Comrade Chakra

Well….after a very long time I saw a movie on its first day of release. Actually I do not know how long since I cannot remember the last time I did that. I somehow ended up with a free pass to a Friday show of the new Aamir Khan film “ 3 Idiots ”. It is a movie about 3 guys and a girl. But no sooner had I got over the movie, I learnt of another movie that has been shot. This is about 3 girls and a guy! An 86 year old guy. ND Tiwary - the pride of Indian men, the new age sex god, our very own Tiger Woods . Eat your heart out, Mr Berlusconi and Monsieur Sarkozy !! You Italians and French have a lot to learn!! I think this is a tremendous opportunity for the Indian male to capitalise on and market its sexual prowess. This country is known for its software, BPO industry and its emerging economic might. Now for once, a true leader of India has risen above all, and shown what else the Indian man is really capable of!! This year's Incredible Indian - N D Tiwary! I think, in the rig...

Given below is a test...take it. Link to the site and a more legible format is given below: http://epworthsleepinessscale.com/1997-version-ess/ A score of 0-9 in the above test says that you are getting normal sleep. Above that it means you need more sleep. I took the test with all honesty. The result (13) said I needed more sleep. Showing tremendous agility for a sleep deprived mind, the following thoughts rushed through. I am sleep deprived My home time is optimally allocated and I cannot reduce my awake time at home In other words, I am sleeping as much as I could at home, but it is not enough I need to get some sleep while not at home i.e at work. To be healthy and productive I need to start sleeping in office And to those of you who are snickering and saying that I maybe doing that already, well….even if that were true, I am certainly not doing it enough. The above is not to trivialise a serious issue. But for many of us, even a thirty-minute shut-eye in office can do wonders...

Well …for a couple of days I was getting pretty irritated with our media competing with each other in a tail wagging competition around Sachin Tendulkar completing 20 years in International Cricket . In my own blinkered view, I find cricket a highly overrated game and other than the T20 version, a major waste of time. T20 version is good only as a form of entertainment, not sport. While Sachin has crossed several milestones in the last 20 years and done his country proud, I would like to know where Indian cricket has traveled in the last 20 years. Not much if you ask me….except for the T20 World Cup (not exactly a connoisseur’s delight). If the goal of a national player is bring accolades to the team, or make it capable to achieve such objectives, I do not think Sachin stacks up very well. So as I was trying to keep my cool with this media hoopla, even as celebrities of all hue and colour fell over each other to sing paeans to Sachin we have the sudden messianic appearance of...

For sometime there are emails going around that inform you:- 1. You won a lottery 2. You need to pretend to be a Mr So & So to help someone claim an inheritance Etc All of the above would come with promises of big money $800,000 or Pounds are Euro. Of late I have been receiving SMS' on my mobile in the same vein. Today morning I received an SMS to the effect of having won GBP 200,000 in the “2009 Coca-Cola U.K World Wide Mobile Award”. Since I have been receiving such SMS’ for sometime (Nigerian, Iraqi inheritance, Yahoo Lottery etc) I decided to actually send a mail to the id given in the text. An internet search told me pretty much what to expect. But I will not deny that somewhere in the far corners of my mind there was a lurking optimism....what if this is not fake...what if this is the real McCoy....what if this is that one magic moment in your life (as in the movies) that with change everything forever!! The reponse came within 4 hours!!! Reproduced below is the mail I ...

Well...here I am again.....for the second time in two months....travelling to Mel . What used to be an 'annual pilgrimage' is turning out a little more frequent....too frequent if you ask me.... Saw a Gucci watch for almost INR 300k....what the ..... I was actually planning to buy a watch!! Well, i know if i service my old watch and put a new strap it will look as good as new...and will probably cost INR 500. Very few people (probably 1 in 50) are wearing masks in the airport.... H1N1 ....seems like the initial scare if over...like in other countries, we'll also start treating is like any other flu. And like SARS , maybe we'll develop some kind of immunity. More later.....

A colleague of mine informed me that Aamir Khan was playing badminton at IIM(B) . Big deal!!! But then I thought, it is less than a couple of minute's drive away...and let's face it...Amir Khan is a bigdeal!! I have been reading in the newspapers that the Super Star and some of the cast and crew of Three Idiots were camping at IIM(B). So here was my chance. I grabbed my camera and started off. True to its reputation, the couple of minute's drive on Banerghata Road proved a lot more than that with heavy traffic on Saturday night. Infact it was a big night at IIM(B) otherwise as well as there fest is going on. Using my contact, and showing adequate at outrage at the poor security guard manning the side gate for trying to stop a Professor. ... (my act of outrage actually provoked a stifled laughter from my colleague) I reached the badminton court and clicked away many a photographs and a few short videos. Obviously, now I feel to bashful to show it around to my colleagues ...

Here are a couple of pictures I recently got the opportunity to click....the majestic Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lampur . The advantage with this structure is, however you take a picture, it always comes out good ....something like photographing.... Aishwarya ? ... I would not know, but I guess it is something like that :-)

During my recent travel, I visited a bird sanctuary . And for the first time I actually saw a man throwing a Boomerang.....and catching it on the way back. Enjoy the video!!

Sometime back I wrote about my interaction with a Customs Officer in the Bangalore airport (read post) . Well I am travelling again and this time it is the new airport (the Customs desk did not have my friend from last time). This is the first time I am boarding an international flight from the new airport ….(I just cannot get over a mindset that the phrase international flight sounds pompous)…and…this time...(music and cheering) there are separate lounges for First Class and Business Class passengers. Well, in retrospect, I guess the new airport is symptomatic of the journey that India has made over the past decade and more. The old airport , true to our country’s socialist roots, was class-less. Whether you are an Economy Class or a First Class passenger you would be treated the same way. It was only when you stepped into the plane (the check in counters and queue at boarding were not very significant) that class privileges kicked in. Now India has moved well away from its social...