Michael learns to Fish

2009-04-27T10:35:00.000-07:00

Susan Boyle ... take a bow!!!

What a voice!!! If you haven't heard her as yet, then google her and listen to her rendition of I dreamed a dream and feel the blood race into your head .... Mine did.

2009-04-27T10:29:00.000-07:00

One of the best Leagues in the World ...

... produced a sensational comebacks of all time. United looked dead and buried inside half-time until a dreadful decision by the ref gave them a lifeline. Ronaldo cooly netted the penalty and what followed in the next 22 min was simply breathtaking. Goals from Rooney, Ronaldo and Berbatov and United won the game 5-2. United seemed to be making a hash of things of late since losing twice last month. But their comeback win against Villa 2 weeks ago and last night against Spurs make them one of the most feared clubs in the World.

2009-04-16T10:39:00.000-07:00

Adam Lambert

Where has he come from? .... He's ... wicked no doubt... can't wait to watch him on every week...

2008-10-19T11:16:00.000-07:00

My Money on Liverpool

Fernando Torres looks invincible, Dirk Kuyt looks to steal any ball from the Goalkeeper's nose and Gerrard and Carragher are still turning it on for Liverpool. Two come from behind victories made my heart stop for a moment

2008-09-28T11:12:00.000-07:00

Return of the Spanish Donkey

Ok before anyone gets any wise ideas, just want to clarify that the Spanish Donkey is not the author of this post .... Yeah I have been in oblivion for some time .... but I am back and so is Fernando Alonso. After watching an entire season go by without an Alonso win -- which is as good as watching paint dry -- Fernando carved himself a victory in F1's first ever night race, thanks largely to his partner Nelson Piquet Jr. who crashed out and brought Alonso up the order and pushed the front runners behind. Other than that, it was mighty forgetful race with the track presenting little opportunity for overtaking. Or do I miss Schumi so much....

2007-11-05T22:56:00.000-08:00

The Diwali Song -- from THE OFFICE

It's time to celebrate Diwali
Everybody looks so jolly
But it's not Christmas, it's Diwali
The goddess of destruction, Kali
Stopped by to celebrate Diwali
Don't invite any zombies
To our celebration of Diwali
Along came Polly
To have some fun on Diwali
If you're Indian and you love to party
Have a happy happy happy happy Diwali

2007-10-27T06:20:00.001-07:00

Best day in a long time...

Earlier this week, an office colleague commented that I was looking extremely happy and enjoying myself a lot. Too bad I couldn't tell her that I put in my papers and will quit soon.

Yippee!!!!!

2007-10-27T06:12:00.000-07:00

First Spam mail in my Gmail Inbox

I got a spam mail on my Gmail Inbox and I can't remember the last time a spam mail slipped thru their amazing algorithm. Completely suprised, I clicked on the email and found that I won a million pounds. Cool!!!!.

Michael asked me to switch to Yahoo. He is a billionaire already!!!

2007-10-22T03:48:00.000-07:00

Ferrari on top

Kimi Raikonnen came from behind in the Formula1 championship and clinched the title and the last race of the season. Raikonnen overcame a 20 point lead mid-season and drove superbly to become the first person since Fangio to win the Formula1 championship in his first season with Ferrari.

It was a sad and forgettable season for McLaren. Sadly, they lost everything.

2007-09-26T10:57:00.000-07:00

Politiks when we don't need it

So India wins the Twenty20 World Cup and we are now the first champions of this unique and magnificent concept of Cricket inside 3 hours. This would get Cricket, global acceptance and you might think why no one thought about it earlier. And when someone did think about it and in this case England who have been playing Twenty20 in the domestic circuit for the last few years, one wonders why the BCCI (the guardians of the game) did not think of promoting this tournament. We played only one Twenty20 match before the tournament began.

When ODIs are raking in the moolah, why try something different and reduce our profits. Seems like the Guardians have been caught napping big time.

Another thing that irked me was the welcoming committee at the Wankhede Stadium. Dhoni and his cricketing heroes were upstaged by the BCCI and its political goons. And there were another 200 people on the dias trying to make themselves important or useful to nobody. When Dhoni received the trophy from Ray Mali,ICC president, there was no-one sharing the dias with him. No politicians, no prime-minister, no president, not even Nelson Mandela and yet in India we find jokers trying to steal the limelight from our heroes.

The team bus that had all the Indian players sported the tri-color without the Ashoka Chakra but that of an alarm clock. Kudos to Sharad Pawar for coming up with such a brainwave.

Finally, all State governments and PSUs declared Cash awards and appreciation for their respective players representing their State ..... .... except Gujarat. Two brothers playing the World Cup final together; one of them winning the MOM award were both ignored by their State Govt. Instead it was the Baroda Cricket Association that decided to the appreciate their efforts. Is it because these two jewels of Indian Cricket belong to a religion other than that of the Chief Minister?

2007-09-22T23:20:00.000-07:00

This is probably what my Master does all the time --- Michael

2007-09-22T23:14:00.000-07:00

Never do something great if you don't know how to celebrate.

Yuvraj Singh certainly knows how to do both.

India beat Aussies to reach the finals of the first ever T20 world cup.

2007-09-13T07:26:00.000-07:00

What do you like about Mumbai?

A Brit, working in Mumbai for the last 18 months, told me, "What I like about Mumbai, despite the chaos and the bloody weather, is that its bared open. Everyone is naked and you can see right through them.

2007-09-13T07:08:00.000-07:00

The Last Secret of the Temple --- Paul Sussman

Two men from either side of the Suez join hands to solve a gripping story. Inspector Yusuf Khalifa and Detective Arieh Ben-Roi from Isreal are two human beings brought up in present times to almost hate the guts of each other. An unsolved murder mystery drives both men to grudgingly work together and as the plot widens, it only adds more to the mystery surrounding the Last Secret of the Temple.

This book might actually spark an interest in me to read more books.

2007-08-22T03:05:00.000-07:00

Seems like I am averaging one post per month. So heres my Aug posting.

Just counted 1200 gullible people who have forwarded some Get-rich-quickly-scheme from Microsoft.

The opening lines were a complete give-away
"Please do not take this for a junk letter. Bill Gates is sharing his fortune. If you ignore this you will repent later....."

2007-07-09T02:12:00.000-07:00

Its all happening in UK...

No I am not talking about the bomb blasts.... but it seems all the top sporting events descended on the island nation on Sunday. Federer's win over Nadal moved him alongside Bjorn Borg. Robbie McEwen winning the first stage of the Tour de France after a crash and Kimi Raikonnen winning the British Grand Prix against race fav Lewis Hamilton.

Too bad I couldn't watch all at the same time but if it were possible, then I would have :)

2007-07-04T05:22:00.000-07:00

Tim Sale and Heroes

Heroes is one of my fav shows and Tim Sale's artwork as Isaac Mendez's work is brilliant to say the least.
Heroes Value Stamp http://www.9thwonders.com/gallery/index.php
Tim's Official Site http://www.timsale1.com/home.html

2007-07-03T05:09:00.000-07:00

Moksha

A friend of mine started her own business a couple of years ago. She is a promising young fashion designer and has a small setup with a 3-4 people working for her. I visited her office and was simply speechless.

She seemed so confident and there was a spark in her eyes when she showed us around. She is passionate about what she does and this is exemplified in the clothes that adorn the entire place. The colors are vibrant, the designs are modern and yet ethnic. People buzzing in and picking up deliveries; and when you look at her and the entire place .. you just get the "Wow" factor.

Way to go Anu!!!
(Moksha is the brand-name of her clothes-line)

2007-06-22T08:22:00.000-07:00

Kissed by an Angel
* Mia Kirshner

One of the most beautiful movies to watch .... especially with someone you love

2007-06-01T03:40:00.000-07:00

Monsoon Showers

Temperature drop.... gentle breeze .... dark clouds converging .... people rushing back home .... stronger winds .... raindrops on your face .... smell of the first rain .... people running for shelter ... children jumping over puddles .... lightning streaks ..... rolling thunder .... A new start .. A new Beginning .... Cleansing of your past perhaps .... A new hope for everyone .... A new Year for all!!!

2007-05-17T22:19:00.000-07:00

Things that happen only in India

http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/indian-train-driver-asks-passengers-to-push/2007/05/16/1178995230646.html

http://in.news.yahoo.com/070516/210/6fvd7.html

On a different note, both articles above have similar headlines but yet are very different if you read them carefully.

2007-04-25T03:16:00.000-07:00

From LOST : Season 2 - Episode 39

When Mr. Eko is about to speak to the prisoner, John warns him not to reveal too much

John Locke, "If the alarm goes off, don't tell him what it's for."
Mr. Eko, "What is it for? "

Nobody knows unfortunately and thats true for our unanswered curiosities.

2007-04-18T05:18:00.000-07:00

Was listening in to Bob Dylan and watching the news about the Virginia Shootout...

How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
Yes, 'n' how many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, 'n' how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

How many years can a mountain exist
Before it's washed to the sea?
Yes, 'n' how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes, 'n' how many times can a man turn his head,
Pretending he just doesn't see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

2007-04-16T11:45:00.000-07:00

How many deaths would it take to ban firearms in US.
Seems like 22 is not enough in a day nor is 50000 people wounded in a year.

2007-04-14T01:04:00.000-07:00

Hamster Tales

Here’s a conversation between Nev’s Uncle and a Vet about a poor little hamster

Uncle: “Hi, My hamster seems to be sick. He is very sluggish, doesn’t move around much and is sleepy all the time.”
Vet: “I am free on Tuesday. Bring him in and I’ll take a look.”
Typical Indian Uncle: “Ok, Hmm… How much will it cost …. ?
Vet (without missing a heartbeat): “65 dollars.”
Really Typical Indian Uncle thinking to himself: “Damn! I could have got 4 hamsters for the same price.”
Vet: “By the way, how old is your hamster.”
Uncle (who is now thinking of the 65 dollars and missing work for half a day): “Huh, He is about …. Not sure … 29 months I think.”
Vet: “Are you sure? If that’s correct, then forget about bringing him here. He lived his age you know… most hamsters live for only 2 years. Find a proper burial site for him.”

I don't think Uncle was elated at saving 65 dollars. Sometimes there isn't any good news at all... just good memories.

The old hamster passed away and got a decent burial in the backyard.

2007-04-14T00:33:00.000-07:00

Day 5 - Chennai Trip - Visiting Velankanni ... and back again

5:30 am
We woke up to the joyous singing and celebration that could be heard even though we were atleast a kilometer away from the Church. The entire place seemed filled with divinity and purity and for a moment you actually felt waking up in Heaven.

7:30 am
We headed straight to the Church Canteen for breakfast. Idlis and Dosas were available at very low rates and I was amazed how they could feed atleast 2000 people on any given day and tens of thousand on special days.

We decided to visit the museum from where we could take some pics of the Church. We thought that we would just spend 5 min looking at the artifacts and then rush to the Church. But we were simply amazed at the sheer number of thanksgiving letters, petitions from people around the world. The museum seemed small but hosted an array of letters in praise and thanksgiving to Our Lady for all the blessings and favors received. Some said that they were blessed with a new job, some thanked Our Lady for enabling them to build a new house. There were some letters which had pictures of people standing next to their new house. Some even built miniature models of their house and cars. There were numerous photocopies of degree certificates attached with some letters. Some even sent photos of their new workplace, a captain on a ship, a pilot in the air force, a retired army personnel sent his badges and thanked Our Lady for being there with him always. I can’t remember the seeing so many pictures of little babies and children that were born to parents after many years of marriage. And as many letters that I read, there were atleast 100 times that number of letters that I couldn’t understand since they were in Malyalam, Tamil and other regional languages. Our Lady had touched so many people in so many different ways.

9:30 am
We headed to the Church for a quick prayer and then to the souvenir shop, where we bought a delicately crafted artwork resembling the Last Supper of Jesus and his twelve disciples.

10:am
Quick visits to the Confessionary and the place where Our Lady was first seen to the little buttermilk-boy. Every place that we visited was simply immaculate.

10:30 am
Our Final stop was the Our Lady’s Tank, the place where we collected Holy Water and said our final prayers. As we were looking at the entire campus, we were angry at ourselves for not being able to spend more time in God’s place. On our way back to our waiting car, we saw people making a wish and tying a handkerchief to several low hanging trees, something very ethnic, yet very beautiful to see.

10:45 am
We were back in the car driving away and we made a small wish that we would come back and spend more time over here.

11:15 am
We took a different route and passed Nagapattinam beach this time. The telltale reminders were still there, as we watched several boats and houses completely wrecked by the Tsunami. Bridges lay completely destroyed as we sped past on newly constructed roads and flyovers.

12 pm
Got an SMS and then a call from the Airlines, informing us about a delay of around 2 hours. Damn!! If only we had known earlier then we could have been there for some more time.

12:30 pm
We passed the industrial belt SIPCOT that simply reeked of bad chemicals in the air. Zipped pass many engineering colleges and ofcourse an MGM college too.

2 pm
Strangely we decided to stop at the same place for lunch and we simply enjoyed the meal. No more complaints from me about eating off a banana leaf and without a spoon. The meal was delicious as before and we thanked the couple of people who ran the restaurant in the middle of nowhere.

5:30 pm
Reached Chennai and stopped over at an old couple whom we met in Mumbai. We hungrily devoured their sandwiches and gulped down the tea and had quite a bit to tell them about our trip.

8 pm.
Made our final journey to the airport and luckily there were no delays. Our flight which was scheduled at 830pm finally left at 10 pm. There was an earlier flight at 6:30 pm which I was tempted to book before undertaking the trip. That flight was also delayed and only left at 1:30 am in the morning. Thanked the Lord for our good luck.

12 am
Touched down at Mumbai which was mighty scary since the plane bounced a couple of times, but no one seemed to care and everyone was rushing to the door even before the plane stopped. Now the tricky part was finding a rick that would take us home. One of the curses of staying close to the airport :)

2007-04-14T00:27:00.000-07:00

Day 4 - Chennai Trip - Visiting Velankanni

Something about Chennai made us get up early everyday. This time, we had to travel around 350 kms by a rented car to a holy place called Velankanni. Well we were excited and decided to leave at 8 am after breakfast at Murugans.

Once we got out of the city, we took the scenic route also called the ECR or East Coast Road. Unlike the boring Mumbai-Pune expressway, this road passes through some of the most amazing sights with beautiful crystal clear beaches on the left and villages and rice plantations on the right. We were crusiing down the highway and I saw this guy on a moped who was probably carrying around 60-70 metal pots all wrapped in a fishing net and tied to the rear seat. We zipped passed Mahabalipuram which incidentally had a name changed to Mamallapuram and reached Pondicherry. After 3 hrs of non-stop travel, we decided to stop for lunch. Of all the high expectations that I had of Pondicherry, of the scenic beauty , the French style buildings… I was disappointed. It seemed like any other town in India with unfriendly people OR maybe we didn’t explore enough.

We seemed to be the only people in the restaurant and made an awful mess of the table eating out on a Banana leaf and without spoons. I swore I was never going to eat on the leaf again.

Got back in the car and the poor driver kept driving and driving and driving and we passed small towns and big towns and small temples and some really large temples that were bang in the middle of the road.

Finally we reached Nagapattinam district, the place that was severely affected by the Tsunami in Dec 2004. We saw a lot of rehabilitation projects and houses that seemed to be recently built. Finally we reached Velankanni at 4:30 in the evening and checked straight into a hotel. A short rest and we walked towards the Church past many stalls selling eatables and wax offerings and garlands and candles.

The Church was simply beautiful. It reminded me of the Mount Mary’s church in Bandra, only difference this was even taller and plain white that it just resembled a place of purity and piety and with the faint singing of the choir and bells chiming away, you just feel a divine presence as you move closer.

Once inside, the old church looks very traditional, with very few pews and mostly everyone sitting on the ground. We bought a few offerings and made our way towards the center of the Church. Never before did I see so many people praying so fervently for maybe favors or perhaps in thanksgiving or maybe simply for a good health. I heard this statement once before “I complained that my shoes hurt until I saw a man without feet.” When you see so many people praying devoutly, some on crutches, some without limbs, others all alone, all your problems suddenly seem to be insignificant or miniscule in comparison and yes after a long tiring journey, I forgot all about the pain in my feet.

We trudged back to our hotel as darkness came over quickly promising to return early morning to see the entire campus.

2007-04-05T01:59:00.000-07:00

Indian Cricket reaches its lowest point

With so much media attention given to the India's defeat and tons of people being interviewed and rumours flying around, it didn't take too long for some of the players and administrators to get their 5 minutes of publicity and make their emotive feelings known. Sadly if only they had played better we would have remembered and cherished it all. With Sachin's comments being twisted, taken out of context and made to look he was slamming Greg Chappell, it was all over with Greg turning his back on Indian Cricket. We have reached our lowest point .... so far.... and sadly we haven't hit rock-bottom yet.

2007-04-02T12:39:00.000-07:00

Chennai Trip -- Day 3: Wedding day.

But yes, Raghu & Helen’s wedding, did get me up early and we scooted in a rick to an unknown destination through a dark tunnel (to the faint-hearted – Subway) and narrow roads where even Ollie would have found some difficulty walking. Finally reached the splendid Green Park hotel and was drawn to the wedding by the smoke emanating from the sacred fire.

Raghu looked like he could use a T-shirt and jeans and Helen looked simply sparkling. With most Christian weddings it’s a simple exchange of rings, with some South-Indian weddings, it’s a toe ring that is adorned on the bride to symbolize that she is now married. After quite a bit of difficulty, the women folk managed to slip the ring through Helen’s toes and were roundly applauded by all the men folk. Nice joke!!!

It was funny watching Helen(since she was a protestant by birth) go through the motions but she seemed quite excited about the whole thing. Unfortunately her husband did not seem all that excited. I guess we can blame it on the late night booze party :)

The good thing about most Hindu weddings is that you can spend about 10 min watching the wedding and then next 20 min having lunch/dinner. A friend of mine once told me the most important part of any marriage is the Photo-session. Make sure you have your pic taken with the bride and groom which is like the attendance muster or in web parlance… guestbook!

After what seemed like pure torture for Raghu, he was finally able to put down the garland of thorns … I mean roses too and started counting his bruises. Poor Chap !!!
Quite a memorable day though for him and Helen.

After lunch, we hopped onto another 3 wheeler but not before I told the driver the destination and the fare that I was going to pay… only 40 bucks and not more than that. Well we reached our hotel just fine, but the driver suddenly turned hostile and strated mumbling words like 100 and 60 and the word 40 seemed to be some disease that he kept shaking his head and then gave me the choicest Tamilian gaalis when I chose to walk away from him and headed inside to our hotel. He followed us to the lobby and then after 5 min of verbal exchange between him and the receptionist, I finally paid up and extra 5 bucks and this time I was shaking my head.

Afternoon snooze and in the evening went out for a walk … we didn’t dare take a rickshaw :) . Bought a few souvenirs for folks at home and came back to our hotel.

2007-04-02T12:35:00.000-07:00

Chennai Trip - Day 2

Day 2: Got a call from the groom who decided to check in and see if we were doing just fine. He also woke us up. Had breakfast across the street at Murugans and then went for a lazy walk around Panagal garden. Saw nothing but Silk & Jewelry shops. Came back to our hotel, had lunch and snoozed for an hour. Lunch was at a Bombay style restaurant and did have some spoons.

Hired a cab and went sight-seeing in Chennai. First stop, St. Thomas Hill, the place where St. Thomas lived and died. A beautiful serene place overlooking the entire city and airport nearby. Quick prayer at the old chapel and visit to the souvenir shop and we were back in the car escaping the heat and humidity. On the way down the hill, saw people walking up the hill on their knees!!! Also on the way down, saw a marvelous statue of Jesus with his arms outstretched just like the one in Rio-de-Janerio.

Next stop, the snake park near IIT. Interesting place, nice well fed snakes, but they gave us the creeps and we bid goodbye to some alligator, gharials, pythons and snakes that were camouflaged and couldn’t see them. I suspect the park officials removed them after they died. No I am just kidding.

We then went to the Church of Our Lady of Velankanni in Chennai. This was close to the sea-shore. They were many people praying devoutly and a constant stream that was making their way to the sanctuary of the Church bare-feet.

Next stop, the magnificent St. Thomas Cathedral, which looks stupendous to say the least. It has one of the tallest spires that I have ever seen and it reaches straight up into the sky. . A large grotto which I think resembles “Our Lady of Lourdes” greets all visitors On a large Marble stone is engraved the Ten Commandments and The Beatitudes.

Inside, the church has some beautiful statues of St. Peter and Our Lady of Mylapore. The museum has an excellent collections of coins, artifacts from the 14th-17th century. Stone carving, chairs, pots & earthen-ware, portraits and paintings and weapons like spears takes you back in time. The highlight of this Cathedral is the magnificent painting of St. Thomas with the resurrected Lord and the words adorning it … “My Lord and My God.” Inside the museum basement lays hidden, a large chapel which has an altar built on the tomb of St. Thomas. The Cathedral is built exactly on top of this chapel and if you are in the Church, you can actually see the tomb by looking down through the center aisle.

The Cathedral has some excellent paintings that are in good condition even now. Final stop of the day, and the very long strip of sand… called Marina Beach. Seemed like a never-ending strip with atleast a hundred thousand people. Ok I did not count and I am just guessing but it looked like one of those shots that you see on Discovery with all the wildebeest gathered to cross the Serengiti.

For the first time in my life, I was facing the sea and watch the Sun go down behind me. It wasn’t a beautiful sight and nothing compared to Juhu beach Sun-set, but I suppose Sunrise at Marina would simply be awesome. Even that thought couldn’t get me out of bed early next morning.

2007-04-02T12:26:00.000-07:00

Chennai trip - Day 1

Somewhat inspired by my friend Brij, decided to document my trip to Chennai and Velankanni late January.

Day 1: Departure from Mumbai at 8:30 pm

Surprisingly the flight left on time and without much hassles we reached Chennai at 10 pm. The ride from the airport to our hotel was incident-free and we did glance nervously around when the driver took us through some narrow bylanes presumably to avoid traffic.

10:30 pm
Got a call from the bride-to-be who checked in to see if we reached – which was pretty nice of her to remember. We reached our Hotel and checked in. Not a great hotel but good enough to sleep in. No roaches and no rats and everything else was fine.

11:30 pm
Our tummies were growling at this moment and the few eatables that we carried unfortunately turned bad and we had to throw it away. The restaurant in the hotel was shut and we had to leave the hotel and dine in a shady restaurant across the road. We ordered Chicken Chettinnad and some dosas. And both of us got a shock when we had to eat off a Banana leaf and with our hands!!!!

I'll remember to pack some spoons next time I visit South India

2007-03-25T00:03:00.000-07:00

Its just a game and no one should die for it!!!!

Bob Woolmer shouldn't have died, shouldn't have been killed. The motive is unclear, speculation and roumours are flying around. Just when Cricket was getting back its clean image, the cricketing whites have been tarnished once again.

Should the World Cup be cancelled, postponed, played after a couple of months??? I just know no player, no coach is bigger than the game itself but Robert Andrew Woolmer was the game.

He deserves better

2007-03-24T23:36:00.000-07:00

Nev and his mom were eating at Navratna, one of the most expensive south-indian restaurants in Vashi, when a waiter came up to him and wished him Namaste and actually smiled at them. Nev looked up and thought ok, this must be some new customer service thingie and smiled back and mumbled hello and the poor waiter (with the same gleam in his eyes) asked him, "Pehchana nahin?" (Didn't you recognise me) . Nev's mom instantly broke in a large smile and recognised him as the water-boy in another restaurant who used to carry water around to all the tables. Earlier, when we stayed in Vashi, we used to frequent this place and sometimes place orders and this young kid in half-pants and always with a smile would be carrying our dal-chawal-sabji-roti almost every day!!!

Well after seeing him in 4 years, this lil kid has grown and is married and yup, still working his butt off to bring a smile to everyone he serves!!!

2007-03-24T23:09:00.000-07:00

Just came back from hibernation ...
Mike

2006-12-21T23:34:00.000-08:00

Copycats

Quite a lot of merchandise are sold with fake labels of popular brands. I guess its sometimes hard to spot an infringement and thats why companies continue to milk the customer and make a killing during festive season. How hard is it to spot a fake? How easy it is to report a copyright infringement? What are the consequences of doing so? Will people lose their jobs in china or India if the company closes down? Do brand-name companies really care on missing out on 5-10% of revenues?

I suppose nobody cares!!! Anyways check out my new car which is a replica of a Renualt F1

2006-11-20T03:15:00.000-08:00

Was watching this Sidney Poitier movie "To Sir, with Love" and then he uttered those magic words. "Marriage is no way of life for the weak... ...the selfish... ...or the insecure."

How true!!!

2006-11-13T01:50:00.000-08:00

Advertisements

There are some adverts that educate people about certain things for example, Social messages that target people who are clueless about HIV/AIDS and our cricketers when
they take up a cause like save the tiger.

However when it comes to Consumer based products, some adverts tend to be less about product features and more about cooking up a scenario on how your life can be so much
better than your neighbour's, if you use our product. Its all about comparing with other
people. Most adverts about Household paints leads the audience to believe that their social standing will improve or atleast the postman will come by and drop your mail. Televisions companies are not far behind too with Onida's slogan "Neighbour's envy,..."

Even cellphone companies (Reliance) are actually pitching scenarios where you are ashamed of
using an old phone in front of your girlfriend. Bike companies too lean along the same theme
sometimes making people ashamed of waiting for a bus and watching someone else give a ride
to the girl standing next to ...who else but you.

I say its time the regulatory body BAN such ads for misleading people into buying things that they don't want and could do without. Do Ad agencies think people are so stupid that they would buy a bike so that they can offer a lift to some girl? Do they think that we will paint our house because we want to impress our postman? Do they think my cellphone is so old that my girlfriend will dump me? Apparently they do...

Check out my master's new cellphone Sony Ericsson Z550i.

2006-11-10T05:34:00.000-08:00

Tasted Mewad Ice-Cream today evening and it was soooooo good to have something after such a long time. I had a Falooda and a fruit-salad and some cheapo Ice-cream from the cart. I guess I have the weekend to recover from cold, cough, sinus and anything else that hits me tomorrow.

Yup, I am celebrating. Since the last 3 years, my avg glyco levels are the lowest it has ever been. Almost a normal person.

2006-11-06T06:17:00.000-08:00

I 've been buying a lot of DVD movies of late and just saw Mystic River starring Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon and Lawrence Fishburne. Great cast and super acting from Sean Penn (he won the Oscar) makes this movie a must watch murder mystery. I suppose Sean Penn's acting was brilliant but it was remniscent of Amitabh Bachchan's role in the movie Black. It was the script and screenplay that made the role and the actor just played the part to perfection.

2006-10-25T06:06:00.000-07:00

United 93

Someone asked me, why do you want to watch this movie, when you know the story? Sadly even after watching the movie, you still don't know what happened in those moments of terror. Super editing that makes you wonder how the hell did they allow this to happen. I liked the fact that they didn't have any big name actors in the movie and used lesser known actors who played the commoner's role to perfection. No one stole the show. They all did and I suppose that's what really happened on Flight 93.

2006-10-23T11:17:00.000-07:00

An Ode to Michael

Michael Schumacher drove his final competitive race in F1 on Sunday after more than a decade of entertainment aka Michael Magic. On Sunday, he once again proved that he was the greatest driver of all time. He started from 10th position due to a technical fault in qualifying and within a few laps was sixth, until a flat tyre pushed him down to 18th and last and more than minute behind the race leader. Sometimes great champions also need a little bit of luck and Michael seemed to have lost out in the last couple of races. But he pulled of a stunning performance to come from behind and finish 4th and just a few seconds behind eventual champion Fernando Alonso.

Michael has driven some great races but none more than his ’94 victory at SPA, Belgium where he started from 16th and earned him the nickname Rain-Master. His win at Hungaroring, beating the two McLarens of Hakinnen and Coulthard was simply mind-boggling as he converted a 2-pitstop race in to three and drove a qualifying setup for more than half the race. Michael’s had many such moments in France, Monaco, Canada and Japan.

He has had his own share of controversies but I suppose it’s the controversies, his talent, his reading of race situations and his determination that make him who he is. His collision with Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve may have been deliberate but he escaped with one Championship and left Hill in fury. But what goes around comes around and his collision with Coulthard at SPA saw him lose 10 certain points and eventually the championship in 1998.

Formula1 will never be the same again and I am probably never going to wear my Ferrari T-shirt. Vive Michae, my namesake.

Just kidding about the T-shirt :)

2006-10-20T04:20:00.000-07:00

Bubble Tea

There was a time when I only used to drink Bubble tea. There just had to be bubbles at the top or else I wouldn't drink it. I can't imagine what my mum had to put up with me. Anyways I stopped drinking tea and forgot all about it until today when I had a cup on the street. I watched this chap pour the chai in my cup in his own unique way and it had bubbles all over the top. That made my day!!!

2006-10-19T07:06:00.000-07:00

I was driving today and just left my building when I hit someone, not too hard or atleast he didn't fall down. I didn't see him until I was about to hit him and just slammed the brakes. Before I knew anything, this chap just waved at me, smiled and walked away. And I always thought, in this country, people would yell, scream, punch you in the face depending on the severity of the accident.

Thank God, he's alright.

2006-10-13T00:49:00.000-07:00

This is a nice collection to have
http://www.amazon.com/Best-Movie-Oscar-Winners/lm/25WI1FFWHUJGD

2006-10-09T04:35:00.000-07:00

CRASH by Paul Haggis

I don't know how I missed this movie, but I did and watched it last night and for the first time in many years, I was truly moved. I could indentify myself with so many characters. With Sandra Bullock (when she was scared of the two black men), with Terrence Howard (as he watched his wife get humiliated), with Matt Dillon ( as he watched his father on the pot), with one of the Car jackers ( whose mom loved him so much and his brother Don Cheadle who got his hands dirty to clean his record) .

Just couldn't identify with the locksmith who could reassure his lil daughter and put her to sleep.

2006-09-28T07:47:00.000-07:00

The Afghan by Frederick Forsythe

If you ever read any of Forsythe's novels, two things hit you in the face. You need a World map to navigate across the world. Two, the amount of research that goes into his novels is amazing. In The Afghan, Forsythe takes you from Scotland to Indonesia, from US to Cuba and then hop over to London and before you know it you have traveled across the world and feel like you've just been there.

As usual, gripping story right to the end.

2006-09-26T07:36:00.000-07:00

In the line of fire by Gen Musharraf ...

... should be renamed to something that suits his personality. Few suggestions ....

1) Behind the lines of Cowardice
2) Bounty Hunting in Pak - for Dummies and Bush only - Special Edition
3) Saving Pakistan thru Dictatorship and Censorship
4) Art of Bloodless Coup
5) Must-have Real Estate properties in Kashmir
6) Dodging bullets, bombs and missiles (read as Run for your life)
7) Sleeping with the Enemy

2006-09-05T03:23:00.000-07:00

So I pick the newspaper today and I see a photo of Steve Irwin, the real Crocodile Dundee, the guy who made watching Animal Planet & Discovery entertaining in a comic sense and who seemed fearless holding up some of the deadliest reptiles and snakes.

Poor chap died while doing his job -- educating us of our own precious creatures on our planet.

2006-08-24T07:01:00.000-07:00

Last Man Standing

Just lost my dear friend, Sairam;
A wonderful person he was.
A friend you could always count on;
A friend who would never let you down.

I am not sure why God chose him;
I ain't even sure how God picked him.
Does He have a list from where,
He picks a name at random?

Some say God always chooses,
the good ones when they are young.
If thats true, then I'm safe for now,
Coz I'll be the Last Man Standing.

2006-08-23T05:52:00.000-07:00

Continuing on the "Is there a God?" theme?

Couple of poems that I came across today, that touched me immensely
http://www.thestarlitecafe.com/poems/101/poem_8354006.html
http://www.thestarlitecafe.com/poems/101/poem_8342689.html

2006-08-22T22:32:00.000-07:00

Just lost our dear friend today. He battled gamely for 12 days. Thanks Sai for all the good times that we shared in college and the moments that we spent in my house.

2006-08-22T05:53:00.000-07:00

Moving On

Sometimes its very difficult to move on after a bad mishap. But we would never know what lies ahead of us if we are stuck in the past. There might be joy or pain, happiness or sadness, love or anger, laughter or disappointments but one thing is certain, its never going to be easy.

Thats Life, I guess.

2006-08-16T07:42:00.000-07:00

My friend

I saw a friend some years ago,
Didn't seem to be himself.
He was pale and shivering then,
Just lost his Mum and best friend.

I missed his wedding sometime back,
Coz, I missed his invitation.
A little angry, I was at him,
He missed my congratulations.

He wrote to me quite recently,
Said he was happy that I was doing well.
I promised to write back and stay in touch,
Alas, I got busy and forgot him like hell.

Today he lies in a hospital,
All still and pale as some years ago.
Will I ever get a chance,
To meet him and say Hello.

Is there a God out there,
Who would return my friend from the dead?
I miss him so much now,
It shouldn't be him, but me instead.

2006-08-15T01:46:00.000-07:00

Is there a God out there?

Why does it seem just when everyone and everything is fine that the world turns around and falls flat on the ground. A good friend of mine is lying almost dead and he shouldn't be there, not him.

2006-08-14T07:07:00.000-07:00

The war is over

Atleast I hope the fragile UN brokered truce holds. Nobody benefitted from this war except for the terrorists. Guess, its always going to be like this for years to come. The youth in Syria, Lebanon and Iran continue to dream of becoming martyrs while the youth in Israel dream of becoming the next Yossi Vardi (founder of ICQ messenger)

2006-08-08T06:20:00.000-07:00

Faux Pas -- Et tu Deano?

So here we go again, with one more commentator biting the dust ( he should have bitten his lip off) when he called South African cricketer Hashim Amla a "terrorist". Amla is a devout Muslim and sports a beard which was probably something he kept for a long time and unfortunately made popular by Bin Laden and his troupe.

Dean Jones was the commentator and was sacked immediately. He follows the footsteps of our own Navjot Singh Sidhu who got booted out from ESPN, but then no one knows about this.

2006-08-07T02:15:00.000-07:00

Broken Windows --- Fix it Now....

One of the important lessons you can ever learn is to fix problems when they are small and easier to fix. If you ignore them, they are just gonna bite hard later.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixing_Broken_Windows
One of the best examples is the way NY mayor Giuliani and his chief of police Bratton used this to catch and nail petty crimes.

2006-08-03T06:41:00.000-07:00

Skyroads

Ever played that DOS game that took you for a ride in space. Cool graphics for game buit in 1993. It written by an Estonian company, Bluemoon and they have the full version on their site for people like me to download and relive my childhood :)
http://www.bluemoon.ee/history/skyroads/

Enjoy!!!

2006-07-30T11:07:00.000-07:00

I love the Gary Oldman adverts for Nokia N93 mobile. The ad is brilliantly shot with the product nowhere in sight until the very end. I have seen just a handful of his movies, the Harry potter series, Fifth element and Air force One, but he is one of the most underated actors in HollyWood. Seems like a cool phone ... ... oops sorry I meant DVD camcorder plus phone, to have !!!

2006-07-26T03:34:00.000-07:00

One year ago, July 26th 2005, all of bombay was flooded. My tank too was overful. One year later, I am reminded of this song from Johnny Nash..

I can see clearly now, the rain is gone,
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It’s gonna be a bright, bright Sun-Shiny day.

Its a beautiful day today, July 26th 2006.

2006-07-26T03:14:00.000-07:00

Parent's profession

Saw Nev volunteering for his Church and here he was building a database of students and their personal details. Suddenly he burst out laughing and almost fell of his chair. One of the questions in the personal details form asked for Parent's profession. One chap wrote Shopping (Gala Stores)

2006-07-26T02:51:00.000-07:00

For someone who was facing the possibility of riding his last bike race, American Floyd Landis turned out a superb performance over 3 weeks of racing. I saw Stage 15 where Landis demolised the entire field to recover and regain the initiative that he lost just the previous day. All hail the new champ of cycling. Worth mentioning Adreas Kloden's performance on Saturday's time trials and Oscar Perreiro who took the mayo jaune by overcoming a 30 minute lead in a single day over the treacherous Alps. But Landis hung in there, dug deep when it mattered most and single handedly won the stage and race to become a true champion. He now faces a Hip replacement surgery from which no biker has ever returned to competitive racing.

2006-07-22T23:36:00.000-07:00

Saying Goodbye
-from the movie "The Muppets take Manhattan"

Saying goodbye, going away
Seems like goodbye's such a hard thing to say
Touching a hand, wondering why
It's time for saying goodbye

Saying goodbye, why is it sad?
Makes us remember the good times we've had
Much more to say, foolish to try
It's time for saying goodbye

Dont want to leave, but we both know
Sometimes it's better to go
Somehow I know we'll meet again
Not sure quite where, and I dont know just when
You're in my heart, so until then
Wanna smile, wanna cry
Saying goodbye

La la la la la la la la
It's time for saying goodbye

2006-07-18T05:46:00.000-07:00

Lil White dog

A lil white dog walked in my yard,
all frail and tired and seemingly hungry,
I watched it sniff around for food,
and then it saw me.

I peered into its eyes and wondered,
What is she thinking?
Shouldn't this dog be afraid of me
Lest I throw a stone and hurt it.

But No!, she stood there all still,
and I watched it sit on her heels.
She opened her mouth to bark at me,
But all I heard was a silent whine.

My heart melted at this sight,
as one of God's creatures lay by my side.
I scurried across to grab something to eat,
and a bowl with some milk in it.

I watched the lil doggie muster all her strength,
as it stood up and nibbled at the food.
I watched her stand up and lap all the milk,
And when she was done she gave a loud woof.

2006-07-18T05:38:00.000-07:00

Funny how people use a whiteboard. The absent minded proffessor will jot down equations or definitions that are frequently used. The Creative type will construct their ideas and draw illustrations. The Managers would put down a list of open items or tasks to be completed. Of course all this is erased at some point of time and new thoughts, ideas or tasks take shape. But there are some words, illustrations or equations that always remain on the board, possibly telling us what we still have to do OR in some case what is missing in our life.

2006-07-12T06:16:00.000-07:00

Around 200 people died for no reason. Atleast none that makes sense to me.

2006-07-12T05:36:00.000-07:00

Death

Death is so cruel,
when you can't bid your loved one,
goodbye.

Death is so joyful,
when you've lived your life and,
enjoyed.

Death is so painful,
when you're hurt in a crash and,
can't die.

Death is so peaceful,
when you're old and,
can't feel anything.

2006-07-05T04:46:00.000-07:00

One thing cool about this World Cup is the adverts from Adidas. I like the concept where 2 kids pick the best players in the world in their teams and begin playing. Only moments later do we realise its all in the mind. They even got old footage of Beckenbauer aka Kaiser and inserted it into the advert. Nice one. www.adidas.com/football

2006-07-05T04:42:00.000-07:00

Saw nev eating Macaroni soup today. His fav alphabets & numbers were L1 B2 H1 NZ US . and he didn't give me any of it. Tch Tch

2006-07-04T04:39:00.000-07:00

Gee, I hope I don't run into this John character. Listen to the audio of How-Big-Companies-don't-listen-to-people-like-us.
http://www.consumerist.com/consumer/top/the-best-thing-we-have-ever-posted-reader-tries-to-cancel-aol-180392.php

2006-07-03T06:11:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I wish I could turn the clock back and fix some things that went awry. But if we ever get one chance to do this, we would only be able to fix things that went wrong and not be able to fix things that could go wrong later.... and then we would want more chances like that and greed sets in.

I wish I could patch up with Michelle, the pretty Goldfish that I chased. I wish she were alive. I wish I was alive.

I wish...

2006-07-03T02:53:00.000-07:00

Race of endurance begins with the Le tour de France. A 3 week gruelling cycling race, covering over 3600 kms ( or roughly 2400 times the length of my fish tank) , Gosh In my entire lifetime, I prob never covered even a tenth of the total distance.
Here's a free tour of France
http://www.letour.fr/2006/TDF/LIVE/us/200/r2_google_earth.html

2006-06-28T02:42:00.000-07:00

Origin of Michael learns to fish*

My master bought me and christened me Michael after a legendary pop star. Apparently this pop star had one or two features which I could emulate easily and even do better , No it wasn't singing ...

Since I was the angry, rude and troublesome one --always chasing the Goldfish - Nev started playing numbers from this Scandinavian group Michael learns to Rock in order to soothe me down. I don't think it made too much difference since eventually all the Goldfish ran out of breath and started swimming upside down. With no one to play with, I decided to pen my thoughts and borrowed the pop group's title for my articles.

*Above post was written by popular demand from the readers of this site.

2006-06-26T05:46:00.000-07:00

Modern day Cinderella fairy tale re-enacted
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/nmirror/mmpaper.asp?sectid=2&articleid=62620060284937626200602653250

2006-06-22T11:52:00.000-07:00

Greatest Show on Earth

Ok I guess you might think I am referring to Football but nope, I just witnessed a spectacle of thunder and lightning and it was amazing. It was a bit scary to see bolts of lightning streak past our aquarium and also to watch Nev boldly go where no kid has gone before ... to the balcony clicking photos. Anyways, if anyone's up there (no I dint mean people like me), thanks for the show.

2006-06-19T00:48:00.000-07:00

Few things that do not exist
1) A white crow
2) Pigs that fly
3) A honest Car mechanic

2006-06-17T06:00:00.000-07:00

Finally managed to rest my eyeballs this week. Last week, I couldn't take my eyes off Football, French Open, Formula One and Cricket. Phew, what a relief!!! I wonder how you humans can strain both eyes at the same time.

2006-06-16T05:21:00.000-07:00

Shiny pate Freddie scored a goal for Sweden in the dying minutes of the game and saved my master some embarrassing moments. Atleast they are thru oops I mean through to the next round. No short forms, I was told girls fail to understand them, tee hee :)

2006-06-16T05:00:00.000-07:00

Interesting reading. I never learnt this in my engg course

http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/2006/05/03.html#a1441

2006-06-12T03:07:00.000-07:00

Wonder what happens to Celebrities and how easily they fall into drug abuse, violence and divorce. Seemed like a Western origin, its now permeating its way too India. The media seems to be totally enjoying this and creating a niche market of viewers and readers who just can't get enough of it. I guess bigger the name, greater the responsibilty, bigger the fall (when caught)

2006-06-12T02:51:00.000-07:00

Can't believe what happened.. Nev's fav team, Sweden, drew with a lowly placed team. I guess it was the way they played that worries Nev. Another team identified that won't win the Cup.

2006-06-11T11:27:00.000-07:00

I had to go to someplace today and went to my car. Doors wouldn't open. Central locking system malfunction. Took another mode of conveyance, reached my destination and guess what, the place was filled with cars and the parking lot was full. No way could I have left my car on the street.

Anyways, came back home, decided to check my car and lo behold, the doors opened and no glitches in the locking system.

Fate, Luck, Life call it whatever. Car doors don't open until you say the magic words ....
Open Sesame

2006-06-10T00:21:00.000-07:00

The World Cup is underway and what a start. 6 goals in the first match and an upset in the next. Too bad all 4 teams on display won't win the Cup. But nonethless it made my fins flutter and will be rooting for England later on today. As usual Nev, tends to support the underdog Or he's just being different.

2006-06-09T06:49:00.000-07:00

My lovely aquarium has kinda been invaded by soft toys after my death. There is a dog, cat, some bug, some animals from out of this world. I have been gone for a few years, wandering around in the limbo world and now I am back and I what do I see ..... Animal Planet... soft to touch but pretty much dead..... like me.

2006-06-08T03:35:00.000-07:00

Michael is the soul of a dead fish. Michael was an enthusiastic Red-tail shark until his life was cut short by his own enthusiasm. I guess he had too much of it. Anyways, while he was alive, he used to write for my magazine and now he has a blog of his own. Michael est mort, Vive Michael.