A Li'l Less Conversation

Booktag

2009-06-20T11:42:00.000-07:00

"Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you've read that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes. Tag up to 15 friends, including me because I'm interested in seeing what books my friends choose"

I'm replying to A's tag (my post-comeback, comeback post). I have a vague idea of the books... will play it by the ear as we go along.

So here goes, chronologically:

1) Tim and Topsy - Busy Builders: A tiny 10-page very colorful kids book about a pair of Swedish cherubic twins. My mom must have picked it up at a local Versova bookstore when I was 4 years old and could barely read. By the time I was 5, I could quote the entire 10 pages without looking. A very special book that's still lying around somewhere on my bookshelf.

2) 1000 Action Words: A "prize-book" for coming 1st in class in Sr. KG Section B in St. Louis High School :) ... A cute colorful book that sparked off my love for English.

3) Tinkle Comics: They really used to be good summer-vacation time entertainment!

4) The Malory Towers & St Clare's series, Enid Blyton: Darrel, Alicia, Zeralda Brass, Bill, Pat, Isabel, Jo, Carlotta. Midnight Feasts. Tricks. Mam'zelle DuPont. The perfect schoolgirl fantasy.

5) Five-Findouters and Dog - Mystery of the Missing Necklace, Enid Blyton: There was something about this book that merited many re-reads... Coo! Also Famous Five and the the one with Saucy Jane.

6) Are you there God? It's Me Margaret, Judy Blume: The ultimate coming-of-age book for a girl.

7) Room on The Roof, Ruskin Bond: The hills were never so beautiful in real-life. Another coming of age book, set in the beautiful Himalayan foothills.

8) Why Men Don't Listen, And Women Can't Read Maps, Alan and Barbara Pease: :) A book that I read, enjoyed and then gifted to someone 6 birthdays ago. A darned good practical guide to the behavioral quirks of the opposite sex.

9) The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkein: A tome in its own right... but once you are sucked in - it's unputdownable.

10) Harry Potter and the Everything, JK Rowling: Should have come earlier in the list, but I started reading the series much later than I should have, initially dismissing it as balderdash. Thanks Jo & A - for endless hours of entertainment and forever re-readability value.

... ... Making a short soujourn to the bookshelf, to jog my memory... :-)

11) The MICA Yearbook 2006, edited by Shaunak Shastry & Deepa Swaminathan: Lovely memories in hardback.

12) The Hungry Tide, Amitav Ghosh: A powerful, absorbing book, set in the Sunderbans - that I couldn't put down during the Jabalpur trip.

13) Maximum City, Suketu Mehta: A book that made me love Bombay a little bit more.

14) The Dilbert Principle & Joy of Work, Scott Adams: I bring it out whenever I want to laugh about work :-)

15) The Twilight Series, Stephanie Meyer: My current chart-topper. Again I had dismissed it as teenage fantasy. But Edward Cullen dazzled me :)

There are also Gone With the Wind (which I forgot to add at #8), a Madhur Jaffery Cookbook with near-edible pictures, Twelve Red Herrings by Jeffery Archer, the Shopaholic Series and Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide To the Galaxy - which would complete my top 20.

I tag daviejones, Shee and The One - wherever he is :P ;)

A year and half later

2009-06-12T12:28:00.000-07:00

A tag from Arbitly Poo, which I just chanced upon woke me up to the fact that I might just want to blog again. And a conversation with Geetz earlier in the day on writing. And my blog decided to shake off the dust.

What fun the early days of blogging used to be... back in MICA...
Composing posts in the classroom - right under the noses of indifferent profs. Or late at night, in a room lit by a pretty lamp. And then G-talk the girls with orders to comment. "Do the doody... right now" :D Voyeuristic visits to other blogs... wondering what "The One" looks like... fighting over who discovered him first.

Now I'm on a comfortable couch, blogging under the light from the TV. I will probably send a mail to the girls and order them to comment. Not much has changed... but then again... so much has.

Many weddings, including my own. Another wedding around the corner. People moving away, people moving back.
Living with a boy :-)
Keeping a home up and running.

A year and half after my last blog, and I'm raring to go again.

Anj, your tag will be written about in the next post. Thanks. It feels good to be back.

Alone? Really? Why?

2007-11-11T22:36:00.000-08:00

I don’t really like banks. They scare me. I never know which direction to head to, for the kind of work I need to get done. The women at counter are generally glowering old maids who can’t wait to open their tiffins and complain about their bais. The men at the counter are moustached, old and ask too many questions. The guards and the peons generally stand around leching or scratching their bellies.

When my parents came up with the idea of me buying my own place in the city, I said yes quite joyfully. The EMI would be affordable, it would be great investment, I could stop cribbing about the travel, and yes, it was quite likely that I’d be living in Bombay for a few years at least. With the apartment identified, I already began visualizing the colors of the paint, the position of the sofa, the softness of the cushions and the table lamp next to the bed. I’d even roped in this whimsical young Maharashtrian interior decorator when my dad politely reminded me… “Um, don’t you think you should actually BUY the place before you do all this?”

Hmm… buy the place… of course. I needed a home loan. Aren’t banks always dying to give loans at my doorstep? The frequency of the telemarketers calling me exactly when my boss was asking me for an important statistic, certainly seemed to suggest so. My helpful friend declared that home loans were processed in less than a week, and he had gotten his in three days.

So I began my research and erm, found that EMIs were not all that affordable, especially on my former job’s paycheck. The only resort was to pick a bank that had very affordable rates, but might not offer to come to my doorstep to give me the cheque. Not one of the posh foreign ones with a head office in Fort. My helpful friend said, ”Go with the lowest interest rate. Customer service doesn’t really matter in bank from where you are borrowing money.”

I headed to this low-interest, low-fat, low-taste bank. After a thirty minute wait the Middle-Aged South Indian Bank Manager beckoned us into his cabin.

MASIBM: “You want housing loan?”
Me: “Yes”
MASIBM: “In your name”
Me: “Yes, I am buying the house”
MASIBM: “But why madam?”
Me: “To live there”
MASIBM: “Alone?”
My dad, fearing an expletive filled outburst from my side intervened: “Er, yes. You see, she wants to live closer to her office.”
MASIBM: “But saar, that is not correct no? She is not married. If she gets married tomorrow, who will pay back my loan?”
Me: “What connection does marriage have with a home loan? I have a regular income.”
MASIBM: “Which company you work for madam?”
I mentioned the name of my former employer, which, while being a recognizable name in the media/advertising fraternity, had still not built its equity among the middle-aged South Indian bank manager fraternity.
MASIBM: “What business does it do?”
It was difficult enough explaining media planning to my relatives and even my non-MICA friends; but to explain it to MASIBM was a pulling-out-hair-in-frustration task.
MASIBM, choosing to ignore my 5 minute talk on Media planning 101: “You have to give me the balance sheet of your company, madam.”
Me, through slightly gritted teeth: “Like I just explained, it is a private limited company, we don’t publicize the balance sheet. Many of colleagues have home loans.”
MASIBM: “We are not ICICI or HDFC to give loans just like that. See child, if you worked for ONGC or TCS, I could give you loan just like that, but this way… I don’t know. And what is this MICA?”
I supposed his daughter/daughter-in-law worked at ONGC or TCS.
MASIBM: “Ask your father to be the guarantor and we’ll see. Now it is 5pm I have to go home. ”

So, the process began. In Bombay, in 2007, 16 years after economic reforms, it still continues to be an ordeal for a single woman working for an MNC to buy a house. You need a father/husband backing your claim of financial indepence.
The paperwork that followed, the visits to the advocate, the processing of 25 different documents, the arguments with the Bank Manager’s assistant, the obtaining of a No-Objection-Certificate all took a good three months. Everywhere, there was déjà vu.
X: “You want the NOC/transfer papers/agreement/loan document/registration papers?”
Me: “Yes”
X: “To be made in your name?”
Me: “Yes, I am buying the house”
X: “But why madam?”
Me: “To live there”
X: “You are Mrs or Ms?”
Me: Unmarried
X: “You will live alone?”
Me: “Yes!!”

Replace X with lawyer, lawyer’s assistant, Marathi-speaking-lady at government office, equally Middle-Aged-South-Indian-Secretary of the Housing Society… and you have my story.

My helpful friend had an endless source of amusement from my stories of woe: “I got my loan in three days.”

But all is well that ends well. The loan cheque finally came through, just before I was going to give up the idea of moving into my house, “Alone”.

Now it’s back to the whimsical Maharashtrian interior decorator, the texture of my tiles and the size of my wardrobe. Which is another story altogether.

By popular demand…

2007-11-11T22:25:00.000-08:00

When more than four entire people asked me to revive the old blog, I thought it was time.
Not that it hadn’t been attempted in the past year… Word docs would be opened, few lines written and then shut forever. It’s quite a struggle to write this too. The fingers don’t glide over the keyboard as they used too… often resulting in pathetic lines like this one.

It has been an eventful time since the last spurt of blogging. Campus is replaced by an office environment. My cosy room is now a cubicle. The tuk-tuks give way to stuffy trains and cabs and autorickshaws. Late nights remain late nights. But the CGPA is now the points on the appraisal sheet. There are new characters in the plot – the boss, the colleague and the business associate. It’s a mad mad life with pushing, shoving and a Darwinian fight for survival. And most of all, it’s fun.

Welcome to the second phase of blogging on “A Li’l Less conversation” - a story about life in the Big Bad and Utterly lovable city called Bombay.

Long time Nosy

2006-07-05T21:36:00.000-07:00

10 Reasons for not blogging:

1) Inertia
2) Blog-aversion
3) Too much work
4) Some shady Indian ISPs
5) I'd rather spend weekends sleeping
6) Bombs, Rains, Floods, Riots, "Business Trips"
7) Way too much happening to write about
8) Writing from an office comp, not my laptop
9) Spending weeknights staying up waiting for 6:00 am alarm to ring
10) Drafts that become outdated two hours after I've written them

Waiting and watching

2006-05-29T10:33:00.000-07:00

The post-MICA shakedown has been quick. Like pulling off the clichéd Band-aid. Quick and momentarily painful. The illusions of bonding created by proximity were quick to disappear. Nostalgia strikes now and then – leaving behind a distinct bittersweetness. They were the best two years… and then one day, they weren’t.

It has been a hot, sweaty Bombay summer. The days have been spent in the company of books and thoughts and television. Re-reading Five Find-outers (and Dog). Unputdownable whodunits solved by the inimitable Poirot. Travelogue. Newspapers, in which real news has to be hunted down with a fine-toothed comb. Tamil soaps peppered with bigamy, pseudo-morality and inappropriate background music. New Hindi soaps that will never end unless killed by zero ratings. News channels that could be mistaken for Bollywood fare.

Taking sides. For Aamir Khan. Against reservation. For Jayalalitha. Against orkut-spamsters. For Da Vinci Code. Against the Indian side minus Sachin. For myself. Against expectations from life. All the while knowing everything but the last two don’t really matter.

Life took a nosedive and rose again. A perfectly inverted parabola. Quiet conversation. Unexpected messages. A lil’ bit of poetry ;) … Seeing Bombay in a way I haven’t seen before. Yet fighting a déjà vu.

Retail therapy. Salon therapy. Waiting to start work. To bring home the first paycheck. All in pursuit of yuppie-ness.

There’s three days to go to June 1st, when I start working. I haven’t been counting down, so this comment on an earlier post caught me off guard.

“To those of you who are about to enter the media industry... long hours, sleepless nights and acidity, heartburn, insolent clients, cocky media buyers, temperamental operations guys, mid and senior level managers who'll put the country's politicans (with their politicking) to shame, rocky marriages, indifferent kids, a taxi driver who bares his soul to you on the ride home at 3 am, potbelly, free drinks, and oh yes 24x7 work week with almost no chance of ever seeing real sun shine again ... are all part of the deal.”

I’ve heard it before, though on a much less graphic level. And wonder if it was all worth it. Worth the 20 odd years of books and admissions and exams and assignments. Worth the paycheck at the end of the month. Worth the 150 minutes spent commuting everyday. Worth the dream that I’m chasing.

I’ll never know till I find out for my own.

It’s going to be an interesting two weeks ahead. The first steps into work life. The first lashes of a Mumbai monsoon. Hellos… and Goodbyes. And some psychological yoga to help me brave it all.

Ivana... I-vana Blog-a-Lot

2006-05-10T02:34:00.000-07:00

My last real vacation is slipping away too quickly, and I’ve blogged only once in the last one month, which is grossly unfair to this blog. To make amends, I’ve decided to call this the blog-a-lot week and I will churn out one post a day, at least. Proposed genres:

1) General Rants about Life
2) Inappropriate Anecdotes
3) Uninvited Social Commentary
4) Mindless Crap
5) Review of Movie or arbit stuff on TV
6) Photoblog
7) Blatantly sexist remarks on why blogs are better than men (excluding the cute ones)

Explorers, not Tourists

2006-04-26T11:31:00.000-07:00

Perfect month so far.
Slept, ate (yes).
Wove in a bit of Aerobics and Yoga everyday (to make peace with conscience).
Trying to learn to cook.
Watching crappy movies.

And went on the most amazing Hindi Moviesque holiday ever.

Reading a lot.
Forgetting how to write.

So, pictures and half-sentences come to aid.

DJ, A, D & V... my fellow-explorers (not tourists) - thanks for a perfect week - quiet, simple and extremely satisfying.

Chai Time with DJ-ji

Deep in Hindi heartland.
In a sleepy town called Jabalpur.
She plays the perfect hostess, quintessentially Yash Chopra.
Comparisons are drawn Rani Mukherjee.
We giggle away.
DJ, you rock.

The Safari Sextet

Braving the wild in an open jeep.
Braving the sun with a diaphanous chunni.
Armed with cameras.
Armed with a Nokia N-70.
We set out to conquer the jungle.
And to see a streak of Orange and White on a hunt.

A Wild Life at Kanha

Instead.
We see deer.
Some Spotted. Some Horned. Some Brown. Some Gray.
Some x 4 = Too Many Deer
A Gaur crosses the trail.
So does a wild boar.
Peacock. Monkey. Anthill.
No Ka. No Baloo.
Boo.
There are tigers half-a-mile away.
The untrained eye manages, but not too well.
The more imaginative of us imagine tigers growl :P

In dark times

When the day has slipped past.
With purpose unfulfilled.
Food can be the only comfort.
Unfaithful to the diet.
We feast on our buttered prey in a dhaba.

Fortune favors the Explorers

And we spot him.
5 metres away.
Sated.
The remains of prey, not too far away.
Sleeping.
With an ear and an eye always open.
Whoopee.

Fun and Games

Quite literally so.
Pajamas.
Pictionary.
Charades and Cards.
Emran Hashmi.
Ooh... John.
Will there ever be time to do this again?

Fall Collection

The Narmada is divine.
Even for the agnostics.
Marble rocks and myths.
Ghats and the Dhuandhar.
A tribute is paid to Kareena Kapoor.

A la Grillé

By the Barbeque.
Flames licking the darkness of the night.
A hand a cooking.
But not for long.
The air is rich
With food that smells divine.
Even for an agnostic.

The Graduate

2006-04-26T10:56:00.000-07:00

A quiet and beautiful ending to an amazing two years.

Are you trying to seduce me Mr. Second MBA?

Me: Updated

2006-04-10T06:51:00.000-07:00

Location: Murky Sify iWay in Thane
Qualification: Post Graduate Diploma in Communications Management, MICA
Status (No... not that kind of status): On holiday
Mood: Blissful... but a bit icked out about typing on a dirty public keyboard.
Plans: Fit back into old jeans. Travel.

Will be back online when I have broadband at home and/or a landline number.

An Ode to the Primal Instincts*

2006-03-27T08:51:00.000-08:00

* For mature audiences

A creamy bowl of sweet corn soup

Sends my heart aflutter...

Sensual pleasures grip me with

A whiff of mushrooms sauteed in butter.

Hot Fries coated with fiesty red sauce

Crook at me, their irresistible fingers

A bite of those with a gulp of iced coffee

Is a taste that truly lingers.

Hunks of cheese in a crunchy salad

Blinds me with pure lust

Who cares about that extra pound

When offered a topping-loaded pizza with taut crust.

The tender touch of tempered gravy

Plays violins on my tongue

So does garlic, salsa and a dash of lime

Mixed with curd that's been well hung.

Desserts bring on the multiple orgasms

Cheesecake frenzy and chocolates with rum

Sizzling brownies and strawberry mousse

Makes my heart go mmmmmmmm.

Is hunger the more basic instinct?

Is taste more sensuous than touch?

I sit on the metaphorical fence and dream

Of lingering kisses and tomorrow's lunch.

Ego Blog

2006-03-16T16:32:00.000-08:00

... for the lack of anything better to feed my blogsy, I blog about... (ta-daa)

How life at MICA has changed me...

18 months since the MICA call

1) From a morning-person, I've become an absolute night owl. My senses of smell and sight, hand-eye co-ordination, alertness and imagination begin to take full effect post midnight, peaking at 4 am. It hit me today, when I was yawning and feeling woozy all evening. I've yawned through 65% of classes in the last two years, which were unfairly in the daytime. Then I write this blog at 6 am, feeling perfectly awake. (6 am at night, not early morning.)

2) My tolerance to mess (my room), small spaces (my room again), loud music (neighboring rooms... not, not you DJ), common loos and bad food has increased.

3) My tolerance for pfaff, stupidity, loud people and slackers has dangerously decreased.

4) I don't need a phone now, so long as I have the Internet. I don't know whether I can work without a phone, but I can live without one.

5) I've started blogging about insignificant details of my life. It's fun to play to an audience... feeding the voyeur in others, hoping to fulfil my own voyeuristic desires.

6) I'm lost without bullet points. And a touchpad... how do people use that contraption named after a common house rodent?

7) I thought Masters would be my last degree... now I might just want more.

8) I've regretted not being an engineer - something I never felt during the pursuit of that crappy Genetics Bachelors degree.

9) I'm not scandalized by anything, anymore.

10) I've learnt that the best way to come to terms with stress and trouble is to not have anyone dealing with it for you.

11) Now I know how to par-tay! And romance Mr. Bacchus. And con Mrs. Hangover.

12) I weigh 5 kilos more. Argh! (I swear they'll be gone in the next two months.)

13) I'm not grossed out by a lot of things - spiders, centipedes, lizards, frogs, dogs, monkeys, weird bugs, butt-wiggling dancers and watching all of the above humping.

14) I eat out more often. A lot more often

15) I read less than one book a month - a sacrilege, two years ago.

16) I brought 12 pairs of shoes to MICA. Different ones for going to classes, going out in the daytime, going out in the evening, going out in the evening (spare), loo-use, room-use, to wear with skirts, sneakers, party shoes, formal shoes, rain-wear and arbit pair. Now I have only 3 pairs. Loo-use, formal shoes and an ALL-purpose pair of floaters. The floaters don't exactly "go" with a lot of outfits... but strangely, I've ceased to care.

17) I'm going to pursue a career that I never imagined I would. (Which kid says "I want to be a media planner when I grow up"?)

18) I've seen that it is still possible to make friends-for-life. Even at 22.

There... that was fun to blog about. And it took just 30 minutes, with a Su-doku break.

A Hard Night's Day...

2006-03-14T03:47:00.000-08:00

New thing I did today: Woke up at 3:05 pm - absolutely guiltless and comfortably delirious. Sleep is a very beautiful thing, especially when you know that no history-altering event depends on the state of your conciousness. I used to wonder how people who slept so much could do it with no guilt. Today I learnt how.

9 am: Someone yells for breakfast
Me: Urgmm... go ahead. (Crashes back into pillow)

Somewhere between 9 am and lunch: Didi, kamra saaf karna hai.
Me: Grphgmm.... baad mein, Hansmukh bhai.

Lunch time, anh Shee: Dee, wanna wake up for lunch??
Me: (Untelligible sound 3)

As the sun begins to crossover to the western hemisphere, it positions itself outside my window. And then the process of waking up begins. Eyes still closed, my fingers search for the power button of laptop. As it beeps out of its hibernation, so do I - with a goofy smile of contentment.

****************

Finished with thesis couple of days ago, and with it, finished the last big academic pursuit at MICA. I cannot remember the last occasion, when I spent so much time staring at a word doc. A total editing time of 3033 minutes says the statistics counter of the 61 page document. The experience was quite mixed. Emotions ranged from disgust, to excitement, to nostalgia, to hunger, to boredom, to relief - when I finally printed it out.

It was good fun working on it. Digital media is absolutely fascinating - as is most media.

Also fun were the late night dinners at Chota and the early morning walks with Anj. Early morning, not because we woke up in time to see daybreak, but because we were still up after a hard day's night.

*******************

Yearbook pic time - and I'm having a bad hair day... urggggggh. :(

Tremor in MICA... of the unusual kind...

2006-03-07T10:35:00.000-08:00

March 8, 0000 hrs

15 people on the top floor of the library. Working on thesis, pretending to work on thesis but actually chatting, pretending to chat but actually working on thesis. The lighting is dim, the laptops are working overtime. The carpeted wooden floor absorbs all the noise except the gentle whirr of the AC, the tapping on keyboards and a few notes of music escaping from headphones.

There's a tremble.
Who's stomping up the stairs, we wonder? And there's no hostel room upstairs...

There's another tremble...
Stop rocking on the chairs guys... it's a wooden floor.

There's the third tremble...
Dev says "It's an earthquake."

Huh?

Oh, time to run out of the library...

... and then come back to blog about it.

People are mostly giggling.
"The thesis should be cancelled - we're traumatized."

Vocabulary takes precedence over concern.
"Where do you think is the center?"
"Epicenter, silly."

There's some concern...
"Does no one want to save their laptops? We don't have earthquake insurance."

Husbands call up wives.
"Go downstairs... go and stand on the main road. It's dangerous."

The speculators place bets.
"5 on the Richter Scale, I'm sure."
"6 I'm betting."*

Mine's-bigger-than-yours.
"It's my 2nd earthquake."
"Haan? (smirk) I've experienced so many. At least 6 I think."
The quake rookies just shudder.

Mild seismic interruption... Myriad reactions.

We weren't in Ahmedabad in 2001. But others were... and for them, it was a scary deja vu.

(The right answer is 4.5 on the Richter)

An eye for a tooth

2006-03-05T07:07:00.000-08:00

Some barter deals that I'd gladly make:

1) 12 hours a day of firewalled broadband for 12 hours a day of Cable TV
Yes, I've had half-enough two years of pointless surfing, random checking of mail, pseudo-attempts at thesis work, mindless chatting with people who live 5 metres away, banned downloads, Googling, Wikipediaing, Orkutting and playing online Sudoku. I was kinda feeling nostalgic about the good old days of unlimited TV access. Largely dependent on the mercy of unfriendly neighborhood cable operator, who'd cut off cable supply if he had a cold, or if BJP was in power, or if it drizzled, or if the guy in the apartment below refused to pay the bill. Was reminded about the goodness of pure TV thanks to this blog. And a sudden urge to be back home and on the couch.

2) Any CD from my collection for someone to finish my thesis. Okay, any three CDs... and dinner at Bombay Blues.

3) A bottle of Whiskey (not mine, but I can still barter it) for Vodka and orange juice.

4) MICA degree for an Engineering degree
How I wish I'd thought about being a techie... sigh.

5) A sachet of Sweet Corn Soup for Cup Noodles.

6) My two month post-MICA vacation for a two-week vacation abroad (Australia maybe).

7) Anything from my room for the Complete DVD Collection of Friends and Sex & the City.

8) A Peach Milk Facial - my style - for the song "Ek nazar mein" from Taxi No. 9 2 11.

All deals will be honored subject to market risks.

... featuring New York, New York

2006-03-04T02:53:00.000-08:00

Ooh, ooh... here's another one from the Feb 24th post...

Fantasize about living in New York or Blog? Blog about fantasizing about living in New York. After years of being assaulted with books, magazines, news items, sitcoms and soaps that extoll the virtues of being a New Yorker, I've decided that I want to try it out for a year, when I'm still young enough to absorb their ... er... culture. They're a fascinating species... with their moneyed, fashionable, promiscuous lifestyles.

They're super-rich, but they don't have their own car. They have gorgeous kitchenettes but they're always ordering take-out. Or eating pizza. They're always walking on crowded streets with a styrofoam coffee cup and a voiceover. They're members of swanky gyms that they never go to. They don't mind sitting on the grass in business suits. They've never lived on the ground floor. They're always cribbing about the lack of nice men/women, and have slept with a minimum of 50 people. They can run in 4 inch pointy heels. They pointedly ignore hobos and homeless people. They manage to find lovely apartments with dysfunctional neighbors. Their lives depend on the cabbies... or the subway.

Hmm... it's beginning to sound a lot like Bombay :-)

Madison Avenue... I will be there.

Saturday Afternoon Live from Shela...

2006-03-04T01:21:00.000-08:00

... would beat the Sa Re Ga Ma Pa final episode on TRPs I assume.

As the number of hits on my blog trickle to a standstill, and someone slyly suggests I should call it 'A Lot Less Conversation' ... I decide to try and put fingers to my keypad and dish out some crap.

There are 28 days left to convocation.
28 days to the end of this vacation.

It's been another lazy week here in Shela.
Sleeping and surfing and all things vela.

As the people on campus experience last month horniness...
My writing skills(?) suffer chronical corni-ness.

(Shudder) ... I can't believe I wrote that.

Okay... here's a fresh start. In award format...

Hot Guy of the Week: John Abraham, who's an absolute DISH in Taxi Number 9 2 11. Comment if you agree... or disagree. (Ha, devious attempt to get people to comment on blog.)

Hot Baby of the Week: Stewie Griffin, who's an absolute BLAST on Family Guy. That is one addictive show. All thanks to the super-sexy British accent.

Hot Mutation idea of the Week: John Abraham with a Brit accent.

Damn... I can't think beyond guys for awards.

What to do?

2006-02-24T04:34:00.000-08:00

Sleep or Blog? Sleep.

Spend aimless hours on Orkut or Blog? Spend aimless hours on Orkut.

Watch Family Guy or Blog? Watch Family Guy.

Feel guilty about not doing thesis work or Blog? Feel guilty about not doing thesis work.

Look up Yearbook Layouts Online or Blog? Look up Yearbook Layouts Online.

Go to McDonalds or Blog? Go to McDonalds.

Windowshop at Fabindia or Blog? Windowshop at Fabindia.

Sit Through a Well-meant Artistic Piece or Blog? Sit Through a Well-meant Artistic Piece.

Fantasize about Food With Cheese and Men with Britsh Accent or Blog? Fantasize about Food With Cheese and Men with Britsh Accent

Observe Lizards in the Library or Blog? Watch Lizards in the Library.

G-Talk with Anj or Blog? G-Talk with Anj.

Attend Rare Class or Blog? Attend Rare Class. You see, it is very rare.

Wonder about Cleaning my Room or Blog? Wonder about Cleaning my Room.

Watch Sex and the City or Blog? Watch Sex and the City.

So, who said I led a boring life?

Back to Now

2006-02-16T05:37:00.000-08:00

Back to being connected. 36 hours without the Internet and life seemed to have come to a standstill. Laptop was bored of being used only as jukebox.

Back to campus after 36 hours at Diu. Not a very different trip from last time... the all-female group being the one change.There isn't much that you can do different in a place like Diu anyway - eat egg-pie & crêpes, drink wine & vodka, and be merry on the beach & in bed (wink... not the way the average reader would imagine). Other activities included celebrating Shee's b'day, watching late-night TV, finally getting to use my camera & a lot of gossip. The Resort Hoka dipped on the hospitality rating this time around. It was quite disappointing, considering that we enjoyed it so much last time.

It was good to get out of campus for a while. Hmm... am always "getting out of campus" lately. I wonder if two years is too long for an MBA. I know I could've finished learning whatever I've learnt here in 15 months. Now it's getting to me. The place, the people, the pettiness of various issues.

No, skinny dipping didn't happen... no fun with girls only. And I haven't uploaded the close-to-skinny dipping pix too. For the common good of the 9 women on the trip.

It was fun, albeit unprincipled, being the irritating co-passengers on train for a change. Helped us take our mind off how dirty the train was. I've always hated co-passengers who:

a) Eat large meals (complete with pickle and oily gulab jamuns) on a 10-hour journey.

It is an obvious invitation to the creatures of the night that inhabit the dark corners under the berths of Indian trains. This time it was us who did the eating... contributing to a large part of the turnover of McDonalds in Ahmedabad that day. We didn't litter though... The roaches & rats were already around.

b) Sing songs & late into the night.

Yes, it was us doing it this time. But when you're in a mob, it doesn't matter, does it? This is for all those noisy families who make it a point to discuss current affairs and play card games late into the night, while their noisy, high-on-sugar (from the gulab jamuns they just ate) kids play Catching-Cook along the length of the compartment.

I would have hated traveling with us!

I also went to a temple and a church without having to be religious. Achieved a bit of enlightenment too - I realised that equal representation of of sexes is essential for a holiday that is sane and happy.

Heart-shaped Habits

2006-02-10T14:24:00.000-08:00

It's Valentine's Week and marketers are working on overdrive to take advantage of lovesick Indian couples. Everywhere I go, whatever I read & wherever I log in, all i can see are pink hearts and red hearts and purple hearts. The teddy-bears carry hearts and so do diamond rings.

Not that I'm the "Velenstines is against our sabhyata" kind. Nor do I believe that the festival is over-rated. I was smitten by the concept of Valentine's Day when I was eight. And over the years I've had Valentine's Days that've ranged from depressing to infuriating to surprising to dreamy.

But as you get older and arm yourself with an MBA in marketing-kinda-sorta-stuff, you realize that V-day isn't about hearts and teddy bears and greeting cards. Or about culture and values and courtship. I just wish marketers would leave some stuff untouched. Ditto for political parties.

It's just not special anymore.

******************************

Here's a paradox though.

Went bowling today. It was damn fun. (Anj sums it up brilliantly here.) Fun Republic has a fairly decent alley, except for pins that go mysteriously missing. And terrible background music.

As we sat outside McDonalds sipping the post-game drink, I realized that it felt awesome to be in post-lib India. Where you can eat pizza, go bowling and buy martini shakers (even if not Martinis) and do a lot of things that a New Yorker could do, even in a pseudo-metro like Ahmedabad.

A for the marketers.

******************************

We hit Diu this weekend. My second trip in three months. All girls this time. Things to do include any 3 of the following: Getting a friend drunk, Photography, Exploration and Skinny Dipping.

Why I love being South Indian*...

2006-02-09T11:22:00.000-08:00

Pardon the blatantly regionalistic title, folks from North/West/East India. And, beware... the following blog is very communal. Not in the VHP/RSS way. But communal, all the same. My love, of course, isn't restricted by region. The blog maybe pro-Dravidian, but certainly not Anti-any community. It's just about how much I love the Indian Dixieland and its outputs.

That's disclaimer enough.

After 22 & 1/2 years of existance, I realized that it's amazing fun belonging to a community that has its roots in South India... being Tam... being TamBrahm Iyer and all. A bullet-pointed account of why:

People assume that you're intelligent. You don't have to work to hard to prove it.
You can speak a third language (most of the population of the world is mono-lingual) and maybe understand a fourth, without being extremely talented.
Your friends always want to learn Tam from you (wink)
You can laugh at stuff like "South India-la Narthangai kidaikkum. Aaana, North India-la Southangai kidaikuma?!"
The yummy techies are mostly from the Deccan and further south. Even if they aren't genetically Southie, they studied there :-)
The best bloggers have Southie roots...
As do the smartest quizzers :-)
They make the best coffee in the world.
And they also make vegetarian food that's delicious even without slopping it with ketchup, garlic or cheese.

* South Indians include genuine & wannabe Tams, Gults, Mallus, Kannads... and all the Southies-at-heart... like Konkans :p

Candymen

2006-02-05T01:56:00.000-08:00

Long before the advent of Internet or concupiscence (or knowing what the word meant), we had our shares of celebrity crushes. Ronn Moss as a delectable Ridge Forrester in The Bold and the Beautiful of the early 90s. There was Akshay Kumar, who in the pre-historic era of unshaven chests, sizzled his way through cheesy movies with Raveena Tandon & Shilpa Shetty. And Sachin Tendulkar, in the 1996 World Cup and thereafter, who I was so madly in love with, I had plastered my room, my bookshelf and my bed with his posters.

Delectable, sizzing, yummy, hot, sexy - they weren't words that we used to describe the men back then. In the post-school gossip sessions, the most common squeal would be "Ooh! He's sooo cuuuuute!" or "Isn't he adorrrrrrable?!" All crushes fitted conveniently into descriptions of cute or adorable or handsome. We fantasized about meeting them. We reserved pages in our autograph books for them. And had endless arguments with the girls over whose crush was cuter (or more handsome, or more adorable). When boys our age were discovering porn, we’d follow the lives of our crushes on Stardust/Sportstar/the Friday movie section in the newspaper.

We then evolved, as did our fantasies and our vocabularies. Some of us outgrew celebrity crushes and realized that guys nextdoor were not all that bad. They probably didn’t have the same kind of looks/money/aura as the celebs had, but at least they weren’t taken/gay/too much in demand. The rest of us never gave up on crushes (celebrity or otherwise)... and continue to have them now and then, in a fashion that isn’t really much more sophisticated than before. The crush terminology though, is delightfully different.

They can range from to sweet-toothed carnivorous...
“He’s so yummy, I’d like to lay him down on a plate, drizzle some chocolate sauce on him and eat him up with a spoon.”

... to pedophilic...
“My my... come to momma”

.... to feline...
“Rowwwrrr”

... and sometimes, plain horny.
“That bicep is screaming out to be felt up.”

Which brings me to why I blogged about celebrity crushes in the first place. Every girl I know (believe me, EVERY girl) has the hots for Abhishek Bachchan. I don’t feel it – not even a mild tepidness. Will someone tell me what it is about an arbit actor (who passes off brooding as acting) that makes him so desirable?

PS: Had I not outgrown celeb crushes, I might’ve wanted portion of John Abraham with chocolate sauce. He comes close to the original teenaged version of yum.

Color me Yeller

2006-01-30T13:27:00.000-08:00

Everyone, on some level wants to be a rebel. Especially when we're bogged down... by rules... by what we think is wrong... by irritating factors that disturb the perfect balance we're always trying to strike in life. It is so much cooler to rebel than to conform. It is so much easier to conform than to rebel.

We went to watch Rang de Basanti tonight, 101 of us. Interesting number is this 101... it indicates 'basic' courses - the number of spotted dogs in the movie - a number that followers of the Hindu religion believe to bear good luck. So the evening was destined to be interesting :p

I'm not too much of a connoiseur. I go in to movies with zero expectations and almost always have nice things to say about them. Except for the truly awful ones like Neal & Nikki. I loved Rang De Basanti. For many reasons:

Brilliant casting: Aamir Khan as a 25-year-old? It works. He's awesome... he can make you laugh, he doesn't look sissy while crying and most importantly, the age rarely shows. Random firang actor Alicia Patten as Sue, who's got a huge chunk of a role? It works. Far better than the firang lady in Lagaan. Plain Jane Soha Ali Khan as the female lead? It works. She's subtle enough to not take away too much attention from the men. Kunal Kapoor looks yummy & Greek-Godlike as ever. Siddharth downplays to perfection and Sharman Joshi washes away the sins of the horrific Style. Atul Kulkarni is now officially my favourite Marathi-movie import.
Fresh-as-Minto Music: Roobaroo is the current chart-topper on our campus. And the way it was used in the movie gave me goose pimples. The electric guitar in the background score is also damn turning on.
Unpredictable Storyline: The person sitting next to me walked out saying the movie was "very bad". Of course, the same person enjoyed Diana Hayden starrer Ab Bas & Tanushree Dutta's tequila shots in Chocolate. if you're reading this, yes, you are entitled to your opinion. :P Bottomline - RDB is a meant to be a Hindi movie.
Locations and Photography: I've never liked Delhi except in movies... Hazaaron Khwaishien Aisi was one example. RDB makes Delhi and the surrounding countryside look very special. The choice of locations is very interesting - the campus, the graffiti place, the lounge bar, the dhaba, India Gate & the fort - each location adds so much to the story, unlike most other movies where college kids only hang out at coffee bars or beaches. I also loved the night-time shots, especially the car-bike sequence at the start.
The Punjabi accents: I can't tell a good accent from a fake one... but I loved the way they spoke in the movie.
The Complete Sensual Experience: If a song gives you goose-pimples, the music sounds ethreal, the visuals (& Kunal Kapoor) are a treat, the dhaba actually makes you crave tandoori food, the two kissing scenes are above Hindi film average and the temple scene makes you feel a bit spiritual - you know in your heart that it's going to be one of your favourite movies. It will be a while till the next really good one, I guess.

About the rebellion... had some instant rebellious thoughts :D ... I wish I had the firearms to get rid of the corruption around me (wink wink)!

Witches & Warlocks

2006-01-27T07:23:00.000-08:00

It's been a sinfully lazy week... been watching movies, sitcoms, soaps on my laptop ... and watching some TV too!! It feels heavenly to be so... jobless :D

Stuff I've been watching:

1) Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe

I was a big fan of the book & the TV mini-series when I was growing up. Naturally, I was dying to watch the movie. To someone who hasn't read the book, the movie would probably seem like a run-off-the-mill fairytale, heavily inspired by LOTR & Harry Potter, combined with really cool SFX. But it's so much more. I had a fab time with Devika - we did a real time semiotic analysis of the movie. Semiotics at face value, minus the Saussure, Barthe & Pearce, is damn cool. Any story designed to appeal to both kids and adults (like Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, Enid Blyton's popular stories) have many common threads. Here are some things we observed...

All these stories have one kid who's a natural leader (a la Julian from Famous Five, Peter from Narnia) and one kid who's a rebel (Fatty from Five Find Outers, George & Dick from Famous Five, Snubby of the 'R' mysteries), one who's gentle & motherly & kind of a spoil sport (Susan from Narnia, Peggy of the Secret Series).
There is generally a wise-old-man character - Dumbledore, Aslan, Gandalf...
There are many references to mythology, the medieval age & Christianity. Sacrifice, trechery, resurrection, battles, paganism are some common themes.

2) Dilbert - The TV Series

Doesn't live up to the comic strips or the books for sure... but a good watch anyway. It goes beyond office situations, and gets quite un-Dilbert at times, but has some really interesting analogies. I especially liked "Art" from Season 2. Dogbert and Pointy Haired Boss are especially brilliant. A bit on the Southpark mold. Am surprised that the show had only 2 seasons on TV though. Earlier in the week, Vinay & I did a semiotic analysis of Dilbert for the long pending end term assignment.

3) Desperate Housewives

It took time, but I'm finally hooked to it... quite desperately. Have access only to a few episodes from Season 1... and I spent every vela minute reading scripts of the episodes I couldn't see. It's an awesome combination of a soap and a dark comedy. Been so hooked, I even took the Desperate Housewives quiz on ivillage... and here's what I got.

You are a determined, motivated and intelligent woman, like exec-turned-mum Lynette. You know how to make things happen and are committed to the important issues in your life, whether your children, your relationship, your family or your career. Your high standards reach into every area of your life, and no-one could question your dedication. You're also an inspiration to others in your ability to find out how the game is played and win on your own terms (take that, scary PTA mum!).
However, like the manic mother of Wisteria Lane, sometimes you bite off more than you can chew. While it's ok to pull an all-nighter for a big project from time to time, if you make it a regular occurrence you're going to burn out before your time. Try to balance your priorities. Sometimes you need to focus on your own needs rather than those of others - no matter how noble the other causes might be. After all, the secret to a happy life isn't just achieving goals and looking perfect on the outside. It's being happy on the inside. You know this; sometimes you just need reminding.

Aughh!! That's definitely what I don't want to be.

***********************

There was a lot of vitriol in my last post. Stuff that a lot of people who are with me right now would have identified with. I'm surprised no one commented. Is it a bad case of missing vertebrae?

Lick-ur-ass allsorts

2006-01-23T10:10:00.000-08:00

The subtle art of ass-licking/kissing is a form of creative expression that many prefer to shun. But those who practise it, and practise it well, can really use it to utmost benefit. In this art, there are many viewpoints... you can see things from the eyes of a lick-er, a lick-ee, the act of licking and the lick-o-phobics. I fall into the last category, so my account is probably skewed.

Lick-er
They're true-to-life sycophants. They know what they want & they know who can help them get it. Generally too spineless to make a sincere effort, they prefer to take the easy way out by licking the right asses.

Lick-ee
Lick-ees are ickier than the lick-ers. (hehe, i like that line.) Their egos are massively inflated. Generally spotted with a coterie. Or a constant companion of the opposite sex. They could be old and senile. They're usually hated & lonely, which increases their urge for having their asses licked.

The Act of Licking
This could take any form:

Constantly hanging around the lick-ee and nodding away, agreeing with what he says.
Trying to be as much like the lick-ee as possible. Imitation is the best form of flattery you see.
Carrying info to the lick-ee.
Doing the lick-ee's cooking, laundry, dog-walking etc.
Other ahem... favours

And the licker could get anything in return - jobs, a role in a movie, shopping trips, authority to make decisions, weekend outings (to spot asses) and good grades.

For the Lick-o-phobics, it is frustrating. Especially when the lick-ees pretend to come clean. Especially when you know that they're telling titanic lies. But you assure yourselves saying that the screwy old lick-ers & lick-ees will rot in hell.

**********************

Been on party-mode for last two nights. Going out to dinner mostly... and sleeping. Badly need to be Smirnofficated.

And so...

2006-01-20T13:06:00.000-08:00

Yes, I did get placed today... Starcom wants me back. So yay, I can:

Say I have a job
Wear jeans tomorrow
Go out to eat
And sleep in peace

It was inevitable. I had to face the battle of professional satisfaction vs money. And for me today, the former prevailed. And strangely it feels perfectly fine that I'm starting off with possibly one of the lowest packages on campus. :-) - I have evolved. Or rather I haven't changed at all. B-School education has not made me a money-chasing bi**h that a certain someone predicted I would become. (It ended up in a rather sad parting of ways between us.) I'm still the same old me, with more focus and a tad more maturity.

To all those who're still to be placed, hang in there - you'll get what you want. Even if you don't, make sure you use whatever you get tomorrow to take you to what you ultimately want.

It hasn't quite sunk in yet, that I'm at the end of college education & I'll be responsible for real-life decisions, involving clients' money soon. Nope... it hasn't sunk in yet.

More tomorrow... am damn sleepy now.

GD = Gruesome Death (of hope and happiness)

2006-01-19T03:06:00.000-08:00

Placement week kicked off (officially) today. And I'm unplaced so far. There are 3 companies that I'm/was keen on getting into, out of the 40 odd ones on campus.

The first I wanted for some weird, twisted reasons, even though I knew that I'd hate the profile they offered. (All names will be revealed after all 61 of us in the batch have been placed). It involved a guy & some ego. Thankfully I didn't make it.

The second company was on campus today. I came to MICA with the intention of getting enough learning to be placed in the management side of a media house/agency that was respectable. We had one of those on campus today. 35 applicants, just because they were offering one of the highest pay packages this year. The GD was a disaster... Among those they shortlisted were people who don't give a f**k about media and still believe they merit the job.

So, how can HR guys decide within 20 mins of a GD with 10 people, who is focused enough for the job and can do it well? How can a 20 minute GD undo all the good that you've done for the last 20 years? I can't talk in uncivilized GDs. I find it too intimidating and extremely silly that you need to make a series of 4 illogical statements to be noticed. Despite this, I've done pretty well at the places I've studied in or worked at.

I find "GD jargon" hilarious. C'mon! Do people speak like this in real life business situations?

"I agree with her but..." (If you are refuting why do you have to begin by agreeing?)
"I would like to add to her point" (Do you even know what my point is?)
"Can I finish what I'm saying?" (Yes you can... when we're outside the room)

I don't think my entire work life is going to be one long JAM session - where I have to speak uniterrupted nonsense. If this is the only way companies have to decide who fits the bill, they will see people jumping jobs even before the MT stint is up.

There's just one more company that I really care about & have my heart set on - and they will be on campus tomorrow.

If I don't make it there... I'm taking up a career as a wannabe writer. Have already thought of title of my first book - "Life is a Female Canine"

2006-01-09T09:33:00.000-08:00

Already, it isn't easy.

D for Dispassionate

2006-01-06T22:19:00.000-08:00

The next two weeks are jam-packed with PPTs & interviews. I guess it wouldn't be politically correct to write about placements when we're still not done with them. So I'll blog about it in detail post-22nd.

But I learnt something today. Being dispassionate is the smartest way of getting through life. It was vaguely in my head after MICANVAS, but the thought got firmly embedded in my psyche today. It's easier to see it once you've practised it. Some people can do it easier than others ;-) ... I have often accused a couple of my friends of being that way. But I could learn something from them.

It becomes easier to deal with the not-so-rosy things in life.

Here's to the new, emotionless me. For a couple of weeks at least.

Cured of The 18 Month Itch

2006-01-01T23:58:00.000-08:00

Years ago when I wrote a diary, I’d make a list of 10 resolutions. Some would be carefully thought out, some would be there just to look cool and the last couple would be to round it off to 10.

I’m 22 now... and making resolutions isn’t all that exciting anymore. Maybe because a year is too long to plan for in the life of an individual. It is so much easier to split life into bite-sized bits... of a month or three months. There are lots of things that I want to do, but putting them down on paper kind of kills the spirit. The list then lurks around like a scary monster.

The past week has been one of the laziest vacations of my life. It involves the intricate mix of eating home food, eating out, watching movies, reading newspapers & do arbit stuff online. Saw some very crappy movies. Neal & Nikki was by far the ugliest movie of the year. Totally not worth the 40 rupees spent on it (that’s the cheapest price I’ve paid for a movie ticket in Bombay). Never seen such horrible kissing chemistry between two people. Shikhar was awful too... especially the cloud & trees song and Shahid Kapoor’s attempt at acting. And the whole bad-guys-dress-in-colorful-clothes & good-guys-dress-in-white concept. So corny.

Went to Matunga yesterday. I couldn’t stand the South Indian market before. Yesterday, I felt at home there. Just like I did at Hyderabad, even though the two places are vastly different.

Also went to Nariman Point – had lunch at this lovely pizzeria called Not Just Jazz by the Bay. I love South Bombay!

I guess the only place I don’t like now is Ahmedabad. Reached the point where I don’t want to go back to college anymore. Weird, because halfway through every other vacation in the past two years, I was itching to go back. Wish I could just get done with placement week and come back.

Of pick-up lines & number games

2005-12-21T02:26:00.001-08:00

This is a little montage of pick-up lines/cheesy hits/romantic mumblings I've used (YES!) , heard being used & heard of being used. All those who I've borrowed from would, I'm sure, not like to be given credit. Particularly dedicated to Anj... who might need to use them very soon.

+ "Awwww"
It's got almost 100% success. If the other person is slightly drunk & slightly depressed. ;-)

+ "You will never age, fade or die for me."
Stolen from Shakespeare in Love, this is a trademark line that's supposed to make women go weak in the knees. It works.

+ "Ooh... There's a heavenly body missing from the sky tonight. Oh look, it's right next to me"
Good, if you're standing next to someone & looking at an expansive black sky. Works even better on the 6th date when you're waiting for something to happen, but you're both too shy to make it happen. Works best if you're using sidey pick-up lines on each other, just for the fun of it.

+ "You want my phone number?"
Can't get more blatant than this one, can it? The unfortunate user was one of my smartest friends who misheard a cute waiter at a coffee-house saying "Ma'am, what name should I place the order on?"

+ "Do you believe in love at first sight, or should I walk by again?"
Anj... use this one. Or be ready to hear it from the yummy GSB 27-year-old blokes.
One evening isn't much time.

+ "You had me at hello"
Sigh.... my favourite line ever. I think it's much sweeter that "You complete me" from the same movie. Would swoon if used on me (if guy met pre-requisites of course)

*******************

I'm addicted to Su-doku... the weird Japanese sounding number game. Well, it's as Japanese as french fries are French. And it is not a number game either. You can replace 1-9 with A-I and it'd still be the same... it could even be more interesting - it could throw up some cool 4-letter-word combinations.

The first time I heard about Su-doku was during summer internship, a little before it caught on in India. But I got hooked on to it only recently... thanks to an idle mind among other things.

I've heard some interesting myths about Su-doku... that it prevents Alzhiemer's Disease (cool... now I just need to solve 345 different puzzles & I'll not need medical insurance). And that people who do Su-dokus also love crossword puzzles. Well, I love crosswords... but I know of lots of typical non-verbal folks who can crack evil Sudokus in under 20 mins but would run miles away from crosswords. The same folks wouldn't touch Su-Dokus with a bargepole if 1-9 was A-I instead.

I think quizzers & cryptic crossword solvers will have a larger overlap area in a Venn Diagram. Don't really regard a quick clue crossword to be the real thing.

Hyderabad Blues, Greys & Bright Yellows (and a dash of Purple)

2005-12-18T11:56:00.000-08:00

Got back from ISB today - was there for Poseidon. It has been one of my best trips out of MICA since the time I got here. Even better than the ISB visit last year.

A quick review of the fest itself. Definitely scaled down from last year, but more professionally run. The ISBians rock on hospitality & soft skills. They were very accomodating on participant requests :-) ... Special mentions ought to go to Richa, Pranjal, Umang, Manikandan, Ramkey -these folks really know how to run a show.

It's really amazing that even with their jam-packed schedules, they manage to put together these events. Especially when they don't have a legacy of contacts, processes & information from the seniors. But maybe it helps too... the events were quite fresh, and went beyond the usual B-School contests.

Which brings us to the event that Vinay & I had qualified for - it involved ad campaign analysis. We came in third. I think one half of the judging panel was very highly opinionated. This particular lady was more keen on viewing the ads with a critical eye, rather than plain & simple analysis. Naturally, there was no business sense in her opinion... No wonder some of these "ad folks" remain restricted to local small city ad circles. I don't see clients buying any of the airheaded stuff she spoke about.

The response to Poseidon was good. Maybe the fact that it comes towards the fag end of fest circuit prevented bigger crowds from coming in. Or maybe the place is so huge, you don't really notice the crowds!

The people are awesome. Amazing diversity & very interesting work-ex. And yes, it is a geek hotbed! Totally enjoyed my 2 days there :-)

Didn't take part in the quiz, even though it ultimately didn't clash with our event. But it was fun all the same. JK is a fab quizzer turned QM. I thought he rocked in Mastermind & more so in University Challenge... was good fun to meet up with him at ISB again, after MICANVAS.

Met up school & college friends. Was great to catch up with Uma & Apoorva... It's almost unbelievable that in less than two years, our lives have changed so much. We all studied pretty much the same stuff in college... immunoglobulins, heparin, transcription, RNA and the like. 20 months down the line, I hadn't the vaguest idea what they were referring to when they spoke of MSc. :-)

Ran into other friends and acquaintances from work, CAT preps etc. Also met Gautam (should I hyperlink to you-know-what?)... without whom any mention of Hyd would be incomplete :-)

Hyderabad (and Secunderabad) is the world's best city. It was a surreal experience going back there. I miss it a lot. The place has so much character. The Gults are a nice lot... & it felt good to be among them & their autos & set dosas & Chirugaaru movie posters & Hussainsagar Lake & Hi-Tec City & rock formations & railway stations again. Have lovely memories of the place - of West Marredpally & KV Picket & Shoppers Stop & Lifestyle. Just wish I'd had enough time to relive them.

Spect-ocular

2005-12-09T06:24:00.000-08:00

Am in a bloggy mood... but I really don't know what to write about. Just stringing together a few arbit thoughts from here and there.

*********

Some time ago, we had lectures with a very interesting visiting prof. Now, what we learnt was good. But what made the lectures fascinating was the prof himself. Anj & I found ourselves momentarily smitten... almost to the point of objectifying the prof. Other women in the class didn't share the same... er... feelings. That's when it hit me... I find the geeky kind terribly attractive. I mean, I've found them cute, but now it's so much a part of me that I've stopped noticing the geekiness. And it's not like I'm a teenager-with-heart-on-my-sleeve.

What makes this strata of population so hot? They would have to qualify for at least 6 of the following 10 filters. (And I'm talking in MR jargon now.)

The willingness to accept that they're geeky
The no-particular-hairstyle-hair. (Copyright: Anjali)
The slightly crumpled pants/faded jeans with nice shirt or sweater.
The rich voice.
The underplayed suave.
The way they can speak sense and the amazing clarity of thought.
The inherent tech skills.
The way they might think hot women are attractive, but always prefer the normal looking women.
The way they rubbish theory, and can yet be very scientific.
Sigh... the glasses.

I've also noticed recently that adding an "age of 30+" filter to the above makes them twice as yummy. But sadly, they're all snapped up by that age. If my blog weren't public, I'd love to share some examples :-)

**********

I'm going to ISB for Poseidon next week. Got a final shortlist for an event. Plus, there's the quiz with J Krishnamurthi. And of course, I'll be visiting Hyderabad after a year. It's my all-time favourite city. The perfect mix of north & south India. I know I'd want to live there for a couple of years, some time in the future.

Loved ISB last year. Hope I love it even more this year.

**********

Have been watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S again. It's good fun to watch it alone... but even more fun to watch it with someone who enjoys it as much as you do. Warm hug to all the people who I've watched & discussed tiny details of the show with over the last 6 years. :-)

Season Paranoia

2005-12-08T06:48:00.000-08:00

At the start of any much-awaited season, there's excitement. Like summer... when you're waiting to wear kurtis, eat chuski at M-Block Market (or golas at Juhu Beach, to be democratic) and go on a holiday to Mussourie or Matheran. Or like winter... which gives you the perfect excuse to cuddle up in blankets or seek some kind of human warmth and spend as much time in a hot shower till the heater gives up on you. Or the start of cricket season... where you can't get enough of discussing team compositions, batting averages or ads with cute cricketers. Or the Madras Margazhi Music Season. Or the new season of Desperate Housewives. Or... well, you get the hang of it.

Each season brings with it, its own characteristic language, trends & er... semiotics.

Quick Quiz. With what season would you associate the following things?

Cold feet
Frayed nerves
4.56
7.51
3+
Verticals
Day minus 1
International
CTC
PPT
Argh
Negotiations
Offer
Kick some a$$

A: It's those lovely days at the fag end of B-School life inappropriately named Placement Season. The week that leads to misplaced sanity, misplaced happiness & misplaced CVs.

It's kicking in here. There's 40 days to go until placement week, not counting Day Zero. And already, it's the ONLY thing people around are talking about. The best of people switch to a zombie like mode, where they're only dreaming about GDs, PIs & CTCs.

Normal conversation around campus:

Student 1 (Not yet in placement mode): What's for lunch?
Student 2 (Mis-Placed already): I won't apply to XYZ if they're offering such a sad profile. But for that kinda money... maybe I should.
Student 3 (Smug-with-PPO): I heard the economic boomtime won't last till Jan 20th. We're all sinking man.
Student 4 (Another Mis-Placed already): Shut up. You know that Cholestrol isn't giving PPOs this time. I'm going to prepare 200 page word documents on all companies to show that I've done research on them & I know better about their corporate strategy than the VP, Corporate Strategy.
Student 5 (Placement Co-ordinator): CalvinHobbes is coming for a PPT tomoro, folks.
Student 6 (Another Mis-Placed already): Yay, I want FMCG!
Student 2 (Mis-Placed already): No dood, financial services rock!
Student 7 (Confused media student): Where are the TV Channels? Let's go pitch to Ass-tha & Balley-Balley too!

Student 8 (Paranoid Zombie): I will never get placed - waaaaaaaaah.
Student 1 (Not yet in placement mode): Yeah, but what's for lunch?

Can't wait to get over with it... it's not that big a deal.

I guess.

Did the Diu!

2005-12-07T13:31:00.000-08:00

Yes, I finally did! After a year and half of plans-that-didn't-happen, lectures-at-the-last-minute & ehhh-not-now, I managed to do what I so badly wanted to do: vacation in the island town of Diu. I spent 48 hours with lonely beaches, white sands, magical sunsets & the cool blue sea. Now I sound like a cheesy travel guide (much like the one we found in our hotel room in Diu - "bujet acomodation in Deev for turists; the clear sea beacons you "). Diu is paradise - no touts, no sidey crowd, no pollution & yes, no prohibition.

For the hungry travelers: Diu is a union territory on the western coast of Gujarat, about 400 km from Ahmedabad. There's a tiny airport, where a half-empty Jet Airways flight from Mumbai lands every afternoon. The best way to get to Diu is by bus from Ahmedabad or Mumbai. Or you could take the train like we did. Somnath Express - an abnormally dirty train leaves takes to a place called Veraval - about 80 km from Diu. How you get to your hotel from there depends on a mean mixture of fate, common-sense & the whims of the Gujju private transport owners.

We stayed at a quaint, pretty place called The Resort Hoka at Nagoa Beach, about 8km from Diu town. The resort is lovely - an old villa with stucco walls and stone flooring converted into cozy rooms. Highly recommended by generations of MICAns, Hoka didn't disappoint. The brunch menu is amazing - especially the egg-pie. The service was fab too. Cheers to Aditya for running an extermely professional & homey set up.

Diu has been blessed by the divine hands of Bacchus - every second store is a wine shop/bar/pub/daru ka dukan. And every local has at least one bartender & one drunken uncle in the family.

Highlights of the trip:

Explored forts, churches, piers and Diu town & the amazing views of the ocean.
Rented out a Scooty and went for long rides along the coast
Discovered lonely beaches
Sat on the beach late at night, drinking wine & talking for hours
Climbed rocky hillocks just to get a view of the seafront
Saw a strange gay couple: an old blind firang guy & a young Indian wannabe kid
Getting away from it all, not thinking about placement week - even if it was just for a few hours

If I ever write a book, the story will be set in Diu.

***********

Came back for the last show of Sankalp. It was kinda dull and artsy for me, though there were some good individual performances. The dances were really funny, though they weren't meant to be.

The Trouble with Love is...

2005-12-01T00:23:00.000-08:00

B-Schools are vastly different from other educational institutes. A significant part of a B-Schooler's two years is spent in hunting (or being hunted) for associations - professional, personal & mainly physical.

The average B-Schooler is an evolved species. He/she has survived the tribulations of 4 years of Engineering education (or for lesser mortals - 3 years of graduation), a year or two or more of work and CAT. The battle-weary B-Schooler enters the institute with high expectations:

A two year holiday,
A mine's-bigger-than-yours large pay-package &
A hope to get hitched/get laid/or maybe fall in love.

Points #1 & #2 are well... yawn.The fun begins with Point #3.

Follow the charts below to study... er... Kinship in B-Schools.

1) First Week on Campus:

2) Post-Fresher's Party

3) Post-Summers

4) Convocation

The complexities of B-School relationships, mixed with many plastic cups of vodka & Sprite go far beyond the campus walls. Girlfriends & boyfriends become Ex-es over a party, an assignment or other guy/girl. The couple you think are perfect for each other turn out to be the first ones to bite the dust. And just when you think there can be no more hook-ups in your batch, you hear things during water-cooler conversations ;-)

Infidelity isn’t an anomaly at B-Schools. It is a way of life.

... and love is a four-letter word.

Account-ability, Negotiations & hard-nosed Media Folks

2005-11-28T05:06:00.000-08:00

Term 5 has been very good for the Media Management batch at MICA. Far better than Term 4, where Atul Phadnis was the only bright spot. We've had some interesting media sessions in the last 2 weeks. First there was Shripad Kulkarni from Carat, who took us through setting campaign objectives & marketing objectives and then translating them into media objectives & making media plans. It was good to have hands on experience. The sleepless 48 hours were well-spent.

Last week we had Himanshu Shekhar from Mindshare Fulcrum, who facilitated 8 exciting sessions on media buying & negotiations. We had live simulations in class where groups took on roles of agencies, clients & media owners. Apparently, he enjoyed our debates too :-)

Media is one of the most dynamic industries. Non-TV media spends are on the rise, even by advertisers like Levers who were heavily dependant on TV. The battle for the credit card swipe continues.

***********

Meenakshi Madhvani from Spatial Access was at MICA today, to talk about Media Auditing practices in India. The lecture was alrite - and some of the stuff that she shared was quite alarming.

It was quite cool to talk to her one-on-one. I've heard the media agencies' take on auditing often enough (even at my MICA interview), and yes, the views range from unfavorable to vitriolic. So it was really interesting to hear her side of the story.

I wonder if the big financial auditing firms like E&Y (who have a media & entertainment vertical) will enter media auditing in a big way soon. It is a matter of time until they have enough people with domain knowledge at the decision making level. Then the media agencies & owners will be pushed to follow more transparent processes. And of course, the advertisers will try and think beyond 40% at 4+ and invest in quality spends.

It's disturbing to hear that big media agencies undercut the industry norm of 2.5%, just to win newer clients. And it's even more disturbing to hear that a lot of agencies that flaunt fancy proprietary software, hardly ever use them, apart from making pitch presentations. And it is also interesting to note that though media agencies pay a lot for syndicated research, they hardly ever use them for planning.

Is it lack of talent at the starting level, or the lack of time? The planners & buyers work for 15 hours a day, simply because most agencies have employed only to about 60% capacity.

Understaffed, overworked and underpaid - scary words for a sector that I could be in 5 months from now!!

The MICA aspirant's Guide to the Galaxy - II

2005-11-24T04:06:00.000-08:00

Today we take a look into what MICA is about - its Positioning, Strengths & Weaknesses, and the million-rupee question: Placements.

MICA is NOT an Advertising school (we never get tired of saying this).
If you wanted to study marketing, MICA would be an interesting case study. It started off as a advetising & media school in the early 90s. By the late 90s MICA was supplying the industry with Account Planners, Media Planners & Market Research Managers. Over the last four years, MICA has made an attempt to reposition itself more than once. A stream called "Brand Management" was started in 2001. This was created to help MICA break into the big league of B-Schools. Some time back, another repositioning exercise took place, and now MICA is supposed to be a C-School. MICA produces managers of communication for any industry. It might appear as if we're contendors for a responsibility that doesn't exist in most companies. If you look closer, you'll see that it's an emerging area.

The course combines both communications and management subjects and produces managers for the business of communications. Here are some of the subjects that I learnt in the two years.

Management (pfaff:sense ratio in brackets)
Brand Management (70:30)
Marketing Management (20:80)
Corporate Venturing and Entrepreneurship (30:70)
Business Ethics (99:1)
Indian Business Environment - Macroeconomics (1:99)
Principles of Management (80:20)
Organizational Dynamics (90:10)
Introduction to Accounting (0:100)
Basic Business Finance (0:100)
Managerial Economics (10:90)
Strategic Management (60:40)
Consumer behaviour (40:60)
Strategic Marketing (20:80)
Sales Promotion (30:70)
Research Methodology (40:60)

Communications
Introduction to Communication (30:70)
Culture and Communication (25:75)
Advertising Management (70:30)
Mass Media in India (0:100)
Introduction to Media Planning (0:100)
Integrated Marketing (100:0)
Public Relations (90:10)
Event Management (90: 10)
Semiotics (debatable)
Film Studies (NA)

The concentrations (in brackets are the main subjects) in year two:

Brand Management (Product Management, Return on Marketing Investment, International Marketing, Brand Management Seminar, Communication management of financial management)
Media Management (Ad sales, Strategic Media Planning, Media Research, Media Software, Media Buying/Auditing/Negotiations)
Account Planning (Agency Management, Live projects from agencies on real-time account planning & research - JWT, McCann, Euro RSCG)
Marketing Research (Data Analytics & Modeling, Advanced Qual & Quant Research, Applied areas in MR)

Most MICAns from the PGPCM rank high on soft-skills, professionalism & detailing - and yes, we do think out-of-the-box (argh). The course has very little Quant focus (good math skills are restricted to folks who have an inclination towards it.

There's a fair mix of engineers and grads of BCom, BBA, BMS, BMM & BSc. Around 70% of the batch are fresh grads.

The Placement Scene: As Prof. Panda would say... Coming Soon.

Piercings, Ponytails, Pretence & Psychotropic Substances: The 4 Ps of Pseudo-Creativity

2005-11-23T05:05:00.000-08:00

Creativity is confusing. Quite harmless on its own. When paired with halfwits or pseudo-intellects, it becomes a pain. It loses its simplicity & transforms into an ego slugfest that is devoid of logic.

The marketing communications industry runs rife with "creatives". The exceptionally brilliant, talented & logical creatives make about 1% of the pool. The rest can be combination of on one or more of:

Wannabes
Egotists
Drunks

You get a preview of the MarkComm industry at MICA. There's a mixture of intelligent go-getters, smart pfaff experts, dedicated professionals, pompous i'm-the-next-big-CEO types, the rare logically creative person & an ocean of the "creative" people who belong to the 99% mentioned above.

It irritates me terribly to even converse with the airheaded creatives & here are the many reasons why:

They think that a good creative is the solution to any business problem.
They don't know what a good creative is.
They're fussy, demanding and have an ego-centric universe.
They're impossible to reason with. (And easier to ignore.)
They talk a lot more than necessary, spend hours on discussion & are grossly unproductive.
A lot of them are fake, and obviously so. Do you really need a pierced eyebrow to come up with ideas?
They're unwilling to take up responsibility.
They can never successfully lead a project.

Creatives are a small part of the entire process of marketing. They might be indispensable to some campaigns, but it doesn't give the copywriters, art-directors and designers of the world the right to be the asses that they are. Ideas can be thought of & executed by anyone who's smart & sensible. Just because someone chooses to do it for a living, doesn't mean that you're God's gift to the world at large.

Vehemently yours...

Theatre Upstaged

2005-11-22T22:12:00.000-08:00

Sankalp - MICA's annual theatre event is slated for December 4-6. Every winter MICA stages a play for 3 days at Darpan Academy's open-air theatre - Natrani. It is one of the most picturesque settings for a play. The Sabarmati river in the background appears almost still. And watching a play under the stars is a surreal experience.

This year Sankalp goes Hindi (!) with Suraj ka Saatwan Ghoda.

It's very different from last year though. The spirit of the whole thing seems to be dead. I haven't seen such petty politics over an event before. Okay, things don't have to stick to tradition all the time - but the very things that made Sankalp so endearing have been done away with.

The MICA aspirant's Guide to the Galaxy

2005-11-21T20:14:00.000-08:00

The top keywords leading to my blog seem to be MICA or Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad. Despite the fact that it stands at a pathetic 570 hits, I shall be nice and blog about the institute... for all the thousands of information-starved, post-CAT, MICA aspirants. Here's an account - no holds barred.

Disclaimer: These views have nothing to do with MICA, its management, authorities etc. They're purely my own.

--------------------

There are three kinds of people at MICA:

The ones who really wanted to get in. They've always been focussed on communications as a prospective career, are interested in ad campaigns, writing and have worked part-time/full-time/interned in communications/media for at least a month. Some of them think they're "creative". And a lot of them think MICA is a place where they can use this "creativity". Their application basket includes SIMC, SIBM, NMIMS, IIMC, ACJ...
The ones who wanted to get into the IIMs/XLRI/FMS etc, but messed up CAT, applied everywhere they could, converted any one or more of IMT/TAPMI/XIMB/IMI/IMT and landed up at MICA thanks to good word of mouth. A lot of them think "brand management" is a high-flying career, where recruiters will pick up a fresher & say "You're in charge of the branding activities of Cadbury Dairy Milk, starting today."
People with 5 years or more of arbit work-ex who wanted to get into IIMs/XLRI/FMS, messed up CAT, applied everywhere they could, and came to MICA because it was their only call. A lot of them spend the next two years scouting for restaurants in Ahmedabad or sleeping in their rooms

There are some more, but they're too small in number to be categorized "I came to MICA b'coz my dad told me to", "I came to MICA b'coz my girlfriend is at IIM-A"... and the rest.

Well, at least they all write CAT and compete against 8000 others to get in here. There's another breed which haunts MICA, that we like to call "sachets". If I start writing about them, my post will have tinges of racism, Nazism and bias against less intelligent forms of life. So I will not venture into that territory.

Okay moving on to how to get into MICA.

Get a CAT score of about 90 %ile. (I got a 99.38, but that doesn't matter - I was still waitlisted).
Buy the MICA application form.
Keep fingers crossed for MICA call.
Log in to the MICA website on the day of your results. Look out for your name.
If you've got a call, pay the test fees. Write MICAT (The MICA Admission Test). Psychometrics, GD/PI. Very general stuff. No stress. You'll need to be presentable, smart and have a fair idea about what's happening in the Indian marketing & communications industry. You'll also need a slice of luck. (Please do not flirt with fellow candidates of the opposite/same sex and post about it on pagalguy)
Wait for the final call.
If called, be prepared to pay around Rs 6 lakhs for the two years here.
Get ready for the most amazing two years of your life.

MICA is an exciting experience... well, depending on who you are.

I've loved my 18 months here, and I can't believe I have only 128 days to go. Ouch.

Coming soon: What you'll learn in your two years at MICA.

Pottered!

2005-11-19T05:49:00.000-08:00

Saw Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire last night. For me, the book was the best of the six. It was the growing up book... which broke away from the kiddie magic. Apart from two jarring elements - the dragon fight & the elves, the book superbly dealt with how Harry & his friends ease into their teens. As real as a book about magic could get.

Seven best bits from the book:
1) Priori Incantatem
2) The Yule Ball
3) The Pensieve
4) The Curse Lesson
5) The Second Task
6) Harry's nightmare
7) The growing up & jealousy

The movie was amazing. It shed a lot of elements from the book, but still managed to induce goose-pimples.

Seven best bits from the movie:
1) The Pensieve
2) Priori Incantatem
3) Moaning Myrtle
4) The Second Task
5) The Yule Ball & the build up to it
6) Cedric Diggory - yum
7) Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort

**********

The evening was fun.

We had dinner at US Pizza. They have the worst pizzas in the world - even Chota makes better pizzas. But the salad bar, the soup & the brownie (& the Rs 115 deal) make up for it. Plus, the proximity to Wide Angle & FR.

Before that, we shopped for a couple of things at Big Bazaar - which is Pantaloon's most pathetically executed store concept. The shelves are stuffed with unrelated products (moisturizer with tissues, candles with detergent). There are mile-long queues at any given time of the day. But where Big Bazaar fails is customer service. There's no concept of customer service at all... the Ahmedabad store has terribly incompetent staff, who look grumpy all the time - pointedly ignoring customers. It's an uncomfortable shopping experience. Compare poorly with a Giant Hypermarket or a Shoprite. The Pantaloon group recruits at MICA. We could teach them a thing or two about managing a universally successful retail concept.

**********

131 days to graduation.

Quizzes and stuff...

2005-11-14T20:24:00.000-08:00

Why do girls like taking arbit quizzes (emode, tickle, blogthings etc)?

a) Because they are not arbit.

b) They can accurately predict what my kissing style is, who is my perfect zodiac match, how much of an exotic goddess I am, which of the 'Friends' I am like the most, what color I am, what my ideal room color, what color my dog should be and even more. How would we survive without them?

c) The Holy Grail of arbit quizzes - Cosmopolitan (and its wannabe spinoff Femina) delves into further details... who calls the shots in my relationship, how aggressive I am in bed, what my wedding date will be, what color nail-polish I should wear on my first date! The quizzes are a support system for womankind.

:) :)

******

Holy Grail reminds me... I (finally) read The Da Vinci Code last weekend. Can't really explain why I hadn't read it for so long. It was an awesome experience reading it coz I was Wikipedia-ing everything along the way. Don't care too much about Christian symbology, but all references to cryptology was intriguing. Don't expect the movie to live up to the book.

******

Book-movie reminds me... 3 days to go until Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire. The reviews sound good. I read the whole series only a couple of months ago... and post Da Vinci Code, I realize HP is also full of Christian symbology.

******

Symbology reminds me... there's a course in Term V called "Introduction to Semiotics" - it's an AP student's delight. I can't grapple with it at all. Argh.

******

Course reminds me... am in class right now. Neural networks or something. Lemme try and listen.

Ah

2005-11-14T11:50:00.000-08:00

A perfect night for blogging - I'm jobless & alone.

Feels nice in a way. My room - soft lighting - favourite sweater - warm blanket. Soon I'll fall asleep, watching South Park or some movie. Really needed this.

A bullet-point update of my life in the past couple of weeks.

Started power-walking (thanks to Div). My actual plans to work out & shed the flabbies are only lined up for April 2006. But hopefully power-walking should ensure that I don't get bigger than size 'M' during winter (argh - that sinful season).
Partied - the first ever all-femme party at MICA. Was damn fun without the boys... raunchy, yet girlie. We did up Champa with table lamps from all our rooms. The hostel looked very chic.
Applied for a job to my dream company. If I get placed there, it'd be like Rachel Greene working at Ralph Lauren.
Submitted my thesis proposal & successfully defended it :-) Working on "Behavioral Targeting in Online Media"
Chalked out 3 career paths I might want to follow after MICA.
Discovered Chota makes yummy French Toast. (This is to negate bullet point #1)
Placed 36th in XLRI's online quiz - Xhume. Found the Qs kinda arbit.
Watched Garam Masala... friends said it was *VERY bad*. I thought it was only *bad*. Maybe I have less sophisticated tastes.

High points in life:

My thesis topic is damn exciting... am in love with online media. Maybe because it's been so much a part of everyday life for the last 5 years. More so, since I came to MICA.
A Prof. said that our project on Lingerie Retail in India is worthy of being published... damn kicked (yay us, Devika & Anj). Had a lot of (cheap) thrills doing this project. It was basically an observational study.
Another company project got us a small cash prize (yay us again Devika, Anj & Dev)
And to make me sound less geeky & academic - mm... er.. argh! Can't think of anything!

Just B'coz

2005-10-31T11:06:00.000-08:00

Am blogging in the wee hours of Diwali... er... Deepavali :-D ... just b'coz.

***************************
I love Bombay during this time of the year... it's so full of life. Even more full of life than it usually is. And it's so colorful... even the dreary chawls look beautiful with all the lights and lanterns.

And watching fireworks from the balcony... overlooking the lake. Can't help wishing there was someone to watch fireworks with. It's the second most romantic thing in the world.

**************************
I did a Thane to Currey Road commute today... took me two long painful hours. Argh.

Wannabe

2005-10-27T13:00:00.000-07:00

People are always pretending. There aren't too many moments in life when you see them in their truest form.

It's not a particular set of people... it's ALL of us.

When some people blog they write pretentious poetry. The thought behind the poetry is almost always very beautiful. But these thoughts would sound much more beautiful if they're put down in plain sentences.

Then there are people who don't understand the poetry so they pretend to appreciate it.

But then, it takes all kinds to make up the blogosphere.

***********

People pretend to be happy just to avoid uncomfortable questions.

People pretend to be sad, just for a little extra attention.

People pretend to have done pre-reads so that they can sit in class and blog.

People pretend to be asleep during drunken parties, so that first time drinkers don't knock and accidentally puke on their beds.

****************

Hm

2005-10-27T12:23:00.000-07:00

A question that has been in and out of my head since the "Who am I? Who are you?" classes with PAT...

Is it possible to love someone & not expect anything at all?

Trying to find the answer(s)

A look back and a look ahead

2005-10-24T06:45:00.000-07:00

It's over.

I wonder if it is right to focus all of one's energy, time and hope into one thing. Maybe it isn't. There is something called getting too involved. Then you start seeing flaws that only you know about. And all the flaws look far greater than all the good things, even if people tell you that it's the other way around.

MICANVAS - my dream for six months now just ended yesterday. My friends tell me it was awesome. But then, they don't know the whole story.

Argh... I'm too young to be this cynical :-)

On the whole it was fun. Crazy amount of planning, insane number of phone calls, hours and hours on Photoshop and Dreamweaver, a few trees worth of paper, enough e-mails to be banned from Gmail for life, 8336 unique visitors on the website and 3 days of non-stop work (with 3 sleepless nights thrown in).

Don't think I'd ever want to do an event (for free) again. There are too many people involved who have to be kept happy... too many egos to be smoothed or it becomes impossible to get work done by them.

It was a great place to network. Met some nice folks from NMIMS, FMS, ISB, LIBA... Realized that things that we complain about at MICA are pretty much similar to what other B-Schoolers have to say about their own colleges. It is the students that make the school... and not the faculty or the number of amphitheatre classrooms or wi-fi classrooms. Thankfully, there are a handful of students here who at the end of two years would have done something to build MICA.

The 3 quizzes we'd planned were really close to my heart. We invited QMs who are amazing quizzers. We'd publicised them in the places that mattered. Still, I wish I'd done a better job with planning. It just felt bad that after 6 months of detailing, I couldn't predict the obvious.

Relieved that it's over. But now there's a void.

Here's to some people who made MICANVAS special for me.

Vinay Narayan - who means the world (plus delta x) to me. He kept his sanity when people all around were losing their's.
Mrinu - who in his second MICANVAS did superbly. And put up with all my mood swings.
Chinmay - For being so darn efficient :-)
Minu - for bringing the press all the way to a remote Gujju village
Shruti - for being amazing with response.
And Gaurav Lulla - for slowing down my comp all the time ;-)
Devika... for max creativity with minimum resources.
Anjali... my baybeh... for agreeing to be "at my service" whenever, wherever.

One of the best things about MICANVAS was meeting the QMs... Samanth Subraniam, J Ramanand & J Krishnamurthi - it was like a who's who list of Indian Quizzing. And they're some of the nicest people I've met.

I'll be back for MICANVAS 2006 for sure :-)

Brain-less

2005-09-24T11:40:00.000-07:00

My Brain's Pattern

Structured and organized, you have a knack for thinking clearly.
You are very logical - and you don't let your thoughts get polluted with emotions.
And while your thoughts are pretty serious, they're anything from boring.
It's minds like yours that have built the great cities of the world!

What Pattern Is Your Brain?

India... Bound-less!

2005-09-17T10:24:00.000-07:00

Location: A tiny hotel room in a small town in semi-rural Maharashtra in the heart of the Socio-Cultural region called Desh. aka Igatpuri.
Time: Midnight
Status: Connected :-) on laptop & phone

It's quite an experience here. The course at MICA requires us to do a 2 week rural project. Well, it's optional more than anything... but I'm glad I'm doing it. It's quite a challenge not to cringe at anything that I'd noramlly would. It's that part of the world where gourmet cuisine is chai and wada pav.

The train journey to here was beautiful. Just two hours... but wet, cold and picturesque. I counted 5 different shades of green in one landscape. The valleys were dotted with slender white falls and rivulets gushing as the water hit smooth rocks. Virginal.

Outside the window, I can hear it pouring like mad. Hope the place isn't flooded tomorrow.

My Life is a .ppt

2005-09-04T14:47:00.000-07:00

Damn, damn ... I've become so dependent on bullet points. I can't write two paragraphs of coherent thoughts. Thankfully I can still read paragraphs. Though it irritates me when people speak more than 3 sentnces without a pause.

I wonder if that's the case with the world in general. Attention spans are shrinking and there's evidence of it everywhere. We were watching the SM vs MS US Open Game tonite and as soon as Sania lost the first set people got all antsy. No one even hinted at the possibility of a three-setter. "Why waste energy?"

The game itself was fun to watch. Didn't realise that US Open was happening until today. I've been that disconnected from news. Watched it in a group of about 20 ppl. 1 Tv - showing tennis. 2 women playing tennis. 4 girls - watching tennis. Around 4 guys - watching tennis. 12 guys - watching all but tennis.

******************

I badly need a holiday - a getaway from it all. I would need the Internet, because it's my morphine. But still, I need time to think. About the bigger picture, about life seven months from now. I really am not the "take-each-day-as-it-comes" person.

Prayers?

2005-09-04T02:52:00.000-07:00

Haven't taken time off to thank Forces Above for the things that I'm thankful for in life lately. If They exist and They read blogs... here goes...

Thanks for:

# Making sure everything falls into place, even when it looks like it's all going to fall apart.
# Parents who still love me even when I don't call up for days.
# Making Chuchu alright quick.
# Friends who can understand that a "sigh" on my yahoo status message means I'm feeling low.
# Chocolate during PMS
# Atul Phadnis
# Bullet Points
# Basic Comp Skills
# & ... V.N.

I'm back...

2005-08-16T15:15:00.000-07:00

...And so are the ideas which dried up about a month ago.

Over the last month I've:
1) Worked like crazy
2) Attempted a trip home
3) Heard horror stories - about Bombay floods
4) Gotten drunk once on alcohol, and gotten high on life
5) Had discussions on how & why humans exist
6) Celebrated an anniversary :-) ... sigh
7) Bought a new pair of jeans
8) Thought about being an entrepreneur
9) Gossipped like mad
10) Gotten a little more attached to MICA

******

MICANVAS 2005 is slated for October 21st, 22nd & 23rd. It's mainly what I'm living, breathing and dreming these days n nights. Even media seems to have taken a break. It's amazing to work towards something. Dunno what drives it. Maternal instinct? Pride? Wanting to make a difference? Or love? I guess I'd settle for the last.

*******

Yay, I can wake up late tomorrow.

Ick

2005-07-15T20:57:00.000-07:00

There's a big sponge in my head sucking out all ideas. I have some vague memory of an alien space ship landing outside Champa, little purple men entering my room through the crack in the door and planting the sponge in my head.

Lack of sleep maybe.

**********************

Last thought before going to bed yesterday night: Need to go out tomorrow night.

First thought on waking up this morning: Damn, I have to shower.

**********************

In class discussing a case on Strategy in Intel. blooghrpfprpzhwmrr...

The best kind of Sunday morning

2005-07-09T23:14:00.000-07:00

In class with Atul Phadnis - VP, TAM. Had heard a LOT about him. Had one short session with him last year. He is amazing. Knowledgable, respects students, great at conveying ideas and very likable.

The sessions have been exciting. For the first time, theory is making sense; because media theory isn't all that far away from reality.

Media has the best faculty at MICA. Can't believe I even considered BM.

Worm's eye view

2005-07-07T21:04:00.000-07:00

I'm in class. I observe.

Bored faces, lost in thought... thinking about nothing.
Hungover faces, not able to let go... of the vestiges of Bacchus from last night.
Michievous faces, making eyes... at half-awake faces across the class.
Bodies streched uncomfortably across wooden chairs.
Fingers busy typing out SMS, playing Text Twist, playing with curls
People yawn, smacking at the taste of coffee that lingers from breakfast.
Some raise hands in a desperate attempt to make even lesser sense of the happenings.
Others doodle aimlessly, pretending to hang on to every word spoken.

The cause of the impatience that binds 61 souls
Rambles on indifferently.
And then asks disdainfully "I hope I'm making sense?"

:-D :-D
I don't write stuff like this... But I know people who do. My feeble attempt at satire of those blogs ;-)

B2B

2005-07-03T03:20:00.000-07:00

Stark. Hard hitting.

Shocking. Sanitized gore.

Predictable.

Run off the mill.

From Satya to Company to D... and now Sarkar, RGV first evolved into a classy film-maker and then mutated back into the mundane.

Sacrilegious it might have been, but I wouldn't have minded watching a Hindi remake of The Godfather. Amitabh Bachchan is probably the closest we could get to Marlon Brando.

But The Factory decides to make a cover version, that just doesn't feel right. It becomes over-adapted to the Mumbai underworld, has an overbearing political angle and too many caricature-like villians. Predictable & at times boring. And a jarring background score.

Abhishek Bachchan doesn't speak more than three words at a time. His want for acting skills are disguised by the brooding look. KayKay Menon is the saving grace. Just like in Hazaron Khwaishein Aisi, he manages to convey lust, weakness & wrath.

Should've watched Paheli :-)

Dilbert on Projects

2005-06-30T11:30:00.000-07:00

Couldn't stop laughing after I read this... especially now, when I'm making my CV for the placement brochure.

Dilbert Principle says to avoid any project that has the following in the title:

Accounting
Operations
Budget
Quality
Analysis

And seek out any project with these "resume ready" words:

Worldwide
Strategic
Revenue
MArket
Competitive
Technology

Adding some of my own to avoid:

Implications
Qualitative
Database
Children ;-)
Paradigm (I love to hate this word)
Obeservational

And some to seek out:

Innovations ;-) :-*
Trends (pfaff - ready)
Quantitative
Model

:-)

Rainy Days and Thursdays

2005-06-30T10:17:00.000-07:00

Raining non-stop in Shela. Icky mess. Frogs, crickets & some insects straight out of obscure zoology text books.

The rain-drenched campus looks beautiful. Straight out of a Robert Frost type poem.

My 7 resolutions for my final year of formal education:

1) Make the most of college life. Read a book a week.
2) Network!
3) Spend time with friends.
4) Do the Diu.
5) Work with placement focus.
6) Learn all about media.
7) Make MICANVAS 2005 the best MICANVAS yet.

************

A new batch of MICAns are here. Felt a bit territorial about the campus at first. But they look like a nice group.

Yeah, ragging happens. Very mild stuff. It's mostly about people on an ego trip trying to express superiority over the juniors who come into the insti carrying ego trips. Yes, I will get a lot of flak for this comment. But it's true. Tradition is a weasel word to describe the whole process. But in the end - it's an ego game.

Tod Shekhar Tod...

2005-06-21T10:48:00.000-07:00

(Stole a line that'll become an all-time Indian cinema classic)

Saw Parineeta today. Had heard a LOT about the movie, the music, a "twist" in the end and most of all about Vidya Balan. One line in the promotional preview was especially interesting. "Parineeta - the love story of a lifetime."

The movie is beautifully picturised... very much in the style of 1942 - A Love Story which came out in 1993. The panoramic shots of Howrah bridge and Darjeeling tea estates are masterful.

It would naturally be compared with Devdas (2003) - same author; similar story. But Parineeta highlights that a story can be told quite well without grandiose sets and opulent costumes. The 1960s feel comes through with attention to detailing, the yellow-gold hues and the period music. Melodrama was rife in every scene in Devdas; Parineeta uses melodrama in just one scene.

The performances are great... the casting was perfect. Saif was the scene stealer for me. He doesn't need funny lines or a yuppie look all the time. He's "not bad" ... :-) ... in fact, he's very cool.

Vidya Balan looks good in every frame... very Indian and very attractive. "God. She's hot," said one of the people I watched the movie with. Many times over. Hmpf.

Sanjay Dutt looks a little out of place. The bad dad has a lot of footage and looks mean enough. Diya Mirza manages to irritate in a very sketchy role & Raima Sen doesn't have much to do.

What I loved the most was the last scene. Those who've seen the movie will see that I'm evidently not a connoiseur. But it's so HILARIOUS that you come out of the theatre laughing. It's been a while since a movie did that to me. "Very filmi," said people. Well, yeah... it's supposed to be a Hindi movie.

Rekha's number (notice, it is not preceeded by the word "item") is catchy, though she looks ghastly.

And the lovemaking scene is very tastefully done. There's a noticable hush in the theatre during the sequence.

Back to the Grind, of the MTV kind ;-)

2005-06-21T01:24:00.000-07:00

Been a couple of days since I got back to MICA. The campus is as heavenly as usual... the green pathways and the red brick walls. Moved in to Champa (it's the name of a pretty flowering tree, and not a pretty, flowering but out-of-work bar girl). I've got a lovely room with a fabulous view of the sunset, monkeys, a barbed wire fence and an electrical transformer. And I'm still so happy. Being on campus does that to me.

***********

Traveled from Bombay to Delhi and back to Bombay last week. Got used to the Great Indian Railways over the last one year... so flying again felt like a novel experience. Kinda like a villager in the city. Bombay domestic airport is pretty much like your Parel station. The baggage screening area looks like a huge messy garage. The groundstaff are smart and efficient but not courteous. Nope, no one to offer help with heavy suitcases there.

Flew the snooty Jet Airways which thanks to its snoot factor had much much shorter lines than Air Deccan and SpiceJet. Anf flew Air Sahara on the way back, and somehow... liked it a lot better than Jet. Maybe it had something to do with the three hunky male stewards on board. Or maybe because the ride wasn't so turbulent. And thankfully, they do not play Mrs. Suborto Roy's songs while take off.

***********

"Ahmedabad is supposed to be a nice city." Just wish I could vouch for that myself. Will explore city this year.

Some school time memories...

2005-06-08T01:16:00.000-07:00

Saw hoardes of schoolkids yesterday waiting for the Maharashtra HSC results. Feels great to have grown out of that phase of life.

The KV Picket Blog is quite active these days... spent two years at that school & have lovely memories from there. A lot of memories - my own bike, coffee pubs, math tuitions, a huge crush & some friends for life.

Famous Picketians: Mahesh Murthy (entrepreneur, columnist) & Joysula Krishnamurthi (yummy quizzer, MMI semifinalist & University Challenge finalist)

Internship is finally over. Hapy with the final presentation & the favorable feedback. Itching to get back to campus now.

Oh...

2005-06-02T22:57:00.001-07:00

The title of my previous post was not quite intended for newspapers. It was actually for those conniving sheets of glass that they call mirrors.

There are three kinds of mirrors in the world -

1) Ones that make you look good
2) Others make you look exactly the way you are
3) The ones that make you looks hideously large

Now, all apparel stores & restaurants have type 1 mirrors. They take wrong 5 kilos off the right places and make any outfit look flattering. You will naturally be deceived into buying a bad outfit or eating that chocolate brownie.

The mirror I have at home is the normal kind. You see yourself, just the way you are. And you blame the chocolate brownie that followed the shopping trip for those extra curves. Or bulges. & Change clothes twice before wearing something that just about manages to flatter... and flatten.

The third kind of the mirror is the one in my hostel. I call it the "fat mirror"... or the devil's gift. It makes anything I wear look positively scary. And I wonder how I could have been vain enough to buy that outfit - which looked perfectly good at the store.

Mirrors lie...

2005-06-02T22:54:00.000-07:00

Another post with "mirror" in the title... Still wondering what the post should be about. Well for starters, the question that has been on a lot of people's minds... (well, at least the ones who care a little bit about what goes on in the media - or at least have time to care.) And now that internship is almost done, I also have time to write about it.

So is Mumbai Mirror going to be your ultimate replacement newspaper? It just might, if you:
a) Have shorter arms than normal people
b) Like full page ads
c) Have enough time (especially between 10 am and 11 am on a weekday) to avail their offer of ONE free movie ticket. You also need time to read all the terms and conditions

In short, it's another gimmicky output from BCCL. I mean, which paper that takes itself seriously would put the words "This paper is your free movie ticket" even above the masthead?

It's got about 35-36 pages of content including 5 pages of Mumbai news. A few national, international pages... sports and regular entertainment stories. No business. A superficial look at health & relationships, TV & movie & 2pages of puzzles n comics (none of which are interesting).

A Mid-Day wannabe.

Would rate good old Midday over it anyday, both in terms of content, design and presentation. Invest five rupees, compare & check out for yourselves.

Mirroring while in Mumbai

2005-05-31T23:29:00.000-07:00

The Mumbai summer is teetering to an end. Felt refreshing to see the first cloudy day of the season and the first light drizzle. I love dark, gloomy, cloudy, rainy days... & monsoon at MICA last year was a filling-up-the-senses experience.

Speaking of MICA... it's almost been a year there & it's been one of the most eventful years of my life. So much has happened in what seems like just a few months.

Here's a look-back at Year 1, as I get ready for Year 2.

Acads: Starting with Acads, coz that is the underlying motive for going through the CAT rigamarole & getting there.

It's been an average. For the second time, (first was graduation), grades didn't matter at all. Struggled through some courses (Micro & Macro Economics, ManAcc, BBF 1)
Enjoyed a few (Intro to Mass Media, Marketing, Media planning, Strategic Marketing, Brand Management, QT, & whatever it was that Prof Mathew taught)
Slept through some (Research Methodology, Social & Developmental Communication)
Some were ruined by profs (Direct Marketing, Event Management, Services Marketing, Advertising)
And some were utterly laughable (Production Techniques in Communication, Strategic Management)

About 20% of what I learnt helped me during summer internship. But the best part of being in B-school is the network - the friends that you make, which really enhances the summer experience. As I was discussing with a pal from another B-School yesterday... it's only when you talk to other summer interns that you realise the sum total of your own learning. Benchmarking is for life. :-)

Non-Acads: This is the high-point of the whole year. Did things that I most love doing - quizzing, travel and even more quizzing.

Enjoyed layouts & page designs for both issues of Black Coffee. Though content-wise, the mag could do with a little help - both editions looked good ;-) - especially "Get Shot"

Touring B-School fests... Did ISB's Poseidon & IIM-L's Manfest. Also Chaos. Played online at MDI's e-blast, IIM-B's Vista, XLRI's Ensemble & NMIMS' Euphoria ... will be on MICANVAS core committee this year. Definitely want to do ISB & IIM-B this year. Tata Crucible in Ahmedbad was a good experience too.

A lot of campus activities. Sankalp - the theatre festival - was 3 days of total excitement, gossip, hard work & holiday. Alumni meets came and went with no real memories except wild parties. Freshers', farewell, watching, appreciating or sniggering at Spicmacay programs, MICAday celebrations - god, the year's been quick. Living arrangements during MICANVAS - now there were some revelations :-)

Getting out of Ahmedabad... Didn't go to Diu - absolutly MUST this year. But came to Bombay thrice, Delhi twice... and of course Hyd & Lucknow.

Getting out of campus: Invariably using the excuse of having to buying something vital - and ending up watching movies at FR & Wide Angle. Saw practically everything from Mujhse Shaadi Karogi to Dhoom to Black. Eating out at McD's, Upper Crust, Pizza Hut, US Pizza, 4/11, Sankalp, Four Food, TGB, Havmor, Coconut Grove, CCD... and good old Plati & the pao bhaji place in Bopal. Discovering the DVD store at Judge's Bungalow was a bonus... ended up watching all the classics that I'd always wanted to.

Hostel life: First time... and what a first time it has been. Yes, probably a list of things that every b-schooler goes through... nonetheless - very memorable.

A scary first week, a setting-in second week, a making-friends third week and then 40 weeks of madness, late nights, birthday celebrations, feverish attempts to study, meeting deadlines, gossip, watching Friends, Sex and the City, Southpark, Seinfeld, late night walks, the monsoons, the acid bugs, the mid-morning & midnight visits to cantenn, the freezing wintry nights & warm wintry nights.

A lovely year. Looking forward to another.

Campaigns that I found interesting this season

2005-05-31T04:12:00.000-07:00

Print: Provogue for its visuals - just keeps getting better and better.

TV: FCB's Tata Indica commercial. Read on agencyfaqs! that it's inspired from Japanese automobile ads of the 90s. Anyway - nice idea and very neat production. And Titan Fastrack Eyegear - "eyecandy" more appropriate.

Outdoor: Definitely DNA.

Contest: Airtel Showdown - An obvious choice considering my temporary Bombay numer got shortlisted. Get to spend a day on Shahrukh's team. Wonder what kinda games we'll play :-) ;-)
Anyway, the campaign itself was pretty sad. Celebs get away with pathetic ads.

Product Launch: Hmm... Kingfisher Airlines

Others: Levi's @ Cafe Coffee Day outlets, Tide's attempt to go to small towns & Greenply's version of national integration.

Favourite Mumbai-ism

2005-05-30T23:02:00.000-07:00

Tssst Tsst... The sound made when you're trying to attract someone's attention. Should not be mistaken for intention to proposition someone. Other similar sounds go smuuuch-smuuch, sss-sss, taxi! , auto! , rickshaw! ...

Who Woos Who?

2005-05-30T22:27:00.000-07:00

Is it a buyer's market or a seller's? For media, it does look like buyers' have an edge. Officially there are 123 TV channels & 796 publications in India (TAM data); the unregistered could take the count up to twice that number. Almost 70,000 programmes to advertise on. Print monopolies have taken a major beating. All this bodes well for advertisers. Media vehicles are trying hard to grab their attention. And to woo media planners.

Saw two instances yesterday. Discovery Channel, which is all set to launch a new show, Alien, sent over their folks to the office to create some buzz. And Mumbai Mirror sent over a gorgeous cake, with icing that was a front page replica.

Ultimately it's numbers that tell the truth. But the hierarchy of control is there for everyone to see. The client rules over the agency, which in turn rules over the channel/publication. Oh.. add the consumer to beginning of that line. He's the one everyone's trying to woo anyway.

Enlightenment under the peepul tree

2005-05-29T22:13:00.000-07:00

Professional learnings from summers... hmm...

1) Field work is a pain. Wonder how companies get this kind of work done when the eager-to-impress, young, innocent interns aren't around?

Spent the last 3 weeks battling the Bombay summer & the humidity doing non-consumer research. I don't know if I have any great business revelations but I do have a tan that's going to take the whole of next term at MICA to get rid of.

2) Some days are just coffee breaks :-) {Would Scott Adams buy this one please?}

3) I can never get tired of surfing the Net.

4) I can't wait to start working... and have some summer interns of my own.

5) After MICA, there's probably going to be a battle between Money and Professional Satisfaction.

6) Which leads me to the only question that summer has thrown up... media or brand management?

7) When you work on a laptop AND a desktop simultaneously, you can pass off as the busiest person in the office. Well, I "worked" only on my laptop... the desktop was for the Net.

8) MICAn camaraderie and networking is not a myth. We have amazing alumni.

It didn't "rock" ... but it wasn't so bad either.

Rediscovery of the blog & of self

2005-05-27T01:01:00.000-07:00

Totally forgot about the blog that I created 3 months ago... but time for some serious posting now.

Been in Bombay for the last 2 months doing my summer internship with Starcom. The summer has been good in general... the days ranging from exciting to utterly insipid.

What stands out is the brilliant combination of learning, awakening, fun and lessons in survival that Bombay gave me. The city just gained a new lover.

It's alive for more than 20 hours a day & perpetually abuzz. It's amazing that it can absorb so many people and still run the way it does.

Some memories of summer that will always remain with me are:

1) Traveling on the local trains. I hated it at first... but two months later I've realised that it's just a way of life. The pushing, the scramble, the groping (!) and sitting with half-a-posterior on the fourth seat... it's actually enjoyable when you get used to it. Also picking up earrings for Rs 5 from the vendors, counting the stations as they passed, trying to learn Marathi from passing conversations & reading the ads for downmarket products like Churan (raat ko lo aur subah free), Rupa lingerie (aisa support aur kahan) and weight loss clinics (ek mahine mein 5 kilo, do mahine mein dus).

2) The DNA researchers in their purple shirts, the Bombay Mirror researchers & the HT Response kids. A ubiquitous sight all through the summer. A lot of symapthy went out to them... they were on every railway station & most neighborhoods trying to get a largely indifferent public to sign up for their publications.
But the newspaper battle in Bombay looks very interesting. I find TOI to be very low on content, gimmicky and over-priced (I've read two newpapers a day for the same price as TOI in Bombay). TOI goes overboard with property ads. For someone who's years away from buying property in Bombay - these pages featuring ridiculously expensive apartments in Madh Island, Kadivili & Thane seemed pretty worthless.
Midday is an entertaining read... I saw a copy of Bombay Mirror, but found Midday scores over it, at least in presentation. Will check out the first issue on 30th for a better idea.
But it's good to see TOI getting some competition. Does good for both readers, advertisers & media planners.

3) People in Bombay. They're always short of time & always look harried. But the city seems to be a great leveller. Most people are unpretentious, they don't have hang-ups & are not pseud... unlike frosty-nosed folks in Delhi. They're willing to help, they don't mind walking on the road & even if they spit everywhere (!), they're at least nice enough to give (correct) directions when you ask.

4) Eating out. Lovely places for both food & great atmosphere. Tried both ends of the pricing spectrum & enjoyed completely. Colaba Causeway is a foodie's paradise... Picadilly for the best Lebanese food this side of the Arabian Gulf, Cafe Churchill for Italian food. Lil further away near Churchgate were Not Just Jazz By the Bay & Gaylords. In my side of town, I liked Cream Center, Smokin Joe's, The Grill for sizzlers and some small bakeries and chaat & wada pav joints.

5) Movies. At the Imax dome, multiplexes and single screen theatre with their old world charm (reminded me of Sangeet & Anand in Hyd). Saw White Noise, Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi, Robots, Hitch, Kya Kool Hain Hum, Naina, Harry Potter and the something of something.
Skipped Kaal, Star Wars, Kingdom of Heaven, Waqt & whatever else I imagined I wouldn't be able to sit through. Love R-Adlabs at R-Mall in Mulund - a comfy, clean place where you'll invairably get tickets even 5 mins before show time. Sterling near CST with its caramel popcorn rocks. And so does the G-7 multiplex in Bandra.

The Truth about Class and Blogs

2005-02-07T01:24:00.000-08:00

I've wanted to have a blog of my own for about a year and half now. The conception of this blog dates to about 5 minutes ago. A combination of circumstances led to this...

A wi-fi classroom
A Sales & Distribution class
Nothing to do

And so the blog was born.

A LOT coming soon :-)