Grandpa's logs

Yesterday while rummaging through some old stuff collected by mum n dad in their 27 years of married life, i found a couple of really nice things.

a 50 year old Parker pen. This was absolutely lovely. Although the pen needs some servicing to start working, it was amazing to think that my grandpa used to write with this pen. Call this time travel or what.

And then there were the logs. The logs that my grandpa started writing about 3 years ago. They tell the story of how his young days were like. Where he met my Grandma and how they got married. His life in the Indian Army, 3 wars, his experiences. Grandma's passing away early and raising up 3 children, getting them married and watching them and their children grow up.

The stories are so amazing and sincere. Makes me wonder what those times must be like. People used to travel on bicycles and walk to the nearest post office about 3 kms away. No wonder my grandpa today at the age of 85 lives alone and runs a complete house without even a maid !

Super Sunday !

It's very rare that you see 2 matches of the top 4 of the EPL. Yesterday was a real treat.

Match 1: Man U Vs Liverpool

I sincerely believe alex fergusson has done a good job of bringing the Man U team to where it is today. But somehow, Gerrard and his men seemed more aggressive in the pitch and wanted to prove a point that they too stand a good chance of winning the cup. Well, this seemed like something making sense, until Carlos Tevez managed to touch a flying in shot by Rooney late in the first half to score the only goal of the match. Man U were leading the table at this time.

Match 2: Chelsea Vs Arsenal

But happiness was short lived when Arsen Wenga's team on their home turf took on Chelsea in a feisty and energetic match filled with near misses and lots of yellow cards, with Terry's broken ankle thrown in.

Arsenal's captain, William Gallard was the only scorer scoring a 'nothing fabulous' header to a corner when Lampard fell short of his defensive header.

Arsenal head back to the head of the table and now Liverpool slip to 5th position with Man City taking on the 4th position.

The only real threat to Man u's dominance has been Arsenal and if someone deserves to win this cup - it's probably Arsenal with the way they have been playing.

Exciting weeks to come ...

An opinion and an Asshole

They say an opinion is like an asshole - everyone has one !

IMAI comes out with their internet usage reports and the online media begins its frenzy. Just because India's internet population hasn't grown as expected or rather 'predicted', all the online media gurus are suddenly turning the tables on whom they actually rely to sell the online ad space.

It's quite hurting , literally, for people to tell the world that only 3.2% of the Indian population actually uses the internet. And that only about 10 Million new people have begun using the internet actively in the last 1 year. Well .... will the 'real' online advertiser please stand up, please stand up, please stand up !

Crabs in the house !

I just love crab. (there isn't much that i don't love in food actually - but crabs and Lobsters are favorites).

Me n my wife had this sudden pang to eat sea food. We went to this awesome place in Khadki where you get the best of the stuff - straight from the konkan shores. There were crabs, oysters, clams, million different species of fish and of course prawns.

I took home 2 crabs and with some help from google and my cooking brains, cooked up some crab curry. Well ... here is what it looked like.

Daughtry wins 3 AMAs

For a guy who didnt make it as the American Idol, this is quite a big deal. His voice is super and unlike a fellow goan I know who sings better only to be bitten by his bitter fate of being an Indian, Chris Daughtry is one fine specimen of how Americans make superstars out of anyone.

Listen to his cracking new single 'Home' if you still dont believe me...

Prawn n Balchao ... somewhere in between

If you are fond of seafood, here's one helluva nice prawn dish that you will simply love !

get about 1/2 k of medium sized prawns. Clean them and de vein them. Put half a lemon and some salt into them, mix it up nice and leave it for the time being.

take all your masala -

Cumin Seeds
Red chilli powder
Whole red chillies
Turmeric (very little)
Pepper corns (only the balls)
small bay leaf

put it all on a frying pan and without any oil, just saute them on the heated tawa. In about 5 mins you will see the cumin seeds turning dark brown. Its time to take them all out and put it into a crushing pan. Its called 'Silbatta' in hindi. You can use the mixi as well. The idea is to crush all this masala together. Put 5 - 6 cloves of garlic in it and keep crushing till you dont get a red powdery mixture. It will smell heavenly !!

Then, heat about 2 tablespoons of butter in a pan. Keep the flame low. 20 seconds before you throw in the masala, raise the heat to full and quickly stir the masala. Remember to keep stirring all the time.

After about 5 mins of masala cooking, put in the prawns. Stir quickly and keep stirring on a high flame for about 3 - 5 mins till prawns dont curl up completely.

Finally, just before taking them off the flame, pour in table spoons of white rum (black will do just fine) and shake the prawns. IT CAN CATCH FIRE SO STAY AWAY FROM THE PAN. Keep the prawns moving around the pan at all times.

Finally, turn them over onto a nice plate and enjoy with with some chilled beer or any cold drink.

Tip: Keep the ginger, red chilli powder in control, else it'll become too hot to eat.

B.L.O.T

I spent some time with NDTV good times today. It seems they are trying to make a desi version of Discovery T&L. It's too long a shot for their content....but thats a different story.

They were talking about a group called BLOT - i dont remember what it stands for. But the idea is that these semi DJ's play electronic music with visuals. Its like a 'jugalbandi' of Audio and video stimuli. It's not new - but its nice to know clubs are warming up to such radical concepts that till recently are restricted to the west and Mumbai !

great going guys - its nice to see the experimentation. Must culminate into something larger though, else in joey's words, its all just MOO !

Why bollywood cant make simple movies well

There was this really nice article a few days back in the newspaper about how Hollywood is able to make good movies from simple concepts. You've got mail, when harry met sally, one fine day, etc. They are really no big plots - but excellent movies.

Of course the author did not mention the real reason, or probably it got 'moved' during editing.

But i can say it here ...

It's probably because you can fit all the good Indian actors and put them in a Mini van and take them around. You can literally count them on your fingers. But in Hollywood, every single actor knows that a hit doesnt make him the 'next big thing'. Its the thing about the capitalist markets too. Every one is always under scrutiny !

And then there are no shah rukh khans in hollywood. So every actor is fighting for the first place. Gives each actor the perspective to work and act harder. It's not our guys are not capable to act well ... they are just not 'wanting' to push themselves.

And that's the reason why movies like Shrek make 900 plus million dollars in earnings and our animation like Ganesha wont even break even.

It's all in the attitude people. Talent takes polishing.

2 hours a month is all that it takes !

I live in Pune - small, crowded and strangely mismanaged by the civic authorities. Its like they love certain parts of the city and hate others !

I leave office late since it helps me evade all the traffic. Unlike Mumbai - pune has small narrow roads that turn every 50 mts. Putting a 60ft bus on these roads would not make sense. I can understand why PMC cant change their ways - but all the large ITES guys - Infosys, Patni, Cognizant, Capgemini, have the same large buses carrying handful of their employees across the city.

What amazes me is the sheer negligence on the part of the transportation department in these companies. If their head just spends 2 hours extra every month in office, he will be able to see this problem, get smaller buses on a lease and increase the frequency. Not only will they save money on diesel, the time spent moving the large beasts across the city reduces and helps achieve the ultimate goal - improve employee satisfaction.

But unlike other parts of the globe, we Indians dont always take pride in being a part of the organization. People jump jobs hoping to get a better package and better work atmosphere. Its no longer about the vision - its only about the pay package.

YODEL a Hack !

They did this INDIA HACK DAY at Bangalore last week and it seems its been abuzz since its inception in sunnyvale.

Basically - the developers use the open APIs of google and yahoo and build their own 'Hacks' or 'Mashups'. You need to read about the kind of hacks these guys developed in 24 hours !!

Yes - they are all very brilliant and will each receive a nobel prize for their IQ levels (they should have a nobel for that).

check out the article here

First IT Filing as a Pvt. Ltd.

Oh this is a Dear Diary moment ! Our first IT Filing as a Pvt. Ltd. company ! it took a lot out of me though ... think i'll take a break...but then again ...

Tremonti is too gud !

I have been playing the Guitar for about 8 years now and still think i need to F$@&( learn so much. Everytime i hear Tremonti's riffs, all i can think of is to give up Guitaring for good. The dude is simply too good.

Lord, give me strength to fight this inferiority complex !

Too sweet

All i wish is that i had a R1 .... touching 300 Kmph with this song in my headphones...


Click to listen

GoDaddy.com

I recently saw a TVC of GoDaddy.com and was simply astounded ! There are hot chicks in skimpy clothes dancing all around. It has nothing to do with the hosting business but sure has everything to do with catching attention.

And this is what Americans are excellent at. They are very good marketers. They know what makes an impact on their audience. I think its built into their psyche right from school. Being popular is like the single most important need of a youngster - more than grades or college.

This outlook of being able to create impressions is reflected on their branding and positioning of products. GoDaddy provides a service - you pay them and they host your website, applications, Databases, etc. They are dirt cheap and most unlike the theory that good things cost good money !

But they have managed to productize their service so beautifully that it seems they are always selling much more than what it seems. Their service is spectacular and they continue to rule the hosting business. A tribute to Bob for this fantastic effort.

The Osbournes

I Never realized how hilarious Ozzy really is. With a faint scottish accent, he has a really witty and well timed humour.

Once his wife sharon found him hiding below the piano in a blood stained white dress with a shotgun in one hand and a knife in the other. Apparently he had shot all the cats in the house !!!

Quite a character.

No other news

Today morning I switched on the TV to catch news and guess what. All the channels showed some images of a large crowd gathered in front of what seemed a building.

A few seconds and some dramatic words used by the commentator got me to believe that Lord Indra and other gods were about to come out of the building. A few more seconds clarified the confusion. It seemed the Indian cricket team was returning back to Mumbai. The building was the Sahar Airport in Mumbai and of course, the huge population was the cricket crazy Indian junta who will from now on worship these cricketers.

I tried to skip through channels and i just could not find a channel telling me something that has happened in the world. No news - its cricket here. And i am sure its here to stay.

Hectic travel

Just got back from a hectic travel. Feel like taking a break. The ironical part is that the travel was supposed to be a break !

No Mobiles till you'r 17

The kannada government has decided to ban mobiles for people (mind u not kids!) below the age of 16 in schools and junior colleges. (here)

Whatever little sense remains with me after reading this, i try to understand what could be the possible reason for this. I rule out brain damage. I rule out the fact that the government does not want people at this age to communicate. However, i think i can understand that they wouldn't want children to be blowing up precious currency on stupid calls and discussing boy friends and girl friends. Especially since the spectrum has suddenly become so precious, the patriotic Kannada govt. has decided to retain all wealth within India so the PHIRANGEES cannot use it.

However, the govt. is harping on the health risks posed to these youngsters from the usage of cellphones...

Sigh....

RSS - Oh what thy brings?

I subscribe to about 30 news feeds including our desi New Delhi Television (NDTV for the uninitiated). I read the headlines of Reuters and they say talk about PPR's buyout of United retail. I read the headlines of NDTV and I read that a boy's eyes were pierced by a mob in bihar !!

Are we so full of our problems that we don't have coverage to events with a global footprint? Or journalism in India is reduced to teachers and MPs caught in fake scams ?

Unique/regular visitors

A very interesting article about whether to use Unique visitors or simple visits. I think any media portal needs to not just pull traffic but also retain it.

This is what is the major obstacle facing the numerous social networking portals mushrooming all over. Although the bubble seems to be ballooning in terms of traffic, the actual users will peak and die out simply because almost anyone and everyone is either on Orkut or facebook.

Period.

We need to grow up

To come to office everyday, I need to travel a specific corridor through a colony. I wont take names here.

Today morning i found the route blocked. The gate was closed and no one would allow me to pass by.

After about 40 mins of arguing where all of us presented our opinion and views as loudly as possible, I saw no point in pursuing the discussion since I thought my time was more valuable than theirs.

To cut a long story short, Only the people who have bought real estate from the builders who own that corridor are allowed to travel. Rest all have been banned to move within this corridor.

When asked why so - they said 'what if someone steals something'. I don't know if they keep India's nuclear policy papers or if Rani of Indore herself resides there. But at the end of the day, the inconvenience caused to such a large set of people is not something that concerns them.

We are in a country that prides in our unity in diversity. But i think we are still far from a day when we will all stand up together to share each other's problems and feel proud about the same.

Porn Viewership in India

There is this really interesting blog on WATBlog about Porn Viewership in India (see here). Even though viewing porn online is illegal, its relatively rampant in cyber cafes, homes and even offices.

Leaving the legalities out of the way, its in fact very difficult to control the spread of such content into the masses. Its like banning smoking in India. Although legally announcing the ban may seem simple, the actual implementation of this would require colossal bandwidth.

The human psyche also tends to want things more when they have been banned. I guess its just pure mechanics of the human mind.

Mughal History

Was reading up about the fascinating Mughal dynasty and their families. But the information was incomplete at many places. Any suggestions on a good book/site that carries good info?

Talent or what !

if this aint talent - then god knows what is !!

Successful Startup

I have heard so many people rave n rant about why startups succeed and why they fail, that it no longer seems to make a difference.

Before an entrepreneur thinks he/she is one, he/she needs to realize he/she is a businessman first. So the glory attached to being part of a startup needs to be given lesser credit than it demands.

If the reasons for businesses to succeed and fail were so easy to put into black n white, believe you me, it would be nothing short of a cake walk to run and grow any business. The parameters of business are ever changing and demand much more than what is apparent.

This is why the founder of any business has to have what I call the 'Effect control mechanism'. Its something like a 'correction' in the markets, or the Gyro in an aircraft that the autopilot uses to stay level in flight.

Higher the sensitivity, faster the feedback and quicker the correction. This caters to quicker control and steering.

Funding, management, talent, etc are all important parts of growing a business. But till the foundation of a business is not sound, it will not be able to take on the weight of a larger business objective in the future.

This is why some businesses take time to take off and some seem to fly off the handle from the start. Cash reserves, large revenues or fresh funding do not indicate a good business. Customers, their need for you and your product/service and the value you bring to a stranger are critical for the foundation of any business.

End of the day, a business makes sense if it solves a customer's problem, satisfies the people who are part of it, and makes money for everyone to have small to large luxuries that justify the risk levels accepted by each member of the team.

Standardization in PVR/DVR

I had an interesting discussion with a friend who is the VP of a large semiconductor company. We were talking about the outdated technology of PVRs and MPEG2 encoding. It was then that he mentioned that the current satellite systems like DishTV and TataSky may not work with a standard DVR.

On a little probing i got to learn that the DVRs have to get data in a format they can recognize to decode and the encode into the format to be written to the Disc. But since all DTH systems transmit using a proprietary protocol, the DVR cannot recognize this and considers it garbage.

However, i wasnt convinced and i will need to read up on the transmission protocols of these DTH systems to come to a conclusion.

Coconut sized Diamond

So they found a coconut sized Diamond in South Africa.

Reminds me of the movie Blood Diamond. Its not about the diamond, its about us men who will kill and destroy anything in our path to get to that diamond.

The problem is that no matter how big the diamond is, such a priceless item will never make anyone rich since it cannot be sold. No one will buy it since it is worth killing for. And the cycle of destroying every one who holds this diamond in his possession will continue indefinitely.

So if you own this diamond, its best not to make noise about it and keep quiet. But then how does this diamond make you rich ?

As Alanis would put it - 'isn't it ironical' !!

Peppy seems to be ill

My 6 month old Oranda gold - Peppy seems to be ill. I suspect its either ammonia burns or finrot. In either case - lot of water change is required.

I lost Shrek a month back. This will hurt !

Pray she recovers.

Goldfish as pets

My goldfish are just about more than a month old and they seem to have become twice their size. I can safely say that i have had my share of sleepless nights and heart stopping moments.

Here are some brief points about keeping fishes:

1. Buy fishes from a very good shop. I recommend Aquafissssh on MG Road or a small petstore (i forget the name) in Aundh. Right next to Pulse. (left of pulse if you are facing it)

2. Fish bowl. The general perception and marketing of goldfish is the reason why people believe that they should be kept in a glass bowl. Nothing is more ridiculous than that in the fish keeping world.

Invest in a tank. The general rule is that 1 inch of fish requires about 1000 Cubic cm of water to live. So if you have 4 fishes, you should have at least 4000 cubic cm of water. The bigger the better.

3. Next - have a filter in place. Fishes release ammonia in their pee and it hurts them. It reduces the oxygen levels in the water and the fish will come to the surface to breathe. A filter will also clean the water and keep the tank looking nice.

4. A pump - this also is a good idea since pushing bubbles through the water creates a nice look to the tank and keeps the water fresh.

For 2 small goldfishes, 1 cu ft. of Tank would suffice. This should not cost you more than 750 bucks. There is this Chinese model that costs 3K. The filter comes along with it. If you have the money - go for it. Its worth the investment.

The pump will cost about 150 bucks. And the filter will cost about 400 bucks.

A pair of 1-2 inch goldfish will cost about 80 Rupees. i prefer ORANDA GOLD since they have a long gown like fins that look very graceful.

Some really important tips:

- Food. This is the number one cause of fish death. Try to feed them as little as possible.

- Fishes are delicate. Don't handle them with hands till you aren't comfortable. Once you are - they wont die if you hold them in your hands. But they have a oil coating on their skin. If you touch them with dry hands, this coating rubs off and can lead to skin diseases later.

- Disease. Fishes are susceptible to disease. The primary reason for this is water. Don't go heading out to change all the water everyday. The water gets 'used to' and should not be tampered with everyday. If you have to - change 30 - 50% of the water.

- Observation. a good fish keeper watches his fish. watch them to notice if they are unwell or happy. Watch them to know how much food should you give them.

If you have any questions about keeping goldfish - feel free to send me an email and i will try to help you out. (sam.lucifer@gmail.com)

Long time

I have heard people give this excuse many times - so here is mine as well...

'Have been extremely tied up recently... will get back to you'

Judging a Business Competition

Got an opportunity to judge a business competition the other day.

After having met, interviewed and lectured a reasonable size of business students, it was rather reassuring to see the students are being guided well. The event was at one particular institute - so i will reserve my comments to generalize.

The students were given questions to answer in 30 secs. These were not knowledge based questions but highly situational and required some quick thinking. Some of them were really difficult!

But all in all - a great experience. Will look forward to more in the future.

300 or what ?

yes - this is rather late a post. But i was always wanting to write about this movie 300. But unfortunately - just couldnt garner the time to do this effort.

They rightly claim 300 as not a movie but a next step in movie making.

Our eyes are the most important senses and we probably believe the eyes the most. Ergo - what our eyes like - we like and we are ready to pay for it. Hotel chefs teach this to their new kitchen staff. If it looks good - it'll taste right and serve well.

The movie is beyond stunning. Its not the story, not the 300 odd well chiseled spartans, and neither is it about the event in itself. Its the feel of what you call CINEMA.

Music, sounds and of course the action sequences, all bundle together to bring you a totally spell bound experience.

BTW - has anyone caught the 3D version of this movie ?

Married to work ?

I heard someone say that he is married to his work.

Technically there is a major flaw in this statement. If he is married to his work - then he definitely doesnt like his wife (work). This claim will be supported by all married men. (trust me - this comes from experience)

Secondly - if he is married to his work, he is definitely thinking about a younger, hotter piece of work that he could 'do' had he not been married to his present work !

Thirdly - since he is married to his work, he is not allowed to leave his work and focus on anything else. Which brings us back to the cause of this boring post - work !

its rather late and i am bored in office !!

Angling for Fish !

My very first fishing trip ! And ..... yes ! We DID catch a fish !

First of all - its a rather SOLO activity. Its not really a group activity unless of course all of you carry your own anglers and cast. Else you may just find it really boring watching your friend cast and reel in the fish while you sit around like some chump.

Read the latest issue of Poora Poona to get some gyaan on Angling. I too am learning - so will keep you posted as i go along.

Dont know why ?

I though i could let go and leave this behind. But evidently its not possible....

This isnt over people - i'll be back!

last post

Folding this Blog and stacking it away people. Its time for me to move on.

If you are still interested in reading my thoughts and some of my ridiculous philosophy, please check it out here

Loss

Just got off the phone with a very old friend. The guy called me and said,' Sam - bad news'. We both go back long - i mean really long. Sometimes its not the time that matters but the lack of it that brings people close.

I stayed over at his place for a month when my landlord suddenly decided to throw us out (lets leave that for a separate blog shall we??). I remember his mom shouting out his name and this dude will just get up, scratch himself silly, come down from the first floor rubbing his eyes and bum together and plonk himself on the table. And right there - his mom will give him freshly cut, nice and sweet mangoes. The dude was totally crazy about mangoes.

Aunty was a lady who was all in awe of her 2 sons. Loved her Daughter in law. Lived alone in Pune and was loved by her neighbors.

She passed away this 14th due to 3 massive heart attacks.

I sooooo wanted to meet her before either of us went off. She always used to pull my leg cause i was living so close but never went to meet her. i saw her last almost 2 years back. I got married and she was soo keen to meet my wife. She considered her like her own daughter in law (she was so confident this bloke wont get a girl !)

i miss her - i truly do. I wish she can just come back so she can meet me and my wife. I want to tell her i'm sorry. I ache with pain when i think of this dude. I don't think i can imagine how he sees the world around him.

Sometimes priorities can blind you and make you forget the most important things in life. I am sure she's gone to a better place. She's gonna be happier. I hear she has this fundoo bro up there who can totally crack anyone up. Filled with laughter, i wish her soul rests in peace and i will remember her for as long as i live. She's just like my own mom.

Long time

MAN i am blogging after a long time ! I don't even remember when i last logged in to write some philosophical crap.

I think the reasons are many - but primarily because as any other mortal - i fail to prioritize. Because I fail at this basic level of human psyche, i automatically start clamoring around hoping to complete all tasks and eventually, with evidently no fault of mine, fail to do any of them correctly.

To put things in perspective, Time is an important aspect of life and because you unfortunately have finite moments left with you, its imperative you try, if not actually do, make a list of your most important tasks and people and map them to your current lifestyle, financial situation, time availability, working hours, physical shape, etc. This is the only way you get a pattern of effective timing of your tasks and how you should ensure you end of having a good life.

When i am done with this - i will be 80 with no teeth and no energy left in me to move 'important' muscles. This isn't a self pity cause - just some random thoughts from my cerebral cortex.

Will hopefully drive more sense in to my words, actions and intentions from today.