Random Meme

I was tagged by Poonam to do this! .. So here it goes..

1. Last movie you saw in a theater?
U, Me aur Hum (And you can read my most famous blog-post on the movie here)

2. What book are you reading?
The Concise Oxford History of Indian Business

3. Favorite board game?
Articulate (Loved playing it!)

4. Favorite magazine?
Business World!

5. Favorite smells?
Strange as it may sound, I used to love the smell of Petrol when I was a kid! Of late, I am not consciously “fond” of any particular smell..!

6. Favorite sounds?
Mark Knopfler’s Guitar picks! (Related read - 10 reasons why I like Mark Knopfler)

7. Worst feeling in the world?
Drowning!

8. What is the first thing you think of when you wake up?
Varies… I usually say my prayers before I get out of bed.

9. Favorite fast food place?
Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC!)

10. Future child’s name?
Haven’t really thought of it yet… but howz Nayantara?

11. Finish this statement. “If I had lot of money I’d….?
“If I had lot of money I’d build a BIG training institute to help people get jobs … oh, and maybe get myself a fancy car!”

12. Do you sleep with a stuffed animal?
Lol.. No..

13. Storms - cool or scary?
That depends on the magnitude of the storm, doesn’t it? … Mild storms are cool… Wild ones are scary!

14. Favorite drink?
Long Island Iced Tea!

15. Finish this statement, “If I had the time I would….”?
If I had the time I would try n lend it to those who need it more!

16. Do you eat the stems on broccoli?
If it’s served on my plate, I eat it!

17. If you could dye your hair any color, what would be your choice?
Naaaah…. nooo…

18. Name all the different cities/towns you’ve lived in?
Pretty much only one… Except for my 4 years of engineering!

19. Favorite sports to watch?
Cricket. Earlier, WWF!!

20. One nice thing about the person who sent this to you?
Poonam - a very passionate Blogger and always willing to help!

21. What’s under your bed?
Unused Linen, Blankets, Pillows… you get the idea, rite?!

22. Would you like to be born as yourself again?
No. Someone else. A different experience!

23. Morning person, or night owl?
Night Owl

24. Over easy, or sunny side up?
Sunny Side up! (Yummm… slurrp!!)

25. Favorite place to relax?
Living room..

26. Favorite pie?
Not a pie-lover!

27. Favorite ice cream flavor?
Chocolate!

28. Of all the people you tagged this to, who’s most likely to respond first?
Not applicable! Not tagging anyone.. coz most of the readers are already possibly tagged with this. But you’re most welcome to do the meme if you want to!

U, Me Aur HUM!

This is my first post in almost a month. Which is a BIG thing. Actually I have decided to blog only about things “worth mentioning” and it doesn’t get BIGGER than U, Me Aur Hum! (UMAH!). For the first time in my life (I’m quite an infrequent movie-goer.. but still!), I was staring up at the ceiling of the theater trying to figure out why there was a wet patch on the ceiling.

Let me warn you at the very onset that this post may make me sound like a cynic but that’s what a movie like UMAH is capable of - it can turn perfectly sane individuals into cynics. In fact, all aspiring mainstream Bollywood directors MUST watch the movie - How to LOSE a movie in under-10 minutes!! .. Besides, it will make them feel good about themselves - You can do better!! .. No Seriously, I have the highest regard for Ajay Devgan as an actor (Company, Legend of Bhagat Singh.. etc!), which is why I was extremely disappointed with his “directorial debut!” .. I mean, what was he thinking??… Or was he??!

The movie has CORNY written all over it in Big, bold and CAPITAL letters. You can predict almost every line, every action - especially in the first half. In fact, 15-20 minutes into the movie, I thought this was something like a comic-spoof on “Bollywood-flavored Romance” - the funny things people do to grab your attention and tickle you in the beginning of a movie… OR… I thought maybe the entire movie is a spoof - Like Om-Shanti-Om! - But then I realized, Heck.. No! … This IS the movie.. and the director actually MEANS what all he is saying. So it was NOT a Scary-Movie-Style take on Bollywood Love Stories!

The first-half of the movie was predictable. It made me tear my hair apart and would easily give one the impression that this was made in the early 90s and only released now! - Of course, Ajay Devgan is not as good with anachronism as William Shakespeare was! The Second half was boring, dull and like a lot of other directors today, Ajay Devgan tried to punch in some melodrama - If you can’t make ‘em laugh, let’s try making ‘em cry .. Again, failed miserably!

Oh, there’s this one bit in the movie that I have to share with you all.. There’s this scene where Ajay Devgan is upset about something and he comes home all depressed.. And his wife (Kajol) is in a romantic mood. So what she does, she starts singing a song and dancing. All that’s ok.. But the title of the song is: “Maine Toh Maanga Thha… Saheli Jaisa Saiyaan”…

Excuse Me??.. “Saheli Jaisa Saiyan??..”

“Saheli Jaisa??..”

(Ahem!)… “Saheli??”

Blogging for a Cause!

I finally seem to have put (whatever-little!) knowledge of blogging I have to some good use. I shall also be handling the “Elaan” blog @ http://elaan.wordpress.com

For those unaware of Elaan and my association with them, read this.

I would also like to urge anyone reading this to forward the link to friends who you think might be supportive of the idea.

Also.. my blog-buddies - Ishmeet, Ruhi, Poonam, Dinsan, Amit, Arvind, Ashish, Man of Roma .. & of course, ANY other bloggers reading this.. Treat this as a special request - You guys know that I usually do not “tag.” But this is for a cause. I would be insanely grateful to you guys if you can write about it even by way of a casual mention if not an entire post and link to the Elaan Blog. - The idea is to come out and SPEAK, SUPPORT and get this evil out of our system!

As usual, ideas / suggestions are heartily welcome!

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Related Links - Elaan - Media Coverage:

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070429/asp/7days/story_7710537.asp

http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/New-generation-new-causes/275919/

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=1cb28e5a-5c3c-46e3-98d8-7a4f104adb18

UnDebating @ UnConference

I attended my first UnConference at office today. Actually it was a series of UnConferences held at various locations. An initiative taken by the CKO and other Senior Management at the company - the event was a roaring success among employees at Kolkata in particular and all over in general.

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What is an Un-Conference?

“An unconference is a conference where the content of the sessions is created and managed by the participants (generally day-by-day during the course of the event) rather than by one or more organizers in advance of the event. Those coming to the event can post on a wiki ahead of time topics they want to present about or hope others will present about. The wiki can also be used as an attendee list.”

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Registration for the event was in “true unconference style” by updating a Wiki on a Shared Workspace. People spoke on a variety of topics… from Formula 1 to Business and Web 2.0 … from Software Testing to the Sub-Prime Mortgage crisis.. from Tagore & the Arts to Bollywood! This was obviously as part of the PassionSpeak event where one could speak on ANYTHING under the sun that he / she wanted to speak about! There was also a MovieMaker competition and a Debate to conclude the event!

Personally, there were 3 positives from the event:

1. I was a part of the team that won the debate: the topic was “Instant Messaging as a collaborative tool in the workplace reduces employee productivity” — and our team was asked to defend the topic! — We had a tough time preparing for it.. ‘coz we knew that the opponents were good.
2. The Event concluded with a Presentation by the CKO on Knowledge Management (KM), Collaborative Technologies and Blogging! - Our CKO himself is an avid blogger and Blogging Evangelist!
3. I met some amazing people.. made a couple of friends (and one enemy! - you know who you are!)

EDIT: Although this has nothing to do with the post, I want to mention this purely for my own “records” - [I started my speech by mocking the MOTO YUVA commercial - "IM aaya.. aur aapka employee gaya"... which was received rather well by the audience - much to my surprise given that I have a low opinion about my sense of humor - thanks to my friends! - and ended with how the "Bunty's and Babli's" in the office would say - "Isko laga dala toh life Jinga-lala!" ]

To read about Unconferences in India, read this story which appeared in The Hindu.

Snake - bytes on Nokia 3310 / 3315

It’s been a year since I’ve been blogging. I still feel there are a lot of important things that have affected my life that I am yet to blog about.. and will, in due course. Let me talk about one of those in this post: Snake -

• The game that made Nokia 3310 / 3315 an object of my desire / affection / fancy!
• The game that could get me hooked for hours on end!
• & the game that’s one of the MAJOR reasons why I did not figure in the top-5 (academically!) in college

A phone like Nokia 3310 comes once in a millenium (ok.. Decade!! ) .. One that captures the imagination of the masses and is revolutionary in terms of design and usability. And obviously, when you have a phone that is a house-hold name - the game (software!) available on the fone also acheives overnight super-stardom - riding on the success of the mother that carries it!

Enter the snake! (Not the dragon!) - Slimy. Twisty. Beastly. Hungry.. and Quick! (depending upon the level you choose) - The Snake on Nokia was probably one of the most obidient snakes around - one that you could domesticate and one that made every move depending your where your fingers pointed - truly it was one snake that said “Master, your wish is my command!” - I’ve spent hours playing snake during my days at BIT Mesra - my Top Score (on a Nokia 3310 / 3315 version) being 1,776 (on Level 9 - the fastest!) - I might have crossed that score on a friend’s phone or something.. I dont remember.. I possibly crossed 2,000 sometime - or I choose to fantasize about it!

Did you play it?… Did you love it? … What was your highest score?

And just in case you didn’t and want to get a taste of it.. check this out! - and tell me how much you score on this one!

LAFF-A-Parliament!

Railyway Minister: Mr. Laloo Prasad Yadav presenting the Railway Budget 2008-2009 to the Members of Parliement!

I’m in AWE of this man’s sense of humour!

“Khatam Karo, Ghar Chalo”

The Australians have a consultant psychologist in their team. I think it’s high time they hire one who understands the “Indian” mind better than the one who currently dons the mantle. The folks (I’m sorry the Blokes! ) seem to have tried everything possible to bring the Indian Cricket Team down to the ground - accusations, blames - even blatant lies!

Ricky Ponting rightly said at the post-match Presentation ceremony - “I think our cricket has dropped over the last week!”

Duh! - What else do you expect? .. When you have people in your side who are more into playing mind-games than cricket, your cricket will obviously “drop off!”

Focus-shift … (swoooooooosh!) … Indian Captain - MS Dhoni - Now this is something both Sunil Gavaskar as well as yours truly observed - Dhoni does not like hogging the limelight. After receiving the trophy, the bloke (sic!) was near invisible. He lets his team enjoy their moment of glory - He doesn’t need to prove a point to anyone. They know!

It’s been very entertaining cricket for the last couple of months and the controversies are something that will make Bollywood proud! Amen to a great series! - India has won the Commonwealth Bank Tri-series down under!

The title, by the way was coined by Sachin Tendulkar - on the eve of the 2nd Final - “Khatam Karo, Ghar Chalo” .. (Let’s finish it off and go home!) and what a way to do it!