Dudurudh

It's 5:30PM and I'm supposed to be studying for an exam that I'll be writing in 16 hours time. It's the last exam of the semester and I can't find the motivation to bring myself to study for it. It's that time of the day when I like to sit in front of my open books, deep in contemplation about how expertly I'd managed to waste the past 3 days doing basically nothing other than reading tweets from random celebrities and posting some tweets myself. Of course, no one probably read any of those tweets but that's the weird thing about twitter. If you're someone with thousands of followers, it's a great medium to share your views. But when you have fewer than a 100 followers, it's basically like shouting at a wall in a very noisy room because eventually, not only is no one listening to you but also, you can't hear yourself amidst all the confusion the other people are creating BUT, you still do it anyway. I slap myself a couple of times regai

It's 5:30PM and I'm supposed to be studying for an exam that I'll be writing in 16 hours time. It's the last exam of the semester and I can't find the motivation to bring myself to study for it. It's that time of the day when I like to sit in front of my open books, deep in contemplation about how expertly I'd managed to waste the past 3 days doing basically nothing other than reading tweets from random celebrities and posting some tweets myself. Of course, no one probably read any of those tweets but that's the weird thing about twitter. If you're someone with thousands of followers, it's a great medium to share your views. But when you have fewer than a 100 followers, it's basically like shouting at a wall in a very noisy room because eventually, not only is no one listening to you but also, you can't hear yourself amidst all the confusion the other people are creating BUT, you still do it anyway. I slap myself a couple of times

In India, we celebrate a lot of festivals. We celebrate so many festivals that at times it is difficult to keep count of what we're really celebrating. Different people look at this differently. For school kids, it means plenty of holidays. For their teachers, it means less time to complete the syllabus. For employees, it means a day away from work. For their employers, it means a drop in productivity. But there is one festival that really stands out in a calendar year. For years, I've been told it's the “festival of lights” but that isn't an accurate description of what it is any more. I'm,of course, talking about Diwali. The story is familiar to everyone. (For those who aren't familiar with it, there's a VERY concise version here : The Diwali Story ). Diwali is, like almost all other festivals, a time to celebrate. And at least for as long as I can remember, it is also the time when environmentalists everywhere feel like they have the most hopeless job i

In India, we celebrate a lot of festivals. We celebrate so many festivals that at times it is difficult to keep count of what we're really celebrating. Different people look at this differently. For school kids, it means plenty of holidays. For their teachers, it means less time to complete the syllabus. For employees, it means a day away from work. For their employers, it means a drop in productivity. But there is one festival that really stands out in a calendar year. For years, I've been told it's the “festival of lights” but that isn't an accurate description of what it is any more. I'm,of course, talking about Diwali. The story is familiar to everyone. (For those who aren't familiar with it, there's a VERY concise version here : The Diwali Story ). Diwali is, like almost all other festivals, a time to celebrate. And at least for as long as I can remember, it is also the time when environmentalists everywhere feel like they have the most hopele

  Disclaimer: The following story is purely fictional. Any resemblance to any persons, living or dead, is coincidental and unintentional. “Ravi, either chop down the coconut tree or have those coconuts plucked before they fall. If another coconut falls on Javed's house, I will book you under section 307 of the Indian Penal Code. Do you know what that is?” I asked, sternly. “No sir. It won't happen again. I'll make sure of it.” Ravi replied, scared by my quoting the Indian Penal Code. Having served on the police force for 34 years, I'd learnt that the easiest way to resolve trivial matters was to quote some random section of a penal code that I'd never read. As usual, the simpleton was fooled by quasi-intellect and pseudo-power. In reality, the police really had no jurisdiction over such matters as non-existent boundary disputes. But in a town where nothing of great significance ever happened, coconuts falling from one man's compound into another's gives the

  Disclaimer: The following story is purely fictional. Any resemblance to any persons, living or dead, is coincidental and unintentional. “Ravi, either chop down the coconut tree or have those coconuts plucked before they fall. If another coconut falls on Javed's house, I will book you under section 307 of the Indian Penal Code. Do you know what that is?” I asked, sternly. “No sir. It won't happen again. I'll make sure of it.” Ravi replied, scared by my quoting the Indian Penal Code. Having served on the police force for 34 years, I'd learnt that the easiest way to resolve trivial matters was to quote some random section of a penal code that I'd never read. As usual, the simpleton was fooled by quasi-intellect and pseudo-power. In reality, the police really had no jurisdiction over such matters as non-existent boundary disputes. But in a town where nothing of great significance ever happened, coconuts falling from one man's compound into another's

"What?" Issac said, snatching the file from Sarah's hands in disbelief. "Flat No 2204! That's the house on the top floor! I knew it! Lisa, dressed up as Martha, killed Purva and then put us off track with the statement about Tony." "Why did these two want to kill Purva in the first place? And how did she even know Tony?" Sarah asked."The adoption papers don't name the person who adopted that child. But, there is a clause in it that Alex and Lisa could ask for custody if they get married within 2 years of the adoption",Issac said. "So you think it was Purva who adopted the child and she refused to give him back?" Sarah said. "Possible. But the neighbours said that they haven't ever seen Purva with a baby." Issac said. "We've to find Lisa. That's the only way we can find out what happened. We've got to search that flat. Let's go" At Redwood Trail apartments, armed with a search warrant t

"What?" Issac said, snatching the file from Sarah's hands in disbelief. "Flat No 2204! That's the house on the top floor! I knew it! Lisa, dressed up as Martha, killed Purva and then put us off track with the statement about Tony." "Why did these two want to kill Purva in the first place? And how did she even know Tony?" Sarah asked."The adoption papers don't name the person who adopted that child. But, there is a clause in it that Alex and Lisa could ask for custody if they get married within 2 years of the adoption",Issac said. "So you think it was Purva who adopted the child and she refused to give him back?" Sarah said. "Possible. But the neighbours said that they haven't ever seen Purva with a baby." Issac said. "We've to find Lisa. That's the only way we can find out what happened. We've got to search that flat. Let's go" At Redwood Trail apartments, armed with a search warrant

Only a few hours ago, I was writing the introduction to my previous post and I happened to mention the various industries Apple has changed with its brilliant products over the years. One of them, was the Music industry. The iPod truly changed how people listened to music. Sometime in 2001, the iPod took the world by storm. That iconic, inimitable click wheel that let you scroll through your songs was an instant hit and it stayed a hit for more than a decade. The iPod was everything that Apple stood for. Simplicity, Convenience and Brilliance. I will keep this post short not because there isn't anything to say about the iPod but because it speaks for itself. Many competitors tried and failed at challenging it and that speaks volumes for the superiority of the iPod. But now, after many years of loyally serving music enthusiasts around the world, the iPod classic has been retired by Apple. Other variations of the iPod have taken over the baton from the classic and proudly carry on i

Only a few hours ago, I was writing the introduction to my previous post and I happened to mention the various industries Apple has changed with its brilliant products over the years. One of them, was the Music industry. The iPod truly changed how people listened to music. Sometime in 2001, the iPod took the world by storm. That iconic, inimitable click wheel that let you scroll through your songs was an instant hit and it stayed a hit for more than a decade. The iPod was everything that Apple stood for. Simplicity, Convenience and Brilliance. I will keep this post short not because there isn't anything to say about the iPod but because it speaks for itself. Many competitors tried and failed at challenging it and that speaks volumes for the superiority of the iPod. But now, after many years of loyally serving music enthusiasts around the world, the iPod classic has been retired by Apple. Other variations of the iPod have taken over the baton from the classic an

Every now and again, Apple likes to shake up an industry. What makes Apple special is that it's not just one industry that they've changed forever. Apart from the Macs changing the way ordinary people interacted with computers, the iPod changed the way people listened to music, iTunes changed the way people bought and sold music, the iPhone changed how people viewed and used mobile phones and the iPad brought a major shift in the capabilities of a "Post-PC" computing device. With every launch Apple did what they did best- what they, in the immortal words of Steve Jobs, had set out to do- Put a dent in the universe. Recent developments in the world of technology have made that more difficult. Apple's competitors in the smart phone market have adopted aggressive marketing ploys to wrest control of the market space from Apple. To a large extent, they've been successful too. Apple, historically, has valued user experience above all else. The competition looks at t

Every now and again, Apple likes to shake up an industry. What makes Apple special is that it's not just one industry that they've changed forever. Apart from the Macs changing the way ordinary people interacted with computers, the iPod changed the way people listened to music, iTunes changed the way people bought and sold music, the iPhone changed how people viewed and used mobile phones and the iPad brought a major shift in the capabilities of a "Post-PC" computing device. With every launch Apple did what they did best- what they, in the immortal words of Steve Jobs, had set out to do- Put a dent in the universe. Recent developments in the world of technology have made that more difficult. Apple's competitors in the smart phone market have adopted aggressive marketing ploys to wrest control of the market space from Apple. To a large extent, they've been successful too. Apple, historically, has valued user experience above all else. The competition lo

With the dust slowly settling on the 2014 FIFA world cup and people's schedules going back to normal, it is time for most teams to summarize the reasons for their dismal world cup performance. At the top of that list for atleast a decade now, has been the English football team. Including  the golden generation that boasted a midfield featuring the likes of David Beckham, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, a strike force of Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen and a defense that had John Terry, Rio Ferdinand and Ashley Cole, the English team has never fared well at the biggest stage of them all. The big name stars have never been able to play to each other's strengths and adapt to a kind of play that would bring out the best in them. Multiple managers, themselves big names, Sven Eriksson, Fabio Capello and now Roy Hodgson, haven't changed the team's fortune much. Different combinations of midfielders, striker and defenders, all big names, hasn't helped either. What then, is

With the dust slowly settling on the 2014 FIFA world cup and people's schedules going back to normal, it is time for most teams to summarize the reasons for their dismal world cup performance. At the top of that list for atleast a decade now, has been the English football team. Including  the golden generation that boasted a midfield featuring the likes of David Beckham, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, a strike force of Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen and a defense that had John Terry, Rio Ferdinand and Ashley Cole, the English team has never fared well at the biggest stage of them all. The big name stars have never been able to play to each other's strengths and adapt to a kind of play that would bring out the best in them. Multiple managers, themselves big names, Sven Eriksson, Fabio Capello and now Roy Hodgson, haven't changed the team's fortune much. Different combinations of midfielders, striker and defenders, all big names, hasn't helped either. What then, is

A house committee of the Karnataka legislative assembly has recommended that the state government ban mobile phones in school and colleges. Why? The committee has concluded that the unprecedented number of rape and molestation cases are directly linked to the use of mobile phones. The committee goes on to suggest that ''the youth shouldn't be allowed to use mobile phones until they become majors and attain maturity''. (As a side note, I'd like to point out the ''becoming majors and attaining maturity are two completely unrelated events. Proof of that, is that this extremely immature conclusion(to ban phones to prevent rapes) came from fully grown adults). The committee points out that mobile phones are being used to lure girls to remote places so that they can be raped. That is a perfectly good argument, except that  mobile phones aren't the only way to lure anyone to remote places. Rapes have happened before mobile phones and that s

A house committee of the Karnataka legislative assembly has recommended that the state government ban mobile phones in school and colleges. Why? The committee has concluded that the unprecedented number of rape and molestation cases are directly linked to the use of mobile phones. The committee goes on to suggest that ''the youth shouldn't be allowed to use mobile phones until they become majors and attain maturity''. (As a side note, I'd like to point out the ''becoming majors and attaining maturity are two completely unrelated events. Proof of that, is that this extremely immature conclusion(to ban phones to prevent rapes) came from fully grown adults). The committee points out that mobile phones are being used to lure girls to remote places so that they can be raped. That is a perfectly good argument, except that  mobile phones aren't the only way to lure anyone to remote places. Rapes have happened before mobile phones and th