I have just moved

to http://mahesh427.wordpress.com. I will be writing more of stuff related to entrepreneurship, companies & interesting tech news while my micro blog (here) will have more of interesting news from sources like techcrunch, guardian etc. My photo's are all here and my jaiku is here


So now you know where to look for me don't you? Did I forget to tell you my facebook / linked in / twitter profile pages? Dang dang!

Live from Start-up day

I will be live blogging from the start up day organized by the Stockholm school of entrepreneurship (SSES) tomorrow. Waiting for this exciting event to unfold.
Go here for pictures, video's and interesting reads in this context.
(Pardon me if any mis-spellings or erroneous links. I will fix them once the day is over. Post them as comments if any. Thanks!)

Find the program agenda here

Here I go:

9.40: Introduction by Magnus Lindkvist kick started the day with an inspiring opening about daring, doing & dreaming. Focus was more on changing trends, breaking the shackles in your mind & set your thinking horizon free. I loved the video clipping that was shown. I will try to source for them at youtube. Try looking at them here in some time.

10.00 - Lesley Penington - Be a revolutionary:

Lesley is the CEO of bemz.com - an ecommerce website that sells sofa covers to IKEA.

Jist of the presentation:
Dare to do what you feel is right; do not listen to everyone except your customers; be prepared to fail; attach your emotions to your work and believe in yourself & your idea. Did I forget think different?

Q&A
Question: More about her stint with Steve Jobs?
Oh, she has worked with Steve Jobs (the most charismatic person she has ever met).

Is Jobs & Apple more of a dictator?
More of "Darwanism" than dictatorship. Darwanism sounds interesting - Survival of the fittest is through dictatorship? I personally think Steve Jobs's character is what makes Apple & the products stand out from the rest - who cares if its dictatorship. I love his style.

11.05 - Track 1: What makes a good business idea

James Barlow - Chief Executive of Scottish institute of enterprise. Work with the Universities in Scotland, providing business coaching.

Interesting analogy on your inner personality. Choose one between the square, traingle, Z and circle.

Analogies:
Square: People who choose square are natural team players (2 in the room)
Triangle: Natural leaders (Yeah, I choose this & an average of about 20 in a room of 50)
Z: Creative geniuses. Out of the box thinkers (15 in the room)
Circle: Pre-occupied & living in their own world.

Formula:
E + R = Outcome

E - experience + event.
R - response

When a human come to hear a new thing or a new idea, he makes several assumptions. So the key is to challenge assumptions - how to contradict your own thinking & challenging yourself.
We did an activity - each group is given 1M steel bearings, how do you make maximum money of it? So we all wrote down all our ideas that we got in the 5 mins that we had, picked the 2 good & 2 worst ones of it & identified the criteria for the same.

Why did we do this: Analyze your idea as much as you can. It is tough to tell the mother of a new born baby that her baby is ugly - Just the same way, make sure you are aware of what is the real picture out there. I know this is the usual mundane stuff but the way this was put into us was excellent. I loved the activities, the quickness, the time constraint and the elimination all in one go. (Read this book called Micro-trends by Mark.J.Penn - habits & trends in the market place)

Get the balance between an attractive & feasible business idea.
Innovation can be in:
Product - ipod, computer, solar cells, hydrogen cars
Business Model - Budget airlines, pre-paid model.
Process - IKEA (assembling thigns), DELL (Shipping)
Position - Where do you place your idea?

(Read "Innovators Dilemma")

This guy is damn brilliant.. Very engrossing and interesting..Thanks James!

I am having trouble shifting between rooms opening & closing my laptop. So I guess I will have to skip some some of the points inbetween.

12.10:
Session 3: Ideas to business plan:

Right now, we (myself & Juliana) are sitting in a very quiet presentation (contrary to the one by James) about taking ideas into a business plan. Linda & Asa Ericsson (founders of fabrikat - textile industry) are the speakers in this session. The talk is all about finding innovations in your ideas (examples are more in the textile industry, so not able to totally relate to it)

Shucks, not able to follow much..Everyone looks sleepy & it is getting to me.. So I am closing my laptop for now (battery running low anyways & need to save it for the evening). Will stat posting from the post-lunch session. Rebtel & "Becoming successful in sales" coming up.

2.20PM: Become successful in sales - James Barlow (Yes, he is at it again). This is at track 6. The other 2 tracks right now are "The first year of the start-up" by Charlie Hannson & the investors panel which has Kristofer Steneberg from Diego.

The idea of this session is to bring out the fact that sales or convincing your target audience is not difficult at all.

What is sales? Motivating somebody to do business with us either now or in the future. Sales is one of the cornerstone of business. A nice analogy quoted by James is with regard to heart transplant. The difficulty is not finding the right replacement but stitching it rightly in the human body.

Activity right now - what is the special functionality / features in an ipod?
Easy to use, intuitive, convenience, entertainment on the go, sexy looks, cheap?

Buying is an emotional process more than a logical process. People buy the benefits than the features. The 3 key words for convincing customers is answering "Which means that" for a customer question. An example is "I download music which means that I feel better". Matching needs with benefits is the key. The value in the entire product is creating the link between your idea, your customer, the situation & hence the needs in this context. Once this link is formed, you identify not just the need but also would have addressed the benefit. Sales is about understanding people & looking at the world from their eyes. Some of my questions are - identifying your sales channel especially when the internet is getting ubiquitous? Lets see if this gets answered. Sent the question using the telenor service. Read more about the service here

Actually the mobilstart thingy is pretty cool. When I first set it up for SSES, I felt it was very rigid, but then to come to think of it, it is a very powerful application that can fetch you some money if you play around with it. Is it right to make a direct comparison with services like Jaiku? It is slighty more simple due to the fact that users do not need to sign up for Jaiku (or similar services) to use them. A simple SMS does the job but I am not sure if it will be as pervasive as Jaiku. I am hooked on to Jaiku & it is indeed hot!

It was a good session nevertheless. This guy is very impressive. Hope, he can find some time to come down for hej! probably? Anyways, lets see how the penultimate session is..

Folks, am running out of battery. I think that ends my first stint as a live blogger for an event. Looking forward for more such sessions in the coming weeks (SIME, hubbub & Disruptive Media). I will also upload pictures here.

Thanks SSES. I enjoyed the start-up day!

24 season 7 premiere

Reliving Paree - 1 month on..

“In Paris, everybody wants to be an actor; nobody is content to be a spectator.” - Jean Cocteau

My first time in Paris was nothing short of sheer brilliance. A place that has moved me the most, a place where I felt proud looking at the wonderful buildings, wonderful people & where I felt like a celebrity. It is tough to find a place which brings instant gratification when looking at buildings & cathedrals; a place which makes you feel at home instantly; a place where you feel like crying out loud to God and thank him for making "Paree". But all this ranting would have not been possible without my company Result AB. Our kick-off / meeting with other offices took place in Paris & thanks to them, I managed to party at those "hip" places rubbing arms, shoulders (& much more) with those French babes (Stockholm women are still is ahead in terms of beauty & overall complexion) and managing to convince them that an Indian is not a person who says "Wobbeling wobbeling baby" (Courtesy Russel Peters).

I managed to get just about half a day to go around Paris. My colleagues have been to Paris a dozen times at least before & they were not interested in coming for an afternoon of sightseeing; they rightly preferred to sip some wine instead. So with no time to lose, I decided to take a map & with the help of my French colleagues at Result, managed to mark those must see places, took out my camera & started on what turned out to be one of the best "afternoon with myself enjoying my own company". Our French office is located right at Champs-Élysées. Champs-Élysées kicks your mood to dizzying heights - Place de la Concorde in the east, with its obelisk, to the Place Charles de Gaulle (formerly the Place de l'Étoile) in the west, location of the Arc de Triomphe. Literally translated as the most beautiful street in the world, it is the home for thousands of bars, restaurants, clothing outlets & with millions of visitors flocking on the street, on bi-cycles, on cars & those sight seeing buses, it is hard to control your urge to jump about pinching yourself that "You are in Paris my boy" or as in ratatouille, ask yourself time & again "Am I in Paris?".

I spent about 30 minutes taking pictures around the street ( & in the process drained my battery life heavily only to find my camera dying near Louvre towards the fag end of my evening). The train system is excellent & very detailed which meant that getting around every nook & corner in the city was darn simple. My first stop was Eiffel Tower. I had to walk quite a bit to view the Eiffel. My walk encompassed 2 museums forming an arch on the front side of the Eiffel. Once you come into open air, you will the find the tower slowly but gracefully appearing to your eye balls - now its time your heart skips couple of beats. I had goosebumps all over my body, shocked & dazed by the sheer magnificence of the sight, it took me more than 5 minutes, more than 1 knock over my shoulder to get me back crashing to earth from the ecstatic state I was in. I then ignored requests from strangers to capture some pictures for them & instead ran down to get close to Eiffel. The sight just got better & better as you went closer & it just made me feel smaller as I got closer. The height was dizzying, the image was daunting & those souvenirs shops outside the Eiffel just makes your experience complete. Those key chains, those shirts with the Eiffel tower, those postcards, the French flag - I just wished I could take home everything. Once I got near the Eiffel, the queue was so long that I did not have the patience nor the time to wait to get on the building. I was not saddened to not get up the Eiffel, as I knew for sure that I will come back to Paris before I get back to Singapore; I also would have to keep some unvisited sights for someone who will be joining me in my second trip to Paris & who loves Paris much more than I do. It would not be an understatement to say that I enjoyed Paris not just because it was "Paris" nor because I have read about Paris & its beauty before, but probably because of this person's sheer excitement & energy when talking about Paris. The wait for this trip is not long & the prospects look out of the world to say the least.

I managed to get some views of nortre dame , Louvre & walked along the river seine, got myself a charcoal portrait (picture below), all this to treasure those 3 days of my life - where I was in an extreme state of excitement, where work combined with excitement, where everything fell into place, where the screamings on the train (not to open the door just because it was so full) did not scare me but surprisingly amused me, where I felt proud to have French friends who have always been humble about Paris, where I met so many people along the way, got so many friends & more so felt this was truly a place where I would love to spend some years of my life, enjoying life, enjoying love & most importantly enjoying the beautiful sight of Paree.












More pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/mahesh427








Live on Paris!!!

Why I feel embarrassed to lug around my PC

Holy cow!

India with Simpsons

5 Web Ways to Shake Up Your Thinking

Sometimes you’ll feel stuck and stagnant just when you need to come up with new ideas or new approaches. What to do? Try these websites and pages to shake up your thinking.

Approach from a different angle. Musician Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies are a set of cards with short phrases that cryptically suggest how you should for approach whatever problem you are facing. They’re called oblique because they tackle the problem sideways instead of head-on. You can draw just one and then figure out how it applies to your current project even if it seems it doesn’t, or you can keep drawing until you get one that resonates with you.

You can get the Oblique Strategies in a bunch of different ways: as a deck of cards, with a Mac Dashboard widget, but best of all on a web page. Here’s the one I drew for this morning: “Overtly resist change.”

Infuse your mind with cool. Emily Chang’s PicoCool blog finds “tiny and obscure content from the world of peer media, social networks and subcultures.” Browse the blog or subscribe to the RSS feed for products, photos, and other creations that will shake up your thinking. For example, check out the bathtub-shaped SPA memo pad holder with a little bather relaxing Calgon-style. Just looking at his (her?) bulbous head makes me feel more relaxed and open to good ideas.

Hack your creativity. Scott Berkun, author of The Myths of Innovation, offers tons of advice on creative thinking on his blog including Creative thinking hacks. I like his advice to “switch modes” when you’re feeling stuck. I’m a writer and avid reader, but I also paint — and painting refreshes my thinking when I can’t absorb or produce another word. He also suggests starting an idea journal and finding a way to turn your mind off for a while so your subconscious can work on the problem.

Find pithy wisdom. Interesting quotes can make you think in new and different ways. My favorite quotes site is Don’t Quote Me, because it makes it really easy to browse quotes for a specific topic like creativity, management, and risk.

Seed your thinking with images. Flickr’s Interestingness page shows you “interesting” photos from the last 7 days, defined by some proprietary algorithm that takes into account a number of factors: “Where the clickthroughs are coming from; who comments on it and when; who marks it as a favorite; its tags and many more things which are constantly changing.” The images on this page (or those you find in other places) can provide fodder for your visual brain which might think of something your verbal brain didn’t or couldn’t.

From: http://webworkerdaily.com/2007/10/08/5-web-ways-to-shake-up-your-thinking/

Making MS & Google talk to each other

If you’re a Microsoft Outlook user and a Google Calendar or GMail user (I use all three) did you know that you can synchronize your GMail Contacts and Google Calendar with Outlook, saving you from having to jump between multiple applications all the time? The process is very easy, and also free.

Syncing Google Calendar with Outlook. Although you can do it without getting help from a separate software application, the easiest way to synchronize your Google Calendar with Outlook is to use a slick piece of open source software called Remote Calendars. You can download it for free.

First, with Outlook closed, extract and run the Remote Calendars application, then open Outlook. You’ll have a new toolbar available with “RC” written in the background on it:

On the toolbar, click the plus sign, to subscribe to a non-Outlook calendar. Then open up a separate browser session and go to calendar.google.com. Click on the down arrow next to the calendar that you want to synch and choose Calendar Settings. Right-click on the ICAL icon and select either Copy Shortcut or Copy Link Location.

Next, go back into Outlook and paste the URL into Remote Calendar’s URL prompt. Name your calendar, and you’re done. Whenever you want your Google Calendar information updated in Outlook, click on the second icon on the Remote Calendar application’s toolbar, which likes like the Refresh button in your web browser. That’s it! You can also use Remote Calendar to keep multiple Google Calendars synched with Outlook.

Syncing GMail Contacts with Outlook. The easiest way to sync GMail Contacts with Outlook is to import your GMail Contacts file into Outlook. To export your Contacts file to a .CSV file, in GMail go to Contacts/All Contacts/Export/Outlook CSV/Export Contacts.

To import the .CSV file into Outlook, go to the File menu and choose Import from another program or file. Select CSV (Windows), Browse, Next, Contacts, Next and Finish. Very easy.

From:
http://webworkerdaily.com/2007/10/08/synch-your-google-calendar-and-contacts-with-ms-outlook/ (Thanks Ajay - forgot!)

Slow down la u. Too stressful la..Walave!!

From CNN.com - Pedestrians all over the world are moving faster than a decade ago, according to scientists who have conducted a study into the pace at which people walk.

Here is a list, in order, of the cities ranked by the speeds at which people walk:

1) Singapore (Singapore)
2) Copenhagen (Denmark)
3) Madrid (Spain)
4) Guangzhou (China)
5) Dublin (Ireland)
6) Curitiba (Brazil)
7) Berlin (Germany)
8) New York (U.S.)
9) Utrecht (Netherlands)
10) Vienna (Austria)
11) Warsaw (Poland)
12) London (United Kingdom)
13) Zagreb (Croatia)
14) Prague (Czech Republic)
15) Wellington (New Zealand)
16) Paris (France)
17) Stockholm (Sweden)
18) Ljubljana (Slovenia)
19) Tokyo (Japan)
20) Ottawa (Canada)
21) Harare (Zimbabwe)
22) Sofia (Bulgaria)
23) Taipei (Taiwan)
24) Cairo (Egypt)
25) Sana (Yemen)
26) Bucharest (Romania)
27) Dubai (United Arab Emirates)
28) Damascus (Syria)
29) Amman (Jordan)
30) Bern (Switzerland)
31) Manama (Bahrain)
32) Blantyre (Malawi)

To Singaporeans & others in Singapore:

Folks, calm down. Take life slow & easy. Do no kill yourself by being "Singaporeanly fast". The world is looking at the Asian giants and Singapore forms a nice connecting bridge between the Indians & Chinese. This clearly means Singapore as a country although does not move or affect the global economy, is indeed considered a force to be with. Now, if people leave Singapore just because the country is fast paced, you could argue that each country has its own set of characteristics and Singaporeans have theirs - to be "living & coping with stress" every minute.

Frankly, I am a great fan of the island nation and to an extent the way the things are done. I do not fully agree when some of my Singaporean friends bicker the government accusing of inflation, red tape and what not. But my friends, each country has its own & if not a bigger pie of shit to deal with. Every country swallows the shit and looks at ways of getting it out of their system and throwing it into the ocean somewhere. Singapore to the world looks like the best place on earth right now - it is the gateway to the Asian wonderlands - Thai, Malay, Indian & Chinese, it it developing in terms of tourism from being a place of transit to the Tasmanian delights, to a place of long term stay. I would frankly not mind settling down in Singapore - as it is comfort at your door step. Mind you, all this comfort comes from fair bit of putting yourself on the line & making sure you overwork for years together or have exceptional qualifications (pref from outside Singapore & from the Pacific side. No I did not name the country. You ll have to guess the answer for the tough question) and dominate the scene. It is either you make it "bang bang" or take your time until which you ll have more than 1 "can I go and bang myself for being here" incidents.

Nevertheless Europe is one hell of a place to settle down if you know the language & like the culture. I like the Swedes especially because life is so relaxed here. People live life to the fullest. Classic examples from the top of my hat:

The subway train is due in 1 min. You just about tapped your card to enter the station but have some way to go down the escalator to reach the platform. A working professional who I safely assume is a Swede takes it slow & walks down slowly in the elevator. But a young Chinese lady runs down all the way and makes sure she scuffles into the train. This could be countered by saying the lady must have been in a terrible hurry while the man who looks polished in his blazers might be a jobless fag who goes downtown to kill some time. However that remains a question. Nevertheless you can understand what I mean when you read the other incident.

Suppose you run into the platform and find the train doors just about to shut down, my natural reaction would be to scamper for it & give it a best shot to make sure I get myself in. However suppose you don't manage to get in, you ll go saying your own share of curses on the train and what not. But I have seen Europeans who laugh when they just missed the train. That is taking it easy isn't it?

Nothing is as important for them as to live their life their way. 35 hours of work time per week is protested and has to be reduced is not outlandish here. Picture this 35 hours over 5 days is about 7 hours of work time. Work time is defined as time you are physically in the office and pretending to work. Now out of these 7 hours (which is already less), you ll have time for some Skype, Facebook & some searching for music or using the wash. I did not count lunch / tea time in at all. Safely discounting about an hour, you just need to sit for 6 hours. That is like 10-4.

If you manage to find a 10-4 job in Singapore that pays you SGD 5K and makes you happy that you are doing something worthwhile, do drop me a line. I will be the first to put my hand up for it. It is not possible in India to get a 10-4 job that pays you so much. That is Europe for you - simple & easy all to make sure you live life. All this again does not mean people do not work at all. They do work their head off but this is the norm here. It is not surprising if your colleague drops in at about 4.30 and says "Friend, why are you working so late in the evening? It's Friday, do you wanna party at 6".

Do not be surprised. Instead just heave a smile of relief & say "I met the people who live life uncomplicated & easy".

5 Myths About Sick Old Europe

In the global economy, today's winners can become tomorrow's losers in a twinkling, and vice versa. Not so long ago, American pundits and economic analysts were snidely touting U.S. economic superiority to the "sick old man" of Europe. What a difference a few months can make. Today, with the stock market jittery over Iraq, the mortgage crisis, huge budget and trade deficits, and declining growth in productivity, investors are wringing their hands about the U.S. economy. Meanwhile, analysts point to the roaring economies of China and India as the only bright spots on the global horizon.

But what about Europe? You may be surprised to learn how our estranged transatlantic partner has been faring during these roller-coaster times -- and how successfully it has been knocking down the Europessimist myths about it.

1. The sclerotic European economy is incapable of leading the world.

Who're you calling sclerotic? The European Union's $16 trillion economy has been quietly surging for some time and has emerged as the largest trading bloc in the world, producing nearly a third of the global economy. That's more than the U.S. economy (27 percent) or Japan's (9 percent). Despite all the hype, China is still an economic dwarf, accounting for less than 6 percent of the world's economy. India is smaller still.

The European economy was never as bad as the Europessimists made it out to be. From 2000 to 2005, when the much-heralded U.S. economic recovery was being fueled by easy credit and a speculative housing market, the 15 core nations of the European Union had per capita economic growth rates equal to that of the United States. In late 2006, they surpassed us. Europe added jobs at a faster rate, had a much lower budget deficit than the United States and is now posting higher productivity gains and a $3 billion trade surplus.

2. Nobody wants to invest in European companies and economies because lack of competitiveness makes them a poor bet.

Wrong again. Between 2000 and 2005, foreign direct investment in the E.U. 15 was almost half the global total, and investment returns in Europe outperformed those in the United States. "Old Europe is an investment magnet because it is the most lucrative market in the world in which to operate," says Dan O'Brien of the Economist. In fact, corporate America is a huge investor in Europe; U.S. companies' affiliates in the E.U. 15 showed profits of $85 billion in 2005, far more than in any other region of the world and 26 times more than the $3.3 billion they made in China.

And forget that old canard about economic competitiveness. According to the World Economic Forum's measure of national competitiveness, European countries took the top four spots, seven of the top 10 spots and 12 of the top 20 spots in 2006-07. The United States ranked sixth. India ranked 43rd and mainland China 54th.

3. Europe is the land of double-digit unemployment.

Not anymore. Half of the E.U. 15 nations have experienced effective full employment during this decade, and unemployment rates have been the same as or lower than the rate in the United States. Unemployment for the entire European Union, including the still-emerging nations of Central and Eastern Europe, stands at a historic low of 6.7 percent. Even France, at 8 percent, is at its lowest rate in 25 years.

That's still higher than U.S. unemployment, which is 4.6 percent, but let's not forget that many of the jobs created here pay low wages and include no benefits. In Europe, the jobless still have access to health care, generous replacement wages, job-retraining programs, housing subsidies and other benefits. In the United States, by contrast, the unemployed can end up destitute and marginalized.

4. The European "welfare state" hamstrings businesses and hurts the economy.

Beware of stereotypes based on ideological assumptions. As Europe's economy has surged, it has maintained fairness and equality. Unlike in the United States, with its rampant inequality and lack of universal access to affordable health care and higher education, Europeans have harnessed their economic engine to create wealth that is broadly distributed.

Europeans still enjoy universal cradle-to-grave social benefits in many areas. They get quality health care, paid parental leave, affordable childcare, paid sick leave, free or nearly free higher education, generous retirement pensions and quality mass transit. They have an average of five weeks of paid vacation (compared with two for Americans) and a shorter work week. In some European countries, workers put in one full day less per week than Americans do, yet enjoy the same standard of living.

Europe is more of a "workfare state" than a welfare state. As one British political analyst said to me recently: "Europe doesn't so much have a welfare society as a comprehensive system of institutions geared toward keeping everyone healthy and working." Properly understood, Europe's economy and social system are two halves of a well-designed "social capitalism" -- an ingenious framework in which the economy finances the social system to support families and employees in an age of globalized capitalism that threatens to turn us all into internationally disposable workers. Europeans' social system contributes to their prosperity, rather than detracting from it, and even the continent's conservative political leaders agree that it is the best way.

5. Europe is likely to be held hostage to its dependence on Russia and the Middle East for most of its energy needs.

Crystal-ball gazing on this front is risky. Europe may rely on energy from Russia and the Middle East for some time, but it is also leading the world in reducing its energy dependence and in taking action to counteract global climate change. In March, the heads of all 27 E.U. nations agreed to make renewable energy sources 20 percent of the union's energy mix by 2020 and to cut carbon emissions by 20 percent.

In pursuit of these goals, the continent's landscape is slowly being transformed by high-tech windmills, massive solar arrays, tidal power stations, hydrogen fuel cells and energy-saving "green" buildings. Europe has gone high- and low-tech: It's developing not only mass public transit and fuel-efficient vehicles but also thousands of kilometers of bicycle and pedestrian paths to be used by people of all ages. Europe's ecological "footprint," the amount of the Earth's capacity that a population consumes, is about half that of the United States.

So much for the sick old man.

By Steven Hill for Washington Post

7 minutes of fun.

Top 10 reasons to date an engineer

10. The world does revolve around us... we choose the coordinate system.

9. No "couple" enjoy a better "moment".

8. We know how to handle stress and strain in a relationship.

7. We have significant figures.

6. We understand the motion of rigid bodies.

5. Projectile motion: Do we need to say more?

4. Engineers do it to specification.

3. According to Newton, if two bodies interact, their forces are equal and opposite.

2. We know it's not the length of the vector that counts, but how you apply the force.

1. WE KNOW THE RIGHT HAND RULE!

Taken from the group "Top 10 reasons to date an engineer" from facebook

India - Rising

This is one of the best I have ever seen.

My testimonial for NOC

“Stockholm- a city that overflows with gorgeous looking women, snow & innovation. Jumping from a perfection loving city ( Singapore ) to such a place is indeed a challenge – a challenge heightened due to the distance from your loved ones (despite the popular theory of internet supposedly making the world smaller). But for me, it has been a month of continuous surprises & learning opportunities; a month full of hours, minutes & seconds which I have cherished like never before; a month where I got acquainted with the most knowledgeable and networked person I have ever met (my boss at Result AB);a month that kicked off with a huge wild party organized by my boss to “orient” me & introduce me to the company culture; a month where I have met the most friendly people always willing to help, share some funny moments & make you feel at home; a month that will be etched in my memory forever.. I hope I have more such breathtaking moments in the remaining 11 odd months to come. I cannot help but continuously thank NUS & Singapore for NOC. This program indeed makes Singapore Unique and I am proud to be an ambassador for the city-nation.”

You can find more such candid feelings on why we NOC'ians feel so blessed to be in this program.
http://www.overseas.nus.edu.sg/noc
/colleges_stockholm_whatTheStudentsSaid.htm

Hats off Singapore / NUS. I cannot express my gratitude just through such testimonials :)

V for Vista - X for sucks..

Simplicity & Innovation

Guy Kawasaki - The Art of Innovation 55:38 Guy Kawasaki at the 2007 Event Marketer Conference

Inspiration!

Skyper me! What the #@%& ??

Thomas: "Skyper me John"

John: "Heck Skyper? Man, get a life. It is Skype"

That's not a typo. Nope, I am dead sure it is not a typo. No, it is not a "copy-cat" product. No, nothing that you are guessing is right. It is just plain and simple that today's Skype would have been known as Skyper if not for some suing by the original owners of Skyper back in 2005. Hence was born Skype – the application that gave the world the freedom to communicate for free; the application that has turned VoIP and P2P communication over its head in terms of positive exploitation; the application that has become the code word for business users and likewise for moms, dads and housewives. Isn't that what people call a revolution?

WO WO! Hold on. Why do I rant about Skype right now? There have been enough blogs, enough youtubers, and enough conferences about Skype, but yet it is always fascinating when you take the cases of such companies and put them under the scanner with a huge magnifying glass. That's what happened on September 18, 2007 at the Business Opportunities in ICT course. The stage was well set by Ms. Lena Ramfelt who handles the course. Being an entrepreneur herself, it is always fascinating to learn through her experience the various frameworks and concepts in the class. But today it was double bonanza. We had the CEO of Skype Nordic Mr. Jonas Kjellberg along with Lena which meant our learning curve just got steeper. This talk was organized by the Stockholm School of Entrepreneurship Studies (SSES) and hence the lecture was open to the public as well.

Skype as a company had a Nordic strategy in place and we had to debate on whether entering each and every Nordic country individually would do the company a whole deal of good compared to entering on the whole. Ofcourse the point of debate was whether it was worth it to go local in a region which has a combined population of 25 million, similar culture but subtly different markets. The fuelling factor for the debate was also to find partners who had their wings in all the Nordic countries with a good market foothold. Although it wasn't an insanely intense growth strategy discussion on whether to 'Go Nordic or Go Local', the take home message was 'Go Flexible!' That's a core value to be a successful entrepreneur.

"Simple made easy" that's what they believe in Skype, so simple that your mother would use it, said Jonas. So simple that anyone, across the globe can use Skype. "Inspired" would be an understatement if I were to record my feelings at the end of the talk. Aware of what Skype was and how it revolutionized the VOIP market, I would not have guessed that such a huge company in the US would have so many crucial decisions to make to enter one region which made up less than 1% of the population. That's the value of building and maintaining your brand. Truly "take a deep breath" – Skype is here to stay.

This is my post from MS Word

Wow. Microsoft has achieved something through this feature. They have embraced Web2.0. Hurray!

Super Funny

Web 2.0 - Part 1

My room

Some of the books that I like

Click the >> button to check all the books..I know its stupid formatting but bear with it.

Movie & Personality Tests

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Our man (spaceman rather...)

My boss at Result - Ola Ahlvarsson

Thanks Rockyou :-)

Pics of KTH & Stockholm University

The Nerd Test

Stockholm_120708_pictures

Are you a true Indian?

Are you a true Indian? Then check this list and make sure you satisfy atleast half the conditions.

• Your dad is some sort of engineer or doctor.Your parents say, "Don't forget your heritage."
• You know what's going to happen in every Hindi movie before it happens
• Your father and grandfathers have hair on their ears
• An Asian woman comes on campus and people ask: "Is that your mother? Well then, is it your sister?"
• Your relatives' houses smell like incense, mothballs or bothYour parents say, "Calculus? I took calculus in 8th grade!!"
• You either really, really want to go to NYU or really, really want to stay away from it
• "You want a stereo! When I was your age, I didn't even have shoes!
• "Your dad still pulls his socks up to his knees, you know, the ones with the blue and pink stripes at the top.
• Your family owns a tennis racquet.
• You buy corn oil by the gallon.
• Your family owns butcher knives bigger than your head.
• You arrive one or two hours late to a party and think it's normal.
• Everyone in your family has pet names, which sound nowhere close to their real names.
• You are standing next to the two largest suitcases at the Airport.
• You talk for an hour at the front door when leaving someone's house.
• When your parents meet strangers and talk for a few minutes, you discover your talking to a distant cousin.
• Your parents don't realize phone connections to foreign countries have improved in the last two decades, and still scream at the top of their lungs when making long distance calls.
• There is a sale on any item, you buy 100 of them.
• You have a 'Singer Brother' sewing machine at home.
• Your mother has a minor disagreement with her (or your dad's) sister and doesn't talk to her for ten years.
• You hide everything from your parents.
• Your mother does everything for you if you are male.
• You do all the housework and cooking if you are female.
• Your relatives alone could populate a small city.
• Everyone is a family friend.
• You know no one who has studied music.
• You went to a university as far away from home as possible.
• You still came back home to live with your parents after you had finished.
• Your best friend got married at the age of 16.
• You like the meat well done.
• You eat onions with everything.
• You use chilli sauce instead of tomato ketchup.
• You say you hate Indian films but secretly watch them with your parents.
• You teach Westerners swearwords in your language.
• You order Indian food in your own language to impress the people your with but the waiters don't understand you.
• You avoid public places when with a member of the opposite sex, especially if there is an acquaintance within a 250 miles radius.
• You always say "open the light" instead of "turn the light on".
• You secure your baggage with a rope.
• Your walking out of customs with your trolley at the airport and you see all twenty-five members of your family who have come to pick you up.
• You go back to your parents' country and people treat you like a member of...the royal family.
• Your parents would freak out if your sister wore a crop top baring her midriff...but wearing a sari is perfectly acceptable
• Your parents call all your friends "Beta" whether they are Indian or not
• Your parent are panicking if you aren't married when you turn 25
• Either you really like Indians of the opposite sex or you can't stand them
• Your mother measures wealth in gold and diamonds
• A horoscope must decide your wedding date
• Your parents drink 6 cups of tea a day
• You are sick and tired of answering questions about "the dot"
• Your friends could not explain your religion to someone if they tried
• You could not explain your religion to someone if you tried
• You have cousins you have never met, whose names you don't know, but who insist they're related to you, even though they bear NO resemblance to...anyone YOU know.
• Your parents push the concept of an arranged marriage on you and try and demonstrate how well it works whenever they're not fighting.
• You notice that whenever you go to another Indian's house, your parents always talk about work and business.
• The second you pull out of someone's driveway, your parents start talking...about them.
• Every few months your parents say when they're moving back to India
• No one ever seems to call ahead of time to say they are coming over for a visit.
• Your proud to be Indian - and you pass these jokes on to all your Indian friends!

P.S. Thanks facebook :-)

A Typical Swede

Whatta fun! Check this article from a popular wiki site.

What is a Swede?

A Swede is tall, blonde, blue-eyed, and wears a wooly hat in the winter. By nature he is shy, reserved, serious, industrous, and finds it hard to laugh at himself. He is also a creature of habit and every morning gets up at 5.30 to give himself enough time to read the morning newspaper before going to work. Since work does not usually start until 8 o'clock, this can only imply that a Swede is also a slow reader.

Apart from himself, his chief interests are money, his job, his home, ice-hockey, and his family (in that order). He also loves animals – especially dogs – and spends hours cycling through the town dragging a huge and ferocious German Shepherd behind him on a leash.

A Swede is usually punctual, honest, reliable, clean, has his own teeth, and is law-abiding. Evidence of the latter is particularly noticeable at pedestrian crossings. No matter what the weather is like, a Swede would rather get soaked to the skin than cross an empty street when a red light is showing. Similarly, he always wears a seat belt, never drinks and drives, always has a television licence, usually hands in his tax-return on time, invariably has a plastic bag in his pocket when he walks his dog, and never has a bath after 10 o'clock.

A Swede is also very cautious and rarely does anything on impulse (except perhaps sneeze). To him, all decisions are a matter of life and death. Take a simple matter like buying cheese, for example. A Swede may try at least ten different sorts of cheeses before finally deciding to buy twenty grammes of Brie. It is the same sense of caution that prevents him from plunging into marriage straight away. Instead, he lives with a woman first, has one or two children, then – if all seems well – asks her to marry him.

With reference to marriage, a Swede is quite unlike most European men. Anything a housewife can do, he can do better – from cooking to sewing on buttons. In fact, everything in the home (apart from breast-feeding) is shared.

A Swede also likes to think he is well informed and spends hours finding out all he can about such things as nuclear power, the Third World, pollution, South Africa, the sexual habits of the centipede, etc. while at the same time paying little attention to unimportant matters - such as the name of his neighbor or whether certain types of beer should be banned or not.

Most Swedes as fanatics when it comes to keeping fit and regularly spend their weekends running through the nearest forest or cycling for hours in the cellar on a bicycle fixed to the floor. With his health in mind, he has also given up smoking, sugar, drinking coffee in the evenings, going to bed after 10 o'clock, and mixing with strangers.

But perhaps the greatest thing about a Swede is his sense of equality – of everyone being the same as everyone else. To help this, most Swedes have the same surnames – Svensson, Nilsson, or Persson – earn the same amount of money after tax, have the same taste in furniture, dress alike, think alike, drive a Volvo, and go to Majorca or Kreta in the summer.

A Swede also refuses to admit that he is prejudiced in any way. To him, all foreigners are just the same as Swedes and, although he doesn't actually have any Jugoslavian, Greek, Turkish, Polish, Italian, Finnish or Czechoslovakian friends, he is certain there is very little difference between them and Swedes – apart from their names, their customs, the way they grow vegetables in the kitchen, the fact that they carry knives, rob banks, live on social security, pinch their jobs, breed like rabbits, beat their wives, and speak Swedish like someone with a gobstopper in his mouth.

Finally, a Swede loves the sun, hates queuing, gets a kick out of being first on the bus, detests winter, enjoys sex, can't stand gypsies, believes what the National Social Board of Health and Welfare tells him, doesn't believe in God, worships Ingemar Stenmark, only gets drunk when he drinks, is patriotic (wears Swedish flag underwear), visits the off-licence twice a week, visits his parents at Christmas, goes to English classes, and, inevitably, is deeply offended by an article such as this.

(Found in the computer lab in Umeå.)

The BOSS - Is he here to stay?

It is a dream come true for any Indian who wants to catch the super-star on celluloid first day and when it happens to be the first show, the joy on the faces of those privileged souls is truly understandable. Well, I have been a decent enough fan of the superstar but getting to watch him on the big screen first day seemed near impossible. But it so happened that one of my good friend (good fella) Aditya had me in mind when he got the tickets for the show at INOX (Citi Center). When he actually messaged me on thursday (june 14), I was shouting and screaming at work (literally that is), that I immediately went to my supervisor and told him that I will be off tomorrow (Friday June 15). Ofcouse he ended being as kind as he generally is and he infact asked me if there was something that I could share. When I did tell him that I might get to watch first day first show, he was shocked, stupified, petrified and the adjectives wont fit the reaction that came out of the Senior Manager in Standard Chartered Bank.
He was indeed happy and told me to write my views on what I thought of the movie and this purely made me observe more in the movie - not just as a Rajini fan but as a neutral viewer who was watching the superstar for the first time on screen (which is not practical though). This is just my opinion on the film and it might be different from those watching it elsewhere. This again prompts me to make the remark about the crowd which makes a huge difference to your viewing experience. I happened to watch "Sivaji" in one of the "decent" theathre in town - Citi Center. The place was filled with people who came with their families, few youngsters, oldies quite a number of them - It was full to the brim no doubt. But then again, the reactions that came out of each and every scene was so un-Rajini that I could definetly say that watching Chandramukhi would have had more noise on the 100 th day than here. That again has helped me to watch the movie with a neutral third eye and at the same time didnt enthuse more energy on the fact that it was a first day first show.. Nevertheless i am not complaining.

It was a morning 10.45 show and I got up knowing that I neednt get ready to go to work. I was all excited when I slept the previous night when I knew this is going to be my first experience of watching superstars movie first day first show. But yesterday night was a different story as I watched Oceans 13 with my parents and was all tired. I was dying to sleep to wake up all energized for the all important D-Day in my life. I was dreaming about what the intro scene would be like, how will they fit in heavy metal songs to suit Rajnis dance movements, how will the theme of black money be dealt with so much of hoopla around the super-star, will there be enough meat if one looks inside the hype and josh surrounding the movie. Luckily for me I ended up sleeping peacefully to wake up and get ready. i was all set to take my bike and out comes the first blow - my bike wheels flat as a notebook. It really dampened my spirts; I thank my stars for making me spot the problem at home as the situation could have been terrible if I got stuck at mainroad with me having to push my way through with my bike all the way back home. And to add to that misery I was running against time and it was the zillionth occassion that I cursed myself and swore to god that I will be early next time only to be in an infinite loop of faltering promises.

After all the hoopla and scenes, I ended up catching an auto to citi center; it was 10.30 and the show was at 10.45. I didnt want to miss the first scene for any sake and was pushing the auto wala to go faster. I flashed the money, forgot to get the change in the hurry and went straight up to level 3 of the mall. Sanjay - my school friend was kind enough to wait for me and we both went in to be greeted by a huge gang of DAV-ians sitting in 2 rows. I promised myself to enjoy this movie as never before. I sat in and in came the all familiar super star theme songs with the letters Rajni flashing out. The crowd erupted and people starting chanting the household name of superstar Rajini. When he erupted onto the scene there was frenzied reactions and people were just taken aback by his "30 year old" look. It was madness seeing people jump and cry his name into air and my friends (me included) joined the craze. It felt so good to be part of the wave to chant the super stars name. Once the movie picked up pace, the first half fell a little apart one could say. But again, I am not giving away much as this could anger those who haven't yet seen the movie. So with that in mind, I could confidently say that the first half might leave you all a little bullish with all the expectations around the man and the movie. The movie is loaded with the style and the grace of the man and there is nothing short on that front. The chewing gum comes as a revelation to the "beedi" in baba and the ciggarate/pipe in his older flicks. The villian Suman has done a great job although his body expressions could have been little more tonned up.

Director Shankar makes everyone loathe the villian and in one important scene of the movie, I am sure crowds would have gone near the screen and torn the villan apart (virtually). Blood was boiling and even the old man behind us was mad with the villan. Credit goes to the master director for making the villan reach farther than normal. Rajini coming back as M** in the second half (final quarter) of the movie is indeed breathtaking. I think that charecter stays in the minds of the viewers as to the Rajini of the old - bashing up villans with ease; Shriya is breathtaking in the movie. Although she dons a normal heroine's role she does it with some bit of ease and flamboyance that you sympathize with her in various emotional scenes of the movie. She has done her best and the chemistry between her and the super star although not the best certainly is better than the nagma of batcha and infact the nayantara of cmukhi; Vivek has again done what he does best - playing second fiddle and with some reality-coated-humour; himself and the superstar make us all carry their sentiments. Again I feel Vadivelu's flick in cmukhi was little better in terms of humour but Vivek fittled the bill in this role in SIvaji.

Manivannan sadly had not much of a role and so was the case with Vadivukarasi. But again, in a superstar movie, prime importance is for the super star as expected and this was no different. First half has some nagging scenes with the villan while the second half reaches crecendo when Rajini makes a comeback after being "cornered". The actor scores a centum for emotions and style required scenes while his dancing and running movements have become a shadow of his past. He has become little more slow on that front. Songs have been fitted well and ARR has done a fabulous job with his music. BG is not something to write home about especially in the first half while Blaze's "baba" like BG in the end matches the tone and beat of the movie. The song with all the old actors relived and Rajinis tribute to Kamal Hasan in one of the scenes is a tribute to the mans much spoken about humility. Shankar has once again scored with his "grand" way of picturising things and the songs / fights were no different either. Some fight scenes are awesome especially the one in the car while some ground fight scenes are not close to reality; Athiradee is a master piece and the song when seen on screen is again a totally enchanting experience.

"Perakettale chumma adirithuille" is very much the talk of the town; not all the punch dialogues that are doing the rounds in various websites were in the movie; While most of the movie sites has Prakash Raj in the cast, suprisingly it was bogus. He was not to be seen in the movie; The best way to enjoy the movie is to take out all your expectations, forget the hoopla, go in with a blank mind and giving more weight to the fact that it is a Shankar movie more than a Rajini movie; I think this attitude would make you relish the movie more than ever; Rajini has his way of doing things and this movie has the correct dose of them; what is to be seen is not whether Sivaji will be the biggest moneyspinner or not but if it actually is one of those movies that we associate Rajini with - a "Badshah" kind of a movie. If that happens, I think the master director has given his master piece.

BOSS - Bachelor of Social Service - does he falter to decieve? Write your comments

The BOSS has arrived

Indian cinema is loaded with movies of hero's who are close to retirement age and are still paired with people who havent come out of their teens. This flick is no different either. With super star Rajini in the lead role, the movie has been tipped as the most biggest movie of the year.

On looking at the numbers, the story is fascinating.
1. It is the costliest movie ever made in Indian cinema.
2. Rajini is the highest paid actor in Asia Pac after Jackie Chan
3. Rajini has a much greater fan following than Amitabh Bachan (who represents India in the world arena)
4. The audio release has generated more revenues than the average movie flicks of this year.

For some of the 'desi's' who don't like Rajini, let me clarify some issues. Firstly you are in the minority. Secondly you dare not open your sentiments at this time of the year for your houses will be burned and you will be stoned. Thirdly sit down and watch some of his best movies before you end up commenting. Some people feel he is not even capable to be a hero. Fair enough people have their own opinions, but this prejudice on the superstar is really stupid.

Sivaji has been long in the pipeline and with director Shankar at the helm of things, he for sure will give us all a flick which is worth the time and money. The story for sure is interesting and the trailer is ultimate for a 'thalaivan' fan.



Overall, it promises to be another run away hit from our one and only superstar

Hail BOSS!!

Power of Ad's

Some of the best ads I have ever seen..Real cool stuff












This is not an ad, but still its worth the watch

Ian Chappel on SRT

Ian Chappell, the former Australian captain, has come down hard on Sachin Tendulkar, saying the time had come for him to consider quitting the game. Chappell said that the Tendulkar decision would be crucial as India try and rebuild after their shocking first round exit from the ongoing World Cup.

Tendulkar managed only 64 runs in India's three first-round matches of the World Cup, and couldn't make much of an impact against Bangladesh (7) and Sri Lanka (0), the two games India lost.

"Before anybody else makes a decision on what will happen to Tendulkar the player himself has to have a good long look in the mirror and decide what he's trying to achieve in the game," Chappell, 63, wrote in Mid-Day, a Mumbai-based tabloid. "At the moment he looks like a player trying to eke out a career; build on a glittering array of statistics. If he really is playing for that reason and not to help win as many matches as he can for India then he is wasting his time and should retire immediately."

Chappell went on to compare Tendulkar with Brian Lara, the West Indian captain, and pointed out how the latter hadn't changed his style of play over a 17-year career. "This is a credit to his technique and mental strength, as the aging process generally makes a player more progressively conservative," Chappell wrote of Lara. "Tendulkar hasn't worn as well; his last three or four years have been a shadow of his former self.

Chappell took into consideration the slew of injuries that Tendulkar had suffered during his career, a factor that had forced him to miss a number of matches in this decade. "Tendulkar hasn't been as lucky as Lara," Chappell wrote, "the Indian batsman has suffered a lot of injuries in this period where his play has deteriorated and there is nothing that melts your mental approach quicker than physical handicaps. Lara has been relatively free from injury and he certainly doesn't have the weight of numbers riding on his shoulders that Tendulkar does. However, the population of the Caribbean might be small but they are extremely demanding.

"Despite all the fuss and the odd controversy that has surrounded Lara's career he has remained himself; this is my game and that is how I play. For whatever reason Tendulkar hasn't been able to maintain his extremely high standards for the last few years and unless he can find a way to recapture this mental approach he's not doing his team or himself any favours.

"If Tendulkar had found an honest mirror three years ago and asked the question; 'Mirror, mirror on the wall who is the best batsman of all?' It would've answered; 'Brian Charles Lara.' If he asked that same mirror right now; 'Mirror, mirror on the wall should I retire?' The answer would be; 'Yes.' -----------

What else can one say??

Australia - the march continues!

Guys, its time! The time has come for us to sit back and enjoy cricket as a game and chuck the emotions/patriotism that might hinder us in enjoying the best!!
Please come to terms of the fact that Aussies are by far a superior team compared to other mortal teams in the competition.They beat the proteas and for sure the WI are not going to reach 323 in the reserve day or in any other day!

I know people would say "they would have been raped by the proteas if not for Watsons run out and Smiths dismissal owing to cramps"..Guys, do u say the same thing if India were in this situation?Doesnt it say that we are being stupid instead of being fans of the game!I am sure that people would say / feel that Proteas could have beaten them blue and black if Kallis played more aggressively and if Watson's throw had'nt hit the stump?WTF??

How can you come up with If's and buts in a game?That clearly shows that there is a mental block in the mind of those "rationalists" who fail to accept that a team can be as dominating as the Aussies.. Please break the shackles and come out just a bit from your mind and imagine the way these guys have played their cricket..They might have sledged, stared at you, given your family a beating thro their words but then hey, isnt there a way each team play their game?We as Indians burn peoples effigies but have u heard about this anywhere?So we def have our own charecteristics right?Thats the way we need to accept people and the way they play the game!!

Its a losers statement to say that "Aussies are useless"..How can one make such sweeping statements?Havent they taken the game to a new plane totally?Are'nt the other teams playing the catching game? Doesn't Ponting and co have a completely altar of game compared to a India or a England.A one off Ashes defeat doesnt make the team a bunch of losers/chokers right?When we celebrate a one off defeat by the Indian team and celebrate it as the best thing to happen, its time we become rational and wash our emotions attached to the game.

Its the Aussies !! The rulers of the game!!The rulers might fall in a battle but never will a war be done without them sucking some other team blood!!No team has ever dominated the game so much-not even the great WI of the early70's.I say this as the times have changed, cricket is getting more universal by the match and its not right to compare between different times!But still based on the sheer records , the domination and the way with which they have done their job without toil speaks of sheer charecter of the team. There has been no blip in the performances of the team even when there was a change in leadership from Waugh to Ponting. Infact the Aussies have been so damn good that they dropped Bevan..Yea thats right ,its the great Micheal Bevan!!!

Again, this team is the best just due to the deligent work by the Australian Cricket Board!!There is no politics, the captain and coach have an equal say and there is no distinction between a senior/junior.Infact although pple say its the "Dads army"with an ave age of 31, who cares as long as they keep whacking the asses of the opponents!! Hail Aussie cricket!!Hail them as long as you appreciate the game..Its sheer brilliance to just watch them play!!!

India - chokers

I know its been long since I blogged - exactly 1 week and i have missed loads of matches inbetween..I have no intention of writing about each one of them but when I managed to catch up with Indian cricket, I was met with the usual frustration and the headache that happens after every pathetic display by the team (which btw is getting very very frequent)

India got into the SL match with a do or die situation. With a listless display against Bangladesh, it was a must win agst the SL lions. The match against Bermuda could have been substituted/written off as nets practise but unfortunately ICC decided to count this nets practise as an offical ODI game. So the D-Day arrived and millions of Indian fans got up and prayed for Dravid and co for the team to do well and make us all happy and proud by getting into the second round.The result just happened to break the heart of millions of Indians and with that ended an era of hope.

Winning the toss was one of the major advantage that we had and the bowlers put up a decent show in the opening spell ,keeping it tight throughout except for a brief period during the Silva and Dilshan partnership. The lankans scored 255 and it seemed gettable in a track that got better with every ball bowled and every ball played. Out come Uthappa and Ganguly. In my opinion there was already a miscalculation with Uthappa opening.. Ideally SRT could have come out, taken the strike as he did against Pakistan in the 2003 WC and get us to off a decent start.

Its been more than 8 months, since the opening pair gave us more than 100 and that is one of the concerns that this team needs to address..When SRT didnt walk out in number 1, there was a back shift and once the wickets started to tumble it was the familiar Indian story - the story thats as old as the bollywood hero's running behind the heroin's around a tree in a never seen garden. Yuvi's run out sealed the fate of the team and with that the hopes of a billion people and the sponsors were into the ditch.

Sachin needs a special mention.. The ball wasnt anything special,the pitch didnt hold any demons, the bowler was not settled, the target was not 500,the team had not lost wickets around him, he could have taken his time to settle, proved that he can play in big matches (apart from the sharjah one some 10 years back and WC 2003 agst Pak). But then our man, poked, jabbed, tried something and ended up getting his timber rattled. The familiar nod of the head, the MRF bat edge check(a habit that players have when they get out due to an inside edge), a look into the skye and you know it is over!He is the man who sums up the condition of the present Indian line up. The team whose ave age is 32, is as old as SRT and has been given a long enough rope thats the time has come fotr the inevitable. I am a big big fan of Mr.Sachin but then its time he re-thinks about his odi career. Its totally upto him and India is proud to have him.. But may be, he might not get the fairytale farewell that he might deserve.

So what does the future hold for the nation that has definetly due to her performance in the WC earned the title of minnows. Dravid I feel might continue as the captain but then frankly, I ll have a youngster getting into the helm of the side.. May be a Yuvraj could do it for starters.. Dravid doesnt bring in the aggression element that Ganguly had so succesfully exuded.. He has been a gentleman but then all gentleman cannot be great leaders.. You need some aggression, some jeering that brings the game alive .. When Ganguly was the captain, you could always sopt where he would be, his superb moves, his emotion when a wicket falls.. I think Dravid is right the opposite.. A person who watches Ganguly on field will immediately recognize him to be the captain of the team while with Dravid you need some effort to get it right.. I am not saying he is a horrible captain.. I am just trying to say that its the Ganguly way that works and not the Dravid way ..

Greg Chappel in all possiblities will be sacked and the board might have a re-wamp in its selction panel. Vengsarkar could run for the coach and India would for sure go in for a local coach and not an Intl coach. Kumble might hang up his boots once the WC formalities are done and Agarkar might be the person who might be the guy to look out for.. He has not had a great series.
The super eight has been reduced to a super 6 with the minnows Bangladesh and Ireland getting in. The World Cup still holds some meat only due to Australia, South Africa and the Lankans. Just hope the super eight stage is crossed off in a jiffy and the semi's start soon. Thats when the cup comes alive!

(No) MATCH two!

There was absolutely no contest and yeah - you guessed it right .. Aussies were involved in the annihilation of the opponents. Australia vs Scotland turned into a dead rubber unlike an "English friend" of mine who felt Scotts had the fire in them to upset the World Champs. Oh, this English friend of mine needs a special mention. He definetly keeps me going with his "tantrums" of England being the team to beat in the competition. Only time can silence him!!

Aussies were put into bat and ofcourse Haydos and Gilli went about their job to near perfection until Gilchrist played one too many. The pair added 91 runs at a brisk scoring rate and the platform was set for the "man of the year" to come and demonstrate his ability to put the opposition to the fence. His strokes were all around the wicket and no bowler was spared.. All were treated with disdain and the Scotts were soon all over the park . Punter demolished each and every bowler on his way to a brilliant 4 th WC century. Two in a row (the first one in 2003 when he tore apart the Indian bowling - Zaheer and Srinath would have definetly felt better to bat than to bowl on that "fateful" day) and the Aussie captain seems to be on a roll again. He gets better and better doesn't he? A celebration to the game.. He could go down as the only captain after Clive Lloyd to be the captain to defend and win the WC title.. The prospect seems to be well in reach for Punter and co.


The bowling complemented the batting in every way and the Scotts were skitted out for 130 odd and the match was done .. It was victory to the greatest team and the margin of 203 runs was the second highest in history. The domination was stamped and the World leaders were back to what they do best - torment teams. Mighty Glen is just 6 away from going ahead of the great Wasim Akram in terms of WC wicket tally. He is at 48 while Akram is at 54. Akram's record looks weak with Mcgrath's each and every ball and indeed this great fast bowler deserves all that that comes his way. He has far ahead of the pack as the leading International Wicket taker among the faster men.

All in all, a match where the Aussies got back to their winning ways and kickstarted their WC campaign in style. With Symonds all set to return soon, the selectors surely have a task of leaving out someone like Hodge or Clarke and that surely indicates the bench strength of the team. Punter is making sure that he goes all out in adding on to the tally of the WC titles. Since the possiblity of this being his last WC cannot be ruled out, he would want to finish it off in

style - the Punter way !

The second match of the day was between 2 "minnows" - Kenya and Canada. The Canadians put up a score close to 200 and the Kenyans chased it down in style. This kenyan team was indeed a revelation in the 2003 edition weren't they? They went into the semi's and if they managed to get Ganguly or Yuvaraj early on they would have in the process completed the biggest upset in the tournament by going into the finals. Oh, unimaginable right?And worst would have been if they had defeated Aussies !!! Oh, that could have been a killer for the game and the competition. It would have raised issues like how cricket is a game that depends on just one day and how even minnows who were considered unnecessary in the competition won the title.Papers would have flashed "We have a new "minnow' champion.. Salute the Indian behind".

Oh, we humans just wait for a chance to debate don't we? hmmm , I think i am being a bit too skeptical about ourselves. To be frank, I think its these debates that keep the game alive and its matches like these that might spark off few issues here and there .. Lets see how todays match shapes out .. Will be interesting to see the margin of the defeat by the Lankans.. On the whole, one day lesser en-route to the finals..

Highlights (good quality):

part 1: http://youtube.com/watch?v=ezGPHlvML60

part 2: http://youtube.com/watch?v=HzO3Hta2SMs

part 3: http://youtube.com/watch?v=CL5UXsPxra4

part 4: http://youtube.com/watch?v=KRADrYsvbsI

Match one - March on!!!

So the carribean calypso is truly on its way. Crickets biggest event has started and the excitement and the energy that comes along is simply unmatched. The time has come for all people - cricket lovers, not so much followers of the game to watch this truly exciting part of the game. This carribean episode sure promises to be one thats going to be long in our memories.

The first match was an exciting one to watch. One of the reasons that I found it exiting is purely because of Lara.His presence in the team makes me all the more follow West Indies and their progress in the WC could be really exciting. Secondly due to the energy that these people exude during their wicket celebrations or in general the way they play and enjoy the game is something that makes me crave for an opposistion wicket to fall. Correy Collomore and Gayle are really awesome to watch when they pick a wicket. Infact the people of the carribean are truly great fans of the game and the way that they enjoy irrespective of whether their team loses or wins surely tells us that the game is a winner more than the team in this country.This is something that we Indians need to garner as we regard cricket as a religion and the players as Gods. Thats for sure wonderful but then we need to think that the game is a sport after all and the game and the sportsmanship that comes along should be regarded more important than a win or loss.

The West Indies done and dusted by the Indians in the warm up game, picked up their spirit along with their game and truly it was fascinating to watch them take the Pakistani's by their neck and chop their wickets one by one. Put into bat first, Lara and co made a respectable 241 in 50 overs, thanx to the all wonderful hitting of Smith, Samuels and Bravo. These guys who promised loads from their debut but only faded away, have started to peek of late and its a real nice sign for the carribean team. Lara has gone through a lot of turmoil with managing the team. He made his debut, when the team was a toast for the game but then the following years saw them fall in the manner so un-befitting to their rise.

But their bowling and fielding surely have made us reminiscent of the past and this team has the potential to go all the way to the end only if they maintain this streak and consistency in all departments of the game. 241 was well defended, thanks to the "wonder"-boy Smith's two telling blows of Inzi and Md.Yousuf when both threatened to take the match away from the hosts. Shoaib Malik stood apart in an otherwise forgetful performance by the Pakistani's. Inzi and co, need to pick their game or else they might as well take the flight back home sooner than expected.


Highlights : (Not good quality)

WI innings :
http://youtube.com/watch?v=cUB_QGi4Mm4&mode=related&search=

Pak Innings:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=XHfL92NqMyc&mode=related&search=

A real inspiring video!

This is one of the videos that for sure would make you feel that you are blessed to be an Indian.Sachin Tendulkar has always been a poster boy for the country but then this video gives a real in-depth analysis of the person and OMG, doesnt it exude some bit of awe!! I have always remained one of the biggest fans of SRT and although I feel that he is a true pride for the country and I respect him for all tht he is done to the world of cricket, I still feel that he has more gas left in him to win matches for us!! March on Sachin - the world is at your command



Part 2:




Part 3:




WE LOVE YOU SACHIN!!!

Teams and Analysis

This man holds the key to be unlocked - the key to the WC. Aussies go in as favourites just that the last 5 matches have made the others feel that they have decended to earth from a different altar. But then, 5 matches over the last five years can be weighed down cant it?They definetly go in
as favourites.

Key Players: Ponting, Gilchrist, Tait


Ah, wish this could be ours on March 28 at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados.
Lets see if Men in Blue can do the 1983 remagic. The stage looks the same. In '83, WI had won 2 consecutive titles and India smashed them hard to lift the WC. At present '07, Aussies have 2 consecutive titles coming in and may be Dravid and co, can repeat history!

Key Players: Yuvraj Singh,Sachin, Anil Kumble





KP and Freddie hold the key to England chances along with their "fit" Micheal Vaughan. Micheal will be the most crucial player for the them and without Trescothik, his pressure just increases manifold. KP could be the most promising player the game has seen but then time has come for him to get the team to winning ways along with Freddie. With all this firepower, I still feel that England dont have the penetrating power to go into the semi's. All said and done, it would be interesting to track their progress.

Key Players: Kevin Peterson, Flintoff, Panesar

SA have a miniscule chance of getting the WC and end their wretched run in the games biggest event. Shaun Pollock and Jack kallis are the trump cards for them. Their batting line up is one of the longest and have virtually no tail-end batsmen. The bowling is their weak link and lots rest with Ntini and Pollock.

Key Players: Smith, Ntini,Kallis

And here are the underdogs.

Key Players: Shane Bond, Oram, Fleming

Lara and Co, could just be the first team to win the WC being hosts. Its going to be really tough tho!

Key Players: Lara, Chanderpaul, Taylor


Pakistan - Oh the mighty Inzi has a lot of weight to carry along with him. The situation is no different with Pakistani's come into the tourney carrying a tag of "uncertainity" with them. But then, these guys can really give the opponents a run for their money! Inzi and co, can be underestimated only at the peril of their opponents. They are in the group along with West Indies and its going to be a nice opening match too. May be the tempo for the entire tourney will be set-up by the high intensity clash.

Key Players: Inzi, Youhana, kaneria


Sri Lanka have the best chance of taking their World Cup tally to two in this edition. They have a balanced side with Sangakarra adding depth with his excellent batting skills and prowess behind the wicket. He is the man who will be holding the key to SL's chance along with Jayasuriya and Malinga. Vaas and Murali will definetly be the linchpins for the team and Murali should certainly spin cob-webs around the batsmen.It is going to be an even challenge between bat and ball with Murali,Malinga and Vass operating.

Key Players: Sangakarra, Jayasuriya, Malinga

The World Cup sets the momentum for the teams to carry on once the event is done and for sure, determines the next super-power in the game. Aussies may be coming down to the level of the other teams but then they have been a cut above all the other teams for the last 8 years. As
Ian Chappel says "its sad that Aussies can be beaten only when they come to the level of the other teams while no team has risen to the standard of the Aussies". How true!!They have truly given the teams a run for their money for a long period of time. May be, their time might run out with this competition but then lets salute one of the greatest teams to have played this brilliant sport. They ll for sure go down as the team that would be on the same altar as the WI of the 70's and 80's.