Kapil's Korner

Remembering the first day of school

Kapil — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 07:35:40 +0000

Got a bit nostalgic seeing the rain tipper-tapper on the roof. This season reminds me of the start of a new year in school.

Back from our summer holidays, excited we fight the laziness and manage to attend the first day of school. Only to be disappointed that our the friend is no longer in the same class.

The smell of new text-books, those gleaming freshly sharpened pencils, the absolutely clean pages of the notebooks waiting to have their Chapter 1 written in them. Upset that mummy didn’t buy you a new compass box, while your friends got one from the trip to Singapore/Dubai.

But you never missed an opportunity to show-off the latest ware collected during the vacation. That Sheaffer ink pen your “mamaji” gifted you while at nani’s place. Or that Japanese compass-box which had multiple buttons and was made like a Swiss knife with everything fitted into it.

Visit to the Bata store to pick up your pairs of gum-boots or white canvas shoes which you wish didn’t have to be worn during the rains.

First period of the language was spent writing the season favourite - “How I spent my summer vacation”. And of course we had to do this in local languages also.

Got upset when you learn that your favourite teacher was no longer around.

Wondered if this year you would get to share the desk with that cute girl you attempted talking to last year – Or be stuck with the class bully.

And then as days passed, the home-work would increase and the excitement was over, you would sleep every night with the prayer that it may pour all night and school would declare a holiday tomorrow.

Did the new year of school excite you? Do you have a child-hood memory from those days? Would love to hear it, leave your thoughts in the comments area.

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Dad’s Sony Walkman

Kapil — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:00:10 +0000

Yesterday I read that the Sony Walkman completed 30 years. Got digging into my cupboard to search for the model which my dad had purchased around that time.

Dad says he bought this walkman in April 1979 from Dubai, and supposedly this was the first model to hit the market there. So it’s a proud possession we have with us.

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Remembering the first day of school

The Hangover – movie review

Kapil — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:38:54 +0000

After a working weekend, you desperately seek a way to end the Sunday night with something nice so that your energy levels are charged up for yet another grinding week. I think buying advance tickets for “The Hangover” evening show was the best thing to do.

If you don’t have the time to read on, here is the quick movie review – Hilarious shit, you bloody well take your buddies and watch it.

Ah! you are still around, so here is a bit more on the movie. No spoilers, of course. The Hangover is about four friends who drive to Vegas to spend the bachelor’s night before one of the friends get hooked. After a couple of drinks, the movie fast forwards to the next morning and we see the friends wake up in a messed up condition with no memory of what happened last night. And of course the groom is missing. The rest of the movie explores how the friends trace their night crawl and also search for the lost groom who is getting married the next day. A pretty good performance by most of the characters. Allan – the groom’s brother-in-law is superbly funny and is seen most of the time without his pants.

This is one movie you gotta take your buddies along because you’ve either had those moments, missed a chance to experience them or can look forward to having them. And if you are not yet married, you can decide if you want a bachelor’s night like this one.

And yes, most movies say don’t miss the beginning. But for this one – you should not miss the credits rolling.

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Vodafone – Save environment

Kapil — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:32:26 +0000

Got my attention & it should have been posted earlier.

This is the billing envelope sent out by Vodafone. Provoking subscribers to opt for e-statements and thus save paper.

Click picture to see larger size.

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T20 World Cup - aane de Before & After

Kapil — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 05:44:35 +0000

The Indian team got thrown out of the T20 world cup after a miserable performance. Here is a snapshot of the before and after sentiment of the people supporting the team.

BEFORE

AFTER

So who’s going to the airport to welcome the team?

Cartoon courtesy: Mid-Day

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Use your iPod to run a photo show on TV

Kapil — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 12:17:48 +0000

You’ve got a zillion songs in there, a weekend full load of movies. But how about gettting your ipod to do some photo shows for your dear ones to see the latest holiday photos on that big TV in your living room.

This article at Apple’s website, will help you just do that bit.

And if you plan to run presentations off your iPod, read up this article at MacWorld.

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A possible solution to the global crisis?

Kapil — Thu, 07 May 2009 05:37:01 +0000

Got this forward from an uncle of mine. He puts in his little thought at the end of the mail.

It is August. In a small town on the South Coast of France, holiday season is in full swing, but it is raining so there is not too much business happening. Everyone is heavily in debt.

Luckily, a rich Russian tourist arrives in the foyer of the small local hotel. He asks for a room and puts a Euro100 note on the reception counter, takes a key and goes to inspect the room located up the stairs on the third floor.

The hotel owner takes the banknote in hurry and rushes to his meat supplier to whom he owes E100.

The butcher takes the money and races to his supplier to pay his debt.
The wholesaler rushes to the farmer to pay E100 for pigs he purchased some time ago.

The farmer triumphantly gives the E100 note to a local prostitute who gave him her services on credit.

The prostitute goes quickly to the hotel, as she owed the hotel for her hourly room use to entertain clients.

At that moment, the rich Russian is coming down to reception and informs the hotel owner that the proposed room is unsatisfactory and takes his E100 back and departs.

There was no profit or income.

But everyone no longer has any debt and the small townspeople look optimistically towards their future.

Can the Global Crisis end the same way ?
Think of the rich Russian as the US Fed who pumps in money into the system and takes it all back after the cycle is complete……yes ?

- Anil Bhatia

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5 things I didn’t know till last week

Kapil — Mon, 04 May 2009 12:45:00 +0000

I didn’t know that …

Carrots came in various colours like red, yellow and even black. The orange coloured carrot was developed by the Dutch in respect of their national colour.
Additional reading at Orange Journey.

There is something called sea-burial. They take the body placed in a coffin and sail into the sea from certain approved locations across a few European countries and drop off the coffin there. The coffins are made of biodegradable material so that it completely decomposes once it hits the sea bed.
Additional Reading: Sea Burial Services | Sea burial a hit in land-starved UK (from Times of India)

We all grew up eating the much abused fast food and never stopped, yet. But did you know there is the exact opposite called Slow Food. From USA today, Slow Food aims to be everything fast food is not.
Additional Reading: What is Slow Food?

There is a way to solve the world’s drinking water crisis. And NASA may have that solution worked out. From USA Today - NASA has spent decades perfecting a system to transform urine into water that can be used in space for drinking, food preparation and washing. Agency officials say the water from the system will be cleaner than U.S. tap water.
Additional Reading: On tap in space: Urine will not go to waste

Babe Ruth was probably the first famous face to be used as a brand ambassador in advertising. [Source: PBS American Photography (episode 2 of 3).]
Additional Reading: The Babe Ruth Times

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Long road ahead

Kapil — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 12:12:33 +0000

As Monday comes to an end, I see a very slow and long week ahead. No plans made for the big weekend and nothing to look forward to.

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How to spend time effectively during a recession

Kapil — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 17:56:00 +0000

If your work is recession hit and you’ve got some free time on hand, here’s something to help you spend that time effectively.

Review your expenses
Credit Card, Mobile Phone, Internet schemes can be reviewed. This could be a good time to move to the that budget friendly zero commitment scheme. Unsubscribe from newspapers/magazines you don’t bother reading.

Spruce your business branding
Maybe you started your venture at the peak of the market and never really got the time to see how your business stationary looks like. Browse around and get a design school student to work out some interesting designs. A good branding exercise will help you later when pitching for new business.

Use the Internet
Online presence for many company’s is a low priority, yet. Take a look at your website and see if something more can be done with that tool to attract new business. If you don’t already have a website, maybe you should think of getting one. And if you can’t afford to get one designed how about starting a blog at one of the free hosting websites to at least establish your base online.

Get active online and register yourself in business directories, join forums/communities and check out what people are talking about your industry, competition, trends etc.

Get yourself introduced to GTD
Life is a mess – missing due dates, phone calls never returned, unanswered emails and a cluttered desk. If that’s how your life is, it’s time to get introduced to David Allen’s GTD [Getting Things Done]. Here is a good place to start.

And of course, above all let’s not forget this recession will hopefully be a phase and we shall tide over this one very soon. So, get out of office spend some quality time with your loved ones and build the attitude to help you move forward.

How are you beating the recession blues? Got any tips to share, put them in the comments area.