[QOTM] April

“Coming together is a beginning, Keeping together is progress, Working together is success.”

-Henry Ford.

I kinda buy that argument though I am no big fan of ford or his cars...

~P

Ich Bin Ich !

Nuts n bolts of Life in the 21st Century

Some things which are markers of LIFE in the 21st Century

1. When you give a missed call to your friend with whom you *need* to talk right away [ at his cost :) ]

2. when you haven't written a single paragraph in years in a notebook which conveys what you strongly feel about someone/something. [ and Notebook reminds you of ur laptop]

3. When you associate friends with their mobile numbers, email ids.

4. When you send offline messages when you do not wanna dare the person with the message when he is online ;-)

5. Give flimsy reasons like not having email id to not keep in touch with yesteryear pals.

6. You jump to Google for all your needs which can be very Naive otherwise { imagine life without google }

7. Can't afford to detach yourself from your Gizmos(mobiles,mp3 players) for even seconds. { Talk of machines ruling our world :-) ha}

8. Life is reduced to a smiley [ :) ] and otherwise it masks the reality.

9. There is a Fat Chance that If you are reading this prolly itz late, you are online (@ office or at home) and I pity you :-) you ought to be in bed. {what du u say ?}

~P

Psycho Babble....

I was sort of sandwitched over a talk between a Friend (doctor) and his other doc friend. I tried to walk the talk.

They were discussin how to figure out Bob was poisoned or strangulated. The Forensic Analysis.

Though I am also into Forensic analysis of Phone crashes. This dissection of the Human body was too much and was upto a point psychobabble for me.

Ahh... well the occasion was a Friends marriage were we had met up. This was the least of the places to discuss this. and yet we were there. Actually all of us were discussing the fanatic/lunatic person who cud do such an act.

Coming bak to the woolmer murder. Some questions remain unanswered :

1. Why did Pakistan team carry on with the last game rather than forfeit the last match. I would have done that(whatever Its sill yto play the tournament rider games if ur coach is dead[murdered]).

2. Woolmer's hotel room could be opened using a smart card only unless he himself opened the door. Then Why is it taking ages to figure out jus tthe people in the Hotel at the time.

3. Why did 2 pak team members fuss over the finger printing by polize.

The Saddest Q which is emerging.....

Who wants to be a Millionaire ? (by being the pak team coach ;-) ).
Caveat is that he will pay with his life and never end up spending the Millions he earns.
~P

Woolmer ka Akalik maran.

The Woolmer incident increasingly appears a case of murder by a pakistan cricket Team member @ the behest of a bookie.
Whoever this bookie is he has to be nailed asap. It appears the same guy cud have been the cause of Hansie Cronje's death also. And he is well-connected going by the nature of the crime.

Pakistani policticians and players names were supposed to figure in Woolmers book.Sad to know Pakistanis cricketers are murderers and when we do play cricket it would appear to me that we are up against the Terrorists.

I still remmeber how our Late Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri was found dead in his room at Tashkent on the morning of January 11, 1966. It was given out that he died of heart failure. But suspicion that he was poisoned to death lingers on. No detailed inquiry into his death was made. Indian physician Dr. Chugh, who had accompanied him to Tashkent was mysteriously liquidated sometime later.
Long live Paki Bashing..I hate pakis and their bloody games and politics.Really the pakis don;t know the difference between games and politics and the thin line is finally sealed by Murder and such ghastly acts by them.

~P.

Living on my own!

My Folks started on a trip of North Indian religious places.

My aunt is also accompanying them. So here i am, alone living on my own.

Still without Papa and Aai the place looks submerged in nothingness.

TV is no consolation or consequence et all.

I am experimenting and learning the finer points of cooking meanwhile.... [err.. did i hear someone just say good husband material :-( ... But, i am just experimenting :-) ]

Adios Amigos!

~P

Bed, Bath & Beyond

Since yesterday the Water pump which used to pump water to the overhead tank in our house is malfunctioning.

So water is at a premium folks...Just 2 buckets left...

All my thoughts go about the ablution process LOL . Right now Methinks of just conserving water by sparse usage , scraping thru the bath and beyond neeeds.

Need to crash into the bed now. Also need to think of alternatives to this water source if the pump is not repaired by 12 noon tomorrow.

Sorry fellas this blog is not for the general public but for people who wanna peek@ma daily chores ;-)

I happen to be a cleanliness freak so the thoughts on bed/bath and breakfast are all linked.

• Right now i am crashing with a thot of water scarcity in ma mind.
• Thinking of the bath tomorrow N
• since i do not have ma grub without my bath it all seems a vicious circle :))
  

In short ....

Mera man ab subah ke mansubeyh bana raha hain!

~P.

Datz me in Fotographers/Trekkers Gear

Ranga Shankara : Wher the Connoisseur cometh alive.....

I teamed up with Luke and Avinash to go to "Ranga Shankar" a Theatre in the heart of JP Nagar today. I was bit skeptical about the innards of the theatre(never having been to any art theatres before).

But what came out eventually was a Complete Revelation!!

We bought the tickets for the show which was slated from 7 to 9 pm and was a Ugadi special.

Once inside we sat very close to the stage. It was very silly of me to think that the sound systems would be jarring and we would have a touch time hearing the Act if we sit on the edge.

The usual request to switch of mobiles was made. I had done that already...

The first act was by Umesh Nayak from Hubli who was playing the part of the Legendary Da Ra Bendre...

When He started off in Dharwad kannada I was in splits. I could identify with the Language the tone and the Slangs like the back of my hand. I then started realising the genius that Bendre was. Having never studied kannada medium I cannot immediately understand kannada prose n poetry. but this time it was different.

Bendre's language is so simple and yet so poetic, that satire hides in his every line. Later on my dad told me that Bendre used to roam the city streets of dharwad and had seen life@dharwad in close quarters. During the first Mono-Act Play I suddenly felt uprooted from my place and placed @ the watch tower in Dharwad.

Overall I am still spellbound by the Show, the actor and the playwright.

The Next event was a hilarious act by Master Hiranniah and his son junior Hiranniah. These two were so amazing that it never appeared for an instant that they were father-son duo.

Alls well that ends well. The ending was a song sung by a unknown theatre persona. She was joined by the back stage people. So it was a very good ending.

Finally the Modest and simple Arundhati Nag introduced us to the star cast. And the importance of the event Ugadi. She has done a yeoman service to all the Connoisseurs in Bangalore city by starting Ranga Shankara.

I look forward to many more such events where I can whet the appetite of the Connoissuer in me. Hats off to the brilliant performance i witnessed today. The Sound systems are amazing.

Having been an ardent fan of Shankar Nag and Malgudi Days, I see some shades of his handiwork in this place overall.

I feel, the touch of this brilliant Director,Actor and Visionary still lurks in the pillars of Ranga Shankara long after he is gone.

~P

Power and its Perils...

Its Saturday and Ive been lazing around the house as usual. Especially since all my body parts(spare parts 2 b precise) are in a bad shape. I have been riding my bike to office(50kms) daily.

Simbly feel sapped for energy ;-) . I seem so Powerless could not venture out of my house at all.

So here i am bloggin in powerless.

Read this story of how Nuclear Fission reaction was triggered accidentally. It means Japan being such an advanced country and a Super Power could not avert Nuclear accidents. What If Terrorists and Islamic Countries like pakistan and Afghanistan have such accidents ?

Would they trigger a major Holocaust which can affect the neighbours ????

Or

Can they do such a thing to their neighbours ?. Well it sure is a scary Question for America and India who have been targets of the most heinous Terrorist attacks.

ISrael I assume meanwhile can safegaurd its interests better than anyone in the world.

Well the answer ? There is no democracy or decent government in Pakistan and the Afghanistan.

Sometimes no(such) News is Good News :)

What say ?

~P

One Laptop Per Child : Balloony Schemes I say!

I welcome the Government decision not to buy Computers for kids. After all, Education is better if the student is interested and the Teacher helps him understand things.

With a Lappy I see N no.of distractions. Where N tends to infinity. examples..games music.

While these are required for a kid but a Laptop providing them such content will wane their interests and the schooling system will collapse. And we will have school dropouts jumping to Reggae and such Music.

Right now India can ill afford the 100$ laptop. And the same can be paid towards the mid day meals of the kids.

India badly needs these rather than a Laptop :

1) Good government that is limited, efficient and run by ethical people with enlightened liberal (as in Locke, not Marx) attitudes toward individuals and their worth. Currently there are so many deaths that value of Life means nothing to the politicians in the Highest Echelons of power.

2) Investment into much needed Critical infrastructure (like roads bridges highways subways Metro Rail) to enable higher and longer quality of life.

3) Populations with a good, liberal education that isn't just focused on math and science.

~P

What A Week !

What drove Me Crazy this Week:

1. My Haircut (it will drive ppl crazy also)

2. People that clip their nails in the office next to you and you can hear it. Ew.

3. Working in The Office (25 kms from ma home). Bollocks!!!!

4. The big gash on my hand that makes it hurt when I type.

5. The Episode on History channel which glorified Karan Johar. Where a clown said that Karan is an amazin Director bcoz "He makes movies which he wants to make" ( What a Moron, he shud be makin movies the Masses can relate to! )


Good Stuff this Week:

1. Random dinner @ eating street VVPuram.

2. My crooning sessions with fellow Systolicans.

3. Very exciting episodes of "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes."

4. Getting my Dad's favourite song to play in his Mobile.

5. I silenced one prick in our company bus who was makin fun of me.

6. Bluetooth: I got some cool songs from my buddy in the bus via Bluetooth. What Tech Man :) It just amazes me.

~P

of Undefinable Moments and lost Effervescence

The Beauty of Nature is sometimes both Ephemeral and Poignant. To be able to appreciate this Fragile Fleeting beauty is a Gift worth having.
But alas the Politicians in India, or for that matter Bangalore are blinded by Materialistic avenues of life. Today I saw that one of a very Beautiful and Big Tree has been cut to make way for a Huge Building on Richmond road. This tree must have been a 100 years old easliy.
I used to observe this tree while on my way back home in my Company Shuttle daily.It used to show the sense of sacrifice and Giving nature of the Tree. It gives shade and succour and never did ask anyone for any damn thing. Today it somehwat feels like I have lost one loved one to the man made concoctions of Life.
The Tree must have blossomed like a flower, The wind must have blown through its different branches. Now all that is gone. I cease for words when I think of this Tree.Though i never touched the Tree, Climbing/Sitting on it rather would be impossible as it was soo high it would have evaded my grasp.It was an Indefinable moment to see it Alive. words such as "Rest In Peace" do not make sense here I believe.
God knows how long this exhibition of Human Moronic behaviour of cutting Trees and bleeding nature is going to last and how many such Trees lose their Life. Our future generations will have to visit a Museum to believe that such splendour of nature existed once.

~P

In Need of some Sound advice

I got a guitar alright....But now what ?
I need some sound advice :) .... how to start the strumming....
some amatuer Qs....
1. When to use the left hand and when to use the right ?
2. There are 6 strings and we hace five fingers on each hand which finger to use for the sixth one ?
3. What is a note /// come on all the internet guitar mumbo jumbo is too much to handle.


Who's gonna drive me Home ?

~P

[QOTM] March 2007

We need to live each moment.
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans".

-John Lennon

Systolica debuts to a FullHouse and lotsa Cheers!

Our Samsung in-house band SYSTOLICA debuted yesterday.

SYSTOLIC is the part of the heart beat when the heart contracts.

This name was suggested by Me :) . The Logo was also in part suggested by me and was touched up by Tushar.

I was also instrumental in getting Sanjeev Tyagi and some other singers which kick started the Band.

Coming to my singing,

Personally I was not at my best as I had official work and a sore throat. I sang the song "Take It Easy - Eagles", this song has been one of my personal favourites. I forgot the lyrics in between but somehow pulled it across.

The message of this song is, "You shouldn't get too big too fast."

The relatively un-heard of song ensured my mistake was not noted at all. I repeated the first paragraf neatly. pulling myself togather by that time.

Overall my performance was flagged off as "Very good". All the Hindi songs also went on great. Around 80% of the crowd were on the edge of their seat. They never expected it to come out so good.

There were some section of the crowd who were there just to kill time. This set of people I believe are not open to change and were very miffed over our good progress of just 3 days. Especially memory solutions division kiddos who r straight outta college.

Higlight being Tushar's performance (Drums) goes from Best to the Bestest :). Really perfection getting bested :)

It iz a great pleasure to jam with these people N I am lovin it :).

yeah...But Itz not enuff...I need to get an "Awesome" rating from the crowd when I sing for the next show. I guess next time i will sing some song which will discount me from the country singer tag :)

-Stay Tuned.

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