Power Play @ Gurgaon

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*** Rant Filter***
*** Context Filter*** Bollywood context required

If I were asked to rewrite the famous Deewar scene, it will go like this.

Vijay stays in Sushant Lok and Ravi in Sadar Bazaar - Gurgaon

They meet at Vyapar Kendra, Sushant Lok for their famous scene:

Vijay - Mere paas fridge hai, tv hai, ac hai, washing machine hai. Tumhare paas kya hai
Ravi - Bhaaaa..i, mere paas inverter hai


and that leaves Vijay speechless because he has been struggling with power cuts in Gurgaon and so are others. It's hard to explain why he couldn't buy an inverter or get a house in society with power back up, but let's ignore that discussion. Another side point, the amount of power cut we have in Gurgaon actually exhausts all the inverters, so even Ravi has issues (we'll ignore this as well)

Recent Power cuts forced a shift in my thinking. I used to think that having power supply is a necessity and backup a luxury. Now, I think having power backup is a necessity and continuous supply is a luxury (that none of us has now)

Disclaimer: I fully well understand that I play a part in this whole problem by not approaching the right people and raising my voice. In my defence, I just hope all such things were a tad more obvious to those who are responsible for it.

Art of creative punishment

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There was an article in The Times of India about punishment to children. The writer wasn't particularly amused by the idea of punishments as a means to improve kids. She went on to talk about how it demolishes their confidence and all. I have no comments (neither for nor against) on what she thinks. However, there was a specific punishment example she mentioned that floored me due to sheer creativity involved.

Her teacher used to punish students by making them stand in a dustbin. She used to tell them, they are there because that's where they belong.

Before I get labelled a sadist, let me clarify that I am not hailing the punishment because of the impact it had on kids, but because it sounds quite ingenious.

Astrology, Dreams

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This one is a spaghetti post.

Most of you would know that Mars is closest to earth these days. Astrologically the planet is considered a source of energy and impacts all. Since its closest these days, the impact is higher, few stand to gain and few stand to lose. Apparently I have been chosen to strengthen the losing category.

By now, you must have realised that I am a fan of astrology. Fan enough, to publicize it over net. Last three days have played havoc on things at home and to some extent workplace. More significantly, it altered my dreams (not the long term ones, but the involuntary ones while sleeping). Here is the list

1. Disturbing Dreams: I have had a series of disturbing dreams all this week. I don't always dislike them, because its like watching a movie while sleeping [saves time and provides entertainment :-)]. However, you don't want to watch tragic movies all through (esp if it involves you), so that's the part that concerned me.

2. Recursive Dreams: I saw a dream in a dream and I did something in my internal dream (Level 2 Dream) which I cannot do in real life. When I got out of my Level 2 dream, I tried the same thing in my Level 1 dream and I could do it. Next, I broke out of my Level 1 dream to real life and that's when I failed :( However, it was an interesting experience and a first for me.

Side Note: I have often wondered about awareness while dreaming. At times, I even try to continue a dream that got discontinued by thinking about it consciously.

Sometimes losers win

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This isn't about the famous series The Biggest Loser or its Indian counterpart Biggest Loser Jeetega.

I have always wondered how people can survive and rise in organizations in-spite of their incompetence. There may be many reasons for it. Not the least of them is to create an environment that fosters and encourages incompetence.

Never argue with a fool or he will drag you down to his level and beat you at it

I have seen 'leaders' whose only competence is to stick around in office infinitely. And if that is the case, the project is bound get screwed thereby generating the need for long (unproductive) hours. Once that happens, the environment is set for the losers to shine.

That's what losers do, they re-define winning as being losers, so its a win/win game for them and a lose/lose for non-losers.

* I have always avoided using word loser in my conversations/writings. I am using it here because it's just so casually powerful that it conveys how strongly I feel about this subject.

Horse Trading @ Work

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Camels are traitorous; they walk thousands of paces and never seem to tire. Then suddenly, they kneel and die. But horses tire bit by bit. You always know how much you can ask them, and when it is that they are about to die. -Paulo Coleho (The Alchemist)

I think I see horses and camels at my office all the time. There are silent killers who will drop dead one day and be gone. And then there are others who will keep showing dissent at regular intervals to keep you abreast of their low morale. Be careful to identify your camels and horses and handle them accordingly.

Beginning of year end

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As year 2007 draws to a close, I am planning to put up my list of year's top 5s. Thanks to internet (the enabler) that is allowing people to do such stupid things :-)

I have an initial list of categories, I intend to work on the entries in next few weeks and publish the results. Feel free to leave a comment mentioning your choice for a category or a new category if you care.

As much as I would have liked to do it on popular votes, I simply cannot, because I don't have enough readers (yet, my hopeful yet!) to cast votes :-)

- H'Wood Movies
- B'Wood Movies
- Sportsperson
- Flops (B'wood)
- Songs(Any)
- Ads
- Worst Ads
- Moments in Cricket
- Worst phrases (anywhere)
- VJs/anchors/RJs