as I see it

Sarvam AI – Finally, Some Desi Tadka in the Global AI Thali

2025-05-24T21:20:00.003+05:30

Okay, let’s admit it. Every time there's some new shiny AI startup in the news, most of us do the same thing:

Scan the founder names for “familiar” ones
Wait for someone on Twitter to say “Why is India not building this?”
Go back to life as usual, hoping someday someone will.

Well, someone finally did.
Enter: Sarvam AI – India’s very own foundation model company. And no, it’s not just another "let’s-fork-LLama-and-call-it-BharatGPT" attempt.

🌱 What Is Sarvam AI?

Sarvam AI is what happens when really smart people from India say, “Chalo, let’s stop playing support role and build something from scratch — for us, by us.”

They’re building large language models (LLMs) from the ground up, trained on Indian data, Indian languages, and—hopefully—Indian humour too 😜 (though that might be harder to align than LLaMA 3).

Think of it as India’s OpenAI... but with less Silicon Valley smugness and more Chai.

🇮🇳 Why It Matters (and Why I’m Rooting for It)

Language-first, not English-only: India isn’t a single-language country (ask any passport form). Sarvam’s models are being designed for multilingual use, not as an afterthought, but from Day 1.
Cultural context: You can’t expect ChatGPT to know the difference between “rakhi” and “raakh.” Or why “daant diya” is a real thing. Sarvam can.
Developer-friendly tools: They’re not just doing research papers for bragging rights. They’re creating APIs, tools, infra – the whole shebang – for devs to build actual usable stuff. Not just AI demos that say "Hi, I am an AI assistant. How may I help you today?"

🔍 But Let’s Not Get Carried Away

Is it perfect? Not yet.
Is it ambitious? Hell yes.
Will it succeed? Depends.

On funding, on execution, on adoption... and on whether we, the users, the builders, the curious minds, actually try the damn thing.

🧠 My 2 Paise

I’m not an AI researcher. I don’t write Python scripts for fun (though I’ve broken enough Google Sheets to pretend I do). But I do believe in stories.

And Sarvam’s story? It's the kind we need more of.

A belief that India can build.
A bet on Indian languages.
And a reminder that sometimes, we don’t need to wait for Silicon Valley to validate us.

We just need to start building — and maybe, just maybe, the world will start noticing.

Go check out Sarvam AI. Not because it’s Indian. But because it’s interesting. And it’s ours.

Until next time,
Prateek
(still waiting for an AI that understands "thoda adjust kar lo yaar")

Why I like Swiggy?

2017-04-16T20:16:00.000+05:30

To start with, I'd like to clarify that this isn't a sponsored post. I have never been asked by anyone from Swiggy to write this (or anyone altogether) and have not received any kind of favor/money/free meals, etc from anyone. I am writing this because I wanted to.

How often have you seen people write about an app? Maybe not very often unless it is the concerned person's job, etc but here I write about what I believe is one of the most underrated, not often talked about and less used app - Swiggy.

To be honest, I discovered Swiggy pretty late (thanks to a friend). I had heard of the name "Swiggy" and had been exposed to a few of their advertisements but they never compelled me to read more about it forget trying it out. In fact, for a good amount of time I thought it is a "pickup drop" utility app aka RoadRunnr, etc.

It was only once while ordering food at a friend's place that I was told about this app and exposed to its interface. I loved it in the first glance. The only other times I felt as good and WOWed about an app was when I first switched from EasyCabs to Ola in 2011/2012 when I was in Hyderabad and then post that when I first used Uber.

User Experience

Swiggy works like a charm. It is neat, easy to use and frictionless. Add to it the estimated delivery times, ratings and one of my most loved features - real time tracking. And that's just the app. The food delivery almost always (barring 1 instance that I can remember) has delivered within the stipulated time. Delivery guys have mostly reached my location and rang the door bell without calling me for asking directions. And the icing on the cake is that I have never felt the need to contact their customer care (quickly checked my account and it shows my last 30 orders starting Apr 12, 2016 on the app and 37 orders starting Apr 1, 2016 on the web). It has been frictionless - as good as it can get.

Consistency

The 1+ year experience (assuming the account shows all the orders I've ever placed with Swiggy) has not just been on one particular address or city. I've ordered from Swiggy in Delhi, Gurgaon and Bombay (as far as I remember) and on 5-10 different addresses. The experience is uniform, just flawless, frictionless, brilliant.

Competition

I have friends in Zomato and have had heated debates with few ex-Zomato guys as well on why I prefer Swiggy. They've tried to convince me to install 2 Zomato apps - The old, main, restaurant discovery & review one and Zomato Order but on seeing my reluctance gradually asked me to use only the main app for ordering as well. I have tried it. Not just this, I have also tried FoodPanda but I don't like them. And given below are reasons why they are not my primary apps to order food:

Foodpanda - I have never liked their interface. Food delivery timelines were as per restaurant's whims and fancies also I just dislike their interface. I don't remember the last time I ordered from them and have no idea if they've redesigned or improved their UI because of point 3. Also, to explicitly mention - the negative PR around Foodpanda sometime back did not affect my decision of using/not using the app in any way.
Zomato - I have ordered from them only twice. It was the same dish from the same one restaurant which wasn't listed on Swiggy. I have tried to order from Zomato on couple of more occasions (to use Zomato credits present in my account since eternity) and have found coverage to be a problem. The restaurants that delivered to my address on Zomato were a subset of that on Swiggy. I discovered that when I chose a couple of restaurants to order from on Zomato on multiple occasions only to find they don't deliver to my address. I guess maybe in those cases the delivery staff was from restaurant's end and I was located outside their 1-2 km delivery distance as opposed to Swiggy who has their own delivery staff as far as I know. Also, since the main Zomato app's primary purpose is reviews and restaurant discovery, ordering food isn't the most natural flow on the app. Coverage and point 3 are the reasons why I haven't tried Zomato Order.
Swiggy works well. User Interface, User Experience, consistency across geographies. I have found it to be flawless and hence don't feel the need to ditch it and try anything new for now.

Have also tried TinyOwl briefly but don't remember much of it. Have tried UberEATS in Singapore and loved that as well (hope it comes to my location soon)!

Concerns

Have heard from a few restaurant/outlet owners on the high margin they ask for. While I think they're the best judge of what number makes sense to them, all I can tell them as a consumer is that I have discovered a lot many outlets only because of Swiggy. I have tried them only because I saw them on Swiggy. In case I know about an outlet already and can find the number where one can call and order, I still try to first check if its on Swiggy. I do that because it helps me with uniform experience across restaurants, I don't have to call and talk to the restaurant (I don't prefer that) and lastly and most importantly, I don't have to call and follow-up on status of delivery only to hear "Bas nikal gaya, kab ka nikal gaya pahuchne wala hoga, etc" - I have the app to track.

Discounts and Pricing

While I've got a few cashbacks and discounts initially to order from Swiggy (and sometimes from wallets as well), most of my orders have been at full price without any discount/offer. It is likely to continue that way, unless I'm exposed to some technological breakthrough, some new player entering in or maybe a substantial price war kicking in. Till then, I'm happy with Swiggy :)

Fear of speaking up

2016-09-15T13:38:00.000+05:30

Think before you speak. This is what is taught to us at school right from when we are proficient enough to be able to make sentences. Different people have different interpretations of this expression but more or less all point to the same direction except for this new dimension added by people like us. I haven't been able to choose a name (#noname) for it partly because of maybe the title of this post but you'll probably get the drift as you read further.

I don't know if you've experienced this or if it's only me who feels this way but we have become very vocal about things. We do not hesitate in expressing our opinion often. We now have opinions about issues which probably a decade ago no one even thought about. We have probably become more aware. We have probably started identifying ourselves with point of views which we weren't exposed to earlier.

Add to it booming access to information, platforms to express, forums to debate thanks to The Internet and especially the social media.

It's all amazing, it's all awesome, it's a positive change but at the same time it is something that has made dialogues highly inflammable. You can never be sure what catches fire when and who all does it turn to ashes. Sports, politics, religion, feminism, music, fashion - you name it and there would sure have been fireworks around it. If not as yet, almost every topic is still highly inflammable.

Mind you, to start a fire, you don't just need cardboard but also oxygen (in the air). Without it even paper wouldn't burn and with it even logs of wood burn.

While there are topics/issues people strongly believe in and have strong opinions about, but why does it have to be fireworks if someone else thinks otherwise? And why within the #nonames? After all aren't they the more informed, educated, supposedly wiser lot?

Aren't they the be-a-good-listener, respect-other-persons-opinion people? Why does it then quickly escalate to become toxic and end up in a battle won by the side of the opinion that has more supporters? How is it any different from, in this respect, to what it has been forever - Popular wisdom, norms. Majority ne bol diya, wahi sahi.

Isn't it then surprising that the same person questions moral policing on what to eat, what to wear and at the same time aggressively drives down his/her own opinion down someone else's throat?

Add to it those who may not necessarily believe in or identify with a topic but just stand by it or against it for the heck of it. Because maybe it makes them stand out, maybe it's cool to do it, maybe it's the image they want to project, maybe that gives a sense of belonging to... ummm... #noname2?

Ultimately, it's I am right, we are right, haww how can you say this, this is what you should accept, believe in and say.

Is it not only the topics and platforms that have changed and everything else the same as it has always been? Are we still evolving?

Why does every expression have to become a discussion? And then escalate to outrage? Why does it necessarily has to become a debate? And why does it have to be settled then and there? And why does it have to turn into a violent and ugly war of words? Why does it have to be chalo-behti-ganga-mein-main-bhi-haath-dho-lu?

I believe, that's the kind of speaking we can do away with. Those are the kind of words that one can filter and never get them out.

Let the platforms be clean oxygen that make life comfortable and not necessarily use it for compression for combustion.

Remember, chewing gum is elastic but you don't have to necessarily stretch it. It just creates mess.

Let us not reach a stage when 140 characters will become way too much for you to speak.

Let us not be those who merely evolve from Nahi, log kya kahenge to Nahi, log bahut bajaayenge.

On a lighter note, though we did like Sehwag going after every ball, we did sigh on and were in awe of that 'well left' from Dravid right?

Let go. Coexist.

Easier said than done, but I'll make conscious efforts to walk on this line.

In the end, all I can say is that, you probably got the drift of where I was headed but I couldn't write it in the exact same words that were going through my head because you know

Image Credits: david pacey (CC by 2.0)

App-based Taxis - Fare game?

2016-06-18T19:12:00.002+05:30

I was looking for an Uber to go to Nando's for lunch when I noticed something peculiar around the estimated fares and went back and forth on Ola and Uber apps to dig bit deeper into what I saw and then eventually thought about writing a detailed post around The Fare Game.

I'll break this post into 3 parts -

Advertised Fare vs Actual Fare
Transparency in fare calculation (for UberPOOL and Ola Share rides)
Erroneous calculations

Advertised Fare vs Actual Fare

I hope almost everyone is aware of this fact but still would briefly like to cover the difference between the fare advertised by Uber and Ola as compared to what it actually turns out to be. I will be taking Delhi as an example. Trust most of you know that post the latest rate cut by Uber both Uber and Ola now have offerings starting Rs. 6/km. Even if you're not aware, they are likely to bombard you with the message over the next few days/week. Now, its easy to miss the small '*' next to the advertised fare which, in a way, conceals the fact that the real fare is much higher than what you see and at the same time shields away any legal trouble. And when I say much higher, I mean as high as TWICE of what is advertised or even higher and then of course there is Surge Pricing.

How you ask?

Here, is the fare calculation for Uber for a 10 km ride.

Fare Head	As mentioned by Uber	Estimated Rupee/KM value	Remarks
Base Fare	Rs. 40	Rs. 4	Rs. 40/10 km
Trip Duration	Rs. 1 per minute	Rs. 3.5	In city traffic, on an average, takes 3-4 minutes to cover a km in my experience
Per KM	Rs. 6	Rs. 6
Total		Rs. 13.5	Would be lower for longer distances and/or with low traffic

Ola has exact same fee structure for Ola Micro and hence the exact same calculations.

UberX and Ola Mini come to around Rs. 18 per km on doing similar calculations.

Bottom line, forget being cheaper than, they are not even equal to auto fares. But yes, you have to give it to them, they are more comfortable and easy to call for.

Transparency in fare calculation (for UberPOOL and Ola Share rides)

Moving on to the second point of transparency in fare calculation. The fare that is calculated for share/pool rides from one point to other can vary greatly depending on 3 factors

Surge pricing on UberGO/Ola Mini
Exact point where you drop the pin for pickup
Time of the day

Point 1 is kind of obvious at a macro-level in the sense that when there is surge on UberGO/Ola Mini then even the pool/share rides will be expensive but I have never been able to see direct correlation.

Point 2 is what I've myself observed many a times. You move your pickup location by a few metres (not kms but barely a few metres which is any way practical because almost always you board the cab after taking a few steps from the actual pickup location that you entered while requesting for the cab). This variation used to be significantly high couple of months ago but greatly reduced now.

Point 3 is what I stumbled upon while digging deeper on the actual trigger that made me write this post. Given below are 3 screenshots taken for Ola Share from same pickup location to same destination at a gap of 2 hours.

Pic 1 Pic 2 Pic 3

The distance between the 2 locations as per Google Maps is 11 km. With the source and destination as same and no peak/surge pricing in play (Pic 3 shows that there is NO Peak pricing), how can the fare be so different? Estimated price/km moving from Rs. 17 to Rs. 25!

	Total Fare for Ola Share	Discount Percent on Ola Mini Fare	Estimated Ola Mini Fare	Price/km
Pic 1	141	25%	188	17
Pic 2	206	25%	275	25

Erroneous calculations

Coming on to the actual trigger behind this post. So, when I was requesting for an Uber to go to Nando's, here is what I saw

UberPOOL would have costed me exact Rs. 162.70 and an UberGO would have costed me in excess of Rs. 193.69. A simple division of that number by 11 km (distance between the 2 places) suggested that the UberGO fare being shown was much higher than the Rs. 13.5 per km that I use for my estimations. Rs. 40 + Rs. 6 * 11 is Rs. 106 and it just cannot take me 90 mins for a 11 km ride on a Saturday afternoon (I frequent this route and I also checked Google Maps)!

Also, Rs. 193.69+ in theory is thrice that of the advertised fare (Rs. 17.6/km vs Rs. 6/km). Something was grossly wrong. Add to it, that UberPOOL was less than 20% of a discount (not good enough to accommodate a co-passenger and add to my overall trip time), I decided to opt for UberGO.

Result - Rs. 157.29 (before promotional discount and credit balance application; distance was around a km more than what Google Maps suggested)

Yes, the actual fare for UberGO was LOWER than what I would have paid had I opted for UberPOOL.

If this was a genuine error by the software, one cannot be sure for how long has it existed, where all has it existed, how many erroneous calculations has it made. All said and done, it's something which is not acceptable from a "technology company".

I just hope that it is not an effort to encourage UberPOOL by discouraging UberGO by showing higher estimated fares. Maybe UberPOOL is a metric of importance for them (Uber's plan to get more people into fewer cars).

Also, my conspiracy theory loving brain started with calculations and found it to be financially more rewarding (charging a fare similar to that of UberGO on UberPOOL gives them a clear opportunity to earn much more than an UberGO trip in form of a potential second rider). I genuinely hope that this was a one-off error in estimation and doesn't happen again.

Bottomline

Whatever be the real reasons behind these, all I can see is that there is a clear lack of transparency in pricing and price estimations which are likely to make people skeptical. A free first ride and advertisements showcasing messages of Rs. 6/km and 'cheaper than auto' may help recruit a first time rider successfully but is more likely to create dissonance and mistrust in that rider eventually on subsequent trips and could lead to potential lapse. Add to this the perennial debate on how surge pricing works and the mess becomes messier.

PS - Nando's was awesome as usual. Tried the wild herb sauce for the first time and really liked it :)

Experiencing an Uber ride, from the other side!

2016-05-28T21:11:00.001+05:30

Some of you would already be aware that I signed up with Uber as a commuter few days back.

#Delhi, meet some of your new Uber Commuters: @DeepakAbbot, @VineetKaul, @quickdraw_46 and @KhuranaPrateek. #UberON https://t.co/IUSx4puXkL

— Uber Delhi (@Uber_Delhi) May 2, 2016

And that I completed my first ride just 3 days after that.

Have been wanting to share my experience but waited to complete a few more rides, which eventually I didn't because of reasons mentioned in the second half of the post. And so I thought, I might as well pen down the experience from that one single ride for now. Before I do so, want to specify that my motivation to sign up for this was purely curiosity and definitely not money. Also maybe the thought that more people can move around using the same amount of fuel which I am consuming by traveling alone.

Just finished my first @Uber_Delhi ride as a driver (commute). Man was it tough! All coz of my #firstworldproblems! pic.twitter.com/E7XfROUWif
— Prateek (@KhuranaPrateek) May 5, 2016

I commute from Delhi (home) to Gurgaon (work) and back every day and I logged on to the Uber Partner app, ready to go "Online".

Few things about the app:

It shows the map with an overlay of random geometrical shapes in different colours that indicate surge values in the entire area (zoom out to get the surge view of the entire city).
There is an option to enter the destination in the app (after I slide a button to go 'Online') and Uber's algorithm then pushes only those pickup requests which are on my way. Not sure if the same option is available with regular GOs and Xs.

What could be a good indicator of demand for rides even with surge pricing is that even in the few seconds lag between me going online and entering my destination, I got 2 pickup requests which I had to ignore (there is no option to reject). Whenever you get a pickup request you see a pin on the map indicating the pickup location along with the address, estimated time to reach there, rating of the rider and type of car requested (GO, Pool, X, etc). So after ignoring these 2 requests (I think driver is given around 10 seconds to either accept the request after which it disappears from his screen and perhaps goes to the next driver). Those 10 seconds were way too less to comprehend the amount of information on the screen (I did want to be sure of the rider rating and had made up my mind to ignore any request with rating less than 4.5), especially when the request comes in while you are driving.

So, once I managed to enter my destination and started from office towards home, I got a pickup request from somewhere close by in less than km of me starting from my origin. I was crawling in the heavy traffic when I got a call. As soon as I received it and before I could say 'hello', I heard "Bhaiya, booking aayi hogi XXX ke naam se". I spoke to the rider and told them about my location and estimated time before I reach.

I took around twice the estimated time that was shown to me because of heavy traffic. The rider sat in and surprisingly knew about Uber Commute. I learnt about the destination and sighed as it was Dwarka, which was off my route as I could no longer take the highway (a problem that occurs even when I choose UberPOOL as a rider myself) but still pepped myself up for this new experience and began driving. Little did I know how tough would the next 45 minutes be. Before I explain 'tough', few things about me and my usual driving behavior.

MBTI pesonality test indicates my type as ENTP.
I like listening to loud music or at least FM with volume levels anywhere between 15-25. Music/mood also at times dictates how I drive.
I do fiddle with my phone occasionally when the car is idle (in jam or a signal) to check notifications, traffic situation on maps, etc.
I turn off the engine on signals longer than 40 seconds or when traffic doesn't seem to move at all (habit I have ever since I started driving as it helps save fuel, lesser pollution)

Now in the approximate ride duration of 45 minutes, the rider barely spoke. If I remember correctly it was once at the start of the trip when I was told there is a route from the other side which could help avoid traffic, 2-3 reminders of right/left turns and then once at the end of the trip to stop. Also, to avoid imposing my music (and high volume) preferences, I turned off the music player as well.

I am type ENTP! Though the 'E' here stands for 'extroversion' and not 'extrovert' still this video (at 00:31) perfectly describes how I usually feel - "Insaan kaha hain?"

And here I was sitting next to an insaan for 45 minutes but that insaan barely spoke! Plus no music not even the virtual insaan in form of the RJ on FM (which I eventually couldn't bear and turned on some music, albeit at volume level ONE). And I wasn't even fiddling with my phone because that's most likely to give the impression of being distracted as a driver and that's the last thing even I would want as a rider.

To top it up further, I was driving cautiously, conscious of the fact that I will be rated perhaps (eventually got 5 star)? Heavy traffic and the knowledge that this trip means I would take more than twice the time I usually take to reach home didn't help either. And my OCD of turning off the engine while idle was being challenged in name of the summer heat that would cause discomfort to the rider if I turned the AC off.

Alas, the 45 minutes got over sooner than I expected and as soon as I heard "yaha left pe rok do", a picture of only a few hundred rupee notes in my wallet flashed in my head and the thought of further activity just in case this is a Cash trip added to my already eventful experience. When I confirmed if I should end the trip, I was glad to hear, "Yes, thanks.. and the ride will be paid through PayTM" #win.

With my car still stationed in one corner of the road, I immediately increased the volume of the music player, reached out to my phone and returned a call which I had to disconnect because I was on trip.

I thought about whether I should stay online or go offline and head home and did the latter because I had been driving in heavy traffic.

Talking about payouts, like has been confirmed by another Uber Commute Driver, the surge amount was passed on to me and Uber charges a 20% commission on ride + surge charges.

Post that first ride, few factors have played on my mind that have prompted me to not go for another trip. And no, my own preferences with regards to music, phone, talking, etc are not responsible for this.

What if the next trip is to Dwarka again? That's off my route!
Extra ride time. I seldom enjoy driving in heavy traffic. Doing that towards the end of the day post office leading to extra commute time is not very enjoyable an idea. I don't do trips in the morning because I may get late for work.

I've given it a try once while returning from Gurgaon on a Saturday and I did get a trip but it was again Dwarka so I had to call and refuse which I didn't like at all.

If you look at the larger picture, Uber's intent is simple - more people in fewer cars which according to me is a great initiative. What will really help me particularly and other commute drivers as well is if Uber can display the destination of the rider for commute rides (that's the whole purpose for commute right?). That way I can avoid Dwarka trips and wait for other ones. Today, I just don't log on because I only get to know the destination when the rider tells me and then refusing isn't the best thing to happen.

Having said that, I'll still give it a few more tries on other non-work travel routes as well (like I just did an hour back though I didn't get any ride requests). As far as my personal preferences while driving are concerned, if not anything, I think such experiences are lessons on patience :)

India vs Pakistan - Digital Era

2016-03-19T16:25:00.001+05:30

I’ll start with saying I am slightly tensed. I don’t know if it’s actually fair calling it tensed but I am certainly not feeling relaxed. There is certain degree of uneasiness that I am experiencing since last night and it is only increasing. The reason of course is the big clash tonight. Even though it’s T20, which many cricket pundits don’t consider as ‘real cricket’ but nevertheless, it is a match on one of the finest cricket grounds in the world, in the biggest T20 tournament and it’s India vs Pakistan in a (sort of) must win situation for India for more than one reasons (present situation and past history).

This is surely not the first time India is playing against Pakistan and this is not the first time I will be watching this contest. In fact, the last time they played in WCT20 in Sri Lanka, I was there at the R.Premadasa Stadium in Colombo watching it with a few Pakistani supporters by my side who I met earlier in the day in Colombo itself. The cover image used on this post was in fact clicked on that day (September 30, 2012). But still, I have experienced something different this time. That is the role of the Internet and all things digital.

Exposure to comments of R.Ashwin comparing this match to “border rivalry” and Waqar Younis suggesting that history can be rewritten and that having lost the first match despite being the pre-tournament favourites, it’s India who would be under pressure was almost instant and recurring every since the comments were made thanks to News websites and their apps and the social media. There is nothing new with pre-match comments from players, ex-cricketers and coaches indulging in mind games but what is definitely relatively newer is fans and supporters indulging in this directly.

I really appreciated the punctuality of #PakvsInd trending on Twitter as soon as clock struck 00:00 hrs last night. It’s a different story that it changed to #IndvsPak when I woke up today morning but I was amazed to see SIX of the Top Ten trends on twitter in Pakistan being directly related to this match. India has just one #IndvsPak which emulates the Worldwide trends tally. Is it fair to assume then that the Pakistani fans are feeling much more pressure than their Indian counterparts? And I would like to believe that it has more to do with the history of Pakistan not having won even a single match against India in a World Cup that is making them restless, uneasy and abusive too.

There was a hashtag #IndiaRonaNahi trending for a brief period last night and as you might have guessed the tweets on this hashtag were aggressive in nature, some abusive, few trolling and I spotted 3 tweets (from Pakistan twitterati) condemning the use of this hashtag and accusing it of spreading negativity.

Move away from these hashtags and my timeline is flooded with memories/rituals/predictions/analysis of the match. Similar but much subdued is the case on Facebook.

There was also a fake scorecard doing the rounds (of course by the Pakistani twitterati) suggesting a thrashing defeat for India. A closer look at the scorecard and you see that despite receiving flak for his comment of being loved more in India than Pakistan, despite innumerable failures, despite being mocked at for multiple occasions of announcing and coming out of retirement, they see Shahid Afridi as their brightest jewel, the one they believe would create the turning point today. That, honestly, gives me a lot of confidence and also relieves me of a bit of the unnatural, unnecessary pressure I am subjecting myself to just by exposing myself to these digital imprints.

I can’t help but compare this with the good old days when the discussions would largely be in the classroom, school bus, playgrounds or in cases where you hear people discussing it in the market or discussions between relatives, etc. The exposure was so limited and consequently the scope of the discussion and the limited perspectives. And that what the Pakistani fans would be upto in the run up to the event was something that crossed my head rarely and even if it did my canvas of imagination was pretty limited too. But now, the only choice I have to keep myself out of all this exposure (which honestly I don’t want to) is to lock myself in a room with no TV or Internet access. I can only imagine what The XI would go through with the media, Internet, people around, hotel staff, groundsmen and many others all staring at them like those villagers with eyes full of hope looking at Bhuvan! The villagers would’ve had to pay huge sums of money had they lost but what we, the fans and supporters, have here is nothing more than pride and ego at stake and that being amplified to infinity thanks to digital mediums that allow us to have face-offs, emulate sledging and troll countrymen and supporters of the two teams directly, in real-time with just a small handheld device.

Nevertheless, I’ve bookmarked a few tweets which I hope I would get a chance to reply to towards midnight today. Feel free to assist me on framing befitting replies to any or all of these and let’s hope Dhoni & Co. give us the opportunity to be able to post them :)

Best Butter Chicken in Delhi - Part 2

2016-01-01T21:50:00.001+05:30

This is a follow up of post on my quest to find the best Butter Chicken in Delhi. I wrote about this here and to summarise, these were the restaurants in the consideration set

- Minar, Connaught Place
- Moti Mahal, Daryaganj
- Kake Da Hotel, Connaught Place
- Kwality, Connaught Place

Apart from these I had personally tried

- Invitation, Ashok Vihar
- Galena, Gole Market

After I published my last post, I got 2 more recommendations

- Gulati, Pandara Road
- Rajinder Da Dhaba, Safdarjung

Additionally, I also tried a new place

- Above and Beyond, Kirti Nagar

And the top two places to savour sumptous Butter Chicken are

1. Invitation, Ashok Vihar
2. Above and Beyond, Kirti Nagar

Galena would have been third but has unfortunately shut down.

All others except Gulati (which is average) are a waste. The dish they serve in the name of Butter Chicken is anything but Butter Chicken.

One more place I have heard about is Havmore, Pandara Road (next to Gulati's). I sincerely hope it takes the number 3 spot. Would update once I try!

[UPDATE Apr 16, 2017] - Late in updating but I tried Havmore, Pandara Road and Moti Mahal (Mahipalpur). While Havemore did not make the cut, I was pleasantly surprised with Moti Mahal (Mahipalpur). Was overwhelmed to an extent that I think I'll try all top 3 again to reshuffle ratings - Yes, was that good!

Image source: Gail (https://www.flickr.com/photos/gail_thepinkpeppercorn/3240490130)

Talvar - Movie Review

2015-10-01T15:33:00.002+05:30

Talvar is based on the infamous 2008 Arushi Talwar murder case (though the name of the movie is not explicitly based on the name of the family involved). A content-driven, reel representation of what happened (and could have happened) in real life, Talvar, is a fast-paced movie that ensures that you don’t skip a scene or a dialog.

It is the distant cousin of the Japanese film Rashomon in trying to portray different versions of the same incident. For all those who have followed the case in media, this will be like a recap with an added layer of turn of events that was perhaps hidden from public view or is purely a work of fiction, nonetheless, fitting the story perfectly well and making it for an interesting watch.

With the major exception of names being changed (but easy to relate to), you get a feeling of knowing the story beforehand and just then it blends perfectly well with details you were not exposed to (or the work of fiction as mentioned above). The film highlights the shoddy first investigation which had worked against the investigation officers in constructing evidences to firmly establish the motive of the murder and zero down on the killer. This is followed by a reel life portrayal of the investigation being handed over to CBI (CDI in the movie) and subsequently to a different CDI team.

Call it fiction or depiction of ‘true rumors’, the movie touches upon the influence of bureaucracy, corruption and self-interests in the judicial system which force truth to take a back seat with selfish interests steering the turn of events. If into the movie you tend to believe that the incidents presented are indeed reality, you can’t help but chuckle at a lot of small actions, their interpretations and then their presentation as evidence and consequently going by the initial assumption, also pity the ordeal that the family went through.

Meghna Gulzar and Vishal Bhardwaj have weaved the story with extreme intricacy and it has been equally supported with some excellent performances by Irrfan Khan, Konkana Sen Sharma and Neeraj Kabi who ensure that you continue to discover suspense in a story you have read, heard and seen over and over again.

Watch the trailer here

Review - OnePlus One

2014-09-09T11:24:00.001+05:30

And a few days have passed since I started using the OnePlus One. Quite a few people asked me to tell them how is the phone before perhaps they buy a lesser known Chinese brand phone, so here I pen down my views.

I'll start with positives and will start with the design. Its beautiful. The "Sandstone" back and the metallic bezel around the screen make it look awesome. And its not because I am biased, its indeed a very good design.

Hardware - Super fast, snappy. There are of course no problems usually in a new device with monstrous specs. This one is no exception. Its super fast.

User Experience - This one comes with a custom ROM - CyanogenMod which is essentially Stock Android modified a bit to add some useful tweaks that make life simpler. For those who do not know about Custom ROM, it is Android, so no worries.

CM (CyanogenMod) has provided 3 profiles to manage battery - Power Save, Balanced and Performance. I've definitely observed minor lags in "Power Save" mode and that's quite expected.

There is also a "known issue" with multi touch while typing, which effectively annoys the hell out of someone who is pretty used to typing on a phone with two hands and with decent enough speed. So what actually happens is that if I type with my usual typing speed, it tends to miss a few characters every few characters. There are workarounds, but at the moment they are just workarounds. Good thing is that its a "known issue" and a fix has been promised (because its been identified as a glitch which can be fixed via a software update).

Screen - Beautiful, wonderful, its a treat to watch videos on this.

Size - Its a big phone. I have big hands. Its not that easy to use. So keep that in mind. It took me time to get used to the size but still its not as convenient to use as was my Nexus 4. This is something I already knew, hence not complaining. One good thing that they've done with the design, however, is the placement of the power and volume buttons. Both are on each side of the device and placed in the lower half of the upper half of the phone. That makes it slightly better because it doesn't require you to stretch your hands all the way to click a button.

Battery Life - The next revolution in smartphones should ideally be the one which can promise a week's battery life (or at least 2-3 days). That, however, seems like a dream. OnePlus One does phenomenally well on this front. Attached are the pictures of my phone with yesterday's usage. With my Nexus 4 it would have meant charging it more than 2 times for the same usage. Bottomline - I don't carry my charger with me. And I don't remember where I kept my power bank. B-)

Its hard to buy One - All of you who are interested in buying this must be aware that it's not available over the shelf. They are following an invite-only system which honestly was irritating. Even after buying this phone, I haven't received any invites which I can use to share with others (which was ideally supposed to happen as mentioned on various forums). I have read that they would be moving to a "pre-order" mode of sale starting next month. No confirmation on dates, however, we can wait and watch.

Summary - Its an A+ or rather One+. Worth buying if you can. Alternatively, you could wait for the iAnnouncement tonight and pay double/triple the price for specs am pretty confident would fall short of beating the OnePlus One. The other big announcement is likely next month and that's the Nexus 6 (if at all). That I do think would have similar or better specs but getting your hands on that would at least take 4-5 months from now.

And without making any comparisons to any other device, just remember, its a big phone. If you are fine with it, get it else look for other options. As far as the multi-touch glitch is concerned, I am confident it'll be fixed before you could buy one.

Best Butter Chicken in Delhi

2013-11-02T21:31:00.000+05:30

I never knew that quite a few number of people are waiting for me to publish this. Though I have spent most of my life in Delhi (born and brought up here) but had been out of Delhi for for a good long period of 9 years with brief, frequent visits until I finally moved back to Delhi for considerably long period of time earlier this year.

Though this could be treated as a follow up of my last post on writing about my travel, places and foods, this is not quite that because as I said I have been in Delhi for most of life.

Nevertheless, coming here again after 9 years, one thing I was super excited about was the food. Right from the chaat to faluda to cholle bhatoore (paneer paa ke) to the world famous Butter Chicken. And for some reason, I decided to go on a quest to find the Best Butter Chicken in Delhi. I had earlier done something similar in Hyderabad last year when I wanted to find out the best Biryani (will write about it soon).

Getting back to Butter Chicken, I had in some conversations mentioned to a few people about this quest and I was surprised to see "follow ups" on the same and that is why I decided to pen it down.

Though the quest isn't complete, you'll know why, I write here about the results so far.

To make it sound rather 'cool', I'll rank the best places on "Butter Chicken Awesomeness" or BCA

So, here we start with BCA #1

BCA #1

Unfortunately, I haven't yet found a contender for this spot and that is the reason that the quest is incomplete.

BCA #2

This currently has to be Invitation, Ashok Vihar. They really have good tasting, appropriately sweet, aptly tangy Butter Chicken and if you were to ask me where should you go and try good Butter Chicken, as of now, this is what tops my list and would indeed recommend it. Mind you, this is not just based on one visit but has been ranked this high as a result of multiple visits to check on consistency in taste and quality.

Since its about Butter Chicken, this post is limited to reviewing that only, for other aspects of the restaurant, you can read my review here.

BCA #3

Number 3 right now has to be Galena, Connaught Place. As of now, yes this stands as the third best choice for Butter Chicken.

That's it. As of now that's how the top three stands. The quest is still on.

Will want to mention the other know names which I took as contenders in the quest:

- Minar, Connaught Place
- Moti Mahal, Daryaganj
- Kake Da Hotel, Connaught Place
- Kwality, Connaught Place

The Butter Chicken that you get at any of the above three places is anything but Butter Chicken. They wouldn't be a part of my list, irrespective of how long the list is.

Another few popular names are
- ~~Kwality, Connaught Place~~ (tried)
- Mughal Mahal, Rajender Nagar

which I will be trying out, but given the reviews on Zomato, it doesn't seem like they would make a cut. Nevertheless, I will surely give them a try.

If you have any other recommendations, do leave a comment, will look forward to try them out too.

Image by Affaf Ali (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

How is it like to be in Sales?

2013-10-07T02:07:00.002+05:30

No matter howsoever little time I have spent in Sales, but nevertheless, every now and then I have been asked this question - "How is it like to be in Sales"? If not the exact verbatim, then perhaps a variant of the same. I was guzzling with thoughts on this and thought of penning it down right now itself (0118 hrs IST).

Frankly, I don't really have a well framed, certified by all answer to that question. All that I can tell you is what comes with it and then you make your choice on whether it is good or bad, suits you or not.

A sales person I think is very much like the Striker in a Football Game. Backed by mid-field (mainly Marketing), his/her job is to convert and Score.

Yes, Sales to me is like a sport. For that matter everything to me is like a sport, so let's chuck that for a moment. (that's a side effect of me loving and being into lot of sports). But somewhere at the end of this post you will perhaps agree that it is like a sport.

Sales is indeed about numbers and people and behaviour. Lets start with numbers first. Achieving them gives you a sense of joy, immense joy especially at the start of your sales career or when it had come after a close finish.

There are times when you end up feeling like a Dhoni, turning a nail-biting finish in your favour and then there are also times when you end up with the feeling of the Duckworth Lewis Method being applied to you and that you obviously feel its illogical and utter nonsense. (Apologies for the extreme cricket analogy but I just couldn't help it).

You can just imagine what wonders the above two extremes of feelings do when in a team. They bond you like anything. Forget your own team, it also acts as a bond between two otherwise strangers, sales persons.

Its like people who smoke, no matter if they are meeting for the first time, they just bond over it! They bond over hundreds and thousands of stories and experiences about, well yes, sales (sales calls, customer reactions, numbers achieved, targets missed and so on).

One other advantage, at least it is in my case, is that a sales guy has a network of people (other sales guys) throughout the country! A true blessing in disguise. You have a known face, in every part of a huge country i.e. India! If not directly, then through another sales fellow. How cool is that?

Moving on to the next bit of people and behaviour. One integral part of sales is meeting and interacting with people. New ones, old ones, every day, many times a day. Couple it with the fact that these people belong to different parts of the country (more on it later in the post). I have realised and truly appreciate the kind of dimensions it adds to one's perspective. I have certainly benefited from the same. I have met all kinds of people, road side mechanics to business tycoons with networths in crores! And that, across different parts of the country. Trust me when I say it totally modifies the way you think with more and more number of new people you keep on meeting and more and more number of interactions you have.

Not many would be wondering, but worth while explaining how and what of "different parts of the country". As a sales guy, you do not stick to one particular role or geography for a long long period (again its not something etched in stone, but sort of a generalised observation). This also means that you are most likely to have at least one stint in a non-hometown geography. Now just imagine, traveling to a new place becomes a PART of your JOB! I have traveled to so many different cities across the country as a part of my job. Travel might not excite you, like it didn't really 'excite' me so to speak few years back but now I love exploring. New places, different kinds of food, new people, different languages and what not! And of course, you've guessed it right, its all paid for by someone else :)

Belgaum to Pune to Goa to Chennai to Hyderabad to Vizag to Jaipur to Jodhpur to Lucknow to Varanasi. I have travelled this ON WORK! The Hyderbadi Biryani to munching on squids and crabs to gorging on Tundey Kebabs to feasting on Dal Baati, it has all been a part of this journey!

Of course, its awesome but yes its tiring too. Travel and lot of travel do take a toll on your body, both physically and mentally but then again you have to balance. I have met quite a few people who "envy" my "sponsored" travel to so many different places and then there are ones who would straightaway say, "pata nai yaar tu kaise kar leta hai, mere bas ki to nai hai" (I don't know how you do it, I just can't).

But then, that is why they say - To each his own

Since I am anyway writing about it, I'll also touch upon 2 other questions that I have been asked at some point in time.

First - What do you NOT like about sales?

A few people I know would say, "Pressure to perform", could be, but for me its something different. For me it is those periods where you have to stay in a geography where you don't have friends/family. For me, those periods have been slightly tough. You will point at what I wrote above about meeting new people and exploring new places. Surely that's what you can do, but somethings just do not have replacements. I still remember some of those periods when I would be eyeing for that one long break (even 3 day off meant 'long') when I would visit friends in Bombay or be back home in Delhi. I always tried to race against time in that period. I tried to live a full week in every single day. And boy was the "vacation" withdrawal syndrome difficult to handle? You bet!

The other question I distinctly remember was when I was interacting with a bunch of students at SPJIMR and someone asked "Do they fire you if you don't meet the targets?" This, that student told me was one fear that stopped her from even thinking about pursuing a career in sales. Frankly, I do not have a full proof well researched, yes or no answer to that. All I know is, meeting targets is just one aspect and there are hell lot of other things that a sales guy does and is expected to do (the approach, thought process, execution, etc) that determine his/her performance. This again is from what I have seen and realised as a result of discussions with fellow sales guys across organisations.

Well, that's it on "how is it like to be in sales?" I'll say again, that am no Sales Expert or Legend or something. Just shared few snippets of my observations and assimilation from whatever little experience I have had.

One thing writing this post has made me realise is that perhaps meeting different people, traveling to different places, trying out different kind of food is perhaps something that I can or rather should share here. Will think about it again and try doing it.

Until then, cya! Do let me know what you thought of this post.

The Seven Minute Cake

2013-08-09T22:57:00.001+05:30

It's a little experiment that was done on someone's suggestion and turned out to be successful. The beauty of this cake is that it's super easy and super quick to bake and to top it up - it's egg less and relatively low on calories.

Dish - Chocolate Cake
Preparation Time - 5 minutes
Cooking Time - 7 minutes
Total cost - Rs. 40/-
Serves - Depends on how much you like it but otherwise can serve 2-3 ppl

Ingredients:
1. Parle G Rs. 5/- pack - 2 nos
2. Hide n Seek Rs. 5/- pack - 1 nos
3. Milk - 1.5 cups
4. Eno - 1 nos
5. Sugar - To taste (my taste buds say 10 tablespoons)
6. Chocolate - Dark (preferred) or Normal Dairy Milk Rs. 10/- pack

Method:
Empty all 3 biscuit packs in a mixer grinder jar. Add sugar to this and crush the mixture till it turns into a powder form.

Empty the jar in a microwave friendly dish. Add milk to the mixture and stir to form a taste. Now this is the most important step as it is really important to be careful that the mixture doesn't become too thick or too fluid. The thickness of this mixture would decide how soft (touch and it shatters or relatively tough) or hard your cake turns out to be.

Another thing to keep in mind here is that there are no lumps in the mixture.

Once done, add Eno to the mixture and stir to mix it properly. Once Eno has been mixed you have to be slightly quick to take this to the Microwave but before you do that, there is one more thing to be added - Chocolate.

How you add chocolate again depends on how you want the cake to taste. I grate the chocolate and put it on the mixture in the middle and put the dish in the microwave. By doing this (and not actually mixing the chocolate well), I get a molten chocolate lava in the center of the cake and that is how I like it. If you want the chocolate flavor to be distributed evenly you would have to mix the grated chocolate in the mixture BEFORE you add Eno.

And so you are all set, microwave (no convection, no grill, no pre heating, just normal seven minutes heating) the dish for SEVEN minutes and your SMC (Seven Minute Cake) is ready!

Variations:
You may choose to add almonds, walnut, etc to your cake. Adding spoonful of coffee powder gives it the Tiramisu Effect. Feel free to experiment and arrive at your own favourite

Oh My God!

2012-10-12T14:20:00.002+05:30

I was pretty bored last week and decided to do what I thought I would have otherwise not, that is, watch the movie Oh My God! I made two other souls watch that with me. They were bored and suffered for around 3 hours. I, on the other hand, though didn't like the movie as such, but really appreciated some of the questions it put up and then many others that popped up in my head as a result of it.

In effect, the movie Oh My God! is an offensive perspective on a set of people very similar in nature to the one portrayed by Aamir Khan on Doctors in one episode of Satyamev Jayate, only that the former came in a very Bollywoodish wrapper. Also, in my opinion, if D is the set of all doctors in our country, and if Aamir Khan spoke about a of them (a belongs to D), I think a' (a complement) is perhaps higher in number to a itself. But in case of the movie OMG, I think, the set they have spoken about is majority.

The movie brought up some issues which I was surprised did not happen to invite any controversy. The movie has challenged some very basic, paarampaaric practices e.g. pouring milk on the Shivling. Logically, the counters given to each and every practice shown in the movie makes perfect sense but then you can apply logic only in a rational environment. Talking rational in an irrational environment makes the result irrational. To digress slightly, the last statement has also been proved mathematically, as 1 + i is an irrational number! The concept of God's existence is mythology and we should not even expect application of logic to play any role here.

I personally believe in God and I will explain why. I firmly believe that all is in the head/mind. This means that anything and everything is controlled by the mind. Now, controlling the mind is a skill which I think has been mastered by none. Hence, you can be good at it, or slightly better than that but not perfect. Hence, there exists a significant part of it (the mind) which is uncontrollable (referred as 'U' hereon) or beyond human control (because of limited ability of a human to control it). Human constantly thrives to control this uncontrollable. He also believes that he, in his capacity cannot control it (which is why in first place the 'uncontrollable' is created). He thus, conditions himself to believe that an X-Factor is required to control this uncontrollable U. Now, this X-Factor (lack of it) is something which humans use to explain when whatever they are doing/acting on isn't yielding results as it ideally should in a 100% controllable environment. Just understand, I did 'p' which should lead to the result 'q' and now for some reason it doesn't happen, there was something else involved here, and this is where we use the X-Factor (lack of it).

It is this X-Factor, which many of us call differently, God, messiah, divine power, luck, etc. If you read the book 'Secret', it has one underlying message - Whatever happens is a result of what kind of thoughts you have about it. You think positive and you attract positive energies and positive happens and vice-a-versa. This is again nothing but trying to emphasise on what I said earlier and putting it slightly differently - All is in the head. Hence, X-Factor is nothing but a tool that we have created to facilitate us in controling the mind (the uncontrollable part U which we are not able to control due to limited ability). You can call it anything, say God. And now if you call your X-Factor as God you have devised another mechanism of a 'prayer' or/and 'offering' which gives you mental piece (controling the mind positively) that because you prayed, Good will happen. The stronger that thought in your head, the stronger your positive actions and ultimately positive outcome (just like as said in the book 'Secret' or what I said, all is in the mind). Once that happens, your belief in it becomes stronger and stronger and you, maybe, prosper. Then you start on passing the 'mantra' to others.

After having described about 'God' and prayers and offerings let us now move to the set of people that the movie targets. These people (will be referred as Set S hereon) are called as Salesmen in the movie. In effect and in my opinion in actuality, they just offer/sell an idea/tool like XYZ Pooja, ABC offering, etc. which claims to solve all your problems. These products/services work on the same principal - doing it will give you mental piece and you will be able to control your mind positively and hence a deed will be done and you would see positive results. Now, for all those where 'U' is significantly high, they are bound to look for any kind of assistance that can help them reduce it and this is where the products/services of Set S come in. And I believe, the number of such people where 'U' is high is in majority, which implies, high demand and hence, higher prices and variety of product offering by Set S maybe.

It is debatable, as to what they do is cheating or not. They are offering a solution (at a price) which can give you mental piece. You have a choice to buy it or not. What the movie, I thought, had a problem with was how they misportray what they are offering. Instead of showing how it could help them, they perhaps show how by not using the product/service you are bound to get doomed. But then who buys that? The ones who are more vulnerable. Think of it, wasn't something similar done by all insurance companies as well some time back?

Yes I agree some of the rumors of a Ganeshji drinking milk or likes could have harvested in a clever mind of a member of Set S or who knows may be a big Dairy Farm. Someone could have had commercial motive behind it but then they are all taking advantage of your vulnerabilities. The vulnerability is to such a greater degree that it happens to replace 'fear' in you most of the times. And that is what helps taking advantage of it much much easier than anything else. They don't have any Nielsen data or a Temple/God brand tracker to see peak seasons when donation shows a spike. They don't compare the donation graphs with other Gods and temples. Just imagine if it was so, I would have definitely wanted to see a pivot for Aug-Sep-Oct to see if the movie Oh My God! has in anyway helped garner more footfalls and donations at a Krishna temple or maybe has impacted it negatively. And then those rumors of Ganeshji drinking milk etc could be easily termed as an Activation Program maybe? BTL with objective - To reach more number of consumers and drive footfalls, hence donations in all Ganesha Temples :) And that too going so strong that it generates enough PR on all news channels to compensate for lack of any ATL. (By the way I have actually seen OUTDOOR HOARDINGS of one Guru Maiya!)

Yes, it can be perhaps called a business. Or else, how do you explain a VIP Darshan queue by BUYING A TICKET. How do you explain a darshan from 6 feet away for Rs. 20, 3 feet away for Rs. 50 and right from half a feet distance at Rs. 100. But then why do people necessarily have to go to that very temple? Of course because the BRAND there is strong and as a layman you would want to prefer a Levis jeans over a PQR Jeans. The PR garnered by letting info/stories slip out in the public was immense and it became a famous temple. It is indeed a business. Also it has the minimum entry barriers (Porter's Five Forces). As has been shown in the movie, I myself have witnessed more than one temples which started as a simple stone being put up in middle of nowhere and one so called priest worshipping it day in and day out, progressing with temporary walls and roof to a pakka temple. Just look at the growth story, and the ROI!

They are simply exploiting your vulnerabilities (or maybe 'need' in Marketing terminology) and sometimes going way to over board and obvious. But rest assured they are not the only ones doing it. All businesses, I guess do that. You want to be fairer, here is a fairness cream. Being fair is not your need but your vulnerability. Look closely, its happening everywhere around you. It is just that when it comes to be related to religion, God, faith or belief that we, perhaps, all object to it. Which again means you believe in God in the first place and the sacredness of all those rituals, then why blame others who do it to a degree greater than you? Logically and rationally, yes some of those practices are immoral but then again how do you make a rational effort to stop it in this irrational environment?

And talking about a pracitce or ritual or faith, I think we should just stop blaming anyone. People pour milk on shivling as they get an irrational satisfaction and a hope of good happening to them. Self first. People also offer food to ones who line up in front of temple. That again is usually a part of some 'Exchange Offer' proposed to God. But then again, it gives the doer mental piece and what's bad about it? Why question someone's faith or belief? It gives them mental piece and maybe happiness. Isn't that what matters? You have a free choice, to either follow them, create a belief of your own or do anything else. It is pretty senseless to use logic and rationals in what right from the foundation is irrational.

Yeh IPL Hai Boss?

2012-05-23T12:21:00.000+05:30

What seems to be a massive blunder on the part of the team that maintains IPL's official website, has surely become the talk of the town.

As all are aware that we are already into the playoffs for the fifth season of the IPL. Team Delhi was to play Team Kolkata in the first match of the playoff. Team Kolkata won this match last night to proceed directly into the finals. As the playoffs have it, Team Mumbai will play Team Chennai tonight and the winner of the match will meet Team Delhi in the second qualifier. Winner of the second qualifier will then play Team Kolkata in the finals.

But if you just visit the official website of the IPL (www.iplt20.com), you are bound to notice something strange. A little click to visit Team Kolkata's page (http://www.iplt20.com/teams/kolkata-knight-riders) has something interesting to offer. The bottom right on the page shows a small block saying "Next Match". Very surprisingly, this section shows that Team Kolkata will play its next match against Team Chennai. [The screenshots were taken just before posting this].

(Click to enlarge)

Though this definitely, is a huge oversight on the website admins, my curiosity took me to Team Delhi's page (http://www.iplt20.com/teams/delhi-daredevils) and guess what? Team Delhi is supposed to play its next match against Team Chennai!

(Click to enlarge)

Haha! All seems so consistent now! For all this to happen, Team Mumbai will lose to Team Chennai today and Team Chennai will then beat Team Delhi in the second qualifier to meet Team Kolkata in the finals.

Definitely a blunder on the website admins part, but this error has given all of us something to talk about, for sometime now :)

All the best Team Mumbai, for today's match then :)

[First pointed out by @SexyBichoo]

Time for The Master to go?

2012-02-21T00:32:00.002+05:30

I read today that Ponting was dropped from the team for poor performance in last five ODIs. In a very light hearted manner, in a sense trying to mock at it, I decided to share that to my wider virtual, social network. One of my friends commented,

something to be sad bout .... people are calling for sachin's odi retirement as well .... all news channels debating this ..... wats ur call on it ???

And this is not the first time I am hearing this question. This is not the first time people are discussing it.

In recent past, I have read quite a lot about Sachin, his form, the 100th century, etc. Read a lot of advices from the Whos and Whos and the Huh? Who The Hell Are Yous of Cricket. Well some (read very few) think he should go on, the majority wants him to retire.

I find it very funny and annoying at the same time. You may now begin to feel that I am biased, but let me make it very clear, though I am a big fan of his like you and the person sitting next to you, at the same time I do try to talk sensibly at times. People who know my obsession for Sachin well enough, also know that I have been very critical too.

Anyways, let me come back to what I intended to discuss - my views, my answer to if Sachin should retire.

Of Course, he should, he has to, there is no other choice. He is a human and the law of nature dictates he age and wear out. This should ideally and most probably will have a direct impact on his performance. He has to definitely retire.

The worth of that question doesn't lie in the 'if', it does in the 'when'. So as I said earlier, majority of those who can and cannot spell Sachin Tendulkar correctly are of the opinion that he should retire now. There could be quite a few possibilities for their opinion

1. They might be hopeful of getting a chance to play for the country in his place.

2. They are relatives of an upcoming, hard working cricketer.

3. They are totally jealous.

4. They may have retired earlier and so they want to have the esteemed company of The Master.

5. They think that him continuing is not good for the team.

6. They think he is doing bad for the team.

7. They are saying just because everyone is saying - the spirit of togetherness!

8. They want him to score 100th 100 which he has not been able to for quite some time.

Of the 8 points above, I am the most concerned about 5th and 6th because all others are possible reasons whereas these two are allegations.

So for all those who want Sachin to retire now because of any reason other than the 5th and 6th point, well, Sir, I respect your opinion, you are entitled to have one, just that I disagree with yours.

I personally think that Sachin should retire when either

1. He thinks he should retire, or

2. When we are sure that he is the worst in the lot and there are 11 others who can perform better than him and also have the confidence of doing the same.

and not when you or me sit with a group of friends watching a match and coach each and every player on each and every ball via satellites using shouting in front of a TV as the starting point.

I would want each one of us including the cricket legends to answer honestly, if we are being too harsh on him maybe just because our team as a whole is taking a beating? No? Do you really think Tendulkar retiring now will change it? Aren't we expecting more than what one single person in a team of 11 is capable of? He has not been amongst the runs as much as we would have expected to be for quite some time, but then what has Sehwag done in this series? What have the "youngsters" in the form of Raina or Rohit Sharma done in the current ODI series?

Do we suddenly think that none of these three also have any talent or caliber?

Let us go a bit in recent past and then a little more. There has been an axe on the neck of other 2 men that define Indian Cricket, moreso, The Cricket, Test Cricket - Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. We think these people should retire now too. Why? Because they did not perform as expected in Australia, India was white washed.

This same Dravid was being seen as a HERO when he was the only one who stood tall, as always like a wall in England. I clearly remember that one image of the scorecard doing rounds everywhere on the social network that showed Dravid opening the innings for India in some test match and then going on to play even with number 11. We now want this same Dravid to retire because of not being able to perform in the very next series.

Oh Come On! Be Realistic. Don't just say a 2 digit number, their age, is reason enough to make them retire. Appreciate the experience that comes along and what it has translated into - Class!

The point I make here is that just because Sachin similarly has not been amongst the runs or let me put it bluntly, hasn't been able to score the 100th century you all are looking forward to doesn't mean he should retire now. Sachin, at present, is clearly not the "worst of the lot" and neither do we surely have 11 players who we can be confident, will perform better than if we were to give one of those 11 spots to Tendulkar. Scenario 2 thus, should rest in peace.

Let me discuss a little more about the magical figure of 100 * 100. Oh, surely you ought to be obsessed with that figure as it has that single numeral that we Indians discovered, four times out there! Also, the symmetry. That is it. There is nothing else magical about that figure. A 99 centuries is no less an achievement than if he scores another one. Besides it is stupid to add up number of centuries scored in two very different forms of cricket. If you continue adding up like this, I am sure he must have scored a 1000, 99 in international cricket, some in Ranjis, some in school, some in a hostel, some in the gully in front of the house, who knows, maybe some in book cricket? Also, add to it the centuries that he has made in the games that we were playing sitting on our couch, controlling a character with his name via a remote control.

In a nutshell, I say, the obsession with 100 centuries is stupid.

We don't need it, we just want it. More badly than anyone else. And unfortunately, he hasn't been able to deliver what we "want" and so maybe he should retire now. Yeah right!

I agree to one of the points I read in some other post, that post the world cup last year, he is playing ODIs once again, and him choosing to play some and let go of some others. Well I agree, it is not the best thing to do. But at the same time I also feel that maybe the pressure and the hype of the figure I just called 'magical' (because that is what you think of it) has indeed taken a toll on him and maybe, I say maybe he just wants to fast forward from 99 to 101. I may have sounded totally senseless, but then I think it could be, it could be the case. The reasons are best known to him and the team management though.

In the end, a request. Everybody, please leave him alone, we all know what he has done for us and the country, we all know what he is capable of, we all can accept he knows himself the best. Let him decide when he has to retire, because in any other possibility, you have no logical explanation to make him retire now, like in next 5 minutes. Why can't we appreciate that perhaps is presence helps in grooming the youngsters better?

Just because he has not been able to deliver on your expectations, doesn't mean he should go. Go Now. No.

He is talent enabled by sheer hard work topped with confidence personified in a human packaged all over with class. See him, appreciate him, forgive him and for now, leave him!

Sad Demise of Indian Cricket?

2012-01-04T19:23:00.002+05:30

We are the Champions?

The World Champions?

Also, one of the best Test Teams in the world?

Is it? Obviously Yes! We are. But is it true only for our soil?

Do we fail anywhere outside? Do we fail miserably in our 'tests' on foreign soil?

It hasn't really been the case to this extreme until the recent past.

I was very disappointed when my team, which made me and every Indian proud by lifting The World Cup last year after 28 yrs, was thrashed and could do nothing but submit in England. There is anyways some not-so-soft-corner somewhere inside me for the English, for they ruled us and did what not (according to the History Books I studied in school). And whatever happened in England last year hurt me deep inside.

I was so eagerly waiting to see my favourtie cricketer, The God of Cricket, The Sachin Tendulkar to score The Special Century right there, at The Mecca of Cricket, The Lord's. Sadly, that didn't happen. I told myself, if not first, then it will be in second innings, and likewise, if not this match, then the next. The wait just continued. In any case, I agree, it is just a number. But I still wanted it in Lord's, his first there, if it would have been.

Nonetheless, it is OK, that it did not happen. But what really bruised me was our dismal batting performance. The Batting performance of The Team with not only a strong batting lineup, but applaudable bench strength as well (possibly for the first time ever since I have started watching cricket). And to rub it in, was the constantly publicised, omnipresent fact, that my team had failed to score more than 300 even once! One man stood tall, The Wall, but all he could see from the other end, was one after the other wicket fall.

All over Facebook, Twitter, News Channels, News Papers, and Real World almost everyone was criticising almost everything about my team but honestly, I still believed that they would do better in the next innings and the next, maybe the next after next but that did not happen. This sad chapter is still lying inside me in a corner that I did not wish to visit anymore.

Sadly, I did today. What made me do that is perhaps a pessimist view of the near future when, hope-not, we fail that bad or even worse, again. Everything now seems to be exactly the same - My expectation of The Master to score The Special Century at the MCG, then if not in first innings then maybe the next, then maybe the next match, and here I stand in the present. Another batting collapse in the first innings at the SCG, where The Cricket God averaged 221 before this match (making me all the more excited in anticipation of witnessing history being written).

You ask me again, and I will again say, it is not the failure to reach that magical figure by The Sachin that is bothering me. I will be brutally honest, it is what is happening, the collapse. OK, I can accept Sehwag doing only what he has managed to do, I can accept Gambhir going through a bad phase perhaps, but it is very very hard for me to hear, see, digest the failure of The Wall and The Very Very Special Man in Australia.

How are we managing a batting collapse yet again? Bad pitch, unfavourable conditions maybe, but then how does one of the weakest Australian side in 15 years pile up runs on the scorecard, that including a century and a maiden test double hundred. It is frustrating, upsetting, disappointing to say the least.

Well of course, there are positives that even I see in this series like our Captain always does. For one, The Master looks in good touch. And then, Ashwin knows how to use the bat.

But isn't it time to seek answers to reasons for failure overseas and do something about it, rather than just keep "looking at positives" and "not being bothered about a loss or two". Of course, I believe my team is already doing that and are perhaps also trying out things but after seeing today's play there are bad visuals haunting me.

Someone like Ponting who was going through, perhaps, the worst phase of his batting career quite recently, is standing strong, playing better and better and better in every knock, while I sit and see The Wall not having reached even 100 in the 3 innings and The Laxman who has a history of giving sleepless nights to all Australians, having played a prank on them thrice, scoring a total of 5 in this series till date.

I hate myself today for even accepting that we are good, perhaps the best, only on our soil and that I accept defeat already. "Hate" because, after all I should support my country, patriotism, etc. But then, of course this is the outcome of what has happened since the England Tour. It is the heart vs. mind game, wherein my heart overruled all that my mind said during the England series. Of course, the outcome of that series has subdued my heart to an extent that it is not even contesting and standing up against what my mind is saying now.

And now for the icing on the cake (read: rubbing salt into wounds), one of my friends who is in Australia gave me an account of what he is going through - being mocked at on the streets. Not only this, he says, at times when he calls up his manager at work to say "application is down" he gets a reply saying "wall is down.. so is tendulkar" (sic).

Sigh, let me try and end this frustration and disappointment initiated chain reaction of blabbering with my Heartadramus prediction - The Heroes will Rise, it will get better, this match ends in a draw and it improves exponentially from there on.

Sorry to break it for your hearts, I am laughing at what I wrote in the last line. We are all set to lose this one.

And yes, maybe I am taking all this too seriously and making a big deal out of this, but well if you don't, I am sorry you wasted your time reading this, it wasn't for you.

Madam, SUV aur Gaana!

2011-11-06T16:56:00.001+05:30

I just couldn't stop myself from writing this! Yesterday, was a Saturday and I had a good time with friends listening to all now (maybe) popular Punjabi songs with weird lyrics. One song that was mentioned but wasn't heard (due to our limited database at that time) was a song titled 'Pajero'. So, on a lazy Sunday afternoon today I searched for this track on Youtube and got this

Baith Pajero ch, Special teri khaatir lyaaya

I quite enjoyed the song, especially the lyrics which in English means "Come sit in my Pajero, I got it specially for you", much like the cheesy and weird and (maybe) awesome lyrics of 'Amplifier'

I was scrolling through comments to see how did other people like it and found a comment that read

its a copy of haryanvi song...(madam beth balero me)

and so quite obviously I searched for that title on YouTube (yes I have a lot of time, lazy Sunday afternoon you remember?) and to my horror shocking surprise found this (from the album "Friendship")

Madam Baith Bolero Mein, Special Teri Khaatir Laaya

The lyrics have similar meaning, the music is similar and the subject is the same - Madam, SUV and a Gaana; just that the SUV in this case is not a Pajero but Bolero and it is a Haryanvi song (according to the comment) and not Punjabi!

I was pretty dumbstruck to find such insane resemblance in everything - Madam, SUV and the Gaana!

But then in MBA terms, it seems to be a simple case of Geographical adaptation of a winning concept in some other Geographical region.

Some more digging in to find out which actually came first and it does seem like the Bolero came before Pajero. For one, the Bolero one seems to have been created in 2008 and the Pajero in 2010 and secondly, there is another modified version of the Bolero which could mean that Bolero was the first one, got famous and became the source of inspiration of others. Here is Bolero ver. 2 (surely Haryanvi), though this one is clearly a "me too" of the original "winning concept" and even in the same geographical region. It is not a "copy" but a "me too" and it does have a USP of its own - The Start, a conversation followed by a couple of Shers

Madam Baith Bolero Mein, Special Teri Khaatir Lyaaya

Anyways, I found another masterpiece where our singer takes a dig on the 'Bolero' and asks the 'Madam' to come to his _____?

No, you couldn't guess it!

A Safari!

Here it is:

Ho Madam Chor Bolero Ne, Ho Aaja Khadi hai Taiyaar Safari

And it was a Oh My God! moment definitely! Pajero, Bolero and now Safari. Though am no expert in different languages, the title in the video "Hoor Pari Jaipur Ki" seems to establish a Rajasthani connect. And I need not explain why it is different from others. Why don't you try? (Yes, correct. 1. Geographical Adaptation of a "winning concept" and 2. It takes a dig on the "winning concept" itself!)

We have had 1 Pajero 2 Boleros and 1 Safari till now, here I found something more - A New Safari! Similar set up, similar context, similar Music but a different USP. It has been positioned as a NEW Safari. The NEWness of the SUV is unique and new to this track as compared to previous ones.

Ek Baar Dekh Baith Ke Ne, Main Nayi Safari Leyo

No, no, no there is no point I am trying to make with this post, though maybe I would like to believe that someone somewhere used some SUV to create one track and then maybe it became so immensely popular that it was adapted to other SUVs... err.. regions and languages.

But then thinking of it, though SUVs have their own charm they form a very small percentage of the total vehicle parc in India. So, what is your guess on the car with the highest vehicle parc (number of cars on road)?

Yes, of course - A Maruti! and yes, yes, yes you guessed it right. Even I was pretty shocked but yes it does exist. Presenting to you - Madam, Maruti and Gaana! This one is a Rajasthani Number

Madam Baith MARUTI Mein, Special Teri Khaatir Laaya

So, c'mon people, one last time. What is different about this one? Yes, correct. Though all previous ones were revolving around a niche segment of SUVs, this one appeals to the masses!

Anyways, on a more serious note, how do you explain so many different creations on the same basis - Madam, SUV and Gaana? The concept is the same, music is similar and so is the meaning/context of the lyrics. Does it have something to do with popularity that leads to inspirations? Or What is it? Any explanation?

And why do you think Bollywood doesn't have its own version of such a popular track? Or maybe the immense popularity and the sheer number of different versions have kept them from touching this one?

Munni.. err.. Marketing ka Mayajaal !

2010-09-29T22:19:00.002+05:30

So, I think its apt to expect the many fans of Salman Khan or Dabangg or Malaika Arora Khan remembering the lyrics of the current blockbuster item number Munni Badnaam Hui Darling Tere Liye. If not, they surely do remember the use of a brand 'Zandu Balm' in one of its lines (a total of FIVE times in the song). Here is a recap just in case:

Munni badnaam hui, darling tere liye
Munni ke gaal gulabi, nain sharabi, chaal nawabi re
Le zandu balm hui, darling tere liye
Munni badnaam hui, darling tere liye
Munni ke gaal gulabi, nain sharabi, chaal nawabi re
Le zandu balm hui, darling tere liye
Munni badnaam hui, darling tere liye

So, the movie became an instant hit, beating 3 Idiot's record of biggest opening on box-office or something and quite expectedly, a super duper hit Salman Dude Khan's movie with an item number featuring Malaika Arora Khan had to be a HIT. And so it did.

And here came in the twist, Emami sues Dabangg for using ‘Zandu Balm’ name in ‘Munni Badnaam’ song (http://goo.gl/uLFQ). This is just one of these links. You can see how this news spread like wild fire all over (http://goo.gl/VfOz).

The company has reportedly sent a notice to Arbaaz Khan Productions Private Limited, claiming that it's the sole copyright holder of "not only the product, but also the name Zandu Balm"and asked the producers to withdraw the song or delete the name of the product from it, failing which it might take action against them.

And then? Less than 10 days later we see this - New Zandu Balm ad to encash popularity of Dabangg's song Munni Badnaam (http://goo.gl/UJT3)

After reaching an out-of-court settlement with Arbaaz Khan Production for the use of words in its chartbuster Munni badnaam hui, Emami is now ready to cash in on the popularity of the song with a new TV commercial to be aired within two days

Interestingly, 2 days before the above news story Arbaaz Khan posted the following two pictures in his tweets:

http://twitter.com/arbaazSkhan/status/25589184855

http://twitter.com/arbaazSkhan/status/25601957447

And not much after this we did see Zandu Balm's new ad with a clipping of the song Munni Badnaam and a voice over saying something like "Munni Ka Favourite Balm, Zandu Balm... etc etc."

Mere coincidences? A brand like Zandu Balm who hasn't used any TV Commercials for really really long now all of a sudden grabbed upon an "opportunity" in an "out-of-court settlement"?

Who knows? Maybe it was a well planned out strategy (Abhishaik strongly advocates it).

A prospective super hit item number using a brand name 'Zandu Balm' in its lyrics (a total of FIVE times in such a way that it features more than once in both 'Mukhda' and 'Antra' of the song)
Zandu Balm suing the producers and gathering Muft ka Prachaar across news channels and on the World Wide Web
Out-of-court settlement of Malaika being the brand ambassador and a new Zandu Balm ad to use the song's clips!

The sequence of steps seem to smooth and quick to sound true!

Kya khela hai! Waah! Marketing ka Mayajaal!

Consumer is caught unaware of how brands are being placed in their heads. Is it the right way? They say, everything is fair in love and war. Yaha kaunsa love aur kaunsi war? Maybe, we should change it to 'Everything is fair in love, war andprachaar'.

By the way today, I saw yet another ad of Zandu Balm featuring Virendra Sehwag, Dinesh Karthik and Amit Mishra. Any connection with Delhi Daredevils now? Prospective sponsor? And does this also mean that these 3 players would remain with Delhi Daredevils even after the new auction process?

Maybe, soon we may see a new ad - Munni Badnaam Hui Delhi Daredevils ke liye

Waise Munni Badnaam bhi hui to kya hua, woh kehte hain na

Badnaam huey to kya hua, Naam to hua!

PS: We all would also have noticed Chaini Khaini using a clip of the same song for in its campaign. Badnaam hui Munni, kaam hua Marketing Departments ka

The Connexion

2010-08-04T17:13:00.001+05:30

He loved riding and was gushing through on his Electric Blue Yamaha R15 from his workplace at IFFCO Chowk, back home. Steering through the road filled with Santros, Pulsars, Wagon Rs, Accents, Passions and what not, he was enjoying riding under the cloudy sky. Though he knew he would get drenched, but still he periodically looked up to see the clouds, to see if it could pour. Riding his bike was this one thing that for the duration of the trip, took away all the worries of his life and filled his inner self with a feeling of joy.

Not soon after, he noticed a Ravishing Red New Karizma ZMR right next to him, possibly just out of Ambience Mall or one of the various MNCs near Shankar Chowk. No words exchanged, the two riders just exchanged glances, at each other and at the bikes. It didn't take much time when the two seemed to be experiencing an adrenaline pump, intensity of which was being made vocal through their bike's engine sounds.

What happened next is easy to guess. Steering through the roads, you see the R15 just behind the Karizma and in the time that passed by when you blinked, the R15 stood ahead with the Karizma not far behind. Signal after signal, the two seemed to be tied with a rope or maybe the bikes experienced some magnetic force of attraction.

What appeared a bit unusual was the act by the Karizma rider, who was trying to pull out his phone from his left pocket and at the same time signaled in the air, seemingly to everybody, but directed to the R15, that he has a call and would halt. Why? What was the intention and what was the need? Nonetheless, the R15 acknowledged the signal and counter-signaled that he would go for a fuel refill at the Petrol Pump 50m ahead. Fuel filling was done and the R15 rider smiled to himself, thinking about the short trip that was over.

But it wasn't. As soon as he came out of the pump, he saw the same Karizma waiting out for him. The two started again, but this time together, with no thought of staying ahead of the other. Enjoying their ride, moving past the heavy after office traffic they were joined by another teammate. A CBZ Extreme. What unseen force was bringing them altogether? And though they were on their super than usual bikes, they weren't even over speeding. In fact, with the roads densely populated with vehicles and the inner thought of riding safe and responsibly, they didn't even cross 60 km/hr.

They continued their ride, together, one signal to another, being separated by cars, buses due to space constraints and coming out ahead, back again, together. All this continued for another 30-40 minutes when at the Jhandewalan Hanuman Temple, the CBZ slowed down and signaled that he would go right. The R15 and Karizma were to go to the left. But this wasn't the first junction they were crossing. All this while they kept moving, one after the other and together, crossing signals, small turning lanes and intersections. Then what suddenly made the CBZ feel that it was NOW that their paths split. Here, on this junction. Strange.

Through their helmets they exchanged smiles, a thumbs up gesture and they continued. CBZ on its way to the right and the other two on the left. Another 15 minutes and at the Karampura Chowk the Karizma signaled its intention to take right and slowed down to halt before the turn. What again got this sense of different direction? They had crossed another few junctions after the departure of their third team mate but the thought of possibility of different paths didn't pass by their minds. Why?

Again an exchange of smiles, a tap of fists, the Karizma steered right while the R15 continued straight. An unsaid, unplanned bond or a sense of belongingness did exist here. A sense of understanding when it came to different directions was on display here. When humans try hard to sail through relationships, maintain a level of understanding, talk out unwanted problems and knowingly make efforts to scrap out rough patches amongst them, even in blood relations, what created the unplanned link between the three strangers? Where did the understanding creep in from? What constructed, transformed and developed 'The Connexion', the connexion between strangers, between strangers who didn't even exchange their names?

Is this Treat Tasty?

2010-04-01T18:19:00.001+05:30

To start with, let me declare that this is not a April Fool's Day Joke. This is something I saw today and found weird.

So how many of us have heard of the brand Tasty Treat? And how many of us know that it is actually a brand introduced by Food Bazaar itself?

I just went to Food Bazaar today and was surprised to see this:

Its their own brand. Why do they have to show it like this? MRP was set by them and "Our Price" is again them. Where from the savings of Rs. 20? I am not really aware if the Tasty Treat brand products are available outside Food Bazaar but even if they are, this display is weird. Both "MRP" and "Our Price" are indeed Food Bazaar's price. Are they trying to fool customers?

In any case, outlets like Food Bazaar and Star Bazaar are coming up with their own in-house brands for almost every category now (especially food) and in some cases the packaging is so similar to the other popular product in the category to easily deceive someone to actually be the 'popular' brand.

Now, on top of that, doesn't a display like this make the consumer feel that it actually is something which is otherwise expensive and on discount here? Nice tactic, but is it right, given that both prices are their own. They could have easily written 500 instead of that 75 also then. What do you think?

Computer, Internet and Me

2010-02-27T03:37:00.001+05:30

Suddenly, the computer fever is back. Its all back again as during my engineering days. Lot of time being spent with my computer :)

All of a sudden, there is too much of Internet Internet around me. Never before have I received so many comments on my blog posts as now. Mostly SPAM. So many, that I was compelled to turn on Comment Moderation (I didn't really want CAPTCHA).

The enthralling wave or rather the 'keeda' of having my own domain name got me www.prateekkhurana.in just before my final exams and yes I spent more time with it than studying! And what about it? The 'keeda' to put up an 'Under Construction' Page. The 'keeda' to use SEO and get it on the first page of Google Search. And tada! 15 days since I bought the domain and its up there - Page 1, Result Number 3 (I hope it stays there or rises even up by the time you click it)

So, anyways, not much of Twitter happening, but am playing a lot with Photoshop, once again and experimenting with a lot of softwares (as I used to) and they do some fantabulous jobs. Moreso, connecting the phone with the laptop and playing around. An old, almost dead phone with some jazzy software.

I am loving it all over again. Yes, I am. :)

But right now, what I have to do is work on my website and get rid of the under construction page before the countdown ends :)

Nonsense, Entertainment, Well.. Something

2010-01-09T12:56:00.001+05:30

The title of this post is a very disappointing attempt at expanding the acronym NEWS but then I guess it is better than what is being delivered to us in the name of NEWS. As me and a lot many have seen it from their very own eyes, heard it using their very own ears, news items like "Commisioner Sahab ka kutta khoya/mila" or the "Chajje pe billo rani", we very well understand and often ridicule the horrendous use of a medium (TV Channels) to showcase ridicule! Maybe, it makes commercial sense, maybe a large set of people love such items for the entertainment quotient or anything else, but weren't you supposed to be a NEWS Channel, a channel that I assumed will give in important happenings around the world or was it that I made baseless assumptions.
Anyhow, as if the 'Vishesh's and the 'Breaking News's and more such unintentional humor wasn't enough we enter another era. As we all very well know the virus like spreading infection of joining Twitter, especially amongst the celebrities and well-known public figures. No, I have no qualms against this, absolutely not and I myself follow quite a few of them including Shahrukh Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Pritish Nandy, Gul Panag, Shashi Tharoor, Barkha Dutt, Riteish Deshmukh and some more. Now they are here for whatever reasons, its there business, I can choose to follow them or not.
Now a point here. Undoubtedly the small list of the much larger pool I gave above have huge fan following, love, respect from people on or not on Twitter. Of them, those who actually are on Twitter are likely to follow them so they are expected to have a large following. And as it was, it perhaps is a very big thing (a dream come true for many of us) if a celeb actually replies you and addresses you with your twitter alias in his tweet. It was big even for someone like Barkha Dutt who re tweeted (forwarded) someone else's tweet mentioning that she was the first one whom Shah Rukh Khan himself replied on twitter.
It is Barkha Dutt's personal account, she felt like and she did it. Fair Enough. But there are news channels on Twitter as well including CNN IBN, which I duly respect and liked. A recent update on CNN IBN has the headline "SRK tweets in support of 'unpaid' hockey player".
Now this is just too much, these channels are now following whatever celebrities write on twitter and are making news items out of them. There just doesn't exist any other news or what? Is it the most interesting and most important thing. An opinion by SRK, though well respected, but should it become a NEWS ITEM? And its not for the first time, I remember news items about celebrities joining Twitter, one update after the other.
Even if I try to justify the news story on Shashi Tharoor's 'cattle-class' tweet or the Chetan Bhagat's FPS-3Idiots opinions, which in itself was lame, I don't think I can justify this SRK one. How can you just make news stories out of ANYTHING, EVERYTHING or rather NOTHING!
I just don't understand where we are heading. As if the Kutta Billi stories weren't enough that now a less than 140 character tweet from a celebrity is molded into a full fledged news story. Ridiculous.

Movie Review: De Dana Dan

2009-11-28T01:20:00.004+05:30

I have never written movie reviews on this blog before. In fact, I have never written movie reviews before, but this movie is just brilliant and so I feel compelled to write about it, to try and convince you to watch it, to have a great time and to laugh like never before. Yes, I am talking about 'De Dana Dan'. Have seen many Priyadarshan movies, but this one was amazing. So many characters, so many and all adding to their bit to have made tears flow out of my eyes laughing. Like all other movies, the central theme to this movie is also CONFUSION but its different. It is different in the way it has been executed, scripted, the way one event has been connected to other, the way one character is linked to other. Sheer brilliance.

The first 45 minutes or so are drape, I would now say, setting the foundation for a laughter hurricane, but by the time we enter the second half, you just can't stop but LAUGH and burst out more, LAUGHING. So much so, that you miss many dialogues, amidst the 'surround sound' and echoes of laughter! This movie is based around cash, characterssss and confusion and hats off to everyone for making it the way they have. I remember laughing as much (or less) last in some scenes during Garam Masala.

A movie which has Akshay Kumar, didn't bore you even when Akshay Kumar was locked in a cupboard for appreciable amount of time. In fact, you didn't even realize that he was there. They have made people laugh in otherwise seemingly very ordinary scenes. Comedy out of nothing! And that was just the start, as I have said before, moving in to the second half, you may just slip out of your chair and actually experience 'LMAO'

I just loved the movie and would not mind watching it again and maybe again and then probably again and then give it the stature of 'Hera Pheri'. I think it deserves a 4/5 (being conservative), provided you leave your brains at home or maybe that is not required. There isn't enough time to try and use your brains, too many funny scenes lined one after the other.

I hope you do go and watch the movie and enjoy it as well. Good Night!

A Punjabi Wedding

2009-10-26T00:52:00.000+05:30

I have attended quite a lot of weddings all over India from Gujrati to Marwari but primarily Punjabi weddings because I myself am a Punjabi. I attended one yesterday as well and I realized how fun-filled and brilliant they are (not that others aren't, but I enjoy these more). There are some very interesting observations, some things you'll only see in a Punjabi Wedding:

* Baarat Reception time will be scheduled at 8:00 PM, but it won't reach before 11PM (this is the earliest).

* Through the entire Baarat procession, friends and family of the groom will be dancing in front of the ghodi throughout (and more often than not, fireworks being demonstrated steps away from the dancing crowd).

* Alongside, the baarat, there will always be few cars, running one after the other, stopping for sometime and then moving along. Whenever they stop, Khul Ja Sim Sim happens, the famous Dikki opens and I don't know why but children are kept away from it :)

* One of the rituals is for the bride's family to greet the groom's family at the entrance itself, and so the bride's family has sweets, gifts, garlands, etc in their hands. But the groom's family and friends will reach right there on the gate, call the dhol wallah and start dancing there. Its evident that the bride's side is getting impatient and are probably tired of holding so much stuff in their hands for long, but NO, the dance has to happen. Same 3 tunes on the dhol in a cycle and the dance continues. Currency notes waved over all dancing, and then tucked in the mouth of one of whom is dancing and then he will do his own sweet steps, take his time, before giving away then note to the dhol wallah. This dancing in itself can take HOURS!

* Once in, a lot of eating and with evolving trends, DJ with loud music, dhinchak lights and smoke! This DJ will play tracks totally different from any DJ in a disc, for obvious reasons of giving what is demanded.

Now here, I would like to draw your attention to one special event that happened in Indian history. This was the release of the movie Singh is Kinng. Songs from this movie hold special soft corners in hearts of everyone present there. The not-so-big dance floor witnesses a sudden rush when a song from this movie is played for 7th or 8th time in the movie. The 7 or 8 times that it has already been played will never see any crowd on the floor, but if you turn around looking here and there 360 degrees you will definitely find one or two people getting excited within and shaking their heads, moving hands or entire body expressing their intent to just jump on the floor.
Now all it takes is one person who would catch one or two other people on the floor when that song is played for the 7th or 8th time. And then what, other already excited people, get super excited and jump over. And as and when the population density on the floor increases, everyone goes out and gets at least 2 more people each to dance thereby flooding the floor.
What follows are totally traditional, otherwise unconventional (ask the experts) but total "fun" steps. These steps may seem funny to them, but you'll definitely enjoy them even if you are just seeing someone else perform them. Now there are so many many many different tracks, but NO, these Singh is Kinng tracks, and some other selected Punjabi tracks which exist since the Big Bang happened and formed the earth will be played often, in fact quite often.
One popular step is, Running away from the floor, getting a cola glass, keeping it on the hand, and slowly dancing your way to the floor again. gish! And you become the center of attraction, rightly so :)
Most of the weddings, still can't do away with dhols so they will have dhols being played alongside and will enjoy both.
Am actually not quite learned to be able to pen down the entire experience in words. You have to be there, see it to understand.

* All through the ceremony, the bride and groom will meet everyone, dressed in so much taam jhaam and full bright yellow mercury lights shining on them and click after click with people after people, stand up, click, smile, meet, sit down before the next set of people come. While the rest of the crowd enjoys eating, treating their stomachs, bride and groom STARVE!

* During the ritual of exchanging var maalah again its mandatory for groom's friends to lift the groom up away from the bride's reach. Another "fun" incident for another fifteen minutes or more.

* Lastly, when most of the people have left, a big table will be set for the families of bride and groom to have food and NOW, everyone will come and keep on feeding the bride groom, one gulaabjamun, while they were having roti, then laddoo while they just tasted daal. All that is possible is fed all together, not even considering that he probably has daal, rice and jalebi in their mouths at the same time!

Phew, long post :)
But I seriously enjoy attending these kinds of weddings. Truly brilliant and totally fun filled!
The one I attended yesterday, I was forced to EAT, EAT and EAT and then since I couldn't eat more, I was taken to dance, dance and dance and then EAT EAT EAT and then DANCE DANCE DANCE (on Jee Karda, Singh is Kinng, Oye Lucky and other few standard age old Punjabi Tracks). My stomach was on the verge of exploding by the end of it if only I would have fallen on my stomach, full blast :)

Doosra: Update Twitter, Facebook via SMS

2009-10-20T18:01:00.003+05:30

Much like 'Doosra' in Cricket, here is a workaround to update Twitter and Facebook via SMS (even if you are not an Airtel customer) at standard SMS charges (tested for India). I found it via twitter thorugh @testbot123 on this page.

So, its a simple 4 step process and here we start.

Step 1 - Create a page on Facebook with a suitable name under the "Brand, Product, or Organization" head and select "Website" from the list below it. Create the page and then Publish it.

Step 2 - We now have to Edit Page and look for Mobile option there. We have to Edit settings for Mobile by clicking on the icon as shown.

Now Activate Facebook Mobile but beware that doing so will end any previous link of facebook mobile with your account and you won't be able to update your profile status.

Step 3 - We now have to link this page to Twitter which can be done on this page.

Doing so will make the status message of your facebook page reflect back on your twitter profile.

We are half way through and ready to tweet via SMS. Send in your tweet as an SMS to 92FACEBOOK (9232232665). This will update your fanpage and thus your twitter status. Standard SMS charges apply as it is a 10-digit mobile number.

Step 4 - Now to use the same update even on facebook you have two choices. First choice is to use Twitter Application on Facebook and then use the option "Allow Twitter to update your Facebook status"

The second option is to use Selective Twitter Application which allows you to update Facebook ststus with your Twitter Update only if the latter has the tag "#fb" in it.

Now to get Twitter Updates referenced to you we go for two more steps

Step 1 - You need RSS Feed for tweets addressed to you which is of the form

http://search.twitter.com/search.atom?q=@<twitterID>

Here Replace with your twitter username. For instance, if your twitter username is random543217654 then the RSS Feed for tweets referenced to you is (remember to prefix ur twitter ID with '@' symbol)

http://search.twitter.com/search.atom?q=@random543217654

Step 2 - We now use Google SMS Channels and Create a New Private Channel and use the Link above in the RSS Feed option there as shown:

You can choose who all can subscribe to your channel by "Who can subscribe" option.

And we are done, make sure you have set your Phone Number correctly to use Google SMS Channels.

I would like to thank fundubytes once again for sharing this information.