Wednesday, December 05, 2007

What's holding back..

I am an individual with lots of energy... so, motto in life for me has always been to make the best out of what there is.. be enthu.. have fun.. enjoy whatever you do..

Time seems to be struck.. did some arbit things over past few weeks.. but the restlessness within is not rubbing off..

Went to an orphanage to give some food stuff on a weekend.. somehow the kids seemed so happy.. why not me?
Just the smile at taking a bite of food seemed to cause so much joy.. may be I have got accustomed to the luxury of good food..

Been on a trek to kemmanagundi.. spent time with old friends enjoyed the moment..
But, once back.. the serenity of place seems to be haunting me..
I've been thinking of WH Davies poem.. 'what's this life if full of care, we have not time to stand and stare?'

Work is not that hectic.. getting more time to spend with family
Now, I regularly have dinner with family- a luxury from past few weeks..
But, somehow is this because I am not working enough.. hope not, because i seem to be doing the same things faster..

Met up with all my old friends over weekend, everyone seems to be in the same phase.. doing same things..
Some have moved, some have struck onto the same places, but generally not much change..
Oddly felt withdrawn.

Just trying to see what needs to be done differently.. where to make a difference?

Ciao till next time...Harsha

Saturday, November 03, 2007

Baz Luhrmann - Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)

I categorically hate english songs, videos... I am one of those characters who fail to understand english if spoken at that speed! Also, flashy videos where the music, background, everything else keeps changing as if the whole scene is enacted straight from matrix... I simply fail to understand! So, I stick to our mushy videos, songs from Karan Johar films, Adnaan, Shaan and recently a guy called Atif. I am not a big fan of any music apart from run of the mill hindi ones...

I fail to sync with my regional songs (kannada music), thats something which I have developed over time and simply can't change.

But, wait... from past couple of years, I have started selectively listening to English music wherever the lyrics is good. So, slowly the music I listen to has expanded to Include- Greenday, Linken Park, Pink Floyd and Brian Adams.

A few weeks back I listened to this number from Baz Luhrmann... and simply fell in love with it! One of the most inspiring songs I have heard... thought lemme share it here!

Baz Luhrmann- Sunscreen...



Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’99
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it.
The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience…
I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind;
you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded.
But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked….

You’re not as fat as you imagine.
Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum.
The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind;
the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday that scares you
Sing, Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.
Floss Don’t waste your time on jealousy;
sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.

Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults;
if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.
Stretch Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life…
the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.
Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children,maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…
what ever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either –
your choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s.

Enjoy your body, use it every way you can…
don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever
own..
Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.
Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.
Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for good.
Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you should hold on.
Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard;
live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.
Travel. Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.
Respect your elders.

Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse;
but you never know when either one might run out.
Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85.
Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it.
Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.
But trust me on the sunscreen…

Ciao till next time...Harsha

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Fear and expectation- dar ke aage jeet hai..

I was just thinking about certain aspects of my work, expectations, etc. In the next few weeks, I foresee loads of challenges with hectic travel on cards.. Searching and researching the net, I got bored and started checking some good ads...

The most interesting Ad in recent times I feel is from Mountain Dew-

Creative agency JWT has done a wonderful remake of PepsiCo's Mountain Dew! They have moved away from the thrill of adventure theme to one that seemed more believable: 'conquering the fear within'.

Working on the concept that fear holds back even confident, capable people, the campaign went on to say that those who overcome fear get success, recognition, and adulation.

The new tagline, therefore: “Dar ke aage jeet hai (beyond fear lies victory)”! Few brands acknowledge vulnerability. The theme gave a powerful philosophy to the brand. 

The new campaign, which broke in March 2007, stood out for more reasons. It showed older teenagers riding a vehicle over dangerous terrain, striking a fine balance between believability and thrill. More importantly, it heralded a new, punchier product formulation and a new green-black logo.

“It is much more difficult to turn around a smaller brand that’s declining, than reviving a bigger brand that’s losing share,” says Pota from JWT. Also, the consumers and even the brand owners are willing to give larger brands a decent second chance.

Perhaps Dew would have revived itself, but it still has a long way to go before it becomes a worthy challenger to Sprite. The clear lemon drinks segment makes up 35 percent of all carbonated soft drinks sold in India. Dew certainly has a lot more to conquer than just fear.

But, hold on... I am deviating from what I had in my mind... for now, this has become a tagline for me- 'dar ke aage jeet hai'!

Ciao till next time...Harsha

Saturday, October 06, 2007

Thanks guyz! I appreciate it.


I am a big fan of the analytics/stats tools available online... well, why do I usually write on my blog? When I asked myself this question, I realised that the most potent factor seems to be... that elusive small red dot on the cluster map from far off Greenland, Singapore or Sweden that keeps increasing in size.

This is a poweful tool, highly motivating... Whoever you are, 'thank you' to all those nameless friends from around the globe who take pains to browse through! It does'nt matter if they read anything or no, what matters is just that intent to visit..

Ciao till next time...Harsha

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Age and old age..

Recent turn of events at home made me think a lot about terms which usually remain un-thought off until one actually becomes old.

Now, if you ask anyone: how old do you want to live? - I am sure the answer would be- as old as possible or rather just a guffaw with a muted- ‘what a silly question’ quip. Believe me; it is not easy to get old and still long to add more years to one’s baggage. I have a granny who is close to hitting the nineties and another great granny who is close to hitting triple figures.. no fun living upto that age..

Well- how old is really old? Though it’s not easy to answer, I have formed this philosophy of mine. The number of years you add to your bag is not an indication of real age once you are past the half century mark, but rather the number of problems, niggles, issues, ailments, etc you add along. These tend to become the true indicator of age..

The trick, gentlemen remains’ to live - as young, for as long as possible. After being in close quarters for sometime now with some really old people, I have observed some things with a lot of care. If I can summarize the gist in 4 points, these would be it-

  1. Eat less, eat healthy
  2. Walk, run, don’t sit idle
  3. An idle mind is a devil’s workshop- so keep your brain cells ticking: tic tac tic..
  4. Remember- rich+old is always better than poor+old

Well, I really don’t know why I jotted these down, but I hope that I personally keep these things in mind. Hmm, for now; let me revisit gym regularly, add some moolah into my bank balance and start looking at our sensex with more elan!

Ciao till next time...Harsha

Monday, September 03, 2007

If..

Feeling a little low today, somehow fate plays the wrong cards when you lest expect them.. anyways, here I am just trying to browse through all my favourite poems.

Here is a poem "If.." from Rudyard Kippling-

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you

But make allowance for their doubting too,

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,

Or being hated, don't give way to hating,

And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,

If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;

If all men count with you, but none too much,

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,

And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!


Ciao till next time...Harsha

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Chak de India!!

Back after a long hibernation. Writing again fighting all inertia, because after watching this awesome film....somehow the patiotic jingoism has caught up with me too!


One of the better made films of our times, gives a patriotic fervour to anyone watching it- especially if you happen to see the film in a run down theater... in first row... with ppl whistling at every dialogue... well, actually quite a experience to me after the pvr's and inox'es of Bangalore!

Aficionados would vouch for Shah Rukh's performance. He carries off the role of a hockey coach aplomb bringing reminiscences of Swades. Most others are nameless actors carrying off the roles of nameless hockey players... a pity goes out for sports in India (I do not call cricket a sport in India any longer- It is more akin to religion).

Making a mockery of cricket (particularly a poor punjab lad who happens to be one of our better cricketers- Yuvraj), a jig at Jharkhand, Andhra, North East... somehow the film manages to carry off that message it intends to ingrain in us: we are a nation of over-emotional people.

Be it cricket, caste system, religious animosity, blazen-headed babudom; we are emotional about everything... we fight one another with passion- bomb blasts, territorial fights, naxalism, what not... love with such a passion tht you can't let go- every newspaper has a acid attack/rape case in the first page, dry hoarse about security issues- be it nuclear agreement, indo-pak, indo-china border issue... ad infinitum...

There is also a subtle message which comes out beautifully in the film- We are a bunch of individuals, never a team. We can excel individually, never brilliant on team spirit. Finally- most of us have EGOs which can dwarf a hockey field.

Well gentlemen, if you have not seen the film yet- go see it now. Chak de India!

Here are some interesting reviews on this film-
Wiki
Imdb
IE


PS- Well, I have been reading some interesting books in past few weeks- will come up with some reviews if time permits. Here are the ones which I have read in past month & think is worth reading- Seabiscuit, Harry Potter- Deathly Hollows, Reminiscences of a stock operator, Every business is growth business from the one and the only Ram Charan, The Leadership pipeline- from him again, Copycat marketing 101..

Ciao till next time...Harsha

Sunday, July 01, 2007

The best podcasts I've listened to - These are seriously good.

For quite sometime I have not been thinking of anything worthy to write. I have come to the conclusion that from now on - I am going to write only things which truly make a little difference to 'me'.

Till now I have been using this as some sorta scratch pad to unwind and make arbit statements as and when they come to my mind. So, here is the first in a series that makes a difference to me!


Robin Sharma- The magician with words

Here is a quote from one of the films I saw sometime back- 'Micheal Johnson plays ball, Charles Manson kills people and I speak. Everyone has talent..'. Yes, one person exceptionally gifted with words is this man- Robin Sharma.

I tried reading some of his books- and found them complete bullshit. I could barely read through 20-30 pages of his much acclaimed book: Monk who sold his Ferrari. But, listening to him is altogether a different experience. This chap has class.... giving gyan is one thing and making the person fall for your gyan is something sublime...

Best 3 podcasts-
  1. Eight things successful people do - Easily the best of his talks. Listen maadi..
  2. Life is short, get up early - Yes, get up early! You'll have plenty of sleep once ur dead..
  3. Run your own race - Set your own goals, set your own standards, make your own decisions; be successful on your own terms.. only competition is with your OWN self..
I am going to follow these from now on... what about u? Do let me know through ur comments if this makes an iota of difference to your lives...

Ciao till next time...Harsha

Saturday, June 09, 2007

Cheeni Kum?

Watched this film again for a second time. Not becasue it is so good, but because the movie ticket came free... this was an exclusive screening for Cypress employees- so along with the movie came: free pop corn, coke and burger @ Garuda mall, Bangi -:)


I personally felt the movie to be an eminently watchable one (certainly a one time watch.. it gets a little too boring if you are seeing it for second time as I did- since you already know the jokes and gags). Heartening to see people like Balkrishnan (the ad guru) entering the Bollywood waters- the concept and caricaturing in the movie was reflective of the creative prowess of the man.

Story itself is light revolving around the budding romance between the 64 yr old top chef in a Indian restaurant in London and a 34 year old unmarried woman (who is on a first time London visit). Two extremes in age, character and attitude, meet and against all odds fall in love- the twists and turns in the tale are both intriguing and absorbing. The web woven around the lives of 8, 34, 58, 64 and 85 year olds is quite strong. The common bond that breaks age barriers is humourous and mostly tactfully handled. Music by the master- Ilayaraja does not do justice to his talents, but the title song is imminently hummable.

Apart from the storyline, I liked the role of Amitabh as the 64 yr old chef. One cannot but appreciate the zest and drive of the character. Left me wondering how I would be when I grow old!! Yeah... need to start gyming -;)

Ciao till next time...Harsha

Sunday, May 27, 2007

Enter..... Exit

Is this a entry or an exit?? .... the confusion will always be there. An interesting pic which really made me think.

Where is this leading to? I could'nt help thinking... what do you think?

Ciao till next time...Harsha

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Of personality tests and communication lessons....

Had a day long classroom session at my workplace (Cypress Semiconductors) today. Was fashionably named as 'Working across organizational borders'- wonder who kept that name... sounded so MBAish.. I always wonder if at some point I could take such classes myself- give them fancy names and tell people how to speak on stage, how to make quick presentations, etc etc..

I personally feel that instead of classes, giving someone a book from say Dale Carnegie would do wonders! But, reading a book is not the most fashionable thing to do- one rarely hears anyone say that he spent his weekend reading something. It should always sound exotic, like- 'Yeah, went to this cool new pub that came up', 'Dinner at that chic restaurant with the hot female in our office', 'Oh... weekends went so fast- I had a lot of catching up to do with friends'.. ad infinitum.

Well, never mind- I did learn something new from the class- One of the things was classifying people into different personality types (well, I vaguely remember our MBTI, Johari window personality types.... but who listened at all that crap during MBA!). The classification given here was somewhat more crisp-

  1. Director (D)- Person who attacks problems, expects simple solutions, looks at big picture more, does not like stories, etc....
  2. Administrator (A)- Hard worker, the workhorse, drives things down to last minute detail, process oriented, etc..
  3. Harmonizer (H)- The complete people's person, one who values relations more than anything else, this individual overcommits when it comes to satisfying his friends...
  4. Catalyst (C)- One who comes up with ideas, looks at creative stuff, difficult for people to understand sometimes....
We had some simple questions to answer to discover our major and minor traits. Donno how effective these things are (I personally feel that this psychology study is more voodoo stuff than science!)... but was finally told I am sorta D/C (major trait D and minor trait C). Actually, I feel that one has traits from all four groups- it is very rare you find a person fitting exactly into one.

Well, anyways... this session took the whole day, had to stay back and work for sometime in office. Being in this personality classification mood- I started classifying everyone I met in office as - hey! this guy is A/H, she is H/A the other chap seems like a D/D, etc etc.... now, believe me this is unnerving. You are speaking to someone and suddenly you start asking those questions you answered in the class to come up with this personality classification thingy (people start wondering why Harsha has gone nuts- how do they know I am classifying them!).

Apart from all this, I had to run around the IT group to get my outlook fixed- my mistake actually. In midst of double tasking (classifying and working), I tried setting a 'Out of office' message on Outlook- as I am going back to NITIE for my presentations. But, somehow I ended up replying to a mail that had my name twice on 'cc' and 'to' fields- so, this triggered a vicious loop of 'Out of office' messages coming back to me... Yes, believe me 'strange things happen when you lest expect them'. Here I was in office at 8 PM on a Friday night trying to set my Outlook right... tut.

Coming back to Personality tests- here is one I just searched. Simple test which gives you complex answers. I tried one for kicks, why don't you try and tell me how you felt?! Do let me know from your comments!

Your Personality is Somewhat Rare (ESTJ)

Your personality type is serious, fair, independent, and competent.

Only about 9% of all people have your personality, including 7% of all women and 11% of all men
You are Extroverted, Sensing, Thinking, and Judging.


Ciao till next time...Harsha

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Spiderman- Make way for the desi Makkadman

Watched Spiderman 3 today. After spending nearly 720 bucks on the movie (180*4) at PVR Cinemas; expected a lot more from it! Except for the initial half and some parts in second half where Peter Parker interacts with his Aunt.. the whole movie seemed like a dubbing straight from our Karan Johar flicks..

I was left wondering if it was Shah Rukh Khan wearing a mask and playing Spiderman?! Especially in scenes where he romances 2 women, it became increasingly clear that the movie had strong undercurrents from our desi flicks...

After the movie, I had to console myself by watching this yet again amazing mimic from Webchutney (I am becoming increasingly enamoured by this amazingly creative group). Here comes the amazing spoof- MAKKADMAN!! Enjoi maadi...




Ciao till next time...Harsha

Saturday, May 05, 2007

Random thoughts..

Some good quotes... I was aimlessly browsing, thought lemme share quotes from 2 enigmatic personalities- Oscar Wilde and Vince Lombardi..

Oscar Wilde-

I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.

The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.

In all matters of opinion, our adversaries are insane.

This suspense is terrible. I hope it will last.

Young men want to be faithful, and are not; old men want to be faithless, and cannot.

Vince Lombardi-

Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit.

Winning is not a sometime thing, it's an all time thing. You don't win once in a while, you don't do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time. Winning is habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.

The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have.

We didn't lose the game; we just ran out of time

It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up.


Ciao till next time...Harsha

Monday, April 16, 2007

Around california...

Check pics around California on my fotu blog. I have selected the 3 best places I have been to-

1. Santa Cruz
2. San Fransisco
3. Monterey Bay and 17 Mile drive

Ciao till next time...Harsha

Thursday, April 05, 2007

Bah... discipline- I hate it !

There are some things I can do, there are a few others I can try to do. But there are those last few which I simply can't. And one of them is- to be disciplined.

Somerset Maugham would have commented- 'Strange ol' things happen when you least expect them'. Yeah, quite true.

Well, I have fairly quickly come to know that I can't- wake up early, drive in a straight lane, make proper coffee, iron my clothes properly and catch breakfast on-time every day!

Now these small things add up over the day and make you feel a little bad about yourself. But hey, so what- I usually sleep late (seldom before 1 AM), drive crazy back in bangalore- but till date have never got into an accident (mind you- the roads and craters of moon have a standard deviation of zero), I prefer jeans that require minimal pressing and I love to drink milk...

Yeah, I can live with these defects, can't I? One of the things which Uncle Sam has thought me after coming to US is- follow the routine, make the right decisions, dont be uncommon and everything will be fine.

But, hey if everything is so systematic, mundane and regular- where is the chance for new ideas, new thoughts to come up? One would see people here in US thinking only on linear scale- 'X' + 'X' = '2X', burger for breakfast everyday, follow the same schedule week on week... year on year... take those quaterly paid time offs- go on the pre scheduled vacation, live to be sixty and one day retire.

There is always someone behind you making every decision for you. Someone always guides you- if you are unemployed you have social security, if you want to cross the road- press the pedestrian walkway button... which will tell you when to cross the road, if you get lost on road- check your GPS, ad infinitum..

Now, I am not saying this is bad; its very good- excellent to have things defined, made easy and quantified. But with these comforts come some difficulties- people are happy to live on social security and wait for the perfect job to come by, if there is a power-cut the whole life comes to a standstill- traffic goes haywire... automated systems go crazy, you don't know how to go back home from places near your neighbourhood because you did'nt have the map, ad infinitum..

These things never happen back there in India- because one has to make these decisions all the time- 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. One is very adaptable- flexible as they say here in terms of work, living conditions, dressing sense, social setup, etc etc. Our thinking process is more complex- we make calculations based on number of factors, recalculate decisions, challenge thought process every single time. We look at different ways to solve the same thing- 'X' + 'X' can also be XX, its not just the straight line that connects 2 points, even a circle can pass through it.

Uh ha... now I've written enough! Do write back for any arguments. I love being in US- It makes me think so much.... Well, may be that is the reason they say that US is the most free country in the world! It's liberated my thoughts, isn't it?

Ciao till next time...Harsha

Saturday, March 17, 2007

The funniest moment in cricket!

As they say, cricket is a funny game. I was searching for some files on the net and by chance came upon this classic video.

There are times when everything goes wrong for the best of individuals. You and me have faced some situations too where things have been forgettable during bad times. Then again, it is fine... one just needs to move forward- make the right moves and take the right turns..

Here's a runout involving the mercurial Chanderpaul and Morton. It's arguably Chanderpaul's worst form in his career (just before the India-West Indies series in 2006 when he turned things around to become the highest run scorer for West Indies in that series) and he is struggling to retain captaincy and remain a leading player in his team....




After this runout, Chanderpaul lost captaincy but regained his status as the most consistent performer in West Indian squad. He tormented Indians, Pakistanis and the Englishmen right through the better part of the year following this incident.

Way to go Chanderpaul....., my money is on you to come up as one of the leading scorers in this edition of the World Cup!

Ciao till next time... Harsha

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Tired? Relax with these...

Just back from office... its almost 10.30 PM, no mood to eat... gotta go early tomorrow too... back to the grind.

But hey, I just found some cool Ads from the one and the only webchutney!! Here you go- enjoi maadi!

http://www.happydent.in/protex/viral/index.html
http://us.makemytrip.com/promotions/aao_viral/aao_viral.html
http://www.webchutney.net/extras/airtel/chaalischor/chaalischor.html

Ciao till next time...Harsha

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Cricket saga- A commentary by the pied piper

A T Pierson had commented long back that 'Life is a game' and immortalised himself. Nearer home our cricketers have made foray into all walks of our lives- we listen to Sachin's advice to select the brand of toothpaste one should use, soap which is best for health, that energy drink which will give you and me his power, the kind of hair oil which will make us achieve that perfect shine. Rahul, Saurav, Dhoni, Bhajji are not to be left behind when it comes to selecting the kind of flat TV one needs to purchase, soda that gives a fizz, biscuits that provides super powers and ad infinitum..

They have something or the other to recommend from our birth to death. Your and my choices are closely governed by a bunch of cricketers who have consistently managed to beat bangladesh, kenya, zimbabwe and lesser known countries in their own chosen profession- cricket. It is funny to note that one takes Sachin's, Saurav's or Dravid's choices into consideration when purchasing a toothpaste, TV, washing machine, electric blade (and what not) when they among all the other people would be the last authority on such matters (let alone cricket where they have failed to win a series abroad excepting the sorry shores of West Indies recently)!

I was watching the cricket match yesterday- the last one day match between India and Srilanka
where our Indian players managed to beat the Lankan team comfortably with all batsmen managing to toy the bowling at will (which was sans Muralidharan and Vaas who have featured in more Lankan wins together akin to Mc Grath and Shane Warne for Australia). But like always the world cup is around the corner again and the experts and punters are here to make their comments. Expectations as they say is lowest since 1983. Yet it is likely that by the time India beat Bermuda and Bangladesh in their opening matches jingoism and patriotic fervour would have been whipped up by the usual parties (advertisers, media, former players and our very own idol worshippers).

Winning the world cup we would be made to believe is just one step away which is a mere formality for our stars to achieve. And this is how gullible you and me would be wooed by our Ad-men to buy more soaps, electronic gadgets, moisturizers, health drinks, biscuits, etc etc..

With all the sponsorship deals hailed as a mental victory and just a step away from victory on field, one just hopes that our stars re-discover their fluent cover drives and mesmerizing googlies and not just be satistied with practising the silken signature on the many cheques that are coming their way!

In between all this, here goes an ode to the Indian consumer- 'We buy things we do not need, with the money we do not have, to please people we do not like. This is consumerism at its best and this is what drives the modern economy'.......

Ciao till next time...Harsha

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Trying to gather my thoughts

The long break between module 6 and winter internships has really helped me in trying to slow down and analyse myself. It has been a longish break starting off right after placements (Jan 4, 07) till now; with winters (winter internship) starting off from Monday.

It was good to do some of the things which I really wanted to do; but had failed to find time during last year.

The first thing which I did after placements was to roam around Mumbai- its splendid mangroove forest (now just confined to some parts of the old islands), beautiful fort area, some of the oldest zoroastrian temples, the oldest church in VT, yeah also the busy Crawford market and wonderful lunch at Rajdhani- a must visit restaurant if in Mumbai (and many more places which everyone in Mumbai is aware off... the best & tiresome was the journey to fishers village; too bad that I bought my camera only afterwards!).

A welcome break from the moribund routine was also the trip to Chennai, Vizag and Kolkota. Stayed in Chennai for a day or so (in which time my dear friend Vandy was too engrossed in other important activities to show around the city much!), after which the trip to Vizag was really interesting- for all the right and wrong reasons. The right reasons being the beautiful environs in and around Vizag- the beautiful Borra caves, Kailasgiri hills, Submarine and also the wonderful time we had in the water park. The wrong reasons can be attributed more to the exploits of a most unique, innocent and near kiddish persona of Pilaka... Subbu, Vandy and Myself will never forget the antiques of Pilaka during the trip to a nearby hill station. It would take too much of space to highlight the googly of events, so let me restrict my comments on that!

The tour around Kolkota can really be termed as 'something to remember'. It started off with the chill weather creating havoc to Vandy's and my health. Unsuspecting victims as we were; we had not taken warm clothes in the middle of winter there. Another bad timing being the time we reached there- middle of night. But cold or otherwise the hospitality of the bong gang (bengalis from our batch) of NITIE ensured we get back to ship shape. A special thanks to all the bong dada's is especially needed. Well, I have not introduced you to the real reason for visiting Kolkota! We had travelled all the way there to attend to the marriage of the inimitable Sharba's marriage which turned out to be a good meeting place for good friends too. It was really interesting to observe the traditional marriage from the Eastern part of India- especially to someone like me from the south. They can easily be termed as oppulent and also most colorful of marriages. One never really felt out of place with such warmth and friendliness around (that too with my limited understanding of bengali- restricted to only 2 words- ki holo and kemon aachis). The marriage itself is short compared to the considerable buildup associated. It was nice to see so many NITIEans around in marriage and also catch more than some passing 'attention' myself! Uh, that apart Kolkota is worth visiting again in leisure. One of the drawbacks of the long trip was the amount of travelling involved!

Also worthwhile was catching up with all my friends here in Bangalore- Perot gang, SAP friends, Koramangala brothers and RV mates after a looong loong time. With most of the weekends booked to catch up with all the buddies here, it does feel good to be back amongst the known faces, 'swalpa adjust maadi' type of crowd and offcourse with the familiar 'yella ok, cool drink yake?' type of local pubs!

Just looking forward for winters to start off in full swing now.....! Up and raring to go...

Ciao till next time...Harsha

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Latest trek- Kalavara Betta

One hell of a trek it was... it had been a long time since we fearsome four (Nagi the smilin assasin, Sejil the doc who knows everything, Pree who knows more abt planes than the pilots themselves and moiself) had met up.

Dont want any repetition here- chk this for more in Nagi's blog

Some pics here in my fotu blog.

PS- Sadly you will find pics only till 40% up the hill, as Sejil and yours truly chickened out and could not climb to see the peak. As they say 'Uve got to climb the hill to see the view'.

Ciao till next time...Harsha

Hey what's anti-valentine's day?

Some interesting pics from the e-mails in my inbox now-




Ciao till next time...Harsha

Monday, February 05, 2007

Don't take this test!

I am usually good at taking online tests, but after taking this one....my suggestion- don't risk this one!

This Is My Life, Rated
Life:
7.1
Mind:
8
Body:
6.9
Spirit:
7.1
Friends/Family:
5.3
Love:
1.5
Finance:
7.4
Take the Rate My Life Quiz

Ah...why is my love life pathetic :((

Ciao till next time...Harsha

Friday, February 02, 2007

What's missing?

Thats what I have been asking myself over the past couple of weeks. Is it some sort of withdrawal symptom??, am I an overtly emotional individual (I suppose I am emotional, but.... not overboard), Is it just a normal thing that happens to every individual who comes out of those 1200 odd MBA institutes every year?

Ah.... I know I've yet to introduce my problem here- something has suddenly gone amiss after the hum-dum of NITIE! Ah... technically I have yet to complete one more module @ NITIE before I could call myself an Emmmmbeeeeyeaaah grad, as I am yet to complete my winter internship still; but for all practical reasons my further stay there would be only during the final presentation sometime during May and after that- will get restricted to the yearly Sansmaran (the alumni meet @ NITIE)..

Well, what is it that has suddenly gone amiss? Lemme just list down the top 10 here-

1. IP messages.... ah, u'll definetely understand if you are a B-School student. The lifeline of the batch is the inimitable IP messenger!
2. Night mess....nescafe outlet....ataria....general masti@PPO road. Uh, will these just remain as memories now? that's how it seems.....
3. Parties....where else will one find them...
4. IMpress!!! how can I forget my committee.... the late night meetings... the trips to south mumbai... media summit... (how can i forget how we changed 3 speakers on day before it took place:)) and off course all the parties we went out to...
5. Mastishk..... uh, was a real passion for last few months... and my phone expense in one of the months was 2000+.... how can I forget how we got sponsors after much catchin up :)
6. B-School fests... case study competitions.... debates... B Plans...oh, all getting in some handy money whenever my bank account looked dry :)
7. Friends.... and those few GODs who made life simple for us mortals with their notes... one particular mention has to go to an Associate Consultant with SAP GDC :)
8. Some unforgettable getaways- pondside, MDP hostel terrace, short ride to KB, SP and likes..
9. Uh... sometimes I think even the classes were bearable...mess food eatable.... ethics money gathering (urggh...laundering) passable and placement meetings pleasant!
10. Sleeping.... and yeah reading (i was surprised to see that I had bought up nearly 2 carton full of books when I was there, sadly not many text books; but everything apart that)!

Well, contrast this to the everyday life that I am leading now- good food, atleast 8 hours sleep, TV to watch, a handy bike to roam around.....etc etc...

But I just realised one thing that I'm missing more than anything else......- 'The pretence of being occupied, being busy with something or the other, doing things- more than one at a time... and what more, keeping myself up late nights to work on things which may now seem trivial- but felt earth shattering then!'

Hmmm...... let me get back into the 'I'm busy mode'!! Cypress.....bring on the winters fast!

Ciao till next time...Harsha

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Oh another year zoomed by........!

Hey, where is the time going? It's been another year gone by, Emmmbeeayee almost done, Job beckoning...

The year 2007 started off well for me with placements knocking. With all those GD's and PI's lined up at the start of the year, it was fun trying to gather all the knowledge one gained in the last year and express it in a span of 20-30 mins interview..

After the mishaps of summers (where i could barely scrap through interviews), it was a surprise to end up with multiple offers in finals! Ah... more surprising to get into quite a few banks not knowing a-b-c of banking! Ironically, have come a full circle by accepting offer from a tech company- Cypress Semiconductors... good to get back to what I really wanted afterall.

Hey do check my photo blog for a peek into the day after placements.

Ciao till next time...Harsha