Happy X'mas and New Year

Wish you all a very happy Christmas as well as a bright and prosperous New Year. I hope that at least in 2008, I get more time to blog regularly ;)

How good is Djokovic?

I gave the 2007 US Open a complete miss. Mostly due to the fact that the winner was a foregone conclusion. There is hardly any surprise in men's grand-slams these days. One positive thing out of this years final grand slam was the performance of Novan Djokovic. He has beaten Federer once in the final of a tournament, so he looks capable of causing an upset. I think he competed well in the final of US Open, and had he held his nerve well, could have easily given Federer a run for his money. I am sincerely hoping that atleast next year we don't have the sort of one-way traffic we have been seeing in the past 3 years. Hope Djokovic & Nadal help.

Sivaji - The Boss

The first movie I watched after marriage! Rajni has got his looks back and his style enhanced. But he is missing the speed of action that was his forte during his younger days. The movie in itself was a rehashed version of Shankar's previous movies.
How I wish Rajni had acted in Shankar's Mudhalvan :-(
Anyways, the movie has great music by ARR, excellent comedy by Vivek, stunning visuals, a gorgeous heroine and a menacing villain. And above all it has the one and only style icon of India, Rajni. More than enough reason to watch it.

Nadal vs Federer

Wow! For the first time in recent memory, Federer had to fight hard in a grandslam final ( and that too Wimbledon ) to win it. Now that he has got real competition, his achievements from hereon will be even more worthy.
Nadal looks like he is set to give a tough run for Federer on all surfaces. Lets see how this rivalry unfolds!

GoodBye Bachelorhood

Got married to my girlfriend on June 17th. Had a memorable week long trip to Malaysia and Singapore. Looking forward to the new phase in my life. :-)

The Halo Effect

When I graduated out of my college and was about to join my new company Trilogy, I was recommended to read the books Built To Last and Good To Great. I personally liked them both, but I don't believe that just by following the principles mentioned in these books you can go ahead and create a successful organization. Both these books are bestsellers, and they have their own share of critics also.
The book The Halo Effect, which was released recently, looks to debunk the theories given in business books like the ones mentioned above. The basic idea behind this book is that most of our thoughts on successful companies are delusions.
I tend to agree with this in principle. A real life analogy would be the commentary offered in cricket. When a batsman tries to attack a bowler from the start and succeeds, he is said to be aggressive, unafraid to play his natural game irrespective of conditions, and so on. But if he fails, he is said to have played without taking the conditions into account, failing to curb his instincts and so on.
The only constant is that you will be praised if you are successful and criticized if you fail. The same qualities that would be highlighted as positive ones in case of success can end up as negative ones in case of failure.

Who will compete with Federer?

Another Grandslam. Another win for Federer. He has reached 10 slam wins no time. The world of tennis fans have begun to fall into 2 categories: one who admire Federer for his incredible talent and other who crave and yearn for some competitor to come up and provide a semblance of fight. Needless to say, I am in the second category. Tennis was one of my favorite sports during the Sampras-Agassi glory days, but ever since Sampras got disinterested in tennnis and Agassi's powers started to wane, tennis has no longer been the same it was. Federer has arrived and conquered everything he saw, but deep within himself he must have a feeling that he has never been tested by anyone consistently. Nadal competes with him in clay ( small relief ) but it is just a matter of time before Federer wins French Open too. And it is hard not to notice the kind of support every tom, dick and harry gets on court when they play against Federer. You can see that the crowd is also craving for an upset.
The pity is Federer can do nothing about it. He can only beat what is in front of him. It is not his fault that his competitors are worthless. These are the bunch of guys who Agassi was consistently beating even in his last year on the ATP tour.
While I appreciate the enormous talents of Federer, his breathtaking strokeplay and his exemplary off field behaviour, I do feel he has a lot to prove to be adjudged the best ever.
And for anyone who thinks Federer's domination of Roddick was the best ever exhibition of a genius, I am sure you have not seen the Sampras-Agassi final at Wimbledon 8 years back. Here is an article that exactly echoes my thoughts on this issue. Sampras at his peak against Agassi at his peak, and what a game of breathtaking beauty!
Federer can still claim to be the best ever if the following blank gets filled.
Bjorn Borg- John McEnroe
Pete Sampras - Andre Agassi
Roger Federer - ??????????

P.S: This article has no intention of insulting Federer. As I said, it is not his fault that the competition is bad. This article is for those who just jump at concluding that Federer is the best ever, without understanding what the best ever means!

Web 4.0 Visions

I happened to stumble upon two different posts on vision for web 4.0. This one is written by my friend Tyagarajan and this one I got while browsing through my daily news feeds. Read on. It is amazing how we humans are never satisfied with what we have :)

Pokkiri - @$#&**?!

Had to watch Pokkiri this Sunday since there were no better alternatives and I was not in a mood to watch the more dramatic Guru on a lazy weekend. As is the case with all Vijay films, this one is straight out of the mass masala factory of tamil/telugu films.

Lets see what the movie offers

1. A supreme hero who is an extremely talented fighter/dancer/singer/shooter/rider...
2. A beautiful but dumb and confused heroine for the sake of dancing with the hero in duets ( every time the hero kills someone in front of the heroine, she cries and then all of a sudden a romantic duet comes )
3. A villain who is an international criminal with a huge crime network and extravagant punch dialogue ( I like 3 things: killing, killing and only killing ), who gets dumber and dumber as the movie reaches its climax, where he urinates in his pants on seeing the revenge-seeking hero thus fulfilling a prophecy proclaimed earlier in the film
4. A corrupt police officer ( and an irritating one at that ) and a bunch of honest ones
5. A rap song just before the climax
6. A sleazy song in the villain's den
7. A gang of lazy friends who do nothing but give company to the hero wherever he goes
8. A comedian who gets beaten by everyone. He too urinates in his pants
9. High octane violence and gravity defying stunts. Our movie makers are at par with Hollywood guys in this regard. The hero's innovative ways of slitting, slithering, cutting and butchering the villains is one that rivals the gore you saw in movies like Texas chainsaw massacre, Saw etc
10. A weather beaten plot of how the hero overcomes the crimes in the society on his own

Frankly, I did not expect anything else before watching the movie. The movie will be a hit and it will set the cash registers ringing and hence will pave way for more such movies.

Is it the demand that provides such intelligence insulting supply, or is it the low quality supply that leaves people with alternatives other than to believe that hero worship is the only entertainment available? Whatever the case may be, I don't see a solution anywhere in the near future. And that is the most worrying aspect.

Google adjudged best company to work for

Google has been selected as the best company to work for in 2007. The full list of top 100 companies can be found here.
And if you want to know why Google is great for the employees, check this out.

Doctor saves himself

Here's another story that illustrates the fact that reality is stranger than fiction.

R.I.P - Joe Barbera

Sad news to hear that Joe Barbera (of Hanna-Barbera fame), a man whose creations bring countless moments of joy and laughter to kids and adults all over the world, is no longer with us.

Often we don't recognize the contribution of the many people like Joe who have made a significant impact in our life. I grew up watching Tom & Jerry - the antics of the little mouse outwitting the cat is stuff of animation legends. Not many people could have made a small concept of cat chasing a mouse into one of the world's most popular entertainment show.

With the co-creator Hanna also not any more with us, it is an end of a significant era. Goodbye Joe. You have left a long lasting legacy, but more than that you have made the priceless contribution of cheering up many young minds.

Bill Gates on Robotics

Bill Gates gives his vision of the future of robotics here. He compares the current robotics industry to the computer industry of the 1970s, discusses the challenges faced. Overall, it is a worthy read.

I have great respect for Microsoft, I do believe it is an exciting place to work for. I agree that some of its business practices have been highly questionable, but every organization in the world is like that, trying to dominate in their own fields by whatever tactical means possible.

It would be great if Microsoft focuses on some niche fields like robotics and try become a leading authority in it. It has to do a lot of catchup with Google in the online services, so there is a great need for it to be a market leader in a new field. Robotics and AI give the perfect opportunity to do so.

Quench your thirst NOW, ban on water coming soon

Waking up lazily today morning, I picked up the Times of India and the front page story was just the right medicine to get my weariness out. Here is the link to the online version.

Some of the lines are outrageously funny, none better than this. 'Colas with or without pesticides are harmful for health and should not be consumed. We want all forms of junk food like pizzas, chips, samosas and burgers banned from canteens'.

So what will the canteens sell? Oatmeals, anyone?
The health ministry is trying to keep up with the moral police. The article says that celebs should not endorse aerated drinks, but campaign against them.

Imagine Aamir Khan getting a phone call from the ministry with the official trying to educate him that no matter whether he personally verified that coke has a high standard of manufacturing, he needs to campaign against it because colas are inherently bad. And before hanging up, he would be said that a list of items that should not be endorsed by celebs is being prepared by the ministry and would be sent to them soon. And if Aamir khan dared to say 'F*** off', then he would get another call from the cultural ministry advising him on the appropriate etiquettes.

I am not a supporter of coke or junk food, but I would like to decide what I consume. What if someone tests the water being provided in the canteens and finds pesticides? Will the authorities ban water from being served?

Awaiting Champions League draw

Can't wait. With no major surprise in this year's group phase, Europe's top clubs are going to square up against each other. I would like to see a replay of Arsenal-Real Madrid. Last year Arsenal came on top but Madrid have improved a lot this year. There is a big chance that Madrid might be facing any of the English clubs since they finished second in their group behind Lyon.
For my other fancied team Chelsea, I hope they don't face Madrid. I don't want my two most favorite teams face each other so early.

Google Monopoly??

Interesting to read.

And for those who want to understand how google search works, this might help

Fun with George Bush

Bush has been the butt of many jokes and this is one really cool satirical site on Bush's theocracy.
Check it out -> H.E.R.B

Cricket & Politicians

How shameful? As soon as India lost their one day match at Durban, the less than honorable politicians of our parliament start berating Sharad Pawar to gain some cheap publicity.

Read Nirmal Sekhar's excellent article in the Hindu about this issue.

Guru - ARR's Latest - Music Review

The magical duo of Rahman-ManiRathnam is back with their latest offering 'Guru'. Way back in 1992 they redefined the musical landscape with the trendsetting 'Roja'. After many much memorable hits, the show still goes on.

The album starts with 'Barso Re', sung beautifully by Shreya Ghoshal. She has been very prolific in recent films, and Rahman uses her sweet voice perfectly in this number which looks like a typical heroine introduction song. It reminds me of 'Konjum Mainakkalae' from Kandokondein, partly because of Aishwarya Rai being the common factor in both. The 'Na Naa rey' part is the obvious highlight of the song.

The next song is definitely the crown jewel of the album. 'Tere Bina' is a wonderful song. Instantly catchy, unlike Rahman's many other compositions, it also establishes the singing talents of Rahman. I think he is one of the best singers around to do 'aalaps' in a song. He is beautifully complimented by Chinmayee in this song. This duet is going to last long in people's memories. Can't stop drooling over 'Dham Thara Dham Thara...'. Work of genius.

'Ek Lo Ek Muft' is a bit of a letdown compared to the previous two. Bappi Lahiri manages to bring the modulations of a drunken singer into this song. Looks like a situational song, so should fit nicely into the film. But for a separate listening, it can be passed as a good song, but not an exceptional one. Having said that, as most of you will know, Rahman's average number is much better than the best of others.

'Mayya Mayya' is an experimental song that succeeds. Rahman has been inspired by Arabic influences in some of his latest albums like 'Rang De Basanti' and 'Bose'. Mayya Mayya is one such number, and a truly scintillating one. This song is fast paced and absolutely seducing to listen to. Given that Mallika is supposed to be sizzle for this on screen, it has sexiness written all over it. Credit to Maryem Toller's enthusiastic rendering. Watch out for the fusion at the end of this song, simply exhilarating.

'Ay Hairathe' sees Hariharan team up with Alka Yagnik for a blissful romantic melody. The 'Dham Thara Dham Thara' humming from the song 'Tere Bina' is repeated here, but in a manner that feels like a chanting. This is a song that has a soothing effect on you, especially if you happen to listen in a silent environment with your minds switched off.

'Baazi Laga' is a fast paced typical commercial song. It is definitely not in the same class as the other songs in the album. Udit Narayanan manages lends credibility to this peppy number. Might grow on you with further listening.

The album ends with the masterpiece 'Jaage Hain'. It has excellent orchestration blended with superb melody. This song edges out even 'Tere Bina' in terms of its quality, but as we know, great songs dont always turn out to be the most popular ones. This song might not top the popularity charts, but is definitely a collector's item.

Overall, the album is close to perfect. One or two songs dont stand up to Rahman's genius, but we should not be too harsh on the negatives alone. The quality of the other songs more than make it up. One of the best offerings from one of the most talented professional of our times. Definitely worth the wait.

Other reviews for this album can be found at:
IndiaFM
PlanetBollywood

Microsoft VP's Interview in rediff

Makes a good read
I especially liked the points he made about what needs to be done to make India a leader.

What India should do to be a leader

One problem area, according to me is that people get to be project managers too soon. After that, it is very hard to be technically focused. So, we struggle to figure out R&D experts in the middle and senior level. That is one area we have to focus on as an industry and figure out how we can nurture technically strong people.

I am also not sure about the quality of students across India. Whatever we can do to improve the quality of the students will be fantastic.

Think about it, isn't it true that we have very few universities of sustained excellence while most of them exist just to make up the count.