PK is an Eye-Opener..literally!!

First of all, I did not want to write any more personal blog posts, for reasons I can't divulge. But I just could not resist not writing anything about PK, simply because I truly feel the response gathered by this movie is not what it deserves! And I am not saying this because I am an Aamir Khan fan. Fact is, that most of us have got it wrong big time, which has led to mixed reviews and perceptions (mostly negative) in the minds of general public. 

Let's start with movie review first. Well you expect and keep expecting more and more once you get movies like Munnabhai series and 3 Idiots from Rajkumar Hirani.  Quite naturally, this movie has many aspects which pale in comparison to previous movies made by the same creative team. Like, songs, except Bhagwan Hai Kaha Re Tu, are not even OK. Aamir's sudden love interest for Anushka Sharma seems to be forced into the storyline. Sanjay Dutt's role also seemed to be forced into the script. Boman Irani has been royally wasted, I mean, you really needed him to do that role? For that matter, I was able to ignore the stupid pregnancy situation in 3 Idiots because rest of the movie caught my unadulterated attention. But here, NO, I could not ignore these blunders, if I may call it, and these were few of those put offs. Certainly, you don't expect these from Hirani & Aamir, atleast I don't. As mentioned before, high expectations are equally responsible here and not just bad film making!

This film has received a lot of flak from 'Hindu' supporters, read this in some articles like this. Apparently 'Hindu' community is shown in poor light as they are a 'soft' community, who bear whatever is being said or done to them. Then, many have found the nude act by Aamir too much to digest, as well as the alien thing. Infact, just saw a meme saying Koi Mil Gaya + Oh My God = PK. Many have said that if you have watched Oh My God, you don't need to watch PK. Many feel it's a one-time watch movie, as it hovers around an already addressed topic about God and God-men. To all these people and their respective perceptions, I just have to say this - you have got it terribly wrong guys!  

Let me elaborate. Starting with this movie about God and God-men, yes, I agree it was a part of the movie. Yes, a part of the movie, not the entire movie itself! Oh My God attempted to look at this subject from an atheist, frustrated person's point of view. PK, however, looked at this subject with virgin ignorance. Don't you feel an atheist will have a strong prejudice when he talks about these things? But will an alien have any prejudice at all? About anything at all on a new planet? Puts you in some thought right?

Poor Aamir, the alien, lands on earth and the 1st human who sees him robs him! He has nothing except a shiny little locket, and the robber could not resist his temptation one bit; not once did he think of offering some help to the poor, naked man. Humanity has stooped to extreme low levels, isn't it? Recent killings of school kids in Pakistan by Taliban terrorists does prove this, right? There I drift again!

Coming back to the core subject, the Gandhi incident in the movie is equally thought provoking. Our nation's father has practical importance only on currency notes, not on any other printed paper. Have we forgotten his deeds after all? Oh, and did we completely miss the India-Pakistan mention? A few recent movies like Filmistaan, Total Siyapa & War Chod Na Yaar have touched upon this sensitive issue with a fresh perspective, one which makes us realize, perhaps, that most people beyond the border are not as hostile and vengeful as we have been thinking for so many years. Infact, even they wan't to have good relations with us. I happen to hear from some friends, who stay abroad now, that in a foreign land, they do not feel any difference between Indians and Pakistanis, and infact bond well with Pakistani people! Why, then, should we still keep hatred in our hearts against common Pakistani folks? 

Is it really not that man has created 'religion' and not God? When we are born, who decides our 'religion'? Do we come with some 'Made of religion _________' mark, where the blank is duly filled by Him? Isn't 'religion' nothing more than a specific 'fashion' decided by humans from the past? Did He decide that Brahmins need to have a tiny plait, that Muslim men should grow their facial hair except mustache, that Christian Gods prefer wine and not coconut like Hindu Gods? The complexities are many fold and I really don't think God would have had the vision and stamina to create these in first place. 

And then, performing varied 'rituals' to please God, or may I say, bribe Him to get your things done. Right from sacrificing animals to climbing up 1000 steps to a temple barefoot to keeping hardcore fast for entire day, denying your body even a drop of water! God, our creator, can he be so cruel with us? Has he created us or have we created Him? 

How can somebody from this country/continent/world/planet look at these things from these perspectives? Maybe somebody alien could, and nobody else. Thus, I think, Hirani thought of bringing out Aamir as an alien to our world. Aamir could thus look at our day-to-day lives from a very different (alien) angle. His questions would not be out of frustration, rather out of sheer ignorance. And what does this do to us, atleast in my case, is give us an unprejudiced view to these things. Showing a naked Aamir Khan was just for fun on superficial level, but perhaps what Hirani really wanted the audience to do was look at these things with naked eyes! And my God, how many of us, have been unable to do it so far!

I feel, PK is certainly not a one-time watch movie. You will get it's true essence once you watch it a few times and all themes portrayed in it strike you, make you think, think without any pre-conceived notions. Hirani has a wonderful message to tell in an entertaining story, like his previous works. His comedy is very clean, subtle and a welcome change unlike slapstick comedies like Golmaal, Hera Pheri, etc (Big fan of Golmaal series!).  I still feel he could have made PK better, but it's true essence hasn't skipped me. If only everybody who have watched it, and plan to watch it sooner or later, notice it! Well let's just hope they do :)

A cricket match that saved my @$$

Fun Friday activities seem to be at their peak at Komli Media. Our HR team have been successfully organizing events every alternate Friday which have been a good breather for all of us in the otherwise hectic work schedule. It has been a mix of both indoor and outdoor activities, ranging from Housie to Marble & Spoon race, and Cricket ofcourse.

When I say ofcourse, I don't mean Cricket was an anticipated activity. But not even a single cricketing event would have been a big boohoo to our HR team. Kudos to the anticipation of HR team to realize playing cricket was on the minds of almost all employees and thus they proactively conducted it, and organized it wonderfully.

Everyone of the floor was super excited to hear about this event. To give us time to practice, we had 2 weeks before the event. But who needs cricket practice in a country like India, where everyone has grown up watching Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, MS Dhoni. I would like to quote Shreedhar saying, "Practice kyun chahiye? Itna saal practice hi toh kiya! Direct match mein khelenge abhi". 

So our teams were formed, and Pushkar self nominated himself as our captain. It was a Box Cricket tournament with 8 teams participating in it. A knockout tournament, so if you win your 1st 2 matches you reach the finals! A team had to be of 9 players with minimum 1 girl. The girl from the batting team should compulsorily open the innings and the 1st over also to be bowled by the girl from bowling team. Some bizarre rules were put in like a wide and a no-ball delivery were to be counted while the batting team gets 2 runs for this kind of delivery. Also, if any bowler bowls 3 consecutive wides, that team is disqualified! Pushkar, and Nitya were our batters. I am more of a bowler so asked Pushkar to give me the 2nd over, and Shreedhar asked for the last over (4 overs per innings).

Our 1st match was against Mobile team. We won the toss and decided to field. The girl over was a quiet one, as their guy batsman did not face any delivery. He was facing me in the 2nd over. 1st 2 balls were dot. Come 3rd ball, and it is a wide delivery down the leg side. 4th ball, again a wide. Umpire raised warning bell and all my team mates started shouting at me to avoid any more wide balls. Under pressure, I bowl my 5th delivery which is wide down the leg side, again!

Silence spread across for about 3 seconds post which there was chaos. My team mates were cursing me, umpire raised the warning and I felt totally f~%^@d. Rupesh, one of the organizers as well as player from some other team, expressed that this rule was a harsh one and I had not purposely bowled wide deliveries. His opinion was accepted by all and the rule was changed! Now, any bowler bowling 3 consecutive wide balls would be penalized for every 3rd ball by adding 10 runs in opposite team' kitty. I somehow finished my over with dismal figures - 0, 0, W(2), W(2), W(10), 2 - giving away 16 runs! Remaining overs were bowled tidily but we had a near impossible target of 47 to be chased in 4 overs. 

To say that I was abused would be an under statement :P But we had no time to discuss all of it, thus I was safe for a while. Pushkar and Nitya opened our inning. Everyone else felt we were bound to loose, even we felt so, but we had to give it a shot. 1st over being a girl over was fruitful; we scored some 10 odd runs in it. Next over was like the decider, with Pushkar and Nitya both hitting boundaries in it. That over got us 14 odd runs, target thus coming down to 23 in 2 overs. Following over was bowled tightly, just giving us 8 runs along with Pushkar's wicket. We had to chase 15 in 6 balls. Nigel came 1 down and opened up right away, with 2 of his 1st ball and a boundary off his 2nd. 9 more to get in 4 balls. Nigel takes a single of the 3rd ball and Nitya is now on strike. 4th balls hits the boundary fence! Suddenly the surrounding wakes up, our victory was in sight. All this while I was praying for our win as I anticipated what was to come if we dont. And just then Nitya hit our winning runs, scoring a boundary off the 5th ball and sealing our victory. I heaved a sigh of relief and a gush of joy, rushing towards Nigel and Nitya to celebrate! It was an unbelievable victory. We were still not sure if we had really won.

Going into the 2nd match I decided not to bowl; actually no one would have given it to me in any case. We fielded 1st in 2nd match and restricted opposite team to about 26 runs. I effected a run out in that inning. The target was not daunting this time, and riding on the back of chasing an impossible target of 47, we were confident about winning again. And we did! We chased down the target within 3 overs and thus reached finals. Other finalist was Finance team, with Rupesh being a part of it. One of their bowlers bowled a very tight line and he was difficult to score against. We saw him and knew we had to tackle him rightly if we were to win finals. 

Pushkar wasn't lucky with the toss and opposite team chose to field 1st, realizing that chasing was a better option as it had worked well for us. We scored just about 30 runs in that match and knew it could be defended. We got through their entire team in less than 3 overs. Yes, they were all out and victory was ours. We won the Komli Cup as we call it. Nigel got the best batsman trophy while Nitya got the best bowling trophy. Icing on the cake, though, was all of us winning a Fastrack gift voucher worth Rs 500 (Nitya and Nigel got 2 of those). We knew about the prize a day before so were looking forward to win at all cost. And some credit for our win also goes to Rupesh, for intervening and influencing change of rule. Had he not done so, we would have been out in the 1st match itself. And what a paradox that his team lost to ours in the finals! 

Nothing beats the excitement for cricket and so this Fun Friday event enjoyed such a good response. As of me, I was the happiest among all of us because I had screwed up big time yet we got through. I guess I was praying for our win most sincerely thus it came our way, not to mention superb effort by Nigel, Nitya, Pushkar and Shreedhar. The cup is ours, woohoo!!

Guru - Chela

As an Indian you can never miss upon two things - Cricket and Cinema. These are the two most popular means of entertainment an Indian can savour. T20 cricket is gaining popularity by leaps and bounds but ODI and Test cricket are still widely followed. In cinema, however, Hindi cinema (affectionately referred as Bollywood) is 'the' most famous, and regional cinema can never really out-do it. The changes in Bollywood cinema over these years have been phenomenal. To describe it in a sentence, subjects have become more interesting while music has become less melodious. Adding to it, a new wave of cinema has emerged and the change is refreshing. 

A lot of the credit has to go to Hollywood movies for this and ofcourse an improved exposure and Internet. The acceptability for fresh ideas and experimental kind of movies has been the reason for their success. Back in those days when Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro or Chashme Buddoor or Ek Ruka Hua Faisla were released, the general mindset was not really tuned to any other kind of cinema; had these movies released today, their response would have been a hell a lot different (in a positive way). I really look forward to the movies made by Imtiaz Ali, Anurag Kashyap, Farhan Akhtar, Zoya Akhtar, Neeraj Pandey, Sujay Ghosh, Anurag Basu, etc as their approach to cinema is very fresh. But this may not have come to them naturally; there were a few before them who sought after bringing this change and one of them has been Ram Gopal Varma (RGV).

RGV started off very fresh, unlike his contemporary film makers. The subjects, editing, camera work was all very new. Remember his movies like Raat, Bhoot, Rangeela, Company and Satya! All those were well conceived, well directed films and they were 'new'. Ofcourse off late all his movies are disasters but he had a good time and perhaps inspired a fresh breed of movie makers, one of which was Anuraag Kashyap, his protege. 

Yes, I am now talking about the man behind Paanch, Black Friday, Return of Hanuman, Udaan, Gulaal, Girl in Yellow Boots and very recently Gangs of Wasseypur. He has been a film maker much like RGV, having excelled under his tutelage and then going beyond him in terms of success. There is so much similarity, yet so much difference, in the work of both these men. Look at the nature of subjects they choose - such extreme subjects. Look at the star cast for their movies - again, very unorthodox. Yes, the protege has turned out to be a better film maker though, perhaps the reason being better application and the right approach. 

If you recall RGV named his production house as Ram Gopal Varma Film Factory. A factory creates similar type of products in variable quantities ofcourse, and off late RGV's approach has been exactly that. Subjects are different but execution is typical. Similar camera work, similar background score and similar editing style. This similarity has become obnoxious. As opposed to that, Anuraag Kashyap's movies are a different brand of cinema. He has matured enough to understand this simple thing which his mentor has been simply clueless about. 

Let me explain this by comparing RGV's Rakhta Charitra to Kashyap's Gangs of Wasseypur. Both are revenge stories, both are high on violence and both have a generation leap. Now consider the presentation - RGV's typical against Kashyap's unconventional. Consider background score - RGV's typical against Kashyap's realistic. Consider music - RGV's melody-less tunes to Kashyap's groovy tracks. Infact, getting Chhi Chaa Ledar sung by a street child Durga was a master stroke by Kashyap. 

How do you define innovation? Doing different things or doing things differently, isn't it! Well, Kashyap has been doing both and that is the reason for his success. RGV's films have always been about doing things differently, and that is why perhaps his success has always been below par. Kashyap, on the other hand, has worked towards achieving commercial success for experimental cinema and I can't help marvel at his success! 

The way I look at this is that one can certainly out-do his/her mentor. And that is a real sense of achievement, isn't it? The trick is to learn everything you can from your mentor and applying it/experimenting with it like never before. And ofcourse, never cease respecting your mentor! You learnt from him after all :)

The year gone by

2012 was by far the most eventful year in my life, on both personal and professional front. Feels like having lived about 2-3 years in a single year itself. Looking back, couldn't help summarize all of it in 2013's first blog post. 

It was a year when Couponraja.com, my project back in Logicserve, crossed the glorious milestone of 100k fans on Facebook. We celebrated the event with cake cutting, and the team leaving for a short trip to Dapoli and Ganpatipule over the weekend. After spending almost 3 years in Logicserve, I moved out to Komli Media in April. It was a tough decision but it had been on my mind for quite some time. I finally made it, joining Pratik's team as Account Manager. The switch over has been good overall, and hope it stays the same :) 

I always had this dream of getting a full expense paid business and leisure trip sponsored by my employer, and it finally became a reality. I had been to south Goa in October thanks to Komli's annual Offsite. Also, a short business trip to the capital city in November. I traveled to and fro by flight, in both these; another dream which was finally fulfilled. Ofcourse, an international trip is pending yet :) 

Talking about Goa, I had the fortune of being there twice in a year. Back in January I had been there with MET friends, enjoying in north Goa. Except the cruise party, we hung out everywhere else from Club Cabana to Curly's to Britto's to Cafe Lila to Chapora fort and random shacks. It was the funnest trip of 2012. Other trips included the recent Alibaug trip, river rafting at Kolad and Palasdari waterfall in June-July, Ulhas valley trek and my first ever overnight trek at Harishchandra fort in November. 

A few things happened which are going to have a lasting impact on my life. There are certain choices which should never go wrong. You cant afford to fail in certain testing times. But in the end, it is just about living with it. Happiness is more a state of mind than something tangible, isn't it? And certain things make you wonder if you should feel happy about them or sad! In retrospect, I feel happy about certain things, and wish things could have turned out differently. Anyways, let's live with it now and hope 2013 turns out better for good.

Bye Bye ODI Cricket

21st December 2012 was supposed to be the end of the world, as predicted by the Mayans way back in time. The same has been trending since last few days on Facebook and one of those caught my eye. It said, "The world is not yet over because Sachin Tendulkar is yet to announce his retirement". It was a funny one but little did we know that 2012 will it be when Sachin would do so. The coincidence is phenomenal, and it is the end of the world for me now when it comes to ODI cricket. 

I am an ordinary mortal to comment whether the decision was right or wrong. It was his decision and I simply have to accept it. And he also has to accept that I won't be able to cheer for any ODI cricket match in future. I just have a single complaint, that he did not let me enjoy his last ODI match. Had I known that, I would have celebrated it in the grandest of ways possible. I am still coming to terms with the fact that he will never sport the blue jersey again, how can I? 

It's not just the affinity towards him that makes me say all this. It's also the harsh fact that no one could replace him as a person. My dad stopped watching cricket when Sunil Gavaskar retired. He resumed it when he saw Sachin playing the way he did. In hindsight, I feel jealous of him now. This void could not be filled by any present day Indian cricketer. Yes, Indian cricketer! There are great cricketers still out there but my heart beats for Indian cricket, and none from the present day crop have touched my heart. I fear no one ever will. It feels like loosing one's love forever. Love, how many forms it can take!

To recollect some of his best ODI innings, I rate the 98 he scored in WC match against arch nemesis Pakistan as the best. I remember having my HSC exam going on during that time, and on the next day of that match I had to appear for my Biology paper. Back then I wanted to go for engineering post HSC so Biology was never really studied that much! On that day, me and my family had come to check out our Panvel house for the first time. We reached back home by afternoon and that's when the match started. Sachin's batting that day was formidable. The six he hit to Shoaib Akhtar was unimaginable. True to be a man of action, the way he guided India to victory that day was sheer class! Ofcourse my Biology paper did not go well the next day, unlike Sachin, I scored just 55 in my Biology paper :P 

Hard to choose the next best inning, between the back to back 100's against Australia in Sharjah and first ever ODI 200 against South Africa. Both are formidable cricketing sides. After much thought, I would pick the 200 inning, as it came at a ripe age of 37. That was a flawless inning, in which he commanded everything that was to happen with the deliveries bowled to him. Dhoni just avoided being spoil sport that day! Twin innings against the Aussies were full of guts and glory. Aussies were like the lions of International cricket and only Sachin could tame them. Then, I would pick the craziest of his innings - 175 against Australia late in 2009. I still coax myself for going down to Pratik's home to see that match as just after I reached he got out. I feel I jinxed him and since then I have never watched Sachin live in action except for his 200. That inning (175) was like vintage Sachin, the man we always wanted to see. Talking about my favourite sixes, his hits to Shoaib Akhtar in WC, Andrew Caddick in WC, Shane Warne in Sharjah and Charles Langeveldt in his 200 inning were the best. When it comes to favourite fours, his hits to Brett Lee in CB series, Dale Steyn in 200 inning and Ben Hilfenhaus in 175 inning were the best. 

Sachin's 100th century was equally emotional for me. I said it back then, and I say it now as well - just because it happened against Bangladesh doesn't mean we should take away his due credit. It happened, and all that matters. But it will never happen again, and that's the end of the matter for me. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, I will miss you the most in ODI cricket. And the day you retire from all forms of cricket will be the day this (cricket) world will end for me. For me, you are the best ODI cricketer the world has ever seen. I feel proud to have witnessed your era, proud to be a maharashtrian like you. But more than anything else, I am proud to be inspired by the kind of person you are. You are, and will always be my hero! God bless :) 

The 'Sales' Person life

Before I begin let me confess, I do not have personal grudges against any Sales person in general. It just occurred to me the peculiarity of Sales guys in general, which has transpired into this post. With this caution I begin my post about how I have been perceiving Sales guys. Caution is the right word actually!

Being into client servicing since joining Komli Media, I had to interact with our Sales guys. As you know, every client has a Sales guy who has brought the business and Client servicing/Account management guy who delivers that business. According to me, an ideal Sales person should be aware of what can be delivered and what cant. Honesty is not a virtue to possess if you want to be a good Sales guy, but being realistic is a must. However, what I have generally observed as Sales behaviour is audacity and narcissism. Sales guys always want to have the last word, and confident about delivering anything for the client - even if it means a pregnant women giving birth to a healthy, full grown baby in the just 4 months! Yes, that was too much, but Sales guys at times are really "too much".

When I begin to realize this common trait I tried to figure out why is that so. The only thing it drilled down to was targets. Targets come from top management and Sales guys have to get business worth that target. Ofcourse the Sales guys are asked to give estimates on quarterly basis as to how much business can they possibly bring in, but how can someone predict business demand accurately. And what about the potential of the account management team, can they deliver that volume of business? The problem is not setting the right expectations with the client! The client will always ask for stars but we can't always deliver those, can we? The general tendency seen is let's get the business at the terms expressed by the client and then see how it goes. The problem arises when expectations cannot me met. In hindsight, the Sales guy has lost repeat business. In business, common sense says that a merchant/brand/company starts earning back invested money only when it starts getting repeat business from customers. This foresight, is thus an essential trait for an ideal Sales guy.

At a personal level, Sales guys are always perceived untrustworthy. Whatever they say, we seem to take it with a pinch of caution, isn't it? They may be saying the truth, but we just cant trust them. And their flair of sounding confident about anything and everything they say seems to be just too good to accept. I wonder what take their family has about them. Are they different with their near and dear ones? Surely something worth finding out. What if they are no different? That would be a very slippery spot, isn't it?

At their end, balance is the key. And for that, understanding the potential of the delivery team is absolutely essential. There are things which can be done cent percent, things which have high chances of being done and certain things which just cant be done. Realizing all these and making bets accordingly will decide the success or failure for the Sales guy. And they better keep their 'Sales' persona away when interacting with friends and family, and during casual conversations with colleagues. This will make sure they experience a great 'Sales' person life!

Play it like Poker

I love playing games (take this literally). And this has been since a very long time now. As a high school kid, I was fascinated by video games and when I got my 1st one in 1997 I was ecstatic about it. Summer vacations were always about taking out my Mitashi video game and tapping the joystick from afternoon to evening. Super Mario, Contra, Tennis, Cricket, Duck Shooting, Bike racing and a few more like these - these were my favorites! This fascination then extended to computers, with added flair of being able to play music, watch movies and type on it along with playing games (yes, back then typing was as much fun as other things available to do on a PC). Dave, Solitaire, Virtual Cop, Mortal Kombat were some of the games I played on PC. Then came my 1st mobile, Nokia 3310 (I still love that phone). Snakes was the eternal game on it. By the time I upgraded my mobile to Sony Ericsson K750i there were umpteen number of games available to play on mobiles and computers, like Street Soccer and EA Sports Cricket 2010. Then came my Apple Ipod Touch and I could explore motion sensing games available on iTunes store. As of today, I love to play Angry Birds on Facebook, and Cricket and Tennis games on Stick Sports. And now I aspire to have myself an Android Tablet and a Sony PS3!

Devices changed, games changed but gaming still persists in me. Gaming as an activity is a boon for a restless mind like mine, as it keeps me engaged. An empty mind can be a devil's workshop, they say, and I know how devilish my mind can be without any sensible activity to indulge in. I won't say I like playing all kind of games. I do have a specific taste, tending towards sports (Cricket, Tennis, Football, Table Tennis) and action games (Counter Strike, Hitman, Max Payne), then comes fighting games (WWE, Boxing, Mortal Combat),  then strategy games (Angry Birds, Cut the Rope, Chess) and then random games like Bubble Shooter, Run Like Hell and so on. However, casino games were never really on my gaming list, until I attempted Poker some months back. 

Poker is an addictive casino game. Thanks to its virtual availability, you can play it using pseudo cash but the anxiety of losing and the frenzy of winning a poker game is beyond explanation. You hold 3 cards in your hand and 5 cards are laid down, common for all players. The player with the best 5 cards (5 among his 3 cards + 5 common cards) is the winner of that game. And the outcome of the game can be exponential in either way. Now having played it, I understand how exciting gambling can be, and at the same time how devastating it can be. You can win big time, you can loose big time. But what struck me about this game is it's similarity to the way our life is.

What we do, what we pursue, what we work towards depends upon what is currently available to us in life. Ofcourse we work towards our aspirations and expectations, but these are based on what we already have. If you have completed your M.B.A. having specialized in any vertical and you wish to get a managerial job profile, there are high chances of that to materialize. On the flip side, with the same M.B.A. degree if you expect to land a career in Film industry or Army, chances of that becoming a reality are very very less. Not that you can't do it, or it hasn't happened before, but all those instances have been exceptions. And exceptions are rare; you can't guarantee being an exception with as much confidence. Some or all of your 3 cards decide if you will win that poker game or not, and not the cards laid down. You have no idea about the cards laid down until they open up, but the one's in your hand give you a fair indication. 

If you are holding a Queen of Diamonds, an Ace of Spade and a Nine of Hearts, you can bet towards getting a pair of either of these cards which could win that game for you. But when you are holding a Three of Club, a Seven of Hearts and a Two of Diamond all you can do is hope that your challenger has worst cards than yours. More often that not, we worry about things in life - the one's which we can control and even the one's which we cannot. When in a position like the second instance, I can choose to withdraw or pass my bet but I certainly cannot make the other players card come out to be worse than mine, can I? 

This is how life has to be played, based on what you already have, and what can you most likely achieve with what you already have. Outcome of things that you can control will depend upon what you already have. I aspire to have a self owned house in south mumbai and there are two approaches to achieving it. One is luck shining on me in some form of contest or will or dowry which gets that for me. Other is to work towards getting to Senior Account Manager, then Group Account Manager or Brand Manager and eventually reaching upto mid management level and in the meanwhile making sound investments (in property and gold, as these are ever appreciating assets). If this happens, I can liquidate my investments and fulfill my aspiration, and chances for these events to happen are far more realistic than luck simply shining on me. Not that I won't be happy being lucky but the happiness regarding fulfilling my aspiration by employing the 2nd approach will be much more filling, isn't it?

Life is a game of poker. Depend more on the cards in your hand. Hope for other cards to turn out your way, but make the most of the cards you already have. Those cards will give you your wins with highest probabilities and even higher satisfaction :)

Ek Hota Tiger

I know it's cliche to use this kind of title to describe the man this post is about, but honestly I could not come up with anything else. And I don't feel the need to come up with anything else, as this title truly describes the man who passed away today - Shiv Sena Commander-in-Chief Shri Balasaheb Thackeray.

For starters, I must admit that I don't know much about this man. By this I mean that I have not followed his political career as closely as I have followed Sachin's cricketing career. Having said so, I am writing this to portray my respect for the command of this man. I don't see anyone from political or social-economical background who exhibits the kind of command this man did. Probably, Adolf Hitler and Netaji Subhashchandra Bose were people who had similar kind of command. A friend updated his FB status saying "Love and Respect come out of love. Command comes from fear.". And as there are exceptions to everything, this man got his command from his people out of love! Such was the caliber of this man; he was truly exceptional!

You hardly find such multidimensional personalities anymore. A witty artist, a thought-provoking writer and editor, an inspirational orator and an audacious leader. Man with a great sense of humour. I am sure to have missed some facets of his personality but the point is clear - there were very few like him and there will be very few. 

His influence on state politics was so magnanimous that it almost felt like he was running a parallel government. So many people from different walks of life depended on him to bail them out of difficulties. He was like 'The Godfather' for so many people. His speech rejuvenated the audience, so much so that they were willing to do anything he asked without question. Much like the Pied Piper, he controlled the minds of his audience. We people, very often, look out for someone to follow and when that person is like this man, you can't ask for anybody else, can you?

Some of his perspectives don't go down too well with me. And it's not that you can't have difference of opinion with your leader. But what I shall miss is the impact of this maharashtrian personality on state and Indian politics. Being a maharashtrian, it feels great to know some people from my community standing out from the crowd. Shivaji Maharaj, Lokmanya Tilak, Veer Savarkar, Babasaheb Ambedkar, Sachin Tendulkar, Lata Mangeshkar and a few more such individuals give me the feeling of pride. And Balasaheb Thackeray is among the top members of this list.

The day Sachin retires from cricket, it will create such a void for me that I may not watch cricket anymore. Today, after this man's 'retirement' from life, I sense a vaccum left behind in me to look upto any state or national politician. The current crop of top level politicians and bureaucrats lack the general vision which he had about running this country. The vision of managing this country just as Shivaji Maharaj ruled Maharashtra in his time. And I am afraid that vision will never see the light of the day ever, coz we have lost the visionary with that lifetime objective. Balasaheb Thackeray, we have certainly lost you but your personality shall remain among us. You preached, "Every man for his motherland, every man for his community!" and we hope someone turns up to do just that. May your soul rest in peace and inspire future generations. 

All hail the 'Hindu Hriday Samraat'. All hail the original Shiv Sainik - Shri Balasaheb Thackeray!

The First time

This Gandhi Jayanti I am gonna fly! We at Komli are going to Goa for our annual offsite. We will travel to n fro by air, and it's my first time :) I am so very excited about it. My fantasies about air travel are about being able to spot clouds, passing by them, observe how miniature would buildings look. I might be in for surprises here, or maybe all this has no chance of happening. But I don't mind, it doesn't dent my excitement a wee bit.

 

I remember being similarly excited about the best phone I ever had. Sony Ericsson K 750i was simply superb and it was worth 16 grand back when I bought it. I recollect the research I went through to decide which phone to buy. On day one, I went through it's product guide to figure out every available feature. And now, when I had to buy a new phone it wasn't the same kind of excitement. Yes, the research still did happen but it just helped in narrowing down the decision.

 

The same thing happened when I bought my first car, left for a road trip to my native place in my car, first trekking experience, first Goa trip, and so many such 'first' things. How many of these am I still excited about? 

 

Well, I don't have a count for that! There are a few things which I feel excited about doing again and again. And these things become hobbies or interest activities. But there are high chances that these hobbies, while doing these for the first time ever I had been super excited. If I had shown the same level of excitement while trying anything new I would have had much more' hobbies'.

 

Excitement is good, really good. It's like a power booster, adds up to your desire for doing anything. But don't get bogged down when someone says that you need not be so exited, it ain't that cool. Probably they weren't much excited while doing it their first time. You are your best judge. Be super excited, experience it and then decide if it's worth being excited next time around. My Goa trip certainly is :)

The Art of Living Day

I believe some of you must be aware about Art of Living foundation setup by Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji. Back in 2007 I had enrolled for one of their course YES!+ all because of Pushkar. He wanted to do it again and thought I would be good company. I had nothing much to do except waiting for my CET results so decided to pass my time by enrolling in this course. Back then, I was not at all aware about the course, what's in it for me, why should I do it. It was more like, "kee farak painda hai yaar, kar lete hai". 

As per my guesstimate, the batch was about 100+ members. It was a mix of college going guys and girls, working people, and slightly older gentlemen and ladies. Introduction session which happened on the 1st day was a bit awkward in the beginning; I mean how do you expect to be normal saying "I am [Your name], I belong to you!" to anyone you are talking to the very first time! It was an ice breaker session as later on most of  us were OK with it. Orientation session began and rules were summoned to us. We were expected to be punctual, avoid tea/coffee/aerated beverages for the entire duration of the course and strictly keep away from non veg food. Thankfully it was just a 7 day course so I could give it a shot, otherwise keeping away from tea and non veg food would have made me think if I should continue the course or not :P

The course was going good. It was a good mix of exercise, yoga, activities and discussions. Sudarshan kriya was ofcourse the highlight of this course. It's a breathing exercise which rejuvenates your mind and body, you feel fresh and active upon doing it. We were told that this exercise provides much better results if done in a group, and most of my batchmates did meet once a week for several weeks after the course to jointly do this kriya. Last day of the course was very good. We had the best sudarshan kriya that day. We were also told about the reasons behind keeping away from hot/cold beverages and non veg food, that they take almost 2-3 days to digest in our body thus creating imbalance. Before we all parted, we were given paper plates and markers and asked to write testimonials for everyone. All of us preferred some guys/girls among everyone, so made sure to be the first ones to write on their plates. That way we had maximum space to write something cheeky for that person ;) That paper plate is a nice memento. 

2 weeks after the course culminated we all were asked to meet up at one of our instructors' house in Campacola Compound, Worli. A memorable activity was coming up for all of us. We were asked to form teams of 5-6 people in each. All of us were asked to keep away our cellphones and carry just Rs 10 per person. Our task for the day was to go out and earn as much money as we can and come back by 5 pm. The team which earns maximum wins the competition. The only condition was not to tell the real reason behind doing that activity. This came as a disbelief to all of us. How are you supposed to go out with just Rs 10 in your wallet and earn money? But that was the task and we had to do it somehow!

Our team, we were 5 of us, 2 girls and 3 guys - Anul, Divyata, Manish, Rutwij and I. We came down and started discussing what to do. Rutwij saw a bunch of guys playing cricket. He came up with the idea of betting with them, which seemed good, I mean we believed he could do what he was gonna bet for. We approached those fellows and Rutwij tells them that he will hit 2 sixes in an over and if he does that we get Rs 20, else we pay them Rs 20. They agreed and our guy took guard, while they decided who would bowling. All of us started to cheer for our team mate as their bowler was ready with his medium pace bowling. That free hit over read 0, 4, 6, 0, 4, 0; and we lost Rs 20. 

With Rs 30 left we decided not to take up any further betting and instead find hard work which would pay us. We split in 2 groups and decided to meet again at a particular spot at around 2 pm. Anul joined me and we left in search for some work, so did our team mates. We approached manager of a restaurant called Viva Paschim at Worli naka. Anul told him that we needed some money for which we could take up some work in the restaurant. He agreed and gave us work, I was made to wash dishes and cutlery, while Anul had to set up tables! Each of us did our task for the next 30 odd minutes when the manager came back and asked us to stop. He gave us Rs 50 for the task and also gave us some food to eat. We asked him if we could carry some of it for our team mates, upon which he gave us extra food. He was really benevolent to us :)

With our tummies full we set out for the next task. We wanted to meet up our team mates and share food with them, but no cellphones! Anyways, so our next stop was a Honda showroom. We approached the manager there and asked for some work. But we were not lucky this time around. Dejected, we came out and kept walking until we reached a petrol pump. I approached cars which were there and asked them for some money in return of wiping car windows. Some of them agreed and one guy paid us as much as Rs 50. We collected around Rs 120 with this task. By that time it was almost 2 pm so we set out to meet our team mates. They were happy to see us, but more happy to see that we have some food for them :) It was fun to see them finish all of it in no time! Then all of us went to a nearby temple and spoke to someone about giving us some work. He said we can take care of footwear of devotees in return of few bucks. We did that for almost an hour and had earned peanuts. So we quit, looking for something else.

We reached a nearby colony and thought of asking there for some work. We approached few people there and realized that it was a colony of lower middle class people. While speaking to us they thought that we are doing this as a part of a MTV Roadies kind of a show. They were all super excited but were feeling awkward to give us any work. We did some odd jobs for them like cleaning up their courtyard, cutting vegetables, etc but did not accept any money in return. They were willing to give us, but we just couldn't accept it :) Feeling happy about ourselves we left that colony, realizing that it was almost 5 pm. Time to return.

All teams gathered by around 5:15 pm and everyone of us was exhausted, yet had a pleasant face. All of us were discussing among each other what all we did and how was the experience. One team had came back with zero money; they bought some lemons, sugar & water to sell lemonade. They invested their entire corpus in it but did not get a single customer. Other team went to Dadar Parsi colony and asked for money as donation and as we generally expect from benevolent Parsis, they did receive quite some money. Another team went and worked at Copper Chimney restaurant at Haji Ali, where they not only got paid well but also had a good lunch. That team was the winner, with an earning of Rs 2000 odd. 

That was the day I realized the worth of hard earned money. My parents kept telling us about spending wisely, until you understand what goes into earning it. And I did understand it truly that day. Alas, all the money earned by all teams was collected and given away for some NGO. All that is left is the experience and that lovely paper plate :)

Standing up to his name and fame

I had this in mind since a long time but never got a chance to pen in down until today. And it couldn't have been better to write this on the day when first season of Satyamev Jayate ends. Aamir Khan, you deserve a standing ovation from me. This is not because you created SJ, neither because you are such a big star, nor for being a terrific actor and not even for being a good person. I salute you for your endeavor as human being, for there really are very few like you who understand who they are, what they owe to the society at large and make genuine attempts to give it back.

Now you don't get any prize for guessing who's my favorite Bollywood actor, I guess I have made it very obvious indeed! This goes back to the year 1998 with the release of Ghulam. Apart from his acting, the race against the train sequence, "Das Das ki Daud", is still fresh in my memory. That stunt was one of its kind; atleast I had not seen something like that before. When I heard and read that Aamir did it himself I was truly amazed! He had the balls to pull it off and he did it wonderfully, as we all know. He also gave vocals to a song in the film, "Aati kya Khandala", which became hit overnight and soon other contemporary actors followed Aamir likewise. His IAS officer role in Sarfarosh in 1999 had inspired me so much so that I wanted to be an IAS officer myself. I guess as a film star Aamir has never had failure since Sarfarosh; all his films right till today have done very well and his filmmakers have certainly recovered much more than their invested pennies. Today, the hype for his upcoming films Talaash and Dhoom 3 are already so high that producers of these films need not invest in marketing these films. Cinema halls will most probably run house full shows once these films hit theaters. 

Aamir has displayed a propensity to do unconventional things, in his career and his life. He got married to Reena, parsi by religion, at a young age. Few years back they separated and he is now married to Kiran Rao, hindu by religion. In his career things like choosing scripts such as Lagaan, Earth and Rang De Basanti, building up a great physique for Ghajini or shedding all of it for a young look in 3 Idiots, have all been unique. He puts much thought into his character as we can sense from his hairdo, physique, script choices and performances in all his films. His directorial debut with a film like Taare Zameen Par was a master stroke. Such a sensitive yet ignored topic like Dyslexia was presented with such uncanny perspective. Not taking away any credit from Amole Gupte who assisted him in the film, but it feels like only Aamir could have done it as brilliantly as we all know. His performance and it's impact in 3 Idiots is so overwhelming that it has certainly influenced the perspective of parents towards education in totality. Of late, Aamir has shown his genius in marketing his movies to perfection. He's been like Pied Piper when it comes to advertising his films; highly successful in attracting audiences to theaters in huge numbers. He also repaid his debt to his uncle Nasir Hussain by launching his nephew Imran Khan with a bang. Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na was a simple film and had it not been for the promotional genius of Aamir, it might had not been as hit as it did. Nasir Hussain had successfully launched Aamir in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, way back in 1988 and since then it was never looking back for Aamir.

And now, after more than two decades of successful career and enough money, he comes up with Satyamev Jayate. It's a wonderful show no doubt, but what has gone into giving it birth and bringing it up makes it even more special. It's content, based on facts and expert analysis, makes it worth noticing. People who come to the show and speak up seem genuine, and not scripted like other "reality" shows. The array of chosen subjects in last 12-13 episodes show the reach of dilemmas we as Indians face. It has a philanthropy aspect to it as well and with Aamir, people are more willing to donate be it through SMS or online/card payments. Then, Aamir decides to broadcast this show on national television as well for maximum reach and at the same time reach people who cannot afford cable/DTH connections. Going on air at 11 am on a Sunday morning, just the thought behind choosing it shows his genius! Audiences did not have a good show to watch over breakfast/brunch. As we sip in tea/coffee on a relaxed Sunday morning, coming to terms with harsh realities bothering our society and being provoked to take action is slightly easier. Aamir created a new time slot altogether, thereby attracting marketers and thus helping broadcasting channels earn additional advertising revenue. Entertainment quotient of the show is maintained as well. Title song is brilliantly written and composed, and the songs performed at the end of each episode have all been very sensitive and soulful. 

But we need to look beyond all this, for him to come up with a show like SJ speaks volumes about his character. It's one thing to be famous and other to use fame the right way. Aamir, as unconventional as ever, has used his fame for the society as brilliantly as for himself. No one can deny that this show is his honest effort to try and help the society at large. His popularity is because of the love and affection of the society and his payback couldn't have been better. We should not compare apples to oranges but still, has Aamir's contemporaries given back to the society as much as he has? I don't want to get into this debate, it can be done in another post. But I hope you get my point. 

Aamir means Leader, and Aamir Khan has lived up to his name and fame like very few. He's often referred to as Perfectionist, and he has earned it by being so consistent over all these years. He ain't a perfect person because nobody ever can. But his effort is no less than perfect, at anything he does. Satyamev Jayate is a golden feather in his cap and in years to come people are going to remember him more for it than any of his films. Hats Off Aamir, for being the person you are!

Suffer Khan

Back in my MBA days I remember our HR professor, Mr. Cabral telling us about common reasons for employees switching over to new jobs. He quoted, "Contrary to popular belief, salary hike is not such a restless reason for job change. Bad boss is!" And I was (un)lucky enough to face this fact in my first ever job upon completing MBA. 

Those were some of the most inglorious days of my life. Global recession had hit people like me high and dry with no jobs. Frustration had crept in and erupted out upon citing the slightest of chances. I was battling on personal front as well. Amidst all this chaos I receive a call one fine day about a job opening in Jawed Habib for the profile of Project Manager. I was so anxious that I did not even find out about the company and went for the interview on the same day. I was low on confidence and so never thought I would make it. But I did; they offered a meager salary and I readily accepted. 

I had no clue what was the profile. I remember day one being spent visiting banks for some paper work for franchisees. I had no clue what franchisee is, nothing about the bank work, nothing about anything at all. It was all on the job training. The summer intern who was handing over his list of tasks and job responsibilities to me was of some help. I got into groove in a few days, thanks to reading magazines about Franchisee business. I was recruited as Project Manager but was working as Site Incharge, Project Manager, Sales Executive, Vendor Development Executive and Franchisee Assistance all at the same time. I had a new set of visiting cards every week. The funny part is, the guy who got my cards printed used to ask me, "So what's your designation for today?" (LOL, LMAO, ROFL)

Suffer Khan, as I shall refer to him to veil his identity, was a ruthless boss, to the core. He wanted employees who will get his job done no matter what. He did not have the time and energy to train his employees, give them enough chances to cover up. He was a Blackberry Boy, always bombarding us with texts to be updated with what's happening at our end. He has made me improve communication over mobile, bothering me at any time of the day, across any day of the week and expecting replies within a time limit of 2 minutes. There were times when he didn't even let me take peaceful shit! But one thing made him more negatively inclined towards me; I was not doing a good job. 

There was nothing wrong with my dedication or hard work, it's just that I was not meant for that job. I was a mis-hire and I was coming to terms with it. He was not. I remember him sending me out to one of our franchisee outlets and making me work there past midnight, also expecting me to reach office on time the next day (Mall was at Vashi and I reached home early morning at 5:30 am and this guy expects me to reach office at Andheri by 10 am!). My colleague and my only good friend to share all this with was Harman and he knew what I was going through. He used to comfort me, giving hope and confidence to do well. Later he started asking me to look out for a new job but I wasn't getting any. He told me one day that he heard Suffer Khan saying, "I don't want employees who cannot perform. If they don't go on their own, we will curse them out!" I had nothing much to do except to keep improving and keep going, simultaneously looking out for another job. But my efforts were not enough, as I was a mis-fit for the existing job and unlucky to find any new job.

Till that time I was constantly telling myself to improve, become good for the job at hand. But it suddenly changed over one rainy evening. Our office boy was on leave and it was just me and Harman working at office. Suffer Khan comes to office and tells us a prospective franchisee is on his way. I dug out the required paper work, so did Harman. The party came and were sitting in the conference room. Suffer calls at my desk, asks me to order some snacks for the party. I order snacks which are delivered almost instantly. I took it to the conference room and was about to leave when Suffer says, "Where are you going? Who's gonna serve this?" I was taken aback, didn't know what hit me! I took it back, served it on a plate and was about to go back in the conference room. Two drops of tears rolled down my cheek when Harman saw me. Looking at me, he tightened his right fist portraying, "It's OK. Buck up!" I went in, served the plate and was about to leave when Suffer passes a remark I could never forget; "Now that's like an MBA!". 

I came out to my desk totally disheartened. I didn't even have the courage of resigning then and there because I had landed up in that job after so much waiting and couldn't blow it up like this. I did not mention this incident to my parents as I knew they would want me to leave the job the next day. I was too ashamed to narrate this to my friends. I gulped down all my anger, ego and everything else and just passed it off. But I had made up my mind that day about one thing; the day I get another job, no matter how good or bad it would be, I am leaving this goddamn job!

I guess even He could not take that shit anymore, so He brought a good job opportunity to me. I went for the interview, got through to the final round. After a week or so, I received a call by Mr. Anshuman Misra asking if I was ready to join Logicserve. The package was better than my then current package, plus weekend off. I had no reason to rethink, nor did Suffer Khan when I sent him my resignation email. He replied, "It's OK. All the Best." the next minute!

And today I am venturing in the field of Digital marketing with such happiness. Professionally I am doing good, touch wood! My work is appreciated and I am being paid decent enough as well. So I should also thank Suffer Khan for cursing me out. Just one thing, Suffer could have sat down with me and told me, "Dude, it's not happening. You should leave". Trust me, I would have done that. I am sensible enough to accept it and move on. Point is, it''s always better to tell someone such things by words and not by actions, it's much clear that way!