I'm not going to justify the length of time I haven't blogged.
It's not as if I didn't have time... I had time to do plenty of other things!
It wasn't as if bloggable things didn't happen... There were times I felt in the middle of the day... This is something I can blog about!
But then... well whatever...
I'm not going to say I'll be back to regular blogging... I'll try!
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
Chaar aane ki Murgi, Baara aane ka Masala
I got my driving license made in Chicago for $10 all inclusive, written test, road test et all.
I got it transferred from Illinois to Connecticut yesterday. That cost me $40 for the form and $77 for the license. Written test and Road test were waived off. Just a small sum of $117 for transferring it. Isn't that nice!
Cheers!
I got it transferred from Illinois to Connecticut yesterday. That cost me $40 for the form and $77 for the license. Written test and Road test were waived off. Just a small sum of $117 for transferring it. Isn't that nice!
Cheers!
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Spam
Technology has made great strides in past few years. The spam mails are supposedly one of the areas where marketers and IT folks have worked in order to have some sort of a targeted marketing exercise. So that basically means that the spam you get should be able to give a fairly good indication of what you are likely to buy, looking to buy, want, need or atleast lack.
Here's a screenshot of what I've been receiving lately.
So I must be needing a home, cars, beautiful feet, a master's degree among other things.
Now since most of you would be receiving such spam mails you can notice the absence of a particular category of spam mails. Yeah! You got it... Now I'm definitely happy that atleast whatever technical mumbo-jumbo they use for this targeted marketing didn't put me into the category which needs anything of that sort.
So I must be quite lucky!
Cheers!
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Re-engineering
Does it make sense to modernize an inefficient, ineffective system by recreating the same scenario in some other platform?
How is that supposed to be re-engineering? or even plain and simple modernization!
I guess I'm the only one who gets the irony of this situation...
Cheers!
How is that supposed to be re-engineering? or even plain and simple modernization!
I guess I'm the only one who gets the irony of this situation...
Cheers!
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Mumbai-kar
A man has to be outright crazy or truly passionate about his cause to set off on a stormy journey...
I for one believe Raj Thackray fits into the second of those possibilities. Not only that, I dont disagree with a single thing that he's been reiterating for the past few days. It's past few years actually as this issue came up during the last Lok Sabha Elections, in which Shiv Sena had to face heavy losses due to this strategy. So they decided to drop it from then on. That among others was the reason for the formation of MNS.
One of the factors that has repelled me from Mumbai for years has been it's ability to assimilate 'trash'. People get so used to living in that garbage that they start loving it. But no one has the intent to clean it. Mumbai has become like a big dumping ground for trash from all over the country inspired by senseless Bollywood flicks painting Mumbai as the place where you should migrate to from whichever town/ village you're from in order to bring meaning to your life! And not surprisingly we've hoards of dream catchers from all over the country flocking what was once a great city.
Majority of Mumbai's problems have their root cause at this very point. If you're not bringing anything to the table then you shouldn't be there has never been Mumbai's policy. Mumbai has high percentage of Gujaratis, Parsis, South Indians too then why such situations never came up with their immigration? The reason is two fold. First, the simple and the relatively less important one, they added value to Mumbai by their immigration. The second, the more complex but important one they became Mumbai-kars. That was the society which followed the good old 'Do in Rome as the Romans do' philosophy. They not only respected the locals but became a part of the Mumbai society. They were affected when Mumbai was affected. They felt bad when Mumbai ranked as the most polluted city or as the city with highest number of open drains or some such thing.
Now it is a matter of personal choice whether one wants to become a Mumbai-kar. Conservation of one's own traditions, customs and practices is one thing, which is welcome, but arrogance and disrespect for someone else is something that should not be tolerated. Not in Mumbai or anywhere else for that matter.
This is not a regional or a racial thing. It is just good manners and basic courtesy that we're asking for.
Is that too much to follow? I dont think so.
Immigration is a natural process and has been happening across the world for centuries. I dont think it's even a debatable issue whether it's good or bad. It's what the immigrants do and how they behave in their adopted city or country that is something that needs to be scrutinized. The kind of act that has been put up by actors, politicians and media over the past week makes it clear what their attitude is. How many places in the world would such things be tolerated at? Forget that... How many cities in the India will be tolerant towards it?
What makes me believe in Raj Thackray is that he's not going to win seats in any election by using this strategy. And that is a very big thing considering that he's a politician. There is not a single constituency in Mumbai where North Indians are not in substantial numbers to affect the electorate. In some cases they're even in clear majority. And more importantly they vote in patterns. The North Indians had supposedly even proved their power over Mumbai during the Lok Sabha elections when the Maharashtrian agenda was defeated. Govinda being elected is a prime example. And we know how well he has managed 'his' people. The last I heard people in Virar and nearby suburbs wanted to know his whereabouts so that they could bash him!
I'm not interested in proving my point by pointing examples of incidents which have been termed as regional pride and not as un-democratic, separatistic and similar because I know I'm in a clear minority and I kind of enjoy that! People who preach about democratic principles and non-existant ideals in this situation should think what would they have done if someone was to ridicule, insult them in their own home and then treat them as if they're the outsiders.
Mumbai, they used to say wouldn't be the same without it's immigrants. Well... Looking at how things have shaped up in the past 15 years or so I couldn't agree more! And that is in a negative sense for those who do not understand pun...
Everything said, no one really has the will and power to find a solution or take decisions on this issue. Those who have power... well... the less I say the more civil this post would be. Raj Thackray has the will but not the necessary power and we, the people are not going to give it to him because he's a dictator, a blood thirsty hound!
Mumbai belongs to the Mumbai-kars. Mumbai-kars who're Marathi, Gujaratis, Tamilians, Sindhis, Muslims or even the North Indians for that matter, but they're Mumbai-kars first. Mumbai-kars who're passionate about their city and want to improve it. Mumbai-kars who dont need politicians from 'outside' to guide them. We need to find these Mumbai-kars else Mumbai is just going to rot away the way it has been... and I'm being optimistic about it!
Cheers!
I for one believe Raj Thackray fits into the second of those possibilities. Not only that, I dont disagree with a single thing that he's been reiterating for the past few days. It's past few years actually as this issue came up during the last Lok Sabha Elections, in which Shiv Sena had to face heavy losses due to this strategy. So they decided to drop it from then on. That among others was the reason for the formation of MNS.
One of the factors that has repelled me from Mumbai for years has been it's ability to assimilate 'trash'. People get so used to living in that garbage that they start loving it. But no one has the intent to clean it. Mumbai has become like a big dumping ground for trash from all over the country inspired by senseless Bollywood flicks painting Mumbai as the place where you should migrate to from whichever town/ village you're from in order to bring meaning to your life! And not surprisingly we've hoards of dream catchers from all over the country flocking what was once a great city.
Majority of Mumbai's problems have their root cause at this very point. If you're not bringing anything to the table then you shouldn't be there has never been Mumbai's policy. Mumbai has high percentage of Gujaratis, Parsis, South Indians too then why such situations never came up with their immigration? The reason is two fold. First, the simple and the relatively less important one, they added value to Mumbai by their immigration. The second, the more complex but important one they became Mumbai-kars. That was the society which followed the good old 'Do in Rome as the Romans do' philosophy. They not only respected the locals but became a part of the Mumbai society. They were affected when Mumbai was affected. They felt bad when Mumbai ranked as the most polluted city or as the city with highest number of open drains or some such thing.
Now it is a matter of personal choice whether one wants to become a Mumbai-kar. Conservation of one's own traditions, customs and practices is one thing, which is welcome, but arrogance and disrespect for someone else is something that should not be tolerated. Not in Mumbai or anywhere else for that matter.
This is not a regional or a racial thing. It is just good manners and basic courtesy that we're asking for.
Is that too much to follow? I dont think so.
Immigration is a natural process and has been happening across the world for centuries. I dont think it's even a debatable issue whether it's good or bad. It's what the immigrants do and how they behave in their adopted city or country that is something that needs to be scrutinized. The kind of act that has been put up by actors, politicians and media over the past week makes it clear what their attitude is. How many places in the world would such things be tolerated at? Forget that... How many cities in the India will be tolerant towards it?
What makes me believe in Raj Thackray is that he's not going to win seats in any election by using this strategy. And that is a very big thing considering that he's a politician. There is not a single constituency in Mumbai where North Indians are not in substantial numbers to affect the electorate. In some cases they're even in clear majority. And more importantly they vote in patterns. The North Indians had supposedly even proved their power over Mumbai during the Lok Sabha elections when the Maharashtrian agenda was defeated. Govinda being elected is a prime example. And we know how well he has managed 'his' people. The last I heard people in Virar and nearby suburbs wanted to know his whereabouts so that they could bash him!
I'm not interested in proving my point by pointing examples of incidents which have been termed as regional pride and not as un-democratic, separatistic and similar because I know I'm in a clear minority and I kind of enjoy that! People who preach about democratic principles and non-existant ideals in this situation should think what would they have done if someone was to ridicule, insult them in their own home and then treat them as if they're the outsiders.
Mumbai, they used to say wouldn't be the same without it's immigrants. Well... Looking at how things have shaped up in the past 15 years or so I couldn't agree more! And that is in a negative sense for those who do not understand pun...
Everything said, no one really has the will and power to find a solution or take decisions on this issue. Those who have power... well... the less I say the more civil this post would be. Raj Thackray has the will but not the necessary power and we, the people are not going to give it to him because he's a dictator, a blood thirsty hound!
Mumbai belongs to the Mumbai-kars. Mumbai-kars who're Marathi, Gujaratis, Tamilians, Sindhis, Muslims or even the North Indians for that matter, but they're Mumbai-kars first. Mumbai-kars who're passionate about their city and want to improve it. Mumbai-kars who dont need politicians from 'outside' to guide them. We need to find these Mumbai-kars else Mumbai is just going to rot away the way it has been... and I'm being optimistic about it!
Cheers!
Friday, January 25, 2008
Relocation
Relocation, I guess is very much a part of life when you're working in the IT consulting field, are single, operate in a specialized domain and I dont want to sound conceit so I would just add etc etc etc...
I'll be moving to a new city, new client, new apartment. It wouldn't be a life-threatening change since well... from a very high level nothing much is changing!
Let's see how things go...
Cheers!
I'll be moving to a new city, new client, new apartment. It wouldn't be a life-threatening change since well... from a very high level nothing much is changing!
Let's see how things go...
Cheers!
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Public Transport
Why do things with the prefix 'public' have to always be so bad. I have yet to see one thing which is 'public' and yet is actually 'OK'. I'm not talking about great. I'm not talking about good even. Just average, mediocre, OK... But even that becomes a couple of notches too high.
To state an example... I'm not going to talk about public toilets because that's something which... well... is universally expected to be bad and because if I start on my experiences with this special category of public utility then this post will lose it's focus!
Being used some pretty bad public transport for all my life I was happy if not surprised to find clean, non-crowded buses here. It's actually quite convenient if you ask me. I had been told Chicago does rank among the better public transports in the US. I would agree but I have pretty low standards in this respect so I'm probably a bad judge!
Nevertheless it had me impressed but... that was till I came to know how badly managed it was! Yeah... I had almost forgotten about the invisible aspect of public transport. The Chicago metropolitan public transport is bleeding and very badly. It's cash strapped. Almost living the life of a parasite on the city's budget. They were going to cut down services and increase fares this month just to keep it going for the heck of it.
The issue was quite simple. There were not enough commuters to make it a sustainable, forget profitable, venture. So the very thing that had impressed me was some what of a problem for the transport authority. Here the problem was of not of plenty but of scanty. But instead of using the opportunity of increasing fuel prices, high parking charges, traffic congestion to leverage the public transport the authority was just sitting on it's back side waiting for the city council to bail them out.
They had played it pretty smart though. They had asked the city for additional funds (a few millions dollars) which was the issue being debated in the local council. And announcements had already been made about the services which had been chosen to be retained, quite clearly insufficient. Though the commuters are low to make the service sustainable, they do form a significant number and definitely was a very unwelcome move for them. The transport authority had avoided becoming the bad guys and if at all services were cut it would've been because they didn't get the funds!
And we all know how politicians are... The transport authority got the funds. No services were cut down. Even fares were not increased. The politicians even voted in favor of free rides for senior citizens! So we're again into the same mode till these allotted millions are finished. Without any action being taken to actually make a proactive effort to make something, which has the potential to be sustainable, work.
This also got me wondering how and why the public transport systems back home are bleeding? There is quite clearly no shortage of commuters. There's no expenditure whatsoever on maintenance. It really is puzzling when you come to think of it. I would even go as far as to say that it is pretty tough to make losses when you're in such a strong position!
But the answer to all these 'public' problems lies in the fact that these issues are public. It's easy not to be held accountable for anything when in reality everyone should be doing atleast something for it!
Cheers!
To state an example... I'm not going to talk about public toilets because that's something which... well... is universally expected to be bad and because if I start on my experiences with this special category of public utility then this post will lose it's focus!
Being used some pretty bad public transport for all my life I was happy if not surprised to find clean, non-crowded buses here. It's actually quite convenient if you ask me. I had been told Chicago does rank among the better public transports in the US. I would agree but I have pretty low standards in this respect so I'm probably a bad judge!
Nevertheless it had me impressed but... that was till I came to know how badly managed it was! Yeah... I had almost forgotten about the invisible aspect of public transport. The Chicago metropolitan public transport is bleeding and very badly. It's cash strapped. Almost living the life of a parasite on the city's budget. They were going to cut down services and increase fares this month just to keep it going for the heck of it.
The issue was quite simple. There were not enough commuters to make it a sustainable, forget profitable, venture. So the very thing that had impressed me was some what of a problem for the transport authority. Here the problem was of not of plenty but of scanty. But instead of using the opportunity of increasing fuel prices, high parking charges, traffic congestion to leverage the public transport the authority was just sitting on it's back side waiting for the city council to bail them out.
They had played it pretty smart though. They had asked the city for additional funds (a few millions dollars) which was the issue being debated in the local council. And announcements had already been made about the services which had been chosen to be retained, quite clearly insufficient. Though the commuters are low to make the service sustainable, they do form a significant number and definitely was a very unwelcome move for them. The transport authority had avoided becoming the bad guys and if at all services were cut it would've been because they didn't get the funds!
And we all know how politicians are... The transport authority got the funds. No services were cut down. Even fares were not increased. The politicians even voted in favor of free rides for senior citizens! So we're again into the same mode till these allotted millions are finished. Without any action being taken to actually make a proactive effort to make something, which has the potential to be sustainable, work.
This also got me wondering how and why the public transport systems back home are bleeding? There is quite clearly no shortage of commuters. There's no expenditure whatsoever on maintenance. It really is puzzling when you come to think of it. I would even go as far as to say that it is pretty tough to make losses when you're in such a strong position!
But the answer to all these 'public' problems lies in the fact that these issues are public. It's easy not to be held accountable for anything when in reality everyone should be doing atleast something for it!
Cheers!
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Irony
I was watching this old Hindi movie clip on Youtube.
Rajkumar has a very famous dialogue which goes something like this... "Chinoy Seth... Jinke ghar sheeshe ke ho woh doosron ke ghar pe patthar nahi phenka karte..."
My thoughts on this legendary dialogue:
Dude, I completely agree with you on that one... But why should people who dont live in glass houses be allowed to throw stones at others' houses? That kind of behaviour should make you land in some kind of an asylum.
My policy would be... No one is allowed to throw stones at houses irrespective of housing situation!
On second thought though, there would be one exception...
In case you're trapped in a glass house, as a part of some deranged scheme of an evil warlord, and you need to get out of it & happen to find a stone or an object which can be used as a makeshift stone... Then use it man! Throw the damn thing... Break the glass and just get the hell out of there!
So in fact people who stay in glass houses should be the only ones who have the right to throw stones...
Cheers!
Rajkumar has a very famous dialogue which goes something like this... "Chinoy Seth... Jinke ghar sheeshe ke ho woh doosron ke ghar pe patthar nahi phenka karte..."
My thoughts on this legendary dialogue:
Dude, I completely agree with you on that one... But why should people who dont live in glass houses be allowed to throw stones at others' houses? That kind of behaviour should make you land in some kind of an asylum.
My policy would be... No one is allowed to throw stones at houses irrespective of housing situation!
On second thought though, there would be one exception...
In case you're trapped in a glass house, as a part of some deranged scheme of an evil warlord, and you need to get out of it & happen to find a stone or an object which can be used as a makeshift stone... Then use it man! Throw the damn thing... Break the glass and just get the hell out of there!
So in fact people who stay in glass houses should be the only ones who have the right to throw stones...
Cheers!
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Monopoly
I think this is one of those divine conspiracies. I mean why do we have to start the year with filing taxes? Whoever came up with that idea never heard of well begun is half done!
I know people who go to great lengths, do all kinds of research trying to find the best split for the basket of allowances so that you can save maximum tax. I'm not that kind of guy. I love paying taxes you know. Better way to put it... I dont care how much tax I pay! Many accountants would be saying... What an idiot!
But seriously... if something which is inherently not of interest to me takes longer than a pre-stipulated variable unit of time to accomplish, I stop doing it! That's the rule... I cant break my head over 5 different types of allowances, each having a different formula, a different max limit, a different tax exemption etc in an attempt to save $10. Thank you very much keep the change I'll donate $10 to the IRS! I just look at it as my contribution towards the improvement of society which is surprising considering that I'm anti-social in a different way!
This entire financial planning reminds me of the game of Monopoly. This has to rank among the top 3 all time controversial games of all time. No game of Monopoly I've heard of has ended without a fight. It always has to end up with all the hotels destroyed and sprayed across the floor... the community chest cards hurled into the air... and almost like an unwritten rule someone has to go I'm never ever going to play this *&^$#%@ game and and and I hate all you #@$#@^%%$^!!
Have you been involved in a game of Monopoly which has ended with... Well played! That was some great tactical planning... You really set me up with that barrage of hotels in Atlanta, Tokyo and Melbourne... Now lets take a break, order pizza or something and start off once again in a while!! The reason for it is simple... Its the only game where you're playing for money.
Now in monopoly there are those who set about the game really methodically, plan it out, buy in patterns, evaluate the profitability of an investment etc (yawn!). And then there are those who go on an all out assualt in the first hour of the game to buy every damn thing they land up on. New York for $4 mn. I'll take that. Addis Ababa for $1 mn. Put it in the kitty!
Like any game Monopoly too reaches at that threshold limit, the point from which one player starts his ascent to total domination and the rest start slipping badly. Soon come the major decisions... Should I buy AT&T for $2.5 mn? But I got only $0.5 mn... I'll start mortgaging off some of the holdings... I'll be passing through the start-finish line in two turns. I'll pay it off then... I just have to ensure I dont get 3, 5, 8 or 12 on my next roll of dice... I think the strategy's set!!
People get frustrated with Monopoly because it shows you how well you're doing in reality... It's does possess some mystical powers like Jumanji or something... The exact financial picture, quite eerily, pans out right in front of you... Players are actually hoping they land on those dreaded income tax, luxury tax or such other spaces! That's how bad the situation becomes. It's better to land there and pay 10% of the few bucks you've left than be hit by an army of hotels!
It does hurt, doesnt it?? If not in real life everyone expects to win atleast in a stupid board game!
Cheers!
I know people who go to great lengths, do all kinds of research trying to find the best split for the basket of allowances so that you can save maximum tax. I'm not that kind of guy. I love paying taxes you know. Better way to put it... I dont care how much tax I pay! Many accountants would be saying... What an idiot!
But seriously... if something which is inherently not of interest to me takes longer than a pre-stipulated variable unit of time to accomplish, I stop doing it! That's the rule... I cant break my head over 5 different types of allowances, each having a different formula, a different max limit, a different tax exemption etc in an attempt to save $10. Thank you very much keep the change I'll donate $10 to the IRS! I just look at it as my contribution towards the improvement of society which is surprising considering that I'm anti-social in a different way!
This entire financial planning reminds me of the game of Monopoly. This has to rank among the top 3 all time controversial games of all time. No game of Monopoly I've heard of has ended without a fight. It always has to end up with all the hotels destroyed and sprayed across the floor... the community chest cards hurled into the air... and almost like an unwritten rule someone has to go I'm never ever going to play this *&^$#%@ game and and and I hate all you #@$#@^%%$^!!
Have you been involved in a game of Monopoly which has ended with... Well played! That was some great tactical planning... You really set me up with that barrage of hotels in Atlanta, Tokyo and Melbourne... Now lets take a break, order pizza or something and start off once again in a while!! The reason for it is simple... Its the only game where you're playing for money.
Now in monopoly there are those who set about the game really methodically, plan it out, buy in patterns, evaluate the profitability of an investment etc (yawn!). And then there are those who go on an all out assualt in the first hour of the game to buy every damn thing they land up on. New York for $4 mn. I'll take that. Addis Ababa for $1 mn. Put it in the kitty!
Like any game Monopoly too reaches at that threshold limit, the point from which one player starts his ascent to total domination and the rest start slipping badly. Soon come the major decisions... Should I buy AT&T for $2.5 mn? But I got only $0.5 mn... I'll start mortgaging off some of the holdings... I'll be passing through the start-finish line in two turns. I'll pay it off then... I just have to ensure I dont get 3, 5, 8 or 12 on my next roll of dice... I think the strategy's set!!
People get frustrated with Monopoly because it shows you how well you're doing in reality... It's does possess some mystical powers like Jumanji or something... The exact financial picture, quite eerily, pans out right in front of you... Players are actually hoping they land on those dreaded income tax, luxury tax or such other spaces! That's how bad the situation becomes. It's better to land there and pay 10% of the few bucks you've left than be hit by an army of hotels!
It does hurt, doesnt it?? If not in real life everyone expects to win atleast in a stupid board game!
Cheers!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
