Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Freakonomics indeed !

This one is a really interesting article from The Economist. Many times me and my friends have jokingly discussed about this and I am happy that someone took it seriuosly..but I am not sure whether all these conclusions would be applicable to Indian scenario as it is..anyone looking for live project in Economics :)

Economics focus
Selling sex
Jan 17th 2008
From The Economist print edition
Economists let some light in on the shady market for paid sex

read the article here

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

God speaks !

When I say 'God speaks' don't get me wrong. I am not talking about the movie " HELLO". Fortunately God saved me from watching that movie and wasting around 150 bucks and 3 hours of weekend time.

The other day when I was surfing the net I came across this one of its kind social marketing campaign called "God Speaks". It is an outdoor promotion campaign which has been a huge success in the U.S. An anonymous donor has funded this campaign which conveys so called "God's Messages" in a colloquial and humorous language billboards across cities in U.S. The aim of the campaign is to create a spiritual climate and get people to think about a daily relationship with a loving and relevant God.


Here are some of these messages


If you must curse, use your own name!


As my apprentice, you’re never fired.


Need a marriage counselor? I’m available.


Life is Short, Eternity isn’t.


The real Supreme Court meets up here.


Feeling lost? My Book is your map.


Let’s meet at my house Sunday, before the game.


We need to talk.


Keep using my name in vain, I’ll make rush hour longer.


I love you…I love you…I love you.


Have you read my #1 best seller? (There will be a test.)


Do you have any idea where you’re going?


Big Bang Theory, you’ve got to be kidding.


And here is the website for more details http://www.godspeaks.com


Seems like even the God needs marketing..

God Bless Marketing!

Monday, June 23, 2008

Movie review: Mere Baap Pehle Aap

I went to see this movie with my friends in aurangabad, just one day before i left for delhi..it turned out to be a fiasco...The movie fails miserably to keep you engaged after 1 hr. At the time of Intermission, you get to know the entire plot and can predict the end. Even that would do, if there was highly humorous, situational and excellent timing comedy on offer. These expectations from Priyadarshan fell flat here. The music is forgettable. Genelia looks good but doesn't know how to act naturally. Every expression of her in the movie is exaggerated one.Her Hindi sucks! The movie tries to portray Akshaye khanna as strict and matured son who tries to discipline his father( Paresh Rawal). However, throughout the movie you get the impression of him being a rude and angry and insensitive son disrespecting his father at his will. Its all boring and disappointing...

Monday, June 2, 2008

NEWS TWENTY TWENTY

Discaimer : All the comments made in this blog are elements of fiction and any resemblance to any fact should be taken as purely coincidental. Futher these comments are made in good humor and the author does not intend to dishonour any indivisual or any organisation.

Please don’t ban my blog..Pleeeease

NEWS TWENTY TWENTY

Vijay mallya is guzzling kadak pegs of Royal challenge. Yana Gupta consoles him sitting beside.

Dravid denied boarding pass on a Kingfisher flight.

Kumble meets Kachra from Lagaan for a crash course on bowling.

Charu sharma auditions for job of the commentator for Ranji matches.

Mandira throws pranks on IPL at freaky comedy shows.

Aryan fails in panchvi class. The poor kid couldn’t prepare for exams. He was supporting Knight riders during exam time. Papa SRK opts out of ‘Kya aap Panchvi paasse tez hai ?’ SRK requests industry friend Aamir to help the kid with studies, shows him notebooks to identify pattern of mistakes.

Dada supporters on rampage in Kolkata. They burn effigies of SRK on streets. Nagma refuses to pick calls from Dada.

Bhajji is busy attending classes. He enrols for Dance as well as spoken Mallu classes. Ekta Kapoor offers Sreesanth, the leading role for her brand new tear jerker daily soap .Bhajji will be the villain.

Anil Ambani hosts big celebration party for Rajasthan Royals. Mukesh Ambani and Sachin Tendulkar are special invitees on this occasion.

MNS head Raj Thackrey appeals for Marathi cheergirls at Mumbai matches. Girls to wear 9 yard lenth sari and dance on Lavani songs.

Priety Zinta is called to deliver a lecture at a seminar organised by Indian medical association on benefits of Touch Theorapy aka Pyaar ki jhappi.

A gossip magazine reports that Deepika Padukone never liked Cricket and Badminton is her favourite game.

Narendra Modi declares cash award of Rs. 10 lakhs for Yusuf Pathan. Congress says Modi is trying to wash stains of godhra.


Rajnikanth files a defamation case against M S Dhoni in Chennai High Court. Pepsi takes the controversial commercial off the air.

Deccan Chronicle group, owners of Hydrabad team, propose idea of annual appraisal for players, wants to offer variable pay rather than fixed one. BCCI still undecided on the issue.

Saturday, May 3, 2008

POWER CUTS..LIFE SUCKS

While in Bangalore, I did hear about the electricity crunch in Maharashtra and the daily load shedding blackouts paralysing life. But I realised the intensity of this grim situation on my first day at home in Aurangabad. There is five hours power cut everyday staggered in 2 slots of 2.5 hours each. Worse there are no fixed time slots for it. The only saving grace is that there is no blackout at night. After spending 3 years in salubrious, cool and comfy weather of Bangalore, the hot and dray summer at home is driving me crazy. Whenever there is power, everyone is waiting for the power cut to strike and whenever there is power cut, everyone is left waiting for the electricity. Fanning myself with the newspaper to dry me sweat, while complaining about this daily misery has become my major activity of the day. If you go out in market, banks, offices etc. during day time, the irritating sound of gen-sets coughing smoke and the humming of inverters will catch your attention immediately.
As always, there is complete apathy from the government on this issue.
The beleaguered state owned electricity board plagued by corruption, inefficiency, power thefts, outdated machinery and lack of funds has clearly failed to deliver even after its trifurcation. The rural areas have been worst affected by this power crunch. Eight to ten hours of load shedding is a routine affair in villages. Enraged villagers have attacked electricity board offices and beaten up its staff on several occasions.
It’s tragic to see the dark future of this once prosperous state. Meanwhile I continue to write this blog on battery backup.

Friday, May 2, 2008

MY LAST DAY IN TCS

This is my first Blog post. My first step in the world of blogging. Currently feeling excited about this forum to express my thoughts, opinions etc. Hoping to write something interesting and worth reading here.But there is an equal chance of my excitement fizling out in a few days. Lets see what happens...

MY LAST DAY IN TCS

29 April 2008, was the most awaited day for me in the last 2-3 months. It was my last day in TCS and I was a bit anxious about how it would unfold. Although I had taken all necessary steps to make sure that my relieving process on the last day should be hassle free, I was feeling nervous. I didn’t want to be late. Hence boarded first office bus from my home and reached office sharp at 8:00 a.m. After finishing breakfast, wrote my farewell mail and sent it to all my office colleagues and friends. I tried to draft a formal goodbye mail with a personal touch of mine. Got reply from some people wishing all the best to me. Throughout the day I ran into quite a few people in my project telling them what am I going to do after this. In between, I got in touch with HR dept to know status of my relieving process, clearances done and pending etc. Fortunately, everyone had cleared it and it was left to me to get relieving letter at my convenient time.
Around 3 p.m. I decided to meet my project management people for some chat. First, I went to the big shot top guy of my project, better known as S.S. I thanked him for his support and requested for some parting words of wisdom. He gave me a heavy dose of gyan which I gulped down intently and patiently. Luckily it was without any bitterness. Next I had little chat with my PMO manager and PL. Around 4:30 p.m., I submitted my ID card and got relieving letter from HR. Now I was officially out of TCS. It was a strange feeling. I was not feeling as happy as I had expected. Last 3 years in TCS have been quite happening and exciting. Several times, I hated my work, confronted people, slogged in office. But today, I did not want to think and talk about it. Strangely, I started recalling my happy moments in TCS which I didn’t know ever existed. At the same time I was glad to see that its coming to an end on a happy note. Around 6:30 p.m. came a pleasant surprise for me. My team presented me with a gift. It is a nice Titan wrist watch (a TATA productJ) with a Black dial and steel case. Everyone shook hand with me and wished me very best for future. I thanked them all with a grin on my face. Ironically, on my last day, I was in office till 8 O’clock because my team had decided to give me a send off party. Last week in office was full of enjoyment and I had 4 parties to attend. I was the host for 2 of them and the guest of honour for the remaining two. We all went to
a nearby garden restaurant, boozed a lot and engaged in a fun filled, friendly discussion. When I reached home it was almost 11:30. I crashed on the bed immediately and was fast asleep in 2 minutes.
At the end of the day, all I could say was
SYONARA TCS (bye bye TCS)…
ARIGATO GOZIAMASU(thank you very much)…