Watch Out. Don't Click

Today I stumbled upon a new thing, called dontclick. It's an experiment on the site dontclick where they check if you really miss clicking or happy navigating without clicks. Interesting. You can check it.

Shift Kiya.. Kiya... No-kia!

I wonder if there are people on this earth who do what they say. I mean, sometimes it's so difficult. Not generally, but for me it's so. I say something, and do something else.

This time it was my phone. I lost my phone to the rain of Dehradun. Well, most probably, as it stopped working later in the night after the day when it caught some rain. And so, I was going to get a new phone.

I have been a music freak for almost 10 yrs, but I still never had a music phone. So this time I decided to get a music phone. And since I got a digicam, I wanted to have a non-camera phone. I searched, and found that Nokia had no such phone. (!!)

Well, I thought of buying a Sony Ericsson and later decided to go with a MotoYuva. I even found one with a friend of my cousin and finally I was happy with my choice of a new Moto.

The day I had to buy phones (my dad also needed one, as he lost his almost a month ago), I took off on my dad's Nova with him as the driver. (I still don't drive a scooter, or any other vehicle for that matter!)

The first shop we selected belonged to 'apna subhash' who is popular in the city for his helping nature. ('Apna' was part of his shop's name when I had bought my first phone from there in 2003) By this time 'apna Subhash' had stopped selling cellphones and was only in the business of advising as far as cells were concerned. My dad asked him who had Nokia and Motorola Agencies in the town and he immediately suggested not to go with a Motorola even though he said Motoyuva wasn't a bad phone.

Next we reached Goyal PCO, our supplier of clothing except shirts, pants and sarees, I mean, from towels to bedsheets and caps to socks, the owner of course being my dad's good friend. He there asked him to come with him to Bilal's, who had almost every model of cellphone that was sold in the town. As we talked to the guy sitting behind the counter of Bilal's, the guy suggested us not to go with a Motorola and rather stick to a Nokia. The reason he gave was that we had gone to him with bhaisahab (the owner of the PCO) and hence he would give us the best advice. He also said that he currently didn't have it and it would take him two days to get a Moto as Motorola wasn't in demand in our town.

This time I finally came down. I was all in mood to get a Moto until then but as I heard I needed to wait for two days for a thing that was un-suggested by a number of people, I decided to get back to a Nokia.

I asked the guy what were the prices of 5200, 6300 and 3110 classic. And soon I decided to go with 3110 classic as 6300 was a bit too high on price and even though I was at a liberty to buy that, I didn't want to put in that much money. Nokia 5200 was de hone and hence I didn't want to buy that. Thus I got a Nokia 3110 Classic, once again a Nokia, after my 2100, 2280, and 2600. In the meantime, I got my father a Nokia 2626 that he lost last month and this time I got him a Nokia 1650, making him the third person who bought the model while going with me.

To other cell makers: I have recommended a number of phones from other companies including Motorola, Sony Ericsson and Samsung, and this time I was about to shift to a Moto myself too. But at last, No-kia.

Blogging. Not racing

Everybody makes mistakes. I do too. And here is one that I feel many people do. So did I.

Blogging. A wonderful thing. Something that gives you freedom to say what you want to say. And so people blog. And then they blog, and blog to get readers. That's where the mistake happens.

I was a guy who started a blog as an experiment last September. I kept blogging on and off with business, telecom, and Hindi blogs, hoping they would 'run well'. But in that I lost some of my real blogging pleasure. Still my big world (that's my BLOG) kept going.

And then, there was a block. When I didn't write, due to exams and then unavailability of net and then for no reason. In the meantime I started a blog on music, because I liked that. I thought I'd blog out my views on music because I always liked to make the first opinion.

This was something I was wrong with. I blogged. I gave out my views. But I joined the race I didn't have to. I started thinking more about viewers of blog rather than my views.

And that was One Of The Reasons that I wrote lyrics of three songs from Rock on!! As usual, some time after writing them I searched the song title on Google, and what happened opened my eyes. The top result belonged to a person who had copied the lyrics from my blog. (Don't ask how I know, I can understand if it's copied from mine) On the other hand, my blog wasn't in results. (I m talking top 50, that's what I keep on first page.) This little bad luck was an eye opener for me. This guy who copied my material told me that blogging wasn't a race and there was no point in reaching people with something before others, it's about reaching people with something different, something that is your own, your views you want others to know.

It wasn't that bad because I had written those lyrics because I liked them too, but I was wrong in searching for results and all, of my writings, especially those lyrics.

So if u r a blogger, or ever become one, be yourself and not what people want you to be.

Happy blogging.

Way they copy: Picturespeak

Not a big deal. But it shows the way we do things. This was the NYT site I had visited a few days back.


And then one day I opened the Hindustan Times site, which made me blink for a second, as I thought I had mistakenly opened NYT again. But it was HT only.


Of course both pictures have been taken almost simultaneously. I think it's pretty normal for us. But isn't it showing we don't want to work, or say even think much?

This is with the assumption that HT has copied NYT. In case it's opposite, which is highly unlikely, the same applies to US people. :)

The World is Flat - III

Yesterday I went to a marriage party. Probably I will be giving a description of all that happened later (actually nothing at all happened) but first I would like you to know that I found after four years of my Vellore, I am almost disqualified for a typical marriage party!

And of course, once again, that the world is flat.

I and my dad reached there sometime after 7.30 pm (courtesy dad, who thought it'll start in time) and found that the dinner hadn't started. (anything new??) Our hosts took us to a banquet hall where mahila sangeet was going on. (!!!)

Well, it seems something has changed. It was a mahila sangeet program, held in a banquet hall, with a DJ and a dance floor, and with a dinner following. Of course, purush, that is fortunate males, could join the proceedings and the sanctity of mahila sangeet was kept only by the fact that there were only females on the dance floor.

The sangeet was also wonderful and got more wonderful as I was sitting there in the banquet for almost 45 minutes. The first I remember being played was a traditional Dhoom taana from Om Shanti Om that was being supported by the dance of a lady of almost 25 (+/-10, keeping in view my record at guessing ages of people) and I was wondering how Vishal Shekhar could make something that didn't even belong to their age. Accolades!

A few minutes later, which seemed to pretty long with the dance, there were small children of my mohalla (no relation with college mohalla) who jumped towards the stage. No, it wasn't children anymore. I had been out of town for too long it seems. Now it was a girl in her teens who was imitating Katrina as the hall was filled with the tune of Zara-zara touch me. And then, after another traditional dance on Aaja Nachle and maybe one or two more songs, it was a number of school and college going girls that captured the DJ as it played Kajrare followed by some typical DJ tracks, and the girls kept on rocking with dances that I never knew existed in my town. Not in mahila sangeet at least.

Finally I was getting the point. In the five years I had been out, having seen the culture of mainly metros, living with students from entire country, I had forgot there was a similar progress going on in my town too. And that too, at a speed more than in the big cities. The number of young girls and boys who were getting good exposure to metro culture was increasing. Basically, it was the same people I had been with for the past five years. And now, I was meeting them. Surprised. Shocked.

Maybe I have not been very clear in what I have said. But try to get the meaning if you can. ANyways, there was something else I am pretty clear about. My disqualification.

Having stayed at college for four years, my diet has changed. I eat a lot now. But that happens only at home it seems. Yesterday in the party, I could not eat most of the things. I mean, I didn't like the quality of North Indian dishes because I was eating only at home. And I didn't like South Indian at all after staying in Tamilnadu for 4 years. Nor did I want to have South Indian, actually.

Just had a few little things and a poori with a sabji, and I came back after one ice-cream.

Disqualified. Mom says I won't be going to the next marriage party. Thanks mom.

This world is not fair.
God doesn't believe in racism.

Women's Game

Rolex. IBM. Anything else?

It wasn't like I was searching for jobs in multinationals. And Rolex would not offer me one anyway. It was the things I was seeing in the last match of Wimbledon. Reason: It was mens' singles.

First of all, please be clear I have no knowledge of tennis except that Leander Paes lost to America's Andre Agassi in 1996 Olympics (hope I'm correct on year) and that it's the game played by Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, and of course, Sania Mirza.

So, back to the topic, I was seeing this 'boring' Mens' singles thing between Roger Federer and Marat Safin. And though I could understand by the way the match was going that they were playing well (otherwise I wouldn't know their names, too) I didn't find it very interesting, or not at all interesting if compared to the last two matches where respectively Venus and Serena defeated their Russian and Chinese opponents.

I mean, seeing those girls playing those strong backhands and fronthands (I don't know if that term exists in tennis) is something worth watching. It's mesmerising to see how one little girl makes the big lady in front of her move here to there with her tricks (though it didn't happen that many times) and how beautifully (or dangerously) they show their joy when they win their games, sets and matches. (phrase lifted from Suhail Seth's articles, eventually a 1988 movie too)

But what is there to see in those Mens' Singles?? (or even doubles, for that matter) Why do people see them at all? I mean, if you want to see muscular men doing big action, why don't go for some Hollywood movie? (I hope there are not many 'bollywood only' people who watch tennis, that too mens')

Or maybe there is something worth seeing in the game too. Since I see Cricket, I know men like games, and maybe those guys play really well, so they can watch them play. But then, in a game where even the audiences don't shout during the game, what's the whole point in watching the GAME??

So, I think, I have thrown it out in the last sentence. I didn't, don't, see tennis for game. I see it for timepass. And for those girls. After all, I feel it's a women's game.

Of Blogs and Blogging

For a long time now, I m off blogging. I mean, the real blogging- My big world. I do not know when it exactly happened, but I changed in some way. I felt I was no more able to write. But probably it was something else. Probably I wasn't getting enough exposure- to world, to worldliness.

It was those days of college (not very long back actually, it's just a few months old story) when I felt like writing on everything and used to start scribbling anywhere, hardly half of that reaching my blog. But since the day I left college, the time I was on a trip to Madurai, Bangalore, Kanyakumari and Kodai, I lost touch. And then, even when I got net back, I did everything, including writing on my music blog, but didn't really BLOG.

I thought it was because I was staying home and not getting out. But today, after reading a new blog, I sensed there was something more that was wrong. I wasn't trying new things. Not even those that did not need me going out. Reading. I wasn't reading books. And I wasn't reading many blogs either. The only blogs I read were those from my friends, but the real thing, my habit of reading a number of random blogs was gone.

And probably that was the reason I wasn't writing. Probably it was the lack of enough incoming that resulted in lesser outgoing of thoughts. Probably I wasn't discussing enough. And now that I have found the reason for my inactivity, which is at least what seems to me, it will be worth seeing for me if I get back to 'the writing' or not.

Wish I do.

Many things in life happen for the first time.
And most of them never happen again.

Mark Burnett is Smarter Than a Fifth Grader

Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass se Tez Hain?

Well, if you really are smarter than a fifth grader, you are going to admit that you are NOT smarter than a fifth grader. At least on the show.

"Main Paanchvi Pass se Tez NAHI Hoon!"

If you have seen the episode of 'Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass se Tez Hain?' where Pragjyoti Samal won a crore rupees, you must have seen the rules and must be clear why I think so. But if you have not, keep on reading.

'Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader', the show which is copied in India as 'Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass se Tez Hain' was created by British television producer Mark Brunett. And the guy made a little pocket in the game which not only saved millions of dollars of television producers, but also kept the sanctity of the game by proving that nobody was smarter than a fifth grader.

The pocket is that after answering ten questions, when the winner has a crore rupees in hand, she is told that she cannot use cheats anymore (completely fair) and told that she WILL HAVE TO ANSWER THE QUESTION ONCE IT IS DISPLAYED.

That is, the players are not allowed to quit the game at the last question. If they see the question, and fail to give the right answer, they are sent down to rupees 2 Lac, from One Crore. (Bad, actually.)

I think any person who is smarter than a fifth grader will like to save the crore rupees in hand rather than risk them, and proudly ADMIT that she is NOT smarter than a fifth grader.

PS: To Guys, Sorry for the use of female pronouns. But then, no guy has won a crore rupees on the show yet.

From Jaipur to Quota

Mr. Bainsla has done it for his community. Going all the way from Jaipur to NCR, he has found his way to Quota. Where does this 5% comes from is another problem. The first problem is, what if I want reservation tomorrow? Shall I opt for the same track? Collect a few thousand people and reach block the roads of NCR?

The Gujjar 'protest' has set a significant 'example' for many leaders. Whereas Raj Thackeray had achieved only political recognition for himself, Bainsla has really 'achieved' something and I very much fear this is going to be a pattern that might be followed by some community or the other before elections.

Instead of any action against those who had blocked life in the NCR and Rajasthan, the government has awarded the 'agitation' with a 'special' quota which comes from nowhere and once challenged in court, may even go unimplemented.

But I feel it's not the quota that is the real problem with the Gujjar agitation. It is what process they have followed and what can become a trend after seeing the instant success of the agitation. There is no need to tell how badly Gujjar agitation had affected life in Rajasthan, NCR and even UP, affecting number of trains also, some of them even cancelled or diverted.

In short, whatever the motive, Rajasthan Government has set a bad example with the way they have tackled the issue. Also, I feel any such protests that affect life of general public, such as blocking of roads or trains etc. should be banned by the law and those laws should be enforced properly.

Dyslexic me

I never knew what it was until I saw Taare Zameen Par. But my writing was not legible for most of the Homo Sapiens. Or Hetero, for that matter.

Then, I somehow passed class twelfth, with the help of my parents who never sent me to a punishment boarding school. My mother made a genius out of me by making me learn everything by heart except for the maths that was dealt by my dad and his hand of which my head had become used to.

And then, my world changed. From somewhere I got the fact that a computer did not need me to write. In fact, there was a software (God only knew what a software meant. In fact I never understood where it was SOFT!!) called Microsoft Office which made your work very easy, I could make mistakes and wait for a red line to come below all the wrong letters I typed. And though my grammar wasn't bad, it told me with a green line whenever I went wrong. On top of that the keyboards did not have any letters that could confuse me. I mean there were only English letters on the keyboard (No Russian as my teacher told!!) and that too, only capital letters. I could differentiate easily between 'b' and 'd'. It was simply the difference of 'B' and 'D' with the caps lock off which was shown with a light.

Well, I heard it was some Bill Gates who made this SOFTware. My friend Titu told me that Aamir Khan did not tell Bill Gates' name in the movie but Bill Gates actually asked his company people to make this software to help dyslexic people because he was also dyslexic. Titu also told that someone told him Bill Gates was told how to write by a teacher called Steve Jobs and this was actually where the movie came from. He also told that Aamir did not mention Bill because he did not want to put Bill Gates' name with Leonardo da Vinci and Albert Einstein.

Anyways, whatever it was, I got a great idea and finally I am a computer engineer now. But there is some difference. When I was dyslexic, I could write some letters on paper, but now I am a typing expert and cannot write a letter on paper. I understand letters now but I do not understand paper and pen anymore.

Now my alphabet is not ABCDE... It's QWERTY... I think I am more dyslexic now.

Well, whatever, I liked the movie. Aamir Uncle is great. And so is Titu.