Well, literally. It is unimaginable how fast the year has passed by and we are in the last quarter of 2007 and as I write this already 2 days of that quarter have passed.
It is the way we look at it. It is a year exactly when I made my first trip abroad to the USA.
But again when I look back to my 2nd trip to the USA and our office picnic to Panchgani it appears that it was just a few months back.
Perspective matters
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Announcements page requested
Every morning when the newspaper comes in particularly Times of India, the first news to hit my sleepy eyes is about some infrastructure development plan or Mumbai along with other news.
I am fed up with these developmental announcements and would like to make a humble request to all newspapers to publish a seperate page named "Announcements" or "Political Announcements".
Atleast this may give some extra paper to print some relevant news or more room for the letters from readers.
Just have a taste of some of the recent news/announcements or whatever you call.
Metro project to be completed by 2011
Mumbai to have monorail, lightrail and Maglev(great imagination)
Skywalks to be built around stations
I am confused, will it lead to a jam of rail bridges for different transport mediums.
Most of these projects are still on paper and those which have seen the light of the day have been delayed way past there initial deadline and has incurred serious cost overruns.
The Bandra-Worli sealink project has been going on for the past 8 years and still is incomplete with the completion date now in Dec 2008(hopefully).
At least the newspapers can ignore printing this announcements as news on front pages, as our politicians will not stop giving fake promises
I am fed up with these developmental announcements and would like to make a humble request to all newspapers to publish a seperate page named "Announcements" or "Political Announcements".
Atleast this may give some extra paper to print some relevant news or more room for the letters from readers.
Just have a taste of some of the recent news/announcements or whatever you call.
Metro project to be completed by 2011
Mumbai to have monorail, lightrail and Maglev(great imagination)
Skywalks to be built around stations
I am confused, will it lead to a jam of rail bridges for different transport mediums.
Most of these projects are still on paper and those which have seen the light of the day have been delayed way past there initial deadline and has incurred serious cost overruns.
The Bandra-Worli sealink project has been going on for the past 8 years and still is incomplete with the completion date now in Dec 2008(hopefully).
At least the newspapers can ignore printing this announcements as news on front pages, as our politicians will not stop giving fake promises
Thursday, September 27, 2007
T20 world champs
Can you define the phrase "electrifying atmosphere". A mere definition in words will not suffice you have to be there to experience it. Well I am referring to the India vs Pakistan final in the first ever T20 cricket world cup. It all started at 5.30pm IST (actually even before that) on Monday 24th September. The office had become an abandoned place and lest for 5-10 poor souls engrossed in work all the others were in the canteen in front of the big projector screen. It was mass hysteria to describe the least. Everyone was cheering for even the single run and there were blood curdling cries really sounding like someone had been murdered , for a 6 or a wicket.
It went down to the wire with Pakistan letting it go from its hands and then suddenly jumping back into the game leaving us almost having strokes. Finally India won it.
When our men in blue where on a high with MSD(Dhoni) the Sensex was making new highs every single day. The sensex just crossed 17k and this 1000 points were surpassed in just 6 days.
Surely India is on a roll ..............................
It went down to the wire with Pakistan letting it go from its hands and then suddenly jumping back into the game leaving us almost having strokes. Finally India won it.
When our men in blue where on a high with MSD(Dhoni) the Sensex was making new highs every single day. The sensex just crossed 17k and this 1000 points were surpassed in just 6 days.
Surely India is on a roll ..............................
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Big Apple trip
Actually this post should have been made earlier, but for my laziness and the so called urge required to blog which seldom arises. Better late than never.
In my 2nd trip to the USA I finally visited NY after almost considering all other major cities in the mid west, south and east--Miami,Las Vegas, Atlantic City,Orlando, NY and DC. Many were of the view that since I had been to Chicago, NY would be just another city. Paying no heed to anyone I decided to make the trip to the big apple. The weather had been very harsh the earlier weekend with temperatures going below zero and I had to spend the weekend cocooned in my hotel room. Luckily enough on the day I left for NY from Dayton the weather was superb (20-22 deg Cel). The Weather channel reported a very much normal day ahead and storms on Sunday. So I had 1 full day to roam NY and prove that NY was not just another city similar to Chicago.
I left Dayton on Friday 13th April via a short halt at Cincinnati to NY. I had already spoken to a college friend who resides in New Jersey and who eagerly invited me to stay over for the 2 days in his house. Intricate instructions were given by him to help me reach his place(Metro Park).
A week prior to my trip I was prancing on the net to find all the available info on NY, places of interest, modes of transportation and cost and also if possible visiting Washington.
To my surprise every place of interest, mode of transport or anything else had a web site with information to the minutest detail helping me plan my trip but also confusing me to no end.
The best guide is from NYtimes itself titled 36 hours in NY and barring the eating and drinking joints it gives a short summary of the places of interest and the commuting routes. Although the title says 36 hours it is divided into 3 days suiting all and sundry.
I could get only 1 day to roam around NY and I saw the major attractions,
A cruise on the harbour passing by the Statue of Liberty, Wall street ,walking through downtown, Ground Zero (was a waste) and Times Square (the best).
I thought I spent way too much time walking the streets in downtown(which was empty as it was a Saturday) and this time could have been effectively used in visiting one more place, Grand Central station.
To conclude NY resembled Mumbai in many aspects, the crowd, the hustle bustle, the water logging during the rains etc albeit you cannot ignore the cleanliness and infrastructure of the city.
Chicago was very much different proving many of my friends wrong. Chicago has a slight laid back attitude and yes the infrastructure and other amenities are more modern and better equipped than NY.
In my 2nd trip to the USA I finally visited NY after almost considering all other major cities in the mid west, south and east--Miami,Las Vegas, Atlantic City,Orlando, NY and DC. Many were of the view that since I had been to Chicago, NY would be just another city. Paying no heed to anyone I decided to make the trip to the big apple. The weather had been very harsh the earlier weekend with temperatures going below zero and I had to spend the weekend cocooned in my hotel room. Luckily enough on the day I left for NY from Dayton the weather was superb (20-22 deg Cel). The Weather channel reported a very much normal day ahead and storms on Sunday. So I had 1 full day to roam NY and prove that NY was not just another city similar to Chicago.
I left Dayton on Friday 13th April via a short halt at Cincinnati to NY. I had already spoken to a college friend who resides in New Jersey and who eagerly invited me to stay over for the 2 days in his house. Intricate instructions were given by him to help me reach his place(Metro Park).
A week prior to my trip I was prancing on the net to find all the available info on NY, places of interest, modes of transportation and cost and also if possible visiting Washington.
To my surprise every place of interest, mode of transport or anything else had a web site with information to the minutest detail helping me plan my trip but also confusing me to no end.
The best guide is from NYtimes itself titled 36 hours in NY and barring the eating and drinking joints it gives a short summary of the places of interest and the commuting routes. Although the title says 36 hours it is divided into 3 days suiting all and sundry.
I could get only 1 day to roam around NY and I saw the major attractions,
A cruise on the harbour passing by the Statue of Liberty, Wall street ,walking through downtown, Ground Zero (was a waste) and Times Square (the best).
I thought I spent way too much time walking the streets in downtown(which was empty as it was a Saturday) and this time could have been effectively used in visiting one more place, Grand Central station.
To conclude NY resembled Mumbai in many aspects, the crowd, the hustle bustle, the water logging during the rains etc albeit you cannot ignore the cleanliness and infrastructure of the city.
Chicago was very much different proving many of my friends wrong. Chicago has a slight laid back attitude and yes the infrastructure and other amenities are more modern and better equipped than NY.
India @ 60
India @ 60 is it old or raring to go after 60years? Frankly I am not 60 and so cannot comment the past years. Surely but slowly India has changed over the last 10 years. There has been a communications revolution and a computer revolution which has really brought India into the global limelight. India is improving day after day but the difference is never felt as the improvement is at a snails place.
We talk of cities (especially Mumbai-the financial capital) bursting at its seems and becoming unmanageable but the real India lies in the rural hinterland where development is a fading dot.
The economy is booming and we have a robust financial market but we lack the basic necessities
like infrastructure, education, and cleanliness. Corruption is still rampant with no implementation of policies. This needs to be cleaned up at lightning speed so as to make a mark in the global scenario, else India with a teeming young population will fritter away its core strengths.
Happy Birthday India
We talk of cities (especially Mumbai-the financial capital) bursting at its seems and becoming unmanageable but the real India lies in the rural hinterland where development is a fading dot.
The economy is booming and we have a robust financial market but we lack the basic necessities
like infrastructure, education, and cleanliness. Corruption is still rampant with no implementation of policies. This needs to be cleaned up at lightning speed so as to make a mark in the global scenario, else India with a teeming young population will fritter away its core strengths.
Happy Birthday India
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Bavra mann dekhne chala ek sapna..........
I am returning back to India. Last time when I visited USA in the last 2 days whilst leaving I was obsessed with "Zindagi ke safar me guzar jate hai jo makam woh phir nahi aate..... woh phir nahi aate" from the movie Aap ki kasam. This time round I am obsessed by this
song Bavra mann dekhne chala ek sapna from the movie Hazaaron khwaishein aisi.
I had heard this song in India on Fm in the wee hours of night at 2 am and i found it so soothing that I wanted it to hear it again. I forgot about it after a day or two. Then it came back to haunt me again such that i had to somehow find it somewhere to listen to it. Google and the internet are your best friends in such times.
Now that i have found the link i have played the song more than 50 times in the last 2 days, and the more i hear it i find new meaning and melody in it.
song Bavra mann dekhne chala ek sapna from the movie Hazaaron khwaishein aisi.
I had heard this song in India on Fm in the wee hours of night at 2 am and i found it so soothing that I wanted it to hear it again. I forgot about it after a day or two. Then it came back to haunt me again such that i had to somehow find it somewhere to listen to it. Google and the internet are your best friends in such times.
Now that i have found the link i have played the song more than 50 times in the last 2 days, and the more i hear it i find new meaning and melody in it.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Did I miss the bull run!!!!
One fine morning in office I just decided to sift through the news through a newsreader.
I use google reader. I stood up when I saw this via google reader.(Check the prices of RPL and ITC in the image).
I was even more surprised when I saw that ITC had outpaced even Warren Buffet's stock Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
I am out of touch with the Indian stock markets as I am in the US, but surely not to such an extent :)
I use google reader. I stood up when I saw this via google reader.(Check the prices of RPL and ITC in the image).
I was even more surprised when I saw that ITC had outpaced even Warren Buffet's stock Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
I am out of touch with the Indian stock markets as I am in the US, but surely not to such an extent :)
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Something to write......................
A lot has been happenning for the past 3 months that could have been blogged about but the inner desire to write a blog post has vanished. I started the new year with a resolution to write atleast 1 post per week and actually it is just a post per month or not even that.
I am back in the USA (Dayton, Ohio) for the 2nd time and am blogging from the hotel. I pondered and thought, scratched my head and finally decided to write something just to keep the blog going. Maybe a synopsis of the 3 months gone by.
January was the school admission month. I stood in long queues to get the admission forms in about 4 schools and finally Anish got through in one of the 2 favorites in our area. It was a ridiculous task thanks to the Indian government whereby education is a business rather than a public service. No matter how much I fretted and fumed I had to stand in the queue from 5am in the morning for 3-4 hours. My kid also went through an interview, for which we prepared him in advance. And alas this was not the end as we kept our fingers crossed till the results were out.
Man, this was difficult than looking out for a job
January also saw a visit to Hyderabad for a week which was fun and also we had to return in a hurry, a day early than scheduled due to the admissions. This entailed coming by flight and my sons first trip on a plane. Hyderabad is a nice place with many parks and places to visit. The Salarjung Museum was amazing especially we had a chance to witness the display of the Nizams jewellery collection. The jewellery collection had all types of precious stones studded in necklaces and crowns. Majority of them where diamonds,rubies and emeralds, also some where uncut precious stones. However one display caught my attention, it was a diamond (forgot the name) displayed seperately. The information about this said that it was used as a paperweight
by the Nizams. Awesome!!!!!!!
February saw me getting busy in training as a part of our mandatory performance review.
I covered PL/SQL and Unix in about 10 days although both were seperated apart.
My first live concert (Roger Waters--Pink Floyd- already blogged) attendance was also fun although I felt the tickets were priced high and wished I had been a wee bit taller(maybe by 2-3 inches) as I had to sometimes stand on my toes to look at the stage and my foot pained in the end. An onsite(USA) trip in March also materialised .
March entailed a picnic to idyllic Panchgani with the office team. The place was unimaginable on a cliff with 5 tents equipped with beds and all the amenities for the much required bio breaks.
It was a 2 day trip and we enjoyed it with the resolve to go on more such outings in the near future.
The flight to Dayton was delayed by 6 hours and all this caused a delay of 1 day to reach destination. I travelled by Air India (our national airline) which sucked big time. I think the Maharaja needs a revamp at the earliest. Luckily Air India arranged for hotel accomodation for the night (part of the night as i reached the hotel at 2.00am).
This was my 2nd visit to Dayton and the excitement of the first time was absent.
I was occupied with work for the first 10 days(including weekends) so did not have much of a problem as to how to spend time. Now I am sitting in the hotel room surfing the net as I cannot go out as the temperature outside is -3 deg celsius. Maybe in the evening I may go out and take a short walk. These temperatures are abnormal for April and hopefully the next week seems marginally ok.
I am back in the USA (Dayton, Ohio) for the 2nd time and am blogging from the hotel. I pondered and thought, scratched my head and finally decided to write something just to keep the blog going. Maybe a synopsis of the 3 months gone by.
January was the school admission month. I stood in long queues to get the admission forms in about 4 schools and finally Anish got through in one of the 2 favorites in our area. It was a ridiculous task thanks to the Indian government whereby education is a business rather than a public service. No matter how much I fretted and fumed I had to stand in the queue from 5am in the morning for 3-4 hours. My kid also went through an interview, for which we prepared him in advance. And alas this was not the end as we kept our fingers crossed till the results were out.
Man, this was difficult than looking out for a job
January also saw a visit to Hyderabad for a week which was fun and also we had to return in a hurry, a day early than scheduled due to the admissions. This entailed coming by flight and my sons first trip on a plane. Hyderabad is a nice place with many parks and places to visit. The Salarjung Museum was amazing especially we had a chance to witness the display of the Nizams jewellery collection. The jewellery collection had all types of precious stones studded in necklaces and crowns. Majority of them where diamonds,rubies and emeralds, also some where uncut precious stones. However one display caught my attention, it was a diamond (forgot the name) displayed seperately. The information about this said that it was used as a paperweight
by the Nizams. Awesome!!!!!!!
February saw me getting busy in training as a part of our mandatory performance review.
I covered PL/SQL and Unix in about 10 days although both were seperated apart.
My first live concert (Roger Waters--Pink Floyd- already blogged) attendance was also fun although I felt the tickets were priced high and wished I had been a wee bit taller(maybe by 2-3 inches) as I had to sometimes stand on my toes to look at the stage and my foot pained in the end. An onsite(USA) trip in March also materialised .
March entailed a picnic to idyllic Panchgani with the office team. The place was unimaginable on a cliff with 5 tents equipped with beds and all the amenities for the much required bio breaks.
It was a 2 day trip and we enjoyed it with the resolve to go on more such outings in the near future.
The flight to Dayton was delayed by 6 hours and all this caused a delay of 1 day to reach destination. I travelled by Air India (our national airline) which sucked big time. I think the Maharaja needs a revamp at the earliest. Luckily Air India arranged for hotel accomodation for the night (part of the night as i reached the hotel at 2.00am).
This was my 2nd visit to Dayton and the excitement of the first time was absent.
I was occupied with work for the first 10 days(including weekends) so did not have much of a problem as to how to spend time. Now I am sitting in the hotel room surfing the net as I cannot go out as the temperature outside is -3 deg celsius. Maybe in the evening I may go out and take a short walk. These temperatures are abnormal for April and hopefully the next week seems marginally ok.
Monday, March 05, 2007
The great gig in Mumbai-Roger Waters live
Sunday 18th Feb 2007 will go down as a great day in my memories. It was "us and him".
Roger Waters (of Pink Floyd) had a live concert in Mumbai. It was also my first live concert. I had missed his live concert in Bangalore in 2002.
I cannot say missed in the literal sense but it was not possible to attend the concert due to various myriad reasons e.g non-availability of time, traveling to Bangalore etc.
This time round I was dead sure that I would not miss it as all the cards had fallen into the right place(time,location,money etc). The tickets were expensive but i really did not care about it.
The concert was fantastic although I wished I had taken the highest priced ticket, where there was a more clear view.
He played the usual concert favorites
"Shine on your crazy diamond"
"Wish you were here"-(A tribute to Syd Barrett-Original founder of thr group Pink Floyd).
A new track I heard was "Leaving Beirut" were the Bush administration and in general the US were criticised.
After a painful 15 minute break he played my favorite - whole one side of the
"Dark Side of the Moon" album . I am especially fond of " Breathe" and "Time"
He ended here abruptly and I was disappointed as no "The Wall" track had ben played.
Surpisingly the whole band came back to the loud chants of Once more to play
Another Brick in the Wall and Comfortably Numb
The concert ended quite early by the normal live show standards.
I got hooked to Pink Floyd's music very early, when I was just 17. I knew nothing about English or Rock music then with the only known bands being BoneyM (because they toured India), Michael Jackson(as he was in the news) and Madonna( for all the wrong reasons).
Those were the carefree college days when you had all the freedom and no responsibilities. My cousin, elder to me by 10 years introduced me to Pink Floyd and eventually "The Wall" album. I was fascinated by the sounds in DSOTM and with no other known group started accumulating all the cassettes when released. Surely after listening to all the albums Dark side of the Moon and Wall so many times , the tracks were etched in my memory and slowly there was a meaning to all those sounds and songs.
When I graduated and started working I lost a bit of interest in English music in general and started following more of Hindi music. So listening to Floyd after a long time really brought back memories of those carefree days.
And finally these lyrics(in part) are my all time favorite
Roger Waters (of Pink Floyd) had a live concert in Mumbai. It was also my first live concert. I had missed his live concert in Bangalore in 2002.
I cannot say missed in the literal sense but it was not possible to attend the concert due to various myriad reasons e.g non-availability of time, traveling to Bangalore etc.
This time round I was dead sure that I would not miss it as all the cards had fallen into the right place(time,location,money etc). The tickets were expensive but i really did not care about it.
The concert was fantastic although I wished I had taken the highest priced ticket, where there was a more clear view.
He played the usual concert favorites
"Shine on your crazy diamond"
"Wish you were here"-(A tribute to Syd Barrett-Original founder of thr group Pink Floyd).
A new track I heard was "Leaving Beirut" were the Bush administration and in general the US were criticised.
After a painful 15 minute break he played my favorite - whole one side of the
"Dark Side of the Moon" album . I am especially fond of " Breathe" and "Time"
He ended here abruptly and I was disappointed as no "The Wall" track had ben played.
Surpisingly the whole band came back to the loud chants of Once more to play
Another Brick in the Wall and Comfortably Numb
The concert ended quite early by the normal live show standards.
I got hooked to Pink Floyd's music very early, when I was just 17. I knew nothing about English or Rock music then with the only known bands being BoneyM (because they toured India), Michael Jackson(as he was in the news) and Madonna( for all the wrong reasons).
Those were the carefree college days when you had all the freedom and no responsibilities. My cousin, elder to me by 10 years introduced me to Pink Floyd and eventually "The Wall" album. I was fascinated by the sounds in DSOTM and with no other known group started accumulating all the cassettes when released. Surely after listening to all the albums Dark side of the Moon and Wall so many times , the tracks were etched in my memory and slowly there was a meaning to all those sounds and songs.
When I graduated and started working I lost a bit of interest in English music in general and started following more of Hindi music. So listening to Floyd after a long time really brought back memories of those carefree days.
And finally these lyrics(in part) are my all time favorite
Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
You fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way
Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain
You are young and life is long, and there is time to kill today
And then one day you find, ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun
Sunday, February 04, 2007
AC climate sweltering in between
Mumbai, for the past month is experiencing a pleasant climate.
It is winter and the temperatures range from 26 deg celsius(day) and a low of 17-18 deg celsius(night). I always dream of such a climate throughout the year for Mum. I term this as AC climate. Traditionally November to February and maybe even first half of March was considered the best season in Mumbai, with low humidity and a nice breeze. But this period has been altered by global warming, El Nina/Nino and what not.
Suddenly in the midst of the bliss the last week saw the mercury rise to 35 and the humidity level shoot up causing health problems. Hope this ends and the AC climate continues through Feb 07.
It is winter and the temperatures range from 26 deg celsius(day) and a low of 17-18 deg celsius(night). I always dream of such a climate throughout the year for Mum. I term this as AC climate. Traditionally November to February and maybe even first half of March was considered the best season in Mumbai, with low humidity and a nice breeze. But this period has been altered by global warming, El Nina/Nino and what not.
Suddenly in the midst of the bliss the last week saw the mercury rise to 35 and the humidity level shoot up causing health problems. Hope this ends and the AC climate continues through Feb 07.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Banning youtube
I was seriously irked by this Times of India article.
Can we ban youtube?. Yes we can if we want to return back to the Stone Age. Surely we ban youtube then blogs and then even chat just because some person posted a video or commented on a blog about a great Indian personality. And yes as we return to the stone age we will be devoid of any competition. We wont be compared to China,Brazil etc anywhere.
Surprisingly enough this news only appeared on the headlines of the TOI and i could not locate it in any other newspaper.
The govt needs to focus more on healthcare,infrastructure,education and not stiffling each individuals right of expression. Banning the offensive video in question would serve the purpose.
Surely there will sites like pkblogs for videos or if there arent any they will surely mushroom as a result of the ban.
Can we ban youtube?. Yes we can if we want to return back to the Stone Age. Surely we ban youtube then blogs and then even chat just because some person posted a video or commented on a blog about a great Indian personality. And yes as we return to the stone age we will be devoid of any competition. We wont be compared to China,Brazil etc anywhere.
Surprisingly enough this news only appeared on the headlines of the TOI and i could not locate it in any other newspaper.
The govt needs to focus more on healthcare,infrastructure,education and not stiffling each individuals right of expression. Banning the offensive video in question would serve the purpose.
Surely there will sites like pkblogs for videos or if there arent any they will surely mushroom as a result of the ban.
Monday, January 01, 2007
New year and a post finally
Happy New Year.
A day to make new resolutions (so they say) -which will not be achieved even in 365 days and probably will be pushed as next years resolutions. Why do we require the 1st day of the new year for making resolutions?. If one really wants to achieve anything it can be decided upon anyday.
So be it, each one has his/her own ways.
After saying all this the first thought that came to my mind in the morning was to look for a suitable to-do list preferably online. There are many such sites on the web. This review helped me to choose one from the 25 reviewed. So I have a list at backpackit.
I had an idea that I post in my blog everyday--which could include (as I am lazy ) just a simple link, or just a sentence or two about life or my rants and ramblings on life or a full bodied post which makes my point through. This would make 365 posts for the year and maybe my blog would atleast have some ranking on technorati, maybe the most regularly updated blog (with crap).
Ha Ha, Here I am, after a week into the new year, too lazy to just post a link also which is just a copy and paste operation and does not involve any key punch operations to hurt my fingers.
So the first lazy links,news,views and questions
Who or What is a dorkbot? I came across this term in article in Wired which lists top 10 tech towns.
In simple terms dorkbot refers to a group of affiliated organizations that sponsor meetings of artists,engineers and designers who work in the field of Electronic Art.
In the news
The gruesome Noida killings rock the news since last week. I am surprised as to why the proceedings to identify what has exactly happened and who is to be blamed is taking such along time. This episode is in the news for the past 15 days and there has been no conviction against the culprits. This is Incredible India for you.
The Chief Ministers brother Shivpal Yadav quotes these killing of children as
"Choti moti ghatna". This is sheer disgrace. Tomorrow if the ministers kith and kin are kidnapped there will be no inquiries and the culprits traced and punished immediately.
This is again the same incredible india.
A day to make new resolutions (so they say) -which will not be achieved even in 365 days and probably will be pushed as next years resolutions. Why do we require the 1st day of the new year for making resolutions?. If one really wants to achieve anything it can be decided upon anyday.
So be it, each one has his/her own ways.
After saying all this the first thought that came to my mind in the morning was to look for a suitable to-do list preferably online. There are many such sites on the web. This review helped me to choose one from the 25 reviewed. So I have a list at backpackit.
I had an idea that I post in my blog everyday--which could include (as I am lazy ) just a simple link, or just a sentence or two about life or my rants and ramblings on life or a full bodied post which makes my point through. This would make 365 posts for the year and maybe my blog would atleast have some ranking on technorati, maybe the most regularly updated blog (with crap).
Ha Ha, Here I am, after a week into the new year, too lazy to just post a link also which is just a copy and paste operation and does not involve any key punch operations to hurt my fingers.
So the first lazy links,news,views and questions
Who or What is a dorkbot? I came across this term in article in Wired which lists top 10 tech towns.
In simple terms dorkbot refers to a group of affiliated organizations that sponsor meetings of artists,engineers and designers who work in the field of Electronic Art.
In the news
The gruesome Noida killings rock the news since last week. I am surprised as to why the proceedings to identify what has exactly happened and who is to be blamed is taking such along time. This episode is in the news for the past 15 days and there has been no conviction against the culprits. This is Incredible India for you.
The Chief Ministers brother Shivpal Yadav quotes these killing of children as
"Choti moti ghatna". This is sheer disgrace. Tomorrow if the ministers kith and kin are kidnapped there will be no inquiries and the culprits traced and punished immediately.
This is again the same incredible india.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Harry Potter and other old comics
Recently I have been reading some fiction. For the last 5 years I had never looked at any fiction book as my sole interest had been technology books and that to only programming and computers. I piled up all types of techie books but never got the time to read, also with these techie books you need to really write programs and practice to get a hang of it which was not possible due to lack of time.
I was an avid reader of fiction during my college days when books were available in libraries only and the computer was a machine to be used in offices and big organisations to improve productivity.
My interests in fiction ranged from Agatha Christie, Perry Mason to Robert Ludlum,Sidney Sheldon etc. I enjoyed Sidney Sheldon the most
Upto the age of 18 I also devoured comic books. Amar Chitra Katha for Indian mythology and Indrajal Comics for other fiction like Phantom and Mandrake. Besides Phantom and Mandrake I devoured TinTin comics most.
Now in the early thirties I have again become interested in witches,wizardy and stories of that kind.
I watched Harry Potters first movie and was interested to find out why Harry Potter has become a phenomenon the world over among young and old alike. I brough the 1st book Harry Potter and the Philosophers stone and started devouring it. Although a little slow read I was overwhelmed by the number of characters presented. To sort out the confusion and avoid looking back and searching about a character I searched for a random charcter for information in Google. I landed at the found hp-lexicon. This site is awesome, detailing the life and times of the author and also detailing to the minutest the whole wizarding world of Harry Potter. Now I have become a true fan of Harry Potter and here I go for the 2nd book.
Google at it once again
Google has always been at the forefront of innovation and has rolled out some great web based tools and software. Be it a spreadsheet,word processor or photo management. Google also has specialized searches for microsoft, linux, bsd, apple and now it has started a patents search for searching US patents. This is just awesome.
I was an avid reader of fiction during my college days when books were available in libraries only and the computer was a machine to be used in offices and big organisations to improve productivity.
My interests in fiction ranged from Agatha Christie, Perry Mason to Robert Ludlum,Sidney Sheldon etc. I enjoyed Sidney Sheldon the most
Upto the age of 18 I also devoured comic books. Amar Chitra Katha for Indian mythology and Indrajal Comics for other fiction like Phantom and Mandrake. Besides Phantom and Mandrake I devoured TinTin comics most.
Now in the early thirties I have again become interested in witches,wizardy and stories of that kind.
I watched Harry Potters first movie and was interested to find out why Harry Potter has become a phenomenon the world over among young and old alike. I brough the 1st book Harry Potter and the Philosophers stone and started devouring it. Although a little slow read I was overwhelmed by the number of characters presented. To sort out the confusion and avoid looking back and searching about a character I searched for a random charcter for information in Google. I landed at the found hp-lexicon. This site is awesome, detailing the life and times of the author and also detailing to the minutest the whole wizarding world of Harry Potter. Now I have become a true fan of Harry Potter and here I go for the 2nd book.
Google at it once again
Google has always been at the forefront of innovation and has rolled out some great web based tools and software. Be it a spreadsheet,word processor or photo management. Google also has specialized searches for microsoft, linux, bsd, apple and now it has started a patents search for searching US patents. This is just awesome.
Innovative blogging
The internet has become a sort of staple these days without which one(includes myself) cannot function. May be it's just-for-fun surfing without a purpose or surfing with some specific information need. And as you wander around the blogosphere and surf through the labyrinths of the internet you stumble upon some really good links.
Clicking through various links from inside various blogs I found these 2 blogs which I felt is an innovative and even informative way to post to blogs.
Instead of posting your daily happenings or news and links why not post some links or some questions and answers to increase your knowledge and of other readers if any.
My Link List --- posts 2 or 3 links a day but really good links, not the usual news and reviews stuff
Ten Things I Didn't Know Until Last Week----- 10 questions and answers every week, like a General Knowledge quiz. This the blogger says is inspired by BBC's column of the same name but in a different format
Clicking through various links from inside various blogs I found these 2 blogs which I felt is an innovative and even informative way to post to blogs.
Instead of posting your daily happenings or news and links why not post some links or some questions and answers to increase your knowledge and of other readers if any.
My Link List --- posts 2 or 3 links a day but really good links, not the usual news and reviews stuff
Ten Things I Didn't Know Until Last Week----- 10 questions and answers every week, like a General Knowledge quiz. This the blogger says is inspired by BBC's column of the same name but in a different format
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Hockey shocker
After the recent debacle in cricket there is another shocking sports debacle China defeat India 3-2 in hockey at the Asian games.
Rightly reported by The Afternoon despatch and courier as
India plunged to the depths of despair after being made to eat humble pie by an unfancied China
Seriously, I have never followed or tracked hockey as much like cricket or tennis.
Even football arouses my interests during the world cup. This news certainly shocked me and kept me wondering why our national sport is Hockey.
Cricket is a religion in India and in Mumbai atleast, there is no other recognised ground sport.
India is already in the dumps with hockey with other nations Netherlands and Germany and even Australia mastering the game.
The recent debacle in cricket raised a furore in the parliament which even Farmers suicide or bad infrastructure could not raise.
Rightly reported by The Afternoon despatch and courier as
India plunged to the depths of despair after being made to eat humble pie by an unfancied China
Seriously, I have never followed or tracked hockey as much like cricket or tennis.
Even football arouses my interests during the world cup. This news certainly shocked me and kept me wondering why our national sport is Hockey.
Cricket is a religion in India and in Mumbai atleast, there is no other recognised ground sport.
India is already in the dumps with hockey with other nations Netherlands and Germany and even Australia mastering the game.
The recent debacle in cricket raised a furore in the parliament which even Farmers suicide or bad infrastructure could not raise.
Sunday, November 19, 2006
The daily grind
Back in India after a very good first trip to the USA, I find myself settling down cozily in the daily grind that is life, so much so that a post to this blog requires some stimulation or rather inspiration.
Finally I dragged myself from the run of the mill (which will exist anyway) to just write a post which may seem like unorganized and written at the spur of the moment.
Now what do I write, the much delayed Chicago and Niagara tour posts, current affairs with links pointing to the web, personal happenings -which is the never ending loop--family-office-family and nothing more, or something spontaneous which would be a mixture of everything above.
Yes, it has to be spontaneous. So here goes.
Reading a friend, Sanjeev's blog I came to know of 100words.net which coaxes you to write about something in not more than hundred words everyday. It is difficult to put your thoughts through in just 100 words but it is worth giving a try maybe I can manage a shade above 100 words, maybe I can try to write about my Chicago or Niagara trip in 100 words.
It was my first visit abroad and I found the United States to be really neat and clean with all the conveniences. I just put this at the back of my mind as I found that the Indianness with all its religious and cultural fervour was absent. My colleagues working in the USA have kids born in the USA and although they understand their mother tongue they reply or talk in American English. The real difference was felt when I returned back to India and was towing my baggage while exiting the airport, I felt a trickle on my temple, it was a drop of sweat (which leaks out of your pores just like that without any effort-in India) and I realized that I had landed in India.
I had not sweat for a whole month!!!
After 2 days in India and travelling for daily chores within Mumbai I found my own country to be hot and dirty and it was as if on my first trip abroad I had tasted first blood.
I went to Pune the next weekend. Pune has had a soft corner in my mind mainly because it is an IT destination and it has a very good climate. This visit proved to me that the craters on the moon were no different from the roads in Pune. A main thoroughfare like Karve road was like riding a boat (maybe the boat in the rough seas was nuch smoother). I kept wondering how it became an IT destination. The climate and the laid back lifestyle is still a plus factor.
Amidst writing this blog I almost forgot that my other blog remains unupdated for a long time and I need to update it.
Also need to mention that I am the proud owner of a Canon A630 and a Sony Ericsson K750i
Finally I dragged myself from the run of the mill (which will exist anyway) to just write a post which may seem like unorganized and written at the spur of the moment.
Now what do I write, the much delayed Chicago and Niagara tour posts, current affairs with links pointing to the web, personal happenings -which is the never ending loop--family-office-family and nothing more, or something spontaneous which would be a mixture of everything above.
Yes, it has to be spontaneous. So here goes.
Reading a friend, Sanjeev's blog I came to know of 100words.net which coaxes you to write about something in not more than hundred words everyday. It is difficult to put your thoughts through in just 100 words but it is worth giving a try maybe I can manage a shade above 100 words, maybe I can try to write about my Chicago or Niagara trip in 100 words.
It was my first visit abroad and I found the United States to be really neat and clean with all the conveniences. I just put this at the back of my mind as I found that the Indianness with all its religious and cultural fervour was absent. My colleagues working in the USA have kids born in the USA and although they understand their mother tongue they reply or talk in American English. The real difference was felt when I returned back to India and was towing my baggage while exiting the airport, I felt a trickle on my temple, it was a drop of sweat (which leaks out of your pores just like that without any effort-in India) and I realized that I had landed in India.
I had not sweat for a whole month!!!
After 2 days in India and travelling for daily chores within Mumbai I found my own country to be hot and dirty and it was as if on my first trip abroad I had tasted first blood.
I went to Pune the next weekend. Pune has had a soft corner in my mind mainly because it is an IT destination and it has a very good climate. This visit proved to me that the craters on the moon were no different from the roads in Pune. A main thoroughfare like Karve road was like riding a boat (maybe the boat in the rough seas was nuch smoother). I kept wondering how it became an IT destination. The climate and the laid back lifestyle is still a plus factor.
Amidst writing this blog I almost forgot that my other blog remains unupdated for a long time and I need to update it.
Also need to mention that I am the proud owner of a Canon A630 and a Sony Ericsson K750i
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Last 2 days in Dayton
It is 10/28 and 12.00noon here in Dayton. I am going back to India tom
These are the last 2 days of my stay in Dayton. Guess what i just took a kishore kumar cd from a friend, thought I would listen to it as I had a day free as it was weekend and I started to this song from Aap ki kasam
Zindagi ke safar me guzar jate hai jo makam woh phir nahi aate..... woh phir nahi aate"
Is it pure coincidence, that I started to listen to this song at this time when I am leaving back for India?. I do not know but the opening music makes my mind go into a trance and maybe hallucinate, feels weird, eerie but soothing. Only the opening lines have some relevance to my situation here not the full song. I kept on listening to this number again and again thru the night. Any way its Kishore Kumar and its a great number.
Going home, Going home, Really long to meet Mrudula and Anish. Play with Anish and talk to him..................Going home,Going home........................
Reminds me also of the Simon and Garfunkel number "Homeward Bound"
These are the last 2 days of my stay in Dayton. Guess what i just took a kishore kumar cd from a friend, thought I would listen to it as I had a day free as it was weekend and I started to this song from Aap ki kasam
Zindagi ke safar me guzar jate hai jo makam woh phir nahi aate..... woh phir nahi aate"
Is it pure coincidence, that I started to listen to this song at this time when I am leaving back for India?. I do not know but the opening music makes my mind go into a trance and maybe hallucinate, feels weird, eerie but soothing. Only the opening lines have some relevance to my situation here not the full song. I kept on listening to this number again and again thru the night. Any way its Kishore Kumar and its a great number.
Going home, Going home, Really long to meet Mrudula and Anish. Play with Anish and talk to him..................Going home,Going home........................
Reminds me also of the Simon and Garfunkel number "Homeward Bound"
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Freezing cold-Dozing off
I have not updated for the last 15 days. I am still in the USA and it's been very cold here in Dayton. I decide to update my blog and really doze off in few minutes and really dont want to get off the bed.
There is lots to write about My Chicago trip, My Buffalo/Niagara trip and meeting old friends.
Will do it sooner or later I hope.
Till then those of you who really follow this blog( I hope someone does!!!:)) hold on....
There is lots to write about My Chicago trip, My Buffalo/Niagara trip and meeting old friends.
Will do it sooner or later I hope.
Till then those of you who really follow this blog( I hope someone does!!!:)) hold on....
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Dayton update-upto Day 8
It is cold here in Dayton and there is a freeze watch for Thursday night going upto Friday morning. Now what is a freeze watch. According to Weather.com
A FREEZE WATCH MEANS TEMPERATURES AT OR BELOW 32 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT ARE IMMINENT OR HIGHLY LIKELY IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.
This means temperatures could dip below 0 degrees celsius. Fortunately or unfortunately maybe i could see some snow.
What have i been doing all these days in America?
I have been visiting various places of shopping interest during the last few days and climate has been good. I have made it a point not to eat at the same place and try out a different places. Surely there are many more eating joints and restaurants than my number of days stay(27).
I have tried Arby's, McD(thats McDonalds), Chipotle(Mexican), Gyros(Greek/Mediterannean), Bahn Mai(thai), PF Chang(Chinese-Chinese not Indian-Chinese), Tacho bell, Subby's, Donatos pizza, and Amar India(Indian)
I ate subs(sandwiches),french fries,vegeterian pita, Ragin cajun chicken, Spicy chicken burrito,
Dang Dang noodles with chicken,salsa,etc.....................
I am guzzling lots of soft drinks -more that what I drink in a year in India.
It seems Americans have more ice cold drinks as it gets cooler and they dont drink tea and/or coffee. Coffee yes but it is black and bitter with little milk and sugar.
I visited the Dayton Mall which is the reason why Dayton exists at the first place as told to me by few people. This is a huge mall with loads and loads of shops for clothing and womens accessories. There are gaming zones and seperate shops for games stocking games for the regular pc to the Xbox/360,PS2,nintendo,gameboy etc.
I also visited a book store of Barnes and Noble. The area of that store was as big as our office
(Cap Gemini). I wasnt interested in buying any book as all these books are available in India with the local raddi wala(used books and newspaper reseller) for dirt cheap prices and I just wanted to have a look at it. This shop allows you to read any book sitting there and having coffee from Starbucks. It has books on any subject you can think of. Do you think coin collecting seems to be a weird topic to have books on, not at all this shop has more that 30 books on that subject. Books were arranged according to subjects obviously which included literature/fiction,
mystery,science fiction, new age(included spirituality, wicca and witchcraft), cooking,sports,
biographies, gay/lesbian,sexuality, crosswords/puzzles, references and on and on.
As expected in the computer section I found more Microsoft Technology books and many books for the Mac(u will not find them in India).
I was amazed with there periodicals and magazines section again divided into 12 sections (womens interest,mens interest,business,current affairs,sports,arts. etc). There must be around a 1000 magazines.
I watched 4 movies in the last few days Forrest Gump, Castaway, Red eye, The Island.
All were good movies except maybe Castaway which i felt dragged along and I myself felt like a Castaway- not on an island but in the hotel.
I have been fequently visiting sites which I would rarely visit when in India.
dealstobuy amazon, travelocity, Hbo, Google Maps, greyhound
A FREEZE WATCH MEANS TEMPERATURES AT OR BELOW 32 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT ARE IMMINENT OR HIGHLY LIKELY IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.
This means temperatures could dip below 0 degrees celsius. Fortunately or unfortunately maybe i could see some snow.
What have i been doing all these days in America?
I have been visiting various places of shopping interest during the last few days and climate has been good. I have made it a point not to eat at the same place and try out a different places. Surely there are many more eating joints and restaurants than my number of days stay(27).
I have tried Arby's, McD(thats McDonalds), Chipotle(Mexican), Gyros(Greek/Mediterannean), Bahn Mai(thai), PF Chang(Chinese-Chinese not Indian-Chinese), Tacho bell, Subby's, Donatos pizza, and Amar India(Indian)
I ate subs(sandwiches),french fries,vegeterian pita, Ragin cajun chicken, Spicy chicken burrito,
Dang Dang noodles with chicken,salsa,etc.....................
I am guzzling lots of soft drinks -more that what I drink in a year in India.
It seems Americans have more ice cold drinks as it gets cooler and they dont drink tea and/or coffee. Coffee yes but it is black and bitter with little milk and sugar.
I visited the Dayton Mall which is the reason why Dayton exists at the first place as told to me by few people. This is a huge mall with loads and loads of shops for clothing and womens accessories. There are gaming zones and seperate shops for games stocking games for the regular pc to the Xbox/360,PS2,nintendo,gameboy etc.
I also visited a book store of Barnes and Noble. The area of that store was as big as our office
(Cap Gemini). I wasnt interested in buying any book as all these books are available in India with the local raddi wala(used books and newspaper reseller) for dirt cheap prices and I just wanted to have a look at it. This shop allows you to read any book sitting there and having coffee from Starbucks. It has books on any subject you can think of. Do you think coin collecting seems to be a weird topic to have books on, not at all this shop has more that 30 books on that subject. Books were arranged according to subjects obviously which included literature/fiction,
mystery,science fiction, new age(included spirituality, wicca and witchcraft), cooking,sports,
biographies, gay/lesbian,sexuality, crosswords/puzzles, references and on and on.
As expected in the computer section I found more Microsoft Technology books and many books for the Mac(u will not find them in India).
I was amazed with there periodicals and magazines section again divided into 12 sections (womens interest,mens interest,business,current affairs,sports,arts. etc). There must be around a 1000 magazines.
I watched 4 movies in the last few days Forrest Gump, Castaway, Red eye, The Island.
All were good movies except maybe Castaway which i felt dragged along and I myself felt like a Castaway- not on an island but in the hotel.
I have been fequently visiting sites which I would rarely visit when in India.
dealstobuy amazon, travelocity, Hbo, Google Maps, greyhound
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Blogging from Dayton, Ohio USA
I am writing this from a hotel room in Dayton,Ohio in USA on a Ibm T41 on a fast wireless connection. To be precise i am staying at the Hampton Inn on Old Yankee street in Centerville, Dayton, Ohio, USA.
Landed here on Oct 3 2006 @8.oopm.
First impressions-Very neat and clean, everything automated and online, Americans live life to the fullest with all the conveniences.
Dayton is very small and does not have a public transport system and you need to have a car to go anywhere and everywhere. That is a disadvantage for me and have to depend on someone always.
The hotel room is spacious unlike what u find in India. All toilets have hot and cold water with one system of taps (faucet as they call it in USA) everywhere. It is fully equipped big bed which can easily accomodate 3, 29 inch TV sets a iron and iron table a coffee maker with some coffee filters, fridge and microwave. Every floor has a softdrink dispenser and ice vending machine.
It is cold here as compared to Mumbai and for an indian specie like me coming out of a tropical climate it is sort of bad. The temperatures have been 20-22 deg celsius max to 4-8 deg celsius min.
This is my first international trip and as usual when u travel anywhere u forget something.
Yes I forgot to pack some books which i intended to read here and have to rely on my laptop and a cd which I burned with my online book collection.
Lets see if i can buy some here.
Now I have some time here so will try to hone my skills further.
I have been eating variety food for the last few days
Pizzas,McChicken,Veg Sub(sub is a sandwich), Dang Dang noodles, Chicken fried rice(not the Indian one), Vegeterian Pita, Gyros(Greek), Spicy chicken Burrito(Mexican).
I flew to the USA ---Mumbai-Milan-Atlanta-Dayton
In Milan I could see a confluence of various European ethnicities. Italian, Greek,Spanish,Czech Romanian etc. There are flights to everywhere in Europe, USA and Africa.
All in all agood experience lets say.
Landed here on Oct 3 2006 @8.oopm.
First impressions-Very neat and clean, everything automated and online, Americans live life to the fullest with all the conveniences.
Dayton is very small and does not have a public transport system and you need to have a car to go anywhere and everywhere. That is a disadvantage for me and have to depend on someone always.
The hotel room is spacious unlike what u find in India. All toilets have hot and cold water with one system of taps (faucet as they call it in USA) everywhere. It is fully equipped big bed which can easily accomodate 3, 29 inch TV sets a iron and iron table a coffee maker with some coffee filters, fridge and microwave. Every floor has a softdrink dispenser and ice vending machine.
It is cold here as compared to Mumbai and for an indian specie like me coming out of a tropical climate it is sort of bad. The temperatures have been 20-22 deg celsius max to 4-8 deg celsius min.
This is my first international trip and as usual when u travel anywhere u forget something.
Yes I forgot to pack some books which i intended to read here and have to rely on my laptop and a cd which I burned with my online book collection.
Lets see if i can buy some here.
Now I have some time here so will try to hone my skills further.
I have been eating variety food for the last few days
Pizzas,McChicken,Veg Sub(sub is a sandwich), Dang Dang noodles, Chicken fried rice(not the Indian one), Vegeterian Pita, Gyros(Greek), Spicy chicken Burrito(Mexican).
I flew to the USA ---Mumbai-Milan-Atlanta-Dayton
In Milan I could see a confluence of various European ethnicities. Italian, Greek,Spanish,Czech Romanian etc. There are flights to everywhere in Europe, USA and Africa.
All in all agood experience lets say.
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