For When I Feel Like It...

Let's Keep Exploring...

2010-06-01T21:03:00.004+01:00

I am moving to WordPress, it's granular per-post privacy controls won me over! My new blog url is http://letskeepexploring.wordpress.com, all previous posts have been imported and any new writing will be on the new site!

I know this means you all would have to update neurons, bookmarks, blogrolls and RSS feeds and I'm sorry about that. Let me know if I can do anything to make it easier.. again, the new blog is here.

I hope I'll see you around :)

Today will be remembered in history...

2010-06-01T13:16:00.007+01:00

...as the day I deleted my Orkut account. I haven't had a meaningful conversation there in more than a year and everytime I check, only strangers seem to be visiting my page.

I removed quite a bit of personal information from my Facebook account last month. Further Facebook-specific steps are being debated. I'm considering taking my Twitter account back to private and the thought of making this blog viewership "permission based" entered my head for the first time yesterday.

How much of my life (or my random musings) do I want to share with strangers (or random acquaintances)? How much of my life am I comfortable sharing with strangers (or random acquaintances)? Am I okay with collateral damage? Am I okay with shutting out friends just to keep the strangers away?

These are questions that I debate with myself continuously. There are two very conflicting parts of my personality at war here. I have a feeling that the battle will be decided in the months post the MBA. I somehow feel I already know the outcome but for now, an uncomfortable truce exists.

Addendum: And now I'm gonna go share this blog link on Facebook and Twitter. Yes, I'm fully aware of the irony and the conflict. In a sense, that's what this post is about :)

Percy Jackson & the Olympians

2010-05-27T01:30:00.006+01:00

"As for my brothers," Zeus said, "we are thankful" — he cleared his throat like the words were hard to get out — "erm, thankful for the aid of Hades."
  The lord of the dead nodded. He had a smug look on his face, but I figure he'd earned the right. He patted his son Nico on the shoulders, and Nico looked happier than I'd ever seen him.
  "And, of course," Zeus continued, though he looked like his pants were smoldering, "we must... um... thank Poseidon."
  "I'm sorry, brother," Poseidon said. "What was that?"
  "We must thank Poseidon," Zeus growled. "Without whom... it would've been difficult —"
  "Difficult?" Poseidon asked innocently.
  "Impossible," Zeus said. "Impossible to defeat Typhon."
  The gods murmured agreement and pounded their weapons in approval.
  "Which leaves us," Zeus said, "only the matter of thanking our young demigod heroes, who defended Olympus so well — even if there are a few dents in my throne."
  He called Thalia forward first, since she was his daughter, and promised her help in filling the Hunters' ranks.
  Artemis smiled. "You have done well, my lieutenant. You have made me proud, and all those Hunters who perished in my service will never be forgotten. They will achieve Elysium, I am sure."
  She glared pointedly at Hades.
  He shrugged. "Probably."
  Artemis glared at him some more.
  "Okay," Hades grumbled. "I'll streamline their application process."

=)).. in hindsight, this isn't even that funny but it just made me laugh so hard! I recently finished the last Percy Jackson book (I've talked about one of the books earlier) and I recommend the series if you're looking for a fun read. Like Harry Potter, the first book is somewhat childish in parts but the series gets pretty enjoyable very soon!

Words of Wisdom

2010-05-26T23:29:00.002+01:00

“The woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang the best.” ~ From Dad's never-ending quote collection

"Pandora opened her pithos and released most of the demons that now haunt mankind — fear, death, hunger, sickness. Only one spirit remained inside. Elpis, the Spirit of Hope, would not abandon humanity. Hope does not leave without being given permission. ~ Adapted from a dialogue in 'Percy Jackson & the Last Olympian'

Sports in India - Why Aren't We There Yet?

2010-05-23T23:29:00.003+01:00

So, I was at the MBATs last week surrounded by more than 1500 MBA students from all over Europe. It was essentially a sports competition and this was the first opportunity I've ever had to compare sporting talent from across countries. What I found was quite interesting - South Asians performed at par with those from other places in the world.

This obviously wasn't the top level of competition, but most people there were above average. They were those who had been in their school teams, their varsity teams.. those who had represented their cities or states. And compared with this group and level of playing standards, South Asians were competing on par. Badminton, lawn tennis, table tennis, football, you name it.. each sport and team had its share of representation from South Asia. For example, the LBS table tennis team that won the gold had 2 players from India, both of whom won their mathces in the final. The girl had played state level for Tamil Nadu and kicked ass.

So by this very crude comparison, it seems to me that there is no difference in the level of talent or ability amongst those who play at the district or state level in India and those in other countries. At the junior levels, we seem to be doing fine. Perhaps this is also proven by the fact that our players perform much better at the junior level than at the professional level. Leander Paes is a Wimbledon junior title winner, a world number 1 in the junior rankings. His highest singles rank on the ATP tour is 73, he has never gone past the Wimbledon 2nd round..

So what is it that stops these sportsmen, those potentially world-class players at junior level, from going all the way? Where's the glass ceiling that stops them from breaking through? Is it that their talents don't get nurtured enough? Or is it just that they end up taking a different path, one that leads them to great jobs, multinational companies and MBA competitions?

Broken Song

2010-05-19T20:49:00.002+01:00

Only by the marriage of two forces does music arise,
One man sings out loud, another sings in his mind,
Where there is no love, where listeners are dumb,
There is no song.

~ Tagore ~

Note: This quote is from a poem called 'Broken Song'. I don't think this is an exact quote but it's what I remember.. the real thing can probably be found online..

Oxbridge 2010

2010-05-18T11:44:00.003+01:00

Oxbridge is an annual sports competition between the students of Said Business School, Oxford and Judge Business School, Cambridge. The two school play the hosts in alternate years and for 2010, we headed to Cambridge for the tournament. The problem with hosting sporting events with multiple sports in Oxford or Cambridge is the lack of consolidated sporting facilities. Both universities are virtual campuses, which means that every college has its own sports ground, all of them spread apart. Our compatriots at Judge got over this by renting out a sports academy in the outskirts of Cambridge for a day. It was a great move as almost all the games were now played within a 200 m radius, supporters moved from one arena to the other with great ease!

From our perspective, we had hoped to use Oxbridge as a testing ground for our MBAT preparations. And this strategy really worked to our advantage as we pinpointed where we were lacking and then moved to fill those gaps. For example, we lost to Cambridge in Tug-of-War and Rowing but won the gold in both these events at the MBAT. The fact that we beat Cambridge in the finals of these events was just an icing on the cake!

Overall, the competition was extremely tight and both teams didn't want to give an inch. For example, the cricket match went to the last ball with Oxford emerging victorious. Soccer went to the death with penalty shootouts and was also marred by a controversial last minute Cambridge goal - every Oxford supporter swore the ball had not crossed the line, every Cambridge supporter swore that it did! The ref ruled that the goal was valid, the fact that he had been hired (and was paid) by Cambridge didn't escape our attention..

In the end however, Oxford lost the overall trophy, winning only 7 sports against Cambridge's tally of 9. We're now down 3 - 4 in the overall Oxbridge tally and I really hope that the next batch can pull it back!

Go Oxford!!

Becoming Jane

2010-05-17T23:53:00.000+01:00

"Will all your stories have happy endings?"

MBAT 2010 - Tennis Penseive

2010-05-17T19:16:00.003+01:00

If you've been reading this blog, you probably know that its primary purpose is to serve as a penseive for my memories. You needn't read further coz it's gonna seem like bragging.. but I played what probably is the best tennis of my life this weekend and I just wanna have a record of things that I remember.. and would want to remember always..

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1. The realization that even though my backhand slice should theoretically be more suited for grass, the "dominant logic" (ha ha, MBA lingo!) in my head is hardwired for clay. I haven't forgotten how to slide on this surface and even though I haven't played on clay for 4 years, after the first few shots, it feels like home.

2. Telling CK (after practising serves for half an hour) on the day of last practice that there was a time when I could consistently swing it out with my serve on the ad court but I can't anymore. And then in the semi with HEC, just deciding to go for it because it somehow feels right.. serving the slice swinger short to the side line on the deciding point at 4-4.. just catching the line, serving out the game with an ace.

3. Semis against HEC.. Gaining confidence with the serve above, realizing I'm in the zone. Going for a wide top spin dipper second serve on the deuce court on the deciding point at 5-5. Ace!

4. 3/4th spot playoff against Cambridge.. slicing it deep into the backhand corner and approaching the net, covering the line. Intercepting the return and hitting a drop on the forehand corner. The return is weak and I lob it back over the opponent's head.

5. 3/4th spot playoff against Cambridge.. receiving a full-blooded flat serve on the ad court.. the opponent follows it to the net and I see him from the corner of my eye.. I hit an outright forehand crosscourt winner.. when the ball hits my racket, just from the sound, I know there's no stopping this one.. my opponent, a former British junior top-20, actually applauds..

6. 3/4th spot playoff against Cambridge.. Jumping up to take a high looping ball on the forehand near the service line.. faking a topspin backswing and then slicing in a drop shot winner..

7. 3/4th spot playoff against Cambridge.. 5-6 on the tie break.. opponents hits the ball to my forehand and follows it in.. it's gonna bounce around the service line.. I move into the court, I have to take this early to hit a winner past his 6 foot 4 inches frame.. I line up for the shot, I'm thinking of going down the line.. his ball catches the tape and drops on my side.. would I have made that shot? We'll never know.. game, set, match to Cambridge..

MBAT 2010

2010-05-17T17:35:00.005+01:00

Okay, I admit it. I had been waiting for the MBATs in HEC Paris ever since I got that admit letter from Oxford in January 2009. And when they finally came along and we spent our long weekend (Said Business School suspended classes on Thu and Fri so that we could make the trip) in Paris, it was every thing I had been expecting. And more.

The first time we seriously thought about the MBAT was in the first Sports and Social Committee met after the student elections (and re-elections!). It was a few weeks before the sports captains were elected, another few weeks for the practices to begin and the team potentials soon started staking their claims. The English weather didn't make it any easier, it takes special kind of people to forget about their assignments and readings and venture out in the rain in sub-zero weather early morning just to play a sport. Suffice to say that the Oxford MBA has many special people..

Two of those special people are CK and Jairo. They are the pillars that our MBAT team stood on. Rallying more than 150 people, taking care of the finances, the operations, the organisation, communicating through the various loops that HEC wanted us to jump through, bridging the gap between the school admin and the student body, taking care of every last detail.. these guys did absolutely everything. The 3rd position trophy (yeah, baby!!) that we brought back with us belongs to them. Having followed our MBAT effort closely and helped a teeny-weeny bit, I'm more than aware of the issues these guys faced - the bus company hassles, the financial issues, the last minute switch to a new website, visa documentation, medical certificates etc etc. It is completely to their credit that hardly anyone else in class knows how difficult and wrought with complications these tasks were, how much time and effort they took to sort out. The two of them just put their head down and went on with it. No complaints. If anyone had a question, one of these two had the answer. I'm so proud to have worked with them, both of them are such amazing people.

But of course, in the end it was about the sports. We did amazingly well, and the display of camaraderie within the Oxford contingent had to be seen to be believed. The loud "Oxford Oxford" cheers rang the table tennis arena, when the handball team won a match everyone rushed to the court, if there was an injury we had people holding out 5 heat sprays and 5 cold sprays in the next minute, and I bet our Dean, Colin Mayer, wasn't expecting the "Colin Colin" chants that echoed in Le 1515 on Sat night. The 4 days reminded me of BOSM and OASIS in some ways, and in other ways it went beyond those BITS Pilani festivals. It was amazing to be a part of something like this again..

And now the withdrawal pangs are hitting big time, it's pretty difficult to go back to the routine of classes and assignments. But then, that's the way it works.. and well, alumnis can attend the MBATs as well.. not to mention the fact that I also have "IESE MBA spouse" eligibility from the coming fall! :)

Memories of Enid Blyton

2010-05-04T16:59:00.003+01:00

I grew up reading Enid Blyton. A significant part of my vacations was usually spent lying on my bed with a novel in my hand, sunlight falling on the pages from behind my shoulder. Even during school days, I'd quickly finish my homework and read as much as I could before the lights were turned off. I'd sometimes try and read through dinner and get scolded coz my food just lay there ignored. When I'm reading a novel, it becomes a real test of will-power for me to leave it halfway. For even a minute. The habit started during those Enid Blyton days and still continues. Which is why when I know that I've got something important to do, I stay far away from books.

I think my first Enid Blyton was one from the Secret series. I found it at Nani's place in Lucknow in one of her green metal trunks. It was a realy old copy, pages hung out half ripped and even the front cover and first 2 chapters were missing. I had never read a novel before that, only sticking to comics, and this one seemed like a big step forward. I carried it around with me the whole day, reading a page here and there, wondering if I should give it a shot. One page, then another, soon it was a chapter and then one more. I couldn't stop! By the end of the next day, I had read through the whole book. I carried it back with me to Allahabad and when we headed back to Lucknow a few months later, I rummaged through that trunk, picked out all the Enid Blytons I could find and piled them on the back seat of our Fiat. That trunk was nothing short of a treasure chest..

It's strange but I never bought that many Enid Blytons. My two biggest sources were Akshat and Anurag, two friends who seemed to love those novels as much as I did and who had endless stores of Secret Sevens and Famous Fives that I could pile on! Of course, what this also means that I haven't repeat-read that many of them..

Yes, repeat-reading was an important part of my vacation. Every novel that I had would be reread every vacation. The winter vacations would be particularly enjoyable with images of the Enid Blyton characters going out on picnics in the georgeous English summer. In true British style, even if it had rained in the morning, the story moved on to a sunny evening and the kids would be out with their picnic baskets! Food was always a very important part of Enid Blyton's novels, those kids had the most delicious sounding spreads in front of them. I had no idea what all those things were, but they just sounded delicious!

Actually, it is this particular aspect that has prompted me to write this post today. Walking through the Christ Church meadows today under a clear sky with the sun on my back, I couldn't help but feel that this is exactly what Enid Blyton described in her novels. On my way back, I purposefully stopped at one of the shops and ordered a scone with cream and jam. It's an indulgence that I usually stay away from but today was a day filled with Enid Blyton memories..

Now, if only someone would tell me how to get to Spiggy Holes..

The secret of his energy..

2010-04-30T22:18:00.003+01:00

I had promised Sade (my flatmate) a post on his favourite drink after his antics in Ooty. It's been a while since then and this has been a postponed message in my Outlook inbox (that's my default editor these days... mostly because my mail-client is the only application on my comp that's always running) ever since. So without further ado, let's get down to it...

To make it clear at the outset, the drink I'm talking about is "tea"... please don't ask me why it's his favourite drink... coz well, I don't know... but I have come to the conclusion that there must be some kind of voodoo stuff in there. I mean, how in the world can a group of people in their early 20s (this guy being the leader in that effort!) come back from a trip with nothing to show for other than 2.5 kg of tea. No, that's not a typo... 2.5 kg of tea. How can amongst this group a booze session be planned and then get gussed coz they're too busy calling a cup a "peg" and clank the steel glasses shouting "cheers". All I could do was stand around and take pictures... it sure was a once-in-a-lifetime-eye-opener...

No, don't ask me to explain it... like I said, I don't know...

So, the deal now basically is that every weekend, one of those packets is religiously opened and we all get our quota of Ooty special "masala chai"... I'm told that the secret to Nagarji's famous tea back in BITS campus was that the leaves came from Ooty... or so he and Vijju (another flatmate) have deciphered... now, every Saturday and Sunday we get our own Bangalore version… he makes a cup for me too secretly hoping (I'm sure) that I'd refuse so that he can gulp down an extra cup... he's gonna get that satisfaction soon... I think I've had enough tea to last me the rest of the year...

Sometime in the past, Sade had told me that drinking tea in between games was the way to win tennis matches (more on that here)... I'm very curiously waiting to see how it helps him and Vijju in the Bangalore marathon which they plan to enter sometime this month. They've been enthusiastically gymming everyday... and while he tells me they drink 2 glasses of mango juice after every session, I have the sneaking suspicion that they probably steal into the corner shop for a cup of tea instead...

Imagine this...

Sade standing with a cup in hand... speaking in a Steve Waugh drawl... "Tea is the secret of my energy"... and then Vijju coming up with a Sachin-esque... "our energy"...

Yes, I can just see it...

- RM

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This is a flashback post, the motives of which are explained here. It was first posted on QuestionableTaktix on 05/05/05. I haven't talked to Sade for ages.. time to write him an email :)

Politics in Britain

2010-04-28T23:19:00.003+01:00

It's election season in Britain and I find it fascinating. At every step, I keep comparing it to what we have back in India and how similar and different it all is. My only encounter with British politics till date has been through that Jeffrey Archer classic, First Among Equals, and it really seems like I'm reading the novel again when they show Brown or Cameron walking door to door campaigning just as those fictional politicians did. I was heading to London today and on a field next to the highway, I saw this innocuous sign saying, "Vote Conservative". It was directed at the highway, anyone on the road would see it. At first I thought it was an ad but then I realized it was quite haphazardly painted. And it was inside the field boundary fence. Definitely a Tory supporter doing his bit. It's a sight I don't think I'd find that easily in India. We're not that open about our political outlook. We're also not that loyal. Though the latter is perhaps for good reason.

The Indian parliamentary system is pretty much based on the British system with the Rajya Sabha being the House of Lords and the Lok Sabha being the House of Commons. And with this election being very much in the balance in the UK, everyone here is dreading those two words we've just gotten so used to in India - "Hung Parliament". It seems pretty clear that the British electorate is gonna throw up an indecisive verdict this time round. There's gonna be a kingmaker and possible a two-party government. It's the worst thing that could ever happen, some people say. Perhaps I should tell them about the 20 years of hung parliaments in India, of the 17 party government..

Interestingly, I was reading somewhere that the election has suddenly become a three horse race because of the election debates. I haven't caught one yet but they're having them for the first time in the UK and since it's a multi-party system, there are more than 2 people sharing the stage. I remember we had some cries for the debate in the last Indian election as well, Advani had challenged Manmohan Singh I think. Of course, how do you have such a debate in multi-party system? It so happened in the British case that Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat everyone thought would come 3rd in the race, did better than people expected him to. And with his parties popularity riding up on the debate outcomes, it seems like he's going to wear the kingmaker's crown. As a critic was saying in disgust, "This is an election, not a soccer match. It shouldn't be decided on the basis of what you see on the telly for 90 minutes!"

Only time will tell who wins this soccer match. Brown seems to be headed for the exit. Especially with the 'bigot' fiasco of today. So a politician was caught on microphone saying something he shouldn't have. Sounds familiar?!

What Is This MBA Doing To Me?!

2010-04-23T20:08:00.004+01:00

Yes, it's only been about 6 months.. but here's something I said today..

"Yeah, it's like that thing, you know.. in Java.. you know, where you instantiate the Class object and stuff.. umm, damn, can't remember what it's called.. something to do with mirrors.. mirroring? No, something else.. ummm... <a ten second pause>... reflection! Reflection! REFLECTION!!"

Hanging my head in shame..

;)

The End of War

2010-04-21T08:54:00.001+01:00

Only the dead have seen the end of war. -- Plato

[From 'Black Hawk Down']

Book Review: The Immortals of Meluha

2010-04-20T10:29:00.013+01:00

Thanks to all the volcanic ash erupting out of a volcano whose name is too weird to be spelt correctly, my flight has been cancelled and I don't know when I'll be finally heading out to Oxford. Parul started heading to office from yesterday and so I walked over to the Crossword to get something to keep me occupied as I laze around in the house.

At the top of the Crossword Fiction countdown was a book called 'The Immortals of Meluha.' I picked it up, read the back page blurb and the introduction. It seemed interesting. I have wondered on this blog in the past about the lack of quality Indian fantasy fiction when we've got such a rich cultural heritage in fantasy and mythology. Rick Riordan (of Percy Jackson fame) created a gripping tale with the Greek Gods, why couldn't an Indian author attempt to do the same?

It seemed like 'The Immortals of Meluha' was written to bridge the gap and I picked up the book because this is a genre I really want to promote. At a time when book prices seem to be heading north (the latest Malcolm Gladwell is bloody 600 rupees!), Rs 295 seemed reasonable. And I liked what the book promised in the blurb..

1900 BC. In what modern Indians mistakenly call the Indus Valley Civilisation. The inhabitants of that period called it the land of Meluha - a near perfect empire created many centuries earlier by Lord Ram, one of the greatest monarchs that ever lived. But this once proud empire and its Suryavanshi rulers face severe perils and the only hope is an ancient legend: 'When evil reaches epic proportions, when all seems lost, when it appears that your enemies have triumphed, a hero will emerge. Is the rough-hewn Tibetan immigrant Shiva, really that hero? And does he want to be that hero at all?

It's clear from the blurb that this wasn't a simple retelling of India's rich mythology. This novel would go further.. and the introduction seemed to confirm it..

What if we are wrong? What if Lord Shiva was not a figment of a rich imagination, but a person in flesh and blood? Like you and me. A man who rose to become god-like because of his karma. That is the premise of the Shiva Trilogy, which interprets the rich mythological heritage of ancient India, blending fiction with historical fact.

(There are SPOILERS AHEAD. If you don't want to proceed, just head to the book's website here, download the first chapter here and make up your own mind.)

I am sure all of us have had our own interpretations about the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the various stories of reincarnations of the Hindu Gods etc. Did they really happen or are they just stories? The explanation that makes the most sense to me is that the events did happen but they weren't as grand or magical (or sometimes strange) as the texts make them out to be. Lord Rama was the ruler of Ayodhya, he did march across the peninsula but he probably wasn't aided by an army of monkeys. The vanar-sena might have been an army of tribals, skillful in climbing trees or living in the jungle. The story travelled from mouth to mouth, from generation to generation, painted in frescoes, enacted in plays, metaphorized by poets, and a few thousand years later, Hanuman was no longer human but the Monkey God instead.

Suffice to say that I was drawn to 'The Immortals of Meluha'. And the book has not disappointed. It's a well-written story where Shiva is a Tibetan immigrant and Nandi his trusted aide. Lord Rama was a great king of the past while Brahma was a great scientist who invented somras. The waters of Saraswati are a critical ingredient in the somras manufacturing process (churned in factories at Mount Mandar!) and the scientists are trying hard to figure out why the water from another river cannot be used. They are also undertaking experiments to try and reduce the dependence on the Saraswati (since the river is dying). The Shiv-Parvati romance evolves over dancing lessons as they travel through Mohen-jo-daro etc and many other such linkages between fiction, fact and mythology make for an enjoyable read. And other characters like Krittika and Veerbhadra seem all set to play their parts in the future parts of the trilogy. Some of the sequences (particularly the fast-paced Naga terrorist attacks) were quite gripping and there was a time when I had to stop and Google portions of Hindu mythology so that I was mentally prepared if the unthinkable happened when I turned the page!

Of course, the book is not perfect and there were parts that I wasn't very fond of. When Brahaspati started talking of oxygen and free radicals, I thought that conversation was a misfit. A lecture in Biochemistry seemed too Western, maybe the terminologies could have been changed to fit the context of the novel more. After all, somras wasn't called the Elixir of Life, right?! I was also a little troubled by the conversations between Shiva and the priests. Some portions seemed too Matrix-like as Shiva was exhorted to rise to his destiny and others seemed to imply (maybe I got it wrong, the conversation was purposefully ambiguous) that Shiva was a reincarnation and that is against the book's premise as far as I'm concerned.

I also wasn't a big fan of the end. I felt the "oh my God, what will happen next" last page was quite unnecessary and very Bollywoody. It reminded me of Tara, that soap on Zee TV ages ago where every episode ended with the protagonist opening the door or turning around with a look of shock on her face. It's quite clear that the book is just the first part of a trilogy and I thought it had reached a satisfying end (and left enough questions open) without that last scene. The somewhat cheap ending made me feel the author lacked confidence and it spoilt my taste.

Overall, I thought it was a fun novel. I lapped it up in less than 24 hours and I now wish the other two had been published so that I could finish them too before I left the country. I am pretty sure I'll pick them up whenever they come out.

Again, the book's website is here and you can download the first chapter here. I think it's worth a read, pick it up if you feel likewise.

I'm now going to share this blog link on Facebook etc. It's a first but like I said, Indian fantasy fiction is a genre I really want to promote! Chandrakanta deserves some followers!

My Take On The IPL Headlines

2010-04-19T10:21:00.006+01:00

Bangalore government and police, you need to get your act together. The fact that an IPL match was played while there were bombs being defused outside the stadium is horrific. Stop whining over the IPL semis being shifted out of Bangalore and catch the culprits.

--

Barkha Dutt was visibly disappointed on NDTV that Tharoor had to resign. Maybe Tharoor was simply conned by those around him or maybe he really did have mud all over him. There are facts to this story that we'll never know. But ignorance is not an excuse, he's going to be the black sheep for a while now. Of course, he would have remained a minister if he was in the Trinamool. Who your friends are seems to matter quite a bit in politics.. and Tharoor hasn't made that many even in the Congress.

--

Yes, there's money in the IPL. And every transaction does seem to have "conflict of interest" written in bold letters. Finally, Twittergate seems to have opened it all up. It's a good thing that player contracts in IPL are only for 3 years, IPL 4 may be a different ball game altogether! Time will tell whether the game's up for Lalit Modi, the smartest guy in the room.

Twitter is for Real-Time

2010-03-31T13:24:00.004+01:00

My twitter experiment has been successful and I'm hooked. The site it has replaced from my online experience is Google Reader. I only head to my RSS reader once a day now instead of having it constantly open. All my news feeds have been deleted from the reader, real-time news is much better..

Important tangential conclusion from what I've written above: Twitter is for real-time.

And it seems that my beloved business school doesn't understand that. Take this tweet, for instance. It appeared just under an hour back, on 31st March 2010. It highlights a news item on the website that was listed on 25th March, 2010. The news item in turn talks of an event held on 10th March, 2010.

What this means that news from a particular event took three weeks to reach the OxfordSBS twitter feed. Yes, that's right. Three weeks. For a business school that has Biz Stone visiting it every year, this lack of understanding of what twitter is about is just weird..

Shutter Island - Movie Review

2010-03-30T18:10:00.007+01:00

There was a time when I used to review almost every movie I watched. That practice has long been forgotten but once in a while, the two motivations required for typing out a review come together - a great film and lots of free time. But before I start, let me say that I believe I really enjoyed this movie because I didn't know anything about the story. I knew DiCaprio was in the cast, I knew it was directed by Scorsese.. but that's it. Therefore, in deference to this aspect of my experience, I'll keep this spoiler free.

So, here's what you have to do if you want to imagine this movie. Take 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest', mix in a little bit of 'The Shining', add a tinge of 'Aviator', throw in an immortal line in the end ala 'Casa Blanca' and you'd get somewhere close to 'Shutter Island'. And that is not to say this this movie is a potmix of stuff we've seen dished out in the past. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Much like it treats its characters, this movies twists your brains around like they've never been twisted before!

I know it's barely April but I'm totally betting on Shutter Island winning the Oscar for Best Direction and Best Actor in 2010. Scorsese shows why he's considered one of the best out there. And let's face it, DiCaprio has left everyone way behind in the past couple of years. It's important to stress on what these two have done because the movie couldn't have been pulled off without stellar acting and direction. It's only because of their effort that the tragedy of the story is so apparent in the end. I completely agree with the New York Times review - "Something terrible is afoot. Sadly, that something turns out to be the movie itself."

Brilliant! Must watch! I'm doing a repeat run tomorrow! Yes, it's that good!

Hilary courses in less than 5 words

2010-03-30T08:55:00.003+01:00

This post is a follow-up to this one...

Technology and Innovation Strategy
Real world = Very messy

Operations Management
The people matter.. most

Developing Effective Managers
Motivation, culture, power, change

Macroeconomics
Culture is CRAP

Culture and Global Markets
Culture is EVERYTHING

Entrepreneurship Project
Theory != Practice

"In Bed"

2010-03-23T21:31:00.004+00:00

Statutory Warning: May be considered unsuitable for kids.

Disclaimer: No offence intended, it's all in jest.

Most of you must have heard of the "add 'in bed' to what your fortune cookie says and it will always make sense" theory. We were watching Flavors (it's a real funny movie, you hafta see it if you haven't) the other day and I got it in me to try this out on the fortune cookie version that my cygwin environment provides. Here are a few of the gems I've collected over the past few days!

Please take notes in bed.

Paranoia is simply an optimistic outlook on life in bed.

A visit to a strange place will bring fresh work in bed.

Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration in bed.

Fame is a vapor; popularity an accident; the only earthly certainty is oblivion in bed.

There is no likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom in bed.

I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints, the sinners are much more fun in bed.

Women can keep a secret just as well as men, but it takes more of them to do it in bed.

To err is human, but when the eraser wears out before the pencil, you're overdoing it a little in bed.

I program, therefore I am in bed.

:))

- RM

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This is a flashback post, the motives of which are explained here. It was first posted on QuestionableTaktix on 07/04/05.

The Oxford Literary Festival, 2010

2010-03-20T01:27:00.003+00:00

The Oxford Literary Festival, 2010 starts tomorrow. It stretches all through exam week in Hilary Term but that hasn't stopped me from registering for a host of events. John le Carre will be speaking at the Sheldonian, there are discussions on Shakespeare scheduled, walks around college talking about Oxford poets, and just so much amazing stuff! Many leading writers, artists and thinkers of the world are gonna descend upon Oxford, it's gonna be a week to remember.. the exams notwithstanding!

I don't think I'm gonna post for all of next week, so I'm just leaving you with a spectacular quote from Richard Dawkins. I've been meaning to put this up here for a while now, mostly coz I loved it and would like to have it stored someplace permanent for future look ups.

"We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones. Most people are never going to die because they're never going to be born. The potential people who could have been here in my place, but who will in fact never see the light of day outnumber the sand grains of Sahara. Certainly those unborn ghosts include greater poets than Keats, scientists greater than Newton. We know this because the set of possible people allowed by our DNA so massively outnumbers the set of actual people. In the teeth of these stupefying odds, it is you and I in our ordinariness that are here. We privileged few, who won the lottery of birth against all odds, how dare we whine at our inevitable return to that prior state from which the vast majority have never stirred." -- Richard Dawkins

You can watch it below..

Goosebumps, right?!

Richard Dawkins was scheduled to speak at the Oxford Literary Festival tomorrow but he's had to withdraw. I have to say I'm quite disappointed. I hope I get the opportunity to listen to him later sometime. He's written some thought-provoking (and controversial) books, do read if you ever get the chance.

And yes, Richard Dawkins is an Oxonian :)

Read This Last Night

2010-03-13T19:18:00.004+00:00

This is a flashback post, the motives of which are explained here. It was first posted on QuestionableTaktix on 22/02/05.

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"Praise shames me, for I secretly beg for it."

The simple truths of Tagore's poetry never cease to amaze...

- RM

My first blog

2010-03-13T02:58:00.003+00:00

A long time ago.. or at least what seems like a long time ago.. I used to blog with Nair and Sanky on one of the most awesome blogs ever created by mankind. It was great fun for a long while but then there was a period of lull. And we decided that the blog was too good to be neglected that way. So we bid farewell. The blog was almost a person to us (am I romanticizing it too much?!) and in keeping with the truly ephemeral nature of humanity, Sanky set up the template so that none of the earlier posts were visible anymore. It was the end. It was the passing away of an era. It was our farewell.

The blog currently exists here. If you've follow the link, you'll see no posts are available. Simply an H2G2 inspired farewell message and an image that was paradoxically appropriate.

Over the years since then, I've often found myself heading back to the dashboard to look at some of those posts. While they aren't externally visible, the posts are still accessible from the backend and I sometimes read through them. Some of them are still relevant, some still make me laugh, some are still filled with nostalgia. A couple of times, I've reproduced some of those earlier writings on this blog as well.

But those have been one-off reproductions and today, I've decided to go one step further. I've decided that every few days, I'm going to choose a particular post from that blog and add it here. Consider it a recap, a flashback, a rerun of Season 1. I love some of those earlier entries, I think they deserve to be reborn again. I hope you'll agree with me..

Social Life for Oxford MBAs

2010-03-11T20:23:00.004+00:00

In a comment thread for one of my previous posts, I had promised that I would type in something on the social life of Oxford MBA students. I just submitted my last assignment for this term, so I guess this is as good a time as any other. Before I begin, let me first issue a clarification. Partying all night, every night, is not my idea of fun. I enjoy it once in a while but I don't respond to every "Hitting <pub> tonight!" email that lands up in my inbox.

However, if partying every night is your thing, no worries. Rest assured, I've got classmates who are exactly like you and if you're a prospective candidate for the Oxford MBA, there would be like-minded people in your batch as well. In a radius of half a kilometre from the b-school building, you'll find at least 15 pubs/clubs/bars that you can haunt. Even though I'm not a "party-animal" (you have to study Macroeconomics under Oren Sussman to fully understand this), I've still been to most of them. And of course, there's the Friday Happy Hour in the business school itself. Not to mention all the events the MBA Sports and Social Committee keeps organising..

Oxford is a student town and this means that if you walk through city centre around midnight, you'll invariably have to pass a group of squealing teenagers out on a pub crawl. Interactions between undergrads and MBAs are legendary and the kind of stuff folklores are made of. Sample below, I've only heard this 2nd hand so it's probably grossly exaggerated...

Scene: Undergrad girl talking to MBA guy at a pub.
Undergrad girl: "Oh my God, there are so many old people here tonight!"
MBA guy: "Old people?" How old do you think I am?!"
Undergrad girl: "I don't know... 26?"
MBA guy: <speechles> (coz he's actually there celebrating his 30th birthday and doesn't know whether he should be happy that he still looks 26 or sad that even if was 4 years younger, he'd still be "old"!!)

So anyways, the important thing to note is that just like you'd have company to hit a pub, you'll always have company to do anything else you want. There's fun stuff around for all tastes - you can attend classical music concerts with Mozart and Bach renditions, you can attend musicals or watch the first show of the Sherlock Holmes movie, you can head to Stratford-Upon-Avon for a Shakespeare play, you can go cheer the Oxford Blues in a varsity game, you can play for the Blues if you're good enough, you can go listen to a lecture by your favourite author at the Oxford Union, you can go to the Swiss Alps to ski, you can go to Spain for the Madrid carnival, you can get tickets for the Dave Mathews Band concert, you can freak out at any of the bops or balls that colleges keep organizing, you can join the group heading to the nearest sports bar every week to watch the EPL games, you can enroll for a fencing class or a ballroom dancing class, you can be a part of one of the gizzillion University societies, you can head to London to see the Brazil-Ireland football match, you can plan artsy treks and fall in love with a Da Vinci.. the list is endless. Not everyone can do everything, it is after all a one-year MBA, but if you can manage your time well, there's a lot of fun to be had!

And now, since I submitted my last assignment of the term today, I'm heading out to have some of that fun. Seeya!