Amitabh

I was introduced to him on a hot afternoon in '92 watching Khuda Gawah at Dadar's Plaza Cinema.  Even though Amitabh first started making family-friendly movies (Anand & Bombay to Goa), he really touched a nerve as the Angry Young Man - faced with poverty and crime often in a broken family (Deewar & Zanjeer).  From those heights, Khuda Gawah, was hardly his best moment.

India too was having a mid-life crisis in the late 80s and early 90s.  The inflation and emergency in the 70s had given way to stagnation.  Politics was marred with corruption and communalism.  The same Plaza Cinema was destroyed in a series of blasts within a few months of my outing.  India had opened up its economy just a year earlier and the IT boom was just getting started; both trends globalizing India quickly in the following years.

My mind plays his deep baritone voice when narrating the story of India.  No one contextualized the subsequent changes India went through as well as he did

• ABCL grew too fast too quickly; but still paid his debts his full. 
• As TV channels went from 2 to 200, he became the country's top TV host at KBC; but still deferred to the 'Computer-Ji'.  
• He was one of the first to associate with Gujarat government (led by a then pariah Modi). 
• He is the most prolific social media star; but tweets in Hindi more often than not.  
• He owned(?) the first mobile phone in the country but still played a rural postman.

<insert वो खाकी की वर्दी वो चिट्ठी का थैला ad>

Amitabh carried India's conscious through these changes. 

So it was with much concern to learn that Amitabh, now 77, tested positive for Corona.  ~40 years after the nation prayed hard for him to recover, we are joining together again in sincerely wishing he fights COVID and recovers.  His successful recovery will buoy the morale of lakhs currently diagnosed with it.  His is the voice we need!!

Brickbats and bouquets

In response to whatiswrongwith.me/gangal I have received the following - posting them unedited.

• kiti goshti sangu ani kiti vela sangu?!


• tumhi faarach bekaar maanoos aahaat


• hi


• Dude, why do you need this?!


• Just keep communicating more about everything good bad fear failure success.


• Your a GULT ;)


• you have been a great mentor in college. we still discuss your studness in our friend circles. One thing however, I felt is that you do not give negative feedback too easily. If the other person is able to perceive this, then that leads to some distancing.. I dont know if you can change this, or whether changing this would be good, but was an opinion I had.


• Speaking in mythological terms...your state is similar to that of Hanuman when he was a kid, irresistible strength but doesn't realise it.....someone needs to make you realize that. Or you can do it by yourself...wander...wander off and come to face with it.
  That is your problem, the lack of knowledge about self and as Sun Tzu has said...one who doesn't know his own power is bound to lose the war.


• The thing is you are extremely good .. so much of awesomeness is not possible and cannot be faced by all. you need to turn it down a bit :)


• You are not fluffy anymore. Playing with your tummy isn't that much fun now :(


• u nvr said the correct things,,else today would have been so diffrnt for us


• Why do you need feedback ?


• lolfag


• Allah hates you!


• You are arrogant


• It is surprising that you would rate public opinion higher than your own sense of right and wrong . Why did you need to make this page?


• Non-committal behaviour.


• Flirting is a great skill, however its a double edged sword...beware of the sword falling on you


• well you disappear from my life at regular intervals and I hate it. Really. Also, life was much simpler in school.

Throw a Shoe

http://whatiswrongwith.me

1. Strongly invite feedback
2. Anonymity drives a different behavior. :-)

Ground-shattering revealations!

1. April 13 : Cleric puts forth an hypothesis on the origin on earthquakes.

2. April 26 : Women in universities across US, Canada expose data in an attempt to scientifically disprove the above.

3. April 27: A 6.5 earthquake strikes Taiwan.

One conclusion from the above sequence of events :
The rest of Asia gets hurt whenever an Islamic fundamentalist offends US.

Let me know if you can think of any others ;-)

Epic takeaways

कई साल पुरानी बात है !

... around the time when Pandavas were about. Given the peculiar situation they found themselves in, Pandavas (smart that they were) devised a method to signal when they wanted private time with the lovely Draupadi.

Each time a Pandava found her alone, they escorted her to the royal chambers leaving their footwear at the door. Lets just say, two pair of footwear were the ancient equivalent of a DND.

So it was one of these days when the sharp Arjun bid his time with the Draupadi. Following a filling lunch, Arjun & Draupadi sought higher levels of Maslowian comforts. However, a dog suffering from the very basic hunger pangs, decided that leather, kept outside a room full of passion is no good. He instead took it as a things to chew on & draged a pair to another corner of the palace.

On this afternoon, Yudhisthir too hurriedly got done with his flies files & rushed to the royal adobe. Seeing the lone footwear, he rushed right upto the bedside. Much to his dismay not only did he see the bed occupied but also more than he would have liked. In anger he stormed out & invoked a family meeting to discuss this break in protocol. It was soon revealed that dog had been the one to hide the hide.

At this vital juncture, Yudhisthir invoked another of his celestial favors. The dog knows only public display of affection since!

Take-away: If you are a dog, don't even look at royal designs. Theres no respite from doggy style puns!

Networks Takeaway: An encrypted signal without integrity can lay your privates bare.

[Note: The author, thats me, has found no reference to this story. However, the oral narration he heard was so convincing that he generally believes it to be true]

The Year That Was!

In the end - it was a good year.
And the nostalgia caught up with me; as IIT Bombay placements happened 2000 kms away & I re had vivid recollection of the entire 365 days.

01/12/08: Got placed!
24/12/08: Married my brother off :D
09/01/09: CAT results
08/03/09: Memorable Goa Trip
09/04/09: IIM Calls
1stWeek/04/09: Org Citation + Hostel Cult Citation
April-May 09: DDP
25/06/09: Finally, AA in DDP. Ended a 9 Pointer :->
05/08/09: Convocation
27/09/09: Diveagar trip
16/11/09: KL Trip

Spl. thanks to DDP Stipend
Memorable tribute: Nipun's Car

मुंबई मार्केट - Marathi votes at discounted prices*

After a week in KL, I switch on the National TV & following are the successive ticker reads:

1. BSE to launch their website in Marathi as well.
   
2. Congress CM Ashok Chavan wants more railway recruitment for locals
3. NCP demands a train to be named after Marathi icon Sachin Tendulkar

The Marathi man residing in decrepit buildings in Vikhroli, Dahisar, Virar and Badlapur hasn't felt this important ever!!
And between them they span the entire spectrum of aspirations from working as a laborer in the Indian Railways to having pockets, deep enough for the money to spill-over to the markets.

*: Offer valid till another party stakes claim

1. An eyelash landed right in front of me and for the first time in my stay at IIT, I didn't know what to wish for.

2. Absence of short-term goals makes one acutely aware that you never had any long-term ones as well.

3. I hate rationalizing. It takes the sharp bite of emotions away and how-much-so-ever you nibble, you feel emotionally hungry.

4. Haven't had a near-death experience, but before graduating I have my entire 5 years flashing before my eyes - in exquisite detail. The detail amazes me. Its like I knew this day would come - when my sins / mistakes would have to be accounted for.

All of 22

As someone born in 1986, most of my family / society values were put in place by the time I was 10. (While these values will always be in a state of theoretical flux,) the concrete had set before waves of multi-cultural learnings lapped the Indian shores.

As a result on a host of issues, I find my innate values and new age wisdom to be clashing with one another. Do I believe in the virtues of liberal, rational and (seemingly) Utopian rule set that may fail in the future? Or do I persist with (possibly?) archaic, conservative values that will keep me safe in the past?

A boy has his first quarter-life crisis!

Fix-it!

Did ToI know something that Lalit Modi didn't want us to know?!
The time stamp says - 3 Hrs ago, when the match ended some 20 mins back :P :P

But Mumbai Indians lost again :(

Finger-ing

Thane was among the 10 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra that went to polls today. And after missing out on the Corporation elections an year after turning 18, I was determined to vote this time around.

However, the party positions and choice of candidates led to an interesting predicament.

History: For the last 2 decades, Thane has been consistently with the BJP-SS combine. The rise of Anand Dighe thru 90's ensured that the Late Prakash Paranjpe won Thane comfortably in '96, '98, '99 and '04 (until his demise in Feb. 2008).

A few factors have completely altered the political equations this time.
1. The (engineered?) accident of Dighe, means Thane has no single organizational center.
2. Prakash Paranjpe was very loved for being a cultured and clean person in a populace dominated by Middle Class Maharashtrians. (He died due to Cancer in Feb. '08).
3. Following delimitation, the middle class voters of Dombivili, Kalyan were moved to Kalyan LS Seat. These were staunch BJP supporters but did vote for the SS candidate (given Paranjpe's image and so on.)
4. Raj Thackrey commands sizable youth loyalties.
5.

Come '09: I would expected to be dictated by Family, Social traditions to vote BJP-SS. However, I am largely satisfied by the UPA performance in the last 5 years and very happy that they had balls in the N-Deal faceoff!! The only major disappointment was Affirmative action.

However, I am not of the opinion that party affiliations should override the candidate's suitability when voting. And you too wouldn't want Dr.Sanjeev Naik to be your MP. His affidavit says he is 12th pass, but has no qualms about attaching a Dr. before his name. (Some unaccredited US group has conferred this degree.)

I don't even want to get started on the SS candidate.

The only gentleman-politician candidate with a real chance of winning was Mr. Rajan Raje from the Mahrashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).
1. He is LLB from Bombay University - a farcry from both.
2. He figured 16th in the SSC Merit List (unconfirmed)
3. He has no criminal cases against his name - unlike Naik and Chaugule.

The clinching reason for me was the fact that while he might agree with the MNS philosophy he has never been associated with any rioting, vagrancy. So for me it came down to choosing between:

1. A good candidate belonging to a party with a off stream agenda or
2. A candidate with questionable character who would most likely bring the UPA to power.

Party vs Individual : What would you do? Let me know

--
Edit:-

The panwalla shop gossip indicates that MNS might play spoilsport and even trump SS in the Thane Assembly Constituency!

Pulp Fiction!

1. Notice the excitement run through your body
2. Feel the firmness of the pulp
3. Pull off the shirt in a single motion
4. Use plastic protection
5. Squeeze in rhythmic motions until;
6. Liquid froths at the tip
7. Lick the liquid and enjoy the experience!!

This is how a good boy has his virgin Alphonso :-)

Debate!

Life is general has been good to me in the last few months. (I hope I don't have to regret it though .. )
NLS Quarters, Bro came, Mihir got married, Got placed, Dada got married a few times over :P and to top it off - CAT results (Here and others)!! Eventhough just before the results came out, I had realized that my performance was better than I earlier thought, the actual result was unexpected.
The past month (****!! Its a month already) has been a blur. It was heartening to know that so many people genuinely care about you and take efforts to wish you well. While a thank you is definitely called for (and procrastinated) this post isn't about that.
Its about:

BCG	IIMs
+ Great Job	+ Good Formal Education now
+ Firang MBA later	+ Relatively cheap (fees)
+ Job in otherwise bad times	+ Land a job when the good times return
- Have to continue education when times turn	- Lose out on Intl. exposure

I have left it at even keel at the moment though I have a few reasons on either side :D but (to the few people who read this) I want to hear from you - What according to you is the best course of action?!

BCG, it is!

After much wondering, contemplating, suspense and tension - I landed a job with The Boston Consulting Group as an Associate. So in about 6 months time, I shall be in thick of the action!

But on the whole the scene is not good this year, with shadows of both the global slowdown and local blasts resulting in many firms pulling out and hiring less. I wish more of my batchmates get placed real quick, so that the party can begin.

Change!

The widget on iGoogle that spouts daily Bush-isms, today underwent a change. While it hardly affects me - in any direct way - am really positive abt. the Obama guy :D !

But amidst all the change, Sachin scores yet another Hundred! His 10th against Australia, alone.

Freudian!

The night is done,
all through which I've been coding;
As a Mtech leaves,
he asks me a really simple thing,
Why should I,
reflexively state third as my year;
Repressed memories,
are something I've begun to fear!!

Ok! Lousy rhyme, but I am terrified as to what is happening to me :((
For the stupid, I am in the fifth year!

Post-Hoc Fallacy

Fact 1: Sangram & SMS have stopped living in the hostel since July
Fact 2: I drained a ball point refill, for the first time in 4 years!

Action Verbs & In-action silences

For all the criticisms heaped on our exam systems, they are pretty objective & unambiguous on what they are looking to grade you on! As a result, every exam (right from Std. 1 to Middle School Scholarship to 10th to JEE) was algorithmic. At worst it was intractable but never was it infeasible.

Real world or as it appears from this juncture, isn't so! Hence I have to Innovate, Initiate, Assess, Execute & otherwise navigate my way through the jungle of Action Verbs - so that I sell to people. Every action in the last few years is looked at, commented upon, evaluated back and forth so often that I wonder whether my entire existence was to stand in good stead on 2 A4 sheets.

I never felt so sold before.

Blue!

Some times it takes all of 5 mins. for a person to suddenly go from happy to crappy.
I wonder which of the following happened to me today :
1. Vijendar getting only bronze!
2. An evil thing I did, getting undone :P
3. Not meeting a prof. I wanted to meet :-|
4. Not meeting a prof. I didn't want to meet, but should have :(
5. Being forgotten by someone close.
6. Being excluded by someone not-so-close.

The first paragraph on Macroeconomics by Gregory Mankiw starts:

When you finish school and start looking for a full-time job, your experience will, to a large extent, be shaped by prevailing economic conditions. In some years, firms throughout the economy are expanding their production of goods and services, employment is rising, and jobs are easy to find. In other years, firms are cutting back production, employment is declining, and finding a good job takes a long time. Not surprisingly, any college graduate would rather enter the labor force in a year of economic expansion than in a year of economic contraction.

With RBI reining growth estimates -- so much so for the placement season this year!!

Anyway, in another interesting read the authors predict that the reason China, India, Indonesia and Bangladesh (inspite of having 43% of global population) won only 6% of the Sydney Olympic Medals has a strong corelation to the fact that the these 4 countries contribute 5% of the Global GDP.
Times have changed: India alone contributes about 2.15% of Global GDP (World Bank 2007 est.), will we win the ~18 medals expected of us?!