Monday, March 30, 2009

Virgin Exceeds Expectations... Again

I sent a query about my plan to Virgin customer care late on Sunday evening, and I was pleasantly surprised to receive not an automated acknowledgement, but a very detailed and clear explanation of my plan within a few minutes. I am impressed with the level of customer service. Keep it up, guys!

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Buchanan's Lost It!

Buchanan inexplicably announces multiple captains in the KKR team! I mean, hello, does this even make sense? SRK - come on, wake up and look into what's happening, man!

And Dada, I know you will win in the end :) Your fans believe in you!

NASSCOM Award Ceremony

Finally found pictures of the NASSCOM awards presentation ceremony :) Here I am receiving the award from Jyotiraditya Scindia, MoS for IT with Ganesh Natarajan and Som Mittal looking on.



And here's one of the panel discussion I participated in on "Innovation":

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Goa bans the SRS

The Goa government today banned the Sri Ram Sene, even before it set up it's first branch in the state. Even the BJP supported the government step. Thank god, some sense still prevails!

MapMyIndia

I had to visit PICT today, and starting from Sangam Bridge RTO, I knew the general location but had never been there today, and decided to let my MapMyIndia gadget take me there. It took me right through the city, cutting across from Shaniwarwada acrosss Laxmi Road and directly into Swargate, and then took me straight to the gate of the college off Satara road. Pretty neat!

It was fun at PICT, meeting the students, spending time in the canteen... reminded me of my good old days as a carefree student...

But frankly, I prefer it now :)

3rd in the Family!

My sister bought her very own Ford Ikon yesterday, the 3rd sexy Ford in our family :)

I'm A Virgin :)

Yes, well, I got a Virgin Mobile last week... 1699 for the phone and the pack, with 499 worth of free air/talk time, I thought it was worth a look! Their plan promises 100 free smses every day, after the first 3 are charged. Will help me save around a 1000 bucks from my cellphone bill every month... a good thing during recession :)

Let's see, for now, I am clinging on to my virginity :)

If I Tell You a Joke...

...will you solve it?

Lol, Lol...

Movie Review: Straight

Straight - A Tedhi Medhi Love Story is another gem from Vinay Pathak.

Owner of the Gaylord restaurant in London, Vinay's life turns very complicated when a new stand up comedian cum cook joins his restaurant and becomes his best friend, and one day, ends up smooching him. Am I turning gay? How do I tell Renu I love her? Will I ever end up losing my virginity?

The movie is a typical Vinay gig - at times funny, at times serious, but always very real. Very identifiable. I found Anuj Chaudhary as his friend, and Siddharth Makkar as his step-brother pretty likeable too... oops, am I...?

Not a bad option for a weekend...

Movie Review: Little Zizou

I quite liked this one. A movie about Parsis, made by Parsis, with Parsis, this is however a universally appealing story about real people and real lives, that will definitely touch you if you like understanding the lives of normal people. Forget the story.. just sit and relax and enjoy the small things that make life so beautiful. Some amazing characters, played by some amazing actors.

Watch it. Worth it.

Movie Review: 13B

13B is a suspense thriller rather than the horror movie it is projected to be... and actually gets funny at times.

When a happy joint family moves into their new apartment, their TV behaves rather strangely - forcing them to watch a serial about a happy family that just moves into their new apartment. What is the TV trying to tell them? What message are the spirits trying to pass on?

Interesting story, worth a watch. But don't expect too much.

Movie Review: The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button

Some pending movie reviews coming up.. the first being the Oscar-motivated Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Brad Pitt (thanks to all those who quickly pointed out my mistake when I wrote Matt Damn) does a fantastic job as the man who ages in reverse... being born as a freak kid with the shrivelled look of an old man, he grows into a weak and stumbling fellow, then slowly gets strength in his feet, his features become younger... becomes a handsome young man, then a kid...

What does this do to his love life? How do you handle your daughter being the same age as you, and then elder to you? What do you do when the woman you love grows older, while you grown younger and smarter...?

Interesting story, some fantastic make up. Matt is top class.

However, the movie is slwo and stretched, and you come out feeling drained and bored. Definitely not worth wasting time in a theatre on a good weekend, might be better to just get a DVD and keep the remote handy to push through those boring parts... well, most of the movie, actually!

India Breaks the Kiwi Jinx

With a well-deserved 10 wicket victory, Team India proved to be too strong for the Kiwis in the first test. With Sachin's 150+, a fascinating spell of swing bowling in the first innings and Harbhajan's 6 wicket haul in the second, India completely outplayed their counterparts to take a 1-0 lead.

Meanwhile, still on cricket, Vijay Mallya dropped Dravid as the captain of his IPL team, putting Kevin Pieterson (to be followed by Jacques Kallis) in his place.

Sunday, March 08, 2009

Sun Outage!

Something really cool happened today while watching cricket - check the screen grab from my TV! Never knew such things happened :)

India on the Offensive...

After giving a drubbing to the Kiwis in the first one dayer, and having to let go of a good start in the second to rain, India set a target of just less than 400 for the Kiwis in the third one dayer at Christchurch.

At the time of writing this blog, NZ was fighting a losing battle, having lost 7 wickets and still needing 153 from 77.

Rock On, India!

Friday, March 06, 2009

Study in Contrasts...

NSG commandos storming the Taj. The army surrounding the Trident. Braves heroes giving up their lives for our countrymen. 9 terrorists shot dead. One captured. Memories and visuals that bring tears to the eyes, while the heart swells with pride.

Contrast this with the shame of Lahore. The world stinging in its criticism. Terrorists calmly walking away in full glare of cameras (and how did they get there?) and police vans.

That's the difference, isn't it?

Sunday, March 01, 2009

Tribute To Friendship



Got this beautiful collage from a friend, as my birthday gift... a tribute to the awesome times we've shared as friends and colleagues. It's been awesome having you guys around... and I look forward to many more such great moments!