Cyberkitty was nice enough to think that the stuff I write here is worth reading. Thank you!!
Accordingly, I am to nominate 4 other people for the Nice Matters Award.
4 does sound like a small number, because there are so many nice blogs out there.. yet, these are the ones that instantly come to mind:
1. Aaina: This is a Hindi blog, and i love the content - always.
2. Adi: Delhidreams. Very lovable poetry, and an even better story about 2 people in love.
3. Nabeel: He always brings out the most interesting things for his blog.
4. Twisted DNA: My no. 1 de-stressor after alcohol.
This tag is now open to all visitors. And the winners. Please post your fave 4 blogs - either in the comments section here, or on your own blog(and then let me know in the comments).
BTW, I m due for a surgery next Monday. At the moment, my head is in the modes of philosophy, fear and excitement, in that order.
The doctor thinks that philosophy, excitement, and fear is a better order of mind modes.
Any ideas on how to make the conversion?
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Monday, August 13, 2007
Double Whammy
I have a new love in my life : Pankaj Kapoor. I also have a new award for the most underrated actor in Indian cinema today - Pankaj Kapoor.
The good thing about a children's film(The Blue Umbrella, in this case) is that all characters are uni-dimensional. They are simple characters, in a simple story. You are only expected to savor one emotion at a time.
Pankaj Kapoor effortlessly adds layers to this character. The added layers do not complicate the story or its telling. They enhance your experience of every single moment of the story....and take it to an altogether unexpected level...
The man who tells his store help that one should not steal; the man who,knowing that he will be rightfully accused of theft in under 2 minutes, continues to give the chief guest's speech; the man who tries to sell biscuits and toffee to the children in the village, just so his excommunication is sidelined; the man who displays the loneliness of social excommunication; and then his desperate attempts to "belong"; and the man who is happy, and proud again.
Watch this film for Pankaj Kapoor. Biniya is a delight, and the story is wonderfully told, but these are the bonuses. After ages, a wonderful children's film meant also for the adults. Loved It!
The other film we saw last night was Gandhi, My Father.
Pretty much the only film ever, in which the protagonist moves in and out of the screen in random frames that make no effort to trace his journey. In short, its another documentary on Gandhi Sr. and his greatness.
Completely unexplored other characters, incl. Kasturba, the protagonist, his wife, the other children of the house, their relationship as siblings... nothing at all! This was a film where one expected layers and exploration, and did not even get basic research.
Pankaj Kapoor effortlessly adds layers to this character. The added layers do not complicate the story or its telling. They enhance your experience of every single moment of the story....and take it to an altogether unexpected level...
The man who tells his store help that one should not steal; the man who,knowing that he will be rightfully accused of theft in under 2 minutes, continues to give the chief guest's speech; the man who tries to sell biscuits and toffee to the children in the village, just so his excommunication is sidelined; the man who displays the loneliness of social excommunication; and then his desperate attempts to "belong"; and the man who is happy, and proud again.
Watch this film for Pankaj Kapoor. Biniya is a delight, and the story is wonderfully told, but these are the bonuses. After ages, a wonderful children's film meant also for the adults. Loved It!
The other film we saw last night was Gandhi, My Father.
Pretty much the only film ever, in which the protagonist moves in and out of the screen in random frames that make no effort to trace his journey. In short, its another documentary on Gandhi Sr. and his greatness.
Completely unexplored other characters, incl. Kasturba, the protagonist, his wife, the other children of the house, their relationship as siblings... nothing at all! This was a film where one expected layers and exploration, and did not even get basic research.
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Sanjay Dutt and the "Equality Before Law"
In India, there is this hugely successful actor called Sanjay Dutt. I am not a fan, and therefore know little about his biographical details.
At the moment, he has been given a 6 year sentence for his involvement in the Mumbai blasts. Some people think its unfair, because his public life has been spotless all these years, and there really is no justification to send him behind bars again. Some others think that justice has been done, and just because he is a much loved public figure, he should not be condoned by the legal system.
Central to this entire debate, imho, is the axiom that All Men are Equal before Law.
It is this axiom that one would like to challenge.
Why should all men be equal before law? The usual answer is, so no one receives an unfair favor.
But that axiom assumes that each act of the person must be viewed in isolation. That is like looking at one piece of a jigsaw puzzle, and taking a decision that will impact the entire picture. How is that logical?
My contention is this - not just for Sanjay Dutt, but for everyone, their position in a legal system should be a function of, not just an isolated act, but, (at the very least), their entire criminal history (or lack thereof).
It is not about Sanjay Dutt. Sanjay Dutt is, again, a metaphor we can use to examine axioms that we do not question. While we are at it, Why do we not question axioms?
At the moment, he has been given a 6 year sentence for his involvement in the Mumbai blasts. Some people think its unfair, because his public life has been spotless all these years, and there really is no justification to send him behind bars again. Some others think that justice has been done, and just because he is a much loved public figure, he should not be condoned by the legal system.
Central to this entire debate, imho, is the axiom that All Men are Equal before Law.
It is this axiom that one would like to challenge.
Why should all men be equal before law? The usual answer is, so no one receives an unfair favor.
But that axiom assumes that each act of the person must be viewed in isolation. That is like looking at one piece of a jigsaw puzzle, and taking a decision that will impact the entire picture. How is that logical?
My contention is this - not just for Sanjay Dutt, but for everyone, their position in a legal system should be a function of, not just an isolated act, but, (at the very least), their entire criminal history (or lack thereof).
It is not about Sanjay Dutt. Sanjay Dutt is, again, a metaphor we can use to examine axioms that we do not question. While we are at it, Why do we not question axioms?
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Growing Weary of the World .. again.
Read Dollar Bahu by Sudha Murthy last night. Not her best writing, but the message comes across.
I have been blogging a lot lately, but the interest has shifted to my other blog - www.eshabraille.wordpress.com . I find that world a tad better, and infinitely more interesting.
Some days i get the feeling that we live in 2 different worlds. One world is too starved to worry about any higher need on Maslow's heirarchy. The other world is too stuffed with goodies to have a genuine care, and therefore invents issues to protest about. Maslow was wrong. When the food and safety needs are taken care of, we do not go towards self realisation. We go towards being more judgemental, narrow minded, and in general, non-adjusting.
All of Delhi is going through this trouble of non availability of public transport. Suppose each car vallah and bike vallah were to stop at one bus stop, ask people where they are going, and offer a lift to anyone going in his direction? Would that ease the situation a little bit?
But cars zip past on Delhi roads with one passenger each.
What does one do with a world like that?
What is there to blog about?
And then, I grew weary of the world
And sought
a little peace
to sleep in.
No news
of deaths or births or attempted deaths
Nothing to say
to anyone.
On anything.
There is no need
to say
if nothing is done
where
there is a need
to do.
I have been blogging a lot lately, but the interest has shifted to my other blog - www.eshabraille.wordpress.com . I find that world a tad better, and infinitely more interesting.
Some days i get the feeling that we live in 2 different worlds. One world is too starved to worry about any higher need on Maslow's heirarchy. The other world is too stuffed with goodies to have a genuine care, and therefore invents issues to protest about. Maslow was wrong. When the food and safety needs are taken care of, we do not go towards self realisation. We go towards being more judgemental, narrow minded, and in general, non-adjusting.
All of Delhi is going through this trouble of non availability of public transport. Suppose each car vallah and bike vallah were to stop at one bus stop, ask people where they are going, and offer a lift to anyone going in his direction? Would that ease the situation a little bit?
But cars zip past on Delhi roads with one passenger each.
What does one do with a world like that?
What is there to blog about?
And then, I grew weary of the world
And sought
a little peace
to sleep in.
No news
of deaths or births or attempted deaths
Nothing to say
to anyone.
On anything.
There is no need
to say
if nothing is done
where
there is a need
to do.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
If your child speaks, he is unfit to fly
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19735896/
If your child says "Bye, Bye, Plane" enough no. of times to annoy the flight attendant, it doesn't matter whether you have a ticket, nor does it matter if you know anyone at the place where they are offloading you, or if you have enough supplies for the child if they are offloading you miles from home. An airline can offload you because you do not drug the child to make it keep quiet.
If your child says "Bye, Bye, Plane" enough no. of times to annoy the flight attendant, it doesn't matter whether you have a ticket, nor does it matter if you know anyone at the place where they are offloading you, or if you have enough supplies for the child if they are offloading you miles from home. An airline can offload you because you do not drug the child to make it keep quiet.
The Farewell Mail
This first came in a forwarded mail this morning. Its a Farewell Mail.
JPMC(JP Morgan Chase) HR will be sooo grateful to this guy for spreading the truth about it as an employer. This kind of a referral truly comes only once in a lifetime.
What's more, it has already covered Finance and IT industries. That is industry wide recognition!
******************************
Dear Co-Workers and Managers,
As many of you probably know, today is my last day. But before I leave, I wanted to take this opportunity to let you know what a great and distinct pleasure it has been to type "Today is my last day."
For nearly as long as I've worked here, I've hoped that I might one day leave this company. And now that this dream has become a reality, please know that I could not have reached this goal without your unending lack of support. Words cannot express my gratitude for the words of gratitude you did not express.
I would especially like to thank all of my managers both past and present but with the exception of the wonderful Saroj Hariprashad: in an age where miscommunication is all too common, you consistently impressed and inspired me with the sheer magnitude of your misinformation, ignorance and intolerance for true talent. It takes a strong man to admit his mistake - it takes a stronger man to attribute his mistake to me.
Over the past seven years, you have taught me more than I could ever ask for and, in most cases, ever did ask for. I have been fortunate enough to work with some absolutely interchangeable supervisors on a wide variety of seemingly identical projects - an invaluable lesson in overcoming daily tedium in overcoming daily tedium in overcoming daily tedium.
Your demands were high and your patience short, but I take great solace knowing that my work was, as stated on my annual review, "meets expectation." That is the type of praise that sends a man home happy after a 10 hour day, smiling his way through half a bottle of meets expectation scotch with a meets expectation cigar. Thanks Trish!
And to most of my peers: even though we barely acknowledged each other within these office walls, I hope that in the future, should we pass on the street, you will regard me the same way as I regard you: sans eye contact.
But to those few souls with whom I've actually interacted, here are my personalized notes of farewell:
To Philip Cress, I will not miss hearing you cry over absolutely nothing while laying blame on me and my coworkers. Your racial comments about Joe Cobbinah were truly offensive and I hope that one day you might gain the strength to apologize to him.
To Brenda Ashby who is long gone, I hope you find a manager that treats you as poorly as you have treated us. I worked harder for you then any manager in my career and I regret every ounce of it. Watching you take credit for my work was truly demoralizing.
To Sylvia Keenan, you should learn how to keep your mouth shut sweet heart. Bad mouthing the innocent is a negative thing, especially when your talking about someone who knows your disgusting secrets. ; )
To Bob Malvin (Mr. Cronyism Jr), well, I wish you had more of a back bone. You threw me to the wolves with that witch Brenda and I learned all too much from it. I still can't believe that after following your instructions, I ended up getting written up, wow. Thanks for the experience buddy, lesson learned.
Don Merritt (Mr. Cronyism Sr), I'm happy that you were let go in the same manner that you have handed down to my dedicated coworkers. Hearing you on the phone last year brag about how great bonuses were going to be for you fellas in upper management because all of the lay offs made me nearly vomit. I never expected to see management benefit financially from the suffering of scores of people but then again, with this company's rooted history in the slave trade it only makes sense.
To all of the executives of this company, Jamie Dimon and such. Despite working through countless managers that practiced unethical behavior, racism, sexism, jealousy and cronyism, I have benefited tremendously by working here and I truly thank you for that. There was once a time where hard work was rewarded and acknowledged, it's a pity that all of our positive output now falls on deaf ears and passes blind eyes. My advice for you is to place yourself closer to the pulse of this company and enjoy the effort and dedication of us "faceless little people" more. There are many great people that are being over worked and mistreated but yet are still loyal not to those who abuse them but to the greater mission of providing excellent customer support. Find them and embrace them as they will help battle the cancerous plague that is ravishing the moral of this company.
So, in parting, if I could pass on any word of advice to the lower salary recipient ("because it's good for the company") in India or Tampa who will soon be filling my position, it would be to cherish this experience because a job opportunity like this comes along only once in a lifetime.
Meaning: if I had to work here again in this lifetime, I would sooner kill myself.
To those who I have held a great relationship with, I will miss being your co-worker and will cherish our history together. Please don't bother responding as at this very moment I am most likely in my car doing 85 with the windows down listening to Biggie.
One!
**************************************
JPMC need not worry though. We Indians are incorrigible employees. There will still be applications for employment.
JPMC(JP Morgan Chase) HR will be sooo grateful to this guy for spreading the truth about it as an employer. This kind of a referral truly comes only once in a lifetime.
What's more, it has already covered Finance and IT industries. That is industry wide recognition!
******************************
Dear Co-Workers and Managers,
As many of you probably know, today is my last day. But before I leave, I wanted to take this opportunity to let you know what a great and distinct pleasure it has been to type "Today is my last day."
For nearly as long as I've worked here, I've hoped that I might one day leave this company. And now that this dream has become a reality, please know that I could not have reached this goal without your unending lack of support. Words cannot express my gratitude for the words of gratitude you did not express.
I would especially like to thank all of my managers both past and present but with the exception of the wonderful Saroj Hariprashad: in an age where miscommunication is all too common, you consistently impressed and inspired me with the sheer magnitude of your misinformation, ignorance and intolerance for true talent. It takes a strong man to admit his mistake - it takes a stronger man to attribute his mistake to me.
Over the past seven years, you have taught me more than I could ever ask for and, in most cases, ever did ask for. I have been fortunate enough to work with some absolutely interchangeable supervisors on a wide variety of seemingly identical projects - an invaluable lesson in overcoming daily tedium in overcoming daily tedium in overcoming daily tedium.
Your demands were high and your patience short, but I take great solace knowing that my work was, as stated on my annual review, "meets expectation." That is the type of praise that sends a man home happy after a 10 hour day, smiling his way through half a bottle of meets expectation scotch with a meets expectation cigar. Thanks Trish!
And to most of my peers: even though we barely acknowledged each other within these office walls, I hope that in the future, should we pass on the street, you will regard me the same way as I regard you: sans eye contact.
But to those few souls with whom I've actually interacted, here are my personalized notes of farewell:
To Philip Cress, I will not miss hearing you cry over absolutely nothing while laying blame on me and my coworkers. Your racial comments about Joe Cobbinah were truly offensive and I hope that one day you might gain the strength to apologize to him.
To Brenda Ashby who is long gone, I hope you find a manager that treats you as poorly as you have treated us. I worked harder for you then any manager in my career and I regret every ounce of it. Watching you take credit for my work was truly demoralizing.
To Sylvia Keenan, you should learn how to keep your mouth shut sweet heart. Bad mouthing the innocent is a negative thing, especially when your talking about someone who knows your disgusting secrets. ; )
To Bob Malvin (Mr. Cronyism Jr), well, I wish you had more of a back bone. You threw me to the wolves with that witch Brenda and I learned all too much from it. I still can't believe that after following your instructions, I ended up getting written up, wow. Thanks for the experience buddy, lesson learned.
Don Merritt (Mr. Cronyism Sr), I'm happy that you were let go in the same manner that you have handed down to my dedicated coworkers. Hearing you on the phone last year brag about how great bonuses were going to be for you fellas in upper management because all of the lay offs made me nearly vomit. I never expected to see management benefit financially from the suffering of scores of people but then again, with this company's rooted history in the slave trade it only makes sense.
To all of the executives of this company, Jamie Dimon and such. Despite working through countless managers that practiced unethical behavior, racism, sexism, jealousy and cronyism, I have benefited tremendously by working here and I truly thank you for that. There was once a time where hard work was rewarded and acknowledged, it's a pity that all of our positive output now falls on deaf ears and passes blind eyes. My advice for you is to place yourself closer to the pulse of this company and enjoy the effort and dedication of us "faceless little people" more. There are many great people that are being over worked and mistreated but yet are still loyal not to those who abuse them but to the greater mission of providing excellent customer support. Find them and embrace them as they will help battle the cancerous plague that is ravishing the moral of this company.
So, in parting, if I could pass on any word of advice to the lower salary recipient ("because it's good for the company") in India or Tampa who will soon be filling my position, it would be to cherish this experience because a job opportunity like this comes along only once in a lifetime.
Meaning: if I had to work here again in this lifetime, I would sooner kill myself.
To those who I have held a great relationship with, I will miss being your co-worker and will cherish our history together. Please don't bother responding as at this very moment I am most likely in my car doing 85 with the windows down listening to Biggie.
One!
**************************************
JPMC need not worry though. We Indians are incorrigible employees. There will still be applications for employment.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Friday, June 29, 2007
One more song that's poetry
With this song, I have never understood whether she is submitting herself or insulting her lover/listener big time.. its not just the lyrics of the song, its also the music, the pauses, and Neena Gupta's bindaas presence in the song.. All in all, i LOVE the mystery of this song..
शायराना सी है , ज़िन्दगी की फज़ा
आप भी ज़िंदगी का मज़ा लीजिये
मैं गज़ल बन गयी आप के सामने
शौक़ से अब मुझे गुनगुना लीजिये ..
आप सुन तो रहे हैं मेरे दिल की लय
इस मैं बेनाम सी इक उदासी भी है
इस उदासी में नग़मा कोई छेड कर
एक बचैन दिल की दुआ लीजिये..
आप के प्यार का जो भी मेयार है,
उस से कब जाने जां मुझ को इंकार है,
जिस तरह आप चाहें नज़र आऊं मैं,
मुझ को हर रंग में आज़मा लीजिये..
Shaayaraanaa si hai, zindagee kee fazaa
Aap bhee zindagee kaa mazaa leejiye
Main gazal ban gayee, aap ke saamne, shauk se ab mujhe gungunaa leejiye
Aap sun to rahe hain mere dil ki laya
Is mein benam see ik udaasi bhi hai,
Is udaasi mein nagma koee chhed kar
Ek baichain dil kee duaa leejiye..
Aap ke pyaar ka job hi meiyaar hai,
Us se kab jaane jaan mujhko inkaar hai,
Jis tarah aap chahcein nazar aaon main,
Mujh ko har rang mein aazmaa leejiye..
Really Bad Translation:
Life feels poetic, why don’t you come around, and enjoy it too?
Look at me, I turn into a poem right in front of you,
Take it to your lips and hum it as you like..
You, who can hear the rhythm of my heart,
Knows that there is also an unnamed sadness in it,
Strum a song to inhabit my sadness,
To bring peace to a sad heart..
Whatever be the standards of your love, darling,
I do not think them unfair..
I will present myself in the light that you desire,
Test me however you like…
PS: The song is from a little known film called "Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayi" from the Mahesh Bhatt stable. I still think it was a very well made film.
शायराना सी है , ज़िन्दगी की फज़ा
आप भी ज़िंदगी का मज़ा लीजिये
मैं गज़ल बन गयी आप के सामने
शौक़ से अब मुझे गुनगुना लीजिये ..
आप सुन तो रहे हैं मेरे दिल की लय
इस मैं बेनाम सी इक उदासी भी है
इस उदासी में नग़मा कोई छेड कर
एक बचैन दिल की दुआ लीजिये..
आप के प्यार का जो भी मेयार है,
उस से कब जाने जां मुझ को इंकार है,
जिस तरह आप चाहें नज़र आऊं मैं,
मुझ को हर रंग में आज़मा लीजिये..
Shaayaraanaa si hai, zindagee kee fazaa
Aap bhee zindagee kaa mazaa leejiye
Main gazal ban gayee, aap ke saamne, shauk se ab mujhe gungunaa leejiye
Aap sun to rahe hain mere dil ki laya
Is mein benam see ik udaasi bhi hai,
Is udaasi mein nagma koee chhed kar
Ek baichain dil kee duaa leejiye..
Aap ke pyaar ka job hi meiyaar hai,
Us se kab jaane jaan mujhko inkaar hai,
Jis tarah aap chahcein nazar aaon main,
Mujh ko har rang mein aazmaa leejiye..
Really Bad Translation:
Life feels poetic, why don’t you come around, and enjoy it too?
Look at me, I turn into a poem right in front of you,
Take it to your lips and hum it as you like..
You, who can hear the rhythm of my heart,
Knows that there is also an unnamed sadness in it,
Strum a song to inhabit my sadness,
To bring peace to a sad heart..
Whatever be the standards of your love, darling,
I do not think them unfair..
I will present myself in the light that you desire,
Test me however you like…
PS: The song is from a little known film called "Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayi" from the Mahesh Bhatt stable. I still think it was a very well made film.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
You have to hear this
Remember the cute Airtel ads? Speak Out, they say. I am an obedient subscriber.
Last month, around this time, we made the payment on our Airtel landline. This cheque was not banked for 15 days. So we were requested to stop payment of the said cheque and were told that someone will come and pick up a replacement cheque from our place. That was on the 14th of June.
The next call came on the 20th of June. Again, someone promised to come and collect the cheque that very day. No one landed till the 25th.
On the 25th, someone called again, to say they are coming. The person was to come by 1230 hours, because we had to leave for some place after that. At 1220, he calls to say he will be around in another "1-1.5 hours". So we said we will just drop the cheque. This Airtel executive knew that the cheque was going to the drop box that day.
Next morning, unceremoniously, the outgoing was barred for both the landline and the Broadband. We lodged a complaint to re activate the outgoing and gave the cheque nos. - at 1445 hours yesterday. At 1730 hours, i called to check the status of the request and was told that no request is pending for restoring outgoing. So i made another request at 1730 hours yesterday.
This morning, I checked at 0930 hours to find out the status of the request. I was told that no request is pending for restoring outgoing on this phone. Great. A new request was lodged and a new request no. was generated.
At 1230, i called again to find out the status of the request logged at 0930 hours. I was told that no request is pending to restore outgoing on this phone. At 1230, ahem, we have lodged another request to restore outgoing.
On all the 4 calls, the supervisor was "too busy" to speak to us. What's more, i specifically requested that a written escalation should be created for this request. No escalation was created by the Airtel BPO executive. His name was Naresh Kumar and the manager's name is Anupam Munshi.
This morning, i requested a call back and was promised that Mr. Munshi will call back within one hour. So far (its 1300 hours now) Mr. Munshi is too busy to speak to us or call back.
I raised a complaint at www.core.nic.in, but don't think anything is happening.. what do u suggest we do??
Last month, around this time, we made the payment on our Airtel landline. This cheque was not banked for 15 days. So we were requested to stop payment of the said cheque and were told that someone will come and pick up a replacement cheque from our place. That was on the 14th of June.
The next call came on the 20th of June. Again, someone promised to come and collect the cheque that very day. No one landed till the 25th.
On the 25th, someone called again, to say they are coming. The person was to come by 1230 hours, because we had to leave for some place after that. At 1220, he calls to say he will be around in another "1-1.5 hours". So we said we will just drop the cheque. This Airtel executive knew that the cheque was going to the drop box that day.
Next morning, unceremoniously, the outgoing was barred for both the landline and the Broadband. We lodged a complaint to re activate the outgoing and gave the cheque nos. - at 1445 hours yesterday. At 1730 hours, i called to check the status of the request and was told that no request is pending for restoring outgoing. So i made another request at 1730 hours yesterday.
This morning, I checked at 0930 hours to find out the status of the request. I was told that no request is pending for restoring outgoing on this phone. Great. A new request was lodged and a new request no. was generated.
At 1230, i called again to find out the status of the request logged at 0930 hours. I was told that no request is pending to restore outgoing on this phone. At 1230, ahem, we have lodged another request to restore outgoing.
On all the 4 calls, the supervisor was "too busy" to speak to us. What's more, i specifically requested that a written escalation should be created for this request. No escalation was created by the Airtel BPO executive. His name was Naresh Kumar and the manager's name is Anupam Munshi.
This morning, i requested a call back and was promised that Mr. Munshi will call back within one hour. So far (its 1300 hours now) Mr. Munshi is too busy to speak to us or call back.
I raised a complaint at www.core.nic.in, but don't think anything is happening.. what do u suggest we do??
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