Just Like That!

Updates

2009-06-13T20:43:00.000+05:30

A post has been due for over a month or so now. Business picked up somewhat and we are moving into a new office which also has added to the work. I had a trip to London planned and ticketed etc, but I had to cancel it because I fell sick. It was diagnosed as viral (wrong) and then as chicken pox (right). It has been a week in the passing and now I am feeling much better, just that I am still infectious and have been confined to a room.
Such forced rest is great, though frankly, as of now, I am over-rested.
There is not much more to write about - I read somewhere that the best blogs are those which have frequent albeit short and messy posts. In my mind, that sounded like blogging tending towards tweeting... bleeting anyone?

Ubuntu and cool stuff

2009-06-03T12:07:00.001+05:30

Ubuntu and cool stuff

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Online Bus Tickets

2009-05-22T10:23:00.003+05:30

I came across a really cool company and some great people - all IIMA juniors who have set up a company called Mantis Technologies. Online Bus tickets is what they specialise in.

Actually, there is much more.

It is easy to sell anything online. However, the back end is where the back breaks. Mantis shines. They offer their software-as-a-service, which lets small and big bus operators upload their entire inventory onto the bus booking service. So, this operator, Mantis's B2B call centre and anyone else with access to Mantis through a desktop client can book a bus ticket in real time. It gets better. Mantis also does is make this entire inventory visible on www.travelyaari.com.

Why are they cool? They have done all this, they are young and they will make loads of money. Plus they have agreed to work with us :)

Superbly mediocre or then some.

2009-04-24T13:46:00.002+05:30

I look back at life and I know that I have wasted time, no matter how much I try to justify things. As a result, there are things which I could have done or should have tried to, but never did and now will not be able to.
Life for me had been a constant attempt to maintain a straight line - the shortest distance from one point to the other. (I have failed miserably at times in that as well)
Sure I can learn to play an instrument or come up with a fancy hobby now but I should have done it when I was younger and I did not. It is not as if I was under too much stress from studying that I could not do any of this even if I wanted to.No.
Even now, things are not getting any better. I should have saved more and spent less, should have gotten married by now (not for not trying this one though, but still), should have travelled more, exercised more, listened more, made more friends and known more people and so on. It is not that I have had a super busy job and I have been denied all this. No.
People say that one should stop to smell the roses. I am the guy who falls asleep next to the roses every day but never smells them.
Never has circumstance given me the excuse for any of my behaviour. It is only the way I am.
The silver lining - I have started to look back and regret and maybe some day I will regret enough that I am moved to take some action.
At business school, I was selected to apply for a scholarship with 20 others. There was a form which had two pages and most of it was about the academic and co-curricular state, national and international level achievements which an applicant would like to share with the interview board. I wanted to ask our mentors what my chances were if I did not have much (anything) to write about. Someone else, who later went on to become an investment banker at GS, asked his question before me. His question was whether he could attach extra sheets if the space was not enough.
I did not bother asking my question. I also did not get the scholarship.
The point is not about missing the scholarship. I think that it is one of the best scholarships in the country and even getting that chance to apply and failing to get the scholarship is the definite highpoint of my academic career. The point was that how was it that someone with a similar background and education had so much more to write about than I did. That day I realised that I had never even thought on these lines ever before. Life for me had been a constant attempt to maintain a straight line - the shortest distance from one point to the other. I have failed miserably at times in that as well.

Lessons for the future -
1. As my project partner from final year (MSA) used to say, "mukman, try to do round-trips in circles, never in straight lines"
2. Hurry up with everything!

Tube power

2009-04-19T12:05:00.001+05:30

This is the week when Susan Boyle happened. She did not get much attention in the Indian press (I really need to write about the Times of India soon, they are beginning to piss me off more and more now) or even on TV, but she looks like swooping over the UK and the US. Google News today had over 3000 stories in the global English language media about her. Her youtube videos have over 35 million views in just under a week.
The clip is a short one - seven minutes - but it is quite a roller coaster. You can click this link if the video above does not load. I found the link on facebook and I had a look. My emotions went from to pity to contempt to shock to disbelief & guilt to joy and wonder I guess.
It is rare that so many find so much joy from such simple things in life. I wish her all the best. I think that there are only 35 million or so viewers (at least) who are tracking her from the world over and rooting for her.

Wind of change

2009-04-11T23:29:00.000+05:30

Delhi has oppressive weather. It is hot from April till October, with the rainy months being very humid. The rainy season is short and the winter months are chilly. Personally, only the beginning and the end of winter, which are the months of November, February and March which are pleasant.
The past 12 months have been better. The rains lasted much longer in August and september. The winters were mild. There was also some rain in April this year (which never happens). I think the weather is changing. (Since it sucks so badly in Delhi, any change is for the better). The weather change is also depressing. I think these are our very local experiences of the global climate change.

I wonder if we will be able to mend our ways in time. The only piece of good news is this - more and more people are scared now about this than ever before.

I do not think that we can ever comprehend how rare and precious life is. Humans are even more so. Actually, I am not sure about that. Humans are definitely numero uno on this planet at this time. However, we are but the latest episode in a gigantic evolutionary soap opera which has been on air for the past 4 billion years on this planet. Can we assume that we are the end of the evolutionary chain? I do not think do. Other species too have been on the top of the ecological pyramid (I have seen Jurassic park), but humans would probably be the only species who are directly contributing to their own downfall. Anyway, humans could and should be just in a long line of species who made their presence felt for some time and then subsided.

Words can't express the irony well enough - 'the smartest species was dumb enough to skin its own goat'

On a lighter note, election fever is here in this country. Envigoman is of the opinion that we had predicted a lot of things two years ago which are close to correct. I need to read that post again.

Stretching coincidences

2009-04-05T20:41:00.001+05:30

I am not a superstitious person. For me, a coincidence is a random event which, out of randomness, is linked to past or present events in such a way that causes further thought or excitement.
I am also somewhat lazy and need to fill up some of this time when I am not doing anything with thoughts. I take every excitable coincidence and analyse it to the limit. It is like connecting random dots to see if a picture emerges. The catch is not in how the dots are placed. The catch is in the number of dots. If you have enough dots, you can draw whatever you want.
What happened was this - I met someone (s1) who reminded me very strongly of someone else (se1). The funny thing is this - every time I have something new happening in my life, I experience an se1 event. Usually, it is a dream or an email. This time it was an entire person. It has been quite a while since se1, so I am not sure if I remember things completely/correctly, but still, it was quite close to what I remember.
So yes, stretching it is what describes it completely.
So, envigo.blogspot.com was visiting this weekend along with wife. I got to meet wife's sis envigo's brother. Overall, it was a great weekend except for one unpleasant incident.
The things we talked about included:
1. My life
2. His job
3. His future plans
4. The recession
5. Why I like living in India?
6. The case of two/three Indias in existence today and the overall apathy of everyone involved (us included)

The last topic was depressing, a bit more than I would have imagined. I will definitely have to write more about it.

Recently acquired the complete monty python series and have to go through it. I still have not managed to get the last four episodes of house season 4.

The first copies of my Nana's book got sold - envigo.blogspot.com being the first customer.

Couture chai

2009-03-21T00:35:00.000+05:30

We finished a year and after we finish March, we will be able to do our first YOY comparison. Things are looking up with some big boys speaking with us for the first time and so on, and work is exciting.
I got to watch a fashion show for the first time this week. I did not expect much but I thought that it was something worth capturing in a post.
It all began with SS. She was shocked to find out that I had not ever seen a show, while I was shocked to think that something like this was shocking. I claimed (correctly) that none of my friends had watched one either. So there I was, at the Delhi fashion week which was being held quite close to the office.
You need to be a designer, a model, a member, guest, staff or hired help of the FDCI to be allowed in, or you need to know the right people (unless of course, you are one of the right people).
We waited for a bit for the show and lots of people seemed to know each other. Air kissing was the norm. In some cases, they also had stuff to say to each other. We entered and managed to get decent seats for the show. They were two rows away from the ramp and located just about midway from each end.
I noted/wondered about the following:

1. All of us who have seen tonnes of fashion TV know that models walk with their legs crossing over to the other side. I also found out that all models walk at a 10 degree backward slant to vertical. Apparently, this is called walking like a horse and this pose 'pushes your chest out, tucks your ass in' and gives a good form/shape to the clothes you are wearing.
2. There were often two models on the ramp - one going back and the next one just walking in. Personally, i thought that it was very distracting.
3. The hall was well lit. I realised that a lot of the audience were checking out the audience more than the models on the ramp. So was I.
4. The man to woman ratio here was amazing. It was better than expected. I have come such a long way from KREC. Amen.
5. There were almost no straight men.
6. 4 and 5 make such events heavenly for all straight men lucky enough to be there.
7. All the shop owners were standing in the corridor. All of them. Not a single one was inside. They were all just standing there looking at the crowd throbbing past them.
I even made it to the lounge which was like a small vip area with complementary snacks and beverages (yes, even the good stuff!). SS never fails to impress. Anyway, so we had a cup of tea there.
I felt like a child reaching a big city for the first time. Everything was new and not familiar. Every one was full of energy. Every one was pretty and well dressed. The air smelt mysteriously of grass every 20 yards or so. I loved it.

Ps: Someone asked me for recent pics. Please add me on facebook.

Confessions of an Entrepreneur

2009-03-11T09:50:00.000+05:30

This should be simple but I am actually scared to write this one out completely. Here goes:
1. I still wonder if I qualify to be an entrepreneur. In my mind, an entrepreneur has to do something uniquely. Either the product or the service offered are unique, or the delivery is unique. In my case, it is a little bit of both, but only a little bit.
2. I miss being in an office - a huge big office with all kinds of bells and whistles. Coffee machines and snacks and sandwiches, I miss having the office in an office district, with all its eateries and bars.
3. I miss being treated as an equal. Right now, I am always right and only those things happen which I think of and those dont which I dont agree to. There were quite a few times at ebookers when things happened despite my vehement opposition and they all panned out well. At envigo, free will exists (but only if it is aligned to mine). I am not so much of a dictator and I always try to encourage people to get an opinion. My hit rate is low.
4. I am always in a state of excitement (except for when I am sleepy/sleeping). Tiny things excite me - the higher beta of a running a business is quite evident in the way my mood changes. It is very important for me to smoothen out the edges - not getting too excited at good news or getting too depressed at bad news. I can see why people who run a business can have a heart attack at the age of 45. I need to start exercising.
5. I sometimes get this urge to earn a lot of money very quickly. However, I also realise that the same time that I am very happy where I am and I look forward to every single day at work. I am sure this is not very common.
6. I understand cost structures better now. Not that I can understand why someone would expect me to pay rs 3000 for a meal for two in Delhi...
7. Time passes faster now. I can remember days and days from ebookers when time dragged. Now, time gobbles up weeks in a go.
8. It is a strange feeling to know that you are completely responsible for what happens - no bosses, corporate strategy, colleagues to hide behind for big and small failures. It feels like a rush of blood standing at the edge of a dark abyss.
9. I understand the value of working in a team and getting a team to work more than ever. It is funny because entrepreneurship is almost talked about in a context of an individual.

I guess that is it. I know I have not posted in a while, but this post took thinking.

The cable guy

2009-02-20T10:31:00.021+05:30

My father often speaks with our cable company. The conversation which I get to hear usually runs like this:
"What boss, it has been 4 days since xyz was released in the cinemas and you still have not shown it on cable? (silence) tell me this, do I have to go to the cinema to watch this now? or wait for the DVD release? (silence)And make sure the print is good. Like Tata sky", including the last bit to remind him that he remains a fickle customer and knows about competition arriving now in India.
I am always surprised by cable television in India. There are about 120 channels which I get, including about 30 regional ones. Almost all of them are junk, but then I can get this junk for about $4 a month, compared to about $50 in the UK.
And yes, the movie which is asked for, is featured, especially if it is a new one. I do think that this is completely legal, but I am not sure. Increasingly, these cablewallahs are also getting more tech savvy. This one in Gurgaon has an interface where he shows the program for the next day. He also plays background music and shows movie trailers between two movies. Quite a far cry from about ten years ago when a cablewallah uncle went to prison for a day or so. He was playing a movie, which was recorded on top of an adult movie. So when the movie finished, the tape went on to play a full fledged adult movie at 3pm in the afternoon. Prime time for senior citizens (unhappy), school boys (very happy, jumped at the mute button), school girls (shocked) and school mothers (tearful). I am not sure how many people complained, but many did.

(Why does it feel like today is someone's birthday? Ok so thanks to facebook and orkut i have a list of 200 people, let me check.hmm)

Sharat

2009-02-12T23:32:00.110+05:30

Sharat was a friend of mine from Netarhat. Netarhat is a residential school located in the Chotanagpur plateau about 100 miles from Ranchi. After finishing my schooling in 1967, I went to the Engineering college in Sindri (BIT, Sindri) to pursue a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering. It was a five year course and as was quite usual in those days, the course took just under 6 years to get over. I was interviewed and accepted by the Tata Engineering and Locomotive company (TELCO, now known at Tata motors) and moved to Jamshedpur in 1972.
My parents were based in Chhapra, which is about 50 miles from Patna across the Ganges. The bridge across the Ganga at Patna had not been built. To go to Chhapra from Sindri and Jamshedpur, one had to reach Patna by train, cross the Ganga by steamer at one of the ghats and then take a bus to Chapra. Every year, a significant part of the outgoing batch from Netarhat school would move to Patna. They would either study at the Patna Science College or at the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH). Because of this, I had a number of friends in Patna. I made it a habit to stop at Patna for a few hours on my way to Chhapra and back. I got married in February 1978. My wife's family was based in Patna. Because of this, my links with my friends who were in Patna continued as we stayed for a part of the holidays each year in Patna.
Sharat wanted to become a doctor. He moved to Patna after being accepted by PMCH into their MBBS program. He came from an illustrious family of Patna. His sister was married to Dr. C.P. Thakur, who was one of the most renowned doctors in Patna and a gold medallist of his batch from medical college. Sharat was a good looking young man and had a pleasing personality. His family was well established in Patna and he lived with his sister and brother-in-law on Fraser road which was quite close to the station.
Every trip home from Sindri or Jamshedpur involved meeting Sharat. I would write a letter to him to let him know of the date on which I would be crossing Patna. He would wait at home for me. He had an old scooter which would be used at the occasion. He used to ride it at about 20 kmph, which was slow for a scooter, even in those days. We would have sandwiches, then go to another one for tea and then top it up with Paan from another place. The three shops never changed and were not particularly close to each other. However, they formed part of my itinerary during every trip due to Sharat. We would go to the college hostels to meet friends. I would then get dropped off at the station. At times, he would not be able to be at home because of his classes. On such days, I would make my way to the college hostels and meet my friends before heading to the station. Sharat would unfailingly meet me at the station a few minutes before the train left. He would have a Paan for me.
My son was born in July 1979 at the Patna Medical College & Hospital. There were not many good doctors in Bihar at that time. Every city had a few established doctors, but it was rare that such a doctor was also a good doctor. I always asked my doctor friends to refer me to a doctor. It was like using insider knowledge in the stock market. By this time, Sharat was a doctor and was working at Dr. C.P.Thakur's clinic. He wanted to study further as well. I was advised by Sharat and a few other of my friends to ensure that my wife and child spent as little time as possible at PMCH. They warned of possible infections at the hospital. Sharat also advised me to meet Dr. Jaiswal. We left the hospital less than 24 hours after my son's birth. On our way back from the hospital, we went and met Dr. Jaiswal. He checked both of them and prescribed two shots of a gamma globulin injection for my newborn son. He also gave one to me and asked me to get the second one done after a month. Sharat offered to give the second injection. My wife and her parents were going to have a small get-together so that our friends and family could come and see the new born baby. Sharat offered to get the injection on that day itself.
Sharat did not turn up for the party. It was unexpected and also mildly irritating. I got someone else to give the injection. I waited for him to show up for a few days. After that, I made my way to his house.
Sharat had been missing for about a week. He had left a letter telling his family not to look for him and that he would not ever come back. Till this day, he hasn't.
I still wonder what made him take such a step. None of our school friends who knew him then were aware of any reason why he would take such a step. He was a good person and people liked having him around. He was a doctor and would have led a comfortable life.
Dr. Jaiswal remained my son's physician till we moved to Delhi.

______________________________________

This story was narrated to me by my father on the eve of his birthday. I realised that I did not know too much about my father as a person. The other thing worth remembering about his birthday this year was that four people forgot about it till 10am in the morning - my mother, my sister, yours truly and my father.
The last thing I wanted to mention here is that I have added a Suggestions box on the side. You can either leave suggestions about future posts or vote on someone else's suggestions. Have a look at the section labeled "Tell me" in the right bar

TV lows

2009-02-01T20:36:00.041+05:30

After watching TV in the UK for a few years - big brother, x factor, fear factor et al, I had honestly believed I had seen it all. However, a chance encounter with something called "Roadies" on MTV changed all that for me.
I know very little about the roadies - there are two teams and they play different games and there are eliminations and a 'winner' emerges in the end. I am not sure what the winner is supposed to be good at, but he is an MTV Roadie and he gets a lot of money and usually also gets invited to take part in Big Boss, which is India's version of 'Celebrity Big Brother'. One of the essential qualifications for appearing on Big Boss is that this lot were able to block out 90 days from their calendar without batting an eyelid.
I am not sure what career options are available to Big Boss winners.
So, there I was gorging, on lots of chicken tikka and roomali roti at RG's house, where we were all treated to all the roadies getting very excited about someone getting kicked out, a slanging match between two girls (one of them was wearing very large and very dark glasses indoors) and then the game. The game was as follows - all of these early 20 somethings were let loose with Pushkar animal fair in the backdrop, with the glorious task of collecting animal dung. That was the task - collecting shit with bare hands. The dung was divided into two categories - fresh and not-so-fresh, with the fresh variety getting a higher weightage in the final score.
I am not really sure why I am disgusted - quite a few things rush to my mind, but I I will let it be for now.
With the realisation that I had hit a new TV record which would be hard to better, I resumed dividing my attention with RG, SS and Chicken Tikka.
The universe had other plans.
Roadies returned, with its infinite capacity to surprise, with a bang!
This time around, the two teams were participating in a quiz. The questions were to be answered by the girls of each team and correct answers would get them points. In case of an incorrect answer, one of the boys of the team would get hit by a paddle on the balls.
Apologies, but this had to said as there is no other way of saying it.
Oh yes, the quiz questions were about translating words from English into Hindi and vice versa. As you can imagine, there were a lot of wrong answers and lots of bats and balls being connected.
So yes, I know that I have seen all that there is to see on TV. (As long as I dont watch roadies again).
I feel bad when I see such television. I feel worse because I could see that this program is very popular (every commercial break had about 5 minutes of advertising). I will not get into comparing how things earlier, but I think that a few such data points can help us extrapolate where things are headed -
- where TV is headed
- where public acceptance levels are headed
- where education levels might be headed
All we know has been taught to us - from teachers, parents and friends. Of course we read, but then it is our peers and soceity which decides what are the first few things we read, or even that we start to read. Media plays an ever increasing role. Reading and discourse probably leads to opinion and action and so on.
What if an entire generation of teachers, friends and parents are brainless, wont the succeeding generations lose out on a lot and would have to reinvent the educational and cultural wheel? I like to think that such things have happened before - for example, the ruin of the various south american civilisations (I guess we dont even know how long it will be before we understand their abilities completely) and their replacement by the Europeans.(Funny how the Europeans called labeled all these civilisations as barbarians. The sense of humour of this universe knows no end.)

Drastic change of topic -
I also got to see "Luck by chance". I liked it. It is a good movie.
Since SS has threatened dire consequences for talking about it on the blog before she gets to see it, I will just say that a murder mystery of such finesse is very rare to come by.
Also, for all of you who read my blog, please wish me luck. There is something up for which I need all your wishes.

Neemrana Palace and Hotel

2009-01-27T23:10:00.028+05:30

I went to Neemrana (palace and hotel!) over the Republic day weekend. It was my second trip there and I noticed how the new wing which was being built was now complete. I was also taken aback by the entry fees - Rs. 500 per person. Just as a comparison, entering the Taj costs Rs 20 (for an Indian, Rs. 750 for a foreigner). I was not very happy and promptly turned back. I have been inside and I know that it is not worth Rs. 500.
The other thing about Neemrana I remember from last time around was that their dinner was overpriced.
Anyway, enough with the cribbing.
I love driving through this bit of Haryana and Rajasthan. You get to see a country on the move. There are villages with electricity and irrigation and fields full of a mustard crop, which shine bright yellow in the sun. (Remember ddlj?). The fields give way to industrial parks, which again are bright new things. The ride is smooth and fast.
All this is quite a big change from 10 or so years ago. Now would a nice time to run through a list of thens and nows, but just one - my favourite one - internet speeds from 1991 (zero) compared to today!
I wonder if it is only our generation or every generation which thinks that they have seen the 'old' and the 'new'.

Jai Ho Slimdog*

2009-01-12T15:52:00.007+05:30

Watched the first show of the movie here in Gurgaon yesterday.
Technically, it was the premiere show, which was a first for me. I think that this movie will get a few Oscars. I will tell you why I think so. After the movie got over, the song 'jai ho' started playing while the credits rolled. Not one person got up. Usually, the last shot marks the beginning of the race to the exit, then to the stairs and then to the car park. The end-of-movie race is a 'working model' of the rat race. All defining characteristics are present. It is not ex, every one else is your enemy and there is no real payoff. But race is always there to be played and participants take it very, very seriously.
This movie paused the rat race in this small movie hall by about 5 minutes.
This is why I think it will win.
The movie was about India, had only Indians in it, was very mainstream and still was not Bollywood in the least. I did not think such feats were humanly possible.

* Oh yes, I want to be a Slimdog. (Thanks Ved!)

2008

2009-01-12T10:37:00.002+05:30

2008 was a blur. Too many things happened -

- Coming back and setting up
- Trying again and hoping and then giving up and hoping for the best
- Hiring and firing, winning and losing
- Working hard and hardly working
- Setting up processes and then rubbishing them (I would not know a good process even if one hit me on the head)
- Driving around and then being driven
- Meeting tonnes of new people a few times
- Meeting fewer and fewer people more and more (aka, nt=c) (I love it when life can be expressed as an equation)
- Partying and then deciding that I am too old and fat for it
- Gaining weight and gaining more weight...
- Shaving my head
- Spending tonnes of time with my parents and sister (after about 16 years)
- Trying to get married
- Trying to figure out if relinquishing control is ok
- Getting used to Delhi
- Getting used to Gurgaon!
- Getting back the nonchalance which is required to read the papers every day
- Writing more, reading more, reading less nonsense
- Looking back at life in London, not regretting moving back!
- Loving it

12 months, 10 trips, lots of friends, countless conversations and memorable moments - I hope and pray that 2009 is as eventful as 2008.

Winter cheer

2008-12-18T10:52:00.003+05:30

Snap. A year went by. One year ago, I had just finished packing for moving back to India. I was saying my goodbyes to my friends, colleagues and to the city and was getting done with that as well.
I knew I would come back often. I knew that my time in London will never come back. Memories are made with the place, the people and the present. Each one of them changes constantly, people changing the least I guess and the present changing all the time. I miss my time there - From Camden to High St. Ken to Hampstead and even the time spent in the Docklands - there are things about each place which I miss. Each place I stayed there had its own flavour. In the beginning, it was all about settling in and roaming around with my IIMA friends 100% of the time and learning how to cook. It changed into numerous cookins, anda-paranthas, walking up the hill with Nautanki and haggling like two middle-aged housewives, the Heath and the village. It also meant finding new friends and reading new books as older ones got married or got busier. West Hampstead had the flat screen TV and playstation and snow and weekday night outs followed by dreadfully long days in office.
Moving back to the present, the wedding season is in full flow. Almost all my friends are married - RG is my only hope in ensuring that I am not the last one to get married - which is also not a bad thing. It is not a bad thing because if something is so good to spend your entire life in it, it must be good enough to wait for. Also, I love my (almost) complete control over my life and space and interests, which I think reduces a bit with marriage. As AS tells me – “You will lose all the controls. But you will like losing them.” If he was not married, I would believe his intentions but not his veracity. Since he is married, I doubt his intentions.
Any how, my ex-manager from ebookers has gotten me in touch with some new companies - we should be able to last out this recession with such friends, but let us see how this story unfolds.

NK ties the knot

2008-12-08T18:37:00.004+05:30

So this one is going to be about NK - friend, counsellor, 'ex-gamer', foodie, gymboy and fat-mate, super-geek and/or misplaced CA....

Friend - A few years ago in London the three (AT, NK and I) of us colectively endangered our livers in our quest to make me see light at the end of a tunnel. All I could see during this time was an unending stream of Jack and diet coke (of course!). Both of us believed in compartments of information - it was a lot of fun to let him into a few compartments and for him to share a few with me. it is even more fun when you meet someone else with an access to other compartments of NK's life and you get to exchange notes. So much fun. NK listened when he had to and said stuff when he had to. I remember him helping out when AT had a back problem and stopped moving for about a week - NK moved in with us to ensure that AT was moved around - not something which any person can ensure easily. He has supported quite a few of his friends with his work, brain and even money. He has lost some money in the process but has continued to do so. That is rare in today's world.
Counsellor - He started off by radical suggestions like flying down to New York on New Years eve. Other highlights included trying to make me read the Game, subsribing me to various email alerts and weekly journals which varied from job alerts to dating advice.
Ex-gamer - There have been many an occasion where NK' s way with the ladies has floored me. His way has done much, much more with the ladies in question. NK's work was an inspiration, in the way the sun is an inspiration to travelers - it shows you the way and gives you your bearings. It shows you things you never thought were possible. What was very cool about all this was also the fact that he believed that this was an a talent which can be taught. After reading the 'Game' and other books referenced from the 'Game', he came to the conclusion that such talents could be learnt and taught, much like the way you learnt to become a doctor or an engineer. I understand this bit. At the same time, there are always doctors and then there are good doctors. NK was a good 'gamer'.
Foodie/gymboy and fat mate - there is picture of AT and NK from one of these jack and coke sessions on my phone. My sister refers to both of them as flat mate and fat mate respectively. NK likes food. His consumption is not governed by demand but is constrained by supply. He was a staunch supporter of my cooking - good or bad and a good end point as well. His love for food and his regular gym sessions were a delicate equilibrium - a steady and constant struggle between two equal and opposite forces. His gymming continues unabated in Mumbai even today, only to keep up with his nutritional tendencies.
Supergeek, misplaced CA - He is good with his work - thorough, well organised, consistent and persistent. I do not think that there is anything he can not do. He is not a nerd - anything he reads is for a purpose and to "add value". I love the way there is a reason behind every thing he does. He manages all this without appearing to be a stuckup idiot or a bore - which is something he should be proud of. He is a web 2.0 enthusiast - there are so many thing which I use on my computer due to him. Given that he is a CA and from SRCC, and I am from KREC, I should be somewhat ashamed and I am. I only feel better by praising him for being a supergeek.

He had a super wedding - I was only too happy to be part of it and share the happiness with him, his wife and his family. I danced at a public function under normal lighting - which was a first for me. My movements were coordinated and any complaints for the same need to be forwarded to our choreographer. NK also managed to get his sister married the very next day - every thing went to plan and there were no mixups. I loved every bit of it.

Congratulations NK!

Symptoms of complacency

2008-12-04T16:01:00.000+05:30

I had an interesting conversation with RG and am summarising it here. I am back in India for almost a year now. My life is repetitive. I can predict where I will be and what I will be doing given a time and date with a large degree of accuracy. Office, Client office, car or home will explain 100% of my weekday. During the weekend, most client offices are closed.
Of course, there are times when I meet friends - but someone usually is getting married for that to happen. Such is life. Strange thing is, I am happy.
Free will has led me into this and free will is keeping me here. Some common indicators of happiness - money, partner, career are all missing. If a few years back, if I would be told that I would have almost no money, no body to share anything with and no real career, I be very scared. Right now, I am living it and am happy.
This brings me to the main topic - Am I being complacent? I have a long and varied history of being complacency. Complacency is second nature to me. In fact, it is my first response to anything. However, this time I have my doubts. I have doubts both ways. It is irritating.

Raj uncle

2008-12-04T14:49:00.001+05:30

A thousand words. Done.

Loose ends

2008-11-30T11:54:00.000+05:30

My list of unanswered questions:

1. How many terrorists were there? Have we been able to recreate their steps that evening?
There were statements made that there were anywhere between 10 and 26 terrorists. In the end 10 are accounted for. There are so many unanswered questions or maybe I have just missed this in the media? I for one would worry about this no end, because it takes 2 people and a few guns to wreak havoc.. do we know for sure that there are no many in this city?

2. What are we going to do about this?
Barkha Dutt is wailing about the ceasefire on the LOC being withdrawn and a troop buildup. A troop buildup will scare Pakistan, but Pakistan I think has been scared of India since it came into existence. I for one do not believe that a troop buildup alone accomplishes anything. A troop buildup would make much more sense if India takes a stand that it is now going to take care of terror camps on either side of the border and the troop buildup is to support that. Similarly, India should go after Dawood if he is involved - I wonder if bribing the Paki army could do the trick. Can India be a little brash for once? Can we not throw some muscle around? Can we not hold our own?

3. Will the media ever behave?
We all have been subjected to inhuman stupidity, insensitivity, callousness of the media lost in a blind zeal to track the tragedy. Did we need all the details of the commando operations - knowing that the terrorists would also see it? Do we need all the sentimentality on TV - can we not feel the way we should without any handholding by the media. I think that the media is setting lower and lower standards for itself to beat. India TV was flashing information which was given to it by the terrorists over the phone call (Assuming that whoever had called India TV was actually a terrorist) as News. If the terrorist had said that they were from Bangladesh, that is what would have been flashed.
Barkha Dutt was getting a high shouting herself hoarse and coaxing exactly what she wanted to hear from everyone she interviewed.

Bombay

2008-11-27T22:39:00.000+05:30

This is a page just to record this day. There will be plenty written about this and all of us will remember what we were doing when this happened.
I hope for the following:
1. More resources and political will behind counter-intelligence and counter-terrorism
2. I think that our existence lives is a pendulum between minority and majority excesses -
Babri Masjid - Mumbai riots - Mumbai Blasts(1)*- Godhra** - Train blasts - Serial blasts serially in cities - Mumbai attacks

Will we able to break out of this bizarre game of ping pong. What we need is not magnanimity... I think we need to ensure justice - fair and time bound. Not for this attack - but also for this attack and for all such attacks on India. I think that is one way we can break out of this ping pong.

Its only a name

2008-11-05T15:48:00.002+05:30

Saurabh happens to be quite a popular name for people my age. My mother wanted me to have a name like Amit (full marks for uniqueness). My father advised against this as this would put me me at the beginning of every roll call and every lab exam (roll numbers are usually alphabetical). During engineering, I have uttered many a silent thank you for not being in the first batch going in for practical tests and viva.
I have always had people with the same name around me. There was a time in DPS when there were two others with the same name in the same class - Saurabh Khanna, Saurabh Kumar Das and yours truly. Many a time, we used to be called for each other's doings - be it exam scores or pulled up for bunking classes. The confusion was usually only mildly irritating but had its high points as well.
Once in class, a teacher who had just received a piece of paper from a peon, asked me to stand up as she read it out to me. I was expecting a visit to the accounts department as they were supposed to refund my hostel fees. The teacher, smiling mildly, read this out, "Saurabh, you are hereby suspended for 2 weeks and are asked to stop coming to school from tomorrow." Even though my behaviour was on an average somewhat unruly, I was not sure why the school was taking such a strong exception to this. After about two hours of tracing the root cause, I came to know that it was my hostel warden who had volunteered my name. Apparently, he knew that some Saurabh had done it and he remembered my name.Real culprit - Saurabh Sachdeva (ofcourse yet another one).
There has also been a time in life when I had the right name but was the wrong person, but there are better tales to share here.
With the internet ofcourse, things have become more interesting. I have received the following emails:
1. Dear Saurabh Sir, please find attached the production and attendance report for yesterday
2. Dear Saurabh, the amount in your account is Rs. xxxxxx.
3. Dear Roopshree, your shaadi.com profile has been updated.
4. Congrats Roopshree! there are three people interested in you.
5. ALERT! A cheque of Rs. 5000 has been debited from your account.
6. Saurabh, please submit the cash tomorrow as I need the money urgently
7. Saurabhda how is australia?
8. Saurabh, congrats on joining the naukri.com mailing list. you will now get 100 emails every day with suitable job openings.

Ouch!

Thanks to my name (or actually my email address on gmail), I get occasional glimpses of someone else's life.

I wrote an email to my bank when the bank emails started coming to me.

This was their reply:
This is with reference to your e-mail dated October 17, 2008 regarding e-mail alerts.
We request you to provide the below details to enable us to assist you:
1. Account number or customer ID
2. Copy of the e-mail received by you as attachment.

Warm Regards,
Bhavya XXXX
Customer Support

Next email from them after I provided the above details:
Dear Mr. Jain,

Thank you for your confirmation.This is with reference to your query for the e-mail alerts.
Your query is being attended to. We will revert to you within 5 working days.Looking forward to your co-operation and patience in the interim.

Warm Regards,
Bhavya XXXX
Customer Support

My obvious reply to them was somewhat disturbed:
I am not MR. Jain.
I am saurabh kumar

To which they replied:
Dear Mr. Kumar,
Thank you for writing to us.
This is in reference to your earlier e-mail regarding insta alerts.
We are sorry for addressing you incorrectly

And then, their parting shot -
Dear Mr. Jain,
Thank you for your patience and co-operation.The necessary rectification has been done. Hence forth you will not received the alerts of other customer.We regret the inconveniences caused to you.
Warm Regards,
Bhavya XXXXX
Customer Support

Interesting times

2008-10-30T10:25:00.003+05:30

It is amazing how everything has an angle without which nothing happens. Raj is out to do what uncleji did long ago and the congress is OK with it as it weakens uncle and splits the vote. Who cares what this means and whether it might have repercussions in a country where the dialect changes every 100 kilometers and the local script changes at every 500 kilometers. Why will the government not act? It stands to lose more votes in Maharasthra than gain a few in Mumbai.

India is almost as alien to exist as a country as the United States of Europe - only with 600 million more people packed in an area which is a third of Europe. Europe has had such a colourful existence up until 1945 and it took about 70 million deaths for Europeans to shed their expansionist ambitions, appreciate the value of peaceful coexistence and learn to behave themselves.

India was luckier.
In spite of the chaos which existed - the brits leaving, partition, princely states, hindu kings with muslim kingdoms and vice versa, 300 million people, famine, floods - we were able to pull through. It took at likes of Sardar Patel, Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi and the sheer force of their ideals and their power over our collective imagination which held this country together.

We are not so lucky today.
Today, we are a country which is so short of political charisma and excitement. A good example was when we were at the mercy of the good sense of Ms. Gandhi to turn down the prime ministership of this country which had been handed to her on a platter. Every person in power has a base derived by his identity. Identity has always been important to Indians - probably because there are so many identities one carries. For example, I am a Hindu, Srivastava, From Chapra, Upper caste, Bihari, North Indian. Each one of them is something I was born into and not something which I have any control on.
I am also an engineer and an MBA. But does anyone care if any one of these MPs are even literate? Do we even know? Had I been in politics, my identities would subsume my capabilities.

I wonder if universal suffrage is a such a good thing. How would this country be if only graduates could vote (due credit to SS for talking to me about this) ? Should we have tried out "each one, teach one" before universal suffrage?

"May you live in interesting times" is apparently a Chinese curse. I did now know that till quite recently. In fact, I have included it in greeting cards. Looking at India today, I understand this chinese nugget better.

Dark humour

2008-09-30T16:38:00.000+05:30

An example from the economist -
"Perhaps fittingly in an economy that is in danger of sliding into depression, the only stock among the 500 in the S&P index that finished higher was Campbell’s Soup"

I have not been able to write anything over the past few weeks - general lethargy due to bad scheduling is to blame.

Credit Crunch in a screenshot

2008-09-22T14:35:00.002+05:30

Lesson number 1 -
If you screw up, it is your problem. If you screw up big time, it is your boss's problem. If you screw up really well, big time, for a long time and make a lot of money in the process, the US Fed will take care of you.

Lesson number 2 - Greed is always good.

Have a look at the news article below, and then take a look at the ad which captures the essence of the "sub-prime" mess brilliantly..