25 Point Someone

1)Popular demand, and numerous calls and emails are making me write 25 points about myself. ( Don't ask me how people arrived at the magical figure of 25 :-) )

Ha, Yeah, I am aware that I can Beat my own drums..Infact I can beat them louder than they are actually allowed to be beaten..;-)..

But I use it Purely as a tool for Humour, and it doesn't generally mean that I am an Over-confident, arrogant chap, ...:-)

My History, Geography :) -->

School Life, Naughty me ;-) -->

2)In my school's 30 years History, only 3 guys were ever removed, thrown out,kicked out....and I was one of those 3...Hurray..!!:-)!!

Ya, I was over-naughty in school.When I actually got removed I was kind-of falsely implicated though. I Cried , I cried a lot.I was only 16 then.:-(...awww..poor me!!

Hyderabad/Pune connection -->

3)I joined a Boarding school in hyderabad and I got really Home sick(Ya, 'Taare Zameen par'--Types) . May be that's why I cried when I watched 'Taare Zameen par'..:-)...I completed the year and then Joined Fergusson College,Pune... What a college!!! Till day, I am proud of being a fergussonian.One of the most popular T-shirts in Pune read

Fergusson Rules..........

"Down to Earth, but still above you all"

Even Those who did not belong to Fergusson would buy it.

Pune was Fun. But I was sick of the fact that the when you wanna shop, there is absolutely no where to go.. Till day, I don't buy anything from Pune. Also I hated the infrastructure.It was irritating, it was always a Tier-2 City for me.

Bangalore connection -->

4)From Pune, I moved to Bangalore, I was really fascinated by Bangalore even before going there.

I was a bachelor in Electronics engineering, married to software engineering now..Don't get me wrong..I mean, my course was 'Electronics and Communication', but just like the millions other passing out of engineering colleges in India, I became a software engineer by profession. But trust me,even now, if given a choice, I would not become an Electronics engineer, its too complicated, the circuits i.e..:-)!!!

Though I was a Rank Holder in my school, I did not get the best of grades in my degree. No excuse, but how could I do something which did not even motivate me. Also, I don't believe that all those who got better grades were actually smarter than me!!Pleaseeee...!!They are a result of Indian Education System.Nerdy but Dumb (Not all though).

Though Bangalore has a major traffic problem now, its by-far my Favourite place to live in, don't mind the Rowdies, and rowdy like Auto walas in Bangalore..!!

Singapore connection -->

5) I am working with Perot systems (American MNC), My 1st very project turned out to be an onsite one, so here I am, in Singapore, working with my client UBS ( Yeah, one of those investment banks ;-) who are in deep shit)

Its a year in Singapore now.I love my work, I Hate the management, Somehow I have noticed that Indians believe in Micro Management, and most of us cannot become good Managers.I work with people from all nations and I see such stark contrast in the way Indians Manage work and a/an European/Australian/American Manages work.

On a personal note, allthough life is much more comfortable here, and the money is amazing, I miss my friends in Bangalore. Though Singapore has so many amazing places to hang-out, I just don't have someone to hangout with.Finally when I can afford to go to the costliest of places, I don't have anyone to go with. God really doesn't give us everything, does he?

what Next?? -->

6)I am a wanna-be MBA. If possible, I want the degree from Singapore itself.

Random Facts about me -->

7)I do not read Fiction, but I have read 'Five point someone' and I loved it. I read fiction only in school, ya 'Enid Blyton', :-), Hardy Boys. :-).

I love reading Finance/Economic Articles.Though I still don't understand very complicated articles, I do better than most engineers when it comes to that.

8)I hate commitments, I don't think I can say those 3 magical words to a gal unless I am sure I am not gonna get bored of her down the line..;-)..and my past has taught me that by the time, I realise the fact that 'I am not gonna get bored of her', Its generally too late ( she's already taken).

The typical conversation is like this

Me : I am in love with you

She : You know, I have a BF, right?

ME : Ya, I know. :-(

Anyway.....

8) I prefer dating, infact I love it. I can never Date a woman who can't talk.I love woman who can talk, but she should also be a good listener when I wanna speak, Yes, I hate woman who can cut me off and start Blabbering again.Thankfully I have few wonderful friends I love dating and can probably date every single day of the rest of my life and still remain excited about the next date ( Ya, Mary/Sneha, if you are reading this , you were on my mind when I wrote it )

9)I love hanging out as well, I can endlessly hangout with my friends at coffee shops, multiplexes, fast food outlets, any damn place. We used to sneak out of hostel at 2-3AM in night to go to Bangalore Airport and have coffee at the COFFEE day.Not that we were big COFFEE fans, just the thrill..;-)!!

10)I am confrontational..( Yes, IHM, the point is stolen from you, Its only that, I wrote the opposite )..but I really don't believe in confronting a Dumb person, I generally agree with Dumb people. I am serious!! you cannot convince someone who has no idea about a subject but still wants to speak about it.

11)Someday, when I get settled in Life,I wanna have a Dog as a pet (Not a pomerian...Ya, I am Racial ;-)).

12)I am very Kitchen and Bathroom Conscious. I want my Kitchen to be very clean, I can't tolerate a Dirty Kitchen. I love the sight of a bathroom which is Dry, clean and spacious. When I have a house of own, I am definitely gonna spend a lot on my Bathroom.

13)I am a very cool person, I can't be formal for nuts, specially with my friends, and I don't want them to be formal with me as well. I can never be friends with someone who can continuously be formal with me.I start getting irritated and then avoid that person.

14) For me, my friends are really important. Infact some people believe that I treat them above my parents, I don't think that might be true, But yeah, I love my friends a lot.

15)I know people change, But I don't understand why they do. If I start getting a hint, that someone is changing, I normally rush to change myself before they do, and that is the time when most people think I start behaving weirdly.Some friends say I am possessive about my friends, which I don't completely agree with.

16)I am unpunctual. I can never-never come on time.I have never reached school on time, I have never reached college on time, I never reach office on time, I can't come on time -NEVER.I know it, and I can't improve.I have given up trying to improve.:-)!

17)I am a big believer of smart work. I don't believe in DONKEY/HARD work.Ages ago, I read it somewhere, I still remember the below lines :-

Practice does not make a man/Woman perfect.

Perfect practice makes a man/Woman perfect.

If you keep practicing something wrongly, you will become perfect at doing it wrongly!! so simple, right?

I wrote "/woman", because I am a little terrified of IHM/Surbhi...;-)..

18) Given a chance to be invisible --> I would kill all corrupt Indian politicians. They are a menace!!The only thing that is still going wrong in India..!!

24)I Love Indian food, to an extent that I am not ready to buy the explanation that it is because I was born here and I am used to eating it... I say, even If i was born in Honolulu, I would have still loved Indian food the most.

The fried stuff like Pakodis might not be good for health, but I can't imagine my life without Pakodis, samosas, Kachodis, Mirchi Vadas, Gujrati Fafdas, Pani/Bhel Puris, Cutlets etc etc.

25) I cry at a lot of Movies.I don't know why, But I do..Only one gal ( Rash..you..:-) ) has ever caught me doing that...and my explanation was ,, "ahh...just water in eyes"...I couldn't come up with anything better...:-(.

Ya Ya...for those of you who noticed that '24' came after '18'....Please don't freak out...If I can think of something, I will write again..Forgive me for now..!!Phew!!

I think, I am supposed to tag 25 people now? Nahh..I am not gonna do that..The "Tag" thing ends here...I declare it CLOSED hereby...Huhahahahaha...!!!!

Gandhi@Auction

I have written the sequence of events as they occurred and have expressed my views about it. I am open to discussion if anyone doesn't feel like the way I do, because I feel this is what is a debatable topic ( I did not consider Mangalore as a debatable issue -- for me, anyone who did not oppose it,  was a Jerk!) 

My comments in purple

Events in Red

Double quoted words in blue

1)Mahatma Gandhi's personal belongings ( A Zenith pocket watch, steel-rimmed spectacles, a pair of sandals and an eating bowl and plate) to be auctioned.Estimated booty from the auction    --> 30,000 to 40,000$.

2)Indian Govt unhappy over the auction,launches its protest with the US Govt. Doesnt look like US gives a damn (so you know, where you stand). 

3)James Otis, the auctioneer, set conditions for withdrawing the items from the auction, which included a "substantial" increase in India's budget spending on health care of the poor.

  

What a Noble man indeed! But I guess Govt is interested in vote bank.

 

Increase in health care for poor will give them this vote bank??Might be , but negligible anyway!!

'Saving Gandhi's personal Belongings' will instantly catch an average Indian's attention who would then become a UPA fan.

What an opportunity to  misuse emotions of many!

4)Just before the auction, owner of the items James Otis had agreed to withdraw them from the auction but the auction house did not agree. It argued that it could have a big liability if it allowed the items to be withdrawn from the auction as more than 30 bidders had already registered for them and some have even sent in written bids. 

5)Mallya wins the bid, buys the stuff for 1.8 million dollars.(Crazy money!!). The controversy obviously helped in shooting up the price. 

Don't know about you guys , personally, I don't give a damn, nor has my respect for Mallya increased/decreased in any way. Its just where it was. (The respect had increased when he bought a F1 team.)

Now, I am like  -- "Ya, Ok, we got it, whatever". 

If he would not have got it, I would have been like -- "Ya, Ok, we did not get it, whatever". 

Allthough, I would totally understand if it is an emotional moment for some of us (specially the older generation).

I would have rather appreciated, if New Delhi had diplomatic power to convince the authorities in US against the auction, which they clearly lacked.Don't these people feel ashamed of the fact that no one gives a damn about them and what they want??

6)Culture minister Ambika Soni claims 

"The Indian government procured the five personal articles of Mahatma Gandhi at a New York auction through the services of industrialist Vijay Mallya as it could not bid directly because of a stay order of the Delhi High Court."

"We were working on several options to get the items back. This is a victory for the UPA government"

Any Tom, Dick and Harry SHOULD be able to tell you, our Govt wants to piggyback on the goodwill Mallya would have managed to produce after this. 

I said "SHOULD be able to tell you".because I know, an idiot Indian (and they are in majority in India) would have believed Ambika Soni when she made that statement.No wonder, these ministers have the balls to make such ridiculous claims. 

I am telling you they probably did not even know that Mallya would be bidding.

Mallya later proves my belief by saying :-

"I am not sure if anyone was aware that I was bidding"

7)Times of India reports 'Mallya's shocker: I bid on my own'. 

Is it really a Shocker? Not even a bit of a shocker to me!!

 

What do you feel about the whole set of events?

Overall My feelings are :-

Neutral --> Mallya winning the auction

Ashamed --> Of Indian Govt ( as usual ) for its lack of diplomatic strength in the world.

Ridiculous --> Claims made by Ambika Soni.

James Otis -->A good Business man.

Vijay Mlallya --> Did what he wanted to do, fine with me.

Ambika Soni -->  What a Bitch.

Time to sleep, Its 5.30AM SGT.

SELF DEFENCE FOR DAUGHTERS.

Just a cute incident, that I wana share.

While on an evening walk with a Girl ( I prefer to call her that) and her 17months old daughter.

Her daughter stamps on one of the many flowers on the ground and that is when this happens    -->

She : <says some 'chepu' thing in Telgu>

Me : What did you just say?

(Note :I don't understand any language but hindi, english, hence the question.)

She : I am teaching my daughter not to stamp on flowers, and to do the same only for insects on the ground.

Me : what??Isnt that cruelty?aren't you teaching her aggression??

(Note: I am no freak opposing the killing of ants and blah blah, but this sounded so weird --> you cannot stamp on flowers fallen on the ground, but you can stamp on insects?? Hahaha)

She : No, I am teaching her self defence!!

SILENCE.....TO COMPREHEND WHAT JUST HAPPENED...AND THEN.....

LAUGHTER....LAUGHTER...LAUGHTER...

You need a lot of Cuteness to come up with such a reply..;-)! Don't you?

I am not forgetting this one.:-)!

INSECURITY or just a deep SLUMBER?

First Things First. I am sorry if my last post offended anyone.Forgive me, I am just a 23 year old.:-).

Confession --> Out of my mind, I think I launched a personal attack on a woman in my previous post.I dint mean to, I just wanted to comment on her post, not on her, but yeah! I am not perfect.I kind of messed up out there, and someone actually called me a racist :-( (But sometimes, I do feel I am a Racist, ya I am an EVIL nvm :-) ).

Chances are I was wrong, my only reason to believe this is I don't think I have a support.:-(.

I couldn't help but dissect IHM's post. I am just presenting my Arguments.


IHM's post in blue
My views in Red


"Chikki's post on a woman's concern over an advertisement for a low calories cereal made me wonder how much are we affected by the way our advertisers want us to look"


Well, no, it is actually the other way round. Advertisers have no personal interest in making us look good or UN-FAT (I choosed not to say THIN, because we are talking about that specific Ad, and it promises only 2.5Kgs Reduction in 2 weeks, that won't make us THIN, Please! ). I will tell you what those marketing guys would have probably thought --> They were pretty sure that lots of people want to get thinner ( please!! deep inside, most fat people do wish they were thin ) and they are willing to spend an amazingly huge amount on that ( I don't think we still know how much VLCC earns, those programs are so expensive). So, why not lets market something which can make you loose some extra pounds (No arguments regarding if that will actually make you thinner, we are just talking about the Ad being "demeaning"-supposedly).


You get my point,?

ITS NOT

Ads --> Pressure to look good.

IT IS

Our Will to look better --> marketing ideas based on that --> Ads

So, lets not blame the Ad for the pressure in 1st place.


"The pressure is not to look good, but to look a certain way. Fair and Thin. Perfect teeth. All fine except that there are a lot of good looking people who do not fall into this set mold."


what pressure?Well, Again, there is No pressure!! I mean, no one can pressurise you without your consent.The Colgate Ads are exerting pressure on us for perfect teeth?No.I have never heard that before, seriously! Not even in my dreams did I think, The Ads pressurise us to look in a certain way. LOOKING GOOD IS A PERSONAL CHOICE, FOR SOME IT IS VERY IMPORTANT AS TO HOW THEY LOOK, SOME JUST DON'T CARE. IF WE ARE FEELING THE PRESSURE BECAUSE OF COLGATE, KELLOGG Ads, THERE MUST BE SOMETHING WRONG WITH OUR SENSE OF SECURITY.
We shouldn't really Blame Ads, they are there to sell.Get real.


NO ONE CAN HURT YOU WITHOUT YOUR CONSENT.


"Some of these advertisements can make our lives revolve around our weight loss. . . "


OK, again! I Think we should all be in total control of our lives, IF WE ARE LETTING OUR LIVES REVOLVE AROUND Ads, TRUST ME, DON'T BLAME Ads, THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH US.


"And our children will grow up believing thin(not healthy) is beautiful".


No, THIN is not same as NOT-FAT. we are talking about us being NOT-FAT. and FAT IS DEFINITELY NOT HEALTHY.


"A perfectly healthy woman can be made to feel too fat if she does not fit a certain size"


Really?Nooo...


I really pity that Ad now, All the poor bechara Ad said was "loose 2.5Kgs". :-(


"It starts with 'thin is healthy', although being too thin or even undernourished, is not any healthier than being too fat."


Under-Nourished? Some quick facts --> 6 out of 10 women in India are anemic ( well, most of them don't even know this and its definitely not limited to poor). That is Under-Nourished. But that is not the point.
FAT IS UNHEALTHY. Don't buy the product if you think you are not fat , simple! Why would someone wanna ban the whole Ad itself?


"It isn't really about being beautiful either, because many women are not skinny and they look great. (Including Jenifer Lopez, Lindsay Lohan, Mumtaz, many of our older film stars.)"


This is not fair, we are talking about BEING UN-FAT. Where did 'SKINNY' came in from?At least that's how I interpreted the Ad, it was always about loosing extra pounds, not being Skinny.
And again, isn't this our choice what we want to be -->Skinny, or healthy? Its an Ad..Buy the product according to your needs. Government of India is not coming out with a law to buy Kellogg's K and become thinner (not thin , thinner Is what I said!).


"Why then are we so obsessed with being thin?"


Exactly...Its us who are obsessed (well, some of us at least)! and this is precisely what Kellogg's knew, why are we blaming the Ad for pressurising us??Its so not Justified.I just don't get it.If I was the CEO of that company, I would probably give a promotion to someone who came up with that campaign.


"I think it is just a trend. Today we wonder at the Chinese binding their little girls feet, or at corsets that made Victorian women forever breathless (And gave Scarlett O'Hara her famous 17" waist).
Nature couldn't possibly have meant all women (men too) to be the same size?!"


Being thin MIGHT be a trend, but it is for us to follow it or not.However, if you can see to it that you keep yourself fit , UN-FAT, it would be wonderful. Its High time, we know the disadvantages of being FAT and do something about it instead of cursing the whole world for calling us FAT.


"Years from today our future generations will talk abut how women were coerced to starve and look anorexic (or be anorexic) and fit into standard sized clothes."


You really don't wanna take this line back?what was this IHM?:-)


"What can be more beautiful than good health?
Good health would mean you can run up a flight of stairs without feeling out of breath. Good health does not mean being size zero."


Yes, don't be size-zero . Clearly its our personal choice. But ya, FAT IS UNHEALTHY, LETS FACE IT. No pressure to become UN-FAT, but its for our own good, that we realise FAT IS UNHEALTHY.


Something, I wanna add from my personal experience, You know, of all the people I have met --> Western, Koreans, Japanese, Chinese, Indonesian, Malaysians, Australians, etc etc, take my words, Indians are the one who are least worried about their health, we are the ones who are ignorant about advantages of staying fit,we are the ones with bulging tummies :) -- Generally.


I was surprised to see the kind of priority these people give to their fitness regime, you won't believe the distance people here can run on the field, I was really embarrassed on the field, No Kidding, but even the Grandmas and Granddads run more than me :-( ( Ya, I run 3kms without stopping, not so bad , right? well, apparently it is). I don't feel PRESSURISED to run more though, On the contrary, I am plainly impressed, and try jogging at least 3-4 times a week.


"And good health with good grooming can make anybody look their best. Without having to starve for it."


Well,,don't Starve!! Just avoid FATS..Try Fruits...that's not Starving, is it?



Its for us to realise the importance of being NOT-FAT, YES, ITS NOT HEALTHY, TRY GOOGLING FOR MORE INFO! Don't feel pressurised, Just for your own good, please Wake up, Don't blame Ads, don't crib about people calling you fat, don't try giving excuses to yourself, consult a dietitian if you are worried about being UNDER-NOURISHED while pursuing it, and please Don't blame the Ad, just Ignore it if you hate it. Chances are others out there might wanna give it a try!

Kellogg's Special K, and Body Image Issues

Another disturbing perspective.Disturbing for me at least!Or I just plainly did not understand it.

The original post is here

Don't worry, I have not edited anything from there.Double quoting everything again.

My words in Red

Her words in Blue

"Yesterday just as we sat down at Coffee Day my seven year old eyed me and told me with twinkling eyes "Ma, You are fat." I gasped for breath. I asked him where he had heard about fat. He shook his head and gave me his usual - Don't know and dug into his Black Forest Cake."

"I wasn't about to give him an explanation about fitting into a size 12 jeans after 4 months of rigorous work outs or that giving birth to him, his sister and taking care of them had made me 'fat'. I wasn't going down the defensive mode with a 7 year old child."

"I was more interested in knowing where he had come across the concept of body image. And it didn't take me long." 

Was going fine till here!!

"Today while the kids watched toons on POGO the Special K ad rolled in. And before my horrified eyes"

"Horrified eyes" ?? Why the over reaction?1st shock.

"I heard a small girl talking about her mom looking like Aishwarya Rai and her mom laughed and said she had lost two kilos by being on Special K. The little angel ranted about her mom looking the prettiest in the school and my mouth hung open."

So???

"Little angel Ranting"?? what?? I think you are the one who's ranting.

"What kind of shit was this? I looked at my son and then back at the TV. "

What Just happened?Anyone??No, seriously, a reaction of that sort, there has to be some reason, I am so confused, Can someone please explain it to me, what could have been going on inside her head?I am serious!! I am not getting into an argument, I just wana know, what is it that my brain completely refuses to understand??

"It was bad enough that cable channels were feeding shit to our kids about junk food but now we had cereals sneaking in body image neurosis to our underage children."

I am not married, but when I do get married and have kids, I don't think I am gonna start Blaming the whole bad world around me . After all what will my duty as a father be? Teach my child the difference between right and wrong. 

And please, what do you expect? Mc Donalds, Burger Kings, Cokes, Pepsis,  to be banned?

"Body-image neurosis"??Will someone Please quickly explain me what this women is going through??I don't think I will be able to concentrate on my work before I know, what struck her. All her kid said was "you are fat", which chances are, she is.

"Where is the protest from parents about these sorts of ads? Maybe its time Kellogg's was taken to court for propagating unhealthy habits to our kids. Can you imagine a kid asking just for sugary cereals for 2 meals to be skinny?"

"propagating unhealthy habits to our kids"??.. What just happened?The topic just changed, I thought its all about her son calling her fat and her getting hurt because of the truth.

"Can you imagine a kid asking just for sugary cereals for 2 meals to be skinny?"?? When did that happen?Again, I thought it was all about your kid calling you fat as you start your post with.And its not "skinny", its HEALTHY for god sake!! Do Indians still believe FAT IS HEALTHY or what???

"Anyone who has tasted Special K would tell you that its like sugary wood shavings. And to be on a cereal diet is the worst thing one can do to their body. Eating right and exercising is the best way to leading a healthy life."

Now, I have not tasted Special K or whatever, but if you don't like it, don't buy it anymore, why cry about the Ad?I mean, its pure marketing.No, what am I arguing!! What were we discussing?What is going on here!! Are you not satisfied with the product or fuming over the fact that your kid called you fat or are you not happy with Fast food chains?Whats going on,,,someone plz??

"Once the ad finished I spoke to my son and told him that not everything that is seen on TV is the truth. And that having a fat or skinny mother doesn't make the child happy, what makes a child happy is having a mommy who loves him."

Yes, but when did he say that he doesn't like you as a mom?whats wrong with you ladyyy!!!Are you just insecure about your looks?

I am sorry, I couldn't just control my feelings there.:(

"And that if I ever heard him say those words to anyone I would personally come and teach him the meaning of respect."

"Respect"? I am really crying now. He was just being Candid!! You are not not going to teach him any respect, you are gonna teach him to be politically right and at his age, plzzzz..we prefer kids being candid than being politically right.

IHM, You are a mother right? Am I gonna be a bad father? or plz tell me you agree with me!!:)

"He looked at me with big saucer eyes and asked 'Why?"

Like Duh!!! Anyone would!!!

"I replied that it was the meanest and most hurtful thing to say and he wasn't a mean boy."

Hmmm...Now I know, she's just pissed that her son called her fat.But truth issss bitter.Lets face it. Go gyming instead of cribbing about it.phew!

"His mind switched gears when he realized his mother was done lecturing and asked if he could go out and play. I nodded absentmindedly, still upset about the kind of bogeymen we were letting into our homes via kiddie channels."

Lady, you have no idea what you are blabbering.

I really want to know the other side too.If someone feels the way, the lady above does, please explain it to me too. I really wana know.

WOMEN WHO KNOW THEIR PLACE

Recently, I read this somewhere and liked it so much that I have decided to put it as a post.

Barbara Walters, of Television's 20/20, did a story on gender roles in Kabul, Afghanistan several years before the Afghan conflict. She noted that women customarily walked five paces behind their husbands.

She recently returned to Kabul and observed that women still walk behind their husbands. From Ms. Walters' vantage point, despite the overthrow of the oppressive Taliban regime, the women now seem to walk even further back behind their husbands, and are happy to maintain the old custom.

Ms. Walters approached one of the Afghani women and asked, 'Why do you now seem happy with an old custom that you once tried so desperately to change?'

The woman looked Miss Walters straight in the eyes, and without hesitation said, 'Land Mines.'

Moral of the story is (no matter what language you speak and where you go):

BEHIND EVERY MAN, THERE'S A SMART WOMAN