Mind At Work

Sachin At 40 - A Record of Records

2013-04-24T00:07:00.002-07:00

Since he started playing for India, we added ~375 million citizens. If we made a country of just those who were born during this period (will be a larger number, accounting for the deaths) it would be the third largest country in the world. A country where every person grew up with a lot of uncertainties and changes, besides one. Sachin Tendulkar plays cricket. And plays it rather well.

As I join millions of others in wishing the right handed ODI opener a happy birthday, I thought of focusing on something that we love as a nation - records. Here's an extensive, but surely not exhaustive, list of records that the man has accumulated and broken over the years. These are almost entirely of statistical interest, not going to be led into any debated about how if anyone plays for this long he will end up having most of these records anyway. Also, there are plenty of more interesting records he holds which I have missed out on, if you can think of more please send them my way and I will add to the list.

Test Matches:

Image Courtesy: Yahoo!

Highest No. of

Matches played (198). Followed by Ricky Ponting (168)

Runs scored (15,837). Followed by Ricky Ponting (13,378)

100s scored (51). Followed by Jacques Kallis (44)

50s scored (67). Followed by Ricky Ponting (62)

90s scored (10). Jointly with Rahul Dravid & Steve Waugh

Innings batted (327). Followed by Ricky Ponting (287)

Balls Faced (21,367). Followed by Ricky Ponting (17,046)

100 partnerships (20, with Rahul Dravid). Followed by 16 (Gordon Greenidge & Desmond Haynes and Matthew Hayden & Ricky Ponting)

Partnership runs (6,920 with Rahul Dravid). Followed by 6,482 (Gordon Greenidge & Desmond Haynes)

Runs scored at any age during his career (besides at 27, Alistair Cook had 7,117 runs to Sachin's 6,720 when he turned 27). Sachin overtook Cook by the time he was 28 with 7,869 runs to Cook's 7,307.

1st Innings runs scored (5,608). Followed by Ricky Ponting (5,403)

2nd Innings runs scored (5,608**). Followed by Rahul Dravid (4,984)

100s scored in 2nd Innings (18). Followed by Rahul Dravid (15)

4th innings runs scored (1,625). Followed by Rahul Dravid (1,575)

Runs scored away (8,705 ). Followed by Rahul Dravid (7,690)

100s scored away (29). Followed by Rahul Dravid (21)

50s scored away (36). Jointly by Rahul Dravid (36)

ODIs

Image Courtesy: Times of India

Highest No. of

Matches played (463). Followed by Sanath Jayasuriya (445)

Runs scored (18,426). Followed by Ricky Ponting (13,704)

100s scored (49). Followed by Ricky Ponting (30)

50s scored (96). Followed by Ricky Ponting (82)

90s scored (18). Followed by Nathan Astle, Grant Flower & Aravinda De Silve (9 each)

Innings batted (452). Followed by Sanath Jayasuriya (433)

100 partnerships (26, with Sourav Ganguly). Followed by 15 (Gordon Greenidge & Desmond Haynes)

Partnership runs (8,227 with Sourav Ganguly). Followed by 5,462 (Marvan Atapattu & Sanath Jayasuriya)

Single innings partnership (331, with Rahul Dravid). Followed by 318 (Rahul Dravid & Sourav Ganguly)

Runs scored at any age during his career after 23 years. (Shahid Afridi holds the records for the ages of 16-22)

1st Innings runs scored (9,706). Followed by Ricky Ponting (8,630)

100s scored in 1st Innings (32). Followed by Ricky Ponting (22)

2nd Innings runs scored (8,720). Followed by Sanath Jayasuriya (5,742)

100s scored in 2nd Inings scored (17). Followed by Chris Gayle (10)

Runs scored at home (6,976 ). Followed by Ricky Ponting (5,406)

100s scored at home (20). Followed by Ricky Ponting (13)

100s scored away (12). Followed by Sanath Jayasuriya (11)

Runs scored at neutral venues (6,385 ). Followed by Sanath Jayasuriya (5,463)

100s scored at neutral venues (17). Followed by Saeed Anwar (15)

Man of the Match awards (62). Followed by Sanath Jayasuriya (48)

Man of the Series awards (14). Followed by Sanath Jayasuriya (11)

World Cups

Image courtesy: Telegraph UK

Highest No. of

Runs scored (2,278). Followed by Ricky Ponting (1,743)

100s scored (6). Followed by Ricky Ponting (5)

50s scored (15). Followed by Jacques Kallis (9)

90s scored (3). Jointly with Michael Clarke.

Innings batted (44). Followed by Ricky Ponting (42)

1st Innings runs scored (1,622). Followed by Ricky Ponting (1,177)

100s scored in 1st Innings (5). Jointly with Ricky Ponting (5)

Man of the Match awards (9). Followed by Glenn McGrath (6)

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All of us must have been told at some time or the other to do anything, but to do it well. Sachin Tendulkar is perhaps one of the very few human beings who can confidently say he did one thing, and did it well. Here's wishing the Master a very happy 40th birthday!

NOTE: The only source for all records and stats was the redoubtable ESPN Cricinfo Statsguru

*All numbers valid as of April-24-2013

** Not a typo! He's actually scored the exact number of runs in the first innings (Tests) as in the second

Restaurant Review - Safari Njema (Kenyan Cuisine)

2013-04-22T04:26:00.004-07:00

The fact that this place prompted me to review a restaurant after close to two years is endorsement enough for the experience, isn't it?

+Veni and I moved to Seattle last August and have explored the Seattle food scene quite extensively. From the more talked about seafood joints in Pike Place Market to some of the best Puerto Rican & Mexican places in Ballard, from Indian buffets to a variety of brunch places all over the city. However, in terms of African food our experience so far was entirely limited to the more popular Ethiopian 'family combos' - their version of the thali, where everyone eats out of a large plate, with a Injera wheat bread serving as the base, along with different kinds of meat and vegetables.

This afternoon we made some amends to that by visiting this cosy, little Kenyan restaurant in Central District - Safari Njema. A quick Yelp search for African places had this in the top results, and the unanimous verdict seemed to be great people, great food, not-so-great speed of service.

Veni in front of Safari Njema

We were welcomed into the restaurant by George, a most friendly person, who we soon realized was wearing the hats of the manager, server and chef! He patiently took us through the menu, with some historical backgrounds of the items and made some recommendations as well.

A lion hearted menu!

The restaurant is painted in a very lively orange colour and the walls are adorned with traditional African paintings. In fact most of them are for sale, so you can have your food and take some art too. There's ample seating area and though it was empty when we arrived, well past lunch time in these parts of the world, while we were there quite a few regulars came in.

The brightly coloured interiors and the paintings

Then started the 45 minutes wait. We totally understand that running a restaurant all by oneself is no mean feat, but given it was close to 2:30 PM and we hadn't had any breakfast the hunger pangs were forcing mean thoughts into our heads! Sometime later the Chef - Jane Kagira and a young man - Eli - who started serving the tables and managing the cash counter, came in and provided George some much needed help.

The first dish to arrive was the health drink, who's three letter name I can't remember for the life of me. It was like a very sour gruel, reminded me somewhat of the texture of barley, and Chef Jane informed us that it's made of millet, naturally fermented. Apparently it keeps the skin young and fresh.

The health drink whose name I forget. Shameful!

The entrees were completely worth the wait. The Samaki (deep fried Tialpia fish in a spicy, coconut gravy) was actually this massive, whole fish that came on the plate, far more macho than the usual fillets we are used to by now. Even by my exalted standards it managed to provide a worthy challenge. The homemade coconut gravy that came along with had this fantastic tangy and spicy feel to it, which further accentuated the tangy spices that was used to garnish the fish. The entree came along with Ugali (a form of African corn bread, was more like grits though) and Sukuma mix (collard greens and spinach).

The fried Tialpia with collard greens and cornbread

The Mbusi (fried goat meat) was well cooked, and the meat was falling off the bones. I don't think we could recognize all the spices used in preparing the goat but all of them came together rather nicely and hit the spot. This was accompanied by some stir fried vegetables and African style French fries, which are not as crispy as the normal American ones.

The melt-in-your-mouth Goat meat and vegetables

The food was too delicious to remember that we were full by the halfway mark. It was a great introduction to a very exciting cuisine, incidentally with strong hints of Indian influence, by some of the most lovely people. And not to forget all of this at very affordable prices. A meal for two will come to ~$30-$40, all inclusive. We will definitely be back there in the near future.

Satisfaction!

Details:

Name: Safari Njema Restaurant

Location: Central District, Seattle [map]

Phone: +1-206-723-3058

Email: safarinjema.us@yahoo.com

Contact: Jane Kagira (Chef)

Know Your Beef Cuts

2013-04-03T17:52:00.001-07:00

I love trivia. And beef. Also, am hungry.

Cuts of Beef infographic by visually.

[Via Sumant]

P.S: I first tasted beef in April 2002. In a Kolkata restaurant. Was introduced to it by my friend Salim. Spent a majority of my dinners at Al Habib (near Park Street) during my college days in Kolkata having Beef Biriyani (Rs. 15) and Beef Kathi Roll (Rs. 6). I am hungrier now.

Cricket Tormentors

2013-02-25T02:29:00.002-08:00

Every once in a while I do a deep dive into some aspect of cricketing stats and this afternoon, indulged in one such session. Was watching highlights from India's first Test against Australia (which we are on the verge of winning by an innings) when I heard the soft, mellow voice of this new commentator - V. V. S. Laxman. It's difficult not to connect Laxman and Australia and go back to Sydney, Kolkata or Delhi and his complete dominance over what was arguably the greatest Test side in history. This made me do some research on such "Tormentors", both with the bat and ball, individuals who have reserved their special performances against particular nations.

You can find all the details in the spreadsheet here.

The 4 tabs are for Batting & Bowling, Tests & ODIs. In each of the tab you will find the player who has scored the highest number of runs or taken the highest number of wickets against each Test playing nation. Also, there are 2 tables in each sheet, the batting one is filtered by "players who have scored at least 1000 runs against the opponent, and sorted by batting average" while the bowling one is "players who have taken at least 50 wickets against the opponent and sorted by bowling average".

Here's what it looks like.

Batting (Tests)

The ones standing out are obviously Sir. Donald Bradman with 5000+ runs against England, at an average of ~90 and 19 centuries. Another remarkable nemesis is Sangakkara for Pakistan, against whom he seems to score runs at a Bradman-esque average of 89 with 9 centuries and 2320 runs from only 16 Tests.

Batting (ODIs)

Sachin Tendulkar's sheer dominance is clear in the ODIs sheet as he has scored the highest number of runs against 5 of the 10 countries - Australia, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka & Zimbabwe! While there's no doubt about his greatness as a Test batsman, he pretty much owned and changed the 50 over format. With Sachin gone the game has lost its favourite son.

Now coming to the bowling side of things, here's what the Test stats look like.

(Bowling Tests)

In Test bowling it's a close call between Shane Warne & Muttiah Muralitharan in terms of persistent bullies against England, New Zealand and South Africa and India, Bangladesh & Zimbabwe respectively. What stood out was the filtered results for Test bowling had almost entirely fast bowlers and looks quite different from this chart.

Finally, coming to bowling in ODIs, here's the chart:

In ODIs Wasim Akram gives Muttiah some tough competition, while Waqar Younis has magical figures against New Zealand with 79 wickets at an average of a measly 15.84 runs!

Go ahead, play around with the charts and share your thoughts in the comments.

Extreme Cricket Trivia - Jai Statsguru!

2013-01-11T12:37:00.000-08:00

Every now and then I go through this phase of spending hours on the greatest cricket website's free to consumers statistics program, aptly named Statsguru in the hunt for the ultimate cricket trivia. However I usually don't end up noting down the gems and most probably go looking for them again a few months down the line. Last night was a particularly successful one and this time I have them all right here. Check your cricket trivia quotient answers are at the bottom in a jumbled fashion.

Note: All "current" records are valid as of Jan-11-2013.

Questions

1. What is the lowest total defended by a team in an ODI after being all out?

2. This happened for the 1st time in 1992, 2nd in 1998 and has happened 43 times since then. What?

3. Which current batsman has the highest Test average (min. 50 Tests)?

4. How many players have scored 10,000+ runs in both Tests & ODIs?

5. Who was the last cricketer to play Test cricket post the age of 40? [Hint in September 2003]

6. Who is the only player to have captained a test team before turning 21?

7. Who are the only 3 players to have an ODI average of over 50, having played at least 50 matches?

8. The person who holds the record for highest ODI runs scored, before turning 18, also holds the record for highest wickets before 18. Who?

AM Nayar

9. Ashfaq Ahmed (Pak), AJ Mackey (Zim), AM Nayar (Ind) & Shadab Kabir (Pak) have the worst record possible in ODI cricket. What?

10. Which cricketer played the highest number of tests (119) without ever bowling a ball?

11. What unique distinction did Tino Best miss by 5 runs in the Edgebaston test against England in June 2012?

12. Which cricketer played the highest number of tests (133) without ever taking a wicket in his career?

13. What did Tendulkar do for the last time on 31-Jan-2007 in an ODI V West Indies?

14. In cricket, what happened for the first time in 1938 and there was a 20 year gap till 1958 and 16 year gap till 1990?

Cameron Cuffy

15. In an otherwise inconspicuous West Indies - Zimbabwe match in 2001 in Harare Cameron Cuffy was awarded the Man of the Match making it very unique in some way. What was special about Cuffy's performance in winning the award?

Answers

1. India (125) beat Pakistan (93) in Sharjah in 1985 [scorecard]

4. 7 (Tendulkar, Ponting, Dravid, Kallis, Lara, Jayawardena & Sangakarra) [Full list - Tests, ODIs]

2. Teams won ODIs chasing 300+. Sri Lanka first to do so against Zimbabwe in 1992 [scorecard]

5. Alec Stewart (England) vs South Africa at the age of 40 years and 5 months [scorecard]

3. Jacques Kallis - 56.73 [full list]

7. Mahendra Singh Dhoni (India), Hashim Amla (South Africa) & Michael Bevan (Australia)

6. Tatenda Taibu (Zimbabwe) Vs Sri Lanka in May 2004 at 20 years and 11 months [scorecard]

9. They have had the longest ODI career (3 each) without scoring a run or taking a wicket [List]

8. Shahid Afridi (1239 runs and 37 wickets in 56 matches before he turned 18)

11. He could've been the first No. 11 batsman to score a century (got out at 95) [Scorecard]

10. Ian Healy (Australia) [Full list]

12. Alec Stewart (England) [Full list]

14. Triple centuries - Len Hutton scored 364 in 1938, followed by Gary Sobers' 365* in 1958. Graham Gooch' 333 in 1990 came 16 years after Lawrence Rowe's 302 in 1974

13. Score an ODI century while not opening the innings [scorecard]

15. He received the man of the match award without scoring a run, taking a wicket or a catch [Scorecard]

Trivia

1. Lowest score in a test innings (26) < Lowest score in an ODI innings (35) < Lowest score in a T20 innings (67)

2. Graeme Smith will become the first player to captain his team in 100 Test matches during his next test (99 as of now)

3 (a). India has won more matches chasing 300+ (13) than any other country. Sri Lanka distant 2nd with 7 300+ chase wins.

3 (b). India has lost more ODIs after scoring 300 in the 1st innings (7) than others. Close 2nd - England & West Indies (6 each).

4. Abey Kuruvilla, known for his sub-par fielding skills, holds the record for highest no. of tests (10) without taking a catch!

5. The 113* by MSD against Pak in Chennai in Dec 2012 is the highest score by a #7 or below in ODI history.

6. Imagine what could've happened had Tendulkar come good in this match? Maybe we would have missed out on an entire career - http://goo.gl/QmGW4 (He batted at number 7)

7. Highest number of centuries scored as captain - Graeme Smith (24) in Tests and Ricky Ponting (22) in ODIs

8. The highest scores in tests (400*) and ODIs (219) have both been scored by captains - Brian Lara & Virender Sehwag.

9. Stephen Fleming scored the highest number of ducks in tests (13) as captain. In ODIs 'honour' shared between Fleming & Ranatunga (13)

10. Dwayne Bravo has the highest career Test runs (1637) without ever scoring a duck. Kepler Wessels led in ODIs with 3367.

11. Vijay Manjrekar has the highest career Test runs (3208) without ever scoring a six, Manoj Prabhakar leads in ODIs with 1858.

12. India has a win/loss ratio of 0.77 in Tests (all time) only better than Bangladesh (0.04), Zimbabwe (0.17) and New Zealand (0.46)

13. The most consistent ODI side in history is South Africa with a 1.83 Wins:Losses ratio, in Tests it is Australia with 1.81.

14. Among Test playing nations, in ODIs, England has the highest "lowest total" of 86 & Bangladesh has lowest "highest total" of 320

15. In Tests, the lowest "highest total" is 556 by Bangladesh and the highest "lowest total" is 71 by Sri Lanka.

Movies Roundup 2012

2012-12-31T00:57:00.000-08:00

And we're back! 2012 turned out to be a decent year in terms of quantity and quality of movies. Saw the highest number of movies since 2008 and had the highest average rating since I started keeping count. Just like in 2009, 2010 and 2011 I have made a note of every movie I watched in the theatres (and also the movies released during the year but watched on the small screen). Will be following last year's format of sharing the 'tweet-review" and rating on 10 of every movie watched, something for the statistics lovers and also the top 5 movies. As always this is most fun with your inputs and comments, expecting some usual fireworks! Here we go.

Year # Seen Hindi:English:Bangla Top Rating Avg. Rating

2007 32 22:10:0 9.0 5.78

2008 30 23:7:0 8.5 6.35

2009 24 18:6:0 9.0 6.85

2010 25 16:9:0 8.5 6.62

2011 22 15:6:1 8.5 6.77

2012 28 12:11:5 9.0 7.33

The top honours go to (only movies watched in theatres):

Rank 1 - Barfi

Rank 2 - Kahaani

Rank 3 - Paan Singh Tomar

Rank 4 - Argo

Rank 5 - English Vinglish

Below, find the detailed tweet reviews (140 character limit) usually updated within an hour or so after watching the movie. This is in chronological order.

Here's the summary:

Mission Impossible 4 -sinister scientist, nuclear destruction, breathtaking stunts, happy ending. Buffoonery by Anil Kapoor. Watchable. 6/10

Sherlock Holmes 2 - Brilliant scenes & lines between Dr. Moriarty & Holmes. Strong performances again. A tad too long at 2:09 hours. 7/10.

Tintin - Brought childhood to life. The extraordinary graphics and sticking to the original story added to the charm. Must watch! 7.5/10

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - Frankly I didn't understand the movie enough to talk about it. Also, didn't enjoy that much. 5.5/10.

Agneepath - Powerful and imposing, in terms of story, direction and performances. Kancha is menacing, HR outstanding & RK brilliant. 8/10.

Ek Main Aur Ek Tu - (Anjaana Anjaani + Jab We Met) stripped of romance & climax. Tried to be different, became average. 5.5/10

Kahaani - Fantastic performances and solid storyline. Leaving your seat even for a bathroom break will be a challenge. That gripping. 8.5/10

Paan Singh Tomar - Heart wrenching plot made into gripping screenplay. Taut throughout. Impeccable Irrfan. Skip it & loss is yours. 8.5/10

Agent Vinod - Some good action sequences, too many unnecessary characters, weak(er) climax(es), slick camerawork. Potential wasted. 6/10.

Vicky Donor - Genuinely funny almost throughout, a great find in Ayushmann, unique subject well handled, could've been a tighter end. 7/10

The Avengers - Usual world coming to an end in NY and superheroes saving us all story, but told in a way that'll make you cheer them on. 8/10

The Dictator - every stereotype, every racist joke, every soft spot touched upon. Crass, sharp, hilarious. Worthy successor to Borat. 8/10.

Hemlock Society - one movie that can genuinely stake claim to being that elusive "different" & quite good at that. Humourous & real. 7.5/10

22 Shrabon - A near-perfect thriller/mystery with effortless acting, taut storyline, quirky, coarse language and unexpected twists. 8.5/10.

Memories In March - exceptionally natural & restrained performances, mature handling of an issue that can become easily dramatized. 8/10.

Gangs of Wasseypur - puke inducing violence & gore throughout. So earthy that you can almost smell the scenes. Gritty performances. 7.5/10.

Autograph - engaging first half, slick photography, slightly affected dialogues, predictable & disappointing finish. Could've been. 6/10.

Bhooter Bhobishyot - Making up for the lost 20 years of Bengali cinema. Mind blowing concept, execution & delivery. Refreshing. 8.5/10

Barfi - will remain a high point of the careers of every member of the cast & crew. Sensitive, funny, touching. RK & PK brilliant. 9/10.

Heroine - download Madhur B template & music, plug in a generic movie industry story, dunk Kareena in kohl & glycerine and serve cold. 5/10

English Vinglish - Sridevi delivers a superlative performance and makes most of us think of our mothers throughout. Warm fuzzy feel. 8.5/10

Argo - Compels you to root for the characters & research the incidents immediately after you leave the edge-of-your-seats. Don't miss. 8/10.

Skyfall - Perhaps the most personal Bond movie. Devoid of gadgetry but with a most sinister villain & a story. Batman-like in parts. 7.5/10

Jab Tak Hai Jaan - Hmmm. 5.5/10.

Lincoln - Human take on one of modern history's heroes. Strong performances. Background reading on civil war recommended preparation. 8/10

Life of Pi - A difficult story to portray on screen, but magnificent effort by Ang Lee. Breathtaking visuals, brilliant performances. 8/10.

Farewell, Girl

2012-12-29T01:34:00.001-08:00

My friend +Tanmay Mukherjee came up with one of the most touching posts I have read about the girl whom we shall never know, but know very well. If you can read Bangla I will suggest don't bother with my post and just read his original blog post.

However, I thought the post deserved to to reach out to a larger population and so I translated it on the fly, almost literal in parts, trying to keep the essence intact. Feel free to share all feedback with him directly.

Also, came across this very ironic Calvin & Hobbes strip earlier today, shared by Diptakirti

----------------------------------------------------------------

Farewell, Girl

I was here just now. Now, no more.

Dad's job, Dad's vote, Mom's parantha, Mom's vote, Brother's cricket, Brother's vote.

My college, my just-turned-twenty-one, my doe-skin, my vote.

My friends, my friend. Gossip-stories-mischief. A bunch of our votes.

Dad used to say that after I completed my studies, I'd take up a good job and visit a foreign land. Will also take my parents. Three votes, will dress up and visit abroad.

Mom used to say my husband would take me abroad. Another family. A whole lot of votes.

He used to say, "I will show you a foreign land. Breathtaking landscapes, charming cities; Explosions of development and technology all of them" A fellow helpless classmate's vote. Innocent vote.

Everyone had known that this girl wanted to go abroad.

"If you don't study hard, how will you go abroad, you fool?" - and so would go my Mathematic's tutor. Just the other day somehow got a 96% in maths and told Sir "Just give me another five years, You will need to come abroad to visit me"

Some would get irritated with my passion to go abroad "Why? What is missing in our country?"

True. What really is missing in our country? Development, a growing GDP, World Cup win, what's missing? We have everything. Just that getting scared had become a bit of a habit. Scared of what?

In trains, buses, Metros,

In the bustle of local markets,

In the masses at religious places,

Was scared of any gathering of people.

Who or who all would be lurking in that crowd and attack me?

The filthiest of words would waft through, lecherous looks would be flung all over my body, and sometimes a few dirty hands would grope me.

Mom used to say I was responsible for my dignity was in my hands; nobody else. These things will always happen in trains, buses and other public places. However, I shouldn't make a scene so that others start talking about it. That's far more dishonourable. She used to say that these things happen anyway.

Used to loathe myself. Who does such things in the streets? Whose brothers? Whose fathers? Does that mean my brother, my father too...! Mercy! Steadily I learnt to not trust others. So had decided to leave everything and move abroad.

The funny thing is those whom I used to detest, those from whom I wanted to run away to a different land, ended up making all arrangements to send me abroad. A few of those dark men tore me apart to such an extent that the entire country and the Indian government gave up on me: they said that they weren't capable of taking care of my recovery. The affectional government bore the entire expenses of my treatment, in fact flew me to Singapore. And in the meanwhile I believe they lathi-charged some unknown faces, set the water cannons on a few unsuspecting ones. Apparently those lunatics had tried to show the government the way. Can't those rascals see that our father-like government has established a "theek hai" empire in our great country?

Finally our most honourable and compassionate media gave me many new epithets and the news vessels overflowed with those monikers, soaring through the skies with TRPs.

Apparently my family was very pleased with my treatment, or so I was told by the media and government. Salute to them.

Apparently I fought like a braveheart, I am courageous, fearless and of an indomitable spirit; the media and honourable government proudly proclaimed. Salute to them.

But believe me, I did not want any of this. I am really scared of those dark men. I am really scared of the unfeeling, all powerful government.

I just wanted to live. No revenge, no cleansing of society. While on the ventilator, the little that I could think of was a desire to live. I did not want to make any official statements. I have to live, I must live. Mom, I will live. Dad I will live. Brother, please...can I live a little?

I failed. I couldn't live. None of you could get away by calling me 'India's Daughter' and my survival story. All of you had to take the blame of my death.

However, you will still have your little sister, your daughter to protest. The government still has it's votes. My parents became a little lonely. Let them be. In all this, at least there was a little good - my plans of a trip abroad materialized.

Singapore. What a beautiful city, just like a picture postcard. No, I couldn't see much of it.

In those crowded buses when someone would come and grope me, I would feel like tearing up. And would say to myself "Will go away and not die in this wretched country."

Thanks to the Almighty. At least I didn't have to breathe my last on my country's soil.

20 Years of Indian Cricket (1992-2012) - Highest Run Scorers & Wicket Takers

2012-12-09T20:05:00.002-08:00

Earlier this morning I got into a little to and fro on Twitter about whether Sachin should carry on and if it's time MSD called it a day based on form? This led to digging up some numbers on Stats Guru. The complete details are available below: Highest Run Scorers (Test, ODI, T20 and overall) and Highest Wicket Takers (Test, ODI, T20 and overall) from 1992 to 2012. You can play around with the numbers by clicking here.

For me the main highlights were as follows:

Batting

1) We cannot overemphasize how much the team has depended on Sachin over the past twenty years. Genius is one thing, but being a genius for twenty years, consistently takes you to a different level.

2) If it required any more highlighting, Rahul Dravid deserved less attention than anyone else would have by not only being the highest scorer (all forms combined) 6 years (5 of them in a row - 2002-06) but also being the highest scorer in ODIs (a format he was apparently not good enough to make the playing 11) for 3 years (in a team with Sachin, Sourav, Laxman, Sehwag and Yuvraj at their peak). Also, he made his exit by being the highest scorer in Tests during his last year. Way to go.

3) Sourav Ganguly's comeback in 2007 (highest Test scorer, and also overall) after being in the wilderness for two years, is just a script waiting to be made into a movie.

4) There is no denying Virat Kohli's future. If he can look back at the last couple of years by the time he retires and calls it "not too bad" he's a legend.

5) Back to Sachin, highest scorer in both forms of the game, in 5 of the 10 years from 1992-2002, is perhaps a feat that will not be repeated again

Bowling

1) Anil Kumble has been to Indian bowling almost what Sachin has been to the batting. Given the batsman focused nature of the game he hardly got the attention he deserved.

2) The present state of our bowling reflects in the stats from the past few years - lack of consistency. And if R. Ashwin is to become the greatest bowler we have in the team, it will remain like that for a while.

3) If we had one magical bowling year by anyone during this year it was Harbhajan Singh in 2001. The only 100+ wickets in a year spell.

CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE CHARTS

Of course there's a lot more that can be gleaned from the data. Look forward to your insights.

Bollywood Loves Obama

2012-11-06T20:51:00.001-08:00

Thank God Obama is back for another 4 years. God bless America for making the right choice.
— Shruti Seth (@SethShruti) November 7, 2012

Thats a good news for america.
— Manoj Bajpayee (@BajpayeeManoj) November 7, 2012

welcome back Barack.. :)
— Rajat Kapoor (@mrrajatkapoor) November 7, 2012

Obama's back ! Lets hope his 2nd term sees an upswing of the economy !
— kunal kohli (@kunalkohli) November 7, 2012

GOd Bless AMericA or in other words GOBAMA.
— roshanabbas (@roshanabbas) November 7, 2012

Obama is a true leader of our times.The world needs more like you Mr. President. Congratulations.
— Fardeen Khan (@khanff) November 7, 2012

GOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL #Obama vs #Romney
— Ashwin Mushran (@ashwinmushran) November 7, 2012

I want #Obama to win. There is a kindness about his demeanor that makes me believe.
— dia mirza (@deespeak) November 7, 2012

Come on obama! ! Actually come on USA .. do yourselves some good! !
— Shahana Goswami (@ShahanaGoswami) November 7, 2012

Obama Wins.. And I knew it al long time ago.
— Ranganathan Madhavan (@ActorMadhavan) November 7, 2012

Happy 47th Sir

2012-11-01T21:45:00.001-07:00

My mother often recounts how I was a pest as a kid when she watched TV. I'd just not sit still, and more importantly not let her catch her shows on Doordarshan, timing my tantrums to perfection with Buniyaad, Hum Log and other popular shows of those days. However, on Wednesday evenings I'd be a completely different person and drag her home if we were visiting relatives and plop myself infront of the television. Same thing repeated a few years later on Sunday nights. But I'd show the same signs of restlessness if Captain Abhimanyu Rai or Raghavan didn't appear in some episodes. I don't know if she made up the story later, I like to believe it was something that magical.

Hello Sir,

Been 7 years since I wished you on this blog. You had just turned 40, I had started at my first job right after college. Today I've been married for a while, just a couple of years from my thirtieth birthday. Have moved countries and changed jobs, also got myself a little more educated in the meanwhile. You went ahead and won the remaining hearts of Bengal and sponsored our cricket team. Proved a point to the jealous few who derive pleasure by stereotyping you, by appearing on screen as the coach of a women's hockey team. A lot changed. Something didn't, and that is I could have written the previous post even today and it would have remained just as true. So here's wishing you a happy 47th Sir!

And my little tribute - 47 things about you, from me.

1. The last movie of yours I didn't watch in the theatre was 'Main Hoon Na' (2004).

2. Have asked hairdressers (I know people get into trouble for calling them barbers) to cut my hair like yours.

3. I've watched 'Duplicate' (1998) in the theatre, thrice.

4. I enacted scenes from your movies during my introduction sessions with seniors in my college hostel and it was the best 'ragging' ever.

5. Used to note down the names of your movies at the back of my chemistry notebook. In reverse chronological order.

6. Once got a photo of yours in a 'bhel puri' packet made from an old newspaper. Cut it out and kept it in my wallet as a good omen through college.

7. I have performed scenes from your movies in middle school, high school, college, work and MBA functions.

8. Purchased the dialogues only casette of 'Mohabbatein (2000)' and could repeat every line of yours in my sleep.

9. Hated Hrithik Roshan for many years for spoiling 'Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani (2000)' with KNPH. I actually prayed for his death. Feel bad for that now.

10. I have spent hours in front of the bathroom mirror trying to be you from 'Yes Boss' (1997), 'Pardes' (1997), 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai' (1998), 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham' (2001) and other movies from those days from my teenage.

11. I also did the same with Don 2, a few months back.

12. Decided to never fly to/through Newark airport after they detained you there.

13. Mentioned you as my role model in my first corporate interview. Got the job and spent 6 lovely years there.

14. Prior to MHN the last movie I didn't watch in the theatre was 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai' (1998).

15. Could never manage to like Sunny Deol after he killed you in 'Darr' (1993).

16. My favourite song from your movies is 'Ek Din Aap Mil Jaenge' from 'Yes Boss' (1997).

17. I have only seen 'My Name Is Khan' (2010) first day first show.

18. I have gone all by myself to watch 'Shakti: The Power' (2002) in Jaya Cinemas, Kolkata. Felt cheated to realize you only had a guest appearance.

19. Had your poster on my hostel wall. Still have a picture with it.

20. Took my sister with me to watch 'Devdas' (2002) when she was eleven and we had tickets in the opposite ends of the theatre.

21. Played 'Ajab Si' from 'Om Shanti Om' (2007) and delivered the 'Mere Naina...I love you Naina' lines from 'Kal Ho Na Ho' (2003) in front of an office audience to woo my then girlfriend, now wife.

22. Your movies (as an actor) that I haven't seen till date are - Idiot (1992), In Which Annie Gives It To Those Ones (1989) and Zamana Deewana (1995).

23. I wasn't allowed to watch 'Maya Memsaab' (1993) as it had an adult theme. Saw it in Fast Forward mode in 30 minutes on VCR while mom had gone out of the house.

23. Every time I wouldn't do well in some exams I used to imagine myself being kicked out of the house by my dad and my mother singing 'Woh Toh Hai Albela' from 'Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na' (1993).

24. In the early 2000s I'd force my eyebrows into your S shaped style so much that it became normal for quite a few years.

25. I also tried very hard to get the dimples when I smiled. Some people now tell me I get them sometimes. I guess dimples can be acquired after all.

26. Without making a conscious effort I've picked up your 'God bless you' as a sign off line for many years now.

27. Have made some lifelong friends primarily based on our common love for you.

28. Once walking in the office parking with Veni I put on your limp from 'Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna' (2006) and she feels that's the best impersonation I have done till date.

29. A friend from Delhi University gifted me a photocopy of what is supposedly your marksheet at Hansraj College, have it with me for more than ten years now.

30. After you said "my hair is like a bear" in the first interview with Simi Garewal I would meticulously tousle my hair after taking a bath and not comb for hours.

31. I remember events in my life with your movies. E.g. Class 5 winter break - DDLJ (1995), first shave - after coming from watching Badshah (1999), class 10 boards - Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani (2000), College final year Veer Zara (2004) and Swades (2004). Wedding - Billu Barber (2009) to name a few.

32. I judge those who criticize you. Seriously.

33. The highlight of my first Mumbai trip (2006) was posing for this horrendous picture next to Mannat's gate. Have visited Mannat each of the thirty odd times I have been to Mumbai since then.

34. I have a bone to pick with Google. They invited you as the special guest in the 2011 Google India conference, 6 months after I left the company after 6 years. I had delivered some of your lines from OSO at the same conference in the same venue 3 years back.

36. I have you (@iamsrk) in a separate Twitter list called 'Sir'.

37. Veni was at the field at Kotla in 2011 when KKR beat DD and you did a lap of honour. I was back home with my parents in Bengal. I will never be able to get over it.

38. Bought my first sunglasses - Ray Ban aviators after seeing you in them in Chak De India (2007).

39. I'm not sure of the precise influence but my first car was a Hyundai Santro and you played some part in that decision.

40. Similarly I've always been a Pepsi guy since I remember and I have a feeling it's because of you. So yes, you deserve all those endorsement deals.

41. I was immensely relieved when you bought KKR as your IPL franchisee. Had it been anything else I may have been too confused to support any team.

42. I often play the scenario in my head of what will I say if I ever meet you. I remain tongue tied in those practice rounds, so can only imagine what will happen if it comes true.

43. I always replay your dialogues on YouTube by pausing and playing and noting them down. Done with Jab Tak Hai Jaan.

44. Even after numerous tries I have never been able to quiver my lips like you did in the "Madan Chopraaaa...." line in Baazigar (1993).

45. I practiced all of my Class 12 Accounts & Maths problems by listening to songs from your movies in my casette recorder on repeat loop. Never bought a casette for any album in which you were not there.

46. There's a friend in Mumbai who wishes me invariably on Nov-2, though he has forgotten my real birthday a few times.

47. I hope somehow, someday I'll be able to repay a fraction of the happiness, comfort, confidence and support that you've provided me.

God bless you.

London Olympics 2012 - Medals Stats & Trivia

2012-08-12T18:55:00.000-07:00

As the ceremonies were wrapping up in London earlier this afternoon I was busy finishing my thousand calorie Sunday brunch and then running some errands. An acute sense of guilt was building up for a while which I finally gave in to while checking my Twitter timeline and seeing plenty of Twitterers from India live tweeting the event almost into dawn. I took refuge in the final medal tally to come up with the following stats to overcome the guilt somewhat.

1. India with 6 medals topped the list of countries that didn't win any gold medals. Followed by Mongolia at 5.

2. Algeria, Bahamas, Grenada, Uganda & Venezuela are the only countries that won just gold medals (1 each)

3. Of the 204 nations, only 26 countries won 10 medals or more

4. Kazakhstan (54%), Hungary (47%), S Korea (46%), GB (45%) & USA (44%) won highest %age of medals in gold [min. criterion 10 medals]

5. Canada with only 1 out of 18 medals (5.5%) was last in terms of gold medals as a %age of all medals (min. 10 total medals)

6. England/GB (65), Germany (44), France (34), Italy (28), Brazil (17), Spain (17), Argentina (4), Uruguay (0) - World cup football (soccer) winners' performances in London

7. Australia (35), West Indies (31), India (6), Pakistan (0), Sri Lanka (0) - World Cup cricket winners' performances in London

8. Germany (44), Australia (35), Netherlands (20), India (6), Pakistan (0) - World cup hockey winners' performances in London

9. All the countries from 2008 top 10 list (gold) remain in 2012, with Hungary as the only new inclusion

10. Jamaica & Tunisia are the only countries to win equal number of Gold, Silver & Bronze medals (4 & 1 each respectively)

Review of 'Kitnay Aadmi Thay?' Completely Useless Bollywood Trivia

2012-07-11T03:30:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer : Diptakirti, the author of KAT (Kitnay Aadmi Thay?) is a friend. Bollywood & trivia has taken up a greater part of my life. Will try to keep the review unbiased.
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If you have a passing interest in Bollywood, or trivia, or preferably both then you're sincerely better off reading or ordering the book right now than going through this review.

KAT is a Bollywood fan's wet dream come true. Like any blockbuster worth its salt it takes you by surprise with the depth of research in its very first chapter on opening credits over the years. My sister still has a smirk on her face as she could guess Taare Zameen Par (TZP), Kuch Na Kaho and Tanu Weds Manu to my meagre single recollection of TZP, as deserving candidates in this category.

The entire book is divided into similar chapters which at first glance don't seem to be following much of a plot, but as you breeze through the pages you realize you're a part of a potboiler, cleverly wrapped with the usual trappings of a Bollywood movie "jisme action hai, romance hai, suspense hai".

I'm getting this immense urge to discuss the different chapters, lists and information nuggets (like the Big B was called Munna by his parents) but will refrain from doing so at it'll be like giving away clues of a murder mystery. Just take it from me that you will be continuously trying to predict the next movie, star, date and theme that Dipta is discussing.

All right, temptation, I lose. Sample these 3 instances:

List of movies that were named after songs from other movies. Sounds simple? Now he goes on to compare the differences in years of release of the original movie containing the song and the movie named after the song (e.g. Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna (2006) released 30 years after Chalte Chalte which had the song Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna)
An entire chapter on the depiction of Parsis in Bollywood, and the list goes far beyond Being Cyrus (which apparently had a Parsi director - Homi Adjania & co-screenwriter - Kersi Khambatta)
Did you know there are (at least) 7 Bollywood movies remade or inspired from the Godfather series? Try guessing beyond Sarkar, and when you give up look at the bottom of the post for the answers.

You will still come across situations where you'll feel some of the lists are incomplete and you'll feel superior to the author for having missed some entries in certain lists, but he's cleverly clearly mentioned at the very beginning that not all the lists are complete and one of the primary purpose of the book is to increase the enjoyment by finishing these lists ourselves. However, typos I'm assuming are not covered under this so I take immense enjoyment in pointing out an error from Page 16 - 2nd paragraph, 1st line - "A list of film titles that went on to become songs in other films" should be "A list of film titles that took its name from songs in other films". Also, page 186, 3rd paragraph 3rd line "And thus was born probably the most famous human-best friend combo..." which I feel should read "And thus was born probably the most famous human-beast friend combo..."

Just like in his previous (and first book) - Cricket he keeps the audience engrossed with one tidbit after another and constantly challenges you. Also, I'm glad that he maintains his language which is elegant yet simple and never pretentious. It's in that perfect zone where you feel like the author is your friend, well spoken and intelligent, but never condescending, and always trying to be helpful rather than show off his immense knowledge.

The book is great, but has it's frailties, particularly in the form of the author's biases, and I guess gives a more genuine feel to it. It's clear from the very beginning that . He makes no bones about his obsession with Amitabh Bachchan, Sholay & Madhuri Dixit but you don't hold that as a grudge against him because the author is not trying to portray himself as a neutral, spectacle-wearing studious disciple of cinema, but a cheering, whistling, dancing fan. You kind of forgive him for not realizing that the greatest star that Bollywood ever produced was actually born in 1965 in New Delhi to Taj Mohammad Khan & Lateef Fatima.

This is one book I am looking forward to paying extra luggage fees to take with me and keep on my bookshelf.

Go buy.

Answer to the Godfather question: Dharmatma, Dayavan, Nayakan, Atank Hi Atank, Virasat, Rajneeti & Sarkar.

Yours Gratefully

2012-06-14T07:33:00.000-07:00

[DISCLAIMER: Personal & long post]

Tomorrow I will be walking down Ryan Field along with my classmates at Kellogg to collect my MBA degree. One of the 150,000 odd US students to do so this year. A part of a much larger number of Indians across the world. No big deal. True. But it brings to an end a chapter that started nine years back. A chapter from my story, and it will remain incomplete without this post.

It was during my second year at college, I was doing my B. Com or undergraduate in Business as they refer to it in other parts of the world, that I wanted to do an MBA. A normal career choice for a moderately bright student like myself. For those not acquainted with the Indian B-school system, at least in the mid-2000s, almost the entire batch of the top schools joined straight from college with no prior work experience. This means that the one annual test day, taken by ~150,000 students then (more than ~200,000 now) pretty much sealed your fate for the year. The top B-schools - the Indian Institutes of Managements (IIMs) had around 3000 seats. If you do the math only 2% of the test takers had a chance of making it.

I started with my MBA preparations during my final year of college and was consistently performing among the top 1%-3%. I knew that with further practice unless I messed things up on the D-Day I had a fair shot at cracking it. It was the third Sunday of November in 2004 and I went to Presidency College, Kolkata for my test. I do not recollect the exact details but I remember coming out of the exam and calling my parents from a PCO (Public Call Office) booth and telling them it could go either way. The results came out in a month's time and though I had performed better than 95% of the test-takers, it wasn't good enough for an interview call from any of the 6 IIMs.

This is where I will try to but won't do justice to the role my parents played in providing the support and confidence in me. First, it's almost taken for granted that all good Indian students will pursue engineering right after school, whereas I, in spite of always being a good student at school and doing quite well in my school final exams decided to take up Commerce. Just because I wanted to. There was tremendous societal pressure on my parents to "show me the right path" but they protected me from all the noise and asked me to do whatever I wanted, with the confidence that they're with me. This was 3 years prior to the MBA episode. This time around, first there was the setback that I wasn't going to the premier B-Schools. Second, no "good student" worth his/her salt thinks of not doing his/her Masters before joining the workforce. It was during this time that Google, just starting their operations in India, came to our campus. And I made it. Goggles? Web Page? Am I mad? And my parents were being foolish in letting a twenty-one year old take the decisions of his own life. Once again, all they told me was they believed in me and would support me in any decision I took. Even if that meant joining a company with a funny name and brightly-colored child like logo. Gulu (Mom, yeah I know silly!) & Baban (Dad) - I know today you are more excited and happy than I am and so I wanted to congratulate you on the MBA. I have perhaps never mentioned it in a public forum, but - thank you for being by my side, always. Love you. And love you too MLS (my little sister) for being there.

Google on the other hand I have never shied away from showing my love for, in a very vocal fashion. It was as if Google took over my guardianship from my parents. I can't thank everyone who put their faith in me while at Google - giving me responsibilities far bigger than what my years or experience would have made seem prudent. I was most fortunate to have managers who were far more of mentors than bosses like Neel, Ashish, Sundar, Aliza and Sridhar. Also, a special mention to Shailesh, a fellow Kellogg alum and my manager at Google who instilled the confidence in me to go big.

Then there were the friends, Anal, Sreejita, Manan, Saurabh, Dushyant, Savio, Arnab and many others who not only believed in me but also spent hours guiding me through the application process, preparing me for the MBA interviews and going over multiple iterations of the essays. And then there was Boudhayan who timed his move to Chicago to perfection and played the greatest host for the year.

December 2010 I received the call from Kellogg, congratulating me on my admission. The past year deserves an entire post and more for itself, all I will say for now is that the MBA was worth every penny of the many I spent on it.

Finally this story will remain irrelevant without the person who sacrificed everything for it. If taking the risk of tying the knot just a few months after her twenty-second birthday was not enough, she actually gave up everything she had - her city she had always lived in, her parents who lived in the same city, her friends, her lifetime savings and her most cherished job, to fly out with me to an unknown country, without a job or purpose. Just to fulfill my dreams. My newly acquired MBA skills tell me she'll make for a pretty lousy businesswoman working on blind faith and love. Something else tells me I'm covered, for life. Thanks for everything Veni.

The Kellogg India Business Conference

2012-05-19T13:55:00.000-07:00

The following article was published in my Financial Times blog today. Reproducing without any edits.

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This past weekend we hosted the 18th annual Kellogg India Business Conference. The conference, the first one was held in 1995, is one of the most prominent conferences organised by the student body and attracts some of the most accomplished men and women from corporate India and beyond.

: Opportunities Take Flight

Once again this year we had a wide gamut of Indian achievers from a variety of fields including the internet, enterprise software, venture capital, consumer packaged goods and not-for-profit. The conference started early on Saturday morning and was kicked off by a most riveting welcome address by one of Kellogg’s favourite professors – Mohanbir Sawhney.

Prof Sawhney delivering the welcome address

This was followed by a keynote address by Param Uberoi, the chairman of Pernod Ricard, south Asia who retraced his steps from his initial days in the beverage industry and outlined how the market has grown and matured drastically over the years. He regaled the crowd with plenty of anecdotes and insightful observations about not only the beverage industry but also the overall landscape of business in India.

Mr. Uberoi delivering the opening keynote address

This was followed by a panel discussion on financial services in India called “Fuelling a Billion Aspirations”, which was moderated by Navin Chopra. It included Kellogg alumni Rahul Khanna, the managing director of Canaan Partners, India and Jasjit Mangat, director, investments, Omidyar Network India Advisors, as well as K B Chandrasekar, the founder and chief executive of Asia Bridge Capital and Amitabh Chaudhry, the managing director and chief executive of HDFC Standard Life.

A wide variety of subjects were discussed including the exit strategies of venture capitalists in Indian start-ups and how and when should Indians working overseas decide to return to their home country.

The finance panel in progress

After the panel discussion the audience was enthralled by a passionate speech from Abraham George, the founder and chairman of The George Foundation, who has been working hard for many years to try to improve the lot of the underprivileged in India. He moved the assembled audience with his statistics about the real impact of poverty in India and discussed various ways in which everyone can make a difference and contribute towards a brighter, more egalitarian future for the nation.

Abraham George delivering his keynote speech

The afternoon session started with the social innovation competition that saw four student teams, three from Kellogg and one from NYU’s Stern School of Business, present their ideas about solving certain issues in India. These ranged from insurance and the availability of seeds, to iron-rich nutritional biscuits for mothers to tackle the problem of iron deficiency in Indian women.

Further ideas were investing in various kinds of skill development among the large population through a modified private equity fund and shared tractors, along the lines of the car sharing business model in the west. After an hour of intense presentation and gruelling question and answer sessions with the jury of professors and speakers at the conference, UpSkill Capital won first prize, followed by iNsure. They received $10,000 and $5,000 respectively as a team and they plan to invest these amounts in their venture ideas and bring them to fruition.

UpSkill Capital - the winning team in the Social Innovation Competition

Bharat Goenka, co-founder and managing director of Tally Solutions delivered the next keynote speech and won over the audience with his stories of the hurdles he initially faced before the success of one of India’s best known software brands. He also made a strong impact by firstly highlighting the issues that India faces as a country today, but also pointing out that nevertheless it is poised to take off as the biggest economic superpower in the coming years.

Bharat Goenka delivering his keynote speech

The final session of the conference was a panel discussion on entrepreneurship in India which was moderated by Rashmi Bansal, the best-selling author of entrepreneurial stories (Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish). The panel consisted of some of the young achievers of online India – Anupam Mittal, the founder and chief executive of People Group (the parent company of brands such as shaadi.com, makaan.com etc) and Neetu Bhatia co-founder, chairman and chief executive of KyaZoonga.

Bharat Goenka was also on the panel and discussed the opportunities available to those who want to make a start in the world of Indian entrepreneurship. Lots of personal experiences were shared by the panelists and by the end of the session it seemed as if many in the audience were motivated to move back to India and start off on their own!

Rashmi Bansal moderating the entrepreneurship panel

The Entrepreneurship Panel in progress

The highly energetic and inspiring day was brought to a close by a well-attended networking session with the students and other members of the audience getting to spend some quality time with the various speakers and panelists.

And finally a note of thanks to the conference leadership committee who worked very hard for months to put it together and deliver a most engaging event.

The India Business Conference Leadership Team

I Want To Be...

2012-02-18T11:25:00.000-08:00

We all spend some time reflecting on what we want to be. Recently while doing the same I realized I want to be a lot of things, and though it's sad I'm not most of these, the good part is I can always try to be some of these.

A Writer

A Photographer

A Journalist

A Technology Evangelist

A Movie Director

A Blogger

A Cricket Commentator

A Quiz Master

A Travel Writer/Host

An Internet Entrepreneur

A Talk Show Host

A Movie Critic

An Actor

A Word Game Creator

A Restaurant Critic

An Orator

Google Love

2012-02-09T15:38:00.003-08:00

Yet another easter egg from the big G!

Type the following in the Google search bar

sqrt(cos(x))*cos(300x)+sqrt(abs(x))-0.7)*(4-x*x)^0.01, sqrt(6-x^2), -sqrt(6-x^2) from -4.5 to 4.5

I'm not a big fan of Valentine's Day, but found it cute nevertheless.

[Source: Mashable]

Brunch @ Marmalade & A Day At The Museum

2012-02-04T20:45:00.000-08:00

Trying this new pictorial and interactive blog format, with more text than a Facebook album, much less than a usual blog post. Really appreciate any feedback, will decide format of future posts accordingly. Thanks.

Today was a day most memorably spent with my classmate & ex-Googler Ethan, his wife & Googler Jamie and of course, Veni. Yes, I'm on Google+ as well, in case you wondered.

They suggested this amazing brunch place, Marmalde on West Montrose Avenue and it more than lived up to its expectations. The place seemed to have a loyal following of its own, especially on a balmy Saturday morning. After waiting for for a few minutes we spent the next many in a state of utter confusion and temptation trying not to miss one amazing dish for the other while ordering. Safe to say we were far from disappointed. (You can click on the images below for a closer look)

Ethan's brunch - Chef Efrain's Texan Bennie

Potato rosemary flatbread with our slow-cooked pork shoulder, marinated in Marmalade’s own secret-recipe house brine, topped with pineapple chutney, poached eggs, drizzled with pesto hollandaise

Veni's Order - The 'Shroom' Benedict

Two poached eggs, sautéed spinach, roasted tomatoes on top of breaded Portobello within a bed of our house potatoes topped with sundried tomato hollandaise

Jamie's dish - Red velvet french toast

My brunch - Smoked Salmon Omeletta

Smoked Atlantic salmon, capers, dill, scallions, red peppers, cream cheese, topped with lobster hollandaise

After that hearty brunch, which even by the standards of my healthy appetite was well and truly more than a (breakfast + lunch) we decided to indulge a little in the finer things of life and headed to The Art Institute of Chicago.

The AIC is on Michigan Avenue also known as Swami Vivekananda Way

The Bengali in me was filled with pride seeing this great cultural institute on the main road of the city named after one of Bengal's & India's most brilliant sons - Swami Vivekananda who had the city of Chicago enthralled by his oratory skills and intellect in 1893.

And if that was not interesting enough, we were in for a surprise to find that one of the exhibitions being held presently by the AIC is that of Rabindranath Tagore's paintings. Some days are just born more coincidental than others.

Seeing the familiar face in a whole new setting was quite nostalgic

The AIC itself is a marvelous destination for all sorts of art form such as oil paintings, pastels, photography, sculptures and needlework. We were welcomed by this stunning city scene which almost gives a feeling of waiting to come to life at any moment.

It seemed like a group of ladies and gentlemen had assembled at the museum to replicate some of the masterpieces and they sat patiently in front of the canvases and flawlessly recreated the scenes and murals on their own equipments such as the ones I photographed below.

The next few photographs are from the many hours we spent admiring the works of Monet, Van Gogh, Pabst and many others.

The miniature city dwellers

The Knight in Shining Armour

The spectacular self portrait by Van Gogh

Monet's 'Stacks of Wheat' series

Ivan Albright's ghastly 'Picture of Dorian Gray'

We ended the thoroughly stimulating tour at the Chicago Stock Exchange Trading Room

and the curio shop which displayed this clock which gave me a feeling of deja vu from one of the social media viral photos doing the rounds.

The Halfway Mark

2012-02-04T17:36:00.004-08:00

The following article, capturing my first couple of months at Kellogg, was published in my Financial Times blog today. Reproducing without any edits.

________________________________________________________

This morning I received a call from a new admit who’s recently received his Kellogg offer, and has the same doubts that I had when I reached out to my Kellogg buddy around this time last year. The call made me realise that we’re past the halfway mark and have a little less than five months remaining of what has been an exceptionally fulfilling year.

We’re a few weeks into the winter quarter and Jacobs (the main building of Kellogg, named after Donald Jacobs who dean from 1975-2001) seems like a repeat of the fall semester, with students walking about purposively with CVs and ensuring their hair is in place before entering the interview rooms.

This time it’s mostly the first years looking for internships for the summer. Of course this is accompanied with hours of preparation, often with the final year students who’ve been there and done that recently. I can’t stress enough the collaborative culture at Kellogg. Just glad to have been able to be a part of it. It provides you with an opportunity to experience everyone’s successes and also share your lessons with your classmates.

Of course I cannot write a post on Kellogg and Evanston in January without mentioning the snow! Those who’ve been following the column for sometime know how I had never seen snow and was eagerly awaiting the white blanket.

I’m told it’s been a very mild winter by Chicago standards but we have had two-three days of continuous snowfall, which left this scenic suburb looking like a fairyland. A slippery one though.

We also had the annual Kellogg marketing conference earlier this month. The sell out crowd of

over 500 were thoroughly engaged by the keynote speakers – Mark Addicks, chief marketing officer of General Mills and Alfredo Gangotena, chief marketing officer of MasterCard.

The day also included some highly stimulating conversations on the different panels on brand perception turnaround, creating dialogue with consumers: value co-creation and changing the game, mobile marketing (moderated by the superstar Prof Sawhney) and others.

#kmc12, the chosen hashtag for the conference was making frequent appearances in all our Twitter timelines.

I have to end the post on the epic basketball game played between Kellogg & Chicago Booth prior to the Chicago Bulls V Milwaukee Bucks NBA match at the United Center.

It was an incredible experience to watch our classmates playing on the same court as Derrick Rose and others. Our boys made the evening that much memorable by giving us a 15-10 win over our friends from the city!

Review of 'The Mine' By Arnab Ray

2012-01-30T00:16:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer: I'm a friend of the author. Much to my dismay, he hasn't promised me anything to write this.

__________________________________________________

If I were a Bollywood hero, at this time I should've been in India, trying to trace the author in one of his many book launch events, with the sole purpose of avenging the trauma his book caused my wife. But hero, I'm not. So, I'm at my laptop at quarter past two in the morning, writing this review, while my wife is sleeping next to me, perhaps being haunted by images from the same book in her nightmares. Shameful.

Actually the only word that truly describes the book is repulsive. Perhaps revolting also fits the bill. Yes, the famous humour blogger and author of MIHYAP has come up with the kind of stuff that leaves a terrible stench in the mouth. And from what I understand, that, precisely is what he set out to do in this makeover second book.

'The Mine' is a horror story, but not along the lines of 'Zee Horror Show' or 'Andheri Raat Mein Diya Tere Haath Mein', which of course you'll perhaps associate more with the author. However, in this book Arnab almost makes it a point to not have a single line that can make you smile, leave alone laugh. Through the story of an assorted cast of characters with a past, brought together at 'The Mine', where funny things are going on, we are brought face to face with a different kind of horror, that lies deep within ourselves. The kind that we can't even dare to accept while introspecting. In case I give an impression that it's a philosophical novel which asks you to look into your heart and listen to your parents (I love K3G) I am doing it completely wrong. Think of any sort of macabre grossness and you will find it in the pages of 'The Mine'. Some parts of the book are so explicit in its gory details that I felt uncomfortable to talk to him after reading the book knowing what his fertile imagination is capable of cooking up! If you're thinking of sweeping that girl you've been fancying for sometime by gifting a copy of this on the day of Saint Valentine's feast, consider yourself warned.

I personally have always felt that Arnab is a far superior writer while tackling serious issues and topics and his thorough research for so many of his blog posts have helped me and others to understand many complicated world issues in a very personalized and descriptive fashion. 'The Mine' is the epitome of his serious, focused, researched and nuanced writing.

I don't want to give away any part of the story, even inadvertently, because I feel the very essence of the book is in facing the unexpected and is best enjoyed by going in with no preconceived notion, besides being ready to bear some very hard hitting ideas. [Plug: The Mine is available here, here and here among others]

It takes immense courage to present oneself, so early in one's career, in a completely different shade from what the audience expects and then to shock them with the kind of negativity and gore as is there in the book. I will perhaps even go to the extent of comparing this book to Sir's (SRK for the uninitiated) anti-hero roles during the early 90s. And I don't compare people or works to Sir very often or very lightly.

Running With The Bulls!

2012-01-27T22:34:00.000-08:00

I do not claim to be a basketball fan. In fact far from it. Growing up in India in the '90s meant I did come across the occasional basketball game on TV every now and then, but quickly moved to the next channel hoping against hope of having cheerleaders in our game of cricket one day. In hindsight it seems Lalit Modi was silently listening to my prayers. But that's not the point of this post.

To me basketball was Chicago Bulls. It was this large man, sticking out his tongue and wearing the prime number 23 jersey and scoring points, winning games and helping me win points in quiz sports rounds. Later on I Wikipedia-ed him several times to understand the magnitude of his contribution to James Naismith's hoop and ball sport and. But even then I can by no means call myself a basketball fan.

However, given that fact that we're in Chicago and the Bulls were playing a game at United Center, and there was a pre-game between Kellogg & Chicago's Booth School, almost the entire school descended upon the stadium, with me and my wife in attendance. The tickets were affordable, and we got purple coloured Kellogg # 1 t-shirts to cheer our school!

To me sports is cricket and all comparisons usually begin and end with Eden Gardens and Ferozeshah Kotla (the only 2 stadiums I have watched the sport in - Tests, ODI & T20s) and the Bull's United Center at first was much more of a luxurious multiplex than a sports stadium.

Entering the court-side takes you by surprise because of the intimidating size of the indoor stadium and the extravagant, glamourous paraphernalia. We went mainly for the atmosphere and of course to cheer for Kellogg and were richly treated to a solid performance by the Kellogg team, destroying the Booth team 15-8 in the pre-match! So, now I have friends who have played in the United Center:)

Kellogg beating Booth

The Bulls V Bucks game was a heady concoction of sports + entertainment and kept us on our feet (also literally because we had standing tickets!) for the 2.5 odd hours it went on for. The scoreline was 107-100 in favour of the home team, and this also meant the entire stadium could go and ask for their free Big Mac! McDonald's had promised a big mac to everyone if the Bulls scored more than 100 points and won the game.

The match underway in the massive United Center

It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience, shared with friends, for whom this was the first time at an NBA game as well. The moment of the evening for me was just before the match started, when they dimmed the lights in the stadium and started off proceedings by introducing the Bulls. The most glamorous live sports event I've seen till date. Shot a video with my phone camera which I'm sharing below, forgive the quality.

Times Of India V The Hindu

2012-01-25T21:25:00.000-08:00

The battle of Tamil Nadu's english reading newspaper audience has began.

India's largest circulating English daily, trying to take on the Tamil King, 'The Hindu' in its own territory launched this campaign in December 2011.

The normally polished Hindu was quite direct in its rebuttal in the form of this ad that it launched in mid-Jan 2012.

The scene seems to be getting steamier!

Thank You Moo!

2012-01-20T20:10:00.003-08:00

A few days back I came across this article on Mashable that mentioned Moo.com, a speciality business card printing company, has partnered with facebook to make 'facebook cards' or fancy business cards made from your facebook timeline (including your profile and cover photo) with some of your personal information such as phone number, email ID, website and any quote that you choose. What's more interesting is that were giving away 50 such cards for free to the first 200,000 people who signed up for the service. Usually when words like free, facebook and startup come together I sign up before realizing what I'm signing up for and this was no exception.

This evening I received a package in the mail with a box of the most attractive business cards I have ever had. Here's what the cards and the package look like.

The package

Above: Front and Below: Reverse of the cards

Not only are the cards printed with the highest quality of paper, but also the customer service was impeccable with friendly notifications at each step of confirmation of ordering, shipping and delivery.

Hooked on to Moo? Here's how you can get the cards, free and otherwise:

To get the offer, first click on “About” under your basic info on your Timeline. Then scroll down to “Contact Info” and roll over the little business card icon — you should see a rollover box that will direct you to MOO. In order to take advantage of the offer, Facebook users will need to have enabled Timeline.

To place a regular paid order on MOO.com, sign in through Facebook and check that the aggregated information from your profile is correct on the card. Then you can flip the card over to add a favorite quote or phrase before printing. Currently, the cards are for sale in 50-card bundles. Facebook Cards are available at $15 for 50, $30 for 100, $45 for 150 and $60 for 200.

And here's a big thank you to Moo! Will be handing out these cards to the next 50 new people I meet. And I start with the Kellogg Marketing Conference tomorrow morning!

P.S: If you're ordering your set of cards you can use the code G2MSCG and get a 15% off.

Movies Roundup 2011

2011-12-28T18:35:00.000-08:00

Once again it's the list making time of the year, and just like in 2009 and 2010 I have made meticulous notes of the movies (that released during the year/I watched in theatres during the year) of 2011 and am keen on sharing the information overload with you. However, unlike in the previous years where I provided a synopsis of my top 5 Hindi & English movies I have decided to take the tedious way of sharing my 140 character review of all 22 movies I watched this year. Okay. Lazy way. These are my tweet-reviews of the movies soon after watching them and documented here for posterity. For the rest of stats lovers in you, as usual we will do the number summary like in the previous years.

Year # Seen H:E Top Rating Avg Rating

2007 32 22:10 9.0 5.78

2008 30 23:7 8.5 6.35

2009 24 18:6 9.0 6.85
2010 25 16:9 8.5 6.62
2011 22 16:6 8.5 6.77

Before we go into the entire list of movies and their scores, here are the Top 5 of the year for me, in rank order.

Rank 1

Rank 2

Rank 3

Rank 4

Rank 5

And the complete details follow.

The Tourist- Swift, thrilling, somewhat predictable. Beautiful locales and absolutely stunning lead pair. 0.5 extra for Jolie & Depp. 6.5/10

Dhobi Ghat - Vibrant, fresh and visually appealing. True to it's style leaves the story open at the end. Captivating 95 minutes. 8/10.

No One Killed Jessica - Cinematically left a lot to be desired, but made up for it with the spirit & positivity. Vidya - A+, Rani - B-. 7/10

Yeh Saali Zindagi - a dark, crime comedy that teases you with equal doses of scares and laughs all through. Superb performances by all. 8/10.

7 Khoon Maaf - beautifully picturised dark comedy, haunting & thrilling almost throughout. Could have been 20 minutes shorter. 7/10.

Rio (3D) - Typical witty, funny & entertaining Hollywood animation movie keeping you engaged for 2 hours. 3D adds to the fun. 7/10.

Shor In The City - What a movie! For the 1st time you will not only use Tusshar Kapoor & 'good movie' together but also 'very'. 8/10.

Source Code - Reminds you a lot of Inception and a bit of Vantage Point. Typicall sci-fi thriller, edge-of-seat etc. Recommended. 7/10.

I Am - a stunningly sensitive depiction of four heavy subjects without getting preachy or overtly dramatic. Brilliant portrayals. 8.5/10

Chalo Dilli - a genuinely humorous story with endearing performances by Lara & Vinay Pathak. Resembles Bheja Fry in places. Worth it. 7.5/10

Hangover 2 - perhaps the best example of reproducing something that worked in the past, with minimal tampering. My guilty pleasure. 6/10.

Kung Fu Panda 2 - Delightful story about Po & and his bumbling antics, endearing characters, holds your attention. Good, expected. 6.5/10

Delhi Belly - Crass, toilet humour ridden and wannabe. Still had me in splits in parts. Bold. Tries too hard. Usual senseless climax. 6/10.

Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows (Part 2) - And with that my childhood is officially over. 8.5/10 [Rating is emotionally inflated]

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara - Fresh & engaging. Beautifully shot. Reminiscent of DCH & Rock On in tone and content. Strong performances. 7.5/10

That Girl In Yellow Boots - Gritty and gripping throughout with an ending that can leave many repulsed. Brilliant performance by Kalki. 7/10

Bodyguard - Will take immense efforts to come up with a worse movie. Glad that we sneaked into the next screen w/out paying for it. 2/10

Ra.One - A visual extravaganza. Shoddy start. Outstanding visual effects, at par with the best. Wafer thin plot. Unpretentious. 6.5/10.

Rockstar - Imtiaz Ali leaves no stone unturned in dishing out a mega disappointment. Contrived & hackneyed. With plastic for a heroine. 5/10.

The Dirty Picture - Predictable and over-the-top in most parts. Points to Vidya for her earnest efforts, Emraan a joke. Disappointed. 5/10.

Royal Bengal Rohoshyo - a pleasant surprise from Sandip Ray after the previous Feluda disappointments. Relived those childhood moments. 7/10

Don 2 - Very (Slick. Classy. Gripping. Pacy) SRK is charm, wit, elegance & stardom personified, and that could be unabashed fanspeak! 8/10.

World's Best, #1, Fantastic, Mind Blowing!

2011-11-22T20:57:00.001-08:00

The subject line pales in comparison to the protagonist of this piece, Dr. Engg. Real Estate Agent, Vaccuum Cleaner Salesman and Inventor Punit Sethi.

There are social media experts and then there is "World's Most Popular Social Media Expert as declared by Google" And as his Google+ profile says, in a Bond, James Bond way, "Google my name...Dr Punit Sethi is an"

Where do we start with Dr. Engg. Real Estate Agent, Vaccuum Cleaner Salesman and Inventor Punit Sethi. Let's take the easier route and refer to his introduction. Following are the excerpts:

1. Engineer cum Author.. with MTech, MSc, MBA & PhD. Infra, Power, Highways, Real Estate, TQM, Six SIGMA Expert. Google declared World's Most Popular Social Media, Corporate Communication & FB Expert. Author. Messenger of Peace for World Harmony.

2.Google declared Dr Punit Sethi an Indian Engineer cum Author as facebook expert and his book “Luv U Mate” on facebook as most popular in the World‏.

And at this point you are beginning to doubt the claims of Dr. Engg. Real Estate Agent, Vaccuum Cleaner Salesman and Inventor Punit Sethi, aren't you? Before you sin any further let me share the bona fide Yahoo India news article which confirms that Google did indeed Dr. Engg....Sethi as the most popular expert on Facebook.

Ha! Read that Pope & Rajinikanth joke? No? Good time to do so.

Anyway, moving on to the more concrete accomplishments of BTech (Civil), MTech (Infra/Environment), MSc, MBA, PhD, Member American Society of Civil Engineers, Fellow of Institute of Valuers, Fellow of Institute of Engineers, Member of Indian Roads Congress, Member of Indian Buildings Congress, Chartered Engineer...Lead Auditor QMS, ISO, IMS, OHSAS, EMS, NDT Punit Sethi.

He's penned the first book to win not only the Nobel Prize for Literature and the Booker of Bookers but also the Oscar & the Filmfare Awards - SPREAD LOVE NOT HATE; LUV U MATE!! And once again I notice the strains of disbelief in your eyes oh ye naive readers of this blog.

For you cynical netizens nothing will work unless the 'Wall Street Journal' itself confirms the facts in any blog post, isn't it? Fair enough, here's the revered WSJ itself informing you how the respected Indian minister Kapil Sibal launched the greatest book on earth. And sales have been moderately swift, promptly pushing the Bible to the 2nd spot within a few hours of its launch. Oh, soon after the WSJ article, our own Economic Times followed suit with a post about the greatest book of all time.

Okay, so now that the skeptic in you has been taken care off, the curiosity to know more about the man must be killing you from inside. Fret not, Lord Sethi has once again out-thought you and left enough footprints on popular social networking sites to sing his paens. You can find his illustrious career on LinkedIn, engage in some intellectually stimulating conversations on Facebook and follow his 140 characters of wisdom on Twitter.

And yes, even this cutout of the Indian cricket skipper couldn't escape Dr. Sethi's charisma and decided to take part in the book launch.

We're honoured to be living in the same day and age as Engineer + Doctor (PhD) = Doctor ♥♥ Engineer & a humanitarian. (Engr with MTech, MBA & PhD. Infra, Power, Highways, Real Estate, TQM, Six SIGMA Expert. Google declared FB Expert. Author. Messenger of Peace for World Harmony) Dr. Sethi.

P.S: If anyone has any information on this giant among men please do not hesitate to share in the comments below.

And It Snowed!

2011-11-10T13:32:00.001-08:00

November 10th, 2011 will remain a special day as I could finally get "watching snowfall" off from my list of 'Things To Do Before I Die' list. In fact, technically the moment arrived earlier this morning around 8:00 AM when I was walking to school and it was the exact opposite of what I had always expected it to be. Forget about snowfall, it was more like 'spit-fall' and that too by someone who wouldn't do too well in a spitting game. My friend could just not be convinced that those little white things floating around were snow flakes and not pollen grains.

However, on my way back this afternoon, it happened. Complete with the intrigue and romance associated with the phenomenon. I was waiting at the traffic lights when suddenly, out of nowhere, the sunny Evanston skies turned a dull shade of grey and the entire place got covered with the tiny little cold specks that magically appeared. And then things became more aggressive! The specks became little spheres, almost like micro hail stones, and the temperature dipped to freezing levels. The roads, sidewalks and lawns started to be painted white. What a moment!

In case you're as excited about the first snow as Veni & I were, here's a photo captured by her from our house and a video below that I took while braving the sudden attack of the icy globules.

Check out the snow covered roof of our adjoining house!