Just made a New Year resolution....I will not watch any run-of-the-mill Desi aka Hindi aka Bollywood movie till June 2007 at the least! Half a year is a good aim given the number of Indian friends I have, one of whom will surely keep trying to break my resolution.
Why?
- 90% of the new Hindi movies that hit the not-so-cool Naz8 theater in Fremont, CA every Friday night are outright (story/script) spineless, have too many mundane songs and are a 3 hour drag with too much melodrama.
- Emotions and love are an integral part of such highly predictable movies and if that is a subject you don't like you better stay away.
But before I completely right off this billion dollar industry, let me recap the few movies I did see in 2006 and what I thought of them:
Really Bad: Dhoom 2, Don, Phir Hera Pheri, Golmaal, Krrish
Could Have Been Good: Fanaa, Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, Rang De Basanti, Pyar ke side effects
Awesome: Lage Raho Munnabhai, Omkara, Dor, Iqbal, Being Cyrus, 15 Park Avenue
On a side note, I had thus far a lot of faith in movie reviews/ratings at rottentomatoes but the fact that a movie like Dhoom 2 has a rating of 80% leads me to believe that something is really wrong with the tomatometer. The flip positive side is that Indian movies are also getting listed on this website.
Added: 1/16/2007 11:18 PM
This just in: As if to prove my point the Hollywood Foreign Press had some bad news for Bollywood. Water makes it to Oscar shortlist, Rang De... out
Food for thought or Thought for food?
Last night I spent hours reading my blog (for the lack of maintaining a personal journal) right from the beginning. It felt nice, berry nice (in the words of Borat) to read and remember all that I have been through in the last few years. Some posts were just plain boring, some were inspiring and yet the most fun ones were those that were personal memoirs and reminded me of how I had grown from a brash yuppie student to a grounded adult cum responsible professional.
As I spend my vacation with the family in cold-snowy Quebec, my best pastimes are sipping hot tea or coffee and devouring spicy and sizzling food.
On the same note, I have been a passionate connoisseur of coffees the last few months visiting new coffee houses, getting brewing lessons and volunteering as a barista to make the 4 o'clock cappuccino at work.
My love for coffee was developed at a tender age of 11 and continues to grow....But I hope that the funny coffee bell curve will never apply to the coffee lover in me :)
Exclusively for Bell Curve & Coffee Lovers
Year 2007 is around the corner and as we all think about New Year resolutions, I find myself procrastinating about healthy food and exercise habits.
The Mercury News article "CHANGING FOOD HABITS: Kitchen resolutions" definitely has some interesting ideas to offer. I already followed one of the ideas by learning a favorite family recipe from my Mom today. I also looked at cool food making videos on How to make easy recipes on About.com
Herz saying Cheers to 2007! Hoping for less junk and more healthy food; more marathons and less lazy weekends; more happiness and less sorrow and finally more peace and less stress.
As I spend my vacation with the family in cold-snowy Quebec, my best pastimes are sipping hot tea or coffee and devouring spicy and sizzling food.
On the same note, I have been a passionate connoisseur of coffees the last few months visiting new coffee houses, getting brewing lessons and volunteering as a barista to make the 4 o'clock cappuccino at work.
Barefoot Coffee Roasters
Coffee SocietyMy love for coffee was developed at a tender age of 11 and continues to grow....But I hope that the funny coffee bell curve will never apply to the coffee lover in me :)
Exclusively for Bell Curve & Coffee Lovers
Year 2007 is around the corner and as we all think about New Year resolutions, I find myself procrastinating about healthy food and exercise habits.
The Mercury News article "CHANGING FOOD HABITS: Kitchen resolutions" definitely has some interesting ideas to offer. I already followed one of the ideas by learning a favorite family recipe from my Mom today. I also looked at cool food making videos on How to make easy recipes on About.com
Herz saying Cheers to 2007! Hoping for less junk and more healthy food; more marathons and less lazy weekends; more happiness and less sorrow and finally more peace and less stress.
Why do women wear bras?
DO I need to say anything else?? My eyes have opened to some eye-popping news:
http://www.007b.com/why_wear_bras.php
http://www.007b.com/why_wear_bras.php
'I Hope You Dance... '
This was written by an 83-year-old woman to her friend. The last line says it all.
Dear Bertha,
I'm reading more and dusting less. I'm sitting in the yard and admiring the view without fussing about the weeds in the garden. I'm spending more time with my family and friends and less time working.
Whenever possible, life should be a pattern of experiences to savor, not to endure. I'm trying to recognize these moments now and cherish them.
I'm not "saving" anything; we use our good china and crystal for every special event such as losing a pound, getting the sink unstopped, or the first Amaryllis blossom.
I wear my good blazer to the market. My theory is if I look prosperous, I can shell out $28.49 for one small bag of groceries. I'm not saving my good perfume for special parties, but wearing it for clerks in the hardware store and tellers at the bank.
"Someday" and "one of these days" are losing their grip on my vocabulary. If it's worth seeing or hearing or doing, I want to see and hear and do it now.
I'm not sure what others would've done had they known they wouldn't be here for the tomorrow that we all take for granted. I think they would have called family members and a few close friends. They might have called a few former friends to apologize and mend fences for past squabbles. I like to think they would have gone out for a Chinese dinner or for whatever their favorite food was.
I'm guessing; I'll never know.
It's those little things left undone that would make me angry if I knew my hours were limited. Angry because I hadn't written certain letters that I intended to write one of these days. Angry and sorry that I didn't tell my husband and parents often enough how much I truly love them. I'm trying very hard not to put off, hold back, or save anything that would add laughter and luster to our lives. And every morning when I open my eyes, tell myself that it is special.
Every day, every minute, every breath truly is a gift.
"People say true friends must always hold hands, but true friends don't need to hold hands because they know the other hand will always be there."
Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance
Dear Bertha,
I'm reading more and dusting less. I'm sitting in the yard and admiring the view without fussing about the weeds in the garden. I'm spending more time with my family and friends and less time working.
Whenever possible, life should be a pattern of experiences to savor, not to endure. I'm trying to recognize these moments now and cherish them.
I'm not "saving" anything; we use our good china and crystal for every special event such as losing a pound, getting the sink unstopped, or the first Amaryllis blossom.
I wear my good blazer to the market. My theory is if I look prosperous, I can shell out $28.49 for one small bag of groceries. I'm not saving my good perfume for special parties, but wearing it for clerks in the hardware store and tellers at the bank.
"Someday" and "one of these days" are losing their grip on my vocabulary. If it's worth seeing or hearing or doing, I want to see and hear and do it now.
I'm not sure what others would've done had they known they wouldn't be here for the tomorrow that we all take for granted. I think they would have called family members and a few close friends. They might have called a few former friends to apologize and mend fences for past squabbles. I like to think they would have gone out for a Chinese dinner or for whatever their favorite food was.
I'm guessing; I'll never know.
It's those little things left undone that would make me angry if I knew my hours were limited. Angry because I hadn't written certain letters that I intended to write one of these days. Angry and sorry that I didn't tell my husband and parents often enough how much I truly love them. I'm trying very hard not to put off, hold back, or save anything that would add laughter and luster to our lives. And every morning when I open my eyes, tell myself that it is special.
Every day, every minute, every breath truly is a gift.
"People say true friends must always hold hands, but true friends don't need to hold hands because they know the other hand will always be there."
Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance
In a Mirza Ghalib moment all of a sudden
hazaaroN KHwahishaiN 'eisee ke har KHwahish pe dam nikle
bohot nikle mere armaaN lekin fir bhee kam nikle
bohot nikle mere armaaN lekin fir bhee kam nikle
Some interesting articles on IBNLIVE
Homemakers make a B-line at IIM-B
You go ladies! Its never too late to learn and get going on fulfilling your dreams :)
Rang de Bizarre
I think I agree with Sagarika Ghose! When will we stop over-dramatizing and glorifying life in Indian movies? Let me leave u with her closing lines:
"Rang De Basanti does a terrible disservice to the nationalism of India's young people. It wilfully paints modern day patriots as unthinking anti-establishment killers. It foolishly creates a myth known as Gen Next which does nothing but drink and dance. And it promotes a leviathan media as the ultimate interpreter of India. The fact that Rang de Basanti is a hit shows just how catastrophically distant we are getting from reality, where we're happy to live from media image to media image, from frame to frame, without realising the depth and profundity of "ordinary" human dramas."
Indian Ocean: The Band with a Big Bang
Sunday night I went to see an Indian band called the "Indian Ocean" perform. This was a bit funny since I tend to go see bands that I like and this one I had never heard of. But a lot of my friends had good things to say about them so I just went. And man was it a good decision or what! A couple of my friends who chickened out did certainly regret doing so once I called each of them to give them my spiel.
The verdict is out: they were great, the crowd loved it. The music was mostly metallic rock mixed with classical Indian table notes and melodic guitar tunes. The lyrics were minimalitsic to say the least but where they did exist, they were great and had deep meaning. After the show, I was quite excited and even went on to meet and greet the band members. Psyched as I was, later in the night I checked out their web presence and history. They are quite well travelled and have had the honor of playing at several prestigious occasions.
Some sparkling fusion, it's Bollywood in the big tent
Gr8 fan site
A Band Apart - Lalitha Suhasini meets Indian Ocean, four men who chose to quit their careers to make music full-time
Random research on "Cynicism"
I was all of sudden curious to know the roots of the word "Cynic" and this is what Google search has to offer:
Definitions of cynical on the Web:
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Definitions of cynical on the Web:
- believing the worst of human nature and motives; having a sneering disbelief in e.g. selflessness of others
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn - Cynicism was originally the philosophy of a group of ancient Greeks called the Cynics (main article), founded by Antisthenes.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynical - 1. Believing or showing the belief that people are motivated chiefly by base or selfish concerns; skeptical of the motives of others. 2. Selfishly or callously calculating . 3. Negative or pessimistic, as from world-weariness . 4. Expressing jaded or scornful skepticism or negativity. .
missbunbun.tripod.com/id7.html - extremely pleasing or agreeable, esp. to the sense of taste or smell.
www.teach-nology.com/worksheets/language_arts/vocab/seven/quiz/1/
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Reading the News Paper: An old habit comes back to life!
As I kid, reading the newspaper was an activity that I thoroughly enjoyed every Sunday afternoon. During the weekdays, I had school but some how I would manage to skim through the paper in the evening. Just reading the headlines, cartoons, a little bit of jumble and crossword, some sports and the horoscope meant I had done my reading for the day. Sunday afternoon was albeit a whole another experience. I have always been a late night person so early morning (for me) at 6:30 I would hear my dad and mom as they headed out the back door to the verandah/patio to start reading the papers while sipping mugs full of glorious Darjeeling tea. An hour later, my sister would join them and reading, chatting and tea sessions would continue till about 8:30 or 9, which is when I would finally get out of bed. This is also when mom would strategically get up to start cooking breakfast, the maid would arrive and start doing the dishes, the milk man would deliver milk packets to our doorstep and dad would head to the bathroom.
Cool! Now I was free to harass and fight with my sister over the newspaper section or the remote control for the TV. Yohoo! Sunday morning had amazing cartoon and kids shows. Now while I wanted to watch He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, she wanted to watch some fluffy show about mischieveous teenagers living in a boarding school. At the same time, dad after finishing his daily prayer would now seat himself at the dining table and pitch for NEWS (Why do Dads always want to see News of some sort, is it to prove they are older and serious people?). Mom would walk in with the breakfast tray and she would have her own draw but somehow we would all compromise and watch one great show while enjoying Mom's great food! When I was a teenager, I thought all Moms are great cooks and did not appreciate my Mom's culinary skills enough. Today I am humbled by her consistent performance as our chief chef of the house. Her quality and persistence easily match Rahul Dravid, the epitome of consistency in the Indian subcontinent. To get back on track, the only TV shows that we would always agree on as a family without arguing were a live cricket match or the Bournvita Quiz contest.
Further along the day, after throwing 10 tantrums regarding taking a shower, I would enjoy a hearty lunch with my family. This was followed by a Sunday late afternoon siesta for all except me. 2 to 5 in the afternoon were my hours of relaxing while devouring the weekend addition of the Times of India or the Indian Express. This was just awesome. The entire paper to myself, I would read it page by page not leaving a single word or image.
This very personal regimen of spending a Sunday ravising the newspaper was completely stiffled and killed at college where the newspaper freely accessible at my dorm was really bad. Some Sundays I would borrow a friend's personally subscribed Times of India and read it just like old times. Effectively, I have been unable to resume my old habit since 1997. A cool 9 years later, I am backing to reading my old friend - the newspaper every day all thanks to my new roommate who subscribed us to the San Jose Mercury News. I was a teenager then, now an adult; the country and papers are different but its still as much fun as a decade ago. Reading is one of the best habits I have and for that I have to thank my awesome parents! Another set of kudos goes to the newspaper companies for finding innovative business models to keep their papers running despite the ubiquitious presence of free news services online.
Here some very interesting columns from today's San Jose Mercury News:
I loved it. Kinsley is as cynical as it gets! If you don't know the history of US and its politics in the Islamic world this piece gives you an excellent summary of the history as well.
Hey, gang! Now let's go help the Iranians! - By Michael Kinsley
A total contrast to Kinsley's crticisms, this one is full of ideas and optimism and has some great lines on the middle class and its importance in a society.
Saving the middle class requires long-overdue investments - By Don Perata
This is a contemporary article. Makes interesting reading for most of my friends and peers from Generation MTV. Long distance relationships (LDRs) are a reality and we might as well acclimitize ourselves.
Six ways to help make a long-distance relationship work
And finally to top it all of, the frontpage for Life & Style section of the paper talks about Sikhism, one of the youngest religions in the world which originated in Punjab, India and how Sikhs in the Bay Area celebrated their Spring festival "Baisakhi" at the Gurudwara (temple) in Fremont this weekend as Christians celebrated Easter.
Sikhs celebrate renewal of faith - By Kimra McPherson
Happy Baisakhi to All!
Cool! Now I was free to harass and fight with my sister over the newspaper section or the remote control for the TV. Yohoo! Sunday morning had amazing cartoon and kids shows. Now while I wanted to watch He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, she wanted to watch some fluffy show about mischieveous teenagers living in a boarding school. At the same time, dad after finishing his daily prayer would now seat himself at the dining table and pitch for NEWS (Why do Dads always want to see News of some sort, is it to prove they are older and serious people?). Mom would walk in with the breakfast tray and she would have her own draw but somehow we would all compromise and watch one great show while enjoying Mom's great food! When I was a teenager, I thought all Moms are great cooks and did not appreciate my Mom's culinary skills enough. Today I am humbled by her consistent performance as our chief chef of the house. Her quality and persistence easily match Rahul Dravid, the epitome of consistency in the Indian subcontinent. To get back on track, the only TV shows that we would always agree on as a family without arguing were a live cricket match or the Bournvita Quiz contest.
Further along the day, after throwing 10 tantrums regarding taking a shower, I would enjoy a hearty lunch with my family. This was followed by a Sunday late afternoon siesta for all except me. 2 to 5 in the afternoon were my hours of relaxing while devouring the weekend addition of the Times of India or the Indian Express. This was just awesome. The entire paper to myself, I would read it page by page not leaving a single word or image.
This very personal regimen of spending a Sunday ravising the newspaper was completely stiffled and killed at college where the newspaper freely accessible at my dorm was really bad. Some Sundays I would borrow a friend's personally subscribed Times of India and read it just like old times. Effectively, I have been unable to resume my old habit since 1997. A cool 9 years later, I am backing to reading my old friend - the newspaper every day all thanks to my new roommate who subscribed us to the San Jose Mercury News. I was a teenager then, now an adult; the country and papers are different but its still as much fun as a decade ago. Reading is one of the best habits I have and for that I have to thank my awesome parents! Another set of kudos goes to the newspaper companies for finding innovative business models to keep their papers running despite the ubiquitious presence of free news services online.
Here some very interesting columns from today's San Jose Mercury News:
I loved it. Kinsley is as cynical as it gets! If you don't know the history of US and its politics in the Islamic world this piece gives you an excellent summary of the history as well.
Hey, gang! Now let's go help the Iranians! - By Michael Kinsley
A total contrast to Kinsley's crticisms, this one is full of ideas and optimism and has some great lines on the middle class and its importance in a society.
Saving the middle class requires long-overdue investments - By Don Perata
This is a contemporary article. Makes interesting reading for most of my friends and peers from Generation MTV. Long distance relationships (LDRs) are a reality and we might as well acclimitize ourselves.
Six ways to help make a long-distance relationship work
And finally to top it all of, the frontpage for Life & Style section of the paper talks about Sikhism, one of the youngest religions in the world which originated in Punjab, India and how Sikhs in the Bay Area celebrated their Spring festival "Baisakhi" at the Gurudwara (temple) in Fremont this weekend as Christians celebrated Easter.
Sikhs celebrate renewal of faith - By Kimra McPherson
Happy Baisakhi to All!
Information Overload: I need a Google NextGen
Have you ever felt that you have too much information floating in your head that you need to somehow store before you lose it all....I have had that sinking feeling one too many times in the last few years...Books and television give us ample amount of time to view and digest information. Its not the same with the web though. Google news, other news sites, emails, forwards, blogs, feeds, text messages, email lists, newspapers, magazines and their online versions have made this a world of information overload for some of us. Sometimes I am amazed that my brain does not fall in to an endless loop or a data overrun error and crash much like a computer.
To top of all the previously cited information sources, we also have the MOTHER of all Google. My plea and request to the millionaires @ Google is to stop enhancing the search methods, yes we all love information, who doesn't? But what we need now is Google NextGen, the information search engine that also synthesizes and summarizes it so that our brain and eyes have to deal with only the most important details not the Holy Grail on any given topic.
Now that I have that one out of my stomach, I am amazed at how much has happenned this week in my boring and dull life. I have learned and experienced a lot in a few days and it would be simply stupid not to write and retain it.
Started this week with the never ending saga of my life: To be or not to be? Background: I can't live with or without you! However, thats not the interesting part. Instead of indulging in self analysis I found energy and insights from outsiders.
1. Jerry Lo, a senior at Evergreen High School @ San Jose wrote in the Mercury News:
"
Fellow members of the ``MySpace generation,'' please listen to me. It may be a few years away, but before you pop the question or say ``I do,'' think about what you are getting yourself into.
When you get married you'll vow to be with that person ``through sickness and health,'' and, ``till death do us part.'' Let's try to understand our vows before we say them.
Do we want our children to have to live through the trauma of divorce? Do we really want our children to grow up with single parents?
"
These are some intelligent words from a young adult that we all can learn from.
Read Jerry's views @
When marriages crumble, children suffer
2. Next, by a chance skipping of channels I landed upon Discovery Travel at primetime 9 pm and found an amazing show Jeremy Piven's Journey of a Lifetime. Jeremy Piven is this real cute and funny guy you must have noticed for sure in John Cusack movie Serendipity, HBO series Entourage and a bunch of theatre plays. His journey is to India and no its not amazing because he went to India. The show is not your routine sight-seeing travel guide. Its a very personal journey that Jeremey lives out in his own style. He walks the streets of Delhi and Bombay, does yoga in Kerala, Himalayas and Hrishikesh; drives a Kinetic Honda moped in Southern India, rides a cycle rickshaw in Paharganj, Delhi and glides on a smooth water boat on the backwaters in Kerala. He enjoys his time at an orphanage in Mumbai, is consummed with appreciation for the Kathakali dancers who put peppers in their eyes to maintain red eyes matching their face colors during the dance performance and is agog with anxiety as he watches the wild monkeys at Lakshman Jhula in northern India. He found his personal connection in the form of an old Jewish lady who enjoys her small Jewish community in Kerala, the Kathakali dancer who had shared the same teacher as Jeremy at some NY acting school and a Sadhvi (holy woman/priest) of American origin who came to India 12 years back as a visitor and found her calling as a priest in India. The real deal were the pearls of wisdom Jeremy gleaned from a swamiji in Hrishikesh:
- Look at people around you, every one is trying to get their life back together, its all scattered in pieces......Look for peace inside you...you want peace in your life, not pieces!
- I as its written in English is a vertical bar, a a symbol of ego and the idea of self and selfishness. If you think as I you will always be unhappy...Try to bend your I from a vertical bar to a horizontal bar. Its akin to bending forwards and giving in to people and life. Thats where lies happinness: in bending, not in holding yourself straight up.
More learning about real life continues in the next blogging streak...
To top of all the previously cited information sources, we also have the MOTHER of all Google. My plea and request to the millionaires @ Google is to stop enhancing the search methods, yes we all love information, who doesn't? But what we need now is Google NextGen, the information search engine that also synthesizes and summarizes it so that our brain and eyes have to deal with only the most important details not the Holy Grail on any given topic.
Now that I have that one out of my stomach, I am amazed at how much has happenned this week in my boring and dull life. I have learned and experienced a lot in a few days and it would be simply stupid not to write and retain it.
Started this week with the never ending saga of my life: To be or not to be? Background: I can't live with or without you! However, thats not the interesting part. Instead of indulging in self analysis I found energy and insights from outsiders.
1. Jerry Lo, a senior at Evergreen High School @ San Jose wrote in the Mercury News:
"
Fellow members of the ``MySpace generation,'' please listen to me. It may be a few years away, but before you pop the question or say ``I do,'' think about what you are getting yourself into.
When you get married you'll vow to be with that person ``through sickness and health,'' and, ``till death do us part.'' Let's try to understand our vows before we say them.
Do we want our children to have to live through the trauma of divorce? Do we really want our children to grow up with single parents?
"
These are some intelligent words from a young adult that we all can learn from.
Read Jerry's views @
When marriages crumble, children suffer
2. Next, by a chance skipping of channels I landed upon Discovery Travel at primetime 9 pm and found an amazing show Jeremy Piven's Journey of a Lifetime. Jeremy Piven is this real cute and funny guy you must have noticed for sure in John Cusack movie Serendipity, HBO series Entourage and a bunch of theatre plays. His journey is to India and no its not amazing because he went to India. The show is not your routine sight-seeing travel guide. Its a very personal journey that Jeremey lives out in his own style. He walks the streets of Delhi and Bombay, does yoga in Kerala, Himalayas and Hrishikesh; drives a Kinetic Honda moped in Southern India, rides a cycle rickshaw in Paharganj, Delhi and glides on a smooth water boat on the backwaters in Kerala. He enjoys his time at an orphanage in Mumbai, is consummed with appreciation for the Kathakali dancers who put peppers in their eyes to maintain red eyes matching their face colors during the dance performance and is agog with anxiety as he watches the wild monkeys at Lakshman Jhula in northern India. He found his personal connection in the form of an old Jewish lady who enjoys her small Jewish community in Kerala, the Kathakali dancer who had shared the same teacher as Jeremy at some NY acting school and a Sadhvi (holy woman/priest) of American origin who came to India 12 years back as a visitor and found her calling as a priest in India. The real deal were the pearls of wisdom Jeremy gleaned from a swamiji in Hrishikesh:
- Look at people around you, every one is trying to get their life back together, its all scattered in pieces......Look for peace inside you...you want peace in your life, not pieces!
- I as its written in English is a vertical bar, a a symbol of ego and the idea of self and selfishness. If you think as I you will always be unhappy...Try to bend your I from a vertical bar to a horizontal bar. Its akin to bending forwards and giving in to people and life. Thats where lies happinness: in bending, not in holding yourself straight up.
More learning about real life continues in the next blogging streak...
Fear Factor
Fear Factor is a tremendously famour show on NBC where teams compete to win a large sum of money. The competitive task can be just about anthing from running up a hill to eating the guts or shit of an animal. Thats just disgusting. Yeah it is! Recently, I saw Fear Factor host and standup comedian Joe Rogan perform at the San Jose Improv in downtown San Jose. Boy was he good or what! His first joke was: " The only reason I agreed to host Fear Factor was that I thought it would never run more than a few weeks...Who would've thought we would find so many stupid people who were willing to eat God knows what for some money...And here I am hosting the Nth season of Fear Factor and encouraging dumb contestants"
Personally, I have a lot of appreciation for courageous people who fight their fears! Just as well people in general are God or Nature fearing and get shit scared especially of lawyers, police officers and doctors. For instance, any time a doctor recommends a biopsy for someone we know whistles start blowing in our heads. People are scared to their wit's end for no apparent reason. Yes there is reason to be worried if you get a warning call from a cop or if the doctor recommends an MRI but the worry should be focused on grasping what has the triggered those actions and on how to best tackle all future scenarios. This is what I call positive or useful stress that leads you to take some action and intiative. Then there is the other worry which is purely negative and has no value or purpose. It is just an amalgamation of ambigious statements, half-baked theories and ignorance. I for one have known one too many people in my life who self-inflict themselves with this negatiev form of mental stress at every juncture in their lives. To me its annoying, to some its a way of life....
Personally, I have a lot of appreciation for courageous people who fight their fears! Just as well people in general are God or Nature fearing and get shit scared especially of lawyers, police officers and doctors. For instance, any time a doctor recommends a biopsy for someone we know whistles start blowing in our heads. People are scared to their wit's end for no apparent reason. Yes there is reason to be worried if you get a warning call from a cop or if the doctor recommends an MRI but the worry should be focused on grasping what has the triggered those actions and on how to best tackle all future scenarios. This is what I call positive or useful stress that leads you to take some action and intiative. Then there is the other worry which is purely negative and has no value or purpose. It is just an amalgamation of ambigious statements, half-baked theories and ignorance. I for one have known one too many people in my life who self-inflict themselves with this negatiev form of mental stress at every juncture in their lives. To me its annoying, to some its a way of life....
The World is Flat
The World is Flat - my belief that the world is flat is growing by the day. An exicting array of events have lead me to this understanding.
For the longest period of time, I had no idea why public service broadcast TV or radio existed. Recently, while surfing my TV, I found interesting programs on KQED a public funded TV channel for the Bay Area. The most remarkable shows that I enjoy are:
Charlie Rose Show a hard core interview show with the best of CEOs, politicians, sportsmen, artists, writers
Josh Korbluth Show which is hosted by Josh, the very funny protagonist of the movie Haiku Tunnel
CEO Exchange which is an awesome platform for idea exchange between CEOs, students and professors at a prestigious host business school
In terms of how these items relate to a flat world, well all these shows enlighten a person to the nuances and concepts of countries all over the world. The coverage and knowledge being shared is truly global in nature and expands the horizon of one's understanding.
I will leave you guys with an interesting article about how a call at a McDonald's drive thru will be outsourced to a person at a different location than the McD's.
The Long-Distance Journey of a Fast-Food Order
For the longest period of time, I had no idea why public service broadcast TV or radio existed. Recently, while surfing my TV, I found interesting programs on KQED a public funded TV channel for the Bay Area. The most remarkable shows that I enjoy are:
Charlie Rose Show a hard core interview show with the best of CEOs, politicians, sportsmen, artists, writers
Josh Korbluth Show which is hosted by Josh, the very funny protagonist of the movie Haiku Tunnel
CEO Exchange which is an awesome platform for idea exchange between CEOs, students and professors at a prestigious host business school
In terms of how these items relate to a flat world, well all these shows enlighten a person to the nuances and concepts of countries all over the world. The coverage and knowledge being shared is truly global in nature and expands the horizon of one's understanding.
I will leave you guys with an interesting article about how a call at a McDonald's drive thru will be outsourced to a person at a different location than the McD's.
The Long-Distance Journey of a Fast-Food Order
Business news
Its such a pain to keep up on current affairs these days - be it politics or business or any topic. There is just so much happenning each day, that by the time you play catch up on all those news articles you had flagged for reading, its already stale news, new developments have already changed everyting that existed before. But in keeping with old and new employer loyalty I did follow these news stories:
Naina Kidwai - First Indian female to graduate from Harvard Business School and now the first woman CEO of a foreign bank in India http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1461955.cms
Key Move: Artful Outsourcing from StartupNation.com - http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneursmanagement/2006/03/07/wholefoods-wildoats-babyfood-cx_bn_0308startupnation.html
More to come
Naina Kidwai - First Indian female to graduate from Harvard Business School and now the first woman CEO of a foreign bank in India http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1461955.cms
Key Move: Artful Outsourcing from StartupNation.com - http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneursmanagement/2006/03/07/wholefoods-wildoats-babyfood-cx_bn_0308startupnation.html
More to come
Writer's block!
Its been a while since I wrote anything...even 2 lines of prose were difficult to pen down. And here I am, finally breaking this overwhelming writer's block with a big sigh of relief! Why has it been so impossible to write? It couldn't have just been the time (or no time) factor....
Possibly, a lot of what we do is a reflection of our state of mind and body. Lets just say several issues were/are on mind and one thing led to another and at the end of it all, I managed a long period of online silence with numb fingers and untyped thoughts.
But finally I am out of the closet, more excited than ever to write and enjoy the world of blogs.....Some interesting blogs I recently checked out:
Inspiring story of a liberal politik blogger out of Berkeley - http://www.dailykos.com/
Another inspiring and jaw dropping writer, see her new book - http://lastsinglegirl.blogs.com/bornsingle/
What can I say, storytelling at its blog best - http://randomexpressions.rediffblogs.com/
Very cool, I'm reaching out to other bloggers and getting in on the whole scene again....I am back baby...
Possibly, a lot of what we do is a reflection of our state of mind and body. Lets just say several issues were/are on mind and one thing led to another and at the end of it all, I managed a long period of online silence with numb fingers and untyped thoughts.
But finally I am out of the closet, more excited than ever to write and enjoy the world of blogs.....Some interesting blogs I recently checked out:
Inspiring story of a liberal politik blogger out of Berkeley - http://www.dailykos.com/
Another inspiring and jaw dropping writer, see her new book - http://lastsinglegirl.blogs.com/bornsingle/
What can I say, storytelling at its blog best - http://randomexpressions.rediffblogs.com/
Very cool, I'm reaching out to other bloggers and getting in on the whole scene again....I am back baby...
The Young Executive Age
Ever since I became part of a young, vibrant Silicon Valley company I can't help but notice the average age of an executive....In most cases, its between 32 and 37....Wow thats young!
Going the traditional route in a bank, consumer products company or a Dell/Microsoft of the world you would be lucky if you have paid your dues by your lates 20s and by 30 you are a manager of some sort. By 40 you could go 2-3 layers higher in the pyramid and eventually you could possibly be an executive anytime between 42 and 52. In the our super speed technology backed global economy this picture is changing drastically. The fastest way to name, fame and the $$$ is to get into the right startup at the right time. So you are 27 and a founding member in a startup that skyrockets..You are set for life..If you do well you will pimp a ride on the startup's success wave and there you will be the gung-ho, ever so energetic, flippant, non-experienced, jeans-clad, yippie executive of a generation next company! No-no its not a done deal and there is no single shot to success!! And yes when your startup blows out of proportion and you realize you don't have the much needed experience or process setup to handle a very large organization you will indeed go out there and hire some 50 year old ready to become hippie-yippie experienced execs to help you do your job.....That's just in the interim till you can learn from them how to do your job better...:)
Some very young, highly respected execs I try to look up to:
Forget about Sergey and Larry. We all know their success story...Lets read about the young whiz-kids who got lucky: Salar, Susan and Marissa from the early founding gang; not to mention the newcomers: Omid, Miriam, Sukhinder and Nikesh!
http://www.google.com/corporate/execs.html
In essence, with time people and kids grow smarter and acquire the knowledge much faster than their predecessors did...This is plain Darwinism at work! Did you hear of the record breaking 3 year old who created his own website yeah using html....:)..Blows my mind...At 3 I think all I could do was eat, poop and sleep :)
Going the traditional route in a bank, consumer products company or a Dell/Microsoft of the world you would be lucky if you have paid your dues by your lates 20s and by 30 you are a manager of some sort. By 40 you could go 2-3 layers higher in the pyramid and eventually you could possibly be an executive anytime between 42 and 52. In the our super speed technology backed global economy this picture is changing drastically. The fastest way to name, fame and the $$$ is to get into the right startup at the right time. So you are 27 and a founding member in a startup that skyrockets..You are set for life..If you do well you will pimp a ride on the startup's success wave and there you will be the gung-ho, ever so energetic, flippant, non-experienced, jeans-clad, yippie executive of a generation next company! No-no its not a done deal and there is no single shot to success!! And yes when your startup blows out of proportion and you realize you don't have the much needed experience or process setup to handle a very large organization you will indeed go out there and hire some 50 year old ready to become hippie-yippie experienced execs to help you do your job.....That's just in the interim till you can learn from them how to do your job better...:)
Some very young, highly respected execs I try to look up to:
Forget about Sergey and Larry. We all know their success story...Lets read about the young whiz-kids who got lucky: Salar, Susan and Marissa from the early founding gang; not to mention the newcomers: Omid, Miriam, Sukhinder and Nikesh!
http://www.google.com/corporate/execs.html
In essence, with time people and kids grow smarter and acquire the knowledge much faster than their predecessors did...This is plain Darwinism at work! Did you hear of the record breaking 3 year old who created his own website yeah using html....:)..Blows my mind...At 3 I think all I could do was eat, poop and sleep :)
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