yaake?????

Damn!! I'm falling asleep right in the morning at office. help!! As part of my fitness drive, I'm doing some kickass swimming in a pool nearby. I go early morning and splash about for about an hour. I return home, get ready for office and reach by about 9:30. A decently heavy breakfast follows and am in my seat by 10:00 with my morning cuppa. Within minutes of finishing it, my eyes are drooping shut. Where am i going wrong. I get ample sleep in the night, no concerns there. If anyone has any insight on this, do advise.

Sleepy in Symbol

I've had a particularly heavy lunch and am falling asleep at my desk here. A session of TT did not help and this particular song from 'guru' is definitely not helping. Its a nice song, but not to be fed to a sleepy mind. I've read that food activates the digestive process. Is it part of the body's energy conservation mechanism, that it simultaneously tries to shut down the brain? Most people as a habit have an afternoon nap. How do they manage during working days at office?

I hear Dhoom-2 is a pathetic movie. I expected such a verdict for Don, but not for this. sad!! with such a cast, the movie should have done better. Unfortunately, the producer and director too felt that way and didn't bother about things like script and screenplay. I'm being a son-of-a-gun here by judging from the covers, but i think i can trust my friends when it comes to bollywood.

On another flank, Indian Cricket has successfully proclaimed Greg Chappel as the scapegoat for all conceivable issues plaguing the team. Note my use of the words 'Indian Cricket'. Yes, its not about the team or the BCCI. In India, many advise and many listen, nobody acts and the remaining, like me criticize. It seems, Ganguly is going to pad up now to counter the domineering Chappel. I have a confusion here. Which game are we talking about?

Walmart plans to set shop in India. I'm reminded of a particular South Park episode which was a good take on Walmart. South Park is a great series. Its taught me so many things. For example i didn't know apriori that 'turd' means shit. The spoof on Walmart was, on a serious note, a little scary. I therefore, read in detail about this news. Some news article enlightened me that when Walmart 'takes over' a particular neighbourhood, it calls upon all the small shop owners and trains them on "how to stay afloat inspite of Walmart" and also allows them to advertise for free in Walmart outlets. Now how condescending is that?

good...i think i've successfully fought my urge to sleep. Time to get back to work :)

CAT 2006...the fiasco continues

Now for the other side of the coin. CAT 2006 had 1 wrong question in quants and printing mistakes in one or two sets. A question in verbal is also purportedly wrong. This is not excusable. It was a godsend that i didn't have the set with the printing mistakes and i chose not to attempt the erroneous question, but what of the thousands who did. It was a couplet worth 8 marks and anyone who attempted it would have gone over it again and again on not finding the answer in the options. He/she could have spent close to 10 minutes on it for nothing. When 1.91 lakh students compete for 1200 odd seats, 10 minutes/8 marks is very very BIG!! It is indeed shameful that the IIM's CAT cell cannot set one error free question paper over a period of 1 year. The worst part of this fiasco is that, there is no judicious way in which this error can be compensated/rectified. Marks cannot be awarded to students who attempted the question. Many of those who got stuck with the question would ultimately chose to not attempt it in fear of losing a mark. They can't award 8 marks to all as it doesn't make any difference in an eliminative exam.

As a friend suggested, and i agree with him totally, the IIMs should increase the no: of GD/interview calls to include those students who would otherwise miss out because of this question. Of course, it won't bring justice to all, but its a fair thing to do.

Also, and this is very doable, there should be a new option given to the student to deal with erroneous questions. If a student feels that a question is wrong, he/she should be given the option to indicate that in his/her OMR sheet. Shading all the options for a question can be taken as an indication that the student has referred this question to be wrong. If, indeed it turns out to be wrong, full marks should be awarded to that student. However, if it is a valid question, he shouldn't be penalized for the same. A penalty for the same will again act as a deterrent and keep students from marking a question as wrong.

This, however, could create a scenario where a student choses to mark all the questions that are not attempted by him as wrong since he's not penalized for that.
To prevent that, a ceiling can be imposed on the number of questions that can be marked wrong...maybe 5. We can at least trust the IIMs to not have more than 5 questions wrong. If a student marks more, only the first five will be considered. Can't see any other loop hole at first sight. It seems pretty practical to me. What do u think?

CAT 06

CAT is such a leveller. Just till a few minutes ago, my entire life was passing in front of my eyes like a flashback...that was after i realised i'd screwed my chances, based on the answer key broughtout by PT. ..now i'm much better...almost my normal self, after checking with the Career Launcher answer key. there is hope, good hope, i dare say.

Drop in a prayer for me if u can. thanx :)

The British Psyche and the Ashes

This is an obituary that appeared in the Sporting Times, an English newspaper on 2nd sept, 1882. Interesting as it appears, it was responsible for the test cricket series between England and Australia being named,...... The Ashes.

What i find more noteworthy here, though, is the tremendous capacity of the English to mock at themselves. I cannot dream of such an article appearing in any Indian Newspaper.

The above mentioned obituary was reported after England lost the deciding test of the series by a mere 7 runs. It was the 9th series between the 2 countries and the defeat heralded the first defeat of England at the hands of Australia, in England. Archives of the test say that the spectators went into a state of shock when the last English batsman got bowled after making just 2 runs. When he had come in to bat, England needed just 9 runs to win the match and the series. Mind you, England had not lost to Australia before and an English win was the order of the day.
the spectators went numb but recovered slowly to give the victorious Australian team, a standing ovation. A very impressive and sporty gesture, given the magnitude of the loss for the English

It all started with an friendly argument in my house over what comprises the ashes. I was stubbornly set on the bails while my friend was backing the stump. As my reading brings to light, the contents of the ashes urn is still a mystery. The contenders currently are, bails ( i'm still in), stumps( you're in too Ashish) and the outer skin of the used ball. Another source suggests it to be the ashes from a burnt veil, which is very weird. To droll on, the urn made its first appearance after England won the 3rd test of the series, the following year. the urn is preserved permanently in the MCC museum and is not awarded to the winners each year, as maybe wrongly assumed.

Operation Citizen Alert

The more i hear about Mumbai, the more i'm impressed by the city. Operation Citizen Alert (OCA)comes as yet another reinforcement of my belief that Mumbai is one professional citzenry. OCA is an ad campaign brought out by Grey on behalf of the Mumbai Railway Police. As part of the campaign 1 Rupee coins are left randomly at public places such that they catch the eye of passing people. When picked up the coins will be found to have a sticker on them which would read

"If you are as alert to unattended baggage, lives can be saved".

This is a brilliant campaign. The message really hits one, as he/she is caught in the act. With the only requirement being Re 1 coins and stickers, this is easily one of the most cost-effective campaigns in a long long time. Moreover, Grey worldwide has reportedly donated the coins for this campaign.

The RBI deemed it "a contempt of currency" reportedly, but this response does raise a valid question. Should this campaign be seen as a defilement of the 1 Re coin? Personally, I don't think so. As a one off campaign, there shouldn't be any concerns. But it would be a different story if the multitude of advertisers take this cue and bring out similar campaigns. Its probably in anticipation of that, this reaction from the RBI

To come back to where i started, i am really impressed by the modern outlook of the Mumbai Railway Police. It is very rare to see such innovative campaigns associated with the public sector.

I've heard so much good about the people of Mumbai...the 6 sigma certified dabbawallahs...to the minute precise local trains....no nonsense professionalism of the public....the undying spirit demonstrated through the flood and blasts....Great city!!

Rocky Balboa ( Rocky VI)

Rocky VI is slated to release in the third week of December '06. The sixth edition of this blockbuster series comes as a very pleasant surprise. That Sylvester Stallone plays the lead in the movie might raise eyebrows, but the movie trailor will convincingly dispel all doubts. He looks as fit as ever and age seems to have added an aura to his personality.

As far as the story goes, Rocky Balboa, is leading a peaceful retired life running a deli in his native, Philadelhpia. The love for boxing ceases to leave and he is drawn out of retirement by a one match challenge with the current world champion. Its the typical Rocky theme, but what is interesting here is that Rocky Balboa is an old man. At 50 odd years, what's in favour of him is his experience and his trademark "undying spirit" that made him what he is - the champion. How he works that to his advantage or if he does at all, will be soul of the movie.

Stallone writes the script and does the Direction too for this sequel. Reviews from a premiere held 2 months back, suggest two moving speeches by Rocky during the course of the movie. I don't know much about the new soundtrack, but the old one is still there and that in itself is more than enough. "Eye of the Tiger" is one helluva song

This is one movie I'm gonna lookout for!!!

oh! i'd been tagged

This tagging business never really did strike a chord with me. But a boring day at office can make a lot of unexpected things happen. Firstly i'd like some expert opinion on the previous sentence. which is the best? "never did really ", "never really did" "did never really"l..i'll spare the 3 factorial (ahem!!) combinations

What exactly brings me here now, is the fact that i had been tagged about 4 months back. This means, i now need to post on the same topic viz - a list of my hates.

For the record, i'm a very calm person. I just murder a few people now and then, when i lose it. But otherwise, yeah, i'm a saint.

My hates:

1)Fart-artists : You just can't tell them anything new. They'd invariably come out with a 'been there done that' response. Earlier i used to make it a point to crucify them. Offlate i jus let them be. After all, it takes all kinds.

2)Pedestrians in b'lore : they deem it a colossal waste of time to look both ways before crossing a road. If they're a group of friends, they'd not even hear the honks

3)tHiS sOrT oF wRiTiNg StyLE !!!

4)there is this particular flavour of ego that gets on my nerves. the afflicted, in this case, deliberately defies your suggestions as if to affirm - 'who's the boss'!! weirdos!!

5)i'm a tidyness freak. I like everything to have a place and be there when not in use. A good percentage of people aren't so.

6)i don't like this tagging business.Period

P.S If i use the word 'period' at the end of a sentence, i should ideally omit the '.' symbol. shouldn't I? should I?

Landmark Quiz '06, Bangalore

was a very neatly conducted affair. The ambience was perfect, Chowdiah Memorial hall being a very beautiful auditorium. The audience was very receptive and enthusiastic. IT was interesting to observe the mix of people. We had families with newly borns, school kids, senior citizens, corporate quizzers...an encouraging audience for any Quizmaster. Not that Derek O'brien needs any. Sometimes i wonder if he's more a quizmaster or an entertainer. After seeing him at the Brand Equity Quiz, i was a little skeptic when i came to know that he is going to be the quizmaster here too. But fortunately, his sexual innuendo's and PJ's were at a minimum y'day. Infact some of the questions in the final were pretty good too. The elims were decent at most with some outrageous questions like

Q) which is the largest milk producing country in the world?
Q) which is the Landmark site to purchase books? ( the ans was printed on the brochure given to each team + displayed on a banner extending from the ceiling to the floor on the stage...well lit stage)

Understandable coz the Landmark Quiz is primarily a school level quiz made difficult because everyone participates.

The finals, however, had some good questions and some great teams. I especially remember a guy named Anushtub (i guess) who got crowned the best quizzer in b'lore after a solitaire between the finalists. He was just too good. They however lost the lead in the last 2 questions of the quiz, to be upstaged by a team from Chennai which had earlier won the Chennai leg of this quiz. This team from Chennai did exceptionally well to tide over a solid 25 point deficit in the last round of the quiz to emerge emphatic winners. Great comeback!!

Some of the good questions...

Q) a connect question based on 2 pictures..one of Harrison Ford and the other featuring few sheep in a meadow and an android in the centre.
Ans: Bladerunner, the movie - the 2nd picture is the cover of the book " Do androids dream of electric sheep by Philip Dick" which was the inspiration for the movie Bladerunner. Harrison Ford played lead role in the movie.

Q) a connect again with a picture of dilip kumar and one of Manoj Kumar and the song "mera naam hai shabnam" being played in the background
Ans: the character played by Dilip Kumar in the movie 'Shabnam' was named Manoj Kumar and Manoj Kumar took his screen name from this movie.

Q) another connect..audio of the Star spangled banner + video of a duet dance from a movie.
Ans: Scott Fitzgerald. the star spangled banner played by Jimi Hendrix in the played piece was written by a scott fitzgerald. the video was from the movie "the great gatsby" which was written by F Scott Fitzgerald. same name, unrelated people..that was the connection. brilliantly answered by one of the teams

Q) this question is connected to a british sport and refers to the largest animal conservation efforts by a govt. the animal in question is the Harvest mice. What did they do?
Ans: they spread out thousands of broken tennis balls from wimbeldon on a ground and used them to breed harvest mice, which were becoming endangered

Q) what is the difference between sushi and sashimi?
Ans: sushi is raw fish with rice, while sashimi is raw fish alone

Q) what was carried in compartment no: 2949 of a train to triveni in india on Feb 12?
Ans...a giveway clue would be the yr..1948. answer is Mahatma Gandhi's ashes

Q) which element is responsible for blue colouration in diamonds?
Ans Boron

Q)which flower is named after a French General
Ans Bouganvilla (not sure abt the General bit and the spelling of the flower)

Q)which famous indian changed his name to Kareem Abdul
Ans Kishore Kumar after marriage to Madhubala

Q)what is Unique about a canoe race held in the Andamans by the name "asol tale aap"
Ans the only canoe race in the world on sand