Kronicles

Serendipitous gift!

2011-10-22T02:47:00.001+05:30

A girl I had never met before, with whom I was connected on Facebook just happened to mention that she was giving away her bike since she was leaving the country for some time.

Went and picked it up, and now I have a fabulous Raleigh bicycle! :) Pics soon.

Incidentally, there’s a fantastic website called (no pun intended): FreeCycle where one can pass on / request for stuff! :)

See more progress on: buy a bicycle

Shahdaroba

2011-10-16T18:21:00.000+05:30

quand le temps aura raison,
nous allons découvrir notre raison d'être.
les étoilés serait sourir sur nous,
et le sable va nous conduire vers l'avant!

- Just a glimpse of what's on my mind.

The 2011 Big Move - Switching to leaner lifestyle!

2011-02-21T03:56:00.001+05:30

One of my life goals is to make 1 big change every year.
Combine this with the fact that I'm always on the move, shuttling cities on cue.

Zen and the art of zero-maintenance!

So, earlier this month I decided to cut on all material possessions, down to the bare minimum:

Laptop
Camera
Phone
Important personal documents
Gifts from friends and family
My travel memorabilia

Here's what I plan to do with the rest, this week:

1. Clothes - Only keep what I wore in the last 6 months, donate ALL earlier ones to Goonj via DHL.

2. Books - Give away all books* I've read, to public libraries / pass on to strangers via BookCrossing.

3. DVDs & CDs - Give away everything. YouTube & external strorage FTW!

4. Everything else - Gets Freecycled / goes in the Swasta Ani Masta Garage Sale.

* If you would like something from my bookshelf, write me on Facebook and it could be yours!

Thank you for the inspiration, Tim Ferris, Aparna Shekhar Roy and Hermione Way.

20 Desi Summer Coolers to Beat the Heat!

2010-05-08T17:03:00.002+05:30

(This is an updated repost of an old entry).

I loved the UB Group's campaign in Bangalore…
"Yella OK, Cool Drink Yaake?"
(Everything else is OK, but why cold drink?)
But instead of promoting their alcohol beverage, I'm gonna try to list out the alternatives to fuzzy cold drinks here! After all, India has such an amazing variety of beverages to offer, you have no reason to glug down a soft drink or that beer down your throat…

So here goes - a list of non-aerated summer coolers!

Photo Credits: Albert Fernando

Nimbu Paani
Water + freshly squeezed lime + sugar/salt to taste Check out how you do it right at JAM TV
Nariyal Paani / Thenge Neeru
Pure unadulterated tender coconut. Tastes best with malai.
Scrape it off of the coconut you're sippin' from!

Kokam Sharbat
Somebody help me with what kokum is called in English. I don't know. Just add it to water and add salt/sugar to taste. One of my favourites! More info on Wikipedia
Amla Sharbat / Nellika / Gooseberry juice The richest source of Vitamin C, amla tastes great with water too! Recipe here >>
Jaljeera
Jeera powder + salt to taste + Water.
The ultimate appetizer!

Masala doodh
Milk + masala (saffron, rock salt, etc.) Try the Everest Masala. Nice.

Chaas / 'Kutchi beer'
That's buttermilk for the non-desis. Add jeera/salt to taste.

Lassi
The sweeter alternative to chaas, and with more umm, butter? I don't know how lassi is made but it's yum. Think sweet liquid yoghurt. There's also flavoured variants.

Doodh / Cold Milk
Doodh hai good for every season, piyo doodh for healthy reason. Remember that cool song? It's the Indian equivalent for the Got Milk? campaign. Drink milk. Milk good.

Theine Elaner Tender coconut with a hint of honey. Bliss.

Roohafza / Rasna

Photo courtesy: Roohafza Bangladesh (see recipes)

OK I'm getting into brands now, but these are still the local alternatives to Minute Maid (whose new nimbu paani is excellent too)!

Neera The most common drink on an average Mumbai railway platform, neera is a natural, energizing coconut drink. I don't see those stalls anymore though :(

Fresh Juice / Phalanso Ras Got fruit, will juice. All it takes is patience and a mixer or a walk to your local juice center. If you're in Mumbai, I recommend (a) Health Juice Center at King's Circle, Matunga and (b) Annapurna at Ranade Road. In Bangalore, I'd go for Juice Junction or Mr.Orange. In Goa, have it anywhere!

Nannari Sharbat / Sarsaparilla
I've only had it at 1 place in Bangalore - Muthu's. Nannari Sharbat I'm told, comes from the roots of a tree. That makes it a ayurvedic medicine (for God alone knows what, but I think it's for the soul)
Wikipedia / Recipe

Piyush
To the best of my knowledge, this is made from a combination of butter milk and shrikhand, a yoghurt-like sweet. A common drink and delicacy in Mumbai, and best served at Prakash Upahar Kendra & Aaswad Restaurant in Dadar, Mumbai.
Recipe

Chai
Chai is perhaps the most common drink in all of India.
That's tea with added milk and sugar. Variants include chai adraki
(+ ginger), suleimani chai (- milk, + lemon, + spices), masala chai
(+ spices) and tons of regional specialities.

Kaapi
Filter coffee for the Indian soul. 'Nuff said. Served hot, but gets you going!

Aampanna / kairiche panhe Raw mango juice with elaichi/saffron. You'll love it!
Wikipedia / Recipe

Chuski / Gola

Crushed ice laced with flavored syrup – this one’s the only non-natural one to make it to the list, but there’s tons of places which do natural (including some milk / Milkmaid based ones!)

Water / Paani / Neer
Almost forgot my most favorite summer drink of them all :) Ice-cold water. Available anywhere, anytime. Even for free, offered courteously by most restaurants even if you won’t order a thing!

Besides all these fab coolers, there's always fruit juices and local specialities like sugar cane juice - but I won't get into details of those.

My Year in Cities, 2009

2009-12-22T22:53:00.001+05:30

I slept at least one night in each of these places:

Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
Ilha Grande, Brasil
Sao Paulo, Brasil
Mumbai, India
Bangalore, India

* Denotes multiple non-contiguous visits.
** Artwork by Patrick Moberg
*** Template via Zach Klein via Nick Gray

Multiple Clocks in Windows 7

2009-10-25T02:07:00.001+05:30

Facebook and Twitter make you forget about timezones, but with friends n family on the other side of the planet, its a nice thing to know local times. Windows 7 does it with a simple hover over your local time – awesome simplicity! :)

Click on ‘Adjust Date/Time’ > ‘Additional Clocks’ tab.

Choose upto 2 new time zones to track …

Voila – you’re done!

The India-Brasil love saga

2009-06-25T14:51:00.005+05:30

While I was in Brasil last year, I kept hearing about a new novella (soap opera) that was going to start - Caminho das Indias (The Passage to India). Even strangers would tell me about it and break into fun conversations about India and its culture. It was heartening and fun sharing my perspectives.

Just today, I got reminded of this, in an article on Rediff by B S Prakash - the Indian Ambassador to Brasil. Do check it out - all that he says is true. The novella has indeed become a huge phenomenon there, and all my friends back there keep talking to me about it.

Its definitely a wonderful portrayal of India (most of it at least, unlike Slumdog Millionaire which did quite the opposite) and Brasilians just love ropas indianas (Indian clothes!), music (my friends love Salaam Namaste), incense sticks (I bought and gifted some myself, in Rio de Janeiro) and the colorful culture.

Like B S Prakash mentions jokingly in this article, it would indeed be fun to have a soap opera about Brasil made in India! ;) Interestingly, there's also another novella running in Brasil currently, about China - called Negocios Com China (Business with China) - Cheers to BRIC nations! :)

Search for Caminho das Indias on YouTube for some videos!

Action and Results

2009-06-04T02:17:00.001+05:30

Stemming from a Twitter discussion I was having today with @rashmid I began to think about all the buzz around global warming, hunger, insert_global_or_local_problem here and the massive amounts of action surrounding these and other issues.

I’ve seen this action in person, volunteering my time with projects with kids, the poor and even during the horrifying tsunami incident – and believe me, its heart gratifying. Touching, inspiring, moving to say the least.

As an entrepreneur / business person or even on a basal level, as a logical person – it still poses a stark question in my face – action, yes – happening at the local and global level yes. But what about the results? Where’s the universal scoreboard?

Couple of years back after leaving Microsoft, I picked up a copy of ‘Leaving Microsoft to Change The World’ by John Wood. It caught my fancy because of the title of course, but it had me gripped once I started browsing through it. John Wood quit a lucrative, enviable position at Microsoft Australia – reporting at times, directly into CEO Steve Ballmer – to start an NGO, initially based out of Nepal. Their charter was to create a ‘room to read’ for young children who didn’t have the means to study. They created libraries and schools.

What fascinated me most, was the way their model worked – they would map individual / corporate donations against action, or rather results. That model is widely used these days by a lot of NGOs – I don’t care who pioneered it.

Bottomline – I’d love to see local efforts reflecting in a global scoreboard or check sheet which maps donations/actions taken to make positive change happen, with the actual results. Now wouldn’t that be wonderful?!

The Pre-Planning

2009-03-12T16:13:00.001+05:30

Finally starting to write about my (extended) South America trip. Lets begin from the pre-planning stage. Helps being a designer to create visual itineraries… this is what I cooked up.

Route, Dates and Initial Itinerary

The plan initially was to go through London, stop by and stay with a friend and move on to Brasil > Bolivia > Peru > Ecuador

Route Options & Costs

Made this using a website – I forget the name. Will update this post with it. Fabulous way to map your route, explore flight options and see costs upfront.

Visual Itinerary

This was my favorite piece of inspiration. Before this, the whole trip looked like a dream. Now it had a face. Spent half a day making this, but totally worth it! The dream was taking shape…

Next update: The real itinerary and first week in Brasil!

Greenpeace Design Awards 2009

2009-03-03T19:32:00.002+05:30

Theme: ‘Be a Part of the Action’

More details here (via Twitter)

Facebook Easter Egg

2009-02-27T01:56:00.002+05:30

While browsing regularly through the Facebook homepage, I happened to hover around the language dropdown menu at the bottom left of the page and scrolled down to find “English (Pirate – BETA)” as a new option!

Fun little surprise, and makes for some fantasy entertainment…

Screenshot:

Updates coming...

2008-10-05T04:33:00.004+05:30

I owe all my readers a mega load of posts about my travels. Been writing it down in a physical blog, so will surely upload it all soon (a blog redesign is also on the cards), with photos! Salud, desde Quito!

The Art of Forgetting Things

2008-08-12T18:50:00.001+05:30

Woke up pretty late this afternoon – perhaps from the accumulated fatigue and not sleeping properly on the couch last night – Almost 11 a.m. Missed the breakfast again, and I had a bucket load of clothes to wash. Used the fabric detergent Paul gifted me and put the clothes to dry in the hostel verandah.

Karima came along all excited to start the day and asked me to hurry up. We were going to MASP (Museu de Arte, São Paulo) and later to the Ibirapuera Park. After Tori changed some cash (we walked through the Carimaru market first) and Karima helped me activate my SIM card, we took the metro to Trianon MASP. Plans to meet up with Bebeto didn’t materialize.

MASP was a very pleasant surprise for me – firstly, entry was waived off on Tuesdays, so we got in for free – but what I pre-conceived as a boring museum, in fact turned out to be an incredible experience with some of the most exquisite, detailed and breathtaking art I’ve ever seen.

Half way through the museum visit, got a SMS from Bebeto around 1:30 pm “Man, your flight is at 6 pm, not 10! You need to be at the airport by 4!”

Whoa – what a lifesaver! Did my quick goodbyes to Karima, Tori and Paul and dashed off to the hostel. 2:15 pm. Gulped down a Guarana, packed my bags, bid adieu to Tarcisio, Ana, Juliana and my dear friend Husam – and rushed out at 3 pm. Reached Tatuape station at 3:40 pm. Doing fine – and finally reached the airport at 4:15 pm! Not bad :)

Checked in, cleared formalities and flirted with the TACA stewardess.

Had a cappuccino and a delicious sanduiche de frango (chicken sandwich) and was on my way to… Ecuador.

Writing this while having a nice meal of chicken rice with Inca Cola (from Peru) and Johnny Walker Scotch Whiskey. Viva Ecuador!

Forro Night

2008-08-08T18:50:00.001+05:30

Woke up after catching three hours of sleep, at around 9ish this morning. It’s raining outside, so I did some quick web surfing, took a shower, did a Skype video call with my family back home while watching the Opening Ceremony to the Olympics. My friend Bebeto gifted me a cool ‘Petrobras’ jacket to keep warm and off we headed to Avenida Paulista for lunch.

Shopping Center 3 – the place was packed with lunch hour rush. Note to self: Next time, come a couple hours later to skip this rush.

While Bebeto shopped for some caipirinha mixer kits, I was busy chatting up the cute chick at the t-shirt store with my broken Portuguese and some hand gestures thrown in. My first inspiration to learn the language well enough to converse with such ivory statues in the future.

Back at the Praca da Arvore Hostel, Ana informed me about Samba/Salsa nite so I stayed in. A tall, dusky, demure woman – Mara Santos taught us our first samba, salsa moves. At the end of it, she threw in a surprise – why not head out for the night and go to a real forro club!

Meanwhile, got an SMS from Bebeto about another party happening at Blue Pub with the CS gang. So I headed there first, met up a bunch of Paulistanos as well as gringos over some great Skol beers.

After about an hour, I joined the hostel gang again and we headed to the forro club – Canto de Ema. What a spectacular experience!

Forro is different from other forms of salsa/samba, in that it uses the ‘symphonie’ instrument and has easier steps. The passion in the dance form is simply beautiful. Met two beautiful girls, one Brasilian and the other Portuguese – both of them spoke perfect English.

While taking a beer break outside, this guy walked in to our group and introduced himself as Roberto – making friends is so easy here! We managed to converse in broken Portuguese and English respectively, but it was good fun. Some more girls joined in. Later I watched Roberto and his girlfriend dancing, and I could bet my bottom dollar, they were the best damn couple, swinging and swirling to the forro music with the most amazing grace I had seen. Ana taught me some dance moves and surprisingly I managed to pick it up pretty well.

The final stop of the night was of course, food! Stopped by an Arabic joint called Habib’s – the best darn cheese and chicken esfihas (think mini, soft pizzas)! Retired at around 5:30 in the morn. What a day!

Day One in Brasil

2008-08-06T19:47:00.003+05:30

Reached Brasil (São Paulo) last evening around 6 pm, roamed the airport for info - yellow fever vaccine info and mobile prepaid card. Didn't manage much (not knowing Portuguese sucks!)

I had options of taking a cab to my hostel (R$ 110) or a bus and metro (this was tougher and i would get to learn more, so i took this option) ;) spent just R$30 with this option. And got to see the way locals travel. Nice.

Reached the hotel around 10 pm, checked in, freshened up and made some friends. This hostel was the best decision - beats staying in a hotel any time! Full of young ppl from around the world in dorms (mine is a 10 bed dorm with just 2 more guys) - the other one is full!

So anyways... one of the guys said they were going to the karaoke place nearby (around midnight)...so I went there and joined the ´gang´. Grreat fun! People singing, dancing, drinking (beer is just R$ 2.50 or Rs.70!!!!) and celebrating the birthday of a random girl (everyone here is super friendly).

Today (August 6) is technically Day 1 for me - woke up at 10 (i was one of the earliest ppl to wake up!), showered, ate breakfast (R$3 bcoz i missed the free breakfast... hehe), and I went out in the market to check out things. Bought a phone card for R$5.50 but again, not knowing Portuguese got in the way of trying to get other things done. So I need to brush up on this some more. Much more. With time it´ll get easier.

Now I'm making plans for exploring São Paulo - right now, I'm online to check out flights to Ecuador.

Over and out for now....

Celebrating my 28th Birthday – Viva Brasil!

2008-08-05T01:20:00.000+05:30

Sitting at the lounge at the Mumbai International Airport sipping on some white wine, I toast to myself on my 28th birthday – I was actually doing this – going to Brasil and Ecuador – South America ahoy!

As the land of sun, sand, exotica and wilderness beckons me, I am reminded of Paulo Coelho’s character in The Alchemist. This was meant to be.

Next Update: From Brasil!

New kid on the blog!

2008-06-03T14:45:00.003+05:30

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the new kid on the blogosphere - my little brother Sagar Karkhanis!

Sagar just finished his C.A. Final exams and loves studying and following world markets. Through his blog, he wants to 'demystify' investing and stock markets to help the common man understand the basics and professionals with some super exclusive personal analysis.

My old readers would reckon that he was selected by DNA to interview his icon, super broker Rakesh Jhunjhunwala 2 years back!

So head on over to Sagar's brand spanking new blog, and gain from his passion and expertise!

Cosmological Thoughts on turning 29 [Repost]

2008-05-23T12:38:00.004+05:30

No, I didn't skip an year. Just thought I'd share an amazing post by a friend, Vineet Gupta, ex-colleague from Microsoft and one of the coolest, smartest people I know.

Even though I didn't get to know him too well when we worked in the same team, I was pleasantly surprised at reading his 'cosmological' post - because I could relate to his thinking so much! Cosmology and studying and marveling in the universe has always been something close to heart for me... Leave me alone on a starry night on a hilltop with a clear view, and I'm a happy man!

Over to Vineet.

Speaking of astronomy/cosmology, I just learned of a sky watching club in Mumbai which I'm glad about. But for most of us who never find the time to even look up in the sky for 5 minutes sometimes, here's something incredible, incidentally by Microsoft - The WorldWide Telescope. Think Live Earth or Google Earth, then zoom out into the universe - that's WWT. Yep, they've freakin' mapped the universe, and I can't stop raving and unraveling in it. A MUST see, literally out of this world experience!!

Microsoft WorldWideTelescope

Yahoo! India launches 'Glue' at WebInnovation Summit

2008-05-08T21:30:00.004+05:30

Yahoo! India R&D launched a brand new avatar of their search today at the Web Innovation Summit'08, codenamed 'Glue'. Kicked off only in India as a test market, it combines traditional search with visual and relevant data from the web collated from multiple sources in a very intuitive manner.

Intuitive because it has smart algorithms which figure out what you're looking for - so if you search for 'Sachin Tendulkar', you are thrown up his player profile from Cricinfo, stats etc. Search for 'Maldives' and you'll see photos from the honeymoon destination, a map and other relevant data. Similarly, an entry for 'Infosys' gives you stock quotes, company info and such. Very clever.

Wikipedia and recently Mahalo have been doing pretty much the same, but both have a different model which follow more of a wiki model with human editors around the world. Yahoo! India Search 'Glue' takes a different route in that, it mashes up data from various web sources and serves it up on the fly.

I spoke to Tejasvi, a Yahoo! employee at the booth and asked him a couple of questions.

The most interesting thing he told me was that they will be opening up the modules to third parties, so you can add/remove custom modules. I'll wait for that - sure sounds like a great way to search and surely a step in the right direction!

IndiBlogger Meet Mumbai Q2-08

2008-04-29T10:52:00.006+05:30

This Sunday I went for my first IndiBlogger meet. IndiBlogger is an Indian blog directory and I had never registered on it, so it was a good excuse to do so, too!

The planning and agenda seemed very professional, and the venue was the Kohinoor Hall opposite Siddhivinayak temple - also a good thing, so the line-up looked very impressive. I didn't know what to expect, but was looking forward to some fun, meeting interesting new people, pimping my blog and not sleeping through my Sunday :)

After the formalities and intros, it got more participative. I like meets to be participative - its boring to listen to one person all the time, even if that person is me (hell I'm a Leo, I'm supposed to love the limelight!). Everyone had a one minute of fame and folks were out-funning and out-performing each other with their stories. Noteworthy mentions:

"I write about good parenting.... no I'm not a parent" - 24 yr old Ronak, who looked younger than 20.

"I started blogging when I was feeling lonely. It's helped a lot. Blogging is a very emotional thing for me!" - Anjuli

"Hurr hurr!" - Abhishek

"I think I should start a sex blog" - Clement

Then came the skit. I found this a nice little addition - the story was simple, but the team did a great job putting it together and playing it out to us. Kudos, team IndiBlogger!

After a pav bhaji and ice-cream break, there was a talk by Microsoft on Windows Live Writer for bloggers, SMSGupshup.com and Ronak on professional blogging.

All in all, it was a good mix of planned stuff, impromptu stuff and fun stuff - while getting to meet a bunch of interesting peeps. What else do you expect from a blogger meet?! See you guys next time!

Hey, Taxi!

2008-03-30T11:20:00.006+05:30

Sometimes I wonder if I'm a compulsive chaser - you know, running behind cabs, buses, trains, girls, deadlines... blah. My friends who know the stories don't find these things funny anymore. It's a seamless part of my personality for them. Forget the personality anal-ysis. Let's cut to the chase, quite literally.

Yesterday evening, I got out of my building in a hurry and waved to a cab. I was on the wrong side of the road, (the driver's side of the cab), so I opened the door, shoved my bag inside, and noticed that he looked bruised on his left eye - a recent wound, perhaps from a street fight... next, I walked around the cab to get in from the other side (the one by the pavement - the correct side).

Just when I was about to open the door, the cabbie just took off! I was like - wt@^#$%? For a moment I thought he was just warming up the cab, so I just stood there hoping he'd figure out I had not got in yet... but the more I stood there, the cab just sped away. I do a few quick checks - red light, check. No valuables in the bag except a nice perfume, check. By now the cab is already at the next signal, and I'm still standing where I was supposed to board it. Wait a minute, red light?! Dimaag ki batti jalao, apni akal ladao!

People standing around and the cabbie behind noticed what happened, and before I knew it - this was the scene... my cab has sped away to the next signal, I'm running to catch it, the cabbie behind me is honking away to stop that guy and has started chasing him in his cab, and onlookers are shouting to stop him. Filmi, no? ;)

Just when the signal turns orange, I reach, open the door and said to him laughingly "boss, sirf bag leke jaoge kya Lower Parel?!" His expression was priceless. He was confused, embarrassed and very apologetic. He had thought I got in from the other side when I had just dumped my bag in it! Throughout the ride, he kept saying sorry, and I kept laughing at him and telling him it's alright and all fun!

I love Mumbai cabs and talking to the cabbies - they always have some interesting stories and insights on life. This guy now started telling me how his day started off all wrong, how he got beaten up by some people a few days back because he was not a local and such. We had a good discussion on the state of things, how narrow minded people have become, etc. What really moved me was his take on things, in spite of what life had given him in the last few days. He was still positive, a sheen in his eye, accentuated by the black and blue bruise under his eye... and most importantly, a vision for a nation united... India as a winner in multiple disciplines. Putting the bag chase incident behind me, I marveled in his beautiful vision and a mind focused on putting mind over matter, in spite of the atrocities he was subjected to.

I got down and wished him a great day ahead.

In hindsight, chasing the cab was a good warm up for my workout :) I was headed to the gym, Day 2!

Sex on a plane

2008-02-26T16:02:00.006+05:30

Writing this blog post in the middle of watching a movie...

My grandma is sitting behind, knitting a sweater or something, and pauses to ask me what movie I'm watching, hearing all the dramatic noise.

"Sssnakes on a Plane" - I speak too fast usually, so I make sure I am audible and clear

Granny mumbles something and asks me back - "Snakes or Sex?"

I skip a heartbeat. "Snakes, snakes!"

A new perspective to photos

2008-02-23T15:47:00.005+05:30

I recently installed this Firefox plugin called PicLens and I'm simply loving it!

What it does sound pretty simple, but looks pretty amazing - click on the bottom left corner of any photo in a photostream on Flickr or Facebook (or any other photo page) and the next instant you see a 3D carousel view of the same!

Yeah you've probably seen it earlier, but the great thing here is it activates it for any darn web view and I don't surf Flickr without PicLens anymore!

Give it a shot - and watch it pimp it up! Also available for IE, Safari and desktop view.

Yours truly by Gayatri

2007-12-05T17:27:00.000+05:30

I was douced into this little game by a friend Gayatri. All I had to do was sign up and she'd tell me 8 random bits about myself, stuff which she knows at least. And this blog post is to honour her 8th commandment, i.e do a post on it!

Leave your names lil ones!

I'll respond with something random about you.

I'll tell you what song/movie reminds me of you.

I'll pick a flavor of jello to wrestle with you in.

I'll say something that only makes sense to you and me.

I'll tell you my favourite/clearest memory of you.

I'll tell you what animal you remind me of.

I'll ask you something that I've always wondered about you.

8. If I do this for you, you must post this on your blog. YOU MUST!!

Gayatri's responses (with inline comments on the same by me)

You're a nice, chocolate-getting boy!! Thank you!
Uncle Kracker!:P:P
Punch!
Will you beat him up for me? :P Pleasure'd be mine. Pain his.
At, MTV sitting and discussing kickass stuff that never took off., And, you dropping me to the station! And, you saying I was SOO young :(:(
An old, dying animal :P Hahaha
You could be a wanderer all your life, couldn't you? Absofreakinlutely!
! There you go!

Novelty Follows Loyalty

2007-12-04T15:38:00.000+05:30

Just like a relationship guru would advice a couple who've celebrated more than 3 anniversaries on 'how to bring back that spark in their relationship', I think there are marketing gurus who think not much differently.

The other day, I was browsing through a local Sarvodaya and was intrigued by variants of some familiar brands.

Close Up Flavilicious

First reaction - flavi-wtf? Whatever! Being a 'connoisseur of brands', I had to pick it up and play guinea pig for the marketers and the greater good of humankind. The Close Up folks have come out with 2 'limited edition' flavored toothpastes - Luscious Lychee and Tangerine Burst. I've started using the Tangerine, and quite like it in the mornings, but I prefer the classic Red before bed. Lychee is too err... pink for me to even look at the box. Will leave it for the sis. And if you are someone from Unilever reading this, I have some suggestions - how about a chocolate flavor?!

Some interesting observations about the packaging and the product:

The brand is seemingly so well established, that besides in the textual description, there is no mention of the word 'toothpaste' on the box!
There's a 'do not swallow' instruction :) Hehe. Good advice, since you may forget it's toothpaste!

Taj Mahal Dessert Teas

'Pamper Yourself', says the ad campaign. And indeed, this serious competitor to the cafe mocha makes friends with your taste buds - as soon as you've had your first sip. Priced at Rs.40 for 5 sachets, it comes at a premium, but one that I wouldn't mind paying for. It's still cheaper than a cappuccino and most importantly - I would give it a 10 on 10 on the brand+product experience, which begins at the very sight of the packaging. Housed in a very well designed triangular carton are 5 triangular pod sachets. The box opens easily, so do the sachets. And all it takes is adding a cup of hot water to make yourself a sinful cup of dessert tea. I had picked up the vanilla flavor, and it was definitely better than I had expected. Rich and creamy, without an iota of artificial taste - perfectly blended. Highly recommended (by a self proclaimed tea lover)!

Goa Kronicles: Part 4 (South Goa)

2007-11-25T00:29:00.001+05:30

Continuing on my mission to walk along the entire Goa coastline - just for fun, frills and fab photos (AND my love for alliteration)... I bring you a tour of the most beautiful South Goa beaches.

Bring out your hammocks, lie back and enjoy!

Palolem Beach

[ Day view ]

[ Evening view ]

Although this spectacular, once virgin beach is now thronged by day tourists and backpackers - it still remains the quintessential laid back, serene, romantic best that Goa has to offer. Hidden in the quaint and merry town of Canacona, Palolem is one of the longest and most safest beaches for a swim. By noon, the tides are low enough for you to swim 100 meters in the waters. Post 2 pm, you could walk across to the Canacona island on the Northern strip - dry, and return back by sundown in waist deep water!

This is not your beach for the 'action'. No fancy clubs, no trance parties - it's the place that would inspire a poet or an artist who's suffering from a creative block. Or a patient with an artery block. White sands, blue green waters, relaxed shacks, lip smacking food and the mellow sound of moonkissed waves. Get the drift? I call it a sensory delight. Speaking of great food, dont miss a newly opened place on Palolem Beach road (market area), called 'Cheeky Chapati', run by an expat couple. They have the most amazing and creative juices and shakes, with an equally interesting food menu.

Kollam & Patnem Beaches
Palolem Annexe, more like it. Walk down South from Palolem around the rocks (and a magnificent view) and you reach Kollam beach, followed by a slightly longer beach, Patnem. Sparsely populated at the moment, but the crowds will likely move here or up North to Agonda in the near future.

Rajbaga (Rajbagh) Beach

Never judge a book by its cover. And never judge a beach by its boring sounding name. This lesser known beach is home to the fabulous InterContinental Grand Hotel, replete with a golf course 200 meters from the beach! The coastal walk from Palolem to Rajbaga is about 5-6 kms. and walking barefoot was perhaps not a good idea, certainly not without a bottle of water. And then when the fruit vendor offers you a comforting coco water for 50 bucks - there's no escape. You can't beat economics.

Mumbai Bloggers Brunch Notes + Photos

2007-11-18T21:22:00.000+05:30

Today's bloggers' brunch was as much a fun event as it was a gastronomic delight! As always, the superhostesses Melody and Sakshi pulled off a fab 4 hour event with no room for boredom. Lots of familiar faces and newbies alike, and everyone still seemed to have a great time.

The location, Dio's at Tardeo was just perfect, with a homely ambiance and reasonably priced, great food. The starters were fine, so were desserts. What I really liked was their salad and main course and live counters. Wine and beer were also well priced at 100 bucks each. Overall, definitely a place where I'm going again!

While the topics of discussion didn't necessarily focus on blogging, they ranged from Rakhi Sawant to Kanishk's dancing to Deepika Padukone and OSO versus Saawariya to photography to making money online to virginity to social service to profane sounding names of people and beyond. In chaos, we had fun. And made a lot of new friends while catching up with old ones!

Birthday boy Akshay showed up just in time for desserts.

Click here to check out the rest of the photos on my Facebook albums and also check Melody and Sakshi's picks.

Bunch-a Bloggers over Brunch

2007-11-07T11:57:00.000+05:30

My alarm went off this morning to invites from superstar bloggers Sakshi and Melody. They're inviting all and sundry, bloggers and hoggers to a lavish Sunday brunch at Dio's. Here's the details. You're invited. Bring along your mates too - it's gonna be one fun event you don't want to miss.

When: 18th Nov, 2007. 11 am - 3 pm (Yeah, it's lavish!)
Where: Dio's, Behind Everest Building, Tardeo
Why: Woman and man are a social animal. Never eat alone.
How much?: Rs.450 wonly. Unlimited food and fun for the price of 3 beers. Don't think.

What you doing this Sunday?

2007-11-02T21:53:00.001+05:30

If you've got no spectacular plans besides watching the traffic from your balcony, here's something nice and fun where you could join in and spread some Diwali joy.

Via SMS from a friend:

"Volunteers required for a Diwali party being organized for some poor kids. No money needed, just be present and mind the kids. This Sunday, starting 3 pm. at a location in Thane".

Interested? Drop me a line. Will connect you up!

A Tale of 3 Cities

2007-10-31T03:19:00.000+05:30

I love all 3 cities - Mumbai, Bangalore and Goa. So it's natural that I land up blogging about things about these cities. Here's a list of the kind of searches which landed some folks (like you) on my blog recently. If you're new to any of the 3 cities and can't find an answer, shoot me an email or drop me a message here. Would be happy to help.

beautiful pictures of goa beach
Ah, there's loads of them on Flickr. Mine are here.
mumbai domestic airport
Looking for the name of the company that build it? GVK. Here's my post.
local specialities in bangalore
bisi bele bath, chow chow bath, maddur vadas, mysore pak... See Burrp! for reviews
best juice centre in bangalore
Tough one. I'd say the one on St.Mark's Road, opposite State Bank. Juice Junction?
bus mapusa to arambol
... costs around Rs.12, takes about 40 mins. Very picturesque!
lhomen tours
Wonderful tour operators in Bhutan. I highly recommend them! Ask me for the contact.
switching to cfl
... is a good thing for you economically and environmentally. Just dispose them safely.
malai translate into english
cream
kshanbhar vishranti photos
Sorry, none. Here's a scan of their card. Fab halt on the Mumbai-Goa highway for a delightful bite.
best beach shack in baga
Tough one. To each their own. Find your spot.
mandrem beach hut resort
You're looking for Riva Resort. Fantastic location and view. Reasonably priced.
amoeba in leela palace bangalore
Fun place. All of Church Street is! :)

Fashion Sense + Civic Sense

2007-10-08T11:09:00.000+05:30

The weekend gone was a fine blend of the fun and the serious. Checked out the Chivas in Fashion Tour at the ITC Grand Maratha on Saturday, followed by a promising and charged up meet with fellow Facebook citizens of Mumbai for making the city a better place. Here's the lowdown.

Chivas in Fashion Tour
Classic Kaushal style, I reached the show mid-way - so I missed the first part by Wendell Rodrigues, but still managed to check out Malini Ramani, Rahul Khanna and Rohit Gandhi's collection. Now, let me first tell you that I'm not a fashion critic, but as I told a lady friend at the event "Since you women complain a lot about us men having no fashion sense, I decided to make it here and change that". With that disclaimer, I now present you with my expert comments...

I really liked Malini Ramani's collection - bright colors, sporty and yet, very stylish - it had a great, fresh appeal to it. Oh and the models carried them off phenomenally well. Khanna and Gandhi presented mostly evening wear and club wear in rich dark fabrics.

Photos by my friend Nishant Desai. He takes up photography assignments.

My Mumbai

Last week, a fellow trekker sent me an invite to join this Facebook group. The mission statement read "My Mumbai aims to raise environmental awareness amongst the citizens of the greater Mumbai community, by actively involving them to work towards a cleaner and healthier environment".

Since I identify with, am appalled and feel I should do something about such issues myself, I decided to attend the first meet, which saw a bunch of us young Mumbai citizens perched in the founder's living room and bombarding problems and solutions for improving living conditions of the Mumbaikar (begin small, dream big - as one of the participants Jeet says). It was amazing how well the time was managed, taking each aspect separately and thawing it up - right from how this organization could potentially launch and shape up to who would take onus of what - and then breaking down to the problems and solutions. All within a matter of, just over an hour. Topics ranged from energy conservation and global warming to garbage disposal and waste management to air and sound pollution and such.

The closing was the most interesting part - we decided to get into action mode immediately! The group dynamics was great and we already seemed to know each other since always. So the next half hour saw us walking down Worli Sea Face, walking up to strangers and talking them into switching to CFL bulbs from incandescent bulbs. At the end of the exercise, we had already made decent progress - from identifying a problem to talking about solutions, to hurdles and potential workarounds. I left knowing well that this was another great Sunday spent productively, creatively and constructively. Cheers and God Speed to My Mumbai!...

... and a Happy Monday to you - have a super productive week :)

You@ClubDhoni.com

2007-10-02T12:19:00.000+05:30

Seriously - that id is up for grabs! An ex-colleague informed me about the launch of CoolHotmail.com, which if you haven't guessed yet, lets you change your @hotmail.com ID to something funkier like you@clubrajni.com or you@goarocks.com or you@underpaid.co.in or you@bhangrarocks.com while using the Windows Live Hotmail interface!

Like CoolHotmail proclaims... no more same pinch ;)

Mumbai Domestic Airport - The Wow! Experience

2007-09-16T16:20:00.000+05:30

I'm in the field of design and user experience, and people sometimes need to be explained what the latter means. Let me start by saying that design is perhaps a subset of user experience. Marketing could also be a part of the user experience as a whole, besides design. To make things simpler, let me use this post to rave about the Mumbai domestic airport experience.

If you remember the domestic airport as a shoddy place where everything was dirty and chaotic, you obviously haven't been there lately. The lower terminal is brand spanking new and has a slick, futuristic design, completely spic and span. From the moment you enter, there's a sense of vast open space, very well lit. Hallways have trees planted along with a seating desk. Tons of seating space in fact. Clean loos, a cyber cafe, some great snack counters, Crossword bookstore, Cafe Coffee Day, Stop and Go (a mini Shoppers Stop), really swanky lounges - it's great to see a transformation from a filthy airport to a wow experience!

Essentially it's not just a great looking place only, but also a completely new, richer experience for everyone.

Peace on arrival

What's more, you'll be in for a pleasant surprise on arrival in Mumbai - no more getting 'taken for a ride' by the cabs and rickshaw drivers with excess fare demands. Every person who gets into a cab or rick is now given a handy leaflet which has both rate cards printed! This my dear readers, is what great user experience is all about. Understanding what users need, want and expect - and soliciting a wow! reaction. Naturally, I can't wait to fly next!

Catching up with Bangalore

2007-09-06T17:51:00.001+05:30

Back in Bangalore for a week while returning back from Kerala where I'd gone for a friend's wedding... realized I have a lot of catching up to do with this ever changing city! Detailed notes later, but here's some quick points...

The Metro project is actually underway, and MG Road looks ready for a major facelift.
Lotsa new restaurants and clubs. Checked out Soul Cafe, Mast Kalandar and Foodworld Gourmet so far, besides regular faves Coffee World, Konark, Sunny's (where I decided to try something new this time... mahi mahi and sauteed chicken in brandy. Both yum. Pradipta tells me the mahi mahi was a little overcooked, especially since there was wasabi by the side).
Muthu's is gone. So is Spiga's :( Chowringee Lane has moved to Banerghatta Rd :(
Day one yesterday was disastrous for a photo session - was drenched in rain while at Lalbagh, which looks fresh as ever but the flowers were mostly semi-dead.
Checked out Printo's for on-demand printing. Fairly good service.
Anita's photo exhibition, 'Wide Angle' was awesome. They were doing a fundraiser for AIDS affected kids. Hats off to the beautiful photos, the photographers and the cause!

My Top 10 Facebook Apps

2007-08-02T14:54:00.000+05:30

Wow, I've never blogged about Facebook before - Strange! But all the noise around the top 10 apps for Facebook on the blogosphere, started by TechCrunch's interns - makes me wanna share my faves as well, for whatever it's worth. Narcissism, if nothing else.

First, a quick WTF about Facebook for those who came in late or never did. By far the best social networking application and platform, Facebook was started by Mark Zuckerberg as thefacebook.com for his Harvard University. More history here, but it's definitely defining the future of social software and how we interact with it, and our peer circles. Let me put it this way... way way back, when you wanted to communicate or stay in touch with friends, it was the BBS world, then came email, followed by chat, IM and now - dense social networks like Facebook (yes Orkut and MySpace also seem old skool now).

Just about a month back, Facebook released a Platform for other services to build on top of, and integrate with the site. Essentially, you're now able to share your virtual life and lifestyle with your peers who are constantly updated of what you're upto. Little wonder, no one dares to ask "wazzup?" anymore! Summing up... here's my list of the top 10 apps I like on Facebook.

1. Movies / Flixster -
'Coz I'm a flixphile. Seen 1,200+ movies so far!

2. del.icio.us -
Share the luuv! Publishes my public favorites.

3. ZuPort Flickr -
Fetches all my Flickr photos & sets - no duplication!

4. 30Boxes Calendar -
The best calendar/lifeminder out there, methinks.

5. Shortcut -
Wow, this one should have come with Facebook by default. Start typing a friend's name and jump to their profile/album/message them directly.

6. Twitter -
The 'wassup' killer. I ping Twitter in Google Talk, updates here!

7. Video -
This one's made by Facebook and could get much better.

8. Trips -
Great for nomads. Shows your past trips and let you invite pals to plan future ones.

9. Shelfari Books -
Rate books I own, want or would like to lend. Vice versa.

10. Graffiti -
Freedom of expression and/or defamation :)

Other Fun/Noteworthy Apps

* Hoops & Yoyo eCards -
The most fun eCards. Love 'em! Integrated with Facebook.

* Photobubbles -
Because photos without captions are only half the fun!

* Introductions -
Still testing this... Seems interesting.

* Blog Friends -
Great tool for bloggers, linkswapping and updating friends.

The Audio app was also one of my favorites, but it just vanished this week :(

Compare my list to others' - TechCrunch | Robert Scoble | Orli Yakuel

Taxi No. 3837

2007-07-29T14:06:00.000+05:30

I've always wanted to write about Mumbai's cab/taxi drivers. Firstly, I prefer using cabs over buying a car (convenient, ubiquitous, maintenance free compared to the latter and I don't add to the madness of the traffic with another honky, polluting machine). Secondly, it's fun talking to the cabbies who always have a million things to talk about!

But today specifically, I have strong reason to salute Mumbai's cabbies. Having dropped my grandma to my aunt's place in Goregaon, I was about to get off from the cab after paying him, and at that precise moment in recent history, the skies decided to cry out loud and it started raining heavily. The station was about 30 feet away and I was bound to get drenched. The cabbie however, asked me if I had an umbrella. When I answered in the negative, I was pleasantly surprised that he got off from the cab, took his own umbrella out and ushered me into the station's shed!!

In hindsight, it was something which really saved me from falling ill as I was already down with cold and headache since Friday night. Perhaps my collected karma of being good to cabbies paid off, but hats off to Taxi No. 3837, and all the cabbies of Mumbai!

An Akanksha fulfilled Sunday

2007-07-25T02:00:00.000+05:30

This weekend I had one of the most rich Sundays I've ever had.

A quick flashback first - Not too long ago, I made friends with a Harvard student via Facebook, Karina. She's in India for 2 months working with NGO Akanksha and helping to empower kids who come from lesser privileged societies. While I've been hearing a lot about her fantastic work here all the time, I really wanted to experience it myself and help in some way too.

So, waking up way too early for my Sundays at 8 am, I joined her and met up with her kids at the Nehru Planetarium. There were about 15 kids and they were split into groups which were given projects to work on. One group was given the topic of importance of education, the other was working on curbing bullying in their community and yet another was given the task of helping reduce garbage and promoting cleanliness.

First, the kids made posters pertaining to these topics, even as I watched with awe, how Karina was managing the kids so beautifully - adding some inputs, being stern sometimes and helping in streamlining their thoughts.

After this activity, it was 'action time'. The activity of the day was to visit the kids' community right behind the Planetarium and address the issue of garbage and promote cleanliness. To that, one team had written a letter to the BMC (the policy part of the strategy...) and all of us were then going to go from door to door to spread the message (...the social change part) and conduct a signature campaign against garbage. To set a precedent in their community, the kids were armed with gloves and trash bags and would be collecting 'token trash' from homes which we were going to visit and later dispose them in the right place - the garbage dumpster.

The biggest irony of the garbage issue in this community was that people were used to throwing garbage in the 'naala' (water canal) which ran along the area, even as there were proper garbage dumpsters provided about 50 meters away!

It was heartening to see the passion with which the kids spoke to their own community, put up the posters to promote education, cleanliness and a responsible community. At the end of a 2-3 hour exercise, we had collected 50 signatures, 6 full bags of trash and a hell lot of learning.

I also got to know how much of a difference Akanksha is making for these kids and the awesome work my friend has been doing there.

The debriefing session was pretty interesting too - Karina asked the kids a lot of questions about their experience and their answers were very mature for their ages! The bonhomie, attitude and sparkle in their eyes were all things you had to see for yourself! I was pleasantly surprised, yet happy to see that positive social change is possible.

We later treated the kids to a show at the Planetarium and later took them to the Nehru Science Center, both of which the kids loved. Some strong mentions I'd like to make here...

1. The new Planetarium show sucks. I've been a BIG fan since I was a kid, but I think this is the worst, most boring show ever. I didn't know there was a change (the earlier one had a great start with a 3D city tour, great music and content) and was a bit disappointed, but K & the kids liked it apparently.

2. Nehru Science Center on the other hand has improved SO MUCH! The staff was way too nice - they insisted on a students' discount since we were from Akanksha. The installations are brand spanking new. Gardens are well kept - parakeets, rabbits and some great flora. A fantastic 3D show (for just 20 bucks more). I couldn't get enough of it... nor could the kids!

Overall, a super Sunday it was indeed. Next Sunday I'll be joining them again for a video-edit session courtesy of my ex employers Hungama.com

Read Karina's notes on her blog | Photos from the day

Cheers to 07.07.07!

2007-07-07T02:14:00.000+05:30

Another update at 3 AM :)
In case you haven't noticed, today's date is in triplicate - 07/07/07!

My friend Shilpa in London tells me she's going for the Live Earth concert which is a special event to raise climate change awareness with 20+ various artistes. Check out www.liveearth.org and make a pledge like I did, to help make a difference.

Additions to my favorites
With thousands of awesome new websites mushrooming every week, my bookmarks - both local as well as the ones on del.icio.us, Spurl and Google Bookmarks have been flooding. Here's some of the best ones you may wanna check out...

Expensr - Log and track your personal expenses. Much needed for me!
Flixster - Write and share movie reviews (and more awesome features!)
Traineo - Fitness community
Vimeo - New and improved video sharing community (prefer it over YouTube)
Burrp - local restaurant, cafe and club reviews from India.
Check out my current reviews or bookmark my profile for updates

Hae Kum Gang (Korean), Bangalore
Saapat Raman, Bangalore
Casa Del Sol, Bangalore
Konark, Bangalore
Koshy's Jewel Box, Bangalore
3 Storys, Bangalore
Desmond's, Bangalore
Golden Star Thali, Mumbai

Random Notes at 3 AM

2007-07-05T02:39:00.000+05:30

* Nick is coming to India again!! :)
* Megan's going back to the US just before her birthday :(
* Love the new drinks from Yogi Vita - imli, amla, nimboo, kokum
* Picked a new book - The Motorcycle Diaries by Ernesto Che Guevara
* Workout schedules have gone awry. I need discipline!
* Personal travel plans in a mess - too busy to have fun right now.
* Upgrading my system after ages this week! From an AMD Athlon XP with 512 MB RAM to a Intel Pentium CoreDuo processor with 1.5 - 2GB RAM and a flat screen monitor. Next on the cards: Windows Vista!

Review: "It Happened In India"

2007-07-03T01:45:00.001+05:30

It Happened In India

by Kishore Biyani & Dipayan Baishya

The business biography/autobiography of Kishore Biyani is a refreshing, inspiring and entertaining book which is related in a manner someone in the family would talk to you to pass on the wisdom of their experience in life and business.

For those who came in late, Kishore Biyani is the owner of brands and businesses such as Pantaloons, Big Bazaar, Central, Bare, Food Bazaar and many more!

Personally I was eagerly anticipating the book launch – since the Big Bazaar at Phoenix Mills has always been my favourite hangout since day one of their opening. If I was not at home or in the office at Hungama (which was right next door at Raghuvanshi Mills back then) – anyone could tell I was at Big Bazaar! This was a few years back. Today, I’m helping associate MTV with Futurebazaar.com, the e-retailing arm of Biyani’s group. So honestly, I already was a ‘fan’ of the business and the man. My review might therefore be less of a critique and more of a rave.

From the word “Go” this book oozes enthusiasm, passion and creativity in the true sense of the word.

Ashni Biyani sums up her dad’s book best from the youth viewpoint “I realise that India needs role models who will make it believe that it can happen right here, in this country”.

Dipayan Baishya does a wonderful job at synchronizing the content into chapters and creating a captivating flow of things.

Why I loved the book:

KB (as Biyani is called by those who know him) is extremely candid and non-superfluous.
The language is common-man friendly.
KB is a deviant, not a formula man.
Contains tons of stories of successes and failures of his life.
Inspires entrepreneurs and yet doesn’t paint just a rosy picture.
Most importantly, it’s an INDIAN business story so you can relate to pretty much everything. I haven’t come across very many books by Indian businessmen who have shared their life and business story.
Being a designer and an ideas person, I appreciated how much emphasis the Future Group puts on these otherwise intangible assets of a business. I also particularly liked his theories of memetics, consumer behaviour study and (sic) “life is about timepass” :) and learnt a bunch of things I would want to apply in my own life and business.
A zillion noteworthy quotes, words of wisdom, philosophies and musings by KB.

On a sidenote, the timing of this book is perfect since the group is coming out with an IPO soon – and I have no doubt that the best seller will only add to the oversubscribing of this issue. Oh I’m buying!

(Will try to update this with a more detailed review later).

Originally posted on AllConsuming

Behind the seen - 8 facts on me!

2007-06-29T11:48:00.000+05:30

I've always pooh-pooed (however that's spelt!) word games. But heck this one is for narcissists. So here's my response to Sakshi's tag...

Rules of the game

1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged, write a blog post about their own 8 random things, and post these rules.
3. At the end of your post you need to tag 8 people and include their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.
4. If you fail to do this within eight hours, you will not reach Third Series or attain your most precious goals for at least two more lifetimes. [Er, okay….]

Here goes nothing

1. My first paycheck was at age 13. 30 bucks for 2 lines for a telly show. Don't ask.

2. I've never ~~smoked~~, fed a shark, driven a car or ~~kissed~~. I never intend to change the status quo for the former [Update: Never say never?! :)].

3. As a child I was a pretty good gymnast - yea, the paunch today won't let u believe that.

4. I've been off the telly for 11 years.

5. I was almost kidnapped. Twice.

6. I did my first bungee jump without any fear at all. Only after I jumped, I felt the butterflies in the tummy thing, for like a nanosecond.

7. I'm a college dropout.

8. I probably have ADD (Attention deficit disorder). Ironically, I like things in order - so I also probably have OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder). Am freaky about hygiene and putting things in places. Or arranging bottles so the labels show - symmetrically.

You've been tagged!

More useless info: Just received 2 simultaneous updates via my Facebook Firefox toolbar...
* Swati Iyer is happy that its the weekend!
* Tushar Chaudhary is awaiting the end of a very long week!

We all work for the weekends, nay? :D

Notes from Waterworld

2007-06-25T00:57:00.000+05:30

The monsoons have hardly arrived and with the first major showers itself, Bambai nagariya is down under and crippled - like the Indian cricket team in this year's World Cup.

I bet you've read and heard newspapers, people and everyone except the animals - about how this looks like a deja vu every year, how BMC sucks and everyone blaming the person to their right. Right. Posterity is going to give us a kick in the posterior for this high thinking.

Cut to reality. I'll take 2 minutes of your time with my 2-paisa thoughts on 'fighting the rains' and 'making Mumbai rainwater free' and all that.

Before abusing the BMC, stop abusing the roads. Stop littering.
I personally believe if there is a drainage line the city has in place - the BMC is already doing their job of maintaing it. But if you and I are going to throw plastic bags, bottles and garbage recklessly, it's going to clog up, duh! The same way you clog your arteries with oil from samosas all your life and one fine day, question life, God and yourself about who's to blame for your heart condition.

Think back when it was nice n shiny. Now think of the number of times you threw refuse saying "Hey, so? everyone does it!" or "one more wont make a mountain of a mole hill" or "hey the street cleaners are paid for this and its my tax money anyways") - Yes I've heard them all. So back off, be proactive instead of reactive. Everyone can see the problem once it goes out of proportion. Stop causing it instead.

Avoid using plastic bags, bottles and if you do - dont throw it off. If you dont see a waste bin, carry it in your pocket or in your bag (you carried that wrapper all the time it was housing a chocolate which in turn is busy clogging your arteries right now. Right?).

If everyone does this little bit, which is hardly asking for much - one would not find it difficult to look out of the window on a day of heavy downpour in awe instead of panic, knowing nature, the BMC and the drainage lines would do their job. Smell the earth, feel the rain spray and feel the scintillating chill.

Welcome the rains! :)

Sidenote: Went to Atria Mall today and had the best ice-cream of the season at the newly launched 'New Zealand Natural' store. Try their passionfruit FruitFlo. Delectable! They've got smoothies n shakes too.

Finding Heaven in Sin City

2007-06-13T00:13:00.000+05:30

In a world and time where we're sinning everyday, it's a great thing to experience heaven. And I just found 2 shortcuts to heaven in these divine Godsent products...

1. Pepperidge Farm Milano Double Chocolate

Imagine - rich dark chocolate gently wrapped between a layer of crunchy buttery tender cookies. A lethal combination which was designed to seduce the taste buds into succumbing to the sinful.

I should stop desribing these cookies before Blogger bans me for 'erotic literature on a personal blog' or something.

2. Emborg Danablu Danish Blue Cheese

My Bangalore friends know very well of my intense passion for blue cheese. Especially the Sunny's Special Blue Cheese salad (Sunny's, Lavelle Road). To be honest it's difficult to write about blue cheese. Because it's not the usual "wow that's yummy!" food. You have to really savour it. Slowly. You start with a teeny little helping, forget about worldly things and experience it tickle your taste buds. Here's how I would describe the 3-stage reaction of a person tasting it for the first time...

* Yeeoow - smells like (insert gross word)
* Crinches nose, gets curious
* "Hmmmmmmm...."
* "...ummmmmmmm....."
* The world stops spinning. The tongue doesn't. Experiences nirvana.

So there. That's how you can get as close to heaven as possible while continuing to let your pot of bad karma overflow.

Now I've been dying to find a good store which keeps blue cheese in Mumbai but had failed so far. So when last week I was in Mulund and finally found it at the Shoprite store at Nirmal Lifestyle - I almost cried and thanked my heavens.

Mumbai Bloggers Meet Notes

2007-06-10T05:27:00.001+05:30

Just back from a fun bloggers meet at Seijo. Made possible by the wonderful 'partners in crime', Melody and Sakshi Juneja. Thank you ladies. Thou rocketh.

For me, making it to the meet was probably an adventure in itself! Till late evening, I had (a) a TON of work and things to do, (b) a new project coming in which I declined (beat this - a simulation of a porn website for a movie scene which was to be shot this morning! I told my prospective client how they could do it themselves) and the best part... (c) an empty bank balance! (long story). Finally around 11, I just got out of the house with 60 bucks in my wallet and 'dropped in' at the ATM. Miracle of miracles! A cheque of just enough amount had cleared just in time :D Phew! Off to the bloggers' meet...

Random Notes

For turning up at 11 for a party that started at 8 pm, I wasn't too late!
The Indian blogosphere is replete with beautiful ladies :)
Bloggers are not necessarily party animals. They tend to stand in a circle.
Suggestion to Saks & Mel: Bonfire next time?
Seijo IS expensive. Friggin' expensive. Old monk + Thums Up = Rs.360!
The G-string has arrived in India. Hallelujah! (an 'outsider' unfortunately)
Sakshi goes into a 'loop' and repeats stuff after tripping on long islands. :D
That tune stuck in my head is apparently Bob Sinclar (Zookies). Got MP3?
The one thing everyone agreed in the end: Mumbai rocks!

Met a lot of fun people and made some interesting friends tonite!
Melody (The Voice in My Head), Sakshi Juneja (To Each Its Own), Shiju Thomas, Amit Varma (India Uncut), Divya (Chronicus Skepticus), Akshay Mahajan (Trivial Matters), Gaurav (Gauravonomics), Sumit (Twisted Difference), Piyush Bedi and Pankaj (2 fundoo friends of Sakshi).

Overheard "I'll have sex with you on top of the Taj Mahal!"
- Non-drunk girl to happy girl

Goa for the soul traveller

2007-06-01T12:49:00.000+05:30

At the beginning of this year I took off to Goa for a whole week, alone - to relax, unwind, think and read at leisure. The 2004 Goa trip to Baga, Palolem and Anjuna with my maddest friends was definitely the most fun. But this one was for me, just to introspect if you may.

So without any specific agenda, I reached Goa by flight from Bangalore.

Baga Beach

A full scrumptious breakfast atop a beach shack, Baga Beach.

I knew I didn’t want to hang around at Baga this time but thought I’d spend the day lazing on the beach anyways and then figuring out where to go next.
Perfect for: Friends. Baga is the BEST beach for a fun time. Clubbing, eating out, shopping or just chilling out on the numerous beach shacks.

(Eventually this turned into an idea of exploring the entire North Goa coastline spread across 1 week + 4 days in 2 months!)

I took a bus from Calangute to Mapusa and switched to another from Mapusa to Arambol. I find it rather weird that Indian local tourists spend more on traveling within our own country (hired cars/bikes) as compared to foreigners – this is evident from the fact that a lot of folks on the bus were foreigners!

The journey from Calangute to Mapusa is nothing much to write home about – it’s mostly inland journey but the local experience is still a lot of fun. After passing through Siolim the ride does get more picturesque though! Just before reaching Arambol you see the beautiful Mandrem beach with it’s own village hut resort. Note to myself: Come back here for a relaxed holiday, perhaps with a lady friend sometime.

Arambol Beach

Aaaaahrambol. Aaraam-bol. Arambowled. Aah-rum-bowl! I’m sure the place was actually spelt as one of these. Because it was indeed a worthwhile journey. Just about enough 'crowd'– not as much as Baga (which is getting worse than Juhu Chowpatty) nor as less as marooned as the Southern beaches. Yet, truly a melting pot of cultures, great beach shacks, a looooong coastline, hilltop paragliding, a rocky hillside you can cross to go over to a secret little lake with a view of dolphins on early mornings – yes children – such a place does exist right here in India! And I’m not even done talking about it.

It was close to sundown by now so I went straight to the beach – What a pleasant surprise awaited me. A gorgeous sunset, no loud blaring music (but some great Prem Joshua instead), a lot of people doing yoga or tai-chi or aerobics and walking further down towards Mandrem – a flamboyant group of musicians who played some aweeeesome music.

Beach Musicians from Kaushal Karkhanis on Vimeo

Perfect for: Solo travelers, hilltop paragliders, light trekkers. The beach mood is 'laid back' and as slow as it gets. No party/clubbing scene

Mandrem Beach

Doted by palm trees, you can’t help but stop by this place if you’re driving along. It’s a gorgeous sight and there’s a wonderful retreat here called ‘Riva Resort’. This is not an activity beach – just a place you can sit back and relax, maybe read a book or get a suntan or go swimming.
Perfect for: Idyllic vacations. Peace lovers. No adventure/clubbing here

Walking back from Mandrem to Arambol I sat down to soak in the sunset and noticed a young couple practicing yoga and having a lot of fun with it – they were literally all over each other in what can be best described as a mix of kiddish playfulness and subtle foreplay! The girl was as ravishingly gorgeous and athletic as the guy was handsome.

The duo was so magnetic and energetic that I couldn’t resist asking them if I could take pictures – they obliged, with a word of caution “Make sure you don’t get her face” the guy told me. “I’m her yoga teacher and her dad pays me for this!” All of us had a hearty laugh. I went back to my sunset and the lovebirds went back to their 'yoga'.

Such an incredible pair, I thought to myself.

The next day morning I changed my breakfast venue from 21 Coconuts Inn to what seemed like a cultural hangout and a favorite of most tourists – German Bakery. Good decision! The place had some delicious food, great coffee, brownies and above all – it was the de-facto meeting point and culture corner for the community. Highly recommended. Just a couple of shops towards the beach there was another restaurant which plays movies while you sip on some beer or enjoy a laid back dinner. Another fun place to hang out.

Old Goa / Velha Goa

I had 3 more days and too much relaxation is not my cup of tea - so I decided to leave Arambol and go inland to discover Old Goa by bus. So I returned to Hallmark Guesthouse in Baga and took a bus from Calangute to Velha Goa. Once again the journey was beautiful - the route flirting with the shoreline on-and-off with visions of houseboats, steamers and little boats making it look almost surreal.

The bus dropped me off near the Se Cathedral / Basilica of Bom Jesus. This is a magnificent structure which houses the relics of St. Francis Xavier's body till date. Just opposite is the Museum which was temporarily closed as they were spraying some anti-fungal and preservative gases all over the place. So after spending most of my time at the Cathedral, I took off for Baga beach by sundown and just strolled around the colourful marketplace. Speaking of markets - the Wednesday market at Anjuna was next day away and I wanted to experience it - made a mental note of that.
Perfect for: History lovers/art lovers

The Long Walk - Baga to Fort Aguada

Before I went of to sleep the previous night I had a crazy idea - I had seen Baga, Vagator, Anjuna, Palolem and now Arambol and Mandrem beaches. Why not traverse the entire length of the coast of Goa?! So the journey began...

Calangute Beach

Once the most popular beaches of Goa, this long beach has now become nothing short of a mela with uncles and aunties going for a swim wearing, well - everything!
Perfect for: Family holidays - fewer babes in bikinis or less!

Candolim Beach

Mostly a foreigners' haunt, I mentally bookmarked a quaint little place towards Sinquerim which was pretty much secluded and nice to walk around.
Perfect for: Couples. Not for a solo traveller.

Sinquerim Beach

I don't know what made me make a decision to walk from the inside road from Candolim to Sinquerim (perhaps the overbearing heat and fatigue) but it was a great decision - got to see Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher Villa en route! It's so magnificent from the outside, I'm sure there are a million wow factors inside.
Perfect for: Couples. Not for a solo traveller.

By now my toes had boils but I was determined to reach my destination...

Fort Aguada

On both sides of this 17th century fort are 2 luxury properties - the Taj Village and Taj Fort Aguada. The view was beautiful - a 'U' shaped waterfront with the grand 'River Princess' boat bobbling in the ocean (this boat has been stranded here since 4-5 years apparently). Since it was Wednesday market at Anjuna beach today, the locals asked me if I was interested in a boat trip across to the market. I was tempted, but decided not to spend too much and do a boat trip some other time, maybe with friends.
Perfect for: Toursts for sight-seeing, business/luxury stay.

Vagator Beach

So I took a bus back from Aguada to Siolim and hired a car to reach Vagator beach first (the Anjuna market would still be open for a couple of hours more). I love Flickr coz it helps you find out more about places so easily through real people's photos. I'm referring to a photo taken by Anindo Ghosh which I had seen earlier - a rock carved out to look like the face of Lord Shiva! When I knew it was at Vagator beach I had to go there and see, click it myself.
Perfect for: Rave parties, sight-seeing. Not a favourite for local Indian tourists for stay.

Anjuna Beach

My last halt of a looong, tiring yet incredibly fun day - the Anjuna market was a delight for the senses. Reached there on a hired bike just an hour into closing time. This 'flea market' was started years back when backpackers and 'hippies' would frequent Goa, fall in love with the place and spend all their money. To stay longer, they would sell off their belongings in this flea market. Today it is more of a commercial hub for all types of sellers - local, Indian locals, foreigners making a living to stay in Goa and local street food sellers. Try the mini-pizzas which an old lady sells here. Awesome! And herbal tea which a foreign couple serves in a cafe which seemed more like a melting pot of cultures. Overall I just loved the market experience here. The sunset by the rocky beach was the perfect way to end my splendid day and week-long solo tour of Goaaaah!
Perfect for:Shoppers. No wait, anyone who loves a cross-cultural experience :)

Goa - Perfect for anyone. Can't wait for the season to start again in October!
(I went back the next month with a friend for 3 days - completing the North Goa walks upto Morjim beach. More in my next post!)

My Goa Photos | View as Slideshow | Download HolidayIQ Goa Beach Guide

Defining Virgin territory

2007-05-18T00:32:00.000+05:30

Sometimes you don't need to be a marketing guru to predict brand moves. So when I was confidently talking to my friend some weeks back that the Virgin Group would somehow manage to enter into the Mobile & VAS space in India (which was just announced), I had very little doubt and more conviction.

The Virgin brand
It's simple. Virgin is one of the smartest, savviest and most agile brands around the world, cutting through insane number of businesses and owning more than 300 brands. They believe in the potential of a market and get there eventually. From whatever I've observed about them (brand Virgin, Sir Richard Branson and the whole group), I'd say they have a simple credo: Any space is virgin (and they capitalize on it, pardon the pun!) if you really listen to customer needs, pain poins and create a vibrant brand to market the solution and create value for the customer even in a fiercely competitive environment. (And create passionate evangelists like me who don't get paid jack shit for talking about them!)

In fact I'm a big fan of Virgin and Branson's way of doing business - so I'm only too happy to see them spread across sectors in India. In case you haven't caught the drift, here's a quick summary of their India presence (to the best of my knowledge).

Virgin Atlantic (airline) - connects Mumbai and Delhi to London
Virgin Comics (comics) - Branson + Shekhar Kapur + Gotham Chopra + Sharad Devarajan
Fever 104 FM (radio) - A joint venture between Virgin Radio and Hindustan Times
The Mobile Store (retail) - Joint venture with Essar Group
Virgin Mobile (mobile) - Proposed 50:50 venture with Tata Teleservices
Virgin Galactic (space travel!) - A collaboration with Deluxe Travel and GD Goenka World Travel [Updated as of 16 Oct, 2007]

... and the list will go on. What I'm willing to put my pennies on? Virgin Hot Air Balloons! Please, oh please get them to locales like Ladakh/Kerala/Munnar or something! More about Virgin here.

Coffee and Craft

2007-05-13T12:46:00.000+05:30

Last week I checked out 2 new delightful shopping experiences. Now before you start thinking I sound like a girl let me tell you I had REASONS for going to these places - read on.

City Central Mall

5-10 minutes walk from Mumbai Central station, this new mall has all the usual mega brands and a Big Bazaar. The food court is also pretty good. But I specifically went there because the first Coffee World in Mumbai just opened up here! Coffee World what? My favorite coffee chain. Try it - a bit more premium priced than a Barista, as chilled out as CCD (without the ghastly pink and purple) and absolutely yumazing stuff. My favorites:

* Cookie Crush Frappe
* Veg/Chicken Salad (not yet available in this outlet - miss the Bangalore one for it!)
* The waffles - no words. Try them. They're evil almost.

Having raved about my 'fave coffee chain' and everything I was disappointed with this one - too small, didn't have the laid back loungy experience that the Bangalore ones offer (@ Mota Arcade/Eva Mall) - but then it's still the first one so I'll give them time and hope the next one is bigger, better and stocks my favorite salad!

Hobby Ideas

Remember the old Crossword store at Mahalaxmi? Well good, drop in there now - this place is now taken over by Pidilite, the guys who help fisherfolk catch fish with drops of - Fevicol! Cutting to the point - enter 'Hobby Ideas' - India's first hobby and craft store. It's got everything from paints to glass/wooden things you can decorate, paper craft, modeling clay, party goodies and what not. What was I doing there? (a) I love paper craft (b) Was shopping for my sis (c) was on a secret mission :) Stick around as a good Kronicles reader and you'll know details soon.

Tip: Hobby Ideas has some awesome craft/art workshops for kids regularly. No details on their website yet, but the calendar's up in the store. They also have another store at the InOrbit Mall, Malad.

My Bookshelf

2007-05-07T13:23:00.001+05:30

My Bookshelf
Originally uploaded by Kaushal Karkhanis.

From left to right...

* Some work-related media
* Bruce Lee's Fighting Method (not read a single page)
* Profile of the Perfect Person (not read a single page)
* Fit For Life (not read a single page)
* A.N.Shanbagh - In The Wonderland of Investment (read about 20 pages)
* Kris Cole - Crystal Clear Communication (1/4th done)
* Do not dig a grave and bury your career (not read a single page)
* Pleasure Zone (not read a single page)
* The Skill of Self Management (read a few pages)
* The Art of Self Defence (not read a single page)
* Yogasanas (reference)
* London (just bought this today!)
* Kishore Biyani - It Happened in India (half way through. AWESOME read!).
* Maverick! (finished reading. Highly recommended)
* Maldives (reference, for going there!)
* Web Marketing in a week (not read a single page)
* Pooja Lulla - Angel and a Half (author is a friend. read a few chapters. fun!)
* Business Plans in a week (reference)
* The Present (not read a single page)
* Screw It, Let's Do It (screw this book. pick up the autobiography instead)
* Every Man (read a few pages. great guide for every man, really)
* The Big MOO (finished. interesting, inspiring)
* Japanese Phrases (konnichiwa! Eigo o hanashi masuka?)
* Balancing Life & Work (dont have time for it)
* APJ Abdul Kalam (President of India) - Ignited Minds (not read a single page)
* Learn Kannada (learning. swalpa swalpa)
* Learn Gujarati in a month (ee pan thodu thodu avdech)
* Learn Japanese (watashi wa Kaushal san!)
* M Scott Peck, MD - The Road Less Travelled (finished. great book for anyone)
* Richard Branson - Losing My Virginity (finished in Goa - LOVED the book)
* Rich Dad, Poor Dad (finished in Goa. fantastic read for learning about money)
* some movies in a box, Batman, memento from Microsoft
* Bottom - The 10 Day MBA, 101 Things to do before you Die (fun fun fun!), Freud for Beginners, Japanese for Dummies, B&W photos, razor, some movies).

Welcome to the Global Village

2007-04-19T14:58:00.000+05:30

It’s funny how the world keeps shrinking – mine does for sure!

4 years back, I made an online friend Nick Gray. Before coming to India in 2004, he sent me a photo-essay of his daily routine in Atlanta, Georgia. Now, this webpage also had a girl with a big grin saying a digital hello to me – Megan Scheminske. Before I knew it, Nick was in Mumbai, we became the best of buddies and then he was gone – back to the US of A.

Cut to today. Megan is now in Mumbai living with us while traveling across the country (even as I type this, she’s basking in the sands of Goa with Akshay and friends!)

Now here's the irony of the global village. I met Akshay Mahajan, who stays in Bandra - through Nick! So after meeting him when Nick was here in 2004, I only met him next at the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2007 and now with Megan around. Ironical? Funny? Welcome to Life 2.0!

This is what I love about the web, online communities and blogs – it creates such a strong borderless community that it really doesn't matter where your friends are. You almost always know what they're upto!

Postcard from Bhutan

2007-03-15T00:43:00.001+05:30

Just back from an awesome trip to the Royal Kingdom of Bhutan - "the last place on the roof of the world" as it is rightly called. Cocooned in the mighty Himalayas, the rich country offered us the best of nature, climate, peace and tranquility - a real feeling of firdaus on zameen. Day T-2 - Getting There (March 01) Entering Bhutan is almost a privilege for any Indian - just carry a passport / voter ID card simply for proof of Indian citizenship and you're welcome to explore the virgin beauty for upto 14 days with a special permit issued almost immediately.

By road, you enter via the Indian town of Jaigaon into the Bhutanese town of Phuentsholing. By air, you could fly Kolkata-Paro or Delhi-Paro thru Druk Air - the only carrier which can fly you to Bhutan. Damages: ~4-5K INR.

I flew down Mumbai-Kolkata-Bagdogra, took a cab to Siliguri and then a 5 hour bus to Jaigaon - all in a day's time! Reaching the border of India-Bhutan by road and standing in front of the Royal Gate was an incredible experience in itself. Stayed in a guesthouse overlooking it. They had an awesome restaurant called 'Vatika' - highly recommended. Room was OK.

Day 0 - Joining the trek group (March 02) Since I had reached a day earlier, the rest of the group (+7) joined in the next day from New Jalpaiguri. This day was mostly just about knowing each other and doing a quick reiki trip across the border to Bhutan.

Day 1 - Immigration, Journey to Thimphu (March 03) The process is fairly simple, and our guide Sonam Wangchuk from our local operator 'Lhomen Tours and Travels' took care of it. It's best to do your bookings with a tour operator before reaching Bhutan so that paperwork is faster and hassle-free. Once done, we headed off to the capital city of Thimphu in a Toyota minubus. The journey was awesome - clean chilly air, breathtaking views of mountains and valleys and random passerbys waving out to us 'foreigners'. Reached Hotel Wangchuk in the evening and settled down.

Day 2 - Thimphu - Gangtey (March 04) Lunch @ 13,000 ft. - drive - stopover at Dochula Pass - Overnight at local farmhouse.

Day 3 - Gangtey - Gogona (March 05) The trail winds up on a slow climb through fields and then ascends the Tselela pass (3400m), which is our lunch stop. Then descends gradually for some time through forests of juniper, bamboo, magnolia and rhododendrons. After the last short climb, reach Gogona village. The people of Gogona were originally nomads and they speak a language called Bjopkha (language of namds). Overnight camp.

Day 4 - Gogona - Khotokha (March 06) Climb up a gentle slope to Shobjula pass (3400m), then down to a wide valley of Khotokha, a summer place of people of Sha (under Wangduephodrang district). Overnight camp.

Day 5 - Khotokha - Chuzomsa - Wangduephodrang - Paro (March 07) Short ascend leads to Mulaila pass (9200ft) then the path descends through an ever changing vegetation till the bridge in Wangdi(Chuzomsa). The trek is approximately 4-5 hours. From Chuzomsa the vehicle brought us to Paro approximately 5 hours. Overnight in hotel.

Day 6 - Paro Sightseeing, Museum, Drukyeldzong - (March 08) Whole day sightseeing in and around Paro with a visit of Drukyeldzong, Museum, Paro Dzong. Overnight hotel.

-------------------------------------- This blog post is a work in progress. Meanwhile, read my travel buddy Shruti's Bhutan notes and do check out my photo-essay on Flickr - arranged by Arts, Animals, Nature and People. Special thanks and mention to my old friend Prateek Deo who has accepted me as his trekking protege and shown me a Life Away From Life!

Take My Breath Away (not!)

2007-02-15T22:23:00.001+05:30

I'm not gonna forget this year's valentine's day I think - it took my breath away - literally. Persistent cough for 4 weeks coupled with carrying the last box (~30+ kg?) 4 storeys up all led into major bodyache, a sore chest and flu! So I was in bed all day holding on to dear heart and wishing no one tries to steal it this year. As this pretty lady seems to be emoting in this lovely pic captured by her dad Yogi "So thats what all the brouhaha about V-Day is? Bleh!" Post scriptum: I'm not dead yet. :)

Escape Madness - Be a nomad!

2007-02-12T18:29:00.000+05:30

That's not the title of my newest t-shirt (iPaad is!).

It's my motto for this year. Travel like there's no tomorrow. The global warming folks are already freaking the planet out, my doctor's telling me I've got some bronchoblah and work is the last thing on my mind. So the only thing that I'm seriously serious about right now is exploring the planet and let the prophets romance the skeptics.

Here's a *very* optimistic travel schedule I want to try n stick to...
(work, finances and health willing)

March: Bhutan
June-July: Eurotrip or Maldives
Aug-Sep: 2 months in Ladakh filming a documentary (sponsors welcome!)
Nov-Dec: Rajasthan and Gujarat (tentative)

Hmm... that sounds too optimistic, n'est-ce pas? :) There's always Goa and Bangalore to fill up the gaps!

It's Not About The Bike

2006-12-29T20:22:00.000+05:30

3 guys just reached their destination, Haridwar - traveling from Mumbai on a bicycle for a cool 2000 kms! While I can't recollect a single thing I achieved in the last 21 days (the time they took to cover the distance) I'm superhappy for their achievement and promised to join them on their next trip. Yeah, me and my promises :)

Here's wishing hearty congratulations and a fabulous new year to you guys - Prateek, Vinod and Glean. Rock on!

Who are these people and why did they do all this? Check out Life Away From Life or the Google group.

Things I'll miss about Bangalore!

2006-12-05T18:17:00.000+05:30

It's just been 3 weeks since I moved back to Mumbai from Bangalore (with a week in between in Assam), but I already miss the city which I otherwise found boring while there - ah well, you know - the grass is always greener on the other side ;) In no particular order, here's what I'll miss badly...

Lalbagh Botanical Gardens - Simply beautiful - would offer something new every week!
My bachelor pad :)
Haggling with the autorickshaw guys - oh it's a royal freakin' pain
Shangria nights at Olive Beach
Sunny's Special Blue Cheese Salad at, well, Sunny's
Roadside food at V.V. Puram and Chikpet
Brigade Road, Church Road and M.G. Road - my daily haunts
The St.Mark's Road Barista which perhaps has the best interiors I've seen for a café
The Coffee World at Mota Arcade which reminded me of Central Perk. By the way although they are not as popular as Barista and Cafe Coffee Day I rate them the best!
Microsoft colleagues and acquaintances! Made so many awesome friends here :)
Friday morning break-feasts at the office pantry. The only day I used to reach on time. Sometimes.
The Cha Bar, Barista, Oxford Bookstore, Spa and Athena at The Leela
The gorgeous view and the expanse at Ista
The lazy Sunday brunches with friends - Oberoi, Chancery Pavilion, Casa Del Sol
Taika's awesome dance floor - although they don't allow you to dance anymore!
SoCare - an NGO all of us visited and spent a day with kids. Wish I spent more time :(
Breakfasts at Koshy's and Konark (highly recommended)
A million restaurants - Bangalore is truly a foodie paradise!
3Storys - Amazing homely restaurant on Lavelle Road with a Goa -like ambience and the yummiest coastal cuisine which'll leave you smacking your fingers. They didn't bribe me to say this really :) Recommendations: Fish meal, 'bibinca', 'dodol' (desert), kadlai curry
Walking from the Airport Road to Shantinagar frustated with autorickshaws who wouldn't stop for a fare or overcharge. That's a cool 7 kms. At least.
Inox, Lush, CookieMan, Tresspass and pretty much all of Garuda Mall
Hint, Bombay Blue, Namma MTR (now closed) at Bangalore Central
Weekend getaways which were a thought away from the city
Magazines - My favorite store which sells virtually every mag under the sun (Church St.)
The awesome bookstores - Blossoms, Crossword, Oxford, Higginbothams... tons more!
More restaurants - 100Ft. Boutique, The Beach, Cosmo Village, Biryani Merchant (closed)
.... and last but most importantly... all the fantastic people I met and made friends!

Bangalore through my lens - Click here for my photoblog on Flickr.

Cool (Free) Web Services!

2006-10-19T20:51:00.000+05:30

I've always had a penchant for finding really useful "cool sites" - mostly free web based services. Thought I'd love to write a journal-style book on it someday, a lot of new sites come up, lots get removed - so blogging is a better platform I guess - Enjoy! (This will be a regularly edited post - last updated on 08 July 2007)

PIM / Organization and Stationery

* Log your personal finances and track your historical spending trends - Expensr

* Print graph papers, Smith charts etc. at PDF Pad

* Create and print a cool foldable pocket organizer at PocketMod

Phone Stuff

* Call anywhere in the world - and talk on your phone! - Via Nick

* Find the Names Your Phone Number Spells - Via Manas Tungare

Health and Fitness

* Log daily workouts, get motivated and motivate others - Traineo

* Custom workouts based on your conditioning, experience and goals - Hyperstrike

The New Social Services ;)

* Quick, simple and easy blogging for everyone - Tumblr

* Pick from more than 100 social bookmarking links for your blog entries - 3Spots

* Create your free wiki with photo albums, ToDo, Calendar and more - JotSpot

Hobby and Craft

* Download, print and create 3D paper models of Yamaha bikes, animals etc. - Yamaha (Via Manuj Chandra)

* Check out TONS of awesome projects at the HP Activity Center - you can download PDF artwork and print it on HP recommended paper and then create some really fun stuff like albums and picture frames, calendars, cards, gift wraps and more - all for free!

Shrek fan like me?

Download and create some cool Shrek The Third prints!

Business
* Create, maintain and despatch invoices for free - Blinksale

Careers
* Locate/post job listings for freshers - JobOKPlease

Travel
* Plan, print and share your trips and vacations - Yahoo! Trip Planner

* Read and share your trip experiences -
IgoUgo, TripAdvisor, WAYN, Raahi, HolidayIQ

* Find and book inter-city buses for transportation - RedBus

* Free accomodation worldwide through hospitality exchange -
The Hospitality Club, CouchSurfing, ExtraBed.in (for bloggers)

* Great holiday package deals (airfare + stay) from Jet Airways and Indian

* Satellite maps mapping minute details of every structure on earth! - Wikimapia

* Cheapest airfare, ticket booking, stay and vacation deals -
ClearTrip, MakeMyTrip, Yatra, TravelGuru, IXiGo, Arzoo, Travelocity, EzeeGo1

Video and Entertainment
* Watch online videos for free - YouTube, Vimeo, Gotuit

Google Wordmasters Challenge 2006

2006-10-05T16:17:00.000+05:30

This time on my visit back home to Mumbai, I extended my stay by another week to participate in the Google Wordmasters Challenge - in response to an ad in the Times of India.

The ad challenged "word nerds" to register for an event to be held in Mumbai on October 1st and only 300 participants were to be accomodated.

Let's skip the yada-yada and get to the point - or the venue directly!

National College Bandra. Registrations done, I walked into a semi-packed auditorium with Google logos dancing about and curious participants sharpening their tools and discussing about them. We're given a sheet of paper which has 2 sets of 20 words each. Pick one set of words and use all of them in an essay more than 150 but less than 200 words. Fun no? :)

My set of words contained:

disagreement, insight, rethink, nerves, professional, adjust, viewpoint, democratic, motive, goodness, adamant, boss, meditation, accept, anger management, Einstein, differences, control, hurt, humane

Hmmm.... not bad I think. Spent 10 minutes of the given hour just trying to make sense and somehow trying to connect these words into a story. Another 10 minutes went in drafts and the last 40 mins. in the final entry, rechecking for typos... er... spelling mistakes and a word count.

Here's my final draft, although my entry varied a trifle bit with last minute changes...

"As far as I can remember, my colleague Einstein was always in disgreement with me and the rest of the team. Moreover, he was in complete denial of the fact that he was in fact, a control freak and an authoritarian in professional life.

He would act as if he was the boss in the team! But knowing him closely as a person, I knew his motive was not actually to cause hurt as he was as humane as they got. But we had real differences of opinion and viewpoints - and him being adamant about his, in most cases did not help. It only got on our nerves.

We were certainly willing to adjust and compromise once in a while. But what was really needed was a more democratic approach to his work. Then perhaps, he needed some anger management or meditation to gain insight into the goodness within him and how he could best apply this to his professional life."

News that stung my heart

2006-09-05T23:34:00.000+05:30

There are 2 types of people - those who are passionate about whatever they do and love doing it. And there are those who do things because they have to do them.

I've always respected the former kinds - although very rare, especially when it comes to doing something good. So when I just read about the death of Australian TV star and wildlife lover, Steve 'Croc Hunter' Irwin due to a stingray's barb directly into the heart, I felt very sad - yet happy for Steve for never giving up what he loved and dying doing what he loved most. I'm not much of a TV person but I've managed to catch a show or 2 of his, and what a pleasant change it was from the usual crap you get on the tube. Reality shows which suck, saans-bahu climax dramas and traumas and all that junk!

Anyways - hats off to the man and may his soul rest in peace.

Follow news articles: CNBC / BBC

Mumbai Train Blasts

2006-07-11T19:43:00.000+05:30

There were at least 7 blasts killing 15 and injuring many in Mumbai's suburban trains today. I gathered some info you could use...

Please do not panic. Once you're safe, try and keep the rumours down and spirits high. Terrorists' main goal is to cause panic.
Once you make sure your friends n family are OK, please get OFF THE PHONE. Do not jam the phone lines. Others are dying to get thru!!
Again - do not spread rumours! Refer to media sources or real witnesses only.

INFO & COVERAGE:

Helpline: 022-22005388, 24451515, 24452222, 26207254
Rediff News

Mumbai Help Blog

India Uncut

Mumbai MetBlogs

Global Voices

SMS your loved ones that you're OK

(Your message will go live on the news channel or website)

For Rediff: SMS SOS followed by your message to 7333

For CNN IBN: SMS Mumbai - (your message) to 2622 [View Here]

For NDTV: SMS your message to 6388 [View Here]

BLOOD DONATIONS VIA SMS
Head over to IndianBloodDonors.com

TRAFFIC UPDATE
Click here for the current status of Mumbai traffic

LIST OF INJURED & DEAD
Hospital-Wise List Via Mumbai Police Website

UNABLE TO REACH SOMEONE?
Leave the person's contact details here and volunteers will connect u.

EMERGENCY SHELTERS IN SOUTH MUMBAI
Via MumbaiHelp Blog

PHOTOS FROM THE MASSACRE
Times Of India, Flickr - Graphic content. Viewer discretion is advised.

MY MESSAGE TO THE BOMBERS
You can shake the ground beneath us, but you can't shake Mumbai's foundation.

I is for Indulgence

2006-07-05T20:31:00.000+05:30

I have a confession to make. I've been having this whirlwind romance with good food lately, and today it reached its point of climax. Then again climax seems like a weightless word in comparison.

"OK bub, what in the name of sweet devil are you talking about?"

Patience, perky patron! Great stories are never told climax first. Aaah, that word again. OK fine, let's cut the clutter and get to the point...

Had the most amazing salad today at Sunny's. "Huh, salad? Pthooey!"
Aah, now not just normal salad that. They call it Sunny's Salad with Blue Cheese. I call it heaven's gate. The Big O. Bliss on a plate.

Follow this with a rightly-observed aphrodisiac - the tiramisu. And what have you? Poetry in motion. Hedonism to the max baby!

I'm flying. You're zonked. Get back to work.

Caveat Emptor!

2006-07-01T20:53:00.000+05:30

That's Latin for 'buyers beware' and although it is typically a term applicable when you want to emphasise on the consumer's choice of free will and good quality products, it applies to spendthrifts like me who make impulsive buying decisions almost all the time! Today I spent a load of my hard-earned moolah on homethings and media (my other favorite expense after food). I say media because I don't like to differentiate books, magazines, CDs and VCDs - it's all edutainment to me - and 'media' to the world.

The Media Shopping List
* School Notebook (Can't stay organized without one!)
* The Marketing Whitebook 2006 by Businessworld
* PC World India Edition, Issue 1 (Because I gotta have any mag's first issue)
* Music: Vikku Vinayakram - The Great Potter (fusion)
* Music: Kadri Gopalnath - Dream Journey 4 (Saxophone/carnatic)
* Movie: Tom Dick and Harry - lame ass comedy. I have a thing for this genre.
* Movie: Around The World in 80 Days
* Movie: Holiday - Seemingly interesting coming-of-age movie by Pooja Bhatt
* Movie: Replikate - Guy clones hot girlfriend. Ali Landry. Don't need more reasons
* Video: Bollywood Bodies - Workout with John Abraham - Yeah OK. I hear you. Heck at least I dont give up!

Footnote
Finished reading Richard Branson's autobiogrpahy, 'Losing My Virgnity' - One of the BEST books I've ever read and would surely recommend it to anyone who has an iota of entrepreneurial spirit or otherwise.
Now reading 'Maverick!' by Ricardo Semler.

Change is the only constant...

2006-06-28T17:40:00.000+05:30

Yeah yeah, whenever I write something so thoughtful and deeeep it generally means I'm upto something. Right thou art.

After spending an year and a half at Microsoft India I've decided to step out and take a break. Meaning (a) I'm quitting and (b) I'm not going to be working for a month at least.

Through August, I'll be mostly offline.

Comments, critiques, Godspeeds, thumbs ups and birdie fingers welcome!

Everyone's a-hiring!

2006-03-07T17:54:00.000+05:30

Time and again I feel like I'm a job exchange bureau! And there's never been a better time for new media jobs. So if you're looking for one right now, click thru these links. Besides these, I have a friend who's looking for Sr./Jr. Graphics folks and Art Directors to work in Dubai. Drop me a mail if you're interested on that: [myfirstname]@gmail.com

Here's some more cool jobs in the market in companies I admire...

JAM Magazine (Mumbai)

Flash Animators
Senior Ad Sales Exec.
Part Time Cartoonist
Senior Graphic Designer
Web Programmer (ASP)
Full Time Writer
Assistant Editor
Exec. - DB & Mktg Support

Indiagames (Mumbai)

Accounts Executive / Assistant Manager / Manager
Senior Programmer
3D Brew Programmer
3D J2ME Programmer
Mobile Platform Product / Systems Manager

Opera Software (Chandigarh)

Web Opener India (MarCom)
Software Tester India

plaNETsurf (Bangalore)

Project Lead
Programmers
Web Designers
Copy Editors/Feature Writers, Copy Writers
Flash Scripting Specialist

Communicate2 (Mumbai/Dubai)

Perl Developers (6 posts)
PHP Developers (8 posts)
Web Designer (8 posts)
Graphic Designer (2 posts)
Admin (2 posts)
(Google AdWords) PPC Professionals *NEW
Customer Relationship Manager (4 posts)

LevelUp Games India (Mumbai)

Web Developer
Executive Assistant to Managing Director
Business Development Executives (Mumbai)
Asst. Manager – Sales Operations

BCWebWise (Mumbai)

Web Developer
Flash ActionScript Programmer

Rediff (Mumbai)

Senior Internet Application Developer
Senior Desktop Application Developer
Product Manager
Manager - Advertising Sales
Manager - Business Operations
Business Managers/Assistant Managers

More.... Microsoft India | Google India | AgencyFAQs Listings

A Mockery Of Journalism

2005-10-10T11:43:00.000+05:30

JAM Magazine was my first job and how I loved it! It was not about the money, not about the 'job', but more about the religion of free journalism where we could express our views, design the pages, work on the website. So when the Editor of the magazine, Rashmi Bansal is being maligned on her blog by (seemingly) IIPM 'students' and 'alumni', naturally I should talk about it. So here goes.

JAM is known for its brash, irreverent attitude and brutal honesty. So JAM decided to do what it does best - talk to people associated with the institute (students, ex-students, prospects who considered joining it, management, etc.) and then analyze and publish the findings. So far, so good.

This is the article that was published in JAM

Now comes the interesting part! Some supertechie folks (no prizes for guessing who they could be) decided to flame Rashmi's blog with fake comments and atrocious profanities, which even Harry Potter could tell that they have been 'seeded'. (Yeah, OK even Ron).

Take a look at her blog and the comments.
If you're a blogger, please add in your thoughts on the issue as well.

UPDATE

Here's what essentially happened. JAM published the article a couple of months back. On August 5, Gaurav Sabnis, blogged:
"A few weeks back, I linked to a story carried by JAM magazine which examined the tall claims made by IIPM in its newspaper ads. Some days later I linked to the blog of someone claiming to be an ex-IIPM-ite. The main purpose behind these posts on my blog was to make a few people aware of how these massively embellished ads may be painting an exaggerated picture of their institute's worth."

That's where it all began. The Blog Wars!

Gaurav Sabnis has now quit his job at IBM so that his employer is not maligned by IIPM's legal threats to the tune of Rs. 125 Crores and pressure tactics. Kudos to you, Gaurav. For having the balls to stand for yourself and not allowing your company to be disturbed by threats. I agree with Gaurav that he's not trying to malign IIPM or it's genuine students, but simply asking people to educate themselves about the institution they are about to join or getting their kids to join. Is your prospective university/institution really worth what it claims? That, ladies and gentlemen, is the question.

The entire issue with on the dot updates is being covered brilliantly by Desipundit

Indian Idol with idle Indian

2005-08-25T11:39:00.000+05:30

Well, OK. That's Sachin Tendulkar with Sagar Karkhanis - the brother, again. Looks like I'm going to have to change my blog theme to his (bro) fansite - the guy seems to be in the news right now! First it was the Mega Bull, now Ace Cricketer, or as he calls him 'Sach-incredible player'.

Leela Palace, Bangalore

2005-08-09T14:02:00.000+05:30

Leela Palace2 Bangalore
Originally uploaded by jackfrench.

My favorite hotel here. Fabulous picture taken by Jack French on Flickr. What I like here is the overall ambience, 3 sprwaling floors of shopping which includes Amoeba, an entertainment center and Oxford Bookstore. The spa here 'Espa' is out of the world. Leela Palace was not a palace originally, but it is built to look like one. The courtyard and pool inside are oblivious to the main road traffic. You couldn't possibly believe you're in Bangalore once there. Most of my 'good' weekends are spent here! :)

Birthday lunch

2005-08-04T20:06:00.000+05:30

Superboss strangle
Originally uploaded by Kaushal Karkhanis.

Sheila is the superboss. This is the pre-cakesmash pic. Now you know why I'm freaking out! In the next 2 minutes I had cake on my face, mouth, neck and uck - hair!

Taken at one of my fave places, Desmond's Restaurant. Highly recommended! Great food, great ambience, super service & special attention from the gentleman owner!

Quarter Life Innings Completed

2005-08-04T09:18:00.000+05:30

Just turned 25!

Thanks to everyone who wished me, calls, SMS & emails galore. :)

Got a lunch treat from the team and lots of chocolate in my hair.

Mumbai Help Blog

2005-08-01T11:34:00.000+05:30

The SWAT team of Dina Mehta, Harini Calamur, Sunil Nair, Peter Griffin, Atanu Dey and others does it again - a relevant resource for all your Mumbai calamity questions and concerns. Check out the Mumbai Help Blog. This is the same team which initiated the Tsunami Help Blog, which inspired me, among so many others to aid tsunami affected.

Mumbai Floods - Friends & Family accounts

2005-07-29T20:02:00.000+05:30

Nishant sent some pics from his cam (shown on the left here) while Martin blogged a few. His brand new Nokia camera phone, with which he took some more pics, was eventuall stolen in the chaos. Carlton, Sudi and Amanda were stuck in traffic for more than 30 hours! Eshani reached home last noon, Neha at night. Both were stranded for the night. Divya stayed at a friend's place. Here's her story. Kashyap walked in neck length filthy water near Santacruz... "I saw dead people floating in water...trust that scene...it just doesn't go outta my sight".

Pooja's points (after I ask her for an update on the scene in Mumbai)...

we lost a neighbor - he suffocated in his car while his wife n driver became unconcious
cousin was stuck under a flyowver all nite
friends day took 25 hours to reach bandra from ghatkopar
the deaths in cars....almost 25 known cases
water entered my friends bunglow right above the bed, furniture was floating
i saw a dead bosy outside my friend's gate. man must have drowned
police didnt do a thing for over aday
electricity was gobe for over a day, still not restored in juhu
candles that cost 1 buck were selling for 50 rupees
no drinking water - ppl were selling in black
linking road had over 10000 cars stranded all through out
pitch dark - no place to move
ppl who cud abandoned the cars and left. some died in the cars
some lived n reached home a day later
water snakes on the rds
ppl i know have walked home ading thru water for 10 hrs
there was chin deep water in juhu and andheri
a bus was submerged in kalina
over a 1000 buffaloes have died
school kids were stranded in buses
massive trees fallen, poles fallen, roads are broken
the walls at carter road have holes - i think they must have broken deliberately
coz the water from the high tide n rain had made the thing like a pool
ppl were slipping in their houses in the dark cos they cusnt see the water
pitch blackness for over a day
i believe even in bandra where g7 is, they used navy boats to rescue ppl
ppl began mobbing my friend's merc for a ride whey didnt offer, they sat on their bonnets n boots
car locks and windows got jammed...thats how pl died
just imagine this man we know, he drowned in his own bldg compound and his body lay there for over a day
my neighbor cudnt even take his dad's body to delhi for the funeral coz of the flights
cooper hosp in juhu....the icus are tsill without water
there was a school kids and drivers body found outside utpal sanghvi...the famous school in juhu
my masi's ceiling thats below the terrace leaked n she kept slipping in the dark
her daughet was out with her college friend the entire nite. no ifo abt her. cells were dead, few mtnl lines wrkd
landslides in andheri at saki naka - over a 100 have died
lights flickering even now

Finally, Rashmi's take on a matter like this cannot be missed! To add my own take, my worry is the worst may seem to be over, but with all the filthy water everywhere and deaths, some of which may not even be discovered for a while, it could become a breeding ground for epidemics. God bless Mumbai.

Everyone's a director!

2005-07-11T15:42:00.000+05:30

I had never tried the Windows Movie Maker earlier, but while I was touring across the country for Microsoft Tech.Ed 2005, it was my best and most easily available option for editing video clips we took from the event.

Surprisingly, it was so easy and cool to use it, and gave me all the features I need - text on video, credits, transitions - everything! I landed up finishing the edit job in 20 minutes flat :) The end result was lots of fun and people loved the video I finally inserted in the credits roll. Will try and upload it for all to see.

Tricolor Chutney!

2005-06-24T12:48:00.000+05:30

Tricolor Chutney!
Originally uploaded by Kaushal Karkhanis.

I asked for these 3 'chutneys' for taste. Incidentally they form India's flag colors!

Something to ogle... er, ogre at!

2005-06-08T17:15:00.000+05:30

american_beauty
Originally uploaded by dream_boy_1811.

If Shrek made it to the movies before Mena Suvari did, damn we'd get to see this poster for sure.

Unlimited Dhoklas

2005-06-07T20:10:00.000+05:30

Last week I was in my hometown, Mumbai. So I decided to drop by the one place I've been wanting to try for Gujarati food (thali) - Golden Thali.

The ambience was relaxed, well lit and the waiters were dressed in traditional clothing: pagadi, dhoti et al. The fare was medium-spicy and a feast to say the least. There were some 4 types of 'shaak' (vegetables), the typical yum dal, chaas (butter milk), dal dhokri, dhoklas, dahi bati, scumptious alphonso mango 'aam ras' and finally some dal khichdi. I couldn't possibly describe in words how awesome the food here tastes. But one word of caution - do NOT eat anything for at least 5-6 hours before landing here. You'll not have any more room for even a 'paan' - the absolute must which usually follows a typical Gujarati dinner.

My favorites here - The dal and khichdi. I could live on that diet.

The damages? Rs.170 for an unlimited thali. Well worth it, take my word! Location: Bang opposite Grant Road station. 2 mins. walk from Opera House by road.

The psychology of good and evil

2005-05-18T11:31:00.000+05:30

Just yesterday I was discussing with a friend, what is it that makes people Good or Bad. Good or Evil. Selfish or Selfless. The main criteria we were debating on was whether it is upbringing, circumstances and experiences or life decisions the individual makes. And hey presto! Here come the answers today. I just happened to chance upon this article with current interest for all things Episode III... Lucas Talks About Anakin's Good Side - Yahoo! News

2005-05-05T14:49:00.000+05:30

w00t! Fella just gifted me a 1 week Subscription to deviantART, my favourite artist community. Happy 05.05.05 indeed :)

2005-05-04T12:01:00.000+05:30

My buddy Nick Gray just gifted me a obscenely cool Flickr! Pro account - 2Gigs of monthly photo uploads and unlimited storage. THANKS A MILLION NICK!!

Pow!

2005-05-01T19:12:00.000+05:30

In class 1
Originally uploaded by brood_mode.

Super cool picture :)

Flickr & Frolic

2005-04-20T11:07:00.000+05:30

Via FlickrBlog, Flickr! account size limits will be doubled for uploads and archiving, i.e. 20 MB a month in uploads, 200 photos will be archived and available through the site. Wooooohoooo!

Since I'm talking about video...

2005-04-16T20:29:00.000+05:30

Moviefone Hi-Resolution Downloads is a cool new way to share and downloads the latest movie trailers - legally! :)

The Video Web has arrived!

2005-04-14T05:12:00.000+05:30

Google Video is opening up video uploads to the public! So you could create your own video and sign up as a content provider to host your videos. You may even charge users for downloading! Sounds pretty interesting, and I've queued up a little home video taken an year back or so. Talking of videos and sharing, Nick's buddies Zach and Jakob run Vimeo - a video sharing community, much like the Flickr! of videos. Go on, give it a shot!

Follow your dreams

2005-03-30T13:37:00.000+05:30

Been wanting to read Paulo Coelho's book 'The Alchemist' for a long time, so when I saw it lying around on my roommate's desk for a couple of weeks, I finally decided to give it a shot. Once I picked it up, I couldn't keep it down, literally. Started reading it at 12:30 am and finished a little before 4 am. Wonderful read... don't miss it.

Yahoo! preps up to do a Gig

2005-03-24T12:16:00.000+05:30

Yahoo! is getting all aggressive to take on the Google guys. Triggered response mechanism? Well, looks it! Let's see what we have... Google becomes search leader ; Yahoo! wakes up, shakes up it's search Google acquires Picasa ; Yahoo! acquires Flickr! Google launches Gmail with 1 Gig; Yahoo! ups their storage to 250 Megs, and now readying to do the Gig Google acquires Pyra Labs' Blogger ; Yahoo! braces up Yahoo! 360° The one thing I love about Yahoo! which Google *still* doesn't have? My Yahoo!

Collaborative app development

2005-03-23T20:53:00.000+05:30

Microsoft's Software GreenHouse for mobile development and Google Code are 2 awesome collaborative application development/developer communities which seem really interesting. Hop across and you'll know why!

Carpe Diem like there's no tomorrow!

2005-03-18T21:22:00.000+05:30

The last 2 days have been some of the most busiest and most rewarding days for me!

Organising my first event - the launch of VTU-Microsoft Technology Center
Attending the Macromedia MAX 2005 Conference

The event was a smooth one, so all of the planning and anxiety finally, well, translated into some productive output!

The Macromedia MAX 2005 Conference was also an amazing experience, being a Dreamweaver and Flash user for years and finally getting to attend one of its events itself was rewarding. But in quality terms, I truly gained a lot of extremely useful knowledge here! This was perhaps my first conference also (exluding one I attended on JAVA some 10 years back which flew over the cuckoo's nest. And my head. Yeah, maybe I'm just dumb!).

What did I learn here? The exciting opportunities Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004 offers, which were sitting right under my nose. Using Templates, working with databases, using pure CSS and eliminating tables altogether - wow! And I thought I knew Dreamweaver! Macromedia has recently also launched Flex, another cool software which is an excellent tool for building simple solutions to complex websites, or more so - Rich Internet Applications (RIAs). Flickr is one of the most fantastic examples of RIAs I can think of. Lets not even consider second best.

The sessions I loved best were the one on Flex and the one on CSS & Dreamweaver templates by Greg Rewis of Macromedia.

The fun part of the conference - I got to catch up with buddies Mandar and Martin from Hungama. And Chak of Macromedia using Microsoft Powerpoint to present Macromedia Breeze (the web presentation tool from the Macromedia stable) - some folks from the audience pointed this out! I kept quite, but at the end of his session, I went up to him to commend him for appreciating the fact that Powerpoint is indeed the defacto presentation tool, while Breeze has its own space as an 'online, collaborative whiteboard + presentation environment'. And hey, I love Dreamweaver & Flash! :) Software choices are all about productivity at the end of the day - as my colleague Gaurav Khanna points out.

One coincidence too many!

2005-02-24T11:58:00.000+05:30

Continuing from my previous post, the short trip to Mumbai was too interesting for one blog post. Landed up meeting 3 people I didn't plan to meet, and thought I'd not meet in a long long time. Ritu Tripathi, a college pal I bumped into at Phoenix; Vivek Bhargava, a friend who runs a new media firm in India and Dubai whom I met at Bangalore airport; and then Alpa, my bhutta-lovin' friend whom I met in Bangalore upon returning. She was here for a grand total of 2 days, en route from Chennai to Mumbai, where she'll be settling for now. Hmm, me and my coincidences. Now I refuse to be amazed. They happen to often.

Three Day Adventure

2005-02-21T11:57:00.000+05:30

So I went back home this weekend to Mumbai, for taking care of a couple of things and closing some stuff. Both matters taken care of, but boy was the ride back home something. One could actually say I was taken for a ride. My Air India flight was scheduled for a 0130hrs departure, but horror of horrors, the minions managed to do oversales. So some 15 of us were left there stranded, and (leaving the boring and teeth-gnawingly annoying details behind) we were forced to accept the next option - transfer to domestic Indian Airlines and fly the IC 105, at 0630hrs. Hardly caught a wink, but should thank my stars for getting to work on time! The interesting part about this post is it's part of my work - testing the deployment of MSN Messenger alerts :)

An open-shut case of happiness

2005-02-16T17:39:00.000+05:30

This just dawned upon me, in the middle of a work day, while I was walking up the stairs of my new workplace. Ever noticed that blind people are almost always smiling? Aren't they supposed to be unhappy? Without vision? Or are we blinded by our own vision, making us sad, when we should actually be happy - for what we have. Think about it. Close your eyes, count your blessings and wish you a Happy Wednesday! :)

A Hard Kick Goodbye!

2005-02-14T16:46:00.000+05:30

A Hard Kick Goodbye!
Originally uploaded by GAWDzilla.

On the 9th of Feb, I decided I had done enough Hungama and took up a new job at Microsoft, Bangalore. So my ex-colleagues gave me this wonderful farewell, Hungama style.

Page 3 and dinner at 3

2005-01-30T15:15:00.000+05:30

Last night my friends and I decided to catch the movie 'Page 3', the much talked about film about life of the glitterati of Mumbai. Pretty well made film, I dare say. More than the plot, what appealed to me was the interweaving of characters and the realistic depiction of celebrity life... all through a Page 3 journalist's perspective. Yes, naturally I could relate this to N, an ex-Page 3 journalist. Overall, good movie. Watch it.

What followed after the movie is the more interesting part. Manish insisted on driving through the town and before I knew it, we landed up in Juhu. I just happened to suggest dropping in at JW Marriott, I had to check it out before I left the city. No sooner did we land there than we realised - we were in the midst of uncountable Page 3 folks! It was close to 2 o'clock in the night but this place was totally happening, abuzz with folks from tinsel town. Sitting right next to us was Gaurang Doshi.

We spotted some television artists, I didn't know any. There was a gorgeous looking Mahek Chehel and a blonde-avatar Shefali Zariwala. Suddenly while I was busy munching into my pasta, Kapil almost jumped up asking me to check out the person standing next to me - Madhur Bhandarkar, Director of the movie Page 3! The world does indeed come full circle!

Googly from a Google guy

2005-01-12T01:16:00.000+05:30

Who doesn't love those Google Doodles? I have the entire collection as a keepsake - it's amazing. and now, via Google Blog, Michael Krantz replies to a sweet flame mail they receive. And how!

A high-five to 2005!

2005-01-10T23:28:00.000+05:30

This is the year I've been waiting for. The one which I have pre-christened as my personal best year. A lot of innocent people in South East Asia who may have nursed similar dreams were mercilessly tucked away to bed, put forever to sleep by a ghastly blanket of the sea on Dec 26, 2004. So this year instead of going out and partying wild with friends, I decided to form a team of volunteers to visit affected areas in India and do what we could do best. We came back with lingering memories, a renewed zest for life, a passion to do something bigger than the short-term assistance we could offer there and spiritually unified. What better way to start off the new year?! While I continue to work on that, I'm realigning myself as an individual with an improved psycho-spirituo-somatic self to truly make this the best year for myself and touch as many lives and enrich each other. 2005 to me is about amelioration, redux, new frontiers. Cheers!

Tsunami Update

2004-12-28T12:30:00.000+05:30

_40665113_detailedmap
Originally uploaded by dotcompals.

See pic - the devastation caused by the earthquake+tsunami

Complete details on Wikipedia

What YOU can do about it

2004-12-27T01:23:00.000+05:30

Terrible tsunamis orginating from a massive earthquake measuring 8.9 on the Ritcher scale lashed the coastal regions of India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia and Sri Lanka this morning. Terrible, considering most of the people here must be either vacationers or fisherfolk. My heart goes out to the lives of the lost souls.

I wanna Fly away!

2004-12-20T01:37:00.000+05:30

Via Rediff, Indian Airlines is offering amazing package deals called Flyaway!

The deal is, you pay a lumpsum 'x' amount, which includes return airfare to your national or international destination, stay in select hotels for that period, breakfast and/or lunch, shuttle service and more in some cases. This is quite a boon, (1) for the special rates and (2) for people with no time to plan their stay or reserve a hotel!

So, where do you want to go today?

Digital Inspiration

2004-12-18T07:06:00.000+05:30

Fatima Hadi's blog is one of the best blogs I've added to my BlogRolling recently. She's an amazing photographer, brilliant writer and a great person from what I've learnt about her from the blog. More than anything else, it's her attitude which I really liked. Bookmarkworthy!

Verse Case Scenario

2004-12-14T15:30:00.000+05:30

What do you get when 2 copywriters write poetry about each other? Especially when they're both women? This... Rama on Mandee Mandy There was a girl called Mandy Tall, thin and lanky She spend her days pondering Over a crossword - how daunting She never could complete The puzzle with 2 letter words replete And one day she did About this I don't kid Was it luck, was it karma???? Uh oh, nope it was high-IQ Rama. Everyday from 9.45 to 6 T'was her daily fix. At sharp 6 the bell would ring To her feet it would bring Off Mandy scoots, before you know it A nanosecond late and she throws a fit Mandy's thick lovely mane Was her pride, t'was her bane So one day she chopped it off Yes she did, don't scoff Now she has shorn of her locks To go with her flowery frock Oh she looks just like Aunt Milly Another product of Bori-villy But all said and done our girl Mandy Is cute, funny and dandy She is forthright, she ain't two-faced Let's credit Nik with some good taste So why am I nice? Do you wonder? There is an agenda, 'tis no blunder And its coz I wanna spend New Year In her farmhouse at Bohi-sear Mandee on Rama Rambha Once upon a time on a planet far far away Lived some strange Martians happy and gay Planet earth they all decided to explore So off went a team of Martians four Amongst them was a strangeling called Rama Whos antics were enough to put humans in comma They morphed her into a human face And let her loose upon the human race But one small thing did slip their mind Rama had morphed into 2 creatures combined One was human with IQ 138 One was hammerhead shark that perpetually ate Cuckoo Jaws as she was infamously called Got married to Anand, who she often mauled Poor Anand had to then buy a tranquilizer gun With which he calmed down the shark dun dhana dun! Mandee on Pinchoo Pinchoo Pinchoo Poddar dandiya queen Super hero in between Mirror work cape her deadly weapon Blind villains would then heppen Clickity clack her dandiyas go Frantically giving bad guys the heave ho! But then one day along came the evil cuckoo jaws Thrashing in the sea the hammerhead was A vicious battle between the two took place And Pinchoo ended up with a zit on her face The monster zit resembled the eye Of Sauron that made Pinchoo varry shy But what she didn't know was that the zit Was the source of a super power that made her superbly knit She knitted a net so strong and secure That snagged the diabolical hammerhead for sure Pinchoo Poddar was victorious in the battle And she dandiya'd around cuckoo jaws Making her fin rattle All was well in the world that day Pinchoo Poddar fly away! What do you get when these people know I blogged about them? I don't know, will post it when it happens :)

I turned the world upside down!

2004-11-28T23:29:00.000+05:30

Wooohooo!! Actions speak louder than words and this post just can't desribe the adrenalin and bloodrush I had when I did a 140ft. freefall at the High Street Phoenix Xtreme Bungee Jump! There was an obscene 1 1/2 hr. waiting time so by the time my turn came, I was superbored, emotionless and unaware of what I'm getting into. It was only until I reached the summit and jumped (no I didn't think anything before jumping. No pauses.) and did the freefall until the cord pulled me back that I realised "HOLY SHIT!! What the *beep* just happened!!" Breather - Just got a spine chill as I write this. Guess I react only 3 hours later! So yeah there I was in mid-air suspended by a lifesaving bungee cord, shouting my lungs out, doing the Superman and Spider-Man, trying to figure out what's where down there and not willing to offer my hands to the person below who was waiting to pull me down. It was way too much fun! Pics later - Battery died down. But faithfully after the showdown! :) On more updates, went for the 1st anniversary deviantMeet this morning, had a fun time with 4 other Deviants, chilled out at Cha Bar in Oxford Bookstore. Hmm, since when did I start having so much fun on weekends? :) Post Goa!

Favorite communities roundup

2004-11-27T23:54:00.000+05:30

From left to right, IgoUgo for Travel, Ryze for business networking, Flickr for photo sharing, deviantART for artists' community, Epinions for informed purchase decision making.

Panoramic Palolem!

2004-11-26T01:37:00.000+05:30

Panorama photo of Palolem Beach, Goa.

Taken without using a tripod, so a bit messy at the center.

Goa Chronicles

2004-11-18T08:45:00.000+05:30

En route from Mumbai to Goa, we stopped by at a quaint restaurant 'Kshanbhar Vishranti' - great homely food, packed some for the road.

DAY 1 - Friday, 12th Nov

Reached Goa sometime around 10 am and met our hosts, Shanu & Christopher (of Hallmark Guesthouse where we'd be put up).

Quickly dumped our luggages and headed for Baga beach - a 2 minute walk!

Did an awesome breakfast on the beach by one of the shacks, Antonio's.

After a stroll by the beach and some shoe shopping, I headed back to Baga with Clyde.

Tried some body boarding and realized I almost had to learn swimming over again!

Back to the beach chairs and sipped on some beer at leisure.

All of us then had an early dinner at Britto's which is at the fag end of Baga beach. Clyde showed us the right way of having 'feni' - the local liquor - by burning it on a spoon! Then came a scrumptious seafood platter and lotsa desserts which didn't take much time to get exhausted.

Walked back to our guesthouse and I decided to retire to bed early after all the traveling and the long day. The others wanted to party and headed off to Tito's - the most 'happening' club around. Next day they all told me how bad an experience it was. I smiled coyly. Muahahahaha.

DAY 2 - Saturday, 13th Nov

Since I was fresh from a good night's sleep, managed to wake up the earliest and explored the beach road, most of which was just opening. Dropped in at a German-owned Mubli cybercafe and made friends with the manager there.

The gang was ready in an hour and we headed off for breakfast at Infantaria towards Calangute.

While I was gone there was apparently a big ruckus about our driver from Kent Cars who had gotten drunk and tried getting fresh with our chicks so we fired the guy and were promised by the company of a replacement vehicle and a waiver on payments.

By noon we were on our way to South Goa - Palolem beach. I was initially apprehensive about shuttling beaches and just wanted to chill out at just one. But after arriving at Palolem I took a deep gulp and thanked my friends - this was heaven! Rightly regarded as the most beautiful and virgin beaches of Goa, Palolem was a feast for the senses. White sands, clear(er) waters, a sparsely inhabited island in sight and a fresh water lagoon on the North end. Wow!

We settled down at Fernandes' shack further down North of the beach and had a quick snack before heading off for some fun in the waters.

Nick's devious mind had come up with an idea - to shoot a crazy video of all of us - he even had a hilarious script all worked out, made crazier by the madder minds of Sudi, Swati and Rama. I was the protagonist of the whole thing. Duh. I couldn't even protest! After a lot of masti and madness, we packed up and left back for Baga.

Picked up some desserts n snacks from Tito's - scrumptious bibinca, apple pies and more.

Since the gang had not experienced real Goan clubbing yet we decided to head off to Club Cabana - the haven for party goers in Goa (truly so!) - You can spot Club Cabana from pretty much any location around Baga beach - just look for 3 crazy searchlights which they cast into the sky. Hell you WANNA be there! The place is located on top of a hill - actually a mansion/bungalow converted into a club by the owners - a German couple apparently.

The deal was pretty decent - 600 bucks per person (Wednesday nites are free for the ladies) and an open bar - meaning you can drink all the Bacardi-n-Coke or Peach Schnapps as you can digest. The place was truly awesome - poolside, 2-3 areas with dance floors, 2 open bars and 2 paid bars, massage corners and verandas. My amigos put a bet on me that I couldn't down 10 glasses of B&C. Naturally I won in the end. Most others threw up on their pretty dresses.

DAY 3 - Sunday, 14th Nov

Waking up early
Breakfast at Antonio, chatting up Stella, Mubli cybercafe
Superbreakfast at Britto's
To Anjuna. The 'Cuckoo Jaws Thoopal?' character is born.
Anjuna shopping, sharp, henna tattoes, cycafe and French
Back to Palolem, checked into Fernandes' shack
Thai dinner and UNO at Banyan Tree, sleeping under a canopy of stars
Nick's muse, chats her up
Plans for next day - Nick to shoot another 'planned movie'. I anticipate a no-shoot. Planned vidblogs don't happen.
Off to bed in shack. Dogs chasing dogs and cackling women won't let sleep in!

DAY 4 - Monday, 15th Nov

Woke up easy at 9
Ladies already hit the waters; Nick, Sudi and me follow
Quick brunch at adjoining shack. Just had some honey toast without honey.
More beach fun, ladies do more shopping at a beautiful resort with outdoor library (insert name, contact)
Shack checkout
Lunch at Dropadi, shopping around markets
Return to Fernandes, more food n beer
Kaju shopping in Panaji at Royal Kajuwala
To Mumbai
Misty roads, off-track accident. Minorly hurt, all's well. Pathetic journey
Home sweet home