Technology & Sports

Technology has always been instrumental in making a sport competitive. Not surprising that swimmers will get to wear a tecnologically advanced goggles that will give them an idea of the lap count and timings. This should help them concentrate on just flapping their arms and feet.

Check this article - "Smart eyewear for keen swimmers"

1st Anniversary

Flashback - Five years ago on a cold starry night, my best friend told me that the best city to live in, in India is B O M B A Y. Guess I took him too seriously!

The transformation is almost complete. I'm now a mumbaikar from down south. Morose, Selfish and Moody. You have a problem with that ;)

Its been a year since I have set foot on this city, which I would so much like to call hell, but having lived in and consumed by it, I guess I will call it home. It was this month last year that I landed here by the scum of the airlines - Indian Airlines. I hear, as of today, there are a couple of others, competing for that coveted spot.

I knew life was never going to be the same and I must say the city lived up to its expectations. I crave for Dhoklas as much as I relish the Dabelis. Pav Bhaji's make me sick, but I make up for it by gobbling up jilebis. I don't mind having a midday meal by the roadside stall which I think was something impossible a year back. The best part is wading through miles of traffic and crossing 4 laners like strolling in your backyard. The BEST buses never cease to run unless its a bus stop. And I don't even want to talk about the rainy season. The radio channels in this city are something I admire, not to mention the innumerous bars, pubs and malls where I hangout with my friends. I see 2 year olds begging at traffic signals and I drool at 18 something chicks driving Mercs. I mean that's when you are eligible to get your license, right!

And whenever I feel like going on an adventure, I head for the nearest local station. I'm taller than the average mumbaite by 3 or 4 inches and have very broad shoulders. Plus, I learnt Karate when I was a kid. So I can pack that extra power when I need it. I speak goonda hindi too. And I curse myself if I'm polite. I start my sentences with "Abey, Saale" and I kinda like it when I end it with a "Thut tere ki". I like the general chitter chatter of the hoi polloi. Stock prices, petrol, cricket scores et al.

I have been a spectator to the mumbai rains and I have borne its summer too. The crowd sometimes is irritating. The clock keeps ticking but the buzz keeps me alive. Its not easy walking with your chest upright in this city, and if you decide to rest and stoop, the burden you carry in your head will bring you down.

Its been a fun ride all along. Hope to stay here for some more time.

"Wer mit Ungeheuern kämpft, mag zusehn, dass er nicht dabei zum Ungeheuer wird. Und wenn du lange in einen Abgrund blickst, blickt der Abgrund auch in dich hinein." --Friedrich Nietzsche

How apt!

Media Monkey

I have been listening to some good music the past few weeks and I thought I should let you know about the music player I use. Well its an all in one - player, recorder, ripper, organizer, playlist manager and what not. The best part is, it is free.

Check out Media Monkey when you find time. I'm sure you will enjoy it.

Normal day

Nothing much happened today! Except for the fact that I caught one of my colleagues picking his nose. Another one was scratching his loins, assuming that nobody was watching. Well! Gotcha.

I on the other hand was trying out this new style. Standing with my back to the lift doors. And guess who is there when the door opens. My boss! Not a pretty view I must say.

On a totally tangential note, my hair is growing back. I had a tonsure 5 weeks back and you must see the growth. I look like a cross between a boar and a porcupine. You think I should get it trimmed?

Was thinking about a script for a college play. Don't know why, but got reminded of Ajax again. That's why I'm putting it down here. It would make a good script with lots of acting to do. But I'm wondering if the audience here would be able to appreciate it? How many would know about about Homer's Illiad leave alone having read it? But maybe, if we could present it in an interesting way, the audience might want to go and look it up. Something like they did with the Lord Of The Rings. Gotta talk to my team. Oh! this is so exciting.

India Equity Show

Sponsored by myiris.com and icicidirect, the Indian Equity Show was the conglomeration of some of the best minds of the Indian capital market to provide the retail investor with some insights into the world of investing.

Travelling close to 40 kms up and down with only 20 bucks in my pocket was a feat I achieved today. Well! I stopped by an ATM on my way back, but lets pretend it never happened.

The Indian story, our economy, the transformation of the capital markets in the last decade, the services offered to the retail investor, products in the market, investing strategies.... we had it all. Got to listen to some of the honchos of the industry.

On a totally different note, I dig women in black, body hugging trousers.

They talked about the indian economy and its expected growth rate over the years to come, the sectoral overviews, the regulatory environment which makes a lot of sense if you want to put your money in the markets. I was happy to hear that the Indian economy is not in such a bad state as I thought it was. In fact it turns out that we are doing pretty good. Except ofcourse for the fiscal+revenue deficit part.

No! I think I like women in black pin striped, body hugging trousers.

Coming to the point. I also made contact with some good brokers who were offering very innovative trading products. Gave them my card, in the hope that I should be able to get a good offer, considering the fact that I'm a regular trader in the market.

Ok! lets finish off where I started. I just couldn't stop ogling at this woman who was at the equity show. She wore black pin striped, body hugging trousers and she had a ray ban sun glass hooked on to her white half sleeved shirt right where it cleaved up to expose her beautiful neck. She had a calm i-think-i-know-what-i-am-doing-in-life kinda look on her face and with her hair taken back and let loose, boy! I just refused to pick up my jaw.

Back to some boring stuff. My feeling after the show - depressed. I just hate the feeling when I'm around people who are doing the job which I would love to do, but then I'm not doing it because I'm not yet good enough for it yet. Its soooo frustrating!!! I have decided that unless I get invited to a show I'm not going to visit any of those kind. Na, Na!

By the way, the Nehru centre where the event was organised is a swell place to be in. Got to plan an excursion to that place sometime pretty soon.

Interesting tailor made site

Came across this by interesting site - www.englishcut.com by Thomas Mahon, a "Bespoke Savile Row" tailor. He's been on the net for the past few weeks and he has already created a buzz. Couple of hundreds of inbound links right now and I just got added to that number.

Want to get an insight into tailoring and what its like to be one in England? This site is the best place to be.

I love books...

Got my paycheck! After a long time. 13 grand. Boy! do I love that number. And as always, I like to celebrate an occasion by buying a book. Went to Crosswords, Powai, and picked up this lovely book - "Annie Frank, The dairy of a young girl". Its about the life and time of a jewish girl and her family during the World War II.

Walking out of the bookstore, with the book in my hand, I felt like a proud monkey. My fascination for books goes back a long time. I think I was 2 when people around me realised that I'm attracted to books. I would be throwing all sorts of tantrums - screaming, yelling and crying and Papa comes along and quietens me down by giving me a book. Oh boy! you should have seen the expression on my face. They even used it to tease me or have me walk their way. And geez, Did I obey! Some of my uncles who were annoyed with their mom would sneak out her books and hand it over to me.

I used to be so good with them that I could finish a 200 page book in 2 hours flat back then. Hah! beat that if you can. There used to be books for different occasions. Bigger books when I had been crying for a long time and smaller ones if its just a sniffle or two. Pamplets and cute pocket size books to preempt any ruckus I would create.

However, it was not until my 5th standard (I was 10 years old then) that I realised that books are meant to be read and not toys which can be torn apart.

Hmmmm! Its been 15 years since I had started reading books and the habit still has not left me. I'm getting crazier by the day. Hope to have a library of my own.

Cheers!!

Vijay's Corner - The Alfred Hitchcock Review

Well does not look like (m)any Alfred Hitchcock enthusiasts here..Let me see if I can get you started…

A very big misconception about Alfred Hitchcock is that he was a horror director, when actually out of his 50 odd movies only Psycho and Birds are the only movies that even touch the boundaries of horror...

He crafts his movies with elements of suspense, thrill, wit, humor (mostly droll) , twists, romance, family relationships, espionage, slap-in-the-face plots and certainly an unique style! ...well the proportions do vary in most of his movies, like black comedy and romance in Trouble with Harry, suspense in Dial M for Murder, family relationships and suspense in Suspicion and Rebecca, espionage, suspense and romance in Notorious, The Lady Vanishes, but Vertigo, Spellbound and 39 Steps is a good combination of all of them. Even in Birds the movie starts off with light romance and moves smoothly to gripping horror and Psycho starts with theft and portrayal of guilt consciousness before the most dreadful (may not be by today’s "standards") shower scene turns it to an horror and suspense movie..

He was the pioneer in many aspects of film making, he broke away from the traditional romance, comedy and movie making techniques (Esp. camera movement and editing).and of course his infamous cameos!..which set the foundation for many movies to come..Most of his movies were ahead of time..infact many of them opened to a disappointing start but went on to become major hits later..

His movies can also be called as psychological dramas. I would advice any student interested in Psychology to observe/study Hitch movies, the elements of fear, fantasy, guilt, love, curiosity, suspicion, lust, greed, anger, stress are all well used and manipulated(audience's) by Hitch..

Of course not to forget the musical score by his favorite musicain Bernard Herrmann, contributed a lot to the ambience that Hitch tried to create in his movies, esp. Psycho and The Man Who Knew Too Much..

He portrays his lead actress very gracefully, even when they are devious... like Janet Leigh in Psycho..and many others (disclosing them would involve major spoilers)..also the leading men like yesteryears heartthrobs Cary Grant and James Stewart were at the peak of their career when working with Hitch..

So if you are looking at subtle movies in its purest and best form then check out Hitchs movies..

I have the following Hitch VCDs(DVDs dont add to the quality of these movies) with me which you can borrow for weekends if interested..

Dail M For Murder

Vertigo

Rear Window

Stage Fright

North By Northwest

To Catch a thief (Need to burn on CD)

Jamaica Inn (V Old)

Young and Innocent (V Old)

BTW avoid the remakes.....the b/w movies are much more fun...

- Vijay