Tipping point

Well, this is not a review of 'Tipping point' book which everybody might have assumed by now. I always think about the 'tip system' as something which has been forcefully imposed on the society. Why one needs to tip a waiter for his service. From what I understand that is exactly why he gets paid by the restaurant.

I had discussion with my roommates regarding the same. Interestingly we came up with some of our own reasons about why and how 'tip system' started at the first place. Here are some of them:

1) Waiters don't get paid well. So that is why customers decided to pay them with gratitude.
2) Customers always look for some kind of royal service on their tables. So it was not a diffcult plan to come up with paying some extra money to waiter and expect some special service from him.
3) Customers wanted to impress their dinner/lunch buddies so they paid more than expected to prove how human they are.

This 'tip system' has now currently gone out of control and restaurants proudly print on their menus in bold letters to remind customers than if the group is more than 6 ppl then 15% of tip would automatically be added to the bill. Now that is insane !!!!

My Photos

Now that I have a good collection of photos, its right time to post it on blog.

Rang De Basanti

Well, the vedict out there is pretty good. And fortunately, I agree to the bollywood verdict after a long time. I happen to see this movie on the first day of release. I can say this comfortably that RDB is one of the most experimented projects in Indian cinema. I consider this movie in the same league of Lagaan. Its not surprising that Aamir leads in this movie. The impressive thing for me was that Aamir is one of the characters in the movie and the script is so strong that it doesn't revolve aroud him. Rahman is always likeable. The message of the movie is pretty clear. We should have such movies very often. If I were in place of Rayesh Mehra I would have changed the ending and replaced it with a happy one. The catchy name, attractive colors of the movie and ofcourse the script revolving around the current youth seems to me the recipe for success in current bollywood.

Just Like That

I am impressed !!! This is the best blonde joke ever !!!

Five point someone

After hearing some good reviews about the book, I finally bought it in India. One of the reasons of its popularity, I feel, is its cost i.e. 95 Rs. The book is easily accessible to people of the country where most of the books are read by downloading and printing the content for free. Conceptually it is a 'Dil Chahta Hai' version in book format. The actions that 3 characters (protagonists) take in this book will land them in big shit even if they do not belong to IIT. So that brings me to another conclusion for the book's success i.e. readers are happy to know that IItians are normal people just like us. Another good thing about the book is its title which makes buyers take notice of it. Characters are well-defined and their contrast nature is appreciable. So what you take home after reading the book: some of your college memories and a good message: its OK to screw life up until you are a student, then you might not get another chance :-). To become old and wise, one should act young and stupid.

Welcome bloggers!!!

Its high time that I edit the bloglinks I visit frequently. I am glad to add links of my good friends' blogs. Welcome Nilesh and Deepa!!! Well, Nilesh is not a new blogger but knowing that Deepa also blogs motivated me to add these people and create a network of our college grp, the wish that finally came true. Its really nice to know that Mumbaikars also blog as opposed to Punekars who blog about anything and everything!!!
Nilesh, are you listening?

Who am I, I am a New Yorker

Just happened to had a great blast last week. I spent about 6-7 days in New York: economic capital of the world. Ok, I was trying to make a big deal out of it, my apologies !!! So what did I see: Empire state building, Times square, Intrepid museum, cruise around statue of liberty, American museum of Natural history, Museum of Modern Arts, Central Park, Rockefeller Centre, St. Patrick's church, Ground Zero, Wall street, brooklyn bridge, Madison Square Garden and of course subways. I used to travel about 6-8 miles per day in Manhattan just to feel NY air.

Here are some of my interesting observations:

1) NY is a morning city. Most ppl work from 7am - 4pm. The peak hours in trains are from 6am-8am. I was really surprised by it.

2) If you are visiting as a tourist make sure you rise early and make to places before 4pm.

3) Travelling by subways is pretty cheap and you can travel any distance with the same fare.

4) The skyscrapers will blow your minds off. Every brand name that you have heard will have it s headquarters in NY (ok, I am jumping the line again)

5) Best part for me was 2-hr afternoon walk in Center Park.

One thing that I would like to suggest is visit as many places as you can, you will learn something and build memories from every place, Amen !!!!

India Trip

Well, where should I start? Reached India by flight, went home by van, took a ride on bike as a third seater and with the current electricity crisis in my home town, I could comfortably say that my trip was nothing short of 'Swades' film. But since EA is much strict than NASA (I guess, I cannot take 2-3mons of holidays) and absence of GF made me realise that 'genrating electricity' project would be a disaster.

Jokes apart, going back to your home after a long span of time is always a fulfilling experience. Its like coming back to your roots. I was lucky enough to meet most of my school friends, BE friends, attend my friends' wedding and get my H1 visa stamped. My religious trip and my novels collection were the other highlights.

Here are some of 'stuck-in-my-mind' observations:

1) First thing that strikes you is 5-hr power cut under the name of 'load shedding'. No comments..except that i avoided wearing any t-shirt at home at any cost, by that, I mean even in the presence of relatives who would come to see US return kid, who is supposed to be looking sophisticated and well-dressed.

2) Most of my friends are planning to move either in Mumbai district or move as far as possible from Mumbai (Pune, Blore etc). One can also sense responsibility on their faces: parents, home, money and ofcourse their life partner.

3) Many of them are fed up with company politics and their workstyle. But changing companies doesn't seem to be the best solution as all companies work in the similar fashion. Key seems to work in a MNC or a US based company.

4) Population seems like a problem which would not be solved during my lifetime. I am happy that people don't kill each other to get a window seat in local trains. Thanks to companies who have started bus services for their employees.

And above all, I feel due to the above-mentioned factors people lack passion. For they have to think about survival,which is a logical approach for any mumbaikar as he has to struggle a lot for basic necessities like electricity, water, home and commute. I am pretty sure very few might be appreciating their lives and happy to be alive. Very few would be dreaming about taking 2-week off and going to Agra for a Taj-Mahal visit. And whom should we blame for that !!!!

I must admit its easy to comment on these factors by sitting in bay area, but one must remember that we are not getting any younger !!!!

Triumph of the Nerds

Its a documentary ran by some TV channel. My manager mentioned it to me and in fact he made a copy for me. Its about how software geeks took over the world and how the whole software industry began accidently in garages where teenager geeks worked hard just to impress their friends. It gave me kind of an insight about how it all began and who all were responsible for it. Most impressive person you would see in the video would be Steve Jobs and impressive innovating company would be XEROX research center in Palo Alto.

Its a very good documentary. Try to get hold of it. I also heard about its sequel which talks about the internet technology and its emergence. Hmm time to find the video now...

Catcher in the rye

Read another book which is also considered as a part of the classic league. The book is very different from all other books that I have read so far. It talks about a guy and his struggle with the world. But here the boy is a pyscho and the story seems like his personal diary. The good part of the book is that it gives an alltogether different outlook towards worldy activities. I cannot say for sure about entertainment value of the book except that its different....if that means anything to you !!!

To Kill a Mocking Bird

There are some books about which one cannot and does not want to write anything else but praise. This book is precisely ons of those. I truly agree with other fellow readers that its a classic. And I strongly recommend everybody to read it atleast once. The book being published in 1950s is a timeless creation and Harper Lee [author] still considers it as just a simple love story.

The book mainly describes about children growing up and their dynamic thought process during those changing times. It describes about a man who stands for his principles. It describes about a village which is good at heart but follow all the old traditional idiosyncrasies. It describes about how everything falls at right places at time passes by. Its simplicity makes the book great. This books proves that simple story narration and innocence can improve the book quality by heaps and bounds. You do not need any complicated stories or situations to make a successfull book but a simple story from the heart. I would prefer it to be read as a part of curriculum for English graduation courework (or it might have already been done).

A guitarist

The bar was crowded, noise and wine flowing all the way
waiters and cleaners at their toes, at work it was just another day
every table one could see and hear, people involved in their own small worlds
mortgage, loan, rent and credit, nothing else was their worth

raising voices, emoting faces, one can sense the tension
rising temperature, gulping glasses, happy were they none
the podium lights up, people pay no heed
a jacket, jeans and cowboy hat arrives, with his guitar and strings

out came a divine music, fingers to guitar as his rest
faces turned at every table, silence was at its very best
played the player face down, he became irresistable
even deaf cleaner could hear him, his music was visible

forgot the worries everybody had, felt like existing in different world
where sun don't have to hide, for moon to rise and shine
Stepped he out after an hour or so, audience did not believe him
bowed he and left in silence, audience could not digest him

audience of that day, came day after day
helpless addicted were they, music which was trip to far far away
realised they after few years, existed never the guitarist
before and after the show, unknown was he to everybody
believed they him a glimpse of divine, earth on stepped he to teach
what is life all about and how to live it!!!

(A poem dedicated to myself on my 25th Bday, yeah !! u r right, I am so full of myself :-) )

My new Nephew

My vahini (Mallika) and cousin (Prasad) had a baby boy last week and here is my bro's interesting letter subjected "New Release":

" Our new product has been launched into this world! It was nine months in the making and was ready one day before the deadline. The CEO and CTO (Mallika and Prasad) are delighted by this cutting edge product. The main features of the product are feeding, sleeping and wetting diapers. However, by far the best feature is the cute smiles :)

You might have guessed the product by now! "Dhruv Deshpande" was born on July 15th at 1.59 pm at Santa Teresa Hospital. He was 6 lbs 10.6 Oz and 21 inches in length at birth. The name "Dhruv" means the North star and stands for someone who is steady and unchanging.

Mom and baby are healthy and recovering. Dad is enjoying playing with him. "

Where is Novelty?

So where do we stand today? One movie releases, along come related console games, cell phone games, music video, remixes, food drinks with movie brand and what not. Everybody wants to monetize on the existing idea prevailing the old profound theory of human mankind : work less, earn more.

And you will sense the height of the above theory when ppl declare that they are cashing on the old popular movies as well. Distinguished directors are planning to remake Don, Sholay. Game Industry is making games based on GodFather, JamesBond etc. Technology thus is used to ensure that an idea doesn't get wasted and everybody makes full use of it.

So the question to ask yourself is: where we stand today?

Piracy !!!

Onsite interview with Electronic Arts (EA)

EA techincal director: So do you have any questions for me?

Me: Yes, Why doesn't EA concentrate on Indian market as well and try to cash it by developing asian games?

EA techincal director (Without a blink, in lightning speed):

Because there are 3 (he said 3, precisely) reasons:

1) Indians have the habit of using pirated copies (out of 10 million copies of FiFa soccer game sold, only 5% were original copies)
2) Indians don't have the money power to play on different consoles like playstation, xbox which are the main sources of revenue as compared to PC games
3) We cannot shift the development to India because they would not be able to understand the american and european games.

I could see the frustation in his eyes. And I think the main reason is the first one: Piracy. Can we stop it for giving a bad name to us?

Comics

I had almost forgot about the comics till I saw the 'Sin City'. Sin City is a sincere attempt of bringing comics to the larger screen without any filmy element. Everybody would be having their own sweet memories reading comics during their childhood. But in this part of the world people never get old. They still are fanatic about the comic strips. I, myself, have started reading the comic strips back again.

My favourite comic is Asterix. The whole idea of Gauls fighting Romans, with due respect to magic potion, instigates my imagination. Almost all characters (especially Obelix) are funny. Their village setup, dressing sense, boar eating culture and other things attracts the reader's attention.

The main advantage of reading comic strips is that it is fun reading and ends in shorter time unlike novel where it has a single idea to present and takes about couple of days to finish. Comic strips are the visual retreat and takes you back to your childhood.

Addicted

Well, I think life was quite simple few years back. Right now I cannot imagine my life without my laptop and cell phone. Does new inventions and science make life simpler or more complicated? Everything is getting complicated under the name of the simplicity. You are made dependent to things that you never cared before. The companies might call it as 'determing the need of the market'. But I would like to call it as creating a new need (market) for the people (business).

In early days, OK wait !!! By early days I mean 4 - 5 years back. Man, generation gap is getting smaller and smaller. So in early days people never cared of maitaining communication with their knowns on day-to-day basis. But with the arrival of the cell phones you even call a person you have met in some hippie party some few yrs back. I know there are more pros than cons to the given situation and I am concentrating only to the cons, but still I feel i (as a human being) am being cheated !!!

Suppose if some family denies to buy a computer and cell phone, it will be looked upon as some naive tribal gang. There will be lot of pressure from the society. I know this all doesn't make true sense but still I want to make sure all type of ppl get along well in this world. Think about it ..

Man - a lazy animal

I heard a pretty interesting theory recently about philosophy i.e. man works very hard because he is very lazy. I know it doesn't make sense at first reading. But let me explain. With majority of the peoply, working hard means earning lots of money. Ppl work hard so that they can make lots of money so that they can retire at early age and chill for the remaining years of their lives. They want to reach that level of complacency asap where they need not care about money any more. And as we all know, except few countries, ppl all around the globe don't preach and don't follow the concept of 'savings'. So work hard to make sure you have enough money for your lifetime and get retired soon.

It is amusing, isn't it. So as lazy animals as we are, lets work hard....

Life in general

I always thought that once I get a job I would have enough time to enjoy. I guess I was wrong. Blogging has become a rare occasion for me. But some new interesting things also got interwingled with job. Eating food in restaurants all the time, getting cafenated, waking up early, sleeping early, staring computer about 16 hrs a day, thinking about the clothes that I shud wear, money management, working under pressure etc etc. Man !!! childhood was so damn cool and easy. Well the positive thing about job is that u have money to enjoy, independence to make decisions and lifestyle that u always craved for. But dreams never end.

I hate to be that 8am to 8pm guy with nothing else to do at home other than sleep. I guess every job-going person should start his day, week, month with a plan. For a change, living without a plan is also a good plan, but, not always !!! I would like to emphasize the idea of job as mentioned in one of the chain emails that I recieved sometime back: "If something bad happens and u happen to die, then who is the biggest loser -u, ur family and friends for not spending quality time with each other. Well, company will find a suitable replacement for u...."

what else do u want - cricket !!!

I have received this in email and could not get the source's information. But its funny especially for indians who love to see the pak lose the current cricket series....

Sehwag ki maa ko bulao,
Sachin ko Pepsi pilao,
Ganguly ko Chawanprash khilao,
Kaif ko Lays khilao,
Dravid ko Castrol pilao

Kaise bhi India ko jitao

Irade hai nek, hosle hai buland
kasam hai hindustan ki
phir wohi jalwa dikhaenge
rawalpindi express ko
local train banayenge

aaj ek ball aur khel lo
aaj ek bat aur pakad lo
aaj ek wicket aur le lo
aaj ek match aur jeet lo...

aaj bas aaj...

kya pata kal Pakistan ho na ho...