Owner: Nikhil's Musings URL:http://blog.nikhil.co.in Join Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2008 23:21:59 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Indian MBA writes on life,places,travel and everything else Site statistics:Click here
My favourite Match 2008-04-04 13:34:00 Stamp and Coin collections were out of fashion.The 90s were almost over. Rajiv Gandhi was no longer the Prime Minister.Gulf war was about to begin.A new hobby was coming in place,and that was collecting match box labels. Though my initial reactions were, "No, nothing great...eekss....match box labels...not dignified..",it caught up really fast. I stayed an ardent collector of matchbox labels for 2-3 years. It faded away. Nowadays, I rarely mention that I used to be Match
box label collector.Some feeling of "not so good" on the hobby let it hide somewhere deep inside. And no one ever mentioned that he/she used to be a match box label collector....until GWBE did so recently. Looking back at those times,it was the only hobby I jointly pursued with my brother and there was NO generation gap
The gullible Mallu 2008-03-30 10:42:00 (Warning:This is a LONG post)May be I look very gullible
.May be I have those unsuspecting looks that every network marketeer looks for.Or may be a few words of flattery are enough to make me feel like a king.It was an ATM queue.Thoughts like "damn India's population", "Why would everyone in Koramangala want to withdraw money NOW?", "Why cant this stupid bank have more ATMs?"were moving in and out of my head.Suddenly this guy next to me started chatting up.And I would not mind talking to stranger to kill time in a queue.He introduced himself as a techie with an Indian IT company(ya, the one powered by brains driven by something else...).The queue was long enough... he could have as well given a dissertation on Nano technology.Comments like even I wanted to do an MBA sometime..I am preparing
Coin-age Tale 2008-03-13 05:54:00 Numismatics and Philately....I knew these two words not because I used to collect stamps and coins, but they sounded very nerdy. And whenever in class one was quizzed on hobbies were, Stamp and Coin collection seemed very cliched.And the next question would be "How do we better know Stamp/Coin collection?"In school , almost every one used to collect stamps and coins. That was the in thing, years before WWF trump cards came in.(Which infact my brother used to be mad about)I am talking about the second half of 80s and early 90s.I remember days in school, when the discussion used to be "Who has Nippon Triangle doubles" or "I have the world's rarest stamp, of Peru, anyone willing to get me a San Marino or an Ethiopia". I used to die for these stamps. Used to beg, cajole...to get rare stamps.So
Gold's own country 2008-02-15 05:40:00 If there is something that you can't miss during a journey through Malluland,they are the hoardings with pretty models wearing jewelry,so much of it that you feel that the weight of gold would pull the hoarding down!!!Yes, it is not the presence of political/pseudo political parties and their flags that comes to my mind when I think of Kerala, but these hoardings. Gold is everywhere. Not only as ornaments and jewelry but also on the media. Barring HUL,and some Silk Saree showrooms, jewelry brands take up almost the full of the ad slots on Mallu channels.(Fact is that atleast two of the jewelry giants are into Silk as well)Kerala is obsessed with the yellow metal, and almost a third of the close to 900 tonnes of annual gold India purchases move into bank lockers in Kerala. (Source Commodity
China, Reliance and now the Nano 2008-01-18 08:10:00 The Chinese are coming. This was the fear some years back. They are going to be a threat for anything and everything we produce; from batteries to TVs, from Bikes to footwear...everything is going to be Chinese. Goods are going to be sold at "Chinese Rates". Did anything much happen?Did the Hero Hondas and the Bajajs shut shop fearing an onslaught of cheap Chinese bikes?We did not see the Videocons exiting the market when a TCL or a Konka landed. But for the Chinese idea of bundling too many things into one(TV,Radio,Emergency Lamp all in one), those goods were all a sham. It was when the Chinese landed when the average Indian learnt the meaning of quality! All the media hype,died a slow death. The joke that was going around was that China
wanted to sell some prime property in Mumbai, at di Read more:Reliance
A strategy of sorts 2007-12-20 07:40:00 If there is any term that makes me feel sick because of the over use ,misuse and other kinds of uses just to sound a bit cool and MBA ish, be it a newspaper ,newsreader or even someone at work...its the word STRATEGY...This is used 90% of the cases when NOT at all required,when other words can convey the meaning in a better way....The ones who puke this word at the drop of a hat don't understand the true meaning which is far away from a tactic,idea or a game plan!Strategy is not about choosing a restaurant for dinner.It is not about the administration diverting traffic during President's visit. What is strategy in this?Deciding which queue to join at the reservation counter is not strategy.Having a wacky status message on Gtalk is not strategy either.Nothing day to day is strategic.BJP dec
Boost your brains! 2007-12-07 06:12:00 Long long ago, much before Viagra mails started flooding your Spam,some other part of the human body was the focus of everybody's attention.I am referring to the IQ improving tips and tricks, ya...brains!Apart from the edible form of IQ enhancers, Raj Bapna's Mind Machine was my favorite. I used to read carefully every word of his ad which had as much text as a Harry Potter series, all compressed,boxed(sic),into one page!Probably his ad remains the oldest running print ad campaign in India.Even though I never believed his ads,I admired his ability to use all possible words synonymous with intelligence in India;IIT, IIMs ,100% and to highlight that he was from BITS Pilani, was an NTSE Scholar and he topped RAJ board.(The content of the ad is recollected from my memory,blame it on not using Read more:Boost
What outsourcing will do to India? 2007-11-19 08:36:00 Oft repeated, often discussed, still worth publishing.1)How will we have bridges, dams and roads if all Mechanical,Electrical and Civil engineers dream of raking in moolah going onsite and start coding?2)How will basic sciences grow if the IT Industry starts giving them low end coding and testing jobs?3)Who will teach the next generation if IT and BPO takes in almost everybody? (Ya, teaching will be the last resort!)4)Money matters,still...isn't there better work to be given than the low end outsourced work?5)Economy will grow,more money to spend...which in turn means Auto rickshaw drivers will become richer, vegetable sellers will hike rates, malls will thrive,movie halls will give way for multiplexes,traffic will stop moving...6)Bangalore will choke .Mini Bengalurus will sprout.7)Compla Read more:India
Inconvenience on wheels 2007-10-14 14:50:00 Like hundreds of other commuters, a journey on the side berth of a train is something that I hate.It is only when I am option less,choice less, mind less, I settle for the side berths.One it is inconvenient for almost everyone, unless you are a character straight out of Gulliver's Travels. The length of the berth is far from anything that can fit any average guy.And even worse, we need to shell out as much as for the normal berth as for a side berth?Hello Railways!!! Some incentive for the inconvenience that you provide commuters with???The guy who designed the side berths must have been really insane to place 16 side berths into every (sleeper) compartment. I am sure he would have had a mandate from his boss to squeeze in 72 berths,and was on the verge of losing his job.Now our respected
What is CSR? 2007-10-10 07:49:00 Corporate social responsibility isn’t about planting trees in some vague corner of the world, but about how you do your business and how ethical you are as a corporation! Said HurstelIt is not about "motivating" employees to contribute towards a social cause.It should not be another way of creating customer loyalty, here based on noble activities.It is not wearing the Green mask in whichever, whenever, wherever, whatever possible style to portray an ecofriendly(thereby socially responsible) image.It is not about doing absolutely nothing to the community or society at large, but be good to employees.It is not about finding a way to get into the good books of the tax man and manage some exemption.It is not about starting an activity be it planting trees, or educating street children, but f
Great Indian Middle class? 2007-10-04 06:32:00 The emerging middle class
,the big spenders,the ones who have arrived,the rising middle class....STOP!!! Have heard enough, have had enough media attention on the 250 million people who would fall into this category!The trend now is to try an associate oneself as much close to middle class, if unable to unearth middle class upbringings(media stereotyped!),the way they went to school in an rickshaw,how their parents tried to make both the ends meet,how a teacher who punished him now is showering praises(what is the middle class connection?) ...typical stories, nothing short of being called cliches.....Indian cricketers have joined the gang of middle class wannabes,(or wannabes from middle class). Be it a Dhoni, Harbhajan, or a Sreesanth and a lot of others, the story they try weaving and sel Read more:Great
How I forwarded my domain to my blog 2007-09-30 01:34:00 Voila!!!Finally I manage to do it. After hours of effort,mails,and asking people on how to forward by domain
to my blog,I find the solution and it works!!!I have mailed Rediff (who sold me nikhil.co.in) atleast 50 times(yes,50 times) they could not help.Whatever I do as they suggested, the subdomain blog.nikhil.co.in would go to Google.comI guessed that is because my blogspot blog does not have a static IP , and everytime I resolve my blogspot blog URL to an IP and try that IP , it leads to Google. So that was the problem.Rediff kept telling, everything fine from their side. Check with blogger.Had mailed blogger a couple of times, and they said, it may not work in this specific case blah blah!!!Please, how can such a simple thing not have an ans.Poor me, created a tripod page, kept a domai
Google Adsense puzzles me again 2007-09-24 10:48:00 All the 3 images are from Manorama Online's children's sectionGoogle
adsense simply goofs up as in most of the cases.Check out the ads- they are ads for Jobs, Matrimonials and Networking.Content based advertising, ya, that is what Google Adsense
is....but....think who goes through these pages, pre teenagers(ok, say even early teenagers)...if they go online to read a Balarama and other sections, I assume they are located outside Kerala or India and these magazines are not available in hard copy version for them....and the they may check these pages on their own or lets say parents take them to these sections(I am sure a kid who can surf himself wouldnt check the Rhymes section!!!)....So for whom are the jobs ad??? parents may be!!!!Matrimonials!!!!-confused me!!!! still thinking who the tar Read more:Google Adsense
Bangalored Rickshaw-wallahs 2007-09-16 09:19:00 I go through a love (?) hate relationship with Bangalore, feelings that go on a roller coaster everyday. Though I hate this place for the traffic that is chaotic and stationary(yes!!!) ,the rains that transform this place into a pool and makes me come home like a Hippopotamus wading through a filthy pool...there are other factors as well that makes me simply hate this place!!! So much that I feel like going back home, start farming in some remote place in Kerala or do nothing ,sit at home, at let my mom feed me daily with tons of rice, sambar, pulissery and fish(:D I wish!!)...so much that I feel like taking my company to Trivandum, so so much that I feel like starting something on my own away away from Bangalore..... The autorickshaws that screw up the traffic is the latest in my
Wake up Achumamma! 2007-09-05 07:27:00 The optimist in me never lets me believe that the see saw politics is actually a bane to Kerala.The government that comes to power makes sure that it finds hazaar reasons to plug even the minutest of the developmental activities initiated by their predecessor by finding a scam in the deal or try all possible means to hijack the credit of the step towards development.We have seen this in the case of the well talked about smart city.I used to shrug off any allegation against unfriendliness of Kerala as an investment destination to the fact that the high literacy rate combined with the high density of population was the prime reason for people forming action committees against any development citing reasons that environment is going to be affected, people are going to be rehabilitated, the in
Indian Copy Paste Landscape 2007-08-31 03:49:00 We Indians call ourselves the masters of copy paste.I realized foreign companies can give a run for our money.Check the image for instance...Print Screen of Marketrx's Career section(This company is up for sale , Infy and Wipro in the fray) and Allianz Cornhill .Hail Copy Pasters!!! :D Na, we are still the best....this is mere coincidence...or the lady moved from one company to the other ;P Read more:Landscape
Water...... 2007-08-17 07:54:00 There was a time when I (like many Indians) failed to understand the concept of selling bottled water. Coming from a place where drinking water is not at all scarce (let alone some pipe breakages or pumping station break downs), I could hardly imagine that people actually pay ten bucks for a liter of water. At a time when, ten rupees was worth a lot more than what it is today, shelling for a bottle of water was a bit too much. And I used to think, why cant people carry water from home if they are going out?The brainy me would brand these people fools, rather than realizing I was lucky.In spite of repeated warnings from my mom, I have had gallons of tap water, mostly because I felt it is better than the lukewarm Karingali water which everybody else had at home. And nothing gave me more plea
Freedom spirit in the menu! 2007-08-14 03:34:00 Spirit of India oops... Congress even in the menu!Look closely for the Congress Burfi and check out the same on the right Read more:Freedom
, spirit
Bathing with Jetty is prohibited! 2007-07-29 12:18:00 The text in Tamil and Malayalam also means what they have meant in English. (Ya, the language has been mothered!) For the uninitiated Jetty means Undies down south.Not sure if one needs to take Jetty off while taking bath :D as per the board!The brand conscious please note the Viking brand mentioned on the jetty :DThis board can be seen at Thriparapp falls, a lousy place near Kanyakumari in TamilNadu, which now ceases to be anything more than a common bathing placeNot sure if it is maintained by the Panchayat or TTDC has a hand in advertising and not maintaining this place.... add is to your NEVER VISIT list unless you want to see this board ;) Read more:Bathing
Eavesdropping on Mallu Names 2007-07-11 13:36:00 Voila!With much effort I overcome the blogger's block and come up with a post.Lots a things happened during the blogging hiatus(na, something longer than that).Tata Crucible happened. MBA ended. Joined work. This post is dedicated to the keen(oh! please, gimme a break!) observation made by Parul on Mallu names. More than half of the Mallu names are meaningless,funny,stupid combinations of syllables, letters or other names!(Phew! Mine is not one among them, thanks to my parents). I am not going to utter a word about names with even remotely sensible meanings and can be related to human beings! Apologies are due to all my friends whose names I quote in the post and thanks to them without which this post would not have even happened (The usual funda of "some names have been changed to p Read more:Names
The Irony of Adsense 2006-12-25 02:06:00 The page at -airlines-not-a-mistake/29253-7.html(link may not be active later)Is Vijay Mallya listening??? Now you know why you still make losses in spite of such media coverage ;) Hope Kingfisher Airlines ad comes sometime next :)All the best Mallya!Updated later- Read more:Adsense
, Irony
A hate story 2006-12-14 05:24:00 This is a story
of a he and she. It may be a work of fiction or may be just facts.It is not a love story. It is a story that has hatred,revenge,back biting,ego clashes and a host of other intangible negative qualities as threads that go helter skelter.And the story happened not in one day or two. It went on for 2 decades to come to a more or less happy ending.It ended because of only one thing, the realisation between both of them that they are "grown up" and should not haggle over petty issues like in school.He and she were classmates.Not for one year, but for 12 long years.By some stupid decision of destiny, he nor she changed school.She was comfortable being the topper in class.And she was happy about that, proud she was.But....for him she was just another girl who goes by the rote, had
Lonely Socks 2006-11-25 05:00:00 PS: Since I am in a Bschool and it has been ages since I left school,there may be grammatical issues as far as the use of the word socks is concerned.The issue of lonely socks and the fate of missing socks....I am sure is a serious problemAll of us can connect to it.At home, socks go missing from the washing machine.The innumerable singleton socks that are left out can never never be paired, even by the best of the match makers. These unpairable singletons defy all known laws of probability. Even if 25 singletons are there,it is sure that there would be not even one pairable dual!!! It is mismatches galore and not a single pair!One more question , why don't I lose a pair of socks, why jus' one?Back home if its washing machine that gives birth to singleton socks,the kaam vaali bai in Pune m Read more:Lonely
, Socks
10 reasons why I dont feel like blogging 2006-10-20 05:56:00 1)I feel I have nothing to write2)I feel life is mundane3)I feel every blog has a PLC if at all its a product :P4)I am busy with other things5)Blogs have become cliched.Everybody else has one. So its no differentiator.6)I feel its a waste of time.7)I don't even read Mallu Blog Roll or the do the usual Blogsurfing.8)I am too lazy to type in my thoughts(when not busy)9)I can't find a point 9. See how disinterested I am!10)There is something wrong with me and blogging, I feel!
Recommend Site To A Friend
