You can change someone's life!

rely on news.google.co.in for my daily news feed. Today I came across one rather distressing news (here and here). To quote from the website:

Chennai: A mother of two visually-impaired sons committed suicide to donate her eyes to them. However, her wish could not be fulfilled as doctors examined the eyes and declared them unsuitable for transplant.

I wonder if this tragedy will catch much attention (unless Bollywood, after Black's success recently, decides to make a film on it). It's an example of supreme sacrifice, ones we only listen about in mythology. The most heart wrenching part of this is the sheer waste it turned out to be. Apparently, the lady's corneas were damaged and her sons may not be fit for corneal transplant either. Moreover, the medical ethics don't allow hospitals to disclose the donor's name to the recipients. This makes it impossible to donate eyes to someone specific.

We can avoid such disasters. Sadly, the awareness about such issues is quite low in India. Organ donation is attached with many taboos in our society. Awareness is the key.Eye Bank Association of India is an organization working towards achieving this goal. Please visit there website for further reference.

Aman Verma: Bakra?

he picture above is taken from the dramatic press conference held by some famous faces in Bollywood to defend Aman Verma against charges put up by India TV. (The picture is there only because I love to put pics with blogs!) The stars present at the conference condemned the deeds of the channel and declared, in unison, it an act to get some TRPs. The channel and Rajat Kapoor and Suhaib Ilyasi in particular, were behind exposing Shakti Kapoor too, in similar cast couching racket.

In the case of Aman Verma, two different stories are making rounds in media. India TV claims that they caught Aman asking for sexual favors on their camera. While Aman maintains that the girl, by the name of Ruchi, was literally throwing herself at him but he asked her to leave and at the main gate of his house he found Ilyasi with a camera. Since then Ilyasi and India TV are blackmailing him. He recently lodged a report against the channel.

IMPO, casting couch does exist in Bollywood but it doesn't mean everyone is involved. If you can find a girl who will try to seduce any filmwallah for the sake of news story, I don't think many can resist the temptation! Its different situation altogether, asking newcomer for favours and giving in to temptations if some girl (upcoming models, mind you!) pulls you to bed. The channels today are quite capable of stooping as low as this to increase viewerships. I personally find Aman story more believable. Hell, if it was Cyrus instead of Ilyasi, it would've been great celeb bakra!

My Verdict: Not Guilty!

Film Review: Socha Na Tha

I never thought I'll like Socha Na Tha! Don't get me wrong, I'm all for romantic comedies, but still no one expect a Deol to make good romantic movie (Barsaat still haunts me; Betaab was good though). Now, if I had such "confidence" in the movie, why did I go for it at all? Because that's what I do (and make my roomies do. Sorry Jha!).

But, there's always a but, in the end as I came out of the theater, not only was I satisfied with the movie, I was very much impressed by the movie! The real super star of the movie is its script. The writers have done their reality checks regularly and hence the movie is very close to real day to day life (barring the castles of houses they live in the movie, but hey, its a bollywood movie!). The script is not fresh from the oven, but its not stale too. It certainly has its moments. The comic timing of Abhay Deol is good and screen play is quite crisp. Ayesha Takia looks charming and Junior Deol is not bad either. He'll have to work on his dialogue delivery though.

On a whole, it's a good paisa vasool movie and I recommend it highly for a fun-minded movie-goer.

Currently Reading: Deception Point - Dan Brown
Listening to: Disco Station (Hathkadi) - Sweet Honey Mix

Ek akela is shehar mein.....

It has been 10 months since I and RG (Rahul Gupta) set feet, along with all the luggage, in our present house. It was quite sufficient for two of us but the best thing about this house was its proximity to our office (it was hardly 10 mins by our bikes!). Located in a rather mum lane in Koramangla, 8th Block, it was kind of cosy and serene house. Then Jha came to Bangalore and joined us in the house. It wasn't exactly crowded but still lack of space was felt at times, especially with scattered footwears and clothes. It was still very comfortable for me and RG, with office closeby. Jha used to take auto for office, so it wasn't bad for him either.

But now since the agreement will mature after 11 months and we had options of either paying rent after 10% increment or move out, we decided to move to a bigger and nicer apartment, preferrably closer to Jha's office. The decision was followed by quite a few evenings spent in finding that perfect and yet cheap abode. Ultimately, after visiting as many as three different brokers, we've finalized an apartment in Indiranagar area. The apartment, sitting at the 3rd floor, is well ventilated, aesthetically decorated with furniture and located at quite walkable distance from Jha's office (its just behind Leela Palace). The rent has overshot our initial budget, but its not really staggering. The formalities of paying the initial advance, etc. are done and we're supposed to move at he end of March. The timing couldn't have been better, we'll finish our contract here and move in there at the start of month.

It will still be somewhat far from my office, located at Cunningham Road (Just behind the stadium; I plan to shoot some pics of players in nets! :), but it shouldn't be longer than 20 minutes ride, which is quite manageable. After all said and done, I'm very much pleased and quite excited to move into this one!

And yeah, I've joined the gym, with Nandu, from today. My muscles are paining as I'm writing this, but I will not let them stop me from going to the gym, not this time :)!

New Rockers on the Block!

Listening to them nowadays and do they rock man! Their first album has already set dance floors on fire all over India. I'm particularly hooked upon Rock Da Party and Sexy Mama, others also have great beats.

The band consists of Navtej, who is of Indian origin but has spent most of his days in Denmark, and two Danish producers, Janus Bosen Barnewitz and Thomas Sardord. Their music is basically RnB with Bhangra beats. No wonder it has amazing dance quality attached with it (it sounds best in car or in bowling alley!). Starting with Apache Indian, Indian music scene was always rich with NRI musicians trying their luck in India. We have Stereo Nation, Jay Sean, Rishi Rich, Jazzy B, Raghav etc, selling their music nowadays. Most of them depend on Bhangra for their inspiration, but some are original and spanking! I recommend Jay Sean & Rishi Rich, Raghav and ofcourse, Bombay Rockers! Catch them on Raaga.

Rock on dudes!

Only The Good Die Young - Ayrton Senna

This name is hard to miss whenever one talks of all time great F1 racers. Born to a wealthy family in São Paulo, he quickly developed a deep interest in motor sports. Encouraged by his father, a racing enthusiast himself, he got behind the wheel at the age of 4. At the tender age of 17 he won the prestigious South American Kart Championship in 1977 and never looked back. Heading for Europe, he started his illustrious from F3 circuit. He joined Toleman-Hart F1 team in 1984. Next year, Senna joined the Lotus team and won his first GP at Estoril, Portugal under treacherous conditions. In 1988 Senna joined the McLaren team with Alain Prost as his team mate. The foundation for a fierce competition between Senna and Prost was laid, culminating in a number of dramatic race incidents between the two. In 1994, Senna finally left the ailing McLaren team for the top team at the time, Williams-Renault, which was eventually his last team. He won three World Championships and created several lap & pole positions records, many of which are still unbroken!

On 1st May, 1994, after ruling motorsport scene for 10 years, he took part in his third race for the team, the San Marino GP. Senna yet again took pole position, but would never finish the race. He was leading the race when he went off the track in the Tamburello curve and did not survive the injuries sustained by the subsequent frontal collision with a concrete retaining wall. He was 34 years old. In 2000, he was posthumously inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.

His death is still mourned among Brazilians. From one fan site:

Blurring green, blue and yellow,
Never turned at Tamburello,
Formula One's saddest ever day,
Saw The Greatest Ever taken away

Only The Good Die Young - Dhruv Pandov

Dhruv Pandov: Keen followers of cricket during early 90's will remember this name. All the cricket magazines/newspapers were full of praises for this Punjab player. Many articles & reports were loaded with superlatives for his stylish batting and many termed him as next big thing in Indian cricket. He was not destined to play international cricket, but if we see his domestic record, its good but not excellent (I've seen players with better domestic records go kaput at the international arena). Still, he was described as the hope for India and it only suggests his class. The respect he earned in such a small career is reflected in the fact that the Punjab Cricket Board named the Patiala cricket ground after him. A under-19 trophy is also named after him.

He died in a car crash('91) while travelling to play in a match and the star-studded sky of Indian cricket lost promising prospect. The fate would have him as only a flash on the horizon.

Only The Good Die Young - Sher Shah Suri

Born as Farid Khan in 1472 in a humble family, he earned the title of "Sher Shah" after killing a tiger single handedly. He eventually rose to uproot Babar's legacy and snatch crown of Delhi from Humayun. In the process, humbled the mighty Mughal army twice and Humayun had to escape into jungle, where he spent next 15 years of his life. Sher Shah is considered to be the best Muslim king of India by many. In his short term in office, lasting mere five years (1540-45), he organised a vast network of road, including the famous Grand Trunk road; many rest-houses on those roads; planted trees along the roads. His empire was divided into various smaller paraganas, an entire administration tree was devised by him. His minister, Toder Mal (who was later included in Akbar's nava-ratanas), formulated a tax collection system, which was in use till the British overtook. Sher Shah's military character was marked by "a rare combination of caution and enterprise"; his political conduct was, on the whole, just and humane; his religious attitude was free from medieval bigotry; and his excellent taste in building is well accepted.

He died from an accidental explosion of gunpowder on the 22nd may, 1545. His premature death allowed the Mughals to come back with the help of Persians and the path of India's future was altered for ever!

La Ola : The Mexican Wave!

(Simulation of Mexican Wave)

Mexican wave (BrE) (AmE the wave) noun: a continuous movement that looks like a wave on the sea, made by a large group of people, especially people watching a football game, when one person after another stands up, raises their arms, and then sits down again.

Now that all of us are decently educated about the concept, allow me to dig deeper into it. La Ola, as its popularly known, first became famous in 1986 soccer world cup in Mexico (hence named Mexican Wave!). It is said that during a particularly boring game someone spilt hot enchilladas on his lap and jumped reflexly, thus originating this phenomena! One Nescafé advertisment claims someone actually spilt his hot coffee and this legend was born. Whatever be the case, soon it got popular among the soccer fans world-wide, especially in Europe.

Even after 20 years, this phenomena is quite a rage among sports spectators around the globe. Its popularity has now even reached into the academia! Its is being studied in various world famous centers, in order to learn more about mob controlling during such huge gatherings. Scientists from the University of Budapest have discovered that the "critical mass" required to start a mexican wave is about 25-35 people. A mathematical model is created to represent the wave mathematically. Some very interesting results came out of it like: at a given time the spread is about 15 seats, the speed is about 22 ± 3 seats per second or 12 meters per second. It means the wave will take 38 days to reach the diametrically opposite point on Earth along the equator! Approximately 3 out of 4 mexican waves are clockwise, that means, the wave travels from your right to left. The spreading of the initial "disturbace" depends on how "excitable" the audiance is, they must be seated but ready to be "excited". In other words, they should not be either too bored or too excited! These mathematical models take spectators as "excitable media"; that is, something that can be excited by some sort of external stimulus! Other examples for excitable media would be dry leaves in forest fires or the set of heart muscles, which are excited by small jolts of electricity!

In the end, if you do see, or are involved in, a Mexican Wave, research also tells you that you're not getting your money's worth - because the game is boring, and the crowd are entertaining themselves :)!

Trip to Chennai.

This weekend I went to Chennai to attend the IIMK GD/PI there. It was my first trip to the city and though I was given pretty sad review about the city, I was kind of keen on exploring it on my own. And thats exactly what I did!

Journey: I had booked railway tickets for the journey well in advance and that helped a lot. As Poxy mentions quite often, its not easy to get reservation at the eleventh hour on this route. My onward train was scheduled to leave Bangalore at 11:45 PM. I was very sleepy as I reached the station around 11:20. I dozed off as soon as I hit the bed. I got to know only in the morning that the train started late and left Bangalore at around 12:30 AM!! Though my interview was scheduled for 11:30 AM, I must admit I was scared for sometime that I will miss it. When I reached Chennai Central, finally at around 8:00 AM, sincerely following Sundy's advice I went straight to Pre-Paid auto booth (Best way to counter those thugs of auto drivers!).

Interview: I had to walk for quite a distance after I got down at the main gate of Loyola College. While walking, I noticed the beautiful Church, adorning the already spectecular campus. I finally reached the Loyola Institute of Business Administration (LIBA) building. After figuring out where to go, I headed directly to the loo, had to get into my formals and groom myself for the interview! It was already hot (even before 9 AM) but it wasn't too different from Bangalore weather. Once I changed, I followed the fellow candidates to an air-conditioned room. The relief was beatific! The tension in the room could have been cut by a knife, people were reading newspapers (business page), eyeing anyone who entered the room in anticipation and then I went there are started to read Digital Fortress (Dan Brown). People scheduled for the 9 o'clock round were rounded off and herded to their respective GD rooms. After the GD they were back to the room waiting for their turn for personal interview. Slowly they trickled out and candidates for the 11 o'clock lot started to enter. Our time came eventually and I was asked to come to room 101 for group discussion with 7 others. The topic was totally obscure (something about socialism in Eastern Europe and democracy in Western Europe in Cold War era and capitalist powers...) and honestly I didn't a clue and I can say the same for almost everyone in the room, barring the interviewers about whom I'm not too sure. Everyone was bullshitting, or atleast trying his best too, I tried too but the loud chaps around me put me off after a while. The interview came later, in the meanwhile I was chatting with some of the fellow candidates (most of whom were from Bangalore only). I really wish all the best to that Chennai fellow (Darn! I really can't recall his name!) who told me about Spenser Plaza, he saved my day!
The interview wasn't much better, they started to ask me on the GD topic only (socialism, democracy, capitalism, blah blah..). I tried my best to bullshit through it, I'm not sure how I scored. Then came "tell me about yourself" kind of questions. In the end, when I was asked to raise my queries, I asked why do those guys (sheeeeeeeeeeesh!) not keep a centre at Bangalore. They were kind of caught off-guard there and mumbled something about thinking about it and keeping it in Metros only (frankly, I wasn't convinced!). I came out after general pleasantries.

Chennai: The "land of no communication", as Sundy described it, wasn't all that bad! The auto wallah outside Loyola was speaking Hindi perfectly. I asked him to take me to Satyam Movie Complex. Alas, neither my thirst for cinema was quenched, nor was I allowed to sleep in the blessing called Air-Conditioning, the shows for Hindi, English, Tamil movies were running house full! Thanks to that nameless Chennai chap, I headed to Spenser's Plaza. (Mind you, these journeies were done entirely on autos, without any hassles and in, what I thought, reasonable fares.) It was whopping big mall. After general wandering, I decided to dump my bag with Landmark's security. Then I found out about reliance broadband cafe and spent some time surfing there. Came back to Landmark and finished two magazines in their cafe, helping myself with pizza and few cakes and coffees! After that I picked up Digital Fortress again and started to gallop through it.
I was happily taking a break and watching the crowd after finishing the 36th chapter, just then he came to me! I've forgot his name too (You guessed it, I do forget names quite easily!) but it was Bengali. He came up to me, reportedly, out of curiosity about the book I was reading! We started chatting, it was nice until he started with his Amway business. I still get nightmares about that Vinod (or was is Vinay) fellow who came to my home and wasted two hours of pure tv watching joy over his stupid Amway nonsense and now I get to hear that all over again in Chennai too!! I tried my best to get rid of this rubbish, but he decided to stick around till dinner. We went to Pizza Hut and luckily I found Pondy(Adesh Nath Rawal, I remember some names :) there. He was with me in IIT, we weren't closest of pals but in good talking terms nonetheless. It was very welcome break chatting with him and another fellow IITian, whose name I can't recall, much to my regret (I'm not even sure if I ever knew his name, but he was with me in first year Mechanical workshops and was a Mech punter (dual?!)). That's the problem with me, I can remember faces very well and attach incidents with faces real good, but when it comes to names my data access just goes kaput! I would like to take this opportunity to beg forgiveness from all my friends (named and unnamed) for this real ignorant behaviour on my part, especially from Kapil Garg (or was it Meel?!), whom I met in Pune and instantly remembered him to be from my class in school, but couldn't recall his name!

This was almost it, I took another auto for railway station and headed towards Bangalore.

Highlights:
- Finished Digital Fortress in just one day!
- Got enlightened about the power and peace of pre-paid auto.
- I look GREAT in formals! (Thanks to Bothera for the tie).

Currently Reading: The Code Book - Simon Singh