Monday, December 06, 2010

Getting Creative

Getting creative is not just a one time activity. Consistency matters. You should work such that creativity becomes a habit, then you'll do wonders. See how it pays off!

Becoming creative is being aware of the fact that there are multiple solutions beneath every problem. Only that they need to be poked to show themselves up! They will emerge, with persistence.

Sunday, December 05, 2010

Inspiration from Hugh MacLeod

Drawing inspiration from Hugh MacLeod (gapingvoid.com), I went out and purchased 3 marker pens to 'try' writing on the back of business cards. Just to get 'that' excitement.

I've following gapingvoid.com since about 5 years now, and am a HUGE fan. So just recently, I thought of toying with the idea and started drawing these cartoons on the back of used/old business cards that there were just lying around, unused.

Let me know how you found them. I'll upload some more soon.

Pic1: so, what's keeping YOU!


Pic2: which one will you CHOOSE?

Pic3: Form without function is FUTILE.

Pic4: Which one will you CHOOSE?

Pic5: making sense of things

Pic6: ignorant about ignorance

Pic7: Success, Finally!

Pic8: feed my hunger


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Saturday, October 30, 2010

Piranhas 3D...The Ordeal Unleashed!

To my utter dissatisfaction...
1. Piranha 3D was not scary AT ALL. I anticipated HUGE adrenaline rush in this movie and a lot more blood and gore from the pre-historic Piranhas, who were busy reducing humans into bones.
2. Piranha 3D was not in 3D in the multiplex I had been to. Fortunately, 3D was not really required here.
3. It was like a typical no-brainer zombie movie, in which zombies keep eating people who are running helter-skelter to save themselves.
4. I could not figure out what good actors like Elizabeth Shue (The Saint, Hollow Man) and Ving Rhames (MI, MI-II) were doing in this movie. They had no roles whatsoever, other than becoming self-imposed baby-sitters to a bunch of drunk kids at a beach. Rhames is eaten while he bravely tries to kill Piranhas using the motor boat's motor as the last resort. Shue is just trying to shoo the Piranhas away.
5. I've not seen a REAL horror movie in a long time.

The good part was:
1. Its duration was just over 70 mins.
2. The interval was really short, which meant that the second half got a chance to start sooner and end sooner.
3. They gave us complementary coke, probably just to make us sit for the rest of the movie.
4. The movie had an end, and so I was sure that the ordeal will end soon.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

The High Performance Entrepreneur

I'm currently reading this book by Subroto Bagchi.

It delves deep inside the mind of an entrepreneur and explains how to spot the entrepreneur within you, how to know if you are ready to start an enterprise, how to set vision, mission and goals, how to create a team etc etc. The list goes on.

I have so far completed about 20% of the book and this is what I have say about it: IT'S PRACTICAL TO IMPLEMENT AND VERY INSPIRATIONAL TO READ!

The book details insightful anecdotes and his personal experiences while co-founding MindTree. At times, you get a feeling of deja-vu while reading it.

I will personally recommend this book to anyone keen to start an enterprise and is unable to start it due to self-doubts. It will be like an unflinching lighthouse showing direction to your lost ship.

I'm loving it. Go to a book store near you to grab a copy.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Freshness

Ah, much better now!

I was trying out the new 'Template Designer' feature on Blogger. It's really convenient. For the time being I'm going stick around with this one.

I like its simplicity and its appeal. It has a certain freshness that connected with me.

Cheers, to the freshness! :)

Tuesday, April 06, 2010

FaceBook

I have been real busy last month and a half. But have been active on FaceBook. I find it is much better than Orkut.

It's a great conversation starter. :)

Friday, February 26, 2010

“the kinetic quality”: the future of advertising

I was just reading about the 'kinetic quality of products' here at gapingvoid.com.

The future of brands is interaction, not commodity. It is not something you buy, but something you participate in.

A good read for anyone interested in brands, products, consumer perception. I enjoyed reading it. :)

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Phir Mile Sur

When some-buddy told me that a new version of the famous 'Mile Sur Mera Tumhara' was launched, I was very eager to see its telecast. But when I saw it on YouTube last Sunday, I was dissappointed due to the following points:

1. More than showing United Colors of India, it seemed to be showcasing United Colors of Bollywood.
2. Sports which needs focus today and ample promotion to flourish in India - was vastly neglected in the 16 minute song. When I say sports, I don't include Cricket in it. Cricket is more popular than required.
3. How many of you noticed Saina Nehwal, Gopichand and Abhinav Bindra in the song? They must have collectively shared 5 'blink-and-you-miss' seconds. In India sports needs an impetus today which 'Phir Mile Sur' was capable of providing.
4. 5 seconds of these Sports stars compared to 10 minutes of Bollywood stars dancing around unconvincingly singing 'Mile Sur Mera Tumhara'.
5. Perhaps a sort of fusion of dance was attempted in Shobhanaa and Shaimak Davar's dancing styles - how 2 radically different dancing styles exist in India today - one, ancient and another too new to be true. I personally enjoyed only the part where Shobhanaa gracefully performs Bharatnatyam.
6. It did not somehow connect with me. The whole song. I felt it lacked an emotional appeal.

Will share some more concerns later. Meanwhile, I will just re-run the old 'Mile Sur Mera Tumhara' in my mind.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Interacting with Students

Recently, I was asked to speak to the final year students of some Engineering, MCA, MCS colleges in the city. I was asked to tell them 'what to expect in the corporate world and how things are radically different out there'. I recalled when during my engineering days, there was no system/process which helped us interact with our seniors and learn about opportunities in the 'corporate' world.

I immediately accepted the offer to speak to my 'juniors'. But it wasn't easy as it sounded. I recollected how during my engineering, we were reluctant to attend any such seminar of a 'faculty' who told us the difficulties one faced in the corporate world. It was when I actually entered the corporate world that I experienced them.

I decided to share the following with the students:
1. Life during my graduation
2. My 'wake-up' call during engineering
3. how we identified that we had poor communication skills, then went ahead full-steam in improving it.
4. Experience as an Entrepreneur
5. Difficulties we faced in our enterprise
6. How in today's Information age, not knowing something is a sin.
7. The attitude required in corporate world
8. What grads/post-grads do not focus on during their studies
9. Importance of Networking and Mentoring
10. Miconceptions about the dreaded personality called 'boss'
11. Importance of being in touch with your alma-mater
12. A to-do list to help them grow - personally and professionally
13. How important it is to be in the company of people better than you

I kept it interactive most of the times and tried giving practical examples. It was a good experience because the sense of 'giving back' to your society came for the first time.

I am keen to do this again. I want to tell them how they can maximise their potential by making good use of their graduation/ post-graduation period.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Has Nature Really Evolved?

There are three types of canines. First, who live on my side of the road. Second, who live on the other side of the road. Third, who die crossing the road.

Canines have inspired me over the years about the sense of purpose, sense of existence, the elemental drive, evolution etc. Strange, but true. Will try to elaborate these one by one below.

En route my office on my bike, I always observe lot of dogs 'just' hanging around.

ABOUT PURPOSE/ SENSE OF EXISTENCE: They seem to roam around with no sense of purpose/ the 'higher' goal in life. They are either making a futile effort of trying to catch their own tail or just chasing each other out of their territory. Is that all they exist for? Are they self-aware? Do they know why they exist?

Life for them seems pretty easy, from OUR POINT OF VIEW. But we would never know their thoughts. Unless we can find some telepathic veterinary doctor or someone like Dr. Doolittle.

ABOUT EVOLUTION: Many dogs get killed in road accidents each year, and those who live on either side of the road, also become familiar with these accidents. My thought is, through evolutionary measures, why don't dogs - who have seen accidents or seen their near ones die - pass on this info through their genes to their successors?

In doing so, the new breed of dogs would get accustomed to urban lifestyles and the reckless driving habits. Thus, they could save a whole bunch of dogs while crossing. They could evolve into someone with an elastic, resilient, strong body - capable of withstanding high-speed impacts. What say? [Food for thought: How did homo erectus become homo sapiens?]

But this led me to thinking about evolution of human beings as well. Every child has to spend the same amount of time in learning things that his/her parents already know, right? We teach him to speak, to sing, to talk, to walk, to drink, to write, etc. Why do we have to do that, if our parents already know it? Why aren't these basic actitivites passed on through their genes to their child?

Won't it save time in training him in those things again? What happened to evolution? Why are we redoing and relearning things? Won't this help every new generation to start learning at a new level? Every generation would 'have' earlier gen's knowledge from their birth. They could start at an altogether new level of research, thinking, learning etc.

I'm unable to comprehend this immediately. But then, a possible solution surfaces: All that is there is in the world is 'material'. It may not exist tomorrow. And so what is the point of knowing something that may not exist tomorrow? And so, may be this info is not passed on to the next gen. Is this THE answer? Seriously, I have no idea.
-------

I'm trying to find answers to these questions. I ask these to every wise being I meet and I get varied answers. What do you think?

Friday, February 05, 2010

Mental Peace

There are times at random, when your mental harmony is disturbed for no reason whatsoever. Or that is what it apparently looks like.

Upon closer observation of yourself, you begin to understand the nature of the problem. Once you have identified, you can solve it easily.

The mental harmony cannot be restored by external factors, nor can it be disturbed by external factors. It is something that you need to restore through soul-searching, resolving internal conflicts, introspection etc. All this can happen when you spend some time with your self.

My mental equilibrium was suddenly disturbed yesterday for no apparent reason. Something had happened at the office front, and I was about to go into the same old trap. But after spending some quality time alone, with my self today I could control it.

I will act on things asap - without critically over-analyzing and over-assessing things. I will limit my thinking to things of the present, rather than the past. Future is what I make of present, so I am not worried much about it.

Thursday, February 04, 2010

Flying is for lazy people

After many days today, I went for a morning walk with my cousin. On our way back, I shared my thought about how spectacular it must be to fly around.

To which he promptly replied, "Flying is for lazy people who do not like to run/ jog!". He continued, "What's there - you just have to think about it and you start flying. While running, you actually exercise. That's better."

I had no answer to this. I think I was too shocked to hear it. Perhaps, I had expected him to empathize with me and say, "Yeah, how interesting it must to be like Superman!".

But anyway, I guess, there is nothing right or wrong - only opinions. I just kept the possibilities of flying to myself and felt happier later.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Not a child anymore

Last Sunday my mom and my wife had organised a ceremony for our daughter. It was basically an all-ladies and all-children event. Gents had nothing to do it. So my cousin bro, my dad and I planted ourselves in front of the TV in our bedroom.

However, I was the official photographer of the program. This is when the reality dawned on me. When I was clicking photos of the event and the people, it struck me that I wasn't a child anymore. I took a moment to register that. "I wasn't a child anymore," I thought again.

Just few years back, my friends would come over to celebrate my birthday. I was still cutting cakes and singing 'Happy Birthday to me!". And now, there were children who had assembled for an event of my daughter! WOW! I have really grown.

Celebrating Birthdays was the in-thing for me. But the fact that Birthdays brought out the child in me, excited me even more. I used to prepare a list of 'buddies' coming over to celebrate, mom and dad would ask me about the food to prepare and what gifts I wanted. But now, I would be doing it for my daughter.

All my buddies have grown up and married, having to take of their spouses. Celebrating Birthdays 'together' seems a distant reality, with the responsibility of 'our family' resting on our inexperienced shoulders. No, something has to be done about it. Some sort of celebration, may be a get together. With everyone involved in it. I will be a child again.

I suddenly think about an earlier blog I wrote about 'Old Times', where I had stated my desire to meet my young self when I am old.

Really. Times change. People grow. You grow. :) It's all for good. Seriously. Godspeed.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Sales! Sales!

I am averse to going to shops which display 'Sales! Hurry.. Offer Till Stock Lasts!'. I am trying to assess why I think like that. I think I have at the back of my mind that this 'stock' is not the best of the lot. I buy things that last long and are of good quality. Therefore, sometimes, I overlook the cost factor and purchase something that is of the quality I want.

There's another issue: You are tempted to window shop in these places initially. You visit these shops, and end up shopping way over your budget. Which is funny, you never went in with a budget because you were just window shopping. In hindsight, during this fast-paced, and sometimes mindless, shopping you end up having things you may not like, and sometimes things you don't need.

I remember some catchy lines to grab some attention: "Buy 2, Get 10!". What they are actually saying is, if you buy 2 items, you get 8 items on them, which totals to 10. The salesman had clarified it to me once.

The pace at which these shops are mushrooming around, I am begining to change my mind. They are actually making money! They have tied with companies to give them a huge cut on margins, so that they can offer bulf discounts to customers. It's a consumerist market afterall. Good for us! I already see 'Sales!' signs coming up on prominent brands like Adidas, Reebok, Arrow, Bata, Metro, and Fastrack showrooms. I had seen similar signs just 4 months back.

It's sometimes good to visit these places. You get to meet lot of old and new acquaintences at 'Sales!' shops. I am also going to visit these shops, but will be taking a considered decision and will purchase something I need.

Happy Shopping!

Friday, January 08, 2010

Old Times

Yesterday the following thought engulfed me: How must it be like to be old? How must our grandparents be feeling at that age of 65-70? Will I feel any different at 60? Hard to say, because I have not been through that experience.

Time-wise I would have grown, yes. At the family front, I might have become grand pa. But at the thought-level, at the mind-level, spiritual level, would I be any different than what I am? Hard to say. No clue whatsoever. Relativistically speaking, I have not grown in time with respect to myself.

I don't ask this question to senior citizens I meet, because of their seniority! But I want to ask someone, inquisitively, about how they felt when they were younger.

My journey of 28 yrs seems to have gone in a blink. On a computer you can create progressive versions of your files, and can subsequently view the changes/ modifications done in that file. In life, it does not happen. Every second, millions of varied inputs are acting on you, millions of improvizations taking place within you, millions of developments happening, millions of cells dying, millions of cells getting created, millions of thoughts shaping you into a better human being. But there's no way we are able to refer to our 'previous' version later... atleast for reference.

We just grow. Retaining memories which have influenced us in some way. Others, which have faded into oblivion.

There should be some way to compare notes between a person when he is young and when he is old. Someway, our young-self should be able to interact with our old-self or vice versa.

May be by the time I am 60, time travel would be a reality. And I would re-visit 8 Jan 2010, and meet myself to answer these questions.

Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Happy New Year 2010!

The New Year has come at the right time. I somehow resolved my 'self-generated' problems very recently and am taking life ahead with renewed vigor and enthusiasm. I am back, again!

This new year celebration was memorable. We had invited two of my closest friends and their families over to my place to celebrate the new year. And we did celebrate it well. We had prepared 'Misal Pav', a heavy Maharashtrian snack that is easy to cook and yummy to eat. All the credit goes to my wife, mom and dad. All the material supplies, logistics, transportation, preparation, serving, arrangement etc was done by them.

During these days, exactly when they needed me, I had to put in long hours at work due to high absenteeism. While work was satisfying, it was difficult to see the same 'satisfying' expression on my wife's and mom's face! Especially when I wasn't there to help them. They still managed well, naturally.

My wife's busy work schedule did not prevent her from making delicious 'Gaajar ka Halwa' for everyone. Those who know how to make it, also know how time-intensive it is. Of course, it was amazingly made!

All of us (totalling 3 families) appreciated the menu. The credit, I reiterate, goes to my wife, mom and dad. Considering that I did not contribute anywhere, I was happy that they just let me eat it!

My daughter has completed 7 months a day before the New Year's eve. And she carried herself really well! She was attentive, fun-filled and responsive. She was the centre of attraction at the event. With the little vocabulary and ample mischiefs she has mastered, she had put the place on fire. We just laughed, and laughed. It was an evening well spent.

After playing Antakshari for about 3 hours, we all got tired at 2am. We decided to call it a day and others left for their respective homes to have a good night's sleep. Me and wife realised it almost at the same time - how the hell are we going to get up at 6.30am to be able to go to office at 8am? With that pleasant thought, we just slept.

I woke up very late at around 9am with happy thoughts of last night's celebration. Somehow, I managed to get ready quickly to reach office at 10am, surprised to see that several others had reached late after their late-night celebrations.

The new year had arrived - with new hopes, new aspirations, new events, new celebrations, new thoughts, new ideas, and most importantly, NEW LIFE! Happy New Year, again! :)