I'm into time travel these days and so are many of my friends. It's almost the norm now!
I usually time-travel either in the weekends or some times in the evenings. I like to go back into the past and have never really ventured into the future, for my time travel device can just travel to the past and back! And how fast and how short really depends on me. And the best thing is that I do not even have to pay the moon for it ;)
Recently in one of my sojourns, I went back to when I was in class XII and met a friend who was also there apparently doing his travel. I had met him after 2 decades and to me he certainly looked a bit old and worn out. And then I looked at myself and saw that even I was 'slightly' overweight for a class XII guy and actually looked similar to my friend, meaning that the travel could take us to the past but couldn't make us any younger (...and what a pity, it could not restore hair...damn!!). We chatted up with each other and made fun of each other on the way we looked. When I got back into the current time, I felt strangely rejuvenated at meeting this old friend after so many years and certainly felt younger. Then this happened again and I felt even better. Suddenly , I thought I had found the elixir of youth and now I could always go back at will and if I had the time from my current responsibilities. Funnily enough, you met different traveller friends over different visits but the effect was the same- REJUVENATION!!
Many of these friends I met in the past accidentally, are now in touch with me in the current, because we exchanged numbers as well. It so awesome to meet these people after decades and just take off from where you left off...It' great to hear from them, talk to them and know what they are up to in their current lives. It's fun to see them do well for themselves and their families. It's nice to see heart throbs have transformed into Moms and dudes are now dads ;)
Sounds familiar!! So where do we from here? Your Page or mine?! Thanks FB!!
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Of Roman Polański and Justice!!
"I had rather be a dog and bay the moon than such a Roman"- William Shakespeare (Julius Caesar)
If Shakespeare were alive, perhaps even he could not have imagined the quote's relevance today. Roman Rajmund Polański an escaped felon, a brilliant film director, a paedophile and a man completely and utterly hopeless lends certain credence to the quote today!!
My friend David Ben Hame sent me a link to a petition which asks for boycotting all supporting Roman Rajmund Polański. I am sure the one's supporting Roman would have their reasons but I do not think they will hold any water for any sensible person.
You could access and sign the petition at;
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/405/petition-to-boycott-roman-polanski-petition-supporters
The latest News says that the victim Samantha Geimer wants to let go of Roman now as the media pressure has become incredibly high for her to handle.
My point is not whether Roman gets convicted or not, I'm thinking, what is stopping him for owning up and atoning for the crime that he has committed and publically accepted. What good is a life which is led, with guilt hanging like the sword of Damocles?! For you can delay this doom…but you cannot avoid it Mr. Polanski!
If Shakespeare were alive, perhaps even he could not have imagined the quote's relevance today. Roman Rajmund Polański an escaped felon, a brilliant film director, a paedophile and a man completely and utterly hopeless lends certain credence to the quote today!!
My friend David Ben Hame sent me a link to a petition which asks for boycotting all supporting Roman Rajmund Polański. I am sure the one's supporting Roman would have their reasons but I do not think they will hold any water for any sensible person.
You could access and sign the petition at;
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/405/petition-to-boycott-roman-polanski-petition-supporters
The latest News says that the victim Samantha Geimer wants to let go of Roman now as the media pressure has become incredibly high for her to handle.
My point is not whether Roman gets convicted or not, I'm thinking, what is stopping him for owning up and atoning for the crime that he has committed and publically accepted. What good is a life which is led, with guilt hanging like the sword of Damocles?! For you can delay this doom…but you cannot avoid it Mr. Polanski!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
All Smoke and No Fire!!
Yesterday was an anniversary for me.....well sort of…..I quit Cigarettes exactly 2 years and 6 months ago. In this period I did not smoke about 36600 cigarettes and saved close to USD 4000 on the cigarettes and also about 127 days of my life. I get all this cool info from a neat statistics calculator (installed on my last laptop) which has now ceased to be of any interest to me but for some occasional unexpected surprises like yesterday, when while looking for some files I was prompted that it's actually been 2.5 years that I took a decision that I'm now proud of. And I can say I'm feeling happier, healthier and a tad richer!
And for my super geek friends, another interesting statistic; If the cigarette brand that I used to smoke, has a length of 80 mm and I were to make one big cigarette out of the number that I have not smoked, I would have a cigarette with a length of 2928 meters, roughly 9 times the length of the Eiffel tower or almost 6 times the tallest building in the world, the Taipei 101.....Now that would be one really long stick ;) I also estimate that the amount of nicotine at roughly 10 mg per stick should have generated enough nicotine to at least clog one of my lungs completely!!
There was a period in time where I wouldn’t be seen without a fag in my hands. And anybody who would talk to me about smoking would automatically qualify to be an unsolicited advisor and completely avoidable ;) I've actually thrown out a Mom and daughter duo out of my house a few years back for 'sneaking in behind my back' and 'educating' Anita, my wife, about the ills of smoking and how I was always seen smoking. Well...I would chuck them out again...as their agenda was perhaps more than just to make me quit smoking. God I love myself...for what I did ;) ........and thank the lord Ani saw through their failed effort!
On a serious note, Smoking will kill about a million people in India alone in 2010. It will also earn the government revenues..............obscene revenues! And the explanation that the Government continually dishes out is not only revenue generation but employment potential that the tobacco industry has!
EXTRACT from a Government website (http://dacnet.nic.in/tobacco/handbook/intro.htm):
"India ranks 4th in the total Tobacco consumption in the world. But India's cigarette consumption ranks 11th in the world. Out of the total production, only 19% of the total consumption of Tobacco is in the form of cigarette whereas 81% is in other forms like, chewing, bidi, snuff, Gutkas paste, Jarda, hookah paste etc. The per capita consumption of cigarette in India is one of the lowest in the world in comparison to major Tobacco consuming countries like Zimbabwe, UK, Brazil, U.S.A and Pakistan. The annual level for demand of cigarette in India remains the same at 96 billion sticks as it was 15 years ago, despite the cumulative growth in population by nearly 35 percent during the same period."
Oh Man! I'm so relieved! Our per capita consumption of cigarettes is one of the lowest in the world. I'm thinking if population has anything to do with per capita...Is there even a connection??? Oh! There is??! Really??!!
Just 96 Billion sticks a year...nothing!! Imagine the number of Eiffel towers you could create with 96 Billion sticks!! Honestly, I would like to challenge the fact that the annual level in demand has stayed unchanged for the last 1.5 decades! Excuse me!! I do not buy that….
Meanwhile, cigarette companies will continue to bait youngsters with their subliminal lifestyle messaging and surrogate advertising and will deploy every neuro-marketing trick that will give an inferiority complex to Martin Lindstrom.
Tobacco companies will continue to hide the fact that far from making the young guys masculine their products could make them impotent. Tobacco companies will continue to correlate slimness in girls to smoking...a fact that has no scientific explanation. By sponsoring sports events and creating sports and performance merchandise, the companies may be trying a subliminal association with health and well being, but actually ask a patient who has got Emphysema because of smoking how healthy he feels with each passing day and if he could walk briskly with you for 3 minutes.
These tobacco companies may have launched clothing brands and are actually showing to the world that the division has nothing to do with tobacco and is profitable enough to be a profit center and hence as a enterprise they have every right to make profits by using their brand to peddle anything....Do not mistake...the money they make out of the clothing division is not even a fraction of what the tobacco division makes. Do not mistake it............ this is SURROGATE Advertising...and NOTHING else. A casual observation to even a retail non-expert can show that most of the tobacco clothing brand stores cannot make profits even in the next 10 years. So what brings sustainability into these businesses and why do these companies keep running these stores in high visibility market places which cost the moon and end up losing money???
I think it’s high time we all wake up to this rude reality that WE ARE SIMPLY NOT DOING ENOUGH TO SECURE THE HEALTH AND FUTURE OF OUR NATION!!!!!!!
To curb this smoke we need a lot of fire!!
And for my super geek friends, another interesting statistic; If the cigarette brand that I used to smoke, has a length of 80 mm and I were to make one big cigarette out of the number that I have not smoked, I would have a cigarette with a length of 2928 meters, roughly 9 times the length of the Eiffel tower or almost 6 times the tallest building in the world, the Taipei 101.....Now that would be one really long stick ;) I also estimate that the amount of nicotine at roughly 10 mg per stick should have generated enough nicotine to at least clog one of my lungs completely!!
There was a period in time where I wouldn’t be seen without a fag in my hands. And anybody who would talk to me about smoking would automatically qualify to be an unsolicited advisor and completely avoidable ;) I've actually thrown out a Mom and daughter duo out of my house a few years back for 'sneaking in behind my back' and 'educating' Anita, my wife, about the ills of smoking and how I was always seen smoking. Well...I would chuck them out again...as their agenda was perhaps more than just to make me quit smoking. God I love myself...for what I did ;) ........and thank the lord Ani saw through their failed effort!
On a serious note, Smoking will kill about a million people in India alone in 2010. It will also earn the government revenues..............obscene revenues! And the explanation that the Government continually dishes out is not only revenue generation but employment potential that the tobacco industry has!
EXTRACT from a Government website (http://dacnet.nic.in/tobacco/handbook/intro.htm):
"India ranks 4th in the total Tobacco consumption in the world. But India's cigarette consumption ranks 11th in the world. Out of the total production, only 19% of the total consumption of Tobacco is in the form of cigarette whereas 81% is in other forms like, chewing, bidi, snuff, Gutkas paste, Jarda, hookah paste etc. The per capita consumption of cigarette in India is one of the lowest in the world in comparison to major Tobacco consuming countries like Zimbabwe, UK, Brazil, U.S.A and Pakistan. The annual level for demand of cigarette in India remains the same at 96 billion sticks as it was 15 years ago, despite the cumulative growth in population by nearly 35 percent during the same period."
Oh Man! I'm so relieved! Our per capita consumption of cigarettes is one of the lowest in the world. I'm thinking if population has anything to do with per capita...Is there even a connection??? Oh! There is??! Really??!!
Just 96 Billion sticks a year...nothing!! Imagine the number of Eiffel towers you could create with 96 Billion sticks!! Honestly, I would like to challenge the fact that the annual level in demand has stayed unchanged for the last 1.5 decades! Excuse me!! I do not buy that….
Meanwhile, cigarette companies will continue to bait youngsters with their subliminal lifestyle messaging and surrogate advertising and will deploy every neuro-marketing trick that will give an inferiority complex to Martin Lindstrom.
Tobacco companies will continue to hide the fact that far from making the young guys masculine their products could make them impotent. Tobacco companies will continue to correlate slimness in girls to smoking...a fact that has no scientific explanation. By sponsoring sports events and creating sports and performance merchandise, the companies may be trying a subliminal association with health and well being, but actually ask a patient who has got Emphysema because of smoking how healthy he feels with each passing day and if he could walk briskly with you for 3 minutes.
These tobacco companies may have launched clothing brands and are actually showing to the world that the division has nothing to do with tobacco and is profitable enough to be a profit center and hence as a enterprise they have every right to make profits by using their brand to peddle anything....Do not mistake...the money they make out of the clothing division is not even a fraction of what the tobacco division makes. Do not mistake it............ this is SURROGATE Advertising...and NOTHING else. A casual observation to even a retail non-expert can show that most of the tobacco clothing brand stores cannot make profits even in the next 10 years. So what brings sustainability into these businesses and why do these companies keep running these stores in high visibility market places which cost the moon and end up losing money???
I think it’s high time we all wake up to this rude reality that WE ARE SIMPLY NOT DOING ENOUGH TO SECURE THE HEALTH AND FUTURE OF OUR NATION!!!!!!!
To curb this smoke we need a lot of fire!!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
The politics behind Chindia!
I finally got my HK frequent visitor card by regular post today. The FVC entitles you to faster clearances at the immigration and you do not have to queue up in never ending lines. It’s pretty cool and I guess I will not have to literally run to the immigration after deplaning, to avoid the longer waiting period.
I am sure there isn't a soul on earth that can underestimate the power of Chindia. Those who ignore the emergence of both China and India will do so at great peril; say the co-authors of the book ‘Getting China and India Right’. The writers, Anil K. Gupta and Haiyan Wang advocate a joint China and India strategy for MNCs. According to the duo, in a recent interview with INSEAD, China and India are currently the only two countries in the world where four compelling realities are playing out simultaneously. These are: rapidly growing mega-markets; platforms for global cost reduction; platforms for global innovation; and springboards for the emergence of new fearsome competitors. And I believe, what these wise academicians have to say!!
But what has been disturbing me recently, is the increasing anti-India rhetoric in China and anti-China tirade in India. I'm beginning to think whether in the 21st century we can afford this kind of unfriendliness.
Interestingly amidst this acrimony, there has been a spurt in visas issued to Chinese businessmen in India and over this year till now about 27,000 visas have been issued! Needless to say, that a lot of Indians travel to China on business frequently. I have met during my frequent visits to HK, Indians, who trade with China, and visit there every two weeks or so. So it’s quite clear that the businesses of both these countries want to explore new alliances, better relationships and of course profits in each others’ countries.
So what could be the reason for such mutual unfriendliness? Why can India and China not be the best of friends?
I think the answer lies in the current state of the world economy and the political state of affairs in South Asia. Both countries have progressive economies in an economically challenged world; they have internal issues that need some serious sorting out. Both nations’ citizens along with increasing prosperity are growing demanding of the things that they want and the way they want it. Richness often does that to you! Who doesn’t want value for money?? More so the rich, they have a voice!!
Normally in a kneejerk response, any nation will create an outside fear to make sure it’s Citizens fall in line or do not notice the obvious problems and generally do not become too demanding of their Governments. I think it’s just a way to avoid providing better and consistent service to its Citizens that they owe on account of leading the nations. I think India and China are convenient red herrings for each other. After all the erstwhile USSR and our northwestern neighbors seem to have bitten the dust and can’t do the red herring routine.
I think this is grossly a short term view, because together as friends, Chindia can make it happen! Regarding who is going to lead the world in the coming times, well who cares?? As long as we are all happy, prosperous, rich and safe, that should not matter!
I would like to call upon the fourth estate on both the sides to grow beyond mere rhetoric and try and build a sense of confidence in the people of these two great nations. Let’s for a change look at the obvious! India and China are destined to be natural allies in the very near future!!
I must say though that, I am encouraged by the Premiers of the two nations smiling and meeting up recently in Thailand, followed by a meeting of the foreign ministers in Bangalore. Let’s focus on what we can do together rather than what we can do to each other.
The dreamer that I am, I can’t help but extending the logic further- think of a US, EU, China and India combine-Awesome!!
I am sure there isn't a soul on earth that can underestimate the power of Chindia. Those who ignore the emergence of both China and India will do so at great peril; say the co-authors of the book ‘Getting China and India Right’. The writers, Anil K. Gupta and Haiyan Wang advocate a joint China and India strategy for MNCs. According to the duo, in a recent interview with INSEAD, China and India are currently the only two countries in the world where four compelling realities are playing out simultaneously. These are: rapidly growing mega-markets; platforms for global cost reduction; platforms for global innovation; and springboards for the emergence of new fearsome competitors. And I believe, what these wise academicians have to say!!
But what has been disturbing me recently, is the increasing anti-India rhetoric in China and anti-China tirade in India. I'm beginning to think whether in the 21st century we can afford this kind of unfriendliness.
Interestingly amidst this acrimony, there has been a spurt in visas issued to Chinese businessmen in India and over this year till now about 27,000 visas have been issued! Needless to say, that a lot of Indians travel to China on business frequently. I have met during my frequent visits to HK, Indians, who trade with China, and visit there every two weeks or so. So it’s quite clear that the businesses of both these countries want to explore new alliances, better relationships and of course profits in each others’ countries.
So what could be the reason for such mutual unfriendliness? Why can India and China not be the best of friends?
I think the answer lies in the current state of the world economy and the political state of affairs in South Asia. Both countries have progressive economies in an economically challenged world; they have internal issues that need some serious sorting out. Both nations’ citizens along with increasing prosperity are growing demanding of the things that they want and the way they want it. Richness often does that to you! Who doesn’t want value for money?? More so the rich, they have a voice!!
Normally in a kneejerk response, any nation will create an outside fear to make sure it’s Citizens fall in line or do not notice the obvious problems and generally do not become too demanding of their Governments. I think it’s just a way to avoid providing better and consistent service to its Citizens that they owe on account of leading the nations. I think India and China are convenient red herrings for each other. After all the erstwhile USSR and our northwestern neighbors seem to have bitten the dust and can’t do the red herring routine.
I think this is grossly a short term view, because together as friends, Chindia can make it happen! Regarding who is going to lead the world in the coming times, well who cares?? As long as we are all happy, prosperous, rich and safe, that should not matter!
I would like to call upon the fourth estate on both the sides to grow beyond mere rhetoric and try and build a sense of confidence in the people of these two great nations. Let’s for a change look at the obvious! India and China are destined to be natural allies in the very near future!!
I must say though that, I am encouraged by the Premiers of the two nations smiling and meeting up recently in Thailand, followed by a meeting of the foreign ministers in Bangalore. Let’s focus on what we can do together rather than what we can do to each other.
The dreamer that I am, I can’t help but extending the logic further- think of a US, EU, China and India combine-Awesome!!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
The 1st Blog!
I'm already nervous at the thought of writing this blog! It's easier said than done and then the accent on KISS...damn! what made me write that, don't we all we all know that I'm a rocket scientist?? Making simple things complex and now I've committed to do the opposite...Well done Mister!!
Then what if nobody reads what I have to write...I can think of a few friends I can push into reading and what the heck bully a few childhood friends into following as well.
One good thing is that I can write any thing under the sun....that's the beauty of ubiquity!!
So what do I start with? Good question! But haven't I started already... ;)
Maybe I should pick up an extremely relevant political topic and attract eyeballs or maybe I could talk Cricket...they say you can get away with what ever trash you dish out on the game. There is bound to be some one reading it. Case in the point- The ghostly blogger from KKR a few months ago. who ever it was...
I could talk about child labour. But then wouldn't it be too niche (both in English and in Hindi).
So what do people want to read about? Maybe I should do this little dipstick survey to establish what the heck should I write about to make it Pertinent, Relevant, Interesting, Cocky and Kicking? Maybe I can ask Kareena to inaugrate this blog for me and just may be it'll take off like that self help book she wrote the intro for, that nobody reads but keep gifting to each other! And heck guess who is laughing all the way to the bank!!
Hey what about Nostalgia?? That's surely gonna work...I met friends on Linkedin and Facebook after 25 years (damn I gave my age away...now I can not pretend to be a 25 year old...!!).
I'm sure gonna sleep uneasy tonight but tomorrow is another day and who knows I just may have an answer!!
Then what if nobody reads what I have to write...I can think of a few friends I can push into reading and what the heck bully a few childhood friends into following as well.
One good thing is that I can write any thing under the sun....that's the beauty of ubiquity!!
So what do I start with? Good question! But haven't I started already... ;)
Maybe I should pick up an extremely relevant political topic and attract eyeballs or maybe I could talk Cricket...they say you can get away with what ever trash you dish out on the game. There is bound to be some one reading it. Case in the point- The ghostly blogger from KKR a few months ago. who ever it was...
I could talk about child labour. But then wouldn't it be too niche (both in English and in Hindi).
So what do people want to read about? Maybe I should do this little dipstick survey to establish what the heck should I write about to make it Pertinent, Relevant, Interesting, Cocky and Kicking? Maybe I can ask Kareena to inaugrate this blog for me and just may be it'll take off like that self help book she wrote the intro for, that nobody reads but keep gifting to each other! And heck guess who is laughing all the way to the bank!!
Hey what about Nostalgia?? That's surely gonna work...I met friends on Linkedin and Facebook after 25 years (damn I gave my age away...now I can not pretend to be a 25 year old...!!).
I'm sure gonna sleep uneasy tonight but tomorrow is another day and who knows I just may have an answer!!
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