Theory and Practice

Last Thursday was the 'Wake up Sid' premier at PVR - Forum Mall Koramangala.
(Twitter Review – ‘Nicely made, but the movie lacks soul’)
Since I reached early, went to Landmark & was about to make an 'impulsive buy' of Welcome To Advertising! Now, Get Lost
(Verdict – ‘Avoid’)
By now friends had come & were waiting at McDonald's in ground floor, to grab a quick bite.
7.45, 15 mins to go.
Quick glance at the long queue in the 2nd floor (single) counter & I made a dash to 3rd floor.
Multiple counters , around 10, a quick application of queuing theory, i.e. no of persons & no of items they were holding, how many were actual buyers & how many were just accompanying etc, bringing all my queuing theory basics to fore.
I picked a queue with 5 people ahead of me. On further analysis the credit card reader in the counter was working, & his processing time seemed to be lesser.
1st one was quickly done, since the uncle bought only eraser & pencil!
Satisfied with my choice, I decided not to change the queue. By now queues were growing too.
All the other queues seemed slower, for a change!
Again a call "just 10 minutes to go, where are you?"
By now the 4th one was also done & and the 3rd in the queue, a teenage girl holding only one book moved towards the counter. And the person in front me, carried only one book too.
Me "Am almost on my way", patting myself on the back for my judgment.
As I glanced ahead, a lady who looked like her mom, standing in next queue, passed 2 baskets full of stuff to be billed to the teenage girl standing at the counter!

"The difference between theory and practice in theory is much less than the difference between theory and practice in practice.” - Unknown

Update:- I had attributed the above quote to Randal L. Schwartz, who commented below “It's odd how that got attributed to me. I'm just quoting it from somebody's .sig I once saw.”

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- Updated 'Past Favorites' Section
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And feedback's welcome :-)

Tendulkar Magic & Sehwagism

Tendulkar Magic, in my words, long back.
Rahul Bhattacharya on cricinfo writes about the same.

Also sometime back I wrote, Virender Sehwag & Zen Lesson,
and now there's this priceless interview of man himself on cricinfo :-)

Real story of a fan!

One

I am addicted to the sound of fan, while sleeping. The first thing I checked was that both the fans were working, when I moved into the current house.
Also as far as possible I don’t sleep right under the fan, for the phobia that it might fall one me someday!
Both the fans in the house working fine, cot placed in the side of the bedroom, every day I slept peacefully :-)
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Two

One fine day, a friend of mine, over a coffee told me about this self sufficient building he watched on some TV program, where the windmills were strategically placed on the building, which generate enough power for the building. Amazing, I slept thinking about it!
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Three

I had spent the whole day & night working at office. Came home & caught 2 hours of sleep from 5 AM to 7 AM. Woke up and had to hurry again, to make sure that the critical demo to client went fine in the afternoon.
I was drowsy. I climbed on the cot like a zombie, yawned & raised my hands.
Thud...I fell on the floor!
Mind stopped thinking for a while...
After few seconds, completely awake, I was, in horrible pain.
When I gathered the thoughts, it was my hand that hit the fan in full speed!
I looked up, fan was still working but at half the earlier speed.
After stopping the bleeding from small cut with some cotton, I rushed to office.
Demo went fine, I came back home.
There were 2 things to take care of, hand, for which I bought pain relief spray & fan, since it was too fast earlier, this half the speed was just enough for me to sleep :-)
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Four

That day I was alone at home, and it was night when I reached, and as I was about to open the lock, I saw it lying there.
A doll, with head separated!
Brushing aside the scary thoughts, I murmured to myself that it must be kids from upstairs who threw it there, smiled at myself for getting scared for a moment, switched on the fan & slept.
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Five

It was yesterday night.
I was fast asleep.
Suddenly some creaky noise woke me up.
There was no sign of it reducing, nor could I make out where it’s coming from.
When it really got intolerable, I got up.
I asked the landlord who stays in the next house, that if it’s some neighbors making that noise, we should ask them to stop.
We decided to figure out & went out, crossing the building behind, where I had never been before.
As we crossed the tree, in front of me was an unbelievable sight!
A cross between a giant fan and a windmill fitted over a building which by it self’s a cross between a scientists lab and a scary haunted house!
It was rotating slowly making creaky noise!
My heart was thumping loud with a mixture of excitement & fear!
I looked behind & the landlord who came with me was not be seen!
That’s when I realized the tricky situation I was in, standing all alone, in the middle of the night, not knowing what to do next!

Before I could do anything...well...then...I woke up for real :D

It was the fan in my room which has been working at half the original speed, since I hit it, had now almost stopped, making creaky noise!

I switched it off, and tried sleeping without the fan :-)
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Epilogue

Got the fan repaired and today, as usual, I am going to sleep peacefully :-)

Ode to a ‘haven’t met’ friend :-)

Like dewdrop that disappeared before the morning sun

Like fragrance from an unknown flower
Like streak of silver light in the night sky from a shooting star

Like distant cloud on the mountain top
Like sweet dream that vanished when I woke up
Like whisper of child murmuring its happiness in sleep

Like song from an unseen bird
Like music rustling leaves made
Like mountain streams I met and parted
Like mist in the valley, that went away with the wind

...................................................................................

"A poem is never finished, only abandoned." – Paul Valery

Quotes

"A human being is a part of the whole, called by us the 'Universe,' a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." – Albert Einstein

“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, and die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.” – Robert A. Heinlein

The start-up checklist

Pure WOW stuff this is!

The start-up checklist


Source: Indexed

This should be on Twitter?

Over the weekend

Read Parva - Interesting.

Half way through - Inside Steve's Brain - Steve Jobs surely thinks different

Spotted, fiat 500 - Cute

Watched The Hangover and agree with the review.

RIP MJ - There will never be anyone like you.

Style Statement?! :P

Spotted @ BTM Layout Bengaluru :-)
For some MTV show said the chap when quizzed but we clicked anyway :-)

Three new exciting addresses on the web

Check, if you haven't already

Wolframalpha

bing

Google wave

'Just Lather, That's All' & Some Thoughts

Internet is a one of the best things to happen to our generation.
Well, I just tripped on this, one of my favorite short stories, which’s a part of my 2nd P.U.C (12th) curriculum.
This is one of those chapters that stayed with me even after the exams were over (:P)
Part because we had such an amazing teacher who kept us interested in ‘English’ class, which’s generally ignored by 'Science' students.
Will leave you with this.

Anil Kumble - Man of IPL - 09

The story was way too similar to IPL 2008, RCB on a losing streak, looking down & beat. To cut the story short, ‘Hopeless’ is the single word.

Enter Abracadabra Anil Kumble as captain.


Retired Test Player, smirked the people who don’t know the man well.

But for those who know that behind that gentle emotionless face lies a competitor as fierce as you get, there was hope.

Throughout his career he hardly showed any emotion or sledged, but no one ever tried harder or played the game tougher.


The under celebrated, battle hardened, gentle giant rose to the challenge magnificently. As a captain and player, he lead from front.
The bunch of losers transformed into a team of winners.

And the smiling assassin was striking at will. It’s said that he always thought the batsmen out, reminder was the game against Panjab, Kumble vs Yuvaraj

And no one deserved to lift the trophy more than Kumble. Sad that RCB ended up one blow short. It's heartbreaking.(Yeah, it still hurts)

It was vintage Kumble with a captain's spell in the finals, that best epitomized what Kumble is all about.

Bowling the first over to Gilchrist (fresh from a 35 ball 85 assault in the semi final), and outsmarting him.
Taking the bull by horns and taming.

And then coming back to remove dangerous looking Symonds.
That's what spearheads of attacks do.

When the DC were about to accelerate, removing Rohit Sharma.
Delivering when it matters.

Wicket of Venugopal Rao to the last delivery of the spell was a bonus.


Well, I have memories of mostly hearing radio commentary when Kumble was in his pomp.
Here he was turning clock back, at his very best and it's a sight!

For this one reason, no great fan of IPL to start with, now I am a convert.

Thanks to Lalit Modi, decades from now, when I will be telling tales of Kumble to my grandchildren(:P), who may not be able to relate to test/one day match, I can always refer to the IPL-09 :-)

It's cliched, but let me say, 'Form of the game is temporary; Anil Kumble's class is permanent'

RCB Rocks

I know it's little too early, but win or lose, for the first time in the IPL history I was confident to cheer for RCB, and they pulled it off in style
Salute Kumble (Written on 14-03-06 repeated here here and here)

Three of my own lines :-)

May be it’s the rainy, cloudy, breezy, drizzly weather of Bengaluru now, 3 of my own lines here :-)

1) Like waves in the beach, you are, all the time on my mind, as the shore pushes back, waves go back, for a moment, only to come back, constantly, (little scary but!) so wonderful.

2) You are appearing & disappearing like moonlight on a cloudy night.

3) Are you really everywhere or is it that just I see? :P

(Image credits: www)

Classy

Btw it's Big B with the Dog :-)

The Perfect Indian Car - Skoda Yeti?

Sometime back, in the BBC's Auto Mag, Top Gear's editorail, Vardhan Kondvikar, articulated what was on my mind for quite sometime, a perfect Indian Car.

”My perfect Indian car would be a little SUV, priced about Rs 8 lakh with a punchy but small diesel engine, under 2.0 litres, with a manual gearbox. It won’t be immensely well equipped but it will have electric mirrors and windows, climate control and good plastics. ABS and airbags of course. And flexible seating for five, with split and tumble. It’ll feel like a proper shrunken SUV, and we’ll love it.”

He went on add that he had the Mitsubishi Pajero Pinin in mind, and also mentioned the failed Ford Fusion.

I am betting on the new Skoda Yeti just from initial impressions. (No road test reviews yet)

Based on the concept showcased in 2005, unveiled at Geneva Motor Show this March, it has just begun series production, and to be launched in India, early 2010(at around Rs 10 lakh?)

It seems to have all ingredients right. Hope it's priced right too.


Start saving :-)

Links

The Latest Incredible India Commercial

Fake IPL Player

What is the best comment in source code you have ever encountered?

Allure of Amrithapura & Beauty of Kundadri

Last week I had been to Amruthapura and Kundadri

Both the places are as awesome as they are underrated.
Two separate trips, full length posts here with loads of pictures and videos are required for even trying to do justice to the places.
I am going to do it someday, watch this space, but for the time being here’s a nice blog post, Trip to Kondadri and one, two, articles about Amruthapura

Well, it was my second visit to Amruthapura, and being from Malenadu I still went gaga over Kundadri.

In essence both the places are so very different, yet there is one thing in common, the mysterious charm.

Save Nanda Road

Jayanagar 4th Main road, which is known as Nanda Road/Rashtriya Vidyalaya or R.V. Road, runs from South end circle to 44th Cross in 5th block for almost 2 kilometers.


With well maintained parks and majestic trees on either side, it is one of the most beautiful roads, right in the middle of concrete jungle.
It’s a road I always loved to walk/drive. It never failed to Rejuvenate.
And it's in the danger of disappearing, courtesy Namma Metro.
(Yes Bengaluru has to progress, yes Metro is more than needed, but not at this cost. i.e. plan it better)
Hasiru Usiru is fighting to save it and some more of Namma Bengaluru natural heritage.
Here

Update:
They paved paradise, and put up a parkin' lot!

Thanks to Web 2.0

I come across stuff like this

1) 3D UI Interaction and some more of the very smart RIAs @ outsmart

2) Ignore Everybody @ gapingvoid

Virender Sehwag & Zen Lesson

If the ball is there to be I will hit it - Virender Sehwag

(Sometimes I suspect he added 'If' for the sake of it!)

It must be tough being Virender Sehwag.
For he made a mockery of established technique of batting.
For it seems that his motto is to hit the ball as hard as he can as often as he can.
Batting wasn’t supposed to be like this.

People who didn’t understand the man & his methods and called it madness.
They called him a slogger & his success a fluke.
He was expected die by the sword he lived by.

But after 9 years of living by his Mantra and in the process instilling fear in every opposition (Quoting any stats here would be an insult to the free spirit that he is) the cricketing world seems to be unanimous that he is a great. And he continues to entertain in his original, uninhibited, and inimitable style.

In 2003 at Australia having been warned some chin music by Aussie bowlers, Sehwag decided to play Bhangra & how. And on 195 he got out caught attempting to hit a full-toss out of the ground. More importantly he said afterwards that he would have done exactly the same if faced with the situation all over again. If anyone thought it’s false bravado, he blasted a six to reach his first triple-hundred a few months later in Pakistan. And that wasn't even a full-toss!

That’s when I fully realized the man’s genius.

He doesn’t need to open his mouth to cause mental disintegration in opposition!

My 3 favorite stories about the entertainer par excellence are below

1) Virender Sehwag was facing Pakistan’s medium-fast bowler Abdul Razzaq, who was reverse-swinging the ball, and the way the Indian handled him is narrated in an interesting story in Australia’s legendary spinner Shane Warne’s book.

“Sehwag came up to (his batting mate Jeremy) Snape and said: ‘We must lose this ball. I have a plan’. Next over he whacked the ball clean out of the ground, forcing umpires to pick another from the box that would obviously not reverse straight away.
To which Sehwag said: ‘We are alright for one hour.’ Smart I say.”

Such out of the box thinking and implementation, only Sehwag can :-)


2) When England came touring under Nasser Hussain, he had great success with negative tactics of bowling outside the leg stump using Ashely Giles. Sehwag, then batting low down the order, was sitting in the dressing room, fretting at the sight of his seniors struggling to play the wide of leg stump line with their pads, butts and other parts of the anatomy.

Sehwag blasted his mates and said wait till I get out there, I will teach him a lesson.

Sure enough, his chance came.

He charged down the wicket to loft him, reverse swept him, & then ran down the pitch to hit him... to all corners with such ferocity that within three overs he forced the Hussain to take Giles out of the attack.

Standing there and watching the balls go by is not his brand of cricket. For Sehwag it was the case of a bowler who was afraid to bowl more positive lines, up against a batsman who was unafraid to play his shots.

3) In one of the interviews Ganguly made an interesting revelation about Sehwag. "The best way to know how Sehwag's mind works is to sit next to him in the players' balcony when India are batting. Every few minutes he will clutch his head and yell, 'Chauka gaya' [missed out on a four] or 'Chakka gaya'[missed out on a six]. That's how he thinks, in fours and sixes."

Yes the bowlers always fancy their chances when they're bowling to Sehwag; it's only that Sehwag fancies his own chances much more.

Batsmen usually worry about the pitch, time of day, phase of innings, and quality of the bowler. For Sehwag the only thing matters is type of delivery.

Simple.

Absolute clarity of mind.

How many times we have watched him play and miss, and then the next delivery being carted out of the ground nonchalantly.

He does not care for what has just happened; free from the burden of past and uncertainty of future, he lives in the moment, and it is an exuberant one.

Isn’t that a great lesson for life...

Tata Nano - A Dream Becomes Reality

The man and The Machine

Like all the great human endeavors, it started with a by-now-famous dream.

Watching Indian families riding on two-wheelers - the father driving the scooter, his young kid standing in front of him, his wife seated behind him holding a little baby, Ratan Tata, conceived the People's Car, a safe, affordable, all-weather form of transport for such a family. And the goal was set at Rupees 1 Lakh.

It was an audacious move.

First they said it can’t be done.

Ratan Tata & his team marched on.

Then they said it will just be a glorified Auto.

Ratan Tata drove to 9th annual Auto Expo(first time unveiling), on January 10, 2008 at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi, India, a proper car at Rupees 1 lakh.

Damn all the naysayers.If it's good enough for Ratan Tata, it good enough for us too.

When a proud Ratan Tata said ‘A promise is a promise’, it was a statement, heard across the globe.

Obstacles were many, Singur fiasco, 26/11 terrorist attack on Taj, the flagship hotel of Tata Group and THE RECESSION.
(I am sure there many more which we are not aware)

It is said that 'A true knight is fuller of bravery in the midst, than in the beginning of danger.'

For the way Ratan Tata handled all the above & more, we just agree.

And finally today as it hits the road...Tata Nano , a 4 wheeled people mover which's so much more when viewed in totality, that it is bound to move many souls.

This is a moment to forget the recession, problems, and everyday chores of life, salute Ratan Tata and his team, and then soak in the applause as world sits up, takes notice and says WOW.

Couldn't help posting this

Linea vs Fiesta. You may like niether of the cars and that's not the point here!
Being a regular reader of Auto - Magazines, I can vouch that this has to be among the very best of automotive journalism.
Even if you are not an automobile enthusiast it’s worth a read.
Enjoy :-)

WOW

1) Sixth Sense Tech

2) Quote “A Karan Johar film attracts audiences in a way that a pile of shit would attract a swarm of flies”
:D
(Source PFC)

Rama Sene's Pub Attack + Pink Chaddi Campaign + Pink Condom Campaign

End Result for Me & You = Too Much Fun :-)

I thought the Mangalore Pub Attack by Rama Sene was a cheap publicity stunt.
Then the media outcry was plain silly.
But then this Pink Chaddi brigade outdid them both!
Quite logically(!) the next one came, The Pink Condom Campaign

After so long, just when the temptation to blog overcame the reason, that it's all inconsequential, I found one from greatbong as good as it can get :-)

For all the entertainment, Jai Rama Sene, Love You Pink Chaddi Women, & Sorry Pink Condom People :P

Well, I never thought days of recession can be so much fun :-)

Road To Success

Very thoughtful.


Tripped on this (old) one and couldn't resist posting. Thanks to Swapna for fwd via email.

AR Rahman - Top 10 Hindi Movie Albums

Any work from Rahman is special and choosing the best is like choosing among gems...
So there will be disagreement, but below is my favorites list, in chronological order.
(Before we start, the near misses are Bombay, Earth & Meenaxi)

1) Roja – First one’s always special and boy, wasn’t it…
Best Song: Chhoti Si Asha, it all began with this, the song that catapulted Rahman into greatness and got me hooked to music forever.

2) Rangeela – Rahman’s first true foray into Hindi film music elevating it to an all new different level.
Best Song: Tanha Tanha, it will always remain special(:P) to my generation, an emotional bond of growing up days!

3) Dil Se – Rated by many as maestro’s best work.
Best Song: E Ajnabi, it's simple, beautiful lyrics & music, Udit Naryanan’s rendition of voice takes the song to higher altitudes.
Haunting, 'once in a lifetime' stuff.

4) Taal – It so nearly dethroned ‘Dil Se’ from Rahman’s best work. Well...
Best Song: Nahin Saamne, Hariharan at his best, a song that will touch your soul every time you listen. Ethereal.

5) Takshak – All Rahman albums take time to get addicted, but this one takes the longest and then gets you hooked completely.
The album and each song’s so very different and my favorite here changes every time I listen :-)

6) Lagaan – A timeless classic.
Best Song: O Paalanhare, “A great album is like a bhajan" Rahman had said once and here's a beautiful Krishna bhajan which's a musical masterpiece.

7) Saathiya - Mostly South Indian tunes, rich & enthralling.
Best Song: Saathiya, Gulzar’s lyrics are a breath of fresh air and syrupy sweet vocals of Sonu Nigam do wonders.

8) Swades – An album that’s earthy, pure and has an inexplicable special charm about it.
Best Song: Ye Jo Des Hai Tera, Rahman's best as singer, even long after you have switched off the music, the song keeps playing inside your heart.

9) Rang De Basanti – Considering the range & variety this has to be the most complete Rahman album.
Best Song: Roobaroo, OMG it beat the ‘Luka Chuppi’, can you believe it!

10) Slumdog Millionaire – WOW.
Best Song: One of my friends succinctly put it “Best work from the combo of three of India’s finest ever, Rahman, Gulzar & Sukvinder”
JAI HO.

Update 1: Where do I fit in Dilli6 now? Every time I listen, it's becoming tougher not to:-)

Update 2: Two more trophies to the maestro and this time it's Oscar :-)

How Apt - Considering the times we live in

No Parking!

I was trying to find a parking space in this street in Koramangala, Bengaluru.
And found these warnings in the below order!











Wisely I took a U turn and got out of the street :-)

Best Of Me

This is a shameless self promotion post!

12 of the very best of my blog posts so far, handpicked by none other than me :P

2008
Just One Last Thing
Road Trip Diary-8 Days,8 People,2 Cars,2478.3 kms and some 1000 snaps:-)
Snapshot from ‘Life at a Traffic Signal’ :-)

2007
India’s journey to T20 final...
My favorite Worldcup moment...
A moment in life :-)

2006
PAUSE effect!
Anil Kumble, A true champion

2005
Reclaim your life
Kukke Subrahmanya - Wanna be Brand Ambassador of my place!
Steve Jobs and Innovation
Journey of thots...

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Recession times are here!