The Thinker

Today was so crazy!! Especially the end of it. It took me the whole journey back home to shake the effect. None other than my professor Kaustubh Sir. Gem of a person. Finally they reason as to why I came to Welingkar and a good reason to stay there. So the task at hand is to get the site www.potentialsandpossibilities.com  up and running. The ideas which came out of the whole session with sir were beyond crazy. After hours and hours of brainstorming with my friend along with reading on Branding a person, it finally went down to the basics. The fact that doing something with your hands is most important(unrelated) and that doing things basic and simple is as always good(related). I made a note of some of Sir's ideas and I am going to list them down here mostly because I am not in a mood to type it out elsewhere...lol...

1)Rs. 1 activity - Outcome..Phonecall...inspired by the Stanford Example.

2)Breaking the shackles of thinking - Cognition Theory - Inspired by Mitch Resnick - The new theory which came out of that - The never ending Helix

3) No secondary data, Primary data always better - Ethnographic study - Hiranandani Estate Stores observation

4)Amul Branding for all the Sandwich walas

5)Chocolate Slice in the Sandwich like the Amul Cheese Slice

6) Dough Balls to reduce the Salt - Manufacture

7) Mind Mapping

8) Understanding things at the basics 

9) Mental Models

10) Jugaad

11) Be a futurist - Glasses with news papers and wat not fitted, Electronic Newspaper(Which I ridiculed when I first heard about it)..but its there..no escaping the leap in techno

12) Pain Points - Give Sectoral Reports

13)Business Design Model

14) Innovation Measurement Model - IPR KD Sir - WIP

15) Sectoral Analysis - IPR KD Sir - Applied 8 places - 3 success

16)Touch Technology @ MIT

17) Plant a Tree for every We eee - 2nd year's Idea inspired by An Inconvenient Truth

18) New Find - http://businessdesigner4u.com/ - Handled by a senior

19) New teaching techniques in school - Bridge made out of Straws and Sand and Strings and Ice cream sticks - Understanding Geology with stones.

After the mind blowing session by sir, I definitely felt charged and now I think I know and am sure that everything in life happens for the good. 

Sir to give his work...asked him to record his ideas throughout the day....Ah...who said its easy being brilliant.. :D

Day 1 - Sales Vs. Revenue

Motherjane

Motherjane has been around for a while now. I heard ‘Mindstreet’ and fell in love with the song right away. And once I like a song, it has to go and on and on for the whole day. Sometimes it could go on for a few days. There comes a point in my day when I actually need the song like water and get cranky if I don't get it. Crazy I know, but that is what music can do to u, and good music at that. Hope all of you have experienced that at some point of time in your lives. Of course co existing with this is always the ever popular dullard music which just makes you want to pull your hair off. Bottom line, Motherjane was a success with me from the very first minute. The crazy Indian zing in their music combined with some amazing progressive riffs makes it difficult for anyone to dislike their music.

‘Insane Biography’, their first release has some really good tracks like 'Soul Corporation', 'Shh...Listen' and of course 'Mindstreet', the song about just going out there and doing your thing, as one of the band members rightly put it. 'Maktub', their next album has some tracks which are even better. ‘Maktub’ definitely has more work put into it and the band seems to be more tight in this album. The enhanced version of 'Mindstreet' is real neat, making you feel more free and empowered. 'Broken' evokes a different emotion. Makes me sad every time I listen to it. Feels like something is really broken somewhere or something is messed up. The 'Taka Takita' start in 'Chasing the Sun' sends a chill through your body, makes you feel like you are standing right there in a 'Kalari Payattu' ground watching 2 people charge at each other. And the song just keeps getting better after the mind blowing start. 'Fields of Sound' has some amazing sound with the guitar flowing in the typical Motherjane style and some kick ass off beat drumming to accompany it. From their sound, there is a clear Dream Theater and Steve Vai influence which takes them on a very high scale in the progressive scene. We all know how hard it is to try and play anything to match up to that level. ‘Karmic Steps’ and ‘Before 1 million’ are clear testimonies to this. The combination of the different styles and sounds totally blows you away.

The half painted faces and the crazy tunes are gonna make these guys massive. Today they are pretty huge in the country and they are referred to as one of the biggest progressive rock bands the country has seen. Maybe one of the first amazing rock success stories from India. Vh1 playing ‘Broken’ was a clear sign that they are already on the right road. It feels good to hear some high quality fresh music from the country. 

Its been 13 years since Motherjane  played first in the Indian Rock scene, a typical Jugaad band formed for the college festival, which today pretty much speaks a lot about Indian Progressive Rock. Coming from conservative Kerala, we cannot begin to imagine the resistance they must have faced to get out there in the open. Too bad though they have come out only with 2 albums till now and there is a huge gap between their releases. The second release ‘Maktub’ though brilliant doesn’t justify the 5 year gap. But their stamina for live shows has to be admired. Continuous playing for more than an hour this time at iRock they blew the audience away. The rain loved them too and every time Baiju started playing a solo, the rain would start and the solo would peak with the rain pouring like crazy. The experience was amazing. To be there in the sand and mud listening to Motherjane’s music. Hoping for many more days like these.

 

 

 

Julie and Julia

So today after a long long time I went to the movies. Watched Julie and Julia. A lovely movie. Made me really hungry. Something about the movie now.

It started off with the life of Julia Child played by Meryl Streep. The American who has moved to France. A lot to cook, a lot to eat and a life anyone would love living...at least I would. During the movie we come to know that Julia was actually a govt employee, a secretary of some sort who falls in love with Stanyley Tucci in the course of an assignment or something and then they get married and move to France. The whole French thing in the movie is just beautiful. I loved the way they dressed...the way they ate...the way they interacted...with the enchante...lovely to watch and hear.

Though I think a lot of the aura has to do with the fact the movie is supposed to be shot somewhere in the 40s...And yes..Julia loved food.

In contrast to this peaceful setting somewhere in France was the fast moving life in Queens. Thats where Julie lived. A young married girl who loved food. Other than that everything else seemed to confuse her. She was so in search of the love of her life and she did not know how to find out what it was. So guess what she does. She starts a blog and cooks with a countdown with 524 recipes to be done in 365 days. A task...yes indeed...not impossible..cos she does finish it in the end. The dreamy look Amy Adams has throughout the movie is just so beautiful. There is an extra light in her eyes each time something makes her happy. And then of course the supportive husband...an archaeologist of some kind I believe. Such a lovely and supportive man...except when she says that the house is too small....lol...Everytime she says dats, he flips. And then there is a huge fight always and the worst in him comes out but otherwise he is a really pleasant character. 

Contrary to Julia and Paul, Julie and Eric are a much more simple couple I felt. They were less boisterous and their presence was not an in your face thing. It was more of a delicate thing if u ask me. Paul and Julia were loud and did not care what the world thought about anything. The point remains that neither did Julie and Eric at the end of the movie, but they seemed a little more in tune with what was happening around them. For example, there was a lunch scene where Julie was with her friends..and she almost looked upset because of the way the others around her were. Julia on the contrary had a very huge presence. A lot to do with the casting too I guess. Meryl Streep after all....she has a huge huge presence. And Stanley Tucci complimented her very well...being a small man and accepting Julia for what she was in her true spirit...a good pairing. Stanley Tucci, I last remember seeing him in the JLo movie where he was a bald dancer...a very well played roll....that man definitely has a presence and some good style...

Then there was the sister in Julia's life, a pretty massive woman and a similar friend in Julie's life...Well, I am really not sure if the similarity was intentional, but it definitely was there to some extent.

The clothes....ahh...so lovely...fell in love with all of them. The ones set in the 40s and the 2000 ones too. Both the women were dressed so beautifully with lovely accessories...a dream wardrobe for any girl I think. Julia's and Julie's shoes, both were so pretty and petite....Someday hope to have a lot many like those in my wardrobe. Then there was Avis, who wore plaid. A triking style statement. And if you notice her throughout, in the scenes that she has, she wears plaid mostly. There was this one particular skirt which Julie wore. It was beautiful. She wore similar skirts a few times in the movie, but well..I still don't know the name. Definitely a must have for anybody.

Now let me move onto the most important thing in the movie..The FOOD!! Oh man, it was delicious. Each and every thing was so tempting, from the sauces to the desserts. Oh my my...mouth watering and most of it looked like it came from some amazing land. Another movie which had a similar effect with food was "The Waitress". With all the pies the lady used to bake, it just threw you to another level of happiness and ecstasy..and all this I am just saying by looking at the food. I wonder if there would be an orgasm if the food was eaten. 

In today's movie, a lot of it was meat and fish and egg. But everything looked beautiful. Even the killing of the lobsters looked playful and the boning of the duck and stuffing of the chicken. Frankly, normally I am a little appalled by such things. But it dint seem so bad today. All of it felt like it would turn out to be something beautiful in the end. I guess its a lot to do with the presentation in food. The better it looks, the better it is supposed to taste. But well, if it doesn't taste as expected, disappointment, I know...but well..there is always something you can do about it I guess. Add something here and there or something like that..the last minute saves. But the sad thing is, the good saves are always known only to the cooks..I mean why would somebody who doesn't know how to cook well, know the saves. But well, thats how the game goes I guess. 

There was this one technique in the movie which was used and my friend noticed how beautiful it was. A very effective technique to come up with names. Think of different names you want to give and then join them word by word to come up with a good name..giving a few add ons here and there. Dying to tell Kaustubh Sir about it. Chances are he already knows it, but still will tell him.

So well, I will not type each incident in the movie and spoil the movie for anyone who reads this. But its a movie worth going to. If you think its too girly, think again. The food and the clothes are just brilliant. Definitely worth the 130 bucks my friend spent on the movie.. :)

Be happy and Gay

 I was coming back home in the rick the other day from station and I happened to look at the vehicles around. I was stuck in a traffic jam. There was many couples on bikes all around me. There were gal - guy couples, guy - guy couples. It dint really strike me till I saw this one bike where the pillion rider was holding onto the one who was riding so tight, almost like he dint wanna let go till death...or maybe even after dat. 

The girl doing that is understandable..well she could be his girlfriend...but it is not often that we think that the guy could be the boy friend.

No no, I am not being close minded. It is only then that I realized, how easy it is to be gay...from inside...i mean..still..in the closet kinda thing...and still be enjoying all the things u want to enjoy. And by Gay I mean Lesbian as well. The way people are over here is so very crazy. I have heard guys call each other Sweetheart and gals holding hands like they are in love, guys with hands on each others shoulders and touching each other all the time. It is so damn easy to be gay in the country. And I think, even if u aren't gay, there is a good chance that seeing the number of options in front of u...u might easily consider it...Obviously, its easier to tell mama dearest always that u are going for a sleep over with the same sex than with someone of the opposite sex. Its the whole thought process in us since childhood. Something about being with the same sex makes us feel safe and less threatened. But I really don't agree with this feeling at all. How can u be sure that just because she is of the same sex as u are, she is not hitting on u when she is brushing off that bread crumb off ur blouse?

And with guys, I really don't get how they pee in their stupidly designed bathrooms...its almost like u can check out the next guy's thing and he still might think that there is nothing wrong...while the truth is that, u are Actually checking out his thing...weird huh...

The article 377 being passed and a couple of hindi movies in the market have made being gay a little more joked about these days. Each and every professor of mine has used this reference atleast once so far. 

Its a standing joke....Everybody assuming that there is no gay person anywhere who is actually witnessing the joke. Not only is it insensitive to the gay community but also kind of distasteful , I think.

The fact remains that even today in India, a guy wearing pink clothes can pass of as straight, even after he fondles other guys right in front of u....the fondling thing is more like a touchy feely bonding....I have realised over the years...having been in an almost boys grad school.

I think, in girls it might be easier to make out if people are gay or not. Well, not completely sure about that, but yes, girls are more vocal about things and feelings and dont keep a lot of it inside. So u 'll probably know of ur best Friend is gay...dont worry bout it gal!!

The song which comes to my mind is "I kissed a girl and I liked it" by Katy Perry...Crazy lyrics...

Well...getting back to the topic....It is easy to be gay or lesbian in India and not even know it urself at times I think. Cos u are just doing what u do everyday...nothing is different...the "brotherly" or "sisterly" touch u think might not be that after all.

My advice to everyone here would be that dont let people touch you for no reason and if they do...with how much ever love or affection they do, just ask them on their face if their intentions are good. The person might think twice before doing that again I think. And maybe...if we are lucky, even think about it and reflect. 

This post is not to make people feel uncomfortable about being around each other...but guys come one...its high time we looked at thigns clearly and without so much love in it.....

So everybody be happy and gay....come on..I meant gay in the right sense!! 

Ash to Ash..Dust to Dust

Is India really underdeveloped?

Or are we pretending...and playing dumb...so that we can beat the rest of the world in the actual race??

My theory is based on a few thoughts which came to me...here goes...

We consume very less power. We are among the least in the world in the per capita power consumption. We consume less resources as well. Be it food...we dont have enough of it...even land is kinda less for us...and we arent really thinking of reclaiming huge amounts of land from the sea or anything like dat. Technology wise also we are lagging. We are a really huge nation. So these things are counted as some of the factors that is keeping us in the developed country range and not letting us move on to a better place in the world.

But there is this one truth we are all forgetting while measuring the GDPs and the like..

Dint we all come from nature and dont we all go back to nature?

Yes we do. So its a cycle. All of life is a cycle. The whole earth is a circle too.

We are actually operating on the principle of 'Ashes to Ashes and Dust to Dust'..and face it people, we are no pheonix going to rise out of it.

Everything is to go back into nature and if u really think about it, we have not really gone very far from nature. Our economy is even today heavily dependent on agriculture. We have not really moved away from the sand and dust part have we...

So, isnt it safe to say that India is one of the few way ahead on this road. Finally not meeting the standard of being underdeveloped is paying off someplace..

It is not that we want to be ash first, but it always makes sense to work with nature than against it. Global Warming is a blaring reality of what the earth can do to us, or rather what we can make the earth do to us. India, Even today in many ways as a nation is very close to the primitive man who has just bitten into the apple. She seems to want to go the technology way and go ahead int he world, but is that not at a huge cost of destroying the world, destroying a lot of what is pure within the nation??

We need to understand and respect Mother Nature and the good things she has given to us rather than trying to get ahead in a race which a century down the line will be the reason for our non existence.

So..I can end with the metallica song...

Ash to ash..dust to dust...fede to black and the memory remains!!!

 

Hand power

Its crazy how we miss the obvious. 

He stands right there in front of us every single day and just with a movement of his fingers..his hand..he commands so many to move. Everyone is just waiting for that one gesture. To capitalise on the movement....to not miss out on a single second of the time he has given them.

Donno if you figured out who he is...but I am gonna let the cat out of the bag..its our very own Traffic Policeman.

Think about it.

How many lives does he hold in his hand...in a day...how many lives he saves.

The people are idiots...known fact.

They always need somebody to direct them. Left to the people alone without a governing force, its going to the dogs...oh no...dogs is too good a term to use here...the world wud be in utter chaos...in simple words.

So everyone needs a traffic policeman. As much as they think that signals have replaced him, the fact is that in the end, if there is an increase in the traffic, he has to be called.

And in today's world..in no way is he less than the one standing on the border and defending our country.

He fights against death..slow death here....a death which is certain..with all the pollution and the chance of an angry driver running him down any moment.

He is doing more than what we do at most of our jobs. Inhaling all the dirt and dust and standing in the sun...in the rain...all so that we can go by without ramming into each other. I have to say, it is a very noble profession...putting urself out there...someone could probably observe the traffic policemen all over and write a book on them...the someone might be me.

So saluting some of the most powerful front line men in our country...The traffic policemen of our country...hope they keep doing their jobs..so idiots like us can drive like fools on the road....

Thank you Mr. Pandu!!

 

The UID process

Its been a while since I ve been here. Mostly cos I haven't had the time with all the exams which were on. But now I am here finally...and I missed this space...in the true sense of the word.

There were so many ideas which came into my head and well..I think I wrote some of it down on the last pages of the books I could locate at that time. But well, nothing concrete.

So I shall write down here...whatever is there on the last pages of various books now.

Nandan Nilekani talks about the UID process...

I think this is a very huge step for India and the country is going to benefit from this big time. The feasibility of this thing though has to be thought about properly. In the interview which I was watching, he conveniently avoided all the implementation and utilization questions. Well...lets hope for the best. I donno the number of countries in the world which use biometrics to keep a tab on the people. And a country like India is no easy deal. Its gonna take a lot of money, manpower( of course we dont have a problem with that), technology, strategy and what not to keep this running. A very ambitious project undertaken and if India is able to pull this off, I dont think there is much anyone can do to stop her. 

In a way, if you think about it, this is a kinda socialist policy. The biggest capital that we have today is in Humans...Human resource..And this is the best way they can completely own it. All decisions will be taken by the government eventually. But, I do think India needs this one force to direct it someplace proper. We need a dictator. Don't think we can get that. So this is the best we can do for now. And it should work. 

Also, another sector this is going to affect deeply is the Biometric equipment manufacturers. Once the entire country is organised, this information can be sold to so many people, organisations , etc..and even if this data is not for sale, it can be used in much more easier manner than it is now. Cos the moment people get accustomed to being barometrically identified, it will become an easy thing to replicate and use as per the necessity. 

So that sector is definitely going to see a huge boom in the years to come. 

Next thought...in next blog

Time

Man tricking nature with the Clock....

If u ve noticed...every time there is a storm approaching..Animals get worried...of course they have the sixth sense and they get the premonition that something is going to happen...

Another thing they start believing is that it has become night....

If it werent for the clock...I would believe that too....completely...The clock is the only way I realize dat its actually just 4 and not 7...The funny thing is I wouldnt even know how much of time I was losing...For that matter I wouldnt know anything at all...It would be a timeless world...

Everything today runs on time....anything u can think of has at some level a time constraint....Eliminating time would be adding a degree of freedom...and a huge one of that...

Even the concept of Fast and slow would not be there....That means..everything would be equal...or at least people would believe that things are all equal....Cos there would not be a way t grade things....hmm...a crazy world at that....

So we ve played with nature...and tried taking the balance in our hands....taking control of nature...by inventing time....