SET MAX Cricket World Cup 2007 Coverage

SET MAX Cricket World Cup 2007 coverage is crap!

They are so keen to show their precious advertisements that you end up missing either the end or beginning of overs. Of course you also miss on important replays.

For example: The other day I was watching a match and it was the last ball of the over. The batsman hit a four and before the ball could reach the boundary SET MAX had broken away from the live telecast and started showing ads.

I wonder why they ruin the coverage for the viewers. I as a viewer end up HATING the ads. I am sure the same must be happening with other viewers as well. So in the end the misplaced zeal for pushing the ads makes the viewers hate the products/services being advertised.

It defies logic!

In the land of plenty, what's one lakh and twenty?

In the land of plenty, what's one lakh and twenty?

The other day I went to this fabulously expensive brand store at a five star hotel in New Delhi.
There I saw this dress (a Christian Dior). As you can see it is a simple yet elegant evening dress which would look good on any girl who has the figure and height to wear it.

Just out of curiosity I asked the price of the dress. The salesperson told me that the price was one lakh and twenty thousand rupees! (Rs. 1,20,000 or £1400 or $2700).

This simple fact really stunned me.

I wonder in which other country in the world such a duality exists? Where on one hand people can afford such dresses (which probably won't be worn more than one or twice before they go out of fashion) and on the other hand farmers are committing suicide because they are in debt by a few thousand rupees.

This also highlights the growth of the new middle and upper-middle class in India. There is money in the market and the consumer is now not shy of spending money on luxury items. No wonder most of the fashion labels can't wait to sink their teeth into the Indian markets!

India has indeed become a land of plenty, but only for those who can afford it.

Snapshots of Life..

Photo Title: Progress

Photo Title: The concrete towers of God

Photo Title: Arti Schumacher in her red Ferrari colours.

Nishabd

Nishabd: No reasons for being speechless.

Coma to Heart-Attack scale: High Blood Pressure (8/10)

It is not as if the story is original. Initial comparisons with Lolita and once the movie was released with American Beauty ensured that this movie got hammered. To break the mold Ram Gopal Verma would have had to lie.

I give it such high points is because I appreciate honesty. What has been shown could actually happen with Indian males. When Jiah Khan calls Amitabh a hypocrite she is not far wrong. The societal pressure and the 'family friend' factor is true with Indian relationships which makes the Indian male a far less adventurous and reckless than his western counterpart (Kevin Spacey changes his lifestyle completely). In the end Amitabh (playing the typical Indian male) prefers to live on in a fantasy world rather than take any steps to improve his situation.

That is perhaps one of the main reasons, while all Indian families do not enjoy a happily married life, the divorce rate is not as high as in the western world.
People do continue to live unhappy lives than resisting societal pressure to split. Especially people who have been married for a long time.

The scenery is excellent and the background music is good too!

The girls are cute!
While most people are going ga-ga over Jiah Khan I liked Shradha Arya (playing Amitabh's daughter) better. Shradha looks cute when she cries and her eyes are deadly. She was the runner up of the Best Cinestar Ki Khoj competition.

There are quite a few negatives in the story. It just seems like a weeks worth of episodes for a soap opera. A very short story is stretched to fit two hours.
Revathi plays the standard role of the 'suffering in silence' housewife. There are no twists to the story. No excitement to grab the attention of the audience.

The CAMERA! Why does it go flying all over the place ALL the time?
OK the SCENERY is BEAUTIFUL but do we need to see N number of different views of Amitabh's 'estate' through the 'magical flying camera'.
Oh and why the use of fish-eye and wide-angle lenses? We really don't need to see the interiors of the house in wide-angle!
I have one serious issue with the whole concept of Jiah being from a split home and having spent time in Australia?

Does the director want to show that Indian girls are not capable of falling in love with older men?
Or does one need to have family issues / influence of foreign culture to do so?

The tagline is 'some love stories are never meant to be understood'
But this one is so simple to understand that its not even worth going into the details.
The tagline should have been 'there is nothing to understand in this love story'

Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. a.k.a. The Marriage of Superman

Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. a.k.a. The Marriage of Superman

Coma to Heart-Attack scale: High Blood Pressure (8/10)

Bollywood directors and producers have still not understood the importance of a good storyline. Bringing together a bunch of good actors with a below average story doesn't provide for an entertaining few hours!

It was a different movie with the usual cliches. In some parts its brilliant in others disappointing.
I gave it 8/10 because this movie breaks several barriers. Especially the complexities of gay - straight marriages.

It is a good start and I am sure in the future movies will improve and build upon the basic theme of this movie. Very few directors can get such a complex situation right in the first try.

Another amazing point about this movie, it introduces bisexual men in Bollywood movies.

Go watch this movie!

Using your Hands and your Heart

The other day a friend of mine told me that one day someone told her that she looks better in photographs than she does in real life. This 'someone' cares for her.

Firstly we should look better in photographs because we usually show only those pictures in which we look happy and at our best!

Specific to girls:
Well I think when you are with a girl you should not oogle at her like you are oogling at a pornographic picture. Use your heart and your hands to understand her.

When you want to use your eyes, use them to look into her eyes.

You will see the depths of life in them.

Just like when you go to a temple you don't oogle at God. Instead you lower your eyes, bring your hands together and open your heart in worship.

In other words treat girls with respect because whether they look good or not in real life, they are the ones who can actually create and carry LIFE.
Keep them happy and they will make sure you remain happy too!

A Quote of Happiness

Happiness for me is when nothing bad happens.
-Myself

Lockheed Martin on www.timesofindia.com

The screen-shot above shows the advertisement of Lockheed Martin the same bunch of people who make the F-16 fighter (and other nice things).

I wonder why they are advertising on www.timesofindia.com next to ad's for 'easy money transfers' to India and matrimonial sites.

Must be their new method for opening the 'Indian' arms market and to muscle the Russians out of it.

I wonder what will happen if all the countries of the world have similar weapons? Owning weapons has almost become a status symbol and not a question of security any more. The general reasoning goes: if our neighbours have X then we need X+1.

World is becoming a funny place to live in! Next I guess we will find Lockheed Martin selling Paveway laser guided bombs on www.indiatimes.com

;)

Wreath of Barbs - II

From the Wreath of Barbs by Wumpscut. One of my favourite songs!

Holy burning hand of wrath
Piercing forever through the heart
And this flaming orbit of shame
Ravages and splits the path


And I bleed and bleed in this wreath of barbs
And I run and run but I dont get far

A pickup line...

My Caribbean girl type friend found this pick-up line I made very amusing:

Step into my Ferrari said the spider to the fly.

I am sure of it now. I am not destined to meet normal girls in this life time!

Selfishness and Relationships

A few weeks ago a friend of mine asked me the following question related to relationships and girls:

Q: Azahar, don't you think you should be selfish in life sometimes?

I replied that no, being selfish is never good. Ideally you should never be selfish.

A relation is not about being selfish. It is about being totally self-less.
A relation is only successful when you put the other person's interests before yours and the other person puts your interests before theirs.

This is difficult to achieve in most relations in this selfish age. Especially in that most sacred a relation enjoyed by a man and a woman united in matrimony under the eyes of God.

A: What is mine will never be taken, what is taken was never mine.

Additional thoughts:
I think it would be even better if we kept mutual interests before personal interests in a relation.

Pain and Dilbert

Such a funny cartoon with a painful twist. Can a normal job be so painful that it kills your spirit?

I love the following line from the cartoon, they are quite beautiful:

Darkness fills my days... I dream of the grave.

What pain can it be that the grave seems the only place where you will find final rest (thus you dream of the grave). What kind of darkness can leave you feeling alone and unloved on a sunny afternoon with flowers blooming around you. The feeling of complete and utter failure.

A Pain-killer

Again and again our attention is drawn to the fact that there is so much pain in the world. What we don't realise is that pain is the only constant. An orphaned child in Africa feels pain as does someone in America who has been cheated by the love of their life.

People have started keeping pain to themselves. That is why psychiatrists are doing so well.
People just don't have the strength or willingness to talk it out. Many people don't even have anyone to listen to them. Everyone has their own problems. Everyone is busy. Why should they lend an ear to someone else's problems?

This is what I think is wrong in today's world. We should always be ready to listen to people no matter how irritated, frustrated or busy we ourselves are.

1. Nothing compares to the feeling of happiness and release you get when you talk to someone about your problem.
2. Nothing compares to the feeling you get when you provide this feeling to someone.

Snapshots of Life..

Picture Title: 'Feet of a Goddess'

Picture Title: 'Na jaao saiyan chuda ke bayian: Don't leave me!'

Picture Title: 'Seen at a food joint: Hospital 800m'

Death of Tech. Outsourcing?

Has the Tech. Outsourcing to India reached its peak?

Read this first:

http://gigaom.com/2007/02/18/troubling-signs-for-indian-tech-outsourcers/#comment-654693

Well the reason that Google is such a hot employer is because of the work culture and brand name it offers.
Most of the Indian outfits like TCS and Wipro are run almost like govt. departments with a very different and restrictive work environment.

Also now we are getting better quality work in India. In IT outsourcing focus has shifted from just coding to other things like R&D and Business Analysis.

Furthermore we should not forget that much of the ‘Indian Talent’ doesn’t remain in India for long. They head off for greener pastures to do their bachelors or masters. Many manage to find jobs in their adopted countries itself and settle there.
But in the recent past there has been an encouraging reversal to this. Students prefer to come back to India after their studies are completed.
India is not seen as a dead end kind of place any more. With a foreign degree in your hands you automatically become highly qualified. Thus the Indian student knows that their chances of finding a job in a top notch co. in India are much better than in their adopted country.

While there needs to be a shift within the Indian companies from bespoke development and services to product development backed by top notch R&D these things cannot come up overnight.

The Indian IT industry is just now waking up from the boom times… now that the headlong rush towards big money is easing off it is the perfect time to take stock of the situation and to plan ahead for the next big thing.

About Death...

I had gone to a temple recently... there I read the following:

Whether you stand still or move, your days diminish.
Then grieve only for yourself, why grieve for anything else.

These above lines had the magical effect of relaxing me. They are translated from some religious text, but the meaning is absolutely clear.

In the recent past I have tried to become emotionless. To remove all emotions from my heart and mind. To attain perfect objectivity.

Why do we indulge in emotions and have thoughts/worries associated with those emotions?
Nothing is going to last forever and the sands of time will cover all.

A Quote after Breakfast...

All good things begin with a question.
-Myself.

An Alcoholic Achievement

My years of dedication to alcohol have finally paid off. I now look like an alcoholic!

Few days ago I had gone for a wedding reception. As soon as I entered the area where the reception was taking place my eyes fell on waiter carrying scotch. I did not say or indicate anything to him yet he came up to me and directly asked me 'with Soda or Water'.

I don't know how he knew I will take scotch. Maybe I was giving off a scotch drinkers vibe or something? Or maybe something in my body language on seeing the glasses full of scotch on his tray?

:D

On a Valentine's Day..

For someone.... special....

You and I will always remain together,
wherever and with whoever we are.
Coz you are the first girl who I have loved,
from the depths of my heart.

- A. M.
13th February 2007

Thank you Arti!

Azahar: how cute u r

u have lost ur power of fighting

:D

if ur fire then im water

thande pad jaate ho aap in front of my logic ;)

hehehehe

Arti: there is no logic

coming from your end

its a simple fact..."you are crazy"

About PhD...

TK: i auditioned for a musical nite as a part of ***'s Research Scholar's Meet
Me: hahaha
TK: and got selected!!!
TK: why "hahaha"?
Me: phd and singing
Me: hahahah
Me: u might be singing for money at a railway station after phd
TK: very funny!!