Weekly Verbosity

The Republic

2011-01-26T08:09:00.000-08:00

What does the word mean? No, not what it means to an esteemed member of one of our houses of parliament. Or to the politicians, or bureaucrats. I ask what does it mean to you, to me...to the citizens of this country?

Does it mean that its OK for honest people to get killed trying to do their job?
Or does it mean that is OK to helplessly watch as philistines roam free, pillage, plunder and rob?
Does it mean that its OK that voices against injustice are mercilessly muted?
Or to casually speak of scams over tequila shots and lament a nation being "notionally" looted?

Does it mean that its OK for the guilty to go scot free just because they are powerful?
Or does it mean that its OK for thousands to starve, while some always have a mouthful?
Does it mean that we shamelessly litter streets and spit on side-walks
Or jump red lights, cut corners and scream "India rocks!!"

Does it mean that its OK for hundreds to get slaughtered in the name of religion?
Or does it mean its OK for justice to be denied as our courts take years to make a decision?
Does it mean that its OK to live with inadequate power and roads riddled with pot-holes ?
Or does it mean that we dont give a damn about what we achieve, and go on setting goals?

Does it mean that we always have to grease palms, to get what we deserve?

Or does it mean that its OK for our "system" to work against those it was meant to serve?

Does it mean that its OK for us to still be called a corrupt third world nation?
Or does it mean that we learn to adjust, no matter how bad the situation

These are but some of the questions, I can think of many

If you ask me for answers, let me be honest, I havent any
There are no easy solutions, I know, if change has to come it will be at a cost
But come it will, and come it must, before all is lost

Dhobi Ghat - An attempted art film

2011-01-25T20:26:00.000-08:00

The first question that occured to me after watching it..."Why?" I mean why would somebody make a movie like this..neither mainstream cinema..nor documentary...stuck somewhere between the two. And doing justice to neither. A slightly diffuse story-line. Could'nt really figure out what one was to take away at the end of the whole thing. There was the feeling of something something left unfinished. Nobody in the movie gets what he/she wants in the end. Which is OK (better than the overly mushy, happy ending drivel), but it couldve been a little less abrupt.

Not much of an Aamir Khan movie. So if you're going there expecting an Aamir Khan starrer, you're going to be disappointed. Its shot really well..the whole old mumbai picturization thing is done well. One of the few..or rather the only strong positives of the movie. Some of the stills shown in the film are quite amazing as well. But as a movie, it lacked for a lot. Lots of people were comparing it to Peepli Live. Havent seen that so cant comment.

All in all, disappointing, IMHO. A desparate attempt at making an art film, but falling short by quite a bit. You'd rather spend the money on a beer or 2 at Mondy's.

Nostalgia

2011-01-20T01:38:00.000-08:00

Its strange how you suddenly wake up one day and start walking down memory lane...

Reliving days that will never come again

An old t-shirt, a song you sang when you got drunk, a picture of someone who'll always be beautiful

Reminiscing silly episodes, of a life left far behind, care-free, peaceful

Moments of joy, or sorrow

Of a time when we lived like there was no tomorrow

Work Ethic

2011-01-18T22:08:00.000-08:00

Under commit, over deliver, Dont make any promises at all
Theres no point tryin to be a hero and finding youself up against a wall
Promise a little less than the earth, when asked for the moon
Never fall into the trap of speaking too soon

Dont be political, always stay aloof
Just do your thing , and make sure you're always weasel-proof
At meetings and lunches better listen, uness you're told to speak
Never indulge in gossip, never be the source of a leak

Never suck up, never flatter, never be a yes man
But then its good to feed egos once in a while, if you can
Idiots with authority sometimes need to feel superior
If that makes them leave you alone, its worth being branded as inferior

Stay away from controversey, avoid conflict
The deeper you go, the more damage you inflict
Fighting never helped anyone, it only gets people under your skin
But then as Sun Tzu says, if you have to fight...then fight to win

Of banking, meetings and other crap

2011-01-18T05:38:00.000-08:00

Revenue, EBITDA, PBT and PAT
Are margins growing, or are they flat?
Who are the promoters ? How much of the company do they hold?
Are they serious about the business or are they going to put it under the hammer and scream “Sold!”

What ‘s the company into? Auto, steel, infra or food & beverage?
Are the promoters competent, is there too much leverage?
Are shareholders making money, is there enough return on equity?
Or is the stock acting funny, with no semblance of sanity

Can they service our debt, pay what they owe
Should we believe their growth story, and forecasts of their cash-flow?
Do they have a liquidatable asset base?
Not that it may be needed but y’know…just incase..

What about the debt ratios, do they hold?
Is your gearing reasonable or will it make our blood go cold?
And do you have a credit rating from a reputed firm?
Whats the matter, why do we see you squirm?

What are you using the money for? Is there a plan at all?
Or are you just borrowing from Peter, to pay what you owe to Paul?
What pricing do you expect? Please tell me something other than “the best”
OK, you’ve asked for it, let’s begin the slug-fest

That my friends is a typical bankers “management meeting”
At the end of which you invariably feel like giving somebody a beating
Now begins the grunt work, stuff that nobody wants to do
Mindless work to paint a picture that’s too good to be true

Power points , documents and models galore
Endless meetings which are most often a total bore
In the end its like haggling while buying grocery
Not worth all the drudgery

Funny enough, all this doesn’t matter, at the end of the day
It always seems to happen the Richard Branson way
Numbers stop mattering, there is no rocket science to it
Somebody with the money takes a call and says “Screw it, lets do it!!”

2007-07-01T06:42:00.000-07:00

True to my word, Im back!!!. On this raindrenced, wet, sodden , mucky, muddy sunday evening. Absolutely uneventful week. Except for the fact that I came a year closer to death about 5 days ago.

This city amazes me. Its people amaze me even more. Every year, by the year, rains lash it. Merciless, ruthlessly. And every year people suffer. Houses flooded. Streets flooded. Railway tracks flooded. Everythings flooded. One could almost reword Bob Dylan's "Everythin's broken" to everythin's flooded. The only plus point is that the weather is a little better. As in one sweats like a human being rather than like a horse who's just run 400 miles.

Traveling in the train yesterday, I got a rather interesting idea. One could actually turn the central and harbour lines into a tourist attraction during the rainy season. People were actually clicking snaps of flooded tracks and stranded locals. Hmm...potential revenue generator. Should contact the MMRDA or whatever other insane organization it is that runs this city. But it was fun. If you havent lived in the mayhem caused by mumbai rains, hell you havent lived at all. Despite all the rain and muck, the maximum city works. Like no other. Ive seen other cities struggle and go bonkers with infinitely lesser rain.

As for today I was cooped up at home all day. The simple pleasures of coffee and a good book and lazing around doing nothing all day. Wonderful....

Well tomorrow is another day.....another week begins....let the games begin...

Some thoughts on the Nokia E 50

2007-06-24T00:08:00.000-07:00

For the complete lack of anything better to write on this rainwashed sunday afternoon, I thought I'd just write about my new Nokia E 50. And no Im not trying to show off my new toy like some people I know.

Recently purchased a Nokia E 50 in Mumbai. Decent deal with the buy-back on my old phone, a MOTOFLIP. Standalone, it costs Rs. 9600. All in, it costed me Rs. 8000. Well worth it for the kind of features that it has. For people in Mumbai, I would recommend the mobile store. They give you some good deals on phones.

Appearance

Sleek, slim and stylish (a complete contrast to my own personality), its available in two colors,Black and Silver. Personally, I prefer Black. I think Silver looks slightly panzy but thats just me. Reasonably large screen (not 70mm cinema but good enough) and joystick, the usual stuff.

Memory/Camera/Music

70 MB of onboard memory, expandable upto 2 GB. 1.3 mega pixel camera, MP3 player. No FM radio. Its supposed to be a business ready cell phone and not a juke box. Even so, with a 1GB card and the built in real player, music can be listened to.

Office/Internet Features

Equipped with an office suite supporting office 2000 and above. Read only mode ofcourse. Adobe pdf reader built in. Its slightly painful actually viewing documents and spread sheets given the size of the screen but its a handy thing to have. A built in web-browser through which you can surf the internet, either on the handset itself (which is VERY painful) or on your laptop/computer. This would require you to enable your advanced GPRS service (for Hutch users) and do some simple settings on your laptop/handset and you are ready to go. Your service provider should be able to help you with these settings.

Connectivity

You can connect to your laptop either through a USB data cabe or a bluetooth connection. The mobile can work in 2 modes viz, a PC Suite mode and a Data Transfer mode. For the former, you will need to install the Nokia PC Suite which comes with the CD accompanying the phone. For the data transfer mode, you need to have a memory card in the phone. Synchronization with MS outlook/Lotus notes is possible.

Overall summary

Amazing phone if you are looking for style and substance and a business enabled set. Reasonably priced. All in all, a good buy

First words

2007-06-23T23:47:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my nth attempt to write a blog. Hopefully this time, I will be able to update/maintain it in a disciplined manner unlike many times in the past when the initial enthusiasm associated with blogging just fizzled out in a week. This time though (as private Baldrick says in the hillarious BlackAdder), I have a cunning plan. I will post to this blog only on weekends. Specifically, only on Sundays. Now I know that there isnt going to be a riot over my blog and what I write in it, but this is more for me than for people.

So here I am, on the road again, here I am up on the stage, here I am playing star again...so go ahead..and turn the page..