Shanghai - The Movie

Just came back from cinemax after watching Shanghai. It was a good movie, little slow but the acting was superb. Abhay Deol's magic still continued. He played the role of a bureaucrat investigating a poltical murder. The power of an IAS was clearly visible. My friends didn't liked the movie much, especially the girls. They kept complaining the whole time as they wanted to watch Rowdy Rathore.

Moreover, had a busy day in office. So, I am gonna sleep now, can't write more.

Rating: ***

Riddle Called Life

Even after 22 years, I don't know how to live this life. People say that the world is full of mysteries, but I think the most difficult challenge is life. The ultimate answer to this riddle is still not found. I just want a set of instructions that will absolutely lead to the expected results. But that is the beauty of life, there is no one concrete answer, you have to change with the situation. I mean people say be a good person. Now what is good here? In computers term, good is a variable here, that just keeps on changing. The trick lies to adapt yourself too quickly with the situation. I hope it comes with experience. How should a person live his life? Some people spend their whole life in gaining knowledge, while some live to enjoy. They don't think what will happen in future, they squander the money. I believe both the ways are correct, as like trekking a mountain, the fun is not when you reach the peak, the fun is in the journey. So, do what makes you happy, rather than trying to do  what makes others happy. I mean maybe roaming around here and there will be fun for someone, but maybe not for you. Live the life fullest according to the way you want, otherwise you will repent later. If you want to do something, which is right, but others are saying you should not, take their advice, listen to them, but do what your mind says.   People will always criticise/object your actions. Pay no heed to them, do what you want. When you are being criticised, you can be sure that you are growing up.

Randomness

I know there are somethings in this world which one can never get, but only dream, or am I wrong. Can a person do anything he wants? Is this true that determination can do anything? I believe yes and no both. It depends on the situation. Is luck really out there or everything is random. Sometimes I feel, what is random? well, if we go in its meaning, random means unplanned, a situation in which we cannot predict the next outcome. Some people relate it with luck. In computers we can generate random numbers through a simple algorithm. Just take the system time and date in numeric form and apply some long calculations on it. As the system date and time changes, the number pattern changes. Moreover, the calculations are so long that one cannot deduce the next number easily, but it is still predictable. So, what else will we call random?? Outcome of a dice? Or is there any way we can predict it? I am gonna think about that.  

Smartphone

I really want to buy a smartphone now. I am fed up with my Nokia E 63 now. Earlier it used to be a dream to have such a phone, but now that I have it, it seems like penny. The most negative point of this phone is that it is having Symbian in it. The age of Symbian has passed, now the market is ruled by either Android or iOS. Windows Mango has also entered the market now and till now its great. The major advantage carried by these two operating systems is that they have collosal app stores which enable the users to do virtually everything with their mobile phones. It makes them much more productive.  Another good feature of OS is its interface. When we compare the interface of Android with my Symbian, I really feel pathetic. These newer OS makes mobile  usage so much easier and fun.
Apart from OS, another  good reason for buying a new phone is that I will able to use internet over it. It would be like a computer which I can user anywhere, it will bring whole of the world in my pocket. I can sync my emails with it so that i can get instant notifications about work or friends. Moreover, I will have the ability to search anything. That would make the times easier when I want to know about something but I have to wait till I reach home and switch on my laptop and google about it. I can use internet on this mobile, but it is not user friendly at all. It is cumbersome process. Moreover, the phone is having a much longer response time. Therefore, it wastes a lot of time. Another thing I would like to do on my phone is reading books. My this mobile phone is also having a PDF reader, but its screen is too small. So, I need to scroll sideways again and again to read the complete line. Then, another thing is music, now that I am buying the phone I don't want to waste money on another iPOD. This phone's volume is too low. Another desired feature is good camera so that I can click good snapshots. So, now lets converge all these.
First of all OS. For OS we have following choices: - Android - iOS - Blackberry - Windows 7.5 Windows 7.5 Mango is a new attempt by Microsoft to gain the mobile OS. The interface is completely revamped to suit  touchscreen input. The homescreen is tile based. Moreover, internet explorer is very easy to use. But the app store is still far behind those of android and iOS. The major problem with iOS is that it only comes with iPhone. iPhone is really awesome smartphone. But there are few concerns regarding it. First of all its damn costly here. It will cost me around 40000 bucks to buy one. I can buy a good laptop at this price. Its money wastage to buy one. Second, the iPhone is very restricted. The Apple has designed it in keeping only themselves in mind. We cannot share files between an iPhone and some other phone through bluetooth. Third, apple is still new in India, so there are very few service stations. So, if something happens, its gonna be problematic. So, I have decided, I can buy it later, when i will have more money :). Further, blackberry is also going down nowadays. The good apps are all paid ones. And after seeing the blackberry phone of Vivek, I am not that much impressed. I think android provides everything nowadays that blackberry had. The main reasons of rise of blackberry were: BBM and Push to email service. Apps like these are now readily available in Android App Market. So, in the end I conclude, I am gonna buy an Android smartphone. The android has a new version released now recently. It is the 'Ice Cream Sandwich'. I am looking to buy this one.
Till now only a few mobile manufactureres have come up with this. But I will wait for sometime and buy this one only. One other choice is samsung galaxy s3. Its gonna launch in april. So, lets see what the future awaits.   

Some Thoughts on World in 2020

Its year 2012 and I am travelling back to home in company shuttle.  I am currently 22 years old approximately. As far can I remember the world started to change rapidly after 2000 especially India. The dot com revolution had begun galloping and the world started to become smaller and smaller.I didn't recognised the change at that time but as the time passed on  and got more and more connected to the world, I realized that the world has started picking up pace. The more i think , the more i feel the same. The technology revolution has shaken the world like never before. Never in the history of this planet has any species left such a mark on it as now. We are becoming meaner day by day. We just think about us nothing else. We are expanding cities like never before. So hows it gonna be in 2020? I don't know really. A lots of think tanks have published their predictions, but i believe its gonna be different. New areas will be discovered, beyond the realm of our imagination. 8 years is a collossal period of time.
Some people say it is gonna be a better world, some say its gonna be hell. I think both, for some it would be heaven, they would have all the comforts, while for some its gonna be more competitive to live. My dream is that there is a single government on planet, no India, no China but Earth. It won't be possible in this decade, but it is surely gonna happen in future. If this happens, its gonna be one of the greatest revolution on earth. But the consequences would be mixed.  The good thing would be that unlike today less amount of money, time and resources would be involved in wars and millitary. But on the negative side this will hurt the economy as the competitiveness will be reduced drastically.
Today, one of the major reasons behind technological improvement is the rivalry between the nations. If we move back in time, we can easily see that one of the most productive periods for world were -  During Nazi Germany and Cold War. While in the former the rivals invested a lot in research and development, it was the cold war between russia and usa which led to the space age.   So, what should be the best model for a global government which provides a central solution so that less time, money and resources are wasted in unproductive things but also maintains that spirit in people that they have to do something. That they have to become better than the other person.   The UN is a good global platform which has been a good step by the world. But it's structure, its soul is old. The world has changed a lot from its creation. So the foundations on which UN is based no longer applies to the world. The UN is just a tool of the developed economy. The creators of UN made sure that the powee lies with them always. But the world now needs a more balanced approach, a new organisation both structurally as well as fundamentally, whose main aim is for the greater good not personal motives. I hope the world moves on this way. Just imagine how much more advanced our race would be if we all 7 billion dedicate ourselves to it.
But still one major thing is left - GOAL.   A goal is a very powerful thing. It can inspire, it can motivate a man to do things, he can never imagine. A goal was the main success recipie of USA beating Russia in space race. The vision that Kennedy put into the thoughts of millions of Americans when he gave his famous speech was a master stroke that inspired them to do something which was thought impossible earlier, and it continues to inspire some people to do something which has been never done before. It was the charismatic speeches of Hitler which lead the Germany to recover so rapidly.

21 Feb 2012 : A normal day in life

Today is 21 Feb 2012, I am right now sitting in backup shuttle from office to my pg. Today's day went good, I am satisfied with my performance. I did work today. I woke up in the morning around 7:40 to the sound of door bell. I was aware that Vinod had left the home as he had to catch the shuttle for office. So, I woke up and went to door, but there was no one there. Then, i thought it is better to dress up now that I have left the bed.
Then, I remembered that I have to  wash clothes, so I went to roof and put my clothes in washing machine. The sun had risen and it was hot up there. So, I quickly dumped them in the tub and set the procedure. There, I saw the option of air turbo, I had seen it before also in other washing machines, but I had never used it. So, I selected that also. I don't know what would be the result, I have my fingers crossed. Then, i went back to room and switched on tv and set the channel to mtv. I like listening songs in the morning. It feels fresh after I listen good songs in morning. Then, I started dressing up for the day. After dressing up I went for breakfast, it was not that good. Then, I started walking to bus stop and got the shuttle to reach office. Today, too much traffic was there and further, it was aa hot day, so it was problematic to reach office today. After what seemed hours of punishment, I reached office.
In office , I did lots of work today and wrote scripts on tenders in pos. Then, there was a  conference call with onshore team today. So, I was there attending the call. Now, after all that I am sitting in shuttle. I am feeling hungry now and hope that there would be good food today at pg. But my heart knows that this hope's gonna shatter when, I reach there. After having dinner, I will watch TV for few minutes and then, check my mails. Then, I am gonna study my two novels little bit and few other articles. Then, I am gonna sleep.
Today, when I was having that con call in that meeting room, I was wondering how far I have come and how far will I go now. Let us see, what the future has for me.

Reality of Change

The only thing constant in this world is change. Change is the reality of life. Nothing is eternal in this world. i completely agree with the Darwin when he quotes : “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” Change is the glue which has woven the fabric of world. Even pain occurs due to change. We feel pain as the mind tells us something is different, something is not right. Pain is just a sensation of change.

It is clear that change occurs but the most interesting thing about change is its timing. It just happens at the time when we least expect it to occur. That's why it hurts a lot. We don't expect it and lower our defenses and that is the time when the change strikes. So what can we do about it? Nothing. The only thing we can do is to embrace it and accept it as a bitter part of life. God has gifted us with cure named 'Adaptation'. But it needs practice, patience and self control. 

After some time we will develop the ability to adapt and face the change head on. Then only we can hope to live successfully because change is everywhere, everything and for everyone.

Frustrated

What a wonderful thing is life...We never live in present...But always think of what we have done in past and dream the future. But in all of this we forget to enjoy the life. After all these years I have lived.. I have come to a conclusion that never think of living your life like somebody else. Life life your own way.

One can never live a life as somebody Else's as both persons are different. Every day i wake up in the morning i think that today I will start a new life....perfect..but each night while sleeping i postpone it that enough is enough i have to do it next day.

Just like that 22 years have passed and when I look back i have done nothing,,,achieved nothing..
I have no solution for this...nothing ...In the end what will happen....i don't know...I still don't know what to do in life...what is right and what is wrong..what is the benchmark....don't know..... :(

Jumper - The Movie

Last Saturday night I watched a movie Jumper. I had watched it earlier too but I didn't watched it properly then and I didn't remembered the movie's ending. I just knew the main plot of movie. Moreover, my friend was repeatedly telling me that it was a very nice movie and was a must watch. So I decided to watch it.


The main plot of movie encircles around a boy named 'David' who realizes that he can teleport to any location whenever he wants. He uses his this ability to live a lavish lifestyle and everything is going fine till he meets a group of people named paladins whose main motive is to kill all the jumpers i.e. people like David. The paladins are leaded by Roland who believes that only god can have the power to be everywhere. every time.


Roland and his group of paladins stop the jumpers by using electricity. When the jumper is given an electric shock he cannot jump to any other location. Meantime, David meets Millie his school time crush and takes her on a route to Rome. But the paladins are waiting for them in the Colosseum and overpower David. But meantime Griffin - an another jumper whose main aim is to hunt the paladins help them.


In the end, a fight between Roland and David occurs but David wins and teleports him to a distant location and starts living with Millie. 


The thing that I liked the most about the movie was its concept and the way with which it was director. The scenes were visualized in a very nice way ; especially the scenes when David teleports to different locations just to have fun. The master scene was David having breakfast on the top of Sphinx. I really liked it. Well in the end I can say that the movie was good and you must watch it.

Journey to Shirdi

Today is 23 June and I m right now in sarvodya express heading to delhi from ludhiana. After this there would be a train from delhi to sainagar.This is my first railway journey after a long time. I haven't counted but I think we are 20 pilgrims including mom and dad.   We started from garshankar at 1:55 pm for ludhiana in a large van type vechile. The vechile was of 'babaji' - our spiritual guru, who are also accompanying us. Today was a exceptionally hot day and its effect was more elevated due to the humid atmosphere. I was feeling uneasy due to the weather earlier, but now sitting in this air conditioned berth, I m enjoying the trip.
This is the first time I m using my cellphone Nokia E63 to write a blog. The keypad is working smoothly and the buttons are adequately spaced. Here, comes the difference in nokia and micromax - A low cost mobile manufacturing company doesn't pays much attention to these intricate features and the usability of device. I can say this because I have used the micromax Q5 recently bought by Dhruv. The buttons in keypad are quite hard and narrow. Moreover, it seems like a great job while one is writing. But, in E63, it feels like my hands are gliding on butter.
Its 11:58 now and i m sittting at hazrat nizamuddin railway station, waiting for the next train from delhi to sainagar. We reached new delhi railway station at about 9:40 pm and then got into a bus to reach nizamuddin. The bus was low floored and despite huge amount of luggage, we were able to get into it. The path we travelled in bus was amazing. I had visited Delhi after a long time and I was really amazed after seeing the beauty of our capital. The road was filled with myriad govt. offices. I saw 'Nirman bhavan', residence of vice president, akbar road, head post office, ashoka road and many more.  A proud feeling developed in my mind at that moment, i felt like India is really developing and my long cherished dream of seeing India as a developed country is not far away. But just then, i thought success was at horizon, I saw some people sleeping on footpaths and then more came. I woke up of my dream and tasted the  bitterness of reality.
I don't know what the destiny has thought of me in future but its my real wish that I want to choose such a career that I can help my country grow and make it the best place to live on this planet. I really don't know what to do. My mind is in a great confusion.        
Today  is 24th of June and i woke up when the train halted at 'Jhansi'. The atmosphere was classic, a cloudy day with mild raining. It rejuvenated my mood and I m feeling full of life now. We just had a short and nice breakfast of tea, biscuits and bread. Now, I m relaxing on my berth and enjoying the vista around me. The landscape of Madhya Pradesh is totally different from Punjab. The lands here are rocky and filled with lot of trees. I have seen only a few farms, otherwise it seems like these lands are untouched. The more we are penetrating into Madhya Pradesh, the more I am coming to know, how beautiful this state is. Earlier than, this time, I always admired the beauty of western countries like USA, UK etc. But now my perspective has completely changed and I feel that we are not spreading information about the beauty of India. India is really incredible. We passed through lalitpur, karoda stations.  
Its around 8 pm and we are in Maharashtra, the journey which once was looking exciting has become grim and my mood is really off. The fellow passengers are behaving childishly and busy in freakish show offs. My trousers are ruined after the curry leaked from the box I was carrying last night. Frankly saying I m totally pissed off. I just want to go back to my home and I have come to a conclusion that it is always better to go travelling alone or with your family, rather than other people. I have brought with myself book borrowed from my cousin Rahul titled 'Imagining India' by Nathan Nilekani. The book is a good read and  arouses optimism about India. Its been a good companion in this journey.   
Finally we have arrived at shirdi, its 25th of June; I don't know the exact time but its well past over 2 in the morning. The railway station of shirdi is spacious and clean. The atmosphere out here is rejuvenating and a cool breeze is blowing. The road leaving the station is also clean and wide. The sky limit of this city is also looking good. Even in the midst of night I can say with full assurance that the city would be beautiful. A few high rises are clearly visible and I think they would be hotels. Its half past four in the morning and we are looking for rooms to stay. My guess was correct, this place is full of hotels. I am having feeling that I should now pay some attention toward myself. I should focus on building my body, fitness and looks. These things are important as the first thing a person sees in other is his/her looks. This determines the further relations of that person with others. Till now I have just emphasised on intelligence and haven't cared about looks. But an engineer should look different from others. He should carve a niche for himself in the crowd. I don't just want to be a geek, I want to enjoy my life as well. One of the closest ideal I have in life is my brother Mukesh; he is a great source of inspiration and I want to be like him. He is so smart, intelligent and brave. He knows how to live in this world. He knows how to maintain that intricate balance of life. Maybe one day I would be like him.      
Today's 28th June and its 10:00 pm. I am resting on the bed in the hotel. I was quite busy for few days so I wasn't able to write, I hope I will get sufficient time in train to describe our tour in shirdi. I have also taken lots of photographs. I will try to upload a few. Other than that everything else is fine. We will board the train tommorrow night 00:30.    
Today is 29 June and around 8:30 pm. We are all ready to leave for manmad from where we will board the train to delhi. We have checked out from the hotel room and are waiting in the lobby. We gonna travel to manmad by an automobile 'Force traveller' I think. At last the trip to shirdi has come to an end. It was a really long trip and I enjoyed it. Today I woke up in the morning around 8 and then took a bath. Then we went for a light breakfast and I ate two vada paos. They are bread with potato stuffing which are dipped in gram flour and then fried. Then, I went to buy some papayas, but alas we couldn't find any. Then, I returned back to room and watched movie of Jackie chan on star movies. I don't remember the name but the movie was about racing. Then, we went to the temple of Sai baba again. This was my third time and after about an hour, we were able to reach the interior of temple. There I prayed before Sai baba and then I went to see Dakshin mukhi hanuman temple and dwarka mata temple. There was the flour grinding machine of Sai baba and there was a sack of grains of that time preserved in a glass chamber. Then, we went to have lunch in Sai Prasadyala, which is place where anyone can eat as much food as one wants in only Rs 10. This place was being managed by the Sai trust and offered delicious and warm food at really cheap prices. There is a idol of Sai baba there, very beautifully made. I have also captured few pics of that. Then, we went to the temple premises again, where I filled our water bottles with RO purified water and then we sat in the park. The park was really beautiful and was covered with lush green lawns and variety of fauna. There was also an artificial waterfall there which added more natural theme to the park. Then, a drizzle began to appear out of the sky and we started to move to our room. But then dad said, he wanted to have tea. So we had tea from the temple canteen which is also managed by the trust and offers tea, coffee and milk at 1; 1.50 and 1.50 Rs respectively. It also provides biscuits at subsidy prices. Then, we went back to the room and packed our stuff. That's it for now!   

Story of A Few Entrepreneurs

A few days ago I read a book titled “Stay Hungry Stay Foolish” by Rashmi Bansal. This book discusses the story of 25 entrepreneurs from IIM-A who created a niche for themselves in the market and their journey from the fresh graduates to founders of India’s most successful entrepreneurs. I bought this book around 3 months earlier but I wasn’t able to give time to it. The title is chosen after the famous speech given by Steve Jobs at the Stanford Commencement Speech in 2008.

The first story I read was about naukri.com and its founder Mr Sanjeev Bhikchandani. The book clearly depicts his struggle to make the India’s largest internet based company having the official name InfoCom. Sanjeev passed out from IIM-A in 1989 after doing a post graduate course in management. From an early stage Sanjeev had chosen to start his own company. The obstacles in his ambitious path can be estimated by the fact that he wasn’t able to pay himself salary for six years as the company wasn’t successful. He had to have a part time job in order to feed his family. But, still the company was in red. The revenue was increasing but the company never became break even till 2001. Then, due to the dot com boom, ICCI approached them for funding.

First, Sanjeev refused as he was happy with the company’s break even revenue of 18 crores. But soon he noticed that many competitors were arising to make themselves firm in the market of jobs database. So he choose to accept the funding but net day the dot com bubble burst and markets crashed.

But the patience and hard work of Sanjeev paid work and the company survived the market crash and rebounded strongly. In 2006 InfoCom launched its IPO and till now it has the highest market capitalization of 1 billion$.

According to Sanjeev, one should never start business for money but for passion because in difficult times only passion would be there to support us in continuing the business. If it would be for money, we will soon leave hope. Further, he advises us to choose a good team and using ESOP for that as good team members would want more money and space.

He also suggest us that we should start early as we can commit mistakes while there is no competition and we should undercommit and overdeliver. 

In the end, he advises to stick to the plan as a good idea will take time to be established in the market. If you are lucky then, it will happen in 5 years, if having average luck then 10 years, while if you are unlucky then in 15 years, but it will happen one day. Just Stick to it.

The next story is of Shantanu Prakash who created Educomp after passing out of IIM-A in 1988. Shantanu was interested in business from an early period after he realized that even after working his whole life in SAIL, his father wasn’t able to buy himself a house in Delhi. Educomp is the company which provides digital content to the schools so that they can provide better education to students. Educomp was started with a zero capital and is now well established in India, USA and Singapore. Moreover, the company has some very ambitious plans in pipeline and is working to scale itself to new heights. According to Shantanu, building this company was never too hard for him and he enjoyed every moment in it.

He tells us that one benefit of graduating from IIM-A is that you can happily start entrepreneurship and even if you fail , you can get a job easily. 

In the end Shantanu advises young entrepreneurs to start their business as early as possible and he says that business is always better than job. You can earn manifold in business even if the company takes time in breaking even. According to him, two questions we should ask ourselves before, we delve deep into business:

• ·       Is the business inherently scalable?
• ·       Is the market opportunity large enough?

The third story was about Rashesh Shah who passed out from IIM-A in 1989 and created the investment banking firm Edelweiss Capital. Rashesh came from a pure business family and started Edelweiss in 1996. Rashesh saw potential in this field and yearned to create a bank which will compete with colossal global giants like JP Morgan, Merill Lynch etc.

He designed a plan for the company and worked hard day in and out with his friends. But soon he realised that unlike what they teach in business schools, nothing goes according to the plan in the real life situations of business. Before, starting business, Rashesh took guidance from Narayan Murthy who created the IT services giant Infosys and he suggested them that “Give capital to people who add value or to strategic partners. Don’t go for capital for sake of capital”.

Moreover, Rashesh diversified the company into many different areas to reduce the risk which worked and the company was able to survive the crash of 2001. After that the company touched the sky with glory by breaking its own records of growth. In 2007 it launched an IPO which was oversubscribed 119 times.

In the end, Rashes advises young entrepreneur that cash flow is very important for a company and they should work on that carefully. Moreover, he advises for not going for equal partners. One should have a slightly higher stake than other. This keeps things going smooth in future. But the one with higher stake is one who is working more. Further, the up and downs are a part of lifecycle of business and thus, you should have a patience and power to endure it.

In the end I will conclude that it is a fantastic book which guides us a lot about how to approach the business with very useful tips and suggestions. The language of book is easy to understand and attracts the interest of reader. I would suggest this book to any young entrepreneur and to students who are eying this path in future.