Following is a list of things, I never thought would happen to me; but are happening to me. To clarify, not that I am all excited about these things, but nevertheless I had never thought that they would happen to me Getting bored of traveling ... and living in an AC room Meeting an old college friend at the airport and getting introduced to her husband there Getting fed-up of evening and late evening calls with my US counterparts Spending close to Rs 1500 a day on travel alone Spending less time on the Bed than travel during a 3 day period Longing to get back to my un-furnished apartment from a plush hotel Getting bored of outside food - reject offer for food in an aircraft Becoming a fan of a Hollywood actor (Tom Hanks) Interacting with my friends in Hyderabad and Geneva more frequently than with my room-mates Scheduling meetings with friends on the airport due to lack of time Telling acquaintances that I am hardly present in Mumbai to visit them there Getting a whole month's bil

Nowadays, I have been having trouble answering a very common question people ask me. Let me illustrate it through a dialogue: Mr. X: Are you staying in Bangalore? Me: (in my mind) Grrr ! I cannot be staying in Abu Dhabi if I have been coming to your office in Bangalore since the past 3 days!!! (aloud) Oh Ya! Indiranagar. Mr X: Own house or rented? Me: (in the mind) Is he mad?? Oh! Seems he was asking me if I stay in Bangalore (aloud) Oh! I meant I am currently staying in Bangalore but I am not a native. Mr X: Oh! So you are a native of? Me: aa…. (thinking) … I am from the Bombay Practice of KPMG Mr X: So, you are originally from Bombay? Me: (in mind) Grrrr … I hate this confusion (aloud) No actually I am a native of Bhopal Mr X: But you are a Maharashtrian, right? Me: (in mind) Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr …. I hate this even more … (aloud, smiling) Ya! Actually ancestrally our family belongs to Maharashtra. But both my parents were born an brought up in MP – and so am I. (smile a

Just finished watching "The Terminal" on Star Movies (that confirms I am not in Mumbai and am in some hotel where I get TV J). Steven Spielberg, Tam Hanks, Catherine Zeta Jones - the best combination of direction, performance and beauty - along with a very unique, interesting and classic story make the movie worth more than one watch. This was my second time. I could better identify with the movie this time, as I have been in the transitory mode for the past 3 weeks now, just like the major characters in this movie. For the uninitiated, I left Mumbai on the April 3 for Chennai; returned to Mumbai at 12:30 AM on April, 13 and left for Pune (on a personal trip), before the sun rose on April 14. If I include the amount of time spent in a car into my travel time, then between April 13 and April 17, I spent more time traveling than what I spent sleeping on a bed! This includes time spent coming back to Mumbai on the night of April 16 and leaving for Bangalore by the 6.30 flight ne

With little to do in Chennai, a TV in my hotel room, and bored watching the same debates on NDTV, I settled down to watching ‘Kuchh Kuchh Hota hai’ on Sony. Now, as all of you know, Bollywood Movies are made up 80% of emotional stuff. As I watched the scene when Shahrukh chases the train carrying Kajol away and tears flowing down their eyes – I reflected back upon the days when I was seeing my friends off about an year and a half ago. The real life, at least in my case, was quite a contrast to reel life as shown in such movies. Most partings were merry and we always parted smiling and laughing at the jokes we had cracked during our campus life. Did that mean that we weren’t sad at friends leaving for good? Or did it mean we did not love our friends? Well … not quite. According to me, in real life – emotions are the domain of the solitary mind. It is mostly when we are alone that we are taken over by emotions and philosophical thoughts. Emotions are seldom exchanged when people are in

Note: Trademarks and other confidential terms have been replaced with Block Characters (X,U,V,W) for professional prudence The day I applied to KPMG violating my sacrosanct policy of not applying to non-core-IT companies, the only thought was that in a consulting firm I could get to see more than one IT company rather than just one. Some year and half later, that decision seems to have paid off. I started my internship feeling slightly disappointed when I realized that I was working mostly in Banks and Financial sectors and IT seemed far. But I kept up my diligence towards work. The moment of self-assurance came just when I did not to go for the UK trip (most work there too was into the Banking and Financial sector). I was sent to Hyderabad for 3 weeks to help '§' get a SAS 70 certification. The opportunity was rewarding – I was able to observe all detailed processes from Software development, Software Quality Assurance, Infrastructure maintenance to HR management and training

Read the article Can MBA teach 'hunch' and 'inspiration'? on PaGaLGuY.com But the real question to ask is - Should MBA teach 'hunch' and 'inspiration'?. Transacting business does not always need 'hunch'. Most business transactions require insight, they need the ability to look through the obvious, through truckloads of mundane data and spot the right trend. What Ms. Gauri is probably talking about is Entrepreneurship - her examples of Microsoft and napster indicate the same. The question one must ask is whether even today Microsoft is being managed by Harvard dropouts?? Microsoft is headed by Steve Ballmer who graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor's degree in mathematics and economics. After college, he worked for two years at Procter & Gamble Co. as an assistant product manager and, before joining Microsoft, attended Stanford University Graduate School of Business. Same with Napster whose CEO is Chris Gorog. However, one sho

Just finished reading Five Point Someone. (Don't Scream! atleast now that I have read it). There are many criticisms of the book available. I agree that if the book does not depict the life of a five-pointer accurately, it does injustice to the subject; also that the story is filmy. But I would like to take the content with a sense of humour - just like one does while watching Govinda Movies and Munnabhai MBBS. So, here's my take on FPS .... What makes FPS interesting is the writing style ... its a very honest style of writing ..... Chetan writes as if the character is himself plotting his thoughts on paper .... without using special words and of course without civility ... An Example (my favourite!) - ".. then she placed her foot on the accelearator. Now may be it is because I am an engineer, but that was hot!". FPS is interesting because it describes events as if they unfolded in reality ... not the Ayn Randish style where the deeper meaning behind every event is a

"I've resigned because it's the right thing to do. Aur main Rae Bareli se election zaroor, zaroor ladoongi." No one has made as much a mockery of the Indian political system as Sonia Gandhi. Sonia has demonstrated to one and all how powerless and utterly ridiculous the Indian Democratic System can be made, provided you punch the right buttons. I salute the lady for her achievement ! While leftists and rightists both tried their best to argue to the public about the lacunae in the political system, Sonia has demonstrated the same by example; also in turn demonstrating the impotency of facts and arguments ( tark-aur-vimarsh ) in the current set up. The current case is ridiculous in more than one way. Sonia Gandhi had held many offices of profit even before she became an MP, primarily due to the distinction of being the Desh ki Bahuraani . Obviously so, otherwise how could the widow of an ex-PM survive while affording the pomp of the Gandhi family. But anyway, I digress.

"Refusing to hobnob with the bands of merrymakers, we lock ourselves at home, catch up on the latest blockbuster on the DVD and hope to goodness we are not disturbed. " - BRIEF CASE: Holi Nostalgia (TOI 16-03-2006) Well! That's what I too did on this Holi - finally found courage to sneak out of home in the evening to watch Taxi No 9211. Nice movie; a fresh theme and noticeable performances. I finally confess that I had misjudged John Abraham - he's not just-another-model-trying-to-become-a-hero; he's pretty good at acting too ........ Change of thought ...... Two movies back to back - Bluffmaster and Taxi No 9 2 11 have showcased Mumbai City. In fact the titles at the end of Taxi No 9211 start with the proclaimation - 'Shot Entirely In the City of Mumbai' . To that effect Indiafm's review about Taxi No 9211 was exact - and for those who do not know, the bulk of the movie is actually shot in the suburban belt of the city (to be exact its the Powai-A

Countries like India, which were not prosperous enough for development to be funded in each corner of the country, felt the pinch of the neo-capitalist economy. In prosperous nations, in spite of centralization, economic prosperity was widespread. But here, lack of resources coupled with corruption, slowed down the developmental rush of the early independence years by 1970s; the 1980s was marked by confusion in economic policies. Come the 1990s; with communism fallen, decentralization and liberalization on, a new wave of enthusiasm crept in the economy. But this all is probably happening too little and too late. The argument in favour of high-taxation for the rich is that this money would be utilized for the uplift of the poor. What has been observed on the ground however, is that it is the middle class (and not the rich) which feels the pinch of taxation, while the poor do not seem to be benefited at all. The reasons behind this phenomenon would be the topic for another write-up and I