Chinmayz

Wol-framing...!

2009-05-18T10:17:00.000-07:00

[Image Courtesy - SobelMedia]

I am sure that by now most of you would have either read the numerous reviews of WolframAlpha, an ultra-trendy new search engine by Stephen Wolfram and his team of distinguished scientists and mathematicians or tried comparing Wolfram's search results with those of Google/Live/Yahoo/Ask. Here are some of the salient (and cool) features of WolframAlpha that make it worth trying:

Highly Intuitive: Since, it relies heavily on the expert knowledge and statistics, some of the search queries give much better results than those given my other search engines. Lets say we wish to quickly run a comparison between Nissan and GM and we enter "Nissan, GM" in the search bar of WolframAlpha. Boom - it gives us the latest stock prices, market caps, revenues, earnings per share etc. of both the companies in a tabular form and within seconds you learn which company is doing better. Check this or this.
Highly Data Driven: Whenever, you need more information about some specific metric say a date, a town, a country or a formula - just put that information in the search bar and Wolfram fetches yoo the elaborate and related results within seconds. Seeking information about a city or an event is as simple as this or this.
Great Learning Resource: Haven't you heard that a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, I find WolframAlpha to be great resource for learning music or even sports. Check this or this.
Instant Weather Check: Real time Weather information is just a click away now. Check this.

And I am sure the list goes on and on. In a nutshell I would say that this new search engine does a remarkable job in searching, processing and fetching us back the systematic knowledge on the WWW. Lets wait and watch-something tells me that folks at Wolfram Research are going to come up with many more inovative features in the days to come. If you do find some exciting feature about WolframAlpha, do let me know. Till then
Happy Wol-framing :D

"All exact science is dominated by the idea of approximation."~Bertrand Russell

Three Two One...!

2009-05-11T13:32:00.000-07:00

[Atlantis Crew - Image Courtesy - NASA]

and Go ! Yes, I am referring to NASA's STS-125 (Atlantis) that was launched at Kennedy Space Center in Florida yesterday. As I watched the near perfect shuttle launch at NASA TV late evening yesterday, I kept saying "Wow !" to myself and marveled the way science has progressed over the past few decades. While the scientists and researches keep raising the bar year after year, I wonder whether we (as individuals) can position ourselves right a growth curve with a positive slope (the more slope the better :)) on a regular basis as well?

Anyways, here are some quick facts about the mission:

STS-125 is on an eleven day mission to Hubble Telescope.
Its seven member crew will conduct five spacewalks install new instruments, replace thermal blankets replace gyroscope on Hubble thus making the telescope better and ready for the years to come.
Meanwhile space shuttle "Endeavour" at Kennedy Space Center is ready for launch as well (To rescue Atlantis crew in case of an emergency).
A Wide Field Camera 3 will be attached to Hubble and the camera will relay even more vivid and detailed pictures of the deep space to us on a continual basis.
Another new instrument that Hubble will be given is "The Cosmic Origins Spectrograph". This instrument is meant to observe the light put out by extremely faint quasars and see how that light changes as it passes through the intervening gas between distant galaxies.

Well if this feels like an overdose of scientific facts, here's a cool fact - Michael J Massimino (one of astronauts at Atlantis) is on Twitter (His Twitter ID: Astro_MIke) and intends to relay messages from the outer space ! I am incredibly curious (and excited) and will keep checking Twitter-sphere every now and then; After all you wish to be the amongst the first residents on earth to read his 140 characters of wisdom :D

Imagination is more important than knowledge. ~ Albert Einstein

KGB to the rescue...!

2009-05-08T10:39:00.000-07:00

[Image Courtesy - 20Life]

Now that summer season is officially in which means it is time to hit the roads, go on nature trails, enjoy the sunlight, wear those cool T-shirts and make new connections (friends) yet again! But when you spark a conversation with a stranger, one of the following two things usually happen:

(A) You learn in few seconds that you both share a hobby (Museums, Art, Photography or say writing). Voilà! you find an immediate connection and declare that your new friend count is N + 1.

(B) You both end up asking tons of questions to each other (spc. when one of the two people is of those nerdy types) and realize in the end that it's time to bid a warm good-bye :D

Mind you, either of these scenarios happen in split seconds but the one I am concerned about is Case (B). To me Case (B) is like a lost opportunity because if one of you had answers to those esoteric questions, you could have fostered a new friendship, a new connection and may be a new venture as well! Now you might as well ask that is there someone whom you can seek answers from right away. Well, without any further circumlocution - let me suggest you to check out KGB's website right away.

KGB has saved me many times in the past 2 months and I have become a big fan of the service ever since (It's blazing fast, accurate and reliable)! Before your mind start conjuring up images of Russian secret service or their possible association with me, here's a quick summary of how the service works:

(1) All of a sudden you get questions like the foll. in your mind:
Who invented Jeep?
Which non-software company houses the world's biggest database?
When was piano invented?
What kind of footwear do ninjas wear?
What is the toughest team game?
Which country has the lowest/highest GDP?
Who sells the best pizza in the world?
What is the temperature in space?

(2) You put the question down in your phone and send a text to kgbkgb (542542).

(3) Buzz, Buzz - you receive the answer from a real person within moments.

(4) You feel happier and contended :) You might prefer using Google or Yahoo answers but in case your question is an uncommon one, this service can be quite useful. Infact, their website says that " In 2007, kgb served more than a hundred million consumers globally and answered over a billion questions." That sure sounds a bit(or may be a lot) impressive indeed!

In case you are still not convinced or "texting" doesn't necessarily jive with you, remember that calling up that super smart and intelligent friend of yours who always won those Quizzes back in school is always an option :) Do remember to give an amazing present to your mother this Sunday and have a great weekend ahead !

"Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide."~Napolean

It's Possible...!

2009-03-28T06:59:00.000-07:00

Kudoz to professor emeritus James F. Crook for having devised an algorithm for solving Sudoku puzzles. Here are some quick pointers about his "Pencil-and-Paper Algorithm":

The algorithm is made up of five logical steps
It requires players to mark up empty boxes in the Sudoku grid with all possible remaining number and, by comparing number sets, to labour through a "tree" of options that ultimately provides a solution.
As of now, the computer takes takes over an hour to solve a Sudoku puzzle. (See humans always outsmart computers ;))
The paper text can be viewed here.

This algorithm is certainly an achievement in the mathematical world and reinforces the fact that almost everything that can be depicted as a flowchart is solvable by computers. After all computers have been known to be super efficient in deconstructing seemingly tough problems and hammering out their solutions using computing power!

What puzzles me though is how come human beings are able to solve a difficult Sudoku in just 10-15 minutes time while this latest algorithm takes an hour to crack a Sudoku puzzle? Is it our logic sense or intuition or just our imagination that does the magic-Well, I don't know! What I do know is the fact that struggling with my pencil (I don't mean chewing the back of the pencil over and over again ;)) and working out a Sudoku puzzle on a Sunday morning is an adventure in itself. And the "Ahaaa" feeling (emotional high) you get post solving a puzzle keeps the excitement and the desire to solve the next puzzle on :D

Happy weekend folks and good luck for today's puzzle!
"A moment's thinking is an hour in words."~ Thomas Hood

Swimming with the Dolphin...!

2009-03-23T13:29:00.000-07:00

[Image Courtesy-Sun]

Ever wondered what's common attribute among the coolest sites you see on the now ubiquitous WWW? Here are some examples of the kind of sites I am referring to - Zappos, Craiglist, Wikipedia, LinkedIn, Zimbra, Booking, Footnote, DocASAP etc.

Well, all of them are powered by the world's most dominant open source database [MySQL] that claims to have more than 11 million installations across the globe. Infact, it has almost become a default choice for a new generation of applications built on the LAMP Stack. What is particularly notable is that you get ace performance, reliability, flexibility and total control over your application with every MySQL installation. Call up that "cool" friend of yours who worked in a startup firm for sometime to knwo about specific advantages of MySQL.

I have been working on MySQL for quite sometime now and I would describe my experience as a "breeze". DB Installation , DB Programming and even DB Administration are way too simplified in MySQL and whatever you set out to do is like an experiment which makes it all the more fun!

So whether you a fresh college graduate who is aspiring to become a DB Developer or an established DBA waiting for next release of Oracle or SQL Server DB, do give MySQL a try sometime. Believe me you'll love this hassle free and trendy DBMS ! Meanwhile let me continue to swim with Sakila in the days to come :D

"Don't reinvent the wheel, just realign it."~ Anthony J. D'Angelo

Vrooom Vrooom...!

2009-03-12T15:06:00.000-07:00

[Image Courtesy-Worldcarfans]

As Software professionals, we are supposed to use our left brains most of the time, which makes sense considering the kind of complex work (Ahmmm Ahmmm - that was my inner voice ;-)) we do everyday. But haven't you ever felt that satmetimes images, illustrations or just a quick pencil sketch (I just love Whiteboards!) seems to aid in better and quicker understanding of convoluted concepts than plain logic? If you've ever wondered about studying art or if you love visiting art galleries or museums, I am sure you would perhaps grasp the point I am trying to make here.

However, if you are sure that you are a left-brained (smart, clever, intelligent,quick problem solver) person with an exceptionally high IQ (Lucky You :D) and live on East Coast, consider yourself blessed and plan a trip to NYC soon:) Yes, I am referring to the much talked about the upcoming "BMW Art Car Exhibition" that will feature (the gorgeous) BMW 3.0 CSL Coupé. Try visiting the upcoming Art exhibit at Grand Central Terminal [NYC] and let me know in case you fall in love with the black and white graph paper patterned design on the CSL coupé, by Frank Stella, an ace artist, or with art in general! See you at Grand Central then :D

Exhibition Dates: March 24 to April 6, 2009
Location: Vanderbilt Hall, Grand Central Terminal, NYC

Exhibition Details - Here

PS: There are some really good technical conferences you might wish to check sometime such as-A, B or C - just in case you wish to hone your technical skills or learn that super cool new Performance tuning concept. Good Luck & have a great weekend ahead !

"The first requisite for success is the ability to apply your physical and mental energies to one problem incessantly without growing weary"~Thomas Edison

Spring Forward...!

2009-03-06T13:15:00.000-08:00

[Image Courtesy-TIME]

Its that time of the year again when accurate "TIME" matters so much and you want it or not-all your gadgets, your car clock and all your electronic gadgets grab your attention atleast for couple of minutes :) Yes, I am referring to 'Daylight Saving Time' here.

If you are an IT Professional, I am sure you would be aware of the hoopla that surrounds this yearly event in every company. Infact, DST reminds me of the amazing time I spent in a big Indian IT consulting firm I worked for in Mumbai four years ago. Back then, in March, our Program Manager used to make a detailed plan outlining numerous tasks and used to emphasize the criticality of every task quite visibly (meetings, meetings and more meetings!). The best part was that our DBA Team was conveyed a very strong message - "With great power comes great responsibility!" (remember Peter Parker ?) and we were conditioned to believe that we are like special task force commandos whose mission is to keep the IT systems of BIG Clients alive during the crucial flip-over moment when clocks are moved forward in the States. Orders were orders and thus we did our jobs with utmost devotion, sincerity and passion and the celebrity treatment ("Amazing work team!" emails from Senior mgmt) that we used to receive post DST sure felt awesome back then!

Anyways, coming back to present-here are some quick facts about DST:

In simple terms, the clocks are set ahead one hour on first Sunday of March to create an extra hour of daylight in the evening during summers.
The correct term is 'Daylight saving time' and not 'Daylight savings time'.
The first American to advocate for daylight saving was Benjamin Franklin.
America's EST time zone makes the switch before the rest of the country.
The states of Arizona and Hawaii do not follow DST.
Post DST, Central Time will be referred to as CDT instead of CST.
Mathematically speaking, you loose an hour's sleep but hey you can always cover up by either going to bed early on Saturday night or taking a nap on Sunday afternoon :)

So remember to spring forward your analog clocks at 2 a.m. this Sunday and have a cool weekend ahead!
"If time be of all things the most precious, wasting time must be the greatest prodigality"~Benjamin Franklin

Messengers Of Peace...!

2009-03-04T10:36:00.000-08:00

[Image Courtesy-Queenbgy]

Can someone please suggest the people who keep trying so hard to disrupt world peace to turn their focus on bigger issues like acquiring new skills, helping their families amidst the turbulent economic times and most importantly let others shine for God's sake !

While news alerts like this, this or this have always shaken me to the core, I just hope that atleast 0.01% of the incorrigible terrorists and the likes transform for good this year! Can somone send me email/postal addresses of some of the terrorists so that I can send them biographies of few world renonwned peacemakers such as Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, Dalai Lama, Aung Saan Suu Kyi, Mahatma Gandhi and the likes or send them some interesting real-life projects/challenges or even comics to keep their minds engaged elsewhere...Sighh :(

"Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing."~Albert Schweitzer

Flame On...!

2009-02-27T14:12:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine recently got married and the happy couple seems to be super busy in their pursuit of exploring as many places as they can ever since. This interesting couple (I wish I could add links to Facebook profiles of Tc & Jz but there might be privacy concerns you see ;)) resolved to explore East coast of America in 1st Quarter of 2009 and from the number of Picasa Album updates-I can safely presume that their Tour d'America is well on track! We have always heard about the importance of teamwork and synergy at our workplaces but Tc and Jz reinforce the fact that as individuals we can harmonize our contributions and work towards a common personal goal too.

Before I pen down more about their escapades (Winter biking trips, Cruise trips, Rainforest hikes etc.-both these active members of LP are well beyond crazy), their latest plans intirgued me a bit. Tc and Jz are planning for camping in NH this weekend (Shhhhh-the place is a closely guarded secret :D) and are sending out invites to their close pals with one strange prerequisite-a 50% plus score on a quiz called Fire-IQ. Doesn't this sound odd? I was a bit taken aback upon learning about this condition (it was like a dent on male chauvinism you see ;)) and decided to attempt the quiz right away.

How I felt post the quiz - Enriched and Cheerful ! I said to myself "Wow, There are so many new facts we can learn everyday provided we remain receptive to ideas and connected to friends." Thanks a lot for sharing the quiz Tc and Jz-you kind of made my evening!

Before you attempt the quiz(I know you are curious:)), few words of wisdom - "Don't be either alarmed or discouraged if you find that your Fire-IQ is not as high as you might have hoped. Have a pen and paper handy and take notes while attempting the quiz and treat it like a game!". Hats off to Keith McCafferty for creating this quiz. What an amazing way to pack seemingly boring and tough facts together and adopt cool strategies such as catchy one-liner feedbacks (my fav ones are below) that make you smile, images that make you think, illustrations that make you say 'Hummm' etc. Wish all tests offered as much fun.

Congratulations. You've made fire!
You are dead wrong, no pun intended!

So what are you waiting for? Go ahead, hit the "Start the Quiz" button. Once finished you can certainly utter the now famous punch line of the Human Torch from FF4 - "Flame On":) Happy Learning folks !

"Smile, it is the key that fits the lock of everybody's heart."~Anthony J. D'Angelo

PS: Now on-I'll be posting links to an interesting ebook and a supposedly nice song :) Hope you like them!

The Modern Pilgrimage...!

2009-02-25T10:32:00.000-08:00

[Image Courtesy - Cleartrip]

What would you do when you are supposed to visit almost all major Indian cities, meet all possible relatives, buy tons of presents - all this in just a week's time ! Oh and yes - you are making a BIG career move in the same week as well. Well, I am sure that with so much on the agenda, any normal homo-sapien is bound to seek external help (Friends, Relatives, Travel Agents or Divine help - depends on individual beliefs :)) .

Based on this assumption (Hey hang on a sec-I know this is an incorrect English Usage and presumption is the right word in this context but you see old habits die hard and I am still learning the nuances of English Language :)), I and my sister decided that we got to help our parents navigate past this tough situation-afterall we (thought we) are equipped with all possible amunitions viz. Credit Cards-VISA/Discoverer/Amex with Gold/Silver/Platinum Memberships (wish they had something called Uranium Membership too:)), internet ready Laptops, URLs of 10 search engines to grab the perfect ticket deals and ofcourse oozing aplomb required during such testing times. Now, before you conclude that every parent should have kids like us (and wish us luck, happiness and merry times...Ok stop Chinmay!) you might wish to know what happened when we called up our parents yesterday in anticipation that we will be declared the "perfect kids" right away !

Me (on behalf of myself & Surabhi-my sis) placed a call to our parents yesterday (Thanks for providing the superlative service Airtel) , wished them "Good Morning" and asked them right away about their travel dates so that we can quickly start our operation "Perfect Kids". To our utter surprise, it turns out that they already took care of every aspect of their trip-from shopping to booking air tickets to hiring cabs for local commute to hiring Agarwal Packers (They are the UHaul of India) and what really shook us was they planned and executed everything in just a couple of hours !!

Within moments, I changed the topic (I have learned to dodge disappointments in novel ways and what a wise decisioj it was indeed :D) briefed them about my latest (cooking) adventures, discussed couple of crazy ideas I have been getting oflate and brought the conversation to a close in 10 minutes. Phewwww !!

The question that stayed unanswered was-How did they do it - Was it some kind of "Inside Box" approach or was it planning using Post-It Notes or did they use Zoho? Well, we don't know but we'll continue our pursuit of trying to be responsive, cool and adventurous kids Dad/Mom :D.

Njoi this track for now and do check out Cleartrip-one of the hottest site in India these days. These folks seem to be really putting lots of efforts (technical and creative both) month after month and I am certainly amazed!

Click on the Image above (or here) to and enjoy this amazing track called "Change Your Mind" by Sister Hazel !

"I was born not knowing and have only had a little time to change that here and there."~Richard Feynman

Eye on Zimbabwe...!

2009-02-18T08:06:00.000-08:00

[Image Courtesy - The Difference Magazine]

While International concern has been building up against the current Zimbabwean Government since couple of months, the latest Cholera outbreak in the country hurts the prevailing helpless state of affairs (inadequate drinking water supply, weak health system, collapsed social infrastructure, poor land reforms policies etc.) in this African country. I must admit that conversation with a lady (Nyarin is a Zimbabwean Immigrant) in Library last evening shook me to the core and I just hope and pray that things get back to their normal self in Zimbabwe soon. Here's a quick chronicle of the crisis:

At independence [April 18, 1980], Zimbabwe was one of the most promising countries in Africa with a one of the region’s highest literacy rates, thriving agriculture industry and a robust healthcare system and everyone seemed optimistic about future of the nation.
Robert Mugabe, who was elected as President, took many strategic decisions, made significant investments in healthcare and education systems. A very strong agricultural sector and country's committment to allround development helped Zimbabwe gain a significant position amidst the developing African nations.
However, by the late 1990s the situation totally reversed with sky high inflation, severe food shortages, widespread epidemics and breakdown of basic public services due to unexplainable socio-econmic policies by Mugabe's government and lack of willingness to change in accordance with the external factors.
Last year, WHO announced that Zimbabwe had the shortest life expectancy in the world - 37 years for men and 34 years for women. This sure was a very very disturbing news for the whole world.
In 2008, Morgan Tsvangirai, who leads Zimbabwe’s main opposition party (Movement for Democratic Change) challenged Mugabe for the presidency. However, members of MDC encounteres severe resistance from Mugabe's camp.
Finally, Tsvangiri was sworn in as the Prime Minister last Wednesday[11th Feb, 2009] and he aims to put the country on a progressive track again. The best part is the ininhibited support Zimbabwe has from the African Union to realize this dream.

Personally, I feel that Zimbabwe certainly has the potential to tackle its seemingly unending crisis. (There's always hope!) The need of the hour for the nation is one to show the world that it is serious about the CHANGE (Tsvangiri to me seems the perfect man/leader for achieving this) and two to seek International support (WHO/AU/ONE) and sincere well wishes.

I thus request you to grab 10 seconds from your free time today (We are well-wishers right?) and join me in signing this petition (Thanks Much!) or even forward the same to your friends (Thanks sooooo much!). I strongly feel that each one of us can make a difference & like we always say at ONE - "Every Vote Counts!"

"Whenever you find that you are on the side of the majority, it is time to reform."~Mark Twain

Cleverness Squared...!

2009-02-17T12:00:00.000-08:00

[Image Courtesy - KenKen]

What do you do when the thoughts in your mind flow like a running water and you find it hard to give your 100% attention to the coolest project amongst a dozen others you are pursuing at any time? (Now, that certainly sounds familiar :D). Well, the answer is simple, you engage yourself in activities that build your conctration and help you to FOCUS !

The other day a group of cheerful kids in the local Public Library caught my attention momentarily. They looked super excited and were discussing about some logic riddle. Now the word "puzzle" was sufficient for my brain to instruct my ear lobes to stretch themselves and make every possible attempt to learn about this supposedly cool puzzle. After a few minutes of eavesdropping (Hey I knoe its a bad habit but the situation was critical you see), I got the name of the puzzle - "KaneKane".

Very quickly I grabbed a vacant PC in the Library and googled for "KaneKane" only to learn that the correct name of the puzzle was "KenKen":( Anyways, I avoided the immediate disappointment by telling myself that it was more of an accent issue than a hearing issue (Yay-me !) and started reading more about KenKen. I learned that this puzzle was invented by Tetsuya Miyamato - a charismatic Japanese Maths teacher and almost every forum on the internet declared KenKen to be the best and the most brilliant successor of Sudoku. Waaaaoooow - I said to myself, I gotta solve one right away! See this is what happens when you go to Library with a humble ambition of studying...you end up doing everything but studying ;). But c'mmon you can do whatever you wish on the weekends-right? Anyways, here are some of the most appealing things about the Puzzle:

Quick: Unlike Sudoku, KenKen requires arithmetic (+, -, *, /) and it sure serves to recall the dormal High School Mental / Vedic Maths though its not a necessary prerequisite.
Cage Concept: In addition to seeing that any digit is not repeated in any row/column, one has to ensure that the digits within the cage (boldly outlined box) work out using the Arithmetic Oprn shown to yield the target number indicated.
Simplicity: The cages with just one box need to be filled in with the target number in the top corner and often you start solving KenKen by filling in these numbers first.
Meaning : It means Cleverness Squared :D

While I have always loved solving Sudoku or a Kakuro, KenKen beats them all for its so much more fun! Here are few links you might wish to check out when you wish to exercise your brain, reconnect with your love (with numbers I mean), build concentration and ofcourse join the global KenKen craze :D Happy Solving Folks !

Link 1 Link 2 Link 3 Link 4 Link 5

"When the impossible has been eliminated, then whatever remains, however improbable, is the truth.~Sherlock Holmes"

Viewtiful...!

2009-02-14T21:00:00.000-08:00

Let me know if your face too registers a warm smile after watching this video. Lets hope that Windows 7 is equally amazing as well. (I certainly need plenty of convincing reasons to uninstall Ubuntu from my Tablet and load Windows instead :D.)

But this video seems to be a pretty impressive campaign by microsoft !

"Act out the experience that you wish to leave people with !"

Acknowledging History...!

2009-02-04T16:49:00.000-08:00

I am so amazed upon reading the following email today evening:
-----------------------------
From: Bank of America [mailto:artsmedia@bankofamerica[dot]com]
Sent: Wednesday, February 04, 2009 6:00 PM
To: Gupta, Chinmay
Subject: Museums on Us from Bank of America

"This coming weekend get free admission to over 70 museums nationwide with Museums on Us™. Just present your Bank of America check, credit or ATM card, along with your photo ID." Click here to find the list of participating museums in your area, and to learn more about Museums on Us™
-----------------------------

While my instant reaction was this, I did a quick computation to get the number of days between today and the last time I visited a museum and the revelation was certainly not a pleasant one! Very quickly, I checked the nearest public library's website and guess what I learned - There are over 25 museums around Boston - now that's certainly very very cool!

While I quickly narrow down the options, get new camera batteries, grab a Staples Recordbook (I love taking notes!), I think its worth mentioning a few points about what can be inspiring about any museum in general (Hope post reading the pointers, my roomie agrees to give me company as I explore one museum after another starting this weekend-Hehhheehh :)). Off to the essentials:

Visual Appeal: Stamps, ancient coins, wood cravings, manuscripts from the past - always have an amazing appeal specially when you find them housed in nice glass cases with a short description of the artefact. And such vivid visual patterns get recorded almost instantly in our minds. Which is why most of us find it easier to recall what we saw in the museum rather than what we read in a book/newspaper.

Vocabulary: If you represent 98% of the people (Yeah you'll find me in that bandwidth;)) who visit any museum, chances are that you might words/literature in the exhibit you have never heard of before. And believe me noting down some of that esoteric stuff can be really cool. All you have to do next is when you get back home, put that scary word in google search bar, check its usage in ordinary sentences and thats it. See you added a new word in your Vocab. Bravo!

Creativity: Have you ever noticed how the folks at museum come up with ways to market the museums in order to draw more crowds? While we all notice the museum listings on internet or in libraries-but have a look at the ad listing and you'll understand how much of reasearch is done by every museum to come up with an ultra-creative Ad.

Management: Museums perhaps require much more money than what you and me pay at the Ticket window for their expansion and upkeep. How do they manage to do this fund-raising? Think about it !

Euphoria: In any museum, you'll often hear those "What is this Mommy?" or "Why this is the way it is?" kind of questions kids shower their parents with. Now, if you are a parent, chances are that you'll be forced to put your thinking caps on to answer such questions. And if you do manage to give a convincing answer to your smart small wonder, you are going to feel very very happy inside! Bravo Again!

I have always believed that museums have a profound impact of our lives and psyche; but what really pushes me towards the museums (@ New Haven, DC, Chicago, Texas, NYC and now Boston) is that fact that people from diverse backgrounds and ethnicities often visit a museum purely out of interest and being a part of such "interesting" crowd can be wonderful in ways more than one. Enough said - do check out the museums in your proximity here. And Thank-You Bank Of America - I loved the idea and rest assured you have a happy customer here:)

Happy Exploring Friends !

"The greatest discovery of any generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude.~William James"

Positively Radiant...!

2009-01-26T10:12:00.000-08:00

[Photo Courtesy - Esprit]

Yes-that is exactly how I felt yesterday. I mean it sure was a special day (my birthday :)) but what made it all the more memorable was the fact that so many acquaintances (my family members, friends, relatives, office peers etc) called up to convey their sincere wishes in diverse styles and modes of expressions (Phone, Gtalk, Orkut, Mail, Songs) ! Was the universe a bit brighter yesterday or was it just one of those "perfect days" - I wondered...

Since I have been working on enhancing my "Thinking Skills" for quite some time now, a quick analysis of events around me has almost become my second nature. Thus post every call by a well-wisher, I paused for a moment to observe what my mind (Phewww ! It never ceazes to stop wandering - god knows what is it that keeps it busy all the time ;)) is upto and what a fantastic exercise it was. Here' a gist of it:

........................................
Trrrringggg - Trrrringggg

Me: Hello

Friend (Excited): Hey Many-Many Happy returns of the day pal...How you doing?
Me (Happy): Thanks a lot bud - I am great...How about you?
Friend (Curious): Good Good...So where's the party tonight? And yes, it better be a grand one dude !
Me (Happier): Planning to go to a Mexican Restaurant nearby, they have a dance floor in there as well-come on over...We'll have a blast !
........................................

And then your mind goes off to the races-very quickly it scans the memory archive, gets you back a visual/sensory snapshot of the moment when you and your friend last met and had a fantastic time and thus you become cheerful for a while! Now, before you settle down (to your equilibrium mental state), you receive another call from an even closer friend and your happiness reserves remain full. Fast forward 5 hours-you are one of the happiest person in the town :) And when a sumptuous dinner with room-mates and some fancy footwork (dance)marks the end of your day-you wonder how come the world has become such an awesome place at once....Which is why I said I felt "Positively Radiant" :D

Now on days when you don't have your birthday here's what happens (I think)...
Eventually your mind reverts back to its equilibrium state and you again engage yourself with tasks that you usually do to spend your weekend. And in case you are not one of those cheerful kind of homo-sapient, you end up focussing on the "not-have" elements in your life again huh'! The solution-either be on phone with your well-wishers all the time all the time (if you can afford it:)) or engage yourself in things you really love doing-singing, dancing, writing, drawing, traveling, watching movie etc. and yes do wish your friends on their birthdays. You never know - just one phone call can make their day brighter !

Oh by the way-thanks a lot Dad, Mom, Surabhi, Juhi & all my amazing friends for the lovely presents & associated surprises - I can't cease admiring them or talking about 'em to my friends over & over again :) The Esprit glasses were an instant hit and so was the Blackberry Wallet and the carved Coffee Mug (the most creative present). Love y'all so much!

Happy Republic Day !

"Life's truest happiness is found in friendships we make along the way!"

And The Oscar Goes To...!

2009-01-22T12:36:00.000-08:00

I read somewhere -"Be careful for what you wish for...you just might get it!" and a news alert I received in my email few moments ago reinforces the adage ! It was just last week that I wished right here on my blog that Rahman (read India) gets an Oscar soon and looks like he's almost there ! Very quickly I Googled about Rehman's bio and here are some interesting facts I learned:

Early Starter: His father R K Shekhar was a composer for Malayalam movies and Rahman started playing piano at the age of Four!
Right Education: He went to Trinity College Of Music in London and graduated with a degree in Western Classical Music.
Perfect Work-Ex: He joined the noted Illaiyaraja's troupe as a keyboardist at the age of 11 and along his early career he worked with several renowned composers like Vishwanathan-Ramamurthy, Zakir Hussain, L Shankar, Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan etc. It was this experience that helped him earn a scholarship to the famed Trinity College Of Music.
Entrepreneurial Insight: He went on to set up his own studio called "Panchathan Record Inn" to experiment with his music, sound engineering, design and his studio remains one of the ost reverred music studios in Asia !
Opportunist: He always focussed on the next opportunity and always strived very very hard to create a music that appeals to all cross sections of society. He was offered to compose music for "Roja" by noted Indian film maker Mani Ratnam and the movie's music score was a smashing hit (He won a national award for the Best Music Composer)
Philanthropist: Time and again he finds novel ways to participate in charitable causes. (Tsunami Relief Concert, Vande-Matram Album, A R Rahman Foundation)

The more I read about this exceptional genius who keeps redefining contemporary Indian Music year after year, the more I get inspired. I think I would go spend some 30 mins at ColdStone today evening to celebrate the Oscar Nomination news! And yes-Thanks Renga (He's my roomie & we spend way too much time listening to songs ev'day;)) for acquainting me with Rahman's ace compositions from Kollywood too! C ya in few minutes...till then enjoy the track "Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire :D

"Mistakes are portals of discovery."~James Joyce

Oh-Ba-Ma...!

2009-01-22T11:19:00.000-08:00

[Image Source - http://www.hearye.org]

The high-wattage Presidential Inaugration ceremony held in Washington DC this Tuesday created the much anticipated ripples both before and after the event. While there have been umpteen discussions on various News Channels on how the new administration is going to provide the thrust to the US Economy amidst the prevailing turbulent times with record deficits, phenomenal national debt, ever-growing economic crisis and ofcourse the ever-rising unemployment, what amazes me is that Obama stays (super) positive and is keen on putting people from thinking mode (What would happen if? Can I do this? Should I study further? How do I protect my investments?) to working mode (Yes, I can! Lets do it !).

I had an elaborate discussion on the specific elements of his inaugration speech with my parents back home(in India) yesterday (Thanks to Gtalk which keeps getting better everyday) and we talked about what the so called "CHANGE" means and as individuals what can we do to help initiate and sustain this change for good. The talk was quite an eye-opener for me for as expected my Dad & my grandfather had better statistics (GDP, Employment Figures, R&D Spend for India Vs US etc) and facts from history than I had and they could analyse the forthcoming changes in ways that totally impressed me (And I thought we Gen-Xers are good with numbers :D). Anyways here are the 4Es we arrived at (Focus Areas for the new govt.):

EMPLOYMENT
ENERGY
EMPOWERMENT
EXPLORATION (or Innovation)

All I would say is "Change is so much coming" :D. I wish Obama and team the very best and would like to dedicate my favorite line from STARWARS to them - "May the Force be with you!"

"A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it. ~Einstein"

Mini Escape...!

2009-01-12T15:26:00.000-08:00

[Image Source - Bigoo]

There are some days when you pretend that things are absolutely fine or you are totally cool & composed when you're not-Well, this Sunday was one such day. I was super-bored for the heavy snow prevented me from going out and the weekend almost seemed like a house-arrest. The good thing was a day ago I procured a book called "I Am a Pencil" from the local library and with nothing else to do decided to read it. The book (a beautiful narrative of adventures of a teacher and his students) was such a nice read for I could correlate so many events there with that of my own ertshile teaching experiences and perhaps thats why I finished the book in 4 hours flat. As I patted myself (finishing a book can be a BIG achievement at times :D) and headed for the kitchen to do preprations for the supper, all of a sudden the conflicting forces (True Self Vs The Other Self) in my mind were at conflict again. It has happened before and believe me it can be really tough at times. Anyways the conversation went like:

True Self: Hey you did a good job-finished a nice book dude!

The Other Self: As if anyone cares...tell me did you make any new friends oflate?

True Self: Ummm yeah, I can write a quick email to Mr. Swope-the author letting him know his book was brilliant ! So there I have a new friend right..What say ?

The Other Self: Aggggghhhhh, weekend means stepping out from home, visiting a mall, watching a movie, hanging out with friends and NOT reading a book-do you get that?

True Self (Justifying): Yeah, I understand but you know there's kinda paucity of friends in this place :( so I am doing what appeals me the most. Whats wrong with that?

The Other Self (Pushing Again): Hey listen, friends don't come knocking at your door, you gotta explore new places, cultivate new hobbies, participate in community events and thats how you meet new people. You gotta do everything except sitting in home in your illusionary perfect world !

True Self (In Defiance): But books give us so much of inspiration and plenty of insights. Besides isn't the very fact that the distinguished authors spend so much of time (usually 2-3 years) putting their experiences down in black and white for the readers awe-inspiring in itself? I bet it is.

The Other Self (Taken a back): I am afraid I won't agree 100% with you on this note. Its authors' job to write. Its like you like writing elegant code and they like writing their musings - simple ! My point is go make friends-you need a few for your own good! Friends can teach you a lot more than books and bestsellers.

True Self (Turned Submissive): Yeahhhh, in this perceived land of opportunities, you get platforms to learn, to perform, to become independent but you are right-making good friends seems a herculian task :(

The Other Self (Elated): Daaaaah! Nothing is "tough" dude. Now would you please step out and go for a brisk walk atleast. I am sure you'll feel better!

You see-this is what happens when you try being a humble human being who is usually happy living in his own world of books, delicacies and internet. Your other self (mine is really ultra crazy and can crush me with ever increasing expectations)never lets you stay quiet and happy. Anyways, orders are orders-I put my amunitions on (2 Jackets, Leather Gloves, Fur Cap, Snow Shoes, Mini-Torch and my ultra heavy key-chain), took a deep breath and marched ahead on the assigned mission. To my utter surprise my so called march lasted for a mere 10 minutes! While walking past my car in the parking lot, I noticed an inquisitive looking lady shoveling snow from the area and I decided to lend a helping hand. And what a wise decision it was !

Within minutes we cleared the lot A space and as we headed for clearing the lot B, my true self reminded me about my goal for the evening (to make a new friend) and I thought it was time to talk. I learned that Stella (think I got her name right;)) is a real estate agent and has been living in New England Area since a decade and she really loves her profession. I too explained her what I do for a living(it was tough though;)) and soon we were talking about Indian/Western cultures, Economy, Financial Crises, latest bestsellers, movie releases and ofcourse the omnipresent snow in New England. She was particularly curious about the Indian Music and Dance Styles and told me that she felt very happy for the Golden Globe Award won by Mozart of Madras recently.Well Mr. Rehman you made all Indians so proud yet again and your speech was truly inspiring as well! We are sure that now Oscars are within reach too!

We (Me and Stella) talked and talked and talked and yet it seemed that we cleared the lot B in minutes (it was well past an hour though;)). As I said goodbye to her saying that I'll keep in touch via email, I asked myself do I want another snow storm soon-well may be Yes (that was my Other Self;) !

But on a serious note I am very happy at having made a new friend whose interests vary from reading to cooking to skiing to dancing! So, Thank-you Mr. The Other Self-sometimes your advice does work;) Besides it reinforces the notion that opportunies in life are plenty-we just gotta have a right focus and a right attitude!

"The great gift of human beings is that we have the power of empathy~Meryl Streep"

Micro-Interactions...!

2009-01-04T22:37:00.000-08:00

Just when I thought that the New Year celebrations are over and its time to head back to the dramatic reality (read life ;)), a colleague of mine invited me over to his place for dinner this Saturday and what a memorable evening it was! While I loved the delicacies he and his wife prepared with so much of affection, what captured my attention were their super-energetic tiny tots-Ayan & Lipi, their equally tiny friends-Matthew & Megan and their varied recreational interests. After exchanging the usual plesantries, all of us made concscious moves to know more about each other - you know smiling, asking about hobbies etc. Even though I have always liked social get-togethers for they provide numerous opportunities to meet new people and connect with them on some common level but this situation was way . Think about it - When 4 seemingly naive kids (Okay a bit naughty too!) stare at you for well over 10 minutes, exchange puzzled looks and keep giggling on and on-you'll are bound to feel like an Alien! Here are few reflections from the Scene:

Living Room:

I called up Ayan and asked him to get his pencilbox, crayons and few sheets of paper. His instant reaction was like "Hey how can a stranger order me to get MY things?" but a bit of coaxing helped and soon we (myself and all the kids) seated ourselves in a circular fashion all set for a round table conference. From my erstwhile teaching experiences, I have started believing that pictures/illustrations are the quickest ways to spark one's creativity and I felt this was a time to test this fact. I said to them lets try to draw something that we love sincerely and lets see who does it first. Inside, I smiled for I thought this would get them all moving but they seemed least interested :( But thats okay (I said to myself) for if everything happens according to our will, life would ceaze to be an adventure! Matthew (the most energetic of the bunch) spotted a football nearby and tossed it right at my face and before I could muster up courage to ask them to focus on drawing exercise-I realised that the need of the hour was to play "Football Toss" game. And-we had a blast !

Dining Room: O boy-kids can be so much inquisitive yet innocent. Check this conversation thread...
One Parent: C'mmon Kids - try guessing Chinmay's age?

Ayan (5 yrs old)- Well, ummm 4

Megan (6 yrs old)- 5

Lipi (3 yrs old)- 1 ...Giggleee

Matthew (7 yrs old)- C'mmon he gotta be atleast 8

All [in unison] - Yeahhhhhhhhh Eight !

I wonder how they came up with the number 8 but since it was a team effort (Wisdom Of Crowds)-I smiled back in amazement. Later (after supper) to my utter surprise-each of them made an illustration-God knows what prompted/motivated them all of a sudden but here's what they sketched. [Ayan-some zig-zag pattern, Megan-A Flower,two leaves and Me(how sweet!), Lipi-A Pencil, Matthew - A Dinosaur].

All in all-I will always remember with fondness the time I spent with these four small wonders-they truly know how to savor every moment in life. As things stood, it was an amazing day indeed.

"They can because they think they can !"

A Quick Exercise...!

2008-12-31T16:19:00.000-08:00

Whoaaaa-its just 3 more hours before the year 2008 bids us all a warm farewell. At this very moment-I am sure that most of us are busy celebrating with our loved ones in the most treasured manner or joining others in the mega celebrations in case we stay away from our families (Yeah-these are the times you miss them a lot!). I had this sudden thought minutes ago that this is a good time to look back and list one's salient achievements of the year. Grab a pen and a paper, give yourself 5 minutes and very quickly list down things that made you exceptionally happy in the year 2008. If you find the following activities in this list of yours-congratulate yourself and keep up the momentum for the days to come.

Spent quality time with family.
Acquired a new skill.
Touched life of a person (or assisted someone with a selfless motive).
Received genuine praise from a stranger.
Connected with more than 10 happier folks on Internet or otherwise.
Worked sincerely towards realising your "Goal" in life.
Met two inspiring people who said "You can do it !".

This small exercise did bring a smile on my face and I felt so good inside (I am sure it would do the same for anyone as well!). And for those who feel burdened by regrets/disappointments for they were unable to realise their last year's super difficult resolutions (losing weight, getting into National Swimming Team, changing perceptions of your best friend, climbing Mt. Everest, visiting Amazon rainforests, reading 365 books etc)-all I have to say is this is not an opportune occasion to dampen your spirits or do a causal analysis of your life-c'mmon clock is ticking real fast and the need of the hour is to count your blessings and stay cheerful !

And yes, as you try to list down your resolutions for 2009-try being realistic (thing big but act rational) and kind (take it easy) to yourself. (I took 54 and 75 resolutions respectively in the last two years and lets not discuss how I felt during last days in December of 2006 & 2007 :D). Have a look at this thought provoking post by Rajesh in case you find yourself in Catch-22 with "Resolutions". As you transition from this year to the next and harness your energy and creativity to realise your true ambitions-I wish you all the very best !

Enjoy this amazing track by YellowCard - the lyrics are simply amazing ...

I'll run in the dark looking for some light,

And how will we know if we just don't try,

We won't ever know

Let me light up the sky Light it up for you ...

Stay Healthy, Savvy, Kind and Cool in 2009 !

"The road to a friend's house is never too long!"

Paradox Of Choice...!

2008-12-24T07:19:00.000-08:00

[My fav Juice Shop at Nariman Point, Mumbai, India]

[In India, in addition to Coffee Shops, choices (L/M/S) are offered in Juice Corners too]

Ever felt puzzled while buying the perfect present for that "special" friend of yours or while finding your true calling (dream job/startups/writing/drawing/dancing...) for that matter? Well, let me assure you that you are not alone in this world where there are always bazillion choices for just about everything. As I visited the local Blockbuster Store yesterday to procure a DVD for a friend of mine (Christmas is a great time to exchange gifts!), selecting the right movie wasn't a breeze at all. It took me over 30 minutes to choose the right movie and when I finally got it gift wrapped and walked out of the store-I felt relieved ! While my intuitive response to this sudden burst of anxiety was that-I had a long day at work and my mind wasn't at its best, deep inside I knew something else was at work! What I couldn't figure out was whether it was my mind, my emotions or just my mood?

While I normally hit Google Search in emergency situations like these (Yupp-it shook me that much :)), this time I preferred calling a friend instead-afterall she's supposed to know why we behave in a specific manner in certain situations? First she comforted me (actually she kinda scolded me) saying that this time of the the year should rather be spent planning Christmas get togethers, singing Chistmas Carols and basically indulging in the euphoric spirit of the festive season. Then she said that its a proven fact in psychology [Choice Theory]-that choices do create unhappiness and stress. Before she could steer the conversation to shopping and stuff she prefers talking about (and I don't ;)), I requested her for a quick 5-6 pointers that can serve handy when I feel inundated with way too many choices now on. And here are the tips she offered:

Think Emotions - While most of the time we weigh options in the luminosity of logic, we should rather make choices based on the experience (we suppose) it would provide us with ! She reinforced the statement by giving an example that if buying a FOSSIL Watch genuinely leaves you with feel good experience inside-go for it. I know exactly why this example was quoted (I have always reverred FOSSIL watches) but yes point taken bud.
Be Focussed - While following a set and proven path in career/life is sure a safe option, in case you strive to venture out - have an Acute sense of focus since beggining. Focus, she said helps in filtering out the unwanted choices (psychologists call it Noise) from the useful ones.
Sense Opportunities - Most of us spent phenomenal of time thinking or talking about the missed opportunites (I would have done this only if I had this....or If I were brilliant I could...or Only if work was fun I would be happy...etc). And when we keep playing such incidents over and over again in our minds, it influences our decision making ability as well. If we rather divert our attention to spotting potential in the new opportunities/ventures, we can become quick thinkers and coming up with crazier and unconventional ideas can actually become a habit.
Buy this bestseller or grab a copy from the local library ! :-D

While I try to demystify the paradox of choice over the next few days and finish the year on a memorablenote, I wish you all Happy Holidays! And in case you wish to spend time reading some good stuff-check out the links posted here.

"The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time! ~James Taylor"

Satisfaction Guranteed...!

2008-12-17T14:37:00.000-08:00

There's this cool thing about Competition-it can do (or make you do) wonders. While I have mentioned this before, I was pushed into my "thinking zone" yet again when I received two consecutive phone calls late evening yesterday. The history first-the calls emanated from Reliance and Airtel Customer Care respectively and agents from both companies voiced their unhappiness for spotting the rock like presence of my name in their records of Inactive customers. Before I could congratulate myself for being savvy (I switched to Gtalk/Skype sometime back & I love 'em both) or finding myself as a special customer amongst millions (I like such revelations!) , the first rep asked if all's well back in India and very proudly mentioned the timestamps and durations of the calls (Isn't Business Intelligence amazing?) I made few months ago (perhaps the last ones)-this sure wasn't the best way to talk to a customer! He perhaps sensed my vibes & reiterated that I have been a very distinguised customer.

A little analysis tells me that with Auto-Recharge enabled, the trasanctions between my credit card and payment gateway system of these companies had become quite smooth and that sure classified me as a valuable customer :D. Anyways, he really went overboard with company's offerings and cited numerous reasons (least cost, superb call quality, near zero call drops, 24/7 Assistance etc) to convince me to start using their services again. While I said that I'll think about it to bring the conversation to a harmonious end, I wondered if such efforts by companies are worth the energy spent !

Now, for my local friends here - Reliance and Airtel are real BIG cellular service providers in India who keep striving hard to provide excellent customer service to Indians (in India or abroad) on a continual basis. Ask any of your Indian friend and you'll learn how important their offerings (subsidized international calls) are to him/her! I have always felt that together both these firms make a significant contribution to the Indian Economy-they provide employment to many, world class wireless, telephone and broadband services and help us stay connected. A quick internet search tells you the executives leading the firms are always on the lookout for opportunities, adopt unconventional approaches, partner with global players to outdo their erstwhile performances in stock market and never stop evolving! So in this picture perfect world-how do you distinguish your company (or yourself)? Well here are some thoughts:

Running Our Own Races: Evolution has shaped us to focus on our competitors and try hard to outsmart them. Won't it be better if we direct our focus to ourselves and try competing with our former selves instead? [Google]
Distinct Value Proposition: There's got to be something unique that only & only we (as a company or as inviduals) can offer. Agreed-finding that might take time but once you do find it - life can be more than fantastic. [One]
Gauging Ourselves: While on one hand you can position yourself in your illusionary world where things are the way they are or you can push yourself out of your comfort zones more than once and see what life has to offer. What's important when you do venture out is - the measurements you make of your progress towards your set goals. The adage "What gets measured gets done" turns out to be true majority of times! [Sun]
Leaving a Footprint: When you make an offering (Service/Product), leave a lasting impression (it better be a good one:)). I love iPod not 'coz its cool to have one but 'coz the product was a genuine effort by many engineers, marketers and towards creating an indelible experience in minds of customers.[Apple]

And far as connecting with friends or loved ones in India I am sure you'll agree that in this age of social networking there are zillion ways to communicate and phone has become a passé! For now lets shift our focus to more important tasks at hand like Christmas shopping :)

"Everything is sweetened by risk! ~ Alexander Smith"

Quantum Mechanics...!

2008-12-03T06:43:00.000-08:00

After back to back attempts of persuasion (ranging from "Its festive time Chinmay!", "Its a Bond Movie!", "You've got to see the action & the plot", "The theatre has a luxurious Lux Level seating" and the best temptation she offered was-"There's Ben & Jerry store in there too!") , a dear friend convinced me (finally) to go for evening show of "Quantum Of Solace" at the Showcase Cinema Theatre next to the magnificent Gilette Stadium at Foxboro, MA yesterday. And what a splendid evening it was! Later, on our way back I thanked her for the super-special evening for I thought as if I just attended a rock concert (Yes it was that amazing!). What she said next has remained etched in my memory since - "Chinmay always remember that you are not the only person who looks for the best choice in anything-As a matter of fact everyone does; And if you keep that in mind you can make everyday super-fantastic !". She sure has been an aficionado of movies, concerts and anything to do with Art (Galleries, Paintings, Illustrations, Rangolis et all) since high school days and as she said goodbye - she said (rather demanded;)) she would love to see my thoughts on the movie on my blog. Now, knowing that I usually think in extremes about movies (0% this/100% that)-this felt like a herculian task and I thus dozed off to sleep. Today morning however, yesterday's unfinished "To-Do" kept buzzing again & again & again in my mind. So here I am sipping my coffee, logged in to blogger and lets see...

Honestly while they were showing Trailers of upcoming releases, I was trying to ascertain what the movie would be about-from its title. And considering that I haven't watched any other bond flick yet(Yeah I know thats a surprise!)-all I could think was Planck's constant (used to describe quanta) from high school physics :( And I decided not to share my thoughts with my friend for atleast the next 2.2 hours (what a wise decision it was - I bet;)).

My other friends (who are sure shot movie buffs) tell me that this movie wasn't appreciated much across the globe when compared to the erstwhile Bond films. Now that comes as quite a surprise to me 'coz a little research tells me that the blockbuster did made a killing at the Box Office. Here's I think why:

Highly Torqued Action Sequences (M's trusted bodyguard Chase by bond)
Extreme Rendition of Stunts (Bond's Aston Martin Car Chase)
Depiction of Abundance (Dominic Greene's zillionaire Lifestyle)
Nail Biting Suspense (What would happen next keeps you glued till the movie ends)
Common Motto (Inconsolable rage & vengeance of the leads-Camille[Olga Kurylenko] & Bond[Daniel Craig] against )
Sophisticated Gadgets with an amazing appeal (C'mmon we all love 'em - don't we?)

In a nutshell, I would say that the movie rocked and left me feeling exhilarated. What an amazing Brand Equity 007 has-hats off to Ian Fleming !

"To win without risk is to triumph without glory ~ Pierre Corneille"

Dancing With The Stars...!

2008-12-01T13:43:00.000-08:00

Before presuming that I am writing about ABC's super famous reality show-my sincere rather urgent advice to you is to step-outside of your cubicles right away and look southwest-Yes NOW !! (its 5PM EST). The reason I am emphasizing so much is 'coz the phenomenon that held me spellbound few minutes ago may not be visible for another 40 years (until 2052). An office colleague tipped me about the rare celestial event during Lunch and believe me I have kept my fingers crossed for clear sky since afternoon.

Yes, I am talking about the much talked about "Conjunction 2008" - the amazing triumvirate of the three brightest objects in the sky - the Moon, Venus and the Jupiter. Watching these majestic heavenly bodies orbiting millions of miles away yet present in each other's proximity (as of now) is an awe-inspiring experience indeed. While the astronomers term this as "lunar occultation", to me the spectacle appeared like a "Happy Face" painted in the heart of the night sky symbolizing harmony, peace and spirited times ahead. So head out - dazzle your eyes, boggle your brains, amaze yourself and have a nice evening ahead !

"At times, delusions of grandeur can make us feel a lot better about ourselves."

We Miss Peace...!

2008-11-28T11:30:00.000-08:00

While everyone knows that showering unconditional love to those in proximity is the only way we can live in harmony-I wonder why do terrorists exist and more importantly why do they create so much of havoc, anxiety, trauma, mayhem and terror?

We express our sincere condolences to Mumbai Martyrs who fought bravely in the War Of Terror and sacrificed their lives for our sake. We salute the bravehearts -they'll be missed so much :(

"There are more pleasant things to do than beat up people ~Mohd Ali"

India Shines On...!

2008-11-21T14:31:00.000-08:00

As I headed straight to the "Science" section of my favorite Indian Daily this morning, I was thrilled to learn that a 16-year old girl (Masha Nazeem) from TamilNadu has invented and proposed design of a "flameless sealmaker". Its a breakthrough modification of the existing process of sealing documents/packages since it totally eliminates the use of fire to melt lac for sealing, runs on electricity, lets one control flow of the lac thus ensuring a uniform seal imprint, minimizes the fire related hazards that exist in sealing process as of today. Few reasons why this invention amazes me so much...

Change is the Key: Its based on the notion of improving an existing process and Masha seems to have analyzed the shortcomings of the existing sealing process pretty well. And any positive change always deserves a warm welcome.
Practical Application: While designing her prototype, she kept in mind the practical application of her offering - ballot boxes, government documents. This reducing the doubts of possible customer buy-in to near zero.
Super Efficiency: Its cool because it makes life so simple. Think about it-if implemented this would cut the existing cycle time of sealing documents in offices, give extra time to officers who are involved in "sealing process" thus letting them take up new tasks, improve their skills and so on.
Lean Thinking: This invention reminds me of myLean Six Sigma Project (back in TCS) aimed at making the software/product delivery process to the end clients easier. Though it was no way even light years close to an invention or something like this;) but the point I am trying to stress here is that her invention makes the whole process of "document sealing" in public offices leaner. And thats indeed a cost, effort and time saver in tons of ways.

Oh and a little googling tells me that this super-talented girl has proposed an equally impressive prototypes to keeprail tracks clean-her proposed system allows a Loco Driver to switch off the waste release from all the lavatories when a train enters a railway station. Isn't that a true Out of the Box approach-I bet it is. Keep up the spiritMasha or as the Human Torchin Fantastic Four says keep ur "Flame On"!

"Be everywhere, do everything, and never fail to astonish"

Way Off Track..!

2008-11-20T11:38:00.000-08:00

First it was the Banks, then the Auto Industry and now the Public Transport-I never thought that the prevailing financial crisis would snowball into a major problem for the US Government and the residents alike. While since banks and Auto Industry crisis affect a section of people and there are bunch of ways to fix them (financial stimulus/bailout packages etc)-however, can you imagine how much of an impact would cutting down on Public Trasport have? Afterall-not all of us use cars as a means of commute! According to the latest news, MTA faces a budget shortfall of around $1.2 bn and the authority’s chief executive Elliot G. Sander has voiced severe concerns to the government. This presentation (from MTA's Website) shows the magnitude of the problem MTA is going through. While I have always been an admirer of MTA's superb service (Trip from New Haven to NYC was such a breeze)- frequency of trains, passenger safety, timeliness, cordial staff etc, I differ with Mr. Sander's solution to the problem at hand. He suggests either "Increasing the Fares" or "Cutting down Service"-but either of these are going to disrupt schedules and lives of millions-right !! While I am sure MTA's senior management are applying their brain cells to full throttle at the moment but here are few things I feel (strictly my subjective opinion) they can do now or on an ongoing basis:

Reduce Benefits-Agreed-compensation is always a sensitive issue but cutting down on benefits to employees can be a true saver. And a conflict-free way to accomplish this is to cut benefits across the company at all hierarchies. That ways you still have support from your loyal employees and discussions on "biasness"/"favoritism" etc. are totally out of scope. There are 'n' number of non-value adding activities that go on everyday in any enterprise.
Communicate Smartly-When giving a demo on STARS(Our BI Reporting Product) at Windsor two weeks ago, I noticed an interesting satellite office of a small real-estate firm there. I wanted to make a quick call since my cell battery had died out and thus I stepped into their office asking for a pay-phone. The lady (looked quite surprised first) responded with a warm smile and told me that employees there use Skype as a means of communication as against phones. (And I thought Skype just helps us in staying connected with friends back in India). Voilà-Think about it-an enterprise can actually save substantial money by using Internet/VOIP to comunicate; besides you can actually do stuff like Video Conf etc. as against flying to a client location to give demo-phenomenal cost savings again !! (Hey but I still like travelling-Okay:))
Infuse Fresh Blood-When things don't go as planned for an extended period of time, try hiring young people, empowering them and infuse competition amidst them. Competition can do wonders!
Watch Out-Many times cost cutting initiatives by companies lead to exodus of the most efficient and the best people. Avoid it-give them reasons to stay back, Involve them in policy decisions-NOW!
Look Around-Understood that everyone's (individual/company) problem is unique but once can always learn from what others did in emergency situations. Google out some case studies, approach B-school professors.

All I am trying to say is that MTA can still come up with a WIN-WIN solution with pragmatism and optimism. But yes whatever steps they undertake, they must infuse a strong sense of discipline, vigor and passion in implementing the same. Afterall, trains look better on tracks than off them :) Good Luck MTA !

" Adversities come and go like ripples in a stream"

Feedback Mechanisms...!

2008-11-14T13:57:00.000-08:00

One of the things I really (yes honestly) appreciate about service industry is there's always a huge scope for breaking the status-quo and improving the business operations - only if one pays true attention to the customers (Yeah they teach you all about Customer Satisfaction/Delight n stuff at college but I am talking about real life). And the best way to listen to customers is to offer them a way to communicate their candid opinion about your service. Thinking about feedback, I remember an elective on Control Theory I studied in my 3rd year of bachelors (O boy! Solving those complex numericals wasn't fun at all:)). Our faculty advocated that there are always two kinds of feedback mechanisms in life (Okay he meant electrical machines but I heard otherwise ;))

Open Ended: When you give an input power to the machine/black box and you get an output which might be in line with your expectations. In our case this scenario would be-You get wowed (or bugged up) by a product (new phone) or a service (restaurant/movie rental) and provide your feedback to the company and thats it. They might act on it-you hope so!

Close Ended: A sensor placed at the output monitors the system output and feeds the data back to a controller/computer which then acts and ensures a pre-defined system throughput with least error. Smart Technique-isn't it? In our case this would amount to the company (Service/Product Provider acknowledging the customers' feedback and then acting on them quickly thus Wowing the Customers even more.

And common sense says that by all means a close ended feedback (though has few overheads) ensures better and consistent quality over a period of time. And now the story (the reason why I am feeling so happy at the moment)...

Once upon a time (17th Sep, 2008 and you thought it was ages ago ;)) I flew with Lufthansa to India and I've said before that this trip was such a nice experience. I was quite impressed by their immaculate customer service on board and friendly crew (spc. the Captain who did talk to few passengers too asking howz everything-service, food etc) and since whenever something impresses me I need to write about it - I wrote them a note expressing my sincere gratitude. Period. And what an amazing company Lufthansa is - these guys acknowledged my feedback right away and sent the following letter in mail. One thing is for sure-this gesture on their part made my evening (Thanks Sabina & team) and I so much wish to book my next air ticket with Lufthansa now. See-getting true customer loyalty isn't rocket science :-D

Luftansa's Response

Get your own at Scribd!

"The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live"

Ignited Minds...!

2008-11-13T17:29:00.000-08:00

Whenever I see tiny tots around my first instinct urges me to run upto them & teach those innocent small wonders bunch of ideas 'n' tips which might help them in dealing with different people(difficult ones in particular) in walks of life when they grow up (Sometimes days are just not normal;)). While checking out my favorite "Timon & Pumba" Comicbook from the local library today evening, I observed some 7-8 smart kids in Kids' Section-they were trying to arrange blocks to formulate a pattern displayed in a big artbook placed in their proximity and I must admit that observing them immersed in the activity was so much fun. Each one of them was so spontaneous, exceptionally curious, energetic, naive and totally unself-conscious! Near zero anxieties, unbiased view of things/people around, sheer idea of living life fullsize & celebrating small victories-for a moment I thought that merely by changing their viewpoints kids are able to inhabit a euphoric state which we as adults have a hard time adopting! The small episode instantly reminded me of the amazing book "Ignited Minds" by the reverred Dr. Abdul Kalam I read few years ago...I wish I had the book around now:(

On the brighter note when the Moon Impact Probe [MIP] attached to the top of Chandrayaan-1 with Indian tricolour painted on all sides lands on moon at around 8 PM IST tonight-it sure is a reason to cheer for all Indians dwelling in India or abroad. What makes it super special is that it coincides with Chidren's Day (Dr. Kalam's brilliant idea)!

Here's me wishing all the super-talented tiny yet ignited minds a Very Happy 'n' Eventful Children's Day ahead-N'joi the Song :)

"Life's what you make of it, so lets make it rock!"

Glass Half Full...!

2008-11-11T07:53:00.000-08:00

Its 5AM EST and I am at a Starbucks Store right off the Mass Pike sipping my Cinnamon Dolce Latte, gazing outside the Store Window, giving finishing touches to my STARS slides (today's pitch needs to be perfect!)on my Laptop and somehow I feel so different today-its exceptionally quiet out here. All I can hear is a miniature sound of chirping birds (or may be insects), hum of trucks on Mass Pike, sound of a distant police siren somewhere and a very strong and distinct throbbing of my heart. I wonder-Was I tuning out such small sounds before or wasn't I attentive enough? Well, I guess I know the reason for sure this time...

The roller-coaster ride I was forced into-2 weeks ago has certainly depleted my otherwise turbo-charged energy reserves and enthusiasm levels. Sudden news about a devastating loss of a dear acquaintance (my self appointed creative protege) has left me with a never ending spiral of following feelings:

Shock<-> Denial<-> Anger<-> Vapidness <-> Puzzled <-> Depression --> Acceptance

I have been trying to keep myself engaged in challenges & activities that divert my attention but those unpleasant emotions keep hitting me again and again and again:( The mind keeps denying the news of sudden disappearance of the very person who used to equip me with super-creative ideas & off beat tips for my creative pursuits-even though it knows its a truth I have to live with now on! What's even more surprising is that my plants (gifted by the same person) dried up the same day too-c'mon how can this be true? Are the events co-related? Well, I seriously don't have a logical or pragmatic answer but they certainly have left a deep impression in my mind.

While I appreciate the phenomenal support provided by everyone during past few weeks so much, I have also come to realize that in order to deal with such losses constructively, its very vital to consider "Acceptance" Stage (in spiral of emotions listed above) as one's indispensable Goal that needs to be accomplished as quickly as possible. It sure is very easier said than done and coping up takes time but inner strength, good food, writing and engagement in community based initiatives help a lot. And in the bigger scheme of things (Life I mean), one has to and must move on - right?

I am sure that the remaining 2 hours of drive will bring me back to equilibrium but the essence of what I had and what I lost might stay on with me for the days to come!

Happy Veterans Day!

"Life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold well."

Where is x...?

2008-10-31T14:49:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine called today asking for off-beat ideas for presenting an online quiz. His group has been asked to design an interactive online quiz over the weekend . The said quiz needs to be super user friendly and should provide a quick yet fair assessment of a test-taker's performance in an innovative fashion. My instant thoughts on essential elements of a good Quiz are:

Imagination and Humor - C'mmon we all need fun right?
Intriguing Questions as against general open ended questions.
Questions should arouse curiosity and should have novelty.
Questions should appeal to a wider set of audience.
Smooth Point of Entry with easy self-explanatory pointers.
Questions should combine the Familiar with the Unfamiliar.
Careful phrasing of questions.
They should test a candidate's visual-spatial intelligence in addition to logic.
Use of cartoons / illustrations as against detailed instructions.
Give Feedback / Encourage responses given by candidates towards the end of quiz.

While I help my friend over the weekend-have a look at some of the simple yet amazing quizzes I came across while browsing few mins ago - here, here or here. Happy Halloween & wish you all a superb weekend ahead !

"All human power is a compound of time and patience !"

Clash Of The Titans...!

2008-10-30T10:22:00.000-07:00

(Photo Courtesy - Madame Tussauds, London [AP])

Even thinking about the next week gives me chills. Elections for all seats in the House of Representatives, elections for 11 State Governors and ofcourse the much talked about 56th Presidential consecutive United States presidential elections - that has captured enormous global attention oflate ! All major news channels, magazines and publications, talk shows , pre-poll assessments firms etc. seems to have flooded the environment with infinite pros and cons of choosing one presidential candidate over another ! With Halloween round the corner, it sure adds to the excitement but isn't it that we are giving way too much attention to Elections? Given the dimishining amount of free time each one of us have everyday, it surprises me that people engage in marathonic discussions (at Coffee Shops, Lunch Places, Chat Rooms etc) centred around which candidate to choose and why?, will my taxes increase?, what about my 401k? what about my certificate of deposits? I wonder why majority of people and companies get so much attached to their finances (money/stock/wealth) specially amidst turbulent times ? (Google being the only exception that comes to my mind - check this post). Well, my own gut feeling tell me that what we really need to do (amidst dancing stock prices and eventful recession times) is focus on building our skills or better still acquire few new ones instead!! Guess - its time to head to libraries and get some books issued for a change ;)

But yes, do watch and listen to few speeches of the candidates - Republican Party's John McCain and Democratic Party's Barack Obama - they are brilliant orators and accomplished individuals and political gimmicks aside-one can always learn a lot about the US Economy, National Issues, Areas of Concern/Improvement, etc. from their talk shows/speeches etc. And please do go out and vote for your perfect candidate because elections do constitute the foundations of a true democracy and the outcome does have an enormous influence on other free societies globally (specially India) ! Perhaps thats why they say "Every Vote Counts !" :D

"Don't reinvent the wheel, just realign it!"

Sun Always Shines...!

2008-10-27T07:06:00.000-07:00

[An animation of the sun, seen by NASA's EIT (Photo Courtesy SOHO/EIT)]

Brilliant & Unbelievably Powerful Image-illustrates the magnificence of the ever majestic "Sun" in the convoluted & grand scheme of interesting things around us (read universe ;))-what a nice way to start one's day with !

And as I keep a close watch on the Countdown for the festival of lights alongwith my friends from India for next couple of hours-I stumbled across a writeup (while sending last minute e-cards to my dear friends) I prepared (Thanks for the editing Tanya) for a community get-together (Thanks to Juhi) we had on Diwali last year ! This festival marks the victory of good over evil, end of harvest season and Hindu Calendar Year and watching people of different ethnicities celebrating it with festive firworks, sharing sweets, worshipping respective Gods during this time is awe-inspiring indeed ! I hereby wish everyone a very Happy Deepawali & Prosperous New Year ahead..!

"Something amazing is waiting just around the corner - I bet !"

Being A Kid...!

2008-10-26T19:53:00.000-07:00

Sometimes seemingly chaotic, unplanned, silly looking yet spontaneous fun can make us exceptionally happy. Well, today was indeed one such day when while flipping channels I came across Hungama Television that was broadcasting "ShinChan" Cartoon and what followed was uninhibited and loud laughter (I bet neighbours heard me pretty well;)). This Japanese Cartoon (which is way too hilarious) is about a four year old boy -'ShinChan". Shinchan is a highly curious hyperactive kid (who is quite fond of choco-bees) and his mischiefs are pure fun to watch. The way he troubles those around him with succession of his well planned naughty tricks. Particularly notable things are his husky voice , vivid expressions, his silly yet funny jokes, out-of-place comments and ofcourse his fondness of pretty faces around him ;) Every plot includes his parents (Mom specially) and/or his equally notorious classmates (Boo, Maso & Georgie) and is entertainment at its very best! Past episodes (in Eng/Japanese) can be viewed at here and Episodes in Hindi can be viewed here. For now enjoy the opening theme here or here !

"A ship is safe in harbor, but is that what ships are for?"

Different Strokes...!

2008-10-24T07:36:00.000-07:00

I was super enthusiastic earlier this evening for I was going to meet a close friend (We'll be meeting after 3 years!) and which is why I kept hunting for the coolest T-Shirt in my wardrobe for way past 20 minutes. Now that isn't usually me-I said to myself as I found myself a corner in Local Train to Vile Parle-thats where my friend asked me to come and here I was again lost in thoughts pondering about the significance of colors in life (wish I carried a book to keep my mind at peace :D)

Wordnet defines the word "Color" as the appearance of objects (or light sources) described in terms of a person's perception of their hue and lightness (or brightness) and saturation. Speaking of colors - I am sure most of you will agree that Colors have the ability to trigger our emotions, affect the way we think or act and most important of all influence our attitudes & mood. Admit it or not, but all of us (My quick generalisation stems from my own self belief though;)) do respond to colors around us - cars, homes, clothes, iPods, watches, perfume bottles and even the food we eat perhaps that explains why some of us prefer way too colorful surroundings while the rest prefer a sober one. Is this (creating a lasting pleasant experience) the reason that our decisions to wear a specific clothing varies with the person we are going to meet? Or is this why kids' toys are so colorful ? Is this why Companys' Logos have solid colors? Perhaps a rich amalgamation of colors creates a vivid experience. Well, I honestly think it does and upon getting back home here's what I read about colors:

Yellow - Represents Joy and serves to energise us quickly. [Mango Frooti]
Orange - Represents Hope and serves to alleviate us. [Orange]
Pink - Represents Love and we sure know what it does :) [Pinkberry]
Blue - Represents Truth and serves to inspire and leaves a peaceful feeling.[Blueman Group]
Red - Represents Fire and serves to inflame our passions. [Product RED]

Before I could congratulate myself for this "Eureka" Moment-a Google Alert conveyed that there are few ultra-smart folks who are already know significance / impact of colors on human psyche and have a look here [Idée Labs Rock!] or here [and so does Engineers at Nissan] to get wowed like me. Till you (or me) keep our hunt for a super cool, novel and breakthrough product idea - keep relishing the different shades of life :D

"What we appreciate begins to appreciate !"

Winged Formation...!

2008-10-22T08:26:00.000-07:00

Its 12:15 PM IST, 11th October 2008 and here I am at Reliance Industries' Nagothane Site with my Dad. My Dad has been posted here to head the construction of a colossal (to me anything bigger than my cubicle is BIG !) Gas Power Plant for Reliance Industries with a mission to meet Western India's ever increasing demand electricity (wish we shut off our ACs atleast sometime). And for me - watching site activities sure is an experience of a kind - a fantastic one indeed ! During my 4 year association with IT industry - here's how I processed various aspects of life:

Fun - pushing things (products/services they say) out of my cubicle in a quicker and efficient fashion. And yes those eventful team outings !
Seriousness - When a bunch of people get together in a Meeting Room and talk about strategies, goals and lots of numbers and metrics.
Euphoria - Product Launches or Conducting Orientation Sessions / Training Programmes for new recruits or experienced professionals. Spotting that fire (intense desire to prove themselves in professional world) in new joinees was breathtaking indeed.
TeamWork - So many of us co-ordinating on Web Messenger to get a code snippet perfect - with proper exception handling, near zero memory leaks and bug free execution.

And here everything seems so different when compared to my myopic view of the world as listed above! Never before have I spotted so many people working together, pushing steadily forward with full zeal towards meeting a common objective. Considering the weather conditions - (its scorching hot here and yes there's no Air-Conditioner too ;)) and absence of otherwise omnipresent Soft Drinks / Food Outlets - this is certainly an exhibit of true team work. As I walked past the Rock Blasting Area (they do that to construct foundations of Turbines, Boilers etc), I asked my Dad a dozen of questions seeking explanations for how so many diverse people (who aren't that educated too) work together, whats their motivation (certainly money isn't), how the synchronisation is achieved....and so forth. Well, as anticipated he smiled back and said lets go for a walk around the plant area and promised that we'll talk about it at the end of the day. Here's what I observed during the next 4 hours:

The Only Area with a Shade was this Boxed Movable Meeting Room

Abundance Of Greetings - Everyone here genuinely likes and respects their team members as evident from their way of exchanging greetings.
Willingness to Go Extra Mile - The idea of grasping opportunities right in time is drilled deep in the minds of workforce. My Dad suggested positioning an extra beam for tensile strenth of a column post the usual column reinforcement operations and to my utter surprise one of the guys responded "Sir, Why Wait - lets do that right away?". And I was wondering why they don't have spreadsheets to track minute by minute progress of people.
Frequent Boost Up Dozes- Many of the plant construction operations require extreme physical exertion (I was so shaken observing a guy doing some metal fixing well below the ground level) and what these guys know is every move can't be perfect. Sometime discouragement sets in inspite of a day's hard work but together they still pat each others back saying "Good Going...Good Going! " and move on at even faster pace the very next day.
Being in Control - When faced with technical challenges, few amongst them are real quick to take charge and rest of them provide their full support to face it right on.
Family to Support - Every person who works here knows that their families know that they are working towards a huge goal and I know (from personal exp) that challenges become so easy when you have support of your loved ones !
Quick Thinking - Ofcourse their are distinguised engineers here who are expert at conjuring up quick associations (and improvise existing Plant Drawings at the same time) of how a plant structure say Boiler Casing would look like if you do A as against B.

One things is for sure - I am quite moved by this visit and am certainly very thankful to my Dad for arranging for my visit. Oh and yes, we headed back home my Dad quietly said (may be it was intentional:)) : "Our unique ability to choose how we respond to and process any event that happens to us can make us either a "great" or a "not-so-great" person ! - Think about it" I sure will Dad :D

>> My Google Gears will push a few more posts that I wrote while in India - life should get back to its normal self then :)

Sound Of Stillness...!

2008-10-20T19:57:00.000-07:00

One notable difference I find here in Mumbai when compared to my stay in the US is the super high "Entropy Levels" around me! And thanks to my prolonged silence, I seem to have become more observant of the noises of varying levels around me. While some of them are beyond my control (@ Bus Stop, Local Train or Vegetable Market) but then there are those like Television, CellPhone etc which I can certainly shut off at ease. It appears to me that Noise can affect us in ways more than one - from preventing us to think logically, making us avoid dealing with problems at hand, making us numb to certain emotions and yes drifting us away from the reality. Perhaps that explains why I always love evening walks - they bring so much peace and equilibrium.

Today evening though, as I was walking past the vibrant 'n' beautiful flowers in the picturesque garden here at Shailesh Towers - I was puzzled when I saw few tiny tots who upon noticing me halted their game and seemed to be staring at me for way more than few seconds. I certainly wished to know-Why? After I exchanged the usuals "Hellos" or 'Namasteys" - one of them (Avinash) asked another dude - "Why does this bhaiya (big guy) always keeps his strange looking headphones on when outside in "our" garden?". Before I could understand what Avinash meant, Aniket (the most talkative of the lot) declared that "That's 'coz he doesn't want us to listen to nice new songs he has!" - and they laughed :( Oh boy, it took me almost 5 seconds to realise that they were referring to headphones of my iPod. Isn't it so strange - I always thought that iPod helps me stay in 'thinking' & 'calm' mode by blocking external noise....and these innocent kids thought totally otherwise. I so much wish the world around us thinks like these amazing kids - who value caring, sharing and experiencing true fun since such an early stage in life ! I have decided to bid farewell to my iPod provided - the marketers slow down the rate of bombarding us with ever growing Ads, co-passengers in trains/buses/airplanes talk in lower tones on their cellphones and veil of unwanted external noise is somehow attenuated soon. Till then I'll keep my pursuit of inventing new ways to experience the true "Sound Of Stillness" on !

"One of rarest things that a man ever does is to do the best he can!"

Conflicts are Gorgeous...!

2008-10-19T20:46:00.000-07:00

I normally refrain from using such provocative statements but a small incident that occured few minutes ago in my proximity changed my perspective about "Conflicts" instantly. Well, I am at the Continental Lounge at Newark Liberty International Airport awaiting announcement of my connecting flight to Detriot with a bunch of wonderful and engaged passengers. A marathonic non-stop flight from Mumbai, overdoze of watching cartoons on board and inadequate sleep since past several hours has certainly skewed my circadian rhythym and in situations like these I normally prefer remaining glued to my iPod (calms me) but I felt scheme of events here at the passenger waiting area demanded a quick post :)

A quick high wattage interaction (it was quite a scene) between a young couple (perhaps newly married) was quite a shock to almost all of us. No one could doubt their mutual positive affinity and fondness for each other - to me they looked like a near perfect couple since they boarded the flight at Mumbai CST Airport. To give you an example, Steve (equipped with a Nikon SLR) has been taking Estella's (guess I heard her name right) snaps at light-speed successions whereever "No Photography" board is missing. Estella on the other hand has bought quite a number of collectibles - magnets, momentos, T-shirts, Books, Backrest Pillow etc for Steve....believe me - Love is indeed in the air here at EWR. But don't they tell you Good things don't last long ! Steve perhaps voiced his concern for one of the seemingly expensive momentos Estalla purchased and My God-what followed was a brutal warof words between the "perfect" couple-resulting in widespread agony-direct (to them) or induced (to me;)). Now this trigger was enough for me to think how can one avoid/manage situations like these. Lets see...

Reality - C'mmon lets admit that to disagree (or clash) with near and dear ones is a part of life.
Black or White - During war of words we tend to focus on the "said" things and declare a person as Good/Bad, Caring/Heartless etc- but hey communication is not all about talking...lets give some credit to the so called feelings of those involved too.
Zero Escalation - We might not reach an agreement immediately but we can agree to disagree for now and still keep peace.
Staying Neutral - Avoiding being Judgemental really helps. Mother Teresa once said "If you judge people, you don't have time to love them"
Its just a Game - The dualistic concept of who wins and who loses dilutes pretty easily if one of the person quits this quarrel game (Games People Play is a must read).

That said lets admit that a conflict free "perfect" world with "perfect" partners and acquaintences isn't the way things happen in real world; So lets (for a change) try being little adaptive, super patient and relish the potential conflicts carry. They sure serve as eye openers for some, positive experiences for some others and indicators to start afresh elsewhere for the rest ! **

"Experiences make us who we truly are"

** Beware of views expressed by me (My mind has been humming on since past 20 hrs with near zero hour sleep) so think thrice (I advise even more) before adopting any of my tips :-D. But yes do have a fantastic week ahead...!

Outdoor Pleasures...!

2008-10-18T07:05:00.000-07:00

Nidhi- A dear friend of mine visited a 'Pinkberry' store last week and since then she has fell in love with the concept store chain and never stops talking about it ! Never before I've seen a brand other than Apple making such an affinity; Intrigued, I tried scooping out some information about the store and looks like this California based company is a franchise of nicely packaged frozen desserts and oflate has been known for its plushy store interiors & cult following.I learnt that Splendora Blog says that an 8 oz serving of the fat free frozen yogurt at Pinkberry contains only 200 calories (Now I know why girls love it so much :)). An amazing and near-perfect amalgamation of low-fat, low-cal cool dessert in a ultra creative designer environment and fantastic word-of-mouth advertising makes it a very cool and sought after place to visit indeed. Google Alerts tell me that even celebrities such as the Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus rave so much about Pinkberry. Oh and yes - when I ask Nidhi what fuels her desire to visit a Pinkberry Store again, she adorns a winsome smile (I know she's visualising her last memorable experience in yoghurt store before framing her answer) and says with conviction:

"Chinmay, Fun lies in leaving people better than you find them and Pinkberry offers exactly this kinda fun !"

While I wait for an opportunity to feed myself with this supposedly super-special frozen desert - enjoy the theme Pinkberry Song here , here or here. I love it !

Scope In Scope Out...!

2008-10-10T12:24:00.000-07:00

The City of Mumbai has fascinated me since I stepped in this amazing city - Its fast paced life, diversity of cultures and exceptionally ambitious and creative people. Now that my dentist has given me a go ahead, I feel like a free bird and next few days I am going to travel a lot - thats for sure. While waiting for the local train at Nerul Train Station today, I noticed a Train that came to a screeching halt at the adjacent Platform. I mean agreed - it was a normal "9 Coach Slow Local" Train that was way too occupied and promised an eventful ride to a new passenger. However, what impressed me was the its external appearence. Quickly I pulled my camera of my bag and took a snap (Okay quality is not decent by any means but Nikon D90 wasn't nearby :)).

As you can see, the advertisement covers every bit of the coach and what's notable is that the whole the same ad ran across all coaches of this train. What appears NORMAL at first might have amazing consequences / impact to a daily passenger if one steps back & wonder:

Attention Span: In our present super busy lives, we make (or have to make) very quick decisions everyday based on what we feel, hear and most importantly see. This kind of advertising is sure to grab one's attention.
Take It Easy: I define this kind of advertising as "Take It Easy" one. Neither the advertisers are forcing / interrupting us to view their ads (like in Television)nor they are distracting us elsewhere (Internet Ads).
Epicentre: You can ignore Ad on one coach or may be 2 coaches if you are quite indifferent or busy on phone like me. However, if the whole train is painted Red or Yellow or Blue - c'mmon you are bound to atleast give it a passing glance.
Imprint: For daily passengers in Mumbai, commute in trains is the time when they unwind a little, think about how their day was, feel good about heading for home / office etc. In such a scenario, if you spot this kind of a Ad - believe it or not - you'll atleast remember you saw a train with "Dena Bank" or McDonalds" Ad on it. Thats it - that was the whole idea !

Likewise interpretations can be many but the fact that I would like to accentuate here is - we can always define things as SCOPE IN - SCOPE OUT. There are people who complain about [SCOPE OUT] things like how crowded trains in Mumbai are, they aren't Air-Conditioned, its riskier to travel in them and what not. And then there are some smarter folks (I meant advertisers here) who focus on [SCOPE IN] things, put their creative foot forward and make a difference. The growing school of thought in my mind tells me that when faced with an unpleasing situation or a not to co-operative person - we can always focus on SCOPE IN things, think of abstract ideas and be happy. Sounds easy - isn't it?

"Faith is good, but doubt is what gets you education"

Crisis Of Implementation...!

2008-10-01T12:59:00.001-07:00

Now that (Thanks to the Dental Surgery I had early this week) my volume knob has been forcefully turned down for 3 days, I feel so different (read rejuvenated) for I am certainly not used to staying quiet for periods more than few minutes ! Since past 48 hours, the numerous thoughts emanating from my otherwise chattering mind have subsided quite well and I must admit that everything around seems so strange. Never before I was able to appreciate seemingly small things around me - like vivid colours of the fruits and vegetables while going for shopping at local market, notice shopkeepers strange 'n' different expressions while I pay for the goods purchased, genuinely appreciate home made food by focussing more on its taste rather than taking about my US' experiences or enjoy listening to the latest hits ! My initial reaction to the suggested (My dentist Dr. Suhana Gupta is brilliant by the way) abstinence from solid food and speech was hostile ; afterall for the first time I am really short of time and I have so much on the agenda - visit old friends, meet relatives, go for few treks around Mumbai, buy and read many bestsellers, explore latest restaurants, call up close pals but then life is all about surprises - isn't it?

Anyways, on a positive note the past 2 weeks of my dental treatment has left me with oodles of energy, bunch of crazy ideas and plenty of matter for my blogs and sketches. For now I would like to share a few pointers that might help in keeping our teeth strong, clean and healthy (Wish I was receptive to health related tips before :))

Destination Cleanliness : Brushing our teeth regularly atleast twice a day is a MUST.
A Matter Of Habit : Most of the Gen-X food we devour contains cheese, butter, oils and other substances that tend to stay in our mouths for an extended period of time. My Doc says one should rinse mouth 7 times after every meal.
Vitamin C to the Rescue : Vit C builds up the tensile strenth of teeth. So have more yum lemonades or feel free to sprinkle more lime juice as a seasoning on processed food.
Boost Fibre Intake : All dieticians suggest a Fibre Rich diet for a healthier heart. I'll just add that most of the unprocessed Fibre rich foods are relatively harder to chew which means more exercise for the teeth ! And yes the darker the vegetable, the more the natural fibre content in it.
Irrigate Often : Using Oral Irrigators that aim a stream of water at your teeth to remove food particles is better than using toothpricks.

That said, the challenge lies in implementing these tips and many others. But on second thought beautiful smile doesn't come without efforts :D

"Memorable Moments just come and go like ripples in a stream"

Colours Of India...!

2008-09-26T12:13:00.000-07:00

I am truly enjoying every moment of my stay here in India. Everyday interactions with Shopkeepers, Bus Conductors, fellow Passengers in Train and Grocery Store Owner reinforces the age old saying of "Unity In Diversity" - I see perfect execution of this concept right in front of me everyday. Four of the 7 people I met today were of different culture / geographic locations - yet they were all so cheerful about the upcoming Navratri Celebrations [A Hindu Festival Of Worship & Dance]in Mumbai !! Have things changed for the better in India or have I turned more observant oflate? Well, guess that question appears better without an answer :) Enjoy the Colours Of India and stay tuned for fresh updates from India !

Colours Of India - Photo Show

(Photo Courtesy Steve McCurry)

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."

Coffee With Helmi...!

2008-09-24T12:33:00.000-07:00

This post was one of the things I wanted to do upon arriving in India and needless to say I have never been more happier at pushing the "Publish" button !

I have always had a fascination for Flying though honestly it would take few more years before I get to fly a plane on my own (my childhood fantasy). Anyways, I was wondering just a while ago that sometimes during our travel junkets we bump up against distinguished fellow travellers and few minutes of conversation can leave you phenomenally enriched. There have been times when an informal chit-chat on a plane has made me feel ('enlightenment') as if I am attending an Open World conference :)

Speaking of bonds, last 9 hours have been absolutely fantastic for me !! As of now, I'm sitting here at the Luftansa VIP Lounge at the Frankfurt Airport. After a marathonic flight from US, I am so glad that I got time to breathe, to renew, to relax, to think, text my friends and to take notes (my fav past time). Call it coincidence or my good luck- two absolutely wonderful co-passengers I met on board Luftansa Flight LS-421 taught me more about Games People Play(You & Me inclusive) everyday to emerge as winners on personal and professional fronts. I was both awed and surprised at some of the facts and revelations during our conversations. Here are few excerpts:

Helmi Lanza is one of the most charming lady I've ever met. This lady-an Austrian who's now settled in Boston was heading to Austria to meet her family and was super excited about this seasonal reunion. The fact that her cousin (now settled in Australia) was flying over to Austria thrilled Helmi equally. Anyways, after exchanging plesantries - we talked about how life in the perceived land of opportunities[read USA] has been for the outsiders. I was surprised to learn that few issues I faced during my initial stay here resonated with those she faced years ago !!But on the brighter note, we realised that in general things have improved a lot ! Cuisine was the next area we discussed; and when I proudly declared myself to be a reasonably good cook she laughed out loud and asked me more about Indian Food, Spices, Tradition etc. We also shared some hilarious memories during our respective stay in US though from my side the conv. mostly centred around my now famous 'Cooking Experiments'. The conversation we had can be best summarised as "Culture Fusion" & thanks to Helmi - I so much wish to visit Austria now:). I was a little (or may be lil' more) disturbed since past few days for I had this dozen in Qs in my mind about some strange choices people make after moving to US and I showered her with them in anticipation of clues that might steer me towards the correct answers. Here are few Qs I asked:

Other than promise of a better and relaxed life, what motivates immigrants/non-immigrants to extend their stay in US?
What extra value people add to the society around them or to their country / family by contunuing their stay here? Inspite of so many opportunities for contribution - Libraries, NGOs, Teaching Volunteering, Event Management at College Festivals - people gravitate more towards new Malls, Las Vegas or Bowling - Why ?
Why do so many people restrict themselves to just their field of expertise? I mean being an expert is kool but why not try new things , take few risks and venture into the unknown sometime?
I have heard many folks that they miss their countrymen, their culture and feel lonely so much in USA. Is it true? If they seriously do - what are they supposed to do?

Very patiently she offered her logical explanations - I loved each one in totality except answer to last one ofcourse....she said Youngsters should get married soon to avoid boredom and related anxieties - Well, I am so glad my relatives back in India didn't meet her :) Guess I gotta finish this post abruptly for the Lufthansa Crew just made an announcement for boarding the connecting flight from Frankfurt to Mumbai - my heart is racing so fast at the mere thought of meeting family & friends after 2 years....something tells me I will have an amazing time in India !! Here I come....Yippee....! Oh and yes - wish you a safe and eventful trip Helmi!!

"What is life? An illusion, a shadow, a story or a dream?"

Less Than Perfect...!

2008-09-16T12:18:00.000-07:00

Back in school we (Me, Ankit, Varun, Yash) used to silently admire the American & European logistics companies like - Fedex (Federal Express), UPS (United Parcel Services), DHL (Dalsey, Hillblom and Lynn) etc. I mean for providing overnight delivery with near 100% accuracy and speed - you sure have to me more than "smart". Personally, what impressed me about these companies was the way they utlised technology to reduce total cycle time and achieve better efficiencies ! This was few years ago when services like Consignment Tracking via Email, Mobile, Pager Alerts were still innovations at large (atleast in Asia) !

I remember having mentioning my reverence for these companies so many times to my Sugandha (Our Comp Sc Faculty) in high school and she always responded with a smile and asked "Thats great ! But which of these companies is the best or which one is your favorite and why?". Well, I didn't have an answer to her question then but my association with Service industry has sure helped me in narrowing down my choices over the years. Anyways note the conversation below:

Customer A : Hey I was supposed to receive my shipment 2 hrs ago...what happened?

Store Agent: Sorry Sir, but we have no updates in our system against your tracking number.

Customer A : What do I do next, I was supposed tor receive some sensitive docs and I have aplane to catch.

Store Agent: We understand your concern sir. Can you call 1-800-FEDEX ?

Customer A : I what? Can you do that for me pls...I am really anxious right now.

Store Agent: We can't use back office phone sir.

Customer A : Hey do you know how much important this package is to me right now? Wish I had visited UPS Store.S

Store Agent (Angry): You can still visit UPS Store if you want.

Customer A (Very Disturbed): Alright Bye-Gd Day ! (Aggghhhhhhhh)

Customer A then rushes out from Fedex Kiosk, grabs his cellphone and punches in 1-800-FEDEX hastily. After 5 minutes of "Dial 1 for this, 2 for that...", Customer A manages to find a Fedex Rep and explains his situation. I spotted this scene at the nearby FedEx Kinkos this morning and seriously wished to suggest the following to that Store Agent:

When someone is angry - just nodding head and being a listener helps.
When someone tells you - you are bad or someone is better than you, they simply look for your response on the statement. So take a moment before bursting - taking a breath or two helps. Do we really need to react?
The problem with disappointing Customers is that - you loose not one but atleast 10 customers. Think about it - I am sure the ratio of your positive to negative experiences with Fedex and the alike is more than one. Yet as individuals we always accentuate more on the negative!
Amidst firece competition, you can simply distinguish yourself quickly by the kind of service you provide than the tools / technologies you use. Hey afterall anyone can be trained to use a tool or a device isn't it ? But very few people can be trained to provide superlative service using those tools and empathy.
Before declaring a customer as "Exceptionally Crazy" - do a role revesal. Lets say that you had a plane to catch in few hours and your DL/PP shipment hasn't arrived yet - Would you have behaved differently? If yes then suggest the same to customer and yes Calm him down !

This conversation lasted for just 5 mins but it sure made quite an impact on me ! I really wish that Store Agent was a little more patient and polite with the Customer A or wish I had handed a hard copy of this to Customer A. On the brighter side - I am confident that there's phenomenal room for improvement even in the seemingly near perfect logistics industry.

"Do we utter things in a manner that makes them or us memorable?"

Miles to Go...!

2008-09-11T09:36:00.000-07:00

I have learnt that there's always a pattern amidst the things around us both on personal and professional fronts. If you are smart observer you can spot the thread that connects seemingly chaotic patterns. As I keep my learning hat on, I am sure many of you were keeping a silent yet close watch on the much hyped "Lets Rock" event. event. And in total contrast to expectations worlwide (C'mmon we all wanted announcements like new Macbooks or new product from Apple), we learnt that the event was "iPod" Centric ! Well, many folks quickly dismissed this event as "Boring", "So What?"...et all. However, I love Steve's brilliant explanations (here) when he admits that iPod sales don't follow a linear / exponential curve and sales peak around Christmas time - when we wish to gift our dear ones with a 'special' gift and Apple Products sure strike a chord there ! There goes a pattern which few of us would like keeping a note of ! One thing is for sure that iPod Sales are most likely to smash the erstwhile records in upcoming months !

Speaking of patterns, conversations with my friends (in IT Industry) over the past few days led me into some serious thinking (such kinda thinking hurts u know :)). Most of them feel that keeping upwith the latest Technologies is getting tougher day by day which accounts for unwanted anxiety and concerns in their lives. This is how most of them (okay that includes me too at times:)) feel everyday !

I am sure their concerns are true and good in case they make them put in extra efforts to get smarter and better ! However, there are always workarounds (shortcuts I mean :-D). If we just take a step back and think about the time when we created something all by ourselves and how much thrilled we felt. Your guesses might resonate on the foll. lines:

Creating that beautiful Greeting Card.
Composing that sinuous Song for College Band.
Designing the award winning Science Model.
Engineering that crisp presentation which amazed your peers.
Charting Training course for new recruits in your organisation.
Delivering notes about your very own research to the audience you were one part of.
Creating Blueprint for ur College's TechFest.
Capturing that special moment with your Camera.
Writing that remarkable Code Snippet which is super-efficient, blazing fast to run and is being used by many in your organisation for reference.
Constructing that humble yet catchy website which your social network applauded !

Well, I strongly feel that each one of us is exceptionally creative and we all have our own ways of bringing our inspiration into lifelike tangible forms. In that context, I would like to add that getting that 'Amazing Idea', that 'Inspiration', that ' Super efficient solution to a universal problem' - is tough indeed. But once you have it, all you gotta do is find the right set of resources P2T2 (Platform, Passion, Team, Tools) to deliver the same. Afterall, this is what software industry is all about !!

There are so many unsolved problems around us. Shouldn't we be focussing more on thinking about possible solutions than brooding about that New Programming Language/Tool you need to master? The point I am trying to make here is that being an expert at something is no good of we are NOT able to provide creative solutions to real life problems quickly. Ofcourse, it does help if you are a part of an amazing setup (this, this or this) but if you aren't there are a bunch of ways you can still Rock - in your current role or otherwise !

While I don't have a Crystal Ball with me (for now:)), but I do expect the world economy to remain fragile through the remaining 110.436 days of 2008. Question here is can we do something phenomenal to improve it or forget about the economy - can we break our own status quo? Something tells me "Sure, we can!". That said, I promise to write an even lenghtier post if I grab my 'Eureka' moment as I continue counting remaining days in 2k8.

Think about it!

"Are you the finest in your regime?"

This Day in History...!

2008-09-05T13:44:00.000-07:00

Google Chrome, Apple's anticipated new iPODs, Serena Vs Venus Match or Federer's nail biting victory in US Open Qtr Finals, the ever rising hoopla about Presidential Campaigns, the Movie 'Rock On' and Microsot's latest Ad's critical reviews- this week seems to be roaring with remarkable news and each one of these is just swamping the blogosphere with zillions of blog posts ! What a phenomenal week this has been so far !! Sometimes, I wonder whether reading so much of eccentric reviews centred news is good for us?. Before you try a product just lauched in the market and make your own opinion, a phenomenal buzz (ofcourse product needs to be HOT) about reviews of the product are already out there. Well, they do give us an idea or a headsup thereby saving a disappointment later but point is does an overdoze of news hinders one's judgemental ability? Well - I don't know for sure ! Anyways, I was lil' curious and decided to find out events of the past that made news today. Here are few of 'em that (I believe) made an impact in history:

French Revolution initiated the The Reign Of Terror [1793]
The first United States Labor Day parade is held in New York City[1882]
Sylvanus F. Bowser delivers the first gasoline pump [1885].
Sir Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was born [1888].
First Battle of the Marne [1914] began. This was one of the first battles where reconnaissanceplanes and taxicabs were put to smart use. (Unfortunately war resulted in way too many casualties)
The United States declared its neutrality in World War II [1939].
Voyager 1 is launched by NASA [1977].
Humanitarian Mother Teresa, who won a Nobel Peace Prize for her work with the poor, died in Calcutta, India, at age 87 [1997].
I wrote yet another blog post [2008].

Oh and yes my room-mate was mentioning yesterday that somehow we seem to performing well when explicit deadlines are declared. What a revelation !! (:P). But thanks to him I realised that there are just 117 days remaining before the year 2008 bids good bye to all of us. I better hurry and revisit my resolutions & promises made for this year or else I'll have an even lengthier list for 2009 :) For the weekend that's almost knocking the door, I wish you'll have a blast with your loved ones around !!

`The world around always seeks answer for "What's in it for me?"`

The Midas Touch...!

2008-09-04T14:43:00.000-07:00

Creating content in a form that people connect with instantly is an art most of the IT Professionals master well quite early in their careers! And yes the skill of delivering the rich crisp content in exactly the right words and shortest time (Elevator Pitches) comes eventually with practice. I remember with fondness the preparations me and my partner (now an accomplished Shutterbug & a Consultant with the Big Four) used to do for our then famous Six Sigma Training Sessions during our short stint with TCS's Learning Group in Mumbai(India). The challenge was not in collecting interesting data or catchy fonts or splendid images but rather tossing out the garbage (it was sad to hit delete button on several slides) and convincing ourselves that "Less is Better" before doing a round of rehearsals. But combination of these cut out near perfect (acc. to us of course) slides and few anecdotes from the world around us worked wonders !

Anyways, spotted the foll. award winning PPT while going thru' my daily dose of blogs. Thanks for sharing the same Guy. I loved every slide !!

THIRST

View SlideShare presentation.

"There's plenty of help around - we just need to ask for it in the right manner !"

The New Microsoft...!

2008-09-01T18:52:00.001-07:00

(Photo Credit: Picasa)

Almost all of the distinguished IT firms talk about providing value to end customers thorugh innovative products or superlative services, but then ever wondered about providing an amalgamation of ace products & services? Since past few months I am keeping a close watch on the firms that defy the logic in everything they do and my journey so far has been absolutely amazing. I am working with a close pal to publish few findings that might be a good read. While most of us were caught up in the whirlwind of spotting the best Labor Day Deals today - online or otherwise, few smarter folks that decided to bless us all with yet another remarkable offering. Yes, I am talking about the news that reverberated the web today afternoon - Announcement of Google's much awaited Web Browser - Chrome. Those around me know about my fascination for the reverred firm pretty well and here I am waiting quite eagerly for testing out Google Chrome as soon as it is available for the download. Few points about the browser which makes me love it already are:

Amazing Foundation: It has been built from scratch so basics are bound to be right.

More Power: These folks have come up with a JS Engine of their own and when you know Google is developing it - it has got to be phenomenal.

Open Source: Since they are making the source code available right away, no legal hassles, no anti-trust concerns and plenty of opportunities for contribution for you and me.

Private Browsing: We all wanted it since such a long time !

Well, while some of you join me in the Coutdown for Browser's Launch, few others keep sending me screenshots or related news and the rest keep anticipating Google's next move to outwit MS/Yahoo - lets just say that the Show has just begun!

Have a splendid week ahead...!

"You're brilliant, we're hiring..!"

Update: Google is most likely gonna launch Chrome around 11 AM EDT post their Conference at Mountain View Hq. Meanwhile, keep following Tweets :)

The World Of Exceptions...!

2008-08-20T07:48:00.001-07:00

(Photo Credit: UNC Humor)

Texas trip I made during the weekend that went pass by was fantastic by all means. Nice time spent at Dallas Zoo, Museum of Science, Plano Downtown, the yum food at Caffe Chat & ofcourse the fondness showered to me by Nisheet, Nikhil & Pooja (Isn't English language cool - you can get around with heavier terms of addresses - bhabhi etc ;)) made my trip way too special. And while I was cokking yday, my room mate made a pasing statement - "Hey ur batteries seem to be charged up again !" - which is certainly a Feel Good Factor!

Anyways, as I was waiting for my flight at DFW Airport I observed the fellow passengers and what I spotted was a true Brownian Motion amidst the waiting lobby. Everyone or most of the folks seemed to be in such a restless state - flipping magazines just for the sake of staying busy , making tons of phone calls one after another, punching in keys of their blackberries or gazing at their watches every now and then. I was tempted to pick one of those activites since my flight was an hour and half later but then - I observed this lady and was instantly amazed to spot the confident look on her face - like the one you spot on Sportsmen winning Gold Medals at the Olympics ! With plenty of time on my side and inertia to take my laptop out of my Checking Bag, I decided to have a havea chat with this lady who caught my attention right away(Everyone else seemed so busy & tensed !). Anyways, our conversation (It lasted for good 30-45 mins) turned out to be quite memorable for me. After exchanging the usual pleasantries of "Hey, How are you today?", we talked abt our respective professions. I learnt that she was an erstwhile Delta Flight Stewardess who was now visiting Yale for a Campus Tour - she intends to get enrolled in MBA Course there eventually. Flight Attendant and MBA - now that was quite a contrast I wondered. Curious, I asked about how relevant she feels her work ex with Delta is and in return she bombarded me with tons of points which for a moment led me to believe that Delta is THE AIRLINE to work for if one's is in aviation business. Here are few seemingly normal yet different things she utterred which were in total contrast to my erstwhile viewpoints :( Here they go:

Passenger Comfort: In any flight (she said) you get to meet a wide variety of people (not so happy me/me/happy me) who have different perceptions about the airline and since most of them assess flying experience on scale of OK/bad/worse/gross, this leaves you with limited options, And thus you've to ensure that every passenger is taken care of properly.

And I thought, offering Peanut crackers & Soft Drinks was quite simple !

Demonstrations: Few years ago, they had to do a safety demonstration for all passengers and situation kinda turns strange when your audience feel making that last phone call to their acquaintences is more important than hearing you out or worst still some folks stare you down - and still you should adorn a nice smile. But now, thanks to pre-flight Video Demostrations, attendants can focus on monitoring passenger safety belts, upright seats etc!

And I thought, those demos are so easy than giving a Seminar !

Passenger Safety: Well, this she said is the primary responsibility of a flight attendant. They need to verify the boarding particulars (passengers with special needs like handicapsor or minors etc), assist passengers with loading of carry-on baggage, smoke detectors check, emergency equipment check, cockpit check etc.

And I thought, Technology takes care of Safety !

Turbulence CrossCheck: This seemingly simple tasks proves to be super effective she said. During those moments when you spot ur plane wobbling from left to right and before you deduce than you are in a Roller Coaster Ride, in consultation with the Pilots - flight attendants have to politely ask the pasengers to keep their seat belts fastened and thats about it - the idea (she emphasized) was to make passengers feel completely safe and it works !

And I thought, Flight Crew relaxes or listens to music when plane is at 30,000 ft !

Presentation: Before landing, it is imperative for the flight crew to thank passengers for choosing the airline and ask for candid feedback. She stressed that the situation gets real interesting when say the flight gets delayed due to Technical Problems and you are 99% sure that passengers won't reciprocate warmly to you as they get off the plane towards Baggage Claim.

And I thought, their presentation was all abt nicely pressed bright colored dresses !

The conversation was simply superb and as we headed for grabbing some Coffee, she mapped all these points and lots more very clearly to her reasons for doing a MBA from an Ivy League School and she was near 99% sure(have never spotted such a confident lady) that she'll do well in the days to come. While sipping coffee, she suddenly had this thought that I was being a diligent listener since quite some time & asked about my work , passions etc. -- eeks now that sounded a lil' uncomfortable to me at first (for obvious reasons). But during these testing times, enthusiasm works wonders! I started with the describing the thrill I experience penning down blog posts or better still drawing sketches about the experiences that amaze me on a scale "Wow/Awesome/Brilliant" (I think I like this scale analogy:)) and eventually talked about Technology & DBA Stuff - all this while she was very very attentive which was good (may be). And from the email she sent out early this morning - looks like I made a decent impression too :-). But you know - Good things don't last that long, soon we heard the announcement about boarding flight DL930 to Atlanta. As I wished her "It's very nice meeting you today" - I sincerely felt so !

On board, I realised that exuding passion in what we are doing everyday isn't that tough and honestly each one of us can make make a visible & positive difference in our respective professions - I bet this lady was superb on every flight she was in during her tenure at Delta ! I wish Scinthia all the very best for her upcoming endeavors at the reverred Yale SOM!

"Are we doing things that create ripple & are worth talking about?"

Reason to Smile...!

2008-08-14T10:45:00.000-07:00

(Photo Credit: Tanya @ Flickr)

Yesterday, there was a power outage at our place. Though it lasted for a mere 20 mins but it seemed like it was hours (if not days!). For the first time in several months - I felt so bored and what followed next was an eerie silence...wish I had accompanied my room mates to the Health Club in evening :( Anyways long story cut short, I was wondering about this week and realised that inspite of few highs (Watched many movies) and lows (Had Sambhar 4 times-ewww) it was quite amazing indeed. I decided to list down few things / news that made me genuinely happy this week. You are permitted to assume that I went real crazy this time but what else you'll do when you suddenly find FREE time (No Internet I mean ;)) and company of zero living beings around :D. Anyways, here's the list:

Fireworks : Bejing Olympics Inaugration Ceremony.
Accomplishments : Abhinav Bindra's Gold Medal Saga.
Records : Michael Phelps smashed record after record - looks like he read my erstwhile post ;)
Product Launches : Our Team's indigenous 'STARS' Enterprise Sales Reporting System was blessed by CF's President at last. (Post 3 months feasibility testing)
New Ventures : I cooked Suji-Halwa (an Indian Sweet Delicacy) all by myself. (Was kinda edible)
Pleasant Surprise : The 'Water Taxi' snap was published at wired.com. You made us all very proud Tanya - Gd luck for ur next Shutterbug Venture !
News News: Nidhi - my distinguished cousin (who by the way never stops amazing me) got promoted at Amex ! Congratulations Di...!

Now that sure sounds like a time for celebration. I thus treated myself with an double scoop 'OREO Overload' (It was splendid) post Lunch today & headed back to my lil' playground (some call it 'cubicle') for grabbing some more fun ! I wish everyday was like today :)

"Without a doubt, people around you are absolutely true most of the time."

Go Michael Go...!

2008-08-08T06:24:00.001-07:00

(Photo Credit: Adam Pretty/Getty Images)

I have always admired people (my amazingly talented friends & cousins) who make it a point to leave their STAMP on their respective ventures - teaching, consultancy, design, medicine, law, Software development, professional coaching etc. Conversation with such acquaintances is always Fun - the talks centre around keywords like : Phenomenal, Talent, Cool Concept, Customer Delight, Differentiation and my favorite "Record Setting". (Call up one of your distinguished friend over this weekend and I bet you might find an analogy there).

Anyways speaking of records, there's something very very special about them which is why I love watching Olympic Events so much :) At a certain instant we perceive a world record in a sport like Gymnastics / 100m Race as the near perfect & invincible one...only to learn 4 years later that that very record was broken quite easily by a younger sporst(wo)man. Amazed, I started reading about the way such atheletes prepare for Olympics today morning and what I learnt was by far impressive. Here's some so called secrets (most of us know 'em already but lets just recapitulate 'em again):

Peak: The sole goal of achieving Peak Performance at the shortest possible timeframe is drilled deep in minds of such world class sportspersons.
Thrill: They make their sports look as exciting as a Roller Coaster Ride. (Ever wondered which is why we spent hours watching a Tennis or Soccer Game?)
Willpower: All young athletes start their training / preparations with the knowledge that there are a dozen (if not more) players out there in the world who are better than them and have been training for years ! A strong Willpower & Self Belief comes for rescue here.
Realisation: Training and playing with smarter opponents makes one aware about one's strengths & weaknesses. This realisation forms the true basis for improvement.
Pressure: The world in general gauges you by how you perform under pressure. The way sportsmen utilise their strengths in tough and close games differentiates a world class player from a normal one. Remember how most of us leaned forward on our chairs during the memorable Federer-Nadal Winbeldon Match....and you thought getting Gold Medal in college was an immense pressure-cooker situation :-)
Value: Winning is one thing but delivering exceptional value to a game by playing great moves and being the role model for youngsters serves to be the biggest motivation for great players.
Transform: Everyone loves winning but learning from defeats is a skill I feel sportsmen ace at - which is why they are able to move on so well and transform themselves for the upcoming events.
Rhythms: The preparations / training routine certainly pushes 'em beyond the limits pf normal physical strain/stress and slowly their bodies tune themselves to operate at a higher performance levels - lets say Rhthyms (I love this word !)

Well, that sure was an eye-opener for me in ways more than one for it reminded me about the High School days when our gang strived to set individual records in Mathematics Olympiads- in retrospect that was quite an interesting time indeed ! Anyways, as I saw Michael Phelps giving the world yet another surprise by winning the gold medal in the Men's 400m individual medley breaking his very own world record by 1.42 seconds my advise to him for upcoming events is "Go Michael Go...!!"

That said I feel that we can all strive to seek thrill in our lives just by pushing ourselves a little everyday - you never know when you become a distinguished human being !! Being referred to as "Peak Performer" or a "TrendSetter" by those around you certainly sounds good :-)

"Are you doing stuff or just imagining it?"

Messengers of Love...!

2008-07-31T08:07:00.001-07:00

Few months back (when I changed job) I was pretty amazed at the idea of making new friends, working on multitude of database systems & interesing technical challenges and above all changing my mode of transport from Bus to Car :) And for couple of weeks that followed - going to office in car with wonderful company (we do Car Pools), nice 'n' fresh music (Thanks to my room-mates) and refreshing hot coffee was definately lot of fun ! I welcomed the new freedom, made several trips to the scenic places nearby, took lots of snaps and ofcourse enjoyed the hoopla around the dancing Gas prices. Now, I feel like getting / trying a new mode of transport - just for a change sake!!

Anyways, today at breakfast one of my fellow peers (He just returned from India) voiced his euphoria about the omnipresent Tempos & Rickshaws in India and asked me if I can share my thoughts on this seemingly strange yet terrific means of Transport. I felt a need to give him an elaborative snapsot of rickshaws (Honestly I was a little surprised at his mention of Autorickshaws as "Cute" and thus felt the urge to clarify;)). Here's what I emailed him a couple of minutes after returning to my desk:

Auto Rickshaws (Public Tempo / TukTuks in popular parlance) has truly been one of the most useful inventions for India & other South Asian Countries.
Apart from buses & trains they prove to be very convenient and popular means of transport.
Most of the Tuktuks run on CNG Gas and thus they are quite eco friendly.
Since these three wheelers occupy very less space compared to other automobiles - they seem to attend the problems of Traffick Congestion pretty well.
Their max speed is around 32mph which works out to be sufficient for point-to-point commuting specially in busy Indian cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad and Bangalore.
Their special triangular form makes maneuvering a cakewalk. At times you really get amazed by the way the rickshaw drivers will navigate through a busy route specially the crossings (Chaurahas)
Travelling in Shared Autos is even more amazing. Besides fun of deciding how much each one owes to the Autowallah - discussions about the latest movies / stock market / vegetable prices are an everyday occurence. According to me they instantly connect people.
The fare is computed on a pro-rated basis by the certified meter installed in every Auto. Apart from an initial charge, one has to pay according to the distance travelled. So ideally speaking one would never have a difference of opinion over how much to pay to Tuktuk driver. (Okay Delhi is an exception I agree :))
Indian Government is seriously considering capitalizing Solar Power for running these rickshaws. Once this happens - pollution levels will certainly dimish !

Hey now that sure makes me feel nostalgic for a while. I can keepwriting on and on but then don't they tell you that a Picture is worth several thousand words ! Here's a quick sketch of an Auto I sent with the above text to my peer Tony. . He emailed me back with a Smiley today asking me to plan a trip back home soon - he wishes to go for a Tuktuk ride again :-D. Now moments like these make you day indeed. Now on I'll call our autos the "Messengers of Love" - afterall they instantly reminded me about the wonderful time I spent in India ! Here's a quick sketch of an Auto I attempted few minutes back ! I just can't wait anymore to visit the nation of diversities & true treasures.

"
Work you do out there better gotta be challenging & amazingly entertaining !"

Boxed Creativity...!

2008-07-18T15:07:00.000-07:00

Looks like the gasoline retail sector is quite agile - things are way too short lived here ! I mean-3 weeks ago we were asked to come up with an algorithm (which would eventually be a software bundle) that computes the optimized price you should be selling gasoline in order to outshine your competitors (or lets say stay in business). And today when we were all excited to Demo our supposedly cool product -- we were told that we need to put a human check / verification on top of our product to make sure that software's results are fine. Boy, that doesn't sound fun (except the fact that our tool & our team got nice reviews & a sumptuous dinner by our VP) - 'coz I heard somewhere that in current times average folks rely more on data generated by a software than humans !! But then in Gasoline Business (I told myself)- you would certainly not want scenarios like:

On a rainy day, software assumes sales will be less since quite a number of people will spend time indoors& thus increases gas price by an amount which will make customers quite uncomfortable. And you would certainly not wish to loose your loyal customers!
On the other hand, on a very busy day - due to competition the software prices gasoline way too low say to boost up sales - $1.99 a gallon - which is by far not good for the company (I would love to visit that gas station though:))

In light of the above scenarios our Project Manager decided to have a human as a bridge between our s/w and the Gas Stations:( He further suggested us to build a kind of self learning algorithm wherein the software learns the conditions as and when a human does a manual override to the prices !! The closest one that would made 'em really happy - I believe should have an intelligence like Google's Spell Checker. Speaking of which - I am sure the phrase "Outside the Box Thinking...!" rings a bell in most of us - afterall thats what we are asked to practice day in and day out across our sojourn across the erudite Corporate World.

From my experience @ Office yday (I kept thinking about it quite late till I dozed off finally), I wanted somebody to answer tons of my questions - What?/How come?/Why? types. Anyways, while driving to workplace today(it was a lovely sunny day) I devised the term "Boxed Creativity TM ". Here are some of the insights about "Boxed Creativity TM " - amidst the brownian motion going on in my mind since yesterday:

Limits: In the world of Boxed Creativity - one knows the practical limits (budget/person hours)beforehand. Thus, more than the Idea Generation (no doubt its important but...) - its execution with the available resources remains in focus.
Control Variables: By being in the box, you know very well what factors can affect the box (task at hand) in +ve/-ve manner.
Performance Under Pressure: By being in the box you realise what does your project/business/company needs in order to maximise the execution efficiencies. An example can be a tennis player (Roger remains my favorite) - who starts off his sporting career by knowing the physical limitations of his body & the pinching fact that there are other superb world class players out there. How do you think he plans then? I believe by being Inside the box yet being super creative ! (More on this in a later post sometime later).
Candid Feedback: In addition to being present in the box and recording ideas, its vital to come out once in a while to see how you are doing or better still have your ideas reviewed by a fellow peer or your best friend. I have a firm belief that this approach can bring about phenomenal results in a very short time.

Well, something tells me that this idea is gonna work in someway so before I start twittering about the idea of Boxed Creativity - let me take a plunge into the Box. Will share my findings soon ! Till then keep your creative hats on :)

On and yes my sincere congratulations to Manmohan Uncle for winning the confidence vote-you made us proud yet again :D

The Milestones Club..!

2008-07-02T07:51:00.000-07:00

I got my current RD Issue today and spotted a nice article on Guiness World Records™. Its pretty interesting to learn that an argument over "Which is the fastest bird in Europe ?" sparked an idea in Sir Hugh Beaver's mind for compiling a book of world records and considering Sales Statistics of the reverred book of records (The book sells around 100 million copies in 100 different countries in over 20 languages ~ Courtesy LA Times) - I must say that Hugh Beaver had a brilliant entrepreneurial insight indeed !!

A friend of mine called up yesterday- he was super-excited & stated that it was the happiest day in his life. He then asked me to guess the reason for his ultra-elated-spirits - Ahh now thats a tough one....My mind came up with a dozen thoughts (it wanders way too much these days but thats not the point here) like he's hit a jackpot, he has been shortlisted for the International Photography Award, his name has appeared on Guiness Book or may be he's getting married again !! My inner self advised me not to take any chances and surrender to friend instead (I have experienced catastrophies with this guessing game in the past). What I learnt moments later that Varun got his Corvette*** yesterday !! I responded with the usual plesantries of "Waaaooow!!, Awesome !!" but was still wasn't sure how can one equate buying a car (Okay dream car) made my someone else (Chevrolet is an amazing brand but...) with the happiest moment in life ? Surprised, I thought that I will keep this in my bucket of "QYTA"** for a while. A plausible explanation I could come up with to describe the phenomena could be:

Most of my fellow colleagues & friends idolise few distinguished BRANDS - Apple, Jaguar, Omega, Harley Davidson, Swarovski et all which makes me wonder how come these brands and the likes have such a strong global appeal? My observation goes like - the smarter folks from very even smarter schools (read brand) land up in companies (brand again) which have ultra smart & cool working cultures -- they bring about breakthrough improvements in various business processes in respective companies they work for -- companies' cash flow(revenue) grows phenomenally -- they reward their smart workforce -- who can thus (Finally !) buy their (lets call) distinguished brands to make them feel good & proud of themselves! Phewww....thats a long way to go indeed !! Let me try putting that in a sketch - will publish it soon.

Speaking of World Records (Wish someday I learn to stay focussed on one topic while writing Blog Post...this post was meant for sharing something else :( - I promise I won't digress for now:)), hope you all read about opening of the world's longest cable-stayed bridge in eastern China yesterday. Here are some interesting facts about the bridge:

The Sutong Bridge spans a distance of 1088m and links the cities of Suzhou and Nantong in China.
Its an amazing work of engineering and its 6 lanes expressway promises to reduce the commute time between Nantong & Shanghai by 3 hours !
Besides the humongous span, the bridge also has the world's tallest towers at 300.4 m that rest on the world's largest pier's base.
The bridge also boasts of the longest single stayed-cable in the world (577 m).
The engineers used the domestic steel from Shanghai's Bao Steel which in itself is very impressive.
You and me with get to watch this bridge soon :) (The Bejing Olympics torch relay will pass over the bridge).

Congratulations China for this true indigenous architectural feat & welcome to my "Milestone Club"!! The point I was trying to communicate was that the record breaking news like these make me happy & cheerful.

** QYTA - Questions Yet to Answered
*** Publishing Snap of the lovely car my friend procured yesterday. Congrats Varun !!

Empowered Storytelling...!

2008-06-23T15:22:00.000-07:00

I grew up admiring distinct qualities of people around me and used to wonder when would I be able to find that 'unique' word/phrase that describes me in totality. For Example:

Mother Teresa - Peace
Lance Armstrong - Tour de France
Tony Buzan - Mind Map
Edward de Bono - Lateral Thinking
Tiger Woods - Golf
Sachin Tendulkar - Cricket
Seth Godin - Marketing Guru
C V Raman - Raman Effect
Scott Adams - Dilbert
J K Rowling - Inspirational Writer
Roger Federer - Tennis
Harsha Bhogle - Cricket Commentary (I admire him a lot)
Dad - Orator (He's an amazing speaker)
Mom - Thinker (Finding Quick solutions to seemingly daunting problems is a skill she mastered long back)

And here's the BIG news - hunt for a phrase (good one I mean) thats describes me is still on :) The interesting thing to note though is that with each of the personalities listed above one can weave a bunch of stories that describe what made them great & unique. Upon reading biographies of few of them looks like most of them had a fair share of failure & success (Failure over Success Ratio > 1-Yes-its true!!) in their respective lives but phenomenal self belief compensated for all the odds - which gets me into thinking mode again.

While I ponder more on the matter - have a look at this inspiring commencement address by J K Rowling at Harvard. I haven't read any of her books but some of my learned friends [Approx. 7 of 10 people I meet during my travel trips are solid Harry Potter fans :(] believe that the way she crafts a tale in the ethereal imaginary world is beyond superb. As far as I am concerned, I feel that the most notable thing she has given to our world (besides treasured books) is - reignited the reading habit amongst us - (youngsters in particular) which is perhaps good :)

I look forward to spotting an audio-book of any of the Potter's Volumes sometime this year ( I could never muster the courage to pick-up any of those heavy Potter Volumes !!) unless someone can read a Potter book for me ;)

Photo Courtesy : J K Rowling

Shoes for tomorrow...!

2008-06-13T11:43:00.000-07:00

While going through my usual doze of news & blog posts this afternoon, I learnt about this firm which I believe would do phenomal in the days to come. Blake Mycoskie voyage across Argentina & his passion & willingness to help who are less luckier than you and me resulted in launch of TOMS. The firm is not just a usual new Shoe/T-shirt selling venture...by adding a strong cohesive community element, TOMS certainly distinguishes itself from any other Shoe selling company I have come across (Nike does some good work too but thats the usual CSR stuff)

The way it works is for every pair of shoes you buy, the company donates a pair to a child in need(Yes they actually do) . Now the point where it gets more interesting is the customers can actually travel to Buenos Aires and hand deliver the shoes themselves. I love the whole idea for I think that by participating:

You are letting the kids in person know that they have an external aid around - makes you feel a good & noble person inside.
You get in touch with a bunch of people who wish to help the needy and I bet the experience leaves this "community" of people charged up & motivated.
You can even upload your picture later on TOMS's Website being viewed by thousands of folks everyday - I am sure you agree that spotting your picture on a website other than your own sure makes you feel good.
The first thing I noticed on TOMS Website was "COLORS" and lots of them. To me colors have always been associated with fun & play. So I hope the Volunteer programme adds the element of fun (for good) which we all need in our otherwise ever busy existence.
As a consumer your mind gets a true "two for the price of one" satisfaction too :)

What a nice way to serve the community and get attention of social media & consumers at the same time.One thing is for sure - My next BIG shopping spree has to include a TOMS pair for sure ;)

Meanwhile....Keep Cheering those around you !

"Changing a Life begings with a Single Step Indeed" (TOMS WebSite)

Highway to Success...!

2008-06-12T11:40:00.000-07:00

Its been a week since I wrote about the Gas Prices & the sky-rocketing gasoline prices continue to pinch more & more people across the globe (see the video embedded below). My current association with Retail Sector is helping me understand the role of petroleum products' pricing/taxation in the industry and believe me some wonderful companies try really hard everyday to make life of end consumers (me and you) comfortable. Here are few interesting things (I spotted that) few companies in petroleum business do:

Reverse Thinking (From a Customer's Viewpoint -I know thats what they teach you in school). But these folks actually visit gas station and compute the avg time a consumer takes to fill in a tank & they try improvising the same. It helps to serve customers in a quicker 'n' better way.
Instant Reporting of Business Metrics - In any business data forms the basis of analyzing how one is doing versus say last month or current month last year (YTD Comparison). But then hey, few folks also go a step further to predict the consumer spending & buying patterns in specific geographies based on a heuristic analysis (remember Correlation/Regression chapters from the High School Math book - its almost the same). This whole number prediction process becomes way too interesting when you increase data collection frequency (say collecting all gas stations sales data in ur area per hour), add plenty of variables (competition pricing, weather, breakdowns on roads etc) & ofcourse the omnipresent pressure from the mgmt to present the daya in a simple yet elegant fashion. (Will write more on this sometime - Yes, you guessed it right - I am working on a similar project right now ;))
Delving Deeper - The marriage of oil companies' expertise in drilling and the current state of art technology has resulted in tapping the seemingly unreachable deep-water oil reserves. This requires volumes of innovation, collaboration & persistence but then few guys are trying their best out there in deep sea just for you and me.
Evolve- Contrary to one's expectations - the oil companies seem to adapt to the changing market forces very quickly. And yes they are always on the lookout for any new ideas you might have.

Anyways, I just recalled a nice thought that I read sometime back "Words are words...Promises are promises..Action Matters!" So let me head back to my work right away. Meanwhile, here are some ideas & tips that will charge you up in case you feel scared amidst the shaking US economy. Thanks for sharing the same Pam.

Up, Up & Away...!

2008-06-05T16:28:00.000-07:00

The hoopla around ever rising Gas & Oil prices has kept me on the toes since past few weeks. Looks like many of my acquaintences (including me) felt the price pinch pretty strong (God, almost all the mealtime discussions used to be centred around either Gas Prices or Microsoft-Yahoo Deal !!) - so few of us decided to demystify the phenomenon [Okay thats outright exxageration ;)] . We assigned ourselves a week and decided to get back with respective findings about the theory behind "Gas Pricing". The facts everyone came up were beyond impressive & I just can't wait more to share the consolidated findings. First some interesting Stats :

United States continues to be the largest consumer of gasoline(petrol) in the world, we guzzle almost 2.4 Gigalitres everyday [Source EIA]
Americans drive almost 3 trilion miles every year which works out to be around 800 trips from Sun to Pluto & back. [Source MEMA]
Contrary to the perception, the gas prices in US are quite low when compared to those in Internation Markets.
The variation of Gas prices across the globe is way too much. On one end of the spectrum there's Venezuela where Gas Price is a mere 12 cents a gallon (I can drive on and on and on ;)) then there's Sierra Sierra Leone where one has to shell out almost $18 per gallon (better use horses for commute)
The Hybrid Car sales are growing exponentially in US with California being the leading state which is a feel good factor indeed. [nearly 250k Hybrids were sold in US in 2007]
Govt of respective countries keep a very close watch on Gas Prices. Even a small hike in prices may result in cascading effect in Transportation costs, cost of almost any material good sold - thus the strong priciting control & vigil.

The Math

The Gas prices are certainly governed by the usual Supply-Demand Equation but there are a bunch of other factors that come to play a distinguished role when it comes to true pricing. I was surprised to observe the variables my friends came up with that can effect Gas prices:

Labor Cost (This directly effects refineries & thus the price)
Fluctuations in Stock Market & Weather
Natural Calamities (Remember how Katrina took oil prices for a toss)
Relationship between nations
Change in Taxation Policy (Obama & Hilary know this pretty well too :D)
Crude-Oil Inventories Rhythm
Maintenance or Over-hauling of a major Petroleum Refinery
Commute time of ships transporting crude oil from Petroleum producing nations to the others.
Competition amongst firms distributing Petroleum Products.
Seasonal Demand (During Summer Vacations the consumption grows by a huge amount which in turn shoots up Gas prices too)

When you pump say $35 into your SUVs / Cars, the money you paid gets dietributed to various entities across the Supply Chain. To give an idea, here's a rough breakup of who pockets the every dollar you spent on your vehicle's gasoline (considering US's national avg in 2007) :

* Crude Oil (OPEC) - 73 cents
* Federal & State Taxes - 11 cents
* Refining Costs & Profits - 10 cents
* Distribution & Marketing - 6 cents

That said - the revelation left us with even more points to ponder for the days to come:

Since our natural Gas Reserves are dwindling at an alarming rate, we (atleast few of us) should focus on how quickly we can develop technology to use alternative fuels (Hybrids are ok but what next?)
Gas is one (major) fraction of the spectrum of Petroleum Products - thus Energy Conservation on a daily basis seems a plausible solution - but then one has to adopt a tough stand on it or participate in initiatives on similar lines.
Try following some suggested techniques on the web for fueling our vehicles in a smarter manner. (Quick short-term fixes)
Use Public Transport or Car Pools where possible. (I read somewhere that socialising aka networking helps & you never know you might end up meeting your next date as well;))
Can we really think out of the box? Its been ages since we dwelled upon "Coal-to-Oil-to-Gasoline-to-Comfort" concept. Wind-Solar-Nuclear-Wave were looked upon but we never had a promising long-lasting solution.

But like they say, its better late than never, we decided that for now we would try inculcating "Energy Conservation" habit & hope for the best. Have a look at this article by Glenn Beck - hope you get Wowed too!

Happy Driving...!

Trend Spotting...!

2008-05-06T11:19:00.000-07:00

At work (I simply love my new job) our team tries to parallelize everything - from data access, utilizing resources throughput & even our mutual interactions on a daily basis...and believe me it does save us a huge time everyday (superb efficiencies are a by-product too). Anyways, when I visited nearby Post Office to buy some Postage Stamps - I noticed something quite interesting. It was a "Eureka" kinda feeling when I observed the manner in which the customers were being served by the energetic looking USPS Personnel & tried drawing an analogy to the Post Offices I went to in my childhood days. Here's how I can best describe/demonstrate the difference:

Approach A (Lets call it - The Obvious One)

Have customers lined up in front of different post office windows so that at a time (in theory) - 4 Customers can be served. However think of the repurcussions when say the clerk at Window A is having issues with his system. One can forsee the chaos that situation like this would create for people lined up near window A. Secondly, say if I am in line A next to the person being served currntly and I notice that line C just got empty - there's no way I can walk over to Window C. Practically, what Window C personnel would do in this case is to split Queue at Window A from the middle. But hey, what about me - my wait time didn't reduce even though resources (read servers) were available. I am sure many of my friends can correlate this to a ususal occurence in few Train Reservation Centres in India.

Approach B (Lets call it - The Dynamic One)

Have people lined up in a single queue (this is what I observed in USPS Office yesterday) and the person in front of the line can choose to go to the first available window A through D. Now, statistically the average wait time for a customer is much less in this case for many reasons. One, in case if system at Window C is malfunctioning for some reason - the customer can quickly move to the other free (available) window easily. Secondly, in this approach, the skill / processing speed of a particular Window personnel wouldn't affect the customers when averaged out. (Imagine in Approach A - if you happen to stand in a line where the clerk takes 10 mins as against 5 mins to serve each customer - you are seriosuly doomed then ;)).

Well, then what I intended to convey that it isn't always necessary to go for mathematical/statistical analysis to spot trends in our day to day existence - being an avid observer & giving the gift of your complete attention to things (tangible or otherwise) around you is all one needs to do on a continual basis.

Oh yes - as always Seth impresses me with his latest post yet again - I love the buzz he creates in his creative approach to seemingly obvious & rational things (Intership, Squidoo, Book Launches, Seminar Invites etc) - I can just sit back & admire his distinctive style.

Brainstorming for Fun..!

2008-04-29T22:17:00.000-07:00

Loved the crisp presentation on Brainstorming-felt like sharing it quickly :)

| View | Upload your own

Interpreting Feedback...!

2008-04-22T14:18:00.001-07:00

"Connection is a powerful force that creates a positive bond between people based on both rational & emotional factors." Well the more diverse people I meet, the more the I believe in this viewpoint. There are dozens of strategies out there on Internet illustrating the same but I am positive that I am not married to any one in particular!

Recently, I ordered an amazing Laptop for a friend (She never stops smiling :)) & my whole shopping experience was by far memorable in many ways. We were all pretty excited for we were getting a terrific deal (plus $500 Discount) on this Artist Edition HP Notebook & placed a quick order online last Friday. When I checked my statement online 2 days later, I was shocked at having learnt that the discount wasn't applied as promised & the order was cancelled as well. Upon enquiring, I learnt that a glitch in ordering system caused the issue. Anyways, this piece of information was enough to make me "unhappy". I needed explanations-Irritated, I picked up the phone & called up HP's Customer Care....as anticipated - I heard a cheerful voice of 20 something guy with the customary "Thank-You for calling HP Shopping. How may I help you today Chinmay?" My first reaction was to unload my stress/anger but probably the fact that Brian (the agent) called me by name - I decided to be a little patient. I took a deep breath & explained to him at length about what happened & how bad I felt..I said I needed a explanation! To my utter surprise - Brian never argued with me (believe me majority of the cust service reps do argue with irate customers) rather he apologized on behalf of HP & said that a written email apology is on its way. He then proceeded with a fresh order with same list price & express shipping. That said, the thing he mentioned next impressed me the most "Sir, we appreciate you chose us & candid feedback like these do influence changes in the way we sell products at HP. I am sure that you will continue to be our special customer in the days to come." - WaaaaooooW, one thing is for sure-this 20 something guy indeed made me feel way too special :) Anyways I just felt to add few points to what Seth (my true marketing rebbe) says about "Feedback:

If you feel impressed or delighted - express it right away.
Feedback is more than "GooD" or "BaD". Being a little descriptive while giving feedback makes a huge difference for the intended audience.
Anticipate areas of friction before giving Negative Feedback.
Frame -ive feedback like "Its ok! But can you let me know what took you guys so long?" What differentiates a "special" customer from an avg one is the way he frames up -ive feedback. (There's always ample room for improvement here :))

Well then, wish you all "Happy Earth Day" & thanks much Brian - you made my day indeed..!

Earth Hour 2008...!

2008-03-28T11:36:00.001-07:00

Often, I get amazed by people who come up with brilliant ideas every now and then. More than money, more than politics, I feel that ideas are the secret power that this planet actually runs on.Anyways, I was really impressed this morning while reading about "Earth Hour 2008" as Top news on almost all major news sites. Carter Roberts was the man behind Earth Hour 2008 which is basically an international event aimed at communicating one simple message "Urgent need for action on global warming". At 8 pm EST on the Saturday (29 March 2008) millions of people (me, you and many more) in some of the world’s biggest cities will unite and switch off electrical appliances for the Earth Hour.

What an amazing way to exhibit that we care for our planet - I love the idea ! This movement accentuates the need to keep pushing on till we get a "Greener Earth" by remaining alert, decarbonizing our surroundings, reducing electricity consumption, planting trees & coming up with innovative ideas.

Well then, you might wish to sign up for this noble cause by clicking right here

The Science Of Experience...!

2008-03-03T15:25:00.001-08:00

I often wonder about this "work experience" concept which has puzzled me a lot since my High School Days. Our society always gives preference to a person who has done similar kind of chore than a equally talented & sharp person starting afresh. And there are plenty of reasons for such commonplace behaviour. I read somewhere that mastering the most complex human endeavors requires a minimum of 10 years' experience and when you consider examples of Chess GrandMasters, Real Estate Agents, Investment Bankers, Olympic Athletes (their practice starts right from their childhood) - you would certainly follow that notion. And to some extent I too agree to this belief (you would always take your BMW / Audi for regular maintainence to an experience mechanic than a novice right;)). Anyways, here's what my thought stream at the moment goes like:

Patience: The more time you spend pursuing any particular activity, the more you train your SubConscious and once your subconscious mind learns something well, it becomes a habit.
Patterns: Human Brain remembers experiences as illustrations than words/numbers. A series of repititive events (the work we do daily) form a pattern in our mind and thus we follow a certain set path eventually. Try observing a colleague for a week and I bet you'll find patterns in his/her way of checking emails, sipping coffee etc. That said, all we need to be efficient in certain skill is religious practice for an extended period of time.

Comfort Zones: Most of us (best example is me :)) like practicing what we know well rather than venturing out everyday to do stretch our skills or as my Dad says - breaking out of our Comfort Zones. In order to be real performers all we need to do is to overcome complacency & try new things. Acquisition of new skills always yields +ve results.

The Digital Divide: Emails are amazingly fast, convenient & best form of magnification - perhaps thats why we keep checking our Inboxes every 5 minutes. But hey, aren't we all emotional people; personal face to face meetings always have an edge over virtual communication since you can best portray yourself in person.

That said, I feel that each one of us (freshman / experience professional) can make a visible difference at workplaces keeping above cues in mind. Personally speaking, if I were to hire somebody(someday ;-)), I would look for people whose attitude can be best described as:

## An exceptional yet humble Rockstar @ work

## Differentiate or Die

## Be Analogue (human)

## Exhibit passion & Emit positive vibes

## Get straight to the Point(Ideas)

## Amaze people around atlest once per week

## KISS (Keep it Sweet & Simple)

Serendipity...!

2008-02-18T17:47:00.000-08:00

I always love writing about things that amaze me or leave an indelible impression in my mind. Yesterday as I was checking out various Car Dealers in anticipation of a good quote for a car, I visited my friends in Stamford and as anticipated got an instant invitation for dinner. My initial hesitation turned into agreement when I heard about the Menu ;-) and believe me it was one of the most liveliest & warmest experiences of this year besides my birthday. The dinner was special for all of us for a multitude of reasons ; some of which I can recollect are:

Gregarious, Smiling Hosts - I read somewhere that a warm smile if often returned with a better one. Perhaps the hosts read that somewhere too :)

Q~Do we find such people @ our workplaces?

Engagement Of Everyone - All 5 of us had things to do...Salad Making, Chopping Vegetables, Cleaning Utensils & ofcourse Cooking and thus everyone was in participative mode which was indeed a feel good factor.

Q~ Do organisations keep all associates positively engaged?

Conversational Rhythms - Other than the tasks at hand we all kept talking about plethora of things from MS-Yahoo Acquisition, Indian Sensex Performance to Our Career Plans and believe me such conversational rhytms did add up to make cooking a fascinating voyage.

Q~ Do we imitate such rhythms at home / office?

Icing on the Cake - Finally, our host decorated the Dinner Table well enough with Table Mats, Condiments, perfect Ligting even though it was just a casual Dinner.....just to make us all feel special or should I say give us "personalised attention"

Q~ Do we try putting icing on the things we do on a daily basis?

Pass-Along Value - I can bet that each guest would have mentioned about the sumptuous dinner to atleast 2 acquaintences. Now considering that even if half of those got interested - the host had 4 + 4 well wishers..! What a spiralling effect !!

Q~Does our work has substance/packaging good enough to initiate Word Of Mouth?

Finally, do have a look@ the remarkable Photostream of a budding photographer (I particularly liked the way this shutterbug has captured "still" 'n' "special" moments in our otherwise fast paced lives).

Birthday Facts...!

2008-01-25T19:17:00.000-08:00

It struck to me in the nearby Coffee Shop today that let me try to find out what happened on Jan 25 few years back the day when I was born :) Interestingly, I was googling about the day and here's what I found using the "birthday calculator":

"You were born on a Tuesdayunder the astrological sign Aquarius.
Your Life path number is 11.
Your lucky day is Saturday.
Your lucky number is 4 & 8.
Your lucky dates are 1st, 10th, 19th, 28th.
Your opposition sign is Leo.
Your opposition number(s) is 1.
Today is not one of your lucky days!
There are 335 days till Christmas 2008!
The moon's phase on the day you wereborn was waxing gibbous. ....."

Now thats interesting indeed - I liked the elaborate description.
By the way - thanks to all my lovely friends for making my 25th birthday so memorable & special. You all are really wonderful.

Tribute to Bobby Fischer...!

2008-01-22T18:33:00.001-08:00

The enigmatic, reclusive & American Chess Superstar Bobby Fischer passed away on Jan 17th this year. An American Chess champion at 14 and a grand master at 15, Bobby was indeed one of the most remarkable world chess prodigies America has ever churned. The much talked about Cold War icon who dethroned the Soviet Union's Boris Spassky as world champion in 1972, was certainly a maestro whose contributions in the world of chess was phenomenal indeed. His march towards towards World Championship was surrounded by many controversies & tensed moments. But what impressed me most about ace grandmaster was his contributions to this world. I decided to list few of them down on this blog as a tribute to this chess legend:

Fischer Clock: Fischer filed for Patent for this clock. Using this clock each player got a fixed period of time at the start of the game and then additional small amount after each move. In this way, the players were never short of time in practice.
Chess Theory: He established "Poisoned Pawn Variation" and practiced the same in his match with Boris Spassy in Revyjavik.
Fischer's Chess960: He invented a new kind of chess which gave more importance to an individual's creativity & chess playing talent rather than memorization of opening chess moves. The way this worked was during opening, chess pieces & pawns were placed randomly on the chess board in 960 combinations following these rules. Once the game began, normal chess rules & fundamentals applied.

Over & above everything, he focussed on what mattered most to him in life - "Playing Chess". His uninhibited love for chess motivated him to master the game of chess & eventually become a memorable world champion.

Check this amazing Photo Essay about Bobby in TIME.

IndiaPay Opportunities...!

2008-01-20T11:40:00.000-08:00

I was so excited while pulling up my Credit Score for 2007 -- I did all preparations I can think of -- read all about:

What goes in credit-score & what doesn't ?
What kind of transactions count more?
Should we do fewer bigger transactions or many smaller ones?
Does paying off loan quickly helps?
How does compounding principle helps?
Should we possess multiple credit cards of smaller Credit Limit / fewer ones with impressive limit?

All in all, it was an interesting exercise that kept me occupied in last Qtr of 2007. Finally, when I extracted my score from FreeCreditReport, I wasn't thrilled at all. I couldn't crack the 800 barrier in 7 months of my spending spree but then I consoled myself by thinking that I should probably not worry so much about attaining first Credit Score as perfect for all it does is expresses my creditworthyness in financial world (Credit Card Companies to be specific). And since I pulled my score, I have been inundated with Credit Card offers from A, B, C & god knows every possible credit card co - which is certainly a feel good factor if ur sore is less than 800. Indian Bank's Association [IBA] has realised that India needs an inhouse credit card payment system now. In recent years, the growth of credit card companies & credit card holders in India has been phenomenal indeed, Have a look at the following stats (I read on RBI's site) :
"The total spends at point-of-sale terminals crossed Rs 55,000 crore (Rs 550 billion) in 2005-06, with the issue of 18 million credit cards and more than 60 million debit cards. Almost, every transaction involved the payment of a settlement charge to MasterCard or Visa, which amounted to about $50 million during the year."

Thus, a domestic card payment system (IBA proposes IndiaPay) will certainly save the outgo on the commissions paid to VISA & MasterCard etc for domestic transactions to start with. A wonderful idea indeed. In addition to savings commissions, I can foresee following benefits right away:

Data Mining & Tracking: Data Mining is very crucial since one gets to learn the trends of people spending money in a geography. With IndiaPay system, government can track & later analyse such patterns and base their decisions of taxation etc based on the same.
Customer remains the King: With advent of IndiaPay, almost immediately VISA/MasterCard will reduce their transaction fee (they hardly have any competition right now) and that is certainly a win-win situation for end customer & government too.
Inter Bank Transaction Switch: Development of such a (complex) system will open up new avenues, new set of challenges and facilitate even more transparent inter-bank communication.
Backbone: IndiaPay system can eventually be made as a backbone for their e-transactions like Mobile Money Transfers, Card-to-Card transfers & other micro-payments etc.

I sincerely believe that in additon to cost cutting advantage this system would certainly promote growth of several ideas towards pumping up India's Financial growth in the years to come..! Njoi this video for now..!

Get Set Go...!

2008-01-12T10:00:00.000-08:00

I feel lucky for having come across this interesting article in Business Week about The Best Young Entrepreneurs while going thru' my daily doze of news today. You always feel awed when you see that a bunch of smart, prolific & brilliant young folks focus on everyday problems & together with a remarkable amalgamation of creative ideas, intelligent choices & quick implementation of ideas - launch exceptionable products / services. Gone are the days when one needed to have a history that can demonstrate dedication to professional career in a particular stream (read Work Ex.). The article demonstrates that each of us can achieve breakthroughs - its just a matter of taking a pen & paper and jotting our thoughts & ideas down. I have tried this technique of writing down things and it seemed to have produced impressive results.

Anyways, in my efforts to shake up my status quo (no plans for the weekend yet), I made some sketches today and let me see what I can do with them over the weekend (I have few ideas...lets see if they work :)) I always wanted to capture the charisma, the enthusiasm, the energy & the varied expressions on faces of people around me since my High School Days - and guess I have found a way to do so. WaaoooooooW - I love this euphoric sensation...!! Do check out this amazing post by "Tools for Innovation by Anand Chhatpar - you might wanna add it in ur Favs like me :)

Letting Freedom Ring...!

2007-12-26T16:03:00.001-08:00

"Vacations Overrrr Finally...!" Since, I am back to my grounded state now-I can let my imagination go wild yet again :) Remember back in college there were days when you loved studying a subject or working on the same so much that you became completely absorbed in it? Well as human beings we all drop into such ultra-creative blissful zones every now & then - thats when human brain works to the best of its ability - often resulting in amazing positive outcomes...!
Few years later, nothing made us feel more happier@work than sitting in a nice office environment with designer furniture & energetic looking folks around - but not for long. Soon, many of us realised that we ought to pursue our passions & pursue interesting 'n' challenging things that make our lives fun. Welcome to the bandwagon of creative souls friends...!
While most of my acquaintances have come up with remarkable resolutions for 2008, I have decided to wait for a while, analyze my "Ahaaaa" moments in the year that went past by & then write everything I can think of as a resolution for the year ahead using RW / MM Techniques and finally distill the ones I feel I can accomplish easily ;-) I firmly believe that setting one's new year's resolutions is just one half of the battle; the challenge lies in remain fixated to them and achieve them within perceived time frame. Lets see how quickly I nail my resolutions down - Jan end max :)

Have a look @ Acciental Creative folks' website-I learnt about them while searching for podcasts ["creative" was my search keyword] in iTunes this morning - their whole concept looks so impressive. They are slowly (& steadily) hunting & connecting with distinguished Creative Pros across the globe with a mission of helping people find their "Creative Rhythyms". I am so amazed by the whole idea. I have a notion that each one of us can make a visible & unique contribution to this world.

The question is - "Have you started yet?"

Breaking The Rules...!

2007-12-20T07:32:00.001-08:00

Back in High School, me & few of my friends were always on the lookout of opportunities where we could contribute as responsive citizens by engaging ourselves in community based initiatives, participating in nature trails, educating have-nots during our free time (we were mostly free)...and believe me it used to be so much fun. Somehow it used to give us a sense of euphoria - and we all were invariably happy most of the time. But all such rules seem to have changed in present times - The green lustre of the environmental movement has lost its emerald sheen; similarly, the social get togethers have become a rare occurence.

Why don't we care about the plight of others anymore? Why can't we spend few bucks to help the needy and spend a few hundred bucks on Black Friday / Christmas? Why is everyone-firms, individuals, coaches so focussed on creating their identity amongst masses rather than helping the masses?

The bigger concern I see is that somehow all such observations seemed to have turned people like me off for a while.. and lack of alternatives is definately not an excuse in this case..! Anyways, till I do some more soul searching, here's what I'll keep myself occupied with:

FreeRice - Build Up vocabulary & help end hunger
ONE Campign - Fight against poverty & global AIDS
Millenium Campaign - Goal to end poverty by 2015
Get a Prius soon :-) - Hey c'mmon its Hybrid, eco friendly, economic to maintain (44 MPG Mileage), HID lights, cool looks, has an amazing smart key technology - oooops I can write a full blog post on it :-) This perhaps explains this post's title. Ω

♥ Merry Christmas ev'body ♥

Decision Making...!

2007-12-15T10:29:00.000-08:00

Time & again we hear from our Supervisors/elders that "Quick Decision Making Skill" can be learned over en extended period of time and it comes from practice. May be thats true but considering the paucity of time & based on the post - I somehow feel that everyday decisions are indeed taken by our subconscious minds in those Split Seconds. As my friend (my Cooking Guide) was cooking yesterday, I tried drawing an analogy between cooking & decision making. Here's a gist of my thoughts that wandered way too much last evening ;-) :

Gather All Ingredients (Facts) - The exercise directs our Subconscious minds towards soaking the problem which could later help in taking a good decision.
Add Spices (Self Judgment) - Like a good recipe, we have to allow ourselves to add our own spices (feelings, intuitions & other considerations) based on our past experiences & judgments. Like a good dish, this step is what differentiates a good decision from a not o good one.
Patience - Until the dish gets prepared one has to exercise patience-likewise decision making can be a time consuming process which we ought to consider.
Visualization - Mind Mapping has proved to be a good aid since my High School days. Have tried the same while cooking - it actually helps. Somehow I feel we remember things better by way of pictures / illustrations as against mere facts.

Enough said-have a look@the following Video...to learn why timely decisions are crucial~ Enjoy...!

Beyond Cognition...!

2007-12-09T10:13:00.000-08:00

Early this morning while browsing through my Google Reader feeds, I stumbled upon Yahoo Design Blog and there was an instant moment of awe & inspiration. For the first time, I felt that out there there are some folks do work for pursuing true research in pursuit of their passions - as against working on usual stuff under visible pressure of revenue targets, work hours clocked or performance feedback :)

The Yahoo Design Team seems to be working on a plethora of Research Projects and after navigating their site - I can summarize their work as " Cutting Edge Science applied for executing some fresh idea". The one project which intrigued me in particular was their "Burst Visualisation Software" - which represents Yahoo Search Queries density in different geographic locations on the globe against a search term like "Miss Teen USA". Apart from the idea this is what impressed my mind about this project:

Globe Texture & Appeal (Yahoo rocks in aesthetics..!)
The algorithm that yields patterns from a seemingly colossal data against a search term - wonder how they do that - get data, do reverse IP Loookup, plot a trend, capture times also since search trends would differ during day / night times for each distinct location...Wow!
After a while [few spins of the globe :)], one can ascertain what are the popular search keywords and "patterns" like these are what Marketers look forward too - ain't it?

And yes, check out the statement by Aaron Koblin - "I have a feeling there's a lot more to come with this stuff. Hopefully I'll be able to spend some more time on it soon". Now, this is a true passion indeed..Boy, what a nice way to start your day with...!! By the way do have a look at this video.

Winds Of Change...!

2007-11-30T20:57:00.000-08:00

For some people tradition begins at home - a special dinner with loved ones, a precious gift by someone special, a fun gathering; for others, tradition manifests itself in different ways - like a trip to the nearest Movie Theater or a Mall...! Now, amidst all my friends, I am a little less adventurous of the lot and given a choice - prefer to stay back home, pick up some bestseller, grab a Coke, switch on some music and believe me weekend just passes by :) About 3 Weeks back, on one fine Saturday morning, when my friends made a plan to go Bowling @ Rip Van Winkle Lanes nearby, my first reaction was "Oh dear! What Kinda trouble..?" But then the idea somehow intrigued my consciousness since I had never been to a Bowling Alley before... and I thus decided to Go Bowling...!

I was pretty amazed upon enterring the bowling arena (it was huge...!) for it had all the trappings of an upscale entertainment-made-to-order cocktails(we had mock tails :)) , snack bar food to delier made-to-order casual dining choices & tempting appetizers, colossal Plasma Displays, a state-of-the-art sound system blasting latest music tracks and an array of lanes to keep everyone occupied. Observing the frenetic pace of everyone inside- their rhythmic walking & swinging of arms was remarkable indeed. Now, I couldn't help myself taking a note of few things in there:

Appeal - The Bowling experience is designed to work for everyone - an office team building event, a special birthday party, a super special date, a family get together or just a hangout destination for friends.
Patience - The excitement is always on as one waits for his/her next turn to bowl for everyone tries to do better than erstwhile attempt. The lead time is best for munching some snacks.
Speed - The game goes way too faster than one anticipates and as a result everyone wishes to play games after games.
Music - Pulsating Sound tracks coupled with intense desire to hit a strike adds special effect indeed.
Etiquette - Bowlers next to you proceed with their next chance even though you are about to take your shot & at times they even pick your favorite bowling ball. But then the good part is egos are kept aside & it all somehow works fine.
Shoes - I wonder whose idea was it to make it mandatory for everyone to wear bowling shoes provided by folks running the alley, but may be the concept appeals to some.
Work-Out - Owing to balanced & co-ordinated body movements, bowling serves as a nice way to shed off those extra calories indeed.
Customizations - Bowling Balls come in varying degrees of hardness, weight and colors - and one gets to cherry pick the ball from a stack of multitude of balls in alley thus giving an illusion of customization (Mac Experience).

All in all, thanks to my friends it was a wonderful experience which helped in breaking my status quo for the weekend ;-)