Monday, May 30, 2005

Novel Novels

I am not a regular reader of novels, but I do read once in a while and enjoy whatever I'm reading. In the past few days I got to discuss about books with some of my friends. Most people seem to have a favourite author whose books they read voraciously. That made me wonder who my favourite author is. The surprising fact is that I don't seem to have read more a single book of the same author!!! The list of all the novels that I've read in the last few years (couldn't remember beyond that ) looks like this:










Airframe Michael Crichton
The English Teacher R.K.Narayan
The Game Eliyahu M. Goldratt
Fountain Head Ayn Rand
The Devil's Alternative Frederick Forsyth
Why didn't they ask Evans? Agatha Christie
Animal Farm George Orwell
Rich Dad Poor Dad Robert Kiyosaki
Da Vinci Code Dan Brown
To Cut a Long Story short Jeffrey Archer
Sphinx  Robin Cook

Currently I'm 25% through John Grisham's "The Brethren". All novels by different authors. How unique?
But it has never been a conscious decision to read different authors all the time. I've just read the books that I could get. Ofcourse there have been books that I got and still didn't complete. Books like "The New New Thing" by Michael Lewis, and "Hannibal" by Harris Thomas weren't my kind. There have also been books that I liked a lot, but couldn't complete because of other circumstances like exams, assignments etc. "Liar's poker" by Michael Lewis, and "A Killing on Wall Street" by Derrick Niederman fall in this category. I hope to read them sometime in the future.

The books that I wish to read in the future are:
The day of the jackal (Frederick Forsyth), Liar's poker (Michael Lewis), The Monk who sold his Ferrari (Robin Sharma), Life Of Pi (Yann Martel), Angels and Demons / Digital Fortress (Dan Brown), Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)

Thursday, May 26, 2005

Power Saved is Power Produced

When I was a child, Doordarshan used to broadcast lots of advertisements aimed at increasing the public's awareness on saving electricity. I don't know if they still show those ads, but the current scenario seems to be demanding something of the sort. The power shortage in Mumbai is no secret. I see the electricity supply being cut for some time every now and then. People curse when they don't get current, and start wasting it once they get it. I don't understand why people don't want to save electricity. In the apartment that I live in, I have noticed so many flats where the lights keep glowing even when the door is locked from outside. Even some of my roomies have the habit of not switching-off fans and lights while moving out of a room. Can't people feel the shortage even when they are made to climb many floors because the lift is switched off to save power?
The politicians once again make the public's mistakes look microscopic. Imagine this, in the state where there is serious power shortage, the energy minister has 10 ACs in his house and his monthly bill runs at around Rs.30,000!!! (Ref: Indian Express). In most cases I see people wasting power when they are not paying for it. Many flats in my apartment are company-rented and so the people staying-in don't care about the power consumption. And ofcourse the ministers don't pay for their usage.
There are 2 problems now. One is that the cost of the power wasted by these people has to be born by the "aam junta". Second is that, even if we are ready to pay, we do not have enough power to satisfy our needs.
Maybe our TV channels should broadcast the effects of the power blackout in Moscow repeatedly on our channels. The hospital tragedies, the chemical factory explosion, the traffic jams etc might bring some fear into our countrymen's minds.

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Jo Bole So Nihaal

Most news channels yesterday kept showing the news on the bomb blasts in Delhi. There were blasts in 2 theatres killing one person and injuring many more. What is creating excitement is the fact that both theatres were showing the movie "Jo bole so nihaal". So the thrust seems to have shifted from the actual bombing to the controversies in the movie. The title of the movie is a sikh war-cry that means "Whoever takes the name of God will be blessed". Using this religious phrase as the title of a movie has sparked angry responses from the sikh community. Personally, I don't feel the Sikh would be angered enough to bomb the theatres. My thoughts have been confirmed by the press statement by the Delhi Police Commissioner Mr.Paul that the blasts were not due to the screening of the film (Source) But then, the news channels don't seem to be ready to leave a prospective story, and the emphasis is still on the movie rather than on the blasts as such.
According to the Washington Times, the movie showing has been halted by the police as they claim that the security of the moviegoers is at stake. Even otherwise, the attack on the psychology of the public has been made and not many would be willing to sit in the theatres for this movie now. Though there seems to be not much of a connection between the movie and the blasts, the poor producer is going to suffer the burns.

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Power of Words

A peak into the adjacent person's newspaper in the bus today morning gave me a shock. What I saw in the Economic Times was "TCL to buy out Alcatel". After having worked for 3 years in Alcatel I was entitled to be shocked with such a news. Come on, Alcatel is a 12.5 Billion Euro company and TCL is just a Chinese mobile service provider. A fast check in google after reaching office (after the usual 1 hour travel ofcourse) revealed that it was only the stake of Alcatel in a JV (Joint Venture) with TCL that TCL is going to buy.
Though the element of shock has gone, I am left amused at the different views of the same story provided by ET and Reuters. According to ET, TCL would buy out Alcatel's stake in a JV between them. Reuters states that Alcatel is buying a 5 percent stake in TCL by selling its stake in a JV with TCL. It is the same news, but how different do each of the versions sound! The ET version sounds as if Alcatel is in deep trouble, while the Reuters version gives an impression that Alcatel is moving higher by taking a stake in TCL instead of having a JV with the Chinese firm.
The way we put information in words plays a major part in the impression created on the audience. I have noticed this in too many instances in the recent past. I tried explaining my current project to some of my friends in different ways. The responses ranged from "Another global project" to "That's awesome". May be this is why people say that we can choose whatever work that comforts us, but should make sure that we use the right words to describe them when applying for another job

Monday, May 16, 2005

Locational Preferences

Mumbai infrastructure is awesome. I can't believe that I spend only 3 hours a day travelling to office and back. The joy got better today when we had to abandon our bus in the traffic and walk for some 20 minutes to office under the hot sun. Just to make things more clear, the walk was after an 1.5 hours bus journey. Though I like walking, I prefer to restrict myself to the treadmill till the sun God shows mercy on Mumbai. To add on to this I get to read Bhasky's blog on how he is enjoying in Bangalore. I do miss Bangalore and Chennai a lot. Mumbai is too mechanical for me.
A typical day is like
Office = 37%
Sleep = 30.96%
Gym = 0.04%
Travel = 13%
Daily routines = 12%
TV = 7%
I would prefer some % of the day that is currently being spent in travelling to shift to TV/ relaxing. Also to be considered is the weekend schedule, which includes washing, ironing and searching for a new place to eat. Ah! Eating reminds of the expenses in here. Mumbai very costly compared to the 70 bucks that was charged per day in Indore for the awesome (really) food. Ofcourse I had no food expenses in Chennai/Bangalore as I loved my Mom's cooking.
I do hope to get back home sometime in the near future and get back to sanity.
BTW, wonder how words flow-in so smoothly while cribbing? ;)

Friday, May 13, 2005

Paraskevidekatriaphobia

Today is Friday the 13th. I guess it should sound like just another day for most of us. To some others it might remind them about the series of movies that came by this name. But imagine this, about 21 million people in the US alone are superstitious about this combination of the day and the date (Source).


Thinking again, atleast they are superstitious only about a combination takes comes few times a year. Compare the same with our superstitions wherein we are not supposed to cut our nails on a Friday, not shave on particular days of the week or after the sunset, not lie-down at 6:00pm etc. Well, we do have a big set of things to be followed without reasoning, and believe me; I have been following them religiously all these years. Sometimes we follow things because we have been brought-up that way. In my case, I also feel that there might be some reason behind all these things that is just not figured till now. Some guys term me as rigid, but frankly, I haven't got any reason to change. When I am following things that aren't going to affect me or anyone else in a negative way, why should I change? Atleast I don't restrict myself to the doors of my house because today's date corresponds to the number of people who were present in the last supper and today's day corresponds to the day when Eve tempted Adam to get the apple.
Btw, when it is a "Good Friday", the last day of the week, the combination that signals the day before the second Saturday of the month (which is a holiday in many Saturday-working offices), why should one feel bad about the 13th of Friday?

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

Southie Assumptions

In the past few days I have been irritated quite a number of times by the opinions of people about South India. These people are stubborn enough not to think beyond the assumptions that they have developed. The comments that they have made have been really wild like "They can't speak English", "They can't eat with a spoon" etc. Boy, I never knew that North Indians have a patent to English or to the dining etiquette. What I am concerned with is not that these people are ill-informed, but that they believe in whatever they have heard and don't want to know the truth. Most of these people are movie-buffs and believe that all Southies have the peculiar accent that is shown in the movies. Some have even asked me why I don't speak like that!!! I even found a guy who accepted a job in Mumbai for 38% less salary than a job that he got in Chennai just because he thinks that Chennai is too hot for him. I accept that Chennai is hot. But I haven't found Mumbai any closer to Switzerland either.
All I'm asking for is that people interact with each other to get to know about others rather than form opinions based on fictional movies. Is that too much to ask for?

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Proactive Risks

I have read somewhere that managers might be reactive but leaders should always be proactive. We hear something similar being said so often during cricket matches when a captain changes the field after a boundary or a possible chance. Being proactive has a lot of advantages and a bit of risk as well. Proactive work is based on certain assumptions or expectations. In cricket, it is the prediction that the batsman will play in a certain way, the catch will come in certain locations of the ground etc. In careers, it is the prediction/ expectation that a particular domain like telecom, retail etc will have a brighter future. If any of the basic assumptions behind the decision to be proactive fails, the result could be disastrous.
These are my thoughts when I read about the government's investment in a Tsunami prediction system. The government has ofcourse been reactive in deciding to have the system. A Tsunami has already claimed the lives of so many people. But, better late than never. It is nice to see that we are coming out of our ignorant self and venturing into new ideas. But what troubles me is the prediction part that I discussed before. What if the Tsunami prediction system gives a false alarm? There will be chaos with people trying to get out of the seaside areas. This might result in stampeding, loss of property, and mental tension and anxiety to all. To avoid these, the government should emphasize on a system based on the latest available technology. Money should play no part in deciding on the system. If we go for a cheaper system now, the expenses later on would more than compensate for the gains today. Hope the government takes it's time and channels it's efforts on the right side.

Monday, May 02, 2005

Kidnapping & Negotiating

The Australian PM has declined talking to the kidnappers of a businessman in Iraq (Washington Times ). The PM, Mr. John Howard, has said that the country's foreign policy cannot be dictated by terrorists. A good move I should say.
That reminds me of the movie Roja. The movie had a women struggling to get her hubby released from the terrorists. I personally feel that, just for the sake of one man, we cannot release a terrorist who might go onto kill hundreds of people. But then, one dialogue in the movie packed a punch on my opinion. The dialogue goes like "What if the person kidnapped were a minister or his son?" That's something to think about. If a minister were kidnapped then our government would indeed release the terrorist. Is the life of a minister that valuable that we risk hundreds of people for it? I don't think so. The government should take a stand that they wouldn't release anyone on demand. In addition to giving an unbiased view to the situation, and holding-up the stand of the people, this decision presents another interesting aspect if we apply the Game Theory. Going by the Game Theory, this decision would make the terrorists think that they would, in any case, not gain anything by kidnapping (since the government is not going to release anyone) and so stop kidnapping!!! Think about it. With nothing to gain, why would anyone kidnap?
BTW, why is it called "kid"napping even when elders are napped?

Lets move from the global perspective to the individualistic, personal side of me. I don't know as to why these statistical tools keep failing once in a while. Just when I thought that my hypothesis was going wrong, the hit counter in my blog has failed. I remember it being some 1300 odd on Thursday. It stopped working on Friday and today it is on 14!!! One more to the cleaners