A Balancing act

From 3 months now (Dec/Jan/Feb) I have been receiving many emails about colleagues and friends being proud fathers of Babies(not exactly spam :) ).
Of this Dec to mid jan was without a doubt about baby girls being born. And from mid-Jan to Feb itz about the Baby Boys being born.
Nature has its own way of balancing the male/female ratio. Then again its just my observation (probably just Me).

China is urging couples to get one baby per family only. Thus chinese having boy or gal preferences may have it tough. But @ the end of it all a Nature's balancing act is in progress :) which restores parity. Talking of population control, china is realising the importance of controlling its burgeoning population. India on the other hand may need to worry as the population scales maybe bring forth problems unseen before. Wonder what the Government can do about it at all rather than spreading word. Unlike china where it can force the populace into following the rules.

~P.

Pug Marks of a Leader : SAMSUNG

Most Products in the Market fall into 2 categories

1. Use and Throw

2. Re-usable

One case in study for the re-usable products is Printers. Printers are re-usable after changing the Cartridges which are central to the Printers functioning. Printer Companies basically survive on this piece of InkMachine called Cartridge. Cartridge sales keep revenues from Printers going. Thus After-Sales is a bigger Behemoth than the product itself. Companies which neglect this aspect have a touch chance to survive in the market. All products have bugs, due to which After-Sales Service assumes that much more importance. Significant revenues are made in this stream.

Coming to our Samsung Phones, recently we have come up with standard connectors for Phone/charging/headset across phone models. So users can upgrade handsets without changing the accessories which remain standard. This is a very good move from the Samsung stable which leaves the backdoor open. The user can upgrade phones once in two years and still remain comfortable with the new hardware. After Sales Revenue is what constitutes a major chunk of revenue for big Majors like HP and Dell.But I guess brand building and Sales assume more importance than the after sales @ Samsung.

Personally I am Bigtime happy about my Samsung Mobile :) itz a MOTO Razor clone from the Samsung stable and is a whole lot better than MOTORAZOR. Itz a 3G phone and has better power consumption than RAZR. UI is amazing. Itz sold in the Italian Market and called Tuscani.

~P

Kursk : The ill-fated Russian Submarine.

All that remains of the Kursk is a nuclear Coffin @ the Ocean bed.

Death of the Idiot Box

Well I was blog-shying for sometime now. My health was on the downside. It still is for that matter. Anyways...

In the 21st century, I do not see Television as a source of Trashed entertainment and don;t think it qualifies to be called an Idiot Box. With some channels (like below) TV viewing is a continous intellectual harvest of sorts

• History Channel
• Discovery
• Travel & Living
• National Geographic
  

Today I was feeling very listless and in my confused state i turned to the TV. { I believe most of us do the same and TV is meant to lighten the spirits }

But the moment I was on National Geographic channel my heart missed a beat. The program which was on air was about the Kursk Submarine disaster. While the whole episode had me hanging on the edge of our sofa, at the end of it I was shaken and stirred completely. Kursk was a Russian Nuclear Cruise missile Submarine.

The Program was aptly titled "Splits seconds away from Disaster".
It shows how some faulty soldering in one of the Torpedoes caused a major catastrophe Russians can never forget in their History or lifetime. Until that time I was of opinion that some American Torpedoe had hit the Russian Sub. 110 Russian Navy Officers perished in what could have been a Blot on the Face of the earth.

The program shows how a brave Russian navy officer on board the KURSK had averted the mishap into turning into a Major Nuclear Blast and Catastrophe. He powered ON the 2 Nuclear Reactors safety mechanisms which averted the engufing of the Nuke Reactors. Hats off to this guy bcoz from all accounts it appears that Sailors had a split second for this. and They still saved Humanity from the Dangers of a Nuclear Blast and a Radio active ocean.

Surely another Chernobyl was in the making.

I would advice the reader to watch this episode again if possible. So that I will not divulge the details here. After this I wud never call my Samsung Plano TV an idiot box ;-)

Some Kursk Info : Barents Sea, 12 August 2000:

1. It is believed that fuel leaking from a torpedo ignited, causing fire and a devastating explosion in the Kursk's forward sections

2. Russian rescue subs tried and failed to open escape hatches. Further rescue attempts abandoned after Norwegian divers finally managed to open a hatch, and found the boat totally flooded

3. It was later discovered that some 23 sailors survived in compartment 9 at the stern for several hours after the explosion.

{Please don't attach any pun or irony to the blog heading and the latter part of the blog. I respect all the Brave Russian Navy officers who laid their Life in the line of duty}

~P

If ( I_Love_SOmeone) everyday = Valentine_Day;

Someone asked Me . .. what are you doing today ?? (Valentine day)

N I said ... :)

If i love someone, everyday wud happen to be a valentine day!

(readers might cry 'grapes are sour'

I would say sour as red wine ;-) )



Chill Maadi
~P.

Lounge Piranha : Striking the Chords right !

Or I meant to say that they strike the right Chord in you!
As i listened to this new band Lounge Piranha. The songs appear to be a new genre altogather.
No its not Fusion. Its just plain simple creative genius which is churning out some cool music these dayz.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=131473277
http://www.myspace.com/loungepiranhamusic

First thoughts on listening to them, Wow :) thatz cool n Neat aint it ?
MeThinks Vocals are cool, Strumming effort is superb.
This is the kind of music u can listen to any time of the day to soothe the Nerves. Well couldn't catch the lyrics with streaming playing a spoilsport. I guess these guyz are going to give al lthe big bands a run for their name n fame. I mean Gangamma;s gig and Thermal and a Quarter are some good bands which seem comparable to Lounge Piranha.
Me Looking forward to more of such new age Piranhic music :) rather than listen to the old bands performing stale gigs @ rock shows and concerts thru out Bangalore!
(Ironically) Ebb seems to be their top creation till date.

~P.

-\/\/\/ Brain vs Brawn /\/\/\-

Interesting anecdote from George Bernard Shaw.

Brain vs Brawn

The celebrated dancer Isadora Duncan once wrote to George Bernard Shaw declaring that, given the principles of eugenics, they should have a child together.
"Think of it!" she enthused. "With my body and your brains, what a wonder it would be."
"Yes," Shaw replied. "But what if it had my body and your brains?"

LIFE :__A ghastly perspective__

I am a person with modest means and living(don't laugh now!!). I do nurture a slightly neurotic obsession for the Surreal. That being the case I could not but check my enthusiasm for the SCARY HOUSE, when we friends went to Garuda Mall last Saturday.
There is a new amusement house which has opened up next to the Movie Hall INOX.Itz named the "SCARY HOUSE" and it sure appears scary initially though. We Four friends in all decided to take the plunge ;-). We paid the 40 bucks per head charge and entered the door. We met the first actor who was dressed as a Ghoul He did try to be scary for sometime, But we were not amused by it :( .

Seeing the utter darkness which stared at us in our face, Santosh my friend lost it.He could not take it any more and went straight out of the door we had come from.
This left Suresh myself and Vinoo. All 3 qualify as Severely Brain damaged Ghosts in broad daylight ;-).Our argument was " lets see who scares whom :) ". So we decided to go ahead and check out the SCARY HOUSE inmates.
I as usual led the charge. And as was expected the element of Scariness was made up of some props which displayed skulls and ghostly figures hung on the wall. The catch was some props actually are actors and try to scare the Hell out of us.

We persisted with all the Ghosts(actors rather) and came to the middle of this house. Here we decided to play a toughie on the SCARY HOUSE inmates. We planned to lie low in some corner not watched by the inmates and when any one comes out to check us out. We would scare the living daylights outta him!!! ALAS,...that was not to be...one such ghost had seen us plot it :-). He switched on the lights and called our bluff.We then hurriedly moved onto the second last room. Here there was what appeared to be a statue of a bed ridden ghost.
As we passed by it, the Ghost hurriedly started moving towards Suresh and Vinoo. Both were shell shocked and zapped. They immediately rushed to me to hold me and pave the way out as I was leading them. I had by then figured out the door and moved to the last room.
Here I was to face the NightMare! :). the Last room had one ghostly figure scaring me as I was leading the team. He had bones in his hand and waved at me.By reflex or say a Knee-jerk reaction I went all out to hit him :-(. One other person by then switched on the Lights and asked us not to hit him and leave the place.I returned to my senses{ did I ? ;-) }.
I realised what a blunder I would have made had i hit the person.

All the while I had this in mind that this act was just to amuse us but still somehow i slipped up and was on the verge of losing my self-control.

If you see the above episode in a different light, you would see that the society has made some Lives easier by making others difficult.

For instance the ghost actors might be paid some compensation daily to scare the shit out of blokes for sheer fun.But what do they lose in the process?

MeThinks

• They have to sit in a corner of a Dark room all day! , Imagine that withour comforts of working in a well lit Cubicle and frequent coffee haunts to the cafeteria.
• Salary hike at a appointed time every year.
• We get Gifts and Goodies year round.
• We are safe in our Software Factories (if i may say so ) Sometimes they might be at the receiving due to the stupidity of some fellas like me.
  
• Overall I see that the Fun Element has a very depressing tone to it in the SCARY HOUSE.Some might say "Lifes like that". All i can say is "Lucky Me" hoping the inmates of SCARY HOUSE earn a decent buck for all that they Forego to let some people have a good Weekend.
  
  A Stirred but not Shaken prasanna signing off!
  ~P

[QOTM] Money Money!!

“We are in danger of being overwhelmed with irredeemable paper, mere paper, representing not gold nor silver; no sir, representing nothing but broken promises, bad faith, bankrupt corporations, cheated creditors and a ruined people.”

Daniel Webster, speech in the Senate, 1833

With Appraisal season (@work) and Election season (in some parts of India) folks bear this naked truth in mind :-)

~P

Uninterrupted Vitamin I Supply :)

By "Vitamin I" - I mean India ofcourse. Looking at how Shilpa Shetty won the Big Brother reality show it makes me proud of my Indian Heritage. I think the day has come when you cannot spot a product without any Vitamin I in it. Well the Indians are there when it comes to Beauty and they top the charts when it comes to Brawn.

And products with less Vitamin I or none are products which are unfinished :-).

Anyways, my pointers are not towards India being a Mass Human production machine.

What i am driving at is Indians are better than any other race currently operating in 2007

[ u can call it my Hitler monologues]. I hear laughter but don;t be stupid. Don;t ignore whatz happening around you. If you do you are allergic to Vitamin I and are a Naive and sick person :-).

Take the case of Big Brother. Despite many insults heaped on Shilpa she did not call anyone names. No swearing under her breath was seen. This was one reason I think she won the contest hands down. This shows what Indian culture and heritage is all about.

Also if you look in Outer Space you see Sunitha Williams, gelling with the Americans and co-working woth them. She is just continuing the good work Late Kalpana Chawla had started.

Who said its a Man;s world ??

While indian women have overtaken the Worlds Men. Indian Men are the most silent of the species. This Vitamin I of M(men :-) ) variety is so common through out US/Europe/Asia and Australia that god knows what can happen if and when these Vitamin I;s come back to their homeland for good.

With WORLD minus Vitamin I ....=>

Will the Start-Ups in San Jose, California cease to work as most are run by Vitamin I.

Will the Research labs in the US stunt in research progress.

Will the beauty contests have a dry run :-) ?

~P.

Of _Ironic_ and _Paradoxic_ times

January 2007 is a Typical case in History :-)

Two Late Great World Leaders were remembered for all the wrong reasons.

Parody waz very very Ironic.

• A Theatre act portarying Hitler as a struggling Gay Painter by a Jewish playwright drew lot of criticism.


• An advertisement featuring Gandhi rocked the nation for sometime.

The hitler episode raised a very uncomfortable question among the germans.

Whether they could digest a joke on Hitler. A popular play in Europe made fun of Hitler. The fact that a jew did it made this a little more complicated. But I was happy the way the german people reacted to it. The Lukewam response was what was expected. The new generation germans are ready to take a joke or two about Hitler. It speaks volumes of their Tolerance. Which i am sure Hitler wud not have liked in the first place :-). Hitlers infamous intolerance (towards any other race than Aryans) iz what caused the Great WORLD WAR II which took many innocent lives in its garb. New age Germany is all about Tolerance and its a Sanity Fair if you ask me :-) . Zia Gute deustcheland !!

The Gandhi ad was ironic case in the other sense. It shows gandhi - an apostle of non-violence - indulging in violence, dancing with women, brandishing an automatic rifle and gyrating to music. Gandhi was supposedly a champion of Tolerance. Having read his book "my Experiments with Truth", one would know gandhi indulged in drinking and womanising in his early part of his life. THis is by his own admission. Now his grandson has come out with one more of his affairs which ossured a tad later in his life.

So the ad would not have perturbed him much apart from the gun slinging part. But knowing the Lawyer brain Gandhi was, I assume he would have taken it in his stride. Alas...People of india could not digest it.

Gandhi was an exact Opposite to Hitler's character/persona. The ad generated heated feelings while i believe gandhi himself would have enjoyed the Advertissement. The media went to town showing the footage. Two channels were chided by the government and asked to submit an explanation. Cmon this is not democracy is it ?. The media is not allowed its fair share of free and fairness.

So whilst the Pre WORLD WAR II Germany was about intolerance is
Tolerant in the 21st Century.

India seems to have slipped the charts of Tolerance this century.

Indian government itself being currently run by the Gandhi family this seemingly Over-reaction of the people had Official backing. Though Manmohan Singh and APJ Abdul Kalam might have taken this in alighter vein.The Politiks of running the country and the Father Figure image of Gandhi forced them to do what *they would never have done * in ordinary circumstances.

The Irony is too much. Cmon india itz time u grew up !!!

When Jay Leno can make fun of Bush and get away with it !!!

When Germans can take a joke on Hitler in the right spirit!!!!

Where is our Sense of Humour headed in this 21st Century ?

For the Benefit of the
reader I am providing the link to the interesting letters Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi wrote to Adolf Hitler

Happy reading Fellas!

~P

False Positives!

The recent win of India over West Indies just appears to be a false positive as India are good on Indian pitches. The very fact that almost all boundaries scored did not require much footwork tells the tale.India may have outplayed West Indies. But the likes of Gayle and Chanderpaul can take apart any bowling on any pitch. This cannot be said about the indian team. They have many a bastsmen with feet which get stuck when it comes to Foreign Pitches. With just months away from the world cup this confidence can be good and bad at the same time. The Fanatic in Me still wishes the INDIAN TEAM ALL THE VERY BEST for the WORLD CUP.
:)
~P

Diabolic Designs

____________________________________________________________
I read up the recent snubbing of India by pakistani diplomats.

Last week our Foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee was snubbed at Pakistan on his routine visit. The Paki Dictator Pervez Musharraf refused to attend the SAARC summit where Pranab was inviting him.

Sure enough the Paki premier(dicktator) refused to oblige, He is not used to such courtesies.
He being a Mohajir wants to prove his allegiance to his adopted country at all costs. He will not see eye to eye any indian or indian initiative in the right context.

lets see what were some things which were wrong here.
On one hand india does not agree to a Dictator driven pakistan and on the other hand they invite the dictator over to a Democratic Conference. I guess they have no choice they need to keep the dialogue going. But then I feel in our strategic interests we can cease this dialogue with the diabolic machinery running Pakistan.

What then are the options for India ?
This behaviour is in tune what Musharraf had done to Vajpayee when he had visited lahore. I mean Kargil was an immediate happening of the visit. Thus the devious dicktator known for his cunning ways(at kargil) should be handled with due care(diligence). The indians need to give the Devil his due(which can mean a kick in the butt and head if you ask me :-) ).

I feel the Foreign Ministry should cease all dialogue negotiation with pakistan unless democracy is restored. The US knows india champions democracy in Bangladesh, Srilanka and Nepal. This is the admission of its own intelligence agency reports.
The foreign ministry can remind the US goverment of the ills of a Nuclear Dicktator run Pakistan.

Its high time Musharraf retired. The US needs no ally now that they know all al qaeda is holed up in Pakistan. They can turn the heat on pakistan any day and get the rat out of the hole.
Pakistan is in knee deep debt(read as shit) in terms of world bank loans. It cannot afford to say No to the US now(or never).

Recent Chinese progress along the Indo-China border is a cause of concern not only for India but also the US.

Post-War on Terror the US administration sees no need for pakistan as an ally. So the Paki general appears to be busy building the rapport with the Chinese. China is the only super power which can stop the US anytime and bring it to the Dialogue table.

The worlds highest bridge at Lhasa(Tibet) and successful running of Trains fixes the chinks the chinese had in their armour. Now it can attack and destroy india anytime. The same kind of progress has been made in Joining Terrains of Pakistan occupied Kashmir and China. The world's best highway is supposedly at this place which joins Pakistan and China.

Slowly pakistan is emerging as the most trustable confidante of China. The Silk Road is a tour any adventure enthusiast would not miss if he loves the Himalayas. But this very road is cause of concern for us all indians and in future for the US. Pakistan will use this old ally to stave away any pressure from the US. Any censors or sanctions from US will have minimum to nil impact as the Chinese are well-connected by rail transport. Thus a Pakistan in the event of a tiff with the US will survive on this channel much like the North Koreans.

At this point of time there is no solution to this from the indian point of view(or is there any ?).

Readers are encouraged to read this link which will substantiate my hypothesis to a great extent. US nuclear policy towards india had alienated Pakistan. Pakistan naturally turns to the Chinese for Nuclear know how to measure up to indian nuclear might.

This parity war needs to be capped by the US. Making sure pakistan does not get such nuclear know how will actually help the US in the long term.

If pakistan is starved of such nuclear know how it can only mean the US is starving the Islamic countries and the Terrorists from this technology. Itz about Time the US administration pulled the plug between China and Pakistan friendship.

Its also time the Pakistani General;s long holiday(Dictatorship) comes to an end. Itz time the US asked Musharraf to give a time frame to disband the Dictatorship and return democracy to pakistan which will give balance to South Asia.
And of course in the process give a chance to peace in the region!

Readers are encouraged to read the below links to know more on this

• Soldiers of Fortune: Doubtful!
• 3-Way Relations: Pakistan, China and Saudi Arabia
• Pakistan-China military exercise concludes
• Pakistan, China close to free trade pact

Yellow Journalism ... Papparazzi et al.

Early in life I had noticed that no event is ever correctly
reported in a newspaper.
-George Orwell

I swear …

2 Days back a Pub Bouncer was murdered in Bangalore in full public view on Brigade Road. It did qualify as murder in Broad-Night Light as Brigade road has the maximum attention of all areas in Bangalore. The accused were 3 youngsters. The Bouncer met his death for throwing out 3 rich and spoilt kids for mis-behaving in his pub.

One among them was a Police Officers Son. All the newspapers reported every damn thing about the case in detail. Except the name of the Police Officer’s name whose son was the co-accused.
This made my blood boil. How can all Newspapers avoid this ?.
It only goes to prove that we have hardly learnt anything from the Jessica Lall murder case. The People in power are shielded by all and sundry for fear of retribution. In the Jessica Lall incident the FIR was fudged witnesses turned turtle. I agree its not the parents fault if kids commit crime. But people in power who can direct or indirectly help the accused should be removed from such a position (a kind of Offfice of Profit ain’t it?).

In this brutal murder of the Bouncer, the Media turned turtle. I mean itz yet another case of irresponsible media. Had they reported the name it would have alerted the general public and any attempts to tamper evidence would have been known upfront (and cud have been thwarted by many a Good Samaritan).

This incident has one more important bearing and that is the accused are miles and miles away by now.
Being the son of a serving police officer gives the accused that much more leverage to get away from the police dragnet. Sadly many more such Jessica Lalls are sacrificed at the hands of such the Rich and Powerful people. The law and order machinery needs to get a fillip from Media/Judiciary.

Until then we have the likes of Rakhi Sawant and Mallika Sherawat keeping the scribes busy and happy.

~P

SadDam <--> DamSad Ending

Saddam was murdered while the whole world watched.
MeThinks this act was nothing short of Cold-Blooded murder.

• He was head of a Sovereign Nation(i know iknow.... i re-phrase "almost sovereign nation" ) which was wrongfully accused of having Nuclear Weapons rather Nukes for the 'Initiated'
• The so-called Weapons of Mass Destruction were not recovered after the attack over Iraq.
• He was hounded till he was caught and Finally terminated.

This just proves that UN and such bodies are mere showcases of Bull Shit.

Like the Americans say "Shit happens" (like it happened to Japan and Vietnam ?)

Hegemony continues un-abated wherez the end to it all ?

It Ironically appears that the Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD) word assumes a new meaning.
WMD are the people who finished Saddam . no prizes for guessing :-)

Damn Sad happening this...!

Well what if Saddam's Body double had been caught and hanged ?
oopsy... I ain't talking ill of the dead ! [ jus my wishful thinking ;-) @ work again]
Reminds me of the Bob Marley song

Oh, now, I shot the sheriff
but I swear it was in selfdefence.

Oh, no! yeah!I say: I shot the sheriff
(and they say it is a capital offence. not in 2006 though ;-) and not for the Prez of the world )
Yeah! (ooh, ooh, oo-oh) yeah!

~P

Small steps before the Big 1s

I started evening walk in the park near my residence.

Believe me, I' ve never been so alive.

I have been putting on weight since my last korea trip. I thot about this for some time and thot i will put an end toi this pot belly which is slowly surfacing :).
Not that I am new to Exercise regimen. I used to be a slim n trim fella back in college. Was a hearthrob for many a femme fatales in college :).
But in between i kind of lost myself to the "Work" phenomenon. Now I think I shud get back into shape.
I don't believe or keep resolutions but this time around. I want to lose some weight 2 fast 2 soon.
But that ain't gonna happen I know. So I will stick with the exercise regimen as far as possible.

I am taking on the hidden entity called Flab head on :D

~P.

[QOTD]

"The power of accurate observation is called cynicism by those who have not got it."

- George Bernard Shaw

Jaytalking :)

After I get back home from Office I have got addicted to this jaytalking of Jay Leno from the Tonite show. His show is just the right stuff to end your day on a hilarious note. His show puts my mind in the right perspective so that I can hit the bed with some lighter vein.

In side story
Had been to Hubli/Dharwad my native last week and believe me it was a very refreshing experience to visit Ancestral roots. In short I was among people who speak my native language day in and day out. I could really connect to the people and the language as Dharwad kannada is my Mother Tongue. Had been to my Native after 9 years which made this a special moment.

but the unfortunate thing this region faces is Zero development and growth. The State Government is too very Bangalore/Mysore/Mandya/Hassan centric and North Karntaka is a Majorly neglected lot. The IT Park built there gathers dust even as Millions are spent only in this small Concrete village called Bangalore.
For north karnataka people bangalore is the only place to hit for jobs. Real Estate prices are a dampner for other kannadigas in bangalore. I don't see a change in the future also as Politicians are Bangalore centric and all that matters is a quick buck for them as long as the Colaition government continues. Nobody thinks beyond bangalore or maybe even beyond a radius 100/200 kms.
Till then North Karnataka people have to bear the high costs of living here and survive in bangalore. Though there are many(many) North karnataka people in Bangalore nobody can start a company in Hubli due to lack of Infrastructure support and political will @ the Vidhan Soudha.

~P.

[Qotm] December

"For oft, when on my couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood,They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;And then my heart with pleasure fills,And dances with the daffodils."

- William Wordsworth.

Wish I had a Camera in my mind

Sometimes on my way back from Office in the company bus I get time to watch things I have never noticed though I might have passed by the street hajaar times. Traffic Jams are the Eye-Openers ;-). You sometimes notice rare things.
Someone or the other keeps honking and you r forced to look around. Its at moments like this you tend to notice things probably your Eye has missed almost 99% of the times.
Jams are like the quintessential recipe for observing life in any city. One can observe people loading their bikes/scooters with 3 people and juggling away into the streets. Funniest part is all wear helmets :D
Traffic jams also help in discussing politiks, Work, Sport. Well I wonder if I am not caught in a Traffic Jam daily I would be missing the Grapevine :-)

~P