I know that’s a strange title for a post but you would realize very soon why (hopefully) :)
My last post got 7 comments – that’s kind of a record… instead of feeling elated I felt like a “bottom 10 percentile guy being told why he is the top 10 percentile guy and why he could be the next CEO of the company - all this when he puts in his papers”…
Poor me? What the heck! I was afraid of this kind of reaction and made an attempt to dissuade the same in my post but people are people… people are good at “selective reading”… I am not least pleased for being labeled “poor me” especially because I never meant it that way! (Munjay, I am not taking off on you… though you commented “poor me” explicitly, others were saying the same implicitly).
Ah, the only good part being I realized that more people read my blog than I thought!
Anyways, I have decided to change my tracks again and comment on the current affairs… T20 is the hottest thing around and this might sound like a “run of the mill” attempt but let me give it a try. Am sure you would like it… Here I go…
I see lot of similarity between Russians and Indians as far respecting our past is concerned…
The first thing Russians did when communism was brought down was to bring down Lenin’s statue… and throw Gorbachev into oblivion… and give the power in the hands of a drunkard (Yeltsin)… Stalin and Khrushchev I can understand but why Lenin? Wasn’t he the guy who booted the Czar away? Why Gorbachev? Wasn’t he the guy who actually made all this possible – starting with glasnost and perestroika… it was all so euphoric – giving the power in the hands of the great messiah of democracy (how does it matter if he cant even walk straight because of his vodka laced breakfast, lunch and dinner)…
What happened? Russia saw very high level of inflation, hunger, unemployment, corruption and what not… There was a shortage of food – not that communists were hiding this problem from the world earlier - because there were no people to till the land – it’s all mechanized out there but you need people to run the machines… communists had this mandatory stuff of students being sent to farms in their summer vacation and stuff like that… may be it was “cruel” but it worked – it kept people well fed… but well, it’s a ‘democracy’ now – let people decide what they want to do – even if it means they want to die of hunger!
From being a super power, Russia is part of BRIC – Brazil, Russia, India and China – the upcoming economic powers of the world – in essence, more or less a third world country… Long live democracy!!
I am no great supporter of communism (neither in a political nor in an economic sense - looking at our own left parties makes me feel that they walk backwards!) but hey, why is capitalism better? It has its own evils… I guess capitalism is “better” because communism is a spent force today and capitalism is still thriving…
Anyways, let me not digress from the key topic – the problem I see with Russians is that they do not know how to respect their past – at least the parts which are better ones. They bashed all and sundry including Lenin and Gorbachev. They could not figure out bad from good. They went for the package. They felt democracy was good even if it was a Yeltsin inside and coomunism was bad even if it was a Gorbachev inside. The results are there for everyone to see...
So, why do I think Indians are similar?
Look at the way we are treating the “big three” after the T20 world cup win and the T20 win against Australia last week. Suddenly, these 3 guys are pariahs… they are the reason for all the evils in the Indian cricket… Everyone including media is talking about the energy, running between the wickets, fielding etc in T20… And how that is because of the absence of the “big three”!
Come on guys, Sachin is your most consistent performer in one-dayers in the last 2 series (England & Australia)… Am not sure what would have been the results if Sachin and Ganguly were not batting at the top… Rahul is a different story – he does not want the pressures of being the captain, he does not want the pressure of batting (check his latest scores) and he does not want the pressure of fielding (check the catches dropped recently) – for me, he is a mental case and should rather be in an asylum than ‘sportingly’ ferrying water for the team…
Coming back to the main topic (I have this knack of getting digressed, don’t I?), what people don’t seem to have understood is that T20 is tailor made for Indians – Indians are weak genetically (I mean relatively weak – food habits, life style, lack of red meat, lack of exercise – all this for generations; and please, don’t start calling me a racist just because I called Indians “weak” – labeling others as racists seems to be another “in thing” these days!)... the maximum they can sustain their energy is for 20 overs… I have seen Gambhir twice and Sehwag once batting for more than 10 overs – excellent running between wickets et all – but at the end of 10 overs their tongues were hanging 3 feet down in the want of oxygen and water… there is no way Gambhir can do this in a 50-over match… and Sehwag we all know…
The boundaries are shorter which means the fielders don’t need to run around much… It also means Yuvraj can hit all those sixers (no offence meant… Yuvi is one of the best hitters around!)… All in all, the game is just suitable for us Indians – and we will remain a major power in this game for some time to come…
In all this, we have just forgotten what the “big three” have done for the Indian team over the years and suddenly they are unwanted ones, the villains… please! Leave them alone – well, at least the “big two”… you want to take on Rahul? Please be my guest! In fact, I strongly feel Sachin can do a good job in T20 and agree with Gilchrist’s statement that T20 can elongate careers, being a shorter version… Gilly for one would definitely like to believe that at the ripe age of 35 :)
And now for this week’s poll –
(oh my gosh! scroll down!!)
Want to know of the writer in me? Buy my book - "Of A 'n' B"
Monday, October 22, 2007
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Blogging about the blog...
It all started with the fateful Indigo trip from Nagpur to Pune. The story was interesting and loads of fun (for others of course!). People came from “pachas-pachas kos door se” and called from “pachas-pachas hazar kos door se” to hear the misery from the horse’s mouth. Being center of attention was fun to start with (though it was all about narrating my own misery with lots of chat masala applied), I got bored in a while. Then Vikram suggested that I should blog it out. I did and just got hooked.
And... 3.5 months and 9 posts later, the level of enthusiasm is down and the amount of energy is down. There are lesser number of visitors and even lesser number of commentators. Is it coming to an end? Is it me or is it them? To be fair, the amount of wit and fun is dwindling down and I am digging deeper into serious topics. I know for a fact that the one about black holes was a bit too serious and not to the liking for most of the people.
Many of you liked the “open door policy” one but the fact is that it was half typed long time back… and I just published it as is (and hence the abrupt ending!)
One of the problems with expecting others to read my stuff is that they expect the same from you… and you are forced to say good things lest they get nasty with you (which they sometimes do through anonymous comments!). Fortunately for me, there aren’t too many buggers, er, I mean bloggers around… and fortunately for me, some of them are good… Manas writes deep and serious stuff and Vikram writes deep and serious stuff… Ah! They both write deep and serious stuff but they are good (Am I doing what I just said I need to do to get good comments?! ;) )
The comments are far and few now but the anonymous ones still take the cake. If the “hot and cold” one I got for the moon posting was hilarious, the one I got for the last one (“open door policy”) is mysterious. It goes like this, verbatim –
“From Travel to astronomy to management was a great shift. Just nobel prize did not fit in. Probably can be interpreted as a reinstatement of what was said some years back.”
If you find it cryptic, don’t you worry mate, you are not alone. My first reaction was “Who? When? Why? Where? How?” How did some one know that I was going to blog about Nobel prize “some years back”. And did he speak to me about it? I don’t remember any such conversations!
The second reaction was – “Mate, Nobel prize was part of the Astronomy story. What’s your point?”
Anyways, the great part about anonymous comments is that you don’t get any clarification… I was expected this to be a comment from Vikram but he plainly refused – may be he wants to remain “anonymous” :)
Sachin P has never left a comment at the blog site but his verbal comment to me was that I always criticize someone or something in my postings. He might have a point but I wonder how would you have fun, and how would I have fun if all I do is talk goody goody… taking off on someone is the easiest way to have fun, ain’t it? How many of have Not laughed when one sat on a chair which was not there where it was supposed to be! The irony is that I had just published my “Nobel prize” posting in which I actually did not criticize anyone (thus bringing down the already dismal hit rate) but Sachin just refused to comment about it!
Anyways, the worst thing I can do is take off on the people who actually do leave comments… I think it’s a cardinal sin and I should stop doing so (while continuing to take off on the rest of the world!)
One positive by-product of the blog has been earnings through AdSense. While I am very tempted to click on the ads, I am not allowed to do so… I have to depend on well wishers to get some real moolah. My total earnings in the last 3.5 months is a handsome US$ 1.03. I am sure this would be mainly through ads like “Toto toilet” which appeared because of my “flush” posting… I know for sure that Venky clicked on it a few times. Guys, this thing is fantastic. I am earning in dollars sitting in India!
Having started and left the travel postings way behind, I am still sometimes tempted to go for travel stories though I have been advised against it. I almost did it a few weeks back when I took some 7 flights in 7 days in Europe… folks - 7 flights and that too in Europe are enough to make someone commit couple of murders and a harikiri, a blog posting is nothing as compared to that! Still, I curbed my deep desires and managed to keep together the last few visitors!!
If this sounds like a swan song, its not! If it sounds like I am going to stop blogging, I am not!! My last posting invited 8 votes and 3 comments which clearly means at least 7 people visited the site (1 vote was from me, heh, heh!)… more than that, the amount of fun and satisfaction I get is immense… in fact, if you don’t have a blog of yours yet, I suggest you have one… it’s loads of fun… And don’t forget the fact that you can earn some real $$$!
Anyway, have decided that no more mailers from this time on. My fans (ek!) would anyway visit and losers would never!
Ladies and Gentlemen: signing off now… Please leave your views through comments and votes! What? Dunno how to leave comments? Just click on the “x Comments” link below where "x" stands for a number (which is the number of comments left so far)…
I will be back soon – keep checking this space once in a week :)
And last but not the least, please vote (scroll down to vote)…
And... 3.5 months and 9 posts later, the level of enthusiasm is down and the amount of energy is down. There are lesser number of visitors and even lesser number of commentators. Is it coming to an end? Is it me or is it them? To be fair, the amount of wit and fun is dwindling down and I am digging deeper into serious topics. I know for a fact that the one about black holes was a bit too serious and not to the liking for most of the people.
Many of you liked the “open door policy” one but the fact is that it was half typed long time back… and I just published it as is (and hence the abrupt ending!)
One of the problems with expecting others to read my stuff is that they expect the same from you… and you are forced to say good things lest they get nasty with you (which they sometimes do through anonymous comments!). Fortunately for me, there aren’t too many buggers, er, I mean bloggers around… and fortunately for me, some of them are good… Manas writes deep and serious stuff and Vikram writes deep and serious stuff… Ah! They both write deep and serious stuff but they are good (Am I doing what I just said I need to do to get good comments?! ;) )
The comments are far and few now but the anonymous ones still take the cake. If the “hot and cold” one I got for the moon posting was hilarious, the one I got for the last one (“open door policy”) is mysterious. It goes like this, verbatim –
“From Travel to astronomy to management was a great shift. Just nobel prize did not fit in. Probably can be interpreted as a reinstatement of what was said some years back.”
If you find it cryptic, don’t you worry mate, you are not alone. My first reaction was “Who? When? Why? Where? How?” How did some one know that I was going to blog about Nobel prize “some years back”. And did he speak to me about it? I don’t remember any such conversations!
The second reaction was – “Mate, Nobel prize was part of the Astronomy story. What’s your point?”
Anyways, the great part about anonymous comments is that you don’t get any clarification… I was expected this to be a comment from Vikram but he plainly refused – may be he wants to remain “anonymous” :)
Sachin P has never left a comment at the blog site but his verbal comment to me was that I always criticize someone or something in my postings. He might have a point but I wonder how would you have fun, and how would I have fun if all I do is talk goody goody… taking off on someone is the easiest way to have fun, ain’t it? How many of have Not laughed when one sat on a chair which was not there where it was supposed to be! The irony is that I had just published my “Nobel prize” posting in which I actually did not criticize anyone (thus bringing down the already dismal hit rate) but Sachin just refused to comment about it!
Anyways, the worst thing I can do is take off on the people who actually do leave comments… I think it’s a cardinal sin and I should stop doing so (while continuing to take off on the rest of the world!)
One positive by-product of the blog has been earnings through AdSense. While I am very tempted to click on the ads, I am not allowed to do so… I have to depend on well wishers to get some real moolah. My total earnings in the last 3.5 months is a handsome US$ 1.03. I am sure this would be mainly through ads like “Toto toilet” which appeared because of my “flush” posting… I know for sure that Venky clicked on it a few times. Guys, this thing is fantastic. I am earning in dollars sitting in India!
Having started and left the travel postings way behind, I am still sometimes tempted to go for travel stories though I have been advised against it. I almost did it a few weeks back when I took some 7 flights in 7 days in Europe… folks - 7 flights and that too in Europe are enough to make someone commit couple of murders and a harikiri, a blog posting is nothing as compared to that! Still, I curbed my deep desires and managed to keep together the last few visitors!!
If this sounds like a swan song, its not! If it sounds like I am going to stop blogging, I am not!! My last posting invited 8 votes and 3 comments which clearly means at least 7 people visited the site (1 vote was from me, heh, heh!)… more than that, the amount of fun and satisfaction I get is immense… in fact, if you don’t have a blog of yours yet, I suggest you have one… it’s loads of fun… And don’t forget the fact that you can earn some real $$$!
Anyway, have decided that no more mailers from this time on. My fans (ek!) would anyway visit and losers would never!
Ladies and Gentlemen: signing off now… Please leave your views through comments and votes! What? Dunno how to leave comments? Just click on the “x Comments” link below where "x" stands for a number (which is the number of comments left so far)…
I will be back soon – keep checking this space once in a week :)
And last but not the least, please vote (scroll down to vote)…
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Open Door Policy...
I keep the door closed in the office… which means I belong to the “pointy hair’ category of Dilbert and have a cabin of my own…
Anyway, when I say closed, I don’t lock it from inside or anything… in fact, I leave the key in the keyhole when I unlock the door every morning (some technical cynics would say “afternoon” but that's irrelevant in the context) and if someone is really up to playing a prank on me, they can lock me from outside (hope I am not inviting trouble here!)…
Anyway, more often than not, some joker (more often than not a guy named Sandeep) would pop in and grin into my face saying “why don’t you keep your door open? Haven’t you heard of open door policy?”… I have heard this comment so many times that I wonder now if open door policy is all (or also) about keeping the door open… I thought it was figure of speech but may be there is a literal meaning involved…
But there are intricacies involved… My cabin seems to be built of some material which is an excellent conductor of sound… what this means is that I am able to hear all the comments passed by people passing my cabin… what are these comments? No comments! May be keeping door open will help in this case…
But if I really keep the door open – which I am forced to in an unfortunate case of a power failure or something like that – it’s trouble both ways. Many of my conversations are loud and nasty and I don’t think they are really pleasant for my neighbors… And other way round, the stylish ring tones could really be distracting when in deep thought – the latest and greatest I heard most recently was a small child going “message aaya, message aaya, message aaya, message aaya, message aaaaaya” for incoming messages… God bless you my friend…
When I was in London till 2 years back, I had a cabin with no roof and there was an opening in the wall for coming in/going out (yeah, yeah, it was a cubicle)… There were times I would have very loud and heated discussion on the phone and after hanging up I would realize that there were some 10-15 pairs of bloodthirsty eyes staring at me…
Net-net, I think I know better than keeping the door open – whatever my critiques say…
In any case, i decided to look up for "open door policy" on the net to quench my thirst for the ultimate knowledge...
so what exactly is the open door policy?
The Wikipedia definition says -
"The Open Door Policy is a concept in foreign affairs stating that, in principle, all nations should have equal commercial and industrial trade rights in China"
It talks about China in 19th century. Ha! I bet you did not know about this!
Even if you google for "open door policy", the number of links on management difinition is a poor cousin of the China thingy.
That brings me to this week’s poll (pretty abrupt end, ain't it?)–
(oh my gosh, how many times do i need to telll you to scroll down?)
Anyway, when I say closed, I don’t lock it from inside or anything… in fact, I leave the key in the keyhole when I unlock the door every morning (some technical cynics would say “afternoon” but that's irrelevant in the context) and if someone is really up to playing a prank on me, they can lock me from outside (hope I am not inviting trouble here!)…
Anyway, more often than not, some joker (more often than not a guy named Sandeep) would pop in and grin into my face saying “why don’t you keep your door open? Haven’t you heard of open door policy?”… I have heard this comment so many times that I wonder now if open door policy is all (or also) about keeping the door open… I thought it was figure of speech but may be there is a literal meaning involved…
But there are intricacies involved… My cabin seems to be built of some material which is an excellent conductor of sound… what this means is that I am able to hear all the comments passed by people passing my cabin… what are these comments? No comments! May be keeping door open will help in this case…
But if I really keep the door open – which I am forced to in an unfortunate case of a power failure or something like that – it’s trouble both ways. Many of my conversations are loud and nasty and I don’t think they are really pleasant for my neighbors… And other way round, the stylish ring tones could really be distracting when in deep thought – the latest and greatest I heard most recently was a small child going “message aaya, message aaya, message aaya, message aaya, message aaaaaya” for incoming messages… God bless you my friend…
When I was in London till 2 years back, I had a cabin with no roof and there was an opening in the wall for coming in/going out (yeah, yeah, it was a cubicle)… There were times I would have very loud and heated discussion on the phone and after hanging up I would realize that there were some 10-15 pairs of bloodthirsty eyes staring at me…
Net-net, I think I know better than keeping the door open – whatever my critiques say…
In any case, i decided to look up for "open door policy" on the net to quench my thirst for the ultimate knowledge...
so what exactly is the open door policy?
The Wikipedia definition says -
"The Open Door Policy is a concept in foreign affairs stating that, in principle, all nations should have equal commercial and industrial trade rights in China"
It talks about China in 19th century. Ha! I bet you did not know about this!
Even if you google for "open door policy", the number of links on management difinition is a poor cousin of the China thingy.
That brings me to this week’s poll (pretty abrupt end, ain't it?)–
(oh my gosh, how many times do i need to telll you to scroll down?)
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