Scary picture

This is the scariest picture I have ever seen. The picture shows a missioner holding the hand of a kid who is about to die of hunger in Uganda.

Writing effects

Writing has always been an important tool for us to comunicate, and will always remain one. Recently, I heard a very good explanation on the effects of not writing well.

There's a panda living in the colder regions. It gets bored of a routine and isolated life and migrates to a densely populated place- inhabited by humans. It comes across a bar and asks the bar man for a drink. The bar man welcomes it and gives it more than what it asks for. After eating and drinking whole-heartedly, the panda thanks the bar man. Then, it takes the gun from the security guy, shoots the bar man and leaves smiling. The security guy runs behind the panda and asks it as to why it shot the bar man inspite of being treated well by him. The panda says, "Go look up the dictionary."

The security fellow finds the meaning of panda in dictionary and it reads, "Panda- Eats, shoots and leaves."

There lies the whole mistake- just that one comma. It should have been 'Eats shoots and leaves'. This makes clear the importance of writing properly.

One fine morning- An Interview

This was my second interview and I suppose, I had improved a lot since the first one. And, mainly that was because I wanted everything to go well this time. I was there to have someone judge my technical knowledge- no wonder I was being interviewed for a programming job- which I always thought I was bad at. But, may be I wasn't very true with my biased opinion regarding it because I could pull it off very easily. The reason could be anything- smartness, eagerness or frustation. I don't know!

This is how it went-

Indu: Good Morning, Sir!
Interviewer: Morning. Sit down.
Indu: Thank you, Sir.
Int: How are you?
I: Fine. Thank you.
Int: Tell me about yourself.
I: blah-blah-blah
Int: Nice. So, you have done your engineering in... (looking at my resume)
I: Control Systems
Int: Okay. (Asked about my college)
You wrote C, Java in software orientation.
I: Yes, Sir. I had these courses in my first year.
Int: Both?
I: C in first and Java in III-II
Int: Ok. Shall I ask questions from these. Or, do you have any favourite subject?
I: Control Systems
Int: Ok. Have you heard about open-loop and closed-loop?
I: Yes sir
Int: Which of these do you think is our recruitment process?
I: Sorry, sir...
Int: What does our recruitment process comprise of?
I: Test and interview
Int: So, what is it? open or closed?
I: Sir, I think it's completely an open-loop process because if it were a closed-loop, you would take feedback from the candidates after interviewing them. But, you don't take any kind of feedback from us. Based on what inputs/answers we give, you solely decide the output i.e., the result. So, it's an open-loop process.
Int: (Smiles) Good.
You know sampling theory?
I: Yes, sir.
(His mobile rings)
Int: Excuse me!
(Talks over phone for few minutes and returns)
Int: I am sorry.
I: It's Ok.
Int: Where were we?
I: Sampling theory...
Int: Yeah. So, can you explain it?
I: Yes Sir. (Blah-blah-blah)
Int: Good.
I: Sir, can I ask a question?
Int: ahh... Let me ask you first. You can ask later. (Smiles)
I: Yes sir. Of course. (Smile)
Int: I want to know more about your family background
I: blah-blah-blah.
Int: Any other siblings?
I: Only brother.
Int: What is he doing?
I: Working with (some) company as an analyst.
Int: MBA guy?
I: Yes sir.
Int: You don't have any plans of MBA? CAT?
I: I took CAT last year, Sir. No plans of taking it again in the future.
Int: Ok. GRE? any plans of going abroad?
I: No, sir. Not really.
Int: Good.
(Few more technical questions)
I: blah-blah-blah
Int: Good.
Hobbies?
I: blah-blah-blah
Int: You wrote painting. What kind of painting?
I: Sketching and oil painting.
Int: You bublished them somewhere? Or...
I: No sir. Just a hobby.
Int: You are an electronics graduate. will you be able to cope with the work in a software firm....?
I: Sir, I am a fast learner. And, considering the training sessions that I would be attending, I don't think learning anything will ever be a problem.
Int: Good.
Career orientation? Goals?
I: Short-term, long-term goals. Blah-blah-blah
Int: Good. Good.
Ok. Any particular technology preference?
I: No Sir.
Int: Any specific work location preference?
I: No Sir. Anything should be fine, I guess. (Smile)
Int: Good. (Smiles)
Now, any questions?
I: (Asked a couple)
Int: (Answers)
I: Ok, Sir.
Int: Ok, Miss. Very good. Thank you! (Smiles)
I: Thank you, Sir. Good day! (Smile)

Anonymity

'Enmity is better than anonymity.'

In enmity, you would at least know who's trying to attack you and think of appropriate reasons and answers. But, in the latter case, you would end up wondering what is happening and can do nothing but take the ordeal as it comes.

Good company

I had been trying relentlessly for the past few days to sign-in into my blogger account until I got through a few minutes ago. It was like a marathon- everytime I clicked on the Sign-in button, it used to get stuck there for a long time. It doesn't matter anymore, now that I am in.

I found two very good reasons to be in good company yesterday. I felt relieved, in the company of thousands of books, at the 18th annual All India Book Festival here, and the discount galore further boosted my purchase potential. I bought a few good books. And, there was a Lok Satta party counter at the entrance. I took some time to go through their agenda and activities, and finally filled in the membership form. It felt really good to see youngsters showing interest towards such developmental programmes. India needs responsible youth and to start with, it's better if one takes the responsibility upon oneself.

Mayabazar

Rating- ** 1/2

I watched Mayabazar (Telugu) last week. So, planned to write a review on it. Now do not ask me what Mayabazar means because it is a bit difficult to give a literal translation. But, it's quite a famous title, thanks to the old Mayabazar in black-and-white, which people still remember as a classic. The new one starts with Kubera (The one who lent Lord Balaji the money required for his wedding) being cursed by a sage for his arrogance, but when Kubera pleads him to show him a way to atone for his sin, the sage tells him that the only way he can come out of the curse is by helping a really good human being and serve him for as long as he lives.

Then enters the hero, Srinu (Raja) who is a driver, but is very generous and kind-hearted. He always dreams of becoming rich and helping the poor. There is Anupama (Bhoomika) who keeps following him wherever he goes. One day, he comes across a ten year old young girl, Siri, who is left behind by her father at the airport. Srinu rescues her and takes her to his house. Later, he comes to know that she is suffering from a heart problem and wouldn't survive for long unless it is operated upon and corrected, and he needs three lakh rupees for the same. He curses the God for being so cruel. Kubera hears him and gives him Rs. 5 lakh as debt and Srinu promises him that he will always be ready to give him whatever he wants in return. The girl gets cured and Srinu uses the remaining money to start a business, and he eventually becomes very rich.

Anupama joins him in doing social service as his personal secretary. They fall in love and plan to get married. Now, Kubera wants to get out of all this tension and comes up with a plan. He asks Srinu his life as repayment of his debt. Srinu asks him a week's time to settle everything properly. He tells Anupama that he has cancer and would die in a few days, but she insists on being married to him for at least a day. He requests Kubera to allow him to get married and that he (Kubera) could take his life after a day. Later, after marriage, they come to know that Anupama is Kubera's daughter and now she's married to Srinu. Kubera finally gives in and accepts Srinu as his son-in-law. Srinu takes a word from Kubera that he should use all the money he gets from Lord Balaji every month towards interest for the wellness of the poor. 'All is well that ends well'.

The first half seems a bit sluggsh, but one feels entertained towards the end of the film with good comic timing and well written dialogues. The music will not get onto you, and the songs are badly placed in the film.

This blog is still running!

The previous post was dated in October. It has been more than a month now, and that's because I did not have the enthusiasm to write all these days. There was nothing to drive me to it. You normal again? No. It is just that i felt bad looking at my blog. And, may be it's quite natural for writers to pass through such a phase sometime in their lives. Moreover, what do I write? Give me something to write on. You are the one running this damn blog here. You gotto decide that. Well, ok, but it may take some more time. :)

Was he Netaji?

A 125 year old man has reportedly claimed he was Netaji two days before he died in a village near the Guna district of Madhya Pradesh. He was known as Baba Lalji Maharaj. The Madhya Pradesh police have started a probe into the matter.

The detailed article can be read here.

Woh Lamhe...

Rating- ***

Woh Lamhe has Shiny Ahuja and Kangana Ranaut playing Aditya Garewal, a struggling director and Sana Azim, a successful heroine respectively. Sana Azim shares an abusive relationship with Nikhil, an actor who always makes it a point to remind her that whatever she is today is just because of him and his generosity. Aditya, on the other hand, wants to use her to become successful as a director, but he eventually falls in love with her. She dumps Nikhil and approaches Aditya and also agrees to act in his film, which goes on to become a huge hit. Aditya later finds out that Sana is schizophrenic and even gets stabbed by her in the process of getting her cured. The rest of the film shows the mental trauma that they both go through.

Though the movie has a tragic end, it connects well with the viewer. It might have got a four star rating if not for its second half which appeared sluggish at times. And, the other characters- Sammy, played by Purab and the doctor friend are adequate and do their job well. Kangana suits the role perfectly. Shiny looked better as an actor in Gangster, but he is a good choice for the role. This reel-life story was aided by the real life relationship between director, Mahesh Bhatt and the yesteryear popular actress, Parveen Babi, who passed away last year.

The music of the film was scored by Pritam. Kya mujhe pyaar hai alone is worth listening to.

Intelligent Marketing

Marketing strategies have always formed a crucial part in selling a commodity. These include amongst others, mainly print advertising and telivision advertising- the latter making more impact on the public or the consumers.

The Indian advertising industry has shown a gradual change, getting better everytime. This should be quite evident to anyone who comes across any alternate advertisement on the telivision these days. And, moreover, there is no dearth of breaks inbetween any programme that comes on air. I used to get bored with the long breaks squeezed anywhere into the programme that you so enthusiastically plan to watch. But, nowadays, these advertisements are a pleasure to watch than the programmes or soaps. Smart ads always catch your attention, no matter how lengthy they are.

There are a few advertisements that fascinate me everytime they are shown on the telivision. To name a few, the very new 'Visa' advertisement where a bunch of monkeys try to steal the belongings of a couple in the middle of a jungle and the lady distracts their attention by making a deal with bananas for the belongings. She then orders a truck full of bananas with the help of her Visa Card right from the jungle and then a monkey plays the same trick with her, this time, the Visa Power for her jeep keys.

The new 'Bank of India' advertisement is also good. It tries to tap the human emotions beautifully. The ad shows a small boy trying to hide his small piggy bank somewhere and goes all the way from home in search of a safe place and finally goes to the bank, where the officer puts it in a safety locker, assures him and hands over the keys to the small boy who leaves the bank happily.

There are many such smart ads which make an impact on those who watch them. You still may not buy (or use) the product (or services) that is (are) being promoted, but they leave their mark in your mind. And, after all, that is what marketing is all about- Smart moves to spot you!