Creativity meeting Reality

Response to the "Open Letter to the Delhi Boy"

2011-09-16T14:53:00.000+05:30

Since I posted the other letter, I've been receiving a lot of comments. I reiterate that I reposted since I loved the way it was written. Doing justice to the other post, I am posting this response to the letter from Mad Momma's Blog (Again clearly citing the source)

Posting the response to this letter from Mad Momma's blog: (Source Link) http://www.lavanyad.com/madmomma/?p=6298

Dear Shahana,

I’m part ‘Madrasan’ just like you (Tamil for those who want to know)! And I began to read your post with something akin to amusement because I live in Delhi and am very aware of the foibles of the Dilliwalas. I love it nonetheless for embracing me and giving me a home. About 5 lines down your post, I felt a little ashamed of having ever thought that I was ‘just like you’. It seems nigh impossible to fall that low. For every Daalli boy living in Defence Callony there is a Medraus boy getting up ‘yearly in the maarning’. Why do we as a people deride our own regional accents while swooning over a French accent? Are you ashamed of your skin, accent or your food habits? Then why jeer at theirs? You’re weighed down by your colonial hangover, lady.

Autistic three year old on coke? Witty. And also so compassionate of you to think that a child with a disability is an insult. If you’re playing for the South Indian team, I think you just scored a self goal. For every showy Punjabi I’ve encountered a stingy, parochial Madrasi who won’t invite me into the house for a glass of water. For every caste based temple not allowing people in, there is a gurudwara that will feed you at the langar without bothering to ask after your background or ban your gender. But hey, I really hope the ‘punjabis’ don’t define the whole lot of us by the odd cranky old miser that crosses their path. (And what the hell is wrong with a Happy Gurupurab text message? Admittedly I hate mass SMS saying Happy anything, but why pick on their festival messages when these do the rounds for every occasion including Happy your-mother’s-best-friend’s-toe-surgery-day?!)

You say you come from the land of the ugly? Speak for yourself, sister – I’m cute! And I’ve never understood why people take issue with muscular Punjabi men either – it’s not as though we lovely doe-eyed ladies prefer pot bellies and skinny legs peeping out from under mundus? I for one would never diss my man if he worked out, simply because it’s a ‘punjabi’ thing to do. It is merely the healthy thing to do, so you’re welcome to the shapeless slugs. Or did you mean that South Indian men are by definition, unfit and shapeless? I take offence on behalf of the rather fit men in my family. Honestly, I prefer my men well groomed, not smelling of coconut oil, and definitely no dusty feet in leather slippers. In fact, speaking of working out, did you mention you’re not scrawny? My sympathies – I could offer you the number of a dietician, because genetically we’re blessed to be built much smaller and more petite than the Punjabans and Haryanvis (God bless their souls and the ghee loaded parathas) who have to make an effort to stay fit. So if you have a weight problem maybe you need to get off your soapbox and on to a treadmill. The first thing we women need to do is stop hating other women because we think they’re hotter/ making an effort we’re not willing to. I know I’d rather chomp on my murukku and slurp my coffee than get up and hit the gym – you make your own choices.

As for our guys not being good looking, I object to the apologetic sound of that sentence. I think my dad is dashing (okay, maybe I am a prejudiced daughter!) and my husband is bloody good looking (this one I have on good authority from many women) and both are true blue ‘South Indians’. If we think our men are not goodlooking and that Punjabi men are the gold standard for looks, we have a problem. Actually only you have a problem. I’m okay with leering after men from all around the country, starting with Baichung Bhutia and heading down to John Abraham (he IS part Mallu, you know) and taking a full circle back to Ashutosh Gowariker. Yeah, I’m open minded and fair like that.

What was that again about SUVs and big cars? If I had a buck for every South Indian man who can’t stop talking about his cars and gizmos, I’d be on a cruise instead of wasting my time writing this post right now. Our good old Coimbatore at one point had the highest number of imported cars. You might want to read this.

The open cascading tresses – clearly you haven’t seen a Punjabi woman or even a Sikh man let down his hair, literally, that is. The Bongs can give us a run for our money too, in the eyes and hair department. And sistah, I quite like my shaggy flip out and refuse to buy into the stereotypical long hair and olive skin bullshit. Who are you to define my South Indianness for me? I’m dark and I love it – I don’t need you to sugarcoat it for me. But with people like you sounding apologetic about our looks, it is no wonder we need to import fair skinned actresses for our films. It frustrates me. If our men appreciated us for what we are, we’d not need the ‘northies’ on our screens.

And really girl, did you have to bring up Hema Malini and Sridevi of all women? Them of the adultery, the second marriages, the conversions, the plastic surgery and botox fame? Aishwarya with her annoying accent (it’s probably caused by the smile she got redone) and fake marriage is our claim to fame? I thank you – NOT! Funny how all three of them picked Punjabi and UP men when the time came, huh? Good for them. It just leaves the ‘Madrasi’ men free for us. I got my sweet boy from Karnataka instead of Ash!

One tiny matriarchal community does not a trend make. Have you missed the acid attacks? The dowry we offer for our daughters is mind-numbing. If I’m paying 3 crores for an engineer I’d like him to lose the pot belly and the hair oil please! Colleges with separate benches for boys and girls in salwar kameezes (yes, I can say it like them punjabans!). I’d hardly call that the height of freedom. Fight oppression and violence against women instead of just using statistics to score points against another city. Irrespective of geographical location, it is still our gender being oppressed.

Amma-appa sound cooler than mom-dad to you? How could you be so petty as to pick up on something so ridiculous? Were you running out of real jokes? Bharatnatyam is a higher art form than the gidda or Kathak because you say so? I’m tired of this whole ‘attitude’ we have because to me it reeks of inferiority. And I am damned if I am going to be made to feel inferior about my food, my body, my skin colour or my roots by you. Let’s lighten up, let down the butt length tresses and accept that we play Punjabi music at our discos for fun.

You lost me at the girls doing fake marches (check out what these LSR girls are doing, by the way)? What exactly is it that other college kids are doing that is so much more significant? They’re just college kids, leave them alone to have fun while they can!

What really got to me was the fleeing Pakistan reference. Would any of us consider saying something so heartless about Tibet/Kashmir/Cambodia? Are we so cold as to make a sneering reference to something that was so painful? Partition brought loss, bodies piled up in trains, blood, entire families wiped out … don’t we share history with them? Are you kidding when you say that you come from a defence background? I’m horrified that a girl from a defence background has been brought up to be so divisive. Is this the way the other kids in the armed forces think? I won’t go into statistics of the Sikh regiment and the history of every family giving a son to the army to protect our borders, all while we were sitting around dipping our paruppu vadais in coconut chutney perfecting an attack on the chess board. So yes, we do play a killer game of chess, but oh, we owe them for giving us the safety and luxury to practice it.

As for them not liking our food – are you kidding me? The Brunch carried an article on how the dosa has become the national dish – tit for tat, take that Hindi as official language! You’ll find dosas at every corner stall in Delhi and everywhere else in the country although I must raise an objection to the paneer and Chinese dosas! What if they get started on the image of licking rasam off elbows? Because if we pick on the lowest common denominator to judge them by, they have every right to define us by the elbow lickers.

By the end of your post I was embarrassed for you. For the anger, the bitterness, the hatred and the vulnerability you let slip through. I have no idea what brought it on, but a good bottle of wine and some girl friends and a box of tissues might have been more effective. What you’ve done is unforgivable – you’ve drawn lines and swords and hurt a lot of my ‘Punjabi’ friends. And oh yes, as someone else said – if you don’t want to be called Madrasi (what do you mean you’re part South Indian – you know there are four states, right?), learn to differentiate between Punjabi and Delhiite. Everyone who lives in Delhi is not a Punjabi and not every Punjabi lives in Delhi. That said, everyone is welcome in Delhi, and Munirka and RK Puram are mini-Tamil Nadus themselves. I buy my dosa maav and podi from there.

And finally, I’m appalled by some of your lines – Texas chainsaw massacre your face? Your dead Dadi? Your mother’s shaven bosom? Kalari your tongue up your ass? Shove so many coconuts down you? Classy. Way to lose control of your point and make a fool of yourself. Crass, rabid and divisive is what these statements are. Driving a wedge of hatred where previously there was only a cultural disparity. It’s a pity you fell so low while trying to make a point on superiority or heck, even equality. To quote them Punjabis, you’ve MC-BCed our case altogether in this badly cobbled together, poor attempt at wit, crossing over into coarse, foul and ignoble territory. And you’re dragging the rest of us into the mire as you cross that fine line between wittily irreverent and decidedly crass. Maybe you just need a good nap or a cold glass of coconut water so that you can cool off and consider what you allowed your ire to lead you into.

I apologise to all those offended by Ms Shahana’s little hissy fit here. We have our good and we have our bad and to attack prejudice with prejudice is not the way the rest of us South Indians work. I need to get back to cracking my IIT now. Apparently Shahana thinks I have no other choice or mind of my own. Now where did I put my pen – in my Fendi bag or my Gucci clutch? Oh wait, I couldn’t possibly know the difference, stereotypical Madrasi chick that I am.

And oh, Shahana, I have a request. In future, do not presume to write on behalf of all Madrasis. Not all of us are quite as bigoted or rabid.

Lowe,

MM (I proudly spell it Yem-Yay-Dee, Yem-O-Yem-Yem-Yay), yet another mocha coloured Madrasan married to a sweet fayer Sawth Indian boy.

PS: Okay lets kiss and make up, North and South Indians. In fact let’s drag the Pakistanis into this big group hug with this lovely song – Hona Tha Pyar.

Open Letter to a Delhi Boy (Source Link below)

2011-09-13T23:50:00.002+05:30

Source: http://raagshahana.blogspot.com/2011/09/open-letter-to-delhi-boy.html?spref=fb

Loved this letter! Hilarious! Do note that I haven't written this article and neither does it mean that I share the sentiment! Loved the way its written.

OPEN LETTER TO A DELHI BOY

Dear Delhi boy,

Namaskaram from the South of India, or as you may like to believe, the countries south of the Vindhyas. I came to your city 2 years ago with a brand new job and a bucketload of expectations. My friends and family here thought I was completely insane to choose Delhi over more female conducive cities like Bangalore or even Bombay. I am very sad to report that your reputation of being an ignorant, chauvinistic oaf with the intelligence levels of an autistic 3 year old on crack precedes you and it hurts me even more to admit to this rather accurate description.

Your reputation has travelled far and wide, to countries outside South India as well. And believe me man, it is not a pretty situation. I understand that your stone faded, ripped jeans, your V-neck cleavage showing t-shirts that revel to the world that you have infact inherited your mother’s voluptuous shaved Punjabi bosom, are what you think maketh a man, but it does not. It only maketh for a man who gets a pity license to share his girlfriend’s bra. I write to you as a woman who has been brought up in a society free of any discrimination towards women so thanks to you, my living in Delhi is as safe as Hugh Hefner’s playmate of the year living in Jedah.

You meet me at a friend’s birthday, talk to me about nightclubs and your new SUV and when I look like I’m in desperate need of a barf bag, you think I have an attitude problem. I understand this completely. But let me remind you that I am from SOUTH INDIA and not SOUTH DELHI, so no ,I am not scrawny, I am not fair, I don’t have straight hair and my topics of conversation go beyond the Fendi I saw in last month’s Vogue. I am olive-skinned, have lower –back-length lustrous cascading tresses that sometimes make me look like I fell out Jim Morrison’s tour bus. Got a problem with that? Well just suck it up coz I was born into a society where a woman can whoop your Punjabi patoutie to pulp. While your mother pretends to be very progressive but still cows down to the whims of her husband every single time, mine on the other hand was born into a matriarchal home where every single possession is in the rightful name of the girl child. Could you ever, my hunky handsome, cash throwing pig, imagine this kind of power in your society? So stop telling me that women are not treated like trash where you come from. Just shut up and admit to it. It’s just easier that way. And lest we forget that we’ve managed to curtail the number of rape cases despite not having a female Chief Minister. Amma ‘s body composition generates way too much heat for her get out of her AC room anyway, so don’t even bring that up.

And your English. Good Lord, what in the world is up with that? I don’t want you to ‘explain me’ anything. It’s like you need to go to primary school all over again. And call them your parents, not your ‘peerents’ or what your cooler, more happening brethren call them—‘mere mom-dad’. Like what are they? Conjoined twins? Are they joined at the hip? Your South India counterparts may not have your looks, but are way more mentally stimulating, a quality that alludes you obviously, but has been the single most sexy factor for us Southie chicks since the age of five. I mean once again, who can blame you? You were brought up on Gurdas Mann and the heroic deeds of Devinder Singh Bhullar and the ever so fair concepts such as elections in Phugwada while we mere ‘black-colour waale’ mortals had to make do with Bharatnatyam classes, M.S subhalakshmi and chess. Shame no? And yes, if by a slight chance, you do find my big dancer eyes attractive enough for you to prolong our conversations and meetings and if by an even slighter chance you fall in love with me and decide to marry me, you will have to wear a mundu and you will have to lie prostrate shirtless at the Guruvayurappan temple. A small price to pay for all the genuine independence I am giving up for you. And that’s the real thing, not what you see the Delhi girls at LSR and Stephen’s doing during their fake as hell protest marches coz ultimately they’re going home to a family who’re putting together money for Bobby beta’s bail coz he just ran over his girlfriend’s ex, by mistake of course.

I understand that I come from the land of ugly. I mean obviously Hema Malini, Sri Devi and Aishwarya Rai with their natural banal looks don’t even hold a candle to Priyanka Chopra after her two nose jobs and one lip reconstruction surgery. Not a chance in hell. But when you do come to ask for my hand, remember I am part Maharashtrian and part South Indian and NO, they are not the same thing. So please tell your family, not to drop racist bombs like “Arey woh sab toh ‘Sawth’ ke hi hote hai na?” And YOU—don’t walk up to mother in an attempt to make flattering conversation and say shit like “Aunty you don’t look like a South Indian You are so fair” In return she will verbally Texas chainsaw massacre your face so badly, your dead Dadi will haunt you the very same night, telling you how fleeing Pakistan was less traumatic. So don’t. Better still just don’t speak. Just glean and flex your muscles a little and keep smiling. Just whatever you do, don’t talk.

You may not like our food, but then we don’t like you, which is worse. We may not be even that into food, but then that’s coz we have other things to do with our lives, like crack IIT or become writers, journalists, activists and do things that we are very passionate about. The South Indian woman has a voice and boy can she yell. So if you want to Sambhar ‘Chawl’ your way into my life, then you got to toe the line. Be way more aware than what your are. Remember Delhi is not a country and we are not Black. If I ever hear you utter that name of that colour, I will Kalaripayattu your tongue out of your rear. Yes , that is the secret behind our awesome sex ratio. Just so you know.

For someone who is so confident of his physical abilities you really suck at luring an intelligent woman. Don’t send me text messages that say ‘happy guru purab’, you freakshow and if you want to be cute with your ever so charming (not) Punjabi advances, then don’t send texts that say “Dil laye gayee kudi Madrraaas di”! NO. It’s just not cool man. I may have have missed on a lot in this letter, but that’s ok because you’ll forget to read it and even if you do , you’ll get your cousin Jassi from Defence Callonny to translate it for you. And this letter can’t go on forever like the Punjabi male ego.
So long my love, and here’s two steps of gidda just for you, just to show that I can be traditional and will not accidently kick your sister while doing so.

Love, hugs, kisses aka ‘muah’ (only I shall ‘muah’, you please don’t do anything coz you tend to forget that these are my lips and not a piece of Tandoori Chicken from Kakke- Da- Dhabba)

Yours
Madrasan
(Only I can call myself that. If you EVER call me by this name, I will shove so many coconuts down your system that your little saver pack versions will begin to sprout coir.)

The Super Multi-tasker or Issues with Attention Span?

2011-08-25T05:04:00.000+05:30

As I pause every evening before I leave for the day and wonder whether I should shut down my Macbook - that's when I look around to see tons of stuff open. I can't get to close my Keynote files, my MS Powerpoint files, my Google Chrome browser instances, my Safari browser instances and basically anything else open!

Is this because of my low attention span? Or is it because people are just sharing too much information. More than what I can comprehend? I open a link, read half way through and then someone sends me something else or I go back to working on a presentation. And at the end of the day, I have so much of stuff open that I really don't know what I can close!

My faithful Macbook is the one that suffers through this! It does take it all well though. I wonder how any other laptop would have put up with this! My HP gave up on me..... Well HP gave up on HP (No wonders here!).... My dell survived close to a year.... My Macbook is still going strong.... And to add to it... Steve Jobs helps many such MEs....He even got Lion to bring us back to where we were even if we shut down! He gave us multiple desktops (Which I can't seem to remember to use!!). He gave us a reading tab on the browsers - to put things there to come back to later!

Going forward, I have to start closing up on things!

Different types of fighters?

2011-08-24T03:13:00.000+05:30

I was over at a friend's house a few weeks ago and something he said still sticks in my head. He was just getting past a fight with his girlfriend and was talking to her when he asked all of us around, "When you fight, do you fight only for that incident that you started fighting for or do all the other things you've been irritated with the other person also get into the picture?"

This actually got me thinking! It's been in my mind for quite a while actually. I think this can help us categorize our friends in buckets. In my humble opinion, they could probably be the below:

1. The Goody Two Shoes:

This is the breed that tries to smile through everything that happens in and around them. They actually intrinsically start believing that smiling is their only option out or into any situation. These guys are sometimes unbelievable. They always are the ones controlling a situation and keeping people in check. They would pass super awesome dialogues like, "What are you going to get out of fighting with him/her?" or "Smiling takes less energy that frowning" and the likes!

So what are these guys thinking of when they get into a fight? Simple - They just don't get into fights! They keep all their thoughts into their head and basically dismiss them as nothing! But what they feel is nothing could be something just locked up.

Beware of constantly pissing of such people as when they explode, they really do! And then the floodgates are open - They will bring up every teeny weeny thing you may have said or done in the past!

2. The fire-breathing Dragons

These are the short-tempered dudes who flare up at any given moment for the smallest of things! They will flare up for about a minute or two and then probably instantly cool down.

The more we understand such people, the better friends they will be. These guys are generally very genuine when it comes to fighting. They get angry, but are angry only for what you said or did right then! They're not really thinking about any other thing (Rather, they don't have the time for all that).

3. The Silent Wizards

There is yet another type that is probably the most interesting of the bunch. It is this type that passes with a mysterious elan and you hardly ever do get to know what they're thinking or doing. They reserve their thoughts and feelings and ponder over them time and again.

More often that not, fighting with this lot is pointless as you really wouldn't know why they're angry with you. The fight may have started over something simple, but in reality the person is fighting coz of a whole other reason. That other reason could be something that happened days or months ago!

These guys will usually bring all the ammunition they can to any fight and it makes sense for you to get to a quick end here. Don't prolong the fight since the longer you take, the more the other person will bring onto the table and into the fight!

So what are the other types?

Yet another Chapter - Mumbai calling!

2011-08-15T04:14:00.000+05:30

Made the plunge finally. And today the world glorifies entrepreneurship to the level that its almost considered cool! In fact, for a while, I was almost on top of the world as people kept praising me for my courage and what not! And then reality hits you! You're out on your own, you really can't go out spending money like you know you're going to get more at the end of the month! You politely deny dinner invites from friends since you don't want to look at a huge bill! All of this and more! I think the word entrepreneurship is highly abused and misused (Similar to how innovation came and went).

However, I will focus on hiccups in startups in a new blog I plan to co-author with my partner and other interested startup bloggers. I would rather focus on Mumbai - The city of dreams and potholes!

I've been in Mumbai for a month now and I can't help but notice the following:

1. People are in such a hurry that they literally and figuratively step over other people's toes
2. It just rains like there's no end
3. The crazy pot-holes
4. The nicest of people here are the auto-rickshaw drivers!
5. The CRAZY property prices
6. It's almost impossible to find a house if you're single. Even more difficult for single girls
7. It's almost impossible to get a postpaid/prepaid mobile connection or an internet connection without a house or some sort of local address proof
8. Autos are actually cheap! (I'm from Chennai where auto guys charge you fares to take you to the moon and drop you in the next street)
9. I've seen more fist fights here in a month here than in Chennai for years!
10. There is a lot of bread consumed here - As Vada Pav, Samosa Pav, Maska Pav and what not!

A month gone and I can't help wonder why the government is not making the efforts required to improve the choked state of infrastructure in this city! One of the most densely populated regions in the world, Mumbai is filled with traffic and the fastest mode of transport in the city is the local trains. Travelling in the local trains is an experience of its own. It's only when I stand watching the train arrive that I wish I was born a girl. There's a separate compartment for ladies in the train that generally has some space for breathing. The guy's compartment is more packed than a tin of sardines. And in all this crowd, people are still able to fight and throw a punch. The other day I was in the train and I could hardly stand. Two guys got into an argument and one guy actually threw a punch!

For all the noise that is made about immigrants into this city, I now believe that the immigrants are actually the nice and polite people. Most Marathis have a tone that comes of as rude and they are so many swear words flying around the place that you would start believing that people haven't grown up after those high school days when swearing with friends was actually considered cool!

Ok, here's some advise for single folks coming into Mumbai looking for accommodation:

Remember, it's going to be very difficult for you to find a place and you should give yourself a good one month time to find a place. You may want to make arrangements with family or friends to stay for that one month. Getting a place here involves giving your resume to the society, getting an approval certificate from the society, getting a police clearance and then you have to register the lease! It's very difficult to find a place without an agent (for single folks) and hence you will have to plan on paying brokerage too (1 month's rent). Some brokers would tell you to just lie to the society that your folks will be staying with you etc, but I would advise against it as I have heard that some single folks have actually been evicted after taking possession of the flat. You would have already paid the brokerage then and you may be back to square one.

As you begin settling in Mumbai, its wise to look around and get the numbers of all the shops around you. They deliver anything and everything to your house here! Right from medicines, groceries to tea and coffee! Also, Mumbai is open pretty late - you could probably find a decent number of shops open even at 10pm and after. Accordingly, work also begins relatively later - at around 9:30am or 10am.

Getting a 3G connection - If you are like me and have to have a fast 3G connection on your phone at all times, you may want to get a Vodafone connection. I've been using it for about ten days now and have been very impressed with the download speeds. I did a speed test and at most places I see speeds above 3mbps which is impressive (I used to get around 200kbps with my "3G" connection in Manila). However, all 3G connections are capped at this stage. The highest plan with Vodafone is around 1200 Rs a month with a 5GB cap on data usage. I'm sure this will change as competition increases. However, to get your connection, you must have address proof and hence I would advise that you get a prepaid SIM card from whichever place you are coming from (in India) and use it on roaming (Roaming charges aren't that high in India). It's easier to probably get a prepaid from your place in India. Rules are pretty strict in Mumbai coz of the terrorist strikes etc!

If you are going to be working with the media and advertising industry, you way want to start your day late, coz most of these folks come into office really late and leave pretty late too.

Will update more in my next posts! Stay posted for some awesome stuff in the mobile marketing arena!

The Domain Name Arbitrage (Name Game)

2011-06-10T13:17:00.000+05:30

I guess I've entered this game very late! As in really late. Due to the recent turn of things, I was trying to think of company names and product names. The first round went pretty well, we came up with many different ideas for cool names right from Lemonade Ventures to many such things! We actually worked on a huge list, then ran a vote with veto powers granted to each of us and finally arrived at 3 short-listed names!

We took another few days to come up with one name from this one! And when we then go ahead to be excited! We realized that someone is holding on to that domain name. (We had just googled to see if there's a website with that name and found none). We wrote to the guy who owns that name and they replied saying they were willing to sell the name for 5000 Euros!! A domain name that costs around 10 dollars! We then woke up and as we checked many of the other names in the list, we realized that almost 60% of the names we had thought of were mostly randomly registered by someone even if they were not using it!

I guess there are a number of interesting categories of folks here:

The category that just likes to accumulate cool names (mostly for personal use). They like a name, they register and keep it so that when and if they decide to start a business, they can use the name
The category that are actually working on a business plan and are looking for suitable names for their new company/product
The category that is scouting the internet space to reserve all the names they can think of will with sole intention of holding it till someone wants it and then selling it for the best price!

The first two categories are harmless but the last one seems to be holding a large majority of the names available on the internet! I wonder if there's some international body that can ban such practices! You feel so bad when you actually have to negotiate for 1000s of dollars with these guys just because they are holding on to a name you like!

Anyways, here are my tips to startups looking to come up with their brand name or product name:

(Contrary to what you're thinking right now, this process is a very difficult and long process. I think it may be easier for you to come up with your business plan etc before you are able to finalize the right name)

Step 1:

Think of the key messaging "phrases/terms" that your product or service is out there to establish. Ideally, white board all of these terms and words. Your product name should ideally be a combination or contain any of these terms.

Step 2:

Open the site called Instant Domain Search

This site actually shows you in real time as you think the availability of domains on .com , .org and .net . This allows for the process of eliminating, accepting a name right at the early stages.

I stayed on this site for about 3 days before I was able to come down with a list of any sort to choose from.

Step 3:

If none of the names that you think of in combination of the keywords that you have on your whiteboard, then go to an online dictionary and look for synonyms of each of your keywords. As you go through this process, a number of new ideas and names will pop up into your head again.

Important point to note: It is important to take a break once in a while and clean your head! You may be biased towards a few names which at that stage may not be available. You will end up trying to find names that sound like what you like earlier or you will keep trying to find names that end with some keyword you like. So once in a while, try your best to start with a clean slate, both the whiteboard and the mind!

Once you like a name, you can use the Instant Domain Search to go to GoDaddy and register the domain name using your credit card. (There are a number of other payment options too). While you are making your payment, you may want to consider buying other domains apart from the .com (yourname.com, yourname.org, yourname.net etc). GoDaddy generally gives you huge discounts when you buy the entire package!

All the best with your brand/product name for your startup!

iPhone 4 Vs Blackberry Bold || Work - Life Balance

2011-06-05T21:10:00.000+05:30

This post is long due! Alright, I admit, any post is long due! Blame my break from blogging to twitter! Twitter makes you feel you feel you are blogging though you really are posting a bunch of status updates and sharing links! Well, that's why they call it a "micro-blogging" experience I guess!

Anyways, to get to the point, as all my friends would say and I openly admit, I'm an Apple Fanboy and I would actually close my eyes and recommend any Apple product over another. I have gone to the extent of convincing so many of my friends to buy an iPhone or Macbook Pro! I've even been promoting the Magic Mouse! Ha ha.... I think I should ask Apple for a sample iPad 2 from them (I still don't have an iPad)

I stayed away from Blackberry with the idea that the only "Smart" phone in the world was made by our High Commander - Steve Jobs. However, about 6 months ago, my company put a Blackberry into my hand! The Blackberry Bold. I cursed saying why couldn't companies just use iPhones instead of Blackberries! I would actually get into huge debates with many of my friends, colleagues on the benefits of an iPhone over a Blackberry (without even actually using a Blackberry). But now, after I got one, I decided to give the BB a fair shot at being a competitor in the smart-phone market.

After 6 months of using an iPhone 4 and the BB Bold together (I use two phones), I must say that the Blackberry is not as bad as I thought. Of course, the first moment I got the phone and spent some time playing on it, I was like "What the hell is on this phone and why do people even spend so much to get something of this sort"..... But over time, as I used it, I realized that the reason why I would advocate a Blackberry is the very reason why Apple is winning market share, Android is gaining ground and so are others. THE APPS!

The very reason why people use the iPhone (the Huge App market) could possibly be the greatest reason I would advocate the Blackberry. Now hold your horses here folks, I have not come to the point where I announce a winner in this contest. The Blackberry is seriously, honestly a "business phone". A no-nonsense phone that lets you view your email, have corporate and other IM clients, use BBM (Another super winning proposition) and is well integrated to your office outlook email client! People who basically are looking for a phone to work as an extension to their office laptop/work station will surely swear by a Blackberry! Add to that the great battery life and the tactile feedback you receive from the keyboard (The Physical keyboard Vs on-screen keyboard of the iPhone). This phone is a clear winner with the older generation folks who are using it for business. Add to that the excellent Blackberry Messenger. Way ahead when compared to Whatsapp, skype, YM etc... and very simple interface! Delivers on what its meant to do.... And if you have a decent number of people using BBM, then you would surely want to hang on to your Blackberry!

But if you want your phone to move with the advances in the technological space, or you want your phone to allow you to browse smartly, book movie tickets, get a flight ticket, book a domain name, tell you what to eat, how to diet, where's the nearest free wifi network, how many liters of water to drink a day or basically anything else - that's got to be the iPhone (or atleast an android)! The other day, I was standing in the Thai airways check in counter (I had forgotten to do a web check-in before arriving to the airport). This was a huge line and it was moving pretty slowly. I took out my iPhone, downloaded the Thai airways app and did a mobile check in right then. And then I moved to the Web Check-In counter with a smirk on my face! Go iPhone! Yet another day, I wanted to get a domain name registered quickly and I was out travelling. The data card on my laptop had like the most hopeless speeds when I was trying to get it registered. Out came my iPhone, Godaddy has an app! I did the registration in 5 minutes! When Apple advertises saying "There's an App for that", they really do mean it!! Of course, I have to carry my charger wherever I go, coz with my usage, I don't get more than 7 to 8 hours, that too after I have reduced the screen brightness to the point of it going off! Also, add to that the on-screen keyboard which only gives you visual feedback (Which means you actually need to look at your keyboard). The keypad does have its strengths though. As I've mentioned earlier, after a point, the keyboard almost understands what's in my BRAIN! It autocompletes stuff!! That's like super awesome! And the awesome screen real estate on the iPhone beats the Blackberry hands down. Makes browing on the iPhone a much more pleasant experience. It also lets me view many more tweets on Twitter and posts on Facebook!

The Verdict

iPhone 4 hands down for folks who are looking to their phone to sort out any issue while they are on the move. It seriously seems to have a solution for everything! And never lets you feel disconnected from the world (The internet) at any place as long as you have a data plan enabled

The Blackberry for people who are looking to work 24x7. Who don't want to get distracted by everything else the world has to offer and miss their office laptops/email the second they are away from it. For people with a lot of friends on their BBM!

Japanese Boy teaches a lesson in Sacrifice - Very touching

2011-03-29T17:12:00.000+05:30

I saw this link on my Facebook feed and clicked on it. It was a letter written by a Policeman in Japan to his friend in Vietnam. He tells of his experience with a 9 year old Japanese boy. Read ahead - It's really worth your time.

Brother,

How are you and your family? These last few days, everything was in chaos. When I close my eyes, I see dead bodies. When I open my eyes, I also see dead bodies.

Each one of us must work 20 hours a day, yet I wish there were 48 hours in the day, so that we could continue helping and rescuing folks.

We are without water and electricity, and food rations are near zero. We barely manage to move refugees before there are new orders to move them elsewhere.

I am currently in Fukushima, about 25 kilometers away from the nuclear power plant. I have so much to tell you that if I could write it all down, it would surely turn into a novel about human relationships and behaviors during times of crisis.

People here remain calm - their sense of dignity and proper behavior are very good - so things aren't as bad as they could be. But given another week, I can't guarantee that things won't get to a point where we can no longer provide proper protection and order.

They are humans after all, and when hunger and thirst override dignity, well, they will do whatever they have to do. The government is trying to provide supplies by air, bringing in food and medicine, but it's like dropping a little salt into the ocean.

Brother, there was a really moving incident. It involves a little Japanese boy who taught an adult like me a lesson on how to behave like a human being.

Last night, I was sent to a little grammar school to help a charity organization distribute food to the refugees. It was a long line that snaked this way and that and I saw a little boy around 9 years old. He was wearing a T-shirt and a pair of shorts.

It was getting very cold and the boy was at the very end of the line. I was worried that by the time his turn came there wouldn't be any food left. So I spoke to him. He said he was at school when the earthquake happened. His father worked nearby and was driving to the school. The boy was on the third floor balcony when he saw the tsunami sweep his father's car away.

I asked him about his mother. He said his house is right by the beach and that his mother and little sister probably didn't make it. He turned his head and wiped his tears when I asked about his relatives.

The boy was shivering so I took off my police jacket and put it on him. That's when my bag of food ration fell out. I picked it up and gave it to him. "When it comes to your turn, they might run out of food. So here's my portion. I already ate. Why don't you eat it?"

The boy took my food and bowed. I thought he would eat it right away, but he didn't. He took the bag of food, went up to where the line ended and put it where all the food was waiting to be distributed.

I was shocked. I asked him why he didn't eat it and instead added it to the food pile. He answered: "Because I see a lot more people hungrier than I am. If I put it there, then they will distribute the food equally."

When I heard that I turned away so that people wouldn't see me cry.

A society that can produce a 9-year-old who understands the concept of sacrifice for the greater good must be a great society, a great people.

Well, a few lines to send you and your family my warm wishes. The hours of my shift have begun again.

Ha Minh Thanh

Source: http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/?id=467066&type=Opinion

Don't Ever look for Police to help you! ..... ANYWHERE!

2011-03-20T06:14:00.001+05:30

It was just another regular weekend in Manila where I go out with friends for a party at Metrowalk. After the party, I wait in the taxi queue to get a taxi. When I get into the taxi, I see that the guy's meter is already running! And its already 50 pesos +! I ask the guy what was wrong with his taxi and he says its a new meter etc etc... I already know that the new meter starts at 40 pesos! Hence, the stubborn ass in me gets so pissed off and I tell him to just drop me off and i told the guy that I would find another cab. The cab driver starts telling me that I need to pay him for the small miniature trip! I told him that there is no way I was going to pay him! I then get down from the cab and call the operator of the cab to complain. The operator told me to go to the nearest police station and complain! I did just that - I got back into the cab and asked the driver to take me to the nearest police station. The guy takes me to a patrol car (the meter is still running). I get down from the cab again and ask the cops to help me. I ask them to check the meter then and it read 117 pesos already. I tell them that this guy is trying to cheat me and that I wanted to complain against the driver. They asked me to get into the police vehicle and said they would take me to the nearby station. Before I forget, the driver already made abuses at me and threatened me saying that I wasn't a Filipino and I was a Bangladeshi! And that we shouldn't be in the country... Blah blah blah... That pissed me off! And ensured that I didn't leave him right there!

I get into the station to see a totally new story! The cops were actually trying to get me to pay the guy! Saying that I needed to pay the driver and only after then could I file a case against him. I was like "Hello, my complaint itself is against the fare that the guy was charging me, I come to the police looking for justice, and you ask me to pay him".... They kept threatening me to pay him saying that if he complained against me, they would have to arrest me and stuff! I stuck to my guns saying I was looking for justice! And that I wouldn't pay the guy since he was cheating me (maybe by around 20 pesos tops huh)... But I told them to arrest me if they felt that I had done something wrong! I thought the cops who took me to the station were there to help me. They left me to the care of someone else and they got busy.... Doing what??? They logged on to FACEBOOK! Imagine! I have no clue how to put together this experience of mine.... However, I called the operator of the cab and explained the situation to them. They said that I didn't need to pay the cab guy... that worked sort of to my advantage.... But i was so irritated by then with the cops that I threw some money on the driver's face in my anger and frustration! They used this to build a case against me saying that I was disrespecting their office. While, all the time, I made sure I stood in front of the cops... said Sir thousand times! And they were holding me for this! But I still stood my ground looking for justice. The chief came and tried to act all serious like he was helping me but he threatened me too! Saying that I should pay the guy or else he would have to arrest me. I refused... saying that they were discriminating against me since I was non-Filipino... which was true to a large extent. These guys were talking in Tagalog and actually laughing at times! However, they finally filed a case and I didn't have to pay the guy. But during this process, my nerves were almost breaking. I also noted that the police guys were using fake ink in their printers! Imagine, the government of Philippines breaking laws in their own police stations.

I sensed however that the cab guy only seemed to be scared about my complaints to the LTRFB (Some Land Transportation organization). Hence, I decided I would surely complain to those guys! I held my nerves knowing for a fact that the taxi driver had more to lose in the form of his boundary (these guys rent cars from the operator for a 24 hour period)..... I held my nerves and insisted I wanted a case filed and they did just that at the end of this huge discussion and drama! Finally they filed a report, got some guys in the station to sign in! And those guys were signing without even reading the report. I felt like a JOKE over there! I even insisted one of the cops reads what he is signing! the other guys still went ahead and signed without reading.

Anyways around 3 hours later, I left the station, with the only form of justice coming from the operator and not the police! The Chief in the station went as far as to say that they were not going to give me justice but rather the court was responsible for that!

So where is the justice in this country for expats? Is it true that since we are expats, we have no access to assistance, justice and righteousness??? How would this country ever see any progress from tourism then? Or any form of development from the globalization front. Maybe this episode finally answers my question as to how the Philippines has not been as developed as it could possibly be! At the end of it all, it was the same as India or even worse! They would have actually taken me more serious at an Indian police station!

So for all you expats out there - Don't go to a POLICE STATION in the Philippines looking for any assistance/help coz you won't get any! Maybe this is a gap in the market and needs a business plan. I am thinking that maybe a company filled with lawyers etc who can protect the interests of expats would make a lot of sense. Something similar to an insurance company.

However, this is the tipping point. If I were to leave the Philippines anytime now, it would be because of this episode. The jokers that they call POLICE here are seriously jokers! They basically sit at the station using the computers to access their FACEBOOK accounts! And nothing else! I doubt they would even come to help Filipinos though Expats would be the last of their worries/issues. And the bloody cops actally wear Levis and Fila shoes! Where they get their money from is another question! But why not help when it comes to someone coming to them for help and assistance! I don't even remember the cab guy's name but I will remember the cops' name for the rest of my life!

Goodbye Philippines. You have truly lost one of your largest promoters. I talk about Philippines to all my friends, enemies, family! I promote your beaches, your people and everything! I have even had arguments with my mom saying that Filipino people are so polite and courteous! Well, I have no attachment to this damn country now! These are times you appreciate the Singapore way of doing things! They protect every citizen, tourist and resident!

Goodbye Manila, Goodbye Philippines - the clock is ticking and you're never going to get anywhere! Balls to the Philippines and Filipinos... you no more have my sympathy for why you guys are really not on the agenda of any country in the world!

Zamboanga Restaurant - Filipino Cultural show every evening

2011-02-04T20:47:00.000+05:30

Time and again, when relatives and older people come to Manila, I am at a loss at what to show them or where to take them. What the Philippines stands out for are the beaches, the malls and then more malls! But once you've shown then a beach, a volcano and a dozen malls, what else is there to offer in Manila?

Well there are loads of churches that can make for better viewing experience that visiting Intramuros. I found Intramuros to be pretty boring - mainly ruins. But the churches are splendid.

Another evening can be spent at Zamboanga Restaurant in Malate. They have a free cultural show every evening at 8:30pm. The restaurant is primarily famous for its sea-food and attracts a tourist crowd. It's pretty expensive and a meal for 3 will push you back by around 1400 Pesos or so.

But you get to watch traditional Filipino dances and musical instruments being played. Worth spending dinner to enjoy an evening.

Check out the website at Zamboanga Restaurant

Hospitals - Designed to keep you away

2011-02-04T11:46:00.001+05:30

I've always hated hospitals and doctors for that matter. But mostly since I've hated the injections I got as a kid! But also for the crowds and the solemn feeling that swept the entire area.

I've done my best to stay away from hospitals and have been pretty successful at that until now. I guess I pretty much am a great client for a health insurance company.

You get to a hospital and they make you wait for hours to see a doctor! Are they trying to get you worse? They're supposed to make you feel better. And doctors on top of that think they've been godsent to protect you and we are at their mercy. They walk out and take their own cool time to get back on duty!

These doctors assistants! They think they're even more important than the doctors themselves. They think no end of themselves! They talk rudely, refuse to tell you how long u need to wait, there's no transparency in how the scheduling works.

I'm at Makati Medical Center now waiting outside room 323 for a Doctor Emmanuel R Kasilag. I hope he's worth the wait as it's already been 2 hours and his assistants seem to be the worst Filipinos I've met!

Now I wonder whether it's easier to live with my sickness.

Tankuban Perahu Volcano, Bandung, Indonesia - As close as you can get

2011-01-03T08:14:00.001+05:30

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Initially, I was wondering what we were going to do in yet another volcano! We've seen quite a number already. But this experience in Banding was a whole lot different - we actually got really close to the crater. And the view was fantastic!

We went unto a point by car and then took the "okeks" ( bikes that ferry people around in the back seat). We got to beat a lot of the traffic by doing this.

The view was totally fantastic and mid blowing. We also felt really close to the crater which was steaming. We had seen most of the other volcanoes from a distance but we got really close to this one.

As Danny and Diar ( our local friends from the hotel now) told us, legend has it that the Sun God fell in love with his mother without knowing that she was his mother. His mother told him that if he were able to build a ship/boat in a day she would accept his love. She thought he wouldn't be able to do that. However, he completed the task successfully. The lady still refused him and in his anger, the Sun God kicked the ship and it overturned to form the Tankuban Perahu ( means overturned boat in Bahass). The mountains surrounding the krater actually look like an overturned boat. Check out the pictures.

After this, we went over to the hot springs. Since the area was really crowded, we didn't go to the public springs but instead to a privately owned resort which had it's own hot springs. We expected to see some spring and what we saw was a fabulous pool filled with hot spring water.

The dip in the hot spring pool was super relaxing! I felt so weak while I was inside and didn't even want to move an inch. Very refreshing and relaxing.

Remember to take your own towels to these places as they didn't have any on rent.

We had our dinner at the same spa/hotel and then got back to the city. I also got a bottle of Bintang here. That's the local Indonesian beer and it's pretty good.

It was actually nice to see Bandung's roads empty while we were getting back. Danny pointed it out to me that this was how Bandung normally was.

On the way back, I even got to visit a mosque. This is the first mosque I'm entering in my life ( yep, I haven't entered any in India). Was a nice experience.

With this, our grand Indonesia trip comes close to it's end. I will summarize our itinerary in a separate post to help travelers planning a 15 day trip to Indonesia.

Bandung, West Java, Indonesia - Cozy hill city

2011-01-01T14:33:00.001+05:30

See and download the full gallery on posterous

We're now at Bandung which is a small hill station in West Java Indonesia. Since it's New Years day there were absolutely no hotels with rooms available. We called close to 50 of them on our bus journey from the Jakarta airport to Bandung.

We finally found that there was a room available at a hotel called Hotel Provence which was closer to being a 2 star kinda hotel. And the only room that they had was a family room which coated around (USD 75). Since we didn't have any other option for the night, we took the room this making it the most expensive of our rooms in Indonesia. However, the room was huge and very cozy. The hotel itself was set a little away from the city and had a very cozy atmosphere. Check out the pics of our family room.

We however got to find a smaller room in the same hotel today. A delux room costing 350,000 IDR ( around 35USD). The people in the hotel are very friendly and it's a family running the entire place.

We tried booking a car in the vicinity and most of the travel services were already booked. The hotel owner's brother however offered to take us around for about 250,000 IDR ( USD 25) if we would put in some fuel.

We food that our wheels for the day was an old Merc! How awesome is that! He he.

He took us to the famous "Jeans Street" which loving up to it's name is filled with stores selling branded clothes at discounted rates. These are mostly factor outlets. I managed to pick up a pair of Armani Jeans for around 250,000 IDR ( USD 25 approx). I also got a nice bow and arrows set to hang on the walls! There were so many guys selling air guns too here. One of them let me take a shot at a plastic bottle hanging high up. I managed to hit it. Yay! These guns cost around 50 USD.

The interesting thing in this street is that all the shops have huge lifelike statues of Rambo, spiderman, batman and the likes. Also, the prices here are already discounted and mostly are fixed price stores. Shopping here is a pleasure as compared to Bali or thee places where one needs to haggle.

There was also a Levis factory outlet here with a poster of Kangana Ranaut ( Indian actress/model). One of the stores also had an old vintage Morris Minor standing inside. And an old scooter. These guys are very creative with their store decorations. Nothing fancy, but they have these huge models outside or nice stuff inside.

We're now on our way to the hot springs here in Bandung. It's at a place called Cheeatar here. We may drop by to see another volcano too here ( I know what you're thinking! Another one? He he. Indonesia is filled with volcanoes). This one is called Tankuban Perahu.

Will update further by end of day.

The Holy Spring temple and the Cliff temple, Bali, Indonesia

2010-12-31T22:33:00.005+05:30

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Day 3 in Bali was reserves for visiting the must-see sites in Bali. We were still yet to see the Holy Spring temple ( Tirta Empul) and the Cliff temple ( In Uluwatu).

As we spoke to the driver, he told us that the places we wanted to visit were at opposite ends of the island and that would hence have a long travel time. He renegotiated the price to 350000 ( around 35 USD).

The holy spring temple was nice and resembled one of our Indian temples with holy water. The difference here was that you are allowed to dive into the water. And it was super clean! Other than the spring, the temple once again resembled the other temples.

On the other hand, the Cliff Temple was fabulous. As in mind- blowing. The temple is at the edge of a cliff with a view dripping down into the ocean at about 100 feet. Really amazing. Watch te pics. Really awesome.

They also had a Fire and Dance show showing a few scenes from the Ramayana. This was much better than the Barong dance that we saw earlier. Costs around USD 7 per person of I remember right. A little overpriced I thought. However, the temple is a MUST SEE destination. Don't miss it for anything. Be careful of the monkeys though. So many of them arous and they're out to grab your stuff. So secure everything.

We got caught in a lot of traffic heading to the temple and back. Each journey took us close to 2 hours. We were so tired by the time we got back!

The shops around the temples sell some amazing souvenirs. Bargain heavily to get a good deal.

We leave tomorrow for Jakarta to get to Bandung. I really don't have any regrets for leaving Bali. I think it is highly over rated and filled with too many tourists. However, it's worth traveling to Bali during the off peak season to immerse in the culture filled with Hinduism and Buddhism. And for people traveling to Bali for the beaches, I would advise you to think again. You may as well make a trip to the Philippines for that - Boracay or Palawan. For starters, most Filipinos speak English and they're also a polite bunch.

Ubud, Bali, Indonesia - Eat, Pray, Love

2010-12-31T22:33:00.003+05:30

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Right as I start punching in this information, you must know that Ubud is an absolutely MUST VISIT city in Bali. Not only because the movie Eat, Pray, Love with Julia Roberts was shot here but for the fact that there's something about this town/city that makes you feel warm and comfortable. Ubud was voted the number 1 city in Asia and the number 5 city in the world by readers of the travelers magazine.

We visited the temple here which was nice. However as I mentioned earlier, each temple was beginning to increasingly look like the other now!

We then took some time to walk into the Ubud market which instantly transports you into a novel with cobblestone roads and prim and proper stores. The whole area felt like you were out in some European tiny village street with small cafes and book stores.

We wanted to go back there again but we never did get the time to manage it. Put aside a minimum of 2 hours for
Ubud and I would recommend half a day to walk around the place.

Definitely worth your time. If you're really not interested in hitting the parties and clubs at Kuta and Legian, you may consider staying in Ubud.

Annoying things in Bali, Indonesia

2010-12-31T22:33:00.001+05:30

Here are some of the things I find very annoying in Bali. Some are unique to Bali while many of them are common to Indonesia.

1. You need to bargain for everything - trust me when I say that anything and everything can be bargained for ( hotel rooms included). If a person asks you for 100,000 IDR ( around 10 USD) for a product, remember that you can buy it for even 15,000 to 20,000 IDR ( around 2 USD).

2. Taxis never use their meters. They ask for absurd prices. Try to find bluebird cabs and you may be lucky to find a nice cabbie!

3. The traffic is horrendous. And all the time. If you enter Legian street or Kuta it would probably take you an hour to get out! There are just too many cars and bikes on the road. To add to these woes, you have all these Australian and American tourists who rent bikes and create mayhem on the roads!
( I am currently in the middle of a traffic jam too! )

4. There really ain't that great a beach! Or maybe I feel that way Coz I'm so used to the white sand blue water beaches of the Philippines.

5. The craziness of Legian street. Crazy parties are fun but then you need to feel safe. That feeling doesn't come at the crazy party places in Legian. Drugs are sold freely and people don't stop bothering you either to sell something to you or offer their various services. We chose to stay away from this area except when we wanted to shop.

6. You have this continuous feeling that you've been cheated or you may be cheated. Most of the locals and vendors are out to milk tourists for all they are worth. Even after you've finished bargaining you are still left with that feeling that you've paid too much!

7. The rental car guys can really becoming super annoying. You pay them to take you to where you want to go, but in reality they are taking money from you to take you to where they want you to go! You give them a list of places you want to see, they give you a fresh one and sell the idea to you saying its the best thing to do. You realize later that they want to take you to Batik stores, Silver/Gold stores, Spice gardens, Wood carving places etc ( All of whom are giving the driver money for bringing you there). Even the restaurant they took us was crappy and super expensive. By afternoon, you've realized that the drivers just taking you where he wants and you're wasting most of the day doing useless stuff!

Note: Put your foot down in the beginning. Say no to batik, spices and everything they say. Insist on eating where you want. Trust me, you will land up saving a lot of money and time. You can always buy batik or spices from the hundreds of stores in the evenings when you have more time.

8. They don't really allow you into tue actual temples. It's like they've set up tourist areas at all temples! I'm a Hindu and I wasn't allowed in too.

Well this doesn't mean that Bali's a bad place to be in! It's just that the place is so dependent on tourists that they try to suck the last penny out of you. So be on guard all the time.

Happy New Year from Bandung Indonesia

2010-12-31T22:31:00.001+05:30

To all the folks out there reading my updates - here's wishing you a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

Have arrived in Bandung and we're staying at Le Provence. We booked the room over the phone. Will update with pics once I get there!

Kintamani, Batur active volcano - Bali, Indonesia - "Worth the view"

2010-12-30T15:44:00.001+05:30

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Well, yet another active volcano in Indonesia, only this time in Bali. When we first saw the itinerary presented to us by the folks at our hotel, we wanted to cancel the volcano from our list. Felt like we've seen and had enough of volcanoes!

However since the driver insisted, we went along. We just prayed that there would be no rain or fog to play spoilsport to ruin our view.

The drive to the volcano was a wonderful experience. So much of greenery to be found in Bali. Also, the architecture as we passes the country side was amazing. So many temples all along the way.

You have a view of the Batur active volcano and a huge lake from the view point that we were taken to. Reminded me of Tagaytay in Philippines a wee bit. Worth the drive and the view.

We also got to see the famous rice terraces on our way back. This driver also took is to a spice garden. Basically, it's like an estate where they give you sample coffee and otter drinks to taste and try to get you to buy coffee. I'm pretty sure the drivers make a commission from them here also. We got to taste the famous (for the poop reasons) Kopi Luwak - the cat poop coffee. Basically there are these wild cats livid in the coffee plantation and they feed on the coffee Cherries. This goes through the digestive system and comes out in the poop. They clean it and make it into coffee. It's now an exotic variety. We bought some too. Was pretty expensive though.

Barong & Kris Dance - Bali, Indonesia

2010-12-30T11:52:00.001+05:30

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Batu Bulan which is the Barong & Kris dance will probably fall into any tour operator or any travel itinerary that anyone plans for you. All the day tours start with this show. It starts at 9 30 am and is a one hour performance. This is a traditional Balinese dance and the entrance fee costs around USD 8 per person.

Well, I expected a lot from this show and I was terribly disappointed. This dance like most other Hindu dance forms focusses on expression on the dancers eyes and hand movements. The small portion that they showed us circled around the battle between good and evil with references from the Mahabharata. I think the show was no way worth the money spent and it was so boring. I'm guessing that this is because that this is something that is just prepared for tourists and is no where close to the original. The drama was not scened and choreographed well, the handouts they gave the audience wasn't scripted well and it came out very Clearly as a money making endeavor. The saving grace was the fabulous costumes.

And speaking about moneymaking, the entire tourism industry seems to be working in perfect unison. Any of the drivers or tour guides who take you into this Barong dance actually get a commission. And a pretty good one at that. So they really push you into going for this one.

Have posted pics of the same. The costumes were great as I said but there was nothing more to speak about this show. Total waste of money.

Bali, Indonesia - Day Two Itinerary

2010-12-29T08:28:00.001+05:30

We planned to start our day by 7 30 but landed up waking up a little later due to the time difference between Java and Bali. Bali follows Manila & Singapore time whereas Java is one hour behind. Our alarm was set with Java time!

Anyhow here's our plan for the day. Will update after each item with pics and a small review.

1. Batu Bulan - Barong & Kris Dance
2. Batuaan temple
3. Ubud area
4. Tegalalang - rice terrace views
5. Kintamali - Batur volcano and lake
6. Sribatu village - spice garden
7. Tirta Empul - holiest water temple
8. Elephant cave

Not bad for a full day's itinerary right?

We're of on the road and the rain is all out to spoil our plans. Let's just hope that the rain stops in a bit. I was told that the view from the mountain wouldn't be good with it raining like this.

Bali, Indonesia - Hinduism with a difference

2010-12-29T08:08:00.001+05:30

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Our arrival at Dempasar, Bali was far from spectacular. The train reached this small station of Banyunwangi at around 5am. This is the train we took from Surabaya. A bus owned and run by the railways was waiting for us outside the station. The bus went to the ferry station. t this point I thought we would have to get down - but no, the bus just got onto the ferry with all of us on it. The ferry ride is just about 20 minutes to half an hour. You can get of the bus in the ferry and sit upstairs and sip on a coffee. The bus gets of the ferry in Bali and it took us a good 5 hours to get to Dempasar. By this time, we were so exhausted!

We tried to figure out which hotel we could get to or which area. Options are wide and plenty in Bali. Called my friend whose already here and he said the beaches here are nothing great. They're all mostly dirty and filthy! Anyhow we were deciding whether to stay in Kuta or any other place nearby. We got into a cab and kept calling different hotels on the way. Most were full or had a room available for only one night.

We decided to go to Sanur as we read that te beach in this area was better than the one at Kuta. Wr got stuck in a huge traffic jam and I'm sure the cabbie conned us even more. We went from hotel to hotel looking for a room. We finally found one with rooms available at our price range! We found a room for all of is to stay for 40USD. The hotel's name is Puri Mango and most people know about it. Very strongly recommended value for money hotel! Has a very cosy atmosphere and friendly service.

Later in the evening, we rented cycles to rude around the area. We got cycles for around 1.5 dollars per cycle for around 5 hours. It was a whole lot of fun since we got to roam around the entire Sanur beach area.

We also met a guy to finalize our day trip for the next day. A car with driver in Bali costs around 30- 40 USD for about 10 to 12 hours. Worth it so that you can plan your own program.

Passed close to Bromo volcano - Indonesia

2010-12-27T23:25:00.001+05:30

The train just passed close to The Bromo
Crater. The entire area seems to be filled with dust. Thank god we didn't travel To
Bromo. In a matter of 5 minutes, the entire compartment was filled with ash and smoke. People were coughing. We ran to close all the windows ( business class) remember!

So right now the place is even warmer! We are boiling in this compartment with all the windows being closed. What a trip this is turning out to be.

I have dust all over my face. Need to go wash my face.

Malang, East Java, Indonesia - Discrete, Nonchalant and full of surprises

2010-12-27T23:20:00.001+05:30

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Originally our trip to Malang was intended more as a stopover to getting to Bromo. Lonely planet doesn't give too much information on this city. So we thought we would spend just a couple of hours in this city before we head on to Surabaya to catch another train to get to Bali.

We arrived at Malang and just walked out of the station to get to the reservation counter and Neha was like "the sleepy town of Malang". Well this town did throw up a lot of surprises for us.

The first one was at the railway station. We frantically were as usual eying to get someone to understand what we wanted to do when we went to the customer care office at the station (wow, they have these in all stations in Indonesia and it looks good).

Anyhow we walked in and we started talking to this girl at the office. We were surprised with her amazing command over English. And she spoke with a very negligible accent! All through our Indonesia experience until now, this girl had the vest command over the language. Her name is Natalia.

We spent time with her explaining our plans to leave to Surabhaya by the next available train. In fact, we also booked tickets on some open train to get there. Natalia kept telling us that there would be nothing to do at Surabaya and that it's a huge city that's very warn and filled with rude people! She seemed to really hate the place and at the end of our discussion we actually agreed to stay on in Malang instead of going to Surabaya immediately. In fact Natalia also offered to come along with us after her shift was over to show us around the place. This was really kind and generous of her to take time of to be with us. This was truly a very touching experience.

We then went to have breakfast at a restaurant called "Toko OEN". This one is opposite to KFC and Mcdonalds at Malang. This place is filled with expats since they have an extensive menu and a decent ambience.

What we saw at Malang?

1. Bird Market
2. Coban rondo waterfall

Bird Market - I think this place is not given it's due credit and attention in lonely planet. This was another lovely surprise. Imagine walking through streets of what looks straight out of a Harry potter movie? Just as the name mentions they had all kinds of birds for sale. And when I mean all, I mean a really large variety. There were sparrows, parrots, owls, ravens ( looked cool) and what not. They even were selling live feed for these birds - worms and some other bugs that looked disgusting. Apart from birds they also had other animals like rabbits, lizards, mice and monkeys. The biggest surprise of them all was a shop that was selling SNAKES! Yep, that's right - a shop filled with snakes, bats and lizards. Never seen anything like this in my life. The guy was actually playing with a snake in his hand. Check out the pictures attached.

Coban rondo waterfall - this place was amazing too! Another good surprise. It's about a good one and a half hours away from the city proper but it's a ride well worth it. We rented a car once again. Cost us around 40 dollars for ten hours. The journey to the waterfall was similar to our Indian hill stations. We went through some beautiful hill vegetation and the climate got cooler and cooler as we moved higher. The actual waterfall area was beautiful with the water falling from a large height hence cooling the entire area with the water droplets splashing of. Check out the pics. We later thought that it would have made sense to stay overnight at this place ( there are rooms available). Check out my pics.

We got back and boarded a bus to take is to Surabaya so that we can catch our next train to Denpasar, Bali.

Truly, this nonchalant town of Malang warned it's way into our hearts for the kindness of it's people through Natalie, for the crazy bird market and the beautiful water fall/hill.

Yogyakarta summarized - Indonesia's cultural capital

2010-12-27T22:42:00.001+05:30

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Well to summarize our day, the aces that we visited in Jogja are

1. Borobudur
2. Prambanan temple
3. Mount Merapi
4. Some beach that they refer to as sand dunes
5. The sultan's palace

Now this was a very eventful day and we spent ample time on most of the above. The Sumtan's palace is overly hyped up and there really ain't nothing too much to see especially when you're from India and have seen the royal palaces of India.

They also talk about some beach in Jogja that they refer to as sand dunes. Basically it's just a beach where they have some ATVs ( All terrain vehicles) that you can rent for about 20 mins to half an hour. There were a bunch of rogue looking guys there and I wouldn't advise single girls to come here by themselves. You wouldn't have missed anything here.

I gave already updated individual posts on Borobudur, Prambanan and Merapi Volcano and hence I'm not gonna repeat those here.

After this long and tiring day, we were looking for some hotel that would loan is a room for a couple of hours so that we could take a shower and get changed before the nights train to Malang. The rest rooms at the station are pathetic and don't seem to be fit for human use! We scouted around and most hotels were asking us to pay the entire days rent for just 2 hours.

We however did manage to find a small dingy room with cold water for around 75000 IDR ( around USD 8). Have attached pics of that room! Also, the shower was like the best shower that I've ever had in my life. Not because of the dingy bathroom but it made me feel like I'm back to life!

There's a hotel called Abads right opposite the Jogja station. The place looks and feels fancy but the restaurant is really good and highly recommended. The food was good, the service good and also excellent value for money.

We were to catch a train to get to Malang. This place was originally in our itenary since we had planned to visit the Bromo crater. However since the crater exploded only recently, we were told that the area was closed. We decided to carry on to Malang and see this town before we get to Banyunwangi for Dempasar, Bali.

Indonesia Trains

2010-12-27T22:19:00.001+05:30

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I thought I'd just write a quick update on trains in Indonesia to help other travelers and back packers.

Note that it is not wise to travel on a train on either the Business class or the Executive class. Only these two classes allow for reservations.

The executive class is the most expensive and it is air-conditioned. However there are no sleeper berths available like the Indian railways - even on long haul distances.

The business class compartments have only fans and the seats are pretty rigid and that makes it difficult to do long distance journeys on this class. The cost differential between these two classes is only around 5 USD and it would be advised to take the Executive class whenever possible. The rest rooms also are cleaner and better.

We are in our way from Surabaya to Dempasar, Bali by train. We didn't get tickets on the Executive and had no option but to settle for the business. Ts really warm and uncomfortable on this coach. I guess we got pampered by the Exec Class already.

Thank god for small mercies - this coach also has charging sockets. Hence, able to juice up my iPhone.

The first pic is from the Executive class and the second two are on the Business. God speed.

Mount Merapi volcano - Indonesia

2010-12-27T21:51:00.001+05:30

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YOGYAKARTA — Indonesian scientists Friday downgraded the alert status of Mount Merapi from its highest level after it killed more than 350 people in a series of violent eruptions that started in late October. "The decision was taken this morning at 9:00 am (0200GMT) as its eruption activities continue to slow down," the head of the volcanology office, Subandrio, told AFP from a monitoring office in Yogyakarta, the main city south of Merapi. He said that more than 250,000 people who had been living in evacuation shelters were now allowed to return home, except for those who lived in the worst affected district, Sleman, on the southern slope. "The volcano's threat is now limited to only some parts on the southern slope. People are not allowed to do activities there." Another volcanologist, Surono, said people must remain away from river banks due to possible fast-moving volcanic mudflow streaming down the volcano's slope during heavy downpours. "It's especially during the heavy rainfall as the eruptions left an estimated 150 million cubic metres of volcanic material on the slopes," he said. Hundreds of people fled their houses earlier this week when heavy rainfall flushed thousands of tons of volcanic material into several rivers, damaging a bridge and submerging houses. Disaster management officials said they had recorded 353 people killed. Many were buried under fast-flowing torrents of boiling hot gas and rock that incinerated villages on the southern slopes when the volcano exploded on November 5, its biggest eruption in over a century. The volcano, located on the central island of Java, killed around 1,300 people in 1930 but experts say the latest eruptions are its biggest since 1872

Source: APC News hosted on google news

------------------------------------

We were told that Mount Merapi volcano and the Bromo volcano had just erupted and we would not be allowed to visit the place. However, the alert level at the area was just reduced a few days prior to our visit as mentioned in the above article.

The site isn't too far away from Yogyakarta. We went pretty excited and nervous at what we would see. As we got closer to the affected area we could feel the temperature rising. And as we got even closer, we realized that we weren't the only ones on our way there. It had become a local tourist attraction of sorts! A large number of cars along the small road causes traffic jams!

We got walking across the area and what we saw is here in the form if pictures for you to see! It makes you wonder why god would punish us humans like this? Or have we brought this destruction upon ourselves?

The intense smell of sulphur engulfed us and there were some locals selling masks in the area. We walked on trying to get closer. We couldn't see the entire mountain since it was hidden by clouds but we could see the path of destruction it took along it's lava path. The entire area was covered with volcanic ash and most of the vegetation in the area was burnt. There was still smoke coming out of various pockets from the ground. There were also large patches on the ground which I assume are sulphur patches.

I have never seen such a site in my life apart from what we see in movies and the news channels. Even when we watch these things on the news, we are so disconnected from reality! I didn't know whether to be excited to be able to see something like this in front of my eyes or whether I was sympathizing with the people in the region.

The pictures attached have their own tale to tell. Feel free to share your comments. I've downsized the quality of the pics for quicker upload. I also have videos that I will upload once I get to my Internet connection at home.

Prambanan temple, Indonesia - Hinduism in Java

2010-12-27T00:03:00.001+05:30

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Just about 40 kms away from Yogyakarta, this is the site that actually stole all the thunder. As I mentioned earlier, Borobudur wasn't as grand as I expected it to be and so I went with lowered expectations to Prambanan. Prambanan is very accessible via multiple buses from Yogyakarta. However, since we had rented the taxi for the day, we went by car. Took us around 40 minutes to get there and about 2 hours to get back! (Coz of the traffic).

Well back to the temple. I really have no clue as to where to whom describing the magnificence and splendor of this archeological structure. Being a Hindu myself, I could connect with the carvings at the temple and the story line behind it.

There are three huge towers called Candi(s). That's pronounced Chandis. The largest one in the center is for lord shiva ( the destroyer), the one on the left for lord Brahma (the creator) and the one on the right for Lord Vishnu ( the preserver). There were 3 slightly smaller candis for the vaahanams or "vehicles" of the gods - Nandi ( the cow) , Vaayu ( the vulture) and Hansa (the swan).

Around these larger temples, there were originally 220 smaller temples. However, multiple natural disasters such as the earthquakes and volcanoes have destroyed most of them leaving behind only 2 of them ( yes, that's not a typo - TWO).

Each of the temples have an idol inside them and this is the first time I've seen an idol of Lord Brahma in a temple. And such a large statue. Also unique is the fact that all the three gods forming the trinity were present next to each other.

Another very iteresting fact is that inside the large Shiva temple, there are engravings of the RAMAYANA! Ram is an avatar of Lord Vishnu. The large candi ( Shiva's) was closed to the public for restoration work and I couldn't see inside.

I was surprised to see that people were allowed to walk into the temples wish their shoes and photos were being clicked randomly inside the altar. This isn't the case in India where you aren't allowed to walk into the temple premises with your footwear!

The guide who took us around also mentioned that restoration work was happening in phases and that it would be practically impossible to restore the 220 temples since they didn't have enough stones available for the same.

I guess Hindus around the works should get together to fund the requirements of this restoration process.

Check out the pics to form your own opinion. In mine, it's a well worthy trip made and the temple inspires awe and pride at our religion Hinduism.

We had our lunch at the restaurant at the temple premises and it was well worth it. To be safe when you're ordering in Indonesia, order the Nasi goreng ( with only vegetables if you are vegetarian). The service was good and the prices were reasonable.

Also note that the entry costs 11USD for foreigners and 7USD if you are a student. I was first wondering why this discrimination but after Borobudur, I'm just loving this tourism idea. They charge us more, but they welcome us at a separate area, give you a welcome drink ( coffee, tea or water) that's on the house. Nice. And they also have people who speak English well here.

I've cut down the sizes of the pics since it's really struggling to get online wit my slower mobile connection! Also, will upload more pics and videos later.

Stranded on our road trip

2010-12-26T10:00:00.001+05:30

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On our way from Yogyakarta to Prambanan temple, our car got a flat tire. Well, here's what Dokkamma got down to doing!

That's our wheels for the day. A Toyota suv (?). Many of these plying here.

Also, a correction, Borobudur isn't a temple but rather it's a monastery. Correction pointed out by Dokkamma!

While we waited to get our tickets, I sat by a shop to charge my phone and our camera. The locals here seem to love playing chess. And they're great at it. They play so quickly!

We also got to see a Chinese cemetery on our way. Clicked a quick pic.

Borobudur temple, Yogyakarta

2010-12-26T08:24:00.001+05:30

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Borobudur temple is a Buddhist temple about 45 minutes away from Jogja ( Yogyakarta). We came by the cab we rented for the day but there are a number of buses available. We were lucky that the temple was open since after the Merapi explosion, the temple was closed. It just opened to the public again few days ago.

I initially expected something huge but then it was not as big as I expected. Keep aside around 1.5 hours at the temple to fully go around the temple and take pictures. The entrance fee is USD 15 for tourists. We got a guide and we paid the guide around USD 7.

Gautama Buddha never actually came here. It was the traders that brought the Buddhism to Indonesia. It was an Indian architect that designed the temple.

Local Indonesians seem to be huge fans of Shahrukh khan and the Hindi movie kuch kuch hota hai. Unfortunately, they hadn't heard of the Superstar Rajnikanth. They also knew Amitabh Bachan.

The stairway going up the temple is called "the stairway to heaven" (Led Zep....? ) there are different stages in the temples foundation which depict the pathway to salvation.

Currently there is a lot of restoration activity happening at the temple to protect it from future earthquakes! Lot of the temple is already damaged by past earthquakes. There was also a lot of volcanic dust in the temple premises.

Well worth a visit. Next stop Prambanan.

Yogyakarta itenary

2010-12-26T04:43:00.001+05:30

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We met a tourist guide at the station. At first glance we thought we would avoid such vendors. But then we were worries about seeing Mt. Merapi which is one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world. Just exploded recently. So we thought we better have a local with us.

We hired a car to take us to
1. Borobudur
2. Prambanan
3. Merapi
4. Depok San dunes

We have spoken a deal of 40 USD for 8 hours. To take us to all the sites above. An additional hour above the 8 hours will cost us 2.5 dollars.

Included pics of the agent and other details. He even has a notebook with entries from various nationals recommending his good work. Will update as I visit each site.

The cycle rickshaw

2010-12-26T03:09:00.003+05:30

Here's the Indonesian version of our cycle rickshaw. With Dokkamma sitting happily inside!

The cycle rickshaw

2010-12-26T03:09:00.001+05:30

Here's the Indonesian version of our cycle rickshaw. With Dokkamma sitting happily inside!

Got to yogyakarta

2010-12-26T02:45:00.001+05:30

Got there finally!

Exec Class on Indonesian train

2010-12-25T23:48:00.001+05:30

Well here's what the Executive Class on an Indonesian train looks like. Not bad right? And this Indonesian friend I met this morning tells me she's never ever gotten into a train in Indonesia! Score! He he.

Indonesia - Days 1 and 2

2010-12-25T23:47:00.001+05:30

I got to Jakarta on Christmas eve. My First reactions were that this place is so similar to india. In particular, Chennai! There were so many of these guys waiting right outside the airport offering me a wide variety of services! Lol. But then living in Chennai for years helped me tackle that. Be careful of the taxi dudes. Try to get a bluebird taxi! Those guys are the best of the lot!

The immigration process was awesome. Almost flawless! Had to pay 25USD for the visa on arrival. But that gets you to be treated like a VIP. And you can skip the general line and finish the entire process in less than 5 mins. It took me that much time to walk from the plane to the baggage collection area! And the baggage collection area! Pathetic! The system is so screwed up! No one speaks English near the area. They have more than one airlines luggage coming on the same belt. Took me half an hour to get my bag.

The cab to Jalan Jaksa ( the place I was to stay) cost me 130,000 IDR. Jalan Jaksa is the area you can find the cheap backpackers place. You can find a room for up to 3 people to stay for about 10 dollars a night. But I wouldn't advise the area/place to girls traveling alone. Stayed at a backpackers hostel called Djodys. Good for guys who just want a place to crash.

Dint wanna waste time after getting there. So went to a club called stadium. Man, was it HUGE. And I mean it. A huge disco joint. The music was amazing, the crowd wild. However, not my kinda place. Dark corners, plenty of girls! What not. Anyways entry costs around 100,000 IDR and includes a beer.

Woke up in the morning to meet an Indonesian friend of mine at the nearby Burger King. Another thing that's awesome about the country is that they have hot sauce everywhere! Nice change from Philippines! He he.

After that we went shopping in the evening to a mall called Mannggahan. This is a chain of malls. One of them is dedicated to computer stuff. Managed to find a nice dude called Vishnu there. Selling aim cards. He cut a sim card to get it to fit my iPhone 4 and also got me a scheme to use Internet on it upto a limit of 5gb. That cost me around 130,000 IDR. Well that's what I'm using to type this post out now! It's not easy to find a sim for the iPhone 4 here or someone who understands English. Vishnu does both! Ping me if you want his contact details.

Anyhow, we had dinner at Komalas! Yumm. And then got to the railway station to catch our train for Yogyakarta. Am on the train now! If you take a train here. Do take the executive class as it's the best way to handle the long distance travel. The train costed us around 30USD per person and it's an 8 hour journey. I should be in Yogyakarta ( pronounced Jogjakarta or jogja in short ).

The train actually has some cute girls as ticket collectors and attendants! Imagine a train in India having women attendants! Lol. Can't really think of how that would turn out! :)

The train actually has a pantry car which allows people to smoke! The washrooms are pretty decent. The trains however don't have sleeper berths though they do have comfortable reclining chairs. Indian trains score on this front! But am glad there's a power socket that allows me to juice up my iPhone!

Well that's all for now folks. Will continue to update my journey! With pics in the next post. For now - bring a translator and a calculator if you plan on visiting Indonesia! And I'm here for the next 10 days. So keep following for love updates.

Hong Kong - Skyscrapers and Window shopping

2010-10-11T00:28:00.000+05:30

This post is long due! I found it in my drafts! I think I went to Hong Kong almost 7 months ago... Anyhow, I thought I would post this as it would preserve my memories online.

I was with my colleague and friend for this trip to Hong Kong. The primary reason for our trip was to attend the Learning World Conference at HK arranged by Uni Strategic and we being a Media Partner (www.ms-asia.org). As we were leaving from Manila (Cebu Pacific, Ninoy Aquino airport), this girl at the Cebu Pacific ticket counter asks us if we would be ok to travel by the next flight instead of this one. We obviously said NO! But then she said that if were were ok to get onto the next flight, Cebu Pacific would give each of us a free round trip to any of their locations - domestic and international. They would also put us up in a hotel room while we wait! I thought of it for a while and then said ok as I felt it was a good deal and that we had time to kill since the conference was only the next day. Then the Cebu folks made us wait by the counter for a good 15 minutes before coming back and telling us that they were sorry but someone else hadn't turned up and hence we would have to get into this flight!! I was like, "What the hell?" Are we like goats to be herded in if they felt like it or to be left out if they were full! But then, there was nothing we could do. I felt so embarrassed walking down to the flight with the lady at the counter. Low-cost airlines should remember that they may be low cost but nowhere in their name does it say - "Low Service" or "NO Service"! Customers will wake up soon!

Maybe I should start an insurance firm insuring passengers going by Low Cost airlines. This service could give passengers lounge access in case of flight delays or food packages to take into the flight and what not! The possibilities are endless. And with more and more low cost airlines coming up, I'm sure I'd be a millionaire pretty soon - WOW... I should actually do this! Airlines could insure their setup with me! So could passengers... Pretty neat idea huh??

Well anyway we were on board to get to Hong Kong - a city which in my mind meant Cosmopolitan or Asia's Manhattan! The flight was pretty short (2 hours) and we got to HK. I've already been to the HK airport many times but the size did amaze me again! The hotel that we were booked into had a shuttle service arranged for us. The journey in the bus to our hotel was just the beginning of our awe and astonishment while we looked at the huge skyscrapers! They just seemed to go on and on and on! The roads were beautiful and so were the bridges, the tunnels, the ferry boats, the ships, the shipyard! We saw so much of HK just travelling in that bus!

This was originally intended to be a long post but since its been months since I went to Hong Kong, I don't have all the information I originally intended to post... So i'll just go ahead and post a few pics...

Well for travellers going to Hong Kong, the sheer size and height of this city will just amaze. But apart from that, I really didn't find anything that kept me gripped. The trip the "The Peak" by a winch was nice as it takes you up a hill and gives you a beautiful view of the city. It was so chilly there and my friend and I were the only ones there without a sweater.

The nightlife can be found on Lan Kwai Fong and Wanchai. We couldn't go to Macau as we didn't realize that we needed our passports and had left them in the hotel.

Well not all of Hong Kong is skyscrapers and boutique stores. A lot of the streets remind you of India (Well the British were here much after they left India too). But everything is organized here with proper places to cross the roads with attention given to pedestrians.

Another place that one should not miss is the Night markets of Hong Kong. This is where you can buy souvenirs at bargain prices. Chinese electronic goods, t-shirts, and many other souvenirs....Remember to strike a bargain here, always quote half the price of what they ask for and you may land up getting a decent deal.

Will post more on my Hong Kong trip at a later time when I find the material I had kept aside......

Guimaras (Iloilo) - Mangoes and Witches

2010-10-10T23:56:00.000+05:30

Guimaras is an island province located of the coast of Iloilo. It is one of the smallest provinces in the Philippines and its capital is Jordan. Guimaras is famous for its mangoes - in fact it's known to have the sweetest mangoes in the world.

Getting to Iloilo is considerably easy since there are a number of flights from Manila. Check Cebu Pacific airlines for the best rates. Do note that the city of Iloilo is relatively far from the airport - around a half an hour drive.

I got to be hosted by the Lopez family in Iloilo. The Lopez family is a very wealthy and influential family in the Philippines. The group owns a host of companies ranging from power to media. The family traces its origins to Iloilo. I got the opportunity to be hosted by Ms. Emily Lopez who is the daughter in law of past Vice President - Fernando Lopez. She was also the a governor and congresswoman in the Philippines. At the age of 65, Ms. Lopez doesn't look a day beyond 35. And the grace and elegance which she carries herself will put many of today's women to shame.

We also got the opportunity to see the palatial family houses of the Lopez family in Iloilo. The house where we met Ms. Emily Lopez was called the Lopez Colonial house and like all the other houses were built decades ago and have housed many illustrious and dynamic members of the Lopez family. I even got the opportunity to take a nap in one of the rooms.

Another beautiful mansion that we got to visit was Nelly's garden which is also owned by the Lopez family. This house is older than 75 years old and is a landmark in the Philippines. It was one of the only old buildings that survived the Japanese bombing. The house is now used as a museum and can be booked for weddings and other functions.

The Lopez family arranged for us to travel to the nearby island province of Guimaras. In fact, Ms. Lopez was earlier the Governor of the Guimaras province.

As I mentioned earlier, Guimaras is very famous for its mangoes. Another thing that its famous for is its ghost stories and stories of witch-craft. There are a number of rumours floating around that there are a number of witches still living in this island who have magical powers passed on to them from generation to generation. I heard this from few of the locals at Guimaras... However after I returned I tried looking this claim up on the internet but haven't found anything that looks valid! If anyone, does have some information on this, please do post it in the comments section.

Getting to Guimaras from Iloilo is by means of a short ferry ride. Get to Ortiz Wharf in Iloilo from where there are a number of ferries leaving to Guimaras. Guimaras is also the home of the Manggahan festival which is a Mango festival occurring every year in the last week of May. There generally aren't as many tourists to Guimaras as many of the other places in the Philippines. And this is the very reason why you can find so many unspoiled beaches and coves here. We got to stay on an almost secluded resort overnight. Our cottage was 5 steps away from the beach and we could even dive into the water at various secluded locations. This was truly a wonderful experience.

After a night at this resort which was actually also a marine school, we took a boat and decided to explore the surroundings early in the morning. The boat man took us to a nearby Marine research setup called the SEAFDEC Aquaculture research (Some South East Asian Fisheries etc etc) .... This was a pleasant surprise as in the middle of nowhere you actually have a lab setup where they grow and study fishes. The famous milk fish or boneless bangus is grown here and its actually famous in the Iloilo province. We saw one huge fish here which they said was around 15 years old and 85 kilos heavy (Heavier than me). They were feeding it with other small fish and it was busy jumping in and out of the water! They said that the thing was carnivorous and would even eat rats, cats and anything that you would throw in!

Another useful information blog that I found on Guimaras is http://exploreguimaras.blogspot.com/ . Has loads of infomation that will help you travel to Guimaras.

Legazpi City - Mt.Mayon, the perfect volcano

2010-10-04T22:49:00.000+05:30

I just returned from Legazpi city after an eventful day with Mt. Mayon - known as one of the most perfectly formed volcanoes in the world having a perfect cone shape. Out of the many volcanoes in the Philippines, this is the most active, dangerous and has erupted the most number of times in history as compared to any other volcano in the Philippines. It is known to have erupted more than 49 times in the past and is still at alert status 2!

Getting to Legazpi from Naga shouldn't be too difficult. You can rent a car and get to Legazpi. It's a one and a half hour drive and if I'm right there are also buses available connecting the two cities. Ask for the way to the bell tower of Cagsawa Church... That's where all the tourists go to take pictures of the volcano and also shop for souvenirs.

There are a bunch of kids there who stand around willing to take photos for a small price! I initially ignored them but later got a kid to take some photos. Just had to pay the kid 20 pesos. Check out some of the pics he took below:

There are a number of shops in this area and you can pick up some pretty cheap t-shirts and other souvenirs. Some note worthy items that you can pick up are articles made out of the volcano ash! I got some fridge magnets and another show-case item made of the ash. Pretty neat stuff. There were also some nice t-shirts available.

I spent about a day at Legazpi and you can see the grandness and splendor of Mount Mayon from anywhere near the city. In fact, managed to get some neat snaps from the plane too as I was leaving Legazpi for Manila.

I finally am back in Manila after all most two weeks of continuous travel - starting from Carmona, Singapore, Davao, Iloilo, Legazpi, Naga City, Guimaras and many more small places on the way. Again.... WOW Philippines!

Wait for my update on Iloilo and Guimaras in the next few days....

Camarines Sur - Water sports and Volcanos

2010-10-04T00:19:00.001+05:30

I write this post from Naga City in Camarines Sur and after two days of exerting myself through various activities, I can hardly move! This province really does live up to most other Filipino provinces with the added advantage of having spicy food. I did mention in a previous post that Cam Sur is in the Bicol region which is famous for its spicy food among many other things.

You can get to Camsur by flight or by road. Flight takes around an hour and look for flights from Manila to Naga or Legaspi (around an hour and a half from Naga). I was told that there are buses also which take around 8 hours to get there... costs around 850 pesos for a very comfortable bus which has a toilet etc...

Now to cut to the chase, what can you in Cam Sur?

Wake-boarding at Camarines Sur Water Sports Complex (CWC)
Hot water springs at the foot of a volcano - Mini Hydro Hot Springs at Brgy. Panicuason
A night dancing with teenagers at Club M8
A little older crowd at Bistro

To start with... anyone and everyone knows CWC at Camarines Sur... So just ask any tricycle guy or cabbie (hardly any cabs at Camsur) to take you to CWC. It was an amazing experience... Was my first time and I landed up falling into the water so many times! It was a pretty difficult task staying above water... But it was amazing! It's a lot of fun... I guess that you need days before you can actually perfect the art of actually maneuvering and doing the jumps etc!

Just be careful of not doing it for too long the first time coz the effect shows the next day on your arms and legs! The pain in my hands is killing me now!

The hot water springs can help you relax after a super tiring day at CWC! You can just laze around in the hot pools there! There are several pools with different temperatures - 29 degrees, 34 degrees and 39 degrees! I loved the hottest one. Felt so good... Almost like lying in a hot tub at home! This place is located at the foot of Mt. Isarog. I just read that Isarog is supposed to be the last rain forest in the Philippines at this blog. It was a wonderful experience lazing in the hot pool and then jumping into the cold tank right next to it. There's a stream flowing right nearby which is cold... feels like ice! And these hot springs are so close to it. The temperature is modulated by means of limiting the water flowing through the spring holes.

Almost everything in Naga is located on Magsaysay avenue and so is this club called Club M8 (pronounced Mate)... I walked into this club to see so many young folks in here... In the age range of 16 - 22! They had a live band that was aweful playing until 12am and then they opened up the dance floor.... You don't have too many options in Naga and this club can help you kill some time...

There is another bar/pub called Bistro - I don't know the way there but from what I understood, the place is pretty famous and all of the tricycle guys would know the same. Remember while taking a tricycle that it costs 20 pesos to go to most places within Naga. I got dropped of at the place by car and hence I really couldn't follow the route!

Overall, Camarines Sur is a very green province and gives you the well needed fresh breath of air after Manila. So worth a trip... But shouldn't take you more than 3 days tops to cover all that is there to see here.

Am going to Legaspi tomorrow (which is about 2 hours away by road) which has the famous or infamous Mt. Mayon (Active volcano)... So will update more about that tomorrow.....

Stay connected for my updates on Iloilo and Guimaras too as and when I get some time....

2 Years and counting - Philippines, the unpublished paradise

2010-10-02T22:48:00.000+05:30

It's been more than 2 years since I got to this lovely paradise of a country - Philippines. And its about time I got started writing this piece. It's long crossed my mind that I should share my thoughts about this country with others......

Years ago, I just new that there was a country called Philippines. Frankly speaking, I didn't know where it was on the map. I just knew that it was somewhere in Asia! Well, look at where I am now... And I intend to let others who are as ignorant as me understand that there is one more beautiful location in South East Asia to add to their travel itineraries.

When I first got to the Philippines, I wondered how people could be so laid back, how non-productive the country was, how there were always 3 people hired to do the job of one person in all the malls, how people here could eat such bland or even sweet food, how people could afford to live with the high costs of basic necessities, how this country had so many beautiful beaches and most of the world didn't know about it, how people could smile all the time, how people were polite all the time, how people could spend so much all the time, how so few people could have so much of the wealth of the country, how people could use already 20 times in a 20 minute conversation, how people said "go" instead of "come", how the bank still minted 1 peso coins when you couldn't get anything for 1 peso, how government collaborated with the industry to create monopolies, how the country lived and grew because most of its citizens worked out of the country... the hows are endless.......

Today, when I look back, I still wonder.... The Philippines in its endless beauty will always keep you wondering! But a lot of the sarcasm and skepticism had disappeared. Today, I do feel that life ain't that bad if you just learn to let go a teeny weeny bit. We Indians have the habit of hyping up every little action that we perform in our lives and our minds think faster than the words that come out of our mouth. But we've been on that everlasting rat race with the billion+ folks that we have in India! When you let go a little, and sit back to watch all that's around you, you are truly able to savour the life that you're living. Filipinos have thought me that its never pays to live in the past and worry about the future and forget about the present. I have learned to balance my mind to look beyond the numerous sales and avenues to damage one's wallet and find middle ground. I have learnt to work with Filipinos and enjoy to do so... I have learned to tone down my voice, reduce the speed at which I talk and be more polite in all my actions. I have learnt to thank people more often, apologize more often, greet people more often and even smile more often!

I've got the opportunity to travel quite a bit over the past few months and that has also showed me that there's more to the Philippines that just Boracay and Palawan (I still haven't been to Palawan and am planning a trip there). I however have managed to travel to Davao, Iloilo, Guimaras, Camarines Sur, Legaspi, Clark, Antipolo, Tarlac and Carmona. That's a decent amount of travel and the interesting part of this travel is that most of these places were visited in just about a month! Isn't that amazing. I'm still at Camarines Sur though and have a trip planned to Mt. Mayon tomorrow.

Davao - I really didn't get to spend too much time here. Was here for just two days and just managed to sample some of the delicious food and fruits from this place. For those who don't know, Davao city is in the Mindanao province which is usually prohibited for travel. There's a muslim extremist group here and kidnappings are very common. The irony here is that Davao which is in the eastern part of the Mindanao province and is one of the safest cities in Asia (not just the Philippines). The reason is that the mayor here holds a very strong grip on this city and keeps it well in control. Crime rate is abysmally low and I actually felt very safe in this place. It is considered to be the "fruit basket" of the Philippines and fruits are available in plenty and at very affordable rates. Mangosteen, Pommella (a version of orange), bananas, pineapple and what not! So many fruits... so many different types of fruit salads.... I do regret however that I didn't get the opportunity to go to any of the beaches here. I've heard that they are so beautiful and untouched. Will upload pictures in a separate post on Davao.

Iloilo - I got to spend about 3 days here and enjoyed this place very much. I really thought that there would be nothing much to do at Iloilo and boy... was I wrong. Iloilo is considered as one of the best places to live in the Philippines. This was the homestead of the mammoth Lopez family . The Lopez family would be among the top 3 richest families in the Philippines with interests in media, publishing, real estate, power, utilities, Telecommunication and what not! I had the great opportunity of being hosted by the Lopez family here in Iloilo. It was a wonderful experience having access to the colonial style houses owned by the family. Most of the houses I visited were over 75 years old. Will post some pictures soon. I even got to sleep in one of these old palatial houses for a day. Anyhow, after a few yummy meals in Iloilo, we set of for Guimaras which is an island province located of the coast of Iloilo. I had never heard of this place before I got to Iloilo. It was a shocker. So beautiful.... with roads winding in a hilly terrain. I felt like I was back in Ooty or Yercaud. So much greenery and so much fresh air. A welcome change from the pollution of Manila and Makati. We were hosted at an almost private resort here in Guimaras and I got the opportunity to spend the night in the quietest of places. There was absolutely no one there and our cottage was just 5 steps away from the beach there. Such clear and peaceful water... The calmness of this place almost spooked me out! He he... But it was wonderful... we gotta dive into crystal clear water and spend the evening hearing no one else but our voices, the sound of the ocean, some birds... and some lizards! Will post pictures along with a separate section on Iloilo

Camarines Sur - this is a province located at the Bicol region which is known for its spices. Supposed to the spiciest of provinces in the Philippines. We did get a taste of that today when we ordered Buffalo chicken wings and found it to be so spicy (Mind you, I'm indian and can handle loads of spice). Was a pleasant surprise though. I am currently in Cam sur and am filling in this update. Will be going to Mount Mayon tomorrow and will fill in more details of that. About CamSur, most of the activities happen in the city of Naga which is pretty much like a smaller town in India. However, there are a number of nice restaurants, there's even a huge SM mall here! Very exciting however, is the Camarines Sur Watersports Complex (CWC) which is a complex built for wake boarding. I tried it today and had loads of fun! Landed up falling into the water so many times though.... Was a wonderful experience since its the first time i've tried this sport in my life! Wish I had more time to practice and master this sport though... Looks like something I would love doing more often. Will post pictures in a separate section soon...

Anyhow, I have a lot of posting to do - especially on my recent travels. Guys and girls out there who are in the Philippines, do know that there's so much to do in this country beyond Boracay, Tagaytay, Palawan and Puerto Galera. So many beautiful beaches that aren't even covered in Lonely Planet - for example, Anawangin Cove details of which I had posted months ago on my blog.

And for those of you reading my blog from out of the Philippines, this country is a wonderful country to travel to in Asia. With its 7107 islands, I promise you it has enough to satisfy what any person is looking for - be it beaches, be it diving, be it hiking, be it biking, be it wake-boarding, be it water sports, be it exotic food, be it fine dining, be it clubbing, be it fancy resorts, be it cheap and good massages, be it whatever!

For the indians reading my blog, imagine a country filled with 1000s of Goa(s) except all of them being much

Will post more pictures soon... Until then, I do have to remember that these years in Philippines... the Philippine chapter of my life has thought me so much and also has made me love travelling even more. I have had the opportunity to meet and mingle with people who are so polite, courteous and welcoming.... Get a taste of Filipino hospitality in the Philippines and you will miss the country all your life.

iPhone 4 launched in Philippines - Globe, 26th September launch

2010-09-21T17:14:00.000+05:30

It's official! Finally..... After waiting for months, Globe gave me a call a few days ago! They're launching the iPhone 4 here in Manila on the 26th of September for personal users. The corporate guys get it on the 24th of September if I'm right.

This offer is initially available for those who pre-registered their interest. I was one of the first guys to register my interest apparently and hence am eligible. In fact, on the Globe website , it still says "iPhone 4 coming soon" . About the available plans, they are basically giving the iPhone 4 for personal use for free with the P3799 Fully Loaded plan. This comes with unlimited data usage. They also have it with the P2499 plan but there's a cash out of around 7000 pesos if I'm right. There are more plans for 5k and above too....

So basically, they asked me to submit all the requirements - Address proof, ID, Proof of income etc. (Oh yes, the iPhone 4 is available only for those earning more than P30,000 per month apparently).... After I submitted all the documents, they had a recorded phone interview to check eligibility. I'm done with that process now.

I was told that in the next few days, I will receive an electronic stub if everything is approved and all goes well. I need to present the stub on the 26th of September (I have to collect it on that day at some event planned by Globe and Apple together) to collect the iPhone 4.

I thought that most people would know about the launch date already but was surprised to see no updates in online forums... So, just thought I would put it up on my blog for interested people.

More details at the Globe link that was sent to me - Click here

Despicable Me - Movie Review

2010-09-03T20:36:00.000+05:30

This movie was undoubtedly one of the best surprises I've had this year. A couple of friends give me a call and ask me if I wanna join for a movie. Of course I said yes... for the popcorn. Went for this movie and found that this was such a hilarious movie. Lately, animation flicks seem to be doing much better than any other movies. I loved UP and now I really loved this movie. The characters are all so well defined and the humor is perfectly ingrained into the narrative of the movie.

The story is just about two villains trying to be a bigger villain than the other. One of them manages to steal the Pyramids and hence the other is all out to now go after the MOON! The rest of the story brings the plot together!

And they actually have a bank for evil villains to fund their wicked operations! In the movie, they show that the name of the bank was formerly Lehmann brothers! Now that was unexpected... but very funny! Many such jokes later, they show us that Gru (the primary villain), whose voice is provided by Steve Carell just wants to be accepted and loved and he begins to love the three orphans he uses as pawns in his master scheme!

I would give this movie 8 stars out of 10! Go watch it..... It made me laugh....

IMDB Review: http://imdb.to/alW5NP

iOS 4 on iPhone 3G

2010-09-03T20:11:00.000+05:30

I plead with all the people out there looking on information as to whether you should upgrade the software on your iPhone 3G to the latest version, to take a moment to read what this post has to say!

I'm sure iTunes must be reminding you time and again that there's a new software available for your phone! Well, it did the same to me and I waited for quite some time before I did the install. What tipped me over was an iPhone 4. A friend of mine from Singapore brought it over and I totally loved it. I was so tempted to get the new OS and hence went ahead with the update.

And now.......... I almost feel the iPhone is JUNK! Coz, it has become so slow.... that at times you really want to throw the phone out of the window! Why the hell would Apple allow iPhone 3G users to do this update. They are so careful about so many freakin things.... but why did they do this to me?? Now, if I want to go back in time.... as in... Install the older OS, I see that I will land up losing a lot of my data... involves a lot of my time etc etc..... So I just dint do it... Since I'm anyways waiting for the new iPhone to land up in the Philippines.... Honestly if Globe tests my patience anymore than this, I will have to get it from Singapore or elsewhere! I think I will wait for another two weeks tops before I get myself a new iPhone!

Anyways, bottom line - people using the iPhone 3G, don't upgrade your softwares. Those who have already done the upgrade, here's something that may help:

Do a hard reset of the phone, not once but twice
If you don't know how to do a hard reset... here are instructions
Hold the power off button and the center key together for around 5 seconds
You will first see the slide to power sign (Keep holding)
The phone will switch off and restart showing the apple logo on the screen
You can now release the buttons
Do this twice

This basically cleans up your RAM and allows it to be free for operations. The phone becomes considerably faster for the next few days. I actually do a hard reset every few days now.

It's official - I'm an APPLE Fan!

2010-09-03T20:00:00.000+05:30

And Nine months were all it took! I am totally in love with my Macbook Pro (MBP). For those of you who do follow my blog (the trace lucky few), I had a post last December for first time Mac users . I had taken a pledge to not use Windows for as long as I could. I win people! Till date, my Macbook Pro has not seen a copy of Windows installed on it. I actually have done just fine without Windows. Well, to be honest, I have to accept that I wouldn't have been able to manage at work. I have an office laptop running Windows XP to keep my office network people happy.

Anyways, I can firmly state with a lot of conviction and confidence that anyone who begins using a Mac will not want to ever ever go back to Windows! I seriously do find it difficult navigating Windows now. Trust me... Apple has built such an intuitive and user friendly OS that is clearly in sync with the hardware inside. I hardly have any serious issues with my MBP and in all of these months, its hung on me TWICE! The only Microsoft product that I use is Microsoft Office for Mac 2008 which frankly feels much better than what they have for Windows. The themes and templates are in plenty and are so built to match Keynote (Apple's version of Powerpoint). I heard that Windows 7 addresses many of these woes, but I still haven't had the opportunity to check it out.

My journey with Apple has just begun. I had the iPod, I still have the iPhone 3G, I have the Macbook Pro.... and just recently I went and got myself one of those fancy Time Capsules. Wonderful stuff....It basically is a wireless router and a hard disk put into one piece of equipment. The Time Capsule is able to wirelessly backup all the data on my Macbook Pro. I am even able to use it as a wireless server. Apart from this, it also sends out two sets of wireless signals. One that can be used for guests to only be able to use the internet. Another for using the internet and also having access to all the computers connecting to the network. And it took me just 5 minutes to set it up! The first back up is best carried out with a LAN cable and can take well over 6 hours (assuming you have around 200GB of data on your hard disk)... But then what do we have 1TB of storage on the Time capsule for!

I'm now waiting for the iPhone 4 to be launched in the Philippines after which I am most certainly getting myself one of those! I think I'm one of the most frequent visitors to the Globe website . I go there everyday to check if they have any news on when they are launching the iPhone 4 in the Philippines! For now, the wait continues!

Enchanted Kingdom - Worth the while but not magical

2010-04-03T22:21:00.000+05:30

Being the Easter weekend here in the Philippines and having a super long break, my friends and I had no plans even on Wednesday though we had been planning for about two weeks earlier! We were to leave for Baguio, but then decided against that and went over to Puerto Gallera for a day. And as I refer to my earlier post on this place, I have to take back many of my words. The same room that I had rented in that place with my aunt earlier for 1000 pesos a night was not going at 5000. I could hardly recognize the beach anymore as in just about a few weeks, so many makeshift party places had emerged. Was so crowded and looked exactly like Boracay! Now, I wonder how Bora was for the Holy week? Anyone been there during this time?

Anyhow, after we got back (We couldn't take the heat! It was scorching on the beach, and I don't intend to get tanned), we decided to go over to Enchanted Kingdom which is generally referred to as the Disney Land of the Philippines. I love amusement parks and hence was pretty excited at the thought. We started of pretty late in the afternoon to avoid the heat. Here's how to get there for you folks looking to make a trip there:

Get a cab/jeepney and get to the Buendia Bus terminal.
Look for a bus going to Sta Rosa, Laguna
Check with the bus driver/conductor if the bus would stop at Enchanted Kingdom
The ticket costs around 70 pesos from Buendia
Get down at the Walter Mart in Laguna
Take a tricycle to Enchanted Kingdom (Would cost around 8 pesos per person)

The entrance ticket costs 500 pesos on weekends for a all-you-can-ride ticket. Take this one as it's well worth the 500 pesos. The Enchanted Kingdom website is pretty bad on providing information and even exciting prospective visitors! However, though some sources on the internet say that the park is open till midnight on weekends, the park closed at 9pm when we were there (We were there on a weekend)

Some of the rides worth the while were:

The top of my list would be the roller-coaster (They call it some Space something). I went on this one 5 times and I feel I got my money's worth!
The water splash coaster! This was kinda ok too. Takes you upto a decent height and drops you into the water. Not as good as the one that's there in MGM Dizee World (The one in Chennai, India), but was fun never-the-less
The Viking Ship. This one's always fun.
The 4D movie show. This one was pretty good though you need to pay about 60 pesos extra for this. Well worth the extra money

I don't think there was anything else that really would make me go back to the park for more! However, the park did give me a nice break from the regular rigmarole. I doubt, I would travel all the way to Laguna for a second trip though. I would prefer to make a trip to Star City here in Roxas Boulevard which may not be as good but is more accessible and less tiring.

So overall, the trip was worth the while, but nowhere close to magical as they portray.

Rajnikanth - The one and only Superstar

2010-03-30T08:42:00.000+05:30

Like every other person in Tamil Nadu (India), I have been a fan of Rajnikanth for years. Rajni is a Superstar in Kollywood (Tamil version of Hollywood, Bollywood). He is treated as God (People actually pray to him) in my part of the world and is known for his larger than life roles in movies and his quick fire lines or 'punch-dialogues'. He reportedly is the highest paid actor in Asia. Makes more money per film that anyone else around but does only one film every three years or so.

Got the below email as a forward from a friend. I found it so humorous, I almost fell of my chair! Go ahead and take a look...

Here are some of the facts revealed about the man. Sorry, he is beyond man.

There is no theory of evolution. Just a list of creatures Rajnikant has allowed to live.
Outer space exists because it's afraid to be on the same planet with Rajnikant.
Rajnikant counted to infinity - twice.
When Rajnikant does a pushup, he isn't lifting himself up, he's pushing the Earth down.
Rajnikant is so fast, he can run around the world and punch himself in the back of the head.
Rajnikant doesn't wear a watch, HE decides what time it is. (LOL)
Rajnikant gave Mona Lisa that smile.
Rajnikant can slam a revolving door.
There are no races, only countries of people Rajnikant has beaten to different shades of black and blue.
Rajnikant's house has no doors, only walls that he walks through.
Rajnikant can divide by zero.
Newton's Third Law is wrong: Although it states that for each action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, there is no force equal in reaction to a Rajnikant turnaround kick.
When taking the GRE, write "Rajnikant" for every answer. You will score over 1600.
Rajnikant has 12 moons. One of those moons is the Earth.
Rajnikant grinds his coffee with his teeth and boils the water with his own rage.
Archeologists unearthed an old English dictionary dating back to the year 1236. It defined "victim" as "one who has encountered Rajnikant"
If you Google search "Rajnikant getting kicked" you will generate zero results. It just doesn't happen.
Rajnikant can drink an entire gallon of milk in thirty-seven seconds.
Rajnikant doesn't bowl strikes, he just knocks down one pin and the other nine faint.
It takes Rajnikant 20 minutes to watch 60 Minutes.
The Bermuda Triangle used to be the Bermuda Square, until Rajnikant kicked one of the corners off.
There are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Rajnikant lives in Chennai.
Rajnikant once ate an entire bottle of sleeping pills. They made him blink.
James Cameron wanted Rajnikant to play the Terminator. However, upon reflection, he realized that would have turned his movie into a documentary, so he went with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Thousands of years ago Rajnikant came across a bear. It was so terrified that it fled north into the arctic. It was also so terrified
that all of its decedents now have white hair.

Now that made for some interesting reading, right?

Antipolo - A view from above the clouds

2010-03-23T09:34:00.000+05:30

Over the past few weeks, I kept trying to think of a weekend getaway plan that wouldn't cost too much or wouldn't involve too much travel (So that I can run back to Makati city in case any work crops up). And a friend of mine brought up this place called Antipolo and I was like, "Why haven't I heard of this place before?"

I decided to go over to this place to see what it's all about. It's just 25 kms away from Makati and I thought that I could always return if the place wasn't all that nice. I left at around 6pm in the evening on Saturday by taxi (I knew that there is a way there by bus/jeep but took a cab since it was getting late). The cab to Antipolo took me about one and a half hours and it cost me around 400 pesos.

There's this resort called Cloud 9 which is on a small hillock... The ride up there doesn't take too long and it basically gives you a view of the entire city of Manila. And in the evening this is beautiful with all the lights. Please find some pictures below (I took these pictures from the internet, since I haven't transferred mine as yet). The weather was cooler since we were above the mean sea level. The rooms at the Cloud 9 range from 1800 pesos to 5000 pesos. I'm sure that one should be able to find more affordable rooms around the place since there are quite a number of hotels/resorts around. Since, it was pretty late already, we just chose to stay at this place. The service at the Cloud 9 resort was pretty pathetic but if you are looking to stay at this resort, here are the contact details.

Address: Kelly Heights Comp. Sumulong Hi-way, Brgy.Sta. Cruz, Antipolo

Contact Details: 344-2088; 396-3018; 09278329241

There are a number of 24 hour restos/bars around the resort which offer a magnificent view of the city at night. You feel that you are sitting on the clouds watching over the city.

I stayed over for the night and left the next afternoon. Overall, I feel this is a trip well worth the expenses involved and it makes for a quick unplanned trip out of the city.

I will summarize the best way to get there below:

Take the MRT (Ayala station if you are in Makati) to go to Cubao (Should cost around12 pesos per person)
Take a jeepney which says Cubao - Antipolo from there (Should cost around 24 pesos per head)
Get of at PADI's point on the way (Tell the Jeepney driver)
Look around and there are a few resorts there including Cloud 9 (Contact details above)

In all this is a trip that can be a very affordable one and it sure will be one of my favourite locations to visit which doesn't involve too much cash and too much time.

What goes around comes around...

2010-03-16T13:58:00.000+05:30

Life has just validated so many things I strongly tried to get myself to believe in and internalize in me after the many things that have happened in my life. I fought so strongly to get what I thought was the best for me... and what I wanted so much in life. And when I saw that it seemed so possible and that everything was in place... there was something missing... Like a missing link... I would wonder why things were just not working out when it seemed like an ideal situation.

And when it seemed like it would never work out, life pushed me away from everything... force-pushed... I had to move away into a new chapter of life that probably thought me the most I've ever learnt. I met the most interesting people, had the most interesting experiences, got to see the world in a whole new light, learnt that there was far more to my potential than I was ever exploiting and what not! Now many months down the line, I feel I am such a strong person - both in my beliefs and in my outlook towards life.

And now, I hear that what I wanted a while ago seems all the more probable to happen and could happen. But only now, I don't know if I want it anymore. I don't know if I want to walk down that path and fear that it would work towards unlearning all that I have learnt in this phase of my life.

But whatever said and done, this has made me all the more sure of what I am doing in life and of course, "What goes around, comes around..."

Politics making fanatics!

2010-03-16T08:43:00.000+05:30

I just read a tweet today from a person whom I think is very well educated, cosmopolitan and well connected in the social networking space. All of this, judging by the nature of his tweets. His tweet was about how the government in Tamil Nadu (A state/province in South India) is insisting that shops have their name-boards in Tamil and not in English. Now, the DMK Government (Ruling party in Tamil Nadu) did bring this whole issue up the last time they were in government (1996-2001) and even then it brought a lot of resentment from shopkeepers and traders.

Read Times of India article on above issue

Now they are trying the same in Chennai. Now, is that how we move forward as a leading business metropolitan city in the country? Is this the example we want to set to the Fords, Hyundais and other MNCs who have setup their base in Chennai? The government playing language-politics is one thing... I always did know that they were using this as a trump card to garner votes among the illiterate set of people but I didn't think that it would pull well-educated people into its fold.

I agree that we need to cling to our roots and not let go of our rich culture and heritage which includes our language -Tamil, which is one of the oldest languages in the world. But, if we want to move forward, we should remain strong to our roots, but be acceptive of necessary change to induce and nurture a business environment. Chennai today, is not home to only Tamils, but a number of people from across the country and the world. South Indians are known for their hospitality (We would not even refuse an enemy a glass of water or a little food in our homes). And is this how we treat our guests now? By not letting them understand anything in our city? If they were to protest, we ask them to learn our language. Call that hospitality!

I am proud to be a South-Indian and going forward an Indian, but am also open to taking in the good practices of the world which will lead to advancement of my country. I wonder when our people will open their eyes to be aware of a world beyond their tiny streets? When the politicians are all MBA graduates perhaps!

Nokia Convergence - Marketing Project at AIM

2010-03-11T09:34:00.000+05:30

As I was looking through some youtube videos today, I realized that someone had left a comment on one of the videos I had uploaded. And it was one of the video advertisements we had created for our Marketing Project which was for Nokia.

My group was G7 (which is my brilliant CAN group at AIM) which was composed of Laurice Alaan, Clarence Lim, Moksh Walia, Sabyasachi Chakraborthy, Anjan Reddy, Shravan Bhat and myself (Kumaran Mahendran). We came up with a new product that Nokia would have to launch in order to take on the might of Apple and Blackberry in the smartphone market where Nokia was failing. We also had to come up with a Marketing plan for the four Ps and also come up with video advertisements.

The product we came up with was Nokia Convergence - which basically is everything but a phone. Converges all of the activities we do on our real life into our mobile phone. Technology that is not only intuitive but adaptive to each person thus each phone being unique from the other. Right from remembering contacts we meet on the street to tagging the same contacts on facebook and other pictures and intuitively carrying out 100s of other activities of ours - the phone would become a virtual assistant as a product and make laptops and other devices totally irrelevant. Such was the product we thought of. Have a picture here showing how we discussed to come up with this product and the marketing campaign.

We sat for hours that night to come up with how we would launch the product right from the distribution setup to how the promotions would run.

If I'm right, our entire thesis on the same was about 150 pages in size.

Have also attached videos here showing our final output on the advertisements. We came up with three videos along with Dr. Vinod Seetharaman who helped us put together the videos on his Macbook Pro (The same guy who motivated me to get a Macbook Pro).

The first video is a teaser which starts months before the launch. The second one is to go live about a week before the launch and the final video ad is for the post-launch period!

Please share your comments on the same.

Nokia Convergence - Teaser (Chess)

Nokia Convergence - Sometimes you, Sometimes Better

Nokia Convergence - A New Horizon

Dean's Listers

2010-03-10T11:40:00.001+05:30

I write this post with a lot of care and concern, meaning no harm and hurt to any of the people involved. But the least I can do after graduating is to voice these concerns which have always been at the back of my head.

Case in point: A business school with the reputation and standing of being a "Harvard of the East" and what not!

Term in point: "Dean's list"

Now - What would any layman or any jack on the road understand from that term. That any person who makes it to that list is basically fully certified by the Dean of the "Harvard of the East" to fully be a representative or Ambassador of the institute and wholly carries all the values of the institute. Well, that is what I've always understood by a Dean's list or a mention on honor boards. I studied in the Lawrence School Lovedale which is one of the best public schools in India. We had a number of honor boards hanging in the main building of the school which basically had one or two names mentioned every year. Mind you, the school is 150 years old and hence there are a number of names in those lists already. People who get into those lists have to be exemplary in their fields. Even if you were to make it for Academic excellence, it would have to be for consistent performance. And you are judged by not one person but by about 25 different people who don't sit together to do it. And it's not necessary that there would have to be a name up there every year! We always looked at those names with awe and aspired that one day we would get up there!

Coming now to my lovely school - "The Harvard of the East". I have absolute respect for the school and if I had to go back in time to make a decision again, I would still choose to study at the very same school. This is the very reason why I don't make a direct mention of the name since Google's search engine spiders' may get to this post and show it in a wrong light!

Before I left to come here to study, I already knew about the Dean's listers etc. I was in awe thinking it to be of something similar to the honour boards that we had back in school. I was excited and wondered if I would ever be good enough to make it to something like that. When I got here, I realized it was on the basis of only scores, which put me back a little bit as I expected more from a school such as this. Anyhow, I still kept looking to see who were the people who made it to this list and me being the critical and judgmental person that I am - would always wonder whether they deserved it or not. Most often, I found that some of the people deserved it for the hard work they put in though they should have been given a rank other than getting to a Dean's list mention.

However, I was horrified when I learnt that people could get into the Dean's list after having failed one or even two or even three subjects in past terms! They justify the same saying that those are just for that term! So how do they differentiate these people from the guys and girls who have been consistently performing over the last few terms taking care not to fail in any subject. And before I forget, this school also allows students to fail a certain number of credits and not really worry about having to complete those credits. Students can still cruise through to get their degree. All of which is good, but how could those people again have the advantage (I doubt it is one though) of putting in their resume all their life that they were on the Dean's list of this prestigious school. Better still, what if one of those organizations were to dig into that person's records and see that they had failed in a number of subjects. What would they think of our prestigious school?

I let the rest of you dig into your thoughts and justify or kill this argument. But I needed an outlet and here it is. I almost wrote this as a letter to the Dean of this prestigious school. God Bless!

Puerto Gallera - Poor man's Bora?

2010-03-10T11:02:00.000+05:30

When we realized that there was really nothing else to do in Tagaytay, I started evaluating other options and then when I realized that Batangas was close by and hence I thought of Puerto Gallera . Puerto Gallera is referred to as the "Poor man's Boracay" by many people as it offers a beautiful beach at a not so expensive price.

We set of on our drive to Batangas. It took us only an hour or so to get to Batangas and we went to get a Ferry ride to Puerto. The ferry would cost you from 200-250 pesos. I would suggest you take a single trip ticket since though those guys say they have a boat leaving every 15 minutes, in all probability they would just have 2 to 3 trips a day. So you could always buy another ticket for your return from any of the companies on your way back.

The ferry would take you about an hour to an hour and a half to get to White Beach. There is another beach called Sabang but that is recommended only for the divers. White beach is the commercial tourist destination to be at. We got there and looked up a couple of hotels. You can find a decent hotel room for 1000 pesos good for 3 people to stay in. We got there and just took a quick walk around the beach. Then took some rest in the room and got out. We went on this Banana boat. It's like a raft kinda thing where you gotta sit and hold on. It's attached to a speed boat and they drag you in the water and keep dunking you into the ocean. Of course, you have a life jacket and other things! It's good fun. Costs about 200 pesos per person. But they wait for about 8 people to get started since that's the capacity of the raft. It was good fun. But remember do keep your wallet, phone, etc out as all of that would get drenched.

After that, we just took our time walking around the beach. There are other water sports available (Water scooters, para-gliding, snorkelling, island hopping etc). We had already done most of the other things and hence we chose to just walk around the beach and look around to see where we would have dinner. Most of the places are filled with Barbecue joints with fresh sea food. A haven for sea-food lovers.

At night, we had dinner at the most crowded resto as it had a barbecue and also they had an entertainment show. There were mostly eunuchs who were performing! The show was good - they had a fire show, they had some dances, some of them singing and what not! It was fun... But mostly for couples and to hang out with friends...

But overall, for a very affordable trip, head out to Puerto Gallera... You can even go by bus to Batangas and then get the Ferry. My estimate is that for a good weekend, you can do the trip within 2500 pesos per person inclusive of everything!

Tagaytay - Taal Lake and the Volcano

2010-03-10T08:23:00.000+05:30

My aunt is here visiting me in the Philippines. She arrived last Friday and hence had to plan something out for the weekend. I initially had planned a trip to Palawan which is a beautiful beach destination in the south of the Philippines. I however realized that two and a half days would not be enough for the beautiful island and besides the heat would get to us (It's summer already here). Hence, I thought of going to Tagaytay as I'd never been there and it would be a perfect way to take a break from the heat.

We set of by car from Makati. Taking the skyway will get you there quicker especially if it's the weekend. We got there in about two and a half hours and went around looking for hotels to stay in. There are so many hotels in Tagaytay. Most of them are pretty expensive (Starts at around 2000 pesos). The more expensive ones overlook the Taal Lake which is beautiful. But those places are recommended only for couples who want to relax in their rooms. For tourists, you should look around for bargains as the room's only to crash in. We found a place for 2500 pesos. We were so tired that we just took it. And then I realized the next day that we could have bargained and got the same room for less.

Anyhow, we went to sleep early as we wanted to wake up quickly in the morning to go see the volcano crater. We woke up early and left to see the volcano. One needs to take a boat to get to the volcano. I would advise that you don't pay for the boat in the hotel as they would ask you for a minimum of 2500 pesos and that is too much. The hotel guy makes a cut from that. So go straight to the ferry point or to the tourist office. There would be a number of boatmen there. You would most probably be let of at their mercy to negotiate a good price. If you are lucky, you should be able to get a boat for 1500 pesos. The boat ride is about 45 minutes and you get to the Taal volcano.

Now the ride to the top of the volcano has to be done on a horse since it's pretty steep and there aren't any proper roads. Now, all of the horses and their owners have their own little mafia running here and hence you would have to get it from a single counter. They will try to charge you around 800 pesos per horse along with a guide. If you say, you don't want a guide, they will say that govt. rules state that you have to take a guide! But if you try bargaining, you should be able to get a deal at about 500 pesos per horse with guide. The ride up is pretty steep and knowing a bit about handling a horse will help a lot in getting up the hill. The ride up should take about 20 minutes on the horse. I did see a few people walk up but I would advise you agains't doing that as the terrain ain't too easy and the route can get very dusty in the heat. I bought a huge sun hat to keep the sun away.

Once we were up, the local vendors come running to ask us to buy our guides (Who mostly come running up along with our horse and us) a soft drink for around 50 pesos. Smart move, coz being human, we generally say yes. And the guide gets a cut out of that too.

We then climb a few stairs to look at the beautiful crater which has water collected in it. It looked like a lake. We were surprised and worried when we saw that the water was hot since there was steam towards many areas of the crater! So, it was still active. We had some tender coconut water there and took a small walk around that area and took some pictures of the crater.

We set back down on our horses. The journey down can be even more tricky since the horses tend to move faster. And there could be times when you feel the horse is going to slip. But there's nothing to worry if you hold on tight I guess!

We set back the same way - Took the boat back and then got into our car and went back to the hotel. Once we were at the hotel, we started looking at our Lonely Planet and also spoke to the driver to see what else we could do in Tagaytay and realized there was nothing else to do other than visit nurseries and a zoo! We really weren't interested in that and so in an instant we started evaluating where else we could go.

Human Behaviour in Organizations

2010-03-02T14:54:00.000+05:30

This was a post I had written before my HBO Course at AIM! Didn't publish it here! Now as I read it I realize how important Human Behaviour is in Organizational Development.

-------------

"Kumaran, will you please behave yourself" - 2nd grade.

"Kumaran, look at how the other children behave" - 4th grade.

"Kumaran, will you watch over your sister so that she doesn't misbehave" - 8th grade.

"Kumaran, this behaviour of yours is unacceptable" - High School.

"Kumaran, please note that misbehaviour of any sort will not be acceptable here" - Graduate School.

"Kumaran, any of these activities will get you booked for dysfunctional behaviour" - Business School.

Man.... have I heard that word all through my life..... We have been observing the behaviour of the people around us often to our discomfort and have also been made observant of our behaviour more often than necessary all along.... Our very character has been built upon the "behaviour" that was imbibed into us by means of family, teachers, friends and others....

All of this learning in life.... And now we have a course specifically to study "Human Behaviour"... So what is this all about......

Well, I believe that Human Behaviour could possibly be the most complex of algorithms that can be cracked as it is difficult to fit any person's behaviour into a definite pattern, because despite the best laid patterns, there are always random erratic variations.... For example, I may be known to be a gentle person, but some day or the other, I may behave erratically - This could be due to various reasons (family, girlfriends etc) but to the other person, I would probably appear weird.... This I think forms the basis for the need to be able to analyze to the best of our abilities Human Behaviour....

And of course, considering the fact that we are to be Managers in charge of huge teams, it makes it all the more important to study the Human Behaviour in Organizations. All of us in our jobs would have encountered different sets of people whose ideas and thought processes vary largely from ours. Some of these people, we have been able to gel with, but more of these others, we have landed up being frustrated with.... So what do we do at this stage.... We have no choice but to work with these people because it's not possible to say that you aren't going to be working with anyone you don't like..... We thus need to hone our skills to be able to listen patiently and hold our judgement in order to be able to work together in a team.

I have been in a boarding school right from the age of 5 and have hence had the opportunity to meet a wide variety of people. When I was 5 it was easy for me to walk away from those I couldn't get along with and say that I wouldn't talk to those people. But as I grew older, I realised that there was more to learn from people who didn't think along my lines and that no two people could ever be the same. One had to learn to adjust and give way when it was needed and at the same time being assertive when needed.... I learnt that there was a fine line between being Assertive and Aggressive.... And the variety of people I've stayed with is so wide and hence I call this infinite variety of behaviour of man - "myriad concoctions".

How the US is doing Business Today!

2010-03-02T13:57:00.000+05:30

I usually don't read email forwards and even if I do, I hardly forward it or do anything with it. I think this is the first time, that a forward has really caught my attention and interested me. To the extent of sharing it on my blog! This is such a brilliant picture of the US economy.

----------------------------

It is the month of August, on the shores of the Black Sea . It is

raining, and the little town looks totally deserted. It is tough times,

everybody is in debt, and everybody lives on credit.

Suddenly, a rich tourist comes to town.

He enters the only hotel, lays a 100 Euro note on the reception

counter, and goes to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to

choose one.

The hotel proprietor takes the 100 Euro note and runs to pay his

debt to the butcher.

The butcher takes the 100 Euro note, and runs to pay his debt to the

pig farmer.

The pig farmer takes the 100 Euro note, and runs to pay his debt to

the supplier of his feed and fuel.

The supplier of feed and fuel takes the 100 Euro note and runs to pay

his debt to the town's prostitute that in these hard times, gave her

"services" on credit.

The hooker runs to the hotel, and pays off her debt with the 100 Euro

note to the hotel proprietor to pay for the rooms that she rented when

she brought her clients there.

The hotel proprietor then lays the 100 Euro note back on the counter

so that the rich tourist will not suspect anything.

At that moment, the tourist comes down after inspecting the rooms,

and takes his 100 Euro note, after saying that he did not like any of

the rooms, and leaves town.

No one earned anything. No one produced anything. However, the

whole town is now without debt, and looks to the future with a lot

of optimism.... .

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how the United States Government

is doing business today.

-------------------------------

So true isn't it? Comments people!

American, British and Canadian ENGLISH?

2010-02-16T14:04:00.000+05:30

I was in a meeting the other day and I was displaying to my team an Audio Video Presentation for the magazine and one of my team members said she had found some grammatical error in it. I asked her to point it out to me and she showed me the word "Focussed" and said it was spelt wrong.

She's from Austria and seems to have been brought up with the American method of spelling. Now which one of these are correct? I've been brought up in India where we have been taught the British way of spelling and many of my words now may appear to be spelt wrong with the Americans. The more and more we deal with Americans and Microsoft Office for that matter - the more and more words we come across that are no more spelt the way we always spelt them. So do I draft a different letter for the Americans, a different one for the British and yet another one for the Canadians?

I take this opportunity to blame the Americans for this one. They find a spelling difficult and they just change the way its spelt to suit their purposes. I guess they run away from the "Spelling Bee" competitions and go away to create their own rules so that they can win the game!

However, since we're dealing with so many American people in our lives, we still have to abide by their rules. But this is not for long. A friend of mine said to me a few months ago, "In a decade, one person out of five would be Indian and 2.5 on 5 would be Chinese". Here comes Asian domination. Our economy is growing stronger while theirs only seems to be looking at new problems arising as a result of trying to correct old ones. I wonder where this is heading and when we would see a shift in the way we think... and perhaps SPELL?

Life as a Manager - What kind?

2010-02-05T00:07:00.000+05:30

I've always had the opportunity to work with large teams - either in the capacity of a facilitator or as a participant but now after my MBA, I'm actually managing a team of close to 5 people. And as the days go by, I realize a few things....

One, that all the issues that come across in an organization don't seem to be because of anything other than people to people communication! Of course, we do put processes in place to try and offset this issue.... but all the same at the end of the day, when we try to take stock of the concerns and issues that we are plagued with... it all boils down to people. My entire office encompasses about 15 people. And in this small setup, I have been watching all of the problems that people are having. With small sub groups being formed and little silos being created. And if things can be like this in such a small setup, how about companies with thousands of employees! No wonder, most of what we learn during an MBA is about Corporate Culture! Most MBA students would throw up hearing the word "Culture"! But then that seems to be what's out there in the business world....

Now in the midst of all this, as I am now managing people, I wonder what kind of manager should I be. I see others in my organization who prefer to maintain a distance from their team and are usually strict - The stereotypical manager! But, I have over the past preferred to be close to my team and actually work more as a friend than anything. Of course, there is a flip side to this whole arrangement. Sometimes, people do take you for granted and even go to the extent of laughing of anything you say! Those are the times I wonder if I made the right move to manage people in this fashion. But then, at times I am learning to be able to deal with difficult situations. I am also learning how to control my anger in certain situations and look seemingly cool and composed!

The next year in my life is the most crucial... or atleast that's what I think.. As it's going to mould the kind of person I am... especially in an Entrepreneurial frame of reference. I have been lucky to be in the organization I am... where every business unit functions as a separate entity and I have almost autonomous powers in my BU and get to manage with the least amount of interference! People trust me and value my opinion. I am learning at such a quick pace and now know most of my short-comings in a business setup and am working hard to correct those issues!

Just some random musings from my side.... But remember one thing! Managing an organization is managing people. If you get that formula right, any workplace would become about 5 times more productive!

Montfort School Yercaud - My Alma Mater

2009-12-21T01:54:00.003+05:30

I am in India now as most of you possibly know already. I made a trip to my high school - Montfort School, Yercaud after like 6 years! I was stunned and shocked by the number of changes in school - both Physically and in the culture. There were new structures at every possible place - in my sister's words, a "Concrete Jungle". Bro. George for sure is a visionary leader but he is now lacking in space to put up concrete structures. As we enter school now, they are putting up a statue of Montfort 100 feet above the ground! Now that's gotta be a landmark of some sort! I wonder if he's got permission from the Civil Aviation ministry for that - We gotta warn the planes bout that thing. They're also in the process of building what will become Asia's largest indoor stadium at a phenomenal cost. The new 400 m track is amazing! Being maintained like it were fit for use in the Olympics. All this apart from a number of other statues and structures around school. Ah yes... They're also building another floor above the dormitories. Apparently, they are moving the Junior school classes here. Junior school is to become another school for Montfort - Montfort ICSE! Whew.... too many changes.

On a cultural note, I felt kind of disappointed when I first walked through school. I hardly could meet anyone who knew me! Most of the staff in the office had changed. Bro.Augustine couldn't remember me (That was disappointing) and Bella (Robert Bellarmin, my Physics teacher and dorm warden) had moved out of school since he was now married. It was also Bro. George's birthday and hence I couldn't find the time to meet him. So, I wandered around aimlessly in school for about half an hour before I went to SHY (Sacred Heart Convent, Yercaud) - my mom and sister studied here. It's a girl's school just opposite to Montfort. The welcome we got here was so overwhelming! All the nuns (including the Principal and the Provincial head) were out to fuss over us. They took us to the parlour, gave us tea, biscuits, bread, butter and guava jelly and even put out some cake for us. I really had no words - I was disappointed with my school but let it pass.

Here are a few pictures, will upload more when I get the time!

However, I went over the next day and met Bro. George. It was a pleasure as he welcomed us whole heartedly (I presume!) and actually took us to the parlour for some tea too! Look at me getting so excited over a damn tea! ha ha... I did meet Bella, ID (Irudhayaraj - My Maths Professor) and Bio (Francis - The Biology Professor). Was glad to see that there were few of the old faces still in school. They all remembered me very well and were glad to spend time speaking to me! Felt nice to be back at school.

Have a couple of very interesting and exciting posts lined up. Coming up right after will be one on the Yercaud Mafia, which is no doubt more interesting than any soap on television!

Auto Sir... Auto... Taxi Sir... Taxi - Back to India

2009-12-15T22:37:00.000+05:30

"Auto Sir... Auto... Taxi Sir... Taxi... Cheap and best sir.... "

To hear the familiar sound of Auto and Taxi drivers run out to you when you come out of the International Airport in Chennai brought back nostalgic thoughts of my days in Chennai. I guess the Autos and their drivers will always remain an Integral part of what Chennai means to us. It was refreshing in many ways to hear the deafening sound of cars "honking" for the smallest of reasons and for the longest of times. I guess Manila has made me realize that it is possible to drive a car without having to honk every 20 seconds!

Even as I waited to clear immigration after landing at the Chennai airport - I was reminded of the "openly" corrupt nature that India was in. The Philippines is known to be as corrupt as India but I still am yet to see the brazen openness that we see amidst the cops and politicians here. While we stood in serpentine queues to get our passports stamped - there we see a police guy (pretty senior official) wait inside with his wife (Though us "normal" folks aren't allowed to come in to the aiport). They were waiting for their son to arrive. As soon as he gets to where we were standing, there are a few cops who take his luggage, take his passport and run to the official at immigration and get it stamped for this guy. Why, even the guy sitting at immigration stood up to salute this chap! Lol... I actually smiled watching all of this and then reminding myself that India was still the same! Well, I carried on waiting for the next half an hour in that line and I was tempted to call a friend's mother to get help with all of this (She was in a senior position in the airport), but then I realized that there would be no difference between that Cop's son and me then.... and that I would have no right to crib about such things in India... and so I didn't make the call.

While I waited to get my check-in baggage from the baggage collection point, I saw this young couple struggling with a huge bag. Before I could offer to help them, I see this guy (With a badge and stuff - I presumed that he works at the airport) offering to help them. He brings a strolley cart and starts lifting their bags to put it on the cart. In all, he would have spent about 5 minutes carrying and arranging about 3 suitcases/bags onto that cart. I was impressed! But at the end of it, I saw him asking this guy in the classic Indian fashion for money! While the couple looked at each other and the guy pulls out his wallet, this guy goes saying, "Please give me Rs.100"! Whew! 100 bucks for just that???? And the audacity to ask for money like that. How I wish I had the authority to fire that guy! But then what difference would it make - That's how our system works... right from the top to the bottom! And there are more than enough people to point fingers at but not enough people to take these people to task.

Well, this was my sweet welcome back to India.... I sat and thought of what all needs to be done in our country before we can become truly competitive in the Asian context (not even Global). Maybe we do need a dictator to rule us for a few years to set things straight and to change the way most of us think. We take our life for granted and don't even want to change any small aspect of our lives! I kept thinking... and my eyes closed... as I sat at the domestic airport waiting for the next flight.

iPhone Battery Issue - Finally Resolved

2009-12-07T10:43:00.000+05:30

I have the iPhone 3G for close to a year now. In the recent past, my battery had become a pain in the ass! I would charge it in the morning (say 7am) and then by 1pm I would need to charge it again. It was really killing me to carry a charger wherever I went. I was cursing Apple for this reason. I however love the iPhone on all other counts and was doing my best to put up with this "curse".

However, I recently upgraded my firmware from 3.0 to 3.1.2 and the battery issue just disappeared! Brilliant! I din't know that a firmware update could improve battery life so drastically. It now lasts me more than 15 hours! So for those of you facing the same issue as I was, you should upgrade your firmware - even if yours is a jail-broken (unlocked) phone, it would make sense to upgrade and then again get your phone unlocked.

Another observation is how Apple has such a "Halo effect" with its followers and fans! A friend of mine whose a hardcore Apple fan (He was the reason as to why I bought the Macbook Pro too) would keep telling me that the battery issue was probably coz of my usage! When I told him that I had upgraded the firmware and the battery was fine, this was his response: "See, it was your fault all along. Why didn't you just do the upgrades as they came by"!

A classic example of the "Halo effect" in Branding and Consumer Behaviour going on to Cult Branding.

First Time Mac User - The Mac is growing onto me

2009-12-05T21:09:00.000+05:30

Well, its been a week now since I started using my Macbook Pro. As you know it's my first time with a Mac... So this would be a continuation of my previous post - Previous Post - First Time Mac User .

As I do go to office already with my Macbook, I really am on the job with it. I installed Microsoft Office for Mac a few days ago and Entourage comes along with it (Entourage is the Mac version of MS Office). The look and feel was similar to Office except it did look better. I however chose at this point to stay with the native application - Mac Mail. It's not given me any issue till date.

I've just gotten used to the four finger thingi with the Mac - swipe the trackpad with four fingers and it shows you all the open windows/apps and you can choose which one you want to go to. Also if you swipe it upwards with four fingers, it moves all windows and shows you the desktop. This is very useful and cool!

The native Pages application (Equivalent of Word) is very simple to use and after i updated my entire software (Yes, you can install all software in the computer from one single interface - The update went on overnight), I can now export files as a Word document or PDF or many other options. These options are also available in Keynote now - which means I can export as a ppt or PDF or even a movie file. This is pretty cool. However, I must warn you that heavy PPTs take time to open on Keynote. It sometimes even Hangs while trying! This is one of the reasons as to why I installed Microsoft office for Mac. Just in case I need it to open some ppts.

I still haven't figured out an alternative to Microsoft Groove which we use at office. There is something called Microsoft Project Connection that installed along with the Office Package. I need to test whether that can connect to Groove to be able to access my workspace. Will let you know if that works out just fine.

I connected my iPhone to the Mac and they synced so beautifully! Picked up all the contacts from my phone and brought it into the Mac Mail.. Even got the pictures to be synced to the contacts. It was absolute brilliance! I do at times miss Winamp. Maybe they do have an app for the Mac. Will have to look it up. I just realised that I don't have iLife installed (Includes Garage band, Movie Maker etc). So will have to install that. To play movies with the drive, you need to set your region preferences - this is a little irritating for me coz you can only change it 5 times! That sucks! Anyways I guess most movies we watch nowadays are online or via a USB! So I'll let this one pass to Mac's benefit!

Some of the documents I transferred from my PC which were created using Microsoft Office 2007 for PC are not opening properly with Pages of Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac! Don't know the reason but am still trying to figure that one out.

Keynote still has various unexplored options and I'm having fun trying to create jazzy presentations but it still is taking me time to work on. I was almost born and brought up with Microsoft Office - That kinda makes it my mother tongue! But I'm sure that over time I won't have to look Microsoft's way again!

The trackpad just grows onto you and you begin to love it! It is absolutely a fantastic bit of innovation from Apple. I just bought a netbook for a friend today and was trying to navigate using the old touchpad and it was absolutely a disaster! All of this just after a week of using a Mac! No kidding! The trackpad is brilliant! You have to experience it to even comment! I love it... Along with the brilliant battery life that this Mac is giving me. I get an easy 5 to 6 hours on my battery!

Have also gotten used to the Command + A for all actions similar to Cntrl +C in windows. So that's a good sign!

And I'm the kinda person who really spreads the good word about any product. I've been speaking to all my colleagues about it. So a colleague has already purchased a Macbook and there are another 4 of them from work who want to get one too! Awesome right! I think Apple owes me a commission on these sales!

I haven't been missing anything else from my PC over the last week. Hence, so far so good!

Goodbye and Hello - Carry AIM high

2009-12-05T00:37:00.000+05:30

The time has come when the only mails that I see in my Asian Institute of Management (AIM) mail box are those to say Goodbye... People writing a number of lines talking about how this phase of their lives have changed them for the good or better... Or how they would miss the people etc. If you ask me, the most important thing for us (The graduating batch - Cohort 3) to do would be to hold the name of our school very high. I understand many of us do have an issue with some of the things that happen in school (specially with regards to campus placement) but at the end of the day, nothing will ever change if we don't go out being proud of AIM. When we're out - we are the ambassadors of the school.

Never once, have I ever put my school down. Even today, when I met some folks from Megalink, they looked up to us AIM students. They were truly in awe of the school. The issue here becomes that we intimidate them and hence they feel that it would be impossible for them to have an AIM student as their intern or hire. They automatically feel that we would be way too expensive for them! What they don't realise is that we aren't as difficult to handle monetarily. Specially when it comes to internships. When I did tell them that it would be possible to have interns in AIM for a monthly stipend of around P30,000, they showed a lot of interest. I promised them that I would get them through to the Career Management Services (CMS) so that they could have interns.

The internship program should be given more importance than it is given right now. It is all the more important for foreign students. Foreign students at AIM should understand that local companies should value their talents even more because we expats cost more to the company to retain - one on a monetary front as they need to pay for our expat visa and two they need to give decent reasoning to the government as to why they hired an expat instead of a local. Thus, its during the internship that one should be interested in selling oneself. If true value is seen in a person, I doubt any company would have any issues with hiring that person - no matter what the cost is and no matter what hurdles they would have to deal with. Good talent is a huge challenge for all companies today. Will elaborate more on what I feel the CMS needs to do over time in a different post.

I just hope that each and every one of us would take the name and fame of our school to a whole different high and let the world know that a new batch of leaders have just been nurtured and let into the world.

Saying Goodbye is never easy... in fact.. I hate saying Goodbye... More often than not, I try to avoid goodbyes... as they make me feel uncomfortable! I just look aside and tell myself that this aint a goodbye... rather a stepping stone to meet elsewhere.... I hope to keep my school and my batch proud... I look forward to any reunion days down where people look up to me and say "This guy made it"!

Anawangin Cove - Disconnect yourself from the World

2009-12-01T18:25:00.003+05:30

When my friends told me that they wanted to go to Anawangin Cove - a Cove that is not known by most people (Even Filipinos don't seem to know bout it), I tried to look for it on the internet and found that its an isolated island without electricity or anything. Foreign tourists don't know bout it too - Probably because there is no mention of it in Lonely Planet!

I wasn't very open to taking a holiday in such a place. I couldn't imagine myself in a place for two days without electricity, without signal on my cell-phone, without a roof over my head (You need to carry tents) and without restaurants! After days of slogging, my idea of a break was more about sitting in the spa of a huge resort and getting myself pampered. But then my friends persisted with the idea. What finally did get my buy-in was the fact that it would hardly cost any money to do this trip (It cost me about 1500 pesos - USD 30 for the whole trip).

I did find information on the place on the internet and the pictures were stunning! I include some images here which I have sourced from other blogs. I will add my own pictures as soon as I transfer the pics from my camera. Take a look below:

Stunning isn't it? A perfect cove with white sand - Now wait a second, that isn't sand! Basically that ain't sand but sediments (or something) from a volcanic eruption years ago! And that's true. It doesn't feel like Sand in anyway. Look closer and you would see pine trees on the beach. Now has anyone seen Pine trees growing on a beach? Apparently (not verified information), this is the only beach in the world with Pine Trees. Again, because that's not sand but stuff from the volcanic eruption! Along with the sediments, the eruption sent with it Pine Seeds and hence the trees.

Well, now how do we get there from Makati? Below are the steps to get there along with the cost:

Take a cab or jeepney and go to Cubao Bus Terminus or Calocan bus terminal. The cab should cost about 100 pesos to Cubao and 200 pesos to Calocan.
From there, take the Victory Liner Bus going to San Antonio via Olangopo city. This should cost about 220 pesos
From San Antonio bus stand, take a toda (Three wheeler transport) to get to the dock - costs about 50 pesos per person
Hire a boat to take you to Anawangin Cove (The boat ride costs about 200 pesos per person and takes about 45 minutes)

Simple and inexpensive isn't it? However, don't forget to pack a tent if you plan to stay overnight. Also, canned goods as there isn't any food there save for one small store selling Cup Noodles and eggs (Overpriced of course). Also, take a sleeping bag, or atleast a couple of sheets (bedspreads). Take some candles too as there's no light there (We didn't have to use them as the moonlight was bright enough and we lit a bonfire for most of the night). Also, of course - beachware and a beach volley ball if possible to play around. Shoes - if you are planning to trek around (Oh yes, instead of taking the boat to reach the cove, I was told that its also possible to trek there but that would take about 5 or 6 hours).

We reached there and were amazed at how beautiful the place was. Just a small stretch of beach (Can walk the entire stretch in about ten minutes). We scouted around and found that the locals there had staked their claim to their bits of land by putting up boards in small stretches reading "Private Property"! They had these small fences.... Basically, you could set up tent in their area for a price of 100 pesos per person. This is worth it because they have a few toilets built there, bring you fresh water, clean up the place after you leave and basically help you out with whatever you need.

We however chose to setup our tent in a secluded area and we didn't have to pay anyone for that. We would just pay them to use their toilets. We bought some firewood (they ask for about 100 pesos per bunch), went for a swim in the water. The water is calm but not as calm and clear as Boracay (I love the beach at Bora and that's always the benchmark for beaches in my vocabulary). But this place is far better than Puerto Galeras (I've been there) and Bataan (My friends' had been there).

We then sat by the beach and started talking around a bonfire. As we went further into the night, stories from the first day of school (The Asian Institute of Management - MBA) came out and it was fun reliving our 16 months in that one night! By the time, I fell asleep, it was about 3am in the morning! I slept on the beach instead of getting into the tent. It was pretty comfortable at night but I woke up feeling so damn cold (The sand gets so hot during the day and so cold during the night). So people, don't forget to carry a jacket and something to keep you warm at night. I woke up with a back ache and a cold!

I went swimming in the beach again, we had fun eating out of the many cans that we bought (in the excitement, we had bought enough food to feed about 20 people - we were just 6 of us).

While going back, we found it difficult to find a bus to take us back to Olangopo City (From San Antonio) since most of the buses that passed that way were already full and there were many people waiting. We however did manage to find a bus (not air-conditioned though)

The way back:

Take a ferry to get to San Antonio
Take a tricyle to get to the Bus stop
Take a bus to Olangopo City
Catch a Victory Liner going to Cubao
Catch a cab to get to Makati (Could even use the local buses or jeepneys)

I strongly recommend travelling to Anawangin to detox and go "offline" for a while! Leave your computer and mobile alone for a while! It is refreshing.

Will update my pics later.... :)

First time Mac user - Macbook Pro 13" with 4GB RAM

2009-11-27T08:46:00.000+05:30

I just got the new Macbook Pro 13" with 4GB of RAM a day ago. Before I decided to buy the Macbook Pro, I did hours and hours of research on the internet to see if I would be comfortable with the Mac. The primary reason was the fact that I have never used a Mac before and have used Windows all my life. Hence, I was reasonably worried about how many of my day to day activities would be carried out with the Mac.

We live in a world where a laptop has become a necessity and is no more a luxury. I lived without a laptop for about two weeks and I felt handicapped. When I needed to create proposals or forecasts, I tried to do it with a pencil, paper and a calculator - But nowhere does it come close to Microsoft Excel or Word for giving us all of the functionality - to delete and correct to begin with. I even wonder how our previous generation did business with typewriters!

I decided to write this post and follow it up with a number of posts to help new adopters of the Mac understand how the Mac can complement their daily life and the hurdles they would initially face when they migrate to Mac OS from Windows.

One of the advantages (or disadvantages) that happened was that I got the Macbook Pro on Wednedsay - a day before three of my final presentations/exams in school on Thursday. I went to school that evening and was forced to start working. No time to experiment.... no time to learn! I decided to take up the challenge and not install a parallel Windows OS or any Microsoft related software. This would ensure that I first give Mac the chance to prove itself to me.

To start with, I must tell you that I was absolutely AMAZED when I opened the box and powered up the computer. It took about 20 seconds to come to life - all ready to go! That was an eye-opener to me! My old Dell would take about 3 minutes to just boot up. And here was this computer coming right out of the box and all set to go in less than 30 seconds!

The track pad will take some time to get used to, but it is pretty intuitive. I'm comfortable now with the left click (click on trackpad with one finger) and right click (click on trackpad with two fingers). I however am still not comfortable with using three fingers on the trackpad (to Scroll left and right) and four fingers (To reveal the desktop or show you all the applications that you are running). I find it very difficult with the four fingers as I'm not used to any such gesture on the laptop. Other features of the trackpad are very similar to the iPhone (I've been using an iPhone 3G for the past ten months) like the pinch and twist features for pictures. The same gestures work on this trackpad too.

The first thing I did on the Macbook was to open Photo Booth and take some pictures. That was fun as we could use the Webcam to take many different kind of pictures guided by templates available in the application. The next thing I did was set up my business Mail on the native Mailbox application (The Stamp icon on the dock). I was determined to use all the capabilities before even considering Outlook. The setup process was very easy. Signatures work here unlike Thunderbird where it is difficult to insert a signature into your mails. I have still not been able to find an option to receive a "Read Receipt" from a mail (If anyone knows of this feature in the Mac Mail application, please do let me know). Other than that, it seems pretty easy to use and is fast. Calendar invites from Outlook are understood by this Mail app and it can be setup to automatically add any invites to iCal (the native Calendar application on the Mac)

Safari is super-fast! I was using Google Chrome earlier in my Windows Vista based system and would swear by the unbelievable speed of Chrome. But Safari still has an edge over Chrome and I must say that it is the fastest browser I have ever used.

The battery life is something you should experience. There's not enough I can thank Apple for giving us such a powerful battery! I needed to charge my Dell every hour before the battery gave up on me. The Macbook Pro stays full of life comfortably for about 5 hours at the very least (They guarantee 7 hours, but I haven't seen anything close to 7, but 5 hours is awesome enough for me).

I still haven't learnt all that needs to be learnt when it comes to the File structure (Windows Explorer) - called Finder in Mac. But that's probably because I have put away the transfer of data from my External hard drive to the Mac for the weekend when I will have more time to explore the Mac.

The iChat application is so easy to setup and responds very well (Google Chat and AIM can be added here).

Before I forget, the two finger scrolling (Use two fingers on the trackpad to scroll up and down) is really cool and helpful. Saves going to the scroll bar anymore.

I installed iWork (Mac's version of Office) on my system and had to start working on creating a Presentation on Keynote (Mac's version of Powerpoint). I have to admit that it did take me some time getting adjusted to the way things work there... But the templates and the transitions that are available are amazing! The presentation did take me like 4 hours to complete (Would have taken me two hours on my MS Office) but this is because this was the first time I was working on the Software and on a Mac. But the output was like ten times better than what I would have got from Office! So, I'm satisfied and am learning quickly. There are so many templates available on Keynote and this makes life simpler! People, take note that pptx format doesn't really open well as yet with Keynote for me (My friend told me that there is a software to fix this) but I still haven't installed anything! Also, I could share the Keynote presentation with other people saving it as a Presentation (Powerpoint recognizable) but it removed many of the design elements. I couldn't save as pdf initially. I however did run an update last night : Which is very easy to do. Go to the Apple logo on the top-right corner of the screen and just click on Software update. It lists all possible updates for the computer (Includes OS and applications). This feature is really cool. I ran a full update and now when I open Keynote, I see that I have the option to export the presentation into so many different formats. So that solves that problem.

You have to use (Command + C) here instead of Control C. That took me a little while to get used to but am not comfortable with that.

Well that's it for now! Just my second day with the new Macbook Pro. Am doing well so far and have still not installed a parallel windows. Will keep you all updated with how life goes with the Macbook. Keep following this blog or follow me on twitter at http://twitter.com/kumaranvm for updates.

Logos and Symbols in Branding

2009-11-24T10:59:00.000+05:30

I have had this wonderful opportunity of being able to understand in real time what I learn in my Branding classes. My engagement with Management Systems (Asia) which is a Business Publication focussing on Management Systems and Business Excellence. The magazine is now about 8 months old and we have been working towards building a Brand from scratch. Over time, we now have good recognition in the Philippines apart from Singapore where the magazine is headquartered.

But recently due to feedback we received saying that keeping the "Asia" as part of the LOGO of the magazine could limit our market to Asia. So, a debate started on whether the "Asia" should be brought out separately from the logo - like Management Systems and then "Asian edition". The argument for this was that Management Systems primarily comes from the Western countries and not from Asia. The other argument was that Management Systems may have to be tweaked for Asia, and the whole world is looking towards Asia as the next phase in the Global growth story - China and India are being looked at as the possible new powers in the world. We are seeing a power shift and Asia does excite people across the globe.

The argument continued and the organization decided to keep the Asia but not as part of the logo as that would let us be flexible at a later stage of our growth. So we embarked on a new journey to discover a logo that would best embody the attributes of the product and still ensure visibility keeping some of the physical attributes of the previous logo.

All of this has complimented by learning in my Brand Equity Classes at the Asian Institute of Management .

By the way, Management Systems (Asia) is one of the only Management Systems magazine that has an online replica of its print magazine in a very interactive and user friendly interface. Take a look at Management Systems (Asia) eMag . You can read the whole magazine online for free on just registering.

Twilight: New Moon... Now Really?

2009-11-23T00:44:00.000+05:30

Hell... I went for this movie with so much of expectation... Not that I was in love with the previous Twilight flick... But that sure as hell was a decent movie and got me to look at Vampires in a whole new light... I've never been the kind to go for movies with Vampires etc... But the previous Twilight movie was pretty decent..

The New Moon really did keep me looking at my watch every 15 minutes wondering if it was time for the movie to get over... But when it did, I was like "Now Really"! Very abrupt end to the movie and leaves the viewer wondering if that's how the movie should have ended. I agree that there are more to come... but still...there could have been a better ending.

There were a number of good scenes though... The "fight sequences" have been done very well with a good background score. The style quotient of the "Vampires" have been taken to a whole new level.

Some of the scenes just drag on and on and make you wonder whether the director wanted to put you to sleep! An all-out chick flick with bare bodied hunks running around the place in the guise of were-wolfs! A must watch for all the "Vampire crazy" gals out there and the romantic guys who wanna keep their gal friends happy! For the others, I would suggest you read the story online and wait for the next in the saga (Which I hear is much better - the book is supposed to be better).... For me, I wouldn't give up on the series as yet and will wait for the next episode before I walk away from the "Twilight"

The Final Run

2009-11-17T19:51:00.000+05:30

Well its down to the last ten days... The last stretch... The home run... Call it what you may... But its really beginning to sink down really hard inside me that my life in Makati is going to change in just a little while...My MBA at the Asian Institute of Management (http://www.aim.edu.ph/) is now almost done.... At one end, I am glad to be done so that I can get back to working seriously and getting down to some serious travel. But on the other hand, I'm going to have to say goodbye to so many of the good friends I've made over the past 16 months. And these months have flown past... I still remember so very clearly the first day - The day I arrived to Manila... not knowing a single soul... Opening a new chapter in my life.... Meeting people... The formation of the friends' circle... Our first few parties outside... The first few quizzes... The first few "Cold Calls" in Larry Tan's (LOB Professor) class... the first few parties by the pool side... the first few kareoke songs we heard the Filipinos sing by the poolside, the first Marketing projects... the CAN groups... the first few days in the dorm... And what not... And after all these months.... I wonder when it went on from the first to the second and on and on! It all feels so close... so near....But its now getting down to the last few things with some of the best friends and best people I have met in life...

I know its strong to call it the last... But well, life will change and things will go on... And at this stage, its so weird that every few days I seem to be getting an invitation to some friend's wedding or the other... The times have changed... I feel like I've actually aged... gone into a new phase of my life... Most of my friends now are older than me.... Most of the people I interact are much older than me...

Well as always, nothing better to do at such moments than listen to Guns N Roses! He he... did it when I left school... Did it when I left engineering college... When I left Infosys.... When I left HCL... When I left India... and now... When I have to say Goodbye yet one more time....

And once again, I hope I have made the right decision and things are going to go just fine for me... Did take a lot of thinking from my side despite what many of my friends think - To stay back here in this country... I believe that my future is going to start from the Philippines and other South East Asian countries.... So now I need to travel and meet as many new people as possible... To a new phase in my life.... I dedicate this phase to all my friends over the past 25 years of my life.....

500 Days of Summer

2009-11-02T09:48:00.000+05:30

500 Days of Summer - One of the best movies I have seem in recent times. Nothing larger than life in this movie and everything is so realistic that most of us would be able to relate to a "Summer" (Summer's the name of the girl in the movie) in our lives. The attention to detail which brings out the small things in life that make such a big difference really kept me very engaged. Small things such as Summer not holding his hand when he gives it out and then the expressions on their faces.... These are things that for sure each and every one of us would have experienced some time in our lives...... The small indicators we look for... the strong beliefs we have inside of us that the person we are is for sure the ONE!

The movie also plays frames from different times not being chronologically in order... Which reminds me of Mani Ratnam's Alaipayuthe (Tamil movie director) which also showed shots from different portions in time and then brought the story together. Even here, they show different days in the 500 days which actually turns out to be very humorous and also gets us very involved in the story line.

Watch 500 days of Summer and you will realize that there are so many more possibilities to life.... Don't lose hope on love... but remember that there are many FISH in the sea! And finally, one of the best lines in the movie..... "You were not wrong, You were just wrong about me"!

Motivation - The last stretch always seems too long!

2009-10-26T23:39:00.000+05:30

When you don't even have time to think,

And time flies by in a blink,

Where do you look for the drive?

To keep ignited in you that fire.

Passion has always pushed me on and on,

But now I wonder whether I'm falling down.

I need a sign to keep me standing strong,

The last stretch always seems too long.

But, yes I do know that I have to finish this race... and then go on to finish all the other races... For of course, however, we try to hide from it, we are in this Rat Race called "Life"! I wonder when I'll be out of it... and look down at the race and smile!

A.R.Rahman - The Mozart of Chennai

2009-10-26T23:21:00.000+05:30

A friend of mine sent me a link (http://www.couplesretreatsoundtrack.com/) to a new Hollywood film called Couples Retreat starring Vince Vaughn amongst others produced by Universal Pictures. To my surprise, the soundtrack is totally composed and produced by none other than our very own A.R.Rahman (http://www.arrahman.com/v2/). For those ignorant of the name, A.R.Rahman is most known around the globe for his Oscar award for Slumdog Millionaire - he's the one who composed "Jai Ho".

The movie even has a Tamil song that is awesome! Well, now if that's not taking Tamil and India to the world, what is? We truly have a global Indian now! I've just been listening to the music and the songs seem to have a Jamaican beat to it apart from the Indian tablas gracing a few of the tracks!

For those who have been following A.R.Rahman from "Roja" - his first entry into mainstream films, this is seen as an accomplishment of sorts. I was very young when Roja released. I think I was eight years old at that time and till date I still do believe that the soundtrack for that movie was almost his best! I still listen to the songs from that movie 16 years later! I have been following every single movie of his and have never been disappointed with the music! And now I can't wait to watch the movie, Couple's Retreat to see how the music blends with the movie. Now whether this movie is a hit or a flop, this heralds a new dimension to Hollywood -entry of Indian music into mainstream Hollywood films... I do wonder though, if there would be more dance sequences like in Indian films! Ha ha ha!!! That would be funny! To watch Hollywood stars break out into colourful dance sequences!!

Way to go A.R.Rahman! We are truly proud of you! Jai Ho!

One night at the Police Station

2009-10-24T23:41:00.001+05:30

I had never been to a police station in the Philippines (Touch wood) and I thank god for keeping me clear of those lovely gentlemen whose responsibility is to guard and protect us. However, I landed up having to go there for no fault of mine. A colleague of mine from work called me frantically to help her out with an issue at about 4 in the morning. Her room-mate and friend was apparently in jail! Both of them are Austrians and haven't been in the country for more than 2 weeks. So she had no clue what to do and I couldn't decline to help a "damsel in distress"!

I diligently carry my PRESS ID (I work with Management Systems Asia - An Asian business magazine http://ms-asia.org/ and so of course that makes me part of the PRESS) not really knowing what I would do with it at a Police station. I go along with her to the station which took me almost an hour to find and see that this guy has been into a brawl with a few of the bouncers at Tabu. They brought him to the station and filed charges against the guy. When I asked the bouncers (security guards) to tell me what happened - The guy tells me that this Austrian guy was fooling around with the girls at the bar and when he was questioned he hit the bouncer. The security guy also showed me his jeans which were torn and said that it tore because he was kicked there!

When I asked my colleague more about the guy (let's call him Tony for now), she said that the story was highly unlikely because Tony was gay and moreover he was not a violent person and couldn't really harm a fly! Anyway, it didn't really make sense to me to try to fight it out.

I however did make it very clear to the cops and the bouncers that I was a member of the PRESS and they couldn't get away with trying to scare me with all of their big talk. I saw that this stand of mine did wonders to quicken things. I understood that the cops and these two bouncers were working together to try to extort as money as they could from us. I didn't want to have a long and fruitless argument with those guys and that too so early in the morning. I just wanted to finish the issue and get home to my cozy bed! We landed up paying about 2000 pesos to that guy to get his jeans replaced and also for his "medical check-up"!

A funny thing that happened to me during this whole incident was that the cop was being over friendly to me once he knew I was with the PRESS and he even asked me for my business card so that we could stay in touch! Most of the cops there at the station asked for my number and so did the security guards. So much for being a part of the media.

So that was my first experience of being to a police station here in Manila and as I thought of the experience much later, I do realize that apart from the numerous other things that I have learnt from AIM, I have learnt to fine tune my negotiation skills as I feel I did a pretty good job of sorting things out at the Police Station. Well, that was most of my "One night (Ok... Just a few hours) at the Police Station"

Diwali Party at AIM

2009-10-24T23:10:00.000+05:30

Last evening was super awesome on many counts! We celebrated Diwali at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM). There were a number of cultural shows - participation was from various parts of the world. And the best part of it was that we actually had a dance for a Tamil Song - "Appadi Podu". Am sure the videos of the event will soon start surfacing on youtube and I will link it to this post as soon as I do see one.

My friends at AIM actually managed to convince me to do a small 30 second Cameo in their dance program since I really am passionate about "Dapanguthu" - A south Indian form of folk dance (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dappan_koothu) . Well, it was well worth it as it gave me the energy to go on for the rest of the night! It was a night of sorts as I actually tired myself out dancing, spoke to so many people, found myself at so many places..... I even visited the Police Station! More on the Police Station in my next post!

All of this just makes me wonder how life would be just a month away from now when I will be done with my MBA at AIM! Most of my friends would leave and go back to India while I'm gonna be staying back here. How different would life be? I wonder if it would become boring and make "Philippines" look not that attractive anymore? My circle of friends in the Philippines would go down by about 70% as most of the close friends I have right now are from school.

But I'm sure that would open me up to even bigger challenges and that would make me speak to more people around the country and forge new relationships and bonds with the people of this country. My quest to understand the Filipino culture would be accelerated by the change in my environment.

Diversity and Cultural Harmony at AIM

2009-10-22T20:52:00.000+05:30

Just got back from school - The Asian Institute of Management... and this evening actually further reassured me that I never did make a mistake to come out of India to do my Masters in Business Administration! I saw unity amidst such cultural diversity once again! There were a bunch of Juniors studying quietly at one end of the Zen garden for some exam they have tomorrow... At another end there were a bunch of exchange students from France, Belgium, Germany and Austria dancing to a Punjabi song! And at yet another end... a bunch of Indians dancing for a Tamil song! All of this for the Diwali celebrations at AIM tomorrow! Now this has got to be an eye opener of sorts for anyone watching... to see the kind of harmony between people from all across the globe! The Europeans were so interested in learning why Indians celebrate Diwali and they actually are closely involved with all of the activities for next evening.....

All of this again makes me wonder how life is going to be exactly one and a half months from now! I finish my MBA and get back to working.... Will for sure miss the school life... I guess this is going to be the last bit of formal schooling or education in my life (Famous last words... some people may say)! I also wonder at times whether I am making a mistake to choose not to go the huge corporate life way and instead take a different part with a smaller start-up firm to steer the company to where it rightfully belongs... And as always I have more questions than answers and every answer I come up with leads to a number of other questions.... But one thing remains clear to me.... I have come to the right place at the right time,..... and am with the right set of friends..... Thank you god.... For showing me the way.....

Infosys - Always a company I will respect and love

2009-10-20T09:07:00.002+05:30

It is now close to 3 years since I left Infosys Technologies where I worked at earlier and the memories of the company (Note: I said company and not the job) still linger on strongly in my mind. It is all the more stronger now as I during our case discussions, Infy keeps coming into the discussion - The good thing being is that the name comes up for all the right things. Be it Corporate Governance, being transparent, be it Brand Personality, be it Values, or be it Character of an organization - we hear Infosys in the discussion. I've done a couple of cases on Infosys in school already.

Thinking back - I feel that the company today (Infosys) has taken on the character and personality of Shri. Narayana Murthy or NRN (That's what we called him in Infy). He has successfully transferred his personality into the values of the brand name - Infosys. Below is a small excerpt from a speech he made at Infosys 25 (Celebrating Infy's 25th Birthday). I was at the ceremony at Mysore and I still remember the goose-bumps I had all over my hand when I heard him say this... felt proud to be a part of the company.

"When, in 1992, the young librarian asked by the then Head of Education & Research Dr. Vishwanathan about a library book, referred to me the borrower as that gentleman who sits in the corner, it was then that I knew that our jobs had been done in demolishing hierarchy in the organization. When the first telephone was established at the house of P. Bala who was in-charge of our computer center and not in the house of the CEO, I knew we had created a customer-focused organization. When we spent 1.5 times our revenue in 1992 to build

India

’s first campus, I knew we had started on a journey of worthy dreams. When we politely refused General Electric’s unreasonable conditions in 1995 and walked away from their business when they formed 25% of our revenues and 8% of our profits, I knew we had built a courageous and principled organization. When Mr. Ramachandrappa, an attendant at Infosys told me recently and invited me to the fabulous house that he had built, I knew our experiment in democratization of wealth had achieved success and indeed had served a great purpose. When Infosys Foundation financed and fulfilled the dream of higher education of a bright but poor Hanumantappa belonging to a disadvantaged community in Karnataka, I knew our hearts were in the right place. When I stood up in front of 1500 investors and accepted that we had indeed erred in investing some of our free cash flows in the secondary market and lost it, I knew we had fulfilled our pledge to be transparent with our investors. Friends, I can go on and on and on, but what is important is to remember that we have bigger challenges and rewards ahead of us. I will not be there when all of this is achieved, but I know that we have a wonderful set of people led by Nandan, Kris and others. But we all have to remember one thing and that is aspirations, courage, principles, and innovation and relentless focus on execution will carry you all to that great success that you all want to achieve." - Shri Narayana Murthy

Management Systems Asia - Asia's upcoming Business Magazine

2009-10-12T11:26:00.003+05:30

Well, I've recently been helping out with Management Systems Asia (MSA) which is a new business magazine with a special focus on Asia. MSA is clearly designed to be a 'Magazine for Managers" with its articles designed to help Managers do their daily tasks better and also help their organization/company perform better. The magazine helps them to update their skills/ capabilities without having to go to school. Even the "lifestyle" section if I may call it that focusses on helping managers understand the finer aspects required in doing business - such as Business networking, etiquette, cultural differences and the likes.

I have always had an inclination towards working with Creative products (a testimony to which is my blog title) but I never did think I would end up with the media after doing my Bachelors in Industrial Engineering and then now almost on the verge of completing my Masters in Business Administration.

You can view more details of this fast growing magazine at http://ms-asia.org/ or even read the eMagazine for free at http://emag.ms-asia.org/index.aspx .

Overall, I would feel that this magazine is going to be a powerful force to reckon with over the next few years. I am able to see the growth patterns and there is a powerful brand that is being built from scratch. Lucky are those advertisers, partners, writers who associate themselves with the brand at this stage.

A contrarian view of the Indian Economy

2009-05-18T14:01:00.004+05:30

I just got back from a trip to India and I spent a lot of time with my grandfather who shared his ideas and ideals with me. It interested me immensely as it seemed to be a totally contrarian view of the Indian economy that what was taught to me at Business School or prescribed by the Management Gurus and Economists of the day...

Firstly, he attacked the concept being sold by most of our politicians and economists including the then Finance minister, Mr.P.Chidambaram that Indians should be instigated and motivated towards spending in order to see a revival of the economy in these recessionary times. He believes that this is a wrong policy to be advocated for India as India has primarily been an economy driven by savings. Of course, spending has increased over the years, but Indians have mostly been thought to save. Even as I grew up, my mother and grandparents told me time and again that every rupee saved goes a long way in the future and encouraged us to be both penny and pound wise. It was drilled into us to save from a very young age right from the time when we were given our first piggy bank and encouraged to put in every single rupee we could save into this. When the piggy bank filled up, it was a ceremony of sorts at home where it would be broken to take out the savings, counted and then deposited in a bank for us. A new piggy bank would return to take the place of the old one.

Further, he also said that it was a known fact that India was an agriculture based economy and pushing an Industrial Revolution in the country without giving Agriculture the support it needed would only skew the economy to look polished on the outside leaving the rusted portions hidden temporarily. Most of India's Finance ministers and Economists such as Manmohan Singh or Chidambaram or even the late Jawaharlal Nehru have been educated in the west where they have been taught that Industries need to grow for the economy to grow and Consumption should increase to show economic growth. What these people are forgetting is that India is an Agriculture based economy and Indians are taught to save and can't be made to spend money very easily. I agree that this is changing in the urban areas where young people are flush with money and their disposable incomes are high but when you go to the rural areas, people still would think before each additional rupee that they earn is to be saved rather than spent. It is also only in India that people think of saving for their children and their grandchildren. Saving in western nations are primarily to take care of themselves in their old age but is not the same case in India. Families save for generations below them and accumulate wealth in the form of gold and land. Thus, the western school of thought is not pertinent to a country like India where economic growth can be a direct function of spending. Thus, instead of reducing interest rates to tempt Indians to save, the government should spend money to develop agriculture and the rural areas in order to spur the economy.

If the government were to spend towards developing roads and other infrastructure in the villages and towns and even consider moving major educational institutes into these rural areas this would set off a multiplier effect in these rural areas leading to fast development of rural India. This would be in the line of the Gandhian school of thought now christened "Gandhian economics" where he advocated a scattered economy for India.

Much of India's prosperity today is concentrated in Urban Industrial centres and this has led to the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. We still hear of Farmer suicides when newspapers and televisions are reporting the fast growing economic might of India.

My grandfather advocates that growth should be stimulated from the rural areas and there is no better time than now when there is a global recession. Let most of the stimulus be in the rural areas and develop the infrastructure there and push educational institutes from the cities into rural areas as this would be the key factor in setting the multiplier into play. Once the infrastructure has been developed and education has been setup in the rural areas, industries would automatically begin to grow there and there would be jobs created in the rural areas.

I feel this is an interesting perspective on the Indian economy and maybe solutions from Harvard and Porter aren't as pertinent to the Indian economy and our Harvard educated ministers should now re-think their strategies for development.

At the end of the day, what works becomes fine strategy and what doesn't makes for a fine case study!

Strategy for Small Companies to take on Larger Multi-National Firms

2009-05-13T08:46:00.003+05:30

Quality and “Perceived Value of Quality” – A strategy for Small firms to take on the large Multi-National firms

With globalization and liberalization came the mighty onset of Multi-National Companies with the power and resources to wipe out local domestic players. In this game of “David Vs Goliath”, how do the local domestic players succeed in holding their forte, and compete with limited resources and talent? Traditionally marketing and advertising in small local companies have been handled by one of the members in the firm with at the most some local ‘amateurish’ help. They would sit and brain storm amidst them-selves on how they feel could be the best way to utilize the shoe-string budget that had been allocated to them to maximize returns.

Coming from a region in India with a large number of ‘family-run’ businesses and where people thought it was a shame to not be able to be one’s own boss, I have had the opportunity to observe a number of such small businesses including my own. Most of these businesses have existed for more than 40 years with the 3^rd of 4^th generation of family members now looking after the business. There was earlier a generation of people who believed that advertising was a way of “blinding” customers to other critical factors such as quality and value. They felt that advertising was necessary only for companies and industries that were not confident of their quality and ability to get customers to purchase their product. Over time, they faced the consequences of this line of thought and lost market share to other domestic players.

So thinking on these lines, this brings me to the question, “With excellent advertising, is it possible to get the customer to buy anything?” Is quality only a perceived parameter that can be driven into the customer with the right kind of advertising? If so, is it wise or necessary to spend on quality improvement programs like TQM, Six Sigma and Quality Control measures? Wouldn’t it make more sense to have a product that “just manages” to satisfy the customer and divert the funds that would have been used to make a “high quality” product towards advertising and hence increase the “perceived value of quality” from the customer.

I take a break from this line of thought to bring to the front the scenario most of these small firms are in today. With the advent of multi-nationals who have “bottom-less” pockets when it comes to the sizes of their advertising budgets and their expenses on Research and Development. They can bring out the best of both worlds driving towards achieving both physical quality and spending on advertising towards increasing the value of perceived quality to the customer. But what does the customer want? Does he want to be delighted every time and in every product? I don’t think so! When we go to the super market to pick up a tube of toothpaste, we don’t expect the product to delight us every time we use it to brush our teeth; we want to ensure that the toothpaste satisfies basic factors such as fresh breath and anti-bacterial protection amongst others. We are not concerned and we don’t even know if the next time we buy the toothpaste; it is able to fight germs even better!

The initial reaction of all of these small firms to compete with global players has been to increase spending on their Research and Development to be able to compete on “physical quality” of their product hoping that it would make them more competitive and then strain their cash flows by pushing what little they have remaining to advertise on less main-stream modes such as posters, radio and promotional items. There has been a tendency to focus on constantly coming up with promotional items such as “free gifts” and also competing largely on price. They have been forced to reduce prices oblivious to the fact that getting into a price war with the “Goliaths” is the last thing that they can afford to do as that would be the first step towards digging their own grave. I have seen a number of such firms fall from their position as market leaders or being acquired by the large firms over the years.

So how do they compete? Apart from a numerous other methods available such as niching, positioning and all of the “Porter-jargon”, I feel that there can be a trade-off made between “physical quality” and “perceived quality” that can enable these firms to compete with the giants. So where lies this point? We can study the same from the diagram below comparing “physical quality” and “perceived quality”.

The Graveyard – This is the term I have used to refer to firms that are both low on physical quality and on perceived quality. The firms in this region of the matrix will die a natural death over time.

The Bleeding Sheep – These are firms that are high on physical quality and low on perceived quality. These firms are those which still believe that quality sells itself and are heavily investing in improving their quality of their product without being able to communicate the same to the customer. They feel that the solution to their dropping market share should be to further spend on improving the “physical quality” of their product. They are the bleeding sheep because they are slowly bleeding to death as their cash flows are highly constricted and I also refer to them as sheep as they try to replicate all the methods and processes used by the multi-nationals.

The Goliath – This positioning is where most of the multi-nationals armed with deep “war chests” are positioned. While they are constantly spending towards improving their ‘physical quality’ by means of Research and Development and Process Improvement Programs, they are also constantly communicating their high level of quality to the consumer thus raising the perceived value of the product in the minds of the customers. This is where ever firm – small or large aims and dreams to be.

The David(s) – This segment of the matrix represents firms with a low level of “physical quality” and a high level of “perceived quality”. I would like to bring to your attention that when I mean a “low” level of physical quality, I am referring to a threshold level of quality which translates to the customer just being satisfied rather than being delighted and excited to hold your product. This is my recommended positioning for small firms to compete with the large MNCs. The blue circle is the optimal trade-off point that I recommend small firms should position themselves – being a product that satisfies the consumer but working towards increasing the “perceived value” of the product in the minds of the consumer.

Increasing the “perceived value” of the product in the minds of the consumer can be done with focussed advertising. The company should divert the funds that it would have allocated towards increasing the “physical quality” of the product in terms of capital expenditure, process improvement programs and promotional items towards highly focussed advertising communicating quality to the consumer. Focussed advertising could be in terms of geography or target market. If in case of geography, it could be in terms of first fortifying its base in its home market regionally before it goes on towards advertising in newer markets. Focussed advertising is a very important aspect in this strategy as the advertising budget that these firms is not enough to compete nationally or globally with the “Goliaths” and hence they should focus all of their resources towards maximizing results.

Once, these actions begin to translate into increased market share, these firms can choose to expand into newer markets following the same strategy and when their cash flows are strong, they can consider spending towards increasing the value of “physical quality” of their product. This would help them to move into the “Goliath” segment and then they will be a force to reckon with.

While writing this article, I have mainly used products to validate my arguments and have not yet considered the applicability of this matrix and approach to the services sector. The matrix will change for the services sector as in that case the “physical quality” is too closely linked to the “perceived value” of quality.

For example, people from South India may have heard of VVD Coconut Oil. For the benefit of others, Coconut Oil is used in India on the hair as one would use a hair cream. VVD Coconut Oil has successfully positioned itself as a force to reckon with in its home turf and has defended its position against “Parachute” which is a national brand from the house of Marico. The processes that VVD uses towards achieving “physical quality” is not as mature and developed as that of Parachute and so is the same with the expenditure on Research and Development, but VVD has successfully communicated its “perceived value of quality” through the times to the customer in its home turf by means of focussed advertising.

Try to think of any consumer product that you know is strong or weak regionally and fit it into the boxes and you will see that this model can be validated. There may me many ways for small firms to compete with the large giants and this article tries to highlight one of the ways. What is most important is for the smaller firms to acknowledge that they are not in a position to be able to compete with the MNCs in all aspects and hence they should identify and recognize their areas of competence and try to study if improvement in that facet could lead to improving their market share. If their findings indicate that it could lead to an improvement in market share, they should choose to focus a maximum portion of their resources towards their competency. This could make them all the more competitive. Remember that everyone likes the underdogs and even in the story of David and Goliath, everyone roots for David! Try to use this to pull the market into your favour. Falling down is not defeat…. Defeat is when you refuse to get up.

Once again... A new beginning....

2008-08-27T16:47:00.003+05:30

Here I am.... In a new country... A new city... You know all the while I keep going on and on at destiny and fate.... The gods do have their own cute little way of putting things back into place and into the right perspective.....

I remember just about two weeks back - the frame of mind I was in... Was totally different and absurdly narrow... I had focussed down to a little dot from the galaxy of space available... I keep doing that... And that's when my actions all move away from the person I am... and the person I wanna be.... And i land up hurting myself... Coz that's the only way or area i get hurt.... My sensitive region...My Achilles heel!!

But now... Things are changing... My schedule does not give me the time to reflect on the past... And only prods me on to reflecting on the future... and think about what lies ahead.... This is God's own lil way of setting me right... Or so I hope... I hardly have time to sleep... But still atleast I wanna sleep... A while ago... I couldn't get myself to sleep...

And now I have to rethink the things I'm gonna be doing over the next few years! Do I want to go back to india? Do i want to stay here? Or do I want to go to some other country.... And what do I want to do with myself.... I guess as time goes over these 16 months... I am sure to be able to answer most of these questions....

And once again.... I go back into the shell of a person I am... and wait for my internal maintenance and repair to take place... and bring me back to the person I am... And hopefully... I won't go back to being the stupid foolish guy I've been......

Till then... To life... and to my new life...... Cheers.....

Desperate Hours

2008-07-23T02:04:00.002+05:30

An astrologer who read my stars once told me that I fell into the same 'Natchatram' (Star sign) as Lord Rama. Lord Rama suffered a lot during his prior years. He was sent into exile for 13 long years by his wicked cousins. He was in the forests with his wife Sita. She was kidnapped by the Demon Ravana who fell in love with her beauty. Basically... he faced difficulty after difficulty before things finally fell in place for him... And so this astrologer tells me that I would face the most troubling of times... where things would never seem to go right... I would face the toughest of challenges..... times when I felt that there was nothing more I could do... and things were just squeezing my very existence... when my moments were no more.... and that when i were to finally jump into the well out of desperation... things would begin to turn my tide......

Through the toughest of my times... whenever i felt low... i would think i've reached the lowest of lows... and that there was no way things could ever become worse.... and that things would only go on to be the better... but then... i would be proved wrong... with something worse happening... and things just beginning to hound me more and more..... the most difficult thing to do in life is to be in love... and to live in denial... to live for others... and forget to live for yourself....

I just wish that these clouds would clear... and show me where i am meant to be....and when this endless trenches of lows would clear to take me up to where I believe I belong... All the time i keep wishing for better and better... only to seem to be moving further away from it....

But believe me.... over all these trenches... it sure has pushed me to become a better person.... I sure hope it does... atleast it's made me stronger....a different person... i'm becoming emotionally stronger... facing more and more things i wish I never did wanna see... and never face.....

All my life... I've lived to make those around me feel worthy of knowing me... and doing everything i could to make the ones around me... the ones i love... my friends.... be happy... just plain happiness...with all that I had in my power... hoping ppl would be around when i needed them the most.... but then i lose... always do....

And yes... the romantic in me... never say die... never say over to love.... that's something i've never been able to do... Always believe that true love... will overcome anything and everything in it's way! And have never been able to give up!! But now... I wonder if this whole concept of love... is just a humbug! Created by Archies and Hallmark to enable them to do their business! I sure do hope that it aint true... coz my heart tells me it's out there... my head tells me otherwise...

I just need to move on... Walk on... and become the person I know I am destined to be... With or without true love.... Life.... to take on...

Lady Destiny Teasing... Or Human Mind Reeling...

2008-05-12T13:01:00.002+05:30

There are times when I'm totally down that I look for signs... Signs that tell me that things are going to be better... or that I'm doing the right thing... Or I shouldn't be doing something... These things may appear in the vaguest of forms right from a bell ringing somewhere or some good news coming from the most unexpected of quarters... Or some vague reference of me coming from whom I want it to come....

What are these things? Is it just the human mind playing mind games and interpreting these actions to suit the situation or what we want to believe? Or is there something more to it and is it destiny's way of telling us to pick up out knapsack and go on with what we were doing and not give up?

I'd like to think the latter as these are things that give me the strength to go on in desperate situations... Times when there's nothing that looks good and I feel that all I do or think is going in vain and the only thing that seems to be improving is the number of gray hair on my head... (Yes, I do have a few... but you have to look intently to find them). So when I feel that its pointless to go on and all I've done is in vain, when something small happens, it spurs me to go on for two reasons:

I'm pretty sure that's what I want and so the lightest nudge can set me back on course.
I feel its a sign that I should go on and give this fight everything I have right to the last bit of energy and effort... and last black hair on my head... Come on we have very healthy dies available in the market today!

And hence the race to the finish continues... The finish that ushers in a new life... A life I've been patiently waiting for... Praying for... Day in and out... Thinking of... Trying to will to happen... The life at the end of the horizon!

Change - The only Constant

2008-05-05T18:12:00.002+05:30

Hiya... Its been a while since I got anything up here.... After logging back in here, I went through all my posts and the dates and I found a trend - Most of my posts have been after some major change in my life. This has led me to conclude that blogging is something I do to manage the inertia that comes with any change....

Which naturally brings you to the question - What now? Yes, life is changing - I am getting braced for the next phase of my life.... one that I have been wanting to do all my life - My Management Degree. That's been on my agenda all my life and its finally here. I have an admit to the Asian Institute of Management in Manila, Philippines and I will be accepting the admit. So, that would effectively mean that I leave India in August. This is the change that I am getting my mind to accept but it means more to me than just moving out of the country.

It means me leaving the country and my future would be left into the hands of destiny. All my life, I tried to keep the things that matter most to me well planned and take hold of those things from the hands of destiny. But here I am leaving everything into the hands of fate and putting my faith into divine custody. It disturbs me to a large extent that I have to say goodbye to the very reason I make the change I need in my life. Things have started moving and I hold on to the railings I imagine around me to not sway with the motion. And when it becomes surprisingly turbulent and I don't find what I am looking for, I lose my balance and feel all alone. Those are the times I tend to wish I had the life I wanted without this struggle.

But again, I am constantly reminded that if we were to get what we want the most on a silver platter, then it would lose its sheen. And again, if everything were to go the way I want after this very turbulent journey, I would always remember the journey and would be glad I hung on strong and faced the worst as everything can only get better......

Too much of anything bitter???

2007-12-21T07:17:00.000+05:30

You know the sensation on our tongue when we've had too many sweets or too many chocolates. Gives you the feeling that you don't want to put even a lil more of that into your mouth. Gets bitter? Similarly many other things.... When you do too much of work, too much of travelling, too much of talking, too much of walking, too much sleeping, or too much of anything... We always land up saying that we're sick and tired of doing that thing....

So here comes my question.....

"Does too much of love turn bitter"? When someone loves you over the moon! And takes care of you to his or her last breath, does love get bitter and do you lose interest? Question to be pondered upon.... Aren't there many of us out there who would just be praying that we have someone to love us and care for us all the time?

When you begin to notice... rather than just look

2007-11-30T17:29:00.000+05:30

You know there's this sudden phase in your life... When you feel so uncomfortable and uneasy.... Not knowing what exactly is wrong.... But you do know that there is something wrong.... This phase in which your mobile never rings!

Yes, over the past few days, my mobile hardly ever rings or beeps or does anything at all... And there are certain times when I do feel awkward... Keep taking my phone to check if anyone has messaged me or has tried to call me and I haven't picked up... Stuff like that.... But much later... as I actually walk around the place... I find that there are so many things I want to think off... there are so many thoughts that need clarity... and so many things that come to your attention... Right from the time I walk out of my house in the morning... I tend to look at things with more detail. I see that the area I live in is a nice area... there seem to be a lot of nice people around, I see that Chennai has got a lot of new buses and is started to look brighter... The roads have changed drastically over the past few years and the drive on OMR actually feels so "Non-Chennai".

At work, I begin to notice that there are a lot of nice people around me and that when I leave, I will miss this place. All the things that I have taken for granted, now has so much more meaning to me! I relish all the moments I spent here... For however many different organizations I may work in as part of my career, Infosys will always be my first company... my first job... my first set of "work-friends". And, for sure I have had one hell of a journey from the first day I joined for work with Infy.

June 19th 2006 : The day it all began. My folks dropped me at Infosys Mysore. I was so over-whelmed with the mere size and look of the campus. I felt like I was in a different country - what with the perfect landscaping, roads and other facilities. I hardly knew anyone for the first week or so.... Just a few people from college, who I was never close to earlier... But now that I didn't know anyone, was moving with them.... But as my training began, within the first one week, I realised I had found an amazing set of friends and I would never be lonely in this campus... The campus was so beautiful, especially in those evening times. It would look so romantic, and I would wish I had a girlfriend with me at that place. It sure would have been the best thing! But then, being without one sure does have its advantages too! :) And as days went by, I realised that I loved the place and it was so much fun, despite the hectic schedules... We had to study for hours and had exams every other day. It became so much a part of life and we were always on our feet... But we found all the time we needed to have our fun.. I liked the place so much that I decided to stay on in Mysore. And so I was posted in Mysore.

The house hunt at Mysore: Not exactly a mouse hunt... but it sure was a comic story of sorts. I decided to stay with another two of my friends from my training batch in a house. We began hunting for houses. Wherever we went, we carried this tag of being an Infoscion - which to us meant pride, but to the locals meant "rich". So basically there was an immediate 50% hike in the rate of anything if we didn't know the local language, or even worse if we had our Infy ID card clipped on! But despite all this, we found the place to me cheaper than Chennai as Mysore isn't all that big a place. We found a wonderful 3 bedroom appartment, which must have been among the poshest that Mysore could offer. I loved the place the moment I saw it. The owner was ok with us being "bachelors". Do they expect us to get married just to find a house!! :) Marriage isn't that simple is it? Anyways, we had to find a place before the end of that day, as it was our last day that we had accomodation on campus. So we paid this guy the advance and packed our bags. Sometime around 6 in the evening, we take our bags and go over to the appartment complex. As we move our luggage(we had a lot of it) upstairs, we see the secretary of the building and other "association" members stand in front of our appartment refusing to let us get into the appartment! It seems they have some rule in that building stating that bachelors would not be allowed! Well here it begins again.... The marriage game! For Christ's sake... weren't these people unmarried at any time... Or were they born married to someone! We tried doing out bit at negotiating but nothing worked. These people even refused to let us stay there for a night. We finally convinced them to take care of our luggage. So we were stranded without a place to stay.... Walking around trying to figure out what to do! The next day we spoke to this owner and he threw a fit saying he would take the association to court and stuff like that... All we wanted was a place to stay.... And then he tells us that we could stay in another 2 bedroom appartment of his for a few days till he sorts out this problem he had.... So we move to another appartment.... This was much cheaper... was a new appartment... We liked this a lot too... More so as it was more economical... We spent little short of one month in this appartment before the people in the building always seemed to have a problem with everything we did... Right into the amount of water we were using for a bath! So we searched for other places and finally found an independent house with 3 bedrooms that was far cheaper than this place..... We moved... and that was where we stayed henceforth... The things we did at this place... All the noise we made disturbed no one... The late nights on our own terrace.... The small home-made parties.... Was one hell of an amazing life... Add to that, the fact that I was on bench( for not IT people: without a project - jobless with pay), and this was a honeymoon period of my life... Was getting paid good money, without doing any real work! I watched so many movies, went to so many restaurants... and basically had a ball of a time!

Back to Chennai: By this time, my life had changed in many ways....For reasons very important to me, I had to get back to Chennai. It brought back memories from the past... and drove me towards my future... This city would always be home to me... Would always welcome me and keep me smiling.... The first few weeks after I returned, I found things very difficult. For one, I was put into a project right at the beginning.... Moreover I had to stay late hours at office... It was like a total shift for me.... Apart from that the climate was getting to me... It was boiling upwards of 30 degrees on the mercury and I found it difficult stepping outdoors even for a few minutes. Apart from these differences, I found that my circle of friends had shrunk drastically.... All the people I once knew were in different parts of the world or busy with their lives.... At this point, I came to understand what many of my older friends had told me. Once you begin to work, your circle closes in... and then you choose to spend the free time you have wisely with the people whose company you enjoy the most... And hence the circle closes in and at times you feel like you're really getting older and older.. It becomes more difficult to meet new people and make new friends... And so you got to hold on to your existing friends!! Damn... life for sure is one viscious circle!

Today: I'm back in Chennai..... feeling pretty lonely... Lots of things happening in life that I don't understand... Its like a repeat of things I dint wanna ever be a part of again... And it makes me think of what I'm doing with my life and my decisions. Am I just being stupid and stuck somewhere in a dream? When will i get down. But as I keep moving away/towards the truth, I begin to notice a lot more of the things around me. Everything has an essence and all the happenings around become highlighted. Is this an indication of reality hitting me? That I don't know.... Will have to wait and watch how things go over the next few months or possibly over the next few years.... But trust for sure is getting wiped out... going with the wind... and a few silly actions that I can only blame on immaturity. And I forgive... Is it because I am weak... or is it because I am caring and loving? Whatever the answer is, it makes me look bad... And all this while I never did care coz I thought all the lil things I did would be noticed and I would be cared and loved for. Now, I'm having second thoughts. And I did not bring it on..... Wonder where this road's gonna leave me over the next few months. I just hope I do the right thing....

Cornered.....

2007-10-25T02:43:00.000+05:30

You know there's this phase of your life when all the things that matter most to you come crashing onto you at the same time.....And you don't know how to handle things...Even if you know how to handle... you really don't know what you're supposed to be looking at first!! When things come hitting you really hard.... and at the most crucial phase of your life....

Maybe I look at things differently... but however I try to look at it in any other way... I am not able to really comprehend the situation... Is it so difficult to give up a few things in life for the person you love?? Always gonna be a question mark.... I've always known what are the important things in life... and have been able to put aside a few things to go on with the more important things... But when you don't see that happening around you... I guess you just feel that the fire has died down... That fire that came out of understanding a world without the person you care for from inside... That fire that would take you into a different realm... When that dies down... Ppl think that they are invincible and take a lot of things for granted... But what to do... I don't seem to know how to handle any of this.... It hurts and pains to see the way things are happening in front of my life... but then like I always believe its taken two hands to clap... And i don't see a probable and possible life without the person I love... And for sure, life has become a lot simpler and easier when the person you love is around you.... But at what cost... Being humiliated??? In a very subtle way off course... but humiliation is humiliation....

And apart from this so many other things hitting onto me really hard.... My future... Where I'm gonna be a few years down the line... how i'm gonna be able to support my family without my father or family's help... Always wanted to be someone independently and not just fall back to what has landed upon me.. That could just be a cushion or a pillow... But its us who have gotta find a life for ourself... But when all of these different things come and hit you at the same time... you're handicapped... and feel like leaving everything and just lying down without any hope or belief in anything.....

And at this stage when you feel the support you had was falling... And you try to look around for a life that can make you feel like you mean something in it... Maybe its life's way of telling me to do something... Just wish I'd know what it was that I'm supposed to be doing... Coz i really don't understand now... I'm clear with what I want... But am not sure of how to get there.... And desperation is leading me to give up on certain core values I believe in... I guess I have to start planning the way I survive or live through this... Its time I start being selfish and think of myself... Just don't know whether I can survive this holocaust or am I being deceived... And whether this is what I want for myself..... I need help... need my friends... need to be understood .... Don't know if i wanna just run away from everything... And i have never been able to issue an ultimatum... I see hope for myself only with my family.... I think that's the way I'm gonna look... because... family is never ever gonna turn its back on me despite what I do or say.... When the time comes to say goodbye and part... will I be able to do that without anyone else in my life??? Without anything... without a pillar or without a hand to hold me...That's scaring me more and more as the days go by.... And the love of my life... seems to be very certain bout certain things in her life... and so its just me being unsure... and me fighting this battle all alone....Just me and the rest of the world.... Where is my army... Where is my general? Am i totally cornered???

A diary re-opened: Times of need

2007-09-14T14:30:00.000+05:30

You know how it is to open a diary which you left hidden in the deepest of closets thinking you never need it again....

Why never need it again?? Because you felt that a person was there to share everything and nothing ever be private and emotions and trust ruled over the intimacy in your lives. Why let out all feelings and happenings outside of this bond... And so this diary - my blog remained closed over the past months.

Its open again.... And why? There are many questions and even more probable answers. But in the end, the story ends with trust....

What exactly is love and trust? Love has this peculiar ability to lock all other feelings and emotions somewhere far away and blind you to the different colours around... It shows you what it wants you to see, it makes you feel what it wants you to feel... and basically builds a fantasy world around you.... But is this just love.... Maybe love goes beyond.... What happens when over a period of time, the person you look into is not just the bright colours and you begin to look beyond.... This is where trust comes into the picture.... Love exists wrapped around trust and they go on together to take one far away into new horizons....That's how we see couples married together for years and still so much into each other...

But what happens when trust is shattered... And hell breaks loose... Emotions cloud judgement... Decisions seemingly rational at that time look lame at another point.... And then the skies begin to come down.... To thrust upon us an agony and pain that can never be felt other-wise. No cures, no way out.... Just locked into the pain... the realisation that this could be an endless tunnel and there will never be any light.....

Words flowing without a slight thought.... Double-edged swords... Not leaving the smallest of space to hold on to one's breath.... Anger does off course bring out the worst of one's vocabulary and one's mind... But when things are said that are far into questioning one's honesty and one's faithfulness.... Is this a way of trying not to feel guilty... finding flaws in the other person.... just to close your eyes to the mistakes we commit....

Judgement clouded, mind forcefully pushing those droplets out of vision.... thus blinding every sensory perception.... Availabilty making the core of the relationship.... the further you are the closer you are... When you are exclusive... things go to the border of being taken for granted... and the respect you need no longer is available...

Forgiveness is misunderstood for weakness and tears are misunderstood for lack of sexuality... What is the world coming to? Is true romance dead? Is true love a misconception? Is there no hope for sacrifice in this world anymore.....

A bouquet of red roses - Does it actually mean anything to the girls of today?
Going out of the way to help - Is that what is expected in a relationship? How about some appreciation?
Making a sacrifice - Does that mean the person's supposed to do all of that to show he/she's in love?

Where did the days of just forgiving, forgetting, kissing and making up go? When did the age of punishment in relationships start? When did making a small mistake go all the way to the point of bringing in fear and insecurity into a relationship....

Flaws which normally hidden by smiles and love.... shine bright in times of trouble... And how things are managed then make for a good foundation in a relationship.... bailing out every time there's a problem isn't the only solution.... Where did understanding go? Where did care, sympathy go?

All over and over... thoughts flow through my head... and my etchings could decorate the Great Wall of China.... but i'm gonna take a break now.... Need to do something to cleanse my thoughts.... Probably gonna knock a few years of my age...Try to change into someone I am not!!
Well people who know me well are gonna be saying, he always says this, but never does change... And i stand by that... I will not change... thought i am going to make an effort.... I cannot be this person who doesn't make sacrifices in the name of love... who tries to do things to make every moment special.... Now, if prayers are to be answered and if things are gonna work.... I will look up and smile.... waiting to see what god has in store for me....

A new Chapter.... A new beginning

2007-07-18T15:00:00.000+05:30

Its been ages since I got down to filling anything here... But now I feel I have to describe my life as it has changed drastically.

Mysore - A life totally unparalleled by any other phase of my life! Being left with all the time in the world, giving my mind space to think about anything and everything. Movies, Games, TV, eating out, etc etc... that's all I ever did in Mysore... I was getting a salary, but didn't really have anything big to do to justify all of that. Almost a year of sitting idle doing nothing but enjoying my life. But one fine day, I decide to get back to Chennai, get back for the sake of love, for the sake of getting back with old friends, for the sake of a new life.

Chennai - I get here to be assigned a project right from the day I arrive. Within a week I was working about 10 hours a day. I hardly had the time for any of the stuff I was so used to. And in another week, I was working 12 hours a day. Off course, atleast the project I got into wasn't the kind of stuff I detested, but rather more to do with being able to communicate with people and co-ordinate with people. So that calls for some consolation. But the person I got here for has been so busy that we actually hardly get time to be with each other or speak to each other. But despite the busy lives we have, I feel we have got to be so much closer and our relationship has gone to a totally new level.

One decision - And life can change beyond imagination. Who would think, I, of all people would sit in office for 12 hours a day! I find it difficult to believe, but yes its true. And the best part is, its not as bad as I thought it would be. Off course I found it difficult in the beginning - the heat, the working hours, getting up early in the morning, getting back late, not being able to watch at least a movie a day and so many other things! But now its fine, I have something to keep my mind occupied and it isn't running wild with crazy ideas. I am more confident of who I am. I am trying to be a role model for the people around me. Holding on to a few of my emotions which other wise weren't really helping me!

Change - Takes time to set in... but for sure is inevitable. I'm hoping sooner than later, I get to be able to take the next big step in my life. I know what I want and I'm hoping it happens pretty soon. I just realised I'm all ready to take the big step.

Where are you, my angel?

2007-04-27T02:40:00.000+05:30

How very hurting can life get? When all the things you stood strong for… you believed in… and loved… came crashing on you from all sides… When all the pillars and supporting material caved in… When you just had to hold on to only yourself… when the little bit of happiness you found and tried to give just came back hitting you hard realizing that you are just a mere mortal… a mere human being… When you sacrifice just for love… When you are willing to do all to keep the flame burning… even with the wind and the rain just fighting with each other to take your flame away… And they leave you alone only when they realize that they’re going to have to take you first before they can go anywhere near the light your flame shines….

Dejection can just be an understatement and life can just be so different from what you try to understand of it. Where tears no more mean anything… and when feelings don’t help in getting you where you want. Helplessness just feeding more pain into the open wounds… when you feel that there is nothing that you want more, than to just live… To just be given a way to live… just a way to breathe… just a way to try to understand… just someone to believe in…. to have faith in something… to be able to see beyond the small trees… to be able to fly with the birds… to be able to fall asleep on the clouds….

I know there’s someone up there listening to me as I plead… or do I convince myself there is someone…. I know there’s something in this life for me… but can’t it just be what I want and can’t it just be made into something simpler…. How can words come out to mean something? How can words ever be enough to make someone understand the things you want and the things you feel? What can be given and what can be said… Someone has got to help out here… If there’s my angel listening somewhere… Please show me the way… I don’t even need a hand…. I just need the light.

Confused??

2007-03-28T20:54:00.000+05:30

Ever been through dat phase of ure life where you don't know wat's gonna happen and wat lies ahead.... I repeatedly seem to be passing through this phase... And as I grow older I have realised that its left to me to be able to handle it... I am seemingly more and more alone when I think. When I first finished school and I had to get into a good college, off course I was nervous and tensed... but more because I wanted to live up to my parents expectations and stuff like dat.... I just worked and let my parents worry for me..... I did get into a good college... Then I was again in this phase when I was finishing college...Worrying about what to do next... and this time it was more on my shoulders... My parents were there for support, but deep down inside me I knew that it had to be my decision and I had to decide what I wanted to do with my life......It was difficult... i was not used to handling all that pressure.... But then I got through and today I am working for a very good company.... though i really don't know if I'm enjoying my job today.... (Will get down to that in some other post probably)...

Today i am again worried about where things are going... Have again come to another cross-road... Don't know which direction I have to take. So much pressure and this time I feel like I'm all alone... There are so many things that I cannot speak to them about at this moment...
I don't know what is gonna happen few years down the line... Where am I gonna be.... I have to study further... That i know for sure...But I've always been responsible only for myself....Now, I also am responsible for this person whose so special and means so much to me in my life!! Its up to me to be courageous for the two of us... We both know how we want life to be for us and we're sure we want to be together... but its upto me now to handle things the way it should be... think ten times before taking a small step... and step by step... gotta reach where we want to be...Want the rest of our lives to be perfect for us... So this is going to take a lot of thinking and planning... This time its mostly that I'm alone thinking and working things out... Off course she's there with me to support me and prod me on.... but have always thought of her as my lil kid.... Don't want to put too much pressure on her... she wouldn't be able to take it.... And in the midst of all this get so many things running in my head and sometimes I begin to think that life isn't being fair to me.... I know i'm being selfish and stupid thinking like that... For instance... Life showed me the path to her... and that is something that has made everything so perfect for me... Opened my eyes to a whole new dimension of loving and caring.... I just want everything to be perfect for us...

I just hope that everything goes on for the best and I'm able to convince everyone around me... atleast the people who need to be convinced; that this is how life should be and this is how I want to live my life... And if they really do want me to be happy, then this is what they need to do for me! Back at the cross-roads.... Too many directions and too few choices.....

But despite all the braveness I try to portray... Something in me has cracked and the strong wall I built around me sometime back is trying to fall.... Need help rebuilding it... Just want to be strong so badly and I always land up breaking up.... Not used to all this pressure.... I have to study also... Coz where I am now is not enough... I have to be in a position to be able to be well placed in life.... To give my family all that we need... Should not have to depend on my parents for all of this....

Making our Paradise

2007-03-14T02:49:00.000+05:30

Would you be there to smile at me every day,
Would we be together to see the sun everyday.
Would you choose to go with your heart.
Or would you rather say goodbye and part?

Would you rather leave behind all the thoughts?
Or would you like to stay to build those thoughts?
Would you rather feel my hands slipping away?
Or would you rather hold them through the sway?

All I want to do is hold you all my life,
I can’t even think of another way.
I wouldn’t know where to hold on,
I wouldn’t be able to go too long.

I’d be totally beaten back,
Not able to find the track.
I need to know if love is pain,
Or whether its there to cover the rain.

All these tears are not just in vain,
I know there’s someone watching me in pain.
And love would be a prayer I have sent,
A life with you I’d never resent.

Would you ever feel the way I feel?
Would you ever hold me as I sleep.
Would we get to be in our dream,
Or is it going to fade away with the sleep?

Will your voice always echo in my ear?
Or is it going to take me into fear?
Every second moving closer to the fence,
Hanging on to our every last defense.

Together we will recreate the meaning of love,
Together we will hold onto all that we’re there for.
Paint the picture that we’re meant to draw,
All our colours bringing to fade everything around.

This is what is meant to be,
Don’t know how you cannot see.
Take all the courage you have,
To make this all our very own paradise.

Movie Crazy Tamil Nadu

2007-03-12T03:08:00.000+05:30

All over the world, movies influence people and also inculcate in them a myriad of reactions and feelings. But nowhere in the world can movies actually have an impact on people than in Tamil Nadu. This can be endorsed by the fact that all the politicians who are someone in this state have all been from the film world and each one’s vote bank has been nurtured and brought up on the basis of different movies. Our people don’t just watch a movie to take time of from their busy schedule but rather movies are a part and parcel of their schedule. Queues stretching as far as ones eyes go to get a ticket for a movie on the first day is a very common sight in Chennai. In the beginning, I used to wonder why people would stand in such long queues to get a ticket on the first day, or even going to the level of buying a ticket in the “black”, when you could come back to see the very same movie about a week or even a month later very comfortably. But after I stayed in Chennai for a few years I understood that this was practically drilled into us. We were forced by society and the general public into doing being there to watch a movie on the first day. Maybe, this could be another form of social pressure or even “peer” pressure, if I may be allowed to use this term. My friends would get excited just at the thought of a movie that was going to be released even a year later. They would go to any levels to be the first to get some little bit of information on the movie, something that others didn’t know. Why? Because everyone is interested and there are hardly a handful of Tamilians who would not flutter an eye-lid when a Rajinikanth starrer or Kamal-Hassan starrer was to release!

Rajinikanth movies are really something in Tamil Nadu. A first day show of a Rajinikanth movie could cost anywhere between Rs.500 – Rs.1000 in the black, as you can be pretty sure that you wouldn’t be able to get a ticket at the counter (Blame it on the fan clubs or the influence of people with the theatre owners). So if you were just a commoner, you would have to probably buy a ticket for this cost. And there are so many people who would do anything to lay their hands on this ticket. People who hardly make enough money for a living and to support their family would be willing to spend so much money to get their hands on a ticket to their “Thalaivar’s” film!

Leaving aside the monetary factor, a movie release is more celebrated as a festival here in Tamil Nadu. With people bursting crackers, sticking posters and hanging streamers all over the towns and cities, a movie release gives people a more “understood” common reason to celebrate. It is very common to see people dancing and screaming out at theatres vehemently sure that their “demi-god” on screen can here what they have to say and will appreciate them for their loyalty and antics. Fans turn into political parties and fans turn into MLAs (ministers in the state assembly). This is how “loyalty” is rewarded in our political system (which also includes the film industry). Very simply put, there is a very thin line that divides our political system from our film industry. This line can choose to appear when it is needed and also disappear when it is not needed.

So how should our film-makers act knowing and understanding the prevailing situation. They know that every action our superstar performs on screen is going to be imitated by thousands and many are going to live the character their star plays on screen. So here comes the million-dollar question – Are our movie makers being responsible and taking movies understanding the sentiments of our people. This is highly debatable, but I choose to say that there are very few film-makers who make a movie responsibly. I understand that people are expected to act in an independent manner and are supposed to be able to think for themselves, but are our people thinking for themselves? A small illustration to drive home the above fact is smoking on-screen. Yes, I agree it does look stylish to see an actor blowing smoke in different shapes, but I personally do know many people who have taken to smoking because they have seen their favourite actor do so on screen. This is just a small illustration of the on-going situation. Movie-makers are taken away by commercial aspects of movies and resort to taking ugly scenes (like badly taken rape scenes) in order to bring crowds into the halls. They even work their way through the censor board to justify such scenes in our movies. Maybe our film-makers should concentrate more on spreading messages through their films to create social awareness on a host of reasons. You could very well argue that this would lead to boring films and “documentary-like” films, but I beg to differ. There was a certain movie in which comedian Vivek focused all of his comedy scenes in the movie on trying to make people understand that many of their customary practices were mostly without rationale. The comedy track was appreciated and enjoyed by all at the same time trying to tell people to think of many of the practices they were following just because their fore-fathers told them to do so!

Only in Tamil Nadu, can a movie be the cause of calling an assembly session, the cost of a movie ticket be cause of state-wide headlines and feuds between fans extend beyond to reach political heights. Only in Tamil Nadu, can actors take on politicians openly in the public, can actors run a three-hour advertisement for himself to create an entry point into his political career and most amusingly can an actor copyright his on-screen behavioral patterns. This is the state where real life isn’t portrayed in movies, but rather scenes from movies and dialogues reflect on a person’s behavioral habits and character. Drama extends to reality and reality rises beyond the galaxy creating super stars who go even beyond to hold the reins of power.