Mangoes. Yippie!

Today my dad bought the first set of mangoes this season. If asked to relate a couple of things to May, my answer would be mangoes, and ever since I started working: appraisals & attrition. While material - screenshot showing the baseline version on tissue – dates back to 2009, this post has remained queued for several months. Just like mangoes taste best in May, a post on choosing jobs has to wait for its own season to deliver maximum value. With appraisals around the corner and attrition already kicking-in, I thought this could help those switching to resolve their dilemma between their current job and offers in hand!

Baseline version on tissue

Just to set the expectations right, this is a simple decision matrix that allows you to weigh options against a few well-defined criteria.

Download Now! (Free)

I know huge links like that could seem fishy, but this one is clean. It might just make more sense to those employed in India. HR folks, if you’re downloading – this is how we look at an offer!

Here a couple of other things that could help you take the right decision:

• the internet

• Your network

Crab fritters & more

Without family, I had an option of trying some local food. Vaibhav and I tried some Indonesian-Chinese noodles, Chinese crab fritter and Indonesian fish cake. Honestly, it wasn’t until a glass of Milo that I started feeling better again. My mom would never agree to $1 chocolate drink when she could add 7 spoons of Milo to half a liter milk and make enough drink for the entire family. But honestly, that is how we all think. Fortunately on this trip, I did less of multiplication & more of subtraction when spending – if you know what I mean. I’m sure I’ll forget the math altogether when I start earning in a stronger currency.

At Marina Bay

Singapore is more like what it was in 2006; Mustafa got bigger & better and Marina Bay looks better with the Singapore Flyer and Marina Sands hotel in the background. It was good to meet a couple of old friends: Pritish Purohit & Ashish Singh. After a good breakfast at the hotel with samosas, what was supposed to be a 1.5 hour part on my side at the meeting, went on close to 5 hours, and I was involved right until the end. It was great to receive a very different kind of compliment from an attendee: “thank you, you enlightened me about P2P”. That’s precious!

On the way back, moments into the air, I had the epic moment of my life: I caught a glimpse of a Qantas A380. Krisworld, SQ’s inflight entertainment system, introduced me to ‘Come fly with me’, one of the most hilarious parodies I’ve ever seen; unfortunately, this mocked one of old favorites – Airport on  BBC. I would still say that the food is better on Air India. As usual, I couldn’t sleep on board – there’s nothing like getting back home!

Print the complete address of the page from where it is hosted:

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Everyone knows about phpInfo – a dump of all the PHP settings:

<?php phpinfo(); ?>

When using a shared host that allows overriding your PHP ini file, it is worth while knowing the path from where the file is loaded:

<?php var_dump( get_cfg_var(‘cfg_file_path’) ); ?>

Born 29th March, 1931 at Murud-Janjira, he was the 3rd child of the late Shri Bhaskar Govind Gupte. Bhaskar bhai as he was known to most people in Murud was a very successful lawyer of his time, with stories of his arguments in court cases, as well as during prohibition still recited in the family. Of the siblings who survived adulthood (several passed away before teenage), Aajoba was #3 after his elder sister Sulochana (later Mrs. Chaubal), elder brother late Shri. Vinayak Gupte (a.k.a. Bal or Vinu who passed early 90s), and followed by two younger brothers: Shri Sudhakar (a.k.a. Appa or Sudha) & Shri Srinivas (a.k.a Baba). Only Bal ajooba had passed away before his death.

Aaji-Aajoba's Marriage (1956)

Aajoba attended Sir S A High School in Murud, and moved to Mumbai after matriculation to study law at Ruia College, Matunga. At the time, he lived with his elder sister’s family and shared a very strong bond with her children Mohan & Pratibha, who fondly called him Nana mama. We’ve heard stories of  Aajoba carrying Mohan kakaon his shoulders through the scaly rocks at Ekdari port. At the time, a night journey on a steam boat was the easiest way to shuttle between Mumbai & Murud. Sometimes he travelled by S.T. to Revdanda, took a ferry across the creek to Salaav followed by another bus to Murud. And if he couldn’t get a seat, he’d ask someone to intimate home of his arrival, which would result in Bhaskar bhai arranging for a tonga to pick him up. When Aajoba finished studying law, he along with his younger brothers lived in Malad (where Baba aajoba continues to stay), and even had a full-time cook at their service. After marrying Aaji, they continued staying there for a couple of years.

With Baba (1958)

Despite of his own reputation in Murud, Bhaskar bhai was adamant that ajooba practise on his own; his explanation: the tree grows taller in the sun. And Ajooba proved his mettle. He moved into his house in Gondhlekar chawl (where Mahesh kaka now stays) and later bought a bunglow in Malwani. If I know of one success yardstick he tracked right until the end, it was the number of cars that he & his childrens had bought. With Raju kaka’s Nano added in 2011, it now stands at 24. But when Aajoba bought his 1st Volkswagen in the early 60′s, he was the first from the family to drive a car into Murud. The car, Malwani bungalow & his style put together created gossip of his possible involvement in smuggling. But Bhaskar bhai had always seen him as a white elephant. When construction of the new bungalow completed, the family moved to Aashirwaad in Pandurang Wadi, Goregaon. Aajoba spent a lot of energy on winning the case for this very house. All his life, he didn’t loose respect for Shree Siddhivinayak & his elder sister.

He was always a very disciplined man: never missed his daily exercise & pooja; never left home without eating kheemat (traditional overcooked rice) which he enjoyed with everything from pickle to fish. He loved watching and playing cricket, playing carrom with friends and reading the newspaper. For cricket, he would rise early enough for the  matches in Australia & stay up late to catch the action in the Caribbean. Other days he would be asleep by 930-10. Over the years his practice had fluorished several folds and had an esteemed clientele. Having practiced for over 5 decades, he could not be separated from his work. There would be times when he would wake up in the middle of the night if he had a critical brain wave for an upcoming case . And he would be quickly irated if someone disturbed him during such brainstorming. In general, his introversion had portrayed the image of an angry man in the family. In the years to come, his anger was greatly subdued as the family grew. While we knew he was revered by one and all, we hardly knew of the many he had silently helped, until they mentioned it after he passed away.

His 75th Birthday (2005)

He loved spending time with his grandchildren. Every Diwali, he would bring us huge packets of fire-crackers. In May he would take all of us to Murud, and pack along a big box of confectionaries from Monginis. On other days, he would take us for a ride in the car to watch the trains. He taught everyone to say: nakaduchenya tapasakeche yasanapatikayanaveerakadhum which although cryptic was very ; when spoken backwards it means “Madhukar Vinayak yanche kes kaapnyache dukaan hote“. And we would all find it very funny.

At Aashirwaad (2008)

I shared a very different relation with him, a very special one.  Being his first grandchild, he was the one who gave me my name. We played cricket, had mini-picnics on the bungalow terrace, fired his German shot-gun and even had our way of eating varan-bhaat (rice & dal). Every Sunday, we would start early morning with home-cooked mutton for Raju kaka who was studying in Pen. On the way I would have to stop for nature’s call which I attended in a very ‘natural’ way in the Arnala forest. Tissues weren’t available in those days, and leaves were all we had at our disposal. He recited that story to everyone right up to my fiancee Aditi who he met during his last trip to Mumbai. Despite of his short-term memory loss, when we met next in Murud, he asked me how well I knew my would be, and if she would fit into the family? I had clarified his doubts about Aditi. I so wish he had seen my marriage. I have preserved at least 3 things he passed on to me: a fur coat from the late 70′s (with Yash now), a pocket dictionary from the ’40s, and a Rs.500 note which he asked me to keep as backup when I moved to Panvel to study engineering in 2003.

Last trip to Mumbai (2011)

Aajoba had no medical history. Until a week before his demise, he enjoyed a normal diet, suffered no major illness and all his body parts were functioning normally. In fact he started eating things he disliked all his life. But his weakened lungs (attributable to Panama that he smoked until 2008) fell prey to pneumonia, which put together with his age led to an incurable infection. Although he had quit drinking around 2000, he had started enjoyed it again in the last few years, but only when offered. While in hospital, he could still write on paper and understand things. While Aaji was admitted for a day, he caught a glimpse of her being moved on a wheel chair in the ICU and quickly asked someone why she was there. He couldn’t speak due to the IVs passing through his mouth and we really couldn’t bear the thought of how dry his throat must be since every thing his body needed was delivered directly into the intestines through tubes. On his last day, he said he wanted to have Thumbs Up. When someone joked of adding a ‘small one’ to it, he smiled and agreed; it was passed to him through the IV. For all we know, that was his last wish and he passed away happily 4 hours later, leaving nothing but tears in our eyes. He had no regrets, no grudges & nothing to take with him. He was least interested in money, jewellery or property; he never expected anything from anyone. He had great faith in God and attributed all his success to the Almighty. While he never could return to Murud and spend his old age practicing there as he had planned, his sons ensured that his ashes laid in peace in his hometown.

These stupid birthday reminder websites don’t understand death & breakups. I received an alert for his birthday and I couldn’t ignore it. This post is the result and I cannot complete it without thanking a few people. Raju kaka & Manisha kaki for all the care that they took in his last few days; it is easier said than done. Family & friends supported us during the tough times. The Borivali High Court Bar Association who met the very next day after court session to remember him. Thank you all. And why cry when the man lived his life on his own terms & left content with his life. Happy birthday Aajoba! We will miss you!

 PS: If any of the above information needs amendment, please let me know

I first bumped into this idea when reading Eddie Yoon’s article title Why Verizon’s iPhone Could Be Good for AT&T where he highlighted the need to focus on loyal, super consumers who make a considerable impact on your bottom line rather the divas & deal chasers.

I really can’t make sense of what’s going on in life. Sometimes I feel I’m being overly optimistic about things – like the sole warrior fighting all odds. Are will & determination enough to survive tough times? Can & should one person bring about change in so many people? make them realize things? help them think right? I really don’t know. But I’m going to try. Because if I don’t, someday I might curse myself for having lost a chance to make things better for myself & those around. So I’m taking this chance to be a super-hero – my own super-hero. That’s the theme for 2011. And I will try to have one each new year to set a direction to life. Cheers!

This year I thought I’ll publish it in time. But before everything else, here’s wishing you & your family a very happy, prosperous & healthy new year. But here’s what is going to really make it a ‘new year’:

Its New Year. Welcome it with a new vision, ambition & persona. Stop worrying about things that don’t matter. Respect & love people selflessly. Don’t do things that make you feel sorry. Then its a Happy New Year! Cheers

And continuing on those lines, this year’s theme is: Unf*#k your mind. Everyday I meet sane people who are bogged by the pressure exerted on them by those people around – people
- with egos;
- who can’t reason logically;
- whose opinions you can’t confront; and
- who can’t stay away from critisism & negativity.

Assuming that people are the larger cause of all mindf*#k, which is completely avoidable if they are managed better. Here is a 3 point agenda for this year:
- detach previously attached tags from people (arrogant, irresponsible, thoughtless), avoid areas of conflict & start on a blank slate
- listen to all that people have to say – however ridiculous – and react responsibly
- at no cost be mean or revengeful when it comes to spreading happiness

If I can train my mind to work on these lines, I’m sure to avoid a lot of mindf*#k and free some time to create a dent in the universe. Unfortunately, writing more on this blog is not on the list

Wishing that your mind remains unf*#ked all year long

Lyrics:

yo boys i am singing song
soup song
flop song
why this kolaveri kolaveri kolaveri di
why this kolaveri kolaveri kolaveri di
rhythm correct
why this kolaveri kolaveri kolaveri di
maintain this
why this kolaveri..didistance la moon-u moon-u
moon-u  color-u  white-u
white background night-u nigth-u
night-u color-u black-u

why this kolaveri kolaveri kolaveri di
why this kolaveri kolaveri kolaveri di

white skin-u girl-u girl-u
girl-u heart-u black-u
eyes-u eyes-u meet-u meet-u
my future dark

why this kolaveri kolaveri kolaveri di
why this kolaveri kolaveri kolaveri di

maama notes eduthuko
apdiye kaila sax eduthuko
pa pa paan pa pa paan pa pa paa pa pa paan
sariya vaasi
super maama ready
ready 1 2 3 4

whaa wat a change over maama

ok maama now tune change-u

kaila glass
only english..

hand la glass
glass la scotch
eyes-u full-aa tear-u
empty life-u
girl-u come-u
life reverse gear-u
lovvu lovvu
oh my lovvu
you showed me bouv-u
cow-u cow-u holi cow-u
i want u hear now-u
god i m dying now-u
she is happy how-u

this song for soup boys-u
we dont have choice-u

why this kolaveri kolaveri kolaveri di
why this kolaveri kolaveri kolaveri di
why this kolaveri kolaveri kolaveri di
why this kolaveri kolaveri kolaveri di

I’m writing after a couple a months and, as always, a lot has happened since. In my post ‘The not so ‘Shiney’ future of men‘ based on the Shiney Ahuja rape case, I had mentioned that apart from strong opposition, we need to have a non-tolerant attitude towards offenders. But the recent Kenan-Reuben murders are a gory, discouraging result of such opposition. Its a shame on part of law & enforcement, which has left no fear in the minds of criminals. One of the killers had confidently mentioned that they’ll get away with this. Is our government bold enough to set a strong example by sentencing perpetrators to stone pelting in public? Brutal thought? Probably yes. But wouldn’t it sound fair if this unjust loss was to our family? We have to stand by their families, and together put our feet down until justice is granted.

So far, the globalization paradigm has wrongly been restricted to business & technology. What about the emotional support that is now being offered by the world to causes like Arab Spring? Isn’t that an outcome of globalization. As the UN GenSec Ban Ki-moon rightly said on 7 Billion Day: ‘Together, we can be seven billion strong – by working in solidarity for a better world for all’. If we extend this emotional power to the needy, we can overturn any unjust power. And that’s precisely the difference between Iraqi & Libyan liberations – the emotional outburst. To conclude, such issues require public support; not just local, but global. And we should do whatever little we can for the global common good.

In other news, my uncle Avinash has put up a bi-lingual blog around his thoughts called ‘मनांतर्गत शब्द विहार’. Check it out here.

The first problem is that these devastated intersections are “No Contractor’s Land”.When projects are executed across wards, the scope of work ends within the respective wards and the joints are often ignored. These spoiled joints then become favorites for pot holes & slow traffic.  As a result, traffic becomes slow, and the effect cascades miles away. So slow traffic due to lane re-arrangement near Aarey flyover is felt all the way back at Jogeshwari. Another issue is corruption. Paving blocks haven’t really worked that well for us, yet have been applied every possible where. I’ve heard that our opportune netas have invested in paver block factories. A second contributing factor is the resistance to cementing roads. This traces back to corruption because if all roads were cemented, no one would have to look at them for 15-20 years: how would tenders be floated every now and then? Moreover, its political agenda to portray roads being fixed in response to public complaints, especially in the pre-elections period. Yes, it takes longer to build cement roads and we would have to suffer for a while. But we suffered the fly-over construction around the millennium year, didn’t we? Aren’t we happier people now?

Team Anna is doing enough to tackle corruption and Julian Assange is threatening those who’ve siphoned state money into Swiss banks.  But I think what most of this boils down to is the political will. Are our leaders in parliament really to battle corruption, leave aside personal agendas & take decisions in favour of the nation. And its not difficult. If roads could be fixed overnight after HT raised public discontent against potholes & roads, why can’t these be taken care of a priori? If that’s going too far, take the Ganapati visarjan talao (Ganesh immersion pond) in Pandurang Wadi, Goregaon (E) for example. It was refurbished just a couple of days before the festival. And I don’t mean touch-up, the elevated footpath was re-built, the place was painted, and even trees were planted. All it takes is the will & determination to make things better for everyone.

Wastage of two resources very important to me makes me write this: Time & Fuel. It doesn’t make sense for 8 kms to take the time it takes my boss to transit between New Jersey & New York. And the amount of (imported) fuel burnt idling is damaging both the ecology and the economy. I love to take a shot at hypothetical estimation and here’s one: the amount of fuel wasted in Tier 1 & Tier 2 cities in India (due to traffic, bad roads and undisciplined drivers), must equal that spent by the rest of the country. I’d leave it for P.A.L.S. to validate. What annoys me even further is that at the end of 2 hours of non-stop clutching-and-braking, the root cause analysis has a null set of causes.

But what are assets? Things that can make us happy & sad. Things in which we invest time, money & energy for a better future. Things we won’t let go easily. Gold, stock, property for example. But don’t you think assets cover people, promises? And as someone rightly argued, your own body (as a plant)? People & promises that have the power to make you smile, and reinforce confidence to audaciously embrace challenges. And so is your body, which lets you maximize profits from your own self, but unfortunately does not have a choice to leave, no matter how much you ignore it.

Read an article which criticized the Warren Buffet tenet of doing things you don’t like today so that tomorrow you can do things you like. I come from a different faith; I believe one should do what they love to do, each day. But more often than not, for the sake of people & promises, we end up compromising, in the illusion that we’re investing in a brighter future. And when they turn evil, you’re left with the difficult task of writing off these eccentric people & unkept promises. But you can’t kill your assets, can you? My colleague asked me this while we were figuring out whether lab animals were assets or expenses.

So people are going to be unreasonable, promises are going to be broken. The body is your most valued asset, and you should do everything you can to keep it going. The only way out of unfaithful people & broken promises is to apply heavy depreciation each time you account them, so that they gradually fade away. Invest in new people, you can’t be renting (support) all the time. The show must go on.