Order a Foot long and pay for 2 Six Inches

In case your wondering what the hell is this, well brace yourself this one is one of its kind I think

I sometimes order food from the Subway to beat the monotony of the normal Indian food and also that of the vegetarian food. Couple of days back I had ordered for a foot-long subway melt and the person who took the order said it will come as two 6-inch subs and I was like ok, that’s fine I guess…. The bill came upto INR 335/-

The next day I had not got lunch again, so was going through the menu and I just freaked out, subway melt foot-long costs 235 with taxes works out to INR 264/-. The same subway melt taken as a 6-inch costs be 298 without taxes

I was like what the… I then had to call the delivery guy and the explanations given, as per our billing rules, we bill even a foot-long as two 6-inch subs. This is absolutely unfair on the guy who orders for a door delivery

I have written to the franchisee that runs the Subway Brand of Restaurants in Chennai for an explanation with a promise from the delivery guy that he will check it out also from his superiors on the same
Lets hope for some answers and till such time all those who order through the delivery centre, check on the bills (I am not too sure on the systems followed in other places, am talking Chennai)

I am not one of those who is anti any language or anti anything other than my mother toungu/state, but the fact that you end up meeting someone who hails from the same city or state or even speaks the language that you do, gives so much pleasure.

I happen to board an auto here and I was just speaking to him, when he suddenly asked me Thamizhah??? and I was yes yes...neenga?? (how about you???) and I found a slight exitement in my voice...

Similarly, the driver for one of the directors of the company for which I work is from one of the southern town of Tamil Nadu and I happen to get a lift to office and he was like Thamizha and I experieced the same pleasure :-)

Guess it must be the same everywhere whether one is anti any lanuage or not..... :-)

Mumbaai!!!!

I was asked to get my butt out here on a very short notice. This is my first trip ever to this place, but I was everything but exited. Yes, the non exitement can be attributed to the vested interests I had back home in Chennai.... :-)

I had been called here for a week but my stay has been extended for another week and as usual I was short of my necessary amenities and I had to specifically shop around for the same. The place is quite different, it doesn't give me an alien feeling but I somhow feel I might just be a misfit here or rather I feel so because I miss quite a few special people in my life - Family, Friends and all other people who make the place a living heaven

The place is clean and dirty in parts. The malls are fantastic ( I must admit I haven't seen more than 5% of Mumbai, but still.....), the crowd; very eye cathcing and lovely (yes yes, obviously I meant the women). The place offers you more than you can imagine. A carer in Bombay is always considered to be a career on the fast track, but still today given a choice either to stay here or go back home, I would gladly take the first whatever available to home.... because home is where the family is, the friends are and you know who is !!!! ;-)

Penned on the 17th September 2007 @ 23:15 hours

Hilarious

Got this by email....absolutely hilarious

Tennis!!

Tennis has come a long way since the days of Steffi Graph and Pete Samprass. Tennis no longer seems to be a game of placements but more of raw power and energy. Its been quite sometime since I actually watched a tennis game, I had the opportunity yesterday

I was watching our very own Sania Mirza play in the US Open. I did not watch the whole match, but saw couple of games in the first set. What struck me the most is that not a single shot either from her or her opponent was played with a soft hand. All shots were played from the baseline and with a lot of power. There was loads of running from both the players from one end of the court to the other

I don't know if many will agree with me on this, but I always felt that tennis was a game of placements and strategy. The ability to think fast and plan shots, the ability to change the power of the return shot and the ability to save energy by running less but making the opponent run more.

Don't quite know if the men's game has also evolved the same way. I miss those soft back hand slashes, the straight back hand return, the drops and the smashes from the net. Of course, I havent watched anything for quite sometime now...Will probably catch up on a couple matched in the next few days.... :-)

I hate my freaking EGO!!!!!

My latest obsession!!!

What is love???!!!!????

There are quite a few love struck couples around me and have been asking them as in how did they figure out that they were in love...just trying to find a right mix of answers....have got everything from I don't know to a very difficult question for anyone to answer to global gyaan....

Well I haven't given up yet and am still gonna go around asking.....let me see if I can get some answers and if anyone does have any please do let me know :-)

This is me....really????

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Jhoom Barabar Jhoom

Me thinks that Abhishek Bachan and Bobby Deol must have expressed their desire to kiss Lara Dutta and lo behold a movie is made. Frankly speaking thought I was actually cursing both of them, thats the only thing that is actually watchable in the movie other than of course Lara Dutta :-D

My Rating: Fuckole!!!

Drivers

I am wondering again. …and am wondering on what is that thing that shoulders or drives relations, the supporting pillars or drivers of a relationship. Well I don’t quite have what one would call the right amount of experience to comment on this issue, but nevertheless think I should be able to do some justice to the issue.

Relationships we refer shall mean and deem to include friendships, colleagues, boss – subordinate and any other link that could quite define a relation. Now we all get in and out of relationships, some of them are made for life, some of them are short term and some we don’t have a clue of as to when it started and when it ended.

The factors that drive a relation according to me would be trust, understanding, love, expectations, and compromise including other factors. Understanding, expectations, compromise are all offshoots of trust while trust is an effect of love. You can’t love somebody whom you just can’t trust. Trust is the one important and binding factor to a relationship.

So when there is trust, there will be love and when there is love there is understanding and expectations and when there is understanding, there is compromise and appreciation and when there is compromise and appreciation, there is more love.

Lewis Hamilton

Fernando Alonso didn’t quite expect that competition would come from within the team in the name of Lewis Hamilton. In fact, I have my doubts if Ron Dennis and McLaren themselves expected a situation where the rookie is leading the championship and Ferrari’s are not even close.

I don’t quite favour the silver team as my loyalty is very much skewed towards the scarlet red team, but I must admit that Lewis Hamilton is one helluva driver. The way he soaked up the pressure during the first few laps and also mid way of the US Grand prix where Alonso was all over him. I must say, absolutely brilliant. Not a single mistake through out the 73 laps.

The Canadian Grand Prix was a reveller in its own way, his first race win and again not a single mistake when experienced drivers kissed the wall more than once. The guy has an amazing future…very very sportive unlike Alonso who runs his mouth instead of just concentrating on driving.

Mr. Kimi Raikkonen….. can we get down to some serious driving….

Jealousy is Cute!!!!

One of my good friends was like ‘DJ your jealous!!!’ and I was like ‘no am not’…for which she was like, ‘don’t get defensive I think it’s cute’…. Is it??? I really don’t know….

Well agreed that when you are really possessive about someone that you tend to get jealous, but more than possessiveness it’s the insecurity that stems from the relation that leads to the jealousy.

Insecurity could be due to a lot of reasons but I think it’s primarily due to not trusting the other person. Now trust is the pillar for any relationship….if that’s lost, there’s no relationship….as they say it takes years to build trust and a few seconds to break it!!

So, is jealousy still cute…. I guess it will be once we discount the insecurity factor :-)

Whatever......

The complaint now a days is that the generation today does not have a clue on what our culture is and do things which don’t quite classify as the Indian culture. We have cultural/moral police groups all over the place consistently trying to find a drop in the culture quotient…

People comment that going to temples is keeping up the culture, carrying out traditional activities passed by our ancestors is keeping up the culture (am not saying that its wrong, but I don’t believe in carrying on a tradition without knowing why I am carrying it, I still probably do it to please those close to the heart)…. Comments that the generation today goes to pubs, drinks, dances and thereby are a black mark on the otherwise unscathed culture of ours.

Am not arguing here, neither am I going to back my generation, but I can sure say we are all not wrong and we are all not treading the wrong path!!! I can for sure point several instances where various incidents have indeed left a black mark on our culture which still lingers on.

Every society is a mix of the good and the bad, every society has its short comings; every society has what is classified as right and wrong. The same applies to an individual and the country as a whole. It depends on the individual to choose what he feels is right and good after all we have been gifted with the ability to think, to decide between what we think is right or wrong.

Going to a church doesn’t make you a Christian as much as going to McDonalds makes you a burger.

Era of Change

The millennium brings with it an era of change. The constantly evolving technology and the affordability of the same has augured well for the change. I didn’t know that something called a cell phone existed till it came to India, the generation today talks about a phone which can be used like a mini computer and can also be inter-phased with one. Such is the aura of change that has hit this generation.

I learnt my first bad word when I was in my fourth. Well today I wouldn’t quite qualify it as a bad word because every homosapien has one, am referring the ass-hole. My second was the word fuck (er) and I didn’t know the meaning till I came to the sixth standard. The definition then was to 'the dick of the man is inserted into the cunt of the woman' - crude to the core but it served its purpose. I don’t quite know if the kids today agree with this definition. Of course with the advent of the Internet, definitions are a lot more precise now.

What we learnt in classes 4 to 8, the kids now learn them a lot faster. Bastard was a word that was not used even by mistake and motherfucker was a cardinal sin. Of course, we grew out of bastard very soon and used motherfucker as a choicest of abuses, infact I still do. :-) Bastard infact became an everyday phenomenon and was used frequently to wish somebody (hey bastard, wassup??) or abuse someone very affectionately (you’re a fucking bastard dude!!!).

This brings me to those abbreviation or acronyms, jokes and poems used/creasted and cracked by us during our school days. Infact, it was through one of these jokes that we came to know the existence and the use of the product ‘condoms’ :-D Well, let me see how many I can remember…

Under skirt activity/adventure
Jumping and pumping all night
Rape until she screams in agony
Both of my balls are yours
Please allow raping in schools
After fucking rest in cool atmosphere

Well, that’s it…I cant quite remember the others, but I quite remember the poem, but will reserve it for another day. I know am a bad, bad figure to the generation now, but am sure they have come up with many more expanded versions. They said it right, creativity is best when one is in school…..it comes quite naturally :-)

Laaree Chhooti - The Video!!

Laaree Chhooti.... Kya Huva Jo Laaree Chhooti

I have been listening to this particular song from Ek Chalis ki last local. I quite like it and as usual, the remix is just awesome :-)

woh kehte hai na
jo hota hai achche ke liye hota hai
galat kehte hai

kismat ka khel hai saara
phirta tha main aawaara
yeh kya se kya ho gaya
chaar din ki zindagaani
har pal ek nayi kahaani
kya tha, main kya bana gaya
kya huva jo laaree chhooti
jivan ki gaadi looti
kwaab hai toh mujhko na jaga
zindagi ek pal mein saali
yuun palat gayi hamaari
zhoot hai toh mujhko na bata

mumbai, suna tha yahaan aadami puri zindagi apani kismat
slow track se fast track laane mein nikaal deta hai
par dhaayi ghante mein meri kismat
aise slow track se fast track par aa jaayegi
yeh maine kabhi socha nahi tha
saja maja ban jaayegi, yeh bhi kabhi socha nahi tha
last local kya chhuti, saala kismat patari par aa gayi

karlo jo bhi karna hai
hota hai jo hona hai
gujra toh pal yeh phir na aayega
kya bura hai kya bhala hai
waqt hi shaayad khuda hai
ho jaane do phir dekha jaayega
kya huva jo laaree chhooti
jivan ki gaadi looti
kwaab hai toh mujhko na jaga
zindagi ek pal mein saali
yuun palat gayi hamaari
zhoot hai toh mujhko na bata

woh kehte hai na
jo hota hai achche ke liye hota hai
sahi kehte hai

Today has been a big step forward.... I don't know the consequences...rather am not able to foresee the repercussions today....I am just praying that its the right step in the right direction!!!!

Every time I get de-motivated, I think it’s over
Every time I think it’s over, I think I should try something new
Every time I think I should try something new, I get a new lease of life.
Every time I get a new lease of life, things get de-motivating again
Am back to square one......

Giving the Word its due!!!

I got this one through a friend of mine. The most hilarious, creative and innovative things have heard in a long long time, considering the fact that the word is on my vocabulary list and frequently used words 99.99% of the times, guess its time to give the word it actual due!!!!

You can find it here

http://music.cooltoad.com/music/song.php?id=304288

Warning/Disclaimer: Its got explicit use of the word Fuck. Kids and Children below the age of 18, please do not visit that site (not that you are unaware of the existance of the word), but please do so at your own risk!!

CQ's day out - On request !!

Which part of the week do you the look forward to the most?? Pat comes the answer – Weekend!!! Well that’s no surprise, the only part of the month when one finds time for oneself, family and more importantly friends and I am no different. I am the happiest when am with my friends. J

We don’t do that much when we go out other than what they call as ‘putting mokkai’. A typical evening with the boyz would be stop at woody’s for a coffee and then to the Barista at Besant Nagar for some more coffee, sitting on the seats facing the road and the beach in front of barista doing nothing but putting mokkai and pulling each others legs and then planning a holiday!!

Well if that what I do with the boyz, with CQ….its nothing much different either. At least I manage to meet the boyz one a week, but CQ is a real outing, doing things like movie and actually sitting on the beach. I don’t quite remember when I last did it (I know ash, it was when we met BIM 23, that was just a figure of speech to stress on the fact that its been quite some time)

Well, today was nothing different, after all that confusion and planning yesterday, we met up finally at THE ‘Shakes & Creams’. The place means a lot of different things to each one of us simply because we have been there at different point in time with different people and this was the first time there since we all came together. The only reason why I probably frequented that place so much was because, it was the most ‘decent’ affordable place to go and for 20 bucks, you get lots of ice cream and a full bottle of Pepsi. The place hasn’t changed much (since I went there in 97 – 98 – 99) except they have done up the interiors a little. Otherwise, the waiters there are still dumb and don’t understand head or tail of what we say.

Anyways, we didn’t find what we wanted there, so we decided to go to Pizza Hut close by. As usual from I don’t want da, I actually gobbled up half the pizza :-D and from there we went again, this time to the beach where we plonked ourselves for a good couple of hours and I don’t think none of us sort of realized it till Appy asked what the time was.

Well, what we talked, we talked about everything under the sun – parents, society, love, sex, and responsibility among others – mokkai basically. Well typical MBA’s that we are, we wanted this to be documented, so a blog was proposed to be created. Till we create a blog of our own (figuring out a nice name), I decided to do the honours to document the same in mine….on request from the other three – Appy, Ash and Smitha (in alphabetical order) – sorry people didn’t come out funny as you may have wanted, but this is it!!! [It flowed in the same pattern J so couldn’t quite help it]

I am what I am - Am I??? :-)

Classification!!!!

I was stuck at the Bangalore airport for almost more than three hours as my flight to Chennai was delayed by almost two hours. I was sort of reflecting on my days activities, I was sort of reminded of the detail discussion I had with one of my colleagues on the rationale for formation of communities, surprisingly he agreed to what I said. My contention was that, during those times of kings and princes, every individual, be it the king, the minister or the common man had his job/task cut out and hence they were classified on basis of his/her job on hand.

The king’s duty was to protect the weaker class and hence they were called kshatriyas. The ministers and the other learned people of the kings ministry has to help the king with day to day matters and strategizing. They were called bramanas. They were not called bramans because they were vegetarians but because they were learned, they were refined in their behaviour.

While the kshatriyas and bramanas were busy doing their work, someone had to contribute to the economy to fill the treasury; they were the vysyas or traders. Now that brings us to the shutras or the untouchables who apparently do all the donkeys work from toilet cleaning to farming.

Coming back to the present age I don’t think the age old classification holds good as every individual or at least most of them are well educated to perform various roles and hence cannot be classified the original way. Today the only 4 classifications that should exist are two of the natural ones of male & female and two by way we eat, vegetarians and the non – vegetarians.

In today’s world, every individual who is learned and cultured and refined and everything that falls under the scope of the above mentioned words can be and in more ways than one shall be called a “Braman”. Any individual fighting for the country to save his country men or fighting for the rights of the common man, a “Kshatriya”.

Well, the irony in life and the reality too is that we are all hypocrites in one way or the other and I guess I am too. I talk so much anti – community, but I did take full fledged use of the quota system in place when I was studying and I guess I will continue to do so as long as I and the system exist. The only difference being, I do not identify myself much with it unless am forced to or want to, because I don’t think one needs it to succeed in life, but there are those whose lifeline is that, not because they love it so much, because they don’t believe in themselves as much as they do in it!!!!

(All views expressed above are mine and belong to no one but me. The views are not intended or directed to anyone in general or in specific and are not meant to hurt anyone individual or the society's feeling)

I am not someone who identifies people by their community, caste, race and state. Some people I know are quite well versed in the same but somehow I have never cultivated the art of identifying and slotting people according to their community and stuff like that.

Recently, I have become very wary of people of certain communities based on probably one or two bad experiences and my head keeps telling me not to generalize but my heart just doesn’t seem to listen and am caught in-between, leaving me with a feeling of helplessness and general irritation. I am not able to trust them and that leads to more irritation. I am getting increasingly into a rut and I am not too sure if I can come out of this cleanly. This is anyways a short tem thing, but I can quite see India is unfortunately in the same rut as I am. As long as she’s there, she'll always be the super power on paper but not in reality!!!!

- Girish

Dont know why, am feeling down, restless and irritated.....with what...i have no clue!!!

- Girish

(Does) It happen(s) only in India!!??!!!

I am not the most obedient of drivers/riders on the road; I usually cover the whole width of the road when I ride but rarely do I break signals, ride on the wrong side of the road or do something of real danger either to myself or to people on the road. Yes, I have broken signals, but that primarily would be due to a rare loss of concentration.

I haven’t driven across the different roads in the various countries, but I have had the opportunity to do so in Bangalore, Trichy and obviously in Chennai. Apart from this I have also had the opportunity to observe the way people drive in places like Hyderabad, Cochin, Coimbatore, Kolkata, Delhi, Pune, Simla, Kulu Manali and even Agra.

I find that people hardly respect signals and are very impatient when it comes to signals. The timer shows 03, people are off…vroooom!!! There is no lane discipline, absolutely nothing!! Above all this, No one gives a damn about the Stop line. But then, who cares. The cop stands a mute spectator to all this.

Check this out. This happened today morning on my way to work. This happens everyday at this signal. There are loads of signals in the city that are a witness to such disobedience.

The law can do hell a lot of things to curb such acts, but unless the realization & responsibility comes from within, the effect shall always remain nullified!!!!

ABN AMRO Sustainable Development Fund

Now I am not going to get into whether this fund is worth investing or not. There have been various schools of thoughts on to invest and not invest. I like the concept that ABN has come up with. Incidentally, this is the 25th such fund by the fund house. They have 24 such funds in Europe, Asia and Latin America. For more details please visit

http://www.valueresearchonline.com/story/ipostory.asp?str=9469

Coming back to their advertisement and tag/punch line. It says “we have not inherited the earth from our ancestors, we have only borrowed it from out children” – absolutely beautiful!! Such a strong message and so beautifully presented. Hats off to them!!!

Now… the concept, the concept of Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) as they call it. It’s so different and so new to India. To invest in companies that focus on sustainable development. Now, I am a lot curious to see the list of companies that will make the portfolio and of course thats a totally different question, no one can quite answer right now, will it post positive returns......

Nevertheless, a commendable effort by the fund house…….

Aamle ka ....

Now….this is one cute ad and that grandma is one of the cutest grandmas have seen till now and I love the way she goes ‘brown!!!!’ and the kids are so adorable huh!!!

What went wrong?????

India loses to Sri Lanka: Every newspaper/new channel in India will scream/is screaming this headline as I am sitting in front of my computer screen wondering what went wrong. Arguably the best batting line up on paper failed to sizzle and is, as the headlines in every new channel puts it, virtually out of the world cup. Why is it virtually out because we still holding onto a very thin hope that Bermuda defeat Bangladesh, ya right!!!!

You can’t win everything, but you can’t afford to loose it all too….. It’s easy for me to comment that all that was required was some application of mind. It all boils down to common sense after all. Yes there was pressure, but the likes of a Sachin, a Ganguly, a Dravid, should have handled this pressure….. What sets you apart from the other mediocre players is your ability to withstand pressure, the ability to deliver under pressure.

I have no complains against the comeback man except one that he should have restrained from playing that shot early on. Sachin Tendulkar…hmmm what can I say…the mans been around for quite some time now, plagued with injuries in the last few years….he seems to be only a shadow of a man he once was…..and still carries the tag that he fails to deliver when required the most…. Of course we quite forget what he has delivered…we always forget…don’t we…

I just don’t know why our think-tank always favours Harbhajan Singh over Kumble while the latter is a world class player who has delivered when required. Dravid…well he ran out of partners…..he lost hope when he saw Dhoni get out and one could quite clearly see it on his face. Our tail just doesn’t wag….it has never did…..time to rethink our strategy……

I think Zaheer Khan along with the other speedsters should be sent back to bowling school for some real training on line, length and accuracy. These guys have been around for quite some time now….have played the likes of Glen McGrath, have seen him bowl tirelessly ball after ball just outside the half-stump making you to play. These guys have to learn to do that to be respected and to be a world class bowler. At this level, there’s no excuse you can’t afford to spray the ball around.

I know Sachin’s a genius and doesn’t even have to bother playing cricket now…but I think he needs a huge boost of confidence and I think he should start playing some domestic cricket and if possible some county cricket too…..in fact the whole bunch of them from Utappa to Dhoni and even some of the bowlers should be sent in to play domestic and then county cricket only as batsmen to hone their batting skills.

There has been some other views saying that these guys should stop endorsing brands and play more cricket….I really don’t care as long as you play good cricket…..ah….man these guys don’t seem to be doing that also…..wake up boyz rise and shine …. We are still with you… we still love you….whether you get the cup or not……!!!! So get down there and just play!!! *Sign*

Mind Blowing....

Mind Blowing....

http://www.formula1.com/race/news/5822/770.html

Golmaal Golmaal....

Call me weird or call me what you want…. Me think this song is amazing…. and for some reason or the other, the songs just stuck in my head… its got a very enchanting/captivating tune and am dancing …even when am humming it….am moving to the tune….however bad it may sound …. :D

golmaal golmaal everything is gonna be golmaal

golmaal golmaal everything is gonna be golmaal

jaane kyo dil yeh kehne laga hai

ab toh tu dil mein rehne laga hai

bas gaya hai tu meri ragon mein

dil sitam tere sehne laga hai

golmaal golmaal everything is gonna be golmaal

golmaal golmaal everything is gonna be golmaal

teri baahon mein aati hoon main saare jahaan ko bhula ke

lele teri panaahon mein tu ab toh gale se laga ke

teri baahon mein aati hoon main saare jahaan ko bhula ke

lele teri panaahon mein tu ab toh gale se laga ke

if u say u want me i gotta say u got me

teri chaahaton mein huaan hai yeh haal

golmaal golmaal everything is gonna be golmaal

golmaal golmaal everything is gonna be golmaal

Race Results

For more details visit http://www.formula1.com/

Rebellious Thoughts!!

• There is always some madness in love. But there is always some reason in madness.
  
• There are no facts, only interpretations.
  
• Hope, in reality, is the worst of all evils, because it prolongs the torments of man.
  
• Whenever I climb, I am followed by a dog-called “Ego”.
  
• Is man one of God’s blunders or is God of one of man’s blunders.
  
• Thinking men cannot be overruled.
  
• Growth is caught and not taught.
  
• The hardest thing to explain is the glaringly evident, which everybody had decided not to see.
  
• I was thought wrong once, but I was mistaken.
  
• To solve big problems you have to be willing to do unpopular things.
  
• The discipline of writing something is the first step toward making it happen.
  
• We are continuously faced by great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems.
  
• You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can’t get them across, your ideas won’t get you anywhere.
  
• When you die, if you got five real friends, then you’ve had a great life.
  
• Talk to people in their own language. If you do it well, they’ll say, “God, he said exactly what I was thinking.” And when they begin to respect you, they’ll follow you to death.
  
• To be great is to be misunderstood.
  
• Our chief want in life is somebody who shall make us do what we can.
  
• Shallow men believe in luck. Strongmen believe in cause and effect.
  
• The only way to have a friend is to be one.
  
• The best effect of fine persons is felt after we have left their presence.
  
• Always do what you are afraid to do.
  
• We become what we think all day long.
  
• You cannot do wrong without suffering wrong.
  
• No great man ever complains of want of opportunity.
  
• Imitation is suicide.
  
• What lies before us and what lies behind us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.
  
• People see only what they are prepared to see.
  
• A hero is no braver than ordinary man. But he is brave only five minutes longer.
  
• He who cannot be a good follower cannot be a good leader.
  
• The aim of the wise is not to secure pleasure, but to avoid pain.
  
• If you never change your mind, why have one?
  
• Creative thinking is not a talent; it’s a skill that can be learnt.
  
• Argument is meant to reveal the truth, not to create it.
• Unhappiness is best defined by the differences between our talents and our expectations.

Welcome to the new season!!!

The start of a new F1 season and for the first time in so many many years without Michael Schumacher. Of course, Ralf is still there to carry that Schumacher name but unfortunately, he does not seem to be even a shadow of his brother……quite unfortunate!!!

This year has started off well for Kimi and Ferrari to some extent, a gearbox failure forced Massa to start 16th on the grid, but then again Ferrari decided to give him a new engine and had him start right at the back of the grid just to salvage any point he can get going into the next race at Kuala Lumpur and boy oh boy and he did just that …from 22 to 6th….brilliant drive but personally felt he could have actually come 4th had he pushed a little harder but then they know better and being on a one stop strategy and I guess he was right in driving the way he did.

Kimi blazed away right from the beginning and didn’t have any excitement during any part of the race except for on lap 46. The only failure that the Fin’s car had was that his radio stopped working so cutting off all his communication with his pit crew.

Incidentally, Renault was no where in the reckoning in this race, of course the season has just started and this may not be a preview of things that can be expected as we get halfway down the season…but still…..

Some major colour changes to the cars and quite a few new drivers this season. Looks interesting…..can Ferrari pull it off this season, can Kimi do a Schumi for Ferrari, can Alonso perform a hatrick, can Renault pull it off…..Can Massa become the No. 1 driver for Ferrari….lots of questions…..we need to wait for an answer…till then….enjoy the race and drive safely!!!!

Mozhi for the second time!!!

I usually stay off from movies I had already been to recently, but somehow the experience the second time around I must say was scintillating. Even though I knew what was coming next, the spontaneity and timing actually had me in splits all the time and I didn’t have a clue of the time again…it just flew!!

I didn’t quite say anything about Swarnamalya and Pritviraj last time around, but this time around if I don’t say anything then it’s just not fair at all…. Swarnamalya stole my heart when she tells pritviraj who the man in the picture was….there was the sadness in her eyes…beautiful!!!!

Pritviraj towards the end when he walks into Jo’s room all pissed…and actually speaks his heart…I was actually moved to tears…it didn’t strike me last time…this particular line ”in life you cant quite question the credibility of a few thing, you need to and have to take them by their face value” …how so true!!!

Now, going for it the third time might just be the heights….but am tempted to try!! ;-)

Patience!!

I don’t regret what happened….. I feel good, but the effort has been lost because the message didn’t quite get through… had I had been a little patient and put it differently, may be ….may be the message would have gone through. Again a long shot…like they say, it’s easier to wake a person who’s sleeping than a person who’s pretending to be sleeping…. When one chooses to ignore and is not ready to understand what the other person is saying, there’s no message….there’s no point to be put across…..but still do I stand justified?!?!?!? Only time will tell!!

- Girish Vaithyanathan

People!!

There are different types of people and though I may have not traversed the length and breath of the world, I have managed to meet most of them…but am sure there are other kinds of people who I have not come across till now….

Like I said, people are of different kinds – the straight forwards, the back biters, the selfish, the generous, the dictators, the lenient, the cunning, the slimy, the helpful, the ambitious, the jovial, the serious, the list could go on and on and on…..these are what you can probably call traits or the basic underlying character of the person….and every person is either one or a combination of them…..

Am not an expert on judging what kind of person he or she is but to some extent I have quite judged them right the first time…I have faltered too…no doubt on that….but somehow I don’t quite understand how a person can change to undefined non understandable, un-comprehendible degrees….

When you lead a team, its your responsibility to be magnanimous enough to take responsibility of your teams short comings (you'll anyways take credit for their incredible performance), after all at the end of the day, you are what you are because of your team and vice versa….you are your team….you can’t afford to be petty in your actions and thoughts…..

You shouldn’t at any point of time be insecure and sport an inferiority complex….if you do it simply means you’re not confident on yourself and your abilities… Simple as that!!! Even if you do and still somehow are on the fast track to the top, you need to remember where you came from…you need to have those feet firmly pasted to the ground….simply because the one’s who have made it to the top have simply because they have had their feet on the ground ……firmly anchored…!!!!

I see tough times ahead….. I hope I have enough patience in me to see it through, I do firmly believe there it couldn’t get worse and every thing is after all learning at this point in life…. But I have a limit…. A threshold….it could get dirty if I am pushed to it…..am praying I don’t …am praying I don’t!!!!

- Girish Vaithyanathan

Coimbatore!!!

Did you know that this is the second largest city in Tamil Nadu, I actually didn’t. I have been to Madurai and the adjoining places N number of times but somehow I haven’t been to Coimbatore at an age I can recollect. I have some friends who hail from this place by virtue of mostly being born there and am sure they will vouch by what I say that today, it’s a great place to be in.

Today Coimbatore is what Bangalore was probably a decade ago till it was discovered. Coimbatore is also on the lane to fame, and when it does it going to snap the town of its sleep.

Coimbatore is in proximity to the ‘textile country’ of Tiruppur and houses a few textile units also. The city is almost brimming with corporates but adequately spaced through out the city. Name an industry and you’ll have then there, from textile to auto ancillary to sugar. The beauty is that most of them operate out of the city but probably have their production units elsewhere and thereby have managed to provide the city with some peace, not entirely though.

The city is also populated with educational institutions (read engineering colleges) just like Chennai. As of for now there are not many places of attraction for a party animal like me except for temples like the famous Marudamalai Murugan temple some 40 odd Kms from the city and the Siva temple at Perur. The people seem pretty sweet and if I may say so trustworthy, at least the driver of my cab was….but of course you never know, every city will have its own baddy!!

Net net the city is a delight to be in but whatever you do, if you don’t know the place stay away from the auto waalas, they freaking fleece you. The charge the heaven that you’ll actually feel sorry for bad mouthing the Chennai auto waalas!!!

Mozhi!!

I actually can’t believe it, but I managed to catch this movie in Madurai of all places. It’s not that I have anything against Madurai, but it’s been almost ten years since I visited that place and the time just stopped there and I quite pictured Madurai to be just like it was ten years back. There has been an ocean of changes but quite a few things remain even today.

Mozhi (language) is a movie about 4 people, 4 different people essayed by Prakashraj, Pritviraj, Jyothika and Swarnamalya. Let me be pretty upfront here, I loved the movie and I give a … for what the critics might say!! I didn’t think the movie was one bit boring, I didn’t think it was slow (my cousin thought it was). It was a clean movie with absolutely no violence and with a brilliant timing for comedy.

If Prakashraj was his usual best, Jo was wonderful. Not a single word through out the movie, but her expressions said it all. Kudos to her for that!! Its not easy to act without speaking a single word and am a little curious to know how many retakes were there when she acted.

A simple concept, very nicely interwoven with everyday life. It doesn’t quite tackle a few questions that might come up in reality. Prakashraj may have to come up with a sequel addressing the couple might face post marriage.

An Alaipayuthe captured the problems faced post (love) marriage and it still stands out there freshly etched in your mind. If Mozhi has to be fresh in our mind, probably the sequel would do the trick. Till then, please do watch this movie if you are up to it!!!

Take your pick!!

It is actually not appropriate to include the E50 in the comparison but then being ‘Blackberry’ Compatible and also being positioned at the entry level as a business phone, I feel it should be included in the comparison.

Right then, we’ll start with the E50, it’s definitely a slim genius. The E50 comes in silver and black. For all those people who croon over the black colour, this is one awesome pick!! The phone is loaded with features like office, PDF reader, SMS reader, 1.3 Mega Pixel camera and to top it all it comes with 70 MB shared memory. I am not sure about this one, but there was this feature where you can separate the personal numbers from the official ones and either of the ones can be switched off. It comes with an alpha numeric keypad with a joystick.

The E61, well I fell in love with the phone and after a lot of research and deliberation recommended the same to one of my senior colleagues. Why the deliberation, because I found it a little too wide for my comfort. Actually way too wide!!! But it’s a sexy phone and comes loaded with features like the WCDMA and the ‘Qwerty’ Keyboard (they say dedicated keys) apart from being ‘Blackberry’ Compatible. The one thing I quite miss on this phone is the camera. Can’t quite figure out the rationale, but Nokia could have provided the E61 with one. The rationale of business phones not sporting a camera does not hold good as the E50 comes with one, the I-Mates and O2’s also sport cameras on few of their models.

Now, last but not the least the Sony Ericsson M600i. I did fall in love with the E61 but that was until I saw the M600i. It sports the same ‘Qwerty’ keyboard but differently. It doesn’t quite have dedicated keys, but it serves the purpose brilliantly. It’s a ‘Blackberry’ compatible phone and one of the first few phones sporting what they call the ‘3G’ (third generation) technology. Has a 64 MB shared memory and comes with an extendable memory that can be extended upto 1GB as of for now. I do have a complain though, the memory card is micro in nature and absolutely differentiates itself from all other memory cards including the ones Sony uses on its other phones. So, if you have a memory card that you thought you can use it in the M600i, well sorry about that, you just can’t unless it’s an M2. Again I don’t understand the rationale, no camera!! Especially when its big brother the P990i sports one and its father the P900 and the P900i sported one. The M600i is supposed to be a scaled down version of the P990i. Apart from this, the phone features a touch screen and a scroll button (just like in the P990i) to access the menus. Apart from this, the phone can also be used as a Walkman phone as it has a good media player. The M600i comes in sexy black and lovely white. This phone however has a drawback the battery just doesn’t last. Sony may have to do some R&D on that one. For all those people who want to move to the next level of the so-called ‘PDA’ (personal digital assistant), this is the one. It’s slim, sleek and sexy!!!

Disclaimer: Evaluation is purely my view on the phones. Please do your homework when you buy phone as criteria’s and priorities differ when it comes to buying phones!!!

Strong Leader

With greater powers comes greater responsibility.

There are leaders, there are good leaders, there are bad leaders…..but the need of the hour is a strong leader. A strong leader is not one who needs to have amazing communication skills, not one who is a great team man, not one who does not give his own interests top priority….but one who is able to put his foot down when needed, who’s able to take the blame to shield his peers, who has the sense and the vision to see long term and not compromise on a few things just to satisfy short term goals.

We have seen many leaders…..have we seen strong ones???? We have had a Gandhi, a Bose, a Hitler, a Lincoln, etc…..Are they good leader or strong leaders??? I wouldn’t have probably even thought about this six months back, but am forced to now…

No one realizes the worth of an individual when he/she’s there. This applies across dimensions and ages. I probably miss this person very much, not because he was a great or a good leader, but because he was a strong leader, strong enough to give you the credit you deserve, strong enough to preserve his resources, strong enough to put his personal agenda behind, and more importantly shield you when required. I really miss such a leader….

Another Leaf !!!

I loved the way she looked, I loved the way she looked at others, I loved her eyes (always thought they were beautiful), I loved her hair, I loved the way she walked, I loved the way she dressed up (mostly in black, she was stunning when she did), I loved her lost look, I loved her intellectuality!!

She was always a mystery to me and I loved mysteries. In the whole process of unraveling this mystery I stumbled across probably one of the most rebellious of women by thought and by actions. Everything she did and everything she spoke, everything had a hint of a nonconformist – a maverick!!

But this just didn’t last that long. On a day when France celebrates its independence day, we had to separate. The whole affair was short and was over in minutes. There she went from my life. Mysteriously as she came she went.

- Girish Vaithyanathan

Commercialization!!

Commercialization has reached dizzying heights particularly in this age of science and technology. Everything you can think of is now being commercialized and India is well catching up or should I say is very much in the lead.

Call it the western influence, call it what you want, but I feel this is ridiculous. Mother’s day, father’s day, Valentine’s Day, freaking hell, I am sure there will soon be a sex day (a day of sex and only sex and more sex)!!!

I am not an expert on the western culture but as far as I know, the concept of looking after your parents is a culture that stems from India and the westerners are not known for this. I just don’t understand, all your life you don’t give a shit about your parents and then on mother’s day and father’s day you go tell them you love them….what crap!!!

You don’t have to wait for a particular day to tell anyone you love them…. Call me old fashioned, call me what you want, but I still feel this is ridiculous. I wanted to just have a quite dinner with a friend as it was my special day, my freaking birthday and can you guess what I was told by the hotel guys, ‘sir, stags not allowed’. I just freaked out (not that my friend was a guy, but still), WTF!!!

If this wasn’t enough, all these so called hotels were charging the heaven. On a normal day, it would cost at a maximum of INR 1,500.00 to dine at the TAJ but on the 14th, the charges were INR 5,000.00 per couple. Freaking hell!!! All I wanted was to enjoy a quite dinner with a friend and this is what I get.

I probably wouldn’t have been so irritated if it was not my birthday, but still!!! Grrr!!!

Anyways belated Valentines Day!!!

Madai Thirandu !!

The most happening song at the discs now a days....

I am 27 today. Well its not a great achievement to be proud off, since it does not require any big effort. I have learnt quite a few lessons, won some, and lost some… whatever!!! My uncle actually fell off his chair when I told him am 27.

I am working today, atleast am supposed to, I was just thinking about my last few birthdays and how I sort of spent it. I quite remember my 23rd birthday. Made so many plans, fixed every thing up and then my ex CEO calls me and says meeting in Calcutta, come over!! Well what can I do, but go. My first birthday in my first company and I spent it on a train. Can you believe that!!

Well, if 23rd was disaster, my 24th was worse. I was again on the train in an unreserved compartment on my way to Hyderabad L my butt was sore without adequate blood flow.

My 25th was not that bad considering the fact that I was not on the train. Funnily this time around too I had a sore butt thanks to both my batch and my senior batch giving me bums!! A few friends wishing me and that’s about it…

My 26th birthday was again in college. All my good friends were there to wish me, actually hung on only to wish me J Managed to save my butt this time as everyone wanted to get on with the movies, it was the BIM Talkies night!!
Well, today don’t seem to be having any major plans. Probably should go out for lunch with a good friend. The hotels are charging the heaven here and at some places they are very clear that no stags allowed, what the… the valentine day has taken the sheen away from my birthday….whatever!!!

Leafs from Girish’s diary!!!

We haven't spoken for quite sometime now, almost 2 months to be precise, courtesy me Girish Vaithyanathan!! I didn't see a valid reason as to why we should.

Renuka Shaseedaran and I have been friends for almost 2 years now. This friendship I must admit has gone places, from a time when we just refused to put the phone down to not knowing what to talk now other than the usual what’s happening and nothing much, the conversations stagnates just there.

Fights were regular but well spaced, but over a period the gap just fell drastically and now we end up hurting ourselves more than required. Renu by nature never makes any decisions like ending a relation, but then someone has to. For the betterment and peaceful living and to save each other from the agony, I decided to end this relationship, a relation I tried hard to save!!

It’s been two months now; suddenly she decides to call me, why? Because it’s my birthday in two days and she wants my address to send me a gift. I don’t understand why? What have you achieve, where are we going from here and where is this whole thing heading. I just don’t understand.

Either I just don't understand the women clan at all or I just don’t understand some one in particular from that clan or both. Am I the only dumb f**k around or do I have company??

I am ninety today and my wife eighty-nine. She lies beside me as pretty as ever. Her eyes still sparkle as they did seventy years back. Renuka Vaithyanathan, I love you!!

- Girish Vaithyanathan

All characters in the above story are a work of fiction, any resemblance to anyone dead or alive is pure coincidence.

What a day!!!

What a day it has been??? Everything was going all right till that nail decided to enter my rear tyre tonight. Two bags, a helmet and a 180 cc bike with a flat rear tyre is not easy to deal with, every revolution of the wheel is like eternity!!!

The only puncture shop on that road was closed for the day and I had to push my bike at least for a km to hopefully get to an open one. Finally had to disturb my mom to get the guy near my house to come over to get it done and what do I get, a drunken idiot!! Trust my luck!!!

Well I must admit though that he did manage to get the tyre running and goes on to say that he had to do a lot of job on the tyre… I don’t know, will have to check on the tyre tomorrow morning to see if it’s a job well done. I hope its ok tomorrow, that’s the last thing I want early in the morning!!!

Anyways God Bless that guy!!!!

Grrrrr....!!! @#$%^& ..........

Either I just don't understand the women clan or some of them from that clan or both. Am I the only dumb f**k around or do I have some company????

I am Chevrolet

This was the ad campaign that GM India carried out just before the introduction of the Chevrolet brand of cars in India. This was similar to the campaign carried out in the US as an ‘American Revolution’.

GM India tired the same concept here. Incorporate the culture of India and touch a cord with the Indian population. The concept again here is called ‘Emotional Advertising’ where one uses advertisements to appeal to certain emotional desires.

Now I just love this ad simply for the way it was taken, simply for what it conveyed (or atleast what I understood at that point in time), for an automobile lover ‘The Chevy’ is the brand to own.

I couldn’t get my hands on the storyboard and hence it was not a part of my all time favourite ads list…. But nevertheless this one was always there in my mind and hence is an all time favourite too.

Apparently the whole idea of the ‘I am Chevrolet' campaign is to make the brand culturally relevant so that it meets the need of the Indian market. Now how far this ad made an impact I really don’t know, I sort of went into wilderness for sometime ;-)

Trivia !!

One of the take aways at the play was this 'Durex' Trivia. Found it pretty interesting, have a look....

My all time favourite Ads!!

10.

9.
8.
7.
6.
5.
4.
3.
2.
1.

No specific ranking, it's just I like them in the same order ....

Source: www.agencyfaqs.com

Love Letters!!

If you’re wondering if this is one my usual how, where and why about love letters, well you’re wrong this time, its not. In fact it’s actually about this play by EVAM. My third play and well quite an eye opener especially if it is not an adaptation of a pretty famous novel.

This particular play actually has a very nice concept. How two childhood friends keep in touch with each other till the others death through letters. Through every important event in their life is shared through letters.

Aptly named, the story actually shows how the two characters love each other without realizing the same. The play is about 90 minutes with a 10 minute recess and the only thing that they do is read letters, of course as theatre artists you expect them to emote and its there in just the right quantity. Could get a little boring, but it's not an absolute waste of time. Its definitely better than watching two people running around trees!!

Nevertheless, every play has been a new experience and looking forward for more. Till then do watch these guys in action.

www.evam.in

The Countdown has begun......

Should I or Should I not???

I was reading this article about quality written by one of my friends. You can find the article at http://eaglezview.blogspot.com/2007/02/made-in-india-is-it-of-good-quality.html. I am and am sure a lot of people will agree with the fact that one doesn’t hesitate to pay that much extra for quality, be it a mp3 player or ‘quality’ of service at the so called star restaurants.

I was just wondering, I am ready to pay for quality which stems from the brand name, but should I pay for safety. Safety is something that has to be a part of any product or service offered at the same cost.

A very simple example is that of an automobile. OEM’s charge extra for airbags, ABS, sensors, etc, etc. All these safety features are standard fitments of cars in the D Segment (Read Laura, C Class and above, Mondeo, Scoda Superb). Till some time back, rear seat belts were also not available on the base variants until they were made mandatory.

I wonder why these features are monetized. I understand that the average Indian gives more emphasis to fuel economy and price, but still aren’t we entitled for better things in life. Why are we the dumping ground? I love Honda for introducing the same variant all over the world. Of course, cars are tailor made to suit the local conditions, but still over all they are the same. Unlike a few other car makers who sell outdated cars in India.

I am still trying to figure out any other product or service where I pay for the safety…not quite been able to though, but am sure there exists many such products!!!

I am sure about one thing though, you pay dearly if you don't wear a helmet!! Now that is one aspect of safety I don’t mind paying for...

Anyways, so….should I or should I not????

I must be crazy!!!

I just took this test Which Led Zeppelin Song Are You? Quiz , I must admit...its quite funny...and i like the henchmen and killing part!!

You Are When The Levee Breaks

You are a dominating person. People don't stand in your way. Everybody basically does what you say. And if they don't, they better start, or you just might have one of your henchmen kill them.

Just like "When the Levee Breaks" dominates Led Zeppelin IV, you dominate your world. You don't have time for nonsense (it's surprising you even took this quiz) and you would love to be dictator of the world someday.

You are dark and scary, and you probably don't at all care about this quiz, if you even bothered to read your results.

Its all about credibility honey!!

Have been working for almost a year now. In this short span, I have worked on quite a few proposals. Fortunately or unfortunately for me, some of them didn’t happen, quite a common phenomenon in the industry.

They didn’t happen due to various reasons, may be because of exposure norms, top management not comfortable, non-identification of proper cash flows, un-comfortable security, etc, etc. The most important reason of all this is the credibility of the promoter.

Now, Credibility is a function of two variables.

1. Ability to pay


2. Willingness to pay

Now, I would be a fool to lend money to a person who does not have the willingness and the ability to repay the facility. Then there are people who have the ability and the willingness and hence we do not foresee any problems with the facility. So who in the end becomes a defaulter?

As can be seen, a person with the willingness and yet lacks the ability is a defaulter as his business may have run into problems due to a slump in the industry. If one trusts the industry and the capabilities of the individual, he will pay you back every penny once he turns his business around, its just the question of time.

Now last but not the least, the person with the ability but absolutely no willingness is a wilful defaulter. He might have the capabilities to turn his company around, but still not want to honour his commitments. Its madness and a cardinal sin to pursue with someone like him, but some times one is so short sighted that they miss out on this one important component.

At the end of the day, his financials may be great, top class but if he doesn’t want to pay…. He just won’t pay. So, all this credit analysis of the company and its financials fail, if the credibility does not exist right from the very beginning.

Net net, when one takes a call on the proposal, it has to be done based on various factors and one of them being, credibility!!!

Ads that caught my attention..

There are quite a few advertisements that appeal a lot to me. There is this latest one by surf excel bar. Have not been able to get my hands on the storyboard. The ad is shot in a marriage set up where you have people eating in the traditional way – on the ground, from the banana leaf and by the hand.

You have a foreign kid also eating and making a big mess of himself by wiping all over his kurtha. The parents see and are like oh god he’s eating with his hands. Now there is this old lady eating next to the boy and she immediately pips, ‘ we eating withu handsu and washing with handsu’ and she turns to the kid and says, you eating you eating….

Nothing great about the ad, but its cute, it appeals to you. Similarly, the new SBI Life Insurance ad (pension scheme I guess) built on the concept of “you’re young when you’re old” is brilliant simply because of how the whole ad is taken.

A gang of old retired men playing cricket continuously disturbing young children trying to play video games (I think, am not too sure) by hitting the ball into their house and how the kids admonishes them by saying, you guys keep paining us like this. We can’t enjoy two minutes of peace with you guys around and says I can’t give you the ball.

Another oldie peeps out of the next window and says, that old fellow is always like that 'grumpy', here take I have a spare ball and then you have the voice over saying blah blah old life enjoy blah blah…a brilliantly executed ad. Hats off to the guys who did it.

Story Board Courtesy: www.agencyfaqs.com