Robbery

Our bacherlor pad in Pune was robbed yesterday. Clinical job in terms of breaking in, tearing open the suitcases, breaking the cupboard lock etc.


Everything was ruffled through and searced hurriedly. Fortunately, nothing of import was stolen mainly because we don't keep anything expensive at home. Friend lost his credit card and few watches. But the clothes, certificates, small appliances were not taken. Just that everything was in a mess.


Downstairs two other flats were broken into. Apparently, they lost some cash and credit cards too. I think they registered a police complaint too. Not sure. Slept early.


Wanted to share the pics with the collegues, but my roomie asked not to.

Makadyachya haati Champagne

Saw the play, Makadyachya haati Champagne, last Sunday. It deals with the serious issues that couples face after marriage. However, since there is lot of exposition and heavy talk, it has to set off by farcical treatment. There is lots of pungent satire and biting humor in the play. Older couples immediately realise how true to life the situations built in the play are to their lives. Hell, even I agreed with the psychoanalysis of Makad (the characters don't have real names, just hypocorisms).
The friendship of the three roomies is also unique and real. When Chaaku wants to propose to Pencil, Pustak immediately jumps in the fray, saying he also wants to do the same. No tyaag, balidan between friends!


There is a scene where Makad is trying to instruct Chaaku (not the cleverest person) about how one can conceptually inhabit a couple's life. If one looks at sad woman colleague/friend long enough and tries to figure what's going on in her mind, one can arrive at reasons for her distress. Same if her husband was your close friend or colleague. So, if just by looking at a couple, if you can surmise their thoughts about each other, then the relationship believed to be the most private - that between a couple - is actually devoid of any privacy at all.

Won Won Won!!

Hi,
Today attended a Technology quiz at the neighbouring Infosys campus. They are celebrating people strength reaching 10000 at Pune DC. And had invited two other Hinjewadi companies. Geometric dropped out at the last moment. One more Infosys team came on board. So a total of 4 teams.


It was great meeting a number of people from my projects at Infy.

We were already aware of the the topics -

Round 1 and 2 - C, C++, JAVA, Data Structures, Design Patterns, Algorithms, Data Structures, OOPs concepts.

Round 3 - Quality, Standards, Reviews

Round 4 - Emerging Technologies

Round 5 - New Trends

Round 6 - Rapid Fire.



Since, the scope was vast, we distributed the topic amongst us 3 people. I was to prepare for Round 4 and 5. Wikipedia especially, was great help.



At the end of Round 3, our company location head had also arrived and we were the only team to have a 0 on the score board.


Fortunately, all the preparation turned extremely fruitful. Was able to crack questions on Myspace, AJAX and take really good guesses at some.


And we won!! It was a great turnaround and my best quiz win (others have been too piddling to talk).
I am very pleased. :-)

Sweets and diabetes at my desk

It was festive time at my home, just recently and there are still mithai-boxes piled in our fridge. At least 5-10kg of sweets were exchanged. And all that was eaten - modaks, pedhas, barfis - was saccharine sweet.


In my office, it is ritual (as has been mentioned in the article) to dump sweets at any modestly happy occasion (with a group mail - Sweets at my desk). At one time it got so bad, that we had to request people to get some namkins to go with the sweets. Just couldn't eat the high-calorie, high sugar sweets. This was of course even worse a solution, coz now you have deep fried stuff along with high sugar content stuff.


This article will certainly make people realise, that we can't continue gorging on sweets unchecked.





In its hushed but unrelenting manner, Type 2 diabetes is engulfing India, swallowing up the legs and jewels of those comfortable enough to put on weight in a country better known for famine. Here, juxtaposed alongside the stick-thin poverty, the malaria and the AIDS, the number of diabetics now totals around 35 million, and counting.



The future looks only more ominous as India hurtles into the present, modernizing and urbanizing at blinding speed. Even more of its 1.1 billion people seem destined to become heavier and more vulnerable to Type 2 diabetes, a disease of high blood sugar brought on by obesity, inactivity and genes, often culminating in blindness, amputations and heart failure. In 20 years, projections are that there may be a staggering 75 million Indian diabetics.



“Diabetes unfortunately is the price you pay for progress,” said Dr. A. Ramachandran, the managing director of the M.V. Hospital for Diabetes, in Chennai (formerly Madras).


Read all in NYT

Captain Chapter Closed

I am still getting comments on the Captain Chapter post. But unfortunately, I am not accepting any comments on that post. As is the wont, some of the recent comments, have come praising the post, and I want so much to publish them and let everyone know that "Look, I am not the lone skeptic". One of the guys has seen Tulip Joshi closely and gives certain insights about her personality. Helps understand the modus operandi of the duo better. But frankly, there are lot of gullible people out there waiting to be duped by even the most amateur conman. I would blame the impostees rather than the imposter


Anyway, thanks for all your comments. :-))

F*ckWorthless Louis Rule

I was following the cricket score on the web and suddenly I see, the West Indies have won. So what if they scored 140 runs in 20 overs. You just can't gift them a match for that.


I don't know why we keep following the ridiculous law even after such a long time.
Either play the match full the next day or start fresh. Or even share the points. But the current logic is just absurd.

Reject

I have received a reject for interview from IIMA. I had apped for the post grad program for executives. So, am disappointed today. Moreover, have been saddled with really painful system testing support work. It's not an issue if I was just doing that, except that I have to keep tab of other modules and also looks at new CRs and do impact analysis.


It is really difficult to do managing and something like investigating a root cause of a defect simulatenously. One cannot be a do coding well at the same time you are a good manager. A good developer requires complete concentration and that this difficult if you have other tasks on your plate as well.


So la la!

Touching the void

As I read Kiruba's blog (September 6th) about a failed Mount Everest attempt, my eyes kept getting wider and wider in disbelief. What courage could drive Gautam Patil to keep going inspite of such odds - cracked ribs, partial blindness and low oxygen carrying capability of the blood!! Hats off!

Unhinged Punekars (some)

Yesterday, chaos reigned at Hinjewadi during evening rush hour. Most of the Sarvajanik Ganapatis here were taken out for Visarjan. Yes, it was the 9th day, but still. Probably, the logic here is to be done with all the rituals on the previous day and go to town to see the Big Show.


Now, I have gone to the heart of the city (Pune-gaon as it is deceivingly called) and seen the miravanuk. Yes, it is worth a dekko, but then if the same logic applies to Mumbai Ganapatis, then the processions should begin on the 8th day. So, the folks of chindi Ganapati mandals can go visit the medium sized Ganapati mandals on the 9th day and then guys from both can join the revelry on the 10th. But it doesn't happen that way in Mumbai, does it. Everyone leaves on the same day. (or least do the visarjan on stipulated 5th and 7th day at least). That way, aam junta is not harassed for days on end.


Anyway, Hinjewadi, the small village on the outskirts of Pune, really doesn't need have so many Sarvajanik Ganapatis in the first place. Probably, these guys are ignorant enough even to know "Ek Gaon, ek Ganapati" initiative. Many Sarvajanik Ganapatis have been installed in such a way as to be a traffic bottleneck. Just because it is related to religion, people ignore the pain and keep quiet. The panchayat should sit together and try to sort out the mess created by these Ganapati.


The presence of the God of Intelligence, should atleast bestow some common-sense into these folks

Abhijeet cries hoarse

Reportedly, Abhijeet is very angry, because all the good songs are being sung by Pakistani singers. He wants the film-makers to give gaan-jobs to sons of the soil. Here is what appears in DNA

"Abhijeet who recently launched his album ‘Lamhe’, also has the album ‘Dil Deke Dekho’ coming up. Quiz him about his playback career going in a slow drive and Abhijeet’s angst comes to the fore. He says agitatedly,
“Filmmakers like Mahesh Bhatt and Karan Johar are promoting Paksitani talents like Rahat Ali Khan, Adnan Sami and the Strings band. Those who do not get recognition in Pakistan are being promoted here at our cost. Very soon we will have a quota reserved for them. Even bhagwan will not forgive them. They should not invite the curse of Indian singers.” He adds, “Talent discovered through reality shows like ‘Fame Gurukul’ and ‘Indian Idol’ is also not being promoted. Music is art. To play politics at the cost of Indian talent is not fair.”



I can understand his consternation. There is this putrefying omnipresence of Himmesh Reshammiya on the Bollywood music scene. Whatever filters out of Himmesh boundlessly talented nose, falls into the throats of the Pakistani singers. If I was an Indian singer, I would be depressed.



But inspite of that, to blame the Pakistani singers for the misery is incorrect. These guys are getting the job, because they are making great music. People like Atif, Rahat Ali Khan, Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan and others are immensely talented guys. Not only are they good singers, they bring the fabulous lyrics and music on board. That's just too good a deal for the linguistically challenged Hindi film guys. Strings, Junoon or Jal have written simple yet meaningful lyrics (or atleast have used talented lyricist), which have resonated with the youth. In so many cases, they have broken new ground. Songs like Aadat, Woh Lamhe, Jiya Dhadak... stand repeated listening and are small mercies in the time of some atrocious sonic output from Indian music directors.



I had earlier lamented the lack of good lyricist in Bollywood sphere and it's coming to be our biggest handicap. I was aghast when the versatile and prodigious Anand Bakshi died and then Majrooh Sultanpuri passed away. Where are the song-writers, poets to fill the gap? Just the already over-worked Prasoon Joshi (not in terms of working on many films, just working in many fields). Gulzar is already aging and so is Javed Akhtar. So, just 3 guys. And where is the varierty of imagery and emotional expression, if just 3 guys provide lyrics for all the top films of Bollywood.



Anyway, I am all for these Pakistani guys. Most of them have a rock background, which is radical enough background to try to thrive in - whether in India or Pakistan. And then to make souful music in that genre - I can only doff my hat to these guys.



Abhijeet, shut up!

Car ke vaat lag gayi mamu

I have been travelling to Mumbai and back in my car. It was just thinking the confort and convenience - getting to office and home early, avoiding the wait for public transport. But it's not easy to drive long distances. Friday night, after a long day's work and then Monday morn to begin early in the morning. You generally tend to drive fast to get to your destination quickly and the expressway allows you that luxury. But, proportionally, you need to be a more alert driver. Even a little lack of concentration can ruin you for life.


Anyway, fortunately, nothing major so far. But this Monday in Sion, an idiot cab driver couldn't control his taxi (bad breaks, poor reflexes, bad driving skills, whatever) and let it nicely roll into the car's right door. So there is a dent and some scratches. The door still opens but the car needs a makeover now.


Was trying to check out Indica repair shops in Pune, but the Tata Motors site is a dud. With so much of money flowing their way, what's stopping from making the site more informative and useful.

Lage Raho Munnabhai

This Saturday, saw Lage Raho Munnabhai. Did the mistake of booking for 9.30 pm show, even though it would be difficult for wife and sis to make it for the show, courtesy evening classes and clinic respectively. Fortunately, everyone made it in time (the movie started late :-). Coz Lage Raho Munnabhai is not a movie to be missed (even if the epilectic multiplectic owners have hiked the ticket prices)


I already had read some reviews from the private screening audiences and was aware that the movie will be good. But this good, I won't have guessed.


The first 30 minutes are an absolute laugh riot. The gags keep coming two every second and after some time, your jaws start hurting. Fortunately Mahatma tempers the proceeding with some much need quiet and sanity. The film tackles similar social issues as in Rang De Basanti, but with a humourous touch. I am filled with a sense of awe for Rakyesh Mehra and Raju Hirani who draw attention such serious issues - which promptly need to be addressed - but our biggest and most effective public forum - Bollywood - doesn't lend itself well to discuss about. Munnabhai, suggests a radically different yet effective (Gandhian) way to deal with the terrible public manners, that Indians so brazenly display. He takes on other pain-areas as well - builder mafiagiri, neglect of the aged, all-round corrupion etc.


Most of the side-characters of Munnabhai MBBS make an appearance (in other roles) - except Gracy Singh, notably.


There are many note-worthy moments in the film, which I can go on and on about. The scene where Munna has to say sorry for Circuit is the most touching.


Music is so so. Prediction - Shantanu Moitra is not amongst the greats (he continues to adapt tunes- though less shamelessly and more creatively ) and will soon fade.
If this reads like a review, it is not. Just want junta to know that this is a movie not to be missed.