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Friday, October 31, 2003 Hello to a PakiJust got to know from the web stats that someone from Pakistan has visited my site recently. Don't know what he/she came looking for and how that person landed here. Just in case if he manages to reach these pages again, here is my Hello to him! Posted at 10/31/2003 10:25:07 AM Link Thursday, October 30, 2003 Would AIDS attack Pulli Raja?
I don't know whether the said advert has gone to the next stage in the media but Pulli Raja has caught everyone's fancy, as lot of funny incidents over this have got reported. - A schoolboy got thrashed by his teacher for raising the above question in the classroom. Later it emerged that of late whenever a teacher encourages the class to raise doubts, naughty pupils ask this question and this has happened at many places in the state.
Posted at 10/30/2003 01:19:39 PM Link Tuesday, October 28, 2003 MBA BloggersJust discovered a big league of MBA Bloggers. Went through some of them - gives a student view of whats inside the campus and some of them even track the run up to the first day at a B-School campus. Posted at 10/28/2003 03:44:28 PM Link Monday, October 27, 2003 Daylight Saving TimeThree years back, I had a tough time explaining my folks at home about the Daylight Saving Time and the change in time difference. Many thought I am just joking that we would have to manually set our clocks an hour late in October and reverse the process in March. I really, really cherish that one 'extra' hour of sleep on that October morning, knowing too well that I would miss it the same way in March. Posted at 10/27/2003 12:16:58 PM Link Sunday, October 26, 2003 CricketFollowed the fantastic ball-by-ball commentary of the Indian innings at Gwalior against Aussies in Wisden Cricinfo. I have met the commentator Anand Vasu few years back when I visited the offices of Cricinfo to meet my friend who works there. The commentary was of very high quality as one could visualise the proceedings at the middle. Went for a nap during the Aussie innings as I didn't have the heart to follow Gilchrist & Hayden go hammer and tongs against Khan & Agarkar. The match turned the other way is a different story, though. It is almost four years since I watched a cricket match in the telly and during these tough times (?!) Cricinfo has been my saviour. About two years back, when Cricinfo were facing huge financial losses, they were contemplating making the ball-by-ball commentary a paid service. Thank goodness, better sense prevailed. Needless to say, how I miss the fun of watching the match in the living room television. Posted at 10/26/2003 07:13:01 PM Link Saturday, October 25, 2003 DeadlineLess than 48 hours left to complete my assignment on Quality Management and here I am without even the basic preparations. If I have to stay on track and ensure that I don't attract my tutor's ire, I got to get into business NOW! Why do I always leave things until the last minute? Not a Quality practice.. right? PS: This is my first post during a weekend after a long, long time. It doesn't mean anything to you, but to me, it means that now I have got a PC up & running at home connected to the wired world. Posted at 10/25/2003 12:22:09 PM Link Friday, October 24, 2003 Happy Diwali folks! Freak out & have fun!!Bharathgreetings.com seems to have captured the imagination of many as more than 80% of the e-greetings I got were from that site. I have never heard of it before. Though its nice to get a wish from any one on a special day, I am not a fan of e-greetings. Most of those chaps sell out our e-mail IDs leaving us to clear piles of e-junk. Posted at 10/24/2003 10:04:29 AM Link Thursday, October 23, 2003 Yellow JournalismGossiping seems to be the national hobby in UK & I bet the best business to start in UK is to run a tabloid. Anything related to the royal family sells as it makes the entire populace sit up & read in awe. Am surprised as how this country, six years after her death still goes gaga over Princess Diana. Now that her butler has come out with some juicy stuff as part of his book, one 'Daily Express' or 'Daily Mirror' is happily serialising it. Not to be outdone, other yellow tabloids are catching up fast with the usual Charles bashing, his affair with Camilla et al. I used to rue about the gossip mongering in the vernacular press back home, but after looking at the tabloids here, I feel that the standards in the Indian media are far above the West. Posted at 10/23/2003 10:44:27 AM Link Fever & Spice It was a typical English weather the day before. Clear skies in the morning and heavy rains at noon. Got drenched in the rain and caught up with cold & fever. Ever tried spicy food when you have fever? I would long for fever just for that. Still down but enjoying! :-) Posted at 10/23/2003 10:44:09 AM Link Tuesday, October 21, 2003 Check out this site.. http://4wav.com/index_n.phpPosted at 10/21/2003 01:47:33 PM Link I was rejoicing at the thought that I could sit back at home & have fun on Diwali day since it falls during the weekend (the calendar said so!) unlike the last three years. Only yesterday I got to know from my folks that Friday is the D-day. Despite this one being our ‘Thalai Deepavali’ (the first Diwali after wedding), unfortunately its gonna be yet another day for us. Posted at 10/21/2003 10:38:55 AM Link Monday, October 20, 2003 Atlast...After months of procrastination, I completed my website redesign and what you see here is what I have been working on so far. It wouldn’t have been possible without the help of my friend Hari Kumar, who worked hard for the logo. He gave me some fantastic DHTML stuff, which I had planned to use for my Blogroll, but I had to drop those at the last moment coz I have planned a different stuff while moving to MT. Folks, let me know how my site looks now! Posted at 10/20/2003 04:51:30 PM Link Friday, October 17, 2003 New Indian ExpressMy favourite site www.newindpress.com - the website of ‘New Indian Express’ has got a facelift. The layout remains the same but they have made lot of changes in the font and it looks good. Check it out! Posted at 10/17/2003 10:11:29 AM Link Wednesday, October 15, 2003 Indian Call CentresLast night, I had to ring up AOL Technical Support as I had trouble connecting to the Internet from my newly acquired PC. The moment the support bloke started to speak, I sensed that he is from India. He too guessed it right at the same time and asked about it saying that he is working at a call centre in Bangalore. Probably he got a bit excited that he took the liberty of throwing his acquired foreign accent to the winds and spoke in simple Indian accent. Felt good speaking to some stranger from India unexpectedly even though the problem for which I called remains far from getting resolved. Posted at 10/15/2003 10:58:14 AM Link Monday, October 13, 2003 UmbrellaI have the knack of losing/mishandling umbrellas. In the first 2 years of my life in UK, I have changed about 14 umbrellas. Initially, I used to keep the umbrella behind the seat in the London Underground and forget about that while getting down. Wary of my bad memory, I started buying very low quality ones (& hence very economical), which weren’t able to withstand even the mild breeze during the rains. As walking became the major mode of conveyance after moving to Bournemouth, I decided to go in for quality umbrellas as the chance of losing them appeared remote. But Bournemouth, being a coastal town meant that the winds are strong and my expensive umbrellas started to wilt as well. After much thought, I went in for the proverbial Grandpa’s umbrella (the long one, ‘thaatha kudai’ in Tamil). Despite the user unfriendliness of the umbrella, it is quite sturdy and 3 months on, I haven’t misplaced it. However, I couldn’t figure out the reason for a strange thing that is happening with this one. Whenever I carry the umbrella on non-rainy days, I have a feeling that the dogs bark at me more ferociously than ever. Posted at 10/13/2003 12:28:47 PM Link My laptop stolen at office about 3 weeks back (Yes! An unknown, distinguished colleague of mine has nicked it) meant that we were left high & dry at home over the weekend, missing the action at Motera and in other parts of the world. I made use of it drowning myself with the academic stuff for close to 16 hours and also nicked some time during the breaks to finish ‘Morning, Noon & Night’ by Sidney Sheldon. Posted at 10/13/2003 12:28:09 PM Link Friday, October 10, 2003 An unusually busy day at work! Whichever way I go, there is a stumbling block. Need to kick them off my way. Hence, not in a mood to write much, though I have got loads to put down here.Posted at 10/10/2003 02:48:30 PM Link Thursday, October 09, 2003 Third time luckyTwice in the last few weeks, we tried planting beautiful rose bushes in the garden at the forecourt of our house. It so happened that each time within a day of planting, the leaves would disappear and the plant would soon look like a poverty stuck cactus. As there is no chance for any cattle to enter the garden, we thought that it could be some insects that do the damage. But it turned out to be the snails that eat the leaves as soon as we plant. We bought few more bushes over the weekend and also used ‘anti-snail’ pellets. A week later, what a sight it was to see couple of blooming roses smiling at us this morning. Also, found dead were lots & lots of snails near the bushes. Was hard to believe that the place was home to so many snails. Posted at 10/9/2003 10:24:20 AM Link Tuesday, October 07, 2003 Subconscious WalkWhile walking home from work last evening, I was deeply absorbed in thoughts about an important decision I had to take. I was so engrossed that I walked past my home and when I realised what I was doing, I was about half a mile from my home. Feeling slightly embarrassed, I turned back only to realise that I had crossed two busy road junctions subconsciously. I thought about how I reached that place as there are two different approach roads leading to that point from the street where I last remembered walking. This ‘subconscious’ walk would have taken not more than 5 minutes but how much ever I try to remember the path I travelled, I couldn’t recollect. Neither could I remember any buildings/vehicles/people I would have come across during that period. Is this Selective Amnesia or just Day Dreaming? Posted at 10/7/2003 10:17:03 AM Link Monday, October 06, 2003 NHS‘Up or Out’ is one of the (in)famous HR policies followed in some big corporates. It is like either you perform exceedingly well and move up the ladder or you are chucked out. There are no second prizes. It might sound unfair but it is the way I heard some companies practice. Similar thing could hold with Health services in UK as well. I have heard so many people whine about the Health Services in this country but thankfully I have never been in the receiving end. Yesterday was a different story though and it’s our turn to face the music. My wife had some infection in her inner jaw and as a result, she had lot of pain in the ear since Friday evening. Since our GP (General Practitioner with whom we've registered with) like most other GPs in this country wouldn't be available during the weekends, we contacted the National Health Services help line and they suggested some pain killers which weren't of much help. The pain persisted and her condition warranted the attention of the doctor or better some specialist. I contacted the Royal Bournemouth Hospital and asked them whether I would be able to consult a doctor/ENT specialist if I come there straightaway. They told me clearly that only Accident & Emergency (A&E) services would be available during the weekends and if we come there despite being told about this, we would have to wait for long hours before being checked out by A&E doctor who wouldn't anyway be of much help either. In other words, she told us not to come anywhere near the hospital. I asked them whether I could have any appointment with the ENT specialist for anytime on Monday. "No" was the reply. The specialists must be referred to by the GP and there is no way having contacting them directly. Today morning, I contacted the GP’s surgery for an appointment. The earliest one my wife could have was on Thursday evening. I convinced the nurse (or the receptionist) that the situation is so acute (Well... It isn't that bad really) that my wife badly needs some medical attention. After lot of crap selling, she relented and let my wife have an appointment for Tuesday evening. My colleagues who heard me talk with the GP’s staff over the appointment told me that it is indeed the way it works here. Seems that another way of sorting this out is to call out the NHS and say that she has an emergency problem and irrespective of the problem, a blue light flashing ambulance would be on the way home (anyways, she would only be attended by the A&E doctor during the weekends, which according to one of the staff at the hospital, wouldn’t be of much help). It is NOT a major problem or an emergency (I am somewhat scared what if it were one). All my wife needs is to talk with a GP or an ENT specialist for not more than 10 minutes. Aren’t these guys complicating the system like anything? Thanks to the unpolluted environment here, we don’t tend to fall sick very often. But if we do so, they would ensure that we go through the pain in every sense. Posted at 10/6/2003 11:47:30 AM Link Jeans for Genes It was 'Jeans for Genes' day on Friday last. It is a UK wide appeal where everyone is invited throw out their usual dress rules and jump into their jeans in exchange for £1. The money raised would go for the charity. Apart from giving us a break from the formal dress code, it was good to see everyone clad in Jeans. More than anything else, I liked the slogan. :-) Posted at 10/6/2003 11:42:23 AM Link Friday, October 03, 2003 ChineseTo welcome a newly joined colleague in our department, we decided to go out for lunch today. Thanks to the behaviour of the manager/owner of Momtaz the other day, I made sure that he didn't get business from us at least this time. Our destination was Dragon Palace - a Chinese restaurant. It is a very aesthetically decorated restaurant and I have been there once about 1.5 years before - when my colleagues decided to welcome me in to the company with Chinese food. That time around, I ordered ‘Fried Rice’ insisting that it should be ‘Vegetarian’. That guy nodded his head with a smile and brought me a nice looking stuff, which turned out to be fried rice with prawn. Apparently that waiter understood only Chinese as we found out when he goofed up with the orders of everyone. My colleagues helped me with their bit of extra special effort in asking him to bring ‘anything’ without fish or meat. Within minutes, he brought me a pure vegetarian food. Guess what? Probably, he took that 'anything' seriously.. it was a bowl full of plain rice and nothing else. I can eat plain rice but certainly not a bowlful for lunch :-). I was so hungry and didn't want to try my luck again. Hence, I asked for yoghurt, simply mixed it with rice and started having it. It was great! Apologizing for the inconvenience, my colleagues were asking, “How could you eat yoghurt & rice together?” Well.. How would they know the taste of ‘thachchi mamm’ (curd rice) and that its part & parcel of my life and so many others? Out of the flashback, this time we were lucky enough to be served by an English speaking waiter and the food was good as well. The Chopsticks proved to be a disaster for me though. Never mind, every day is a learning experience. Posted at 10/3/2003 05:18:26 PM Link Thursday, October 02, 2003 Remembering MahatmaIt’s October 2 today and India would remember Mahatma this day every year by having a holiday. Wouldn't it be a more fitting tribute to Gandhi if we go for work that day? Posted at 10/2/2003 04:23:03 PM Link Wednesday, October 01, 2003 'Kaakha Kaakha'Got to see the Tamil movie 'Kaakha Kaakha' recently. Its quite a while since it got released, but sitting in a lil' English town, I don't expect myself to see all the Tamil movies the day after the release. Back to the topic.. What a fantastic movie it is! I don't remember the time when I last enjoyed watching a violent film. Given the 'different' plot of the movie, the violence could be perfectly justified. Surya, playing the role of an ‘encounter’ specialist has scaled new heights maintaining his tough, typical cop look throughout. Gowtham, who directed the not-so-impressive ‘Minnale’ two years back should be commended for not losing track in the middle, as is the case with most films these days. Probably he was a bit short in confidence that he went for an unnecessary Ramya Krishnan number. Most films of this nature would end with a merry note for the hero & his gang. There would usually be a second heroine who would be a sacrificial lamb. But this one is different – the heroine dies (ohh.. our Jyothika! I dare not add the 'darling' suffix for obvious reasons!! People say she has lost weight. But it doesn’t seem so. Anyway, she is as lively as ever!! :-), hero’s friends die and the film is refreshingly realistic. The villain’s voice is a bit hollow and perhaps that is how the real villains would be without any stupid, stylish mannerisms. Harris Jayaraj has scored well but some of the tunes remind me of ‘Minnale’. All said and done, this is a violent one and might not suit the lighthearted. More than the film itself, I was surprised at the timing of the movie – being released at a time when there are quite a few real time ‘encounters’ in Tamilnadu. If you have got bit more time, have a look at this article that appeared in Washington Post. I have never done a movie review before. Just wanted to try that out once and here I did.. Posted at 10/1/2003 12:29:59 PM Link | ||||
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