Rejoicing in the Rains

"It is raining cats and dogs", I said. My friend replied, "The rain God is just having a pre-match warm-up. You are yet to see him play his smashes". If what I am experiencing in Mumbai is a warm-up, then the future looks too cold.

Rains always bring a smile in the face of the traditional Chennai-ite. No wonder my face had a light grin when I saw the first rains in Mumbai few weeks back. But the grin might not last long. Simple reasons -
- Frequent power-cuts at my place,
- Rescheduling of the office bus to start 15 minutes early inorder to manage the wet roads and traffic jams,
- More frequent washing as clothes take more time to dry out.
Even the breeze, which would have otherwise made me close my eyes and enjoy nature, is playing spoilsport. The wind is blowing the rain on all directions making the use of an umbrella irrelevant.

Inspite of all these I'm still enjoying the rain. But my friends come again to warn me, "The worse is yet to come". Supposedly roads and railway tracks would be flooded once things get charged-up and traffic would be halted. Guess I'll just need to wait and watch. As I have always believed, "When you cannot influence something, just enjoy it".

Book Tag

Tagged by: Sun
Atlast someone thought that I am worth the book tag

Number of books owned:
All my Engineering and Management books. Both have been safely put in cartons and offloaded to Bangalore.
I also own few novels.

Last book bought:
"The Game" by Eliyahu Goldratt. It has been 2 years and I've totally switched to libraries now. No more buying of books and moving them to the already heavy cartons.

Last book read:
"Uneasy Money" by P.G.Wodehouse. I've put the review @ Uneasy Money
Somehow book reviews invite the least number of comments. May be I should change my style of writing reviews.

Book in hand:
"It's not Luck" by Eliyahu Goldratt.
After "The Game", I had always wanted to read its sequel.

My Favourite:
"The Devil's Alternative" by Frederick Forsyth.
Amazing way of narration. The story has lots of layers to it and the way all the layers fall together is one of the best aspects of this novel. To add to everything else, the fact that the novel had a twist even in the last page made it a real good one to read.

5 books that mean a lot to me:
Well, books only mean entertainment to me unless they are not a Kotler or Brealey Myers. Even books like "Fountainhead" and "Rich dad poor dad" haven't made much of an impact on me.

Books I read as a kid:
Asterix
Tintin
Archies
Abridged novels
Indian comics... Tinkle et al
Indian myths
R K Narayan
Charles Dickens
(Thanks to Sun for providing a list from which I could CTR+C & CTR+V)

Passing the baton to other reader friends of mine:
Govar
Jam
Joey Bhasky

Newspaper ('s) Stand

Few weeks back I filled a questionnaire for DNA (Daily News and Analysis). As they claim, their newspaper is being made by the public, and that's why they perform so many surveys. The questionnaire asked if a newspaper should take a stand on issues. They asked the same question in so many varieties at different places of the questionnaire that I felt that they are more inclined towards taking a stand. In the results of the survey they have said that 79% of people want newspapers to give their take on issues. A much expected result, and something that shows that I am in the minority bunch of people.
I have always felt that newspapers should provide news as such and let people take their own stance. If someone is really interested, then there is always the editorial section for views. But then, newspapers and even TV channels haven't exactly been neutral. Some papers are known to support certain political parties and some of the TV channels like Sun TV and Jaya TV do give it in their name itself. I am not even able to trust the news from the TV channels. Should this state arise with the newspapers as well?

Uneasy Money - Book Review

It's been enough time hearing about P.G.Wodehouse and not having read any of his novels. Though my friends advised me to take one of his novels that has "Jeeves" in the title, "Uneasy Money" was the only available Wodehouse novel in our library. So started my week with uneasy money

The story of the novel revolves around an English man who inherits $5 Million by the will of an eccentric person. The hero feels sorry for the two lone relatives of the eccentric person who are left with nothing. He goes to the US to settle things with them, not knowing that his life is going to change there.

Uneasy Money was an easy read with simple language and brief descriptions. I generally don't prefer reading long descriptions; so the novel suited me better. The base story is very thin and mostly predictable, but the author has narrated it very well. The novel also brings out some of the author's opinions about life, marriage, transformation from boyishness to manliness, people understanding their real wishes etc. Uneasy Money is sprinkled with good humour, but from I have heard of Wodehouse's humour, I guess I am yet to read one of his better novels. All in all it feels pretty good having read a novel that wasn't much taxing on the mind and still entertained me during my daily travelling time.

Next book in hand: "It's Not Luck" by Eliyahu Goldratt

House Hunting in Mumbai

It's that time of the year when my company should have started contemplating about throwing me out of the company apartment. Well, it's not entirely their fault. I've already been in this apartment for 2.5 months, though it was promised to me for just 2 months. From what I hear, I can continue in this apartment for few more months by paying rent. Though this presents a good option given the fact that the company apartment is fully furnished including TV, Fridge etc., I would prefer to leave the place before they ask me to do so (and save on the tax on my HRA). Hence started the house-for-rent hunting spree.

Last weekend I checked-out few houses in Andheri, the place that's close to my office. But what is this? All the houses are way too old and way too small. I have never lived in a small place, that is, if we wouldn't include my college hostel room into the discussion. Also, Andheri isn't what I would term economical.

While travelling back to the apartment, I took a new route in which I got to enjoy the natural beauty of the stretch between Borivalli and Thane. The greenery, the mountains and the clouds were too captivating for me to realize that I had reached my destination. One thing I realized then was that the place I stay in Thane is the first sign of civilization in the route!!! In other words, after the building in which I live and couple of more buildings there is nothing but jungle. Interesting! Why not look out for a house in this place itself that is so close to nature and so far from office (read as 'so cheap')?

A quick lookout showed that only one 1BHK is free in the society and that too is unfurnished. I might not have done a proper introspection of myself before, but I atleast know that I'm not that active to get an unfurnished house and buy things starting from chairs, bed, vessels and the like. I'm currently in the process of collecting phone numbers of house brokers and contacting them. Hopefully I'll get to shift to the new house by the end of this month. Or maybe the lackadaisical aspect of my personality would make me stay in the company apartment till things start affecting the dignity-oriented aspect of my personality

Faceless Friends

I've lost contact with all my school friends. Frankly, I don't even remember most of their faces now. Though it feels quite bad, this post is not about them :D This post is about the many people whom I've met in the Internet world and made friends with.

It was in the second year of my stint at a b-school that I gave a serious thought to chatting in the virtual world. It was the same time when I entered the networking site called Orkut. After meeting some guys and gals in orkut who shared common interests with me, we shifted our discussions to the yahoo messenger. With so many hours of discussion every week on baseless topics, I can now say that I know some of them better than what I know of my college-mates and colleagues. Think about it, friendships lasting over a year without actually meeting any of them in the physical world. Ofcourse most of them have met each other except for yours truely. Most of these people are in Chennai and Bangalore and I happened to wane away my time in Indore and Mumbai over the past year. Even when I was in Bangalore or Chennai I couldn't manage to meet any of them. Time crunch or laziness? I can't know for sure. But the fun of remaining virtual continues.

The marriage of one of these friends is coming up, and I am sure that I will not be able to make it to Chennai on the occasion. I fell quite bad at missing her wedding. After her marriage she will move to Bermuda and settle there and be permanently virtual to me. I hope atleast the other fellas can make it to her wedding and have a galla time. Hope to meet the rest sometime in the future.

The American Gas Connection!!!

It is not always that we see India and Pakistan getting together in a mammoth business deal. What would be more rare to see is the USA keeping quiet when others mind their own matters.

Just when the gas pipeline from Iran to India through Pakistan seemed to be working-out perfectly, USA has entered in-between stating that the project violates the Iran And Libya Sanctions Act Of 1996. This act orders that no country should have a business deal with Iran for more than $20 million in certain goods. The reason given is that Iran might use this money to spread terrorism. First, I don't understand whom USA is to order all other countries. Second, why would a country that is suffering from all sorts of problems invest its money in spreading terrorism outside?

The current deal is worth about $22 Million and has made the US raise concerns. India will anyways continue with the deal, but Pakistan seems to be worried about loosing its financial aid from the USA. I guess Pakistan will also go with the deal considering that the deal gets Pakistan,
a) about $600 Million per year
b) permission to import $1 Billion worth of gas every year
c) better infrastructure
d) better relations with India

What will be USA's next move under these circumstances?

Hunting the tiger(s)

I've always wondered how fugitives are able to contact courts while the police cannot trace them. Tiger Pataudi has been hiding from the police over the past 10 days and has approached the high court seeking bail, after the same request was turned down by the lower court. This case of the tiger killing a deer (couldn't help but write that) reminds me of a similar incident few years back. If my memory serves me right, Salman Khan was arrested for killing a deer of the endangered species. Salman escaped the trial unscathed. Somehow I feel that we will witness the same result in the Pataudi case as well. The VIPs seem to have their own ways of getting out of the tangles. I wonder if the 7-year imprisonment rule for killing endangered species has ever been enacted in our country. Ofcourse the Rs.25,000 penalty would be peanuts for those who poach.
The jungle is not the only place where poaching is happening. The corporate jungle is in the midst of a good year and so there is no dearth of poaching in here also. Since poaching in software companies is yesteryear's news, people are now discussing the poaching in airlines. Airlines seem to be preferring to pay more for the trained staff of other airlines, though some understanding between the airlines exists. Btw, does any one know how to get the Rs.500 ticket of Deccanair? I've never seen that in their online booking site.

The Brethren - Book Review

Why this book?
I borrowed "The Brethren" from a library because I wanted to read something and I just saw a guy returning this book. I started reading the novel with no expectations from it.

Who is the author?
John Grisham, the name is synonymous with legal thrillers. He was practicing law, specializing in criminal defense and personal injury litigation before becoming a novelist. Seven of his novels have been turned into films

The story? (Don’t worry; I wouldn't reveal much of it)
The base of the story is that of a CIA chief trying to fudge the presidential election. A group of convicted lawyers serving their sentences in a prison are unknowingly affecting the CIA chief's plans. What follows is a slow-paced fall of events that are supposed to be the intellectual fight between the lawyers and the CIA chief, who don't know whom they are up against (either side).

My Take
The Brethren is definitely not a thriller. It could maybe called a time-pass novel. Comparing with some of the novels that I've read so far, "The Brethren" doesn't have the suspense of "The Devil's Alternative", or the flow of "DaVinci Code", or the details of "Airframe", or the different perspective of "Fountain Head", or the knowledge of "The Goal". But surely it's not boring to read. The author manages to keep some amount of the reader's interest throughout the novel.

Exotic Destination?

There have been many instances when I've heard people saying that they would love to stay away from the hectic city life and enjoy the beauties of nature. Well, I do stay away from the city life. But non-hectic? Blow me down. Travelling everyday from this god-forsaken place to office is leaving me dispirited. The travel to office is still ok as it is now part of the daily routine. It is the weekends that kill me.
I was spared yesterday's travel to office by the sad demise of a founder member of the company I work for. But then, some people aren't born for the comfort of indoors. After subtly declining the offers from my friends to roam around Mumbai, I was expelled from my room by the pest-control people. Seldom did they know that they would find occupants in flats on a working day. A full afternoon spent at a browsing center without AC. But the worst was yet to come.
A close friend of mine calls up at 7:00 pm and invites me to his birthday treat at Bandra. I explained my predicament to the guy with supportive facts. It would take be TWO hours to reach Bandra from my place, and I wouldn't have enough energy left to take the long journey back after the party. My friend kept insisting and I had to give-in as it was afterall his birthday. There are times in life when you cannot differentiate between the requests and threats of friends and enemies respectively. This is just one of those times. Anyways, there started the 2-hour roller-coaster ride that involved getting into a running bus, jumping into the vendor's compartment of a moving train, and being pushed in and out of another train. I met a friend of mine at the Bandra station and here is our conversation
Friend: "Where are you coming back from?"
Me: "I am not coming back. This is my onward journey"
Friend: "What? You look totally exhausted"
Exhausted I was. When I finally reached the party at 9:30 pm, I wished my friend, "Happy birthday, and hope you come to my place for my birthday. Believe me, it is an experience to wait for"

Counter Attack

I generally don't like putting external links as a blog in my site. That's because those are not my ideas and this blog is to reflect my ideas, views and thoughts. But then, this article from rediff is so cool that I couldn't resist putting it here.
Did India plant 1965 war plans?
The analysis made in this article is very good and has made a mockery of the news that I felt might defame our military.

Justice Served?

The notorious Bofors case has been finally put to rest. It has taken the legal authorities about 17 years to take a stand on the issue. A whopping Rs.2.5 Billion has been spent on the case against the alleged cheating of about Rs.640 Million. To begin with, does it make any sense to spend 3.75 times the money in question to find out whether there was actually a fraud? It might, if the prime aim would have been to bring justice to the front. But it seems to be only a case of filling a hole with sand without knowing the depth of the hole. The startling facts in the case are more than the money in question. Why did it take the court 14 years to identify that there was no proof to allege the accused? One of the accused, the former Prime Minister Mr.Rajiv Gandhi, died some 14 years back. Now he is posthumously cleared of the charges. I'm not sure if I should feel sorry for him or laugh at the happenings.
With the Hindujas, Rajiv Gandhi and AB Bofors having been cleared, only the Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi remains accused. But then the CBI has failed to extradite him.
I wanted to say that even if it has been late (and expensive), atleast justice is served. But then, is it?