I again took a long break on this blog.
The past few months, I've had so much free time that I started spending time on the indian stock market. I have been investing (or sometimes trading) since 2002-03 but never had this much time at my disposal.
I have reviewed all my past investments, made a portfolio tracker excel, which draws real time quote from BSE, to track them and pruned some of the non-perfoming stocks.
Also I have invested in some new growth areas.
I plan to write on this blog about those.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Salaam Bombay
On April 3, I wrote this.... But could not post it... hence posting it now...
Saw <i>Salaam Bombay</i> yesterday. The film deals with the issue of street children and their lives.It was moving.
Even though entirely shot in Bombay in 1986 it is sad that even today one can easliy find such children in huge numbers in Indian cities. In the DVD there were a few documentries about how the film brought awareness in general public and how some NGOs have been started for the betterment of street children .
Here is one.There were video footage of some of such centres as well. Their effort is really commendable but I must say that much more needs to be done on a massive scale.
In India all these issues of poverty- corruption-Infrustructure-Growth are inter-related and we as a nation are struck in visious circle.Some way has to be found to come out of it.
Sunday, July 02, 2006
Winning
I am reading "Winning" by Jack Welch these days....The book is the result of hundreds of seminars and Q&A sessions Jack Welch conducted since he retired from GE.
A lot of the book's material is taken from the real questions people asked Jack and his replies to them.... The guy is just amazing..... While reading the book frequently this was happening :
I'd see some question and I'd have some idea about what Jack is going to reply but his actual reply would be so different and so much more practical that it really challenged my thinking.
The other thing about Jack which I felt was his ideas and his "theories" sound so universal that I never felt that he is an American talking about American business. He has mass appeal. His ideas make real sense... It will be wonderful to see them in action.....
For example this is what he had to say on being a leader and taking tough decisions:
"You are not a leader not to win a popularity contest, you are a leader to lead".
On getting a promotion his advice is:
"Do deliver sensational performance, far beyond expectations, and at every opportunity expand your job beyond its official boundaries".
he then goes on to give an example from his early career:
He was asked to make a presentation to a visiting senior manager about the progress they were making on a new plastic product, He not only did that but he also made a detailed analysis of the market potential of the product, its competitors and a five year market outlook.
".......You are a leader to lead."
"Do Deliver sensational performance......."
The words are so inspiring for anybody to go ahead and take on the world!!!
A lot of the book's material is taken from the real questions people asked Jack and his replies to them.... The guy is just amazing..... While reading the book frequently this was happening :
I'd see some question and I'd have some idea about what Jack is going to reply but his actual reply would be so different and so much more practical that it really challenged my thinking.
The other thing about Jack which I felt was his ideas and his "theories" sound so universal that I never felt that he is an American talking about American business. He has mass appeal. His ideas make real sense... It will be wonderful to see them in action.....
For example this is what he had to say on being a leader and taking tough decisions:
"You are not a leader not to win a popularity contest, you are a leader to lead".
On getting a promotion his advice is:
"Do deliver sensational performance, far beyond expectations, and at every opportunity expand your job beyond its official boundaries".
he then goes on to give an example from his early career:
He was asked to make a presentation to a visiting senior manager about the progress they were making on a new plastic product, He not only did that but he also made a detailed analysis of the market potential of the product, its competitors and a five year market outlook.
".......You are a leader to lead."
"Do Deliver sensational performance......."
The words are so inspiring for anybody to go ahead and take on the world!!!
Monday, May 22, 2006
The Da Vinci Code - The movie v The Book
Wrote this entry on the day after I saw the Da Vinci Code but forgot to post it---
The most awaited movie of the year has finally been released!!
Being a big fan of "The Da Vinci code" (TDVC) I went on the first day (but not the first show) of opening. Me and another TDVC fan were eagerly waiting for May 19th and had virtually read every news/bit/info about the movie.
First the logistics: The movie was marketed well and here in Ann Arbor it was released in a 20 screen multiplex called Showcase Cinemas, to be sure, we had booked tickets on the net but later found out at the theatre that there was no shortage of them on the spot. The reason being that TDVC was being shown on 6-7 screens parallely!!! we were amazed and praised America yet another time...:-)
The movie as such as good or even great! but paled in comparison to the Novel. I somehow felt that the production team had a tough job on hand, trying to make a movie on such a complex subject/story is not easy. There was just too much information in the book to which justice can't be done in a 3 hrs movie, hence we saw all the historical facts mentioned in the books being shown as some kind of background images which moved quickly. I really wondered if people who had not read the book would have really made out the story!
Probably a TV mini series of a total of 6 hrs would have been better but then it won't have made as much money for the producers.
The cast was just Perfect. Tom Hanks was superb and so was Audrey Tautou.
In India the movie was banned in some states, its really funny because all the christian countries are showing it. Why our Indian christians alone are so conservative I don't understand. There were news reports that in some states even the muslims objected to the movie!!! I fail to understand why...
The most awaited movie of the year has finally been released!!
Being a big fan of "The Da Vinci code" (TDVC) I went on the first day (but not the first show) of opening. Me and another TDVC fan were eagerly waiting for May 19th and had virtually read every news/bit/info about the movie.
First the logistics: The movie was marketed well and here in Ann Arbor it was released in a 20 screen multiplex called Showcase Cinemas, to be sure, we had booked tickets on the net but later found out at the theatre that there was no shortage of them on the spot. The reason being that TDVC was being shown on 6-7 screens parallely!!! we were amazed and praised America yet another time...:-)
The movie as such as good or even great! but paled in comparison to the Novel. I somehow felt that the production team had a tough job on hand, trying to make a movie on such a complex subject/story is not easy. There was just too much information in the book to which justice can't be done in a 3 hrs movie, hence we saw all the historical facts mentioned in the books being shown as some kind of background images which moved quickly. I really wondered if people who had not read the book would have really made out the story!
Probably a TV mini series of a total of 6 hrs would have been better but then it won't have made as much money for the producers.
The cast was just Perfect. Tom Hanks was superb and so was Audrey Tautou.
In India the movie was banned in some states, its really funny because all the christian countries are showing it. Why our Indian christians alone are so conservative I don't understand. There were news reports that in some states even the muslims objected to the movie!!! I fail to understand why...
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Of BHollywood and Hotel Rwanda
The movie season continues. First it was Hollywood-Bollywood and then Hotel Rwanda.
Hollywood-Bollywood is a light movie based on the "Immigrant-theme" and the ABCD generation.
Lisa Ray was charming as usual. Rahul Khanna is a good actor but has done very limited number of films till now. One dialogue which I liked from the Movie was when Rahul Khanna start thinking that Lisa ray was a prostitute, he tells her this:
"Sue, As such it doesn't matter but those middle class values are too deeply ingrained in me". (Not the exact words but something similar)
I found it to be so true, those "Indian middle class values" and the fact that they are imbibed deeply in such families.
Hotel Rwanda was a vastly different movie. That was not an accident pick, I wanted to see that for some time. I had heard and seen on TV about the Rwanda genocide of 1994, I did some searches on the internet out of my interest and came to know that about a million people were killed by the hut militia.
The movie though was a far more detailed account of what happened there. The story is a real life story of a Hotel Manager Paul Rusesabagina and his heroic handling of the situation which led to the saving of 1200 innocent lives.
There were two main ethnic groups in Rwanda: the Hutus and the Tutsis. Their mutual hatred was a result of the colonial past, The Belgian rulers gave the Tutsis privileges in the power structure so the Hutus started feeling alienated. It reminds me of the "Divide and Rule" policy of the British in Indian subcontinent.
The movie is a brave attempt at shaming the international community to not to forget Africa and not let such a shameful thing happen again.
In the features section of the DVD there was a video clip of real life Paul Rusesabagina visiting Rwanda for the first time after the genocide. There were clips of tens of human skeletons (Including those of small babies) lying in the rooms of the "Genocide Memorial" in Rwanda. Its unimaginable that such a thing really happened.
Hollywood-Bollywood is a light movie based on the "Immigrant-theme" and the ABCD generation.
Lisa Ray was charming as usual. Rahul Khanna is a good actor but has done very limited number of films till now. One dialogue which I liked from the Movie was when Rahul Khanna start thinking that Lisa ray was a prostitute, he tells her this:
"Sue, As such it doesn't matter but those middle class values are too deeply ingrained in me". (Not the exact words but something similar)
I found it to be so true, those "Indian middle class values" and the fact that they are imbibed deeply in such families.
Hotel Rwanda was a vastly different movie. That was not an accident pick, I wanted to see that for some time. I had heard and seen on TV about the Rwanda genocide of 1994, I did some searches on the internet out of my interest and came to know that about a million people were killed by the hut militia.
The movie though was a far more detailed account of what happened there. The story is a real life story of a Hotel Manager Paul Rusesabagina and his heroic handling of the situation which led to the saving of 1200 innocent lives.
There were two main ethnic groups in Rwanda: the Hutus and the Tutsis. Their mutual hatred was a result of the colonial past, The Belgian rulers gave the Tutsis privileges in the power structure so the Hutus started feeling alienated. It reminds me of the "Divide and Rule" policy of the British in Indian subcontinent.
The movie is a brave attempt at shaming the international community to not to forget Africa and not let such a shameful thing happen again.
In the features section of the DVD there was a video clip of real life Paul Rusesabagina visiting Rwanda for the first time after the genocide. There were clips of tens of human skeletons (Including those of small babies) lying in the rooms of the "Genocide Memorial" in Rwanda. Its unimaginable that such a thing really happened.
Friday, April 14, 2006
Of "Notting Hill" and our resistance to change
Notting hill remains one of my favorite movies. Having seen it on star movies umpteen times I remember a lot of its dialogues too.
The most touching scene is when Anna Scott (Julia Roberts) tells Hugh Grant:
Gosh! the dialogues are so good...
I equally like the soundtrack too, particularly:
It's amazing how you can speak right to my heart
and She
In the DVD which I borrowed from the library there were other features too. There were a 3-4 scenes which were shot but later deleted from the movie, looking at them I felt that it was a good decision, but then had they been part of the movie originally I don't think I would have mind.
Its amazing how we get used to things as they are and can't imagine them to be something else.
Talking in the context of movies, "Swades" was supposed to have Amir Khan as the lead actor but since he refused Shahrukh Khan was chosen. Having seen the movie I can't imagine anybody else playing that role other than Shahrukh! Perhaps in this case it is his excellent acting and screen charisma which is responsible for it.
I am able to relate this to a number of other things in life and I feel that things which we (if I may take the liberty to generalize for everybody) like or which are considered good by us, we are not willing to change anything in them. I guess this is what is called "Resistence to change" and the book "Who moved my Cheese" was all about it.
The most touching scene is when Anna Scott (Julia Roberts) tells Hugh Grant:
Let me tell you, this fame thing is not real, and don't forget that I am also just a girl, standing in front of a boy asking him to love her.
Gosh! the dialogues are so good...
I equally like the soundtrack too, particularly:
It's amazing how you can speak right to my heart
and She
In the DVD which I borrowed from the library there were other features too. There were a 3-4 scenes which were shot but later deleted from the movie, looking at them I felt that it was a good decision, but then had they been part of the movie originally I don't think I would have mind.
Its amazing how we get used to things as they are and can't imagine them to be something else.
Talking in the context of movies, "Swades" was supposed to have Amir Khan as the lead actor but since he refused Shahrukh Khan was chosen. Having seen the movie I can't imagine anybody else playing that role other than Shahrukh! Perhaps in this case it is his excellent acting and screen charisma which is responsible for it.
I am able to relate this to a number of other things in life and I feel that things which we (if I may take the liberty to generalize for everybody) like or which are considered good by us, we are not willing to change anything in them. I guess this is what is called "Resistence to change" and the book "Who moved my Cheese" was all about it.
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Lok Seva Sanchar Parishad Ad
I read this interview on rediff and felt "inspired".
Remember those "Lok Seva Sanchar Parishad"1 messages on Doordarshan in good old days? There were so many of them. I think in those days those messages used to outnumber the commercial ads on DD.
Anyways I dont want to get distracted by their memories right now, what I want to mention here is a particular message out of those numerous messages. I dont remember it exactly but it went something like this:
An unemployed guy in a village is shown cursing the government for his situation, and then in another scene a 'self-employed' guy is shown running his own business, it is shown that he is also employing a couple of other people.
Finally the clip used to end with a punchline "Kudh bhi rozgar pao aur dus aur logon ko bhi rozgar do" ( Get yourself means of living and also give employment to ten more people).
The idea obviously was to encourage young people to start their own businesses and not depend on government for jobs.
I don't know how effective that message was and what difference it really made to the lives of unemployed youth, but some how I imbibed it deeply; and that is partly why I find interviews and articles like the one mentioned above very interesting and inspiring.
Having said that I guess I don't want to start a business just to create new employment, my idea is to do something more meaningful than I am doing now and do that with real passion.
I guess I need an idea to start with. When will I get my idea? Is there something as novel and as big as "Internet" going to happen?
I don't know and its difficult to forsee also, but what I know is that I should be ready.
Right now everything is abstract in my mind. I don't even now what should I do to be prepared. For now I am just going to entrepreneur.com to read some articles.
1: I forgot what they used to call it in english. Anybody who is reading this please let men know, if you know - Thanks in advance
Remember those "Lok Seva Sanchar Parishad"1 messages on Doordarshan in good old days? There were so many of them. I think in those days those messages used to outnumber the commercial ads on DD.
Anyways I dont want to get distracted by their memories right now, what I want to mention here is a particular message out of those numerous messages. I dont remember it exactly but it went something like this:
An unemployed guy in a village is shown cursing the government for his situation, and then in another scene a 'self-employed' guy is shown running his own business, it is shown that he is also employing a couple of other people.
Finally the clip used to end with a punchline "Kudh bhi rozgar pao aur dus aur logon ko bhi rozgar do" ( Get yourself means of living and also give employment to ten more people).
The idea obviously was to encourage young people to start their own businesses and not depend on government for jobs.
I don't know how effective that message was and what difference it really made to the lives of unemployed youth, but some how I imbibed it deeply; and that is partly why I find interviews and articles like the one mentioned above very interesting and inspiring.
Having said that I guess I don't want to start a business just to create new employment, my idea is to do something more meaningful than I am doing now and do that with real passion.
I guess I need an idea to start with. When will I get my idea? Is there something as novel and as big as "Internet" going to happen?
I don't know and its difficult to forsee also, but what I know is that I should be ready.
Right now everything is abstract in my mind. I don't even now what should I do to be prepared. For now I am just going to entrepreneur.com to read some articles.
1: I forgot what they used to call it in english. Anybody who is reading this please let men know, if you know - Thanks in advance
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Sonia Gandhi resigns from the Parliament!
This morning when I opened my laptop for the news the surprising news was: Sonia Resigns
Although not a 'Congress fan'; I appreciate this decision taken by Mrs Sonia Gandhi. After all how many of our politicians are willing to take such a bold decision? Even the left has said that their MPs won't resign.
One must also remember the decision taken by her Mother-in-law when she was disqualified from the Lok sabha. She imposed Emergency on the country.
Times are different one might argue and also Sonia Gandhi today is on a far high pedestal vis-a-vis other politicians, but still this is a very good development for Indian democracy and must be welcomed.
In my view Mrs Sonia Gandhi has set an example.
Although not a 'Congress fan'; I appreciate this decision taken by Mrs Sonia Gandhi. After all how many of our politicians are willing to take such a bold decision? Even the left has said that their MPs won't resign.
One must also remember the decision taken by her Mother-in-law when she was disqualified from the Lok sabha. She imposed Emergency on the country.
Times are different one might argue and also Sonia Gandhi today is on a far high pedestal vis-a-vis other politicians, but still this is a very good development for Indian democracy and must be welcomed.
In my view Mrs Sonia Gandhi has set an example.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Google - just an obsession or is it for REAL
Like a billion other people I am also thoroughly impressed with Google!
The way they started off,
The way they have expanded their business based on one core competence "Search", one would have never imagined that search can be so powerful!
The way they listed their stock.
They have an "official blog" AFAIK no other major corporation has one.
The way they recruit.
Time management policy (the 20% free time rule).
Their Amazing products! ( I just love my google desktop search) including recently launched Google finance
The list can go on and on...
Due to above reasons and some of my "Gut feeling" I wanted (or do I still want?) to own Google stock.
I started tracking it when it had already run upto 420-430$ after listing at 85$ in their IPO.
Google was having its dream run. After figuring out that it is possible for me to own it, I had
decided to open a brokerage account with scottrade here in the US.
But then one fine day Google began to slide coz of some bad news and has slipped by about 100$ since.
I postponed my decision indefinitely :-) and am watching it closely.
While discussing this with a friend it occurred to me that its better for me to stick to the "known" waters of the Indian stock markets, afterall they are giving some very good returns for the past
few years! But then "in the Indian market can one find a stock like Google?" goes the counter argument.
I think I need to do some more home work before arriving at any decision.
The way they started off,
The way they have expanded their business based on one core competence "Search", one would have never imagined that search can be so powerful!
The way they listed their stock.
They have an "official blog" AFAIK no other major corporation has one.
The way they recruit.
Time management policy (the 20% free time rule).
Their Amazing products! ( I just love my google desktop search) including recently launched Google finance
The list can go on and on...
Due to above reasons and some of my "Gut feeling" I wanted (or do I still want?) to own Google stock.
I started tracking it when it had already run upto 420-430$ after listing at 85$ in their IPO.
Google was having its dream run. After figuring out that it is possible for me to own it, I had
decided to open a brokerage account with scottrade here in the US.
But then one fine day Google began to slide coz of some bad news and has slipped by about 100$ since.
I postponed my decision indefinitely :-) and am watching it closely.
While discussing this with a friend it occurred to me that its better for me to stick to the "known" waters of the Indian stock markets, afterall they are giving some very good returns for the past
few years! But then "in the Indian market can one find a stock like Google?" goes the counter argument.
I think I need to do some more home work before arriving at any decision.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
DVD Wars - Netflix and BlockBuster
When I was India, I had seen Netflix ads on the internet but never bothered to figure out what it is.A couple of weeks back I got to know about how Netflix has put DVD rental giant Blockbuster out of business in the issue of knowledge@wharton .
At the same time an "NRI"(well he doesn't claim to be) friend of mine suggested subscription to Netflix so I decided to figure out what this Netflix thing is all about. The first stop was their website. It offers 2 week of free trial and unlimited DVDs + no late fees + free both ways shipping. I was amazed at the business model. It seems that Netflix founder got the idea once he had to pay 40$ as late fees to his DVD rental company(which is an obvious reference to Blockbuster).
I checked out their collection and was happy to see a lot of Bollywood movies there.
I was wondering how Netflix is making money! Then I found this from wikipedia.
It was a smart business model but was unfair to the customers. Even now the same practice of 'throttling' exists but it seems they disclose it in their fine print.
Hence finally decided not to subscribe to Netflix!
Blockbuster also decided to open a "me too" DVD rental service, But I don't know if that also suffers from the same "flaw". They are offering one month free trial.
At the same time an "NRI"(well he doesn't claim to be) friend of mine suggested subscription to Netflix so I decided to figure out what this Netflix thing is all about. The first stop was their website. It offers 2 week of free trial and unlimited DVDs + no late fees + free both ways shipping. I was amazed at the business model. It seems that Netflix founder got the idea once he had to pay 40$ as late fees to his DVD rental company(which is an obvious reference to Blockbuster).
I checked out their collection and was happy to see a lot of Bollywood movies there.
I was wondering how Netflix is making money! Then I found this from wikipedia.
It was a smart business model but was unfair to the customers. Even now the same practice of 'throttling' exists but it seems they disclose it in their fine print.
Hence finally decided not to subscribe to Netflix!
Blockbuster also decided to open a "me too" DVD rental service, But I don't know if that also suffers from the same "flaw". They are offering one month free trial.
Monday, March 20, 2006
Ann Arbor Library
Ann Arbor has an excellent public library system (website).
I had heard about libraries in America but still for me it was hard to believe that such a good facility can exist in such a small(relatively) American city.
I am even able to find DVDs for bollywood movies! Having said that I found that the only way to get what you really want is to use their website and reserve the items in advance. Having a policy of "unlimited checkouts allowed" ensures that none of the "hot" items is available on the shelves.
Overcome by greed I reserved and got about 5 DVD's of my favorite actor Tom Hanks ...But didn't found the time to see them....
Still managed to see "Sleepless in Seattle", "LadyKillers", "You've got mail" (this is for the nth time I have seen this one), currently I am watching "The Green Mile".
also got "Zen and the art of motorcycle maintaining" as I was not able to finish it earlier in India...Somehow I had lost that book....
I had heard about libraries in America but still for me it was hard to believe that such a good facility can exist in such a small(relatively) American city.
I am even able to find DVDs for bollywood movies! Having said that I found that the only way to get what you really want is to use their website and reserve the items in advance. Having a policy of "unlimited checkouts allowed" ensures that none of the "hot" items is available on the shelves.
Overcome by greed I reserved and got about 5 DVD's of my favorite actor Tom Hanks ...But didn't found the time to see them....
Still managed to see "Sleepless in Seattle", "LadyKillers", "You've got mail" (this is for the nth time I have seen this one), currently I am watching "The Green Mile".
also got "Zen and the art of motorcycle maintaining" as I was not able to finish it earlier in India...Somehow I had lost that book....
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
TFTs continued..
Its been pretty exciting ..my last 2 months in the states,Here is a list of TFTs (Things done for the first time :)
- Experienced tempratures below -10 C for the first time in my life :-)In fact one day a walk across the road felt as if I am on a trek to the north pole! ...wait a sec ..I think I need not goto that level...otherwise I will have to write for the rest of my life..so henceforth only the"substantial" things...
- Flew a single engine small plane!!!.wait here is the fine print*... The snaps are here.
- Got into a swimming pool! ..definately a substantial achievement for me!!! yet to learn swimming though.
- Played Tennis!!! this was as recent as last sunday..12th march.
* with the help of an instructor.
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
The last time I did something for the first time
I've always felt inspired by Emirates' punch-line :"When was the last time you did something for the first time ?".
The last Sunday (10th Dec), I went to a see a live game for the first time in my life.
Me and a friend went to see India play Pakistan in a champions trophy match.
India won by 3-2 .The atmosphere was electrifying, the Indian crowd just went mad (both of us too).
Because of all the shouting and cheering I actually had a pain in my throat afterwards!!!
I was just wondering how exciting life would be if I try to do something for first time everyday? Or if that's too much perhaps every week? That's more manageable I guess.
The last Sunday (10th Dec), I went to a see a live game for the first time in my life.
Me and a friend went to see India play Pakistan in a champions trophy match.
India won by 3-2 .The atmosphere was electrifying, the Indian crowd just went mad (both of us too).
Because of all the shouting and cheering I actually had a pain in my throat afterwards!!!
I was just wondering how exciting life would be if I try to do something for first time everyday? Or if that's too much perhaps every week? That's more manageable I guess.
Friday, October 21, 2005
Awaaz uthao neend se jagega india
Mr Narayan Murthy decison to resign from the chairmanship of BIAL (bang international airport ltd)
is understandable, it comes in the wake of shocking remarks made by the Ex PM Mr Deva Gowda.
Even though to most educated people Mr Murthy command far more credibility and respect than My Gowda, the pity is than nothing much seems to be happening because of that.
Bangalore's crumpled infrastructure is going to remain just that until our politicians really wake up.
Coming to specifics Mr Gowda claims that Mr Murthy didn't do much as chairman of BIAL. The fact is Mr Gowda and his party have done everything possible to stall the very same project as well as other prestigious projects in Karnataka.
What these people don't realise is that quality infrastructure will open gates of development in their state and benefit everybody. They are only concerned about their
short term benefits. Such myopic vision from a former PM of India is a matter of great shame for the whole country.
In another part of the country Ms Mamta ( of Samta-Mamta fame) have opposed the allocation of 65 acres of land for a upcoming motorcycle plant in WB. She says that she is all for protecting farmer interest. Does she means is that there should be no industries in WB??
When will India wake up?
I like those NDTV India's promos:
Awaaz uthao neend se jagega india ....Awaaz uthao .....
Sawaal poocho ....
Kadam bhadao....
pretty inspiring.
is understandable, it comes in the wake of shocking remarks made by the Ex PM Mr Deva Gowda.
Even though to most educated people Mr Murthy command far more credibility and respect than My Gowda, the pity is than nothing much seems to be happening because of that.
Bangalore's crumpled infrastructure is going to remain just that until our politicians really wake up.
Coming to specifics Mr Gowda claims that Mr Murthy didn't do much as chairman of BIAL. The fact is Mr Gowda and his party have done everything possible to stall the very same project as well as other prestigious projects in Karnataka.
What these people don't realise is that quality infrastructure will open gates of development in their state and benefit everybody. They are only concerned about their
short term benefits. Such myopic vision from a former PM of India is a matter of great shame for the whole country.
In another part of the country Ms Mamta ( of Samta-Mamta fame) have opposed the allocation of 65 acres of land for a upcoming motorcycle plant in WB. She says that she is all for protecting farmer interest. Does she means is that there should be no industries in WB??
When will India wake up?
I like those NDTV India's promos:
Awaaz uthao neend se jagega india ....Awaaz uthao .....
Sawaal poocho ....
Kadam bhadao....
pretty inspiring.
Sunday, October 09, 2005
Book Review of "Five Point someone" by Chetan Bhagat
Here is the review of the book "Five point someone", I wrote sometime back:
Written in a simple , non-fussy, informal language the writer relives his IIT Delhi days and After reading it I too was lost in the memories of my college days! . I bought the novel on my weekend trip to bangalore, I was staying in IIM Bangalore's hostel with Tarun, so got the opportunity to read this book in a "college like" setting. Finished it off on the night of 21st-22nd may . Even though this may not come out on the list of bestsellers or one of the classics, but I think its a must read for anybody who's been to college. The story revolves around 3 undergraduates, Hari , Alok and Ryan studying in IIT Delhi. Hari falls in love with one Prof Cherian's daughter Neha. As they indulge in more and more "extra curricular" activities their grades fall and always remain on the fringes of 5 something , hence the title. Even though the title also says "what not to do at IIT", it doesn't seems like writer's advice! The background of the writer interests me (may be coz I don't have it :-) , an IITD - IIMA passsout Chetan is working for a MNC bank in hongkong.
Written in a simple , non-fussy, informal language the writer relives his IIT Delhi days and After reading it I too was lost in the memories of my college days! . I bought the novel on my weekend trip to bangalore, I was staying in IIM Bangalore's hostel with Tarun, so got the opportunity to read this book in a "college like" setting. Finished it off on the night of 21st-22nd may . Even though this may not come out on the list of bestsellers or one of the classics, but I think its a must read for anybody who's been to college. The story revolves around 3 undergraduates, Hari , Alok and Ryan studying in IIT Delhi. Hari falls in love with one Prof Cherian's daughter Neha. As they indulge in more and more "extra curricular" activities their grades fall and always remain on the fringes of 5 something , hence the title. Even though the title also says "what not to do at IIT", it doesn't seems like writer's advice! The background of the writer interests me (may be coz I don't have it :-) , an IITD - IIMA passsout Chetan is working for a MNC bank in hongkong.
Monday, October 03, 2005
Zen and the Art of motorcycle maintenance
I am reading this classic for the past one month or so. It has so deep
underlying meanings that its taking a lot of time to sink in. I am not able
to read more than a couple of pages at a time. Yeah it gets dry at times but
still has some 'hard to describe' feel to it which doesn't let me putting it off.
A must read for everybody. I have not finished it yet and I am already planning to reread it.
....
Bought "The Story of my experiments with truth" yesterday (Gandhi Jayanti).
One more book added in my pile of unread books lying at home...
Sunday, October 02, 2005
I am writing here after a long long time ....in the hindsight if I observe the reason why I started blogging, I can't identify with them anymore.
I guess I started blogging because I was fascinated by the popularity of some of the blogs I saw on the net and there was a deep underlying wish to have a blog of my own like them.
More than a year later and having seen a lot of friends' blogs, that thinking has gone. now I am starting to blog for myself :-) !
I guess I started blogging because I was fascinated by the popularity of some of the blogs I saw on the net and there was a deep underlying wish to have a blog of my own like them.
More than a year later and having seen a lot of friends' blogs, that thinking has gone. now I am starting to blog for myself :-) !
Sunday, May 23, 2004
Thursday was a welcome holiday here ...Me along with two friends went to a Beach Tourist place called Knokke ...Its just 1.5 hrs from Brussels by train .....even though we were disappointed by the clouds when e reached there ...the Day became sunny afterwards ....
I went to a Beach after a long time ...in fact the Best thing I like about Chennai is the beach ...the Beach here was quite different though ....there were many quite luxurious looking sea facing apartments ....I immediately wanted to buy one ...
And there was a lot of crowd ...involved in cycling , Jogging or just simply relaxing on the beach ...
But the water ....ahh it was tooo cold for us ...I am more used to the Pleasant cold water in Chennai's hot climate ...but here it was ...I missed my usual 'Walk in Water' ...
We took lotsa snaps also ....one of which I am attaching below ....
There is a good blog on Blog Maintenance and I just learned how to upload images over you blog ...
So here is my first image on my blog ...
On Friday, after office went to a Friends' house and saw a couple of Hindi movies after a long time (I have to catch up on lotsa of them ...) ...Saw Hungama and Darna mana hai ....
Hungama is good ..but not as good as 'Hera Pheri' ...there are scenes where the overacting really shows even to a Naive Actor like myself ....
DMH is pretty good ...gosh I admit I was really scared ...its good that some new directors like Ram G V are making movies which are a break from the lot ....
I went to a Beach after a long time ...in fact the Best thing I like about Chennai is the beach ...the Beach here was quite different though ....there were many quite luxurious looking sea facing apartments ....I immediately wanted to buy one ...
And there was a lot of crowd ...involved in cycling , Jogging or just simply relaxing on the beach ...
But the water ....ahh it was tooo cold for us ...I am more used to the Pleasant cold water in Chennai's hot climate ...but here it was ...I missed my usual 'Walk in Water' ...
We took lotsa snaps also ....one of which I am attaching below ....
There is a good blog on Blog Maintenance and I just learned how to upload images over you blog ...
So here is my first image on my blog ...
On Friday, after office went to a Friends' house and saw a couple of Hindi movies after a long time (I have to catch up on lotsa of them ...) ...Saw Hungama and Darna mana hai ....
Hungama is good ..but not as good as 'Hera Pheri' ...there are scenes where the overacting really shows even to a Naive Actor like myself ....
DMH is pretty good ...gosh I admit I was really scared ...its good that some new directors like Ram G V are making movies which are a break from the lot ....
Thursday, May 20, 2004
I am riting after a long time here ...Lotsa things have happened in India in the past one months ...first the elections and then the suprising results ...Personally I supported the NDA ....and felt bad when Vajpayee found himself in a postion to be the oppposition ...this was his last chance ...
The news channels here BBC and CNN attributed the defeat of NDA to the so called 'Pro Rich policies' which disillusioned the poor .
But I feel that its might be only part of the reason (or no reason at all) ....On the face of it .... Congress also has not won ....Congress and BJP have got roughly the same no of seats ...what has made the difference is the choice of Allies ...Take TN ...one ally DMK with 40 MPs has made so much difference ...that taken with Defeat of TDP in Andhra and no suprise BJP is sitting in opposition .
Congress is making the govt and its such a relief that Sonia Gandhi is not becoming the PM of the country ...No self respecting Indian would have felt nice on an Italian hoisting the national flag on 15th Aug from Red fort ....
Overall Manmohan Singh is a good guy ...but the problem is he is not a Political Heavy weight ...he wud need a lot of help in managing the affairs of the Coalition ...
The Dynasty still controls the congress and no wonder if 20 yrs down the line we see Rahul gandhi's Columbian Girl friend as India's Prime Minister :-)..... I don't understand why the hell Indian public is so stupid .....
Coming back to the "Have-Nots Dissatisfied - voted NDA out of power issue" ... I don't think any govt can really make a huge difference within five years without undertaking massive reforms ...corruption and Population are also a big problems ...
Massive Reforms will be difficult to implement with Left supporting the govt ....So its a tough ride for the Congress .....
Frankly I don't understand why the communists are still there in politics ...they know that they can not implement Marixism type Communism in India now ...and even Chinese communist govt is so liberal to allow McDonalds/Starbucks/WalMart/Carrefour in the country ...
The irony in indian politics is that the parties who are no 3 , 4, 5 in the final seat tally calls the shot in govt formation and its policies ....
The news channels here BBC and CNN attributed the defeat of NDA to the so called 'Pro Rich policies' which disillusioned the poor .
But I feel that its might be only part of the reason (or no reason at all) ....On the face of it .... Congress also has not won ....Congress and BJP have got roughly the same no of seats ...what has made the difference is the choice of Allies ...Take TN ...one ally DMK with 40 MPs has made so much difference ...that taken with Defeat of TDP in Andhra and no suprise BJP is sitting in opposition .
Congress is making the govt and its such a relief that Sonia Gandhi is not becoming the PM of the country ...No self respecting Indian would have felt nice on an Italian hoisting the national flag on 15th Aug from Red fort ....
Overall Manmohan Singh is a good guy ...but the problem is he is not a Political Heavy weight ...he wud need a lot of help in managing the affairs of the Coalition ...
The Dynasty still controls the congress and no wonder if 20 yrs down the line we see Rahul gandhi's Columbian Girl friend as India's Prime Minister :-)..... I don't understand why the hell Indian public is so stupid .....
Coming back to the "Have-Nots Dissatisfied - voted NDA out of power issue" ... I don't think any govt can really make a huge difference within five years without undertaking massive reforms ...corruption and Population are also a big problems ...
Massive Reforms will be difficult to implement with Left supporting the govt ....So its a tough ride for the Congress .....
Frankly I don't understand why the communists are still there in politics ...they know that they can not implement Marixism type Communism in India now ...and even Chinese communist govt is so liberal to allow McDonalds/Starbucks/WalMart/Carrefour in the country ...
The irony in indian politics is that the parties who are no 3 , 4, 5 in the final seat tally calls the shot in govt formation and its policies ....
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