Colors of taste

I was in Rasipuram last week. After having an opportunity to taste home food, now back to the mess where Mr. Potato is very prompt in making his attendance every session in his varied appearances. Mr. Gobi and Mr. Paneer have already strongly cemented their places in the menu.

Adade!

One specialty that I like about cartoons is the “brevity”. One need not write a lorry full of words to send the message across. Cartoons facilitate the reader to grasp the opinion that the author wants to convey much quickly. In that sense, cartoons are one of the greatest time-savers.

Adade-1 by Mathi is the first of the six volumes of cartoons compiled and published by the NHM. All the cartoons are based on the then current affairs in one of the following forms: conveying the news, mocking at them, offering opinions and reflecting public’s perceptions. The cartoons originally appeared in the first-page of “Dinamani”.

I would not say all the cartoons are excellent. There are some clichés like mocking the books-bag that children carry to school, jokes about robbery etc. Still, there are many other good cartoons which make me rate the book good in an overall level. It would have been an added value if the date on which the cartoon originally published in the newspapers is also given. The cartoons cover various topics including madras–eye, floods, midnight-arrest, coalition politics, Veerappan, drivers’ strike, elephant–camp, Kannagi issue, inflation and unemployment. In all of these, I liked the Kannagi series and the elephant series most.

I was not able to sync well with the cartoons as I had forgotten some of the news. What would have triggered a lot of laughter when read in the context would not do so if you are out of the context. That’s when, a small hint about the news and the date would help. Though the cartoons are arranged based on various categories, the system is not followed strictly as many cartoons are scattered randomly inside which belonged to no particular category. I feel those could have been put under a separate section. I am not sure how the volumes (total of 6) are categorized, but it would be great if it had been categorized based on the years, as it would offer the diversity of cartoons as well as be related to one another.

One disappointment is that out of the 150 cartoons, there are not many cricket-based ones which would be fun to read any day. If I am not wrong, there is only one which is also very old – about the book fixing controversy. More range of news could have been covered if they had gone for chronological arranging rather than the manual compilation based on different categories.

Another thing which does not go well is the “one-page-one-cartoon” concept in the book. It is definitely a huge space dedicated to a single cartoon. In fact, 4 cartoons a page would have been a very good proposition in many ways: get all the cartoons related to a theme within a few pages, less turning-around of pages and of course less pages (eco-friendly! :-)).

Final Word: Add to your library!

Book Link

Banking

New Videos added on the topic "Banking" by Khan Academy.

Previous post.

Happens everywhere

See the news from Chennai, 2005
See the news from New York, 2008

I can see a lot of similarities between these two. People started queuing up long before the scheduled opening. Once the commotion started, they showed no concern for anything else. Most importantly, the crowd did not care for the fellow human beings.

What is the motivation behind standing in those long queues?
I could think of the following 3 reasons.
1. Perceived “necessity”.
2. Limited resources and fear of being the last and to be shown the door.
3. Intention to come out of the queue quickly.

One should think about the risk in terms of the cost of time and money involved in standing in the queue and the benefits that they gain from successfully coming out of the queue. Once he is clear that the perceived benefits outweigh the cost in terms of money, unpleasantness associated with standing in the queue, time etc., only then he should proceed to stand in the queue.

The second reason is what it happens once the person is in the queue. This means he has already invested and he does not want to go empty handed and wants to get the maximum out of the investment. This is where he forgets about the ethics and everything else. This has a close association with the third reason. Since, he perceives that standing in the queue is so unpleasant he just wants to come out of it at the earliest possible time.

In this scenario, if the queue breaks up slightly for whatsoever reason, every individual will try to take advantage of it. He does not want anyone who entered the queue to go ahead of him and at the same time, if there is an opportunity he wants to make use of it. The same logic applies to every individual and this creates a chain of chaos and commotion. Remember that, the person who critically analyses point 1 will never stand in this queue, because he knows that the cost outweighs the benefits.

Two ways to overcome this problem:
1. Change the mindset of the people.
2. Better crowd management system.

Point number 1 is easy said than done. Forget it. Lots of investment required and no body will guarantee the output. Point number2 can definitely be implementable. Better queuing system with proper information about when does it start, what is the approximate time of standing in the queue etc will certainly help people make an informed decision. Also, if there are some features in the queue aimed at keeping people in the queue engaged, they may not feel that the time is wasted unproductive. Those features really depend on the context of the queue.

Khan Academy doing a great work!

Recently one of my friends (Arockia) forwarded a playlist @ youtube about the recent financial crisis, MBS, CDOs etc.  Here is the link.

The way the instructor explained the concepts behind all those in simple terms and with apt analogies is really awesome.  Not only they talk about this financial crisis, banking etc, but also about various other basic and advanced concepts ranging from algebra, trignometry to physics.  One might be interested in going through their site.  It is a non-profit initiative by the duo - Salman & Jonathan.

May We Help You

I noticed that I have not been receiving my airtel bills for about 3 months in a row. Usually, I go directly to their website and pay using my card. Today, when I did, I noticed the link saying "May We Help You?". Yes, Of course. So, I went there and it gave me a screen.



I promptly filled in the relevant fields and gave a detailed description of my problem. Then clicked on the submit button. Then came this screen.



Great!! It had deleted all my text and presented me with the blank box again. And just look at the text-area given for the description field for “150 characters”!!

But still, I went ahead and logged in my complaint only to get a message saying that they would revert back on Dec 1 (11 days from now).

I thought I should not have asked for the “help”.

Matrix Spoof

Truly hilarious!

The White Tiger

The book is written as a single long letter by a "self-made entrepreneur" in Bangalore to the Chinese President Wen Jiabao. The entrepreneur Balram Halwai, calls himself as "the white tiger". He takes through his life describing his notorious journey from the Darkness (that’s the name he gives to the Gangetic plain region) to the Light (the likes of Delhi and Bangalore).
The author, Aravind Adiga, portrays a picture of India in its true(!) colour. He touches upon many things: the pathetic condition of the poor people in the rural North, the cunningness and dominance of the rich and the land-lords, irresponsible behavior and actions of the government officials, the plight of the construction workers in big cities like Delhi, meanness of the masters and the unquestionable servility of the workers, corruption at different levels etc.
Balram starts his story from his village Laxmangarh. He then goes on about his experience in the school, how he was stopped schooling, his days at the tea shop, his experiences as a driver of Mr. Ashok in Delhi, his escape to Bangalore and his "entrepreneurship" in Bangalore. The sharp contrast in attitude of Balram from being a driver to being a master is vividly presented.
Author stands out with his sarcastic comedy throughout the book. Some of them are,
Oops! Thirty-six million and five-!
How does the enterprising driver earn a little extra cash?
Balram saying to the Toyota dealer, "I want to drive your cars".
Beating down the entire family of the unfaithful servant, asking the driver to go to prison for the accidental murder by the master, meanness to give driver some money on his marriage, doubting on the driver for a single rupee, comparison with rooster coop - These are some classic extracts from the book trying to bring view-points which may go unnoticed.

Image Courtesy: Wikipedia

CDOs and other 3 letter bad words....

There is an interesting article in Hindu some days back. This details an "experienced" person's position w.r.t the current financial crisis. You may find it interesting.

The 3 mistakes of my life - Review

Chetan Bhagat has the knack of appealing to the spirits of the audience, especially youth. That's what the trend in his first two books, the first one about the life of 3 guys @ an IIT and the second book about the nocturnal BPO employed generation. Now comes the third one which combines cricket, love and religious fanatics.

The story takes off with a good momentum, especially supported by the author's (characteristic?) prologue. The story has the background in Gujarat in early 2000s. Immediately, when the protogonist encounters the unfortune in the wake of the earthquake disaster, you know what would come next. But, the author maintains the story interesting till the end. The inhuman incidents which followed the Godhra ruthlessness are captured alongside.

There are some logical glitches, though.
1. A student of 12th standard with a middle class background would not have had a mobile phone in the year 2000.
2. How many years Vidya has been preparing for her entrance exams? She finishes her XII by 2000 and goes on preparing till 2002. Quite possible, but there is no mention to support the fact.
3. Ish praises Hayden like one of the legends. Of course he is, but at least he was not one in the year 2000.
4. Ali's unique ability is his reflex and not his arm power. This logic not fit when he hits the ball inside the bank in the climax scene.

'Grave' error

Steve Jobs obituary had been mistakenly published by Bloomberg .  Of course, it is removed now.

See the news items.

Telegraph 

CNET 

Check

Bold move by Tata!

Taste Banana in a Orange!?

Mind-boggling breakthrough:

Genetically Altered Flavor.

We have started breaking all rules of nature.  We accept that as long as it gives benefit in the short term, it is fine for us. 

Is it in the right direction? I feel this invention has a potential to turn the ecosystem upside down.

Read here

Mobile Magic

What have you done in mobile banking till now?  Checked balance, booked tikects, paid bill etc.,   Have you ever withdrawn hot cash using your mobile? 

 

Airtel is on a pilot project for the same. Here it goes...

 

As per this article, it may serve as a convincing reason for many people to open a bank account to use this facility.

 

And, another news is about the AdRBT - Ad Ring Back Tone.  Instead of the caller tunes, you can set this and whoever calls you will listen to an advertisement instead of the usual ringtone/caller tune till you pick up the call.  It is a kind of profile based targeted advertisement.  And, I hope the person stands to gain something from the mobile company (as a part of ad revenues that it makes) in return for the curse of his friends and relatives.

 

Dasavatharam

I saw Dasavatharam today.  After that, I have been reading reviews.  One thing I found amazing in the reviews which I have read till now.  Either the people praise the movie most or chuck it most.  So, before being distracted by the reviews,  I want to record my views of the movie.

Overall I found the movie good, except for the theatre which is very clumsy and sultry.  I liked some of the shots like the gopuram being shown bottom-up and top-down.  Not all the songs are good, but the Mukunda-mukunda and Kallai-mattum are catchy with both music and lyrics.  I felt relieved when I found that "Ulaganayagan" song is not in the main story-line.  

There is no solid reason why Kamal should do 10 different characters in the movie.  But the answer - that is something different and Kamal felt it is worth giving a try.  That's good, but not all the 10 characters are characterised well.  The "Khan" character and the entire group associated with that character(?) is not at all characterised well and is definitely redundant, except for that without that character the film will not be Dasavatharam.  Kamal has taken a lot of pains in doing  those characters, but whether the efforts will fetch the desired results is yet to be seen.

KS Ravikumar was being interviewed in CNN-IBN and he told it is definitely not possible for him to redo the film in any other language just because it is a humongous effort and he will be bored if he does it again.  That is definitely understandable with a single person playing all the important characters in the movie and the background work associated with taking each and every scene, especially if it involves more than one character.

The special-effects in the climax scene are awesome.  The fight between the American and the Japanese is worth watching.  It is just on the margin of becoming unrealistic. 

Talking about the protagonist, Dr Govind's story line, he's after a virus which he developed which may prove to be extremely dangerous to the mankind.  In a mix-up, the vial containing  the virus and himself have been couriered to India from US. With him, follows the villain Fletcher and the chase sequence starts from there.  In another mix-up, Asin joins Dr. Govind and runs with him till the end.  The story is similar to many of the Jackie-Chan movies where the hero runs constantly and the villain chases.  With all these, there are other Kamals like the police officer Balram Naidu, Poovarajan and Avtar Singh coming in the middle.

Kamal's dialogue delivery for Balram Naidu and Bush requires a special mention.

Loose ends in the movie are kept loose for us to tie them and make a meaning out of it.  So, those who are unable to tie them would find themselves lost.  Finally, it is yet another Kamal movie where nothing is said explicitly and most of the things are left for our interpretation.

Klean Kerala

I was on a trip to Guruvayur last week and happened to stop at Trichur Railway station. I was amazed at the cleanliness at the station. Compared to the Salem, Chennai and Bangalore, Trichur station looked clean and tidy - good chairs at waiting hall, clean rest rooms, neat display systems with LCD TVs and LEDs at various places.
I ordered a cup of tea from one of the local tea vendors at the station. After giving me a cup of tea, he showed me two dust bins in that vicinity to throw the used cup into!!

Splash of colours on the sky

Last week, it rained in Bangalore!

Shall we tell the President - Review

This novel written by Jeffrey Archer in 1970s is of suspense genre. On March 3rd, Mark Andrews, the special agent of FBI gets to know about a plot to assasinate the President. But except him, four others who know this plot are murdered the same night. Only thing he knows for sure is that a senator is involved, and the assasination is planned on March 10. The story is about how he and the Director of FBI, Tyson put together the pieces and solve the puzzle. Within the first twenty pages, the story gears up with the top speed which it maintains till the end. Especially as the D-day comes closer, Mark takes the story in the jet. I would recommend the readers to gather the facts as the story goes on and try finding out the culprit even before the author tells who it is.

Animal Farm - Review

Recently, I read this book by George Orwell. It was written in 1940's. But still the subject seems to be very relevant even today. Not only today, I think it will be as interesting as it was anytime. The story goes on like this. The animals in a farm feel they are extracted maximum work by the human beings and are fed too little. They conspire and successfully overthrow their Master and go on to manage their own business. Slowly, the intelligent animals (pigs, as the author writes) take over the reins and become masters. The not-so-intelligent animals are deceived and extracted to the most, again. Orwell brings out the cunningness of the crooked people through Napolean, a pig who eventually becomes the dictator of the Animal Farm. The character of Squealer was clearly portrayed as a middle man who spreads the dictator's message across in the most persuading way.

Beautiful Bangalore

Today morning, as I woke up early, I had an opportunity to see Bangalore minimum traffic. I was surprised that I had not even once noticed the fragrance of eucalyptus when passing along the Lalbagh in RV Road all these 3 years. I am not sure whether it was because of my ignorance or the pollution's effect. But certainly today I enjoyed riding on the road in my RX-100, further down to the rose-garden road after crossing the south end circle. With the wind breezing on to the face, enjoying the picturesque parks on either side, it was a wonderful experience.

Tata Nano

Finally, the one lakh car is out.

This is what Ratan Tata had to say about making of the NANO. It must be a great sense of feeling for him to have achieved a feat which had faced and is still facing a lot of criticism. Here he talks about the inspiration, challenges faced, potential customers, future trend and competitors.

This NANO is all set to revolutionise the Indian roads.

Click on the pics to follow the articles.