Cockamamie Theory

2015; first and last

firestarter — Thu, 31 Dec 2015 18:25:23 +0000

While thoughts kept crossing my mind to revive this space, procrastination got the better of me. This is going to be the first and last post of the year 2015.

2015 highlights:

Became dad of a gorgeous little princess. Have had some wonderful moments with the kid and family. I’m having helluva time and hope it’s going to get better next year. Yeah! I’m greedy with this one.
Changed my job. It’s ok not the greatest of the decisions. But yeah 100 times better than the previous one, in terms of office politics and all that.?
I could not complete any of my hobby projects my MacBook stopped working, a motherboard issue that cannot be repaired. These hobby projects give me some sort of fulfilment in terms of work I want to do.
I said a firm “NO”, to few things. Lot of time spent over these in last couple of years it’s now worth nothing, Happy that it’s off my back.

2015 was a year where my bucket list grew rapidly, but accomplishments were very few.

Looking forward to 2016:

Complete one hobby project every month.
Make a habit of waking up before 6 AM.
Sleep for 7 hours.
Become more fit: exercise, cycling, jogging
Read 2 books every month
Blog here more regularly.
Start a tech blog.
Travel to a new place every month.
Try two new restaurants every month.
Be more open and not shy.

I’ve kind of planned most of 2016 in my head hope I can match it with action this time.

Happy and a prosperous new year to everyone !!

Belt !!

firestarter — Thu, 14 Nov 2013 18:52:48 +0000

Belts are worn around the waist so that the trousers don’t slip down.

Did you know belt can also be worn to prevent buckles of the trousers bursting open ?

Unfortunately today I’m wearing my belt for the second reason.

***

Alarm 1

Time : Go Figure…

firestarter — Sun, 11 Aug 2013 18:59:38 +0000

Time, it keeps ticking, tick-tock…

It doesn’t care for anyone. The oldest, the fastest, more, less, success, failure all measured against time. It is so important at the same-time, so arrogant , so stubborn, it refuses to wait for anyone, it keeps ticking. tick-tock…

I got a year older already !! Time is flying so fast… tick-tock…

The Time; its so cruel, but then…
Have I given Time its due respect ? an easy answer: NO.
Should I start respecting Time ? again an easy answer: Hell !! Yes.
Do I know how to do this Umm…yeah! kind of…Umm…well! Not really!…

Go “Figure, how to respect Time !!” before I run out of it.

Inkaar : Ends disappointingly

firestarter — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 15:41:02 +0000

The movie starts with a lot of promise. Arjun, CEO of an AD agency is accused of sexual harassment, by his own protegé Chitrangada. Movie narrates the 2 long days of investigation of this accusation. “He says, She says” arguments, back and forth between past and present. It nicely builds up the anticipation of who might be wrong. Songs are good. I liked the first half . Chitrangada looking fab, Arjun looks comfortable and sticks nicely to the role.

Trouble starts in the second half, movie begins to drag. Few things in the story stops making sense, it looks made up, the hype and the drama slowly fizzle out. The last nail in the coffin is the ending. Ending makes this good plot, the nicely built suspense all laughable, absolutely rubbish.

This is the second movie I saw this week that started with a great promise and ended as a damp squib, that was Talaash. It’s a simple rule “All’s well that ends well !!”.

***

To summarize, Inkaar a Sudhir Mishra movie, an interesting plot, Arjun and Chitrangada looking fab, awesome background score, good songs, and a pathetic ending. Should you watch it ? It’s okay to watch it one time, if you like Arjun and Chitrangada.

***

[Extending this post a bit. Beware Spoilers ahead]

What did the ending really mean ? Confused ? Let me explain :

Rahul (Arjun) and Maya (Chitrangada) express their love for each other (in a shady wash room with a flickering light, too dramatic eh !) . Rahul’s assumption that Maya sleeps around with bosses to climb up the ladder turns out wrong.

Maya has almost lost the sexual harassment case, if she looses all her hard work and reputation goes waste. Rahul’s love for Maya doesn’t want this to happen, to save her from this embarrassment Rahul quits the job and moves to Saharanpur.

Maya gets to know Rahul has quit the job. She picks up a poster of 3 people riding on one bike, pauses, smiles and she too quits the job.

There is catch here, if you can recall while they were in Thailand discussing the bike AD , the night before the presentation. Rahul tells Maya that he is from Saharanpur.

So, Maya picks up a poster of 3 people riding on one bike, pauses and smiles (coz she knows Rahul’s destination). she to quits the job, goes to Saharanpur. Rahul and Maya then live happily ever after in Saharanpur :).

Alive and Breathing

firestarter — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 11:30:28 +0000

Sorry to disappoint I’m not dead. Back from an un-intended break !

For almost a year I could not muster time to write one short blog !! I’m the best of all the worsts in time-management. Need anymore proof ?

Its not that I ignored this space completely, blogs were always on my mind, topics would pop-up and fade out. One thing I know for fact now is that blogs are best written when the topic is hot and fresh in mind. Pushing it to later squeezes the juice out of the matter and the motivation to write.

Thats not all, I’ve two blogs, its hard to decide where to post what. I’m more fond of my wordpress blog than the one on blogger. It takes me to my past, and makes me smile on how I used to be and what I’ve become Not sure in a good or bad way.

Closing my blogger blog !
More coming your way here, get set !!

[image credits : 2leggedtripod]

Guinness Book of World Records : Origin

firestarter — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 07:54:24 +0000

“]

Image courtesy wikipedia

In 1951, Sir Hugh Beaver, managing director of Guinness Breweries, was involved in a drunken argument about which of Europe’s many game birds could fly the fastest. Unable to settle the argument even after consulting a well-stocked library, he commissioned a new reference book that would be filled with the sort of facts that people routinely argue about over beer — the fastest, furthest, most expensive, largest, and so forth.

Thus was Guinness World Records born, and it has continued to this day.

[src of the above article]

Keep the Change : Nirupama Subramanian

firestarter — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 18:06:31 +0000

Damayanti Balachandran “D” is an intelligent Madrasi gal from a conservative Brahmin family. She has been studious, without much fun in school and college. She hates her job and to top her worries, her parents are pestering her to get married. She decides to go for a corporate job in Mumbai. Her life suddenly changes, she has to now deal with corporate madness, her bosses and a size zero room-mate. “D” visits Goa for a corporate training, returns falling in love. Further story is how “D” manages her love, career and betrayal.

Image from Harper Collins site

The plot is nothing new, the story is very predictable. The only savior I felt is the witty humor that keep you smiling throughout the read. If you are, traveling or say you need a relaxing read with “दिमाग की बत्ती off” then this book is an excellent choice. Its not riveting yet not boring, its witty and time-pass read.

Verdict: I rate this chick flick average, however it is a pleasant read.

The Fist of God : Fredrick Forsyth

firestarter — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 12:17:38 +0000

The plot in Fist of God is based on the first Gulf war, Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, followed by the American war on Iraq few months later. Many of the details are based on the facts of the Gulf war. The topic is well researched, I really admire Forsyth books for this reason. And ofcourse like his other books its a pacy read.

After Iraq invasion of Kuwait, Arab states panic. America utilizes the situation, to make Saudi Arabia believe that their oil wells are in danger. Meanwhile the intelligence agencies CIA, SIS and Mossad of the USA, Great Britain and Israel respectively try to understand the next steps and motivation of Saddam Hussein using intelligence intercepts and a high profile mole in Saddam’s cabinet. Americans plan Operation Dessert Shield that transforms to Operation Dessert Storm to attack Iraq. Allied forces come to know about a dangerous secret weapon of Iraq, “Fist of God”. Later part describes how the Allied forces find what the weapon is, where it is and how they destroy it.

My gist of the book sounds boring, however the book has many interesting espionage plots and gulf war facts makes the read very entertaining. I would not classify this book to be as good as The Day of the Jackal. But better than the Icon.

I give a thumbs up to this book, worth a read.

[Cross Blogged here]

7 Amazing Success Lessons from Thomas Edison

firestarter — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 19:59:16 +0000

7 Amazing Success Lessons from Thomas Edison:

Impossibility

“Nearly every man who develops an idea works it up to the point where it looks impossible, and then he gets discouraged. That’s not the place to become discouraged.”

Roadblocks are sign-posts letting you know that success is just around the corner. Roadblocks are there to keep the uncommitted out. Roadblocks qualify you for success. Don’t get discouraged when things seem impossible, it’s darkest just before dawn.

Perspiration

“Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.”

Thomas Edison said, “The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it goes around wearing overalls and it looks like hard work.” There is no success without hard work; success is something that is only earned after much labor. Success can only come to those who labor for it, it is through labor that you become a valuable person, and your value attracts success.

Capability

“If we did all the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves.”

Most people are living considerably beneath their capabilities. They’ve never focused all of their efforts on a singular task, so they are completely unaware of the power they possess. Everyone is good at something, and if singular focus is given to that talent over the course of years, amazing things will be done. You are capable of astonishing yourself!

Solitude

“The best thinking has been done in solitude.”

I have had my best thoughts locked away in a quiet room. Take time everyday to escape to a quiet room, if only for five minutes, to have your best thoughts. It’s hard to think about achieving the impossible, when you’re surrounded with people wanting to discuss only the possible. Escape to a quiet room today, and begin to see all your possibilities.

Restlessness

“Restlessness is discontent and discontent is the first necessity of progress.”

Thomas Edison said, “Show me a thoroughly satisfied man and I will show you a failure.” As long as you’re perfectly content you can’t make progress. Nothing happens until you become discontented. If you can live with being 30 pounds over weight, if you’re content with that idea (not happy, but content), then you don’t have the power to change it. Remember, “discontent is the first necessity of progress.”

Perspective

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

Perspective is everything! Edison said, “Results! Why, man, I have gotten a lot of results. I know several thousand things that won’t work.” That’s the way we should view our life, not as a compilation of failures, but as series of necessary experiments letting us know what doesn’t work. From this perspective, we can move into doing what works, from this perspective we can succeed.

Hard work, Stick-to-itiveness, and Common Sense

“The three great essentials to achieve anything worth while are: Hard work, Stick-to-itiveness, and Common sense.”

Nothing can replace hard work, it’s fundamental to success. If you’re not willing to work hard, you don’t even have a chance at success. No one succeeds and says “That was really easy!”

Additionally, you have to have a no-give-up-attitude; you must be willing to stick to a task that you’re passionate about, and never lose focus. And the final key is “common sense,” we all have it, but we all don’t use it like we should.

In closing, “you have what it takes to succeed,” you have the ability to work hard, to stay focused, and to use common sense, the question is, “Are you going to do it?” I think you are.

Thank you for reading and be sure to pass this article along!

Written on 10/13/2010 by Mr. Self Development who is a motivational author that offers a practical guide to success and wealth; support him by visiting his blog at mrselfdevelopment.com or by subscribing to his feed.

Photo Credit: Gregory Moine

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More active on Blogger

firestarter — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 16:07:22 +0000

Hey folks,

Just wanted to mention that I’m more actively blogging with my blogger account. Do follow me there.

http://shivanandpb.blogspot.com

Cheers keep blogging…