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Work-Life Balance

I guess I finally know where I am going to be for the next few months. Hyderabad. It's getting hotter and more familiar. The cool evenings are a relief from the warming up afternoons. Time for me also to look out of the guest house and start living a life of my own. Work has been very hectic, and what seemed like a 2 week assignment turned out to be a testing prelude to what would be an independent assignment! But then thankfully I have the time to make the best our of it. I had been in two minds about joining Talwalkars, when divine intervention laid my eyes Shiamak Davar's classes. Promptly, I joined.. and am looking forward dance my mind away from what usually keeps me busy!!

Men-in-Blue..Stamp it in Style

The Men In Blue have been proving it right..quality matters! We do a victory and make it history..be it a 20-20 or breaking a 16 yr aussie (not a lesser) juggernaut...Without going into the technical details of the game, I have to say that to me, a simple indian cricket fan, this game is becoming a pleasure again. Just when it seems the fan-fare aint that justified the, Indian spirit haunts me to stay.. don't give up just as yet.. and brings a smile. Also have to add an observation..for us change has always worked wonders. Ishan bowls Ponting over, while a change bowler does a job of a maintream one! An army of 14 feeble hearts condemned once for only playing for money, stand up against an instt like BCCI, for their own rights and integrity...for each other... I am sure this uplifts the morale and boosts the confidence of these individual stars to play like an invincible team. I am in awe of, as always, Kumble -who's presence adds the experience and compusure to a bubbling team of younsters otherwise. Ofcourse not missing the heavier pieces of the puzzle that dazzled today- Sachin, Dravid. I see the Indian squad today being looked upto as a champion of sorts representing the ROW against Australia's ruthless aggression, unstinted triumphs and a piercing disposition!! Kudos to our team-- time to celebrate, and humanly so.. yeh dil maange more!

One of my favs

MUST SEE : Titanic Rajnikant Way!

Tapping the 3rd dimension

I went to watch BEOWULF at Prasadz today. The 3D animation was super intricate and I enjoyed every bit of it. It got kinda gory in parts but overall was exciting. One english movie where I could predict the dialogues.. pretty bollywoodish.. the KARMA thing! As u so so u reap kinds...The movie had some fun elements - the lustful kings, the variety of monsters, drunken revelry and real steely thrills!! The whole experience reminded me of the one I had at Universal Studios about 4 yrs back as I watched Shrek 2 at the 4D theatre...being sprayed water upon, the smell and the shivers in the chair. All in all was a lot of fun after a stressful saturday filled with negotiations! Thanks to my ISB friends who made the plan. Cheers!

Ethnic Delights I await:

I think I have recorded an all time high of close to 10 hrs on the road every single day since the past month. I'd be foolish to keep my eyes closed. Amongst other things, a sales job affords a keen eye with many sights!

'Sankranti' OR 'Pongal' are round the corner. The last time I really spoke off or thought of kites was in Class X while I read the famous KITE MAKER in GULLY RAMNATH. The festivities in this part of the country seem to assume bigger proportions. During the Sankranth season the number and variety of kites Up north remains a far second to that displayed here. The colours, the number, even the segmentation here is large & practiced. A kite can range between 50 and 500 Rs. while the Manjha varies by the strength and metreage. I am hoping to be able to stretch my piddly lil 6 mega pixel lens to capture these high fliers on 15th.

Spears-Heading a concept

I was on my rounds of visiting Stand Alone Modern Trades in the city and came across this very interesting concept. Stand Alone Modern Trades is a name given to the channel that falls between a General Trade and Modern Trade and is more popularly called a Supermarket. These behave like teenagers- They expect footfalls of a General Merchant - they have a regular clientele that shops daily, expects home delivery at times, has loyal customers in its locality, and they expect Cashfalls (deals and margins) of a Modern Trade outlet..basically a cusp that is often found to be a challenge for the evolving FMCGs.

So here is one concept within a concept- a pvt. owned company called SPEARS. This one is a philantropist with a profit motive (now decipher what you want). The concept goes as such: Maps outlets in big residential areas and those that have decent TOM (top of mind) recall. Taps on their weakness/inability to bargain with FMCGs for smart deals. They then promise the local store an upfront amount like Rs. 10K for sporting their name, a commission on sales on the SKUs supplied by them and lay certain norms to run the outlet. By doing so, SPEARS gets to sell their coverage to the FMCGs in return for great margins (currently from HUL and Dabur)!! So basically a FRANCHISE model superimposed on FAT DEALERSHIP being followed here. Seen from a practical standpoint - this model is only as strong as the strongest link!! Till the FMCGs strike their own deals with the SAMTs in a concerted manner.. :). However not precluding an option to grow inorganically...till FMCGs are fully geared to combat the retail explosion and fight for space...!

My Saturday...

Saturday HAD to be a working day and so it was! I had been looking around voraciously for some food for thought and found quite sumptuous a meal. These three pictures according to me are special in their own way. Here is why I think so: I was parked at a red light outside Kachiguda railway station and found this person on the pavement smiling. The first time I looked, I looked away- the second time I could not help but think and reckon that no matter how I much I cribbed in life I was better off than much worse that could happen. In rags, with some food on the newspaper, this person keeps using his fingers to mix n mash, puts the curry he has on the rice mixes again, admires his food and just does not eat. Strange was his pet- a hen he clutched by this side, and manhandled it as he looked at the food again and again.. it was a red light so I had to move...but left me at a loss to understand why he was doing what he was and smiling away for he knew nothing better to do....

An almost insipid plant outside my guest-house, precariously balanced on the corner of the threshold to the garden. Perhaps because it stands out odd between the colourful botany on the green patch. I though this one is really intriguing. It consumes the least amount of water, belongs to a class called the 'friendship tree' & is known to keep pluckers away as it pricks and look at it..its beautiful in itself.. just like a rose.. though its a cactus variety - CRASSULACEAE http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crassulaceae for more of its kind.

Hope floats...Happy New Year

A fairly mixed year for me came to an end on 31st Dec 00 hrs. It ended for all but it was special to me as it prompted me to really look up to that 1 millisecond to change the world for me...The past year had thrown up many challenges which were new!! whether it was as trivial a setback as in academics, or a job that demanded me to, leave think, but change the way I live... worst of all my personal self was on its own trip! One constant on the zenith for me..my parents, my family... never has been a time they have not stood by me.. and that means a lot. Little surprise that I owed them this New Years Eve. Managed to wriggle out of this never ending sabbatical from what I call life. Now even Delhi airport seems home :D. 31st was a very disturbing day for various reasons... but yes the evening came as a resolve to enjoy! And so I did. Danced my way to welcome new years.. with family. Ate loads and cherished the steely cold wind on my cheeks at Priya post 12! Was great fun. I also watched two really nice movies ... Tarein Zameen Par (brilliant) & Welcome (A welcome comic relief). They are at the two poles of emotions...TZP made me cry and cry and cry and i dint know where to look.. and when i looked left... i saw her crying too ... and looked back.. saw him wiping his tears too...that brought a smile...and I was back to being emotional. I am again in awe of AK - He remains a sweetheart for his sensitive renditions..self or facilitated. Welcome- hmm.. senseless tho I laughed. Still manage to recount and giggle. I am now back in Hyderabad and back to the grind. Have an interesting project at hand, lets hope I deliver as planned. :). This time I had a New Years Resolution but irony of life, noone asked.... Try to make each moment count coz the next in really not in your hands!! Thats broad and vague but I dont want to be harsh on myself!! ;-)... Adding another well written review by Jerry Man "Wow! Aamir delivers every single time . Somehow the movie made me think deep. Is in-sanity , retarded behavior and mental dis-ability really an illness , maybe they are misfits into this matrix like system created by a lot of mad mad humans!"