My Psychic powers...

Way back in 1998 when I joined engineering everything was wonderful in the world. It was the internet boom era... Multi-Billion dollar companies were getting created left, right and center. The entire world seemed to have taken a leap, way into the future... Traditional business models were getting re-written and the world seemed to be at peace... 

All of us were happy to be at the right place at the right time. Fresh engineers from reputed institutions were being fought over by companies... Infy, TCS, Wipro... even the likes of Microsoft, IBM, HP etc... 

Then Y2K happened. Everyone predicted the end of the world... But Indian engineers were getting recuited to solve the Y2K bug... The world's problem had become a massive opportunity for us... Good news. What was predicted to be a Big Bang came and went with a whimper! 

Then in 2001, two independent events rocked the very core of this existence... The World Trade Center was bought down by terrorists and the Internet bust happened... there was mayham everywhere... jobs were lost in the tens of thousands... multi-billion dollar businesses became worthless overnight... 

All this happened during my 3rd year at college resulting in just a handful of companies coming for recruitment and taking just a few of us. The problems in the markets lasted till early 2003. Luckily for me I had to wait only a few months before I got my first job.

I know, you are wondering... what this got to do with my psychic powers... 

Well, I predicted at the beginning of the year that since I'm going for studies this year, something major will happen to the world and that by the end of the year the world would be in a straight mess!

Well, looks like my prediction has come true... Sub-Prime crisis, US banks tanking all around, world financial markets all gone for a toss, US trying to salvage it by offering 1 Trillion dollar bail out (and congress rejecting it), terrorists attacking locations around the world, India seeing atleast one terrorist attack on a daily basis, Wars all around the world, world food crisis at an all time high... 

Looks like its gonna be job hunting on the streets for me again...

:(

Singapore Incidents 3 - wet-wipes

She was visibly shaking... I knew it would be bad for her... I had told her so... and yet i guess she went ahead and did it anyway! Girls! They just don't listen to wisdom!

I took her aside and sat her down on a ledge... I could see her shiver... took off my jacket and offered it and she gladly accepted... 

Me: "I told you not to do it, dint I?"

Her: "But they forced me to.."

Me: "I'm sure you could have stood you ground... even though you are as light as a feather!"

Her: "But they dared me to..."

She was imploring for understanding... I could hear it in her voice... and as a friend, I had to deliver... but why did she have to get on that damned thing!

The reverse bungee thing was scary! More so because of the price (40 Sing $)! That apart, the thing shot you up in the air at 200 Kms/Hr, keep bouncing for God knows how long, twist and turns you 4-5 times... Your entire life flashes in front of our eyes...

Me: "Ok, calm down... its over now..."

Her: "Ya... thank god!"

Me: "But I'm really proud of you... you went thru all that ordeal and came out in one piece!" :)

Her: "Yeah Right! I wet my pants!"

Eewwww! Gross! And to think I was sitting near her, had my arms around her shoulder and even gave her my jacket! 

My first instinct was to withdraw my hand... But then I remembered Joey in F.R.I.E.N.D.S (Episode 4.01) when he said "That's right, I stepped up! She's my friend and she needed help! If I had too, I'd pee on any one of you!"

Likewise, She needed my help and support... even if she wet herself... 

Me: "Hmm... So do you wanna go back to the hotel and freshen up?"

Her: "No, its fine... it'll dry up soon enough!"

What! Sheesh... and I thought girls were a bit more concerned about their appearance etc etc... evidently not this girl... its almost like she is a guy... I always had my doubts... Hmmm...

Me: "Dude! thats really gross alright! I mean its understandable that you wet yourself cos you had to get on that bungee thingy, but not cleaning up after that is just BAD!"

Her: "WHAT! YUCK! what do you mean I wet myself??"

Me: "Well, you said it yourself! That you wet yourself!"

Her: "I did not! you are just making it up!"

Readers please Note: I have proof of that statement at the beginning of this blog... So im covered!

Me: "You did too! And come to think of it, I can now see that your pants are really wet! Chee..."

Her: "Dumbo! Mr A and the gang were playing near the open fountain and they pushed me into it and thats how my pants became wet! Sheesh... you are sick! And FYI I dint get on that bungee thing! Humph!!"

Me: "Oh! I thought... I mean... Dude... I'm Sorry... My mistake... I was only looking out for you..."

Her: "Hmmm... Its Ok..."

Me: "So, why dint you go on that bungee thingy?"

Her: "Oh! Thats not for me! Id be so scared that I would probably wet my pants!!"

P.S: FYI readers... I call her Miss Wetty Pants now... 

:D

The Buddha was right!

All of us reach a certain point in our lives where we feel that life has taken a very wrong turn on us. Try as we might, we don't seem to be able to solve the problems or be able to come out of the suffering. 

In our desperation, we turn to family... all of us do... and yet even they seem to be not able o do anything. We turn to God... all of us do... and yet mostly we find that God still continues testing us. And we ask him "Why me?". 

But what we don't realise is that the most of the time the solutions will be right in front of our eyes. God would have already shown it to us. Only, we choose NOT TO SEE! 

Here is where I bring in The Buddha. Almost 3000 years ago the Buddha taught us:

The Cause of suffering: People live in a sea of suffering because of ignorance and greed. They are ignorant of the Law of Karma and are greedy for the wrong kind of pleasures. They do things that are harmful to their bodies and peace of mind, so they can not be satisfied or enjoy life. 

For example, once children have had a taste of candy, they want more. When they can't have it, they get upset. Even if children get all the candy they want, they soon get tired of it and want something else. Although, they get a stomach-ache from eating too much candy, they still want more. The things people want most cause them the most suffering. 

Of course, there are basic things that all people should have, like adequate food, shelter, and clothing. Everyone deserve a good home, loving parents, and good friends. They should enjoy life and cherish their possessions without becoming greedy.

The End of suffering: To end suffering, one must cut off greed and ignorance. This means changing one's views and living in a more natural and peaceful way. Achieve Nirvana. The Buddha said, "The extinction of desire is Nirvana." It can be experienced in this very life.

Reference:

http://online.sfsu.edu/~rone/Buddhism/footsteps.htm

So what does this teaching mean to us? 

Simple. Most of our sufferings and sadness emanates from craving for and wanting something that will not do us any good except give short term happiness or pleasure. If only we could just let go of our unwanted desires and cravings, we will be much better off and happy. How do we know if the desire is unwanted? I believe deep inside we (I mean people with a certain level of mental maturity, mostly adults) all know that the desire is unwanted, we simply choose not to accept it and keep clinging on to it because the child in us wants his/her candy.

Believe me... It works! Im now experiencing the Power of Letting Go... And I'm Happy

:)

Singapore incidents 2 - What a night!

2 weeks back 43 energetic Great Lakers risked it all and travelled to Singapore and Malaysia for a week of "Study Tour". Why risked? Well, if you are a Great Laker, you will instinctively know. If not, join Great Lakes to know! :)

We were put up at a beach resort at Singapore and were allocated individual condos on a twin sharing basis. I shared mine with Ranjith. The one next to ours was occupied by Miss R and Miss Po (To differentiate from my usual scapegoat, Miss P). 

As was expected, we worked hard in the mornings visiting companies and universities and partied harder in the evenings, freaking out in the singapore night life. My typical day was from 6 Am to 2 Am (the next day obviously)

On our second day there, most of us split up into smaller groups and headed for different parts of the city. My groups went to Clark Quay, Little India etc. (there was a little incident at Little India, but thats for a later time). 

I was dead tired by the time I came back. I got into bed by around 12:30 Am only to be woken up by Ranjith who returned by 1:30 Am. Soon after I fell into deep sleep. 

But somehow, at the back of my head I could hear some excited shouts and screams from the vicinity of my condo, but I was too tired to bother. 

At around 5 in the morning I woke up to the following conversation (shouts rather)

"R! That was wonderful! Ive never had such a night! Thanks so much for the wonderful night..." 

The sleep that I was in, all this did not really register into my head and I didn't think of it. I got up and opened my door to find Mr P standing at the door of the Condo next door, (in quite an intoxicated state I must say!) hugging it and serenading almost down on his knees. I dint find Miss R anywhere though!

"Dude! Shut up! Others are sleeping... and this is no way to say somethng personal to a girl!"

"Oh! I'm sorry George..." and he strutted away, Mr BigFoot that he is. 

Later at the breakfast hall I happened to run into into Miss R. We both said the morning pleasantries and smiled at each other. Perhaps I had more than a smile on my face for she kinda gave me a look as if I was some kinda weirdo.

"I heard it all..." {Wink, Wink} I said in reply to her searching look.

"Heard what? And whats with the winking?" she asked.

Man, she knows how to act!! Well, Im not gonna leave it at that!

"Babe, you live next door... and the condos are barely sound proof y'know!" said I.

"Ya, so?" 

"Well, when I heard the noise and all yesterday, I really did not think anything... But when I heard Mr P today morning, I kinda got the idea..." {Wink, Wink}

"What idea? What are you talking about? And quit winking!!"

Ya! Right! Like you don't know! Ill get the truth outta you somehow, just you wait!

"But where was Miss Po yesterday night then?" I wondered out loud

"Po was with me!" 

"Po was also there with you!!?? Man, you people are really progressive aren't you!?" 

"What the hell are you talking about man?" She was almost on a boil...

"I heard Mr P shouting out about the 'wonderful night' and stuff! hee hee" {Wink}

"Dumbo, Its my B'Day today and all those guys came to our condo at 2 Am and took me off to an early morning B'Day party by the beach... and they got drunk but we had a real fun time! Thats what he was talking about!!!"

"Oh is that all?? Oooppsie..." 

And for the rest of the day I walked around with a permanent wink on my face!

:-D

Singapore Incidents 1 - Photo sessions

Anyone who has been to an arcade game centre (or a circus) will definitely have played the game "Popping Dolls". Basically, these stupid dolls keep popping up thru holes at random and you've got to hit them on the head to gain points. 

All thru my recent Singapore-Malaysia International study tour trip I was practically playing the game, albeit in a different way. I was playing it while trying to take pictures. 

Didn't quite get it eh? Well, picture this. Its quite the challenge getting pictures right when you are taking them on a DSLR on full Manual control (My friend Ganesh will agree, I tried teaching him the nuances of taking pictures using a DSLR during the trip). 

Finally, you manage to set up your camera to capture some good, picturesque shots. You click and look at the preview only to find a doll-like figure just popped into your frame! I swear you feel like playing the "Popping Doll" game on them!! Lucky for them, I only had my camera in my hand and not a hammer (or better a hatchet!)

So who were these doll-like figures? I call them the "Dumb Duo" - Miss Soumya B and Mr Aanand 

Some Pictures Below :) 

Who's Who!!??

Mr Peeker at Work!

The "Dumb Duo"

Miss Paris!

Head Shot

Peeka Booo.. Aint I a model?

Another one of them peekers - Abhishek

Ok! Once i got them covered!

There she goes again!

Long time, No see...

Hi all,

I kow i havnt blogged in a while. Reason? I was touring Singapore and Malaysia as part of an International Study Tour that we have here at Great Lakes. 

It was a fantastic trip. I shall be writing about it soon... but now, i have an exam to write tomorrow and havnt started prep for it. 

Ill take my leave now. and be back with a bang (or whimper) however it is you see it...

:)

Embarrassing Truths!

College was one time when we did a lot of crazy things. At first they seem to impact the very essence of your survival and life, but once the time is past and you look back at it, many things kinda look funny. 

Ive written about my friend Anoob who has a knack of saying just the wrong things at the right time (or vice-versa)... The following incident happened when he was doing his engineering.

Ok, so there is a history to this story. Apparently when they were in their 1st year of engineering, a guy in their class got kicked out of college for playing peeping tom while a girl (lets call her Miss W) was taking bath in her apartment. This guy went around announcing this to the entire college and promptly got the boot.

Now, years later, when the rest of the class was in the 4th year, they were sitting around pulling each others legs and basically having fun. Anoob, as usual, was siting in a corner as if minding his own business. 

Mr X1: "Guys lets go for a movie"

Mr X2: "Yeah, thats a great idea!"

Miss X1: "Then we need to go home and get ready ASAP"

Miss W: "Yeah! and we need to be all fresh and beautiful for the date"

Mr X1: "Fresh and beautiful?? Hows that?"

Miss W: "Well, go get ready, take a bath, put on make up etc"

Mr X2: "Yeah right! You ppl? Fresh and beautiful? Like, do you even know what a bath is?? :-P"

At this point, Anoob, who like I mentioned, was apparently minding his own business,  got into the conversation and vehemently opposed Mr X2

Anoob: "HEY! Don't you dare say that she doesn't take a bath! We have proof! There are people who have seen her take a bath!!!"

:-S

shocking PPT on world hunger...

I got this PPT from a classmate and was so disturbed by what i saw that i felt it is my duty to spread the word. What you are about to see will rock your very core, but hopefully it will also jolt you into action. 

Take a look  at it below...

My first payment...

Today was an important day in my photography "career" :) I got my first ever "payment" for a picture that i took of my classmate - Abhishek. What did he give me? A big pack of Cadburys Dairymilk :) (Ofcourse, i dint ask for it)

Actually, the pic in Qn is not one that im particularly proud of due to several reasons like its out of focus, the exposure was way too high, the ISO is at 1600, there is visible shake etc etc etc. 

But hey! My client is happy... Not only happy, he is positively ecstatic! And that's what matters... the happiness of your clients. Apparently, he got a LOT of positive comments and admirations from friends and others...

Thanks Abhishek!

:)

Ideas Galore!

Now that we were on a lean period here at Great Lakes, everyone has found something or the other to keep themselves engaged. The latest craze doing the rounds is entering b-plan contests. (Its got an even bigger boost since two teams from from Great Lakes made it to the final round of IIM-B b-plan contest and one of them won first place!!) It has reached such feverish levels that if you find 3 people standing together talking, you can be rest assured that they are discussing a b-plan!

Not to be left behind, and with starry eyes and dreams of prizes, my friends and I too decided "Chalo guys, lets do a b-plan"

"Yeah! great idea. Ill do the operations" said one

"And Ill do the Marketing bit" said the next

"Me, the Financials" said the last

"Cummon guys, give me something to do too!" said I

"You come up with the idea!" All of them chorused...

Great! I get the best part! No use protesting... I wasn't quick at picking topics... and since we are a democratic race, I have to accept what's given to me.

OK! let me think! ______________________________________

Ok, I've hit a blank in under a minute! Could be a world record of sorts, I'm sure! "Guys! you need to help me out here... What kind of business are we looking at?"

"The money making kind!" they said... Trust my friends to give out readymade answers for these very critical and important questions in unison...

"I know it needs to be money making and all. But are we looking at products or services?" I prod

"Products!"

"Services!"

"Either!"

Great! For this they don't have a common answer!

"Ok lets go over it, what kind of product?"

"Oh! Oh! I've got it!" said Mr V. He was so excited that he was going round an round on all fours all over his bed as if chasing his own tail!

"Dude! What's with the doggy style?! Calm down and spit out the bone!"

He gave me a frown that I swear only a doggy could have given. I decided not to press the issue, lest I end up barking up the wrong tree...

"How about making an oil cube?" he said

A what?? Is it some kind of industrial stuff?

"Err... what?" we ask

"An oil cube! Y'know instead of buying an entire 1 liter pack of cooking oil, buy just a cube of it" he said

I guess we stared at him way too long. He continued "Ok, Ok how about a Chai Cube? Y'know like sugar cubes?"

"Guys, cummon! Thats a good idea no?... No?? Ok, Ok, how about cigarette cubes?"

And I'm wondering why he is so fixated on cubes! I guess he realised it too, and he changed his underlying ideas... on life itself!

"How about an automatic shaver?" he asked

"How would that work?" we asked

"Well it will have a mechanism like a rubber band that you put across your ears in front of your face and then the blade will move automatically over it and clean those stubs!"

Yeah! Right! and by the end of it all we will look like the Terminator without its living covering tissue!

"Or how about a chair that you will never fall down from?"

Why? Are you stuck to it, I felt like retorting.

"How it will work is that it will have high pressure air blowers from below that will keep the chair from falling down! Fantastic, right?!"

By the end of these barrage of ideas we decided that 'product' was not the way to go about with our b-plan. 

Finally, we did hit upon a services idea that we discussed and implemented a b-plan on. 

But Mr V still has not given upon his futuristic product ideas. We find him lost in thought and every once in a while he jumps up and goes "Eureka! Eureka!". Luckily for us, he sops with the exclamations and does not do what Archimedes did - run across the street streaking!

:)

The Grisly Beast

It lunges itself across the pathway, sweating and heaving at the effort. It carries on its shoulder something akin to roadkill. The 'stuff' just sways in rhythm to the it pace... 

Every morning it descends from the jungles on its way to the 'factory'. The factory where it gets its feed. They feed it with scraps, tiny tit-bits that are not enough to satisfy its palatable hunger...

The children of the village run for cover when they see the ghastly sight. Even grown ups move away, but thats more in disgust rather than in fear. They know its harmless. Never-the-less, they keep their young away for they don't want it scaring the little ones...

Once a while it stretches its big fat arms and tries to fan away the flies above its head. It growls at being disturbed thus. It salivates as it grunts and heaves. But the flies just don't give a damn...

It reaches the corner tea stall where it stands, anticipating a morsel. It lets out a growl which the bystanders don't quiet fathom. But the tea shop owner understands the tone. He takes out a snack from his old stock and tosses it across. He knows there is no payment, but it does not really worry him. It was old stale stock anyway and moreover this gets the beast away from his shop. It catches the food and in one bite finishes it off. It moves on again, licking its paws to savour every bit of the taste...

It moves decisively towards the factory. There is no one to even look half interested in it there. It sits at the corner waiting for its food to come. People come, people go. All the while and thru out the day it waits. Nothing much happens there at the factory...

In the evening it gets up and walks back to its lonely den, all the while keeping a tight look out for potential trouble. There is always someone to throw a rock at it. It sleeps all alone in a corner, keeping warm under a coat of fur...

As usual, today morning it did its daily walk. But to its amazement no one ran away, no one screamed. The children continued to play on the streets as it passed. There were no files to torment it and the tea shop guy gave it good food too. Even at the factory people came up and patted it! 

What was different was that I got myself a shave after almost 3 weeks! 

:)

LOVE is all around us...

At Great lakes we are privileged to have considerable time kept aside for LOVE. Oh Yeah! You heard that right… We have designated time set aside, that too with the permission of the management, for LOVE. It happens almost every Sunday (and sometimes on other days in the evenings) when a few of us get together for these amazing sessions. And frankly, its one of the most exciting times we have here. Yes it is!

But before your kinky dirty mind starts imagining all sorts of things let me tell you what LOVE means to us. Our Uncle Bala defines LOVE as Leveraging Our Varied Experience. In essence, it is about sharing information or knowledge that has been gained from all the years that we had been working, whether in IT or manufacturing or Banking or Shipping or Logistics or wherever. The sessions are run entirely by the current students for the students. It is a medium for spreading knowledge (to those who seek it). It is a medium for expanding horizons. It is a medium for incubating and sustaining interest in fields otherwise alien to us.

A few examples:

Abhimanyu Shandilya, a Lawyer and classmate, takes a course called “Law for Managers” on free Sundays. He basically introduces us to many of the intricacies that we as managers need to be aware of. Of course, we cannot obviously expect him to teach a 5 year course in a few hours. But he does lend us enough information on contracts and Indian law to help us be on our toes. It is one of the best LOVE sessions currently running on House-Full status at Great Lakes. Infact, Abhimanyu does such a good job that he can probably give our real professors a run for their money. I personally think he will be very successful if he ever thinks of getting into the education field.

The other LOVE session of interest is the one conduced by the Punter’s club where experienced investors like Umesh gives us novice investors gyan on how to beat the market using his Technical Analysis, Elliot Wave patters, Candle Sticks and Fibonacci series methods. Most of the analysis he did made a lot of sense and the proof was right there in front of us to see. He has managed a whopping 54% returns on the current bear market in under one month!! Now that’s true Experience!!

The Great Lakes management is really forward looking in this way. They believe that the students need to be part of the institution building and is willing to help us in any way possible in our endeavours.

We the students also take the opportunity extended to us and make use of it theLOVE way!!

A different kind of blast!

25th July, 2008 – Friday Evening.

7 BOMBS GO OFF IN BANGALORE
2 PEOPLE KILLER, 7 INJURED
THE IT CAPITAL TARGETED BY TERROR

These were the headlines that were flashing on the TV screens. I sat there biting my nails. Bangalore was a relatively safe city compared to other cities in India and with the best brains in the country making a beeline for the pink city, it was assumed that such incidents would not happen there.

My wife was at Bangalore and was to leave for our home town. After a million tries I got thru to her and to my relief she was fine.

The next day matters got worse...

AHMADABAD HIT BY SERIAL BLASTS
17 BOMBS GO OFF AT AHMADABAD
60 KILLED, 100s INJURED

Man, what's happening to this country? Bombs everywhere.

Another news the next day...

OVER 15 UNEXPLODED BOMBS LOCATED AT SURAT
NO CASUALITIES
POLICE DIFFUSE BOMBS

Oh good! Atleast they were diffused before they caused havoc.

Soon Monday rolled in and we were all in class. I saw a classmate, Miss N, who was in Bangalore over the weekend. I went upto her and enquired about the incident

Miss N: “Ohh Yeah! It happened quite far away from my place”
I sensed a tone of regret in her voice. Some ppl are just plain weird I guess... I mean who would want a bomb to go off next to your house?!

She continued “Anyway, nothing much happened because it was low intensity”

Me: “Thank goodness for that!”
“So, how was your weekend away?” I ask

Miss N: “Ohh! It was too good. I was at Bangalore and I had a BLAST!”

Well, Duuh!!

:-!

The pause...

I've exhausted my share of stories,

I've said what I had to say,

I've looked back at my life and think,

Boy, what a crappy life I've had!

Im seriously thinking of retiring this blog,

Maybe I ought to do it before I die,

Coz I have very many promises to keep,

And miles and miles to go before the deep sleep... (adapted from Robert Frost)

I know, crappy poem,

But what the hey,

This is my blog,

So its all my way!

What did I do??

Me: "Hey, i need to tell you something..."

She came near... 

Me: "Its kinda embarrassing..."

Her eyes went wide...

I was certain she became apprehensive, thinking "What is it he wants to tell me?"

I guess its curiosity.. or inquisitiveness if you wanna call it that... She was all ears

Miss X: "Ya, tell me..."

Me: "Are you sure?"

Miss X: "Ummm... ya..."

I could feel the tension in her voice...

Me: "Ok... but dont hate me for this, alright?"

Miss X: "Okie..."

Ok, here goes nothing... "Your zip is open!" I announce into her ears...

Miss X: {SCREEEECH!!!} 

Woah! I dint expect that reaction... Before I could calm her down she was jumping up and down! But instead of trying to zip up, she instantly headed for behind a car...

Me: "Hey, Dude... cool down its ok... its ok..."

Miss X: "WHAT?! HOW CAN YOU SAY ITS OK?"

I was so taken aback that I just looked at her...

Miss X: "AND STOP STARING AT ME, YOU FREAK!"

I woke up from my trance... I had to calm her down before her screams bought the entire school down...

Me: "Listen, calm down... I fix it for ya, come here" and I extended my hand to help...

Wrong thing to say to a girl I guess... now she was running away from me as if paranoid... the last I saw of her, she was running into the girls restroom, arms swinging over her head... Girls are difficult to figure out... 

I don't know what the fuss was all about... all I wanted to tell her was that the zip of her laptop bag was open...

:-S

What's in a name...

I did my schooling at Bhavan's Adarsha Vidyalaya (BAV), part of the Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan (BVB) group of institutions. BVB has 6 schools in Cochin and BAV is one of the best. During my time, it was a totally new school and we were the 2nd batch to pass out. Which means it was not known to the world as much. 

After school, all of us disbursed to go for higher studies, some engineering, some doctors, some B. Comm etc. Only one person, Ashwin, went on to do his Law from Ernakulam Law College. 

Now, Law College is very well known in Cochin for its enviable track record of utter Lawlessness... things are so bad that even the private bus mafia (which is very strong in cochin) would not dare to take them on... for if they were to do so, 2 things (Cardinal Rules) will automatically happen and either way, the bus owner is screwed!

1) The buses of the bus owner who dared to challenge would be completely destroyed.

2) A case will be filed against the bus owner alleging some crime against the students in the college. 

Imagine this, if a student of Law College wants to cross the road, all he does is step on to the road and raise his hands to show a Stop sign... and all vehicles are, by default, required to stop. Even if it is the Chief Minister of the state! If he doesn't, refer to Cardinal Rules above... 

Ok, let me get on with my story now that you have an idea of how Law college functions. When Aswin and a couple of frinds walked into Law College the very first time in his life, there he saw a group of vultures (read seniors) waiting to pounce on them. It was just a matter of time before the 3 of them were squatting in front of the seniors in positions that they dint know they could humanly achieve.

The first guy was asked "Which School, you low life?"

"Toc-H!" He answered proudly... and a split second later he was eating mud from the nearby puddle onto which he was graciously pushed into. 

Same question to the second guy...

"Choice!" and he too received the same treatment... boy! They sure hated guys from famous schools!

Ashwin's turn, same question..

In the worst accent possible he replied "Aaadarshaaa..." 

And the seniors let him off thinking he already had had his share of humiliation in life by going to some obscure "local" school...

:)

Until Now, The Ugly Duckling!

This is an article i wrote for the SWIM (Successful Women In management) Magazine launched by Great lakes.
===============================

Ok Ok! Let me explain the concept of the title before you, the readers, tear me apart.

The story goes that a duckling is born to a mother duck in a swamp. But since it is very different from the other duckling, it is not treated as part of the flock. It goes thru a lot of hardships but by the end of the following winter, it transforms into the most beautiful and majestic white swan at the swamp. Thus the duckling which was shunned by society at large grows up to be the leader showing others the way. But even with all the recognition it does not become conceited since it knows only too well of what it had to go thru to achieve what it has and remains as humble as ever, the mark of a true leader.

To me, this story sums up what women in India has been going thru and how things are fast changing, for the better. Indian culture has had a long tradition of respecting our women for her contributions in the family setting. We talk of women being the pillar of any family. We talk of educating the women of the family and the rest will follow suit. But we have not been very forthright in accepting and acknowledging her talents as a successful business woman. We have thus far shunned women in the business sphere just as was done to the duckling.

But all this is changing. Of late we have been witness to quite a few women breaking the traditional bondages and taking flight, soaring their way to success. The glass ceiling has developed huge cracks. And this is true not only for familiar and famous business women like Indira Nooyi (PepsiCo) or Indra Subramanyam (Ehlrich Labs) or Kiran Mazumdhar Shaw (BioCon) but also likes of Barkha Dutt (Journalist) or Kiran Bedi (IPS) or Bachendri Pal (Adventurer).

This begs the question: Why are we seeing this paradigm shift? Why is there this sudden realisation of the business capabilities of women? Some of it has to do with women being more independent in the new liberalised India. Some has to do with the enhanced educational opportunities available to them. And some can be attributed to freedom and space that the new women have managed to garner. But I believe most of it has to do with the change in general attitude of society towards them. We live in an age where there is a much more liberal outlook towards business women. It is no longer a taboo to be talking about a girl in the family who has made an impact in business unlike the days of yore when they were expected to perform only at home. Infact its quite the opposite. Parents, husbands and children are all equally proud of the daughter, wife and mother who has reached the pinnacle and fulfilled her career aspirations.

There is yet another reason why we have started to acknowledge these courageous women – their ability to withstand burnout. You see, most of them have family commitments but they manage to juggle between family, relations and work seamlessly. It truly is a monumental task and they seem to be thriving in the challenge. This is precisely why we are awed by their very presence. And its not like they have to put in extra effort to do all this juggling. It just comes naturally to them, like they are created to have to do all this at the same time. Men, I believe, for the world cannot do more than a couple of things at a time.

Which brings me to the point of humility. Even with all this going on for them, I do not see women being obnoxious about themselves on television or in any other media. We Indians tend to attribute this to our culture and prejudices – that women are meant to be docile beings fit to be a housewife only. But we have evidence of this mindset changing too, of seeing the woman as more than just secretaries and typists. Women now control the boardroom in certain companies. They conceive and execute groundbreaking ideas. And true to their never-say-die spirit, they move on to do much more and better things. Yet, they remain most Indian at heart. Take Indra Nooyi for example. I have not seen her address a gathering in anything other than a sari. That’s when she can be wearing anything formal. Yet she chooses to wear saris in the talks she are in. Global Mindset Indian Roots at its very best!

So as a male in the male dominated business scene am I unduly worried about this unprecedented influx? No not really. Honest! The way I see it, they will only increase the diversity that we see around us, they will only make it all the more challenging to do business and they will only enhance the value of human life just by doing what they are created to do.

Looks like the swans are indeed taking over the world, and in the process making it a more beautiful place to be in. Women... They truly deserve a standing ovation!

Whirrrr....

I know of these chinese stress buster toys that you throw on the wall and it starts howling in pain and vibrates. Its pretty funny and a true stress buster...

I have this friend at Great Lakes who is like that. No, she is not Chinese (though she is definitely the size of the toy!) but she does behave just like the toy...

All you need to do is to get Miss N going by saying something remotely funny, and for a good half hour she will be rolling in laughter, vibrating all the way... 

The good thing is you get a good massage just sitting next to her on a bench!

:)

Fast & Furious...

Me: “Hey P, have a biscuit”
Miss P: “Biscuit?! What do I look like?”

Me: “Well, kinda like them effigies; All white, twisted and ready to go on fire! Why do you ask?”
Miss P: “Haa Haa. Very funny! I meant, dint you listen to our Business Communications Maam’? Biscuit means Dog Biscuit!”

Me: “That’s in the Americas dude! Not in good old India”
Miss P: “All the same... Anyway, I cant eat... I’m on a Fast”

Me: “Oh! How come?”
Miss P: “Its a long story... But to cut it short, when I was in Std 2 I prayed to god to let me pass in one of the exams. And since then I’ve been fasting every Monday of this month”

Me: “I see... And to think... I thought it was because you were slow! :D”
{KAPOWW!!! and I felt a few of my teeth become misaligned!}
Miss P: “I’m not that slow!”

Me: “Hee Hee... But tell me frankly, aren’t you doing this Monday Fasting to get a good husband or something?”
Miss P: “I don’t have to! Ill get the best husband ever. Infact, it will be he who has to do the fasting to get me as a wife!” {Humph!!!}

Me: “Ya Right! It might just be the opposite!”
Miss P: {:-P} “Even if that dosen’t happen, my parents will find a good husband for me. That’s what I call CONFIDENCE!!”

Me: “And that’s what I call WISHFUL THINKING!!”

:)

About America...

The land of the free...

The land where you are free to buy...

anything as long as you tell the IRS about it

The land where you are free to grow any plant in your garden...

as long as the grass is 1 inch high and trees are pruned to perfection

The land of the free...

Lateral thinking...

At Great Lakes we come across (thru Profs or thru cases) many innovative ways of doing business. We also come across many even more innovative answers... Miss 1984 gave such an innovative answer to a question today (albeit, only to me) that it left me laughing so much that I finally got stomach cramps!

Our IT for Managers Prof. Dr Sunil Rai told us of a real life sales situation today. The case goes like, a major retail chain in the US experimented by placing Beer bottle packs right next to baby diapers. To their surprise they found that the sales of the beer soared! Why? 

Many answers were shot out, most pretty standard... someone said it was because it was placed close to the exit... someone said it was because it was priced low... (incidentally, nothing like low price or proximity to exit was mentioned by Prof. Rai)

Well, the real answer, Prof Rai told us, was that when these guys come to pick up diapers for their babies, they invariably pickup a pack of beer (maybe to drown their sorrows in)...

Hearing the answer Miss 1984 quickly turned to me and said in a hushed voice "That is why, eh?? I thought the diaper was because they would wanna go pee pee after drinking the beer YA!!"

Now, THAT'S lateral thinking!!!

:)

The failed survey...

Im sure youv'e read this before, but im posting this anyway since its is so funny yet true!!

================================================

A worldwide survey was conducted by the UN. The only question asked was:

'Would you please give your honest opinion about solutions to the food shortage in the rest of the world?'

The survey was a huge failure, In Africa they didn't know what 'food' meant, In India they didn't know what 'honest' meant, 

In Europe they didn't know what 'shortage' meant, In China they didn't know what 'opinion' meant,

In the Middle East they didn't know what 'solution' meant, In South America they didn't know what 'please' meant, 

And in the USA they didn't know what 'the rest of the world' meant!

A dreaded thought...

Many of my girl-friends from school started getting married once they finished their studies. and after the average of 2 years of waiting period before deciding on settling down to family life. 

Initially things were quite fine... things were, well, normal... Maria gave birth to a healthy baby boy, so did San... All of us friends were obviously happy for them... there were parties to celebrate the babies' birthdays year after year... 

Then out of the blue things started changing... Not that the babies were unhealthy... they were fine... in fact, each of them were cuter than the previous ones... what was different was the explosion in numbers! 

It all started with Smrithi... One fine morning she calls us up and announces... "Guys! I gave birth! and guess what! Twins!! :)) " 

We were all ecstatic... after all twins are not what you see every other day right... Almost 2 years have passed and Smrithi has her hands full with her two wonderful boys and her MDS studies...

Last week we got a call from another of our friends, Roshni... "Guys! I gave birth! and guess what! Triplets!!! :))" 

Woah! Put the brakes on please!! What's happenin?? Last i heard, Roshni has 3 babies to feed and only 2 bottles! In short, she has more than her hands full!!

I now dread the day my girl comes to me and tells me, softly in my ear, "George, I'm pregnant! Get ready for Quads!!" I've already invested in a 4 bedroom villa and keep a stack of emergency heart attack pills ready at hand in my pocket!

:D

Inflation... how will we survive??

Inflation is the buzz word of the day. For the past few months all of India has been gripping in unprecedented rise in inflation culmination at close to 12% last week and there seems to be no sign of it going down any time The trouble is when it affects the very basic of food items that we consume on a day to day basis.

Even at the Great Lakes Simla Canteen inflation has raised its ugly head. We don’t get the sweet dessert for lunch now and a cake of Maggie noodles costs Rs 15. As a matter of fact, in one case we have been hit by much much more than the standard 12% inflation! 

And that too for a food item that most of us survive on... An item that give us the strength to carry thru the entire night... that VITAL FORCE!

Don’t believe me? Calculate then! The price of Sunfeast milk biscuit has gone up by Re 1 from Rs 3 to Rs 4!!

Thats 33.33% inflation!!! 

How will I survive now??? Boo Hoo Hoo...

:((

A very right thing to say...

My good friend Anoob (another article about him Here) has a peculiar way of either saying the very right things or the very wrong things ALL the time. For him there is no middle path. Its not that he thinks about the answers before saying it. It just comes to him spontaneously. He is too innocent at that.

Anoob did his engineering from a college in Bangalore along with my other friends Vinod and Shyam. As is usual for all engineering students across the country, they too would start studying for the term exams only a few days before it. So, in accordance to tradition, the three of them were busy studying with full concentration the day before a particularly difficult subject.

After while of futile efforts at understanding the subject, Shyam, who was sitting in the front room, out of shear frustration began to sing “Ennu theerum ente dukham innimannile...”. This is a Malayalam song that is usually sung in churches during funerals and it means “When will my troubles in this world be over...”.

The beauty of Anoobs innocence and spontaneity was revealed in full when within a fraction of a second he sang back to Shyam “Annu theerum ENTHE dukham innimannile...” meaning “Then MY troubles in this world will be over...”

:)

10 things to do before i die...

Like most people, I too have dreams of some things that I want to do before I die. As a matter of fact, my real list is really really long and might infact stretch around the world. To make things a bit easier for the reader, ill publish just 10 things from that list.

1) Start my business - cud be an internet company or even a spice extraction unit. But only when have done it and succeeded in it would i call my self a success in life.

2) Visit Egypt and Machu Pichu

3) Adopt a child

4) Buy my dream Willys Jeep and RE bike and go to the Himalayas in it!

5) Get a Golden Retriever for a pet.

6) Learn to be the best darn photographer i can be.

7) Get Lenses in the range of 10mm to 800mm

8) Buy the top end Bose LifeStyle music system

9) Build a palatial but traditional Kerala illam overlooking green fields

10) And finally, Write a book.

Wonder how many of them will be possible. I would think 2, 4 and 5 are the easy ones. The rest are big challenges. Hope i will achieve them...

Introspection...

Writing is tuff work... trying to write humour is tuffer... and actually being funny is tuffest! 

As i have already said in a couple of posts, my aim for the month is to write at least one article a day. And i have said this whenever i had a missing day. As in, when nothing came to my head (as is usual) I wrote im supposed to be writing and just for the heck of it, i posted such articles with 2 sentences. 

I think i should have made my goal a bit more concrete and said ill post one funny article a day. Again its easy to cheat the system. All i need to do is post funny videos from youtube. But it again beats the purpose as im supposed to be writing funny articles myself.

So what have i learned over the last 20-odd days? That i have run out of funny incidents to write about, that i have had a life that can be summed up in less than 20 days, that i shall never ever take up such a challenge again. 

:-S

The new RE Thunderbird Twin Spark

I am a BIG (literally and figuratively) fan of Royal Enfield (RE) bike. It has been a long held dream of mine to own an Electra 5S. But the initial cost has been holding me back. But looks like my wait is getting rewarded...

RE has been comming out with  lot of technological break thrus of late the latest one being the twin-spark engine Thunderbird. The thunderbird is the ONLY TRUE cruiser bike in India. Other wannabes like Yamaha Enticer and Bajaj Eliminator are a joke. Infact the only thing about those bikes are their looks, which again is not too enticing! 

The RE Thunderbird is different. Its a mean machine and handles the highways like a song. I once had the opportunity of riding it for around 1000 Kms and it felt.. Great! Liberating! Truly a marvel of engineering...

Check out the new RE twin spark here --> http://www.royalenfield.com/ThunderbirdTwinspark/home.html

Livin' La Vida Salsa...

The last 4 days have been lots of fun. We had Salsa and Jive week at Great lakes taught by Mr Unni.

26 (13 enthusiastic guys and 13 nervous girls - they were nervous seeing the guys' extreme enthusiasm) of us signed up for the first session which lasted 4 days, 2 hours a day. As was expected, most of the girls took to dancing as ducks take to water... they could atleast float if not swim! We guys on the other hand were like those bomber ships during the 2nd world war - Huge, bulky, lightning fast, full of fire in the belly, ready to shoot - and yet sank right down into the sea :-S

Salsa, even though conceived as a form of street dance, is a sophisticated art form requiring talent and grace. A lot of the fun depends on your partner. If the partner has talent, you can hide behind that glory. Being devoid of any talent, grace was the only thing I could rely upon to salvage my pride. But from what I hear from others who watched me and some other unfortunate souls who danced with me, I scored very high on the ‘Losers Hall-of-Fame' in both characteristics. I guess the problem is that I tend to kinda become all charged up when I hear lively music which makes me go into the realm of "Dappankooth" (a south Indian style of street dancing). Hey! In my defense, its atleast street dancing!!! At the end of it all we broke major myths - that we guys were good at dancing! Nothing could have been farther from the truth.

As for my partner, it was poor Miss Namratha. She is one of the smallest girls in our class (but very bubbly) and I'm no Tiny Tim myself. I think she got stuck with me coz while all the others were searching for partners, they probably dint see her. It was almost like David and Goliath dancing, except here David was a girl... And Goliath, as in the Bible, was me, the dumb Ogre... There was one more difference. In the legend David wins, but here neither of us won even though there was considerable violence and bloodshed... (punches on the face, arms twisting, backs cracking, toes bleeding... all the works!)

You don't believe me? Well on day One, we were taught the basics of Salsa and Jive. So, it was pretty fine except for the bleeding toes and twisting arms. But on the second day, the variations (some, pretty complicated) started. Yet, we danced away for the full 2 hours. Many a time I caught Namratha trying to sneak out of the back door, but me being the charged up guy that I was, I always managed to pull her back in. At one point, we were to do a sequence in Jive where the guy is supposed to balance the girl by the hips and swing her down - The Back Flip (please see pics). Namratha refused to do this step with me. She was scared that if I were to lose my balance and fall on her, she would be stuck to the floor, as flat as a pancake!

On the third day, my partner came to the dance floor and took a Bharatha Naatyam stance, Y'know with hands clasping the hips...

"Dude, we are not here to do Bharatha Naatam!", I told her sarcastically
"I'm not trying to do Bharatha Naatyam dumbo.. You broke my hip yesterday!!", she replied with fire raging in her eyes

Eeeps... I had done it again! Anyway we took it easy that day. Thursday was the grand finale'. The guys were to come dressed in semi formals and the gals in formal party dress.

I took Namratha aside and told her with an air of confidence "Get ready to be transported to a different place!" {Wink! Wink!}
"Where? You mean the hospital??? :-P", came her quick retort

:-D

Some Pics

The Dancers

The Ladies

The Gents

The Back Flip

Free Fall

Round and Round...

Havin' Fun

Behind but not out...

Oh.. Oh.. Oh... im 2 days behind schedule... And still no posts... Not to worry ill be putting up one soon on the Salsa thing soon. With pics too!! 

:)

Will i be able to do it?

My target for this month is to write one article a day... i.e. 31 articles in 31 days. Its 18th today and im fast running out of ideas. Ther is one thing that is pending from my side - the salsa blog. But im still int the process of writing it. 

Im not getting too much time nowadays with all the college work piling up. Looks like ill have to resort to writing serious stuff like this article... {bleach...}

The first Glick Newletter is out :)

 My good friend Vivek and I formed a Photography club at Great Lakes and it has been a good journey so far. One of the ideas we had was for a fortnightly news letter. Im proud to say that the fist one is out. Yes, it might not be perfect, but its a start. Do give us feedback with all your comments... (of course the rendering is not perfect here...)

:)

Copy pasting below the entire NL...

Welcome to Glick Monthly News Letter - July Edition
Foto of the Fortnight Glow Of Nature by Suvadip Das
And some that almost made it ...
Topic for next FOF : " Beach Photography "
SOME RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE FOF CHALLENGE ONLY images taken between July 18th, 2008, 00:00 hrs and July 31st, 2008 23.59.59 pm are eligible for this competition. Please DO NOT post any images taken prior to July 18th, 2008. The competition will close midnight of July 31st, 2008. This is so that members do not keep sending in old pictures from their collections. We have incorporated 2 weekends into it. So guys, you have plenty of time :) Be as creative as possible. Please see the Tips & Tricks section for some help on this specific challenge. For some sample beach pics, please visit the Glick Flickr Page Any picture with Date and Time marker in it will be DELETED. There are no limits on image post-processing. Edit to your tastes and the voters will decide if it's too much. To preserve the EXIF-information, it is recommended to use the "Save As"-command instead of "Save for Web". You are allowed to upload a MAXIMUM of THREE shots per competition so please DO NOT send in more than three shots. Please give a title to each image of yours and EXIF details if possible including shutter speed and aperture settings. Also the camera with which you shot it and of course the date. This is most important. Any photograph with out a shot date in the EXIF data will be removed. Those looking for critiques on their pictures may say so in the entry post. Please select one picture among the three that you will be submitting for the critique. Please mention if you would like it as part of the next Newsletter or if you would like individual mail on it. We would recommend that you opt for the Newsletter as any critique on your picture will help others too in the process. If you opt for Newsletter critique but we are unable to comply, we will send you personal critique.
TIPS 'N' TRICKS FOR THE NEXT FOF Remove the Date and Time marker from your pictures. You can do this by changing the setting for this in your camera settings. All details like date and time are already embedded on to the pictures in digital cameras as EXIF data. So you will not loose information on when the picture was taken. Date and Time markers destroy the feel of the picture. For instance, take a look at this picture: (Click to view) An otherwise perfect picture, has been ruined just because of the date and time marker! You can have a watermark with your name with copyright symbol. But be sure to place it at the left or right corner so as not to divert the viewers attention from the main subject. Preferably, put a border around your picture and have the watermark there. Look for focal points: Instead of taking mundane and repetitive shots of the sea try to turn your camera to the life that is in the beach. If possible mix the life with the waters. Try long exposure shots to bring out the mood of the beach at night. Timing is important: The start and end of days can present the best opportunities for shooting at the beach. There will be less people during the mornings but also you'll find that with the sun shining on an angle that you often get more interesting effects of shadows and colors - particularly in the evening when the light becomes quite warm and golden. Watch the Horizon: Employ Rule-Of-Thirds to keep your photos off center for better effect. Take care to get the horizon to be parallel to one of the sides of the frame. Fill Flash: If you're photographing people at the beach as a portrait and it's bright you'll find that they will almost always have shadows on their face (often cast by hats, glasses, noses etc). Switch on your flash and force it to fire when shooting in these situations and you'll find the shadows eliminated and your actual subject is well exposed. But take care not to over expose. If your subjects do look overexposed and you cant decrease the flash strength try moving back a little from your subject and using your zoom to get a tighter framing as this will decrease the impact of the flash. Black and White: Do a little post photo production and see what impact stripping a photo of color has upon it. There's something about a black and white shot at the beach that completely changes the mood and feel of a shot. Beach Photography Tips - Source: http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/10-beach-photography-tips/
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Graduating from just a click to The Click... Is it just clicking whatever comes your way? For most of us who loves to use the camera, this is the way how it works. We generally click to record, copy pasting the present to be reviewed later. But for some of us it is a passion, more than the picture it is the technicalities that they bother about (of course after the beauty of the snap), a more technically sound picture is a better picture. For most it is just fitting in all the twenty odd people into the frame, but for some it's all about capturing the features of one single face and nothing more. Most of the times we end up asking the question, "why is the picture that I take always looks bad, and the same when taken by others become a master piece". We tend to attribute the causes to the instruments. Is the cost of the camera directly related to the quality of your picture? It depends. Try taking a picture with a costlier camera and see the difference. There is a difference for sure, but for the picture to reach its zenith, there are a lot more things to be taken care. It's all about how you see the subject, or how good you see through the view finder. Is it enough if you start seeing things differently? You can certainly improve if you understand how your camera works and what does each of those buttons and jargons stand for. Let us start with the basics: Exposure: The more the exposure the whiter the picture, the lesser the exposure the darker it is. You might have come across pictures where the face of your subject is simply burned off!! For example a picture that was clicked with your flash on at a close range. Photograph the sun and what you see just a white area with no specific boundaries, we may not find any objects or details of any objects there. This is what we call Overexposure, meaning you simply exposed the photo sensor of you camera for more time than what was required. The other category is where we have the picture having a transparent dark curtain all over, covering the entire picture. E.g.: A photo taken in a room with less light without the flash. This is what under exposure is, meaning "I can't see anything properly, it's all dark!!!" What is the exposure then? Any body would say that it is how long you expose the film. The correct exposure results when optimum amount of light falls on the camera sensor (CCD). And this happens when your aperture and the shutter speed are set at the right values.
Over Exposure	Correct Exposure	Under Exposure
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A few more helpful Links... http://www.geofflawrence.com/photography_tutorial_exposure.php http://kalyanvarma.net/