Reflections .......

5 years ago I was....in a mess. Had no time to think about my studies. Dad was sick, and all we wanted was to get him back and be happy!

5 months ago I was.... all over the place with my dissertation. I was working on designing my experiments that was kind of getting into the final mould

5 hours ago I was...enjoying a happy dinner at CT :)

5 minutes ago I was...replying to a dbab msg from a junior

5 things on my to-do list today...meet profs n discuss my work, finish revision of the proposal submission, talk to VVR, meet MICA students and guide them on the remaining work with ad designs, and Exercise!

5 things I would do if I became a billionaire... buy a pretty house for us, save up a bit for the future, build an animal care farm and hospital, buy a BMW Sedan, build a swimming pool for us :)

5 of my bad habits.... procrastination, am overtly finicky about my loved ones, love being pampered by my loved ones, love chocolates so much that I have a bar everyday :p , irregular sleep hours 5 good memories... my childhood spent with bro and parents, school days, stage shows in dance and music, day when I got call from IIMA, and happy times spent with my best friends – Banani, Rosy, BU gang, and Jhalbagan playmates :)

5 films/TV shows that I watch over and over again... Friends, Sholay, Mr. India, Baby’s Day Out, and Gone with the Wind

5 places I've loved and can revisit... Jhalbagan (where I grew up with my childhood buddies), my School (A.G. Church, Asansol), Kanya Kumari in Tamilnadu, IITD, and Ranigunj

5 activities I love... Music, Dance, Reading and Research along my interest areas, Writing, and Cooking

5 things most people don't know about me... that I freak out at the thought that I’ll grow fat again :p , I am absolutely obsessed with the thought of being famous and successful in academics and music, …. That was 2 together,3 in all!!..... I love to eat (good stuff), and I am a big fan of some of my teachers and never want to go away from them :)

5 weird wishes/ fantasies…. I wish I didn’t need sleep….that’d save so much time, I wish I could read and work all day (not getting tired), I wish I could remember all the stuffs that I read and worked on, I wish I could meet John Nash, JDC Little, Dilip Abreu, and APJ Abdul Kalam and work with them, I wish I was a famous singer and dancer

5 things that I’m senti about….. mom, dad, bhai, best pals, and my aims and inspirations

5 things that inspire me….. Work done by great people (Nash, Little, Chakravarti, etc.), Lifestyles that some of my idols maintain (DT, APJ Abdul Kalam), Sujoy Sir’s encouraging discussions and pep talks, Discussions with my parents, bro, and best pal, and my Ultimate ambitions and wishes

5 books I love to death... Dockner, Long, etc.’s Differential Games in Eco and Mgmt Sc., Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind + Ripley’s Scarlett, Ken Follet’s Jackdaws, Tirole’s Industrial Organization, and Goon, Gupta, Dasgupta’s Outline of Stat. Theory

5 things I love to eat... Chocolates (the darker the better), Salads, Fruits (esp. Kiwi fruits, plums, oranges, apples, pear, papaya, …… Godddd..u name them!!), fish, and coolers (ice candies included)

5 destinations I'm dying to see... Australia, Kashmir, My brother’s place (now), U.K., and Niagra falls (bro keeps praising this one….he’s been there thrice already)

5 scents I love... food that mom cooks, scent of my Dad, roses, scent of fresh rain after dry summers, and dark chocolates

5 things I want to do before I die (my Bucket List)….. publish is ace journals in my field, be a famous singer (at least one hit album :p ), learn French Ballet, perform a fusion no. at least once in front of a huge live audience, and be absolutely satisfied with the way that I’ve spent my life - before I shed my last breath :)

Reply to ......

......Sudhakar's post
In your list u miss'd the recent Ahmedabad, Delhi, Mumbai, serial blasts, in which at least 100 civilians lost their lives.....n still the list managed to look so long n sickening that by the time i reached the end I felt fatigued, nauseous, disgusted, helpless, n crammed with so many more such feelings that I couldn't even identify. Are we zombies? Of course not! I feel all these things every time an innocent is killed by a silly terrorist. What do I do for it? NOTHING! n I'm sure this statement holds for most of us.....WE DO NOTHING ABOUT IT!
I get your exasperation n disgust at such incidents, I feel the same, I feel weak n heavy at heart, but are u sure we can question the good souls that are tirelessly trying to keep our borders safe? India is a huge nation n surrounded by land on 3 sides. How are we supposed to ensure absolutely zero infiltration? Something like 1 army-man at every foot of land at the border? Even if we think crazy for a while n implement this....have you pictured the kind of terrain that we have at the borders? Yeah....Infiltration is a problem. But I guess what's ailing the system is us and not incompetent forces. They are clearing the filth that we strew every time; they save us out of our own mess, n in the process lay their own lives.
You wanna see why I say that we are the main culprits?
Look at the malls, some of our airports, the railway stations. It's easier to guard smaller places....agree? Hey we were talking of the lengthy borders of our country!
We enter w/o even stepping on the metal detector boards in railway stations, n nobody cares.....nobody...not even us! In flashy malls the security personnel stand with their metal detector gadgets and carelessly run the things over our bodies, not even caring to inspect the millions of beeps that emanate. I feel disgusted every time....but I admit I never went up to the security head out there to report this callousness. I mean hey...we're talking about Taj n Trident.....how could such huge loads of ammunition seep in? Can't we implement a check-system even for luggage? I mean c'mon the whole country's security has been at stake for so long now. Just a bit of flashy security to signal that we are on the alert every second. N real security....not mere pretense that anybody can see through. Like I could see in the malls n some of our airports.
Can we take one small step at a time....OURSELVES? But hey....no 'Rang De Basanti' stuff.....as much as I was touched by the movie....in retrospect I felt it's silly to even think that way. Let's take small sensible steps to ensure our own safety! For beginners.....I pledge to talk to the security head in the Ahmedabad & Kolkata malls, next time I spot this callousness.....Will you too? He'll be adamant? n tell us to mind our own business? We'll lose 5 precious minutes? But u know what....they'll tighten up the system if they see that we care n are ready to get serious if they fool with us.
Let's do this! Let's try for God's sake! Let's wake up n save ourselves!

Sequel......

As the 'Divine Mother' peeks through the clouds, I can feel her.
She's all excited and has started packing for herself n her kids n yeah the sweet Lord Shiva too.....'coz by now she has known that he's going to come down too and play peek-a-boo with us, while he makes sure that everything is safe for all that he cares for: 'us' :)
I can't wait to see you all here; happily blessing us all and partying for five days, while we run around you trying to make you happy.
Come down quickly O' Dear Durga, come down and enchant us with your divine beauty, your sanctity, your eternal love, your faith on us that we will be good no matter what we've given to you thus far! Come and bathe us all in your holy divinity and bless the world as always!

Assessing ROI from blah…blah….blah….

‘Word of Mouth’ (WoM) is the buzzword today. What and How do our customers think? What are their beliefs? What do they value most? What would they like to have? ….are just a few questions that every business needs to keep track of in order to be out there. Simple as these little questionettes sound, they are the hardest to answer. A customer’s WoM can provide a gist of answers to all of the above. So, let’s go for it! Companies today are effervescent with ways to tack down every WoM that directly/indirectly relates to them. The Idea is to invade the coterie by becoming a part of it, or to just create one, to figure out what people think. Given that consumers are more expressive to a larger audience now, tasks are simpler now than how they were even a decade ago.

Expressions are ON: blogs, social networking sites and groups therein, RSS, chat threads, you name it! So, the catch is to keep track of any conversation that involves the company concerned, assess it, and register it by feeding it back on the relevant ROI measure.

Johnson & Johnson, Nike, Reebok, Horlicks, Sunsilk,…are companies that have taken to hold reins in their own hands. They’ve created interactive sites where consumers can choose their preferred segment (e.g. Reebok – Women – Style – etc.), engage in an activity of their choice, or just chat with fellow consumers. The activities available for consumers in such sites are most often designed to extract information on what they like, or would like, in disguise of a fun-game or an activity that interests. Check the Sunsilk ‘Gang of Girls’, Horlicks Women site (http://www.indianwomenshealth.com/index.aspx), or Reebok site for instances. The purpose is simple and the process runs in cycles: read their minds, reflect and entice them, re-read them, ……and stay on top forever. It is after the re-reading exercise that ROI assessments can be made. There are several ways to gauge ROI from the ‘blabber’.

• # of times your brand was uttered in a thread/forum/…
• - An evaluative assessment of ‘in what light was it uttered’ (+ve, -ve, neutral), and accounting likewise.
• An assessment of where the brand stands vis-à-vis what consumers want from a particular product (class/type)
• What is the spread?
• How many different types of people/communities have shown interest in your brand?
• Consumers’ intention to purchase the brand
• For the 1^st time
• Repeatedly
• Conclusion from a specific discussion (mostly relevant for assessing chat threads)
• Simply tracking the # instances where a particular brand was searched for on Google, Yahoo, and the likes

There can be other ways, or a mix (2 or more) of the above ways (whichever is more relevant for the brand concerned) to assess ROI from discussions on the web.

The bottom-line is: We have known and respected the value of C2C ever since competition crept in and we knew that we had to aim for the customers HEAD and HEART. However, that we are going for it and incorporating it in our performance metrics is a recent phenomenon (though quite sparse till date) and it definitely gives us a more assuring image of where we stand, not just today, but also in the near future. Knowing what consumers are looking for has become a lot easier now, and whoever gives that a miss is going to be missed soon in the rat-race for enticing and befriending the smart info-savvy consumer.

Advertising.....at it's Worst!

"Over the line? You're so far past the line that you can't even see the line. The Line is a Dot to you!" ...... Joey (F.R.I.E.N.D.S) to Chandler when Chandler was trying to apologize by saying how he realized that he had gone over the line.

Well, this could be said to another set of people too :-)

I recently read this article in ‘Advertising Age’ about a particular viral ad on air for the Extended Stay Hotels (ESH). I couldn't wait to come back to my room and check the ad myself. You know how ads are supposed to be Attractive? Yeah … that’s the word…. ‘ATTRACTIVE’ = Interesting & hence, Rememberable, for the featured product/brand/….

I guess the creative team at Mullen, Winston-Salem didn’t quite get that link. As per one of their creative pieces for the ESH, an ad should be just Rememberable……by hook or by crook. So, when they were at there ridiculous best, they designed this ad where a pretty brainless lass enters an ESH room, heads straight for the sink and cutlery area, opens the drawer and picks up a spoon. She takes a keen look at it and….. Golly…..she licks it, front and back and?????? You tell me what next!
Yeah she keeps it back, from where she had picked it.
Yukkkk!

Then she moves around the room, licks everything that she could lay her hands on. No one has spoken anything yet in the ad.
To the horror of people who are still watching the ad, she enters the bathroom. Yes…she does! She licks the bath curtain, looks naughtily at the camera and starts licking the toilet seat and bowl. The ad ends when she looks, very happily at the camera and says “Very Clean!” Next she displays her palm to us where we read “extstay.com”.
I said, “What????”

So, these “creative” bunch of people went over the line [Yes creative in QUOTES ….. if whoever makes an ad is supposed to be tagged as creative; I’d tag them Stupid, and so Stupid that they didn’t realize that they should’ve buried this shameful evidence of their bizarre heads, as soon as they had seen what they had made]! How could they make it, and how could the ESH group buy it and, worse still, Air it?

The ad is on the internet; no background music or fancy backdrop. The idea was probably to make it look original, aiming to give the audience a feel of the cutting edge ‘Word of Mouth’ impact. Yeah they have done their home-works in reading ‘what’s IN’, but have happily chucked out ‘what’s Sensible’.

People would hate this ad so much, that they’d remember ESH alright, but whenever they do, even when they’re trying to pick one hotel, they’d wince at the gross display of licked stuffs….EVERYWHERE at ESH. Who’d buy them?

What the Bling was worth…..

The best brains of the world were riding the bling of working at the fancy designer back-office. Floating on this back-office bubble since the late 1990’s, we were wrenching and writhing our brains in shuffling and reshuffling papers and trading them between pockets. A whopping 200,000+ work at present in the securities industry, in the NY state alone. What we desperately need at all times (not just at times like today) is a fair delegation of our grays (young and old) amongst both back and front offices. Engineers, entrepreneurs, VCs, …. we need them all: synchronized and complementing each other, in every heave with the macro-tunes. In following the lust for the mint, we had lost focus from the invincible laws of sustenance: ‘Create AND Manage’; we were all hogging at the latter. As an article in Wall Street Journal signed out today…. “The market has indeed spoken……It’s time to get back to work. Real Work”.

short of the last buck ....

The sky's been roaring today; since morning.
"Why are you angry?" I asked him. "& who're you angry at?"
"Myself!" he snapped back, wearing a pout.
"Why? What did you do?"
"Nothing" he sighed and looked at me, still pouting.
I tugged at his grumpy cheek and asked - "Then what makes you angry my dear?"
He looked at me, confused now; "ahh.... I want to clutch myself and colour me so loud that the world would shine in my light. But I'm so bored!"
Someone had said that Success is 99% inspiration and 1% perspiration. Its that last little buck that my friend is short of. I can't find that last buck either. How should I help him?

Inspired......

Today, I started off in the lousy way that has been usual for me of late. At 2:30 I headed for the LAN (that’s what we call our FPM workstation). Completed some regular chores and headed back toward the Wing 11 Committee Room, where Solo’s Thesis Seminar was to be. Solo is a very sincere n down-2-earth doctoral participant here, working under one of my guides.

I sat there, yeah I knew he was sincere n everything, but didn’t hope to get this inspired by the end of the SHOW. He did an excellent job; had answers to everything, even the small little technical untenables had been backed up so well, or at least acknowledged! He sure has worked hard n sincerely so; and it came out all through the talk.

I wish I can work with such immense sincerity. Great patience and modesty goes behind this kind of output. Hats off Solo! Wish you all the best in life :-)

My current Roznamcha......

.....has been reduced to scheduling, n rescheduling….'coz I’ve been erring a lot lately in keeping up with my schedules. Blame it on……
yeah…..me :-\
I’m pathetically lethargic these days;
I don’t want to work….but I’m dead serious about sticking to the deadlines.
I have to…Really!

My days have been reduced to tea, F.R.I.E.N.D.S., a little bit of leafing through the planned work, some more tea, some more F.R.I.E.N.D.S., n gallons of guilty consciousness.

Helpppppp!

Celebrating Independence......

I am Independent enough!
Going by the eidos of our community, I am independent enough:
I expect much, I give some, I get quite a handful, a mouthful, and a soulful;
I am quenched enough!
As goes one of those million pep-sayings, "Reach for the skies! If you happen to miss, you'll still be among the stars";
I kinda stick at least to the 1st 1/3rd of it :-)
So, who gives a damn about the beau monde; whatever keeps my adrenaline kicking, my pulse ticking, & me - significant enough!

Happy Independence Day!

There's no looking back

Who am I, where am I headed?
When I cry, I melt less and freeze more;
I freeze so strong, I'm almost virile.
My mind's a one-way traffic lane now -
There's no looking back;
There can't be any.
I look ahead.
I can see my guiding light again;
The divine glow that has steered me thus far.
I'm happy that my little car doesn't have a good rear-view mirror.
The one that hangs in front of me is tarnished -
with the moisture that was shed uncouth.
This mirror gives me the creeps; I don't look back!

My life's always been a colorful wardrobe that belongs to some celeb; like.....well.....David Beckham. Destiny decides what I'm going to wear today.... & believe me she's moody; n she's unannounced; gives me no clue as to what I'd look like on any day; n sometimes, she's whimsical - giving me a myriad set of looks on one particular day. God help me!
Recently one of my most colorful hawaiian shirts got wasted :-(
coz this stupid destiny of mine came n blew its soggy monsoon nose into it. It was such a beautiful shirt; gave me the carefree holiday look whenever I wore it; n yeah....it was priceless :-(

want to write something.....something nice....ok something palatable?
something........anything?????
but no more about life n its huge fundaas
phew......life's more worth than that :-p
so......let's face it -
not much fun happening these days :-|
well.....am happy n working ......day n night
yeah....what did you think....i'm some crazy blogaddict to be typing in at around 3 in the morning?
just wanted to write something before calling it a day :-)
hmm.......well.....just a few minutes back .... i kinda yelled at kaka for typing some c*** on his blog :-p
n here i am filling the world with some more of that :D
but ..... who cares ;-)
whatever makes me happy.....or .....happy?
neways...this is getting too confusing
i've typed it....so i'll just put it on
as i said...."who cares?"
u still reading this?
whoa.....this is the c****iest thing i've ever typed....i guess :-p
i mean :-\
i hope :-p

a tiny tale....

There was a mouse, a tiny little one,
Lived in a hole, furnished retro-style;
That wasn’t her style, that’s who she was,
Ready to embrace the world in arms flung wide.

Tiny as they were, not much caught the hug
But she was so happy, she hugged tight;
So tight that she missed a few breaths
But she was happy; What’s a breath worth?

This tiny mouse, the mouse that hugged us so,
Didn’t know where she was going wrong,
A hug so tight and arms so small
At one time not much remained with her.

One by one they slipped and went,
Cursing her that she’d hurt them so.
Ahh…she said, I can’t live less
I want to live like Ulysses;
I want to hug so tight that it’s all mine
& I’ll live like this, I know I’ll be fine.

So our little mouse, who lived retro-style
Is happy clinging to - a few that remain;
The few that don’t care how much her hugs hurt
They’re just happy that they can stay close,
They’re just fine that she’s a happy mouse,
They’ll be there whoever comes and goes.

So let’s just hope that our little mouse
Learns to hug less tight, so that at least her owns
Aren’t ever hurt, ‘coz she doesn’t want it so;
She’s a silly mouse, a mouse we can cling to.
She’ll care, she’ll love, but she’ll hurt unaware,
But the lord will help her learn, let that be our prayer!

"The Bucket List" (2007)

“Live life to the fullest” or “drink life to the lees”, or something else that rings the same, were sayings that I thought I understood n well….liked too. But today I watched this Rob Reiner movie, n now I guess I know I understand better what these strings in “__” mean.

Want to know what would be the ideal way to live? Watch this movie! Man…..I loved it!

I guess it’s one of the most wonderful & touchy stories ever narrated. & with the cast as in this one, it couldn’t have gone wrong….Jack Nicholson (JN) & Morgan Freeman (MF). I loved the way this story was gradually loosened into me. The theme is a damn emotional one…..but could it have been any more subtle?

Two cancer patients, Cole (aged about 80 n played by JN) & Carter (aged around 70 and played by MF), about to die in 6-10 months meet in a hospital; they were sharing a room there. Well, Cole is rich….filthy rich, to be precise; standing as the sole owner of his bn dollar empire, which he himself had built from scratch. Carter, a walking encyclopedia, is more of a simple family guy, with a huge n loving family. He, once while sitting on his bed, scribbles down his crazy ‘bucket list’…..a list of everything that he wanted to do/accomplish before he “kicked the bucket”. Cole, the naughtiest kid I’ve ever been told of, gets hold of this, adds his bit into the list, and very ‘matter of fact -ly’ proposes to Carter that they do everything that is on the list – n do it together! Sounds Crazy? Here’s the list……it’s crazier than almost everything else in this world.

1. Experience something majestic
2. Help a complete stranger
3. Kiss the most beautiful woman
4. Go Sky-diving
5. Get a tattoo
6. Drive a racing car
7. Get in touch with the person that matters most
8. See Taj Mahal, Pyramids, Great Wall of China, Hong Kong,…

& I didn’t imagine the majesty of each of the items until I saw it get executed. 1, 3, & 7 were the most beautiful ones. U must see it to get the feel. It looks like a touchy theme, but believe me…..it’s amongst the cutest stories ever told.

Cole is so cute u’d want to grab his cheeks n say “O, u naughty little baby!” Carter on the other hand is majestic, elegant, gracious, calm (perfectly suited for MF)….Cole started calling him “Ray” later; he didn’t explain why…..but Ray he was! Cole is cute, impractical, n lives by his impulses; Carter, more practical….hence, u know….. more fearful of stuffs like sky-diving with a lung cancer on. That part was a fun watch. I dunno,….I can blabber on n on about this one…..but guess u should catch ur own fun n experience of this helluva story.

Loved it n will cherish it :)

Ain't he adorable?

Calvin! The cutest kid ever :) I guess I can never get enough of him, no matter how much I keep collecting his stickers. Well, although the Calvin comics are referred to as sardonic, I seem to differ. I feel that he's extremely cute, albeit smart for a 6 year old, and completely adorable. Yup.....6 year old; look at the 1st strip here n you'll se why :)
And then there are these cute statements that he makes so often; one which I almost cherish, "You don't get to be mom if you can't fix everything just right!" Haha.....he said this to Hobbes once, when he was in a fix.....n I promise, I could go on and on......with Calvin n Hobbes (his cute stuffed tiger). Some other features of C&H which gets me into fits of laughter are his Get Rid Of Slimy GirlS club (main target Susie Derkins), his snowman games, his reactions to food (see the 2nd strip above), the completely crazy games of Calvin Ball, and his cute interactions with Susie Derkins.
Some sources say that Watterson portrayed the French theologist John Calvin in the form of our little buddy......dunno.....but yup Calvin's cute questions on the existence of God and then his immediate fear that he might have offended Him do insist on his belief in Him; but hey, aren't we going too far in interpreting that in some complex philosophical light? He's a kid, and his concerns are so innocent, wonder how we can't see that clear!
Whatever......Ilove Calvin.......n he's simply a very cute, witty, naughty, n really curious little kid to me :)
I pray Mr. Watterson.....please resume your Calvin creations. That's why you must've been sent to this world. Please, please come back :)

& my WORLD waits for me.....

Before today, I was continuously slipping the fact that I had come to the world due to just two people.....well not quite so alone (as someone hath said); but as far as my life's concerned, it has almost entirely been endowed with selfless blessings/wishes, sound guidance, and abundant friendship (be it from my little brother, my schoolmates, or my parents).

Recently, my dear baba had a pulmonary crisis. According to the ABG and lung capacity tests, only 22% of his lungs is functional, with a CO2 level of 46 (the upper-limit being 45) and O2 levelof 65, instead of 95+. But take a look at this gem of a man and he's oozing optimism, tons of love for ma, bhai, & me, and sincerity toward his people (that includes practically everybody that is alive). He's asmile always; never complaining about anything, and mentally so active, that if he's exhausted his to-do list for the time being, he'll be planning some pranks to pester ma :) That' s baba - completely adorable & oh such a kid!

Today while returning to Ahmedabad, I felt as if baba wanted me to stay back for a wee bit longer; to play and react to his pranks, listen to his little friendly pep talks (that are always so alive that I am never tired of hearing), play a game of ludo with him and fight like kids over who eats up whose pawns, or just pamper him with a few tingly strokes on his back to lull him of to a sweet siesta. I wanted to stay too, but I had to leave - have "miles to go" - before I can huddle back to him and stick by him forever.