Rohit's nukkad

India - Cricket World Cup champions

2011-04-02T20:23:00.004-05:00

My earliest memories of cricket goes back to Reliance World Cup 1987 India vs England semi-finals. We were returning home (Mumbai) by train and following the score through radio commentary. In a world with no cellphones, sms and LIVE internet updates, radio commentary was the best medium to keep tabs of the score when not watching the match LIVE on TV. Though Graham Gooch spoiled our party for a dream World Cup finals with Pakistan (Australia made sure our arch rivals didn't make it too), the love for the game came alive.

This started my religious following of the game. Watching endless games, keeping tabs of scores, stats, reading endless articles from SPORTSTAR (I am not sure if the magazine still in circulation), collecting posters, analyzing each match before and after, not just Indian games but every regular cricket match we played at our building every evening. Discussing with my father old cricket test matches, the survival of test series in 1970s - Englad victory, the Caribbean brutality, the glorious 1983 World Cup. Over the years, the match following has been turned into a number of times team bashing - how can we lose in such a situation, how can we play so ridiculously. One would hear of the short golden period of cricket from 1983 - 1986.

I am sure every one in my "cricket crazy" generation has experienced something similar - a story how the game interest started, how it became an obsession, the team expectations, the team bashing.

Today it all culminated as a dream one-day World Cup Final - in Mumbai. We have the mix right of talent and experience. But will we deliver.

Oh yes !!!! We did it and we did it in style. Hello World, the New World Cup champions - Team India has arrived.

All credit goes to players, support staff and all the crazy fans. A more than billion people bleed blue tonight. I am sure there are number of people who didn't moved from their seats during the game or who were wearing their lucky charms.

Its not many times that a diverse country like India is so united. My best lifetime recollections are more in times of calamities or disaster than in happier times. Major highlights would be the Pokhran Nuclear tests, the Kargil War, Olympic sucess etc. But nothing beats this one. After 28 years we have accomplished what we are expected to win every time the World Cup season starts.

WE ARE WORLD CHAMPIONS !!!!!! ENJOY AND LIVE THIS MOMENT, BE PROUD TO BE INDIAN.

Readers Bill of Rights

2009-10-16T22:17:00.002-05:00

The First Ten amendments in the United States Constitution, are known as the Bill of Rights. Similarly in Danniel Pennac’s book “Better than life”, he defines TEN BILL OF RIGHTS FOR READERS.

THE RIGHT TO NOT READ – Yes you heard me right, the right to NOT read, this makes everyone read at their own leisure and time. And even if they don’t want to read it’s okay.

THE RIGHT TO SKIP PAGES – how many times have we skipped pages while reading? We once in a while look diagonally. And even if you are someone who like to read word to word. Its just another pleasure among the many pleasures of reading.

THE RIGHT TO NOT FINISH – it you lose interest in a book before finishing it, that’s okay. Let it go. Books are unlike wine, they don’t age, they sit on the shelves and wait for us to age and as we mature we might pick them up one day

THE RIGHT TO REREAD – we watch television programs and movies again and again why can’t we reread books?

THE RIGHT TO READ ANYTHING – there should no boundaries on what to read, let the reader decide what to read.

THE RIGHT TO ESCAPISM – Immediate gratification of our senses is what escapism is all about. We all started out like this, before we laid our hands on “great literature” works

THE RIGHT TO READ ANYWHERE – one should be given the freedom to read anywhere. For all the people who don’t have time to read - reading needs to be stolen from other life obligations hence subway is the world’s longest reading room

THE RIGHT TO BROWSE – we all browse through books, you don’t need to read them, browse through them

THE RIGHT TO READ OUT LOUD - this art has lost its charm in recent times. Reading aloud test the story which the book is meant for any one can reach a larger audience.

THE RIGHT TO NOT DEFEND YOUR TASTES – absolutely one doesn’t need to defend what they are reading

House on the Waterfront

2009-08-30T02:18:00.012-05:00

Water bodies in the form of pond, lake, river, sea or ocean are always very pleasing and soothing to the eyes. The water with turquoise color, the coolness, the stillness of the water or the crashing of the waves, the sound is very pleasant and great place to relax and enjoy.

A house on the waterfront is like a dream. Recently I came cross couple of such houses in Austin overlooking the Colorado river. I would like to share some with you.

1. You have a car parking, how about boat parking

Generally people have car parking, but if you have a house or apartment on the waterfront you can have a boat parking too, just take your boat out of the driveway and off into the lake. And ofcourse from those balconies or patio you will get some great view too.

2. How about high on the hills over looking the river

If you don't want to share your boat parking space, how about a house high up on the hill.

And for these views

the house is really something

3. How about having your personal bridge to get near the water front.

Firstly, I am not sure if this an apartment building or a personal house. The size tells me its an apartment building but the design tells me its a personal house. Take a guess. If its a personal house, I am short of my ohs and ahs for the beautiful structure. To the extreme right hand corner we can see a bridge projection out. The bridge goes across a narrow street onto a private patio overlooking the river.

After seeing these beautiful houses, one can just envy the people who enjoy such houses, and more importantly the great view of the river.

An oasis in the homogenous US cities desert

2009-08-16T22:00:00.013-05:00

If you have taken a road trip across the US or visited a number of American cities. You will notice a lot of similarities. The weather and landscape might change across cities but BIG corporation have made sure that there is certain amount of homogenization in these cities. One can see the same Taco Bells, McDonald's and other fast food joints, same stores, menus and even the same structures. The same grocery and clothing chain like Walmart and JC Penny.

The corporation might debate that the idea behind the generalization is not to confuse the general public but they have tossed out creativity and innovations in the process. Forget the stores may be a little creativity can go long way in design the store signs and store structure.

Couple of days back I came across couple of unique and funky looking stores in Austin. The stores and signs went very well with the city slogan of - Keep Austin Weird. I just couldn't help admiring their creativity and some reminded me of some great stories. Another interesting part is all these stores are located on the same street.

1. Genie Car Wash - The sign is very inviting.

2. Ichiban - Japanese restaurant. This reminded me of FRIENDS episode - Joey's Japanese ad

3. The Lightbulb Shop - I will let the sign and the store do the talking.

4. Hey Cupcake - the giant cupcake is rotating too :-)

5. Atomic Tatoo - their art speaks so loudly about their work :-)

6. Icehouse - you can't get more Texan than this

7. Clay House Studio

8. Plumbing Supply Store

If these stores can do it. Hopefully others can give creativity a thought too.

Its a chariot, its a cobra, ....no its a Ford Mustang Convertible

2009-06-16T20:18:00.006-05:00

Couple of weeks back a friend of mine and myself made a fun trip to Phoenix, Grand Canyon and Las Vegas. We wanted to make it a memorable one and right from the get go we knew it would be one hell of a trip.

The fun began the moment we rented a FORD Mustang convertible. We were exploring all the gadgetry in the car. 'Hey look out the acceleration man', said one, 'the pick up of the car is pretty awesome', another said. 'Wow it goes from 0-60 in 6 seconds'. We were very excited about the vehicle.

But after 5 minutes of drive on the highway it suddenly started raining. Since we had already got the roof down. My friend wanted to get the roof up. So we tried pressing the automatic rooftop lift up button in the appropriate direction but nothing worked. We tried hard but no luck. We thought lets return the vehicle. I made a quick exit in Downtown Phoenix and was waiting on a signal and my friend was still fidgeting with the rooftop button. Suddenly ...eehhhhhhh...the roof started coming up... yeah its coming up it coming up. In the mean time I got the signal to GO. I stepped on the gas, the hood just stopped. It was only half done.

It was hilarious. I couldn't get any rear view. The car looked like a chariot, or a cobra with his spread neck ready to attack.

We made a quick stop and got the roof down. With everything fine no complains about the car, we were all set to enjoy the trip.

Even today the incident just cracks me up :-)

Cinco de Mayo

2009-05-11T22:15:00.003-05:00

5th May, is a special day in Mexican history, its celebrated as Cinco de Mayo which is Spanish for May 5th. The Mexicans defeated the French forces in 1862.

The irony of the day is, its celebrated on a bigger scale in the United States as compared to that in Mexico. Though the day's significance in Mexico is more regional but in the US its a full blown celebration right from television programs to shopping mall. So why is it more popular in US ? May be its like other things in the US something commercial value in the US.

My Five Favorite posts

2009-05-09T01:28:00.008-05:00

Its difficult to pick your favorite posts and even more difficult to narrow it down to five. But if one sets in some boundaries the work becomes easier.
To pick my five favorite posts I have used the following criteria.

1. The post should be timeless and anytime one reads it a smile is inevitable.

2. It should be an original piece. Inspirations are fine but copying is no good.

3. Book reviews and movie reviews have been left out.

So the list goes as follows, they are ordered in how they appeared on the blog.

1. Wonderful Human Being - I can proudly rate this article as one of my best. Its just feels good article. A chance encounter with a stranger - a genuine, down to earth and simple man. As in the article I wish I can be like Lala when I reach his age.

2. Interesting Love story or is it stories - A great piece. An article out of nothing. A headache at work, turned into a great post and pleasure reading. Even now whenever I read it brings a chuckle. Hope you enjoy it similarly.

3. The Man, the machine... Street hawk - A great nostalgic post, took me back to good old TV days, growing up days, programs I enjoyed watching and even now would love to watch them.

4. You won't believe what happened one night - Great memories, a scary experience, great time.

5. Two men and a truck - One of the fun moments of moving I had with this TV purchase. The TV, the size and the bargain price all blinded me with the crucial part of the purchase - the heavy lifting involved. So big life lesson learned from the experience.

Three years to blogging

2009-05-09T00:52:00.003-05:00

Can you imagine it has been three years since I put up my first post on Rohit's Nukkad - Express yourself. Three years, a highly enjoyable time and wonderful period writing blog, 113 published posts quite a feat but still miles to go.

"He who believes that the past cannot be changed has not yet written his memoirs." ~Torvald Gahlin

Well the blog posts are kind of memoirs. They help me reflect how much I have changed over the years - be it my maturity level or my writing skills or my reading interest. Whenever I read any of my old posts its like sitting in a time machine and getting transported to the time when I wrote the post, the incidents happening in my life around the time, how did I write the post, the comments related with the posts etc. Some posts bring a smile on my face, while some make me chuckle, while others make me realize there is lot of scope of improvement in my writing.

Couple of interesting statistics related with posts on Rohit's Nukkad
1. Total posts published 113, that makes it roughly 38 posts per year, though I would have loved to have more posts, the number is still decent.

2. Months without any posts - Though being regular is important but at the same time its the toughest thing to do. I too had couple of my short falls. There were months where not a single post was posted on the blog, 5 months in total - November 2006, July 2007, October 2007, January 2009 and April 2009. Why did this irregularity, I don't have a clear answer for this. Its not like I was extremely busy with my work life in these months. On the contrary months when I was extremely busy I have used blogging as my stress buster and written a good number of posts. Having material for writing is one of the main reasons for being irregular.

3. Book reviews and Movie reviews - these two have been the most regular and discussed topics on the blog. I have written about 8 book reviews and number of book related articles like John Grisham works etc. Well no complains - more book reviews coming your way in future, reading being one of my interests its an obvious path to write about them. Movie reviews have dropped down over the period of time, only when some real good or crazy movie comes up a blog post can be expected.

These were just couple of observations about the blog, watch out for my next article short listing couple on my favorite blog posts so far. But as of now all I can say, good job Rohit, be consist and keep on posting.

The Lord of the Rings moment

2009-05-03T08:15:00.002-05:00

"The Lord of the Rings" you might not have seen the movie or read the book but you cannot escape the mention of this epic modern mythological story. Some call it the greatest book of the twentieth century.

Couple of days back I brought a "Lord of the Rings" DVD - a documentary by National Geographic, which takes us beyond the book, far beyond the movie. They look for similarities between the book and real life places, language, people and the various inspirations for the author J R R Tolkien. The idea of the book which started around the World War I and goes back and forth with mythology, past archeological structures long lost languages. A must watch for a "Lord of the Rings" fan.

The story is of gigantic proportions, which takes years, may be decades of hard work to explore, create and bring it together. J R R Tolkien has taken this giant step for us. We need to sit back and enjoy this epic story. My next step would be to either read the books or watch the movies.

Book Review - Click – What Millions of People Are Doing Online And Why It Matters

2009-03-25T22:06:00.002-05:00

Bill Tracer, the author is a guy who “loves data”. He talks about this job in this book about analyzing huge amounts of search data on the Internet. The work involves understanding people mindset and in general understanding current worldly search trends.

The author most importantly talks about odd and sporadic behavior seen on the Internet based on the search engine data. He talks about False Hope Syndrome which a lot of people go though due to failed new year resolutions or how the third week of January is the most depressing week of January.

The author talks in length about Web 2.0 where the user content plays an important part. Websites like Facebook, MySpace are part of Web 2.0. For Web 2.0 user participation is calculated as 90-9-1 formula where out of 100 people visiting a web page 90 of them are passive visitors, 9 are partial participant, only one is an active participant. He talks about people like Tila Tequila, on MySpace who has over a million friends. From his analysis based on so much data Bill divides the people online into five categories – innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and the Laggards. Its the Early adopters that you need to look for a profitable online business or popularity.

Overall the book gives a nice perspective about internet search data analysis, how people behave on the net. It talks about some good examples about the strange behavior of the net and walks you though them. Though a lot of examples are specific events related like Katrina or how there was a search surge for Pontiac G6 after a specific advertisement, there are some which can look for trends over years like shopping trends for prom dresses or how new year resolution related like weight loss search. The book is recommended as casual read.

The Google’s “Groundhog Day” Approach

2009-03-20T18:38:00.003-05:00

Have you seen the movie Groundhog Day? If not let me share an insight of the movie. The movie is about a local news reporter played by Bill Murray who covers Groundhog day celebration in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. What makes the movie interesting is Bill's character keeps gets up to the same day everyday - Groundhog day. Initially he gets quite frustrated with life monotony and even tries all sorts of tricks to end it. He tries to win over his love interest played by the News reporting team producer. But he soon realized the incidents of the day are same and starts working on improving his days by changing himself slightly each day. He learns new skills right from ice sculpturing to learning piano. He keeps working on his mistakes and learning from them. Towards the end he finally wins over the new report producer and wakes up to a new day.

The learning from mistakes and improving oneself has been the approach of things on the Web. The prime example being - Google; they keep coming with these wonderful products –Gmail, Orkut, Chrome, etc... But if you look at the initial versions (beta versions) of these products they are very crude, raw and very fragile. But they keep improving on them, asking for feedbacks from the users in the form of emails, forums,blogs etc. They kept rectifying the bugs in the product and adding new features to it. Thus making the product very robust and something brand recognition when the actual product is launched.

You were born to Play this Game - Cranium

2009-03-17T23:43:00.002-05:00

As kids board games formed a big part of indoor games with friends especially during harsh summer months when the school was off and playing outdoors was impossible. Board games provided a good refuge. Monopoly, business whatever you may call it used to lead the pack followed by other trivia and sport games like cricket and soccer.

But somehow board games lost their charm as I grew older until the day I played CRANIUM. The game tag line says it all "You were born to Play this Game". The game is a mix of activities like clay sculpturing, sketching with eyes closed, acting involving puppeteering, acting out as a famous personality, vocabulary test, general knowledge etc.

The game can be played with any number of players but more the better. The game is not about winning or losing, but amount of laughs and fun it provides that it is hard to stop. One just hopes that the game keeps on going... and going... and going :-)

So if you haven't played the game yet. give it a try you are sure to fall in love with it.

Audio Books

2009-03-15T09:43:00.002-05:00

Audio books have been around for a long time. Even before I started reading. The earlier days involved the analog format of audio tapes but nowadays they are available in the form of audio CDs in WAV or MP3 format, making it more portable.

Its just recently I started exploring the idea of listening to audio CDs than reading the book. Though hesitant about the change I did bit of cheating for my first audio book. I picked up a book I had read long time back - It's not about the Bike by Lance Armstrong and Sally Jenkins. And I should say it was a wonderful experience listening to the heroics of Lance Armstrong once again. I was able to listen to at work made it even better. Multitasking at its best :-)

There are couple of benifits of listening to audio books over reading them. The main being it doesn't require your 100% attention, its like listening to music. At some subconscious level your mind is capturing it. And if not then the Rewind button is very handy. You can listen to audio books multiple time as compared to reading a book multiple times (I have not done multiple reading of a book so far).

On the flip side, nothing beats a physical book at hand. The feeling is quite relaxed when one is reading a book. Not all books make a good audio book. It depends on lot of factor right from the contents of the books to the voice over for the book.

Though my conclusion stands that audio books are good though they cannot replace the activity of reading books. It is sure another weapon to keep in an avid book lovers arsenal.

A little more HHOOTTT sauce

2009-03-15T09:30:00.002-05:00

Following up with the Mad Dog Hot sauce experience, my curiousness led me again to the sub place to try out some other hot sauce. Though they have nothing hotter than Mad Dog Sauce (the maximum legal possible), I went for the second best available - Da Bomb Hot sauce.

Hmmmm now how can I categorize this one the scale of my tongue's tastebuds. I guess after a certain point anything hot just gives a crazy sensation to the tongue. It is just HOT nothing else, the sensitive parts like tongue and lips burn for 10 mins or so. However taking in lot of water helps. Yes its definately fun.

Also another observation the place has 55 different kinds of sauces. I have a long long way to go in exploring different sauces :-)

How much HOT sauce can you take

2009-02-18T23:02:00.004-06:00

Over the weekend I had a unique experience of tasting the spiciest sauce I have ever tasted. I had gone to purchase a sub(a 6 inch sandwich) for supper while the sub was being prepared I couldn't help noticing the large variety of sauces at the sub shop. I asked the owner to direct me to the spiciest sauce possible. And he happily pointed to the Mad Dog Sauce 357. The owner challenged me that if am able to have two table spoons of the sauce with my sub then the sub is FREE.

While the proposition was interesting, it got me thinking how much spicy is the sauce actually. SO to get the feeling of the sauce I just licked a small part of it and my tongue and lips started burning like hell. It was just plain HOT just HOOOOTTTT. I had never tasted anything spicier or hotter than this. It got me running for water to sooth out the effect. Even after couple of glasses of water the spiciness lasted for good 10 minutes. And this was just a bit of the sauce. I can't imagine what would be effect be of two table spoons of the sauce trying to extract a free sub :-)

A few highlights about Mad Dog Sauce 357

1. The hotness is just below the legal limit to call it a sauce

2. Its hotness is 357000 in scoville units (units to measure hotness where 0 is regular bell peppers). Tabasco sauce rates 2000 scoville units.

3. It is 70 times hotter than jalapeño

4. The bottle has a warning - "this sauce will blow you away" and it really does.

And even if now you are not convinced about the spiciness of this sauce you should give it a try. Make sure to just taste it before thinking of gulping in large quantities ( I am sure you won't think about it once you have tasted it).

5 Ineresting Economics Questions you wanted to know the answer to

2009-02-15T20:45:00.003-06:00

1. Why are companies referest to as Ltd, Inc, Gmbh or S.A ?

At heart of capitalism is private ownership and a limited liability. A limited liability assures that the owners of a company will never have to pay more than they have invested in the company. The names of the companies around the world reflect this limited liability "Gmbh" - Gesellschaft(German) is a Privatly held company in Germany. In the US its known as "Inc" - Incorporated, it is known as "Ltd" in other English-speaking countries."S.A" in French and Spanish-speaking countries.

2. What is Bankruptcy?

Bankruptcy, in modern economic climate deals with an ailing company that cannot pay its debts. It has a choice of either liquidating its assets immediately or may be allowed to attempt to recover under a supervised legal framework. In most capitalist countries, bankrupt companies are first encouraged to try to continue operating under legal supervision in order to generate enough money to pay off creditors. Rehabilitation of an ailing company allows it to reorganize and possibility of returning to profitability - "Chapter 11" (US), or "Administration"(UK). If the company still has no real prospect of recovery then it is forced into "liquidation" known as "Chapter Seven" in United States or "receivership" in Britain.

3. How is Gold Used in International investments?

Gold can be traded in every country and currency imaginable. Until recently gold served as a uniquely liquid investment that could be exchanged anywhere in the world at any given time. Now it is perceived mostly as “hedge” - provide a stable refuge for investors in inflationary times when financial instruments like stock or bonds tend to lose their value.

4. How does a Swiss Account work?

Switzerland is one of the few countries in the world, which by law guarantees the secrecy of its bank accounts. As long as the person doesn’t have anything considered illegal in Switzerland including tax evasion in home country, the bank won’t reveal the identity. Opening a bank account in Switzerland is relatively easy and Swiss bankers are known to be dependable, trustworthy and discreet. These qualities make Switzerland a world banking center, but also money laundering center.

5. How is Wealth Determined around the world?

Countries have different ways to determine wealth, and each country tends to look at a different group of statistics. One way to determine using the salary earned in each country. However salaries are actually used to buy products or services. Hence salary’s “purchasing power” tells us how much the salary can buy. Comparing the costs of a group of goods and services gives us a more reliable exchange rate, called “purchasing power parity” to determine wealth across the world.

Coutesy :- A Beginner's Guide to the World Economy - Randy Charles Epping.

How did the markets faired in 2008

2008-12-31T11:14:00.002-06:00

As 2008 comes to an end it would be a good idea to look back at the stupendous fall in markets world over.

New York - down 34%
London - down 31.3%
Paris - down 42.7%
Frankfurt - down 40.4%
Mumbai - down 51.9%
Singapore - down 49.2%
Sydney - down 41.3%
Hong Kong - down 48.3%
Shanghai - down 65.2%
Tokyo - down 42.1%

courtesy :- BBC News

The unknown link between Mexico and India

2008-11-09T21:10:00.005-06:00

I enjoy talking to common people from different walks of life, and one of such recent conversations led me to the discover an unexplored connection between Mexico and India.

I was talking to a Mexican immigrant who has been in the US for the past 20 years. On the topic of hobbies, the person informed me reading comics as one of his hobbies. He has used comics like Batman for improving his English verbal skills other than using it as a good means of entertainment. On digging more he told that as a child he used to enjoy - Kaliman comics in Mexico.

The character Kaliman fascinated me and while looking up for more information I found that Kaliman is very popular comic book hero across Latin America. "Kaliman an orphan, adopted by prince Abul Pasha from one of the kingdoms in the valley of Kalimantan, he's the fifth man in a dynasty of men dedicated to preserving justice in the world, and that he's the seventh man of the goddess Kali's dynasty"* !!!!!

Kali - if you are familiar with Hindu religion, Goddess Kali is associated with death and destruction. So Kaliman belongs to the goddess Kali dynasty and works on eradicating evil from the world.

Kaliman and Kali.....wow, I don't know how the writers got the idea for this comic hero. But somewhere they linked the mysterious character to goddess Kali. Leading to a wonderful link between Mexico and India. Hmmm.......interesting, very interesting.

*courtesy : Wikipedia

Dancing partner Puzzle

2008-10-27T06:56:00.002-05:00

Julie invited couple of friends for an evening of dance, great food and fine wines. Each of the guests was handed over numbers from 2 to 18 with the number 1 reserved for Julie. Over the course of the dance Julie observed that the dancing partners numbers add up to perfect squares e.g. if number 1 is paired with number 8 then the total is 9 (8 +1) which is a perfect square of number 3.

If all the pairs add to perfect square what is Julie’s dancing partner’s number.

Courtesy: Car Talk

Austin Film Festival

2008-10-27T06:30:00.002-05:00

At a recently concluded Austin Film Festival (16th and 23rd October 2008) I got an opportunity to watch a number of independent, international and short films. One of the movies, Lost and Found, a Japanese film and jury winner of the Narrative Feature Competition is one of the outstanding movies I had viewed in recent times.

Movie Synopsis:
A rural train station in Japan is the setting for this charming and sad story. The lives of the denizens of this station, from the lovelorn to the lonely, all intersect in and around the lost and found department. Shot with an incredible grace, and with wonderfully subtle and human performances by an ensemble cast, Miyake’s feature is a tale of human bonds and the need for connection.

Courtesy: Austin Film Festival

The movie is very sensitive, simple and has great screenplay. The camera work is unique, it might be amateurish but weaves well with the movie story. Don't miss a chance to view this wonderful movie.

Movie Scripts

2008-10-27T06:14:00.002-05:00

Recently I had an opportunity to read couple of original movie scripts, movies like Silence of the Lambs, Lethal Weapon series, American Gangster and television shows like pilot episode of Family Guy or one of the episodes of The Office.

It was a wonderful experience going over them, these scripts are so much in depth and detail that right from the dialogues to the actor expression and movements to end of scene everything is there. It you are keen on reading movie scripts a one place stop is : IMSDB

America Loves Drive Through

2008-10-26T16:28:00.006-05:00

One of the first things that amazed me when I first came to the US was the drive through or drive thru available at banks. Drive thru at fast food joints is not a big deal but for banks they are just amazing, one can make a check deposit or talk to a bank representative without stepping out of ones car. Its fast, easy and provide for longer hours than regular bank hours.

The drive thru concept has been in the US for decades, there are drive thru available for anything and everything, from drive thru for fast food joints to movie theater to banks to liquor stores. In Las Vegas one can get married by drive thru.

With the 2008 Presidential Elections round the corner in California voter registration and voting is available by drive thru.

I don’t know what is next in drive thru list.

And the Roller Coaster Ride Continues…

2008-10-20T22:07:00.002-05:00

There is so much happening on the global economic front that its difficult to ignore them or keep tabs of all the happenings. The following is just a gist of all the happening in the past 10 months and majorly in the past one month. And mind well the roller coaster ride is still on. So fasten your seat belts (or your money) and enjoy the ride.

Jan – March 2008 :
Bank of America buys Countrywide, the major mortgage lending firm for $4 billion
Bear Stearns, one of the five major brokerage firms get sold out for peanuts price to JP Morgan Chase

September 7 th – Fannie Mae and Freddie mac are nationalized by the US Treasury for $5 trillion

September 15th - Lehman Brothers, the second major brokerage firm files for bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch the third brokerage firm is brought by Bank of America

September 16th – A $85 billion Federal loan to insurance giant AIG

September 19th – Henry Paulson, the national secretary call for a major bailout plan for the country’s financial backbone, banks to be give loans in huge denomination by the government

September 20th – A $700 billion bailout plan is revealed

September 21 st – Golfman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, the last two standing brokerage firms are made into bank holding companies.

September 24th – Warran Buffer buys 9% of Goldman Saschs. Gives a $5 billion loan to GE, which is finding hard to get the loans

September 25th – Washington Mutual(WAMU) closed by US Government, JP Morgan buys the assets worth $1.9 billion

September 29th – US house of Representatives reject the $700 billion bailout. DOW drops by 800 points.

October 1st – US senate revamps the US financial resue plan

October 3rd – US house of representative pass the $700 billion bail out package.
Wachovia is bought by Wells Fargo. Initially Citibank wanted to strike a deal by things didn’t workout

October 5th – European Union nations fight over saving their economies. Germany, France, Iceland, Britain etc. all work for a bailout packages.

October 8th – A co-ordinated global interest rate cut pumps $87.2 in the economy

Your Prayers have been answered

2008-09-13T00:56:00.005-05:00

How many times have you tried to get away from phone conversations but couldn't get the right excuse. Whether its at office or home or telemarketers finding the right excuse can save some precious time.

Well your prayers have been answered and the help is just a click away. Just check out the following website http://www.sorrygottago.com/

The website lists excuses by section like at the office, home and telemarketers. Make sure to listen to the telemarketers excuses especially My number is ... and sit down for dinner. They are hilarious.

Mumbai meri jaan

2008-09-01T00:54:00.004-05:00

Mumbai meri jaan, is the apt title for a recently released hindi movie based on July 2006 Mumbai local train bomb blasts.

Its one of the best hindi movies I have watched in recent times. The movie unfolds with five characters from different walks of life and how the bomb blasts gives them a different perspective about life.

One of the best portrayal's in the movie is about a telivision reporter character life getting effected by bomb blasts and how news channels have become a mockery and ready to cash in cheap publicity in India.