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Need Answers ...

2009-08-15T19:04:00.008+05:30

Dear Readers,

A very Happy Independence Day !! I am having a long weekend here in Pune, India. Thanks to Swine Flu, its curfew-like situation here. There is no one on street, markets are closed, malls & theaters are shut. Its one of the quietest weekends I have ever had. Such times are best for introspection, reading books, watching movies at home, taking time for your dear ones.

I took time to find answers to some of the questions which have been haunting me, its been over 6 months for me to find the answers. But having hard luck. So thought of posing them to my readers in the hope that some might answer them.

Without much ado, here we go -

1) How would a girl reply if some guy comes & tells her that he likes her for the some 11 years? However, there has been no communication between the 2 in those 11 years but talked lately for about 7-8 months ...

2) Would a girl like if the same guy thinks of expressing his liking via a present especially made by himself? Nothing bought from the mall even if he could ...

3) What would you think if the same guy tries to give a special gift to the girl on her birthday by thinking of a creative way to wish her ?

4) Would a girl hate the same guy who prays for her well being ?

5) Would a girl hate the same guy who does not have proper food & is virtually on fast in hope that one day she would say yes?

The questions don't end here. Your responses/comments will decide whether the next set of questions make to this blog or not?

So all you there, do take a few minutes to provide your comments & satiate me with my thirst for answers.

God's Angels ...

2009-06-02T14:17:00.004+05:30

A quite afternoon of March in the late 80's or may be early 90's. The dust on the road trying to settle but unable to do so owing to the intermittent traffic on the road. Scorching heat of the summer enervating me with each step that I took towards going home after a boring day at school. In those days, we didnt have good transport in Pune & Nagar Road [where my school used to be] was never busy. And we almost always had to rely on the PMT buses to commute. During those days the PMT buses followed a strict discipline of stopping at designated stops - a virtue Indians not very known for.

It took a tiring 2km walk to reach the school from the bus stop. And with that heavy school bag of ours the walk just seemed 'endless'. It was during these times that a wonderful aunty used to pass by. Our school used to get over by 2:30 or so & roughly about the same time this aunty used to go to her office or wherever. I can still remember my 2 brothers & me sitting on the light green colored priya scooter aunty had. I don't know how we 4 managed to sit on that 2-seater vehicle !! It had become a habit of sorts to look back as we walked in the hope that aunty would be coming & we would get a free ride home. She was kind enough to always offer us the ride & stopped at the yerwada junction without we giving her any directions. It was an unsaid understanding which had developed over the time.

Then in the following year our school timing had changed & we no longer had the luxury of having a free ride. But more so we missed the kind gesture which aunty showed to us during that summer heat.

I don't remember her name but was pleasantly surprised to see her some years back along the same road, with her trademark way of wearing the scaff on the same green colored priya [minus the scratches on the scooter and a lot more wrinkles on her fair-face].

Today the world around us is changing more rapidly than a chameleon can change its color. Virtues, good qualities, kindness, selfless are mere adjectives found in scriptures. These traits will soon become obsolete in the fast moving world around us & no museum on Mother earth can showcase their existence.

Just like we were guided by god's unknown angels from time to time, can we do our bit to help others ?

My tryst with my shaven head !!!

2008-09-21T19:55:00.003+05:30

20th of Sep was just a usual day in my life. This is that date of the month on which I sacrifice my lush, smoke-colored hair to Pappu - my personal hair dresser [or barber :-)] so to say. Its been a custom of sorts to pay a visit around 20th of every month to this long time pal of mine - a custom being practised for the last 14 years or so.

This month was no different. I visited Pappu's saloon & after a wait of about 17 mins [pardon me for being a little too EXACT about time :-)], I got a chance to sit on that 'august' chair one which hardly goes unnoticed in barbers' shops across India.

As my dear friend commenced demonstrating his hair cutting skills with his merciless scissors, I interrupted him - a strange reaction which he witnessed from me after a long time, may be. This time i took control of styling & in all gusto instructed him to tonsure my head. A wave of shock ran down his spine as he knew that with god's grace everyone in my near family were safe & sound. [As per hindu customs, tonsuring is done if a near one is no more in this world]. His immediate response was to know the reason for this blunder. I explained him the reason [which i would not like to divulge] & then he did what I instructed him to do - tonsure my head !!

As he shaved, I was thrilled & amused see the bear regions of my head getting exposed in phases - with each phase, the black grass-like region diminishing & in its wake giving rise to a brown pasture. All the phases completed in flat 21 mins.
This time I took more time to look at myself in the mirror. It took me quite a while to assimilate the imagery of 'your truly' minus hair !!

Now, I feel as if I have offloaded a burden from my head - still figuring out what that burden was. As I walk, I can experience a gentle breeze making way in hitherto hidden areas of my head - with no hair obstructing its path !! At times I make futile attempts to comb my hair but then will take some time to digest this new development in my life.

Also coupled with these is a new joy of its kind !! Knowingly or Unknowingly my hand slips onto my head just to experience the bear skin of my scalp - a feeling which cannot be described in words or phrases.

So far I am enjoying a 'different looking' Ashish & endeavoring to guess the first hand reactions of my friends !!

Matheran at its best !!

2007-12-23T15:41:00.000+05:30

We started early morning at 7 am (now thats too early for anybody who prefers not to wake up before 10am on week ends) from Pune, boarded Sahyadri Express, the only train from Pune that stops at Neral Station. We reached Neral station at 10:15 am.

Now the major attraction in Matheran is a 100+ years toy train that takes you from Neral to Matheran, 2 hour journey uphill. Lady luck was probably not on our side that day. We missed the 10:15 am toy train (Thanks to some search results in Google which gave us an outdated time schedule of the toy-train). Toy-train being a major attraction, people had queued many days in advance to get the tickets & the only option left was to buy a FIRST class ticket for a whooping Rs 210/- (v/s Rs 37 for 2nd class). But since this didn't fit in our SST factor (Sundar, Swast, Tickaoo), we decided to take a taxi to Matheran.

Matheran is the only city in the world (after Venice, Italy) which is a vehicle-free zone i.e. No vehicles are allowed inside Matheran. The only options to roam about are - horse rides & human-driven carts. We decided to follow a trail up the hill (remember the SST factor ??). The first thing you notice after arriving in this hill station is the thick green cover of trees embellished with conspicuous red sand. You will also be greeted by monkeys who will follow you along the trail, at times irritating you (I had to sacrifice a slice of cucumber to get relieved from them).

We had our lunch - an ok gujarati thali at a local restaurant & headed to Khandala point. God knows why its called khandala point. I find the original Khandala much better than this.

Other major tourist spots in Matheran are - Louis point, Khandala point, Market & Charlotte lake.

After roaming for some while we headed back to Matheran station & tried our luck at getting the Toy-train tickets. Probably lady luck was in a good mood. We got the tickets without much ado. After getting the tickets we heaved a sigh of relief and were elated to see all our efforts paying off.

Narrow lanes of the train, hilly terrain, steep valleys and brown,dry grass cladded mountains made for the need of a picturesque climax to our Matheran journey.

Matheran

India growth story ...

2007-11-22T02:33:00.000+05:30

India Rising- is an oft quoted statement in media these days. Every faucet of media is show casing the booming industries in India, its self reliance & non-dependence on US economy per se. But how much & what growth has been rising ? Lets try & ponder upon this for a while.

Here are some significant events in recent past which may reveal some startling statistics.
1) India flies high in the aviation space. More & more companies wish to fly overseas. Aviation ministry is promoting licenses for domestic flights.
Stats: Where are these flights going to land ? With the exception of metros all the cities have only 1 runway.
For the last 1 week even IGI Delhi airport is experiencing delay in flights. Who is responsible?
Mumbai International airport does not have a direct internal connectivity to the domestic airport at Vile Parle. All major cities of the world have this simple commonsensical facility.
2) Reality industry is growing by leaps & bounds.
Stats: What is the quality of such construction? Does the govt provide any regulation on the safety norms & quality in this madness to rake in money by builders?
There seems to be a race to fool an ordinary man.
3) Telecom ministry wants to release more spectrum for pvt players.
Stats: Every 1 person in 5 gets a wrong bill from these telecom companies. The billing systems of one telecom company is so smart enough that they change your plan without informing you & start charging you an additional Rs. 25-30 for the new plan. You are easily taken for ride by their billing systems
4) Do not call registry has been implemented by govt just few months back.
Stats: I have registered on most of these directories. In spite of this i get telemarketing calls. Whats the way out?
5) ICICI bank is the largest pvt bank in India
Stats: Recently ICICI bank was slapped with 55L fines for misbehavior & causing inconvenience to its customers. Another case of fine has come up in todays newspaper.
ICICI bank seems to be desperate to break its own record of paying fines.
Thousands of cases are pending in consumer courts against ICICI bank's scrupulous means to recover money.
Yet Mr. K.V.Kamat makes a proud presence in every Business lunch or party or media in general. I think its high time ICICI bank takes some moral responsibility.
6) IT industry always shares an uncanny limelight when India growth story is spoken
Stats: Most of the Indian biggies are no doubt good enough. But their BPO counterparts seem to spoil the party miserably. Recent rape & murder 'well executed' by a BPO cab driver simply underscores the fact that our BPO industry believes in employee exploitation. There is no check whatsoever on the kind of nuisance these BPO cabs are causing on the roads these days. They are simply NO-NO in a civilized world. But in India as they say 'sab chalta hai'

We need to wake up in the REAL sense of the term. Some amount of moral policing should be enough to judge our actions. Its a collective effort from govt, industry & we citizens of this yet to RISE INDIA.

Orkut Updates

2007-11-20T20:20:00.000+05:30

Some months back I stumbled upon this new feature in orkut - Orkut Updates coming 'freshly made' from Google labs. It allows you to see a list of updates made by your friends in their profiles.

This feature is particularly popular among indians who get a chance to go abroad. They make it a point to change some thing or the other in their profile so that it catches their friends' attention. Either a photo/video is added OR a jazzy title (in place of name) is mentioned. This is also used as a handy feature to remind your friends about you & that they should think about visiting your profile.

Nevertheless, its a good feature from Google's basket of new tools, easing the lives of many people by doing REALLY sane things.

Reality of (Un)reality shows ...

2007-10-28T17:11:00.000+05:30

Fridays & Saturdays are the worst days for yours truly, for all the channels beam some talent show or the other. Some are finding Indian Idols while some are choosing Voice of India. And still others are showing their 'moves' on the dance floor. With the spate of talent shows on the horizon, the poor audience finds itself helpless among the Harshits, the Prashants & the Rakhi Sawants of this reality fever.
One look at the number of such shows will give you an estimate of the lack of taste in media these days -
Star - Nach Baliye, VOI
Sahara - Bathroom Singer, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom
Sony - Indian Idol (Thank God this is over now !! ), Bol Baby Bol, Jhalak Dikhla Ja
Zee - Saregama
Now all these beam on Fri & Sat. To top it all, in the same time slot, 8-11 pm.
Lets understand why so many shows ? Well, no points for guessing-its all because of we audiences. Since we watch them, these shows are 'manufactured' incessantly. People often get carried away by the jingoism of caste or region or some XYZ reason. An unparalleled competition to see the candidate from your region in the final round
ensues. Consequently, millions of SMSs flow the telecom highway to fill the pockets of already rich telecom service providers.
So in a nutshell, herez the recipe for a perfect silly (un)reality show -
Ingredients :-
3 months of eliminition rounds
4-5 episodes of cries & sorrow (for not getting selected in the show)
2-3 episodes of altercations among the judging community
1 round of WILD CARD entry
Lots of SPECIAL guests who come either to promote tomorrows budding stars(read as Rajveer Kapoor & Sonam Kapoor) or to promote their films.

Method :-
Mix all the ingredients above in ANY order & you get a Reality show.

End result is BIG NOTHING - people have sent SMSs, telecom service providers have made money, winners go with hefty prizes, shows get sponsors & AUDIENCE get nothing.

Mesmerizing Mysore...

2007-10-07T14:48:00.000+05:30

Last week I had an opportunity of visiting the Sandalwood City of India - Mysore, a city having so many sobriquets to its credit (others being Silk City of India, Palace City of India). After being in Pune, Mumbai, Baroda & Goa, travelling to Mysore was a pleasant experience. The quiet, serene roads of Mysore enchant you the most. The traffic snarls observed in other cities is conspicuous by its absence in Mysore. The Mysore palace, Gumbaz - Tipu Sultan's burial place, Swaminarayan Temple, Nandi Temple, Phenomela Church, Brindavan gardens are some of the tourist attractions of this city.
It was quite a different experience to stay in the sandal wood city of India. I hope to visit Mysore some time in future with the hope that industrialization won't tarnish the serenity of this city.
Here are some of the snaps from my trip -

Mysore

The wonder years ...

2007-08-05T20:25:00.000+05:30

A very Happy Friendship Day to all of you ...
On this particular day, a tv channel showed a special friendship episode of an old program .. 'The Wonder Years' and i was fortunate enough to see Kevin, Paul, Winny once again after 11 years. This special episode 'transported' me to those good old days when satellite (cable) tv had just arrived in India. With a few tv channels beaming at specific times (before they became 24*7), i feel that the quality of programs shown was truly exceptional. Today in this era of sas-bahu family dramas there is 'no room' for characters like Kevin, Doogie Houser, Winny in the tv room. There is no single program meant to entertain the youth per se, we either have shows to entertain the gossip queens or the kids. But the poor adolescent does not find even a single program to relieve from the day's hectic work. Programs (like Banegi Apni Baat, FRIENDS, The Wonder Years, Doogie Houser M.D.,et al) targeting the youth is a need of the hour. I just hope that some responsible person from 42 odd tv channels reads this post & makes something for us ... :)

A road more travelled

2006-08-07T18:11:00.000+05:30

A friend of mine often says 'In most parts of the world,people drive on the left. In Pune, we drive on what's 'left' on the road'. This is so very true about Pune. During rainy season, driving on the crater-sized potholes all over the city roads is nothing less than an adventure.
A city that is growing by leaps and bounds is plagued by lack of basic infra structure. With 6 major IT parks in the city, the roads leading to them are full of pot holes. To make the matters worse, even street lights don't function. Its difficult to name 1 single road that is in good shape - Nagar Road, Paud Road, COEP Road.
With lakhs of IT engineers working in India's so called Silicon Valley, the government collects crores of rupees in form of Income Tax. What do these people get in return ??
Compare this with Silicon Valley in California. Every possible infrastructure is made available to the common man - be it roads, be it street lights, be it traffic signals. Every penny of tax paid to the government is worthwhile in CA.
With this trembling infra structure, I think 'India Shining', 'making Shanghai out of Mumbai', 'India Rising' are mere slogans.

My trip to the Uncle Sam's country

2006-05-21T10:11:00.000+05:30

Mera no finally aaya !!! heeee heeee !!!!

My US trip is among one of the few occations in my life where i did not plan anything. It just happened. Infact, i had started accepting the fact that i m 'made' to stay in India only.

The visit was none less than an equivalent of 'Alice in Wonderland' for me!!
It had a lot firsts to it- I travelled for the first time in a plane, visited for the first time to mumbai international airport, my first onsite opp,etc..

Look out for my next post for the snaps of yosemite, lake tahoe n vegas !!
coming soon !!

My Interaction with the VP-IT of Goldman Sach

2006-04-16T13:44:00.000+05:30

This wonderful meeting happened at the cozy restaurant of Hotel HYATT regency, right in front of the mumbai international airport. The meeting was followed by a buffet lunch.
The interaction lasted for only 3 hours but it was sufficient to judge a person. And i must say that Ritesh was very convivial ... i did not feel as if i am talking to a VP of a global investment banker. During the meeting we talked about various thingz like his career so far, his education, my career graph,etc. Besides these, he also taught me an important lesson in my life as to how can i climb up the value chain if I ever have to succeed in life.
It was meeting which i will always remember for what lesson it taught me.

India will be indebted to the parsi community

2006-04-16T12:58:00.000+05:30

Yesterday my visit to the refreshing 'Kayani Bakery' on East Street was an experience of different sorts. As i bought some biscuits, lot of thoughts about the parsi community (after looking at parsi old man acting as a cashier) started invading my mind.
The community though very calm,composed & peace-loving, have succeeded in very walk of life, business in particular. Their business acumen is really second to none. Apart from this, the parsis have almost ruled over the financial capital for decades. Who can forget the acres of parsi colony of Dadar.
Their contribution to the Indian society will be immensely valued. Otherwise India would require an equivalent of the 'man on the moon program' to establish steel plants, educational institutes (IISc), aviation industry (read as Air India),etc. after the independence.
The diminishing population of such a learned community is definitely a grave concern.
As my order of biscuits was fulfilled, i started walking out of the bakery with the images of some stalwarts of the community-JRD Tata, Banoo Coyagi,Anu Aga,Pherozshah Mehta,etc. in my mind.

Geocities and Google AdSense

2006-03-14T20:02:00.000+05:30

This is my latest discovery. You cannot take the names of 'Geocities' & 'Google AdSense' in the same breath.
As most of you might be aware (I hope I am right)of my personal web page, is hosted on geocities. I, then registered with Google AdSense (thought of making some easy bucks :)). The ads started appearing on my web pages, without any problems.
However, after some days when i check my site, I find that all the ads have been removed by Yahoo & there is no way that they intimate the owner of the site.
I think Yahoo should behave more professionally and should inform the designer upfront before taking such heinous actions.

V-Day

2006-02-14T16:48:00.001+05:30

I just came across one of the good forwards on the VDay. Sharing the same with you.

Valentines Day is NOT only for Lovers
by Catherine Pulsifer

Valentines Day can create stress for some people. They hate to see Valentines Day come around. Some have ended relationships and feel lonely while others have not yet met that someone special. Valentines Day should be a day to share love with those around you. Below are 10 thoughts you can do on Valentines Day to make the day special for you:

1. Look around you and appreciate those who care about you, be thankful they are in your life.

2. Rather than expect a card, send a card to someone special in your life (your mum, a relative, a friend) and thank them for being them.

3. Treat yourself on Valentines Day… if you don't love yourself then you will never be able to love others in a meaningful way.

4. Call your mum or your dad, or that someone who made a difference in your life and thank them for caring about you.

5. Enjoy your day, remember, that you are exchanging a day of your life.

6. Take 5 minutes and sit quietly and reflect on all the blessings in your life. Remember there are always those who are in a worse situation than you.

7. Do something nice for someone today... it may be as simple as smiling at someone in an elevator to buying someone a coffee.

8. Call that friend or relative that you have not talked with in awhile.

9. Cook or buy your favorite meal for dinner.

10. Last but not least, don't feel sorry for yourself; be thankful for all the good in your life!

Create a day for yourself, rather than letting the day stress you out!

Where are the MBA admissions heading in India ?

2006-01-08T17:55:00.000+05:30

The path to admission to a good management institute in India is often filled with hurdles like GD & PI. Both these rounds test the candidates' communication skills, presentation, and a host of other qualities. In fact, it is expected from the candidate to possess all these qualities. To top it all, a candidate who is called to the GD/PI sessions has already demonstrated his analytical prowess.
Aren't learning these qualities a part of the MBA course?
I personally feel that besides the core subjects of management,a high calibre vocab espoused with presentation should be a part of MBA. However the candidates should be able to express themselves in clear diction. Hence a PI round should be the only round after the rigorous written tests.

Statistics

2006-01-02T11:35:00.000+05:30

This subject has been very interesting for me. It is one of those subjects which cleverly abstracts pragmatism.
Consider a simple scenario. Though unrealistic, imagine yourself standing with one foot in boiling water (100 degree celsius) & the other in ice (0 degree celsius). Now only you know the pain you are having while standing. However as per statistics, the calculation of your body temperature would be a simple average i.e. (0+100)/2 = 50 degree, a fairly ok body temperature.

T-shirt quotes

2005-12-31T16:51:00.000+05:30

I must confess one thing. Though TOI is well known for 'spicy' & 'hot' images & news, there is one thing that i definitely look forward to - T shirt quotes. Pune times has really cool, wacky quotes.
"I dont have an attitude problem.U have a perception problem."
"Professionals solve complex problems. Real geniuses just avoid them."

Why most of the leading corporations are from US & specifically have their roots in Stanford ?

2005-12-20T19:02:00.000+05:30

this is one of questions which has intrigued me for quite some time ...
right from MS,HP, Cisco & more recently Google ... all have their roots in the salubrious environs of Stanford.
Actually Stanford provides all the necessary funding for the new products / technology. This started way back in 60s & 70s with HP.
I just hope the best of Indian Univs are reading this ...