Vodafone – Not So Good A Change

Hutch is now Vodafone... and the banners go red. The Hutch logos on the wallpaper change to Vodafone. The Hutch song is remixed with beats to the new Vodafone tune. The dog finds a new kennel too.

And where does the customer find himself… The change after all is not so good.

Well, I am or rather was a hard core Hutch loyal. Didn’t even change the logo, till they did it for me.

However, things seem to be changing. I am even thinking of changing my card … giving it a thought… something till recently I was never going to do. And maybe the only reason I am not doing it is because I have been using this for the last 3 years and have built up all contacts on this number. But the way Vodafone is working now, the very first opportunity and I might just switch to another network.

Well, to quote some problems with Vodafone. I get random messages saying some service has been activated and then I call and get it deactivated. I get the confirmation message for that and again in a couple of hours the service is again activated.

Well, all the best to all Vodafone customers… its going the ICICI way… bad experience… anyone else out there facing the same problem???

Things Happen

My post on want, very strongly spoke about the “WANT” being the driver, the force of our lives. A friend of mine told me that the book “The Alchemist” speaks something in relation to the want. It says that if you desire something truly from your heart, something that you really WANT, and then there are energies that you leave out into the world. These energies connect to the cosmic and it’s the power of the Cosmic that makes things happen, things possible. It’s based on some concept of the flow of energy in the universe. If you really want something, it happens.

Things happen… this is something else that a lot of us know of somewhere deep inside us. Then there is the madness, the tension, the adrenalin rush and so on, on all crucial times of our life. We run frantically around to do things, get things done, and then BOOM… something goes wrong. This brings me to the second principle a friend told me about – The Murphy’s Law – “What has to go wrong will go wrong”.

And these two things justify what we call Destiny. Yes, what has to will happen – is how we describe destiny.

So do we suddenly feel helpless and at the mercy of some unknown energy. No, and that’s what we are all about. We are all about the life that we live, the decisions we take, the choices we make. It’s the belief that we have in ourselves more than anything else that keeps us on the move, on a constant road – the journey as Life is popularly known as.

Try this, sit down and think what you most truly want and want it forever, it will come to you.

Ganpati Bappa Mourya!!!

The 11 day festivities of Ganpati kickstarts the cycle of festivals we all look forward to each year.

Today was the last day of Ganpati. Like every year, we had Ganpati at our place this year too. And, the best thing about Ganpati, well, a lot of people visit your place for the puja for all 11 days.

We had a loads of people coming over too Some friends I got to meet after a year!! Thanks to Ganpati!!!!


The visarjan is one of the brightest things about Ganpati, there is color, there is music and there is some amazing bonding among the people - whether or not they know you. On a Ganpati visarjan you will typically find the roads closed (almost), lots of traffic, lots of LOUD music playing along the road. People are dancing, and having a time of their life. Talking of my visarjan experience today, we left for the visarjan at around 6:15 p.m. The drive till the river was quite smooth. On the was you could see, a full line of Ganpati idols one after another with band-baja !!! The visarjan, if I remember correctly has been going on since the last 5 hours now and is expected to extend till midnight tonight. It started raining heavily the minute we stepped out of the car to walk towards the river.Mom and dad were trying to keep the Ganpati idol away from the water, while I wondered, "why are we protecting the God from the rains...??? It's the most natural thing, and they would never mind it..." Well, the puja and visarjan after that went off smooth. The area in and around in the river, was under strict security, with not only the policemen on job but a lot of volunteers too. Its great to see the enthusiasm of the people trying to keep the crowd in control, streamlining the entry and exit points, and keeping people happy too. And well, its good to see the common man responding to it in a good matured manner and cooperating with the authorities.

What amazed me was the way Indian political parties don't leave a single opportunity in making their mark. There were 2 small pandals set up by the 2 political parties. And the respective members came down to greet every single Ganpati idol that passed the way, with flowers and loud calls of "Ganpati Bappa Mourya". There was also a bank trying to capitalize on the audience with a stall and loudspeakers !!!!

Well, Ganpati Bappa has a rom for everyone I believe. So looking forward to Ganpati next year around as well. Till then,
Ganpati Bappa Mourya!!!
Pudhchya varshi lawkar yaa!!!

Hectic and High Pressure Continues.....!!!!!!

Yeah... I am alive...!!! I hope you will be glad to know... though I haven't finished all that I was supposed to yesterday... I manage to spend another day... and its the night again when I am unsure if I would see the sun tomorrow... not meant literally though...


Well, another day that I wanna scrape through and hope that I finish what I wanted to... see you tomorrow then.

Hectic and High Pressure!!!!

19th September 2007... one day that I m gonna remember always... woooo!!!! What a day?!?!! It started like any other Wednesday, with the exception that I reached class before the professor, attended the lecture I usually bunk (Quantitative...not perspective) and then some Masala Thumbs Up (the only time I think I managed to take a break!!!). Well, now if you are wondering why was it hectic. Apart from the routine work that we usually have in college, today looked like a day of deadlines!!!

I am doing a concurrent and the submission for it was today. Well, to finish that it's gonna be a whole long night for me. Marketing Research analysis.. well... takes quite sometime. And another submission for another subject's assignment tomorrow and considering the time that I spend in college, for me to submit it by the desired deadline looks difficult. So that's another reason for me to have a whole night session. The life of an MBA!!! Craazzzyyyy !!!

And if this weren't enough... my bike ran out out of petrol on my way back home from the station... so that meant dragging the bike to the petrol pump some half a km away (this is forming one of my service journal encounters). Not that bad, and what made it easier was the sweet Pandu I met on the way.

Off late the Mumbai police has been going through some tough times, but, this Mr.Hawaldar, was one of those NICE policemen we have with us. Seeing me dragging my bike on the way he asked me," क्या हुआ बेटा?!!!" Wow!!! I was soo amazed at the way he spoke to me and was ssoooo concerned seeing me drag my bike at 11 in the night. Proud of the Mumbai Police!!! And, yes I must tel you all, that most policemen that I have come across have been nice. 9 out of 10. Well, sorry about the exceptions, but yeah I guess from a personal experience, I feel safe when the police is around.

Yeah, so coming back to my day, quite a bit of running around and still have a long way to go today. Will perhaps, let you know whether or not I managed to finish everything - if I am alive to see the day tomorrow. So till then, bye. Goodnight.

Tell me if you have had, days like these or perhaps even worse....

Just Wondering...

Few things that I have been wondering about... see if you have ever wondered about them too.

• A person standing next to you, who was once your classmate. Just an acquaintance perhaps and to see them after say 3 years, do you wonder what he or she is doing now??? Wondering if they are also on the same lines as you... working, studying, married ???
• To see a man outside his shanty house alongside the railway track, playing with his little kid... that he is not just a poor man, but, very much a father, a husband and shouldering all those responsibilities which are much more difficult for him to shoulder than you or me.
• To overhear a conversation, about someone having a very hard time in their life and wonder about what all they have gone through ( a 8 day old marriage turning into a disaster...) Do you ever wonder, all the cribbing we must be doing of how unfair life is to us, we might actually be better of than most others. And should be happy and living for that.
• To wonder how the entire SEC classification that we as MBA students find so very important, seem to just vanish at the smallest instances. Take today for example, if you would see the way EVERYONE was geared up for Ganpati... there was no chance you would classify them into any segments. The way they do the stuff, for all festivals for that matter, purchasing POWER has nothing to do with anything.
• You wonder what, where and with whom you would be spending our life tomorrow.
  
• You wonder, how your parents were when they were your age (cos you never got t see them like that) ...
• You wonder how these old people when they have reunions behave, just the way you do with your friends today.
• You wonder that at this very moment when you are reading my post (or when I was writing this one), what would some friend of yours would be doing on some other end of the world.
  
• You wonder standing on sea side, where this would be stretching to. And if you were to go over straight on it, where would you reach.
• When you fly, you wonder whether you would fly from over your home.
• When you see a plane go over you, you wonder, if anyone you know would be aboard.
• You wonder, what and how you had be, if you weren't doing something else and not what you are currently doing in life. If you were perhaps not an MBA students, but, say a painter or a singer.

There are so many things to wonder about, that I am sure you would be able to add more to this list.

And ya, I am sure, we are all wondering at so many instances of our lives that there is a little WONDERLAND in all of us!!!

Brutal or Blind?????

The Indian News Media is creating waves in the industry these days. People are mocking at the extent to which the media can go to create stories and be the number one in doing so.

One of the stories that I happen to ridicule and hate the media the most for is the one created prior to the Abhishek - Ash wedding.

All the news channels covering Jhanvi Kapoor, the girl who claimed to be married to Abhishek Bachchan. The media not only covered the smallest of the details, but also, mocked at the tyranny of the girl, who was not even in her senses.

The media somehow failed to empathize with the girl. Let me explain to you the real problem with her.

I am sure you would have heard of "Schizophrenia".

It is defined as a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a mental illness characterized by impairments in the perception or expression of reality, most commonly manifesting as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions or disorganized speech and thinking in the context of significant social or occupational dysfunction.

In simple terms, Schizophrenia is a mental disorder where the person under its influence, begins to imagine himself in various situations. For him they are the true world. Under the influence of this, they are not able to distinguish between real and imaginary, because for them the imaginary becomes real. And stands true irrespective of everything else. A person suffering from this disorder does not even realize that they are under its influence. It's a fragment of their imagination which starts ruling them completely.

They tend to behave according to what they think is true. They perhaps don't even realize what they are doing and why so?? For them, what they imagine and think at that point of time become true; the truth of their life, the truth that they believe in. The truth that they live for.

Yes, it is a fatal truth for them. Something that is capable of driving them into death. Something which is a temporary state of mind and once they come back to their normal states they have no memory of what happened in the past.

Coming back Jhanvi Kapoor. A sad victim of the media's quest for higher TRPs and creating waves. Jhanvi was unfortunately a victim of schizophrenia and what the media gave her was complete mockery. Every singly news channel was seen making a "show" out of it. For them it was a "breaking news". Despite repeated pleas by he father, trying to explain that she was mentally not stable, the media continued its fanfare.

Well, the most grueling part of the whole episode is the fact that, the next day morning when Jhanvi would get up to start a new day, she would not be even aware of the story on which everyone was busy making money.

I think we need to to give it thought, are we moving towards development and away from humanity. The media, the biggest force and driver of change and revolution... is it here to present facts or are they here to create sizzling stories.

It wont be long, when the average Indian would doubt the credibility of the news industry.

India Auto Irony

"India's Auto Irony - Rs.1-l car to jostle for space with Rs.8-l super bikes."

...so goes the headline in the ET dated 7th July 2007. Definitely an irony The article spoke about an irony of a car being so cheap and a bike being so expensive. A car meant for the masses and the bike for the classes.

What however, strikes me as an irony is this: A 1 - L car looks at a HUGE market in India. Every Tom, Dick and Harry can pride itself with being a car owner. But, do we have the roads to drive the car. I am not very technically aware of the specifications of the car - but from the look of it, it gives me a feel that it is meant for driving small distances (within a city) and not really long ones. And if this assumption of mine is correct - then it makes me wonder if we have the roads to drive them on. Having seen the traffic in Mumbai and Bangalore, I don't wanna see more people commuting by their own cars. Then again, if its about the Tier2 and Tier 3 tows. Do they have a sound enough traffic systems, bot in terms of roads and traffic control to handle mass customers for a car!!!!

Coming to the bikes... Rs.8-L for a bike!!! Well, we do have a huge number of roadies I assume. But, would they be ready to pay Rs.8-l lacs for a bike. And the only place they would be able to ride such a bike would be a smooth long road, and not the roads of Mumbai. 1000cc, 1670cc on Mumbai roads could be both a pitiful and hilarious site. So where does it leave the company in terms of the market they are looking at.

Well, but if it is about TATA, Yamaha and Suzuki - I think they have done their homework well. And the Govt. authorities in India should be working on the roads, the traffic control, the parking, the accidents and the endless list of complications.

If nothing maybe, TATA as a part of their social responsibility could help build some good roads in Mumbai.

Lemme kno if any of my assumptions are wrong. If nothing the Govt. would definitely try and stop or delay the launch of these cars...

My Internship with Friends!!!

No Machcha!!! Listen da!!! Hey you F****r!!!! Like Dhuh!!! Chumma!!! Namaskara!!! And matar paneer!!!! Not to forget the Bloody Mary and Screw Driver... ;-)

Well, in short my new bunch of freakingly awesome friends from Bangalore. The summers were for an internship - serious research work etc. But, it turned out to be more of fun, food and frolic!!! Two months away from family for the first time ever, and I found myself entirely amongst friends. All new to me... for one day... and from the very next moment, they were as if I have always known them.

They made sure I have a great time. Then be it partying, dinners, wedding or just a DBC!!!!!! I always felt one of them... and I loved being one of them. All the photo sessions, the card game - "teen patti" (the maru made some money there, and yes, the sardar wasn't far behind.. thanks to all the loans ;-))

What I will cherish the most is my "silly naughty friend"!!! He cribbed and cribbed... but he was always there... took me to this awesome shop... A&S.. damn neat... great cook... had the privilege of being invited to lunch... and have some tasty matar paneer... good job dude!!!

Here is one pic of all of us... truly reflects the time we had together... CRAZZZYYYYY!!!!!















There was a time I was thinking, "What am I gonna do there???" And was carrying 5 to 6 novels... but i ended up reading just 2 of them... so that must explain to you what a blast I had there.

Anything for a trip like this. I miss Bangalore.... more than anything for my friends!!!

SHOOT TO KILL!!!

Shoot to Kill – Yeah the big line from Shootout at Lokhandwala.

What amazes me is passion amongst these men!!! What are they made of?!?!!! What is it that makes them go to an extent that they don’t mind killing people?!??!!!

Maya – the man who wants people to fear him, goes ahead to kill people to make his point and makes sure it happens. Well, is the desire to be feared of so strong so as to kill people for it. When you see Aai talking with that passion to Khan about Maya, you wonder. Is it the absence of fear or is it the confidence of victory?? And what happens when you suddenly see it all coming to an end. What happens to Aai who thought nothing could ever happen to her son and suddenly she finds him trapped about to be shot dead. Shoot to kill…

What I really want to know is, what are these guys made of. And when I talk about “these guys”, I don’t just mean men like Maya but also men like Khan. Maybe it’s easier to be Khan knowing that you mean good. But, what courage does it take to be Maya. To aspire to be where Dawood is, to be him, to be the Underworld. Beats me!!!

Or is it courage??? What runs in your mind when you want to be Maya? To choose to be him. Is it the anger about something?? But how angry can you be and for how long can you be angry?? It has to subside some day. And then what… what when your anger subside… where do you find yourself???

I dunno how these guys work, but yes, I definitely am amazed!!! After all what are these guys really made of??

The Orator’s Club – My first session @ MindTree Consulting’s Community

Ya, my first session at the Orator’s Club of Mindtree Consulting. Well, it was on presentation delivery, something I had wanted to do since a very long time. Never got a good opportunity. Generally considered to be a good speaker (sincere apologies to anyone who thinks I am boasting), this turned out to be an eye opener. What I saw about myself, actually made me realize, I got a long way to go as far as Public Speaking is concerned.

I mean how good you are as a speaker is not about how you can talk in front of an audience, but, how your audience sits when they you speak. Imagine someone sitting in rapt attention listening to you (or you think so), the person is actually not even listening to you.

Well, if you are thinking the audience here (see pointers) is listening – then you gotta think again. These guys though show that they are listening are actually thinking about something else and only LOOKING at the guy who would be doing the talking. Some of the really bad experiences could leave you with an audience like this, yeah quite disappointing.

Well, these were some of the audience feedback on how good or bad a speaker are you.

And if your audience can manage to do this while you are talking, well I guess you would know where you are headed (I would say you are quite doomed!!!!) so next time while you are presenting you know what to look for, for a feedback. (but, I wouldn’t say this for class presentations he he he)

Anyway moving on, the most difficult part of the workshop happened to be the one where we were supposed to shout out our names in 5 different volume levels. And to do that in front of 10 other people you have never seen, trust me its difficult. (unless you are an ex NSS student – a fellow summer intern happened to be one and found the task not difficult). For me, it was quite a scary experience. But, you don’t have a way put, cos the guy taking the workshop is a vertical head. Phew!!!

Then came the part of the workshop when I realized the amount of umms and uhhs I use while I talk or present. Quite an exercise that was for me. What made it worse was people shouting an objection (like you do in a debate) every time you ummed or uhhed while talking. But, yes now I know what to work on.

I am going to remember this workshop all my life. One of the most enjoyable and learning at the same time. Mindtree experience is quite an experience I must say!!!!

THE WORLD OF IT – From the eyes of a Non Engineer

The world of IT – fascinating, intriguing and mystic. My previous post on “Wondering at Technology” has left a lot of people wondering what exactly I was wanting to say. What was it that one was to derive out of it? A few of then might have been amused and passed it on as another abstract. Abstract it was in every sense of the term. That was a way a lot of non – techies might see the world of information technology.

That was I guess a very small past of the vast kingdom of technology. I recently entered the big big world of Information Technology (this again can be referred to as a small part considering all other IT companies, but for now lets call this the world and proceed). Im currently at this IT firm doing my summers and this is one IT place I must say. Never have been in a situation where I can’t understand what people around me are saying. Well, not to be taken very literally, but if you have a sentence that says, “We build expertise in Mainframes and Application Management and have off shoring base with a capacity of 4000 odd people in India”, for a first timer like me its sure hits hard.

But yes, coming back to the intriguing world of IT, you are left wondering on how people establish and maintain a Global Delivery Models. Well, I don’t really wanna get into explaining the model, but, to imagine and execute the whole idea of one work center starting and ending at a time and another one keeping up with it to hold the time lapse between the two. And the guy in the U.S actually never would realize that his work is being carried out in from Japan and India.

The ERP becomes another co worker the better to get to know of its working. Life revolves around SAP. Mainframes and Application Management is like your next door neighbor. I wonder, how all the techies here sit in front of their computer screen all day long, dug deep into weird coding languages and managing to bug or to debug. But, yes, I have to admit, I am not averse to technical terminologies and work they was I have always been.

It interests me to think how it changes the world and how hard people work on it to make it better. I can go on and on on how big the world is, but, that would get too boring. So I shall end it here. Last but not the least, thanks to Mindtree Consulting to introduce me to this magical world of IT and making me more aware technically.

This doesn’t necessarily mean I would go on to work for the IT industry still, some things still happen to be more interesting. ;-)

WANT TO...

WANT is the most strongly imbibed word in my dictionary. The word I find many ignoring, using it alternatively with have, must, should etc etc. I was in school when one of my teacher's introduced me to this concept of WANT.

We were told you must do what you WANT to do and not what you have to or what you should do. In fact if you go to observe, a lot of people say that they have to do something, but its actually the fact that they want to do a particular thing, but don't really admit it.

So I conclude, that its either the fact that you want to or don't want to do it. Not necessarily that you can't do it.

So where does the want lead us all to???

We live with the want, the desire, the passion, the love of doing something, the belief that we can do it. And all of this comes from the basic - WANT. I believe that if we REALLY want to do something we should not be not be bothered about whether or not we can do it, whether or not the outcome would be in our favor. We should just make a headway for it and get it done.

The question is always DO YOU WANT TO DO IT??? Don't think beyond it...

The Marathon Madness!!!

The Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon, creates waves in the city. The madness, the zeal, the energy, the enthusiasm, its MADDENING!!!!

I have now been a part of the SCMM for the last 2 years and the energy levels are just more everytime that I am there. Last year I was there as an organizer, this year I was there as a participant. But the experience both ways, has been exhilarating. When you see, thousands of people running on course, not to win but to have fun, its amazing what it does to u. You suddenly feel a part of everyone and you look at everyone with awe and amazement. Dream Run - I think they have very aplty named it, its a dream come true. To go back home and tell your family and friends that you were a part of the Mumbai Marathon. Whether or not you ran the actual marathon, then does not matter.

Well, coming back to the marathon madness... The marathon that runs across the city, not only catched the enthusiasm of the people running, but also the people who are not running. Across the course, we found people out if thier houses down on the road, on their windows, terraces, balconies, out there to cheer us all. With the "Run Mumbai Run" echoing the roads of Mumbai, you feel a part of the city that you have never before felt.

I am a great fan of Mumbai - completely in love with the city (and very sensitive on that front). Its a great feeling of pride to see people to cheering for you. They don't know you, and don't care either. For them you are a participant of an event that makes the city proud and they are out to support you to their best.

Think for a minute, after all the madness of the Marathon, you actually sit back to think, who was that person who was cheering when I passed by? Would I ever see them again, would I know them when I see them? Would I ever meet them? Yes I think we will, again next year at the Mumbai Marathon. They would still be there cheering for you or maybe better still, this time running with you.

So see you all the madness again next year!!!!And here is a small moment with Rahul Bose - The brand ambassador for Mumbai Marathon this year. The guy is truly amazing!!!