICTE and the college management?

Ultimately it is the students who stand to lose , the solution arrived at will most likely be a temporary one and also will not be a satisfactory one I am sure.

I agree that I too passed out of a 'Madras University' college about 4 years ago - thankfully I should say.
Hard time especially for the students in their final year.

Chennaizombie

All roads lead to ruin

2006-02-26T18:50:00.000-08:00

Roads .... where are they ? some claim that they will be done only after the elections , some claim that the roads were good before the rains... In Chennai my till date opinion was that it was better than Bangalore - but now I see arterial roads non existent and key roads leading out of the city nothing more than dirt tracks..

Especially the poonamalle high road and EVR Salai - one would need an SUV for driving there. Mercedes listening ? you could do a test drive here and that would make you a lot of customers. I personally do not mind offering my time for testing for free though. I do something good for the country now and then , let it be through testing the chennai roads!!

Other than that most roads are half full with parked vehicles and roadside vendors - I know election is approaching and you cannot make enemies with anyone but is it correct ?

I do not know if I would vote ( If I can come from Bangalore for the same...)
Virdee if you are listening , you could use my fundamental right anyway since the voters list is so screwed up.

Chennaizombie

People in Glass Houses should not throw stones

2006-02-26T18:45:00.000-08:00

HEHE QUITE TRUE .. Life in Saint Gobain is muck like a glass house but of course with 800 tonnes of glass being produced everyday in the same facility , I would love to have some stones....

Or the least I could do is throw my laptop into the furnace and claim that I cannot be of any use to this project and go back!!!! just kidding ... I would never do that to my laptop but the other half remains...

Bad timings - wake up at 5 in the morning and reach back at 9:30 in the night leaves time for nothing and that makes jack a dull boy and of course nothing to do but type away when someone else asks the questions and I am dutifully minuting the meeting @#@#%$@ which means that I am a glorified Stenographer. And to top it if no one thinks you are to be used in the project - reminds you of Stanley Ipkiss and the doormat phrase.

But thats what it is going to be for another 2 months and maybe this is not my cup of teas... oops coffee , I am in Chennai!!!

Chennaizombie

Thai manne vanakkam

2006-02-14T05:46:00.000-08:00

Back on Indian soil and it feels great. Good food , bird watching etc etc...

The Seattle Space Needle

2006-01-19T22:53:00.000-08:00

Finally got to visit the space needle.. Somewhat looks like a tall water tank but nice thing... considering it was built in 1962 or 67 .for more
The Space Needle

The Space Needle

Chennaizombie

BTW if you are wondering about the skies .. thats the way it is all trhough and it was a dry and bright day byb Seattle standards....

Radio and TV in the US

2006-01-08T22:14:00.000-08:00

I have been in Seattle for slightly more than 2 months and felt it was my stayright to comment on the TV shows and the Radio here ( well of course discounted for HOTEL TV and Free Radio Channels)
Radio : Its nothing other than Country and Hip Hop.
Country : Apart from some good ones , its always someone singing out an essay like...
" I woke up one day and went out... went to the grocers ..." Anyone could write a country song and get away with it. If you write it in India .. its also a country... why is it so American ??

Hip Hop : mumble some words together in a way than only a very few can understand and others wrack their brains to undertstand it and buy the music.. which means if you write songs in Swahili .. you are going to be a millionaire...!!!

And TV shows : other than reruns ( which is 90% of the time) you have soaps and non soaps... and there are also channels where people just shout out loud and are actually watched for it. Imagine a person doing nothing but shouting about companies and their stock and it is a primetime show.

Well thats all I have to say about TV and Radio ...

Chennaizombie

2006-01-08T22:06:00.000-08:00

Finally a way to move around Seattle ... Well actually this pic was taken at Mt.St.Helens which is an Active Volcano which has not erupted for about 25 years...
It erupted on the year I was born , maybe to proclaim my birth..

The GadgetMobile

Its a Standard Hyundai Accent and have done about 700 Miles on it so far without any problems... Hyundai ... You could use this as some free propaganda for your vehicle .. I will endorse it...

Chennaizombie

2006-01-08T22:04:00.000-08:00

How does a die hard Veggie Like me survive in the land of the Meat Eaters where Vegetarian means Salad and chicken is considered Vegetarian ?
Heres your answer...

The Master Chef

My own little cooking area with bare minimum to be able to have some fine dining ...( My definitions of Fine Dining ... I would like to add)

Well anyone travelling , do not fear , ask me how to survive

Chennaizombie

2006-01-08T22:00:00.000-08:00

The Gadget Guru:
Well stacked after a trip to Seattle also known as the place of gadgeteers ... have quite an inventory here :
iPod ( In the Case Logic...)
Laptop
PDA ( Palm Tungsten E)
and of course my Camera...

Gadget Guru

Well Loaded with all possible things .. an Inspector Gadget coming your way...

Chennaizombie

The Pike Place Fish Market

2006-01-02T10:36:00.000-08:00

One of the More prominent landmarks of Seattle and one of the oldest markets ... The Pike Place fish market , more known for the book FISH! . The picture here is that of the store that inspired the book.

The World Famous Pike Place Fish Market

Nice place where the guys in Orange call out to the customers and toss the fish/seafood around and something going on there all the time.

Chennaizombie

2006-01-02T00:11:00.000-08:00

Finally I was able to get a photo ontpo my blog ....

Me Myself and Myself....

Yaaaah , that's me at the fag end of the Argosy Cruise ... but now that I have figured out the way to post images ... A more colorful blog I have ( Yoda Style....)

Chennaizombie ...

Of football , Rugby and Soccer

2006-01-01T19:03:00.000-08:00

I never knew Football was different from Soccer till about a month ago. I atleast called it American Football.... but again it was assumed that American football was like Rugby with a lot of safety gear.
But then ... Enlightenment Happened....
Looks like American Football is so very different from Rugby in so many cases and no idea which is better or worse , I think it is more like comparing Apples and Oranges and that thoo when you come from a country which does not play Rugby or American football and calls soccer football. More like the Rest of europe...

But then the rose bowl is coming up and it looks like the equivalent of the Ashes and looks good , but as in all American sports , has a lot of fanfare and packaging to it.

Lets see , one more day to go and I will know what is meant by American football history.

Chennaizombie

Fiddler on the Roof - The Movie

2006-01-01T18:57:00.000-08:00

Saw Fiddler on the roof ,
The movie was good , and the music score was excellent. On the story though ... I saw it more as a person , A father questioning his faith and also something like above all there is love and that is the decider. The scenes / parts where he decides for his daughters based on what they like instead of what the society expects his to do is very good and is the father supposed to be the fiddler on his roof trying to do what is good for his family and keeping them happy whatever it takes for him to keep them happy?

I saw it as more of interpreting one's faith than just a musical... Is this what it is meant to be ? I know its pretty late to ask this question but stilll...

Chennaizombie

2 posts in One Day!!!

2005-12-31T21:48:00.000-08:00

Must be a record for me .. Lots of catching up to do.. No post in 2 months... sad but true.. so expect more - My new year resolution is to write till I drop or atleast till my Laptop drops...

about Seattle :
Beautiful place and being my first visit abroad .. nice place to be but WRONG time. All that I have seen is clouds and Rain. Its been a while since I have seen the sun. I could call it the light at the end of the tunnel. Atleast till this project is over.
So I get to see the sun when I go back to Bangalore....
My resolution is to make sure that I visit Seattle in Spring / Summer... if that is possible..

About work :
Work I am doing here is exciting but again goes completely against what I am supposed to do as a Business Analyst but who cares a- as long as I like it I do not give a damn..
As Ashwin would put it .. BFIC.

About my close group :
Everyone is getting married - what is going to happen to Saturday Nights from now on ? At least I wont be contributing to UB or Shaw Wallace ( but now that they belong to one company it really does not matter)
So UB please do not get people married so that I can add to your bottomline... but hey as long as everyone is happy. I am happy that my friends are getting married , happy for themn that they are settling down...
And Others : Kini , Virdee , Ashwin... and the others - long live the bottle of trust (or atleast bottle of Vodka) - Kind of loose translation on the fellowship of the ring and from Meet the fockers...

And finishing in true David Gilmour style : Can't keep my eyes from the circling sky , Turn Time twisted , an Earth bound misfit , I.
Soory for the plagiarism - Kini , I know I ack owledged PF but not you...

Chennaizombie

A very loong time since I wrote

2005-12-31T21:39:00.001-08:00

Aaaaahh its been two monoths since I came to Seattle. Sleepless in Seattle very truly in the first 3 weeks , in fact dozed in a couple of meetings and then finally woke up!!!

Work is okay only that many people do not see the point immediately. One one hand I have someone who does not know what is being done but gives me my space to do what it takes and on the other I have this guy who does not know anything of what I am doing but decides to put his foot into MY mouth...

Bad Mistake which will pay rich dividends for me later!!! ( You can see me gloating already)
Other than that , Basically work and not too much of Play. Getting to know people and also calling up on long lost cousins and friends.
Got to talk to some of them after 3 years and it was nice catching up on what was happe ning over the phone. Especially due to this small VOIP software that gives free calls to anywhere in the US... There is a free meal or so atleast a free snack somewhere.
Catching on what is happening in India. Many strange things , we had terrorists attack on of the highest educational institution... why would they do that ? maybe they wanted in so desperately and they figured out that this is the only way into the IISc.
No Cricket and no games. No TV ( Hotel TV sucks big time...) and thankfully I am not that much a TV person. This makes me put myself harder at work - lucky for my company.
Days are spent between ABAP code , JavaScript code and my iPod. At sometimes I feel like a developer and not so much of a Business Analyst for what I was hired. Confusing questions - Am I doing what I want to do ? or am I not doing what I am EXPECTED to do. I atleast thought that both were the same for some time atleast. Probing questions and no answer in sight.

Its either the thinking cap or the sleeping cap for me .. adios...
Chennaizombie

Strategy and Action

2005-09-09T23:10:00.000-07:00

What is Strategy ? a lot of intelligent people talking on whats coming up ? seems to be the case .. lot of new things learnt and takeaways . Makes things look very interesting but at the same time dangerous in making you feel inadequate. In a industry of constant change and wavering focus - where does one find high ground ? and how high is it ? only time can tell.

chennaizombie.

Matrimonial Bliss!!!

2005-08-16T21:36:00.000-07:00

lot of nuptial bells around and people visiting finacees etc etc.
And suddenly they go out of the system after marriage. Happened with a couple of my friends though , both do not return calls and no one knows what each other is upto nowadays!!
One more very good friend ( Guy ) is to tie the knot and we have known each other over many rounds of Scotch , Vodka and you name it... and he has just visited his beau yesterday and come back from Ahmedabad - lets see what holds for our dear friend Sudeep and his marriage. Most likely we would raise a toast for the same!!!!
The circle of friends seems to diminish and our specie of bachelordom is under threat but it does not mean that people choose to be on this side because it is better. Only because we all know we would cross over some day or the other and have given it to fate since we cannot preempt fate ( not that we tried anyway!!)

Chennaizombie.

The Blogger Extension to Firefox

2005-08-11T21:17:00.000-07:00

Today I installed the blogger extension to Firefox and one click publishing has become much easier. All it requires is one click from the browser and you can directly publish. Amazing and makes life very easy.

Now since I ave enough keywords to attract google's attention - I can continue!!!!

Busy days and some people have complained that I write too much about alcohol. Not that I care anyway. Finally got my hands on GTA San Andreas ( Another Key word!!!) and got to play it yesterday. Amazing music score and other than that nothing much to say right now since I got killed in the first mission even before it started. The mouse control sucks bigtime though.

Lets see what else I can find in the game and this includes the fact that I have the hot coffee mod also!!!!

Chennaizombie

IITM , Chennai and Chennai's Bars / Permit Rooms

2005-08-01T01:43:00.000-07:00

IITM Rocks .... Went for the Alumni Meet and met all people who had taken time out from their schedules and turned up in Chennai for the department reunion , including Nair Saab who had come from Leh ( This is what I call committment!!!) and Senthil , who had just become a father to a baby boy the previous day evening.

Some people were notably missed though but not that we did care otherwise!!!
and after that some music and attempts at fusion music on the veena by some people made the day in IITM.
Then the funstarted!!! we thirsty souls went in search of a water hole a.k.a similar to Sivakumar singing 'Thanni Thotti Thedi Vanda' on the streets of Cathedral road and landed up in the savera - Bamboo Bar and the place decided to give us the Bamboo!!! B@#$%rds . Please no one go the the place , they unashamedely promote the much much higher priced lounge bar updtairs by having few seats inside and telling everyone that they are full!!!
Then it was back on the streets and no idea where to go on a nice balmy Sat Night. The the most Ironical thing . Virdee and ashwin call up from the UK and give us some very much required knowledge on the waterholes in Chennai. This is called multinationalism.
Then we head out to this place called Sakityan on Burkit road and the place called the 'DEN' they might have called it the circus since we found only some underage kids downing beer by the bottle!!!!
Then from the den we went to ' Hotel Peninsula' with its cocktail peninsula - which is very close to Ashwin's house ( Maybe some customer credits for Ashwin ??) and then we enter and the same scene - youngsters with beer!!! and Kini shouts 'F#$%' as soon as he enters as if he is the guy arund and everyone make way types!!!! and then he goes and pleads with the bartender... sir I have come all the way from Mumbai ,, please let me drink!!!!

heheh it was so funny and of course the 4th bar we had hit. then we and vipin went to the diesel bar which had space but was too expensive. Then we ultimately went back to Peninsula and drank to our hearts content till about 11:30 ' Long live Peninsula who served us well after the time limits and very good service also.

Then we head back home ( Walk all the way) and then Abhishek who was too drunk realizes when it clears that he left his phone back in the place since he was sitting cross legged with a wierd posture that made Kini seem to be in a disadvantageous posture!!!!
Then finally they got the phone bck and we all slept or rather crashed and next day Abhi goes to Bangalore and is to go to Mumbai by train on Sun night and all trains are cancelled. Lets see what he does.

Well thats how Saturday was for us!!!

Arun

My views on Perfume.....

2005-07-14T22:14:00.000-07:00

I recently heard that Perfumes use 100% proof Vodka .. I was appalled since my mouth smelt different!!!!

Maybe they are using spurious stuff ? girls and other people who use perfumes ( I don't ) beware!!!!

And anyway I am of the opinion that perfume should not have alcohol , it is such a waste of resources that could be out to better use....

And that is what I have to say about that... ( Forrest Gump) and the OST of forrest gump by the Byrds which is a passage from the bible is my all time favorite ... anyone else ? ( Again.. to reiterate... I am Hindu ..) ( But not that religious anyway!!!)

Chennaizombie