Blog

Feb 14, 2011: Prapti

2011-02-16T11:26:00.000-08:00

Youtube Video Link . . .

Attempt

2011-02-09T22:42:00.000-08:00

It wasn’t since yesterday

That I felt new air..

It wasn’t that lovely

Till I found u near..

I dreamt of you when I thought I was sleeping..

I missed you so when I thought I was thinking..

I felt you touch when I thought I was breathing..

I need you enough..

Enough I want you..

Because it wasn’t since yesterday

It was never so lovely..

Till I felt you near

35 Economical PDU

2010-03-08T04:58:00.000-08:00

If you are hunting for an economical option to earn those initial 35 PDU's necessary for submitting PMP (Project Management Professional) application to PMP (Project Management Institute), do consider the following 2 options:

Course Name: PM Prepcast
Price: $100
Link: http://www.project-management-prepcast.com/

Remarks:
I had opted for PM Prepcast and found it very helpful in assimilating the PMBOK Guide.

Apart from presentation on processes, process groups and knowledge areas, the course includes quality interviews with well established professionals in the field of Project Management. These interviews would, in all probability, be successful in providing a succinct overview of key concepts to the listener (and viewer).

Course Name: PM Prepcast
Price: $35
Link: http://www.proxalt.com/

Remarks:
I found this offering on the net much after the start of my preparation and hence lacked the motivation to evaluate it.

The price definitely is very lucrative !!!

Studious

2009-10-01T03:09:00.000-07:00

A very studious kid . . .

Local Inflation

2009-07-27T21:31:00.000-07:00

A live example of local inflation / discrimination.

Weekend tickets at PVR Cinemas for Mumbai are selling in the range of Rs 225/- to Rs 275/- while in Aurangabad they are available from Rs 50/- to Rs 100/-

In percentage terms the tickets in Mumbai are 350% to 175% times more when compared to Aurangabad. Anybody can now guess the predicament of the common man / 'aam aadmi' dwelling in Mumbai.

Can, Should, Why?

2009-07-06T04:59:00.000-07:00

Our future boundaries are unknown frontiers today, assuming we setup upon to explore new frontiers and overcome the 3 deterrents which inspire the title of this post.

Can I do this? - About 20% of the lot drops out here. We can readily recall hearing excuses such as 'I cannot do it, it does not gel with my image' or 'I cannot do it, it is way too risky' or very simply 'It is not possible'.

Should I do this? - Another 20% opt out at this penultimate stage citing reasons which might sound logical to many. They are convinced about their ability to accomplish the task but do not consider it worth the effort. Remember hearing 'Not Interested' or 'I just do not have the time' or 'How would I benefit?'.

Why am I doing this? - This is the final stage incidentally recording the largest number of drop outs. You are both convinced and capable of doing something and hence venture into it. However, few or at times many steps down the line there comes a defining moment of self justification - Is the frontier really worth the trade offs made?. If answer is not a discrete 'Yes', the final and the most powerful deterrent sprouts up.

After Effects of Alcohol

2009-06-28T23:28:00.000-07:00

I never take risk while drinking
.
.
.
.
When I come from office in the evening, wife is cooking
I can hear the noise of utensils in the kitchen
I stealthily enter the house
Take out the bottle from my black cupboard
Shivaji Maharaj is looking at me from the photo frame
But still no one is aware of it
Becoz I never take a risk
.
.
.

I take out the glass from the rack above the old sink
Quickly enjoy one peg
Wash the glass and again keep it on the rack
Of course I also keep the bottle inside my cupboard
Shivaji Maharaj is giving a smile
I peep into the kitchen
Wife is cutting potatoes
No one is aware of what I did
Becoz I never take a risk
.
.
.
.
I to my wife : Any news on chopra's daughter's marriage
Wife : Nope, she doesn't seem to be that lucky. Still they are looking out for her .
I again come out; there is a small noise of the black cupboard
But I don't make any sound while taking out the bottle
I take out the glass from the old rack above sink
Quickly enjoy one peg
Wash the bottle and keep it in the sink
Also keep the Black Glass in the cupboard
But still no one is aware of what I did
Becoz I never take a risk
.
.
.
.
I to Wife : But still I think chopra's daughter's age is not that much
Wife: What are you saying? She is 28 yrs old... like an aged horse
I: (I forgot her age is 28) Oh Oh...
I again take out potatoes out from my black cupboard
But the cupboard's place has automatically changed
I take out the bottle from the rack and quickly enjoy one peg in the sink .
Shivaji Maharaj laughs loudly
I keep the rack in the potatoes & wash Shivaji Maharaj's photo & keep it in the black cupboard
Wife is keeping the sink on the stove
But still no one is aware of what I did
Becoz I never take a risk
.
.
.
.
I to Wife: (getting angry) you call Mr. chopra a horse? If you say that again, I will cut your tongue...!
Wife: Don't just blabber something, go out and sit quietly...
I take out the bottle from the potatoes
Go in the black cupboard and enjoy a peg
Wash the sink and keep it over the rack
Wife is giving a smile
Shivaji Maharaj is still cooking
But still no one is aware of what I did
Becoz I never take a risk
.
.
.
.
I to Wife : (laughing) So chopra is marrying a horse!!
Wife: Hey go and sprinkle some water on your face...
I again go to the kitchen, and quietly sit on the rack
Stove is also on the rack
There is a small noise of bottles from the room outside .
I peep and see that wife is enjoying a peg in the sink
But none of the horses are aware of what I did
Becoz Shivaji Maharaj never takes a risk .
.
.
.
.
.
Chopra is still cooking
And I am looking at my wife from the photo and laughing
Becoz I never take..... never take ..... never take what???

I
never
take a potato I think....

Tendulkars

2009-06-15T20:47:00.000-07:00

There are two types of people in this world

Those who leave a mark
Those who leave a stain

One of the prominent leaders in category 1 is India's cricketing hero - Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin's career which started off as an ace batsman has evolved into a brand. A brand which is not about color & logo but about the pride it evokes in those who represent it.

Click here to visit Tendulkar's World

The Guests

Abhishek and Dheeraj awaiting Mulligatawny soup and Chinese Chiwda

Gaurav's visage captured just after his request for Sachin's Favorite Baingan Bharta was dismissed by Dheeraj

The Starters

We flagged off the lunch with Sachin's Favorite soup and starter

Mulligatawny soup - We have the freedom to ask for our choice of vegetables or chicken
Chinese Okra (slang Chinese Chiwda) - Fried sliced okra (ladies finger) with chilies and Oriental spices.

Either of them were delicious . . .

The Main Course

This is where we lost course.

Gaurav had strictly warned us to not deviate from Sachin's Favorite under any circumstance. Accordingly, he was suggesting Baigan Bhartha or Bhindi Masala. However, Dheeraj's taste buds fended either of them. By virtue of being politically very well connected, Dheeraj overruled Gaurav and we went ahead with

Dal Makhani - Black lentils simmered slowly and finished with butter and cream.
Veg Tikka Masala - It should be rechristened to Veg Teekha Masala. Perhaps, it was meant to be. Nevertheless, I failed miserably in appreciating it.

The bill presentation was extremely innovative. Each guest was gifted with roasted chocolate enclosing a tiny strip of paper foretelling their fortune. Dheeraj was highly impressed and opted to purchase more of them. The manager truncated the option by declaring that the chocolates were not for sale.

Surprisingly, the bill amount was swelled up. The hosts had erred in adding adjacent table's food bill to ours. Needless to say, it was rectified and we were compensated with another round of roasted chocolates in lieu of the mental harrassment we had endured politely.

The Place

The Road to Tendulkar's

The Interiors

The Trophies

Wicket presented to Sachin after 34th Test Match Century

Man of the Series Trophy awarded to Sachin for scoring 673 Runs in 11 Innings (1x100, 6x50), bowling 18-0-77-2 and taking 4 Catches in 2003 Cricket World Cup

--------- End --------

Kal Kissne Dekha

2009-06-14T20:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, around 8pm, we believed June 14 was our lucky day. For a paltry sum, we had picked up tickets to view 'Kal Kissne Dekha' in the luxury of a sofa set. Oh Yes!! we were mistaken. Destiny had planned a cruel joke which became partly evident the moment we entered the cinema hall. Its capacity utilization was less than 10%. And then the show began . . .


Courtesy: Chakpak.com

Once in a blue moon, comes forth a motion picture which forces you to rise up from the sofa set and then drives you right out of the celluloid, leaving it unfinished.

How can a father do this to his son? Did they not watch the movie together, at least once, before releasing it to the public eye? The world is so full of frustated mortals looking for a stress buster and Jakky has been presented to them by Vashu on a platter.

The plot is fairly simple - http://www.kalkissnedekha.com/.

A dejected NASA scientist together with a terrorist organization wishes to blow up CST, Airport and Nanavati Hospital. There efforts are hampered by Nihal (Jakky), bloke from Chandigarh, who has the gift to see future apart from the regular gifts which make him the best of dancers, singers, fighters, scholars and dirt bikers.

The kid is exceptional. If Mr Abrams and Mr Howard are still waddling in pride of sporting the best of human brains in 'Star Trek - The Future Begins' and 'Angles & Demons', they should see Nihal in action. Sadly, my doggedness gave way and I could not hang around till the end to view all of Nihal's exploits. Blame it on overdose of masterminds in the lapsed week. Prof Robert, Ms Vittori, Capt james Kirk, Spock and now Nihal.

It is time for me to seek the lesser mortals . . say Dilbert !!!

Kumarakom

2009-05-30T22:44:00.000-07:00

An obstacle is something you see when you take your eyes off the goal. We were heading for Munnar when an under construction National Highway made us take our eyes off Munnar and onto Kumarakom . . . and it turned out to be an invigorating tryst !!!

Kumarakom is a peninsula set in Vembanad Lake whose fresh water has carved through the mainland a labyrinth of lagoons, brooks, canals and waterways hosting a variety of fauna and flora. Please visit http://www.kumarakom.com/ for further details

The Stay
As always, thanks to dad, we had a wonderful stay in Paradise Resorts - one of the several lake resorts in the region. They help make your stay enjoyable by providing well furnished independent cottages, 2 houseboats, 1 swimming pool, quality landscaping and a motorboat to take you around the backwaters. Negotiate well on room tariffs and do not pay more than Rs 200 per hour for the motorboat. Please visit http://www.paradisein.com/ for further details.

The Houseboats
Most of the resorts in the region provide following 2 options with varying degree of luxury. Any other option is just not worth considering.

An Independent Cottage adjoining the backwaters. Hotel Radission complements each inependent cottage with a private swimming pool
An Independent Houseboat sailing across the backwaters. The Houseboats set sail at around 12 pm and return to the resort at 9:30 am, the following day.

Therefore, Option 1 is recommended only if the check in time is reasonably after 12 pm.

En route, houseboats cover most of the tourist attractions. They sail all the way uptil Allepey and then resume their way back home. The sunrise and sunset form the key selling point of the trip. Very broadly, following is their schedule

12 am to 6 pm: Cover all scenic spots near Kumarakom and finally head for Allepey
6 pm to 7 am: Anchor at a common point as the local fishermen venture out and lay their
fishing nets across the backwaters
7 am to 9:30 am: Return Journey.

The picture shows Houseboat 1, which is smaller of the 2, parked at Paradise Resort. It comprises of a drawing room, bed room with attached bathroom and kitchen

Outer view from the drawing room of Houseboat 2. A LCD TV has been installed in the drawing room, as well as in the bed room

The passage of Houseboat 2, the larger of the 2. First right leads to bedroom 1. Second right leads to bedroom 2. Straight ahead is the kitchen and the driver's room

A Houseboat parked outside Hotel Radisson, adjoining Paradise Resorts

Myopic View of a Houseboat cruising through the Backwaters

A Houseboat with en elevated Balcony . . . very creative !!!

Artistic . . . Isnt it?

The Backwaters

We reached Kumarakom at around 6 pm. All the houseboats had set sail by then. So we hired a motorboat the next day, for a couple of hours, to roam around the backwaters. The artist within me could not resist getting atop the motorboat and capture some rare moments.

There are townships on either side of the water way

Now, a closer look at one of the housing colonies

Now, a closer look at one of the house . . lets not zoom any further !!!

One of the Lake Resorts spotted during our cruise . . . I am unsure of the name

Fishermen consolidating their catch, early in the morning

Road . . sorry . . Water to Kochi . . .

Earth, Water, Sky . . .

Reflections !!!

I wanted to capture the houseboat and the bird together. Can you spot the bird?

If interested in placing an advertisement . . . please call. 91-481-

Help Dheeraj Decide

2009-05-24T20:51:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken in the men's trial room at a Mall after my friend, Dheeraj had worn the shirt and, was undecided on whether he should carry on with the purchase !!!

Participate in the poll, alongside, and help Dheeraj take a decision . .

--------

Poll Results are finalized - 80% of the voters would like Dheeraj to go ahead with the purchase . . . !!!

PMP

2009-05-09T00:13:00.000-07:00

Interested individuals can check out the following well written blog, http://gotgb.blogspot.com by my friend, to garner details w.r.t. the PMP certification. Very Briefly, there are three broad prerequisites to appear for PMP:

If you are a graduate then 4500 hours of project management hours experience and if you are undergraduate then 10000 hours of project management experience. Project management experience does not have to be purely project management. Any experience in the process areas of project management, as defined by PMI, is also acceptable. The relevant experience letters should be obtained from current/previous employer

35 hours of PMI training from the official PMI affiliated institute or a person. Total cost of training may vary from Rs 8000/- to Rs 12000/-

Exam registration which is subject to a random audit by PMI. Total approximate cost for exam registration is around Rs 20000/-

I'd like to buy a hamburger

2009-05-03T02:09:00.000-07:00

The clip below id from the movie 'The Pink Panther' and it is indeed among the funniest acts I have ever seen. First and even Second time around, I could not watch the performance in one go. I was forced to take a laughter break !!!

Its amazing how Steve Martin manages to entertain the audience for almost 1.5 minutes by clowning around only a solitary line 'I'd like to buy a hamburger'.

Following is the context to the scene -

Steve Martin is a French secret agent investigating the murder of French football team's coach and the theft of famous diamond 'Pink Panther'. His chase requires him to travel to New York. Consequently, to avoid suspicion in the foreign land, the secret agent attempts to learn the flawless American accent from the greatest accent coach in the world.

All credits to kevinli93 for uploading the video to youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLuc6rtWkrM&feature=related

Fun Gymnastics

2009-05-01T06:56:00.000-07:00

An amusing signboard spotted outside a 3 flooried house . . . I wonder what the arrows signify???

Why so serious?

2009-04-18T10:21:00.000-07:00

'I believe whatever doesnt kill you simply makes you . . . a stranger' - Joker

It was the July of 2008. I was residing in the circle of convenience while serving my notice period. In a radius of 500m, I had access to a multiplex, swimming pool, 2 close friends and the client office which lifted shutters at 10:30am leaving atleast 3 productive hours at our disposal. One rainy Monday we split the 3 hours apportioning 0.5 to swimming and 2.5 hours to 'The Dark Knight' at Fame Inorbit.

At 10.30am, as we stepped out of the multiplex and strolled towards the client office, I thoughtfully remarked 'This is one of the best movies I have ever seen'. Almost, a year down the line, after multiple reruns on my laptop, the movie still stands in my top few together with the likes of 'The Shawshank Redemption' and 'Gladiator'. In IMDb it is voted as the 6th best movie ever made http://www.imdb.com/chart/top?tt0468569

Plot

The plot is plain and simple. There is a natural system as promoted by our holy scriptures i.e. Work and do not worry about rewards. Parallely, there is a society made by humans, which is entirely reward driven. The movie deals with 4 broad roles played by people in this setup.

Creators like Batman. He is the leaders who defines civilization and is instrumental in enforcing it at any cost, even that of the Truth. Accordingly, he assumes responsibility of all 5 murders committed by Harvey.
'Because sometimes Truth isnt good enough. Sometimes people deserve more. Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded' - Batman
Performers like Harvey Dent. If Batman owns the universty, Harvey is the topper. He is civilized only as long as the society rewards him for his contributions. This of course is unsustainable as nothing made by humans is perfect. When Joker kills the leading lady, Harvey turns into a maniac
'You die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villain' - Harvey
Survivors like Detective Anna. She is the low performer whose life revolves around payment of bills. To pay one such bill, she betrays Harvey and Rachel (and thus her morals) to the Joker.
'They are only as good as the world allows them to be. I will show you. When the chips are down these civilized people will eat each other' - Joker
Destroyers like Joker. He considers the entire society, nothing more than a joke. Hence the tagline . . Why so serious?
'Some men arent looking for anything logical . . . like money. They cant be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn' - Alfred

Acting

Heath Ledger, who died before the release of movie at the age of 28, has made the Joker immortal. Even an Oscar seems too mild a reward for his performance. The video clip below is one of the most popular ones and spread all over youtube. Credits to francisJ91 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQHfoz9Be7U&feature=related

Background Score

The composers, James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer, have done a great job. The score gels extremely well with the characters . . especially the Joker.

The audio clip below sounds whenever the joker steps in at his evil best. Before the release, the soundtrack was considered by critics as 'unlistenable'. They referred to it as "minutes of your life that you'll never get back". Well !! It went on to with the 51st Grammy Award for Best soundtrack album for a Motion Picture.

Credits to ghayooragain at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2KjpKESXD0 for the audio clip.

------------- End ---------------

Election Tool by Google

2009-04-08T01:02:00.000-07:00

Google has come up with a marvellous tool to meet all information needs of an avid 2009 Lok Sabha Election voter. The web page can be visited at http://www.google.co.in/intl/en/landing/loksabha2009/

Visitors can use the webpage to

Confirm their voter registration status
Discover their polling location
View their constituency on a map
Consume relevant election-related news, blogs, videos, and quotations
Evaluate the status of development in their constituency across a range of indicators
Learn about the background of their Member of Parliament and this year's candidates

More details about the Tool are published on the Official Google Blog

Either of the links are worth a visit . . .

Kodaikanal Trip

2009-03-28T06:43:00.000-07:00

Last holiday, our first stop was Kodaikanal http://www.mustseeindia.com/kodaikanal

Drive

The drive started from Adyar, Chennai at 5:45am and ended in Kodaikanal at 4:15pm with brief pit stops.

Distance - 595 kms
Total Time - 10.5
Average Speed - 56.67 km/h

I would like to whole heartedly congratulate National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) http://www.nhai.org/ for constructing an absolutely delightful NH45 [Chennai - Tiruchirappalli - Dindigul - Periyakulam - Teni]. The 4 lane road from Chennai to Trichy is complete with helpful milestones, sign boards and indispensable toll collection centers. Trichy to Dindigul is fast

progressing with expected completion in June 09. One can then average 70+ km/h from Chennai to Dindigul . . . a total distance 0f 500 kms enroute Kodaikanal. The price would be Rs 35 / Rs 25 at every toll booth.

The remainder 100 kms is a 2 lane state highway, SH 156, without a divider. Nevertheless, the road is pretty good and last 55 kms of hill driving make things pretty exciting. Also, all milestones on the State Highway have the destination - distance inscribed in Tamil and English. This is unlike Karnataka where one finds only Kannada e.g. Bandipur highway.

For further details on how to reach Kodaikannal, please refer the link http://www.mustseeindia.com/Kodaikanal/how-to-reach. It is pretty helpful.

Stay

The best properties across the country are undoubtedly owned by Old Economy Blue Chips and none of the MNCs aviate anywhere close to them in this regard.

One such magnificient property belongs to MRF in Kodaikanal. It is aptly located at a climb of 1 km from the lake and indeed very well maintained. All thanks to Dad, we had a good time there.

This is the climb on entering the Guest House which is comprised of 2 independent bungalows. The bigger of 2, say Bungalow 1, is seen in the picture above.

As we continue the climb, after about 250 odd meters, it terminates at Bungalow 2. We were put up here.

The entrance to bungalow 2. There is a car park and intelligent fencing to prevent people tripping off the steep edge onto the neighbouring property (20 odd feet below)

This is the front view of bungalow 2 sporting colorful thicket

Nice, tall trees overlooking Bungalow 2 fence towards North

Bungalow 1 fence and my Brooding Brother

The Lake

The entire city of Kodaikanal centers around the lake. You can get all the info you want on it at http://www.kodaikanal.com/travel/lake.htm

The most memorable takeaway during our walk around the lake was the social responsibility exhibited by a local masala peanut seller. While handing over the Rs 10/- packet he was requesting all tourisits to use the dust bin and not litter the walkway.

The local muncipal body also has done a great job by banning plastic in the city. All shops, including the biggies like spencer are using paper handbags. All in all, the city looks reasonably neat and tidy.

Helicopter view of Kodaikanal Lake . . .

The walkway around the lake which extends to more than 3kms in length is indeed a busy spot, especially in the mornings and evenings

Pillar Rock

Apart from lake there are few other places of interest such as pillar rock, market, observatory and multiple trekking points. Do visit http://www.kodaikanal.com/ for further details.

You can actually hire a cycle and cover most of the places. Nevertheless, do take a test round to ensure the tyre tube is not wrought with punctures.

The Pillar Rock(s)

The valley view from the pillar rock. On a sunny day, it would surely have been different

State of the Art Photography . . . :)

Palani Temple

The hills hosting Kodaikanal are known as the Palani hills. About 54 kms away from the city of Kodaikanal lies the famous Murugan temple http://murugan.org/temples/palani.htm

The road to the temple is average but pretty much makes up in the scenic beauty. The temple is situated atop a mountain and can be accessed either by steps or by mountain rail.

Road to Palani Mountains

Hill view of scenic plain

Plain view of a scenic mountain

Mountain Rail to the temple

-------------------End-------------------

Thugs at Mumbai Airport Taxi Stand

2009-03-25T22:11:00.000-07:00

On 24th Mar 2009, at around 07:40am, Captain Arvind safely landed the airbus at Mumbai Chartapati Shivaji Domestic Airport. I happily deplaned, collected my check-in baggage and headed towards the taxi bay to hire a cab upto my residence at Shivaji Park.

A sophisticated gentleman intervened my walk to the Meru cab parked approximately 30 feet away. He politely fired the question 'Sir, Are you looking for a Taxi?'. Like a good boy, I answered 'Yes, I am. Upto Shivaji Park'. He promptly replied 'This way Sir. My taxi is parked a few meters away'.

I let out a mild sigh of relief and followed him recollecting my last interaction with Meru cabs at the airport. The moment I had named my destination to the Meru cab driver, he had produced a highly distraught expression. Something which no living mammal or even non mammal can provide. The reason - Shivaji Park is considered reasonably close to the domestic airport and cab drivers prefer a single long trip to multiple small trips for meeting their daily targets.

Anyways, coming back to the sophisticated gentleman, i patiently followed as he led me to his taxi which now seemed to have been parked a few miles away instead of meters. To keep me entertained he did some monkeying around such as going in between railings and inviting me as well to join him. Unfortunately, I was in no mood for foolery. I flatly refused and threatened to part ways if i do not get to see the taxi in next 2 minutes.

He was alarmed but managed to put up a brave face. He raised his right hand, stopped an auto and said 'Sir, please get in with your luggage. This auto will take you to my taxi'. The next moment both of us were seated in the auto which, to my confusion, was stopping at every alternate taxi. During the stop our gentleman would rush out, have a brief dialogue with the cab driver and rush in again. He clarified that all these cabs belong to him but are unfortunately non functional. Thankfully, at the third stop he beckoned me to leave the auto and get into an adjoining cab.

Relieved, I pushed myself and my luggage into the back seat while the gentleman seated himself next to the driver chiding him for having parked the cab so far away from the arrivals. The driver quietly started the cab . . without the meter. I instantly reminded him but was stopped by our gentleman. He said 'Sir, this is a prepaid taxi and it does not run by meter. We all use the following card'. I took the card and opened it. It displayed the fare upto Dadar as Rs 600 instead of the regular Rs 120.

I asked the driver to stop and opened the door to step out. The gentleman realized he had caught the wrong fish and tried barring my exit by reducing the fare first to Rs 350 and then to Rs 250. I was not ready to pay anything more than Rs 100 upto Shivaji Park. With an air of resignation, he pulled 4 currency notes worth Rs 100 from his wallet, handed them to me and said 'The cab driver does not have change, please hand over your Rs 500 currency note and take these 4 Rs 100 currency notes instead'.

I said 'Sir, you please do not worry. I am carrying all denominations'. He was furious. Angrily, he got out of the moving cab, banged the door and vanished within seconds. Surprised, I turned towards the driver and asked 'Boss, what is wrong with your owner?'. He replied 'I do not know him. He is not my owner. I thought, he is with you'. I questioned 'Why did you not intervene? I could have landed up paying the cab fare twice'. He answered 'I would have spoken, if you had paid'

I closely inspected the cab during the half hour journey. Uncommonly, plenty of visting cards, hotel brochures were lying on the front seat. I had in all probability run through a small time racket of cab drivers and their accomplices formed with the intent of fleecing first time Mumbai visitors.

Nike Shox

2009-03-17T09:12:00.001-07:00

Product

Nike Shox Experience+ iD

Portfolio

Purpose

Running . The shox are incorporated to absorb kinetic energy from runner's heel upon leap completion, temporarily store it as potential energy and then release it in time to aid the next bounce forward.

Price

Rs 8300/-

Positives

Looks

Visit http://store.nike.com and select Men >> Running to view the entire range
Competitors seem to have no equivalent offering

Durability

At home, their usage has exceeded 8 months and 1000 kms
Terrains include Ghats, Parks, Road and Treadmill
They are pretty much in shape

Comfort

Nike has supposedly spent 16 years in its lab perfecting them. Source http://www.nike-shox.net/nike-shox.html
Lightweight with reasonably narrow fit and excellent craft. They easily assume the shape of the foot
Jerks on tarred road are eliminated to a great extent. As a result, calf muscle pain subsequent to long spells of hard terrain running is substantially reduced

Neither me nor my brother is a sprinter. None of us has therefore clocked, tracked or monitored any performance improvements over time for different footwear.

Negatives

Lack of immunity to laterite soil

The base color has therfore been transformed from white to yellow in large patches
They are best suited for running on treadmill or concrete surfaces

Durability

The 4 shoxs wear out unevenly. Hence, after some time, they land up giving a feeling of using a chair with each leg of different length

Price

Steeply priced. Nike is to sportswear what Bose is to Audio systems. Customer has to shell out additional 50% for the Brand

Availability / Variety

India does not fall in the list of countries which can use the online nike store to customize and order shoes, sporting gear
Even though the product was launched in fall of 2000, most of the retail outlets keep a very limited SKU. A year ago, I could not find the SKU being reviewed in any of the leading shops of Mumbai / Chennai. You might have to pick it up during one of your outstation trips

Vote

2009-03-11T03:41:00.000-07:00

Edmund Burke, a british statesman and philospher, once said 'All that is necessary for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing'

Since, I am convinced of being a good man, I decided to vote in this general election. I logged on to http://jaagore.com/ to be awakened. I indeed was awakened, primarily for 2 reasons

I found the site to be amazing . . a voting guide for dummies
I found that I cannot vote. I need to spend 6 months in a constituency to vote

I now had 2 options

Close the google chrome browser and resume refurbishment of my resume or
As instructed by Edmund Burke . . do something

I chose latter over the former. I initated awakenening of other 3 members of my family. Sadly, one of them too failed to qualify the 6 month eligibility criterion. Nevertheless, the other 2 were awakened . . relevant forms filled and submitted. I was happy and proudly indulged in brief self appreciation.

We never realize that the evil has arrived until it leaves the neighbouring house and knocks on our door. When it does, we crouch behind the sofa set, switch off the lights, turn off the TV, maintain pin drop silence . . hoping the evil would be fooled into believing that no one is at home.

All in vain. The neighbours have already shared the evidence of us being at home. They are very cross with us for ignoring their wails for help when the evil was engrossed in crucifying them. It is now our turn.

On a marginally more direct note, society returns with compounded interest whatever investment is placed with it. Hence, society's pampered asset (i.e. revenue generator) should be extremely careful before chosing to invest indifference into it . . whatever be the excuse.

Make a difference . . vote . . disregard if it takes ten minutes or even ten days of unpaid leave.

GARP - FRM

2009-02-09T23:01:00.000-08:00

The purpose of this post is to share my exposure to FRM certification and thus be of some help to the prospective candidates.

FRM stands for Financial Risk Management. It is a certification exam conducted by Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP). One can know more about the association and certification at http://www.garp.com/frmexam/. The target audience of the certifications would primarily be personnel associated with Mid Office or Front Office operations of a Bank or Financial Institution.

The examination is conducted once a year, during 2nd week of November. The registration commences around March and fees for the examination steps up as the residual time to appear for it diminishes. Thus, there are considerable savings in store for early bird registrations.

The exam tests candidate's expertise in following 5 areas of Risk Management. Based on my preparation for 2008 exam, I have briefly summed up their key aspects. Note that the syllabus and weightages can change from year to year -

Credit Risk Measurement & Management

This section was heavily problem oriented. Credit VAR was the key.
The models discussed are interesting but bulky.
It is recommended that material other than handbook and Schweser be referred to for understanding the models

Market Risk Measurement & Management

This section was heavily problem oriented. Market VAR was the key.
If you like Maths, this is the section for you. Pricing, Valuation, Mathematical Models . . its all here

Operational & Integrated Risk Management

I found this section pretty tough. There is a lot of theory involved here. A lot of memorizing is needed.
A number of models are discussed which are largely qualitative in nature.
Besides, the subject itself is pretty grey. If you have not worked in this area, you would have a tough time.

Quantitative Analysis

The section mainly carried problems which are primarily related to Probability and Statistics
This was a small section carrying a weightage of 10%. The questions looked simple but were extremely tricky
Precariously, even a couple of wrong questions could pull down the sectional quartiles given the small size

Risk Management & Investment Management

This section was theory oriented with emphasis on hedge fund industry and equity analysis.
Candidates with 0 hedge fund exposure might be troubled by industry specific jargons and strategies.
However, the section discussing equity analysis makes life simpler

Leading study material providers include

FRM Handbook by GARP
Core Reading by GARP
Content by Schweser
Content by Bionic Turtle

It is reasonable to opt for option (1) together with (2) or (3) or (4). My preparations were made using (1) and (3). Additionally, GARP provides freely downloadable practice exams to all candidates. Do visit FRM threads at www.paagalguy.com/ forums. They are replete with experiences of past and present participants. Another useful site is www.elitebook.net/. It provides scans of old study materials free of cost.

GARP comes out with the exam syllabus in the month of March and associated study materials are out in the market by June. The 5 months from thereon form an adequate preparatory time window for a student investing 2 hours each day. It is of paramount importance that the candidate thoroughly analyzes the practice exams that come along with

FRM Handbook
Exam registration
Content from the course provider (e.g. Schweser)

FRM is oriented to test the practical knowledge of an individual. Therefore the exam is problem oriented to the extent of say 60% of total questions. If a week before exam, you are consistently scoring 70%+ in the mock tests, consider yourself more or less through.

The compilation and announcement of results take about 2 months. Thus, one can expect a declaration around 3rd week of Jan. The GARP community has made it mandatory for the successful participants to submit 2 years of relevant work experience for receiving the FRM designation. The window provided for this is 5 years. Eligible candidates start receiving their certifications about 3 months after result declaration i.e. 2nd week of April.

Damage of I

2009-01-28T20:17:00.000-08:00

If Bryan Adams practices in word and spirit what he sang once upon a time, I would instantly quit my job not only to worship him but to also preach and spread Bryanism throughout the world. I am referring to his blockbuster number 'Everything I do I do it for you', brought in during my generation's teenage heydays. Ever since, I have added many years of observation only to discover the hard hitting realism 'Everything I do I do it for I'

The most recent example being the fiasco conceptualized, structured and executed by Satyam founder Mr Ramalinga Raju together with his near and dear ones to quench their avarice for power and pelf. Closely preceded in time was the profound self-interest displayed by a cadre of investment bankers leading to curtains being drawn on the epoch of standalone investment banks.

Either of the above are unprecedented instances of paramount damage incurred by a bright mind's obsession with 'I'. It can put to shame the most dreadful of terrorist organizations. Rather all the prevalent terrorist outfits should perish into oblivion with utter shame and disgust. Not even in their wildest dreams can they dare render 15 million people jobless, lead an entire nation into bankruptcy or at the least wipe off trillions of dollars worth of market capitalization from international bourses.

Shockingly, the civilized society miserably fails to comprehend this simple fact. It continues to blow the likes of Mr Osama Bin Laden out of proportion altogether ignoring the contribution of Mr Raju and birds of similar feather. Needless to say, even an astonishing sleeping beauty without brains, like Mr H D Deve Gowda, can point out the stark gaps inherent in the performance of either parties. Why then this blatant inequity in performance evaluation and subsequent skewed recognition by the human society? Why is the global performance appraisal system so fundamentally flawed?

Unlike slumdog millionaire, I do not have the answers. But what I do have now is the realization and graceful acceptance of discrepancies prevalent in corporate performance appraisal system. All said and nothing done, it is but an offshoot of the above mentioned global appraisal system. Tout ensemble, a loosely coupled machinery victimized 24 by 7 to achieve the end objective of self gratification. Interestingly, the end objective is fairly well tolerated by certain economic dogmas.

In his book 'The Wealth of Nations', Adam Smith has metaphorically referred to this pursuance of self-gratification as the 'invisible hand' to broadcast the concept of 'free markets'. He argued that in an attempt to pursue one's own self interest, people tend to promote the welfare of the community at large. Though a brilliant conceptualization, history has repeatedly exposed the prime caveat of this theory. It's oversight in factoring the adverse impact of 'diseconomies of scale'. In alternate words, having too many invisible hands at work would result in a spoilt, unsavory, stale soup.

Adopting Economic Convergence

2009-01-05T00:50:00.000-08:00

Operations of central regulating authority, such as the RBI, in the open market are called open market operations (OMO). The most common of these operations is the buy and sale of securities. The idea is to keep multitude of economic indicators such as inflation, sensex, GDP, call / repo / reverse repo / exchange rates etc under check and have an exciting economic marketplace for global investors.

Each country has its own unique economic marketplace monitored by its proprietary central regulating authority. In most nations, these regulating authorities are strongly influenced by the political leadership. As a result, political agenda tampers the economic agenda giving rise to diverse economic strategies and implementations across nations to achieve the same underlying objective - economic growth for self.

This diversity strongly reflects itself in the global market scenario. So much has been manufactured - from itsy-bitsy benchmarks like LIBOR / EURIBOR / MIFOR to brobdingnagian Forex markets. Dedicated to exchanging 2 currencies at different rates at varying points in future, the forex market has crossed $3 trillion mark in average daily turnover and given employment to many.

Needless to say, any status quo has its share of opponents and proponents. Post World War II when the world economy was in doldrums the proponents of economic convergence came out with the Bretton Woods Agreement. Apart from setting USD as the dominant currency, it led to the foundation of IMF and the World Bank. Sadly, it met its demise in the 1960s as economies outpaced one another in terms of growth.

The probable learning was that it is not advisable to peg n-1 currencies to 1 currency as exchange rates are a factor of interest rates which in turn are a factor of their respective economies. In other words, economy is the root and exchange rate is the fruit. We are therefore inviting trouble by trying to alter the fruit without first conditioning the roots.

In line with this concept, on 1st January 2002, 12 countries formally eliminated trade barriers and adopted a single currency regime. Though divided politically and geographically, they united economically. Today Euro zone is the second largest economy of the world, despite of not having any of the 3 financial powerhouses (US / UK / Japan) as its member countries. In 2002, they were the leading nations. . and no one ever says it's only a game when they are winning.

Unfortunately, US has not entered 2009 on a winning note. The damage seems ongoing with news still highlighting fresh losses, bailouts and predictions such as "putting food on the table is going to be more important than putting gifts under the Christmas tree" by intellectuals like Gerald Celente. However, ‘permanent’ is ‘impossible’. Once out of the damage and into revival, adopting economic convergence might be the ‘permanent’ way forward towards everlasting growth and prosperity.

Global IITs

2008-12-25T07:17:00.000-08:00

Pakistan has always been quick to follow India, from Nuclear tests to hyper emotional singers at Sa Re Gamma to state of the art educational institutes popularly known as International Institutes of terrorism (IIT).

IITs are pioneering institutes established across the length and breadth of nature's most magnificient landscape - the PoK. Their humble beginning can be traced back to 1965 when ISI wanted to obtain religious copyright over terrorism. At that time, General Ayub Khan, had laid the cornerstone of the first IIT which has ever since multiplied faster than bacterias. Today IITs boast of fully-integrated campuses across middle east, fast perishing alumni, wanted dead or alive faculty and international placements.

The analysts are in particular impressed with the spectrum of under-graduate, post-graduate and doctoral programs on offer while students love the full time residential aspect of these courses. 'I love the beautiful and serene PoK valley. It gives the desired solitude to rediscover and bomb oneself' says Killall Laden, a second year student specializing in Human Bombing. 'All programs are a perfect mix of classroom and non classroom activities' says an analyst based out of Tora Bora caves. He adds 'The nearby Indian army camps serve as a laboratory where students translate their theory into practicals'

Needless to say, entry into these institutes is not a joke. Every year, erudite faculty screens thousands of applications to identify the best from the rest. The best then undergo a series of psychological tests designed to spot even the minutest evidence of pity, sympathy, love, affection and humanity. Any of these dangerous symptoms, if found, lead to immediate termination. The leftover of the lot is recruited to be trained and elevated above the simulated reality of civilization, into the matrix of unholy war.

Unholy war is very easy to understand. It means head off the harmful and harm the harmless which include unarmed men, women, senior citizens, kids, house flies and mosquitoes. It is also one of the largest, and Day 0, employer at IIT campuses across the valley. Students vie for its plum packages, exotic locations (Mumbai, New York, London) and elect job profiles comprising of hijacking, bombing self (in planes / buildings), bombing non self (in trains / marketplaces) and mass murdering (in metro stations / hangout joints).

The only challenge faced by these institutions is the fast depleting base of their Alumni. Their average lifespan post graduation is estimated to be less than 5 years. Nevertheless, the founders are completely unfazed. They say 'Our institutions are heavily funded by Poverty, Unemployment and Illiteracy. Since there is little which the world leaders are doing to eradicate them, we shall soon outnumber all those breathing in this world to make it a better place for themselves and others.'

Value for Time

2008-12-15T11:05:00.000-08:00

Five years ago, my institution wanted the students to kickstart their trimester by preparing a report on any social establishment. I did its bidding on a showery Sunday afternoon. It was just past noon when I rechecked the haversack for camera, pen and paper while climbing down the stairs. My brother was seated in the driver's seat and had already set the engines rolling. I occupied the adjacent seat, pushed the haversack onto the backseat and wasted no time in switching on the FM.

Within few seconds both of us were off, driving through a sparse blanket of droplets showered by the cloudy sky. Spending around 4 minutes on every kilometer and toggling thoughts on whether space has become a commodity or we have failed to reach out the unexplored, we reached a lesser known orphanage on the outskirts of the city.

We were welcomed by Kotresh, the caretaker with a bright smile. He was a young cheerful lad in his late twenties having prior association with Azim Premji Foundation. We went around the facility with him getting acquainted with the inmates and their residence. There was visible enthusiasm and excitement amongst all manifested in twinkling eyes and incessant smiles.

There were in all 2 hutments accommodating 20 children separated by 5 meters of land. The first was occupied by kids below 10 and the 2 staffers including a grand old cook alias aunty who full time disciplined the activities of the inmates after having lost both her kids. She told us that shortage of funds had recently forced the children to make the floor their bed but bunker beds were planned as inflow possibly substantiates in the future.

The second hutment was occupied by 12 children above 10 years. Interestingly, all 6 children were chosen from 3 distinct age groups e.g. 2 each from 7, 8, 9 standard so that seniors could help juniors in studies, routine work while juniors could keep tab on mischief of seniors by informing care takers.

It was 3pm, time for aunt's special lunch. Munching and interrogating Kotresh we learnt that his interest in social work was in accordance with others in family who were also associated with a NGO. In this centre they had primarily accommodated kids whose parents were undergoing trials or executing sentences, some as long as 20 years. We came across many children who were put up from past 9 years. Aunty often accompanied them to prison where they could meet their parents.

Post lunch, we broke the ice with the gathering by giving our introduction interspersed with anecdotes. This set the ball rolling and children were extremely proactive when asked to introduce themselves and at times spoke out of turn indicating high enthusiasm. Each one mentioned their name, native place, school, career goals and sought our opinion on achieving individual goals.

Though not experts, we tried our best to provide sound advice which was a huge challenge given the diversity in their

interests. Somu wanted to be a actor, Navin a surgeon and Kalpesh a CBI agent. The room was replete with laughter when my brother asked Somu to reconsider his decision and become a politician instead.

On completion of career counseling session, we thought of organizing dumb charades, an ideal game for mass entertainment and collective participation. 2 teams were formed, rules were explained and time limit set to 3 minutes per guess. Each correct answer accounted for 10 points, no negative marking. Needless to say game was a super hit and ran way ahead of stipulated deadline.

As time passed, we realized that sun had gone to bed and moonlight was following. It was time for us to bid goodbye. Before returning we had a small photo session with the inmates and children were extremely pleased to see themselves on the camera - pointing, staring and smiling at some known faces.

The farewell was extremely humbling. While getting into the car, I saw all inmates out in the lawn waving their hands in the humid air, I heard multitude of voices saying 'bye bye', 'thank you', 'come again' and the like. We were overwhelmed when Kotresh, aunty and senior children came and repeatedly thanked us for taking time out from our busy schedules especially on a weekend.

It was a great feeling to carry back. The FM radio, at that moment, sounded too noisy. I switched it off and peacefully reclined into the seat, gazing at the landscape. The car lazily started its return journey back home, spending 4 minutes on every kilometer. It had definitely not been an ideal recipe for those seeking value for money but a definite promise for those seeking value for time.