SLN Blethers

Gaming cannot be funnier than this!

2008-09-19T21:38:00.000-07:00

Are you a game freak? Do you love watching rib tickling funny videos? How about a combination of these? It cannot get better than that right? Thats what Banzai you...

ScreenLife Games is at it again. They launched a new Banzai game. Check it out:

Banzai is a famous show...but, even if you don't know about the show, it hardly matters...this game is really fun to the core...it has got amazing collection of funniest stunts and videos...betting with the Sushis and Chopsticks add more flavor to the fun...its really really a cool game...

The rules are very simple...All players watch stunts from acclaimed Super Banzai Video Show, then bet on the outcome of stunt. To bet, players race to fill the betting bowl using only chopsticks. Bowls are filled with sushi. Whoever wins all the sushi, wins the game. The rest are rubbish...
Now, you must have gained some interest or curiosity in the game. Click here to know more about the game...I bet, you would surely buy once you understand the game..they are there in MySpace too...

The game is available for a pretty nominal price...considering the collection of funniest videos they have in hand, the price is pretty nominal...go ahead and buy...and the rest is very simple,

(1) Watch videos (2) Bet with sushi and chopsticks (3) Have Fun

Student life and sleepless nights!

2008-09-17T23:25:00.001-07:00

One of the reasons for me choosing the ManagementInformation Systems course at the Texas A&M University is that, as my seniors told, the course allows you to have perfect balance with your life giving ample free time for doing activities that you are interested in. But, after coming here, I realized that, I have to keep running headlong, at least for this semester as of now. Upon discussions with many current and old students, I found out that this IS the case in most of the graduate programs and PhDs in US universities. At least, I was not prepared to have continuous sleepless nights like this. So, how did I find time to post this? Well, if I am not sleeping, I bound to have extra hours

When I selected my courses (4 courses for this semester), I found that each course has only 10 hours of class room sessions every week. Apart from that I have to work as Graduate Assistant for 2 course which roughly will be 20 hours per week. I was presuming that I am going to have sufficient time to visit to REC (Student Recreation Center) and improve my tennis…Alas! though classes are only for 10 hours, the assignments given by profs (professors) here make you work for the whole day…thats how the system works here…don’t think of these assignments as what we used to do in India…these are different, challenging and provide excellent information….

For instance, in two of the subjects that I am having in this semester, the assignments mostly comprise of writing 2 page summaries for case studies, industry examples or new concepts…that sounds cool…but each article is at least 30-40 pages long…reading and understanding these swallows most of your time…if you don’t get the pith of it, you will never be able to summarize it…in between, every now and then companies are conducting information sessions on the positions they have…so, being a job hunter, we cannot miss them…i found it really difficult to manage these during initial couple of weeks..now, I am alright, as I am devoting my entire weekend and nights on completing deliverables…on average I slept for 4 hours for the past 4 days…next week seems to be a little lighter than this, and we never know when a ‘prospective’ employer will announce an information session

So, that tells a story…almost every course (at least Masters and PhD) here at US exacts hell lot work from you…if you are a prospective student, be prepared…its not the same as what we did in UG and you are expected to work hard…though it depends a lot on the courses you take, almost every prof here expects the students to work hard on their part…

I must discuss about the attitude of some local students here…when International students like us mostly respect profs and behave like ’students’…many students here have a different viewpoint…they think, since they pay, its their right to listen to or not to listen to classes…you can see them solving sudokus, reading magazines or surfing net in their laptops during the class..and very importantly, profs don’t mind these things (thats a BIG difference between Indian profs and profs here)…discpline means different things here…the discipline that we were thought back in India is blatantly missing to some extent…

That’s it for now…I will try to discuss on the Harvard Business Review articles that I am reading as part of my assignments…they provide WEALTHY knowledge…keep watching this space

Veggies! Healthy living rewards you...

2008-09-17T23:25:00.000-07:00

How many veggie and healthy options are available for you when you start searching for them? I bet, they can be counted with fingers. Now, how many of them assure you cool rewards at the same time assure you a healthy life style...hmm...very unlikely to have one...but, have you ever heard of The Sproutwells? If not, its time to enter into a healthy life style...Sproutwells are just your typical fruit and veggie family living among humans. They are just trying to fit in our world. They are sprouting up rapidly...now, here is the key...they are avid users of freshfunds. It is a lot like ebay, where you can bid on cool prizes with a consciousness towards healthy life style...

Now, watch this cool soccer mom video. This reminds me of my experiences with soccer moms who are too passionate about the game and their kids...especially, when they see their kids on field, they go gaga and uncontrollable...its a tough time for soccer dads...probably they can switch to Sproutwells to begin a healthy lifestyle to offset the tension caused by the game...and, needless to say that you can win cool prizes or contribute to charities...

The following yummies can gain you points:
-->Chiquita Fruit and Veggie Bites
-->Fresh Express Gourmet Café Salads
-->Fresh Express Packaged Salads

So, what are you waiting for? Start accumulating your points from freshfunds and lead a healthy life style through The Sproutwells. Hey! Don't forget about the soccer moms :)

Democracy, Freedom, Rights and India

2008-08-29T23:04:00.001-07:00

If I remember correctly, I was introduced to the word ‘democracy’ in my civics class when I was doing my 5th standard, i.e 14 years back. After that, I have learned practically what democracy is and how to make the best use of it. As citizens of one of world’s biggest democracies, India, most of us use our rights to the fullest. Do we stop it there? Some times, we tend to go overboard and abuse our rights…I guess we are living in one of the few countries where even a common man criticize prime minister publicly without any fears…even I did that in many of my blogs…

My post, isn’t actually about democracy…its about freedom and the freedom that we enjoy in our motherland…its something special that we miss badly when we get out of India….of course many other countries in this world enjoy better facilities, sophistication and luxurious life…but even after all that, I feel the kind of freedom that we have in India cannot be matched by any country…For instance, let me take a democratic (?) country which is close to us, Singapore…my recent visit to Singapore has given me an opportunity to talk to a commoner of Singapore, a taxi driver…the 20 minutes conversation between us made me realize what we actually think about India is not exactly what it is…

The Chinese taxi driver was quite loquacious (and knowledgable too) and started talking to us about India as soon as we entered into the taxi…he made several valid points which really made me think…He started like this, ‘what do you think about Singapore?’…with my 3 days of experience in Singapore I said I liked it very much and its really a good city…he asked me to compare it with India…I immediately told we badly lack good infrastructure and good roads as I wanted to tell something that he can relate…He immediately pulled out his road tax receipt and shown me…a whopping S$3500 for 3 months…he told, if Indians are ready to pay 1000 Rs for every year he can make the Indian roads better than Singapore roads…I nodded to show my consent…

Being an Indian, I could not resist myself from talking about corruption in India…he laughed at me and asked ‘Which form of corruption do you think is more dangerous? The one that happens under the table or the one that happens over the table?’…My answer was obvious…I said ‘the one that happens over the table’…he said ‘Thats what happens here in Singapore’…its called a democratic country but no one has freedom to criticize the government officials…they are demi-Gods…what they say is law and even reporters cannot write bad about them…the ruling party ‘PAP’ has been ruling Singapore since it has become democratic and only Lee’s dyansty is ruling Singapore…people cast their votes with fear…government can even find who have voted against their party…after doing all these, the members of the parliament are paid an unimaginable salary which is tax free…now tell me, what do you think about Singapore?’…Being from a communist country like China which gives absolutely no freedom to its citizens, i f the driver was so pissed off, think about Indians who go to Singapore…but, we are so tolerant and can tolerate anything…otherwise, how can Indians live in countries like UAE…

We enjoy great freedom in India… but are we really making use of it in the right way?…never…we are all looking for opportunities to exploit the rights that we have…not only in India, but wherever we go…and no one can deny that…

The discussion went on for nearly 20 minutes…when I was getting out, he reminded me ‘your freedom to speak ends here…stop talking about this after you get out’…my lips uttered ‘Mera Bharat Mahan’ in a reflex…

This Fall, it is raining laptops....

2008-08-29T20:45:00.000-07:00

How many times in your life have you seen genuine offers which really offer something of good value? People say they offer the best price but the quality will usually be average...when the quality is good, the prices are heavy...here's a cool offer from Charter communications which assures you the best deal you could get...It doesn't stop there...you are assured of free gas cards (and you very well know how gas prices are soaring these days) and you could be one of the 30 lucky winners to grab a cool, trendy HP laptop worth more than $600...isn't it really a great Back-to-School deal?

So, what do you need to do? Simple...get one of the High-Speed Internet connections online from Charter communications...thats all...you will be given a Shell gas card worth up to $100 and you automatically enter the sweepstakes to win a HP laptop...it can't be simpler than that...check out the configuration of the laptop and you will be amazed...for sure you need a High Speed Internet connection...why not try Charter Laptop-a-Day Giveaway, get free gas card and win a laptop...I am sure, you can never miss such a cool offer...I am on my way to get High Speed Internet for as low as $19.99 per month...you can never beat that price too...go and grab one...

If you are curious about the laptop, here's its configuration...

New HP Compaq Presario C770US Notebook
Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core Processor
15.4" WXGA Screen
2GB RAM -160GB hard drive
DVD Burner
Built in Wi-Fi and Ethernet
Plus a NEOtec Laptop Backpack!

30 days, 30 laptops and 30 winners and you could be one of those lucky ones...

Moving...

2008-08-27T22:02:00.000-07:00

Though I am attached with blogger as my first blogging site, its time to move out. Blogger is quite outdated with the functionalities. The google page ranks are low for blogger than Wordpress. Almost everyone will love to see their site appear in the first few pages of a google search. I guess, with blogger, I have to put lot of extra efforts from my side to achieve that.

Wordpress is cool. Offers great functionalities and above all, really exposes us to the world. So, please update your links and RSS feeds. It is going to be http://slnblethers.wordpress.com

PS: This blog will continue to exist but interspersed with sponsored posts. Wordpress will purely be my personal blog.

Are you game?

2008-08-27T21:44:00.000-07:00

Flirting - This is one area which I haven't tried to explore in my life, because of several reasons including the way I was brought up. But I have seen many of my friends trying their level best flirt others in many innovative ways. Flirting does not necessarily need verbal action. Even gestures would do. As eyes can speak, your 'look' matters a lot.

And some times, even your style and appearance can do. In many cases, especially in western countries, hair style is considered to be one of the important factors which aids in flirting and many surveys prove that. No wonders, we have got Extreme Style by VO5 which assures you to do achieve your 'victory hair' moment with your flirt.

If you are an introvert like me, how about an online flirting championship which is quite exciting? The Ultimate Flirting Championship is cool and doesn't require anything else from you except a few minutes of your time. And I guarantee you, you would love to play this. It is innovative, novel and worth trying. Above all, it is REAL and you play with REAL people. You can try it right here, right now. Don't forget to add it to your website and let your friends know about it.

But, don't stop there. Try Extreme Style by VO5 and achieve your Victory Hair.

Transforming into an Aggie...

2008-08-24T20:07:00.000-07:00

I am posting after a looong time, I am posting from the land of opportunities...Though my 24.5 hours flight from Singapore to Houston has dropped me on time, I landed like a wrecked ship...my body pain added with the jet lag kept me point blank for nearly a week...

My first impression with US, hmm, rather I would say with College Station (aka Aggie Land) is not so encouraging...may be, my expectation should have been slightly less and I should have been better prepared to face this...I knew that US runs by virtual money (Credit) and badly lacks public transport, but never thought it would be this worse...since it is summer holidays here, the university's transport system also runs less frequently...under Texan hot sun (temperatures go upto 41-42), I had to walk miles between various buildings of the university...and you imagine how it would be with a fatigued body and mind...

Without a car life is miserable here...even to buy a toilet issue you have to drive 4 miles out of the city...Fortunately, we got some Americans who had cars and who gave us rides to various places which kept us going...but, not everyone is fortunate like us...I had seen students carrying loads of walmart bags and walking for miles...its so pathetic not having a minimum public transport here...not even taxis...anyways, car is the lifeline here...and as a student, one is not affordable to buy and maintain here...as time passes by, we all will get used to like our seniors did...

the university is one of the oldest (1876) and one of the most reputed...there's a big difference between how universities run in India and in US...may be, I can write a separate, detailed post on that...here they value their brand a lot and invest a lot in maintaining the image...there's a healthy competition between the universities and things are done purely based on merit...I had a series of orientations for 2 weeks explaining various things about the university and the rules...its all over and my classes are starting from tomorrow...with 12 hours of class room sessions and 20 hours of part time work at the university, I might become really busy from tomorrow...

As I said already, this place is called Aggie land and all the students are Aggies...we have a code of conduct and rules for Aggies...and there are lot of traditions and culture which I need to learn and be a part of...so as of now, I am on a transformation becoming an Aggie...

Thats what all I have now...may be I will fix a schedule for blogging and try to be more frequent...keep checking this space as lot of interesting things are lined up to be shared...

Uniquely Singapore!

2008-08-06T06:06:00.000-07:00

On my way to begin my second innings of college life at College Station, Texas, I had decided junket Singapore as I haven't explored other parts of Asia...After completing my visit, I would say its a pretty good decision that I made...Singapore is unique, in many ways...

First, the good things...though smaller in size, Singapore must be an excellently planned city...the transportation facilities are superb...you can spot malls everywhere...especially the Orchard road, which has giant malls which house all international brands...if you are a shopping freak, you must definitely have to visit Singapore once in your lifetime...it has everything...Chinese, Indian, Italian, French, US, Japanese, name a product and you will get it here...It has a district named China Town which reflects the culture of Chinese and their shops...There's Little India too which is the only place where you can find garbage on the roads (as it is little India)...

Veera Maakaali Temple, Little India

you have Sentosa Island which is a resort & theme park where you can spend one full day exploring different stuffs...there's a butterfly park inside Sentosa which houses around 250 species of butterflies which come and sit on you when you enter..and the 4D theater they have makes you feel like the crabs are rallyticklig your legs when you are watching Pirates...for kids, it will be a really nice experience (I am not saying that the grown-ups cannot enjoy)...

I had a great time here exploring different things...and for the adventure part, I held a living snake on my shoulders and taken a reverse bungi jump (going about 60 meters from the ground at 200 kph)...

And the bad part comes here...As everyone say, Singapore is a fine city...I mean, you will have to pay a hefty fine for even a petty misdeed...thats what keeps Singapore clean and going...the rules here are very strict unlike other countries...and the people are not at all happy about that...they feel they lack freedom, and YES, they do...you cannot comment on any government official in public or the media...if you do, you will be royally screwed...even in elections its a monopoly and a dynasty and the people are afraid to vote against the candidates...the politicians are paid a huge sum (which is completely tax-free which you can never imagine) to avoid corruption but a taxi-driver has to pay a road tax of S$3500 for 6 months...thats how the life here is...

Sorgame endraalum, adhu nammoora pola varumaa? (Even if it is heaven, can it match our mother land?)....

PS: And my journey continues from here...I have a 24.5 hours flight tonight which surely will make me tired...will catch up with you guys once I get settled down...

If life is this busy, noone can devote time for blog

2008-08-03T01:39:00.000-07:00

Going abroad on your own is not that easy...I really struggled a lot to get everything done on time...Its been 4 months since I had time to relax...Admission procedures, I-20, VISA, Tickets, shopping, Insurance, Vaccinations, medical tests, IDP, etc etc...the hectic schedule has taken a toll on me and you won't believe that I have lost 10% of my weight :( ...and that had obviously affected my blogging frequency too...time has still not come for recuperation...in fact, my journey just commences today...

I have loads of things to share with you all...but, let me first reach there safely and get settled...and then blogging will resume in full swing...till then, ..... (u know what I am gonna say)...

Singh is 'still' King in tainted Parliament House

2008-07-23T12:45:00.000-07:00

A drama that lasted for more than a year, has culminated. Even after left has withdrawn its support, Manmohan Singh's government escaped in the Trust Votes motion by a whisker.This climax has both positive and adverse effects on our country. Before my views on them, I wish to brief more on the drama.

This confidence motion has been in the headlines in all the media for past 2 weeks. MPs kidnapped, MPs house arrested, MPs are being bribed - these were the headlines in many newspapers and television channels. It reached the peak point when 3 BJP MPs shown the advance amount in parliament which they claim to have got from Amar Singh for voting in favor of the government. This cannot be any worse as the whole world has watched it LIVE. Whether their allegations are true or not, it is certainly a shame for both the MPs who revealed it in parliament and the congress which tried all possible ways of saving the government by mortgaging its reputation.

Manmohan Singh's address was more of a politician's address than an educated individual's. He was mostly replying to Advani's pointed attacks rather than answering them. He was digging into Advani's political history and geography rather than telling convincing reasons in favor of UPA government. As the opposition leader LK Advani rightly said, 'this is just a win on numerical grounds and not on moral grounds'.

Now, coming to the point. This win is good for completing the 'nuke deal' or the 'nuclear agreement' (as the govt says) which has been pending for so long time for needless political reasons. This win will surely be good (though temporarily) for the tumbling stock markets which was evident today when SENSEX and NIFTY broke all resistance levels set by analysts. But these good things are nullified by the fact that we may have to endure this sterile UPA government for 6 more months. As I have been saying for a long time, this minority appeasing anti-Hindu government has failed in almost all fields. They are neither able to control inflation nor terrorism. I don't think another 6 months of rule can make any drastic difference in the outcome of impending general elections. And the biggest comedy is Mayawati's statement saying both NDA and UPA don't want her to be the prime minister as if everyone is begging her to take the BIG seat.

Whatever said and done, being the first prime minister not eligible to vote in a confidence motion to save his crown, 'Singh is still King' :)

PS: I have composed this post yesterday and due to internet connectivity issues, I was not able post it. I did not want my efforts to go futile and so posted this. Though the news is very old, I feel my views are fresh...

Sakkarakatti - Not so Rahmantic...

2008-07-16T10:00:00.000-07:00

If you are an ardent Rahman fan like me, you must have listened to 'Sakkarakatti' songs by this time. Usually, any Rahman composition takes its own time to make an impact and grow on you. Thats why I have been listening to the songs many times for the past 3 days before writing my review...after listening to the album many times, I feel deserted with the output. The album is neither mediocre nor excellent...it is GOOD if I have to say in one word...but definitely not upto Rahman's standards...

1) Taxi Taxi - A 'Fresh', rappy number...typical Rahman's style...this song really grows on you over time...excellent mix of instruments...lyrics could have been better, but way far better than other songs...
Taxi Taxi

2) I Miss You da - a melody with the strong voice of Chinmayee...definetely not one of the best of Rahman's melodies...not really impressive...
I Miss You Da

3) Chinnammaa - a rehash of Rahman's old song from Meenaxi...a fast, folk number with commendable lyrics from Pa.Vijay...the flute interludes are mellifluous...
Chinnammaa

4) Elay - an attempt to give a youthful number, not really succeeded...initial few seconds resemble Yeh Saala from RDB and the comparison ends there...rest of the song is quite mediocre...
Elay

5) Marudhaani - excellent rendition...perfect blend of beats with a sweet tune...MadhuSree's voice is pleasant to the ears...at instances, Vaali's lyrics make you feel like listening to a song from a dubbed movie..otherwise, oustanding composition...
Marudhaani

6) Naan Eppodhu - Reena Bharadwaj's voice is pleasant but pronunciation is awful...not an unusual song to keep in your playlist...just passable, thats it...
Naan Epoudhu

Out of 6 songs, 3 are Rahmantic and rest are just antic...out of the 3 good ones, 2 are rehash of his old Hindi songs...is Rahman really running out of options or is it the director's failure to extract the best from Rahman? When Mani ratnam, Shankar and most of the Hindi directors get the BEST from Rahman, most other Tamil directors miserably failed lately...moreover, his concentration is centered in Bollywood where almost all his albums are doing brisk business...at least for the longing Tamil fans like me, Rahman should present his magic in Tamil once again...

And, I am jobless :)

2008-07-05T14:08:00.001-07:00

I would be the first person to tell the world that I am jobless with a smiley :)...Quite a long journey of 3 years 10 months and 11 days has finally come to a halt..I thought of writing a lengthy post completely describing my experience with TCS...but then, its not going to be useful for anyone (including me)...so, here's the compendium of what I proposed to write...

The initial 2 months, Initial Learning Programme(ILP) is the best period I had in TCS till date...without thinking about anything, with no deadlines, with no pressures from Onsite, we 40+ freshers were enjoying to the core at Trivandrum...all of a sudden I made lot of non-Tamil friends and needless to say I had to communicate only in English as my Hindi sucks bad time (to be frank, for the first time in my life)...

I came to Chennai on 19th October and life has not been that impressive initially...I was one of the many victims of resource mismatch...I had to struggle hard to get what I had wanted...certifications, center level sessions, tools, best practices, certification study groups - I was very enthusiastic in my initial days till I started feeling that my job was becoming humdrum...I was denied a release from the project (as usual) and conciliated with an abroad opportunity with a totally different kind of role (again like many others in IT)...

On-site has opened me the other side of IT, the business...it was an amazing experience to sit with the clients and understand what they really expect from us and what we deliver at the end of the day...I was somewhat able to understand how the business is driven from there...Needless to mention the gala time I had at UK and the countries I visited...

Phew! Before I could realize, I have stayed for nearly 4 years...many of my friends still ask me, 'how did u manage to stay in the same organization for 4 years?'...point-blank, I was just hanging for last 10 months or so preparing myself for the next important step...and here I am, jobless yet with a vision to achieve...

If you are not a regular reader, please click here to understand why I am out of work...

Albeit my experience with TCS is pretty 'middling', TCS was my first and only employer...undoubtedly, it has played a vital role in transforming myself to what I am today...somewhere in a corner of my heart, I felt bad when I was receiving my relieving order...will miss all the good and bad things of TCS...makes me nostalgic...but then, life is about moving on, isn't it?

If you are the runner, Bling-Gnome is your Midas!

2008-07-05T11:38:00.000-07:00

I am not a game freak. But I play games which suit my interest and keep me engaged. Gaming is such an enjoyable addiction. Especially, when you have MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) games where hundreds and thousands of players play online (over Internet or Offline in PS, XBOX etc) giving stiff competition to keep you try better and better, you never think of anything else. Having said that, not all the MMO games are engrossing. Most of the game are just run-of-the mill games with a mere change of the name. But here's something which is fresh, engaging and entertaining.

'Dungeon Runners' is actually a MMORPG (MMO Role-Playing Game) which can be downloaded for FREE. The game has extravagantly detailed dungeons and crazy monsters and great level of graphics. It has a really cool theme which can keep you playing for hours...especially the monsters are so wierd and amazing...when you start running with other players and tackle the monsters, you really dwell into the game...

Hey! Wait! its not just another adventurous game...there is a twist buddy...You have got Bling Gnomes to help you out...what's a bling-gnome? A cute character which eats the unwanted items and dropped trinkets and converts them into GOLD thus helping you out on your mission...remember, its a MMO game and if any other player drops a trinket, your Bling-Gnomes will help you by converting them into gold...Bling-Gnomes can also produce magical objects for you...isn't that great to have a companion who can actually help you to 'dig' it? Ha ha ha, wondering what I am talking about...go and download the game and you will get to know...

while anybody can download and play the game for FREE, people from North America have an even better choice...the retail pack of the Dungeon Runners game released by NC Soft is available for $19.99 and you take away your Bling-Gnome with the pack...a crazy little character which will soon become the hero of all gamers out there...Come on! Go and grab yours before it gets sold out...before that, don't forget to try out the Bling Gnome from the FREE game 'Dungeon Runners'...

This is how my I pimped my Bling-Gnome...

Amarnath atrocities, Hurt Hindus

2008-07-03T06:24:00.000-07:00

'Indha naadum nattu makkalum naasamaai pogattum'(Let this country and its citizens go to hell) - This was one famous Tamil dialog uttered by yesteryear villain actor P.S.Veerappa in one of his movies. This is what I said when I heard about Gulam Nabi Azad's decision on the Amarnath land row. If you are fuddled with what I am talking about, please check any news channel or 'Google' it. One of the holy pilgrimages of Hindus, the Amarnath Yatra is popular this year for very bad reasons.

It all started when Jammu & Kashmir government has decided to allot 40 hectares of forest land that falls on the pilgrimage route to the Amarnath shrine board to make temporary accommodation facilities for the pilgrims. When Indian government spends hundreds of crores of rupees every year on the Haj pilgrims no Hindu has ever said a word of protest in this country (including Bajrang Dhal, VHP, Shiv Sena, RSS and groups of such sort). But this petty act in favor of Hindus by the J&K government has kindled the monopoly Muslims of Kashmir. The result is excessive protests, loss of precious lives and more than 500 injured souls.

Now the government has decided to countermand the decision and above all, has decided to transfer the complete control of Amarnath Yatra to the tourism department. In a country which has Hindus as majority, even 'basic' facilities are restrained to them and no one bothers about that.

If they are not able to control the insurgents, no point in having a government. It would be better if army takes over and controls the situation. I have a strong feeling that Kashmir has never belonged to India. It has and it will belong to Muslims and only to them. Even our constitution has been written in favor of them. And the politicians, who don't even bother to lick their boots to get votes always held their lips zipped in these kind of issues. Even 'Mahatma' Gandhi was not an exception when innocent Kashmiri Pandits were expelled from Kashmir.

What ever said and done, this act is nothing but a shame on the Congress government. BJP sure will make this as an election issue. With inflation already causing jerks at the center, hurting the Hindu majority will give Congress a jolt from which they can never recuperate. No Congress person, including Dr. Manmohan Singh and our 'most secular' communist leaders have said a word about this issue so far. In fact, some communist parties support the act of Muslim parties like PDP. I feel BJP was far far better 'secular' than this Congress government which keeps hurting Hindus every now and then.

Having said about the government, I should mention about the ruthless acts of our fellow Muslim brothers (especially PDP). I don't have any second thoughts in calling those who protested as 'Desh Drogis' as said by Baba Ramdev. Like how billions of Hindus respect the sentiments of Muslims throughout the country, Muslims should learn to respect the religious sentiments of Hindus and ask the Jammu and Kashmir government to transfer the land back to the SASB. But, it will never happen in this 'secular' country.

'Indha naadum nattu makkalum naasamaai pogattum'

Bloodbath continues at Dalal Street :(

2008-06-30T23:46:00.000-07:00

2008 has been the worst possible year for Indian equity investors. I don't think in any other year in the history our investors would have struggled like this. There is no convincing reason for the rally towards south though there are many small reasons jointly contributing this. Those who are superstitious keep cursing the new bronze bull statue installed in Bombay Stock Exchange. But those who are somewhat knowledgeable, thrash P.C and his activities.

When the market was tumbling at its best, the free-bee budget released by P.C and Co has taken its toll on the investors. Now when market was trying to revive its lost position, inflation and imbalance nuke deal have taken it to far deeper into the grounds. With the prevailing circumstances, excavation of indices will take ages. Adding fuel to the fire, USD keeps appreciating against Rupee like never before. From 38.5 to 43 it took less than 45 days. How could this be possible? It is possible when RBI buys billions and billions of dollars from global market appreciating its value.

This inflation caused by the fuel price hike was avoidable to certain extent. As we all know, the crude oil transaction with middle east countries happen in USDs and only in USDs. Before this fuel price hike, RBI has acquired 8.14 billion USDs in 2005-2006, 26.82 billion USDs in 2006-2007 and 78.20 billion USDs in 2007-2008 respectively ensuring USD never falls. But what was the need? God Only Knows. By 31.3.2008, the USD availability with RBI was 299.23 billion. If we would have spent a portion of it to buy crude oil barrels rather than buying few more billions of dollars, it would have enabled our government to think thrice about fuel price hike. And it would have avoided INR depreciation to some extent.

Knowing all these, why did RBI and FM keep buying USDs? Because, if Rupee appreciates, all export businesses will get affected; Foreign investments will get reduced; and as an investor, you must know the aftermaths of reduction in foreign investments. In one sense, globalization, FDI and FIIs are good for a country. But in other sense, the decisions taken by RBI and FM have debilitated country's economy with bloating inflation and suffering middle and lower class people.

Its a double toll for me. Appreciating USD is causing problem in paying my fee and related things for higher studies. Declining indices never allow me to take my money out of market.

Unlike the beginning of this year, nobody wants stock market to scale greater altitudes. They just want it to recover if not fall more. So, when will the market recover? Again, GOK...keep your fingers crossed for another few years...

PS: Thanks to Thuglak for all the statistics

Can someone pay you for eating sugarcanes?

2008-06-30T20:41:00.000-07:00

I started blogging as a hobby and today like many of you it has become an inseparable part of my life. I have some of my friends and many unknown visiting my blog every now and then and commenting on wherever they feel they should. It has been going quite fine till last week when I got to know a final year student who has made a whopping $10000 in 1 year through blogging. Upon my request, he revealed me about this site and how it works. It’s truly amazing!

payperpost

They pay you to blog about the things that you love. The site is a proper junction for advertisers and aspiring bloggers who can write about new products. It can be just anything, right from a vaccum cleaner to new ERP software available in market. In case of books, PDFs and sites, you get the first hand experience before writing about them. Isn’t it something great?

The best part is, you are never forced to write. From the available pool of opportunities, you choose something that you ‘like’. And if the advertiser is happy with what you have written, bingo, you will be paid. And the available offers are simply great. Even I have opted for few of them and waiting for my slots.

So, are you apprehensive about whether this will affect your blog’s content quality and disturb the existing set of visitors? Nah, never. Come on buddy, you are the one who is ultimately deciding what you are going to blog about. So, be choosy on the opportunities and make money while you do the thing you love most in life ‘blogging’. Another important concept here is, you can make friends, write a review for their blog and both you and your friend will get paid for this. Leaving aside the money that you are getting, it will be a great publicity for your blog to reach newer and larger set of audience.

What are you still waiting for? Go and register yourself and get paid to blog about the things that you love!

Govt Elementary school,Yethapur TO Mays Business School,Texas

2008-06-28T12:13:00.000-07:00

I am all set to start my second innings. My second innings of college life. Of course, this time its going to be a serious business; more goal, objectives and career oriented unlike my fun-filled under-graduation. Above all, its going to be lot bigger as I am going to do MS in Management Information Systems at Mays Business School, TX. Nevertheless, I am moving out of my humdrum job and going to college again. Isn't it something great to cheer about?

If good things happen, they happen very fast. If I say it was September 25, 2007, on which I attained enlightenment, its not a hyperbole. My job has been slowly becoming drab offering no challenges to my intellect. I was very apprehensive becoming yet another chap ruined by the 'lead' tag in IT industry. I thought of jumping to some other organization. It assured me monetary benefits, but failed to assure things that fulfill my aspirations. When I was thinking that MBA would be too early with the level of experience and expertise I had, my colleagues thrown light on my way which was digressing from its final destination. A splendidly organized course for people of my kind. A proper amalgamation of technical and management courses through a relatively shorter MS program on 'Management Information Systems'. After a few round of thoughts and discussions I decided to take GRE on the above said day before my job takes a toll on me.

You should know my background to understand why I devote a post for this topic. As the title suggests, my schooling started at Government Elementary School of Yethapur. A school for the children of 10-12 villages around my village offering subjects only in Tamil medium. When every kid in urban and semi-urban areas recite English poems at the age of 4, my curriculum included English only from my third standard. Of course, I had had enough training from my home and the whole credit of what I am today goes to my uncle who moulded me in my childhood. My secondary schooling was even worse. There were hardly 2-3 good teachers in the whole school and again still it is the status of many village schools.

With my 'not-so-great' schooling (my scores have been good but no exposure to this competitive world) and a decent under-graduation, I joined TCS around 4 years back. Albeit my experience at TCS, in a nut-shell is pretty 'middling', I owe a lot to TCS for grooming me into a professional. All said and done, I was still the same guy, who had very limited vocabulary of words and repeated them to fill sentences. For an exam like GRE which demands rich set of complex English words, I was aware that a mere rote method of learning will not help. It took 2 months of hard-work, perseverance and organized preparation to crack GRE. I got 1420/1600 with 630 in Verbal which is like a dream for a person of my standards. And I can proudly say that 111/120 in TOEFL is one of my achievements in life so far (again considering my own abilities). In fact, I have started this blog to retain the hard-learned words...

I applied to 6 universities (Carnegie Mellon, Kelley school of business, Eller college of Management, NewYork University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Mays Business School, Texas A&M University) all in top league for this course. Except for Kelley which gave me an admission to Fall-2009 as I applied very late, other schools welcomed me with wide arms. Amongst them, Mays gave me an irresistible offer of full tuition fee waiver and a GA of $670 per month for my entire course period. Needless to say that I have taken immediately (and I think that is the wise decision). Though I started things very late, I was one of the first to get my VISA and Flight tickets and more importantly file my resignation to begin my journey which will take me to my aspirations...

Phew!! So, that's my story (long enough to be an abridged auto-biography :)). I am starting from Chennai on 3rd August in Singapore Airlines to begin my second innings at College Station, TX. I will be available in Chennai till 6th July as my last day in TCS would be 4th July (Incidentally/Ironically, US's independence day) after which I would be in Madurai enjoying home-food till I leave. Seeing where I have started and where I am now, I am able to realize that God has been quite considerate with me and bestowed me with right things at right time. Hope He continues to do that in the other part of world as well.

So, What am I going to ask from you fellas? WISH ME GOOD LUCK...

PS:
There are 2 reasons for posting this here.
1) To inspire people of my kind to come out of their cuticles and dream big
2) To justify that I was really busy with all these things lately which caused many big gaps between posts :)

At times, I might look like a braggart in this post. But with the kind of buoyant mood that I am in, couldn't avoid blowing my own trumpets...take them lightly :)

Finally, this post must have tested your patience. I swear, I will surely try to abridge my writings in forthcoming days :)

Dharan - A prodigy

2008-06-22T10:45:00.000-07:00

I write blogs in English. All my official communications are in English. Even if my colleagues are Tamilians, I prefer communicating with them in English. But when it comes to songs, I listen only to Tamil songs. I still couldn't find a reason for this, but so far I never listened to songs of any other language including English and sincerely do not know whether I will do in future.

Let's come to the topic. Recently, a young chap is going great guns with his music composition in Tamil film industry. He has scored music only for two films but with the quality of music that he has produced, one can easily gauge his caliber. Though the movies have not been received well by the populace, the music has been welcomed with wide arms. I am talking about Dharan, a teenager who is doing wonders with his compositions. At the very first instance, I started noticing some difference in his music and started liking them.

Here's a great song from his debut movie Paarijatham.

This song has been quite a revolution. At one point of time almost all the youth in Tamilnadu were kind of entranced by this song. If that was a perfect example of how one should start his career in music, he proved that he is no fluke with his second movie 'Sivi'. After A.R.Rehman's Tamil Rap in Kaadhalan, this is one of the best raps that you can get in Tamil. When almost every music director is giving run-of-the-mill rap songs, this one proves to be different. Unlike other raps, here the music doesn't overshadow the lyrics and thats the best part of it. I listen to this song at least once a day.(Linking the audio alone as the video is terribly horrible)
Sivi Oh Nenje Remix

These are only the masterpieces and almost all the songs from these two movies are excellent. With only 2 movies to his credit, he has proved to have immense potential with the difference he has shown. With lot of talented youngsters entering into Film industry, it really augurs well for Kollywood, isn't it?

Status Update!!!

2008-06-19T08:57:00.000-07:00

Phew! Nowadays blogging has become a very rare activity in my life...I should admit that I don't possess the momentum which I had during my incipient days of blogging. This is not entirely my fault and circumstances play a vital role in restricting me from writing here as well as in my Tamil blog (which requires more effort). So, as of now I can just write a mere status update from my end...detailed posts on various happenings in my life (a few interesting turn arounds) and interesting topics would hopefully resume soon(don't ask me when...all i can say is 'soon')....

If I say that I am fully (in fact overloaded) occupied at office, you are never going to believe that. After a small hiatus of 40 days in a heaven called bench, I am back on track couple of weeks back. In fact, a better track. A technical role of my sort. No more excel sheets, microsoft project and management craps. I am now helping a team successfully deploy their newly developed application which is facing hell a lot of issues. I will be here in this role only a for a very short time, may be another week or so. What I am going to do after that is planned and will be posted in subsequent posts. So, life at office is never the same as before which is one of the hindrances in posting new things.

But, the real major hindrance is my laptop. The hinges on the top lid of my laptop are broken (don't know how but they are gone) because of which I had to give it for service. I am upgrading the memory as well as it is quite obsolete now. For the past 4 days I am lappyless (lifeless would be a better word). It will take another day or two to get my life(lappy) back.

All my patient readers out there (as if somebody exists :P ),
Please give me some more time and few more chances. I will surely be back on track soon (hopefully). Till then, keep checking this space (what else can I say?)

Dasavatharam - Review

2008-06-13T01:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday midnight at 12 I was cursing myself for staying late in the office with hell lot of work. But good that I was able to use that as the reason for reaching office late today after watching this movie. Here goes my review.

Spoiler Alert:
If you don't want to know the story or interesting sequences of the movie, please avoid reading. I cannot write reviews like some websites which keep praising the movie without writing anything about the story.

Heard of the proverb 'All's well that ends well'? Well, here's something which was not going well with mutitude of problems but managed to strike the bull's eye at the end. Yes, I am talking about Dasavatharam - the latest Kamal Hasan movie which faced myriad of controversies and issues and finally released today with a bang.

The story unfolds in Chennai, 21st Century with Govinda Rajan (Scientist Kamal-1) addressing thousands of people about why he was there then. Immediately we are taken to 12th century when 2nd Glothunga Chozhan an ardent Saivite decides to knock off the Vishnu idol from the Temple at Chidambaram. As expected Rangaraja Nambi (Kamal-2) makes his entry and thrashes the soldiers of the king. He tries to argue but fails and finally asked to chant 'Ohm Namashivaya' at least once and he will be emancipated then. He utters 'Ohm Namo Narayanaya' and thrown into the sea with the idol. That's it. The flashback so emotional and touching but has nothing to do with the movie except that the name of the deity thrown into the sea is also Govinda Rajan.

We come back to 21st century and Govind works in Seagle which researches on bio weapons. He finds the most dangerous bio-weapon is planned to be sold to a terrorist group by his chief. He snatches it and runs out of the place. He is chased by the villain Christian Fletcher (Kamal -3) and George Bush's (Kamal -4) men. The box travels to India along with that Kamal and the story also shifts to India. The whole movie is a chase for Govind and the box by the villain and the local RAW Police headed by Balram Naidu (Kamal-5). Needless to say that it ends in a positive note.

This movie is one of the milestones in Tamil cinema in terms of technology and screenplay (with minor flips). Climax Tsunami scene has been shot excellently which makes you drop your jaws with awe. The movie's pace is equivalent to that of a Hollywood thriller in the first half with comedy interspersed in between which makes you not to look at your wrist watch. Second half is slower than first half with social and agnostic messages interspersed and you can feel the reduction in pace. Some how KS Ravikumar has failed to keep the momentum in the second half or may be it is intentional.

It's a total feast for Kamal fans and they deserve it after a long wait. I can bet - no one in this world can match Kamal's abilities in dialog delivery. Be it the Telugu-Tamil accent by Balram Naidu (my choice of best character in the movie), pukka brahmin old lady accent by Krishnaveni, Nagacoil tamil accent by Vicent Poovaragan or the American English accent by George Bush and Christian Fletcher, Kamal scores 200/100. But out of 10 (Rangaraja Nambi, Govinda Rajan, Christian Fletcher, George Bush, Avtar Singh, Krishnaveni Patti, Japanese Martial Artist, 7 foot Kaliafullah, Vincent Poovaragan and Balram Naidu) characters, only 3 or 4 (Balram Naidu, Krishnaveni Paatti, Vincent Poovaragan and Christian Fletcher) make an impression. Other characters have been added just for the sake of it. Kamal's manerism as all these characters is impeccable. Especially Christian Fletcher who imitates contemporary Hollywood Villains. It is just awesome.

Though there are no duets, Asin has an important role to play and she has done it neatly. If she moves to Bollywood, Kollywood will surely miss a talented actress. I felt she still has scope for improvement in her dialog delivery. Or may be since she acts with Kamal, it looked obvious. Mallika Sheravat is aware of what audience expect from her and she is generous enough in giving it.

-ves:
* Reduced pace in second half
* Scenes where the graphics could have been better (in the flash back and during chases)
* Kamal's dance in Oh Oh Sanam (his age is felt only there)
* Strong characterization for 5 of the characters and very weak for others

But, as a whole, its a racy and novel entertainer. It's undoubtedly worth the money that you are spending. After all, its K.S.Ravikumar who has wielded the megaphones and he knows the pulse of audience.

Verdict: Are you still reading my review? Damn...go and book your tickets...

Dasavatharam - Review

2008-06-12T18:45:00.000-07:00

Coming here very sooooon....

I am watching Dasavatharam in another 2 hours..my genuine review of the movie will be here soon...keep watching this space...

Online shopping in India

2008-06-08T09:48:00.000-07:00

This is something that I am cogitating for the past few days...why is the number of Online shoppers in India is so low when compared to other countries?

When e-Shopping was introduced in India, the number of players was very low. The penetration of Internet in the country was not great. Availability of credit/debit cards with the people was not great either. So, initially it was a tough time for e-Com companies. But over the years, all these factors have improved considerably but still online buying seems to be in its incipient stage.

If we keep away online travel and ticket booking and online broking, the number of transactions and amount transacted in e-Tailing (Retail) and other parts is not showing big jump. Though it is making constant progression, when compared with the number of new internet connections taken and number of new credit and debit cards taken, the jump in online transactions is quite discouraging.

So, my little research and discussion with people shows me that following reasons make Indians hesitate to buy online. 1) Cannot negotiate / bargain 2) Cannot get the feel of the product / try out 3) Fear about the security of the site 4) Delivery delays 5) Very less variety of options available. So, can we expect the online shopping market to grow if we bring in improvements in these areas? I don't think so. Even if we improve, it won't be drastic. We don't get the sense of satisfaction if we don't bargain :) and more importantly if we don't try it out.

Having said all these, even I don't prefer buying things online in India. When I was in UK, I bought even the most expensive things like my camera and laptop online. In fact I bought many things even from eBay. Where as, here in India, somehow I am not feeling like buying online though many good sites are available.

To avoid queues, may be we are using the online travel ticket booking facilities though they cost a bit more. But, even if it comes for a cheaper price online, we give a second thought about it. I am a perfect example of this. I bought shoes from the shop paying 300 bucks extra when it is available in www.futurebazaar.com for a cheaper price...I felt I should try the shoes before I purchase. And I am bound to think that my fella Indians are like me.

So, what's your take on this?

Can't we have true sportiveness?

2008-05-29T08:10:00.000-07:00

Indians are emotional...sometimes over-emotional, at least when it comes to sports...not for all the sports, but only for Cricket...when Indian hockey team fail to qualify for Olympics, nobody seemed to have cared about that...when Indian football team won Nehru cup, it got a tepid response...but when it comes to Cricket, we are not ready to compromise...if Indian team wins, the players become Gods...if it loses, their effigies are burnt...when are we going to change ourselves?

The same old bad Indian sporting spirit is now under spot lights again because of 'Red Hot' IPL...though IPL is bringing out some of the budding talents, it has also created unintended (or may be intended) hitches...the city spirit has gone beyond the national spirit...if you are a regular watcher of IPL, you must have experienced this...now its not an entertainment anymore...it is prestige...whether your city wins a match or not is a question of pride...is it achieved by Indians or not is out of discussion...people are going mad with their city spirit and it is blatantly visible when they fail to support our own players...

the worst affected are Indian players who are playing 'away' matches...in a Mumbai VS Punjab game nobody was ready to cheer up Yuvi's team's heroics...but they roared when Jayasurya thrashed Indian bowlers like Irfan Pathan and Sreesanth...when everyone else kept silence about this, Yuvi had the guts to expose this bad attitude publicly...if you are a true sports person, you must appreciate good sports irrespective of whether it is by your city or by the opponent...

Kolkata audience are known for their bad sports attitude (remember 1996 semi-final and the day they supported SA when India played against SA without Ganguly) and it is once again evident in IPL...but because of this IPL, this attitude seems to have propagated to almost all the cities...but BCCI and Lalit Modi must be very happy...they have done their marketing properly to achieve what they have intended to keep IPL a success story for years from now...but what IPL is going to contribute for Indian cricket is still a question...

In an interview to CNN-IBN, Jeffrey Archer said 'IPL is not cricket...its mere entertainment...real cricket is a test match between India and England at Lords where every single Brit will expect Sachin to score a century'...when are we going to develop such a kind of sportiveness and support real talent rather than blindly supporting our cities for the sake of doing it?

Hurray! I am in bench

2008-05-24T00:22:00.000-07:00

Life has become unexpectedly hectic...but only my personal life...it has become so hectic that for the past 7 days I didn't even go to office and I am not going to go for next 3 days...damn! you must be so jealous of me and shout how in this world one can get continuous leave like this...actually, I am in the most boring (for me its quite enjoyable) period of an ITian's life - BENCH...

I got released(what an apt term!) from my previous assignment on 30th April and still enjoying the sophistication of being unallocated ...I was able to complete my Delhi trip successfully because of this..I just gave my resume and the kind of role I am looking for to the allocation group and started doing all my personal things :D...I was given 2 - 3 roles all different from what I was expecting...so, I had to avoid them...in my close to 4 years IT life, this is the first time I am in bench and I would say - I love it!

My brother was attending his TCS campus interview...as a responsible brother, I went to my hometown, trained him for 4 days and finally he is my prospective colleague now :)...it was a nice experience visiting my college after quite a long time and meeting known lecturers and professors and conversing with them...5 sleepless nights including yesterday's overnight journey to Chennai..the worst part is, its gonna continue as I am supposed to go to Madurai again tomorrow to leave my mom there who is in Chennai currently...quite hectic for me shuttling here and there...so, obviously I am not getting time to write posts...

This is the first time I am out of office for more than 2 days without any calls interrupting me, thanks to the concept of bench...but I have seen many freshers who are unallocated for many months and literally begging the allocation group to find some assignment for them as their career is getting ruined...I told I cannot go to onsite immediately and I was immediately offered an immediate overseas opportunity...my cousin who is trying for some overseas chance for about 4 months now has been asked to join an offshore project...I don't know whether this kind of mismatch in allocation is restricted only to my organization or it is the IT way of life everywhere...

whatever said and done, I am happy now and wish me enjoy this wonderful hiatus for some more time before I am given an assignment!