Spoonful of nostalgia

Coincidences are too common to me, so I'm seldom surprised, but always pleasantly amused. Like yesterday. Bumped into Ankur from school. He's now into lights and lighting words.

Bumped into Prasad from NIIT. He's now working with a call center plus doing photography as a hobby.

If that wasn't enough, Manasi (again from school) is now a certified LLB. Congrats, dudette! But my spoon of nostalgia runneth over, so more had to happen, right?

Right. Jigesh, again from school... got himself a new job in the US at Wilshire Associates (they build investment solutions) as a Software Developer.

Life is beautiful

Just saw the movie with the same title. Please watch it. Because it helped me learn something I had almost forgotten. Maintaining a positive attitude in the midst of a crisis. I don't know if I picked up to see the move because of today's incidents or something mysteriously made me watch it. Whatever it was, it made all the difference I needed. It made me cry. And smile. And appreciate life the way it is. Suddenly reminded me back of Dr.Scott Peck's teachings.

Have you ever been through a crisis and smiled through it? I did. But today, I couldn't. Not because of the series of events, but more so because I was losing my own essence. I think it's time to put my learnings into action. Ameliorate. Get back myself. And then talk about making a difference.

To change 'Things are gonna be OK' to 'Things are beautiful the way they are. Live the moment'.

Sorry about the cryptic post. It's not for you. It's for me.

Make Millions. Repeat.

Million dollar sweet dreams are made of these, ladies and gentlemen.

Narendra Rocherolle sold Webshots to http://www.excite.com in 1999 for $82.5 million. Excite went bankrupt later, and to settle off debtors, auctioned their holdings. Rocherolle and his associates bought it back at a 97% discount (!!!) for $2.4 million. Let's get to the bottom of the iceberg. The gentleman this week sold it again, this time to C|Net. At another whooping $70 million. So the next time you see a man laughing away to the bank, it's not because they changed something in the Matrix or a black cat passed by twice. Narendra Rocherolle might have cracked a deal. Again.

Trivia: C|Net also recently bought over MP3.com

Full Story

Thanks for the heads up, Nick.

Chicken Soup for the soul

My business idol, Naval Ravikant sent me this wonderful poem...

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

- William Ernest Henley

Phoenix Takes Flight

The little bird... no, big bird tells me there's some big time changes happening at Phoenix. Copper Chimney comin' up in place of Fire & Ice for sure. And then, this whole 'Sky Zone' being formed out of all the shoppertainment centers. Basically, an overhead 'bridge' which will connect all the arcades. Plus another elevator/capsule lift near Funkie Orbits. Sounds fantastic... Can't wait for the cinema complex until 2006 either! The ITC Grand Maratha at 'Upper Worli' (in the words of Neeraj Roy) is also shaping up grand and if that doesn't make you want to call Lower Parel "Upper Worli", you're really flying low. Take flight, buddy. Learn from Phoenix!

On a personal note, had a great day. Work was relaxed, the internal shuffling of places was fun, contrary to wot I expected. Then joined ole pals for this scrumptious Marwari dinner at Bhagat Tarachand in Kalbadevi. I had 3 scoops of butter on 3 rotis. Surprisingly, I didn't bloat or anything. It was quite nice in fact! The meal was simply awesome - fingerlickin' good!

Bittersweet serendipity

I'm beginning to believe in serendipity. There have been 2 such instances in my quarter-life of 23 years to prove that.

Just recently, met someone whom I thought I'd never meet or even get a chance to talk to in all my life! And more than anything else, the simple understanding that they're doing fine and happy with life is like a million dollar gift in itself. Doing coffee and conversation is a perk.

Karan (Saif Ali Khan's character) was right in the movie Hum Tum: "No byes Rhea... Kyunki yeh zindagi bahut lambi hai". Cheers. To the surprises of life!

Happy Birthday Sudi!

My best friend Sudi is another year older - but looks like he's reverse-ageing, trying to act like a mixed breed of Wolverine, Daredevil and Batman.

Van Helsing Sucks

Always thought it was Dracula's job to suck blood outta people's necks. But Van Helsing beats Badassfangs at his own game - the movie sucks. Graphics are just about OK, someone tell me why Dracula's brides steal most of the screenplay?! Dracula couldn't scare a tamed puppy with his 'shhhhhcaaaary' looks. Save your bucks - watch Troy twice instead. Or save 'em for Spidey!

Expression Completed

Just finished work on the Airtel website and we're finally live! Take a look or step over to the website! Would appreciate any kinda feedback.