Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Self Destruction Ceremony

18:00 IST, 16-12-2008, Tuesday. We all received a mail which contained the breaking news 'SATYAM aquires MAYTAS' !! What rubbish... and IT company acquiring an Infra company? I dont find any common thing between both verticals expect the initial 'I'. The first thing that striked me is divestment(not diversification). I heard a lot about divesting business. One such classic example is Indiabulls which divested its businesses into Real estate, Finance & Securities an year back. But mearging of companies of two difference genres is something which I didnot hear till date.

Raju says... "its an unconventional move !". Analysts say it is a "foolish move." Shareholders say it is a "fraud move"! Whatever it is, this move has already effected the reputation of the firm.
The deal was called off overnight as there is a strong dissent among the shareholders. Satyam, stock was down 55% in NYSE & 30% in Indian bourses. Maytas stock was down 20% on each day for the past 3 consecutive trading sessions. Many deals in the pipeline will be effected and thereafter the impact of this act might cost its employees too. I will not be surprised if there is a change in top management in the next quarter or two. There are a series of similar things which have against Satyam in the recent past. First UPAID case. Then the WORLD BANK case & now the MAYTAS deal. This is no less than a self destruction ceremony. Dont know where we are headed & whats next in store but one more such immatured act might cost us dearly.

With major US financial & auto comapanies queuing up to file for bankrupcy and there after seeking bailouts, the future of all IT companies is looking bleak. This quarter can easily be the last one where the IT comapanies can show reasonable profits & growth rate. Its going to be too tough to sustain this growth from next quarter. If rupee starts appreciating once again, it will add to IT woes.



Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Fruits, Vegetables & Stocks !

The other day, on my way to home I saw a vegetables & fruits shop. To be frank I personally never go to buy any food items for my home. My mom takes care of all that... but for a change, I thought of buying a Pineapple. I don't even remember when was last time I bought some fruits/Veggies. I am clueless about the prices & measuring units!! I have learnt from the shopkeeper about the prices of various fruits in there. Interestingly SAPOTA(chikoo) last time when I bought(may be half a decade back) was given in dozens, now they are selling it in KGs! He said the cost of one Pipeapple is Rs. 20. One Apple - Rs. 15. Dozen Bananas - Rs. 20

I reached home without buying anything as I was a little skeptical about the prices. Better my mom handle this !

Now, when I look at my STOCKS PORTFOLIO, I saw half of my stocks are trading lower than Apples & Pineapples !!! It was surprisingly shocking to know that stocks have become cheaper than Vegetables,Fruits ! When I thought about this strange thing, I realised it is because of the infamous economic jargons - 1. Sub Prime Crisis & 2. Rising Inflation. Of course who doesnot know what effect these two had on us. If the former had taken a toll on the Multi National giants & Big Boys then the latter had a deep impact on the common man. In my view, the word of the year award should be given to 'Subprime'.

Approximate numbers: Sensex lost about 65% from its alltime high & Inflation has touched an all time high of 13% but my anual salary hike was just about 6% :-(
Thanks to the booming Indian economy :P


Friday, November 28, 2008

Mumbai... a city that never sleeps

One night... 9 serials blasts... close to 200 dead & over 300 severely injured... hundreds of hostages... NSG, Police, Army, Navy are on ground zero... LIVE coverage in almost every TV channel..... 60hrs ON. The city was gripped in terror... but the life continues. What was called one of the biggest, strongest, well planned and most effective attacks in the Indian democratic history. The plan was executed to perfection. Interestingly... there are no demands from terrorists - no ransom, no demands to free the so called Jihadi's, absolutely none. The mission was to claim as many lives as possible.

Bombay is well known as the financial capital of India & for obvious reasons it 'was, is & will be' always the primary target for terrorists. After 1993 blasts, the Mumbaikars have lived in peace for few years. But the serenity & calm were taken over by a storm called 'blasts' over the past 2-3 years, courtesy terrorism. This city has taken quite a few blows in the recent past. I truly bow to all of them living in Mumbai from the bottom of my heart for their spirit. No matter how severe the magnitude & intensity of the attacks are..... the city comes to normal the very next day as if nothing has happened ! Call it thats the way of living or say they have got used to these kind of attacks. But one thing is for sure..... they are brave, certainly. The rest of the nation came to a standstill but Mumbai kept moving. A mumbaikar is no less than a soldier, he goes to war everyday. None of the blasts can take away the spirit of Mumbai & Mumbaikars.

The stock price of Indian Hotels has tumbled by over 15% in friday's trade ! Sectors like Tourism, Aviation & Hospitality are the most susceptible to these kind of crises. No wonder why. Chance to white wash England in the ongoing ODI series has gone down. Test series too is under threat. T20 Champion's League is postponed. F**K terrorism.


Time and again terror strikes... & each time it strikes it takes away few hundreds of innocent lives..........BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM. But the government is still sleeping. If there is one field that needs immediate attention, then it has to be terrorism(not global warming, not industrialization, not a nuclear treaty, not power, not education, not money... it has to be the fight against terrorism). No active measures were taken. Political parties keep cribbing on silly things like....(u know what are they) but no one is bothered about terrorism. Voices are heard on TV sets for a maximum of 2 days after these attacks happen & ppl tend to forget these as something new pops up! Then they remember to bring some stringent rules & strengthen the judiciary. Take my word..... the same thing is going to repeat as the next term central elections are within the sight. People will be mostly seen fighting in the media throwing verbal attacks at one another. I am sure these meets, talks & bonds with neighboring countries are not going to work out. 'The' most important thing to be done as the first step to protect our citizens from these silly & cowardly acts is to 'work on improving the infrastructure & intelligence sources'. 'Actions speak louder than words'..... please wake up....... we don't want INDIA to be still a developing country.

I am sure, this real story will be very soon projected on the silver screen(the only +ve thing about these blasts). There are already few movies on this genre this season(Mumbai meri jaan, Aamir, A wednesday .... to name a few) & most of them were blockbuster hits. Get ready for another dose probably next season.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Mission Accomplished !

MUSTANGS Vs BENCH DEVILS

Yuppieeeeeeeeeee! We got through the first round quite easily. 2-1 was the final scorecard :-) But the sad part is that I didnot play the match! We were practicing 30mins before the match begun & I had few minor cramps which aggravated as I continued to play :-( So I was forced to wait outside and cheer for Mustangs.

To summarize, a goal in the first half by Kishore & a goal in the second half by Kiran. There were many attacks on the goal post of the opposition but managed to kick in only 2 in the end as the goal post is just about a hockey goal post(Nothing to the 'Bench Devils' credit). WE (Mustangs) felt a lil nervous in the final 5 mins as the bench devils managed one past our Sleeping goalie(who is more interested in his GF standing outside the line than the football which is just around the corner!). But our strong defender Prashant was good enough to kick the ball into the Devils' zone. Ahh... a funny thing which happened in the match - our goalie grabbed the football with both hands & just crossed the goal post line(luckily no one noticed it except Mustangs) & was thinking about the next move as if he is playing chess......... guess what.... after holding the ball in his hand for about 10 secs(which is against the rules) he kicked it outside!! A real buffoon :P

Now we are through to the 'Group Stage', where each group contain 4 teams and each team needs to play 3 matches. The top 2 will qualify for the next round. We need to wait at least till Feb for our next match as the matches are scheduled only 2 days in a week :-(



Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Movies & Soccer

Wassupppppppppppppppppp? this is the common phrase I keep hearing at least a dozen times each day. Alright, this is what I am up to these days.

I have got my hard drive full of movies from Trishul. 60+ flicks, mostly Hollywood - includes almost every genre.... Action, Animation, Horror, Romance, Comedy, Drama, Thriller ......
I already have many addictions and to add to those this is a new one. Not that earlier I never used to watch movies. But earlier there was a limit..... at most 2 on a holiday and I used to get exhausted. Now I have breached all the benchmarks of watching movies & there is absolutely no resistance or saturation points visible. Believe me I have watched 9 movies on last weekend ! In the past ten days I have covered not less than 20 movies. Which includes few fabulous flicks like 'Back to the future' series too, Animated stuff 'Cars', Action flick 'Death Race', Horror movie 'The Grudge', Thriller 'Before the devil knows u r dead' to name a few. This has become a daily routine.... morning one movie before going to office and evening one movie after coming from office, as if my physician has advised for a dose of medicine before Breakfast & before Dinner! Out of all animation stuff stands apart.... 'Cars','Ratatouille','Bee Movie' are simply awesome. I heard a lot about Pixar and I must say these guys are superb. I was taken aback with these concepts... Rat becoming a chef, Robots falling in Love, A world of cars & only racing cars, Elephant hearing the microscopic community! I think I have gone crazy for animation stuff. Now I cant think of missing anything... gonna tune in to Cartoon Network from tomorrow ! Any crazy freaks out there like me?? If yes, U can share few more movies with me.

One good thing my company is doing currently apart from CSR activities is promoting football across the nation! YES... after bagging the FIFA deal for the next 2 soccer world cups, they have created a sports vertical and betting big on it. As the first step, they began the promotion activities in the company it self. We have a soccer match this friday evening and we are all gearing up for this. We thought of stretching our muscles a lil bit to avoid disappointment and surprises on the match day. So we had a practice session on last saturday for which only 5 guys have turned up out of 8 !! Never mind... we played for 15mins hardly and realized that is the high point of our stamina and we were down & out in the next minute. Our match will be for 40 mins split into two 20min halves with a 10mins break between both. Now with this kind of fitness I guess the only way of winning the match is, if the opposition team can stay on field for not more than 15 mins :-(

I am planning to watch 'Goal' to get some motivation before the match begins(lol)..... watching EPL or Champion's League is not a bad idea to know how to sledge if not tips & tricks! How about Zizu's head butt :P

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

A rocking week

Last week was full of drama,glamor,glitter,action,class,thrills,suspense & adrenaline rush ! The 3rd test match between Ind & Aus was just too good if you are a Hyderabadi or a Delhite. Initially there were 2 double tons for the very first time in the history of Indian cricket - one from Gambhir's bat & the other from Laxman's blade. Laxman's knock was as usual a classy one, full of drives all around the ground. It happened time and again. Just when the knife is on the throat of VVS, he delivers a wonderful knock & silences all the critics!! This time it was no different. There were many debates on India's fab 4 before the beginning of this Border-Gavaskar series.

On day 5, after TEA of the 3rd Test there came a news which almost shook the complete cricket crazy nation - "Anil Kumble announces retirement !!!". I feel Anil has done a right thing by retiring - not because he is 38, but bcoz he has lost that spark in his bowling ever since he has taken over the captaincy. It was shocking as no one was expecting it to come so early. Nevertheless, I am sure his 19 years service to the INDIAN cricket will be remembered forever and he will remain as a source of inspiration to many upcoming young bowlers. The best part of his career is that he was never ever involved in any kind of controversies ! Its a known fact that, when it comes to cricket, Sachin is still treated as God in India. He has overshadowed almost every other player. We miss Sachin if he is not there in the squad. Lets see if we are going to miss Anil from tomorrow :( Next test match is supposedly Sourav dada's last test match. So another farewell speech is in the offing :( But I sincerely feel he should not retire so early, at least from tests. Test matches is all about having a good temperament & patience. and I think dada still has it in him. Sourav is known more for his captaincy than his skills & will be remembered forever as one of the strategist, as a thinking captain. Dhoni is going to takeover his legacy(not from Kumble or Dravid.... from Sourav!).

Out came the newest sensation, the wonder kid, the prodigy - Saina Nehwal ! This 16 year old girl has already created a storm in the world of Badminton. After reaching Semis in the Beijing Olympics she has won two back to back championships & now she has also won the world junior badminton championship. She is definitely going great guns.... jaise guru(Gopichand) waise sishya! Kudos young lady.... keep the spirit alive.... you still have a long way to go! Another Hyderabadi pro in the making. Hyderabad has stampeded its position in two major sports - BADMINTON & CHESS. Badminton is one of those sports which I play & love it to the core..... so the joy of being a Hyderabadi is even more ! I have absolutely no doubt about her creeping into the top 5 in the next few days. Its just a matter of time ..... she is already @ 12 !!

Then came the RACE DAY ! Huhuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh !

BRAZIL calling......! This race is considered as the best race in the history of Motor Racing by many people. I feel proud to have watched it LIVE completely (@ midnight 12 IST) even without missing a single lap!! Believe me guys.... it was AWESOME.

Hamilton arrives with a comfortable 7 point lead over Massa. Everyone believed this time only a miracle can steal away the driver's championship from Hamilton. F1 2007 season's last race was also @ Brazil & it has decided the fate of championship. This time around it was a repeat of 2007. But there was slight difference.... last time Kimster(of Ferrari) has snatched victory from Hamilton(of McLaren) & this time it was the other way around.... Hamilton(of McLaren) has pulled the championship from the jaws of Massa(of Ferrari). Massa was at pole and Hamilton was at 5th & Hamiltion needed to finish just 5th to win the title(no matter where Massa finishes) & it was a must win for Massa. There were at least a dozen twists in this race. The end result has become highly unpredictable with each lap! It started with a slight drizzle, so all the team came out with intermediate tyres then changed to dry tyres after few laps as the weather became normal. Few pit stop errors & bad driving from Trulli costed him 5-6 places & Alonso once again showed his class to reach 2nd spot ahead of Kimi!!! After a lot of interesting laps the real drama happened. Hamilton was comfortable at 4th position. 5more laps to go..... in comes rain ! All Cars into pits to change the tyres except one ! That one was Timo Glock(of Toyota) & he decided the fate of this year's championship. 1 more lap to go..... Massa inching closer to the chequered flag.... Hamilton slowly cruising away at 4th position to win the championship. Rober Kubica(of BMW) was a lap down and was just behind Hamilton but still tried to overtake him ! Right behind Hamilton is Sebastian Vettel(of Torro Rosso). Hamilton lost his nerves and went to the insider corner... Vettel took the opportunity to overtake him!! and has done that with ease. The whole scene changed in less than 5 seconds. Suddenly Hamilton is down to 6th from 4th ! 4th is still Glock who decided to stay on track with dry tyres. Meanwhile the top 3(Massa, Alonso & Kimi) have finished the race(almost 30secs ahead of Hamilton & Vettel). Then came the last turn of the the last lap of the race...... this was truely nerve wrecking! F1 @ its very best. Timo Glock has slowed down just before the chequered flag and let Hamilton finish 5th :( All the celebration is Ferrai camp were shattered in seconds. I still doubt if Glock has done it purposefully. Massa wins the race but Hamilton celebrates !


In all..... it was a fabulous week. Hey guys... Renault is planning for a F1 road show in Delhi this Sunday. They are expecting to draw a crowd of approximately 3 lakhs!!! Now thats HUGE....This is going to be a mind blowing one. Now I wish I am a Delhite ! :-)

Saturday, October 25, 2008

The tiny Squirrel in my tiny Garden

Hey Guys... these pics are of a tiny squirrel, found in my garden last week. You might say...whats so interesting about this ?! Normally Squirrels are found on and around trees & they generally run away from humans. But interestingly this squirrel wants to live among humans ! We drop it in the garden and it immediately runs into the house along with us. It crawls on to the human body all over.... causing some awkward feeling. I don't know when I am going to get a Lab but I have got a Rodent without asking !!

Thought of taking few snaps and post it in my blog. Here they are...



On the Guava tree...


Smile Please....




Posing for a perfect SNAP... ! Picture Perfect :)



She is finally on my Computer Table too..... :)



Mr. Mouse or Mr. Rodent... who is heavier !




This is a video of the Naughty Squirrel... it would have, for sure won a GOLD for India in long jump !! Just watch it.... its amazing.







Sadly.... after 3 days, this squirrel looked very weak. It was not as active as it used to be.... It became difficult for it even to move. Reasons unknown..... Y'day morning it was found dead in my veranda :-( :-( :-( A TRAGIC END :'(


Saturday, October 04, 2008

Few Updates from my L!F3

Its been quite some time that I spoke about the happenings @ my end. Thought of penning down today. Hmmm.... where should I start? L!F3 is currently a lil messy.

WORK:

Alright... I'll start where I have last ended --- Graduation,Satyam,Planning etc.,! when all seemed to be going good with my career. I have joined the Resource Planning team & started learning new things. Thought this is a wonderful step as I was involved in some of the very interesting & key processes at the corporate level. There was a sense of achievement initially as the enthu levels were very high. Everything went well till the end of last financial year. Later on life started moving in a slow motion ! may be because of the fact that I get bored easily when I start doing the same things repeatedly. Yes.... Time & Again i was doing the same stuff at my work place. A process driven by corporate but a lot to do with individual businesses in the organization. I lost interest in my work as the learning has reached a point of saturation. Meanwhile there were few unexpected changes in my team. There were 2 new team mates. I have asked my boss to release me.... which makes some sense too !! But my boss diplomatically denied my proposal ! :( Better luck next time !
Huh.... I am sick & tired doing this boring sh*t each day. Cant help....need to DO. Don't know for how long.....:(

Friends:

The less I say the better it is ! Just think that all my friends have queued up to leave me alone !! One after other.... Brahmam, Madhu, Pavan, Girish, Avinash, Arvind, Vaibhav, Ajay, Vinay, Abhineet & now Aishik.... huh.. the list is directly proportional to my increasing age(may be in DAYS) :-( And towards the other end there are few friends(so called) are still living in this city but hardly meet ;) May be they have become a lil busy with their lives(personal:P). Understandably my password to pastime is 'MOVIES'. Of course, the downloaded ones. Thanks to Riaz :) Courtesy Internet :D Amid these extreme changes I found few really interesting people at work. One of them is Anurag Bhattacharjee(AB)-The walking encyclopedia. he he he... U need not Google if Jr. AB is with you. Believe me this kiddo has got a memory of at least 250Tera Bytes!! Aishik looks completely settled in his new marketing role & currently his Dine & Wine happens only with CXOs!!!!!!!!! Then there are two nightingales - Gunjan & Deepika !! One interested in social service and the other dedicated to work ! One operates on the principle of "Service to Mankind is Service to God!" & the other operates on "Work is Worship" & sometimes 'War'ship too!!(lol). Next up is Robert Kotus from Poland. He is my 15 days old friend(call him colleague!!) We are currently on a Mission... Mission is to teach Robert Hindi, taste him the south Indian spicy food, teach him how to ride a bike in Hyderabad traffic & many more such weird things. In one word... this mission is to make Robert a Hyderabadi by the time leaves India :) he he he.

Badminton:

August 1st week.... I was completely living in solitude. The last close mate Vinay has left to US chasing his dreams and aspirations. No company to jog. Then it striked me to start playing Badminton(which was once in my Blood!!!) once again. There is an indoor shuttle badminton court around 5kms away from my home. Without wasting any time I have quickly started playing in the mornings. As I am playing Badminton after a long gap, it took me almost a month to gain the lost form!!

Family:

We are Three till now & we are going to be soon six!! Read on....
Grandmom is in my home currently :) Gokul(my brother) who is working in Bangkok for the past 20months has resigned and coming back forever!! If there is anyone whom I missed the most in my life till now then it is him. coz... I missed him almost throughout my life as he always used to stay away from home-right from childhood to teenage for studies & now for work :( I think he is calling it quits now. He is returning by tomorrow's flight. Yuppieeeee!! Then the last addition in my family will be a new pet. Probably a Labrador. Its gonna be a rocking family...A perfect one!!

Thats it for now.........I will post the pics of my complete family very soon*
* - depends on the new entrant --- Mr. Lab

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Where are we heading ?

No matter where u r in this world u might have heard about the recent catastrophe in USA. A catastrophe which rocked & shook the complete world. No... I am not talking about Hurricane Ike or Hurricane Gustav. This article is on the downfall of 5 giants.
It all started with the Jan 22nd crash. The sub-prime crisis, US economy slowdown, Increasing Joblessness claims etc., by March many global banks have written down billions of dollars. Citi Bank writing off 50+ billion USD topping the list!! followed by companies like UBS. The total estimated losses of all the companies accounted to a whopping 512 Billion USD!!( write offs were approx... 275Billion USD in America, 215Billion USD in Europe & 25 Billion USD in Asia). Citi Bank need to sell some of its assets to come out of this quick sand! Few giant companies survived & few are still struggling & swimming against the tide & few have gone almost bankrupt!! Lets now talk about few of the biggest Organisations( based out of USA) which were washed away in the tide called Sub Prime Crisis.


First up....

Bear Stearns - one of the oldest Investment banks in USA was severely hampered & its stock price came down to 2$/share down from 133$/share. Finally it was acquired by JP Morgan. JP Morgan has paid close to 10$/share.


Next up...

Now its the turn of the US' oldest mortgage firms Fannie & Freddie ! The Fed came to the rescue this time.






The real Carnage begun in mid SEP.

With in a gap of less than a week, first Lehman Brothers made the headlines filling its bankruptcy. Then came the news on AIG, the biggest insurance company in the world !! Merrill Lynch followed in their footsteps. The stock price of Lehman bottomed out! It was almost valueless at 0.12$ last time when i checked. A company which has a successful history of 158 years surviving many financial crashes & world wars has finally bitten the dust :-( Interestingly Lehman has never even reported a quarterly loss till June 08!! More or less same is the case with AIG. Merrill Lynch is slightly in a better position. Luckily Merrill Lynch was taken over by BoA(Bank of America) there by becoming the biggest brokarage house in the world !! Federal Bank again came into the picture. It helped AIG by providing $80B loan after picking up 80+ % stake in the company proving that AIG is too big to fail !!! Parts of Lehman Brothers were acquired by biggies like Barclays. But that was not sufficient. Need to wait and see the future of Lehman :( It definitely looks gloomy.


The story so far :

Till date Investment Banking is the buzz word in any country when it comes to Finance ! Most of the American giants used to recruit grads from our IIMs ! I Banking used to be the most preferred profession for any MBA with splzation in Finance. But with the recent turn around in things it may soon change. There is already an article in TOI which says IIM grads are now shifting focus from IB to Micro Finance. I am totally unaware of what this Micro Finance means :-( But I am sure there is something cooking in every B-School :-) we can smell it :D

Bear Stearns, Merill Lynch, Lehman Brothers...... 3 out of top 5 Investment Banking firms are clean bowled. Left are........the dream company of many young Finance Aspirants (like me) Goldman Sachs & Morgan Stanley. Goldman has announced a 70% decline in profits when compared to last quarter!! which it self is an indication of slowdown. Both Goldman & Morgan used to be individual IB firms which out any tieup till now. But looks like they are reconsidering their independent status. Donno what exactly is cooking inside these firms... but the odour is definitely bad :P

If you think that the list has ended here then u might need to think again ! wait for another quarter or two.... there might be still some bad news left :(

Side Effects:

After all this mayhem analysts have termed this as Financial Tsunami !! & rightly so.
Guru Buffett termed this turmoil in the markets an 'economic Pearl Harbor' ! His quote: "It's not like Pearl Harbor where you could look at what happened with your own eyes and decide you had to do something that day. This is sort of an economic Pearl Harbor we're going through.'' Which only means that this Financial Tsunami has not reached its Climax !

Amid all this chaos, the Bush administration is trying for a $700Billion 'bailout plan' to bring some steadiness in the markets. But things did not turn in their favor till now. Voting went against the bail out plan and the DOW JONES plummeted 777 points on 29th Sep !! The biggest ever single day fall in the history of US. The jitters and tremors are felt across the globe & India is no exception. Now thats really Bad.... in fact its worse.

The aftermaths of these crashes, downfalls are Pink Slips in almost all the sectors which are dependent on US. IT is ahead in the list ! More than 65% of revenues of major Indian IT companies come from USA. which means these companies will get less business in future. Moreover, a significant part of these revenues come from BFSI(Banking,Financial Services & Insurance) sector(anywhere between 20%-45% of total revenues). Now its self explanatory!

He he he .......every second is filled with excitement these days. Its feels just like watching an F1 race! U never know who is going to crash OUT. My company has already started the cost cutting business by sacking jobs!! Is ur company into this business ?? If NO then they might soon learn this ART. BE CAREFUL !!

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Break the Jinx

Kimster & Ferrari have started this season with a bang. There was no stopping till the 5th or 6th race. When everything seemed to be just about perfect, Kimi is followed by a series of nightmares! Forget about winning the race(or at least finishing on podium), he is unable to even finish the race !! Sometimes he is haunted by engine failures & sometimes by crashes on wet tracks.

I didnot watch last week's Belgian GP as I was out with few of my colleagues. Had I watched the race I would have either broke into tears or would have broken my TV set !! Hamilton started at Pole & Iceman at 4th. Still Iceman managed to grab the # 1 spot minutes into the race! Unbelievable...isnt it :-) Then he led till the penultimate lap. Penultimate lap- this is when the real drama took place. First the showers made the track wet then the Hamilton-Kimi duo fight for #1 positon. Kimi managed to throw Lewis into the woods! but strangely Lewis took the back door(hamilton has cut chicanes) and was out on track ahead of kimster!! Heart break for Ferrari & Iceman fans!!! immediately for some reason(may be kimi lost his cool as lewis overtook him or bcoz of Kazuki Nakajima coming in the way or may be bcoz of his left tyre becoming flat!) he crashed out!!! RACE ENDS, at least for kimi Raikkonen fans.

Post race comments by Kimi:
"I was prepared to win or lose, but unfortunately I went off. I only wanted to win. I slid wide on the fast left hander, and tried to come back on the circuit but I went off. I didn't want to finish behind we would have lost points. We see what we can do."

Raikkonen said: "You get punches and blows, but you just carry on and fight back. There is no reason for me to start worrying over what has happened to now stop trying. I will fight until the very end."
Now thats more like a fighter.... I luv to hear this from u Kimi.

Have a glance @ Kimi's F1 career so far.

1 Wrld C'ship
17 wins
16 poles
33 fastest laps
54 podiums
513 points


Next destination is Monza,Italy. Monza is one of the fastest circuits in F1, with average speed of 250+ Kmph add to that + Ferrari is from Italy. There is a lot to look out for in this race...Glamor,Speed,Over takings,adrenaline rush & finally champagne. If not Kimi, Massa will fight out with Lewis for the championship. This will FOR SURE keep your adrenaline pumping! Game has already begun. In today's(Friday) practice Kimi has topped the table. He has regained his lost form and showed his true colours!! RED Rules.... Kimi will rule(OMG...I am sounding too optimistic). Its going to be a Mission Impossible for Kimi to win this championship as we are left only with 5 races. Mind you Kimi is currently at 4th in the drivers standings with 19points short of steward Hamilton.

Oh...forgot to mention....just when i am writing this post the news of contract extension of ICEMAN with FERRARI till 2010 is out !! I am luving this sport even more now.

This weekend I am going no where....I don't give a damn even if the big bang happens & world comes to an end!! I will stick to my TV with Star Sports ON from 16.30 PM IST !!

GAME ON....ROCK ON!!

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Google turns 10

Happy B'day Google.

Google celebrated its 10th anniversary on 7th Sep. I know I am a little late in wishing but nevertheless its not too late :-) I am sure you all will agree that Google has become a part of our daily lives. We all search for something on internet at least once in a day. Not sure about remembering my best of best friends daily but I am doubly sure that I remember Google each day!! That is the impact this $20b monster has on my life at least. It has become a synonym for 'Help'. Google is God(for ppl who believe in God). Google is Luck(for ppl who believe in Luck). Google is a genie(for ppl who believe in magic). Google is Life(for all netizens). Google is pure innovation, an evolution, a revolution. A tool which has changed the face of this internet industry by all means through its innovative products. Recently it has added one more jewel to its crown in the form of 'CHROME'-A WEB BROWSER. I am currently writing this blog with the help of Chrome. Its looks really cool !

I have read an article in NYTIMES.COM. This article has got few interesting statistics. I advice you to go through this link if you are a fan of Google just like zillions of people around this world are. CLICK HERE to know interesting facts about 'G'.



We have reached a stage where we cant imagine LIFE without Google!! WOW... "LIFE WITHOUT GOOGLE"! sounds good...will plan to write a book on this :P

I admire Google.... do u??



Tuesday, September 09, 2008

SAI.... The Face Reader !!

Few days back.....

I was waiting in the parking lot outside a building in Secunderabad. I was just killing time watching the people around as I was a lil early than I should have. Then came a guy aged around 18 years, with a bag on his shoulder, lean, dark & tall. He introduced himself as Sai.

My first impression on him: must be someone from a remote area who lost all his money. Now he needs to go back & there is no other source than to ask help from someone! Believe me these kind of cases are increasing exponentially !! When I used to take public transport, I used to come across at least one such case each week. Though this case is a lil different, the jist is the same! Read on !!

Sai: I am from Srikakulam. I am studying Intermediate. I came here on a weekend to meet one of my old lecturers.

Me: so ?

Sai: My sir has asked me to come after an hour or so.

Me: so ?

Sai: I am a Face Reader !! Face Reading & fortune telling is my family occupation. I found your face very interesting !! If you don't mind can I tell something about u?

Me(within myself): Lets kill some time. Though I dont believe in anything of this sort, this is going to be fun. Lets get into the details.

Me: Oh is it !! Please go ahead. But I am not going to take out even a single penny from my pocket!!

Sai: Thats okay. I am not doing this for money.... I just saw you and wanted to speak to you !!

Me(within myself): Amazing!! not for money... huhuhhhhhhhhh :-)

Sai: Your lucky number is 5. Even if you take a new mobile number or a new vehicle see that you get '5' in it. You dream a lot about your future. you want to make something big in life. Unfortunately since your birth you have a problem with studies. You have never excelled in studies till now!! You are going to meet a girl before 26th of next month!!

Me(smiling): ohh is it!! Interesting. Go ahead...

Sai: This girl will become a part of your life !

Me: pppppuuuurrrrrhhhhhhhhhhhh !

Sai: You struggle a lot to reach your goals and dreams. Ultimately you fail ! Some bad things are happening to you these days and they keep happening untill you do some kind of pooja to god.

Me(within myself): hahaaaa... there u r ! I was expecting that u'll take me here.

Sai: If u r interested then I will explain u the process. Which god do you believe in?

Me: I am an athiest. I dont believe in the existence of god.

Sai: No sir... everyone prays for some god or the other. At least you will have a poster of god in your room. which one do you have...?

Me: Lets assume i believe in God XYZ... what next ??

Sai: I will do a pooja on your name.

Me: okay please go ahead and do...!!

Sai: It needs 7KGs of sugar!! you give me some money so that I can buy it for you and finish the puja.

Me: he he he he he ....good joke. Thanks for passing time with me.

Sai: why sir? what happened? you dont believe me? you can trust me sir. this is my family business and i pray to 101 different gods daily. I dont even eat food till I finish my puja daily!!

Me: Good. Infact very very good. keep doing. You forgot to say onemore quality of mine. " I am a big spendthrift(kanjoos). I dont give a penny if there is nothing in it for me" !!

Me: It was fun. Thanks for entertaining me and telling so many things which I dont know !! Have a good day & all the best for ur 10+2 :-)

There ends the story :-)

THE END

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Live Your Dream :-)

There are two reasons for writing this post.
  1. I was closely tracking 'ROCK ON' ever since it was first out in media! close to 6months back. So its not fair to let it go without writing a review.
  2. More than entertainment this movie gives its audience a message. A genuine lesson on life.
With a versatile and talented artist Farhan Akthar in the crew & the genius trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy music, this film promises to be quite different for the usual Bollywood movies. For obvious reasons I wanted to watch this movie even if it is a flop. Get set & go... First day second show !! ROCK ON.

FA's earlier 3movies are all of different genres. DCH was all about friendship. Lakshya was about achieving a goal. Don, a remake of yesteryear's 'Don', was all about illegal trade & drugs.
Let me remind you ROCK ON is not directed by FA. After watching the movie I felt it is a blend of his earlier two movies!!(DCH & Lakshya). Rock On is not just about friendship but also about living a dream!! The music of this movie is not liked by everyone. It has to be taken with a pinch of salt. I am listening to 'Rock On' since the Day 1 of its music launch!! I have liked it to that extent.Movie Starts with 'Socha Hai' a rocking number! A minute late into the cinema you are undoubtedly going to miss the best part. The idea of clubbing the past with the present didn't really looked like worked(you need to watch the movie for better understanding of this statement). Four friends, each of them were gifted with some magic create a Rock band and they call it 'MAGIK' & rightly so. Aditya(FA) is the lead singer, Joe(Arjun Rampal) the lead guitarist, Rob(Luke Kenny) the keyboard player & RD(Purab Kohli) the kick ass drummer.

Every move in the movie is quite predictable. There will be a reminisce of Jhankar Beats too !! Rock On moves at a snails pace, primarily it lacks humor. Except the Rocking music, there is nothing in the movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat. I cant say it is yet another typical bollywood movie for the simple reason that you walk away from the cinema with a feeling of achievement!!(i will talk about this in the latter half). The taking and cinematography is quite natural and outstanding. The looks & hairstyles of all the actors are quite different & they perfectly resemble Rock Stars. FA has delivered his best & never looked like this is his debut movie as an actor. So are the other three. Rock On entertain you whenever there is a song!! You will be literally dancing on your seat. Rest of the times..... I think its understandable.

Just when 'Magik' becomes a huge success, the members of the band split and take different routes for a silly reason. Adithya becomes an Investment Banker!! RD handles his father's jewellery business, Rob is working with Anu Mallik & Joe does almost nothing!! After 10years they realize what they have missed in the life & reunite. They start off where have left 10years back & create the same 'MAGIK'. Here is where you get a feel of achievement ! Living your dream. Its quite natural to imagine urself in the shoes of the protagonist of the movie. But this time there is something more to it... Living a Dream.

All of us in our teenage or early twenties dream of achieving something in life but most of us end up doing something else than what we have dreamt of!! I am sure you all will agree with me. It happened to me as well.... & it happened to many of them i know. The earlier hit of the year 'Tare Zameen Par' also tries to iterate the same thing & Aamir was damn successful in conveying the message. He left a footprint not just in the hearts but also the minds of the audience. We just compromise and leave our passions aside & move on with a mechanical life. You are going to be remembered only when your passion for something turns into your profession. ROCK ON does more or less the same.

Rock On is more about Living your dream. You will not worry much about anything if you start living your dream. In the process, others will just follow. Lets start living 'in' our dreams... go to bed !!

ROCK ON --- LIVE YOUR DREAM

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Bill Gates clicks on "LOG OFF"


Its been quite some time now that Bill Gates thought of bidding farewell to Microsoft. He's been in charge of Microsoft for over 3 decades now. He is one of the best business men the mighty US has produced. Now he called it quits! He has topped the Forbes list consecutively for over 13yrs. We all know him as the world's richest man. But very few people know about the other side of this legend. He along with his wife Melinda Gates has started a charity organization named Bill & Melinda Gates foundation. Mr. & Mrs. Gates will be working full time for this good cause from now on.

Almost every one is aware of the cold war between Steve Jobs & Bill Gates. I have been always a huge fan of Steve Jobs. "Bill Gates always wanted to be an innovator but remained to be a Business man, Steve Jobs always wanted to be a Business Man but remained to be an Innovator!!" Mind you...by saying this I am not degrading Bill Gates! He is the one of the best and will remain to be....

Warren Buffett....another legend, a role model, a classic example, God of stock markets is an unsung hero. Buffett has just taken over the world's richest man tag away from Bill Gates. He is over 76 now and still going strong. Though this news is a lil old, it deserves a mention in every scene! Warren Buffett has donated about 75% of his wealth to Bill & Melinda Gates foundation. Can you believe it !! A person slogs his entire life and makes close to $ 50Billion and gives away three-fourth of his wealth to charity!! Hats off Buffett...


I am sure Bill Gates deserves a much better post than this... But....


Wishing Bill Gates a very good luck for his second innings!

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Vroom Vrooom Vroooom

I was waiting for the past 6months for this day ! I have post-poned the plans of buying a new bike for myself just because of YAMAHA's new 150CC power bike launch. Must have had a look at Yamaha India's official website at least a 100times till now!! through which I got to know the technology used and various specifications of this bike & the day has finally come(12.06.2008).

The all new Yamaha R15(a variant of the legendary R1) has been officially launched in INDIA.


Yamaha's has got only one hit model in INDIA till date. Thats RX Series. This time around I should say its a very bold,smart and well calculated move which Yamaha has made. With the launch of power bikes in INDIA they want to bring in a revolution in motor biking. Its really too ambitious to expect an instant hit. But slowly the things will turn around. Say in the next 5years or so, we will be seeing more and more 150CC+ bikes on the roads. Its the Indian Youth's changing lifestyles and the passion for speed which plays a major role. I feel, Yamaha this time got everything just about right when it comes to the performance of R15. With tubeless tyres on & 6 speed gear box and @ 140 KMPH, undoubtedly this beast is the fastest bike on Indian roads. Pulsars, Karizmas, Apaches & CBZs will stay at bay when they race with R15. But(yeah... these But's' are always there !!) the price seems to be a little too high for a common man. @ over 1 Lakh for a 150CC bike & increasing fuel prices each day, people who are filthy rich only might go for it right now. Yamaha might just reconsider its price after having a look at the sales at the end of this FY.

CLICK HERE to know more about this stunning beauty ! Be careful, It might just take ur breath away.

As of now, I have kept the plans of buying a power bike on Hold. One thing which is common between Mobiles, Bikes & Girls is that you will always get a better model if u can wait longer!!
With 2 world class product launches in a span of less than a week(Apple iPhone 2.0 & Yamaha R15) I am on cloud 9.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

iPhone 2.0

STEVE is back ! U must have seen/read the new iPhone 2.0 launch/review. But still, this gadget is worth mentioning any number of times. Below are the reasons....

1. It has 3G
2. It has GPS
3. It has Bluetooth Headset for Radio
4. It has MS Exchange Active Sync
5. It allows third party apps & Many more..


If you think these are no big deal for you to buy iPhone then you need to think again. coz the killer of all is its price. YES, with just 199$ for a 8GB & 300$ for a 16GB phone APPLE is also into a price war. Of course, U need to sign a post paid 2yr contract with the service provider in ur country. Apart from this I don't find even a single pitfall in this phone. But dont worry, hackers & crackers are always there to do the unlocking part of it !! This phone has got all the features that u need.

I cant wait to get my hands on it!! I have pre-registered for an iPhone for myself. If u r also looking to buy this stunningly beautiful and stylishly sexy master-piece then register right here, right now(for Indian Citizens only).
Airtel users
Vodafone users

Eagerly waiting for its INDIA launch. No wonder the monthly rental will be at least Rs.800/month and I really doubt if it costs 199$ in INDIA !! I am GAME even if I need to shed few extra bucks.

Monday, June 09, 2008

Wake up KIMSTER

RED was ruling the roost in the F1 2008 season till now. McLaren, BMW were struggling to catch up with the Ferrari's pace. Renault, Red Bull, Honda & Toyota were no where in the picture!! Kimi and Massa were in fantabulous form. Just when almost everyone thought its going to be the Ferrari all the way, both the constructors and the drivers championship are now wide open! After 7 GPs for the first time this season the top 4 drivers standings are separated by just 7Points. Ferrari & BMW are going neck to neck for the constructors. Ferrari is on the top with 73 points leading BMW by just 3points. I am sure McLaren will soon join the party to make things even more interesting.



Kimi & his team(Ferrari) were way ahead of others till the Turkish GP. But in the next two races the whole scene has changed. BMW's promising driver Kubica is leading the drivers championship. I must say this Polish driver is going great guns. With his consistency he is going full throttle and firing all the cylinders. Thanks to the wonderful engine developed by BMW this season. They are matching the pace of Ferrari & McLaren !! One must say lil luck too favored BMW in the Canadian GP. After that Adrian Sutil's gear box failure, safety car has spoiled the strategy of Ferrari. Adding to that, Hamilton has hit Kimster from behind in the pits. Poor Hamilton didnot see the RED light ON(he must have born in HYDERABAD!! Hyderabadi istyle of crossing the junctions). This soon led to chaos in pits(ADVANTAGE BMW).


Eagerly looking forward for the GP in France. Its going to be fun. Its going to be full of adrenaline rush. Its going to be a key race for both the RED Drivers. Its going to be do or die for McLaren(for constructors). If Kimi fails to make a podium finish this time alone, its going to be an uphill task for him to defend his title(which was hard fought and won last season). He is an iconic driver but some serious questions will be raised on his consistency again. But considering the fact that Hamilton is fined 10 grid places penalty for the French GP, the way for KIMI is quite clear(unless McLarens go on a single pitstop strategy!).


ICEMAN set the track on FIRE. GO KIMI .....U ROCK.



Courtesy Images: formula1.com

Monday, May 19, 2008

Lakshya 2....It took him 24years and 2600 Kms to find himself

Note: Guys who don't understand Telugu should excuse me for first paragraph.

Beginning:

"Sariga chaduvukora babu... backlogs lekunda eppatikapudu clear chesuko ra idiot...60% anna techuko ra fool... B.Tech 4 years lo finish cheyaka pote taravata badha padalsivastundi ra brainless creature...". Ilanti dialogues kanisam oka dozen friends semester ki oka dozen times each cheppi untam!! vinnada? lede.."meeru chadavamante chadavala? naa istam vachinatu chaduvuta...ipudu mood ledu. Night ki meeranta nidra poyaka chaduvuta.... main aisa hi hoon.." ani reply vachedi. Hmmm... veedu manaku vinadu le... forget him ani we used to carry on. Not that we used to burn the midnight oil each day, but still at least on the day before the exam(most of them call it one night battle....battle for that magical 60%).

The dude I am referring to is one of my dearest... probably the closest of all my friends. He is Ajay Kumar Penmatsa. Here is the Pic of that moron.


Post interval......(Now the Story gets a lil serious):

St. Martin's Engg. College... E.E.E .... 2002 First batch(though he has passed out along with 2nd batch !!). He has past almost 2years deciding what he wants to do in life. Finally stuc
k to networking. Worked in a small 'company' like company in Hyd for few months. Hardly gained any experience as there was hardly anything happening in that company. Understandably they did not pay him even a single penny. Frustrated & Irritated, thought of calling it quits. I was one of the closest to watch him each day(may be next only to his dad). NOW, all he needs is a break.


Then came a call from Abu Dhabi!! (not with work permit). He went on a tourist visa to meet his mom and aunt. 7.5 Weeks now. 04.04.08 is the date he left India. I/We felt a hint of discomfort when he left. But LIFE should go on. Today I received a call from this chap. He has attended an interview and got through. I was more than just happy when I heard him say that he has got the appointment letter with a decent pay package to survive there.


Climax....A good beginning !


I am sure even he must be on Cloud 9. The Flip side...Call it GOOD or BAD... but he is going to spend the next few years(at least a couple of them) outside India. Dude.... We are going to miss your company for sure.




Wishing him "All The Very Best In LIFE". Start a new journey mate...& in this journey try committing some new mistakes!!(Just kidding). The real Testing Times for you will begin now. Living 2600 KMs away from homeland for the first time and that too with hardly any Indians around!! eeeeeeeee...... I can imagine only few things. For sure, You are going to be a lot tougher psychologically when u return India(tu waisa nahi rahega!!).

We'll be looking for a completely transformed YOU .......


Saturday, May 10, 2008

Bengali Food......Ahh !!

After a soporific week at office I had something to cheer this weekend!! I met three of my old friends. Then went to meet two of my Bengali ex-colleagues. We had a very good time pulling each others' legs for few hours while discussing our lives... past, present & future.

Bengali Samithi is around 6Kms from my friends' place. I was very particular about tasting the Fish and few other specialized Bengali dishes. We went there to have food at 9PM. Below is the snap of the fish I have tasted. Its called RUI. I was taken by surprise when they said that this fish is exported to Bengal from Andhra!! I had the most famous Bengali Rasgulla too. Try some Bengali dishes if U get an opportunity. Trust me... they are really worth giving a try.

For now Look at the snap of the dish I had :) Uummmahh........ Yummyyyyy :)





Sunday, April 27, 2008

Straight from the Heart

Few days back I was speaking to Soumya(one of my old friends), who was my classmate in my graduation. We were discussing various topics ranging from Life in India to the Life in America(that is where she currently is) over GTalk. She is a regular visitor of my blog. She asked me the reason for not posting any articles these days. My excuse was "Busy with work in office"!! (Where as the truth is I am too lazy to think of anything). Then came a complement. "All your posts are genuinely 'Straight from the Heart', please keep writing". I was happy(at last I found a living soul on this earth apart from me who visits my blog regularly) & thought of writing an article and dedicate it to this girl(after all she has taken pain to praise me !!).

@Soumya: This post is purely dedicated to you. It took me almost a week to finish this.

Its been almost 2 Years that I passed out of the college. If I remember correctly 27-04-2006 was the last exam which placed a CHECK to my LIFE! Through out my education(in fact even now!!) I kept hearing people say... "You are the architect of your future". Yes. I fully agree. But who is the architect of your best friends' future??!! without whom life is like a Fish out of water. You never know what life has in store for each one of us. You never know to which corner of the world life takes you tomorrow. You never know whom u r going to meet and spend most of ur time with. You never know... You never know.

Like they say "every good journey should come to an end". We meet lot many during the journey. Even before we think of strengthening the relation with them, the journey might come to an end!! That is how LIFE is. So CRUEL. The pain stays for a couple of days and U'll be back to business(someone replacing that vacancy!!). But there will be a vacuum created when the best of friends get separated, which no one can fill!! and when U have a look at the flashback(as I am currently doing) U can find only the traces of those footprints.

Today, if I look back at the past 6years, I feel, there are a few things which I think I should have done much better, there are things which should have left alone, there are things which were(can be) done only by me and there are a few things which were done by others and I ended up being just a spectator !!

These 6years was a lot of learning. A lot has changed. The way I perceive things, Knowing what is good for me, Building relations, Keeping my temper under control, Accepting Change to name a few. Gone through various critical phases. I have met the Good, the Bad & the Ugly. There were unforgettable best days in my life. Not to forget there were TONS of bad memories TOOOOO. The so called Self-Confidence was hammered & I have bitten the dust on various occasions. Nevertheless its been fun all way. I invite troubles so that I can push myself into the quicksand hoping there will be for sure a way to come out of it. And each time I do, people call me CRAZY. I keep reminding them the saying..."Always take risks in life. If you win U'll be successful. Else U'll be Wise". I have learnt LIFE is these 6years. But there is a lot to LIVE & LEARN.

Always remember:
  1. Accept the things which U cant Change, Change the things which U cant Accept !
  2. There is nothing called LUCK. Its just CRAP(Even if I use it... I never mean it) !!
  3. Money can TALK. Its proven !!!
  4. Gone are the good days. But, the Best Days are yet to come !!!!

Ciao
:) SunnyDepp :)

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Reliance Foray





What First comes to ur mind when u hear the word 'Reliance' ?(now plzzz dont ask for options !)
YES, I am speaking about Brand Reliance. For me, the first thing that strikes is INDIA. Reliance being the largest and the only private sector company from India to strike into Global Fortune 500, has almost become a synonym for India ! for the simple reason that there are hardly any such sectors left where Reliance hasn't step yet. From Food to Footwear, Technology to Telecom, Clothes to Jewelery, Petroleum to Natural Resources, Financial Services to Credit Cards.... their foray is practically into everything. They have conquered at least some part of each space. When it comes to few Verticals like Telecom, Petroleum etc., chunk of the portion is occupied by this Indian Giant.

What prompted me to write this article is the fact that Reliance has recently opened its first Jewelery shop in HYDERABAD !! I thought of listing down all the companies owned by Ambani Bros across all the sectors. I managed to list one & a half dozen of them. I am sure, I must have missed at least a dozen more.

Listed Companies:
  1. INDUSTRIES
  2. ENERGY
  3. POWER
  4. INFRASTRUCTURE
  5. CAPITAL
  6. COMMUNICATIONS
  7. NATURAL RESOURCES
  8. PETROLEUM
  9. ADLABS
Subsidaries/Unlisted Companies:
  • VIMAL
  • TRENDS
  • BIG FM
  • WEBWORLD
  • ZAPAK.COM
  • FOOTWEAR
  • WELLNESS
  • FRESH
  • JEWELERY
Add to these the recently purchased Mumbai IPL cricket team by Sr. Ambani(Mukhesh) !! Papa Dhirubhai Ambani ne har ek ke paas 'Roti,Kapada,Makhaan aur Mobile' hone ka sapna dekha and his dream turned into a reality.....aur Beta Anil Ambani ne har ek ke paas 'Roti,Kapada,Makhaan,Mobile aur Power' hone ka sapna dekh raha hai !! & only time will tell whether he will be able to succeed in this mission.


What's Buzzing ?

Reliance Retail has recently launched its first iSTORE in HYDERABAD !! By this time u must have guessed what this could be. Yeah.... APPLE-RELIANCE tie up, to sell Apple products exclusively in Indian markets. Also heard on the street that Reliance is planning to tie up with major European fashion brands like Vercase ! I am excited !!



What NEXT ?

Come on Ambani Bros, be more ambitious. Here are few more sectors which needs the attention of u guys!!
  • Automobiles
  • Agriculture
  • Capital Goods
  • Electronics
  • Fertilizers
  • Aerospace
  • Media
  • Travel & Logistics
I am sure u'll give a good run for the money of ur rivals....If u dont want to start from the scratch then u guys can always adopt the inorganic way of expanding the business(as u did in the case of ADLABS!!). Start-up or Buy/Acquire/Merge with an existing ones.... do something or the other.

U can always avail my help in doing so !!
:-) Cheers :-)

Friday, February 29, 2008

I, Yousuf & my handicapped Bike


For sure, We all will miss this date for the next 4 years. This day(29.02.2008) will remain in my memory for long.

It was quite hectic day at office today, as it is for the past couple of months. Suddenly things have turned around bcoz of few unexpected changes. I hardly find time these days to play Pacman. But, LIFE GOES ON.

Our team will be in a weekend mood right from the time they step-in to the office on the friday morning(only). Colourful dresses, Beautiful, Charming & Fresh faces, fully energetic and enthu with fun filled ambiance. They hardly work post lunch and start counting minutes(& literally seconds also) for the clock to tick 6PM. and slowly people vanish. Today, it was only Me & one of my colleagues (two poor souls) who were slogging hard even at 9PM. I worked till 9PM and thought...... ENOUGH. What am I doing on a Friday evening @ office? We thought of calling it a day and leave office. We decided to come on SAT,SUN & wrap the things. It was about 9.15PM by the time we reached cellar parking.

We both stay at two different locations. He needs to catch an auto and I have my bike(partially handicapped). We both wished good night to one another and he left the place. I went to take my bike and realized that it got PUNCTURED !! F**K, man, it is already 9.15 PM. I asked the watch man if there are any mechanic shops nearby. He gave me the direction. I called up my colleague & luckily he didnot catch the auto till that time. I asked him to come back to parking. With his company I went to that mechanic shop which is some 200Metres from my office(luckily). Thank God ! It is still open. We asked the mechanic to stay there for another 10 mins, so that we can get the BIKE from parking. I had only 100bucks in my wallet that time. I thought of borrowing few more from my colleague & When I asked him, he said he has purchased a Quarter WHISKEY just now !! and he is left only with sufficient amount to reach home. We went to the ICICI BANK ATM in our office. This damn thing as always was not working ! We went to CITI BANK ATM on the opposite side of the road(hoping CITI BANK ATM for sure will have money). After waiting for 15 mins in queue we went IN. But even this was not working(amazing... only ICICI debit cards are not working!!). Then we walked a lil more(around 200 mts) and went to another ICICI ATM. Even this was not working !!! Shocked,Confused,Amazed,Perplexed.....& asked the watchman of ICICI ATM the reason. He said there is some problem with ICICI servers & hence no ICICI debit card will work.
We both looked at each other's faces faces and laughed at our fate for sometime. Helpless. I asked my colleague to leave to his home. I took my bike from office parking and went to the mechanic to check if he can fix the puncture without changing the tube, thus saving money. He said if the tube needs to be changed then it costs Rs.170. And I am sure the tube needs to be changed coz, I am facing this situation for the second consecutive day(forgot to mention Feb 28th night's experience. Bike had a puncture the earlier day also!!). And I had only 100 bucks.

I explained my current financial status to that kid. His name is Yousuf(around 14) .

This is how the conversation went...

ME: suno... koi ATM kaam nahi kar raha hai. aur mere paas ye 100 Rupees hai. Aap tube change kar dena, aur mera office ka ID card rakhlena. Mein kal subha office aanese pehle tumse leloonga.

Yousuf: nahi bhaiyya, mujhe account apne saab ko dikhana padega.

ME: bhai, mein wo jo company dikhraha hai na. usme hi kaam kartha hoon. Apna ID card ke bina andar jaa nahi sakhta hoon. Samaj rahe ho? agar chahiye tho ye 100 lo aur kaam suru karo. Mein baaki paisa kal subha dedoonga nad apna ID apse loonga. theek hai ?

Yousuf: bhaiyya, aap ab phir se ATM try karo. upar satillite ki problem hogi. mujhe bhi aksar hota hai. 15-20 mins mein theek ho jayega. Aap phir se try karo. Is baar pakka theek hogaya hoga.

ME: bahut late hogaya, mein ATM ke paas hi kaha khada rahoon, raat ke dus bajgaye. Agar karna hai tho, kaam suru karo aur ye lo mera ID. varna, mein apna bike office mein chod doonga aur auto se ghar jaonga.

Yousuf: aap kitne baje office aaoge?

ME: subha ke 11 baje.

Yousuf: aap pakka kal aaoge na? kal saturday hai na.

ME: kal saturday hai, isiliye 11-12 baje aaonga.

Yousuf: chalo, theek hai. mein tube change tho karoonga, lekin bike theek hone ke baad, ek baar ATM chalo. Agar paisa niklega tho abhi dedo.

ME: chal, theek hai. fatafat kaam suru kar.

He started the work. He is a kid and half of the work was done by ME !! Finally he opened the tube and said bhaiyya, nalli nikhal gaya. tube change karna hi padega ! ( my guess was right!).
Then, he said, bhiayya, tyre bhi bahut puraana hogaya, grip nahi hai. Naya tube daloonga tho bhi, agar chotisi phattar se bhi puncture ho saktha hai. woh second hand tyre jo dikhai dera, vuse replace karu ?

ME: kitna me milega woh purana trye?

Yousuf: Rs. 200

ME: Tyre + Tube = Rs.275 ??

Yousuf: chalo, Rs.300 dedo.

ME: OK

He replaced both the tube and tyre. Then we went to ATM again. and luckily this time ATM is working !! I gave him his 300 bucks and said THANQ BOSS.