Have you ever noticed how people change what they say so that it doesn't contradict what they do?
:)
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Doing my MBA
Well, not exactly, but I was so excited about some of the stuff we learnt in our in-house management program at Persistent, that I borrowed some of the cool management books from a who just finished her MBA, and plan to finish devouring them over the next few... well, months?
Organizational behaviour and design, managerial economics, strategic human resource management, marketing management.. the list goes on!
One thing that struck me while going through some of the early chapters is that management is an art packaged as a science! Case studies play such a key role in every subject - they teach you so much, yet, there are no real rules in management! What works for one may not work for the other - in fact, it can have the perfectly opposite effect!
So keep a close watch on my other blog, there should be some interesting learnings from my MBA program coming up there! :)
Organizational behaviour and design, managerial economics, strategic human resource management, marketing management.. the list goes on!
One thing that struck me while going through some of the early chapters is that management is an art packaged as a science! Case studies play such a key role in every subject - they teach you so much, yet, there are no real rules in management! What works for one may not work for the other - in fact, it can have the perfectly opposite effect!
So keep a close watch on my other blog, there should be some interesting learnings from my MBA program coming up there! :)
Wild Nature!
Ever thought only man was capable of horrendous crimes? Well, listen to this...
There's a type of beetle in the Amazonian rain forest that stings the giant tarantula spider with a paralyzing poison, and then drags the immobile but live victim to it's den where it lays an egg on top of the spider. The spider can live this way for days, until the grub hatches and then starts living off the spider's body fluids, sucking carefully to make sure that the vital organs are not damaged, ensuring the poor victim lives on as long as possible while the beetle slowly sucks it's fluids and then its life out!
Oh, and in case you didn't know it, this is approved by God!
There's a type of beetle in the Amazonian rain forest that stings the giant tarantula spider with a paralyzing poison, and then drags the immobile but live victim to it's den where it lays an egg on top of the spider. The spider can live this way for days, until the grub hatches and then starts living off the spider's body fluids, sucking carefully to make sure that the vital organs are not damaged, ensuring the poor victim lives on as long as possible while the beetle slowly sucks it's fluids and then its life out!
Oh, and in case you didn't know it, this is approved by God!
Wanna lose weight?
Drive a Formula One car in a Grand Prix. A Formula One racer loses an average of 2 kgs during every race!
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Silver Lining
With every cloud, there is a silver lining. In every disaster, there are examples of hope and survival. In the worst days of your life, you will figure out who your true friends are. Truly, with every cloud, there is a silver lining.
Movie Review: Race
Race is about two brothers, the brilliant and dashingly handsome Saif and the boring, same-as-before Akshaye Khanna, Saif's hot and sexy secretary Katrina Kaif, and his new found girl friend Bipasha Basu, and the double crossings and the triple crossings, a la Wild Things (although a completely different story track), in pursuit of insurance money.
What works against the movie is some really bad editing and terrible screenplay - check the scene at the beginning of the movie when Akshay goes to the hospital to meet his injured brother, and goes out to take a call while Saif goes to the bathroom. It actually gives the plot away, and does it through a horrible piece of editing and screenplay! Or the race scene at the end - why in the world would an excellent driver like Saif continue racing dangerously with his brother just because his brakes have failed? Couldn't he just coast the car to a stop? I mean, hello, what kind of a story is that? The story is also very predictable, actually - I guessed the complete plot, and almost every step before it happened.
Saif looks fantastic, and so does Kat. Well, for most of the time! Akshay and Bipasha are disappointing. Anil Kapoor as the investigating officer, and his dumbette Sameera Reddy is terrible. Johny Lever plays an absolutely hilarious cameo role and generates some real laughs! The action is OK, but just having good looking cars and a lot of loud screeching and screaming doesn't excite me any more. And whatever stunts you do, they need to be realistic, right?
Some of the songs are great - Peheli Nazar and Zara Zara are worth the amount you paid for the ticket. But then, maybe it's be better to just get the Audio CD!
What works against the movie is some really bad editing and terrible screenplay - check the scene at the beginning of the movie when Akshay goes to the hospital to meet his injured brother, and goes out to take a call while Saif goes to the bathroom. It actually gives the plot away, and does it through a horrible piece of editing and screenplay! Or the race scene at the end - why in the world would an excellent driver like Saif continue racing dangerously with his brother just because his brakes have failed? Couldn't he just coast the car to a stop? I mean, hello, what kind of a story is that? The story is also very predictable, actually - I guessed the complete plot, and almost every step before it happened.
Saif looks fantastic, and so does Kat. Well, for most of the time! Akshay and Bipasha are disappointing. Anil Kapoor as the investigating officer, and his dumbette Sameera Reddy is terrible. Johny Lever plays an absolutely hilarious cameo role and generates some real laughs! The action is OK, but just having good looking cars and a lot of loud screeching and screaming doesn't excite me any more. And whatever stunts you do, they need to be realistic, right?
Some of the songs are great - Peheli Nazar and Zara Zara are worth the amount you paid for the ticket. But then, maybe it's be better to just get the Audio CD!
Movie Review: 27 Dresses
Katherine Heigl (remember the beautiful teen daughter in My Father the Hero?) is a devoted secretary whose boss considers her love as her efficiency and dates her sexy younger sister instead. Elder sister gets jealous, breaks the younger one's engagement, finds a lover, breaks off with him and so on and so forth. But, things get all fine in the end. It's the world where there's no crime, and everyone is good at heart, and life's wonderful.
Don't expect much, but if you just want to have a break, this movie can provide you one.
Don't expect much, but if you just want to have a break, this movie can provide you one.
Movie Review: Ocean's Eleven
Caught the superb Ocean's Eleven on TV last night - had an absolutely awesome time. Interestingly, if I had to review the movie, I would say exactly the same things I said in my earlier review of Ocean's 13 :) Georgy Clooney is fantastic, and his chemistry with Brad Pitt, and the very special brand of dialogues and the subtle humour is unmatched!
I must say, though, this isn't a movie you want to take your girl friend to - you cannot two-time!
I must say, though, this isn't a movie you want to take your girl friend to - you cannot two-time!
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Hopes and Death
Last evening, once again I heard the flutters in false ceiling of my office - somehow, a pigeon had gotten in through the ducts. After tolerating it for a day, I decided to call in house keeping, and a few mins later, the scared baby pigeon was in our hands.
It didn't feel like it could fly off the fourth floor gallery, so we decided to take it to the ground floor. We let it go, but it just went round and round on the floor, unable to fly. Leaving it there would have made it a nice feast for one of the Persistent cats... so we got it back in a box, and it spent the whole afternoon in my office. I let it free, but instead of walking around, it just rested against the box, switching legs, resting on one and then the other, dozing off.
By 645, I left for home, the pigeon in the box in the back seat. We had a long weekend coming up, and I wanted to take care of it, and let it go once it grew some strength. The vet had suggested it might simply be scared, and a night's rest would be all that it needed.
As soon as I reached home, I took out the pigeon - I hadn't informed Sanam she would have a new pet soon.
The pigeon lay dead in the box.
It didn't feel like it could fly off the fourth floor gallery, so we decided to take it to the ground floor. We let it go, but it just went round and round on the floor, unable to fly. Leaving it there would have made it a nice feast for one of the Persistent cats... so we got it back in a box, and it spent the whole afternoon in my office. I let it free, but instead of walking around, it just rested against the box, switching legs, resting on one and then the other, dozing off.
By 645, I left for home, the pigeon in the box in the back seat. We had a long weekend coming up, and I wanted to take care of it, and let it go once it grew some strength. The vet had suggested it might simply be scared, and a night's rest would be all that it needed.
As soon as I reached home, I took out the pigeon - I hadn't informed Sanam she would have a new pet soon.
The pigeon lay dead in the box.
Best Friend?
Friends are those who stand by you in good times and bad, but when the world turns against you, they ask you, are you guilty? A best friend fights with you every single day, at every possible chance. Becomes unreasonable, demands too much. Calls you names, hates you. But when the world turns against you, your best friend will stand by you - without question.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Quote for the Day
The most erroneous stories are those we think we know best - and therefore never scrutinize or question. Stephen Jay Gould.
Trust
Little girl and her father were crossing a bridge. The father was kind of scared so he asked his little daughter, "Sweetheart, please hold my hand so that you don't fall into the river." The little girl said, "No, Dad. You hold my hand." "What's the difference?" Asked the puzzled father. "There's a big difference," replied the little girl. "If I hold your hand and something happens to me, chances are that I may let your hand go. But if you hold my hand, I know for sure that no matter what happens, you will never let my hand go."
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Saturday, March 08, 2008
Movie Review: Vantage Point
1140 pm for me is the only time I can catch a movie when I am in Goa - there are too many other exciting things to do rest of the time :)
Vantage Point is good movie though, and definitely worth sacrificing some sun and sand for! The story is different, the treatment is fantastic. The action is fast and sleek, and the car chase sequence is one of the very best.
The movie starts with the visuals of an anti-terror summit in a small town in Spain, and the American president is shot while on stage, followed by a deadly bomb attack. We then rewind to the start of the event, as seen from the eyes of the television crew chief. We rewind again, this time seeing it from the eyes of one of the stars of the movei - a secret service officer. Then we rewind again, this time seeing it from the eyes of a bystander who catches it on camera. And it goes on.. the same event, from different perspectives. And each time, an interesting new twist, an interesting angle.
Was also an interesting eye opener - not really a new truth, but definitely reinforcing a learning I had pretty early in life. No matter how clear something is to you, there's always a different perspective! After all, it's not about the truth really, it's about which version of the truth you are looking at!
Vantage Point is good movie though, and definitely worth sacrificing some sun and sand for! The story is different, the treatment is fantastic. The action is fast and sleek, and the car chase sequence is one of the very best.
The movie starts with the visuals of an anti-terror summit in a small town in Spain, and the American president is shot while on stage, followed by a deadly bomb attack. We then rewind to the start of the event, as seen from the eyes of the television crew chief. We rewind again, this time seeing it from the eyes of one of the stars of the movei - a secret service officer. Then we rewind again, this time seeing it from the eyes of a bystander who catches it on camera. And it goes on.. the same event, from different perspectives. And each time, an interesting new twist, an interesting angle.
Was also an interesting eye opener - not really a new truth, but definitely reinforcing a learning I had pretty early in life. No matter how clear something is to you, there's always a different perspective! After all, it's not about the truth really, it's about which version of the truth you are looking at!
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
T20 WC, U19 WC and now the CBS!
India beat Australia in the 2nd final in Brisbane today to lift the 3-nation Commonwealth Bank Series, dislodging the Autralians from their throne yet again. And while this young team celebrated their hitoric win, the U-19 team was parading in Bangalore, fresh from the U19 WC victory!
Sachin hit devastating form in the final two matches, hitting an unbeaten century in Sydney and then following it with a stunning 91 in the second final today. And while other batsmen including Gambhir and Rohit proved their mettle, the real punch came from India's super-young pace battery - Ishant Sharma, Pravin Kumar, Pathan and Shreesanth. And remember, we didn't even have Zaheer and RP Singh!
It's been an awesome phase for Indian cricket - and Dhoni's team truly represents the brave, fighting spirit of the new India!
Chak De, India!
Sachin hit devastating form in the final two matches, hitting an unbeaten century in Sydney and then following it with a stunning 91 in the second final today. And while other batsmen including Gambhir and Rohit proved their mettle, the real punch came from India's super-young pace battery - Ishant Sharma, Pravin Kumar, Pathan and Shreesanth. And remember, we didn't even have Zaheer and RP Singh!
It's been an awesome phase for Indian cricket - and Dhoni's team truly represents the brave, fighting spirit of the new India!
Chak De, India!
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