as I see it

Lyricist Prasoon Joshi sent to rediff this poem that he wrote after the Mumbai terror attacks. He wants it to reach as many people as possible because it is our collective pain and voice so here I am doing my bit by publishing it here.

The wait is over ! Two great things Google has come up with - Video Chat and Voice over different platforms. Yes, they have incorporated Video Chat and Voice both in GMail for both PCs and MACs. The feature will be available in all GMail and Google Apps account soon but for all those who want to try their hand on it right away can click here and install the plugin. What you get after doing it is another option saying "Video and More" in ur Chat List and you can click on it to start a video chat with your friend. 

I remember my farewell at school, though it was a party, every few minutes one thought came to my mind - Is it actually a party, something to celebrate? I am no longer going to spend so much time with all my friends whom I have grown up with. A sense of separation it was and it made me literally shiver. I felt devasted.I don't know what it will be like. The LOSS here again will be permanent ! 

Shawty had them Apple Bottom Jeans [Jeans]
Boots with the fur [With the fur]
The whole club was lookin at her
She hit the flo [She hit the flo]
Next thing you know
Shawty got low low low low low low low low

My alarm is buzzing. Phone speakers singing Get Low on top of their voice and what am I doing?
I am busy listening to what my Angel soul and the Devil soul have to say. It used to happen pretty often in the first month of my engineering days when I had to listen to arguments given by both the Angel and the Daemon about if I should wake up or continue sleeping for a while. As Isaid, Daemon beat my Angel soul hollow and maintained his position as a Champion for 4 years thereafter, not considering the occasional walk-overs given in by the Daemon ;)

It was like a routine for me then. No arguments, no noise, nothing at all. It was like an agreement that Daemon is the winner unless and until he decides to give away a match to the Angel to boost the latter's confidence.

But now it has started all over again. Since I can't afford to sleep as much I want to and whenever I want to (though I put in my best to achieve it) the chain of arguments and counter-arguments takes place every time my alarm buzzes. The Angel knows that my schedule is such that I have to wake up and thus, comes in with the 'Angel Allies' army but the Daemon still continues to fight single handedly. One Man Army ! And all the arguments put forward by both Angel and the Daemon make sense and seem to be pretty logical when you are half-asleep.

A snippet from one of the conversations :

A : Wake Up !
D : No need.
A : Wake Up, you have to go for the class.
D : Don't worry, it is XYZ subject's class. It is nothing that difficult, simple concepts, you can read it some time later and cover it yourself. Continue sleeping.
A : See, you will have a tough time before a quiz or exam as you always do when you listen to the Daemon.

By now, my roommates wake me up so ya it can be said that Angel wins.

But when I am sleeping in the evening and there is no class to attend then,

A : Wake Up !
D : No need.
A : Wake Up, you have slept a lot. You have a submission to make and you should do some bit of self-study and those pre-reads !
D : You can never sleep 'a lot'. There is no limit. The submission is a Group Submission, which means that someone in the group will do it. Self-study is something you can do before the exams. Pre-read, hmm, do it when the Angel wakes you up tomorrow morning.

And the Daemon wins. It has been happening almost everyday and I have bee losing quite a bit because of this on the academic front.

So now today was the funniest of all arguments. I have a mid-term exam tomorrow and the arguments when my alarm buzzes today in the evening.

A : Wake Up !
D : No need.
A : Wake Up, you have XYZ Mid-Term Exam tomorrow.
D : Relax, as Angel said it is a Mid-Term. Even if you are not able to score, you have finals to comeback.
A : NO ! It carries 25% weightage.
D (seeing match slipping from his hands, with utter innocence on his face) : But Angel tell me, how can the poor soul study if he doesn't have a sound sleep. Even if he manages to then how useful will it be if he sleeps tomorrow during the exam just because you didn't let him sleep now.

I woke up ! C'mon its 25% and the Angel is right ! And now I think its high time I start studying and don't let go the Angel's victory in a hard-fough battle over a tough opponent. Trust me, Daemon is the toughest to beat when it comes to my Sleep Battlefield, just like Nadal and his Clay court :)

Wassup ? One very common answer to this question is 'nothing much'. But I am not putting up this post to say 'nothing much'.

So, in recent past I heard this song Neend Na Aaye by Fuzon from their new album Journey. Pretty Good. I have been listening this song on and on for quite some time now.

Next, I got to know about this thing called 'Animoto'. What it does is that you upload photos and music and it will make videos (slideshows with a difference) for you. You can also choose music from the collection they have online. I tried it via their facebook application 'Animoto Videos'. It is a nice app to have. On registering on this site you are entitled to make unlimited number of short 30 seconds video and 1 full-length video for FREE. You have to pay for more full-length videos. I tried it with some of my albums on facebook and I was impressed. The transitions between photos and the way it is shown is good. Moreover, the transition between photos happens according to the tempo of the music !

Moving on, I cribbed about the iPhone for quite some time once I got to know that the 8GB model costs 31k. As is 3G is not available and this hig price makes me wonder if its 'Twice ass fast and half the price' or 'Half as fast and twice the price'. Its not even twice, its around 4times. I don't know how come its so costly here and didn't even try to find out because its not going to help.

I like Mac, iPhone, etc. but honestly there is this one thing I like about Microsoft. It is Microsoft Office and especially, Excel. The more I have been using it (I have to) the more I love it. Excel is perhaps, Microsoft's best creation!

I still keep thinking about rains in Mumbai. Unpredictable. I am also fed up with Airtel's network in Mumbai (wherever I go). Its been days now since I last saw full signal strength on my phone.

Next, I was surprised to see Ajantha Mendis' 'carom ball'. The first thing that came to my mind on seeing the ball release from his hands was - Where the hell does he get the power from? It is actually 'carom' ball. I tried balling that way few hours back. Finger hurts, ball can go anywhere (on the pitch or away) and number of tips before it reaches the batsman follows no particular pattern.

I have no comments on seeing the news item that said 10 lakh people were present in Chiranjeevi's rally today.

I miss Twitter on IM. Have not been able to make the various twitter clients available to work for me. Perhaps, some restrictions on net here block something. That is perhaps, one reason that I had to write this post.

Neend Na Aaye is still being played, for the Nth time now. But contrary to the title, I think I'll go to sleep now. Have to get up early tomorrow. Very early. Good night folks !

All of you with a Mathematics Background must be aware of the X-Y axis. One of the most trivial things (may lead to confusion at times, but I stand by it being trivial) with X-Y axis is the ORIGIN (denoted with a letter 'O' almost everywhere) and its translation. In simple terms, you can fix your own origin on the 2-D representation and move it wherever you want to. The only difference it makes is that all corresponding co-ordinates change with the same value as the new origin.

What if someone does it to your calendar ?

Yeah, it has happened to my calendar. The origin (a widely accepted HOLIDAY) has been moved from SUNDAY to a THURSDAY ! I have a busy SUNDAY when most of my friends just bump in their heads in the pillow on their bed or just go out partying. I have an OFF on THURSDAY. So when the majority around me (us) awakens on a FRIDAY and starts making plans for a weekend or maybe talk about the new movie that released, I get ready for a long day, because effectively it is a MONDAY for me !

I never really cared about it when I saw markets and shops here and there open on SUNDAYs but now that I am experiencing the same, it feels bit weird at times. Yes, I know that the end statistics are the same, 6 days working and 1 OFF but why a THURSDAY OFF ?

MBA is surely different and it is about work and serious business and not at all like my good old engineering days. A phone call made me aware of Rakshabandhan, something my academic calendar did not mention. Last night when I saw most of my 'usually busy' friends online on GTalk till late I was reminded of it being a Saturday and that it is Sunday the next morning and that its OFF for all of them. After all my classes and quizzes today when I walked out for lunch, I saw a herd of people looking up and shouting. It didn't take long for me to look up and see a 'Matki' tied to a rope and figure out that it is Janamashtmi.

Everything seems so different. I miss my good old college days.

Chuck everything and
Do whatever the heart says,
Those were the days.

Sleep and wake up anytime
Our schedule our ways,
Those were the days.

Eat and drink at the galla
And wonder who the hell pays ?
Those were the days.

Go and play football,
While the sun stays,
Those were the days.

The all so special,
Free time in all four Mays,
Those were the days.

typhoon, arsenious, lazy
a bunch of -
Those were the days.

Those were the days
and these are the days,
anyways :)

PS : Forgive me for the last few short lines. It was not an attempt in poetry. It was a matching game, putting words that end with 'ays' together :P

[Note : The post is cryptic in nature. I don't expect anyone to understand or read it, though, the very brighter minds around me may infer what it is.]

So, there is this box full of 'selected crabs' which for some reason are perceived to be special. Ok, if not special then in some respect or the other perceived to be better than all those not selected ones. So this one crab gets the opportunity to be a part of the 'selected' lot. He is happy to hear that. He knows the time is now and there is bright light all around for him.

And then comes the day when he is dropped into the box. There are so many other crabs in this box and he knows that there are many such boxes all around. Some big, some small and that he has been dropped in a fairly big box. One very peculiar thing which the onlookers noticed was that none of the boxes had a lid on the top. Two gentlemen actually discussed it with each other.

G1 : Did you notice there is no lid on top of any of the boxes ?
G2 : Yeah, I wonder if they would sit in and not try to escape.
G1 : I guess there is no need of the lid perhaps.
G2 : And what makes you think that way? Don't you think they can take undue advantage of the fact and escape.
G1 : No ! because even if they try to, then I am pretty sure that the other crabs in the box won't let him reach the top and jump out. They will make sure that they pull his leg and get him in. And this same concept applies to all. Its all safe mate. Cheers !
G2 : Cheers !

So, our protagonist here - 'The Crab' - has never seen what all he is seeing right now. Well, all this while he has been sitting around on a beach having sunbath with all lovely, 'sweet' crabs. They had a gala time, splashing water on each other, throwing sand balls and making sand houses as well. But things are different in the box now. Very different.

-------------------- IDEA ----------------------

I'll make it a series now. Write more about the crab as time moves on.

-------------------- IDEA ----------------------

The crab for now observes that most of the other crabs have a TAG on their shoulders, which bears a special bar code. He, on the other hand, has no such TAG as yet. He wonders if the other crabs are superior, more special ? He is not sure though, if the other crabs think that way as well.
But one thing that took our crab by surprise was that the other crabs were after his life ! They just wanted a TAG on his shoulder as well. They tried there level best to put on some TAG or the other on his shoulder. So many TAGged crabs and our UNTAGged crab. Poor Him. All the TAGged crabs are trying to put on a TAG on him.

He wonders W H Y ? Of what he knows he is in 'The Box' which is supposedly a box that contains some 'selected' crabs. Is this how the 'selected' crabs are ? Why do they behave this way ? What makes them think the way they do ? And how come those few crabs resort to doing the same ? Is he abnormal or the others special ?

[PS : Don't try to infer please. OK, if you so desperately want to decrypt it then a hint lies in the conversation between G1 and G2]

And so when I am in hostel, today is this one day when I wake up early. Its Rakshabandhan today, so I woke up early, 1 hour before my normal routine and then 30 minutes snooze and then finally up. I somehow felt good. Looking out of the window was refreshing. Cool breeze hitting my face, ripples in the lake that I could see, birds calling my friend by her name 'piu, piu, piu'. After 5 minutes of stretching I go to the washroom to see all doors open, only one or two people in there.

It happened for the first time (@ SP) that I did not have to stand in a queue to take bath ! The song being played in my mind was the same that plays everyday - Jame Raho (TZP) but then today it was the second half of the song. Yaha alag andaaz hai... while usually it is Kyu duniya ka naara..Jame Raho...

And soon I realized what my flat mates think of me when there was a bang on the door and the guy outside started shouting

Guy : Kaun hai andar..
Me : Prateek
Guy : Abey bata yaar..
Me : (in my mind) What do you mean :O ?
Guy : Abey batao..kaun hai ?
Me : Prateek yaar...
Guy (angry) : Mat bata...baitha reh..subha subha dimaag kharab kar raha hai...
Me : :S :S

So, I go back to my room, get dressed and my roomie who just woke up sees and literally shouts - ABEYYYYY !!! (looks at his watch) ITNI JALDI ???? :O

This is what I call 'stereotype'.

Now while walking to college, I decide to write this post and I come to class and guess what ?
There are only 4 people in class, I am the FIFTH one !! For the first time did it happen that I reached the class and saw so many others coming in and then the faculty.

The wait is a bit boring :(
But then today I didn't have to get up and start with a 4X speed but rather it was 3/4X.

Class begins and I sign off :)

[Note: The post may not have 100% accurate information and most of the data given may be fictitious. Why? What why ! C'mon it is my blog !]

So, what am I doing and what keeps me busy ?

Not long ago I get to know that this blogger with alias Guttu has posted a review of my blog on his blog (http://www.thinknonsense.com/bb/2008/08/03/as-i-see-it/#more-294). Before I go any further, I would like to thank him for doing it. Next, about the points he gave to my blog, there was this head titled 'frequency' in which I got the lowest and that is 5/10. Of what all he says I agree that I should post more often but then one needs time. There are times when you do have some free time but then often at such times I go blank and don't force myself into posting.

So, again the question, What keeps me busy ?

Basically, I am a student doing my MBA and I guess that somewhat tells about why I got a 5 under the 'frequency' head.

Talking about the past, engineering days, I had ample time but then there were many other things that I was more interested in.

One more thing, I feel that if one tries writing when he doesn't really feel like then what essentially comes out is his work, the jargon he uses all day, in a very peculiar form.

Believe me I am trying hard not to use all jargon - terms like demand, supply, consumer surplus when I very well can relate it to Guttu suggesting me to post more often - which I often tend to do almost everywhere.

I don't think one can help it. Your brain and ears are so used to these terms (plus this is what you are going to listen every now and then) that you tend to apply them in every scenario.

In a post I posted long back regarding my Design Project, I did mention the OpenGL fever me and Aatish fell prey to. glutFcChalein(), glDinner(), etc.

Just that now its moved from technology to a different stream.

When I go out and buy anything (even a melody), then just before paying, the first thing that comes to my (others as well, and we even say it at times) mind is to say "Why should I pay? You add it to your Assets (Accounts Receivables) and I will add it to my Liabilities (Accounts Payable) and its done". Horrendous ! right ?

I remember myself explaining the demand supply curve and how to tap consumer surplus to the canteen fellow with DIAGRAMS ! It happened when we asked for Bhindi and he said it is not available because there is huge demand for it. Now whether he got it or not, I tried my best to explain him concepts I know !

Ok, so I see the 'Low Battery' notification and I don't have my charger here with me, so here I press 'Publish Post'.

PS : Forgive me for the extra dose of lameness towards the end and I know your facial expression is something like :S but then its my normal self. Isn't it ?

Say What ! and I say 'So what' :P

So its been more or less 40 days and 40 nights in my new (B) School and to start with has been a nice chapter. I started off with one of my very special birthdays here which was special because of the reception I got here. Soon after, as expected, had to make books my friends and more importantly had to start getting up at 7:00 AM.

Gradually books were put up on shelf and I started off with the bakk sessions with people here. The 7:00 AM alarm has now been changed to 7:55AM. I celebrate my weekend when it is mid-week for everyone outside my college. I have Thursdays off.

I think I now know why the place where food is served is called 'Mess'. All nearby eating joints follow the policy of Sugar FREE. Exaggerating a bit makes me say that even Rotis are sweet here. Perhaps, they mix sugar in flour. Sambhar, Dal, Paneer and even Chicken have that extra tinge of Sugar in it. Perhaps, they feed sugar to the hens as well. And, they don't charge you extra for all this extra 'sweetness' so it literally is Sugar FREE.

Moving out of the 'nearby' circle makes you change your opinion about the sweet food. Many decent food joints serving quality food can be found easily. Plus you get to see a gelato store as often as an ICICI bank ATM. But then not all are as good as gelato Italiano !

Then there is this Dosa shop outside NMIMS and Mithibai that has all weird kinds of Dosas and equally weird stuffings. E.g. Spicy Chilli Paneer Dosa, American Choupsey with Capsicum Dosa, Tangy Chesse Onion Dosa or a Paw Bhaji Dosa. This special mention was because all these varieties of dosas indeed taste good :)

Some more info about Mumbai and then we head to Lonavala.

Rains in Mumbai seem to be controlled with a regulator just like a fan is. Someone switches it on and it starts pouring at level 5. Then someone comes in and switches it off so it goes off all of a sudden. At times that 'someone' uses the regulator so he/she rotates it anti-clockwise or clockwise, just for fun. You get ready to go out and the switch is turned ON and you are all wet. You go back to your room to change and notice that the switch has been turned OFF. You change and move out and the switch is turned ON again. Water-soaked you decide to move on just to see that the person coming from the other side waving at you is all dry and it seems that the cloud above is the only cloud around and is serving you with utmost dedication. I carry a umbrella in my backpack all the time and many others keep it in their pockets as well. Amazing ! I don't even remember when did I use an umbrella last before coming to Mumbai :O

Next piece of info is something you must have heard time and again and it is about vadapav being the staple diet of people here.

Long Long ago when I first came to Bombay I noticed that the traffic is all well-organized. People follow lanes. Not anymore. Moreover, the auto rickshaw drivers are just too good. They go by METER (I am from Delhi so it is surprising for me). The fare is a function of Time * Distance. They have huge speakers installed which from outside sound 'Dhik-chik Dhik-chik'. They can take all steep turns and drive as if it was some NFS Carbon simulation.

This post is getting bigger but I am enjoying writing so I will continue :)

A movie ticket costs 200 bucks so you really curse yourself if you go for Kismat Konnection. And not many would be aware (at least I was not) that before every movie show the National Anthem video is played (the one featuring Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle, AR Rahman and others) and people stand and some do sing it along. Nice. I liked it !

Moving on I'll write in something about Lonawala where I went for my Personal Growth (PG) Lab. It is beautiful. Everything around is just great. We went for trekking to this place famous as Duke's Nose (a cliff about 800 feet high that looked like a Nose to Mr.Duke). Then there was another place where we went for a small trek yet again and saw a waterfall, sat by it, drank the purest form of water. It was drizzling almost everyday when we went out and walking though the clouds with water droplets refreshing you was just awesome. Clean, Green, Serene !

You move out and head towards a market and every 2nd shop has this huge board outside it that reads 'maganlal Chikki' in same font and colour. So basically every shop sells chikki, chocolate walnut fudge (nothing like chocolate except the colour), etc. I tried to re picture the market and want to make a slight modification in stats I gave above. It was like out of every 5 shops 3 were 'maganlal Chikki', 1 'A-1 Chikki' and the remaining 1 could be either 'maganlal' or 'A-1' with 0.5 probability each.

And thats it! The last night was the 40th night and since I had no class today I was up till late doing nothing, woke up late today just like yesterday and it reminded me off the last sem @ DAIICT :)

Breaks between classes can be effectively utilized for blogging :)

Well what brings me here to this topic is essentially ESPN broadcasting the Euro Cup 2008 and the Hindi Commentary that goes on. This was for football and yet another reason is some sorts of revisiting and discussing the ones related to Cricket with desh.

So of all those I can recollect, here is a short list

Cricket :

1.) If India wins a match then in the commentary box (Hindi) or some post match analysis by "experts" on various news channels the one line that is famous is

Yeh Bharat ki jeet hai !

and if India loses then it automatically becomes

Cricket ki Jeet !

2.) On every commendable performance by Indian Team you often get to hear

Mujhe unees sau tiraasi ke woh din yaad aa gaye Arun (or Moninder or Maninder)

Unlike some trademark Bollywood dialogues the above two lines doesn't seem to fade away and you can hear them quite often. What has become obsolete is listening to commentary on Radio.

3.) I miss the exciting

Aur yeh behtareen shot deep square leg ki taraf utha ke maara hai EK RUN ke liye

and

4.) Even more popular

Yeh shaandar Dabur Chawanprash Chauka Sachin Tendulkar ke balle se

Moving on to Football now there are just two which I remember, both somewhat related and revolving around the word Khalbali

If I am not wrong it is by Sunil Taneja (please correct me if I am wrong)

So here it goes

Ronaldo aaj koi VISHESH KHALBALI machane mein saksham nahi huey hain

and

Raksha Pankti se ball katate huey Ronaldinho ! aakraman teevr karte huey bakse mein pravesh. Khaasa control bana rakha tha ball pe par koi vishesh khalbali machane mein saksham nahi

Besides such full of excitement comments its all boring. What you get to hear is

Ballack, Germany ke khiladi hain yeh....behtareen cross lekin...

Podolski, Germany ke khiladi hain yeh, behtareen shot lekin...

Kazim, Turkey ke khiladi hain yeh, behtareen move banaya lekin..

Which esentially means its absolutely organized. The syntax is as follows :

Name, Country/Club ke khiladi hain yeh, behtareen move/cross/shot (dynamic) lekin..

So I guess it can be automated. but then why do we need Mr.Taneja ? Well, if he is not there then who will inform us about some Vishesh Khalbali :P

Sounds funny ?

Well, if you ask me then, ok I am not writing all this without any reason. Taking the word 'Baksa' for Penalty Area does sound weird if not funny. And Vishesh Khalbali is indeed funny !

so after reading this does anyone recall uneeswe dashak ki woh commentary which still continues?

Now if I get appreciable amount of readers for this post then obviously its Blog ki Jeet ! or else well Internet ki jeet !

Its good news for all you people longing to get an iPhone (especially in India) via the 'official' route.

Steve Jobs, Apple CEO announced the launch of a new phone iPhone 3G which he introduced as

Finally, the first phone to beat the iPhone... Introducing the NEW iPhone 3G.

at the WWDC 2008.

He said he was well aware of the demand of the iPhone all over the world (even places where it hasn't been launched yet)

We've sold iPhone in six countries so far, but believe me, they're in use ALL over the world. It's clear there is a demand.

Apple will be launching the iPhone 3G in 70 countries this year (which includes India!!)


The sale starts on 11th July in 22 'biggest' countries and will roll out in other countries in next several months (this year!)

The other good news is that they relaized

The number one reason people didn't buy iPhones is because they just can't afford it (56%). So as we arrive at iPhone's 1st birthday -- we're going to take it to the next level.

So ?

The price is a maximum of $199 all around the world.

iPhone 3G 8GB = $199
iPhone 3G 16GB = $299

New Features include

► 3G
► GPS
► 10 hrs 2G talktime !
► Microsoft Exchange
► Plastic back and thinner at edges
► Improved audio, headphone jack
► Available in all BLACK !

Nokia and 'biggies' are going to have a tough time ahead I suppose.

Image and quotes courtesy : Engadget

And I knew its the French Open Final and then I was reminded of that on news channels as well. What I didn't know was what time does it start and which channel. Maybe because I am not much of an enthusiast when it comes to Tennis. The only reason I watch it at times is because of the Indian sensation Sania Mirza or the ex-number one Maria Sharapova (Ivanovic moved past her with her French Open win this year, Sharapova's exit did come as a shock to me!) or because of Ajeet who is a die-hard fan of Roger Federer. Now I knew the match is between two age old rivals, Rafael Nadal, who has a new found habit of winning this title and Roger Federer, who no matter what others think have Ajeet putting his money on him.

So while scanning through various channels on TV, I did manage to get onto Star Sports while the match was on. But the scoreline suggested that Federer, despite of his hunger for this title, is having a tough time. I had other things to do now that I have to move to my next destination, but still I managed to see Federer lose some points. Of what all little bit of Tennis I have seen in past, especially Federer's game, I guess it was his worst performance. Hitting it long, way out on the left of the court, sometimes on the right and hitting the net was way to often and was taking the game virtually out of Federer's hands.

And then as I said, I had other things to do so didn't see the entire match but later when I saw the news channels I got to know that Nadal won yet another French Open Title and he had even managed to do what Bjorn Burg did years ago (win this title 4 times).

Of what all bits and pieces of the match I saw I would like to say Nadal deserved it, Federer was no way near to match Nadal's brilliance (C'mon straight sets and that too one was 6-0) and finally a message for the disappointed Federer fan -

Kya bhaiya isse achcha toh Sania Mirza khelti hai ! (Mano ya na Mano :P)

I know you are not with me on this Ajeet but what had to happen did happen ! Better luck next time to both of you :)

♫ ♬ ♪ Rafa Rafa Federer ko hara gaya Rafa dekho Rafa...♪ ♬ ♫

FED(erer)EX(pelled) :P

Wanted to do it for long now and finally managed to do it. So here is ~»»...C Θ Ň C Θ C Ŧ ! Θ Ň...««~ in a new pack and yes with a new name. The blog will now be named as I see it because I found it more apt a title than the earlier one.

The template is courtesy Blog and Web who converted the original Wordpress design by Just Skins to work for Blogger (though this conversion had comments in Spanish and I had a really tough time playing around with the Spanish version and the Google Language Tools).

Anyways, still some tweaking here and there is required and I will try and complete it as soon as possible. Till then I'll say its in beta.

IPL is over and I am back surfing the net, reading blogs, watching videos and here is what. I found an interesting video along with a story related to it. So, all of you must have seen the DLF IPL - Cricket ka Karmayudh video
So, while looking for some more updates on plagiarised music pieces on itwofs.com I came across this interesting piece regarding the Karmayudh video. Before I continue have a look at this video



So, need I say more ? It first appeared on CNBC where ad film maker Prasoon Pandey defended the plagiarism charge of lifting the DLF IPL Karmayudh ad campaigna 5 year old US TV promo. He admitted that there are striking similarities indeed but insisted that he had not seen the baseball ad before.

He said actual footage was given to the animators to paint on top, they having painted on top also put a splash on a shot and showed it to him. He liked the idea and gave a green signal to the animators. He went on to say that he had also confirmed with the animator E. Suresh of Famous Studios that even he had not seen the ad before.

The only valid point I think he managed to put forward was that "the splash can neither be any body's property." And that it is not the idea of the IPL commercial which according to him is in the Veer Ras audio track.

What do you think ?

[Credits : itwofs.com]

Surely they aren't discussing this :

Person on the Right : Will you tell me what is going on? You said players who play Test Matches can play any format of the game. Then why don't I see any results ? Did you mean they can only 'play' any format of the game or you meant play well, perform and win ? No, you tell me how the hell does Wasim Jaffer fit into the side. Why didn't you pick Rohit Sharma or Robin Utthapa ? Was it because it was they who probably stole your place in the national team ? No, you HAVE TO tell me how the hell does Wasim Jaffer fit into the side. Could have bought many bottles of bear for that money ! At least it would have signified its existence. Ain't I right ? Everyone thinks we are probably the best Test side in the tournament. But this is Twenty20. You still haven't told me that how the hell does Wasim Jaffer fit into the side. You and Charu made the worst choices possible first and then to cover up you chose Misbah and Boucher. How can you expect these two to do the job of eleven players. WILL YOU TELL ME WHAT MADE YOU CHOOSE WASIM JAFFER ?

Person on the left (Monologue) : God ! Keep it this way. Please make sure that by no chance the name 'Sunil Joshi' pops up into his head. What will I say ? But seriously, why Joshi ? Was it Charu's choice.
I guess he is right how can we expect a win with the side we have ? But now what can I do before the next season ? Oh my God ! he will put me up for sale. Mr. Modi can 'Icons' be kicked out and put up on sale ?
Why wasn't Kumble made an Icon for BRC ? Then like Dhoni even I would have been bought, perhaps by Rajasthan and it would have been great.

[PS : Please feel free to tell me something else that you think they AREN'T discussing]

Now that the IPL ends I wonder what on air will be able to catch my attention. Argh, even Roadies is over so now there is nothing to watch even on Saturday evenings. Let us try to find out what all is on air these days and then I'll try and decide on a few.

1.) News
Whats up ? Nothing much. There hasn't been any BIG STORY of late so some channels have put up repeat telecasts of some 'Comedy' shows and some other put up tricks (walking on water, disappearing) performed by Criss Angel (described as 'Lambe Baal, Gora chehra') and then ask viewers to call them and give in their opinions on how he must have done it. Surprised ? Then heres more to it. People actually call. Some of them said its 'Kudrat ka Karishma' some other said its 'Shaitani Taqat' and I heard one intelligent guy correctly pointing out and revealing the secret behind the trick. By the end of this story the news channels actually reveal the secret themselves and say that they just did a 'Pardafaash'. Now someone please tell them that there is obviously some trick involved and its not 'Kudrat ka Karishma' and that you are revealing the secret behind the trick and its not 'Pardafaash'

And of the other stories that appear on these channels, I managed to collect some interesting images.




2.) Reality Shows
Kya aap Panchvi Paas se Tez hain ? I actually liked the concept but lately I got to know that even this show is an exact replica of a show named "Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader" (perhaps, they have appropriate rights to do the same) just like KBC was much like Who wants to be a Millionaire and Indian Idol (which gave birth to a hell lot of singing competitions and is not at all interesting) was on the lines of American Idol. Not that it makes a difference as far as my viewing is concerned but then the rumors that the answers are told to the students before hand is not totally unbelievable and that kind off pulled me away from it.

3.) Daily Soaps
No.

Guess, it has to be sports then and Yes ! Euro Cup 2008 starts 7th June. So its few more days and then at least there will be something I can see though watching TV is not mandatory.

Almost twenty-two years earlier football fans witnessed something that found its place in the history of football. Two goals - one famous another infamous - by the Argentine Diego Maradona. While the former was later termed as "Goal of the Century", it was the latter that attracted criticism from fans all around the world.

It was England vs Argentina in the World Cup Quarter Finals, when after six minutes into the second half Maradona scored the first goal for Argentina using the outside of his left fist to push the ball into the net beating the goalkeeper Paul Shilton. The refree and the linesman didn't seem to take notice and took it as Maradona heading the ball, thus, awarding it to Argentina.

Maradona, the man who coined one of the most famous quotes in sport at the post match press conference "un poco con la cabeza de Maradona y otro poco con la mano de Dios" (a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of Gods) has finally issued an apology for the same.

"If I could apologise and go back and change history I would do. But the goal is still a goal, Argentina became world champions and I was the best player in the world. I cannot change history. All I can do now is move on." The apology came during an interview for The Sun.

Maradona has never before apologised for the strike which helped Argentina go on to win the tournament. In fact he stood by what he did when he said "The truth is that I don't for a second regret scoring that goal with my hand," he said on his TV show La Noche del Diez (Number Ten Night).

However, he did admit that the ball came off his hand in his autobiography Yo soy el Diego :
Now I feel I am able to say what I couldn't then. At the time I called it "the hand of God." What hand of God? It was the hand of Diego! And it felt a little bit like pickpocketing the English.

And now when Maradona has issued an apology for the deed, English goalkeeper Shilton is still fuming. Talking to The Sun he said, "He's had so many chances to do it over the years it actually feels hollow now. The guy should have said sorry straight after the game - that's what a truly great player like Pele would have done. It'll stay with me for ever."

Talking about his team's chances of winning the game he said, "The first goal in that game was always going to be so important. It gave the Argentineans a psychological edge and we all knew we'd gone behind to a handball - it cast doubt in our minds. If it had gone into extra time, who knows what would have happened."

Well, as Maradona said, "I cannot change history", so can't we. It stays as is, somewhere in a dark corner, in the football history book.

[Note : The sequence of events mentioned may not be cent per cent accurate and the questions discussed are all Memory-Based :P]

Probably the first post where I will bnot blabber much and just give in the details of my interview experience at SPJIMR.

The process started with the verification of documents - HSC and SSC marksheets, Graduation score, CAT and XAT Admit Cards. A group of 6 (in some cases it was 7) was formed and was sent for the first round of interview. The group formation was random with candidates from different streams (M, F, O and IM).

I was a bit nervous and tensed but the panel (2 members) asked us to sit and then introduce d themselves and somehow I managed to relax and was qute comfortable. We were asked to introduce ourselves and the questions thereafter were mainly related to what one said in his/her introduction or related to some keywords that catch one's eye when the profile sheet is scanned through.

The first question for me was 'How is Gujarat (I study in Gujarat) different from Delhi or Mumbai ?'

This was followed by my take on the current Chief Minister of Gujarat.

We were then asked about our views on the change in consumer behaviour from 90s to now. E.g. given was that in recent past many people fly because of low cost airlines so there has been a drastic change in the Aviation Industry.

It was mentioned beforehand that "This is not a GD and everyone would be given a chance to speak."

Next question for me was "Why did you choose Marketing ?". One of the other candidates was asked the same question and he said he found it very interesting on which he was asked what subjects does he expect to be taught at SPJIMR and did he do any research on Marketing, since he found it interesting.

Another candidate was asked to relate her stream of graduation to the present job profile and to the stream opted for pursuing MBA.

Two other questions that everyone was asked were

* Did you take any coaching for MBA entrance and the interview process ?
Everyone replied honestly and named the coaching centres.

* If you were in our seat then which 3 of the 6 would you select ? (NO reasons were allowed to be given)

The first round then ended and the names of the candidates who move on to the next round were announced. Four out of six in our group made it to the next round (there was no elimination thereafter on that day) which was a 7-minute Behaviour Test. There were 24 rows containing 4 adjectives each. We were supposed to mark 'M' against the adjective that described us most and 'L' against the one that described us least in each of the rows.

E.g.      gentle      humble     presuasive      original

The options were quite close and each row had some or the other adjective that was close to one mentioned earlier and there was a very high probability that you may contradict yourself on one point or the other.

Next was a second round of interview and this time I like others had different group members (not the same as in Round 1) but even this time they were all from different streams.

The panel this time had 3 members and one of the members was a first year student studying at SPJIMR.

Tension on the faces of the candidates could be clearly seen but periodic jokes and light laughter spells made the atmosphere comfortable.

We were told that only 1 out of the 6 would be selected.

This round was similar to the first as it began with the introduction of the candidates (we were given exactly 60 seconds to do so, extra time taken was just mentioned but we were not forced to cut short or interrupted in between).

Again questions were related to whatever was said in the introduction. I was asked who was my favourite footballer to which I replied C.Ronaldo. Why is he my favourite was the next question. I somewhere mentioned the tricks he does on field and so was asked how is it that he is able to perform them and not a majority of other footballers ?

Another question that I was asked was "Is blogging good or bad ?" (I mentioned that I like blogging in my introduction).

I would like to mention a few questions that were thrown at the other candidates.

* Defend yourself when I say you are serious and boring.
* Defend yourself when I say you are careless.
* Describe the SDLC of the project you mentioned you are working on.
* What is |x| if x>0 ?(for a candidate who said loved maths)
* What is |x| if x<0 ?(Incorrect response to the previous question lead to this)
An incorrect response again lead to the question been thrown open to other candidates.

Two of the candidates who said they liked Maths were given an Arithmetic Series each and were asked to find the next term. They tried hard and came up with a solution as well but to everyone's surprise the series didn't have any logic except the fact that the terms given to them were the PERCENTAGE MARKS obtained by them at school and college.

Like in the first round we got a topic "After the recent fluctuaion in the SENSEX it is said that the growth in economy will be hampered and that our growth is not ___ some 9.3% ___ (I don't remember the exact figures).

We were asked to repeat after the panel "This is not a GD"

Everyone gave there views on the topic.

Before leaving we were asked if this was what we expected the interview will be like. I was asked if this would go up on my blog ?

After this second round of interview we took a 55 minutes psychometric test which had 3 sections. The first (30 minutes time) had questions like

* Values dear to me _____
* I like _____
* I dislike _____
* I don't trust people who _____
* Factors that have hampered my progress are _____
* Good human beings are good citizens because _____
* In case of an emergency I will _____
* If I am in a difficulty _____
* My friends listen to me because _____
* My frineds enjoy my company because _____
* My hobbies are _____
* My weakness _____
* I respect people who are _____
* My role model (hero) _____
* I dont like people who _____
* For my development I need _____
* If I am given a difficult task to complete _____
* Honesty, courage and *something* in a person is appreciated by his/her colleagues because _____
* I want to achieve _____
* I respect my seniors who are _____


The second section (15 minutes) was " Self Appraisal" and had questions like

* What do my elders think of me ?
* What do my colloeagues think of me ?
* What do my seniors think about me ?
* What do I think about myself ?
* What will I do about my shotcomings (weaknesses) ?
* How committed am I towards my goals and how do I plan to achieve them ?

In the last section we were supposd to give our personal details like

* Name
* Father's name
* Percentage marks in 10th, 12th, Graduation, etc.
* Academic Achievements
* Extra-curricular Activities
* Games/Sports and the level to which one has represented the team (class, school, college, university), the period when it was done
* Anything else we would like to tell about ourselves.

Phew !! I guess its the longest post on my blog. Anywayz the entire process was good, I enjoyed it. It was not at all like I had imagined and was nervous about. Lets see what happens, I am waiting for the results. Fingers Crossed !!

The five-day long game was perhaps turning out to be very long and less interesting for the followers of the Gentleman’s game. Coupled with the commercial side of it, cricket fans witnessed a new form of the game ‘One-Day Internationals’. You win; you lose or end up in a tie all in a single day. But still an equally popular (if not more) sport, Football or Soccer, was about one-fourth of the total duration of this new form of Cricket and yet had an enormous fan following and money spun into it. While both games enjoy their popularity among fan followers all around the world it seems Cricket is going the Soccer way now.

Picture this - from Test Cricket to ODIs, introduction of ‘Super-Subs’ (one substitution per team per game; didn’t gain much acceptance with the playing nations), the concept of ‘Powerplays’, the advent of Hong Kong Sixes, Twenty20 Cricket, acceptance of the later by the International Cricket Council(ICC). All towards an even shorter format of the game with an extra tinge of excitement, isn’t it?

Twenty20 besides being shorter in duration was a bit different from the other formats of the game. Teams walking to the center, national anthems, batting side sitting in stands next to the boundary, cricket’s version of penalty shoot-outs - Bowl Out - to decide the winner in case of a tie and more. How should we explain this, different from the other formats of the game or strikingly similar to the other game, Soccer?

Moreover, the Twenty20 World Cup not only gained in terms of popularity amongst the followers of the game, it turned out to be a lottery for the investors, the sponsors as well. In this fast-moving world, the shorter the game, the more it earns in terms of the Popularity Quotient it seems.

Talking about India, the country whose Cricket Board is perhaps the richest in the world; cricket is not merely a game. It is a religion for its followers, a business opportunity for the investors. We witnessed the successfully conducted ICL(Indian Cricket League) Twenty20 league few weeks ago and now the fans are waiting for the IPL(Indian Premier League). Bollywood stars and the biggies in the Biz World shelled out millions at the auction of city franchises of the Indian Premier League. The first season kicks off in April 2008. It will surely be interesting to see the transactions in the Transfer Market, though the big names in the current Indian side will be playing for their own city team.

Well now isn’t it somewhat similar to the Premier League Soccer. Surely it is as confirmed by the BCCI Vice President Lalit Modi who said that “the IPL will work in a similar pattern to Britain’s English Premiership League where clubs will be the franchisees of BCCI and players of the said clubs will be sold and purchased like any professional club.”

Having all said and done, the question is, does it really matter whether the game gets shorter or amendments being made in the rule book? Well, we already have mixed opinions from the cricketing experts with a bias towards Test Cricket but as for the fans, they are enjoying the firework-studded form of the game that gets over merely in about three hours twenty-five minutes, and why not? In this super speedy life, with aggression all around, the shortening attention spans and when sports is not an activity to pass time but a source of entertainment why not be open to a change that promises instant gratification. Not to forget the Corporate Giants, Bollywood stars and the TV Channels, who are cashing out on this.

Few reasons that got me here and made me post this :

1.) I haven't updated my blog for long now
2.) Frequent encounter with the word 'Blah' in the recent past
3.) Blahhhhhhh

Before begining to write a new post I did some research (can be called so) on the word 'Blah'. Not quite surprsingly there exists a website 'www.blah.com' (which I have tried to access in another tab). The reason I say its not so surprising because the web now has so many websites that you can blindly enter any word, prefix it with www. and append it with .com. With a significant probability of 0.9 you will definitely land up to a website other than that of a domain seller.

Anyhow, the word Blah is the reason I am here and ironically it "is a token word with no meaning of its own". This simple four-letter word is used anywhere and everywhere. I guess, its the second most commonly spoken word (the first one is also a four-lettered word that I would not like to mention).

People use it to indicate a boring speech - blaahhhhhhhh (it no longer remains four-lettered if the speech is too boring) or blah blah blah blah.

You use it to cut short some unimportant part of a message while narrating.

What if you forget something while narrating ? Yes, Blah is the word to fill in the blanks !!

Leave aside forgetting, even when your brain is not able to deliver an appropriate word as required, you....err...Blah it in to maintain the continuity of your speech.

Upcoming trends reveal that it is used as a tool to maintain decency in public and yet swear - Blah U !!

The frequency of use of this word in online conversations, text messaging, informal talks is significantly high. The habit of using this word is...habit...no...disease is the word and its contagious.

I have been infected already. I get irritated when someone uses this word. Blaaahhh as if you care if you are not infected and blahh to me is what those who are infected will want to say.

Whatever, I have successfully managed to update my blog. Blaaahhhhh !!

By the way, 'Whatever' is Blah's sibbling I guess. The next most commonly used word, equally contagious.

Regarding the statistics provided in the post :
Well these have been derived from the theorem, rather axiom "Ninety percent of the statistics are compiled at the moment"

Before I leave, I just got a twitter update that states "Monkeys are the only animals that eat bananas". Its a fact. I was unaware.

C'mon say it one last time. Repeat it after me. Blaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh :P

PS : The website I mentioned above, have still not been able to access it. Blaahhhhhh :P