Mother Nature

Rainfall in Pune. Thanks to the photographer for capturing this and to
Aniket Dighe for sharing it.
 

10 things to do when you are stuck in traffic at Powai

As I have mentioned in my earlier posts, I travel to work by road and this route goes through Powai. Now Powai, apart from the IIT, Powai lake and
Hiranandani, is also very well known for its infamous peak hour traffic. So, I have come up with 10 things that you can do when you are stuck in
Powai (which you will be).
 
1. Take a walk. As Abhishek Bachchan says in the idea ads, walk when you talk. Start walking by getting out of the car. If you are in the bus, walk in the bus. There is nothing better than a morning walk surrounded by carbon monoxide.
 
2. Interact with IITians. This is your chance to interact with the brightest minds in the world! Just walk across the road and talk to any guy you meet there. Strike up a conversation about the latest discovery in astro-physics or the launch of the iPhone 3Gs. You can even walk when you talk! Don’t worry about your vehicle. It will still be there when you come back, and so will all the other vehicles around it.
 
3. Shop! Yes, shop! There are many shops in the vicinity and they are eager to sell. Finish your weekly shopping here so that you don’t have to do it on a Sunday. Imagine the sleep you will get on Sundays.
 
4. Sell! Let us take the previous suggestion to the next step. Get anything that you think is clutter at your home and trade it for something else.
After all one man’s garbage is another man’s…..well, something. Now that I think of this again, it is a brilliant idea! If this takes off, Powai will
become the biggest flea market in the world! Imagine the gadgets the IIT guys would want to sell there! God I am brilliant!
 
5. Call the lost ones. Call all those people who you thought you never had time to call. Call them and yell at them for not calling you all this while.
Listen to Aby Baby and walk when you talk. Basically get your social quotient high.
 
6. Sleep. Catch up on your sleep. Nothing more needs to be said.
 
7. Boat ride. Go to the Powai lake and take a boat ride. This is excellent exercise and will strengthen your back muscles and arms like nothing else. Come on, so what if the water is dirty?
 
8. Read up. Buy 4 newspapers and read them cover to cover. Yes, it is possible. Very much so! Moreover, this is bound to help you in the interview you will soon be giving thanks to your late arrival at office everyday.
 
9. Talk to other drivers. So what if the car next to you is a cab? What is a cab today can be a cute girl tomorrow. Get into the habit. Talk to the
driver next to you about everything except the traffic.
 
10. Blog. Just like I am doing 😛

Domino’s “crunchy” pizzas!

I once did a project which required me to classify the various pizza outlet in the city. Not surprisingly, Domino’s was not only the most preferred outlet but also commanded the highest brand recall. All this thanks to the consistent marketing with catchy ads, smart promos and constant branding efforts. Of course apart from all this, it is the oldest pizza chain considering it was the first one to enter the market.

So, I too am a regular patron of Domino’s and every time call in for delivery. Yesterday night however, all I had to get were two personal pizzas for my parents (don’t ask) and quite understandably they would not have delivered it; after all it costs Rs. 35 per pizza. So off I went to the outlet (just 5 minutes walk from my place) to get the pizzas, with my sister for company.

I reached there, placed my order and paid the money, all I had to do now was wait for them to bake it and give it to me. It was nearing closing time and there was no one else at the outlet. But I don’t think the time was the only reason for the deserted outlet. As I looked around the relatively spacious outlet (it could seat around 25 people), I saw hundreds of insects flying around. These were those huge flying ant thingies. And there were every size of them! Most of them were lying dead or unconscious on the floor; or maybe even sleeping after the long day of flying around in the outlet. It was freaky! Just the sheer number of them! They even had the blue-insect-zapping-light-thingy, but it sure didn’t seem to work!

My sister had gone there once before with some of her friends and throughout their meal complained to the staff. But I guess those guys could not really speak bug language to tell them all to fly out. The point is, I am sure EVERYONE complains (you cannot miss it), and this being one of the few Domino’s outlets which has seating capacity, should be more sensible! Heck, the seating capacity does not even matter!

I for one will now think twice before calling Domino’s, and for sure watch out for the crunch in my pizza!

Wish I could work from the terrace

The weather has been absolutely brilliant for the past couple of days.
Today however, I think its the best! I am stuck in traffic right now
and dont mind it at all. Gives me more time in the open before we get
closeted in the incandescent closet of an office.

 Wish I could work from the terrace!

MMS CET 2009 final results out

Yes, they are out and the next batch of MMS students will now be working towards making their choices for the colleges.

Hope you make an informed choice and get what you deserve.

Here is a list of top ten colleges in MY opinion. This is my opinion only and it is meant only for guidance and not as any advice (not on my conscience will I take that).

1. JBIMS (No question about it)
2. K J Somaiya Institute of Management Studies & Research (SIMSR) (NOT because it is my college)
3. WE School (Welingkar)
4. Sydenham (Has lost its old charm)
5. N L Dalmia (One of the best for finance)
6. SIES (Was better than Dalmia a couple of years back)
7. MET (Trying to get there)
8. PUMBA (Strong alumni but no alumni network)
9. St. Xavier’s Institute of Management Studies (Will climb this table soon)
10. IES/ Chetana (It becomes difficult to choose at this point)

All the best to everyone who is going to fill out their option forms soon.

P.S. I am an MMS student at SIMSR and this is my opinion and I don’t expect anyone to agree with me.

What the hell is she smoking?!

I am talking about Anupam Ahuja, the loving and loyal wife of the Mr. I-had-sex-with-my-maid-but-with-her-consent Shiney Ahuja!

The maid says she is raped, Shiney says Shiney has not raped, the doctors say she has been raped and the wife says she is proud of Shiney! I mean, what the hell is she smoking?!

I can understand the frame up angle though. Here is what happened according to me. Wife and kid left the country, Shiney got lonely, realised Shiney has two maids, let the older one go home, asked the younger one for a favor, she consented (quite sure with protest however), she then thought she can get something out of this, Shiney threatened her, she went to the cops! I might be being unfair to the girl if she has been raped (and trust me I will hate myself if that is true), but this is what makes sense from all that has come out.

What however I cannot understand is, the wife saying she is proud of Shiney! I mean come on woman! Shiney has accepted that Shiney had sex with the maid and that does not make it right! It is still adultery! Shiney has ACCEPTED it! Or is THAT something you are proud of??

I think she took her wedding vows too seriously. Or maybe she is smoking something. Well in that case can someone tell me what the hell it is that she is smoking?!!

P.S. I have refused to use a pronoun for Shiney as I find the name too funny and love using it again and again 😛

What the hell are we paying for?

I don’t really get this, I pay Rs. 15 per month for ONE SINGLE channel Star Cricket!

The least I expect is a viewing experience that is unlike other channels which either come bundled with others or are absolutely free of cost! What I am actually getting is, more ADs than cricket, absolutely no air time for anything except the 6 balls per over, sometimes we miss the extra ball bowled due to a wide or a no-ball, miniature screens twice every over thanks to the ADs shown DURING the match and many more such atrocities!

It has been ages since I have seen the bowler run in on his first ball, the batsman taking guard, the captain and the bowler having a strategic chat and many many more such things that make watching cricket an enjoyable experience. With all the ADs during the telecast, the ADs between over and wickets and the banners after every four or six, they HAVE to be earning enough to earn a sizeable profit. But no, that is not enough! They want to charge every home 15 bucks too. Do they charge Reliance for 6 ADs and air only 5? Hell no! Then why do they charge us and show us substandard television? They have stopped showing replays after a wicket has fallen just so that they can squeeze in another AD! This is robbery! And every single channel does this!

I have always believed that every channel that gets revenues from advertisements should not charge viewers. What do you think?

Best AD today!

via youtube.com

I don’t think there is anyone who has not seen this AD. Not only is the concept brilliant, the execution is absolutely seamless. The actors don’t have a hair out of place (pun intended).

Watch it again! Love it!

What an idea, lives again!!

I had posted about the first Abhishek Bachchan-idea ad about a month back.

Guess what? The ad lives again! All this time, idea has made a lot of ads depending on what was going on in the environment.

They had the democracy ad during the elections which was a good campaign. Then they had the IPL ad which they showed till yesterday. But starting today, they have started using the old ad again.

Are they reading my blog?

The View?

What were they thinking?

Why would anyone name a building 'The View'?

I saw this building at Powai, facing the Powai Lake. They could have so easily named it 'Lake View'. But I guess just as they were about to agree with that name, some guy said, "Wait a minute, there are many buildings facing the lake, so how can we name it Lake View? That is not an exclusive view for us! And it is also unfair to all those other buildings!"

Seriously! In my opinion, anything with the word 'view' on it sounds like a cliched name for a hotel in one of those touristy places. Would you live in a building like this?