time out

Party at home girl, and say what you like.

2012-01-25T11:30:00.000+05:30

73% of youth sees India as developed in 2020 as freedom of speech is debated involving Jay Leno and Salman Rushdie, 28 year-old mother of four considered too old for skimpy outfits and barred from entering local night clubs in UK, new metro trains will cut travel time in Delhi and Deepak Chopra suggests we Be Happy Without a Reason, quoting the Dalai Lama at the Chinmaya mission auditorium in Delhi.

Tweet this minister- Funny tilt from up here!

2012-01-24T20:10:00.001+05:30

Domestic indian flyers cross the 60 million mark in 2011 making India the fastest growing aviation market in the world, shoe hurled at Rahul Gandhi in Uttarakhand as India objects to Jay Leno's Golden temple joke while Prime Ministers Office debuts on twitter and Big Ben is found tilting 46cm to left of its peak.

Sky's the limit kiddo, cheers!

2012-01-23T09:30:00.000+05:30

Pakistan is one of Bollywood's top 5 overseas market while Dutch teen Laura Dekker circumnavigates the globe alone as China enters the year of the Dragon, Britain says it will stop promoting Scotch whiskey if Scotland declares independence and government initiated Aakash tablet in the docks for using outdated tech.

Virtual existentialism? Get real!

2012-01-21T10:55:00.003+05:30

Nikhat Kazmi leaves this world while Megaupload.com shuts down as biometrics Unique ID enrolls 120 million indians, Kalmadi refuses to resign, Vodafone wins a $2billion tax case and Google posts net income of $2.71 billion.

Its cold out there; but do stay clean.

2012-01-20T10:26:00.000+05:30

Jerry Yang quits Yahoo as Kodak files for Bankruptcy while Wikipedia shuts down for a day in protest, La Nina may bring below normal temperature to India through February and March, Kalmadi gets bail after 9 months in jail as a sweeper in a train finds a bag with Rs. 23 lacs and alerts authorities, Marcos Baghdatis was fined $800 for abuse of racquet and equipment.

Will vote for silent Verses; still batting!

2012-01-18T15:32:00.001+05:30

The Artist picks up three Golden Globe awards as Delhi goes through its coldest spell at 14 degreesC, India team gets creamed in Perth test cricket, working out makes you wealthier by 9% while the cruise ship Costa Concordia runs aground, writer William Dalrymple defends Salman Rushdie at the Jaipur Literary fest and Priyanka Gandhi may help Rahul in campaigning.

How to be happy at work

2012-01-17T15:20:00.004+05:30

These random thoughts on perception of work are interrelated. Before hacking away at your tools- be it a laptop or any machine, prepare your mind for you want to achieve today, your team and opportunities.

1. Here's the big thought of the day- A leader should be more preoccupied with developing a larger, long-term vision and laying out plans to realise them. The execution can be left to team members. Go for the larger things and the smaller stuff will follow. But if there is no vision, then you have the 'leader' micro-managing, lifting ideas from sundry sources and in the process, making a hash of efforts. We end up working out numerous options that go nowhere and finally, robbing the team of the satisfaction of doing anything.

2. Do different things with different people. That way, the failure of one project is less disappointing or when closure or appreciation does not come in. But when you are at it, do it wholeheartedly. Do your best and let it go.

3. Collaborate with team members for large projects. Trust talented people and let them do things. There will be more support and willingness to innovate and execute.

4. Try to complete as much as you can, in your 8 hours. Faf around the least.

5. Do not sit for too long at your desk. Take a break, walk up to colleagues and chat up.

6. Do not hold things against people when things do not work out. That is a huge waste of energy.

7. In your spare time, do creative stuff, however pointless.

8. Today's experiments become tomorrow's expectations. Play with possibilities even if others shoot it down.

9. A team member who is passionate about wanting to do something is a goldmine. Get out of their way and let them do it.

10. Hear out people when they come to you with a 'dumb' idea. You could turn it into something brilliant by collaborating with them.

Street cricket, travel up! Yours truly...

2012-01-05T13:41:00.002+05:30

Auto Expo unveils today as Virat Kohli is fined for showing the middle finger to an abusive crowd, proposal to rename Chandi Chowk to Sachin Tendulkar Chowk turned down while 2012 may see space travel for $200,000 and one Canadian man crosses the US border using his iPad instead of his passport!

Checkmate? Say what we collaborate? :)

2012-01-04T10:35:00.001+05:30

Tamil Nadu follows Gujarat to make chess compulsory in schools as Bajaj Auto unveils RE60- mini taxi to replace tuk-tuk autos, india foils a Brit firm's attempt to patent ginger for cough and cold, 'anti-corruption' BJP inducts corrupt ministers sacked by Mayawati and Saudi 'Twitter' prince Alwaleed meets Mukesh Ambani and Ratan Tata setting tongues wagging on big deals.

Jaisalmer 2011

2011-12-30T19:59:00.010+05:30

It was time to hit the road again. We booked our Volvo bus tickets online on Saturday morning. The train was full up and we were 64 on the waiting list, so no point waiting there. At 5:30pm we reached IFFCO crossing to board our bus from Gurgaon. The bus journey was comfortable and we reached Jaipur by midnight. By 3am we were in Ajmer. By sunrise the topography had totally changed. We reached Osiyan at 8am and all we saw was flat white earth with thorn trees and plants. At 9am we were in Falodi and in Pokaran by 10am. The total journey was of around 900+ kilometers. Maybe if we had driven it would have been reduced by 200 odd km. We reached our hotel in Jaisalmer at 12pm. We crashed for the day and by next day we were all set to do the touristy thing.

We booked a tuk-tuk (three-wheeler rickshaw) for the day for Rs.600, which was a dumb thing to do when we realized that all the places to visit were well within walking distance! Nathmal ki haveli, Patwon ki haveli and Salam Singh haveli were well within 2 km from our hotel. Lunch was at at Ved meals- it was the residence of an elderly lady who prepares food in her own kitchen while you wait. The food was fresh, wholesome and, well, homemade- cooked in front of us. Lessons learnt for day 2!

Next day we walked around Fort and saw the same places we did the day before, and did more. We walked upto Gadisar lake. Lunch was at Desert Kabab, a place that served great non-vegetarian food. We ordered Lal Maas (red meat), a spicy mutton preparation. The day was spent buying stuff, leather bags, puppets and photography- sheer indulgence. The puppet show was at the desert museum, a rare art heading for extinction. Mr. N.K. Sharma gave a wonderful insight of the life in Rajasthan. "If there is no sand in your hair, clothes and food, you have not seen the desert." It was interesting to note that the desert was once an adversity for the people here, maybe still is; but has become a tourist attraction today. Anyways, Rajasthan's traditional food is a national treasure, undoubtably.

Our last night in Jaisalmer was spent in the dunes. Now photos-

Smart phones, daft content.

2011-12-22T11:30:00.001+05:30

700,000 Android phones are activated daily while one Indian trial court tells FB, Youtube to drop anti-religious content, a mother stayed upside down for 3 months to save her foetus and companies let employees design their own salary package through 'My pay, my choice', 10 Indians show up on Forbes power list and RIM turns down Amazon's takeover overtures.

Dam, these are tough times... drink up!

2011-12-21T09:13:00.002+05:30

India exists the $1trillion market cap club as Infosys BPO buys Portland Group for Rs.194 crore, a Canadian lady was compensated Rs.50,000 by an airline for refusing to serve her alcohol while traffic cops make bad drivers swear by holy books to improve their driving and Tamil Nadu drivers halt supplies to Kerala worth 1.5 crores over Mullaperiyar dam issue.

Dear Leader, austerity measures please.

2011-12-20T08:41:00.000+05:30

Kim Jong-il leaves this world and successor Kim Jong-un takes over as Delhi fogs out at 2.3 degreesC, government spent Rs.7.2 crores on Rajiv and Indira Gandhi ads in '11 while Saudi prince Alwaleed buys stake in Twitter for $300 million.

Good bye and Happy Birthday, you dutiful mutt!

2011-12-20T01:22:00.001+05:30

Siberian court decides to ban the Bhagwad Gita as Greece's riot dog Loukanikos gets 25000 hits on his FB page and features in Time magazine, while Mayawati asks for UP in forthcoming assemble elections as the best birthday gift, the last convoy of American troops leaves Iraq.

Whatever you do, win and compensate God!

2011-12-18T14:39:00.000+05:30

Sania Nehwal becomes only Indian badminton singles player to reach Super Series Final as Supreme Court directs KSRTC to compensate 'God' after it killed an elephant in 1996, tax exemption for rich cost government Rs.4.6 lakh crores, Obama bans his daughters from using Facebook as 'whatever' is voted the most annoying word in a survey.

Dear God... save the Rupee, Honda City, Nokia, property buyers...

2011-12-16T17:01:00.001+05:30

Devotees pray at Chilkur Balaji temple to save the Rupee from the Dollar onslaught as legendary bookseller George Whitman leaves this world, indians pay $700 million yearly as bribe for land administration services while Tata Motors global sales grew 35% in November, Honda City prices slashed again and Nokia's 'game changing' Lumia hits stores today.

I own the house now so YOU chase the rats!

2011-12-12T13:08:00.000+05:30

Mario Miranda leaves this world as 18000 supporters turn up for Anna Hazare at Jantar Mantar, an Italian cat inherits £10 million making her the third richest pet in the world, Warren Buffett tips his son as the next Berkshire non-exec chairman and Delhi turns 100.

Mass swing for change

2011-12-11T09:36:00.001+05:30

Ahmedabad is voted the best city to live in as anti-Putin wave sweeps Russia as thousands protest Poll fraud, Jennifer Aniston is voted 'hottest woman of all time' while 7000 supporters are expected at Jantar Mantar for Anna Hazare's fast and men don't think of sex all day.

Start swinging that bat, boy we are on the upswing now.

2011-12-09T17:30:00.001+05:30

Virender Sehwag becomes the 2nd batsman to hit a double ton in ODIs as accounts of Kingfisher and Air India are frozen for service tax dues, movie 'Dirty Picture' rakes in Rs.50 cr while food inflation drops to 6.6%, car sales grow to 7% and PSU banks plan to hire 500,000 in the next few years.

Keep holding, while others move on.

2011-12-06T09:26:00.001+05:30

Dev Anand leaves this world as Amir Khan and Kiran Rao announce their new born through surrogacy using IVF, world's costliest pile-up in Japan totals to $4million involving 14 supercars, Veena Malik sues mag for Rs.10 cr over doctored cover photo, government ban on smoking scenes put on hold and Pranab tells opposition that Retail FDI put on hold while big borrowers default on Rs.47000 cr loans.

Bring back that cop, he has steady fans here!

2011-12-04T09:54:00.001+05:30

Allowing 51% FDI in multi-brand retail sector put on hold as US jobless rate drops to 8.6%, Kolavari Di gets 15 million hits on Youtube and Chennai traffic police use the song to ease road rage, ceiling fan comes crashing down near Sharad Pawar as Patna city protests on transfer orders for SP Shivdeep Waman Lande.

Remember to take the day off buddy...

2011-12-01T23:56:00.000+05:30

Growth crawls at 6.9% in Q2 as Indians are the 5th most vacation-deprived while eating fish reduces risk of alzheimer's five-fold, entire bureaucracy will come under the Lokpal scanner and Facebook eyes IPO next year at $100 Billion.

Common man, change the world!

2011-11-25T17:19:00.001+05:30

Harvinder Singh slaps Sharad Pawar after assaulting Sukh Ram as Cyrus Mistry takes over from Ratan Tata, a devotee drops 100 diamonds into the donation box at Lord Venkateswara Temple while Union Cabinet clears 51% FDI in multi-brand stores and 100% in single brand and research shows that a fish diet reduces breathing problems for children.

Hangover posted on FB? Get flogged!

2011-11-23T09:21:00.001+05:30

Anna Hazare backs public flogging of drunkards as expenses on Kasab re- ascertained at Rs.50cr, Rupee deval may hike car prices and other expenses, 6 degrees of separation now down to 4.74 in Facebook era, man leaves behind a $1million in a suitcase at a pizzeria and Obama turns White House into a music hall.

Funny money!

2011-11-22T09:59:00.000+05:30

Govt. plans a Rs.30000 cr bailout for Air India as Rupee hits an all time low of Rs.52.16 to the Dollar while the Pakistan and Afghanistan stalls at Pragati Maidan are a huge hit as Rs.16 cr have been spent on Kasab so far, collections from pilgrims at Sabrimala have touced Rs.2.18 cr and Twilight film 'Breaking dawn' breaks opening weekend record with £300 million pounds.

What goes up... well, keep running!

2011-11-20T09:46:00.000+05:30

Running barefoot or with basic footwear have found to reduce foot injuries compared to running with fancy shoes, ozone gas emitted from fractured rocks could warn us of impending earthquakes, central gov announces a Rs. 6000 cr financial relief package to weavers community as cash-strapped Kingfisher Airlines losses No.2 position, NCR's builders set for proposals breaking into skyscrapers club with 300 metre tall building but Mumbai still ahead with World One at 442 metres.

If justice could travel as fast

2011-11-19T15:26:00.000+05:30

Einstein is proven wrong as Neutrinos travel faster than light as the lightest metal ever created rest on dandelion fluff, rupee dips to an all-time low of Rs.51.34 per dollar and 84-year-old Sukhram is convicted in a 15-year-old telecom scam case.

Kiss and make up, pink it is!

2011-11-17T08:18:00.000+05:30

Its a baby girl for the Bachchan's as UP is all set to split in 4 states- Paschim Pradesh, Awadh Pradesh, Bundelkhand and Purvanchal, Putin gets China Peace prize for going to war with Chechnya in 1999 and Benetton jolts world with 'Unhate' campaign with world leaders locking lips.

Go easy on the planet... next gen deserves a shot too!

2011-11-16T09:52:00.000+05:30

Gold soars to a new high to 29295 while US students in India increase by 44% as 7-year-old Ranveer Duggal becomes youngest to play in billiards and snooker national championship in Pune, Australia revokes ban on uranium sale to India and carbon credit prices dip to €6.5 from 11.

Shuffle and shake

2011-11-14T08:56:00.000+05:30

'Super Mario' Monti takes over from Silvio Berlusconi, Rahul Bajaj speaks against government bailout to Kingfisher Airlines while Anna Hazare rejiggs his team as Adobe quits making Flash player for mobile browsers.

One big Bear hug coming up. Anyone?

2011-11-10T09:15:00.000+05:30

Indian Oil Corp posts loses of Rs.7485 cr as Kingfisher scraps 50 flights a day, car sales drop to new low in 11 years, Rs. 150 cr bets ride on Ashwarya Rai's delivery on 11 11 11 and Sachin's test 100 at Edan Gardens.

Knockouts too many

2011-11-09T09:24:00.001+05:30

Joe Frazier leaves this world as Sachin Tendulkar becomes the first to make 15000 runs in test cricket while 1 in every 5 Indians is hit by diabetes and high BP, Pushkar fair starts off with 10 nations showing off their ballooning skills and Japan quake measures 6.8.

Idle money

2011-11-07T08:54:00.000+05:30

$11.5 trillion is stashed away illegally in tax havens as RBI destroys notes worth 1.8 lakh cr while MS Dhoni gets his 199 victim in test cricket, Hindujas spend £100 million on a home near Buckingham Palace, one Husain painting goes for Rs.1.45 cr and Gurgaon residents clean up their locality at own cost.

Save the world or else... I will eeeet you...

2011-11-06T12:44:00.001+05:30

Bhupen Hazarika leaves this world as validity of cheques and drafts cut to 3 months from 6 by RBI, cash strapped NY sacks santa to save $660 while global warming gases increase by 6% from 8.6 to 9.1 billion metric tonnes, Sagittarius A, a black hole in the milky way, is swallowing a world a day and the privileged lot in China breathe filtered air in their homes and offices.

Reality check getting under your skin

2011-11-04T12:03:00.002+05:30

MS Dhoni and Abhinav Bindra are conferred an honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the army as Heidi Klum does a skinless autopsy costume for Halloween, a third of India's cell numbers are not in use while Lamborghini launches the Aventador for 3.69cr in Delhi and Levis moves towards stone-washed jeans.

The speeding light at the end of the tunnel may be a freight train coming your way!

2011-10-31T09:11:00.002+05:30

Metallica concert scrapped in Gurgaon and goes well in Bangalore, F1 administration does a good job of executing an international event as Lucknow awaits the 7 billionth baby as the earth's retaliation shows in Bangkok with floods and rare October snow in US Northeast.

Teaching to learn

2011-10-23T14:17:00.006+05:30

Another Saturday morning found me giving art classes in Saksham- an NGO school for underprivileged children of a huge labor class population in Gurgaon. I went with 20 copies of face expressions, a chart I found somewhere that serves as a guide of sorts for amateur cartoonists. Though I went solely with the intention to discuss and draw facial expressions, it turned out to be a language-translation class of sorts that took me by (pleasant) surprise and tested my ability to teach, translate and engage 24 enthusiastic kids in the age group of 10-15. Here’s the chart-

The class started with asking the children what they understood of each expression. All conversations with them were in Hindi. But the printout wasn’t clear enough, so I had to write most of the words on the board and explain the meaning of each in Hindi. I realized later that I was over-expecting the children to know what words like ‘hysterical’ and ‘eavesdropping’ meant. Of course. Some children asked me to use the word in a sentence, leading to this silence from my side with my head spinning for a while on Saturday morning on how to break this down in an interesting way for a 12-year-old. It better be interesting; in case I used too ‘grown-up’ examples, it could lead to disconnect with them. This led me to acting out some of the words. This is where the fun started. I got giggles with explaining ‘love struck’ with participation from the backbenchers, some blanked out looks with ‘hung-over’. Most words were not easy to explain to my satisfaction, like the difference between ‘arrogant’ and ‘obstinate’. Asking them what Bollywood actor they thought were arrogant and obstinate got us some interesting common answers! Cricket and Bollywood- two great aids in teaching, I tell you; always works with children to get them interested.

Children understood the more ‘physical’ meanings of words like ‘pained’ and ‘hurt’ than the emotional meanings, which gave me this ‘it-will-take-them-a-while-to-figure-that-one’ sense. ‘Horrified’ meant more than just what you felt in a horror film, like a mother’s reaction to what children could do to their rooms. ‘Optimistic’ was not the same as ‘Happy’ and ‘Blissful’ and had to be explained in contrast to ‘Pessimistic’. A lot of the examples were examination related because at this age, I figured exams brought in some amount of reactions and emotions- no thanks to my formative years of high stress on academics. These were- I was ‘relieved’ when the exams were over’; the parents were ‘shocked’ at the child’s results; I was ‘ecstatic’ when I was declared first in class. Some words that I still have to act out convincingly are ‘smug’ and ‘sheepish’! In case you find this funny, try doing this in front of 24 odd children. It takes an experienced stage artist to hold, engage and convey effectively! Words like aggressive, disapproving, grieving, frustrated and exasperated took a while to communicate. They were also writing down the hindi meanings of each word in their sketch books, which made me realize how important this class was for them.

It felt like a good day with one substantial hour spent here, with some amount of self-introspection, questioning my ability to communicate to an audience with simple words.

Light one up, Mr. Roboto

2011-10-21T10:50:00.001+05:30

Sarkozys are parents to a baby girl as multiplexes jack up Ra.One prices and Bangalore Metro flags off today while Philip Morris's net income rose 30% to 2.38 bn, Libya starts afresh without Muammar Gaddafi and Tokyo tech fair opens with robotic clapping of hands.

Rebuild

2011-10-19T10:48:00.001+05:30

I close my eyes and imagine I am in a large clearing in a forest. As I look around, in front of me, all my past achievements materialize together in one large abstract shape. The shape has grown by tens of feet and is now as large as a building. These are things I have always been proud of. I brag about it, use it as a totem pole of pride, my flags and feathers are stuck on in it and I show it off to people. I use it as a support and a descriptive to who I am. I like to think I have done great things and I am my own Superman and Thor.

Now here’s the problem. I am not able to do new things with my life because this colossal pole will not move anywhere. It’s fixed, solid. I have built my home around it; using it as a support to hold up parts of my house. The roots are growing around it and I am in the process of getting fossilized.

I stand up and walk a few feet away from this ‘shape’. As I think hard about letting go of this all, I begin to scale up in size. I am now as tall as this abomination. Suddenly from nowhere, a Samurai sword appears in my hand. I look at the beautiful weapon. Its not just any sword. It’s a beautiful high-carbon steel Katana. I seem to know Kenjutsu and how to handle this work of art. I now have a job at hand.

All this building over the years of past achievements has been stopping me from advancing to next levels and take larger steps. It is time to destroy what I already have done, and move to new things. The less I have, the less I carry and faster will I move. It’s either a skinny hermit running through a forest or a fat rich man on a cushion. Let it all go now. As my mind focuses on the central core in my chest, my body has moved swiftly and slashed down this behemoth of a structure- created with my pride over past achievements. It has been reduced to a rubble. I put the Katana back into its sheath and look at the rest of the clearing. The forest looks larger and there is more to explore, because I want to. I run into the dark greens.

People and gadets in our lives

2011-10-16T17:47:00.004+05:30

Make a list of all the gadgets - their model and brand, that you have ever used, and another list of all the friends you have met in your lifetime. Notice that not only will your people list be longer, with their full names, you may even be able to describe people more than just their names. See the point?

Rough road, partner, but keep going!

2011-10-13T10:15:00.000+05:30

Obama's $447bn jobs plan is derailed by the US senate as Yahoo dilutes its stake in Chennai based Consim info for Rs.100cr, Maruti loses Rs.3000cr due to labor unrest as Pepsi reports 13% growth at $17.6bn and Sahara buys 42% in Force India F1 team in a deal worth $100mn.

Role one buddy, no BB chatting for a while...

2011-10-12T00:52:00.003+05:30

Cannabis may help ease pain from chemotherapy as people spend 9% more time on mobile apps while BlackBerry services collapsed in 4 continents but Apple iphone 4S demand surges to 1 million in a day, ghazal maestro Jagjit Singh passes away as doctors suggest you touch elbows and not shake hands.

To rise in life, we must do community service

2011-10-10T17:56:00.003+05:30

I am no saint and do not preach values, will not. This is only a reflection of a very self-centered, materialistic self. This paradox of success through community service is explained after 6 months’ experience and a better understanding of what I want from life.

When it comes to spending money, we are mostly clueless about what we want, yet we work so hard for ‘it’. We work day in night out at the cost of our health for gadgets and cars that are high on drool factors. We think we need these things only when we see a colleague or neighbor flaunting it. These objects do not last long because they are made for a shelf life of a couple of years if not months, or we don’t want them anymore because marketing strengths are now working on something else! When it’s time to discard it, we resume our rat race for that next pointless something. In a span of 40 working years, very little is left to be a proud owner of. So how do we find direction in this vague existence? Just in case this question got you thinking hard about your ways of spending, then it means you need to look inward at what you surround yourself with. And where does community service come into the picture? Or how does social work help us realign our priorities?

We are a privileged lot. We don’t have to quite worry about the next meal or a roof above our heads. But when we interact with those for whom these are luxuries, we realize the gift we have and are able to re-order our priorities. Direct interaction with differently-abled people, teaching under-privileged children or any other social work helps us snap out of vague desires and think harder at long term, bigger goals.

I am not denouncing materialism. Being materialistic is good and it makes us catalysts of success in other areas or domains we belong to. True- people at work, family and friends gauge us with what we have. But all this reflection becomes more substantial when we work at more focused, larger things. Saving up by letting go of frivolous things helps us look at larger objects of desire. But this focus comes about only when we see others struggle for bare necessities. It helps us appreciate the opportunities and resources that are at our disposal.

This may come across as arguable but do give it a try. We all have different ways of seeing this world. What works for me, may work for you in larger ways. I constantly come across friends or hear about people who are not happy with their jobs or life. These people have more than others who are in dire need of these things. I also noticed one thing about these ‘unhappy’ people – they do not give out to their communities in terms of time. Donating money is not the retribution the soul needs. One has to spend time in these communities and see first-hand how lesser privileged people live.
Once in a while, we must understand our position in this world to be able to see where we are, and what we can do to make it better- for others and most importantly, for ourselves. Unless we are happy with ourselves, we will not be able to generate real value for our lives.

Fly India way... and crash less.

2011-10-10T08:12:00.000+05:30

India's expat hiring is up 20% this year as UK's Thomson Airways creates aviation history by using cooking oil as fuel, Paul McCartney marries for the third time while the Big Ben tilts a foot and half from perpendicular, 400 painted storks visit Delhi zoo and the city's road deaths drop to a five year low.

Good Apple that changed the world

2011-10-06T13:36:00.013+05:30

Call this a tribute to a great man; this is one top ten list that's been on my mind for a while. Steve Jobs / Apple related videos here, in no particular order-

1. Microsoft makes third grade products
This holds true even today. What is that one central thought that drives and differentiates between a great company and a mediocre one? Very well articulated in few words here.

2. First iPod launch.
Very ballsy move when Apple's main computer business was tanking.
What do you do? Come up with a music player. Very few have the courage to think and act like this… and succeed!

3. Famous Stanford speech
Watch this anytime you don't seem to know where life is going exactly.

4. Of all Apple products, I have related to iPod the most; and the ads have been my all-time favorites. Here's the 'Pods unite' video for iPod and the VW Beetle.

5.iPod Feist ad for video on Nano

6. Hilarious Mac/PC ads

7. Apple ‘Think Different’ ad

8. iPad in schools
I teach art on Saturdays in a primary school for underprivileged children- with no technology whatsoever, over and beyond a blackboard and chalk. But looking at this capability of children with tech, their mature feedback and willingness to learn, all I can say is, ‘Way to go.’

9 . Siri in iPhone
Though the iPhone 4S was not received very well as expected, I thought this was one groundbreaker in phone tech- a device that ‘understands’ what you are saying. Ballsy decisions like this make this company and its people great; going where others fear to tread in a big way.

10. Thanks, Devinder- for video no. 10

Remarkable life, Sir Jobs!

2011-10-06T10:49:00.003+05:30

The World loses Steve Jobs as Daniel Shechtman bags Nobel for discovering quasicrystals after years of redicule, the world's cheapest tablet is launched in India while Anna Hazare gets talking on twitter, FB and G+.

Old is gold, but old laws gotto go.

2011-09-28T09:02:00.000+05:30

Co-creator of Asterix Uderzo retires after 52 years as the 127-year oldest running car fetches £1.6 million while people turn up in underwear in Utah to protest uptight laws, thousands of migratory birds flock Sultanpur National park.

Wishy-washy news

2011-09-27T13:31:00.000+05:30

Sarkozy floored Carla with flower knowledge, obese women more likely to have fat babies, eating fish reduces risk of strokes while more youngsters call in sick than aged.

Going to vote with all the gold on? Take the metro, darling.

2011-09-26T10:35:00.002+05:30

Delhi Metro earns Rs.47 cr carbon credits as Barcelona bids adieu to bullfighting while Nick Mason of Pink Floyd looks forward to a reunion, Saudi women get the right to vote and China installs a gold vending machine with soaring demand.

Gizmo freaks you out

2011-09-23T20:30:00.003+05:30

Just in case you noticed, there’s no gadget out there that gives you that digital nirvana you were searching for. Our favorite phones have issues streaming Flash content, awesome tablets don’t have USB ports, ‘affordable’ devices just don’t have the fruit company’s lust factor, the brand currently with biggest market share has a sad image and a bloated operating system, a search engine company buys out the mobility wing that started the mobile phone industry… and all this flux makes you wonder what on earth is going on out there and how good really is this device in my hands.
Television tech changes so fast you don’t know what high definition really means anymore. Do you really care if you can see cars or bullets any more smoothly than they are right now? Will 7.1 surround sound make bad music sound any better? Brand loyalty doesn’t hold any ground these days. Tech world is ruthless. Companies that ruled markets or innovated devices get copied quickly and sued by competition even before any app can get downloaded on a phone and say ‘installed’. Ads tell you how bad the competitor’s product is. So who’s taking a hit here? Their competitor or people who bought all this stuff? Where does this leave users you and me, who need devices to get stuff done in the day? How we do go about our lives without getting inconsolably depressed with what we own?

Well, here’s a way around this endless angst. Let go of the passion for devices. Stop envying your colleague for owning that awesome glistening phone you saw on the billboards on the way to work. A few generations back there were no such gizmos around. Guess how people did? Splendidly well! Get back to writing on a piece of paper. Get that awesome mind working. Talk to people face to face- and no- not on facetime. Ditch the TV, take your wife and kids out to the park if nothing else. Listen to old records. If you noticed, we have gigabytes of music we don’t listen to anymore. Compare this with the good old days when people knew all lyrics of songs on a few LPs. I wish I was born in the art deco era. Hire a horse and carriage. Let the world go by at 5 miles an hour. Ride a bicycle. Wait a bit longer at restaurants. So what if he’s taking another 10 minutes to serve you? Read something till then.

Well all these luxuries obviously apply outside our work places. But that’s where the treasure is- time. Regain your creative juices, appreciate flowers and an affectionate pet. Spend time doing nothing. And stay away from the phone. You can check your tweets later because right now there’s one coming from the tree outside your window.

Fictionary

2011-09-22T11:54:00.004+05:30

Here's a collection of 10 self-cooked words and phrases for those instances or states of mind you wish had a name. If you see anything here you've seen somewhere else, then it's sheer co-incidence. Wow, let’s start with this-

Flagiarist
That person who disrupts your peace when you thought you’d get away by stealing someone else’s idea or you thought was original.

Plug-head
That blanked out state of mind when you are fumbling through your stuff looking for a laptop accessory or some connecting wire.

Smart-hash
When you're the expert but don’t have a convincing answer to someone's question but still want to answer with some bull and everyone knows you are bulling.

iGod
People who look up or away giving a 3/4 look just when a group photo is clicked.

Click buddy
That stranger you ask to click your group photo.

Cacophone
Conference calls where people don’t let you finish your sentence but you still go on and it turns out no one is listening.

Demoteed
That split-second depressing feeling when people assume your subordinate is your boss.

forget-me-knot
When you want to hang someone who forgets your name despite a previous introduction or acquaintance.

Gayed-out
That weird feeling you get when you get too close to another man in a bookstore or public place and you find yourself getting the hell out of there least he thinks you’re gay and hitting on him.

Dickhead
Person who think you’re not married because there’s something ‘wrong’ with you.

Andamans, Coorg, Mysore- SCUBA and coffee

2011-09-15T19:07:00.013+05:30

Well it was the time of the year for the big trip, and unlike last year in Ladakh, we planned things ahead for a change. We reached Port Blair airport on the 3rd and then took the government ferry to Havelock island, then logged into Barefoot resort at Radha Nagar beach.

Huge ancient Mahua trees near Radha Nagar beach, Havelock Island

5 September
7 am: On Monday, we headed for Beach no 3 at the PADI resort, filled and signed the waiver form for SCUBA diving. We put on the diving suits, carried our fins and masks, and took a motorboat to beach no 2. This is where we strapped on our cylinders and went diving to check out the world under the surface. By the way, these are not oxygen cylinders, just regular air. We went through a training session on breathing and communication skills and headed for the deeper end. Though it was raining heavily through these days, we had a spot of luck with the sun out in the first half of our diving day. The entire duration underwater was for 30 minutes and we went as far as 6 metres down. After a while I could feel my ears due to the increasing pressure. One thing about the whole experience- aqua life has to be experienced in person. Fish going about their lives in shoals of over a 100 each, just a metre away from you, huge multicolored species in visible range- this is a dwindling ecology. Carrying my camera was pointless because the moments worth capturing were underwater, and I did not have the waterproof cover. Thankfully the diving instructors- Anne, Steve and Karan had an underwater cover for their camera, so we have some photos. The fish we saw down there were parrot fish, clown fish, sea urchin and a whole lot of other species I have never seen before. Ocean life is way too vast and extensive to know what's going on down there. And thanks to evolution we will never 'cover' everything.

6 September
The next day at 7 am we headed for Henry Lawrence Island for snorkeling, which took 2 hours by ferry from Havelock to reach. Two other Australian couples were with us on the boat. This is an uninhabited island and we banked at 'Tamarind camp' which was basically just a hut and a dog on it. Since I was a total non-swimmer, I had to use the lifesaver and be guided along the corals. I could breathe comfortable with the snorkeling gear, and see the sea bed very clearly. The Aussies were experienced divers and they clearly saw much more, diving down to 5 metres in a single breath to check under the corals and fish closer to the sea bed. The water was much clearer around this island- thanks to lack of human intervention. We had some luck again with a clear day which let us see down below till the sea bed. This time we saw more types of fish and creatures. Clearly more dives were needed to understand this world down below.
We had lunch- pasta and olives, picked up some shells along the beach and headed back.

My first SCUBA dive at Havelock

7 September
9 am: We left Havelock island by Bambooka- a government ferry.
Reached Port Blair at noon and checked into our hotel. Went to Naval museum which has the history of A&N islands documented in forms of paintings, information boards, shells and relics collected from tribes, Samudrika- the aquarium museum and later Cellular prison. The sound and light show did a very standard job of recreating the history of the freedom fighters' ordeal here. There was so much scope with shadow cutouts and props. Of the 6 wings, four were destroyed and a hospital was built on the same land. The other three wings serve as a memorial.

Rainbow spotted over Cellular Prison, Port Blair

Boat in Baratang

8 September
3 am: we headed for Baratang island. 50 km from our Port Blair hotel we reached the Jirkatang checkpost. Baratang ferry point was another 50 km through the forest. Our group of 20 odd cabs was escorted by armed cops through this distance. On the way we saw the Jarawa tribals. The people have not changed through the ages. Originally of negro race and retaining the same physical features, the tribe's lifestyle remains unchanged. They still hunt and dress the same. One young man with a bow and arrows was looking out for food from passing cabs. Later we saw a youngster who had hunted wild pigs and had them on his back. Then we saw a family of three also on the road. Later two women dressed only in red head gear and red dresses were trying to get people's attention from the passing traffic in hope of food and stuff. It is illegal to interact, feed or photograph the tribals, so I have no pictures of them. At the ferry point, 4-5 young tribal men seem to be comfortably hanging around here. I got chatting with the driver to learn more about them. Their population is apparently around 500 and this tribe is protected under government law. The Jarwa people had surrendered to the government 12 years back. They looked misunderstood, misplaced and under-privileged. But then maybe thats my perspective from the warped 'civilization' I come from.

From the ferry point we took a ferry to the other side, from where we hopped into a motorboat. After an hour we got into a mangrove canal which took us to the limestone cave. Later we saw the mud volcano. This is an active volcano which is still bubbling mud.

Sept 9- Port Blair to Bamboo Flat was by ferry. Heading for Hariet peak which had a 16 km trek path but it was raining so heavily we had to pass. There is a suicide point in this park. Anyways it started raining heavily so we got out of there. There is a view from here that is apparently the same as what you see on a 20-rupee note!

Monks in prayer, Golden Temple, Kushal Nagar, Karnataka

From there we headed for Coorg and spent 4 days there in the coffee plantations. From here we moved around to Abbey falls, some local temples and to Kushal Nagar which has a huge monastery. Headed back to Delhi on the 14th.

Abbey falls, Coorg

Baby elephant in Coorg

We visited the Mysore palace just before catching our train to Chennai. The palace is currently under restoration, though visitors are allowed inside. I was honestly surprised at the level of committment shown in the preservation of the art- paintings, sculptures and personal belongings of the Wodeyars royal family. My personal favorite were these bronze leopards in various places on the palace grounds. I spotted at least eight of them.

There's also the amazing stain glass in the 'marriage hall' area-

Here's a video of the whole trip. It's a 3 minute montage of just trees and Abbey falls-

Sayonara... well hold it... its Banzaaai!!

2011-09-02T09:39:00.001+05:30

Japan gets a debt rating of AA3 from AAA as India exports are up 82% while India wings of BMW and Mercedes fight it off verbally, IBM to buy Algorithmics for $387million and Anna Hazare gets a hero's welcome in his native village.

Pay up, m'am... else I do after 13 years.

2011-09-01T08:04:00.000+05:30

Messi slips into Kolkata quietly, a junior engineer is punished for accepting a Rs.400 bribe he took 13 years back as 120 tonnes of squashed tomatoes fly in Bunol, Spain, while London introduces 'sex tax' on the sex workers and Lord Ganesh gets an 'Anna Hazare' look.

Bond with this gel for immortality, Grandpa

2011-08-31T08:27:00.001+05:30

James Bond prepares to shoot in Darya Ganj while Gaddafi has a new born granddaughter and ancient Egyptians used hair gel as a new star is found close to earth, London's O2 arena will have a night club for the hearing impaired as China tycoon buys part of Iceland.

No name calling please, he's our 6th- shaken and stirred.

2011-08-30T07:41:00.001+05:30

Japan gets its 6th PM in 5 years as a small Italian town Filettino prints its own money in protest at government austerity cuts while Indian Railways says no to Bond film for shooting on tracks, Om Puri faces 15 days of prison for calling politicians illiterates and incompetent.

Stop the dribbling, break that fast.

2011-08-29T06:12:00.003+05:30

Anna Hazare's 12 fast ends as China cracks down on local versions of Twitter that spreads 'rumors' while aliens walk around Siberia after UFO crash, Bhaichung Bhutia hangs up his boots and savings in India have dropped below 10% of GDP for the first time in 13 years.

Fret over this now, worthless diamond next!

2011-08-27T12:44:00.001+05:30

US alleges that Gibson guitars are made from illegally imported wood from India as women waste 50 billion litres of water shaving their legs and the first F1 Grand Prix in Noida / Delhi hikes up hotel rates to Rs.40000 a day, a planet made of diamonds is discovered and a 6000 km long river runs under the Amazon.

Ten random travel tips

2011-08-26T21:06:00.007+05:30

I have been traveling a bit in the last two weeks across the length and breadth of India. Sundry experiences popped in to cook up this top ten list, which could save your life or avoid an infection! Some interesting travelling tips-

1. Avoid rubbing your face too hard with hotel towels. Nuf said.

2. If you find the local women beautiful, keep your opinion to yourself. Your self-assumed innocent, aesthetic senses and evolved, refined eye could nevertheless get you a black eye.

3. If you know very little of the local language, do not experiment with questions unless you are sure you will understand the answers. It can be quite embarrassing to ask for the answers to be repeated in English or end up with sign language.

4. Research your food before getting adventurous with new cuisine at a restaurant. You don't want to look surprised and make faces when the dish arrives.

5. If the last (or first) names are hard to pronounce, do not create your own 'short and cool' versions. It may not be received well. Stick to the easier first (or last) name when referring to or speaking with the person.

6. If it's a road trip, do not depend too much on Google maps for directions. It is not at it's best at all times. I have ended up with longer routes. Stop the damn car and ask for directions.

7. Do not lie about your location on phone calls. Goddamn tech is way too smart these days.

8. On a serious note- do ask for packaged water.

9. Go easy on the quantity of food you eat in a new location. Let your insides get used to the climate and stuff.

10. Smile and be nice to locals. If people like you, you may get help or tips before you get into trouble. If you are rude, locals will just become silent on pending trouble (for you). Silence from people who know better is the worst weapon that can be used against you.

Hey on second thought, the hell with this list. Pack your bags, leave, do your own thing. But that last tip holds.

Have power, use it or lose it.

2011-08-26T08:45:00.001+05:30

The maverick CEO of Apple steps down as Sonia Gandhi becomes the world's 7th most powerful woman in the world while the Lokpal bill enters Parliament and China bans 100 songs besides a black hole ripping apart a star and Warren Buffett investing $5 billion in Bank of America.

More Tamron 18-270mm

2011-08-25T18:54:00.010+05:30

Some more experiments with the Tamron 18-270mm. My camera is a Canon 500d. In South India- Kochi and Tamil Nadu.

What?! Hey I'm a footballer not an ex-telecom minister!

2011-08-25T08:40:00.000+05:30

Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel's father's kidnappers have demanded a ransom of $4billion as one autorickshaw driver gives free rides to Ramlila maidan, 5.6 quake hits Washington and NY and two women are forced to marry in Banda Aceh, Indonesia besides Liz Taylor topping the photogenic star list.

Research for Reality

2011-08-24T18:48:00.002+05:30

Deven Sharma will quit Standard & Poor while petrol prices in India are costlier than in US as the average American spend on stuff Made in China is less than 3% and Anna search is ranked 320 besides Americans not being very keen on Indian and Chinese cars.

Changing world in progress; do more, talk less.

2011-08-23T07:39:00.000+05:30

Brand 'Anna' enters management classes and one IIT grad receives his degree in Gandhi cap while rebels take Tripoli ending Gaddafi era and Syrians tell Bashar al-Assad it's his turn next as Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi win the Cincinnati Open as PM says economy will grow at 8% and mobile tariffs will see 17% hike.

My house, new rules.

2011-08-22T08:45:00.000+05:30

100,000 throng Ramlila ground to support Anna Hazare, Rahul Dravid makes 135 not out in a forgettable tour as the Harry Potter binocular is now a reality while wives lose right to property after divorce in a new ruling in China and an old fossil hints at life on Mars.

Rats and money we can't handle!

2011-08-21T11:06:00.000+05:30

Middle order batsman Ian Bell scores a double ton in the 4th cricket test against India as Bollywood splurges 100s of crores on property while Gujaratis head for Vegas on Janmastami, Kerala CM lashes out at Padmanabhaswamy temple's royal family and China raises a cat army to tackle rat menace.

Testing the Tamron 18-270mm VC PZD

2011-08-20T21:42:00.002+05:30

After much procrastination, I finally picked up the Tamron 18-270mm VC PZD. This only means I don't have to juggle around with my lenses anymore. Take a look at pictures in three stages, at 18mm, zoomed in at 270mm and then a crop at 100% of the image at 15 megapixels. We are in Kilarasampet, Vellore, Tamil Nadu.

In Kilarasampet, Vellore, Tamil Nadu with the Tamron 18-270mm VC PZD

One way to get any degree of collaboration underway is to understand the way people are, accept it and find ways to work around that. The wrong thing to do is express shock and disgust at the way people talk, behave and go about doing what they do. Inclusiveness has a lot to do with taking that firsts step and mixing with the people you want to achieve things with.
This would be a good time to keep aside your personal views and tastes, and do what the Romans do, albeit different from your methods. So become adventurous, be a world citizen, drop the colloquial garb and venture out a bit. If you want inroads into the garrison, the guards have to like you.
Another random thought- nobody cares what camera or lens you carry. When was the last time you saw a captivating photo and said- 'Wow, I wonder if that's a Canon or a Nikon?' Its not about what you have, but what you do with it, and the moment.

David vs. Goliath, or mouse vs. plane, march on.

2011-08-18T08:25:00.002+05:30

A medical post-grad seat goes for Rs.1.7cr, Coal India topples RIL as India's most valued firm at $55.3 billion while a mouse gets on board and stalls a SAS flight, it took 9 months to arrest Kalmadi compared to 3 minutes for Anna Hazare besides MP CM suggesting Sachin should shun IPL if he wants a Bharat Ratna.

Stock swing sway shock!

2011-08-17T19:39:00.001+05:30

As gold becomes costlier than platinum, the nation boils over the arrest of Anna Hazare while DLF is fined Rs. 600 cr, print ad volumes grow by 16% in H1 with newspapers bagging 96%, NIIT buys Spanish firm for $7 million and the Yamuna may cross the danger mark alongside stocks dipping to 14-month low.

Rumor has it...

2011-08-16T13:26:00.000+05:30

As Anna Hazare meditates at Rajghat and Google buys off Motorola mobility for $12.5 billion, 'Malegaon ka Superman' goes for an early release while women gossip for 5 hours a day and UK had hormone plan to turn Hitler into a woman.

Kasauli 2011

2011-08-15T13:36:00.004+05:30

From Kasauli 2011

Now this is the Delhiite thing to do- hit the hills or Wagah border around the weekend- more so on 15 August, clog up the place, shop around like you're doing the locals a favor, make a damn mess and return with blaring horns. So here we were driving up to Kasauli, trying to make the most of the natural beauty (whatever’s left of it) and avoiding people. It’s been a while since I was there in 2003.

From Kasauli 2011

As we reached Chandigarh, we decided to use Google maps to find our way towards Kasauli. Bad move. We ended up driving through a slum to reach the main highway- just because Google maps had calculated the shortest path. Lesson 1 on traveling with tech- sometimes, just roll down the damn window and ask for directions, talk to people. As we reached the nice open stretch towards Pinjore, the euphoria ended. The worst part of the drive was the stretch from Chandigarh through Pinjore and Kalka. We inched our way up till the toll in Kalka. Another 50 km and we were in Garkhal, 3 km off Kasauli main. We also made the colossal mistake of landing up here without a booking or reservation. Nothing was available and we went driving around in the fog looking for a place to crash. The traffic cop at Sai Baba mandir crossing must have thought we’re nuts. Later a hotel manager we met earlier tipped us towards a desolate new resort, a little further away from the main village, temporarily christened Forest camp. This was one bad drive – a deviation from the main road connecting Gharkal an Dharampur.

From Kasauli 2011

Newly built with 6 cottages, we stayed for a night. The place was so new that the door handles weren't hammered in yet! The approach was not yet paved, so my car did a bit of what it saw in Baralach La pass. Perfect. The path was slush, and the car lost traction at places- all the more reason to get out of this area before any rain caught up with us.
Since this was the weekend before Independence day (whatever that means anymore), the very thought of maddening traffic on the way back home was ruining our quality time. Anyways, we trekked up Manki point. What you may miss, is the macro life along the way. There's a whole ecosystem along the road but you just wouldn't stop to notice.
Heading back home, the spanking new 6-lane highway connecting Delhi and Chandigarh was an absolute pleasure, barring some work going on at Kurukshetra that slowed things down. Else, the 8-year-old Maruti 800 hit 110 kmph twice on this stretch. We took a u-turn at Murthal to stop at Gulshan and Ahuja dhaba for food. Rs 270 bucks for 4 rotis, 2 subjis, 2 cups of chai and jalebi taste great if you’re really hungry.
Trying out macro photography here. Hate firing the flash in instances like this, but had to since these guys were hiding under leaves and it was a cloudy day to boot. For more steady shots, carry a tripod- such a must for macro.

From Kasauli 2011

Creative caterpillar making facing on leaves-

From Kasauli 2011

Bloody mind-blasting, innit?!

2011-08-11T09:25:00.001+05:30

As Indians beat Brits at their own language in TOEFL, Sensex recovers from a 6-day losing streak while the DOW plunges further with gold rising, China's mistress market booms as Ajay Piramal buys 5.5% in Vodafone besides fake iPhone5 made available for Rs.1300.

Ride with pride, hell's angel.

2011-08-10T10:56:00.000+05:30

Mahindra Satyam clocks Rs. 225 cr profit in Q1 as Hero MotoCorp splits ways with Honda while gold soars at Rs.26000 and crude oil tanks below $76 besides Apple, Microsoft and Nortel ganging up against Google and Harley Davidson launches Fat Boy Special in Delhi At Rs.19 lacs.

Down but not out.

2011-08-04T09:57:00.000+05:30

Airtel reports 28% fall in net profits as sensex ends below 18000 while loss making Twitter valued at $8billion, Wockhardt shares fall after Danone deal and Stanchart India profit slips 39%.

Now don't you forget these numbers, patient.

2011-08-02T20:44:00.000+05:30

As the sensex touches 18,314 and gold reaches Rs.23480, the last Potter flick hits $1 billion, women spend £100,000 on makeup in a lifetime, car sales see red in 30 months, Delhi Transport Corp. Earns Rs.100 cr and Kalmadi waits for 5 hours for a bed at AIIMS.

Serve up that Maths course, junior.

2011-08-01T23:15:00.000+05:30

Spain's El Bulli, the world's best restaurant serves its last supper, hundreds marched in Dellhi's first slutwalk as a baby survives blue baby syndrome in Apollo while Anand 'Super30' coaches Bachchan and Saif and one farmer was found to have fully developed female reproductive organs.

Goa 2011

2011-07-31T17:17:00.003+05:30

Goa is still a great place during offseason- so I learn during a couple of official trips. It pours enough to make one look from hotel rooms and crib about what you could do outdoors. The mornings feel great and the appetite inflates. Some serious eyesores on the way- large, downright ugly hoardings of corporates that make you go- aaargh!

Imagine that dream

2011-07-27T10:01:00.000+05:30

There are so many people who quit their jobs to follow their passion and are now running from their passion because it has become a job! The key to happiness lies in differentiation at work. Do different things. Deliver different things to clients. We are as human as employees as we are as businessmen. Reinvent, redo, renovate. You don't have to quit your job to make life interesting. Those same people who are making life difficult today can become great partners tomorrow because they are actually waking you up, becoming catalysts to bigger things you can do next.
Go back to school if needed. Learn a new language or skill. Recreate yourself. There are too many things to do and the opportunities are infinite. Talk to your bosses about new possibilities. If they are not convinced, invest in yourself and create those things to prove your abilities. It has to be dreamt of first. It has to be imagined while taking a shower or driving to work or playing with your children. That last one- what an ocean that is. Ever realized how you are suddenly taken aback by your children's behavior? That's because you were in a cocoon way too long accepting a certain code. Children are in no linear pattern to behave in any particular way so they are free to react. They can open your minds.

Were we digressing? Not at all. Its all about becoming children again to be happy with what we do. It may be just another morning today, but its all upto you to make it the best.

Easy, roo. I process less now.

2011-07-27T09:02:00.000+05:30

Walt Disney is all set to buy out UTV for Rs.2000 cr as Delhi gets 58mm of unmanageable rain while Bollywood has the biggest July ever with Rs. 210cr and our brains get smaller with age besides a Chinese submersible going 5km below sea level, and yes, a kangaroo gets pepper sprayed after attacking a 94 year old lady.

Graphene? Novel idea.

2011-07-26T09:36:00.000+05:30

As Indians stack away $2.5 bn in swiss accounts and graphene may speed up computers, gold hits a record high of Rs.23k and Japan taps methane hydrate while Canon posts profits despite supply chain woes sparked by Japan quake besides Frank Miller unveils 'Holy Terror'.

Will love you tomorrow, yes.

2011-07-24T12:42:00.005+05:30

Amy Winehouse joins the 27 club as both Mammootty and Mohanlal faced IT raids while tweet-happy Michael Phelps gets many Chinese followers, sexy deodorant ads get banned on Indian TV as stunt bikers get back to India gate as cops watch besides Beckham feeding on bugs for $10.

Forget your wedding date again and you're toast, buddy.

2011-07-23T10:47:00.000+05:30

Indians around the world remitted $55 billion as Airtel hikes call rates by 20% while the perfect toast timing is 3 mins 36 seconds as Daniel Craig forgets his wedding date with the race to the moon heats up as Google puts up a $30 million purse.

Sachin, 5th moon for Pluto please.

2011-07-22T09:36:00.001+05:30

As bets cross Rs.200cr for Sachin's 100 at Lords, a fake Apple store in China fools its own employees while Delhi's PWD builds a weird foot over bridge that lands pedestrians in the middle of the road and Hubble telescope spots Pluto's 4th moon as Haryana is all set to groom Delhi policemen.

Houston! These elephants are playing foul.

2011-07-21T09:26:00.000+05:30

London fines Obama £120 for not paying congestion fee as space shuttle Atlantis returns after 30 years and 850 million km run while a 30 year old Yao Ming retires from the NBA as Lords test series starts today besides an elephant corridor threatening Mithun Chakraborty's resort.

Sold! To those with girl power...

2011-07-20T09:08:00.002+05:30

18 million tourists visited India in 2010 as a gym workout shakes a building in Seoul while live mannequins show up in Milan department stores.
As Murdoch gets foam-pied and 3 girls sweep top 3 ranks in CA rank exams, Hilary Clinton gives Sonia a dominant handshake while passive smoking can make kids go deaf as beer sales dip in 8 years besides Dhoni's bat fetching £100,000 at an auction.

Holy Mercredi! Brush before you leave for work else...

2011-07-19T09:25:00.002+05:30

As 90 Mercs were sold to one buyer in Gurgaon and unsafe levels of caffeine found in soft drinks with USL's Mallya refusing to pull off spoof ad on Harbhajan Singh, Opposition wants PM David Cameron to quit while bad breath could hinder your promotion and diamonds aren't forever as they could evaporate when exposed to intense ultraviolet rays super besides super batteries that can be charged in a jiffy to last forever.

Basmati rice or F-16, you idea thief!

2011-07-13T10:27:00.001+05:30

Jairam Ramesh gets rural development in the cabinet reshuffle, Apple and HTC get embroiled in IP lawsuits while basmati rice exports grow from 5.5 to 7 lakh tonnes as 'Infosys Bubble' let's employees let out steam as Nokia and Humgama.com look at bringing live concerts to phones besides Iran abandoning plans to buy F-16 fighters due to shortage of funds.

Grow sustainably, drive less

2011-07-12T11:55:00.000+05:30

As India car sales dipped in 27 months, Tata Nano looks at rolling out Nanos from Indonesia, Nissan Leaf can be charged by solar power while the movie 'Horrible Bosses' is a daily reality for many and 8 indian firms enter Fortune 500 list of largest companies.

Hey Beatle, its baby boom time.

2011-07-12T09:37:00.001+05:30

As India's population slows down from 21.54 to 17.64%, Hitler had ordered sex toys for his troops, while Kate Hudson had a boy, Ringo Starr still gets stage fright, Tour de France riders get hit by a tv car, Kargil battlefield turns into polo ground while an Italian company has bought 16000 lungis and men prefer cuddling over sex besides a pandit chanting real mantras for the onscreen wedding of Genelia D'Souza and John Abraham.

Not iMACulate, but get her to unpack and repack

2011-07-11T08:26:00.001+05:30

South Sudan becomes the worlds newest nation and it turns out that Daniel Radcliffe is also a Sachin Tendulkar fan, Walter Semkiw claims to have found past life matches with Amitabh Bachchan and Edwin Booth, APJ Abdul Kalam and Tipu Sultan, Apple products have worms and so not so secure, Andre Agassi is inducted into Hall of fame, urban Indian prefers cereals over aloo paranthas for breakfast, Brit MPs prefer toilet roll and fish fingers as the best British inventions and women tend to pack twice as much for holidays, just in case.

Starting young with pipe dreams

2011-07-09T14:38:00.001+05:30

As a Stockholm man gets a synthetic windpipe and all Polar bears come from Ireland, Jennifer Aniston gets a star on the Hollywood walk of fame while 11 year olds pass off as 20 in India's 'model' world, twitter is valued at $8 billion, a new series of coins are out with the Rupee symbol and e-tailing is on an upswing besides Neha Dhupia supporting Anna Hazare with slogan ganjis, Eminem sells a million digital copies of 'Recovery' and Johnny Depp signs up for Pirates 5 after earning $350 million from the franchise so far.

Monkeys milk muggles

2011-07-08T08:36:00.003+05:30

Monkeys create havoc at AIIMS (Delhi) no thanks to motion sensor doors that let them in as Robocup 2011 kicks off in Istanbul while a glass of milk is a cocktail of 20 chemicals and one Australian firm makes bottle openers for phone covers, Harry Potter actors cope with the bubble life they led as the saga ends and a Picasso stolen and made off with in a cab in San Francisco; besides the Brit tabloid News Of The World shutting shop, sensex crossing 19000 and a school in Uganda uses an unexploded bomb as a bell.

Re-marry me? its not sayonara yet.

2011-07-07T15:24:00.000+05:30

As Sajjan Jindal buys India's costliest house for Rs.400 cr, Zuckerberg's is the No. 1 page on Google+, Nokia will abandon Japan market by July end while a sandwich can be made to last 2 weeks and a London restaurant offers an interactive touch screen menu in which you can drag your food in to order while Angelina Jolie is Forbes highest paid actress besides English footballer Ashley Cole forking out a fortune to remarry his ex-wife.

Pack me up honey, I'm doped out but Ready.

2011-07-06T13:34:00.001+05:30

A mexican women tries to get her boyfriend out of jail in a suitcase while Georgian prez's son sets a world record by typing all the alphabets in 5.26 seconds, a US teen survives after being run over by a train and Gaddafi agrees to give up powers in exchange of NATO's security as Salman Khan's 'Ready' makes Rs. 118 crores besides more Indian athletes failing the dope test.

Good Ol' Delhi street food

2011-07-06T09:39:00.005+05:30

Great weather; good time to step out for some street food. This is the stuff I grew up on, so I wouldn't quite recommend the same if you have reservations about eating off the streets and ending up with serious internal issues later. But I'll tell you, the food is fresh and as safe as any hotel or restaurant food. So out we stepped, three of us in a 'tuk-tuk' towards Darya Ganj. We reached with the traffic jam Old Delhi syncs with. Though the shops look better on the outside from what they did a decade back, the quirkyness it retains; 10-foot wide music shops showing off their electric guitars, funny hand gun lighters sold on the pavement and the day's madness manifested in the cussing... I love this! Delhi as I know it. There was a Royal Enfield retailer on the side Golcha cinema is, which seems to have shut shop now. We paced down the street towards Delhi gate side looking for a place to eat, though we had 'Tunde Kababs' in mind before we left. Tunde was closed for maintainence so we walked on. There is Moti Mahal and Zaika but the weather was way too awesome to get into and air-conditioned joint. That's when we spotted Mehta's, a small corner shop next to Golcha cooking and serving Chola Bhaturas, and Rabdi faluda. Stand and deliver thing. We got our plates and polished off the achar and onions on the pavement itself. Next we crossed the road and walked upto Prince Paan for their standard sweet paan and got back to work. Just the break we needed with the hectic work load that would consume us, with the achar and onions.
This blog is the first of its kind- from a taxi to work. Looks like this is the only way I can get around spending quality time now.

Strip happy at 50 sans 3am booze!

2011-07-05T06:54:00.003+05:30

Three from the French team strip for the women's world cup as Union health minister says gay sex is a disease as Amir Khan debates on the ownership of BoseDK or DK Bose while Harry Potter star gives up alcohol at 21 and post tsunami sees a flood of divorces in Japan while women are happier in their 50s and Mumbai may allow booze to flow till 3am.

Eat grass, winner!

2011-07-04T08:44:00.000+05:30

As the son of a pizza parlor owner tasted the grass at Wimbledon, 1 lakh crore found in Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple and Indian inventions like clay fridges seek patents, Thailand elects its first woman PM and a passerby catches a two-year-old dropped from the 10 floor in Beijing while an angry bird smacked a cyclist for getting too close to its nest in Oregon.

Hey Bulldog, you got @#*%ing rights

2011-07-03T09:12:00.003+05:30

Petra Kvitova lifts the Wimbledon trophy while its cuss season in Bollywood movies with Delhi Belly as feminists warn that porn can cause impotence besides animal cruelty inviting a 1 crore fine and Beckam downloads Beatles lullabies for his unborn daughter.

The traveller's nose

2011-07-02T23:38:00.000+05:30

time out

More money more problems

Party at home girl, and say what you like.

Tweet this minister- Funny tilt from up here!

Sky's the limit kiddo, cheers!

Virtual existentialism? Get real!

Its cold out there; but do stay clean.

Will vote for silent Verses; still batting!

How to be happy at work

Street cricket, travel up! Yours truly...

Checkmate? Say what we collaborate? :)

Jaisalmer 2011

Smart phones, daft content.

Dam, these are tough times... drink up!

Dear Leader, austerity measures please.

Good bye and Happy Birthday, you dutiful mutt!

Whatever you do, win and compensate God!

Dear God... save the Rupee, Honda City, Nokia, property buyers...

I own the house now so YOU chase the rats!

Mass swing for change

Start swinging that bat, boy we are on the upswing now.

Keep holding, while others move on.

Bring back that cop, he has steady fans here!

Remember to take the day off buddy...

Common man, change the world!

Hangover posted on FB? Get flogged!

Funny money!

What goes up... well, keep running!

If justice could travel as fast

Kiss and make up, pink it is!

Go easy on the planet... next gen deserves a shot too!

Shuffle and shake

One big Bear hug coming up. Anyone?

Knockouts too many

Idle money

Save the world or else... I will eeeet you...

Reality check getting under your skin

The speeding light at the end of the tunnel may be a freight train coming your way!

Teaching to learn

Light one up, Mr. Roboto

Rebuild

People and gadets in our lives

Rough road, partner, but keep going!

Role one buddy, no BB chatting for a while...

To rise in life, we must do community service

Fly India way... and crash less.

Good Apple that changed the world

Remarkable life, Sir Jobs!

Old is gold, but old laws gotto go.

Wishy-washy news

Going to vote with all the gold on? Take the metro, darling.

Gizmo freaks you out

Fictionary

Andamans, Coorg, Mysore- SCUBA and coffee

Sayonara... well hold it... its Banzaaai!!

Pay up, m'am... else I do after 13 years.

Bond with this gel for immortality, Grandpa

No name calling please, he's our 6th- shaken and stirred.

Stop the dribbling, break that fast.

Fret over this now, worthless diamond next!

Ten random travel tips

Have power, use it or lose it.

More Tamron 18-270mm

What?! Hey I'm a footballer not an ex-telecom minister!

Research for Reality

Changing world in progress; do more, talk less.

My house, new rules.

Rats and money we can't handle!

Testing the Tamron 18-270mm VC PZD

David vs. Goliath, or mouse vs. plane, march on.

Stock swing sway shock!

Rumor has it...

Kasauli 2011

Bloody mind-blasting, innit?!

Ride with pride, hell's angel.

Down but not out.

Now don't you forget these numbers, patient.

Serve up that Maths course, junior.

Goa 2011

Imagine that dream