mad ads

Nike's first cricket ad has got some really rave reviews in ad world. While most appreciated the efforts, some like Hindustan Times did not like it. HT went on to mark it as one of the worst ad of recent times.

Strange indeed!!

So what clicks for this ad about cricket crazy India?
Caribbean crusade was about to begin when this ad was launched on mass media on a grand scale. Before its launch, only few ads aimed solely at cricket world cup were on TV. I am not counting the "India shining" of cricket - the Pepsi chant for Indian team. I do not like SRK dramatising cricket for me. There are enough ingredients present in the game of cricket. Leave apart the Pepsi blue billion campaign, you hardly had anything. So Nike launched its cricket fever ad at the perfect time. Mind you India entered the WC with a good form (ok let me say it correctly two continuous series wins).

Set in the backdrop of Mumbai, this ad displays the character of Indian cricket fan. The zeal with which Indians follow (I cant say the same for play) cricket is the theme for the ad. A busy junction in Mumbai traffic reminds us of only phoolwaalis, eunuchs and beggars (Thanks Mr Madhur Bhandarkar). But here is the catch. This ad does not show anything like that. It shows how cricket crazy young Indians can grab any opportunity to cherish the game. Of course it does not happen in reality but who knows someday we will actually see this happening. The gala music on the higher notes sets the tempo to a high value. It directly touches the heart. No larger than the life stars giving gyan about cricket or discussing faltu things, plain cricket straight from the heart.

What does not click for this ad?
In my opinion, everything clicked for it. If you really press me to find a negative about this ad, then I would say that it is not as flashy as Pepsi chant. After listening and watching so many times also, I can not sing the song which plays in the background.

Great work guys. Keep it up.

at last...

Mittal Arcelor, Indian budget, HLL, GDP, Values, Narayan Murthy, HP, NICE, Economic reform, Tata Corus, Dividends, Birla Novelis, Infrastructure woes, Singur, Titan, Barista Lavazza, MFs, RIPL IPCL, Nuclear deal, Metro, Walmart Bharti, Vodafone Hutch, inflation, Ranbaxy Merck, taxing, Bajajs, Ambanis, Birlas, Forex, Ruias, Siva, Premji, Wimaxd Bangalore, Sam Pitroda, Reservations, Profit, Dog menace, Walmart, Railway budget, Brand, SEZs, Nandigram, P&G, Left, RSS, Naxalism, Suburbs, Ulfa, Terrorism, Kashmir, CRR, Afganistan, Iran, Gas pipe, Customer, Pepsico, Dell, Bata, ITC, IPOs, Cauvery issue, Devanhalli Airport, Banguluru...

I am over it now...

ps: If you dog a dog during the dog days of summer, you'll be a dog tired dogcatcher.

comfortably numb

Hello.
Is there anybody in there?
Just nod if you can hear me.
Is there anyone home?

Come on, now.
I hear youre feeling down.
Well I can ease your pain,
Get you on your feet again.

Relax.
I need some information first.
Just the basic facts:
Can you show me where it hurts?

There is no pain, you are receding.
A distant ships smoke on the horizon.
You are only coming through in waves.
Your lips move but I cant hear what youre sayin.
When I was a child I had a fever.
My hands felt just like two balloons.
Now I got that feeling once again.
I cant explain, you would not understand.
This is not how I am.
I have become comfortably numb.

Ok.
Just a little pinprick. [ping]
Therell be no more --aaaaaahhhhh!
But you may feel a little sick.

Can you stand up?
I do believe its working. good.
Thatll keep you going for the show.
Come on its time to go.

There is no pain, you are receding.
A distant ships smoke on the horizon.
You are only coming through in waves.
Your lips move but I cant hear what youre sayin.
When I was a child I caught a fleeting glimpse,
Out of the corner of my eye.
I turned to look but it was gone.
I cannot put my finger on it now.
The child is grown, the dream is gone.
I have become comfortably numb.

- Confortably Numb by Pink Floyd

kulfi, mocha and smoke - 2

A Café Mocha is a variant of a cafe latte. Like a latte it is typically one third espresso and two thirds steamed milk, but a shot of chocolate is added. Typically the chocolate is in the form of an Italian syrup, although less sophisticated vending systems use instant chocolate powder. Whipped cream, dustings of cocoa and marshmallows may also be added on top for flavor and decoration. source: wikipedia

Interesting naa??
OK, OK, don't kill me. I am not here to give you gyan on types of coffee and such.
Mocha is the coffee shop next to Juhu Beach which I visited recently.

So after all those kulfis and chana jor garams, we decided to have a nice cup of coffee at the most happening place on Juhu beach. Mocha is a high end coffee shop of the likes of barista -- OK I should have called it Lavazza, see how well aware I am in GK :) -- or Cafe Coffee day -- CCD -- . What makes it different from others is that it serves vine and vodkas also (alas they don't serve Beer). So in short you can call it a coffee bar.

This kind of place is always with hunks and hotties. Gang of boys in their early 16s, bunch of girls in their early 15s all sitting and enjoying "coffee". Eye-catchers I call it. Funky clothes and hairstyles on display. Only places like this you can find, geeks suited in formals sharing a couch with girls in skimpy clothes. Interesting indeed.

What to order here?
Coffee and other food items are obsessively expensive. I think they add the cost of the skirt which the waiters here wear. Ok ok, don't get any ideas, they are not influenced by Elton John. They wear a long apron which looks more like a skirt.

As with other coffee places, the key crowd puller here is Hukkah, so you can see all these 'kids' enjoying each and every puff of smoke from those well designed hukkahs. Cigarettes just add on to the dense fog of nicotine filled air. Welcome to a teens' joint (joint as in a ice cream joint).

So why do you go there?
You don't go there to enjoy coffee. Coffee to sirf ek bahana hai. So you order something to pass your time and enjoy the place. We too did the same. "earl grey tea" was too attractive to be left out from my attention. So I ordered that with a style as if I have been drinking that since my childhood. My friends also did almost the same.
Now here is the fun part. Place the order and then sit and relax. Enjoy the music. Oh I forogt to mention they play really good music. Oh not himesh bhai, but shaggy and likes. Full dhinchik types.

My earl grey comes exactly after 23 minutes of wait and twice reminding the guy about the order. And what do I see when it comes. A pot with hot water, a tea bag and some milk. So now here is the billion dollar question -
Why did they need 23 minutes to serve me my tea?
a: It takes exactly 20 minutes to milk the cow, add to it the time to warm water and milk.
b: for a nice early grey experience you need water at exactly 67 degree C, and milk just 40 degree above room temperature.
c: They have already added the waiting factor in the cost, so now you have to use it also.
d: There was a belly dance performance slotted to happen during this time. Alas, the dancer performed in kitchen instead of lobby.

Whatever the reason, it did take 23 minutes. We did our usual tp. And then gulped the coffee/tea as it was getting late for the flight.
Take an auto and rush to airport.
Au revoir Mumbai.
I will be back soon.

kulfi, mocha and smoke -1

Juhu beach reminded me of those days when I used to go with my family to parks or those famous "family" picnic spots. Tiffin party, we used to call such trips. These tiffin parties had their distinct charm. Home made food, a game or two of tambola, some running around here and there in the garden and there you had a nice family outing.

Saw the same scenes at Juhu beach last evening. Families eating together, laughing together. Sitting on the sand, watching the red sun set slowly at the horizon, it was a feeling of satisfaction. Those masala dane and chana jor garam tested much better than the sandwich I had at the airport. Malai kulfi, or as my friends ate it assuming it to be bhang kulfi, was no lesser a pleasure than the ice-cream offered in the in-flight dinner the previous night. It was simplicity at its best.

And guess, what else did we do sitting at the beach. We tried to recall all the Urdu words we know. Who's idea was it to do such a thing? Yes, you guessed it right. None other than our own creative genius Baba. I still wonder from where does he get all such weird ideas. Nevertheless it was fun. A well deserved fun after the day's work. Can you believe we came up with words like bekhudi, ilm, ashra, vazeer, naamakul and what not...

vellapanti at its best!!!
I just love it...

BPL

BPL: Below Poverty Line

As per the Government of India, poverty line for the urban areas is Rs. 296 per month and for rural areas Rs. 276 per month, i.e. people in India who earn less than Rs. 10 per day. As per GOI, this amount will buy food equivalent to 2200 calories per day, medically enough, to prevent death.

Almost 30% of India's population classifies as BPL as per the above definitions. Link...

On what basis have our planners decided this definition of "Poverty Line"? Does it mean that the person will get enough food to stay alive? How and where is he or she supposed to cook it? What about the minimum needs in education, housing, health services, clothing,and other basic necessities? Are we supposed to live on pavements and sleep under trees from birth till death? YOU BE THE JUDGE!

Take this:
For a person in India, Morning tea and evening tea is a daily routine. Considering tea costs Rs 2 per cup, and that it gives only 22 cal of energy, a normal man is left with Rs 6 to fulfil his 2156 Cal of requirements. Only a magic pill can do it for him now!!!

Another really bizarre trivia:
The time taken for me to write this entry (research and typing) during my office hours translates to an amount which is more than monthly requirements to be above poverty line for a person living in urban area. I don't know how should I feel about it.
* There are 36 Indians in Forbes's billionaire list. Link...

Interestingly the World Bank's definition of the poverty line, for under developed countries, like India, is US$ 1/day/person or US $365 per year. As per this definition, more than 75% of all Indians are, probably, below the poverty line!

Spartacus Returns

Spartacus Returns is coming very soon and we would like to heartly invite you all for the show on the 10th March, 2007 at the Tamil Government School on ORC Road, Austin Town , Bangalore. This is a musical show and also it is to raise funds for the Bornfree Art School. We are basically looking for individual contribution; Tickets are ranged from Rs.5,10,20, 50,100,200,500, and 1000. We are very glad if you could also invite your friends and families for the show and sell tickets to them. The play starts at 5;30 pm ( Kannada show ), and at 7;30 ( English show ). Please contact me about more details. We are looking forward to seeing you on Saturday!

Spartacus Returns

Credits
Script, Lyrics, Music, Stage Design, Direction~ John Devaraj
Assisntant Director~Mioi Nakayama, Japan
Production Controller~Jino Augustine
Sound & Light~ Takashi Yoshida, Amy Bins
Properties Master~Srinivas
Costumer~Valentina Gander

Cast
Spartacus I ~ John Devaraj
Commandant ~Rafeal T,France.
Ceasar ~ Anthony Devaraj.
Ceasars gaurds~ Robin and Srinivas
Jullian~Siju T Daniel
Senetors~ Royalty~ Takashi Yoshida (Japan), Prathibha R, Valentina Gander ( Austria), Amy Bins (U.K.)
Ceasars Dancers ~ Raja J, Chinnappa, Gayathri, Usha, Lakshmi, Mioi Nakayama
Gladiators / Slaves ~ John D, Saravana, Siju, Chinna, Raja J, Harish, Sorei K, Gokul, Sentil, Harish M, Ram, Kumaresh, Ravi D
Verona~Gayathri
Modern Spartacus~Jayaram
Koko Man~Chinnappa
Uncle Sam~Srinivas
Monsters~Ananth, Raja J, John Devaraj
Child Actors~Students of Bornfree Art School, the Government Higher Primary Schools, of Austin Town & Ashok Nagar

--
Mioi Nakayama [contact her at: mioinak@gmail.com]
Bornfree Art School International
Project Coordinator
http://www.bornfreeart.org

All about eve, but at Adam’s cost?

Read this article in TOI yesterday. In times of all those feminist moment, it does make some sense. A nice read. Taken verbatim from the e-NewsPaper of TOI.

All about eve, but at Adam’s cost?
Suneet Johar | TNN

Women have suffered shocking inequalities for centuries and continue to be discriminated against. I am all for ensuring equality of opportunity for women. The problem arises when in the garb of compensating for past injustices; new laws are formulated to discriminate against men.
Dowry is a shocking insult to womanhood. But there have been cases where wives have framed husbands and in-laws just to avenge a failing marriage. A wife’s mere complaint is sufficient to put the in-laws behind bars.

It is also common in failing marriages for women to demand large settlements by threatening to file dowry cases. In many cases, the hapless husband helplessly complies.

Recently, courts have postulated that no Indian woman can ever lie about being raped and even in the absence of medical evidence, a woman’s word is sufficient to secure conviction. Recently, newspapers exposed a case in which police had framed a businessman for rape. The complainant, it was found, had consensual sex with another man of the same blood type to frame the businessman.
In middle-class colonies of Delhi, there are instances, however rare, of maidservants extorting money from male employers by screaming rape. In one such case, a 65-year-old man was set free only because he was impotent. Courts must consider the probability of either a man or a woman lying. An accused must be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 allows a wife a share of the marital home (in case of divorce) even if it is owned by her parents-in-law and not her husband. Why doesn’t the husband get similar rights to the wife’s parental property? The net outcome will be to discourage married sons from staying with elderly parents.

This law makes it a crime to abuse a woman physically, mentally, verbally, emotionally and sexually. While I fully agree that women deserve this protection, do men not deserve similar protection?

Men have a tax exempt income of Rs 1.10 lakh while women get up to Rs 1.45 lakh. Why should a man earning an income of Rs 5 lakh pay more than a woman earning the same?

Similarly, adultery under IPC 497 is a criminal offense for men but not women. The Indian government sent this law for review to the National Council for Women and got back the response that even in cases of a woman committing adultery; she is the victim!

The new system for admission to Delhi nurseries gives 5 extra points to a girl child. Why should a male toddler be discriminated against even when he and the girl come from the same socio-economic background.

In Canada, so much attention was paid to female education and sports that today women significantly outnumber men in many fields of higher education. Sixty percent all new jobs go to women. There is a realisation that intense (and justified) focus on female education has led to boys falling behind and only now correctives are being installed.

Women are our loved mothers, sisters, daughters and wives. Don’t make them the enemy. Gender is an attribute of the body. The Atman is sexless. Have female equality by all means, but don’t start male inequity. Let not the sins of the father be visited upon the son.

PS: I have full approval of women in my household to write the article.

Cricket Crazy...

Mohan Kalyanasundaram in his article "Is this an Indian or BCCI XI?" on rediff.com writes this -

It is time we have a true democratic process built into the selection of Indian cricket, first the selectors and then the Indian team. If our cricket team needs to play with our Indian flag and be competitive then every Indian should have a voice in the selection of selectors and team. If this is going to be decided by the BCCI then the team should play under the BCCI flag and should not use the Indian flag and name.
Read it full...

Interesting. A very explosive option indeed. I could not stop laughing on the idea of 50 Crore Indians voting to select the Indian team. [ Records says clearly that only 50% registered voters exercises their rights in elections. Thats why I have used 50 Crore figure]

Still I would agree with him on some of his points. Let me list them out.

Who is Vengsarkar to decide about the composition of the Indian team, when he himself has not played too many one-day games and has never been responsible for winning even a single one-day series?

Agreed. We should do away with the regional quota system in the selection committee at the first place. Next, all the selectors should have a certain minimum qualification in terms of no of international matches played and performance in them. Again they should be well aware of domestic cricket. The raw talent is all there in those small towns and cities of country.
If such selector could not be found, then the selection process should be given to qualified managers. May be a through case-study type of selection process might help in tapping the potential players at right time. I am sure it would be much better than that favoritism selection practices of current system.

What kind of a national interest does BCCI serve when it is taking tax exemption? Why should BCCI enjoy the monopoly status?

It is really unfortunate that BCCI is still enjoying tax exemptions and other benefits from the government. It is the biggest and richest cricket board in the world. When aam aadmi is pressed to pay tax on every penny of his hard earned money, how can you justify such a discrimination? They should come under company laws or should pay taxes like any others corporate. Actually BCCI needs a makeover to corporate image. Its a high time the politicians give way to qualified managers and consultants for the managing and financial aspects of the board. And please give the sports part to the players.

Monopoly of BCCI is something which is kinda good for the game. If there are various boards at the national level, then the game of cricket would surely suffer the politics played by them. We have seen it all at the state levels.

that's why we are here

Scene 1: At the bus stop
I was standing at the bus stop, waiting for the bus. It is daily routine for me. Standing there, I enjoy watching people and their rushed life.
Today it was bit different. I saw one guy standing next to me. He didn't say a word for sometime. Then he came towards me and asked something in Kannada. I had only one answer to those alien worlds, "Kannada gothilla..."
"Oh, you dont know kannada," he asked.
[me thinking - I said "kannada gothilla." What else it could mean?]
"Yes, I dont understand kannada," I replied.
"Can you tell me which direction is ABC?" he asked [now in broken english]
"I am sorry, I dont know," I replied apologically.
"From where are you?" he asked then.
[me shocked - what the hell!!!]
"Why?" I asked in slightly raised voice.
He thought for a moment and then told "You dont know this area, so asked."
"I dont live in this particular area. Thats why I dont know. You might want to go and ask that petrol bunk person" was all I could tell him.
He left immediately.

----------------------------------

Scene 2: In the bus
I board the bus at 8:15. As I am the last but one to do it, bus is all stuffed by this time. Daily I get the honor of sitting on the last seat and test durability of my ass. Today it was strange. The seat in the front row was empty. I saw it before boarding the bus. To check if actually the bus was all empty, I looked at the back side. No it was not empty. It was all stuffed as usual.
There must be something wrong with the seat then, I thought.
I took a cursory look at the seat and then decided to occupy it. Nobody said a word. So far so good. I took out my earphones and put the music.
Next stop bus didn't stop. The guy who boards from there hardly takes the morning bus.
So I assumed I can sit comfortably now.
Next crossing, the bus stopped and a girl entered the bus.
Now I know why the seat was enpty.
I realized that I had not taken the bus yesterday. This new entry to the bus would have taken place yesterday itself.

-------------------------------------

Enigma sang -
"We came out from the deep
To learn to love, to learn how to live
We came out from the deep
To avoid the mistake we made
That's why we are here !
We came out from the deep
To help and understand, but not to kill
It takes many lives till we succeed
To clear the debts of many hundres years"
That's why we are here !"

the first kiss

Sincere apologies for the catchy title of the post. It's just a cheap way to attract readers. If you are hoping to read something nice about kiss or for that matter anything romantic, I am warning you in advance. This post has no such stuff.

In UTOPIA there is no place for gossip.

Yesterday, after a long time, I stayed late in office. I stayed till 11:30pm. Yes, no typo mistake here, I meant 11:30 pm. And what did I do with my noble existence here in office?

I filed my first PR (Problem Request, it does not sound so glorious naa??)
OK, in simple terms I found my first bug (now this sounds scary indeed).
Technically speaking, it was the automation setup which guided me to the problem. And also it was not me, but a colleague of mine who debugged it properly. But in the end, the bug was filed in my name. I was hesitant to do so coz I know when they will track it back, I wont have much to tell them. Still you got to do what you got to do.

Now the feeling of filing first bug is no less than the first kiss. The excitement of it at the first place, the reluctance, all followed with the hesitation, then the precision of doing it perfectly and finally the satisfaction. Yes, I did it.

I have been through it twice already. I mean, in my previous company I had filed my first bug, and also had solved my first bug. But it still felt so good and warm yesterday. A new feeling indeed.

Will the feeling of kissing someone follow a similar trend? ;-)

pachak pachak...

"Aaj Barwani ki holi ki bahoot yaad aa rahi hai. Vaisi holi phir kabhi khelne ko nahi mili. Sach me vo sab baatein bahut yaad aati hai," said didi (my sister Shikha, I call her jiji).

"Haan yaar, aaj subah meine bhi vo hi yaad kar raha tha. Kitna chota tha mein tab, phir bhi kitni saari baatein yaad hai," I could not stop myself saying this. I could feel tears in her eyes, mine - I wiped them.

I was 5 then. My father was a cashier in Bank and we used to live in a two room house in the Jain Colony in Barwani. House no 5, was one among 10 such houses in a row. All shared a common front yard. Enter the house, its the first room (call it living room or drawing room or guest room. For some time it also doubled up as room my elder sister and I shared), then second (dining room, tv room, master bedroom, store room) , small kitchen (no other use, rasoi is always rasoi) and then the veranda (I learnt riding my tobu cycle here). All rooms, on behind the other, their gates in a straight line. From entrance you could see clothes put to dry in veranda. We coined a name for such construction style - rail-ka-dabba.

10 families that housed in this colony were all like us. College professors, retired judge, kirana-dukan owner and likes. Only two of them were Jains (Don't go by the name of the colony). But it was a closely neat society. By that in no way I mean that we had a society with a secretory and in-charge. It was a big family. I remember I spent half my day in House No 4 with Bai (aunt there, whom I always called Bai, my second mom). I was a kid in their family with all the elder bhaiyas taking care of me. Whenever mom scolded me, Bai would come to my rescue. In my mundan nobody could stop me from crying, only Bai came to their rescue, She came and took me in her lap. I was silent and smiling telling her "look they have taken my hairs." Whenever she made something nice, I would be dining from Bhaiya's plate.

Festivals and family functions were moment of great pleasure. Holi celebrations, I distinctly remember. In those areas you celebrate Holi on two days Dhulendi (day next to holika dahan) and rang panchami. And It was rang panchami when we had our function. Now that being a working day for most, the society would wait till everyone came back from work. My father would come back by 4 - all drenched and colored (they celebrated holi in the bank, and also on the way anyone could throw color on you). As soon he parked his cycle (oh that atlas giant, I miss it a lot), the water would start flowing. Colors colors everywhere. Go to elders first, take their blessings, then play with your peers. Everyone played till nobody was left to be colored. All homes are now opened for everyone. Visit them one by one, enjoy the Holi special sweets made especially for this get together, talk about your experience and then move to next house.

Eat, eat and eat.

Laugh, Laugh and Laugh.

Dint I tell you we never needed Bhang to get high. We never used it in fact (or may be they dint give it to me considering I was only 5 then).
Those were the days, when festival meant something else. I grew up, started understanding things. But could never find that fun. I know now what is grade written on a color box mean, but it does not mean anything more than that to me. I hardly played color after school.

I wish those days would come back. That ride on the cycle with anyone from neighborhood (dad would hardly take me out on cycle as he was scared that I might fall) is way more pleasurable than a drive in santro. Those chocolates saved specially for me, those trips to circus - I would never forget them.

A VERY HAPPY HOLI TO EVERYONE.

EOD

End of the day you can tell yourself only one of these -

1. Yes, I did it.
2. If, I had done it.

And you know which one feels nice.

dream merchant

In an interview to Harshikaa Udaasi of The Week, SRK compared himself and Red Chillies (his production house) to a retail shop. "At the end of the day, when I shut shop, I must have made enough to pay the electricity bill and salaries to the staffers," said SRK.

SRK rocks!!!

close the loop

Have you ever had a test at your physician’s office, and the nurse said, “We’ll call you if there’s a problem”? Two weeks later—and still no call. You begin to wonder, “What if they lost the blood sample? How can I be sure everything’s okay?”
When people don’t close the loop, they leave the other person hanging. Not only is it distracting, it can subtly erode the relationship.
Anyone can follow up. It’s a simple matter of being conscientious and disciplined.

• When a colleague introduces you to a new contact, tell your colleague when you’ve reached out to the new person. After you’ve connected, tell your colleague how it went.
  

• Respond to invitations and meeting requests promptly. It’s a lot easier for others to plan an event when they know who’s coming.
  

• When you receive details or specifics, acknowledge them. When you receive a question by phone or e-mail, answer it or forward it to the person who can. Acknowledge your action with the person who raised the question. A simple e-mail reply saying, “Got your message, see you there” will eliminate any confusion or uncertainty over whether you received the e-mail and were able to attend the event.
  

Never let yourself be known as someone who leaves other people hanging. Once that label gets applied, it’s hard to shake. On the other hand, when you consistently close the loop, you build a reputation as a dependable professional.
Make a habit of closing the loop in everything you do. Tell the people you work with to do the same.

ps: Taken from "Reclaim Your Life: A Two-Week Challenge to Help You Regain Time" by Stuart R Levin. By chance I came to get this document on http://www.changethis.com/ This website a collection of hundreds of such amazing papers and small books. All freely downloadable. I am sure you would certainly enjoy it.