...shoOOonya...

I have always enjoyed TED Talks. They are inspiring; open up your thought process and give you another perspective. They are very interesting and they cover an antire gamut of social, technological and live issues.  Forever imprinted on my mind will be the TED Talks by Joe Smith on how the world can literally halve its paper towel consumption by using only one paper towel after washing hands, rather than using two AND the TED Talk by Pranav Mistry. I have seen many other TED Talks over the years but somehow these two have left an indelible print on my gray matter. Franklin Templeton Investments partnered the TEDxGateway Mumbai in December 2012 and Indiblogger created a contest of sorts out of it by encouraging people to blog about them. An excellent thought and initiative I would say to take the TED Talks to a wider audience and add more perspective to it. I went through a couple of the talks from Dec 2012 and here are my quick comments on a couple of them.  Bes...

This was way back in 2009. I was in Dubai in those days on a long term project and had planned for a week in India. Coincidentally, there was also a plan for a 2-day Alibaug trip with MBA batch-mates – Nikhil, Shubham and Arijit. We synchronized the Alibaug trip with my India visit and decided to make it for the road trip to Alibaug. Within a few hour of landing at Mumbai airport, I was on my way to Nikhil's residence where Shubham and Arijit were already waiting for me. It had been a long time since I had gone out with friends …. A very very long time … The highlights of the trip were the Alibaug Beach and the Fort, beside the overnight stay at a guest house and the long drive from Mumbai to Alibaug in Nikhil's car and back. All 4 of us had a lot of fun during the entire road trip from Mumbai to Alibaug … reliving memories of our MBA days and catching up on the time since and our career graphs as well as personal lives. It was great to be back together again – a rari...

Book: Band Room Bash Author: Candice Speare No. of Pages: 256 Genre: Fiction Publisher: Heartsong Presents  I had picked up a set of 3 novels by Candice Speare 2 years ago when I visited the Floating Library / Book Store in Dubai – a book exhibition of sorts on a ship.  I had also picked up 2 other sets of 3 novels and a couple of other books.  I read the first novel by Candice Speare earlier this year and picking up the next one now. I am planning to read all the 9 novels in this year itself. Coming to Band Room Bash, our lady protagonist, Trish, found a dead body in a milk-case in the super market in the first novel I read earlier this year (Murder in the Milk Case).  This time around she (keeping up with the reputation) finds a dead body in the school's band room. What makes the whole thing interesting is that: 1. She just can't curb her curiosity and in spite of all the people asking her to NOT  do i...

A few years ago I went on a road trip to Alibaug with 3 of my friends from MBA days. It was 2 days of fulltoo fun and masti. I had blogged about this trip with some pictures (You can check that out here ). It would be fun to do it again … some change of scenery would be a nice break. The pertinent question now is: do we do it alone or do it with our better halves. All 4 of us (Arijit, Hemant, Nikhil & Shubham) are now married and the 'better half' will surely be pissed off if we planned it all by ourselves. So the first thing to think about it is a comfortable car / vehicle which will seat all 8 of us. Any suggestions? An Innova / Xylo would not be comfortable for 8 of us … we will need a bigger one. A comfortable 8-10 seater with good air-conditioning (not that we would need much of it looking at the weather – but then when it rains heavily, u got to roll-up the windows and switch on the AC). I will leave it to the car rental agency to suggest a suitable vehicle. N...

Book: Inferno Author: Dan Brown No. of Pages: 480 Genre: Fiction Publisher: Doubleday So … finally I pick up Inferno to read. I loved the first 4 novels from Dan Brown. The fifth one was a disappointment and I was afraid the 6 th might be one too. The preview chapters excited me as I read about Langdon having a nightmare and then suddenly waking up in pain, in a hospital, with an assassin outside, in a city which is thousands of miles from home and with no recollection of how he got there. Hopes were slightly raised!!! The novel starts off pretty well with all the usual Dab Brown bells and whistles formula albeit with a twist (mentioned above). So we have a global man-made catastrophe about to strike and Langdon seems to be the only one who can stop it with help from a beautiful lady who gets entangled with him and is on the run with him. We have assassins following them along with police and para-military agencies. There is no one who can help and Langdon ha...

Book: The Chimera Vector Author: Nathan M Farrugia No. of Pages: 362 Genre: Fiction - Action Thriller   Publisher: Pan Australia So this time it is slightly different. This one did not come from BlogAdda nor did it come from the publisher or directly from the Author. My dear friend was reading it and realized that I would also enjoy reading it so she suggested that I read it too so we can both discuss the book while we read it. She is the one whom I refer to for most of my book recommendations. The Chimera Vector has an explosive start and after a few pages, you are reminded of Robert Ludlum's Bourne Identity with the protagonist showing signs of a combination of memory loss and mixed-perceptions. It establishes a strong and very interesting premise on which you expect the author to weave an exceptional and engaging story as the protagonist begins her journey of discovering herself, her past and her role in the future. As the story moves forward, even the...

   प्रोफेसर ने हिंदी क्लास मैं पुछा - गाली की परिभाषा बताओ ...   स्टूडेंट बोला - अत्यधिक क्रोध आने पर शारीरिक रूप से हिंसा न करते हुए, मौखिक रूप से की गयी हिंसात्मक कार्यवाही के लिए चुने गए शब्दों का समूह , जिसके उच्चारण के पश्चात मन को असीम शांति का अनुभव होता हैं , उसे हम गाली कहते हैं !!   प्रोफेसर बोले - आपके चरण कहाँ हैं प्रभु !!   ------------ For those who cant read hindi but understand it nevertheless ... here is the transliteration ....   Professor   in Hindi Class : "gaali ki paribhasha batao.." Student: "atyadhik krodh aane per shaaririk roop se hinsaa na karte huye, maukhik roop se ki gayi hinsaatmak kaaryawaahi ke liye chune huye shabdon ka samooh jiske uchchaaran ke pashchaat mann ko aseem shaanti ka anubhav hota hai, use hum gaali kehte hai..!!'' Professor: Aapke CHARAN kahan hain prabhu....   ---------    For those who are unable to appreciate  Hindi at all .. heres the English Translation ...   ...

Before it gets too late and I end up posting only the summary for lack of time … let me just do that proactively … the June Reading Summary … 1          Novel: The Vacancy by J K Rowling 2          O Henry Shorts: Vereton Villa by O Henry 3          O Henry Shorts: An Unknown Romance by O Henry 4          O Henry Shorts: The Pink Flask by O Henry 5          O Henry Shorts: How She got in the Swim by O Henry 6          O Henry Shorts: An Odd Character by O Henry 7          Novel: The Oath of the Vayuputra by Amish Tripathi 8          Prof. Shonku Short: The Amazing Creature by Satyajit Ray 9   ...

Amazing thought-provoking painting "Beijing 2008" by Chinese-Canadian artist Liu Yi The woman with the tattoos on her back is China. On the left, focused intensely on the game, is Japan. The one with the shirt and head cocked to the side is America. Lying provocatively on the floor is Russia. And the little girl standing to the side is Taiwan. This painting, named "Beijing 2008", has been the subject of much discussion in the west as well as on the internet. What's interesting is that this painting is called "Beijing 2008", yet it depicts four women playing mahjong, and conceals a wealth of meaning within… China's visible set of tiles "East Wind" has a dual meaning. First, it signifies China's revival as a world power. Second, it signifies the military might and weaponry that China possesses has already been placed on the table. On one hand, China appears to be in a good position, but we cannot see the rest of her ha...