Peak of exaggeration


Today was reading Cinema Plus a supplementary paper that accompanies The Hindu magazine on Fridays. One of the article is “He’s done it!” featuring Arun Vijay and he says;

He is just back from a whirlwind tour of the State, visiting cinema halls where his film has been screened. “The encouragement has been overwhelming. Though my visits weren’t announced, in places like Madurai, people had queued up on the street where the theatre showing the film was!”

arunvijayI’ve been in Madurai last week and I’ve never seen a houseful show and also when I went to the movie 2 days back there were hardly 10 – 15 people watching the movie. When I checked it with my friends asking if there was a houseful show they said they were able to get tickets across the counter on the first day and also during weekends. I don’t know how papers like The Hindu publish such exaggerated stories.

Over all I ended ROTFL (Rolled on the floor and laughed).

Deteriorating Service Levels


In India government organizations are known for their poor Service Standards.  Problem with Indians is acceptance of service offered. We must keep it in mind that Government staff’s are paid salary from our tax money and even for Government Sectors which generates revenue they have the luxury of getting a government bailout from our tax money when they fall sick.

Imagine if our Government servants improve their service standards how profitable they can become and even with profit making units profit margin can be improved. Yesterday I was discussing with my friend how BSNL was functioning under Dhayanidhi Maran when he was the IT & Communication minister. Service Levels shot up and new initiatives took shape quickly. I’m not sure about the controversies he pulled with Tata’s and with his granduncle M.Karunanidhi but to general public he showed great progress. I really saw how things progressed under him and how it is going back to dogs under the current minister.

Another sad part is the Service Standards getting down with Private Institutions too. I had really tough time with ICICI bank after getting their credit card. Finally I went to nodal officer and got things clarified. But even there I get annoyed as I keep getting an email from the nodal officer where he sends this particular line on each and every mail

Attempts were made to contact you on your mobile number 09841430004. However, there was no response.

I’ve informed him about the change in mobile number and we have even exchanged conversation. But I’m not sure why he keeps sending those lines along with the update he sends to me.

Other thing is the Service standards with Private Omni busses and I’ve written a blog about how their services were 15 years back. Today they are on par with government busses when it comes to service standards. Yesterday when i was returning to Chennai from Madurai a passenger fell down because of a big hole in the bus which was covered by carpet. When the passenger said they must have taken steps to cover it with some solid material or must have kept a sign board. That passenger & I got annoyed with drivers response, he said “Even many passengers are getting slipped because of that hole as asked if they are complaining? He asked the customer to sit without conveying an apology”.

When I wanted to sue ICICI bank for falsely adding my name in defaulters list even after making settlement. My advocate said I’ll get a max settlement of 30K – 50K if I go to consumer court. Considering the amount of legal work which I had to do along with my attorney and after paying attorneys service charges I end up getting nothing in my hand. So I backed off from filing a case against the bank. There are many people who would have stayed back for the same reason. If our legal system offers more stringent damages to the affected customers like in US or European countries we can end up getting better services.

I know there is no use in complaining rather than acting. This is the max I cat do at the moment and let me prey some nice hearted person taking up this issue and get us respite from poor service standards from public and private institutions.

Oy!! Wonderful Movie & Climax…


I’m not a great fan of Siddarth or Shamilee… But in this movie Oy!! Both have really sizzled in their acting… Big kudos to director Anand Ranga for this wonderful climax and getting the best performance from SID and Shamili… I really enjoyed watching the movie and would recommend everyone to watch this movie… I’m a Tamilian and I can’t understand a bit of Telegu but in the climax I understood what Shamili spoke and got carried away… For all of you here is climax scene and hope you all like it…

Captivity of Mangalorean Catholics by Tippu Sultan


I was Googleing about actress Genelia D’Souza and came to know that she belongs to Mangalorean Catholic and it kindled me to know more about the community. On looking about the community I came to know that Tippu Sultan took siege of Mangalore Fort and took 60000 Mangalorean Catholics as refugees and most of them were forced to convert to Islam or Killed for helping British in Second Anglo-Mysore War. When British defeated and killed Tippu Sultan only less than 9000 survived out of 60000. Where in 21000 women and 9000 men converted to Islam and remaining Killed.

After getting released from captivity the community became very much united and has become so wealthy. Lot of bad things has been removed from history it is good to see from a point. But it is interesting to look into our history. Visit “Captivity of MC’s by Tippu” to know more.

Event on startup challenges


Event focusing on operational challenges for running a startup. The upcoming event (August 22, 2009) deals with hiring challenges in startups.

Here are the details

Hiring in a startup is a challenge – right from finding the right match, figuring out salary structure to keeping the employees motivated (especially in tight situation). While there aren’t any ‘right ways’ to do so, the best way out is to share experiences.

pluGGd.in is conducting a ‘Hiring strategy for startups’ event (half-day) where we are inviting entrepreneurs to share their experiences; and a HR consulting firm to show the ‘other’ side of the world.

Topic: How to combat Hiring Blues in Startups

Date: August 22nd, 2009, Saturday [10AM – 1 PM]

Agenda

  • How do I structure employee salary? ESOP vs. Salary Distribution?
  • Employee Agreement – what are the points one need
  • I am not a funded startup and don’t have a lot of money to give away. How do I recruit smart people?
  • How do I judge the commitment of candidates when they are applying? [Share/learn from experiences…]

And related topics on hiring @ startups visit http://www.pluggd.in/unpluggd/august.html

Vicky’s Birthday Celebration


It was overall a fun night… We decided to give a surprise visit to Vicky’s house and wish him Happy Birthday at 12 o clock. It all happened after a telecom with Kuruvi and we decided that we are going to make this… So, Kuruvi informed Vicky’s Mother and Sister-in-law and also got consent from his mom for a harsh Birthday Bum…

Telecom between me and Vicky happened when I was in Mayajaal and Balaji said returning to Downtown Chennai and buying cake would waste time and energy and we decided to order it in Taj Fisherman’s Cove and went to movie and collected the cake after the movie was over.

Lakshmi's Gift
Lakshmi's Gift
Entering Vicky's house
Entering Vicky's house

Then we rushed back home to pick the gift I got for Vicky and my camera. Then we picked Kuruvi from home and Sudhir reached Vicky’s house too… To our surprise folks sent by Lakshmi (Vicky’s fiancée) reached his house ahead of us with Rose and were waiting the clock to tick 12.

But we rushed inside the house before those folks wished Vicky and only then we allowed then to hand over Lakshmi’s gift. After all we know this is the last birthday we can disturb him at this time as we will be denied entry next year :d. 

DSC01435DSC01470This is the cake which we got it for Vicky. Also there were cakes sent by Lakshmi along with the Rose & his sister-in-law has already got one. So it was 3 cakes and after cake cutting it was time to decorate Vicky’s face with cake cream. Vicky wearing the birthday gift.

After this we had to leave his house quickly as his fiancée was waiting to talk to him and we knew we have to make a decent way out and we shook hands and signed off…

DSC01464Special Thanks: I’ve to thank Balaji for taking the mantle of cameraman and for driving me to buy cake and pick gift from my house. Regarding the camera work he is not seen in any of the snaps and his work is appreciated. Also I love this particular picture from Mr.Sudhir where the cake flies when Vicky tried to grab a cake from me :d.

Happy Independance Day


imagesIt is our 62nd Independence Day and I’m proud to be a citizen of this great country. Which country in the world has 31 States, 1618 Languages, 6400 Casts, 6 Religion and 29 Major Festivals but united as one country INDIA.

Literacy Rate during Independence was 12.2% and now it is 70% and this accomplishment has made the world to turn back and look at India.

I take this opportunity to salute all the Freedom Fighters, Freedom Martyrs, Martyrs of Wars, and Martyrs of Terrorism who struggled without any personal desire and has given us such a peaceful place to live.

Wish you all a happy Independence Day… Jai Hind… Vande Matharam…

Kaminey Review & Plot


My-character-in-KamineyWent to Kaminey yesterday night and the movie was really good… First half runs very fast and the momentum lacks in the second half… Shahid Kapoor has matured as an actor and he has done justice to the dual role… Since the movie is a Hero centric movie Priyanka Chopra doesn’t have much to do but she has utilized the given opportunity… Also the climax is stretched and confuses viewers… Expectation from Vishal is much high and we expect directors of his caliber to be perfect… I think censors have done injustice by awarding A certificate to the movie as I dont think it has much violance… Over all we can give 4 out of 5…

This is the movie’s plot…

It is a story about two brothers, Charlie & Guddu who happen to be twins. Charlie lisps while Guddu has a stutter problem. They are as different as chalk and cheese. And they can’t stand the sight of each other. Till one fateful rainy night, when their lives cross. Charlie gets mixed up in a deathly get rich quick scheme, while Guddu realizes that the love of his life, Sweety, has unwittingly put a price on his head. It’s a dark comic ride there on as the brothers are sucked into a world of drugs, guns and money. Their lives collide head on with the lives of gangsters, rebel soldiers, rogue politicians and crooked cops. In the middle of this crazy adventure, the brothers have to run to protect themselves, their dreams, their love…. And most importantly, realize that all they have is each other.

The Madras Day from Aug 16 – Aug 23


I’m proud to be a Chennaite as I’m born and brought up in this lovely city. I’ve travelled places in my life but I’ve never admired a place other than Chennai. As a proud Chennaite I’m planning to engage myself to celebrate Chennai week on my own. Bout for people who don’t know about the history of Chennai here is a small synopsis…

The founding day of Madras is considered to be August 22, 1639. It was on that day, in that year, that a sliver of land, where Fort. St. George stands today, was transacted by the East India Company.
 
The deal was struck by Francis Day, his ‘dubash’ Beri Thimmappa, and their superior, Andrew Cogan, with the local Nayak rulers. It is believed that this deal was made on August 22, 1639.

Out of the fort, grew settlements. Then the villages around it were brought together. And then, the old and new towns linked up. And then we had the city.

Today, Chennai stands tall for a variety of reasons like Education, healthcare, IT, history, tourism, auto industries, movies etc.

Madras Day celebrates the city.

Madras Day was an idea that three people put together – the city’s famed historian, S. Muthiah, journalist Sashi Nair and publisher Vincent D’ Souza. Today, they have been joined by three others – senior journalist and editor Sushila Ravindranath, entrepreneur and writer-historian V. Sriram and journalist and web site entrepreneur, Revathi R.

Courtesy: TheMadrasDay.In

I’m planning to buy this t-shirt today…

tee2008

Also I’m design and print my own concepts about Chennai… Can you throw your thoughts or share me couple of punch lines about Chennai?

Recession announcement GAPS


Found this interesting finding from a Gartner Report.

Us Recession Recession Ended Date of Announcement That the Recession Had Ended

1980

Jul-80

July 1981 (12 Months Later)

1981 – 1982

Nov-82

July 1983 (8 Months Later)

1990 – 1991

Mar-91

December 1992 (21 Months Later)

2001

Nov-01

July 2003 (20 Months Later)

Source: U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research