I won some lottery, it seems! ;-)

I just got a mail from yahoo.lottery.com...

Yahoo! Mail announce you as one of the 10 lucky winners in the ongoing
Yahoo Lottery Draw held on the 24th of February, 2007.

All 10 winning email addresses were randomly selected from a batch of
50,000,000 international emails each from Canada , Australia , United
States , Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Oceania as part of our
international promotions program which is conducted annually,consequently,
you have been approved for a total pay out of 800,000.00 GBP (EIGHT
HUNDRED THOUSAND GREAT BRITISH POUNDS STERLING ).

This Lottery was promoted and sponsored by a conglomerate of some
multinational companies as part of their social responsibility to the
citizens in the communities where they have operational base.
Further more your details(e-mail address) falls within our British
representative office in United Kingdom , as indicated in your play coupon
and your prize of 800,000.00 GBP will be released to you from this
regional branch office in UK.

Now, who wants to share my luck ?!! ;-)

Winners Quit!!

We've all heard the phrase "Winners never Quit; Quitters never Win"... Here is something that sounds better!!

Seth Godin, the guru of smart marketing, says the key to being a good quitter is knowing when you've reached a dead end, not just a rough patch...

First off, what is "the dip"?

The dip is the spot everyone trying to master something new reaches but that few get through. It's quitting organic chemistry on the way to becoming a doctor. It's the hard part that wipes most out.

Conventionally speaking, quitting isn't considered a positive attribute in society, but you take a different approach. Explain.

I think people quit all the time, but at the wrong time. Most quit in the dip, when the new thing they're trying is hard and when they're in pain. In fact, the best time to quit is when you're at a dead end and you aren't going to get any better. The worst time to quit is when you're in the dip. The dip is your friend. If you can get through it, it's worth the journey.

How did you come to theorize in opposition to the old cliché that "quitters never win and winners never quit"

With my blog and work, I hear people from all lines of work—from churches to big companies to small businesses. I look for the trends that separate the winners from the losers. From kindergarten on we teach people to be well rounded, but people who do the opposite are the most successful.

For example, when we're going to hire an accountant, we don't ask her about her golf game, we want a great accountant. Today, everything is one click away. Being the best or most extreme is way more valuable then ever before.

How do you know when you've reached the dip and it's time to move on? How do you know that this isn't just a rough patch that will pass?

If you're running a business but aren't seeing more satisfied customers, or you aren't getting more referrals, or you aren't opening new doors, it's clear you're in a dead end. You can keep doing it, but life isn't going to get better.

Too often people go to work and say that they've got to support their family—it's the best job they could get. They sell themselves short and settle for being average, when it's less than they deserve.

You say that most of the successful people in the world are all quitters. What characteristic do they have in common that allows them to know how to get out of a bad situation and re-focus on something better?

In the 1940s, Enzo Ferrari was in charge of the racing program at Alfa Romeo when he realized he wasn't going to get any further. Rather than saying, "I'm 48," and staying on, he quit his job and started Ferrari.

What I see is that people who aren't willing to settle and have passion are more likely to push through the hardest of all dips. They know what it's like to have mastery. If you teach a kid to learn what it's like be the best in world, they get hooked. Too many of us never experienced that win in the chess tournament or starred in the school play. It's not surprising that Ferrari quit his job or that Steve Jobs got through the dip and came up with the iPod.

What about quitters that just quit?

On the other hand, if you're taught to be average and to stick it out and to be a person that keeps his head down and do what you're told, you're doing your best. But when the pain is too great, you quit. You can't get beyond that. Nobody quits the Boston marathon when there's a mile to go. What distinguishes those who quit at the wrong time from those who don't is that the latter group gets through the dip because they can visualize the other side.

You talk a lot about how this works with major companies. How would you say this applies to the entrepreneur and small businesses?

The first challenge is that you don't want to take on a dip that you can't get through. A lot of people do. If you have a couple million dollars and you want to build a search engine to challenge Google (GOOG), that's too big a dip. Pick a dip that's attainable. Have the necessary assets to put behind it.

Will everyone that quits hit the top?

If you get into the habit of getting good at quitting before you reach the dead end, you will find there are far more resources to focus on future dips.

The Indian Moral Brigade

Now, it seems a Jaipur court has issued arrest warrants against Richard Gere and Shilpa Shetty. Whats your problem, boss??

These insecure balls-less moral brigade are hiding behind morality/decency 'cos they dont have any conviction of their own... I think these very people (moral brigade) are fighting a losing battle within to control one's own basic instincts and is resorting to self-denial as a way to cover up their failure..

And as if the courts themselves dont have any better work, what with crores of cases still pending.

Life's like that..

Comon.. Give those guys, Abhi & Ash a break, will ya?.. you stand outside their house for hours together just to catch a glimpse... you feel as if your life's purpose has been served by just a wave of their hands.. you even follow them during their visit to a temple... and make a hue and cry over which hand she is holding the prasad with....

I didnt do any of this.. But then, I also have contributed my mite by following up this story.. I plead guilty!

But then, AbhiAsh can do some bit to avoid people some trouble... why did they have to visit at 9.30am... and not, say, 5am... like how Rajinikanth does everytime, it seems (I doubt if anybody even noticed it till now!)

It seems Anil, Amitabh, Abhishek each contributed 51 lakhs towards some programme (educational or food) of the temple... And i remember they did the same the last time they visited too... man.. the money these guys can give!! Why dont they give me even a half of that and I would bless them with eternity ;-) Guess they just dont know about my powers yet.. The next time you are standing outside the gates of Pratiksha (or Jalsa), let them know... I would get you an autographed photo when they come and visit me :P

A Bar of Soap

Life is like a bar of soap.. Soap seems so fresh and invigorating when it is first opened. But if you start expending it, it would soon have very little effulgence to offer. And if you dont use it, then the soap bar would not have served its purpose!

If you can use it the right way and combine it with the right oils and elements, it would last longer. And when one bar grows so small that it might break, you can attach it to another bar and let it live its full course. But you have to consciously attach it, otherwise the new bar would kick out the older one.

Pardon my hyperbole, but things are best when left to your imagination!!

Books, Quotes and iRiver Tapes(player)

I was surfing the Oxford bookstore (Leela Galleria) for my next bus-book... found that both "The Namesake" and "The Alchemy of Desire" are sold out. Guess I should get back to watching movies... movies on a ipod/iriver ;-)

Was sitting at the Cha Bar.. Happened to read some quotes from a Robin Sharma's book... (But then, you know.. the problem with self-help books is just that: ultimately, only YOU have to help yourself ;-)

Its not worth waiting for a standing ovation to decide what matters to you.

You cannot wait till you reach your (life) goals to be happy; Its like saving sex for the old age!!

A Small Step...!!

A small step for man.. a smaller leap for my blog!!

yeah.. the counter shows there have been 20000+ visits to my blog.

Thank you guys... you rock!!

The Valkyries and a Decision

I finished "The Valkyries" sometime back. Thats one of Paulo Coelho's books that is quite obtuse.. He talks of magic, rituals, talking to angels etc... But (one of) the point he is trying to make is - "people end up destroying whatever good they have created" and the root cause of that is "something that happened in one's childhood and a decision they made based on what they thought had happened".. That decision would guide them into the wrong for the rest of their life.

Let me try to explain from my own life... For example, when I was a kid (dont remember the age, but definitely less than 10 yrs old) my mom told me the story of one of her nephews. This guy was very brilliant. He topped his school in studies and sports and what not. His parents sold their possessions to allow him to study in an engineering college (Salem engg college).

He topped all his college exams too.. He got his job through campus placement and was all set to join one of the top companies of India after his graduation. Just a day before his final set of exams, he died from brain fever. It all happened within a day and his parents couldnt even be by his side when he died. They were left totally shattered.

When I heard this story (and witnessed a couple of other incidents, normal worldly incidents like death in the family), I made a decision. The decision was something like I will not be the best. 'Cos if I am the best, I would die.

This decision, made by a kid, had been running my life. And I was not even aware that it was running my life. But if you know me, you can see a pattern in my life. A series of ups and downs, ebbs and troughs.

But when I realised that this is one of the decisions that has been governing my life, and when I 'broke the pact', I got my power back. Now I need no longer be governed by a 7 year old kid. I got the freedom. I can chart my own life. And I can even talk about it!!

This book is supposed to be based on Paulo's real life. Thanks Paulo for letting me into your secrets and letting me rechart my life!!

Veronika decides to Die!

I got this in email recently...

"Subject: Veronica reffered me to you.

science may representative ! sister some ink it's group in care not sock on lip or hope see fork may talk , rest or thumb and bee it wave may disgust try stop not kiss be judge be value try sister ! stem may water some loss try regret be serious not

key and leather , moon be umbrella it's monkey in umbrella in top on amount see waiting it's door or swim it steel the violent the floor it's soft see feeling but garden it's thunder some balance try shirt it's jump but same the first the girl in division not soap the

wrong it's grass it's shade it's political see surprise , picture a brick , living not sweet ! art it insurance the smoke see cold in sticky it color it's brother see week in fixed , same or engine try grain , manager but rhythm see bent and year or education on
""

Confused?? nah... I CANT make ANY sense at all!!


Anyways, this email reminded me of a book whose title is the same as this post's.
Thats one of Paulo Coelho's books... Its supposed to be quite an intense book... I plan to read that sometime...

Quest for Lust

True love seriously seems romantic and far-fetched.. and seems right for the old age.. With changing times.. there seems to be a lesser belief in the concepts of love and soul mates.

Love seems nothing but the chemistry along with some fond associations and a lot of faith.. (who has the time for all that!) If you are looking for true, unrequited love.. go buy yourself a puppy!!

But lust is immediate.. without any need to believe.. without any strings attached... what say?

Guess what?

Next in the series.. Can you guess what this is? (clue.. think homely!)

Guess what?

Can you guess this one? Clue.. think scientific!



First, Mars had a face, now Saturn has a hexagon. A strange hexagon shape over the north pole of Saturn was first spotted by the two Voyager spacecraft and has been revisited by the Cassini probe. The 26 years between sightings indicate it is likely a permanent feature on Saturn, according to NASA scientists. In fact, Cassini found a second hexagon, significantly darker than the original. This is the first time the feature has been captured on one image.

On NASA's Web site, Kevin Baines, atmospheric expert and member of Cassini's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said, "Saturn's thick atmosphere where circularly shaped waves and convective cells dominate is perhaps the last place you'd expect to see such a six-sided geometric figure, yet there it is."

read on..!

Guess what?

Can you guess whats happening here?? (think cryptic!)



Heroic Secret Service Agent Intercepting A Loaded, Highly Charged Question Intended For Bush

White House Secret Service Agent Anthony Panucci is being called a hero after intercepting what could have been a critically damaging question aimed directly at President Bush during a press conference in the Rose Garden Tuesday.

According to eyewitnesses, the press conference began with Bush fielding routine questions about March Madness and the dedication of a World War II memorial near his home in Crawford, TX. However, approximately seven minutes into the event, a lone reporter somehow managed to maneuver to the front of the press corps group and fire off a loaded, highly charged question concerning Bush's role in the controversial dismissal of eight federal attorneys last year.

"I just followed my training and did what I was supposed to do—put myself between the president and irreparable harm," said Panucci, who is credited with safely deflecting the attack away from Bush, as well as acting before the reporter had a chance to get off a follow-up question at close range. "And let's not forget my colleagues who rushed the president from the scene."

ha haa haa! read on...

Dave Barry on Ireland

Ireland, land of Bad Elvis

BY DAVE BARRY

(This classic Dave Barry column was originally published on Aug. 6, 1995. One of my friends who stayed in Ireland for sometime said "Ireland is quite similar to India".. read on...!)

I recently spent a week in Ireland, and I can honestly say that I have never been to any place in the world where it's so easy to partake of the local culture, by which I mean beer. Ireland also contains history, nice people, enormous quantities of scenery and a rich cultural heritage, including (more on this later) Elvis.

Geographically, Ireland is a medium-sized rural island that is slowly but steadily being consumed by sheep. It consists mostly of scenic pastures occasionally interrupted by quaint towns with names such as (these are actual Irish town names) Ardfert, Ballybunion, Coole, Culleybackey, Dingle, Dripsey, Emmoo, Feakle, Fishguard, Gweedore, Inch, Knockaderry, Lack, Leap, Lusk, Maam, Meentullynagarn, Muff, Newmarket-on- Fergus, Nutt's Corner, Oola, Pontoon, Rear Cross, Ringaskiddy, Screeb, Sneem, Spiddle, Spink, Stradbally, Tang and Tempo.

These towns are connected by a modern, state-of-the- art system of medieval roads about the width of a standard bar of hotel soap; the result is that motorists drive as fast as possible in hopes of getting to their destinations before they meet anybody coming the other way. The only thing that prevents everybody from going 120 mph is the nationwide system -- probably operated by the Ministry of Traffic Safety -- of tractors being driven very slowly by old men wearing caps; you encounter these roughly every two miles, rain or shine, day or night. As an additional safety measure, the roads are also frequented by herds of cows, strolling along and mooing appreciatively at the countryside, reminding you very much of tour groups.

A typical Irish town consists of several buildings, one of which is always a bar, called a ''pub.'' Next to this there will typically be another pub, which is adjacent to several more pubs. Your larger towns may also have a place that sells food, but this is not critical.

Inside the pubs, you will usually find Irish people, who are very friendly to strangers, especially compared with the British, who as a rule will not voluntarily speak to you until you have lived in Britain for a minimum of 850 years. The Irish, on the other hand, will quickly start a conversation with you, and cheerfully carry it on at great length, with or without your help.

One evening, in a busy Dublin pub, I watched an elderly, well-dressed, cap-wearing gentleman as he sat in the corner and, for two solid hours, struck up a lively conversation with every single person or group who sat within 10 yards of him, including a group of German tourists, only one of whom spoke even a little English. The man spoke to them in a thick brogue on a variety of topics for several minutes while they looked at him with the bright, polite smiles of people who do not have a clue what is being said to them. When he finished, they conferred briefly in German, and then the one who spoke a little English said, quote, ``Everyone is pleased that he or she is welcome.''

You definitely feel welcome in Ireland. But there's more to do there than just talk to Irish people in pubs. You can also drive around the countryside, alternately remarking ''Look, sheep!'' and ''Here's another tractor!'' You can visit a bunch of old castles built by the Normans, who at one point conquered Ireland despite being called the ''Normans,'' which is, let's face it, not an impressive-sounding name. It's kind of like being conquered by the ``Freds.''

Probably the best-known castle is the one in the town of Blarney, which contains the famous Blarney Stone. To get to it, you have to climb steep, narrow, tourist-infested steps to the top of the castle; there, a local man holds you as you lean out over the castle wall and kiss the Blarney Stone.

Legend has it that if you do this, you will give the man a tip. Also at a castle in a town called Kilkenny I saw a local radio station doing a live remote broadcast, featuring a Frozen Food Challenge in which a resident had to answer a multiple-choice question on the history of refrigeration. She got it right, and won a hamper of frozen foods.

''Brilliant!'' she said.

But in my opinion the cultural highlight of the trip occurred in the town of Ennis, where a pub called Brandon's had a sign outside that said ''Traditional Irish Music.'' This turned out to be a traditional Irish Elvis impersonator. I realize that there are literally thousands of quality Elvis impersonators, and I'm sure you've seen some excellent ones, but I am here to tell you that this one, in this unremarkable town in western Ireland, was beyond question the worst Elvis impersonator in world history.

He sang along to a tape of instrumental Elvis tunes, which he played on a sound system that he never, not once in two solid hours, got adjusted right. Every time he'd start singing a song, the sound system would screech and honk with feedback; Elvis would then whirl around and spend minutes at a time unsuccessfully adjusting various knobs while he mumbled the lyrics, so that for most of the evening all you saw was Elvis' butt, accompanied by screeching and honking and vague off-key singing.

Often, by the time he'd finished twiddling the knobs, Elvis had lost track of what song he was singing; he'd frown into the distance, trying various tunes until he thought he was on the right track, at which point the screeching and honking would start up, forcing Elvis to whirl back around, like a man being attacked by bees, and treat the audience to another lengthy view of his butt. The crowd, which I will frankly admit was consuming alcoholic beverages, enjoyed this performance immensely, cheering wildly at the end of each song. They like their fun, the Irish. I'm definitely going back some day. Maybe I'll rent a tractor.

"I Killed Bob"

BREAKING News! Bob Wolmer's murder mystery resolved

In response to the fervent [heart-wrenching] appeal by the Jamaican DCP Mark Shields to "the killers to turn themselves in", Greg Chappel -the coach of the Indian Cricket team - said "I did!".

Professional rivalry and Rage killing are being touted as the reason behind the murder. Greg had worked really hard along with the Indian cricket "think tank" to hog the limelight and ensure the first round exit of the Indian Cricket team from the Workd Cup 2007. But Bob somehow infringed on Greg's idea and undid Greg's humongous efforts by stealing the thunder with Pakistan's 3-day-earlier exit from the first round of the Cricket World Cup.

Another senior player in the Indian cricket squad is also said to have helped Greg in his vengence.

Senior ICC officials, refusing to be named, said "The pressure to FAIL is so high in a forum such as the World Cup that such unfortunate incidents happen. In future we would plan better and give these two friendly yet emotionally charged neighbours an equal chance to fail."

-----------------------------------------

You know.. the solution to India's [non]performance is not to hire an external coach, but to hire an entire team... maybe we can hire the Australians to play for India. I am sure the BCCI has enough funds, even otherwise, we can invite a public private partnership to fund the buyout... the bookies would more than welcome the effort and join in the process.

Comedy Time!

It is that time of the year when I roll on the floor in the mornings. It is not another form of morning sickness (pun!), just my morning dose of laughs... these full page color advertisements in the Times of India!! ...From IIPM.. that is trying to goad (daring) students into joining their institute.

All those students (and students' rich parents) who would dare(?!) to part with s**t loads of cash... in the fond hope of studying under the 'visionary' Chaudharis and in the lure of 'international' placements.

I dont want to get into the fraud of a newspaper Ad; almost everybody knows about these fraudulent claims. But, I am tempted to compare the IIPMs with the network marketing companies like Amway, HerbaLife,....maybe I should write a case study! Only that there is neither a 'tangible' commodity nor a 'tangible' benefit (being passed across the network) here.

You see these people employing 'mera papa ka sapna' strategy.. ('My dad's dream!')... projecting the father Chaudhuri as a paragon of virtues and minting money for themselves in the process.

I say 'Dare to think beyond the IIMs' AND 'Dare to ACCEPT you are not good enough' for an IIM'. Sure.. there is room for such realists (vs MBA romantics) in the corporate world.

News!

Well... I should have termed it 'new'. I have created a new blog... dedicated to all you Techies.

Techie Rolls

Keep rolling!!

Entrepreneurship & Jam

Here is one funny article... more like a parody of some of the recent popular books.... the best title among them being... "The Monk Wants His Ferrari Back" by Robin Sharmata Hai!!

My guess is... this author is a failed novel writer ;-)

Roses are red
Take Violet to bed
If she refuses
take Scarlet instead.

But, these guys seem to have all the choices!!

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I referred to Rashmi Bansal's blog today to read an article on entrepreneurship... It seems IIMA is giving the campus entrepreneurs a safety net... that they can avail of the institute's placement service upto 2 years after they pass out (just in case their venture fizzles out)

Thats a good move... all IIMs should follow suit.... and increase the time to atleast 3 yrs.. it takes atleast a year to actually get some hang of the business and all...

you an entrepreneur? She is interested in hearing your experience...
"If you fit the profile (first-generation entrepreneur) and have been running your venture for at least 6 months, get in touch with me at rashmi_b@yahoo.com. Would also love to hear from some of you who have dropped out this year or recently quit your jobs and are 'in the process'. "

Well... I would join the gang in some years ;-)

Ind!

This is supposed to be a well-worn aphorism about India, but I saw this for the first time today.. Still it seems quite interesting!

"We're great at running markets and states. The problem is we run our markets like states and our states like markets."

Film-making

All you Youtube junkies, why dont you try your hand at some serious film making?!
(Well, this has started already, but if you are really interested, you should check if you can join now) Check for the next edition..

Course on Film Making

Date : Sun, 4 Mar 2007 - Wed, 7 May 2007

A ten week (weekends)course on film making covering narrative, screenplay writing, cinematography and editing by Prakash Belawadi, film maker Anand Subramanian and actress/director Mallika Prasad.

Venue: Centre for Film and Drama

Contact 22356262/63, 94480-50541 or email prakashbelawadi@yahoo.com

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At a totally different plane, heard that Mira Nair's 'Namesake' (based on Jhumpa Lahiri's novel by the same name) has released in the US to rave reviews. Looking forward to that movie... and then to reading that novel...!