its raining

its raining tweets

2009-12-13T04:41:00.003+05:30

Hi Frinds,

I was away from blogger as I hooked to Twitter. And now my twitter is linked with my blog. So I shall be tweet-logging from now on . . .

Vj

Am I suffering?

2009-03-21T21:17:00.006+05:30

Some days ago I was talking to my good old friend over a coffee. As we were chatting he asked me “en magaa, en plan’u life alli munde?” (What are your plans for the future?) I told him, I want to give my family the best what ever I can and want to enjoy the life. And as we moved on our casual talk made me think... & rethink on some of the matters…

Can’t I give my family & myself best things? Yes I can. I earn pretty decent salary. Over the weekend I go to best restaurant, I watch movie at multiplexes, I wear branded clothes. Once in two months I go for outings, like to have coffees at good coffee shops and buy best electronic gadgets. And yes, I get Gunda designer wears; buy my appa imported perfumes etc... Hmm I don’t feel I waste money or I am a spend theft. I only spend on the necessary things, just that my standards are high. On this my friend told “en machaa, neevella Hi-Fi”.

Is that true? Am I suffering from Hi-Fi syndrome for the want of best world?

Did I set my bar bit too high that I am finding it difficult to adjust with anything less than top-class? My spending was almost equal to my earnings with a bit of savings during my early carrier. My thought was over the years my salary will increase and so I would save more as my expenditure would remain same. But that was my misconception; I only have some savings just to meet my IT needs. And now my fresh plans needs seem like big problems…

I may not be alone. Many around me may be suffering from this – guy goes for Sony TV when you have other lesser priced TV’s in market; buy pants/shirts cause there is a good sale, not cause he needs them right now; takes flight back to native when he has train/road options; spends a lot on functions saying “its once-in-a-lifetime affair”; goes for a car though his current need is just a bike… the list goes on…

Is the solution lies in controlling the expenditure? May not be, as there may not be too many expenses but the ones we spend on will be BIG. Can the income growth compensate this? I don’t think so; higher we earn, higher we raise the bar and greater would be our problems.

If you people agree this is a syndrome then I hope you too agree that only the realization and concentrated effort would take us out from this disorder. But still don’t know why, though I have Bajaj Avenger, and would be booking Scooty Streak next week for Gunda, I am planning to buy a car by May this year…

“If your idea is great, people will find you”

2009-02-23T22:39:00.003+05:30

This is a very interesting point made by Seth Godin in his book "Small is the New Big". And nothing clears this better than the huge success of Slumdog Millionaire.

I read an article in DNA few days ago to see some of the unknown facts about Slumdog Millionaire. As I couldn’t get the link to that article I am sharing what I remember today. Could you think if the movie has not seen a theatrical release? Yes, it’s almost going to happen when the US studio with the theatrical distribution rights worth around $5 million shut down in mid of 2008. Hence the studio thought of releasing Slumdog Millionaire directly on DVD. Luckily in August’08 Fox bought 50% stake in the movie which finally released in the US sometime in Nov’08 in just 10 theatres.

First week grossed just $350K and gradually the “word of mouth” picked up and in Feb’09 the movie grossed $68.5 million having played in over 1400 theatres. This movie took around $15 million to produce and now expected to cross $100 million after winning 8 academy awards out of 10 nominations.

The point author makes here is that in this day & age, if the idea behind a product is good and it enters the market at appropriate time then there is a good chance of huge buyers. The reason is the “word of mouth”.

If I like a product, I may blog, I may SMS, call, email my friends to pass the message. So a good idea always spreads and many times without a big bang launch of the product.

So now the next logical question would be “How can I/we know that an idea is good?” Think on … and do share the product you know in the market which had a similar start and is/was a big hit…

[Thank you DNA for such a good article]

a visual treat @ nandi

2009-02-14T22:33:00.005+05:30

My recent visit to Nandi hills was more than a long foggy ride on my bike. We reached the hill top bit late by around 6:20am and missed the early sun rise. But as usual this time too Nandi Hill presented us with some nice visual treats. And in this visit I haven’t forgot to take my camera with me. Couple of below are captured by my lens...

an early morning view from top

hide-and-go-seek

inner light

mon-key

Buddha

Getting older isn't so bad when you consider the alternative

2008-09-21T01:30:00.015+05:30

Last week was full of birthdays. It started with my three closest buddy’s b’de; on 13th ili got older by a year and on 14th the other two (see in my previous blog).

15th was my brother Rohit’s b’de. For him, old age is always 15 years older than him. He is a happy man as he gonna be a father pretty soon.

Birthday surprises are the best part of a birthday celebration. I and gunda were part of the celebration at Pavan’s house on 17th (morning 00:00am) for pepi’s birthday. I still remember that beautiful smile on pepi’s face after that surprise. I feel surprises make them feel all more special.

I could only wish Divya (gunda’s cousin) through phone as she celebrated her birthday in Belgum on the same day - 17th.

I had tasted DBC (death by chocolate) at Corner House many times. But at Pavan’s b’de night (19th) for the 1st time I had DBC cake. It’s a layered chocolate cake, with fudge and chocolate mousse between those layers hhuuummmm!!!.

19th was also one my best frnds birthday. Rais, I am really sorry I couldn’t call you and wish. He is one guy who never misses to call/wish on my birthday from where ever he is; that to at 00:00am IST (IST cause from last 2-3 years he calling from US).

And again, 19th was my colleague Abhi’s birthday. And this is what we (@ HP) planned to order for him. As we came to know that - this is what he is in to now-a-days; after reading an article “Most women are attracted to muscular men”…

I wish you lots and lots of happiness.. I love you all very much.. You are all very special to me.. Happy Birthday.. njoy..

9/14 .. bash

2008-09-12T21:47:00.008+05:30

they are the inspiration in me when I have lost all hope, but then bring out a world inside of me that I never knew I had... they are my strength, smile and joy ... they are my world... they are my best friends... sud & jumma and 14th Sept is their B'day

It's a day worth many to-morrows... so waiting for the bash... 9/14 bash...

Me, My Bike and 20000

2008-09-10T20:17:00.008+05:30

You ride once a month, once a week or once a day; you ride 10kms, 100kms or 10000kms; you ride a sports bike or a cruiser; you’re old, young or somewhere in-between; you’re male or female; be a rider or pillion rider; once you start riding… once you cross the line… there is nothing that will make you stop…

23rd Feb’06, I bought my first bike; Bajaj Avenger. Yes the same “I feel like god” bike. Every time I ride, it will be special.. it will be better.. thrilling.. every ride will be different from the other.. but definitely the bike “avenger” makes you feel special.. may be feel like god 

One my ride to Nandihills made me feel very special. It was early January, we started at around 4:30am so that we reach hill top before the sunrise. The heavy mist on our way made it look like we are sailing through the clouds. We were at the top and were waiting for the god (Sun). As I saw the sun rising, I realized that in that heavenly sky, hill top, chilling weather, sun was like rescuing me free. The feeling of the sun rising in that place worth everything; the wait, the ride. At that moment nothing mattered me; it made me feel for a second that I was God…

Avenger Ad said, Forgive All and feel like God.

“I forgive my father
I forgive women,
I forgive my boss,
I forgive the government,
I forgive my barber,
I forgive my past,
I forgive them all,
I feel like
I Feel Like God.”

Isn’t our life worth forgiving others? Isn’t our life worth feeling like God… deserves a thought right?

And today when I see …

I feel I had many chances to feel like God… but don’t know how far I felt…

Just 12 minutes job

2008-08-31T22:11:00.005+05:30

Many said the extraction would take more than half an hour. But for me it took just 12 minutes. The doctor who operated me was a craft man. He took my wisdom out with an ease. Thank u doctor… Only the night of the surgery I got swelling, and it got reduced with in next two days.

I loved my plumpy face for those two days (though only on left side). My parents too would have loved it as they always wanted me to be chubby. But I never fulfilled there wish. Gunda took very good care of me. She was no different from Gandhari, who after the marriage with Dritharashtra, the blind king, put a blindfold for the rest of her life so that she will not have an advantage over her husband. Gunda too was on full Ice-Cream diet for whole day after my surgery as I was advised by doctor to have more Ice-Creams to stop bleeding & swelling. Pativrute ;)

And about wisdom … I am still wise; I still have two more wisdom’s to loose 

I want to Loose Wisdom

2008-08-07T23:12:00.008+05:30

Not a good idea. I know :(. But I am not left with any choice. Wisdom is of no use if it curbs one’s strength. If I have to relate myself (my wisdom) with others* in this world, I say people are different from one another.

Wisdom probably would have helped others* in leading their life. Even it would have given an edge in enjoying in their life to the fullest. They* say it was gods gift and their fortune that they had wisdom, and was passed to me. If this was such an advantage for them*, then why do I want to loose it? It may have helped them*, but not for me. They were happy having wisdom, but I don’t have room to fit them in me. It’s now “impacted”—stuck; I want to get rid of it…

I am getting my wisdom teeth removed tomorrow. It started paining, and then I started getting wise about wisdom (teeth). As its started pressing into the surrounding gum, oral surgeon suggested removal. With no choice left, I am going in for the extraction (a simple small surgery; as told by surgeon) tomorrow evening.

All above I was citing others (*) for our ancestors and the adv they had with the wisdom teeth. But the same boon is now pain for me/us.

Wish me & please pray for me … and yes you can come home to see me. I may not (am sure will not) be able to talk to you but I will try with my dumb charades skills ;)

the % game

2008-07-07T22:41:00.003+05:30

It was the end of fifth working day or can say it’s a weekend kick off. I wanted to relax the whole eve, and I was left only with tata-sky. As I was running through the channels, Aamir Khan stopped me. He was in dilemma while deciding between beautiful or the intelligent bride. The audiences were with beautiful gals but Aamir was still not convinced.

Yes, Aamir was the guest at the Sony’s 10 Ka Dum with host Salman. And the question to him was “What % of men likes to marry a beautiful lady over an intelligent lady?” Aamir finally closed his guess in the array of 40-60 %. But to win, his guess should couple with the Indian’s survey result on this question.

I started thinking at the question, but ceased my mouth as Gunda was around. Any of my guess would have got me a piercing gaze ;). I being diplomatic said my decision will be based on love; I wouldn’t marry a girl just cause she very beautiful or intelligent. She gave me a puzzled look and went into kitchen.

Assume that you are an eligible bachelor who is about to get married. For your bride whom will you choose; a smart intelligent girl or a dull beautiful girl? Have you ever thought about it? Will you go with a beautiful lady, thinking you can train her to make her smart? Or an intelligent lady thinking you can groom her to look beautiful. If you are lured by beauty, then how about the character?

Back to the game of %. Aamir was playing for a noble cause, and correct answer to this question will get him 10 lakhs for Saraswati Vidya Mandir. Indian men thought in his favor, only 42% of men said they prefer beauty over intelligence. Well done Aamir…

I started googling on this and was amazed to find that there are more beautiful women then there are handsome men. According to the study “good-looking parents are 36% more likely to have a baby daughter as their first child than a baby son”. Don’t looking further I came to know that getting a beautiful girl is not that hard :). Further digging led me to the cloud nine. A research paper said “beautiful people are more intelligent”. The evidence was short and sweet… intelligent men are more likely to attain higher status; higher status men are more likely to mate with more beautiful women; intelligence is heritable as is beauty.

So it follows that its not difficult to get smart beautiful girls… good luck guys… find the right bride for yourself in this beautiful world.

40 seconds | Bull Riding

2008-06-28T00:22:00.011+05:30

Rule No. 1 of bull riding: Do not grab the bull by the horns. Rule No. 2 Don’t let the bull’s horns grab you

EXPERTS CALL BULL RIDING “THE MOST DANGEROUS EIGHT SECONDS IN SPORT.” I CALL IT A CHALLENGE, WHICH IS WHY I RECENTLY FOUND MYSELF SITTING ATOP A 500 Kg BULL, ABOUT TO GIVE IT A GO FOR THE FIRST TIME

Every week, hundreds of bull-riders, both elders and children, take up the challenge at a place in Bangalore. We were 8 of us there, motley-crew of 3 men and 5 women. None of us have been on bull before and none wanted to try that too.

Sunday evening, hot and cloudy, and we were sensing a heavy downpour. After spending the whole morning with my uncle and his family, we were out looking for something different. We entered the park and were walking by the lake side. The park was heavily crowded, bangaloreans like to hangout on the weekends. On the go, we found a small child enjoying the bufford ride. Not many people around that game. We all went near to see a big black bull in large barricade with a man controlling it. We started murmuring let’s try it, but none were ready to take the first step.

My uncle is around 50 years of age, but his enthu n energy is of 25. He said he want to try the ride, and with him was my Ashu, she is even crazy then him. They both went and bought 2 tickets for the ride. I was still not sure whether they will go on with the ride. By this time the place was fully crowded. Ashu went in for the ride first and my uncle was waiting for his turn. Though I tried to stop Ashu at the beginning, now thought it would be good to encourage her for her ride. Bull was calm; it was like a muted horror movie. Still it flipped her over twice, I watched her as she was knocked down. Thanks to the master as he controlled the beast as she came out. We all were watching her in concerned disbelief, but I was happy to see the sparkle in her eyes for winning the toughest ride. Uncle seemed bit nervous after this episode and asked me if I want to try. Now it’s my turn to ride.

This is crazy, I thought of myself, looking around my family faces. Their expressions all seem to register a similar thought: Why am I doing this again? But before I have time to ponder my fate long enough for second thoughts to surface, Ashu’s eyes met mine. “Good luck, Piyu,” she said.

I climbed over the beast. It had a rope behind its shoulders. I wanted to prove myself, wanted to get hold of that beast for some time. I sat firmly taking the rope across my palm, passed it behind my wrists and across my palm again. Waited for the whistle, and as it moved I just closed my eyes…

Yes. I am not talking about the crazy, cowboys bull riding. This was my experience in Bangalore's one of the leisure point Lumbini Park. It was a special feel as I came out of that ring. Any one with a bit of guts can try out this. As the operator takes care of frequency of the ride, I feel even a childerns above 12 years can try out this ride. You even have some other attractions and food stalls. So it would be a nice weekend spot for some of you as well.. Enjoy and take care...