The original and the inspired.
Sublime? Ridiculous? Decide for yourself.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Goodness Gracious Me
Monday, July 21, 2008
Gold ?
A point of view and another. Obviously not unbiased, but makes valid points.
I feel vindicated for buying gold at 1100/gm.
I feel vindicated for buying gold at 1100/gm.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
How to pick an autorickshaw in bangalore
I have travelled a lot in Bangalore's autorickshaws, and continue to do so. The reasons are mostly laziness, frustration in driving through traffic, difficulty in finding parking spots, etc... but that is besides the point.
Based on my vast experience in this domain, I have built up an intricate methodology of choosing a rick, which, for the greater benefit of (wo)mankind, I shall share on this forum. So here goes. The usual disclaimers apply.
1. The quest begins when you sight the quarry - an empty rick cruising at 10 kmph in the fastest lane. The game begins when the two of you make eye contact.
2. If the rick driver( henceforth referred to as Ricky. Not a coincidence that most of them are abrasive like the Aussie captain ) looks eagerly at you and makes towards you, something is seriously wrong. This is extremely abnormal behaviour for a ricky, and he is probably a Tupperware/Amway salesman or a serial killer. Or Mahesh Bhatt, scouting for talent to replace Emraan Hashmi. Run for your life.
3. If ricky either ignores you completely or looks at you in a disinterested way, thats the first positive signal. The chase is on in real earnest now.
4. Always look at the approaching ricky in a non-committal way. Dont ever show interest in your eyes. This is a valuable technique whose benefit will be demonstrated in later sections, for bailing out at the last moment.
5. Once it is ascertained that ricky might be right for you, we proceed to stage two - non-verbal negotiation.
6. Judge ricky. This is the most critical step in the entire exercise. Based on your eyesight and traffic, you get around 2-5 seconds to size up the individual. Following are tell-tale No-Go signs
- Ricky wears kumkum on forehead
- Ricky is young and looks like he just flunked Class 12.
- Ricky has a mush and a stubble. ( as opposed to a mush only or a full beard )
- Ricky has top two buttons of his shirt open
- Ricky wears gold chain
The rationale for these psycho-profiling pointers shall be covered in a different post.
Following are safe Go signs
- Ricky is an old man ( not old and weak )
- Ricky is middle-aged and follows traffic rules
6. Judge the rick. The rick tells a tale about the ricky. Following are clear No-Go signs
- Old ricks in bad condition ( Old ricks guzzle more fuel, and this will be passed on to the consumer. In the form of a doctored meter.)
- Rick has a Karnataka flag
- Rick has pimped-up speakers
Following are safe Go signs
- Rick has electronic meter and looks well-maintained.
7. If rick/ricky clears preliminary rick-profiling, then make clear eye-contact with ricky and summon the rick. In the unlikely event that ricky does indeed stop, proceed to phase 3 - verbal-negotiation.
8. The more important step - rick-profiling is Negative. This is where the bailing-out move comes in. Since you have not made clear eye-contact till now, you can just pretend to be looking at the cow/lamppost/girl on the opposite side of the street, and thus bail-out.
9. Phase 3 - Verbal negotiation. This is where coping with rejection will come in handy. Most ricky's stop only to humour themselves, and not to offer you a ride. Accept that fact of life. The rest of the negotiation is fairly standard, and need not be covered. The only hitch could be if you noticed something about ricky/rick from close quarters, that you missed from the distance. In such cases, use my patented dont-pick-me-up line -
" Thanisandra ge hogi, alli 2 hours waiting iddu, aamele Bidadi ge hogbeku. Barteera ? "
Its a sure-fire rick-magnet... repels ricks like the wrong end of a magnet.
10. Once inside the rick, sit tight and hope that ricky doesnt stop enroute to help out his fellow-ricky's in street fights.
Thats about it... Keep Rocking, Keep Ricking !
Based on my vast experience in this domain, I have built up an intricate methodology of choosing a rick, which, for the greater benefit of (wo)mankind, I shall share on this forum. So here goes. The usual disclaimers apply.
1. The quest begins when you sight the quarry - an empty rick cruising at 10 kmph in the fastest lane. The game begins when the two of you make eye contact.
2. If the rick driver( henceforth referred to as Ricky. Not a coincidence that most of them are abrasive like the Aussie captain ) looks eagerly at you and makes towards you, something is seriously wrong. This is extremely abnormal behaviour for a ricky, and he is probably a Tupperware/Amway salesman or a serial killer. Or Mahesh Bhatt, scouting for talent to replace Emraan Hashmi. Run for your life.
3. If ricky either ignores you completely or looks at you in a disinterested way, thats the first positive signal. The chase is on in real earnest now.
4. Always look at the approaching ricky in a non-committal way. Dont ever show interest in your eyes. This is a valuable technique whose benefit will be demonstrated in later sections, for bailing out at the last moment.
5. Once it is ascertained that ricky might be right for you, we proceed to stage two - non-verbal negotiation.
6. Judge ricky. This is the most critical step in the entire exercise. Based on your eyesight and traffic, you get around 2-5 seconds to size up the individual. Following are tell-tale No-Go signs
- Ricky wears kumkum on forehead
- Ricky is young and looks like he just flunked Class 12.
- Ricky has a mush and a stubble. ( as opposed to a mush only or a full beard )
- Ricky has top two buttons of his shirt open
- Ricky wears gold chain
The rationale for these psycho-profiling pointers shall be covered in a different post.
Following are safe Go signs
- Ricky is an old man ( not old and weak )
- Ricky is middle-aged and follows traffic rules
6. Judge the rick. The rick tells a tale about the ricky. Following are clear No-Go signs
- Old ricks in bad condition ( Old ricks guzzle more fuel, and this will be passed on to the consumer. In the form of a doctored meter.)
- Rick has a Karnataka flag
- Rick has pimped-up speakers
Following are safe Go signs
- Rick has electronic meter and looks well-maintained.
7. If rick/ricky clears preliminary rick-profiling, then make clear eye-contact with ricky and summon the rick. In the unlikely event that ricky does indeed stop, proceed to phase 3 - verbal-negotiation.
8. The more important step - rick-profiling is Negative. This is where the bailing-out move comes in. Since you have not made clear eye-contact till now, you can just pretend to be looking at the cow/lamppost/girl on the opposite side of the street, and thus bail-out.
9. Phase 3 - Verbal negotiation. This is where coping with rejection will come in handy. Most ricky's stop only to humour themselves, and not to offer you a ride. Accept that fact of life. The rest of the negotiation is fairly standard, and need not be covered. The only hitch could be if you noticed something about ricky/rick from close quarters, that you missed from the distance. In such cases, use my patented dont-pick-me-up line -
" Thanisandra ge hogi, alli 2 hours waiting iddu, aamele Bidadi ge hogbeku. Barteera ? "
Its a sure-fire rick-magnet... repels ricks like the wrong end of a magnet.
10. Once inside the rick, sit tight and hope that ricky doesnt stop enroute to help out his fellow-ricky's in street fights.
Thats about it... Keep Rocking, Keep Ricking !
Betting on people
There should be a legal system to bet on people's success/failure. It will allow poor people like me to make some easy money.
You just know when you see certain people ( Priyanka Chopra, Paul Collingwood, Brendon McCullum ) that they are destined to make it big; however humble their beginnings.
You also know when u see certain other people ( countless boy/girl bands ) that, they are going to fade away from the limelight and from our collective consciousness, however aggressively they are marketed.
Very unfortunate that this cannot be translated into legal income in India (yet) :(
You just know when you see certain people ( Priyanka Chopra, Paul Collingwood, Brendon McCullum ) that they are destined to make it big; however humble their beginnings.
You also know when u see certain other people ( countless boy/girl bands ) that, they are going to fade away from the limelight and from our collective consciousness, however aggressively they are marketed.
Very unfortunate that this cannot be translated into legal income in India (yet) :(
My Home Theater
... is almost complete.
It has been almost complete for 6 months now. First there is the cosy room, then there is the expensive 5.1 speaker system, and finally the obscenely expensive wiring. ( wonder how I fell for that one! )
Now all I need to complete the experience is... a f*****g TV !
Note to self: Be a man and do it this week...
It has been almost complete for 6 months now. First there is the cosy room, then there is the expensive 5.1 speaker system, and finally the obscenely expensive wiring. ( wonder how I fell for that one! )
Now all I need to complete the experience is... a f*****g TV !
Note to self: Be a man and do it this week...
Friday, July 18, 2008
Of phobias and nightmares
I've been having trouble sleeping at night for the last week or so... What better way to kill time than to add to the wealth of knowledge online :-)
A couple of months ago, my cousin, Sin, was narrating a disturbing dream that she had the previous night. Apparently, she dreamt that she was being attacked by a monstrous black cat. She woke up with a start, and couldnt sleep well for the remainder of the night. On the same topic, another cuz, Shu, started talking about some common nightmares that women frequently have( supposedly ). Seeing oneself with some physical deformity is the common theme of most of these nightmares. Eg. Loss of hair, teeth, scars on face etc. The psycho-analytic explanation of such dreams is apparently the insecurity of most people ( more so women than men ) about losing their physical attractiveness. Another common dream apparently concerns with the death of person(s) with whom one shares an emotional bond. Again, this is related to one's insecurities. Most other nightmares are apparently connected to recent events in one's life. For instance, the particular dream about a cat might have been due to the fact that she had just shut the window before sleeping, to keep a cat out.
I couldnt remember any nightmare I have ever had, and after some serious memory-digging, I realized that I had *never* had any nightmares in my entire life. My cousins were quite shocked, and also convinced that I was either lying thru my teeth, or was a very secure individual !
When I think about the same topic now, I still dont have a valid excuse(!) for not having nightmares, ever. The only plausible reason I can think of, is that I dont have any abnormal phobias.
I dont believe in ghosts or other evil supernatural forces ( which is quite strange, as I do believe in God ), and I would easily spend a night in a "haunted house" if required.
I love wildlife, and am particularly fascinated by reptiles. I have had too many close encounters with snakes to be scared of them. I have been charged by wild elephants and gotten dangerously close to a King Cobra and I still live to tell the tale.
I am not afraid of death or serious injury, nor of losing the people who really matter in my life.
Plus, I must've had a very happy childhood too...
All of this, or I might just be a very heavy sleeper with a bad memory ! :)
A couple of months ago, my cousin, Sin, was narrating a disturbing dream that she had the previous night. Apparently, she dreamt that she was being attacked by a monstrous black cat. She woke up with a start, and couldnt sleep well for the remainder of the night. On the same topic, another cuz, Shu, started talking about some common nightmares that women frequently have( supposedly ). Seeing oneself with some physical deformity is the common theme of most of these nightmares. Eg. Loss of hair, teeth, scars on face etc. The psycho-analytic explanation of such dreams is apparently the insecurity of most people ( more so women than men ) about losing their physical attractiveness. Another common dream apparently concerns with the death of person(s) with whom one shares an emotional bond. Again, this is related to one's insecurities. Most other nightmares are apparently connected to recent events in one's life. For instance, the particular dream about a cat might have been due to the fact that she had just shut the window before sleeping, to keep a cat out.
I couldnt remember any nightmare I have ever had, and after some serious memory-digging, I realized that I had *never* had any nightmares in my entire life. My cousins were quite shocked, and also convinced that I was either lying thru my teeth, or was a very secure individual !
When I think about the same topic now, I still dont have a valid excuse(!) for not having nightmares, ever. The only plausible reason I can think of, is that I dont have any abnormal phobias.
I dont believe in ghosts or other evil supernatural forces ( which is quite strange, as I do believe in God ), and I would easily spend a night in a "haunted house" if required.
I love wildlife, and am particularly fascinated by reptiles. I have had too many close encounters with snakes to be scared of them. I have been charged by wild elephants and gotten dangerously close to a King Cobra and I still live to tell the tale.
I am not afraid of death or serious injury, nor of losing the people who really matter in my life.
Plus, I must've had a very happy childhood too...
All of this, or I might just be a very heavy sleeper with a bad memory ! :)
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