2006 - The year gone by...

Another year has passed leaving behind some good and bad memories. The good news is that there are more memories to cherish than regret.

At the personal front, I finally got a steady job that paid me my worth - not some internship where I slogged for meagre pay. I also finished and submitted my project work for masters degree - something that I should have done last year. Financially, I had more money this year than I had in my entire career. So, I have been tempted to spend lavishly - the temptation to which I have scummed many times. Yet, I can say that I have a decent saving in bank by the year end.

This year AOL celebrated 25years. What a lavish celebration!! I was as usual with RDP for setting of stalls during the event. I thoroughly enjoyed each and every moment - the pre-planning for the stalls, the n number of mails exchanged to decide on a matter, the chupke-se taking printout in office, the fights and disagreements, the collecting volunteers for the stalls, the setting up of the stalls, the stall allocation and strategic planning for the same, the sales - over all everything. Guruji celebrated his 50th birthday this year.

This was also the year of babies - many of my friends and acquaintances had babies. Foremost among them is Priya and Sweta. Then there was also Esha, Aishwarya and many more.

The saddest moment was when Ie passed away. Its a loss that can't be explained. To see Pappa cry, to see him look at Ie's photo with pain in his eyes is something without words.

I also lost 2 mobiles this year. Finally have decided to survive on second-hand mobiles. At least won't feel too bad when I lose them.

A new year dawns, and time for some resoultions. Joint first on the list has to be to get the driving license and proper exercise. Others come in a random order later.

Its been quite a few days since I posted. At work, project has began - officially on Jan 2nd 2007 but unofficially a couple of weeks ago. And work is slowly and steadily getting hectic.

2006 is ending..I wanted to write a post on that, but don't have the time. I haven't even gone to ashram with Guruji in town.

But have a wonderful video. Its the comedy round of Nach Baliye1. Check out Varun and Rajeshwari. This is the comedy dance I've ever seen.

12 days of Christmas

Check this out...totally hilarious. Note the mallu accent..


Thanks to Sowmya for the video.

Dhoom with Hrithik

I watched Dhoom2 a few days back. Its Hrithik all the way in the movie. He dances like a rubber doll, he looks like a Greek God (he is also acts like one in the movie) and he steals not only the whole movie but also your hearts.

I found these two videos on YouTube. Man he looks absolutely fab. First is the Dhoom Again song



This is Dil Laga song. I'm a big fan of Abhishek Bachchan but here its only Hrithik.



The quality isn't so good. But you can't miss Hrithik!!

My Grandmother

My grandmother passed away yesterday. Its a great loss for all of us.

The void she has left behind is immense. She was a bhandar of knowledge and stories. I remember how me and Arati would ask her to tell stories about our dad's childhood, and how we used to feel good when she told us how dad was beaten for his antics during his childhood. She would tell stories about her childhood in Maasur - how she would make tamarind balls, how she would steal mangoes - the memories are too many.

She was the head of the family and we would turn to her for most of the issues. She was an absolutely amazing cook. I just loved her cooking. We would eagarly look forward to go to her house - mainly for the food. Her rasam was the world's best. Even my mom can't make rasam like her. (This is something because my mom's rasam is out of the world.) Whenever we went, I would call her up and tell her to make extra rasam for me. And I would drink the rasam like water.

We are going to miss her, but life goes on. May her soul rest in peace.

Think again

Piyu sent me this long time ago. Really thought provoking...

If we reduce the population of the Earth to a small town with 100 people and keep the proportions, it will look like this:

57 Asians 21 Europeans 14 Americans (northern and southern) 8 Africans
52 women 48 men
70 coloured-skins 30 caucasians
89 heterosexuals 11 homosexuals

6 people would own 59% of the whole world wealth and all of them will be from the United States of America
80 would have bad living conditions
70 will be uneducated
50 will be underfed
1 would die
2 would be born
1 will have a computer
1 (only one) will have higher education

Also think about the following:
If this morning you've woke up healthy, you are happier then 1 million people that will not survive next week.
If you never suffered a war, the loneliness of the jail cell, the agony of torture, or hunger, you are happier then 500 million people in the world.
If you can enter into a church/mosque without fear of jail or death, you are happier then 3 million people in the world.
If there is a food in your fridge, you have shoes and clothes, you have bed and a roof, you are richer then 75% of the people in the world.
If you have bank account, money in your wallet and some coins in the money-box, you belong to the 8% of the people on the world, which are well-to-do.
If you read this you are three times more blessed because:
1. somebody just thought of you.
2. you don't belong to the 200 million people that cannot read.
3. and... you have a computer!

Nach Baliye2 Finals

Raju Shrivastav ended his performance in Nach Baliye by talking or rather joking about how the results are announced in reality shows. I had a taste of that last night.

It was the finals of NB, and they took such a long time to announce the results, that I gave up and slept. Anybody who was somebody in the show danced. Whether they were good or bad didn't matter. The only one who didn't dance was Kunal Kohli - thank God!! The comedy of the anchors was like the sensex, sometimes on a high and sometimes very cheap.

I watched till 11.30 and gave up. Got to know in the morning that Tina-Hussain won. Expected. They were better than Yash-Gowri yesterday. Also their (T&H) dance steps and choreography was far superior than Y&G. Worthy winners.

I'm on Time Cover

This was the first news I read today. Loved the concept. Read more in the CNN article.

Tina and Hussain - Blind dance

I loved this performance or should I say preformance like Saroj Khan.

Art of Living Marketing Model

The guest editor for today's Times of India is none other than H.H Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. I grabbed a copy (we get Hindu at home) from a newspaper stall on my way to work. Luckily, I got a seat in the bus and could read some of the articles. There is a report about TOI's experience in having Guruji in their office. There He talks about various things - criticism, marketing, WAR, and 'The choice is yours, blessing is mine'.

The marketing part caught my attention - it reminded me of my Greenpeace days. (Main Greenpeace ke liye chanda ekhata karti thi.) Here is an excerpt from the paper

So how does he react to charges of being well marketed Guru? "Its like commentary after the match is over", he shrugged.
"People can study the movement's success and turn it into a marketing model now, but no model was designed to make it a success."

During one of our pep talks, Rahul (my boss at Greenpeace) had mentioned about the marketing model of Art of Living (I hadn't done the course then). He asked us to observe the dedication of the volunteers of the foundation and imbibe that in ourselves. He was awed by the enthusiasm and energy of the volunteers. He used to ponder on the theory of getting volunteers to do the marketing not employ people for marketing. The whole lesson to be learnt according to Rahul, is that - You make such an impression on the person you talk to that he/she should next become the ambassador of Greenpeace.

Now I look back and smile at those words. Yes AoL is a indeed a great marketing model that needs some study, but what people sometimes don't understand is the grace behind the model.