Comrade Chakra

Well Jack Baeur need not worry. Anil Kapoor's Jai Singh cannot hold a candle to the American. Slicker than usual production values and outdoor shots do not give you 24! Have watched the first two episodes.....it is no different from Bollywood style action mixed with sentiments. ....with a little more polish. The action is laboured, the sequences sometime verge on the comical. ( he actually gets a confession from his boss by injecting him with some lethal poison which finally is revealed as glucose...  In a gun fight in a cinema hall.....playing hide and seek with shooters,  Kapoor with Anupam Kher in a forgettable cameo, walk in front of the fully lit screen..asking to be shot..and thank fully Kher does get shot!..) The dialogues are predictable and like in most Bollywood movies....too much of it.  The least they could have done was a smart script.  But maybe I am being unfair, I cannot compare a serial to a movie. Finally that is what Mr Kapoor has done,...

Who is the best president we have had so far? C'mon, this one should be easy.... Giani Zail Singh of course. Just for a moment think if the venerable President Z (puns galore!!) could become a cult figure at a time when even telephones were a luxury and well, for porn you had to go to a video library, what an explosion of fun we would have had if he was the President now, in the age of social networks, and photo and video editing tools!! He spawned a thousand jokes, the populace hung on to every sighting of his on our black and white news shows. Unfortunately, he isn't quite around to run for President anymore. But there is one politician who can fill in if not for anything else but for  the sheer entertainment value she provides. Since she has proved a disaster in every other aspect, we should have her in a place where she can do minimum damage. Now which is a high visibility zero impact government post, the President of India. I propose Mamata for Preside...

Now that I have this brand new gadget, what was it that i wanted it for? Isn't that the question you have faced many a time?

New job, new city….new circus….let’s see if it is a new act! Yes, changing jobs is pretty much turning over a new page. A fresh start may not necessariy be a good thing when it comes to one's career...as that would imply you have lost what ever distance you had covered...whatever 'edge' one may have gained in the last job. Somehow I like the parallel of a circus better! And yes, I learnt it from a one of those chain mails on funny out of office messages "I have left to join a new circus". Taking the analogy further, I guess the question really is whether the new circus is better than the old one. What makes it better ofcourse depends on which lens you chose to to scrutinise a job selection: better pay, larger scale, greater responsibility or 'work life balance'. Ofcourse all these questions have to blend in the unerlying truth...this was the circus that was willing to take you in for what you asked in return.

For a very long time I have been thinking of assembling a desktop. I never really had a home computer, did not need one. Wherever I read about assembling a desktop it seemed a really easy thing to do….mostly they would say...it is like putting together a jigsaw puzzle together. After doing some thorough research on you tube and various technology blogs I was kind of ready…the moment had come. I will have a home computer and I will assemble it. So it is said so let it be done!!! Well, continuing my research on the net I found this wonderful site of a shop in Bangalore – Binwaryworld in Indiranagar BDA complex . The shop appears pretty workman like, does not impress on looks. But their website is mind blowing and in the shop they get all the stuff you need. Reviewer’s on the net said their prices were the best…I did some prelim checks on eBay and a few other sites and found this to be true. So on 13 th April’10 (14 th April was a holiday) I went from office to purchase all the stuff…t...

When was the last time you went to the zoo? Try to remember …you go to the zoo all excited hoping to see a whole lot of wild animals running around. Imagine the disappointment when all you get to see are animals lazing away showing little signs of life …the tigers, lions, crocodiles, pythons…large intimidating animals playing dead all day. In this milieu any animal that stirs will immediately attract a huge crowd before its cage. Its 'TRP' shoots up a la Times Now's during its shamelessly biased 'coverage' of Sunanda Pushkar. Watching the proceedings in our Parliament leaves you with a similar sense of disappointment. Other than the one person speaking, all others pretty much behave like the motionless pythons and crocodiles in the zoo. You keep watching hoping to catch a rare glimpse of life. If someone shifts his weight from left bum to right, moves his chin from right palm to left, and pick his nose while still keeping his eyes half closed you pretty...

Here's a new resolution --- can't call it a New Year one in the month of May!!! Either way, I have decided going forward I will be majorly regular in my posts on this blog. There is a reason....I finally decided to get a home computer!! And on 12th Apr (remember 13th Apr'10- Wednesday was a holiday) I assembled by own desktop. Yes, I probably would have got a laptop at a similar price, and a desktop for less.....but I would have missed out on the tremendous kick of assembling a computer. In the next post I shall share some photos of this grand activity. You will see me more often these days!! And just to pick up some stray internet traffic to drive up the activity level, I have started this post with a photo of Rakhi Sawant . Yes, it is her!

End of another weekend….I dread going back to office on Mondays. I especially hate the first few hours of the week in office. No it is not the usual Monday morning blues . What I dread is the question that has become all too common among today’s working class. 'So how was the weekend? What did you do?' Here’s one that is worse: - ' How was this weekend?' (Note the accent on the article). Actually come to think of it, it can get even worse…. 'God, what a weekend!! How was yours?' Or someone scoring brownie points – ‘I may have worked all weekend but I am feeling much better having completed all the reports. Is yours done?’ Now, I do not know about you, but if there is something I am looking forward to doing on a weekend then it is nothing. Yes, that exactly is my weekend plan, every weekend of the month and year. Do nothing. While that may not make a very exciting Monday morning conversation, it does make me feel very good. And I am good at doing nothing. Rem...

Well done US of A! Change in guard notwithstanding, the spirit of George Bush & Donald Rumsfeld leaves on. “You are either with us or you are with them” In response to the gruesome killing of its operatives in Afghanistan, the CIA has come out with the rather Al Qaeda like statement:- “The CIA has sworn to avenge the killing of seven of its operatives by a suicide bomber at a forward operating base (FOB) close to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border…” Is this not the language of those who the US liberally calls terrorists? Without trying to apologies or anyway condone the terrible act, is it not true that this is the way of war. After all, how many innocents have the US killed over the decades and most recently in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan? What that the term they so love to use…”Collateral damage”

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...

Now we have all heard, read or been told about Adam and Eve and how they were made an offer they could have refused! We are living in historical times as far as the global economy is concerned. We are re-learning the ills of high risk finance deals, outcome of wrong valuations and the ills of greed. Now who causes such crisis? If you do a root-cause analysis , this is what you’ll get (assuming ofcourse, that you have the same twisted logic as I do): Financial crisis (loan defaults, credit crisis, asset bubbles, market collapse) – are possible because we have these glamorously named entities called Financial Institutions. In the ancient days when these institutions did not exist in such scale, such crisis would not have extended beyond the one village. Financial institutions act as intermediary between people who have excess money and hence want to invest and people who need money, hence want to borrow. People who have excess money – the want to invest only because they know there a...

Now I am not exactly pro-US or pro-Arab , but I certainly consider George Bush’s Iraq policy all wrong. When one undertakes a noble act (deposing a despot like Saddam ) for the wrong reasons (control of Iraq’s oil reserves)…the outcome….is what the US is facing in Iraq today. I also agree that decorum and protocol is important especially in the world of global politics. However, I cannot but find comrade reporter Muntazer al-Zaidi's action of throwing a shoe at the US President most entertaining. The fact that it is Bush Jr at whom he aimed his shoe somehow makes it appear ok. Read full report. Even as Bush learns where the shoe pinches, the Arab world…in their usual distorted sense of priorities, hails the attack. That is so wrong! These acts give your country a bad name, don’t you know. Bombs, bullets and now shoes!!! What next, smelly socks? Incidentally, lest people think this was a spontaneous outburst the reporter made it amply clear that he had been planning it for a ...