"Light and Lines" Redux

No, I am not putting up these pictures here because I am suddenly excited about tall and huge buildings. I have lived in this city long enough to have several memories associated with most of these buildings. Architecture here is aesthetically stunning -- but I have gotten so used to it that I almost take it for granted. What mesmerizes me even to this day is the beautiful and ever changing display put up by light and lines -- one, the raw material, and the other, the most fundamental building block in 2-D visual design. I just can't walk or drive through the city without pulling my camera out.

Photographs of World Leaders

An interesting collection of portraits, mostly black and white, by photographer Platon, taken during UN General Assembly in September. As any serious photographer will tell you, portraits, especially the B&W types, are some of the most difficult to shoot. More so when your subjects sit for you only for a few seconds!

I also loved the short commentary by the photographer for each portrait. Go ahead, have a look. There is definitely something to enjoy here if you like to study/photograph faces.

http://www.newyorker.com/online/multimedia/2009/12/07/091207_audioslideshow_platon

The Eating Dilemma!

Say you make 3 or 4 paratha (ಪರಾಠ), chapaati (ಚಪಾತಿ), or dose (ದೋಸೆ) for yourself. As each of them comes off the skillet, you put it on the plate or in a box (to keep them all warm). When you are done making them all, how do you go about eating that stack? Top one (the latest and hence the warmest) first so that you can enjoy at least ONE hot paratha/chapati/dose? Or, are you an Equal Opportunity eater who flips the stack and eats the first one first and in the process eating them all at the same at a "not really hot" temperature?

One of my eternal dilemmas. I face it every time I make such dishes. Like today when I made parathas for the first time in my life.

You know, this dilemma actually applies to a lot of everyday events, including those in your professional life. It says a lot about who you are, how you approach life, how you make decisions in life. Sounds trivial and silly, eh? Well, sit back and think about it. And you will see what I mean.

"Which is prettier?"

My face?



Or my landing gear?

ಸಾಗರದಾಚಿನ ನಾಡು...ನೆನಪು

ಪ್ರತಿ ಮುಂಜಾನೆ ಇಂಥದೊಂದು ದೃಶ್ಯ ಕಾಣುವ ಭಾಗ್ಯ ಎಷ್ಟು ಮಂದಿಗುಂಟು?!

ಇದು ಯಾವ ಊರು ಹೇಳಿ ನೋಡೋಣ?

ಸರಿ, ಈ ಚಿತ್ರ ನೋಡಿ... ಗೊತ್ತಾಗಬಹುದು. :-)



ಹಳೇ ಚಿತ್ರಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಏನನ್ನೋ ಹುಡುಕುತ್ತಾ ಸಿಕ್ಕ ನೆನಪುಗಳಿವು....ಆಣಿಮುತ್ತುಗಳು!

Historic Pigeon Point Light House

Pigeon Point Light House, first opened in 1872, is one of the tallest light houses in the USA. It is currently in a sad state and is closed to public (though it is still being used by US Coast Guard).

This is the same light house that I had posted a picture of about a year ago.

The forbidden fruit

Oh, come on! It's not what you are thinking it is! If you thought you would find something sensual or sensational here, you have come to the wrong blog. Go find the 'Close' button in a hurry.

Still don't believe me? Or you are one of those regular visitors whom I can count on one hand (make that half a hand, actually)? OK, then click here to see where I took these pictures.

Yes, this is a real sunset

Somewhere on the St Lucia mountains, California

Pfeiffer Beach, California

Sunset at Hurricane Point, Big Sur

(Sunset pictures are way too common to hold anybody's interest, but this particular spot in St Lucia Mountains that rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean presented some unique views because of its elevation. I took a lot of pictures here which will be posted later into an album to be linked here.)

A small waterfall along the Salmon Creek Hiking Trail near Big Sur

A random picture from last week

Trying to catch up.... and giving up

It's hardly been 3 days since I got totally consumed by a professional event that I had been preparing for over the last 3 months, but the number of blog posts that I haven't read in that time has shot up to 1000+ already!



Will I ever catch up? Of course not! I am sitting here in the cocktail lounge of the hotel to catch breath and unwind from hours of non-stop technical talking/listening/working since Monday, and to prepare for another hectic day of round-tables tomorrow. I took a brief glance at my reading list, and lost breath right away. There is no way I can read all of them.

But I am definitely going to read my friends' blogs on the above list. I may not comment, though. I hope you won't mind this time. :-)

Yet another point in the eternal cycle of Time

Yes, this is the same tree you saw about 6 months ago.

Something about nothing...

Well, there's nothing to write about in this post. Hmm... make that "nothing significant". Actually, there is. A lot. So, make that "nothing concrete". Because of lack of time (and mood?) to give concrete shape to several abstract thoughts.

(Looking at the way this blog is frequented by my friends and other "regular" readers, I don't think anybody missed me here anyway ;). But there are exceptions.)

The other day, a good friend of mine prodded me to update my blog. And I said "sure". I really meant it. But then, well, read the opening paragraph.

I've been really busy with work with so much happening at the same time. Working on multiple projects/initiatives at the same time, and with my work spread across multiple time zones/continents, and now, starting last week, extending to multiple spoken/written languages involving 8 more countries, my time is seriously getting stretched thin. And with an upcoming product launch, and a weeklong conference coming up in November (padded with vacation on either side of it :-) ), I am just loving it. No, seriously!

Last night (Friday), my client, a serious workaholic herself, emails me with a request and says "It's not really urgent. By Monday morning is OK."

:-)

I have vowed to not bring my work into this blog. So I won't elaborate anymore than I already have.

I am suffering this weekend. Seriously. With M$ Windoze, that is. You see, I dropped my Mac off at the local Apple store to get some system library issues resolved. I was supposed to get it back this afternoon. Two calls later, I still don't have it. And, with my luck, I may not get it till Monday morning. That is scaring the living daylights out of me. Not because I have got loads of work to do, but because I have to use this Dell Laptop till then!! I have been using it since last night, and I still can't get used to anything on it! The bulky body, the kludgy keys, the horrible screen, and the "cooling" fan roaring like an industrial fan blowing hot air.... And it is supposed to be a pretty decent laptop! Dual-core 2.2GHz with 2GB RAM is not archaic, I am sure! But then, the very fact that it is running Windows makes it archaic.

GIVE ME MY MAC BACK!!!!

Anyways, Happy Deepavali, folks! Hope you really enjoyed it. And hope you stopped others from harming the environment.


UPDATE (Oct 18, 2009 7:30PM): My Mac is back and is working beautifully again. Normalcy has been restored. Life can resume now.

Saraswati Pooje

Years ago, when my sisters and I were school-going kids, we used to have this secret trick (ok, it was just me; my sisters were too honest). When Saraswati Pooje came around during Dasara, we, like everybody else, used to stack up our books in front of the idols (and a host of wooden, clay, and plastic dolls and such, decorated as part of gombe habba) for worshipping the goddess of Learning. My trick was to stack up the books I didn't want to read, the books that were most important to me for my main occupation at that time. For the remainder of the festival season, nobody could force me to read those books -- I was free to read whatever else I wanted to read. ;)

How things have changed! When I do Saraswati Pooje now, I take care not to stack up technical and other books related to my profession, books that are critical to me for my current occupation.

Come to think of it, have things really changed? Those days, I used to put away books I wasn't too keen on reading. And now? Well, you decide! :P

Cricket, at last!

All these days, I successfully resisted buying Champions Trophy package on Willow TV. You see, for millions of die hard cricket fans like me who have chosen to live in a non-cricketing country like USA, watching cricket is a luxury. Not just because the viewing opportunities are very limited, we have to actually pay extra money to watch cricket. And if you don't have satellite TV like Direct TV or Dish, your choices are even more limited to a few online video streams, some of which are free and of questionable quality.

Over the years, I have been using Willow TV. The quality is pretty decent, and though it used to be quite expensive, it is getting a little justifiable these days.

But, as I said, I resisted buying Champions Trophy (I didn't watch the Compaq Cup in Sri Lanka either). Not because of the money but because of the lack of excitement about this particular tournament. And because I am too busy these days to afford 6 hours a day for cricket. Until this morning, that is. How can I resist it when India is playing Pakistan, especially when Pakistan bats first and puts up a score of 300 setting up a nice stage for India's challenge! And when I saw Gambhir and Tendulkar going at it, I couldn't keep quiet.

There is a downside to watching cricket on Willow, though. It doesn't work on Mac. So, wearily, I fired up my very rarely used Windoze laptop, and while it was booting, launched Willow site on Mac to pay $45. And a pleasant surprise was waiting for me! Just of curiosity, after making the payment, I clicked on "Watch", and voila! It starting playing! On Safari, no less! Look!





Thank you, Willow TV!

Sadly, in the middle of all this, Tendlya departed. Never mind. Just give me two victories: one against Pakistan and another against Australia. I won't ask for anything else.

And if India can go on to win the trophy, it is a bonus prize. And if that doesn't happen, if fate conspires to at least keep the trophy out of reach for Australia and Pakistan, it is a consolation prize. Come to think of it, I am not sure which prize I love more! ;)

In Memoriam....

Some of my most favorite songs:










Why all these today? Because it is Sept 23. The day I think Rajindra Krishan passed away in 1988. His lyrics and Madan Mohan's composition created sheer magic (btw, the last song above was Chitalkar Ramachandra's composition) . So much so that people still hum these songs even today. Like I did today. That is why.

ಹೀಗೊಂದು ಮಾತು...

ಇವತ್ತು ಮೋಕ್ಷಗುಂಡಂ ವಿಶ್ವೇಶ್ವರಯ್ಯನವರ ಜನ್ಮದಿನ ಅನ್ನೋದು ಎಷ್ಟು ಮಂದಿಗೆ ಗೊತ್ತಿದೆಯೋ ಗೊತ್ತಿಲ್ಲ. ಇವತ್ತು ಬೆಳಗ್ಗೆ ನನಗೆ ನೆನಪಾದಾಗ ಏನಾದ್ರೂ ಬರೀಬೇಕು ಅಂತ ಅನ್ನಿಸಿತಾದರೂ ಏನು ಬರೀಬೇಕು ಅಂತ ಮಾತ್ರ ತಕ್ಷಣ ತೋಚಲಿಲ್ಲ. ನಾನು ಅವರ ಬಗೆಗಿನ ಪುಸ್ತಕಗಳನ್ನು ಒಂದಷ್ಟು ಓದಿದ್ದೀನಾದರೂ ಅವರೇ ಬರೆದ ಪುಸ್ತಕಗಳನ್ನು ಅಷ್ಟಾಗಿ ಓದಿಲ್ಲ. ಕೆಲಸದ ಮಧ್ಯೆ ಆಗಾಗ ಯೋಚನೆ ಮಾಡ್ತಿದ್ದಾಗ ಇದ್ದಕ್ಕಿದ್ದಂತೆ ಒಂದು ವಿಷಯ ನೆನಪಾಯ್ತು. ಅದು ಇತ್ತೀಚೆಗೆ ಬಹುಮುಖ 'ಮೇಧಾವಿಗಳ' ಮೇಳವಾಗಿರುವ ನಮ್ಮ (ಭಾರತದ) ಕೇಂದ್ರ ಸರಕಾರದಲ್ಲಿರುವ ಒಬ್ಬ ಮಹಾನ್ ಮಂತ್ರಿಯೊಬ್ಬರ ಪ್ರಚಂಡ ತಲೆಯಿಂದ ಉತ್ತೇಜಿತವಾದ ನೆನಪು.

ವಿಶ್ವೇಶ್ವರಯ್ಯನವರು ಮೈಸೂರಿನ ದಿವಾನರಾದ ಮೇಲೆ ಮಾಡಿದ ಮೊದಲನೆ ಮುಖ್ಯ ಕೆಲಸ ಅಂದರೆ Economic Conference ಎಂಬ ಸಂಪದ್ವಿಷಯಕ ಸಂಸತ್ತಿನ ಸ್ಥಾಪನೆ. ಅದರಲ್ಲಿ ಮೂರು ಶಾಖೆಗಳಿದ್ವು: ಯಂತ್ರಪರಿಶ್ರಮ ಮತ್ತು ವಾಣಿಜ್ಯ; ವಿದ್ಯಾವಿಷಯ; ಭೂವ್ಯವಸಾಯ. ಈ ಮೂರೂ ಶಾಖೆಗಳಿಗೆ ಆಯಾ ವಿಷಯಕ್ಕೆ ಸಂಬಂಧಪಟ್ಟ ಮುಖ್ಯ ಅಧಿಕಾರಿಗಳೂ, ವಿಶೇಷ ಶಾಸ್ತ್ರಜ್ಞರೂ, ಅವರೂ-ಇವರೂ ಸದಸ್ಯರಾಗಿದ್ದರು. ಎಲ್ಲರೂ ತಲೆ ಇದ್ದವರೇ. ಈ ಸಮಿತಿಗಳ ಮೂಲಕ ಮೈಸೂರು ಸಂಸ್ಥಾನದಲ್ಲಿ ಕೆಲವಷ್ಟು radical developments ತರಬೇಕು ಅನ್ನುವ ಕನಸನ್ನು ಕಂಡ ವಿಶ್ವೇಶ್ವರಯ್ಯನವರು ಮಾತ್ರ ಕುಚೋದ್ಯಕ್ಕೆ ಗುರಿಯಾಗಿಬಿಟ್ಟರು -- ಈ ಸಮಿತಿಗಳ ಮೇಧಾವಿಗಳಿಂದಾಗಿ (ಮತ್ತು ಕಳ್ಳರಿಂದಾಗಿ -- ಆಗಿನ ಕಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ ಸರಕಾರಿ ಕಛೇರಿಗಳು ಶುದ್ಧವಾಗಿದ್ವು ಅಂತ ಯಾರಿಗಾದ್ರೂ ಭ್ರಮೆ ಇದ್ರೆ ಆ Economic conference-ನ ಕಾರ್ಯಪದ್ಧತಿಗಳನ್ನು ಓದಿನೋಡಿ ಭ್ರಮೆಯಿಂದ ವಿಮುಕ್ತರಾಗಿ!).

ಈ ಸಮಿತಿಗಳ ಮೇಧಾವಿಗಳಿಂದ ಬಂದ ಅಭಿವೃದ್ಧಿ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮಗಳ proposals-ಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಬಂದ ಒಂದು ಸಲಹೆ ಹೀಗೆ:

"ಮಲೆನಾಡು ಪ್ರಾಂತದ ಕಾಡುಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಹುಲ್ಲು ಆಳಾಳುದ್ದ ಬೆಳೆದಿರುತ್ತದೆ. ಒಂದು ನೂರು ಜನ ಕುಯ್ಯುವ ಆಳುಗಳನ್ನು ಗೊತ್ತುಮಾಡಿ, ಅವರು ಪ್ರತಿದಿನವೂ ಈ ಹುಲ್ಲನ್ನು ಕೊಯ್ದು ಪಿಂಡಿಪಿಂಡಿಗಳಾಗಿ ಕಟ್ಟಿ ಆ ಪಿಂಡಿಗಳನ್ನು ಬೇಲುಗಳನ್ನಾಗಿ ಜೋಡಿಸಿ ಆ ಬೇಲುಗಳಿಗೆ ಭದ್ರವಾದ ಕಬ್ಬಿಣದ ಪಟ್ಟಿಗಳನ್ನು ಕಟ್ಟಿ, ಇಂಥ ನೂರಿನ್ನೂರು ಬೇಲುಗಳು ಸಿದ್ಧವಾದಾಗ ಅವನ್ನು ಬಾಬಾಬುಡನ್ ಬೆಟ್ಟದ ಪಶ್ಚಿಮದಿಕ್ಕಿನ ಇಳಿಜಾರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ವರಸೆವರಸೆಯಾಗಿ ಜೋಡಿಸಿ ಅಲ್ಲಿಂದ ಬಲವಾಗಿ ಒದ್ದು ಉರುಳಿಸತಕ್ಕದ್ದು. ಆಗ ಹುಲ್ಲಿನ ಬೇಲುಗಳು ತಾವಾಗಿ, ಯಾವ ಖರ್ಚೂ ಇಲ್ಲದೆ, ಉರುಳುರುಳಿಕೊಂಡು ಸಮುದ್ರತೀರವನ್ನು ಸೇರುತ್ತವೆ. ಅಲ್ಲಿಂದ ಹುಲ್ಲನ್ನು ದೋಣಿಗಳ ಮೇಲೆ ವ್ಯಾಪಾರಸ್ಥಾನಗಳಿಗೆ ಸಾಗಿಸತಕ್ಕದ್ದು."

ಇನ್ನೊಂದು ಸಲಹೆ:

"ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ನಾಟಕಶಾಲೆಗಳು ನಾಲ್ಕಾರಿವೆ. ಒಂದೊಂದರಲ್ಲಿಯೂ ಸಾವಿರ-ಸಾವಿರ ಜನ ಸೇರುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಆ ನಾಟಕಶಾಲೆಗಳ ಸಮೀಪದಲ್ಲಿ ನಾಲ್ಕೈದು ಬೇರೆಬೇರೆ ತೊಟ್ಟಿಗಳನ್ನು ಕಟ್ಟಿಸಿ ಅವುಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಮೂತ್ರಸಂಗ್ರಹ ಮಾಡಿ ಅದರಿಂದ ಅಮೋನಿಯಂ ಸಲ್ಫೇಟ್ ತಯಾರಿಸಬಹುದು."

ಇದೆೇ ರೀತಿಯ ಸಲಹೆಗಳಿಗೆ ಕೊರತೆಯಿಲ್ಲದೆ ಇಕನಾಮಿಕ್ ಕಾನ್ಫರೆನ್ಸ್ ನಗೆಪಲಾಯ್ತಂತೆ.

ಇಂಥವರನ್ನು ಕಟ್ಟಿಕೊಂಡಿದ್ರೂ ಸಹ ಭದ್ರಾವತಿಯ ಉಕ್ಕು ಕಾರ್ಖಾನೆ, ಮೈಸೂರು ವಿಶ್ವವಿದ್ಯಾನಿಲಯ, ಮೈಸೂರು ಬ್ಯಾಂಕ್ (State Bank of Mysore), ಕೃಷ್ಣರಾಜಸಾಗರ ಜಲಾಶಯ ಇತ್ಯಾದಿಗಳು ಅಸ್ತಿತ್ವಕ್ಕೆ ಬರಲು ಸಾಧ್ಯವಾಗಿದ್ದು ವಿಶ್ವೇಶ್ವರಯ್ಯನವರ ಸಂಕಲ್ಪಶಕ್ತಿ ಮತ್ತು ಕಾರ್ಯದೃಢತೆಗೆ ಸಾಕ್ಷಿ.

ಹಳ್ಳಿಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಜನಕ್ಕೆ ಸಂಜೆಯ ಹೊತ್ತು ತುಂಬಾ ಸಮಯ ಇದ್ದು ಅದನ್ನು ಹೇಗೆ ಕಳೆಯಬೇಕೆಂದು ಗೊತ್ತಾಗದೆ ಬೆೆೇಗ ಮಲಗುವುದರಿಂದ ಜನಸಂಖ್ಯೆ ಹೆಚ್ಚಾಗ್ತಿದೆ, ಅದನ್ನು ತಡಗಟ್ಟಬೇಕಂದ್ರೆ ಹಳ್ಳಿಹಳ್ಳಿಗಳಿಗೂ ವಿದ್ಯುಚ್ಛತ್ತಿ ಮತ್ತು TV ಸೌಕರ್ಯ ಕೊಟ್ಟು ಜನ ಬೇಗ ಮಲಗದಂತೆ ಮಾಡಬೇಕು ಅನ್ನುವಂಥ ಮಹಾನ್ ಐಡಿಯಾ ಕೊಟ್ಟ 'ಆರೋಗ್ಯ' ಮಂತ್ರಿ ಗುಲಾಂ ನಬೀ ಆಝಾದರಂಥವರನ್ನು ಕಟ್ಟಿಕೊಂಡು ಮೇಧಾವಿ ಮ.ಮೋ.ಸಿಂಗ್ ಏನೋ ಕಡೆದು ಕಟ್ಟೆ ಹಾಕ್ತಾರೆ ಅಂತ ನಾವೇನಾದ್ರೂ ಅಂದ್ಕೊಂಡ್ರೆ ಅದು ನಾವು ನಮ್ಮ ಮೇಧಾಶಕ್ತಿಗೆ ಮಾಡಿಕೊಂಡ ಅವಮಾನ.

PS: ನಾನು ಮೇಲೆ ಉದಾಹರಿಸಿದ ವಿಶ್ವೇಶ್ವರಯ್ಯನವರಿಗೆ ಸಂಬಂಧಪಟ್ಟ ಘಟನೆಗಳ ಮೂಲ: ಡಿ.ವಿ.ಜಿ. ಕೃತಿಶ್ರೇಣಿಯ "ನೆನಪಿನ ಚಿತ್ರಗಳು".

ಶಿకాగో సాహితీ మిత్రులారా!

I hope I'm allowed to put this up on my blog:



If you happen to be in Chicago area and are interested in Telugu literature, this is a good place to be on Sept 20th (next Sunday).

Tongue-in-cheek disclaimer: I haven't read the book yet. So, if you happen to attend the program and end up hating it, don't blame me! ;)

Scars And the Psyche

So another year has passed since the brutal event.

Very late last night (actually well into early morning today), I was preparing a slideshow for our sales team, and as I was doing some screenshots, I suddenly noticed that the date had turned to 9/11 and it showed on one of the application screens I was capturing. I backed out of the application right away, changed the system date to 9/9 and started all over. I just didn't want that date to be on my slideshow!

I once considered requesting a room change as I was checking into a Hotel in San Francisco and saw the room number on my key card. It was 911.

Such is the nature of the scars. And how our behavior is influenced.

Ganesha Revisited

I couldn't believe Ganesha festival came back so fast! It felt like it was only recently that I bought a "Made in China" Ganesha idol, performed the pooja and blogged about it! And here he was, yet a gain, dominating the weekend and the days on either side of it.



This time, I managed to perform the pooja in much more detail. What was even more special was that, for the first time in my life, I attempted something which I believed I would never do -- prepare steamed kaayi kaDubu (ಕಾಯಿ ಕಡುಬು)! It turned out to be pretty tasty, but the appearance was a disaster! I guess I am not sophisticated enough for certain things!



To make up for the disaster, I also prepared Gulab Jamoon which I consider myself pretty adept at (is 3 times in 14 years not enough of an experience?!).



I surprised myself by preparing two types of sweets in a day because, you know, I don't like sweets. I hardly eat any. This was only for naivedya (and others with a sweet tooth) -- so maybe I earned more puNya because of selfless cooking :P

By the way, lamps (and clouds) form in so many interesting ways that sometimes I am amazed by their uncanny resemblance to familiar shapes and forms. But what I saw in this lamp while doing Ganapati pooja simply stunned me! Do you also see what I am seeing?

Blast from the past

Certain days just don’t start right. That is just how it goes. There is not much you can do about it. You could wake up to a harsh scream next door or a loud bang on your door or the unbearable sound of the lawnmower right in the morning of a summer weekday that you chose to sleep in! Or it could be the loud and incessant ringing of a junk call on your landline. Or it could be the sweetest ring tone you chose for your cell phone which, when you reached for it, turned into possibly the most unwelcome voice at the other end. **it happens. Like it did for me this morning.

But then, some beautiful things do happen, almost riding on the back of the ugliest of things. Life has a way of teaching you that the good and the bad appear, almost always, together. It is up to you to take in what you want and leave out what you shouldn’t want.

OK, back to what happened this morning. As soon as I hung up the unwelcome call that woke me up this morning, my BlackBerry beeped again. I was not inclined to reach for it, I wanted to go back to sleep and get some much needed rest as this was the first weekend I was fortunate enough to have just for myself after weeks of crazy work schedule that spanned several time zones across continents.

Reach I did, half willingly, and realized that it was an email. I opened the inbox with droopy eyes.... and my eyes lit up in an instant! I just couldn’t believe my eyes, I thought it was a dream. I had received an email from a long lost friend whom I cherished a lot and tried very hard over the years to find! And he had found me and sent me an email!

This friend, a very very nice guy, was my closest buddy when we lived in Delhi. We did everything together, from roaming the streets of Delhi (and nearby places), visiting the most wonderful and tiny book shops around Chandni Chowk, taking the DTC buses to wherever we felt like going, eating wherever we felt like eating, shopping anywhere from the amazing by-lanes around Janpath to the vegetable market in Mandawali Fazalpur..... and, yeah, discussing career and life plans... and everything under the sun. The innumerable evenings we spent talking both our grandiose plans and utter non-sense sitting on the terrace of his mausi’s house sipping tea and munching various snacks....

I have visited Taj Mahal only once in my life despite living in Delhi and passing by Agra soooo many times. And it was Dinesh who was with me when I saw Taj Mahal. It was also his first time.

The last I saw him was probably in 1994. We kept in touch for quite sometime after that. I moved to US and he moved to Mohali. We had ‘snail mail’ contact after that. He had occasional email access which he rarely used, and as I finished grad school and my email addresses kept changing in the pre-gmail days, we were slowly cut off. I couldn’t reach his parents back in Himachal Pradesh. And this was probably about 1998, before cellphones became common in India. So we lost touch. Completely. Until this morning.

And was I thrilled!! I am so glad he renewed his search and found me. He has a good job, is happily married, and works/lives not too far from his home town. I am so happy for him!

Why am I writing about it here? Of course I am happy and excited about regaining a very good friend. But the bigger reason is to highlight the positive impact internet can have on our lives. That is, only if we allow it to. And only if we use it in a positive way. I have seen people who use internet as a weapon of destruction, to harm others, as a means to satisfy their greed, their hatred, their lust, and to basically extend their evil existence. But you can also use it to unite people, find friends, find and spread happiness, and to basically extend your good existence. What you want to do with it is a reflection of who you are. You choose!

Oh, by the way, I totally forgot about the unwanted call that woke me up. Actually, there was no other choice. A wonderful event had replaced it almost immediately.

A lazy summer afternoon...

More here...

A day to remember

It is one of my most favorite events ever. It happened today. Exactly forty years ago.

Man landed on the moon.

Celebrate!

"Light & Lines"

One, the raw material, and the other, the most fundamental building block in 2-D visual design.

तोच चंद्रमा नभात

There are certain chores I don't mind doing over and over again I guess. One of them is "preparing" to convert a seemingly infinite collection of audio tapes I have collected over the years to mp3 format so I can carry them on my iPods. So, over the last few days I went through a whole box (out of several such) full of tapes that I hadn't played in a while since I don't have cassette player anymore! There were really, really old Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Marathi songs, both from movies and bhaavageethe, and of course Carnatic & Hindustani music. And I picked a few Marathi cassettes, as usual, as my first set to be converted. They are way up on my priority list because they are harder to replace. I want to convert them first before they quit on me. Why don't you just buy the CD versions, you ask? Because I don't want to spend a fortune! Just look at my collection and you will know! So, I organized them, as always, in the order of priority, keeping away the ones that I also have on CDs, and..... put them all back in the box. Why? I told you, I don't have a player to play them on! How can I convert them without a player?

Anyways, here are some of the songs I "looked at" and then played on the net. Again. And again. And again. Haven't stopped yet.

1. One of my all time favorites, "Ghanashyam Sundara" from Amar Bhupali, sung by Panditrao Nagarkar (and also Lata Mangeshkar -- this song repeats a few times in the movie). If you love music in V. Shantaram's movies, here is why: The music was composed by Vasant Desai, who also composed the following song:




And lyrics:

घनःश्याम सुंदरा श्रीधरा अरुणोदय झाला
उठिं लवकरि वनमाळी उदयाचळी मित्र आला

आनंदकंदा प्रभात झाली उठी सरली राती
काढी धार क्षीरपात्र घेउनी धेनु हंबरती
लक्षताती वासुरें हरि धेनु स्तनपानाला

सायंकाळीं एके मेळीं द्विजगण अवघे वृक्षीं
अरुणोदय होताचिं उडाले चरावया पक्षी
प्र्भातकाळी उठुनि कावडी तीर्थ पंथ लक्षी
करुनी सडासंमार्जन गोपी कुंभ घेऊनी कुक्षीं
यमुनाजळासि जाति मुकुंदा दध्योदन भक्षी

कोटी रवीहून तेज आगळें तुझिया वदनाला
होनाजी हा नित्य ध्यातसे हृदयी नाम माला


2. "तोच चंद्रमा नभात" by Sudhir Phadke, arguably one of the best Bhaavgeethe singers of India:



And lyrics:

तोच चंद्रमा नभात तीच चैत्रयामिनी
एकांती मजसमीप तीच तूहि कामिनी !

नीरवता ती तशीच धुंद तेच चांदणे
छायांनी रेखियले चित्र तेच देखणे
जाईचा कुंज तोच तीच गंधमोहिनी

सारे जरि ते तसेच धुंदि आज ती कुठे ?
मीहि तोच तीच तूहि प्रीति आज ती कुठे ?
ती न आर्तता उरात स्वप्न ते न लोचनी

त्या पहिल्या प्रीतीच्या आज लोपल्या खुणा
वाळल्या फुलांत व्यर्थ गंध शोधतो पुन्हा
गीत ये न ते जुळून भंगल्या सुरांतुनी


3. "प्रिया आज माझी नसे साथ द्याया" by Sudhir Phadke:

Play from this link

And lyrics, of course:

प्रिया आज माझी नसे साथ द्याया
नको धुंद वारे, नको चांदण्या या

नको पारिजाता धरा भुषवू ही
पदांची तिच्या आज चाहूल नाही
प्रियेविण आरास जाईल वाया

फुले सान झेलू, तरी भार होतो
पुढे वाट साधी, तरी तोल जातो
कुणाला कळाव्या मनाच्या व्यथा या

न शांती जिवाला, न प्राणास धीर
कसा आज कंठात येईल सूर
उरी वेदना मात्र जागेल गाया

अता आठविता तशा चांदराती
उरे मौक्तिकावीण शिंपाच हाती
उशाला उभी ती जुनी स्वप्नमाया


I can go on and on....But I must stop here. For now. Will add more later.

ಸುಮ್ನೆ ಹೀಗೇ ಚಪಲಕ್ಕೆ....

ಬಾಯಿ ಚಪಲ ಅಲ್ಲ, ಫೋಟೋ ತೆಗೆಯೋ ಚಪಲ ಅಷ್ಟೆ! :P

When insensitive morons get to run businesses....

This is what happens.

As if this, this, and this, just to name three, weren't enough.

It reminds me of the horror I felt when on a lazy post-lunch stroll in New Orleans a few years ago I happened to see a "hookah cafe" flaunting the following painting out on the street trying to entice people to come in for a smoke or two. The French owner apparently believed he knew how to put Ganesha's multiple hands to good use.

Morons. Really.

Happy 4th of July!

Celebrate Freedom. Celebrate Liberty. Celebrate Democracy.

Pardonable addiction?

Blackberry Addiction - The top video clips of the week are here

Sounds very familiar! ;) But hey, it is not just a toy for me, it is also my development platform! So I guess it is a pardonable addiction, eh? :P

The real test of popularity lies not in life but death?

Jeez! I never thought I would write a post on this MJ, ever! Michael Jordan, oh yes, most definitely! Magic Johnson... maybe, but not likely. But Michael Jackson? Very very unlikely! But here I am writing one specifically on him before the other two got a chance!

No, I am not a fan. Have never been one. I have watched him, listened to his songs, admired and enjoyed his performances, sure, done all that. I would even say that no performer danced like him. Not many can, without looking ugly and/or risking total realignment of neck and other major joints in the body. His performances were full of passion and rhythm, and if you had even the slightest bit of that innate urge we have as a species to move our limbs with no specific purpose or pattern as a means of expressing emotions, he could make you dance. He was seriously electrifying.

But his eccentricities defined his legacy as much as his dance moves, the turns, the twists, the twirls, the moonwalk did. He remained somebody you would love to watch but would not venture anywhere close to. He remained somebody whose personal exploits you would want to filter out and only talk about his musical exploits. We would never know what caused him to fall from "The Thriller" he was to the loner he died as. But that is not my concern now, anyway.

The reason I am writing this post is not Michael Jackson, per se, but pure nostalgia. Seeing so much coverage, on TV and internet, of MJ's death, kinda pushed me back into the days I used to listen to him, and brought me back some memories. Back home in my school days, he was probably the most "known" face of western music. That was before I discovered other greats. At that time, it was fashionable to talk of or own a few Beatles albums, and we listened to "Osibisa", "ABBA", "Dire Straits" etc., but the real craze was Michael Jackson. His posters were everywhere. Indian youth gobbled up everything Michael Jackson produced, and contributed to building a huge international fan base. Again, I was not a big fan. My music preference was, and has always been, over everything else, Hindi movie classics, Carnatic, and Hindustani, not necessarily in that order, but I followed him with a kind of curiosity and amazement that ensured I didn't reject him though I never accepted him.

And then I discovered my most favorite western musician, Eric Clapton (via "Unplugged" and "Slowhand"), which influenced me in a big way. The kind of western music I listened to changed drastically. I stayed away from hard rock and moved onto soft rock, blues and jazz, and a bit of R&B. I was so much into Blues that I even got a chance to shake hands with one of the most successful Blues musicians of all time, Buddy Guy, who even autographed a poster for me at the end of his stunning performance in front of a private audience at House of Blues, Chicago. And the very next night I watched "The Temptations" perform at the same venue in front of the same private audience. Joy!

When I moved to US, Janet Jackson, MJ's sister, was one of the top singers and was on TV all the time. But even that failed to re-trigger in me any interest in her brother's music.

And then MJ's downfall began. And now, the end. Or, is it?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CAESAR!

7 years of love, affection, companionship. Happy Birthday, Caesar! How can I thank you for what you have given me?

Sad state of Indian elections... When will this change?

When will our people understand that giving a free color TV is NOT good governance? Good governance is about empowering you to BUY that color TV yourself, creating an atmosphere where you can watch something beautiful and relaxing on that TV instead of brutal killings and bombings we see so regularly......

Sad to see people dance like this:



Picture taken from Rediff

Squint is better than blind, but it is the blind that won!

It is an unfortunate day. Not just for the millions who voted against the UPA, the Third Front, the Fourth Front, etc. For all the people who consider India their home and want to see it safe, secure, stable, and prosperous.

India has voted UPA back to power, and this time with even bigger mandate. Not that UPA's victory was unexpected. Nobody really expected NDA to win a majority anyway. The general expectation was that UPA and NDA would be very close, and who formed the next government would depend solely on who was better at horse-trade. There was an outside chance of a situation emerging where a maniac like Mayawati would bargain and beat everybody to the PM's chair. That scared the hell out of me! Thank God that it didn't happen.

I am really disappointed that the people thought Congress was the better bet than BJP. I hope these results won't prove too costly for India. Congress has ruled India for 50 years, and everybody knows the kind of progress we have made in those 50 years. And people still vote for that same party. BJP did so much better under Vajpayee and still it was voted out at the end of its term. How do you explain this!?

I accept that BJP was partly responsible for losing it this time. And it was not totally Congress' win -- others' loss was Congress' gain as was seen in UP, Bihar and West Bengal. And now that Congress has been backed by Muslims, you will see the game of appeasement go up a few notches! Congress and the other socialist jokers have already redefined secularism -- and it is only going to get worse now.

Manmohan Singh may be a decent, well-educated, and even well-meaning guy. But I don't want people like him to lead my country. What I want is a strong and patriotic person who doesn't hesitate to show his spine in defense of his country and his countrymen. What we have now is a person who is nothing more than a brilliant but mute loyalist of Sonia Gandhi. Given a choice between national and Sonia interests, he will choose Sonia's any day. If that is not true, I'm sure I am not the only one still waiting for him to prove me wrong. As if to show his loyalty (and maybe his desire to continue as PM?), one of the first few things he uttered as soon as he realized that UPA would form the next government was that he would be "delighted to have Rahul Gandhi in my cabinet." I am sure he meant "honored".

So, would Rahul Gandhi join the cabinet? As what? Of course, any portfolio would be his for the taking, but what would it be, I wonder. Something that doesn't expose him to controversy but keep him in the limelight, I guess. I hope it is not as big as a Deputy PM! You never know with these Congresswallahs --Manmohan Singh might suddenly "retire because of health reasons" and all the MPs might "request" Rahul Gandhi to save the nation by ascending the throne! After all, Manmohan Singh was only keeping it warm for him all these years. Oh well, I guess we Indians deserve this!

One really good thing in the middle of such disappointing news is that blackmailers like Laloo, Paswan and Mulayam have been kicked really hard in their back side (note that I didn't say they have been taught a lesson -- because they will never learn!). Another good thing is that the Left have been spat at. As long as the Communists are close to power, the possibility of them gifting a part of India, if not the whole, to China is never dim. And then, the final good news, great news in fact, is that Mayawati has been cut to size. I used to have nightmares of her becoming PM -- with the way Indian politics work, it was always going to be a possibility. Just look back at how Deve Gowda became our PM not too long ago!

By the way, aren't these Electronic Voting Machines supposed to be error-proof? Then what's up with the "Lost, Lost, and Won!" result of P. Chidambaram's Shivaganga seat? It does sound fishy! So, you mean these machines can be manipulated? In that case, it makes me wonder, did UPA manage to find a chink in these machines that others couldn't? I hope not!

Game over. Nerd wins .....

This is a bit old but I stumbled on it today on another blog. (Thanks, Bill Buchan!)

Michael Jordan the basketball player having "retired," with $40 million in endorsements, makes $178,100 a day, working or not.

If he sleeps 7 hours a night, he makes $52,000 every night while visions of sugarplums dance in his head.

If he goes to see a movie, it'll cost him $7.00, but he'll make $18,550 while he's there.

If he decides to have a 5-minute egg, he'll make $618 while boiling it.

He makes $7,415/hour more than minimum wage.

If he wanted to save up for a new Acura NSX ($90,000) it would take him a whole 12 hours.

If someone were to hand him his salary and endorsement money, they would have to do it at the rate of $200 every second.

He'll probably pay around $200 for a nice round of golf, but will be reimbursed $33,390 for that round.

He'll make about $19.60 while watching the 100-meter dash in the Olympics, and about $15,600 during the Boston Marathon.

This year, he'll make more than twice as much as all U.S. past presidents for all of their terms combined.

Amazing isn't it?

However...

If Jordan saves 100% of his income for the next 500 years, he'll still have less than Bill Gates has at this very moment.

Game over. Nerd wins.

Wow! And to think Bill Gates made his fortune making and selling some of the crappiest of software ever written while Michael Jordan (whom I am huge fan of and whose games I rarely missed even if it meant skipping classes ;)) earned his dough producing some of the most reliable, most efficient, most entertaining, cleanest, craftiest and swiftest of Basketball plays ever witnessed on a Basketball court! Mind boggling!

The (not so) Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Long (overdue) post. Read at your own risk.

I miss the general elections in India. I miss the sight of the largest democracy in the world thundering over the slumbering junta and bringing live shows of its comedians and villains (most of them playing both at the same time) to the nearest galli, circle, playground, and railway station. For free. Sometimes, even with a gift or two if you are considered (un)worthy enough. I miss the loud cheering and jeering, yelling & squealing of everybody and anybody even remotely associated with the elections.

I also miss the self-important journalists trying yet again to get their equations right, on TV and on paper, everyday and every sleepless night. I miss watching every TV channel and newspaper, suitably compensated by various political parties for their outstanding journalistic service, parading its own number-theory experts, psychologists and psephologists who claim to have understood the most ununderstandable of all species - the Indian voter. I miss seeing them go wrong election after mid-term election and still not give up!

And I also miss taking an active part in this whole mela! Of course, voting is one of the ways to take an active part in this democratic process. If you can vote, you must vote. And not only must you cast only your vote but also make sure nobody else casts your vote. I haven’t had a chance to vote since I did a few years ago back in Delhi. And I don’t think I will get a chance to vote again in India in the foreseeable future. I really miss it.

But what I meant by ‘active part’ was actually participating in the electioneering process itself! Yes, even before I attained the voting age, I had been playing my part as a volunteer. For BJP, of course. I really miss those days of crazy activity which involved putting up posters on every blank and non-blank wall, going door to door and distributing pamphlets, putting up buntings along the streets only to find them torn or missing the next morning, crying hoarse at the Congress hooligans (when they weren't around) for taking them apart, and putting them up all over again till we ran out of buntings, roaming the whole city in “on-election-duty” autos throwing handbills, screaming into the portable loudspeakers, getting chased from hostile areas, putting up makeshift “stages” for the leaders’ public speeches at all hours of day and night (one such night stands out when we had LK Advani at Chamundi Circle in Mysore – he showed up at midnight for an hour’s speech and there was not a single empty spot in that big circle and the buildings around it – and I got a chance to shake his hand as he was getting back into his car!). We would roam around the streets with copies of voter list in hand making sure the voters were accounted for, urging them to vote in general, requesting them to vote for our candidate in particular, and advising them to vote as early in the day as possible to defeat the illegal voters (we used to do this after the deadline for public canvassing was over!). And on Election Day, we would gather at the polling booths, sit at a rickety table holding a copy of voter list and “take attendance” of our voters, and spy on the other camps! At the end of the day, we would go back to the party office or the candidate’s home and soak in the news pouring in from other polling booths, areas, and cities. We would sit around the radio and the TV to gather news and analysis from folks who pretended to know everything. By the end of it all, we could barely speak because of all the yelling and screaming! And then the results would come in…. The voters would have spoken. And some of us would have shut up.

Only to start all over again! The elections were never too far those days what with all the jokers assembling in Delhi at the same time and making a tamasha of the whole expensive exercise the entire nation went through for months!

The election campaign scenario is probably much different now. Election Commission has robbed much of its charm, probably with a good reason. The political parties don’t pull governments now as frequently as they used to. But it still is the same rotten game of numbers, it still is the horse trade it always was, and you still can’t tell which party is in which new alliance. Nobody remembers the party symbols anymore. The Congress is still monopolized by the family whose feet its ‘leaders’ are eternally lined up to lick! Then there is a new spineless ‘Secular Front’ or ‘Third Front’ or whatever the flavor of the season is coming up every election consisting of the same old power brokers who have no ideological agenda whatsoever! There is no greater danger than these parties coming together at election time and making a mockery of democracy. Each one of them has a PM-aspirant who will go to any extent to grab that chair.

Sadly, even the BJP has failed to escape the rot that is part of the political landscape. Its moral base has eroded as its power base has expanded. There was a time when BJP leaders asserted that they would rather win only a handful of seats than compromise on its principles. It really used to be a great organization. But somewhere down the road, some leaders got tired of sitting in the opposition, ran out of their patience, and acceded to the younger leadership that argued that nothing can be achieved without power, and to achieve that power, certain principles can be and should be compromised. Good organizers became bad politicians. Powerful people with questionable backgrounds came into the party’s fold. The party tasted success. The decline began.

However, in spite of all this, I believe BJP is still better than other parties. BJP still has a leadership that is stronger, more committed to the welfare of Indians, and more dependable than others. BJP perhaps is still the only party with a true nationalistic agenda in spite of all the negative things the party has become famous for in recent times.

It is our misfortune that we are forced to pick the least evil of all available parties. Every party is corrupt to a certain degree, and every party has its share of fanatics, criminals and cheats. Whether you vote or not, someone will win. Vote we must because that is our fundamental responsibility towards our nation for which our forefathers have laid down their lives. If we don’t vote, we have no right to complain about the sorry state of things. We might as well vote for the party that is most likely to lead us better and/or harm the least!

At this point, I believe BJP is that party. You may not agree with me. You don’t have to. But I hope you will at least agree that you must vote.

The voting starts today.

"Your camera can wait, can I sleep a little bit longer please?"

Exactly a year ago to the day, I took a picture of a tree I found kind of interesting. And all through the past year, almost every single day, I saw this tree, from the exact same spot, and witnessed what the weather subjected it and its surroundings to, and saw how it responded every day. It is almost like witnessing the daily life of a tree and its interaction with the sun, the rain, the snow.... It is amazing!

This is the picture I took on April 15, 2008 which I also posted on this blog around that time:



And this is how the tree stands today:



Same day, same time, same spot, same camera, same lens, same settings. What a difference!

But the tree whispers to me that it is alive as ever, that it is going to look beautiful again. For, the real beauty lies within. And sometimes it takes longer to express itself. I will post a picture when the tree wears the Spring again.

I guess I can cook!

After years of hesitation, for which there was absolutely no reason other than my belief that it was too traditional a dish for me to attempt making, I tried it last night. I don't know if I was just lucky, or because I have been cooking for way too long to screw up any dish, it was a grand success! I made the most beloved of all Karnataka dishes, one of my most favorite, the "Bisibele Bhaat" using a combination of 3 different recipes my mom and sister offered on phone. The result:

Huh?

A Southwest Rap! :-)

A Gulzar gem...

Started the day humming this song...

ಕೆರೆಮನೆ ಶಂಭು ಹೆಗಡೆ ನಿಧನ

ಯಕ್ಷಗಾನ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರದ ಮಹಾನ್ ಕಲಾವಿದರಾಗಿದ್ದು, ಆ ಕಲೆಯ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಅವರ ಕುಣಿತದಷ್ಟೇ ಅದ್ಭುತವಾಗಿ ಮಾತನಾಡುತ್ತಾ, ಕಲೆಯನ್ನು ಜೀವಂತವಾಗಿ ಉಳಿಸಲು ಶ್ರಮಿಸುತ್ತಾ ಇಡೀ ಜೀವನವನ್ನು ಸವೆಸಿ, ಕಡೆಗೆ ಇವತ್ತು ಕುಣಿಯುತ್ತಲೇ ಕುಸಿದು ಹೊರಟುಹೋದರಂತೆ ಇಡಗುಂಜಿ ಮಹಾಗಣಪತಿ ಯಕ್ಷಗಾನ ಮಂಡಳಿಯ ಹಿರಿಯ ಚೇತನ ಶ್ರೀ ಕೆರೆಮನೆ ಶಂಭು ಹೆಗಡೆಯವರು. ಯಕ್ಷಗಾನದಂತಹ ಅದ್ಭುತ ಕಲೆಯ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಕಿಂಚಿತ್ತಾದರೂ ಆಸಕ್ತಿ ಇದ್ದು ಅದನ್ನು ಆಸ್ವಾದಿಸಿದವರಿಗೆ ಶಂಭು ಹೆಗಡೆಯುವರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಆಗಲೀ, ’ಕೆರೆಮನೆ’ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಆಗಲೀ ಏನೂ ಹೇಳಬೇಕಿಲ್ಲ.

ಹಲವಾರು ವರ್ಷಗಳ ನಂತರ ಶಂಭು ಹೆಗಡೆಯವರ ಯಕ್ಷಗಾನವನ್ನು ತುಂಬಾ ಹತ್ತಿರದಿಂದ ನೋಡಿ ಹೃದಯ ತುಂಬಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವ ಅದೃಷ್ಟ ನನ್ನದಾಗಿದ್ದು ಅವರು ೨೦೦೬ ನವಂಬರ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ ಶಿಕಾಗೋಗೆ ಬಂದಾಗ. ಅವರು ಆಡಿದ ’ಜರಾಸಂಧ ವಧೆ’ ಎಂದಿಗೂ ಮರೆಯಲಾಗದ ಅನುಭವವಾಗಿ, ಈಗ ಆ ಅನುಭವಕ್ಕೆ ಮತ್ತಷ್ಟು ವಿಶೇಷ ಸ್ಥಾನ ದೊರಕಿಹೋಗಿದೆ. ಇನ್ನೇನಿದ್ದರೂ ಅವರನ್ನು ಮನಸ್ಸಿನ ಅಥವಾ ದೂರದರ್ಶನದ ತೆರೆಯ ಮೇಲೆ ಮಾತ್ರ ನೋಡಲು ಸಾಧ್ಯ. ಹಾಗಾಗೇ, ಅವರ ಕುಣಿತದ ಸಂದರ್ಭದಲ್ಲಿ ನಾನು ತೆಗೆದ ಕೆಲವು ಚಿತ್ರಗಳು ನನ್ನ ತುಂಬಾ ನೆಚ್ಚಿನ ಚಿತ್ರಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಕೆಲವಾಗಿ ಉಳಿದುಬಿಡುತ್ತವೆ. ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕೆಲವಿವೆ:

Serendipity in Cricketing Mathematics? :-)

Here is what India head coach Gary Kirsten had to say ahead of the 3rd ODI between India and Srilanka yesterday, according to Sriram Veera of CricInfo:

The momentum in the series is clearly with India, who own a 2-0 lead, and their coach Gary Kirsten reckoned that his team could win matches even by playing at "60% of our ability".

India eventually beat Srilanka comprehensively in the day-night match. And, as it turned out, Srilanka scored only 59.504% of India's total of 363. Interesting, eh? :-)

So, who is next on Barkha Dutt's Hit List?

Even though my 'direct' (insufferable) experience with Indian TV media in general and NDTV in particular is quite limited, I am not surprised that I have grown to love to hate Barkha Dutt of NDTV. She, in my opinion, represents the horrible state of 'news' media in India today. There was a time when I actually looked forward to watching NDTV -- when it was still new and was doing a pretty good job of covering general elections in India, something that had not been seen on Indian TV till then. I had grown to like it despite Prannoy Roy's obvious 'commie' links. Good work, done by whoever, should be applauded -- so I thought. Little did I know at that time that NDTV would reduce itself to the state it is in today -- and Barkha Dutt is, in my opinion, the face of that decline.

Anybody who saw her coverage of the Mumbai mayhem will either love her or hate her. If what she did during those terrible days wasn't enough, her (and NDTV's) flexing of muscles over a blog post that condemned her for the way she conducted herself as a journalist should make you either love her (really?) or hate her. :-)

I am not gonna write what exactly happened. Prem Panicker has done it very well and is worth reproducing it here via URL links:

First, read this post.

And then, this.

By the way, he does make a very good point. About the difference between opinion and fact. In today's online world where every other site is a personal blog, it is very important to keep this difference in mind when writing blog posts. A blog is not a personal diary -- what you write there can attract legal action even from the most unexpected quarters, as the Cheytanya Kunte-Barkha Dutt episode proves. So, writing responsibly is a wise idea.

Chicago

Brutal. -30 deg F. And it is only the first day of winter. Fun!

Some pictures from the drive along the Pacific Coast

Click here to view the album.

Is this the end of Dravid?

Sometimes it is just too painful to watch one of your favorite players look so shabby and out of place. Watching him play the last few Test matches, you get the feeling that Dravid is going through a mental trauma. What is sad about it though is that this trauma is self-inflicted. He is too fine a batsman and too determined a player to have such wretched patch for such a long time. His mind just isn't there. He is unable to accept the fact that a player of his caliber can fall to such depths. And it doesn't appear that he will be able able to pull himself out of this rut. He seems so aloof on the ground and doesn't appear to be getting any help from his teammates let alone his captain. I believe Dhoni has let him down in a big way and may even be waiting for Dravid to go out on his own. Sad.

After his second stint in the Chennai Test, I have no doubt that this will be Dravid's last Test series. I think he is going to retire at the end of the series. I would have loved to see him score a century or two before he departed, but I would rather not see so much pain on his face. So long, Dravid!

Guided Missile Control technology.... in chicken head :-)

The sky is no limit for craziness...

Dinner in the sky! The first thought that came to my mind when I saw the following picture was "what is wrong with these people!?!"



Oh, by the way, what if you need to pee when you are up there?! That was my second thought. :D

The India connection...

I normally don't write posts related to the business and technology I am professionally associated with in this blog. But, what I saw on the 2nd web site (the first was, of course, cricinfo.org, which I opened with trepidation and lots of prayers) I opened this morning as soon as I got up kind of amused me. The following screenshot is from IBM's home page.



:-)

Economy in the dumps!

I was reading an article by Sarita Rai on ZDNet, and the following segment caught my attention:

To survive the slowdown, outsourcing companies will have to learn to be thrifty. The successful ones have already been doing this. At Wipro, legend has it that chairman Azim Premji would ask that toilet paper be rationed, and insist employees switch off lights and air conditioners when leaving a room.

In fact, Premji, one of India's richest men by virtue of his share in Wipro, apparently practices frugality to the extent that he orders 'by-two' samosas in the office café.

Now, tell me something. How do you ration out toilet paper?! Every employee gets a daily/weekly quota of paper? Or, everybody is given a small roll for the entire week? What if that is not enough? I guess some smart folks will bring their own paper from home and keep it safe in their cubes for the rainy day! How awkward it should be to walk around with some paper in your hands or tucked somewhere! So, if you see somebody get up quietly and start walking down the hallway, you don't need to ask what is on his/her mind! What if, once you get there, you realize you needed to have brought more paper with you?

Nah! All that isn't gonna work. Why not install toilet paper dispensers in each stall? A couple of slots for credit/debit card and coins, and there you go! You don't need to carry anything. Better still, add a keypad to it on which you can punch in your employee code and you have a running account of paper used! End of the month, you have a new deduction on your paycheck!

Oh wait, this can start a whole new business of manufacturing "Toilet Paper Dispensers!" With a few trendy tag lines, it will catch on pretty fast! I already have some ready!


Swipe Before You Wipe!

Pay-per-wipe!

Pay As You Go!


Ok, that is enough. I have given you enough ideas. Now it is all yours!

Simple Truth. Beautiful Expression.

For a few days now, one of my most frequently used status messages on gtalk (when I am online, that is!) has been: "que sera, sera". It aptly conveyed my present state of mind. Or, so had I assumed. Till today. This morning, my dear friend from Bangalore innocently asked me if I was referring to the song from the Hindi movie Pukar. I didn't have a clue which song she was referring to. I was then given a YouTube link to the song from Pukar. And when I heard the song, I was horrified! No!! That song was not what I had on my mind! Absolutely not!

I then realized that what I had been offered was an opportunity to serve humanity by introducing this wonderful song by Doris Day to those who had never heard of her or the song. So here you go. Enjoy!

An unforgettable day to forget

I guess this day will never cease to come back. Year after year, it arrives and brings back horrific memories that can never fade away.

I can never forget watching the 2nd plane hit the World Trade Center LIVE while still trying to come to terms with the shock of hearing about the first plane. That morning, as I drove to work, totally oblivious of what was about to happen, I had chosen to listen to Mysoora Mallige instead of my usual NPR in the car. A minute or two before I parked, the first plane hit the towers. As I was entering the office, a couple of my friends met me at the door with horrified looks on their faces. They couldn't believe that I had a nice smile on my face (ignorance is bliss?). I was greeted with the stunning news. The three of us rushed to the conference room where the entire staff had gathered to watch TV. As we were all recovering from the shock, we saw the second plane hit the other tower in real time. It took us a few seconds to realize it was not a replay. We all froze.

And more news followed. We sunk deeper and deeper into mourning. Nobody knew what to do. We were just standing here and there, going back in and out of the conference room. Nobody spoke a word for a long time.

The days that followed were equally painful as more and more details, pictures and other stories arrived.

I also realized that a few people I had communicated with while on my previous project had perished in the attack. My previous client had an office in the World Trade Center.

Why did so many people have to die that way? It just doesn't make sense.

It hurts so much to remember 9/11. I want to forget it. Think that it never happened.

But I can't. I just can't.

Ganesha Outsourced!

Take a look at this beautiful Ganesha idol I bought at the Aurora temple a few weeks ago:



As I was admiring its beauty, I don't know why, but I happened to flip the idol to see the part of Ganesha that we should normally not want to see:



I was stunned to see something that I never thought I would be condemned to see someday.

Now tell me, are we Indians so incapable of producing Ganesha idols for the world market that we have to get them made in those child-labor shops in China? Are we so inefficient that we can't stay profitable in a business like this unless we use cheap labor outside the country? Are we so devoid of a sense of social responsibility that we choose to ignore an opportunity to give jobs to Indians in our pursuit of maximum profit?

A friendly argument followed with the store manager (a volunteer with no stake or decision-making power whatsoever in the store) who very zealously tried to explain to me that Indian businessmen just don't want to commit to the consistent quality and quantity the export orders demand. She was speaking from her experience in pharmaceutical sales in the US. She said it was almost impossible to do business with Indian suppliers.

Trying to make me feel better, she said: "Oh, by the way, these idols are actually made by businesses connected to ISKCON though they are made in China!" Sure, that really made me feel better!! ;)

I bought the idol anyway. And today is his day. Though made in China, this is how he eventually turned out:

Today's best and the worst

The best thing I heard today:
The nine-year old who walked alongside Yao Min, the Chinese Basketball player (and the Houston Rockets center), at the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony is a survivor of the terrible earthquake that devastated China's Sichuan province earlier this year. Twenty kids died in his class of thirty. He crawled out of the rubble and went back to rescue his classmates (he saved two of them). When asked why he did that, his answer was: "I am one of the class leaders. It is my responsibility!" He must have wondered why people were making it such a big deal! Simple mind. Great character.

The worst thing I saw today:
The Indian contingent walking in the opening ceremony. Did somebody explain to them the importance of the occasion and how to prepare for such an event!? We are told they didn't have time to get dressed! And some athletes were not allowed to take part in the event because the Indian officials didn't want them to be butchered the next day! Oh, give me a break!! They will get butchered anyway, put up a good show at least in the opening ceremony!!

When there is not much to say....

I guess I can resort to writing what I heard others say!

So here goes. The best quip I heard today. A few of us in the office were seriously discussing a new project, estimates, resources and an impossible deadline, and were wondering if there was any way we can at least come close to the desired deadline. When somebody wondered if adding more people could help, one of the not-so-amused managers quipped with a straight face: "A baby can't be delivered in a month by nine women."